Backlog: Another Game for Us to Play
Who:Lily-Puck and Jen
When: October 2018
Where:Lincoln Park
What: If we’re going to play this game, someone will eventually lose.
Jen set her backpack down by her feet and reached up to spin the dial on her locker. She’d stayed after with Tyler to help him with some of his math work. The two had found a quiet spot in an empty hallway and eventually got through all the problems he’d needed help with. Opening her locker, she wasn’t really surprised to see a juice box resting on the top shelf and even less surprised to feel the warm body sliding up next to her. “You really need to stop breaking and entering,” she said as she pulled out a few books, reaching down to pick up her backpack and slip them in.
Puck closed the locker with a laugh. “You gave me the combination. I hardly think that counts as breaking and entering,” she said. She shifted the weight of her backpack. “Wanna go hang out at the park or something? It’s actually nice out today, and I don’t want it to go to waste. Besides, neither of us want to be home, anyways.”
“Um...” Jen paused as her phone vibrated in her pocket. Pulling it out, she sent a quick text to Tyler telling him to go ahead, she didn’t need a ride home. “Sure,” she said turning back to Lily, tugging her backpack up and onto one shoulder, “of course.”
Puck smiled and offered her hand to the other girl before leading the pair off to the park. The park was emptier than it had been in the summer when they’d spent countless afternoons kicking a ball back and forth, talking about their plans to get as far away from Lima as they could manage. It was also colder than it had been on the nights when they’d sneak into the park after hours with some booze and watch the stars light up the sky. Though, they hadn’t spent much time together at the end of the summer. She’d been busy. Busy in a real relationship.
Puck hopped onto a nearby bench. “I’m sorry for bailing on you for the last few weeks,” she said honestly, tugging on Jen’s hand with a light smile, “but we’re still good, right?”
Jen dropped her backpack onto the ground before climbing up next to Lily. She reached for the other girl’s hand lacing their fingers together and resting her head on Lily’s shoulder. “You realize, don’t you, that we were good even when you lost my cleats for a day and I thought I would have to murder you?” She took in a breath pulling her closer against the cold. “We’re always good, Lily.” Even when we’re not.
Puck grinned, resting her head on top of Jen’s. “Good,” she said, “and for the record, I totally found your cleats, like, two days later and they were perfectly fine like I said they would be. And it was completely your fault I lost them, anyways. You were distracting me with suggestive texts.” She chuckled softly at the memory of Jen’s face when Puck realized she didn’t have her cleats. She mentally flinched as she recalled the stone cold glare she’d gotten until she’d finally found them swept away beneath the bleachers. “But, you know, it’s all in the past, so I forgive you,” Puck teased.
Jen laughed lightly then turned her head to press a kiss to Lily’s cheek, her lips pressing close to the corner of Lily’s mouth. Her voice was soft when she replied, “That’s all I could ever ask for.”
Puck flinched as Jen kissed her cheek. It wasn’t that she didn’t like it or something. It was just, she couldn’t. But the words I have a girlfriend weren’t exactly flying out of her mouth. Instead, she smiled and nodded because things were good with Jen.
Jen felt Lily tense slightly as she rested her head back on her shoulder. “Oh.” She pulled away letting go of Lily’s hand, “I’m sorry. Should I not...are we...I mean...” She slid away from Lily some sliding her hands into her coat pockets. She spoke quickly her grip tight on her phone in her pocket trying to avoid the awkward tension she felt forming between them. “Where have you been? Should I be worried that whatever it is you didn’t drag me along with you.”
Puck laughed nervously. “I just, uh,” Puck shrugged. How was she supposed to tell her, Oh, sorry, I got a girlfriend over the summer and unlike you, I plan on valuing monogamy in our relationship. She flinched. Yeah, the second bit would also probably be really bad.
“I’ve just been busy. With... stuff.” She leaned into Jen. “I’m sorry. It’s not that we shouldn’t. It’s just that... we... shouldn’t. I... shouldn’t. For now.” Puck flinched at her own awkwardness. “Sorry. It’s just been a while since we’ve hung out like this. Which is, I guess, my fault. I just...” Puck let out a breath. “Just... sorry.”
Jen relaxed slowly, pulling Lily closer into her. She turned Lily’s hand over in her own, tracing the lines with her thumb. “Okay,” she said after a moment. “It’s okay. We’re...” she paused, “I missed you.”
Puck nodded, a light smile growing on her face as she felt Jen tracing patterns along her palm. “I missed you, too, Torres,” she replied softly. She thought of Emily and swallowed hard. She straightened her spine. “So, just so we’re clear, you’re done being mad at me and ignoring me, right?” she asked, giving Jen her cheekiest grin.
Jen rolled her eyes unable to keep the smile from forming on her face. “One of these days I’m going to say ‘no’ and then none of your juice box giving or smiling is going to change my mind. Then what would you do?”
Puck laughed. “Right, and one of these days, Berry will swear off singing and music all together.” She grinned at Jen. “But, just in case, I’ll have to find a few ways to be extra charming,” she teased, winking at her.
“Oh, please,” Jen snorted as she pulled her coat sleeve up some so that she could easily slide off her bracelet and slip it onto Lily’s wrist. She gently spun the bracelet around and around, stretching the plastic string slightly so that the stars could easily move. “Annoying, yes. But you, charming? Never.”
Puck chuckled as she watched the star bracelet she’d made for Jen when they were kids swirl around her wrist. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she joked, playfully rolling her eyes, “I’m always charming.” She grinned. “Don’t even try denying it. You know it’s true.”
She liked this. She liked the easy banter, the way they easily slipped into this routine teasing. She’d missed it. Puck smiled lightly, hoping that when Jen one day found out about Emily, it wouldn’t all disappear. Puck leaned against Jen lightly. I hope we don’t ruin everything.
“I do, I do,” Jen finally admitted, “I suppose I can admit that you can occasionally be..” She let out a breath searching for the right word. Unable to find one, she shook her head bumping her shoulder against Lily’s before slipping off of the bench and heading toward the empty playground.
Puck laughed as she slid off of the bench and followed Jen to the swings. She sat beside her and grinned. “So, what’s up, Wendy Darling?”
Jen pressed her feet into the ground stretching her legs out, pushing herself back. “Nothing really. Just school and keeping in shape. Reading some books from the library.” She frowned, “Except Emily has been acting different. I need to talk to her. I know you don’t like her but she’s my friend , best friend, so don’t say anything that’ll make me mad at you again.”
Puck laughed awkwardly. “I won’t,” she replied, wondering knowing full well the new Emily was probably her doing. Puck smirked. She was changing Emily. Was Emily changing her, too? Her smirk faltered. But was that even a bad thing? She was happier, wasn’t she? Emily made her happier. She scoffed to herself at the thought, but it was true. Somehow, despite the decade of hating each other’s guts, spending time with Emily made her happy. “What’s, uh, wrong with her?” Puck asked awkwardly.
Jen turned sharply to Lily, shock clearly written across her face. “Who are you? Did you just ask me...did...what? What?”
Puck chortled. “Well, she’s your best friend and you’re my friend, right? So I’m just pretending to care a little. We can totally talk about something else. I would not mind at all. But, I mean, if something’s bothering you, I’m hear to listen,” Puck replied. “Even if it’s about Smulders,” she finished with a wink.
Jen rolled her eyes as she lifted her legs and allowed herself to swing forward. She hopped out of the swing, in the air for a few moments before her feet found the ground. She jogged across the playground disappearing in some of the bushes before popping back out kicking a soccer ball in front of her. “Someone always forgets one and is too lazy to go looking for it.”
Puck chuckled. “What are you? Some sort of soccer fairy or something?” she teased, stealing the ball from Jen and dribbling it between her feet. Puck looked up at Jen. “So besides Em, everything okay with you?” she asked seriously.
“Nothing I want you to worry about,” Jen replied turning around. “Game to five?” she asked as she grabbed the back of Lily’s jacket holding her for a moment as she kicked the ball away dribbling toward the large field by the jungle gym.
Puck ran after her, grabbing Jen’s wrist and tugging her into her body. “Hey,” she said, kicking the ball away, “What’s up? Don’t give me that ‘I don’t want to worry you’ crap. I’m not just anybody, Torres. I’m me. We tell each other things. That’s how we work. Tell me what’s up.”
“You know, you get carded for that,” Jen said as she pulled out of her grasp. They’d discovered several summers ago that Jen was faster than Puck. Not by much, but just enough that she could stay out of her grasp as she ran after the ball.
Puck gritted her teeth as she chased after Jen. “For fuck’s sake, Torres,” she shouted after her, “Stop fucking running away from me!” She attempted to boost her speed, but Jen had always been faster than she was. She’d always been a pure athlete through and through. At first, she’d been jealous. Then, she began to appreciate it when she proved to have an athlete’s stamina. But now, it was just a fucking pain in the ass. “Torres!” she shouted again, pushing through the lactic acid beginning to build in her legs as she continued to sprint after the other girl.
Jen laughed looking over at Puck who was getting further behind her. She stopped suddenly, spinning around and opening her arms as Lily barreled into her. Her breath was knocked out of her as she fell back, wrapping her arms and her. She flipped them over, her knees resting on either side of of Lily’s hips. “Red card, expelled for the rest of the game.”
Puck chuckled breathlessly. She propped herself up on her elbows. “You talking about yourself?” she grinned, “I’m pretty sure straddling the opponent isn’t a legal action. But I’ll let it slide this once.” She took a deep breath. “But, really, Torres. Tell me what’s up.”
“What would you say if...I wanted to quit the team?”
Puck let out a breath. “Abso-fucking-loutely not. B already left me for fucking Cheerios. I’m not losing you, too. What’s wrong, Torres? Why are you thinking about quitting?”
“I just...” Jen shrugged, “maybe there are other things I want to try. I don’t know. Nevermind. I won’t. I won’t quit.” She shifted so that her head was resting on Lily’s shoulder, “I won’t quit and leave you all alone.”
“Good,” Puck replied, pressing her head against Jen’s shoulder. “Out of curiosity, though, what other things did you have in mind, Wendy Darling?”
“Not Cheerios, so you don’t have to worry about that,” Jen replied with a laugh. “I was thinking of working in the library so I could at least get paid for all the time I spend there. Or you know...just partying. Smoking and getting totally trashed. I’ve never done that before, I could try that.”
Puck laughed as she sat up, pulling herself out from under Jen. “The library is boring shit. Don’t work there,” she teased. “As for partying and getting trashed, I can totally handle that for you. But no smoking. Smoking smells like shit and you won’t be able to come back to soccer even if you wanted to. No smoking.”
Jen smiled, rolling off of Lily, resting comfortably on her back in the grass. “One, we’ve had plenty of fun in the library. Two, Peter would be totally bad ass and smoke and still beat up Hook. But whatever, smoking is bad, no smoking, got it.” After a few breaths Jen turned her head. She looked over at Lily. “Lils,” she waited until Lily was looking at her before continuing, “Have you heard from Noah?”
“First of all, my name is Lily,” Puck said stiffly, “And, no, I haven’t heard from him.” She let out a deep breath, calming herself. “And one, the fun we had in the library had nothing to do with the library. We had fun in my room, too. The library is still boring shit. Two, Peter won’t be beating on Hook with emphysema. No fucking smoking. So, why the doubts about soccer? I mean, yeah, you want to do other shit, but why? Soccer’s your thing, isn’t it?”
Jen made a soft soothing noise, wrapping an arm around Lily’s waist and pressing further into her. Talking about Noah was always a risk. But Jen had a lot of experience soothing Lily when she reacted from that place where she was trying to protect her heart - to not be let down again. She hummed softly, the song never the same and never something she knew the words to, until she felt Lily relax totally. “I like the library,” she admitted, “I like the books and the quiet and some of the stories, in the books you haven’t defaced, are pretty interesting.”
Puck sighed, leaning into Jen. “Okay, fine. But you’re not quitting soccer for the library. I need you too much. Everyone on the team sucks balls. Except you, me, Kat, and maybe Rose.”
Jen tugged the tie out of Lily’s hair, slipping it onto her wrist, and ran her fingers through Lily’s hair as she spoke. “Oh you’re sweet. How could I say no to that? You want me around just because I can kick around a soccer ball. You, Lily, you’re a catch.”
Puck laughed, shaking her head. “I am quite a catch, Torres,” she replied cheekily, flexing her muscles, “Now give me my hair tie, you asshole.”
Jen rolled away from Lily onto her stomach, pushing up onto her feet, back peddling away from her. “Or what?” she taunted. She could only imagine what someone would think if they saw the pair of them, huddled close on the bench, then to the swings, and finally chasing each other around before ending up cuddled together on the ground. She shrugged, her smile widening, as she watched Lily sit up, “Or what?”
“Aww, come on, Torres!” Puck groaned, getting to her feet. “We just did the chasing thing. Must we really do it again already? Just give me the damn hair tie!” She dusted off her pants before taking off after Jen. “Come on, Torres! I am going to make you suffer for this!”
“You can’t even catch me!” Jen yelled over her shoulder, her own hair whipping behind her as she moved faster. She clambered up onto the playground equipment. She bounced across the bridge and slipped into the tube slide sliding down some before wedging herself comfortably. Her back pressed against one side, her feet against the other. She felt around in the semi-darkness, searching for the dip in the plastic where she’d engraved her and Lily’s name.
Puck raced after her, a grin on her face as she made her way down to the playground and she flipped herself directly over the bar onto the platform above the tube slide. “Geronimo!” she shouted down the slide before hopping down and bowling into Jen, knocking them both out the bottom of the slide. Puck pinned Jen to the ground with her weight, pulling her hair tie from Jen’s wrist. “I’ll take that,” she grinned triumphantly.
Jen struggled with Lily for a few moments, attempting to get the hair tie back, but she finally gave up falling back into the wood chips with a, “Humph.” She crossed her arms glaring playfully up at her.
Puck laughed, pulling her hair back into a ponytail as Jen lay beneath her. “Who’s the bitch now, Torres?” Puck teased, leaning down dangerously close to Jen’s face before rolling off of her and standing up. “Come on, Wendy. It’s getting late. Let’s go home. Or at least somewhere indoors.”
Jen stood, brushing herself off, then combing her fingers through her hair, looping her arm through Lily’s as they walked back to their backpacks. “Is there anything going on with you that you want to talk about?” She pulled away bending over to get her backpack, lifting it up onto the table then turning back to Lily.
Puck slipped her backpack onto her right shoulder. “Nah,” she replied, “My life’s my usual mess, so nothing you didn’t already know about.” Except, you know, I’m dating your best friend. But no big. She flashed her a quick grin. “Ready to bounce?”
Jen rolled her eyes pulling her backpack on. She frowned. Something felt wrong. She paused trying to figure it out. “Oh,” she realized pulling her fingers away from her wrist holding her hand out, “before you steal anything else from me.”
Puck rolled her eyes. “The straw wasn’t even fucking in yet,” Puck muttered playfully as she pulled the old bracelet off of her own wrist and slipped it back onto Jen’s. “It doesn’t count as stealing.”
Jen caught Lily’s wrist before she could pull away tugging her close. “It was mine, Lily,” she said softly, “It was sitting right in front of me.” She smoothed some of Lily’s hair that had escaped the hair tie behind her ear. “When are you ever going to admit I’m right? You should do it sooner rather than later. Peter doesn’t lie. Not to Wendy.”
“I’m not lying,” Puck insisted. “You’re just being a jerk.” She pulled away gently. “I’m a lot of things, but I am neither a liar nor a thief,” she said, grinning as she lead them down the path out of the park.
Jen smiled over at her, looking away when their eyes made contact. “Lily,” she began, then stopped. She tried again. “You,” she let out a breath, “wanna tell me where we’re going?”
“Home, Wendy Darling,” Puck replied, “Fucking Arthurs made a huge fucking project about the Victorian Era due tomorrow and I need to finish it. And by finish it, I mean start, so I really ought to go home. I just wanted to hang out because we haven’t and I miss you.” Puck gave Jen a tight hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow at practice, yeah?”
Jen shook her head a smile on her face, “Some things never change do they?”
When: October 2018
Where:Lincoln Park
What: If we’re going to play this game, someone will eventually lose.
Jen set her backpack down by her feet and reached up to spin the dial on her locker. She’d stayed after with Tyler to help him with some of his math work. The two had found a quiet spot in an empty hallway and eventually got through all the problems he’d needed help with. Opening her locker, she wasn’t really surprised to see a juice box resting on the top shelf and even less surprised to feel the warm body sliding up next to her. “You really need to stop breaking and entering,” she said as she pulled out a few books, reaching down to pick up her backpack and slip them in.
Puck closed the locker with a laugh. “You gave me the combination. I hardly think that counts as breaking and entering,” she said. She shifted the weight of her backpack. “Wanna go hang out at the park or something? It’s actually nice out today, and I don’t want it to go to waste. Besides, neither of us want to be home, anyways.”
“Um...” Jen paused as her phone vibrated in her pocket. Pulling it out, she sent a quick text to Tyler telling him to go ahead, she didn’t need a ride home. “Sure,” she said turning back to Lily, tugging her backpack up and onto one shoulder, “of course.”
Puck smiled and offered her hand to the other girl before leading the pair off to the park. The park was emptier than it had been in the summer when they’d spent countless afternoons kicking a ball back and forth, talking about their plans to get as far away from Lima as they could manage. It was also colder than it had been on the nights when they’d sneak into the park after hours with some booze and watch the stars light up the sky. Though, they hadn’t spent much time together at the end of the summer. She’d been busy. Busy in a real relationship.
Puck hopped onto a nearby bench. “I’m sorry for bailing on you for the last few weeks,” she said honestly, tugging on Jen’s hand with a light smile, “but we’re still good, right?”
Jen dropped her backpack onto the ground before climbing up next to Lily. She reached for the other girl’s hand lacing their fingers together and resting her head on Lily’s shoulder. “You realize, don’t you, that we were good even when you lost my cleats for a day and I thought I would have to murder you?” She took in a breath pulling her closer against the cold. “We’re always good, Lily.” Even when we’re not.
Puck grinned, resting her head on top of Jen’s. “Good,” she said, “and for the record, I totally found your cleats, like, two days later and they were perfectly fine like I said they would be. And it was completely your fault I lost them, anyways. You were distracting me with suggestive texts.” She chuckled softly at the memory of Jen’s face when Puck realized she didn’t have her cleats. She mentally flinched as she recalled the stone cold glare she’d gotten until she’d finally found them swept away beneath the bleachers. “But, you know, it’s all in the past, so I forgive you,” Puck teased.
Jen laughed lightly then turned her head to press a kiss to Lily’s cheek, her lips pressing close to the corner of Lily’s mouth. Her voice was soft when she replied, “That’s all I could ever ask for.”
Puck flinched as Jen kissed her cheek. It wasn’t that she didn’t like it or something. It was just, she couldn’t. But the words I have a girlfriend weren’t exactly flying out of her mouth. Instead, she smiled and nodded because things were good with Jen.
Jen felt Lily tense slightly as she rested her head back on her shoulder. “Oh.” She pulled away letting go of Lily’s hand, “I’m sorry. Should I not...are we...I mean...” She slid away from Lily some sliding her hands into her coat pockets. She spoke quickly her grip tight on her phone in her pocket trying to avoid the awkward tension she felt forming between them. “Where have you been? Should I be worried that whatever it is you didn’t drag me along with you.”
Puck laughed nervously. “I just, uh,” Puck shrugged. How was she supposed to tell her, Oh, sorry, I got a girlfriend over the summer and unlike you, I plan on valuing monogamy in our relationship. She flinched. Yeah, the second bit would also probably be really bad.
“I’ve just been busy. With... stuff.” She leaned into Jen. “I’m sorry. It’s not that we shouldn’t. It’s just that... we... shouldn’t. I... shouldn’t. For now.” Puck flinched at her own awkwardness. “Sorry. It’s just been a while since we’ve hung out like this. Which is, I guess, my fault. I just...” Puck let out a breath. “Just... sorry.”
Jen relaxed slowly, pulling Lily closer into her. She turned Lily’s hand over in her own, tracing the lines with her thumb. “Okay,” she said after a moment. “It’s okay. We’re...” she paused, “I missed you.”
Puck nodded, a light smile growing on her face as she felt Jen tracing patterns along her palm. “I missed you, too, Torres,” she replied softly. She thought of Emily and swallowed hard. She straightened her spine. “So, just so we’re clear, you’re done being mad at me and ignoring me, right?” she asked, giving Jen her cheekiest grin.
Jen rolled her eyes unable to keep the smile from forming on her face. “One of these days I’m going to say ‘no’ and then none of your juice box giving or smiling is going to change my mind. Then what would you do?”
Puck laughed. “Right, and one of these days, Berry will swear off singing and music all together.” She grinned at Jen. “But, just in case, I’ll have to find a few ways to be extra charming,” she teased, winking at her.
“Oh, please,” Jen snorted as she pulled her coat sleeve up some so that she could easily slide off her bracelet and slip it onto Lily’s wrist. She gently spun the bracelet around and around, stretching the plastic string slightly so that the stars could easily move. “Annoying, yes. But you, charming? Never.”
Puck chuckled as she watched the star bracelet she’d made for Jen when they were kids swirl around her wrist. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she joked, playfully rolling her eyes, “I’m always charming.” She grinned. “Don’t even try denying it. You know it’s true.”
She liked this. She liked the easy banter, the way they easily slipped into this routine teasing. She’d missed it. Puck smiled lightly, hoping that when Jen one day found out about Emily, it wouldn’t all disappear. Puck leaned against Jen lightly. I hope we don’t ruin everything.
“I do, I do,” Jen finally admitted, “I suppose I can admit that you can occasionally be..” She let out a breath searching for the right word. Unable to find one, she shook her head bumping her shoulder against Lily’s before slipping off of the bench and heading toward the empty playground.
Puck laughed as she slid off of the bench and followed Jen to the swings. She sat beside her and grinned. “So, what’s up, Wendy Darling?”
Jen pressed her feet into the ground stretching her legs out, pushing herself back. “Nothing really. Just school and keeping in shape. Reading some books from the library.” She frowned, “Except Emily has been acting different. I need to talk to her. I know you don’t like her but she’s my friend , best friend, so don’t say anything that’ll make me mad at you again.”
Puck laughed awkwardly. “I won’t,” she replied, wondering knowing full well the new Emily was probably her doing. Puck smirked. She was changing Emily. Was Emily changing her, too? Her smirk faltered. But was that even a bad thing? She was happier, wasn’t she? Emily made her happier. She scoffed to herself at the thought, but it was true. Somehow, despite the decade of hating each other’s guts, spending time with Emily made her happy. “What’s, uh, wrong with her?” Puck asked awkwardly.
Jen turned sharply to Lily, shock clearly written across her face. “Who are you? Did you just ask me...did...what? What?”
Puck chortled. “Well, she’s your best friend and you’re my friend, right? So I’m just pretending to care a little. We can totally talk about something else. I would not mind at all. But, I mean, if something’s bothering you, I’m hear to listen,” Puck replied. “Even if it’s about Smulders,” she finished with a wink.
Jen rolled her eyes as she lifted her legs and allowed herself to swing forward. She hopped out of the swing, in the air for a few moments before her feet found the ground. She jogged across the playground disappearing in some of the bushes before popping back out kicking a soccer ball in front of her. “Someone always forgets one and is too lazy to go looking for it.”
Puck chuckled. “What are you? Some sort of soccer fairy or something?” she teased, stealing the ball from Jen and dribbling it between her feet. Puck looked up at Jen. “So besides Em, everything okay with you?” she asked seriously.
“Nothing I want you to worry about,” Jen replied turning around. “Game to five?” she asked as she grabbed the back of Lily’s jacket holding her for a moment as she kicked the ball away dribbling toward the large field by the jungle gym.
Puck ran after her, grabbing Jen’s wrist and tugging her into her body. “Hey,” she said, kicking the ball away, “What’s up? Don’t give me that ‘I don’t want to worry you’ crap. I’m not just anybody, Torres. I’m me. We tell each other things. That’s how we work. Tell me what’s up.”
“You know, you get carded for that,” Jen said as she pulled out of her grasp. They’d discovered several summers ago that Jen was faster than Puck. Not by much, but just enough that she could stay out of her grasp as she ran after the ball.
Puck gritted her teeth as she chased after Jen. “For fuck’s sake, Torres,” she shouted after her, “Stop fucking running away from me!” She attempted to boost her speed, but Jen had always been faster than she was. She’d always been a pure athlete through and through. At first, she’d been jealous. Then, she began to appreciate it when she proved to have an athlete’s stamina. But now, it was just a fucking pain in the ass. “Torres!” she shouted again, pushing through the lactic acid beginning to build in her legs as she continued to sprint after the other girl.
Jen laughed looking over at Puck who was getting further behind her. She stopped suddenly, spinning around and opening her arms as Lily barreled into her. Her breath was knocked out of her as she fell back, wrapping her arms and her. She flipped them over, her knees resting on either side of of Lily’s hips. “Red card, expelled for the rest of the game.”
Puck chuckled breathlessly. She propped herself up on her elbows. “You talking about yourself?” she grinned, “I’m pretty sure straddling the opponent isn’t a legal action. But I’ll let it slide this once.” She took a deep breath. “But, really, Torres. Tell me what’s up.”
“What would you say if...I wanted to quit the team?”
Puck let out a breath. “Abso-fucking-loutely not. B already left me for fucking Cheerios. I’m not losing you, too. What’s wrong, Torres? Why are you thinking about quitting?”
“I just...” Jen shrugged, “maybe there are other things I want to try. I don’t know. Nevermind. I won’t. I won’t quit.” She shifted so that her head was resting on Lily’s shoulder, “I won’t quit and leave you all alone.”
“Good,” Puck replied, pressing her head against Jen’s shoulder. “Out of curiosity, though, what other things did you have in mind, Wendy Darling?”
“Not Cheerios, so you don’t have to worry about that,” Jen replied with a laugh. “I was thinking of working in the library so I could at least get paid for all the time I spend there. Or you know...just partying. Smoking and getting totally trashed. I’ve never done that before, I could try that.”
Puck laughed as she sat up, pulling herself out from under Jen. “The library is boring shit. Don’t work there,” she teased. “As for partying and getting trashed, I can totally handle that for you. But no smoking. Smoking smells like shit and you won’t be able to come back to soccer even if you wanted to. No smoking.”
Jen smiled, rolling off of Lily, resting comfortably on her back in the grass. “One, we’ve had plenty of fun in the library. Two, Peter would be totally bad ass and smoke and still beat up Hook. But whatever, smoking is bad, no smoking, got it.” After a few breaths Jen turned her head. She looked over at Lily. “Lils,” she waited until Lily was looking at her before continuing, “Have you heard from Noah?”
“First of all, my name is Lily,” Puck said stiffly, “And, no, I haven’t heard from him.” She let out a deep breath, calming herself. “And one, the fun we had in the library had nothing to do with the library. We had fun in my room, too. The library is still boring shit. Two, Peter won’t be beating on Hook with emphysema. No fucking smoking. So, why the doubts about soccer? I mean, yeah, you want to do other shit, but why? Soccer’s your thing, isn’t it?”
Jen made a soft soothing noise, wrapping an arm around Lily’s waist and pressing further into her. Talking about Noah was always a risk. But Jen had a lot of experience soothing Lily when she reacted from that place where she was trying to protect her heart - to not be let down again. She hummed softly, the song never the same and never something she knew the words to, until she felt Lily relax totally. “I like the library,” she admitted, “I like the books and the quiet and some of the stories, in the books you haven’t defaced, are pretty interesting.”
Puck sighed, leaning into Jen. “Okay, fine. But you’re not quitting soccer for the library. I need you too much. Everyone on the team sucks balls. Except you, me, Kat, and maybe Rose.”
Jen tugged the tie out of Lily’s hair, slipping it onto her wrist, and ran her fingers through Lily’s hair as she spoke. “Oh you’re sweet. How could I say no to that? You want me around just because I can kick around a soccer ball. You, Lily, you’re a catch.”
Puck laughed, shaking her head. “I am quite a catch, Torres,” she replied cheekily, flexing her muscles, “Now give me my hair tie, you asshole.”
Jen rolled away from Lily onto her stomach, pushing up onto her feet, back peddling away from her. “Or what?” she taunted. She could only imagine what someone would think if they saw the pair of them, huddled close on the bench, then to the swings, and finally chasing each other around before ending up cuddled together on the ground. She shrugged, her smile widening, as she watched Lily sit up, “Or what?”
“Aww, come on, Torres!” Puck groaned, getting to her feet. “We just did the chasing thing. Must we really do it again already? Just give me the damn hair tie!” She dusted off her pants before taking off after Jen. “Come on, Torres! I am going to make you suffer for this!”
“You can’t even catch me!” Jen yelled over her shoulder, her own hair whipping behind her as she moved faster. She clambered up onto the playground equipment. She bounced across the bridge and slipped into the tube slide sliding down some before wedging herself comfortably. Her back pressed against one side, her feet against the other. She felt around in the semi-darkness, searching for the dip in the plastic where she’d engraved her and Lily’s name.
Puck raced after her, a grin on her face as she made her way down to the playground and she flipped herself directly over the bar onto the platform above the tube slide. “Geronimo!” she shouted down the slide before hopping down and bowling into Jen, knocking them both out the bottom of the slide. Puck pinned Jen to the ground with her weight, pulling her hair tie from Jen’s wrist. “I’ll take that,” she grinned triumphantly.
Jen struggled with Lily for a few moments, attempting to get the hair tie back, but she finally gave up falling back into the wood chips with a, “Humph.” She crossed her arms glaring playfully up at her.
Puck laughed, pulling her hair back into a ponytail as Jen lay beneath her. “Who’s the bitch now, Torres?” Puck teased, leaning down dangerously close to Jen’s face before rolling off of her and standing up. “Come on, Wendy. It’s getting late. Let’s go home. Or at least somewhere indoors.”
Jen stood, brushing herself off, then combing her fingers through her hair, looping her arm through Lily’s as they walked back to their backpacks. “Is there anything going on with you that you want to talk about?” She pulled away bending over to get her backpack, lifting it up onto the table then turning back to Lily.
Puck slipped her backpack onto her right shoulder. “Nah,” she replied, “My life’s my usual mess, so nothing you didn’t already know about.” Except, you know, I’m dating your best friend. But no big. She flashed her a quick grin. “Ready to bounce?”
Jen rolled her eyes pulling her backpack on. She frowned. Something felt wrong. She paused trying to figure it out. “Oh,” she realized pulling her fingers away from her wrist holding her hand out, “before you steal anything else from me.”
Puck rolled her eyes. “The straw wasn’t even fucking in yet,” Puck muttered playfully as she pulled the old bracelet off of her own wrist and slipped it back onto Jen’s. “It doesn’t count as stealing.”
Jen caught Lily’s wrist before she could pull away tugging her close. “It was mine, Lily,” she said softly, “It was sitting right in front of me.” She smoothed some of Lily’s hair that had escaped the hair tie behind her ear. “When are you ever going to admit I’m right? You should do it sooner rather than later. Peter doesn’t lie. Not to Wendy.”
“I’m not lying,” Puck insisted. “You’re just being a jerk.” She pulled away gently. “I’m a lot of things, but I am neither a liar nor a thief,” she said, grinning as she lead them down the path out of the park.
Jen smiled over at her, looking away when their eyes made contact. “Lily,” she began, then stopped. She tried again. “You,” she let out a breath, “wanna tell me where we’re going?”
“Home, Wendy Darling,” Puck replied, “Fucking Arthurs made a huge fucking project about the Victorian Era due tomorrow and I need to finish it. And by finish it, I mean start, so I really ought to go home. I just wanted to hang out because we haven’t and I miss you.” Puck gave Jen a tight hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow at practice, yeah?”
Jen shook her head a smile on her face, “Some things never change do they?”