Quinn had been tired and cranky after the game. She didn't even seem happy they'd won, she just demanded Dairy Queen. As Finn placed the order for the blizzards, he wondered briefly if the baby could taste the difference between Cookies n' Cream and Rocky Road yet. He'd have to look it up. Quinn had scarfed down her ice cream, and promptly fallen asleep in his car. He had taken his time eating (he hated that whole ice cream headache thing) and then drove her home.

Finn was physically exhausted, but the last thing he wanted to do was go home. He knew his mother expected him to be out late. In a small town like Lima, the after party was almost as important as the game, and being the quarterback, his attendance was practically mandatory. If he went home early, his mother would start to worry, and more than anything, Finn hated for his mom to worry about him.

He thought about calling Rachel, and his mood brightened as he picked up the phone. The time on the small screen read 10:40, and he tried to decide if it was too late to call her. The moment of hesitation was all it took for her words to echo in his head.

"You can't give me what I want."

The memory popped his small bubble of happiness instantly. He knew she right, he couldn't be the guy she wanted, not with everything that had happened.

It seemed like he couldn't do anything right lately. Quinn spent all of her time crying or throwing up, Coach yelled at him for falling asleep at practice, and his grades were definitely slipping. Rachel had even pointed out what a lousy best friend he was.

Yeah,Puck got on his nerves sometimes, but when push came to shove, he'd always been there for Finn. They'd done pretty much everything together since they were kids. How come he never noticed that Puck was a talented guitar player? Sure, he'd heard him play before. Hell, back in junior high they'd even tossed around the idea of starting a band.

"Chicks dig guys in bands," Puck had said.

Finn smiled as the image of a 13 year old Puck flashed in his head. Even back then he'd been all about the girls. They'd quickly dropped the band idea, when they realized they didn't know anyone who played bass, and as it turned out, girls liked football players too and they were already on the middle school team.

The idea of Puck and Rachel being friends bugged him, but he knew there wasn't much he could do about it. They had both stuck to the music story, but he suspected there was more to it than that. He knew Rachel was a smart girl, she knew more words than any person he'd ever met. The problem was that Finn had seen the effect Puck had on girls. Even older chicks got a little crazy when he started putting the moves on him. He really didn't want to see Rachel become a notch on the bedpost.

That's what had prompted the argument in the parking lot this morning. Finn cared about Rachel, while Puck generally only cared about getting laid. He hadn't meant to call Puck a loser, not that he'd used those words exactly, but he knew how Puck had taken them. Finn had been so angry, and yeah, a little jealous, that he hadn't bother to correct Puck assumptions.

Finn knew better than anyone that Puck's biggest fear was ending up like his father.

Another image of Puck flashed through his head, this time they were 10 and his best friend was crawling through his window late at night, his face bruised and his clothes torn. Finn hadn't even had to ask, he just threw him the extra pillow and blanket from the end of his bed, and watched as Puck bunked down on the floor. He'd be gone before Finn woke up.

Pulling out of Quinn's driveway, he made up his mind. He couldn't do anything about Rachel, but he could at least try and fix things with Puck.

Fifteen minutes later, standing in the crowded living room, Finn wondered why he had even bothered. Puck hadn't shown up yet, and it had been over an hour since the game ended. More than likely he ended up hitting on someone's mom in the stadium parking lot, and decided to "clean her pool" instead. He was just about to say his goodbyes, when he heard a low murmur start to run through the clusters of teenagers scattered around the room.

"Oh my god..."

"What's he doing..."

"That has to be a joke..."

Curious, Finn looked at the entryway to see the source of the excitement. He spotted the distinctive stripe of brown hair, and worried for a second that Puck had actually brought someone's mother to the party. When his best friend turned and he caught a glimpse of who Puck had his arm wrapped around, Finn's heart sank to the floor.

Author's Note: I apologize if this is a little rough. I like Finn, but his voice doesn't speak to me nearly as well as some of the other characters.