Disclaimer: Ownership is neither claimed nor implied.
A/N: So, if you loved me, why did you give me away?
"Morning," Puck said as Quinn walked into the kitchen.
"Morning," Quinn yawned back. He was always so much brighter than her in the mornings and it pissed Quinn off just a bit. "Don't go flashing that smile at me," she grumbled, only just this side of teasing.
"I won't," Puck lied and then grinned at her as he ate his yogurt covered muesli.
"Blah, rabbit food," Quinn pouted. "Why can't you eat normal food like normal people? You know? Something I might want to take a bite of?" she muttered moodily.
"Who put you in a mood this morning?" Puck asked with a barely hidden snicker of laughter. "And I don't care what you say, eating pig for breakfast is not normal," he repeated their recurring friendly argument. "This is normal," he insisted and held the bowl out towards her.
"Blah," Quinn fake gagged, she picked up her coffee cup and headed back upstairs to take her usual leisurely shower.
"It's good for you," Puck called after her, same as he did most mornings. Quinn ignored him and his advice, same as she did most mornings.
"Rach, how are you?" Puck answered when he picked up the call on Quinn's phone. "Nope, she's still in the shower," he told her. "School starts in just over an hour, she needs to get a rush on, hold on a sec," he said then pressed the phone to his chest to avoid deafening Rachel. "Quinn, Rachel, on the phone. No, your phone. Hang on, I'll ask," he yelled. "Quinn says is it important or can she call you back later, after school?" he asked then listened. "Holy crap," he said with a gulp. "Yeah, yeah, I know, Quinn said so, yeah, I'll tell her, yeah, thanks Rach," he waffled before ending the call. "Quinn," Puck yelled as he ran up the stairs. "Quinn?" he called again.
"Where's the fire?" Quinn asked a little crossly, as Puck interrupted her usually relaxed morning routine. She wrapped one fluffy, white towel around her body and another around her head and stepped from the bathroom to the bedroom.
"Rachel said that Shelby called her last night, just before she went on stage," Puck explained breathlessly.
"So?" Quinn asked as she blinked a few times to check that her eyelash extensions were all still in place. Quinn peered closer into the mirror to check for wrinkles, crows feet, any sign of aging. Slowly, she dabbed her face and wished that Puck would get on with whatever he was so excited about.
"So?" Puck repeated, waiting for Quinn to catch up. He shook his head, sighed and rolled his eyes. "So," he said again, "so she called for our information, she called to ask Rachel for our numbers, our address. Don't you see what this means?" he asked, joyfully.
"Oh my God," Quinn whispered, her hand covered her mouth, her gaze flew to Puck's. "She said that she would, one day, didn't she? She said that she would, but yesterday, Beth told me that she'd said that she had to wait till she's eighteen," she cried.
"Maybe she's changed her mind," Puck suggested. "But please, don't...don't do anything or say anything at school, keep your distance," he advised.
"I will, I will," Quinn promised, but at the same time she was wondering how she possibly could. "I feel sick," she whispered and gulped hard before tearing back into the bathroom and losing what little was actually in her stomach.
"Gross," Puck sighed as he gagged and winced at the sounds coming from their bathroom. "You couldn't shut the door?" he asked quietly, glad that Quinn hadn't heard him. "Better?" he asked Quinn a few seconds later when she emerged, with her toothbrush in her mouth. Quinn nodded and made an unintelligable sound. "Well, whatever, but you need to get a wiggle on if I'm to drop you at school before I head in to the recruiting office," he encouraged.
"Later," Puck murmured against Quinn's lips as he left her in the parking lot at Liberty Arts, where Quinn had just taken up the position of English teacher. The previous English teacher's misfortune had been Quinn's lucky break, but in order for them to come back to Lima for a while, for Puck to take the position in the recruiting office, they had been prepared for her to have to take work as a substitute for as long as necessary.
"Later," Quinn replied and stole another kiss before she got out of the car.
"Is that your husband?" Robyn Sylvester asked curiously.
"Yes," Quinn answered, she gave the girl a slightly wary look, there was something far too 'Sue' about the girl, she gave Quinn the willies.
"He's hot," Robyn announced then walked away, headed towards the school entrance. Quinn stood, transfixed, unable to process what she'd just heard from the young girl. She stared after the retreating back and the huge backpack that it carried.
"I saw your dad today," Robyn informed Beth with a certain amount of relish. "And he is one super hot hottie," she announced.
"Like, ew, that's my dad you're talking about," Beth replied with distaste. "And chill, you're like what? Ten? Eleven?" she asked.
"I'm nine, but I'm precocious," Robyn answered with a twitch of her shoulder. "I skipped two grades," she sighed, bored with the topic already.
"Fine," Beth sighed and realised why the young girl seemed so young. It was because she was young. "Did you bring any more of your mom's journals for me to read?" she asked.
"Yep," Robyn confirmed and delved into her backpack. "Here you go, September 2009 to June 2010. There's a lot of stuff in this one that relates directly to you," she informed her friend. "Actually, you're the reason the Cheerios didn't have Quinn Fabray as their leader at Nationals," she announced with authority.
"Cool," Beth muttered almost silently. "I knew something would have to be my fault."
"Good morning," Quinn said as her class made themselves comfortable. "This morning we are going to look at the way a sentence can be totally changed just by adding punctuation," she explained and flicked on the ceiling projector. A sentence came up on the whiteboard. "How about this?" she asked. "Let's eat everyone," she read. "Who can tell me what we would use to change this sentence to something that doesn't make us sound like cannibals?" she smiled as the class tittered with laughter. Quinn glanced around. One hand rose hesitantly. "Beth," she said and held out the marker pen for Beth to come up and put whatever punctuation she thought would change the sentence.
Beth approached the whiteboard cautiously. She knew that the popular girls would rag on her, she knew that the bully girls would too, she knew that she was never going to be Ms Popular and really, she didn't care about that. What she cared about was the sudden shot of electricity that went through her fingers when she'd accidentally touched Ms Puckerman's fingers when taking the pen. "I wonder if that's like my mom said, like our bodies know each other," she pondered silently. "I grew inside that stomach, right there, I was inside there. Oh my God I have heard her heart beating. From the inside."
"So what punctuation would you use?" Quinn encouraged when it looked like Beth had frozen for a second.
"I would use a comma, right here," Beth said and marked a comma. "So now it says let's eat, everyone," she read, giving a slight pause in just the right place.
"Well done," Quinn praised and smiled at the young girl, Beth smiled back. Quinn gulped when their eyes connected. How the hell was she supposed to stay away? This child here, this beautiful girl, this was her baby, her perfect thing. And she had missed her so much. A few more students found the confidence to put their answers out there, to other phrases and sentences, the class had fun with some of the sentences, it was a great class and Quinn knew that, at least for the time being, they were captivated.
"How was your day?" Puck asked when he collected Quinn from school.
"Tiring," Quinn yawned and snuggled into her seat, she could still feel Puck's lips on hers, they tingled, she loved his kisses. "Beth was great in class today," she said with pride.
"Did she say anything?" Puck asked, a little nervously.
"No, nothing," Quinn sighed, she wondered how long she would have to stay silent. Forever, probably.
"My mom called," Puck said as he checked the traffic before turning left out of the parking lot. "She invited us to dinner tonight," he informed Quinn.
"Mmm, is she making her special barbecue chicken and roasted veggies?" Quinn asked with a hungry light shining in her eyes. "I love that, it's so delicious and she never gives me the recipe," she grumbled good naturedly. "Ah well, at least it gives her an excuse to invite us for dinner," she said with a shrug. "Did you tell her about Beth?" she asked.
"Yep," Puck nodded. "I told her, I thought it best to get it out there right now," he added and glanced to his side to see Quinn nodding. "What about you? Will you let Judy know?" he asked. Quinn shrugged, she wasn't sure. The relationship between mother and daughter had never quite recovered from the whole 'Beth situation'. Quinn had never quite forgiven her mother for discarding her, abandoning her, just exactly when she needed her mother more than ever, and Judy had never quite forgiven what she saw as Quinn's betrayal of her beliefs.
"Hi," Ruth Puckerman called as she heard her son and daughter-in-law enter the house, the same house that Puck had taken Quinn to live in when Finn kicked her out. "Did you have a good day?" she asked automatically.
"Yep," Puck answered as he led the way into the kitchen. "Signed up two high school drop outs," he informed them, "I wonder how they'll deal with basic," he snickered, remembering back to when he had first joined the air force, back when he thought he knew it all, the cocky, full-of-attitude showboater. His military training instructors had soon knocked that out of him. His intensive training to fly the huge aircraft that supported the jet pilots had done the rest to mature him. Puck took pride in his work, he loved flying, he loved that feeling of being in control.
"How are you enjoying being a desk pilot?" Ruth asked and lifted her cheek for him to kiss.
"I hate it," Puck sighed and looked down at his arm. "Serves me right for thinking I could still play football with teenagers," he pouted. Puck was off active duty for the time being because he was recovering from surgery to his shoulder, following an incident at an inter-squadron football game. He knew that he would be back, flying his beloved Hercules eventually, but for now he had been shunted to a desk job, just until he was totally recovered. And he hated every second of it. Apart from the fact that they were based in Lima for the duration. And so was Beth.
"The thing is, now that we're back in Lima," Quinn said, after nabbing a sneaky taste of Ruth's secret sauce, "you have a connection with the high school kids," she reminded him. "I know when I went to see Will, before I got the job at Liberty, it surprised me to see that there are still pictures of us in the hallways. There's you with the football team, with the basketball team, and with New Directions, and don't try to tell me they wouldn't recognise you because you haven't changed a bit," she said with a smile. "Except for the mohawk," she added. "Mmm, what is in that?" she demanded of Ruth, she savoured the taste of the sauce with a dramatic roll of her eyes and a groan that came from her toes.
"This and that," Ruth replied with a secretive grin. "I will leave you the recipe in my will, how's that?" she told Quinn then hugged her and giggled. "I don't think I ever make it the same way twice," she told her. "I just throw things together in a pot, bring it to the boil, turn the heat down and let it simmer, then when it's thickened, I slather it on the chicken, throw that in the oven and Bob's your uncle," she said as though it didn't take her half a day to make the dish.
"Well, whatever you do to it, it's gorgeous," Quinn sighed and took another taste.
"Is Becks home tonight?" Puck asked of his younger sister.
"No, she's got some sort of event going on tonight," Ruth sighed. Puck gave his mom a questioning look. "She's a freshman in college," Ruth hurried to remind Puck. "Give her a break, let her enjoy things," she added with a smile. "You certainly did," she muttered then pulled a face at him when he was about to protest. Puck rolled his eyes and very wisely, kept quiet.
"That was nice," Quinn sighed as they got out of the car in front of their house. "I love dinner with your mom," she said. Quinn waited for Puck to come around the car and take her hand.
"And it beats cooking when you get home from work," Puck tacked on with a grin, just before he pulled Quinn into his arms. Puck gave a covert glance around them, up and down the street. "Think anybody is watching?" he whispered loudly, Quinn shook her head, almost giggling. "Good," Puck murmured, just before his lips touched hers. Quinn sighed when he took the kiss deeper, when their tongues touched, twisted together.
"Ms Puckerman?" a young girl's voice interrupted the erotically charged kiss.
Quinn sprang away from Puck as though she'd been electrified. "Oh, Robyn," Quinn said, in a quivering, breathless voice. "I didn't see you there," she added as she took a step back towards Puck.
"Hm," Robyn hummed in reply, and gave both Puck and Quinn a seriously searching stare. "I have a question for you," she announced and brought a notebook from out of the huge backpack that she always seemed to carry around. "Why did you tell everyone that a guy called 'Finnocence Hudlum' was Beth's dad and not," she glanced at Puck and gave a slight nod of her head in his direction, "Mohawk the Sperminator?" she asked.
"Who? What? Wait, what?" Puck spluttered. Who was this kid? And what the hell did she know about anything?
"Robyn, I really don't think this is an appropriate time and neither is that an appropriate question," Quinn told the young girl, she sounded every inch the strict schoolmarm. "Now, I don't know how you found out where I live, but I would appreciate it if you would go home, it's getting dark now, I'm sure your mother would prefer you to be at home," she added firmly.
"Nah," Robyn sighed, "Sue doesn't care if I'm home or not, all she does is polish her trophies and talk about her Cheerios days, she talks about that and Satan and Britain, and I have no idea what on earth she's on about. She talks about you too, a lot, she's always saying how he ruined your life, how you had everything and he took it all away from you, she can't understand why you married him, but whatever, not my business," she muttered the last part.
"Ya think?" Puck growled in his head, he really wanted to yell at this kid, she was far too nosy for his liking. "I'm going to give Sam a call, ask him to come by and pick her up," he told Quinn quietly and found the number he needed on his phone.
Ten minutes later, Quinn was still in the front yard with Robyn Sylvester. She had found it hard to come up with conversation without directly questioning the girl about her mother, it was extremely awkward. Quinn was so very grateful to see the police car arrive and even more so to see Sam Evans when he got out of it. When she'd seen the police car, Robyn was shaken for a minute, until she realised that she was only being taken home and that she wasn't actually in any trouble. As they watched the young girl leave, Quinn turned to Puck. "She is just as interfering as her mother," she sighed, then turned and went into the house. Puck followed.
"Will you check the machine?" Puck asked as he trotted upstairs to strip off his uniform. Quinn pressed play and listened to the day's messages.
"Oh my God," Quinn squealed. She stopped and rewound the message, played it over and over again. "Puck," she cried, from the bottom of the stairs. "Quick," she shouted when he didn't seem to hurry.
"S'up?" Puck asked as he came back down, barefoot and in sweatpants, pulling his t-shirt on as he walked.
"Listen to this," Quinn ordered, she was fizzing with excitement.
"Hi," a young, nervous voice came from the answer machine. "Erm, I guess you're not in. Or you're screening calls," she said, clearly embarrassed and ill at ease. "Anyway, it's Beth. Your daughter," she added, again with a nervous giggle. "I'd like to meet you, talk to you, if that's possible," she said with a lot more seriousness. "Give me a call. Or my mom," she offered and read out two numbers. "Seriously, anytime, call anytime," she finished before the message ended.
Quinn replayed the message again, then again. Eventually she managed to take the numbers down and got ready to dial. "Is it too late to call now, do you think?" she asked Puck, her teeth were nibbling on her lip, showing her nervousness.
"She said anytime," Puck reminded Quinn and took the phone from her. He pressed the send button then lifted the phone to his ear to listen to it ringing. "Shelby, hi, it's Puck, Noah Puckerman," he said when the call was answered. "Yep, we just got it," he replied, she'd obviously asked if he'd got Beth's message. "Whatever you want, we'll be guided by you," he told Shelby and swallowed hard, he knew his heart was beating about a million times a minute, he could see how nervous Quinn was, she was hissing questions at him but he was trying to concentrate on the call. "Ok, this Saturday. Sounds good. We'll see you then," he said and ended the call before Quinn could explode.
"This Saturday, what?" Quinn demanded, she could barely breathe, she could feel that every single molecule in her body was only just hanging on, only just staying together, she was just about to disintegrate and become one with the universe.
"We are formally meeting our daughter, at noon, on Saturday," Puck announced, he wasn't totally sure he had got that right. Did Shelby really say that? Had he dreamed it? "We are invited to lunch, at Breadstix," he laughed softly, that damn restaurant had seen them through many, many get-togethers, through break-ups and make-ups, "to meet with Beth. How quickly, how far this goes is up to her, Shelby wants Beth to have control," he explained exactly what the older woman had said.
"Does she know?" Quinn pondered aloud. "Does Beth know?"
"Know what?" Puck asked, but really, deep down, he knew what was coming.
"That you had an affair with her mother," Quinn said, still a little hurt by the whole 'Shuck' incident. "Will you be able to face her again?" she asked. If she was being entirely honest, Quinn would admit that the thought of Puck and Shelby meeting again had her scared, very scared.
"Quinn, that's all in the past," Puck said quietly and took her hand. "All of that, the old me, it's all in the past, you know that," he reminded her. "We're both different people now, you and I," he said against her hair as he hugged her. "You're not the head bitch anymore and I'm not the roving man-whore," he muttered with a grin. "And as long as you love me, I can face anything," he said. "War zones, my CO, your mother, even Shelby Corcoran."
The week dragged on interminably for Quinn. Every day at school she either had Beth in her class or caught sight of her in the hallways, it was driving her insane. Every day she felt sick at the thought of the meeting on Saturday. Not about meeting Beth, but about meeting Shelby. The last time Quinn had actually seen Shelby, it had been to tell her that she knew about her and Puck's little indiscretion, and that she was going to report it to the appropriate authorities. She hadn't of course, Rachel had talked her out of it, reminded Quinn of what might happen to Beth if she actually went through with the threat, but Shelby had run all the same. She took Beth with her and ran, all the way back to New York and all contact between them had been lost. Quinn sometimes wondered if Puck still blamed her for that, she wondered if that was why they hadn't actually managed to get together as a couple during their senior year, despite both of them spending a lot of time together and neither of them spending time with anyone else of significance. For God's sake, Quinn couldn't even remember how many times they'd slept together through that year, and each time they did, they both insisted that it was the last time. It was just the same when they came back to Lima for Thanksgiving that first year after graduation. One trip to Breadstix and that was it, as usual, sharing a drink or two, as usual, sharing a memory or two, as usual, sharing a bed, as usual. It had been a sort of relief to everyone, them included, when they had finally admitted - to each other as well as everyone else - just exactly what they felt about each other. It had taken a few more years after that to take the plunge and get married. But at least they were happy. Only one thing would make that happiness complete. Well, one person. Beth.
"Quinn, if you don't get your ass in gear, lunch will be over and Beth will think we're not coming," Puck's exasperated call from the bottom of the stairs did nothing to alleviate Quinn's nerves. "Jesus, she's freakin' seen her every day this week as it is," he grumbled jealously to himself as he paced the hall, waiting for Quinn. "Finally," he sighed as she appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Do I look ok in this?" Quinn asked, she looked down her body at the dress she wore, she wasn't sure if she looked too much like a school teacher. "It doesn't look too 'teacher-y', does it?" she asked just before she turned to go back and change.
"Q, for God's sake," Puck sighed, his arms flying in the air to slap down on the sides of his thighs. "It's a dress, just like the hundred others that are in your closet, can we please, just get a move on? And you look awesome, by the way," he remembered to say to stop Quinn going to get changed for the fifth or sixth time.
"Are you sure? I look ok?" Quinn fished, she wasn't deliberately seeking compliments, just reassurance. She was incredibly nervous. "Let's go," she said quietly and forced herself to go out through the front door. Quinn was more nervous of meeting Shelby than anything else. She was nervous and she knew that within seconds, all of her old insecurities would come flooding to the fore. She knew that she wouldn't feel comfortable until she saw Puck and Shelby together again, until she could see, with her own eyes that there was nothing between them. And then maybe she could finally lay that ghost to rest.
"Hallelujah," Puck mouthed silently as he quickly followed and locked the door behind him. "I'll drive," he offered, and opened the passenger door to his car for Quinn to climb inside. Puck really didn't think that Quinn should drive anywhere, not when she was this distracted.
The drive to Breadstix was uneventful, neither Puck nor Quinn could think of anything to say, they couldn't even manage small talk, each of them lost in their own world. "Puckerman, we're meeting friends," Puck quietly told the hostess at the door. "Corcoran," he answered when asked what name the booking had been made under.
"Right this way, Mr Puckerman, Mrs Puckerman," the hostess murmured as she stepped out from behind her desk to escort them to their table. "Your lunch companions have already arrived," she added with a smile at Puck that telegraphed her interest in him. Puck was oblivious to the girl's flirting, Quinn was not, but today at least, it didn't grate on her nerves like it usually did.
"Quinn, Noah," Shelby said as they approached the table. "Lovely to see you both," she added politely, she rose a little and accepted the brush of a cheek against hers as a token of a friendly kiss, from Quinn and the more genuine touch of lips to her cheek from Puck. "Please," she offered and settled herself next to the young blonde, indicating the two seats opposite.
"So you must be Beth," Puck said with a bright smile, Beth couldn't help but roll her eyes, she also couldn't help the smile that grew on her face and the warmth within her that just blossomed and blossomed. This was her mom and dad, her real blood relatives.
"I guess so," Beth replied with a self-conscious little shrug. She glanced at Ms Puckerman, she looked like she was about to burst into tears. Or throw up. "Are you ok?" she asked and reached a hand out to cover Ms Puckerman's trembling hands that were clasped together on the table.
"I'm fine, sweetie," Quinn replied with a husky catch in her voice, "I'm just emotional about this whole thing," she explained. "But, thank you for asking."
Conversation started off quite stilted, there was some residual embarrassment for Shelby, she couldn't believe she had ever been stupid enough to allow Puck into her bed. "Why did you do that?" she asked herself in her head. "Because you were feeling old and ignored," she answered, just as silently. "Ok, so Beth has some questions for you guys," she decided to get the conversation going. "Over to you," she told Beth softly, giving her the opportunity to ask anything.
Puck and Quinn looked intently at Beth, waited for her to ask possibly searching questions. Puck placed his hand over Quinn's, his thumb stroked hers, just softly, just to let her know that he was aware that she was close to freaking out. "So, first thing is, why did you decide to give me up?" Beth asked in a rush of breath.
"Ok, let's start with the easy ones, eh?" Puck teased a little. He blew out a deep breath. "Well, I think it's fair to say that giving you up for adoption wasn't my first choice," he told Beth quite truthfully. "It actually wasn't Quinn's either, despite what people thought at the time," he added, he glanced at Quinn and found her grateful eyes. "See, the thing you have to remember is, we were both only sixteen when you were born and as much as we wanted to be grown ups, play happy families, there were a lot of obstacles in our way," he said. "But, at the end of the day, the decision to give you up was ours alone, we were the only ones who could make that choice and we both felt, after a lot of soul-searching, that the best option for you would be for someone who could give you all that we couldn't, for them to adopt you. Shelby, your mom," he corrected himself with a little shake of his head, "she approached us when you were just a couple of hours old, barely even that," he said and had to stop for a second as the memories flooded back. Did you love me? Yes, especially now. Do you want to keep her? No, do you? She looks like you, does she have a name? No. Beth. Beth, that's nice, I like it. Puck took another deep breath to continue. "I know it may seem harsh to you, but we made the right choice, it was the right decision. For you, at least," he said firmly, his lips stayed in the tight, semblance of a smile.
"I have to agree, it was a difficult decision to make, especially for an emotional sixteen year old who didn't have the support of her family," Quinn added, she sort of wanted to get that out there without having to go over old ground, "but looking at you, listening to you, I know that we made the right decision and we can't thank your mom enough for how she's raised you, you're amazing," she assured the young girl.
"But you still haven't really said why, you've both sort of side-stepped, but you haven't really said it. It's a simple question. Did you or did you not want me?" Beth asked.
"Oh God, so much," Puck sighed and he knew that he had tears pricking his eyes. "We wanted you so, so much, please, don't ever think that you weren't wanted," he begged her. "But like I said, there were obstacles."
"Like what?" Beth asked, she clearly wanted answers.
"Like the fact that we wouldn't have had anywhere to live," Puck began, he thought through everything that had haunted him for the last twelve years. "Like the fact that I was an idiot, I couldn't stay faithful to Quinn, she couldn't trust me to be there for her or for you. Neither of us had jobs, not real ones anyway, God there were so many things," he sighed. He glanced again at Quinn. "Things are different now," he assured all of the ladies around the table. "And in another time, another place, things would have worked out so differently, they really would," he assured Beth.
"But you lied about who my father was," Beth accused Quinn, her green eyes narrowed slightly as she waited for Quinn's response.
"There were reasons for that," Puck butted in.
"No, I want her to answer, she's the one who lied," Beth stopped Puck's flow of words with the flat of her hand raised in his direction.
"I always knew I would have to answer to this," Quinn murmured, with a sad, half-smile on her face. "The truth is, I lied because when I...when we...when you...I...oh this is so hard," she sighed, her head lowered to hide her emotions. Quinn drew in a breath to steady herself. "I was dating another guy, Finn Hudson, a really great guy, a guy who respected me, who didn't push for more than I was willing to give," she explained, her eyes took on a wistful look.
"Oh. My. God," Beth cried, horrified. "So who is lying now?" she demanded.
"I'm sorry?" Puck asked, he couldn't follow Beth's train of thought.
"Well, one second you wanted me, wanted to keep me and in the next, you're dating a guy who didn't push for more than you wanted to give," Beth responded, her voice high and angry. "So does that mean that you did push?" she hissed in Puck's direction. "I mean, like did you force her?" she asked bluntly.
"No, oh God, no," Quinn cried, horrified that Beth could think that of Puck. "No, no he would never do that, ever," she insisted. "See, you have to understand, I had led a very sheltered life, my parents were incredibly strict, I had just been allowed to start dating, the summer before sophomore year and my first boyfriend, Finn, well, he was as naive as I was. The thing is, even though we were dating each other, we both really wished we were dating someone else but neither of us knew how to say it," she admitted. "Finn had fallen in love with Rachel," Quinn said with a smile and a glance at Shelby, Shelby gave a slight nod of her head. "And I had fallen fatefully and irrevocably in love with him," she finished softly, with a shy, loving look at Puck. "It is fair to say that Puck didn't quite feel the same way about me, he wanted me, for sure, but he wasn't in love with me, he wasn't in love with anyone, not back then."
"That's true," Puck agreed. "To a certain extent, anyway," he qualified Quinn's statement, he gave her that smile, the one that she loved, the one they always joked about. "But I felt more for her than I ever had for anyone else, I just didn't know that it was love," he explained and paused for a moment, just to remember, just to reflect. He remembered that defining moment, that time in the locker room, in front of Finn's shirt, that time when he had admitted to Quinn that she was his soul mate, that time he finally, actually said it, that time he had told her that he loved her, he hadn't just said yes when she asked if he did, he hadn't just shrugged his shoulders and kissed her, he hadn't rolled her over in bed to avoid the issue, like he'd done a thousand times before. No, this time it had come from him, he had manned up and told her the truth.
"So, who was Finn?" Beth asked. She knew Rachel must the same one that her mom had spoken of, she must be her mom's daughter, her sister, almost.
"Finn was my very best friend," Puck answered with a sigh as he thought about Finn. "We grew up together, right from pre-school, we went through the same schools, same classes, we played the same games, liked the same stuff, the same girls," he added with a wink at Quinn. "But when Finn started dating Quinn it was something different, I didn't like it," he admitted. "I knew there was something about her that I liked better than any other girl, but I was too much of an idiot to tell her, to do anything about it, too much of an idiot to realise I was in love with her," he explained then looked up, just a touch embarrassed. "But then one day, her cheerleading coach, I think you know her daughter, Robyn Sylvester, right?" he asked Beth, Beth nodded. "Well, Robyn's mom, Sue, she was the cheerleading coach at McKinley and Quinn was head cheerleader, so one particular day, Sue had been more vicious than usual, especially to Quinn, and she was upset, crying under the bleachers, I found her after football practice, we got talking, I tried to cheer her up, I decided to take her home because her ride had bailed, next thing, we were making out, one thing led to another and hey, what do you know? Nine months later," he finished, a touch irreverently, he raised his hands to indicate Beth and gave her a little smile that made his eyes shine, Puck saw no reason to mention the wine coolers that he had plied Quinn with to lower her inhibitions.
"And that was it?" Beth asked. "No great love story? No grand romance?" she demanded, clearly disappointed.
"Sorry," Puck sighed. "But that's the bald truth. The love grew over years of being connected, by you," he explained. "But I can honestly say that I have never loved another woman like I love Quinn, she's the other half of me," he said then smiled, a little embarrassed, at Quinn, she only just managed to gulp back the tears. Puck pressed a kiss to her hair.
"The love between us has been there forever," Quinn contradicted, in an almost strangled voice, she was finding it very hard to talk through the unshed tears. "We have always had something very, very special, something that neither of us ever found with anyone else," she explained, and she wasn't totally sure if she said that as a dig towards Shelby, Quinn hoped not, she hoped she wasn't as shallow as her former self. "The thing that made us realise what we were missing out on, was the death of our friend, Finn. When he died, so senselessly, it made both of us realise and acknowledge that life is too short and too precious to waste, to not take a chance on something, someone that you love," she added, her words and her voice full of emotion. "The moment we both admitted it, to each other and everyone else, like they didn't already know," she scoffed and rolled her eyes, "it was like the whole universe had suddenly come into alignment, like everything was alright, you know?"
"So what are you saying?" Beth asked, she'd sort of lost where her questioning was going.
"I'm saying that, even though we didn't know it at the time," Quinn answered, "you were born out of love, and you are so loved, you always have been and you always will be, you are the very best part of both of us and the biggest regret I will ever have is that I, we, gave you away, but on the other side of that, I am so proud of us that, even so young, we could do the right thing by you, do the right thing for you, and giving you to Shelby was the right thing, it was. Thank you, Shelby, thank you for allowing us this time to explain things to Beth, to give her our side of the story," she said with an intense need for Shelby to know that she meant it.
Beth remained silent for a while, she looked like she was trying to process a lot of the information. She glanced at her mom then looked at Puck and Quinn to ask her next question. "So can I meet the rest of the family?"