Fic: Busting Windows (Glee, Luck- Lauren/Puck)
Life is a giant timeline. What would happen if just one moment was taken out? What if one thing was changed? Would we end up in the same place? I wanted to explore that. What if Lauren and Puck's paths crossed in different ways? What if Kurt never left? What if there was another reason Puck ended up in that Port-a-potty? What if?... One moment. One change in direction.
I really hope you like the chapter. Please let me know...
Title: Busting Windows
Rating: R (for language right now, sexual situations later)
Summary: One little white lie couldn't hurt
Warning: None. This is an AU story. A what if kind of story What if Kurt was bullied but never left New Directions, what if Puck was stuck in that Port-a-potty for a different reason? Would Lauren and Puck end up where they are now?
Couple: Lauren/Puck
Fandom: Glee
Finished: No
Feedback: Please and thank you
Disclaimer: Not mine
Word Count: 2738
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Chapter 1: It Started With A Lie
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Lunch. The only time of the day everyone came together. Groups of kids sat at tables, on benches, on the stairs, on the raising rock bleachers. Food was shared or taken (depending on the situation and the people involved). Gossip was spoken excitedly to anyone who would listen. Most did. Teenagers thrived on it. It was like TMZ in real time with people they all knew... of course no one did anything majorly outrageous. The most zany thing that has been shared was that Kyle Miller was seen smoking up behind the gym by the new football coach, Shannon Beiste (Lauren liked her already. That name was fucking epic) and was suspended for the rest of the week. Yeah, life was one fucking thrill ride after another in this tiny town.
The table she was at was somewhere between jockstrap land (she was welcome there...kinda- because of her wrestling cred) and nerdville USA (because she knew too many of them to completely ignore them all). Her tray was filled with items the likes of Jamie Oliver -fucking health conscious bastard- would have a stroke over. A burger filled with greasy “meat”, french fries, chocolate pudding, Twizzlers- that she took from a skinny bitch complaining about gaining an ounce, a large bottle of soda- the real shit- diet drinks need not apply- and an apple. What she did like some fruits?
In between eating, Lauren threw a french fry at Jacob's head, aiming for the puffy reddish curls, hoping the potato would stay where she tossed it. A grin spread across her face when it landed right on top, deeply imbedded in that nest of hair. She looked around the quart yard where kids ate when the weather was nice and watched the Glee geeks start to set up on some of the concrete bleachers. An old school boombox was placed on the ground between Noah Puckerman (he was hella good lookin') and Finn Hudson (cute, but eh). The rest of the group gathered around them and Puck reached down to press play. Music filled the quad. Students shifted toward the sound.
She dropped her chin to her hand, rolling her eyes and dipping another fry in the mound of ketch-up on her tray. Her eyes swung back and forth between all the kids singing some song about whatever and sighed. Boring! So fucking boring! Her blue eyes fell back on the bad ass in the back. He moved his hips in the direction of a vapid cheerleader, smirking at her, winking as he sang. The girl nearly passed out from the attention. Lauren was rather amused by this. What a dip shit! Having her fill of Glee on parade, she gathered her books and bag, reaching down to grab the last fry from her tray and toss it gently into Jacob's hair again while he had a wet fantasy about all the Glee girls dancing on the bleachers and then walked away. Her mind immediately emptied of the performance still going on, focusing instead on the list of work she needed to finish in Biology, which started in less than ten minutes.
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She had one class with Puck, Finn, Santana Lopez, Artie Abrams and Rachel Berry (Lord help her, that chick was fucking annoying sometimes) and it was English. Lauren was rather great at keeping her intelligence to herself and she fucking rocked this class. It was easy. She hardly ever paid attention, preferring instead to think about other more interesting matters- like if Angel and Edward ever met and fought over Bella would Buffy kick all their asses? Fuck that would be entertaining to see. It was during one of those deep thoughts that it happened. The teacher paired them up and gave them a passage to do a five page report on that would be discussed in front of the class- the other option was the duos could reenact the scene but it had to be full on.
Her pen tapped the edge of her book impatiently. Of course. Of course she would be stuck with him. Mother fucker! Her blue eyes sharpened at him then dropped to the book in front of her. Puck shifted next to her, drawing her attention once again, stretching his long body out- his knee bumping into hers, watching as a blonde girl walked past. She rolled her eyes to the heavens, feeling the urge to scream take hold. She couldn't give a lesser shit if someone paid her about anything Shakespearean, but thanks to Ms. Loveless, they were all assigned a partner (hers being Puckerman- fucking hell) and a scene from one of his plays. Normally Lauren would tell the teacher to go fuck themselves but she needed the grade to stay on the wrestling team and to keep her GPA at a 3.8- that bastard, Mr. Wilkens- may he burn in the fiery pits of hell for giving her an undeserved C because she refused to go easy on his nephew during a match, so she swallowed her annoyance- for now. Puck moved forward, his arms resting on the edge of the table and he looked at her. The white t-shirt he wore pulled across his chest and shoulders, giving her a good indication that he was probably well-built. She looked back, completely unimpressed by him. Yes he was hot - absurdly so- but he was a complete and utter prick as well. She knew all about his reputation and him getting Quinn pregnant last year. So no she wasn't going to faint at being close to him. Part of her wondered if most girls did. Stupid question, of course they did. Fucking bobble headed idiots!
“What,” her lips curled into a scowl. He raised his eyebrow and shrugged. She pushed her glasses further on her nose, even though she didn't need to and nudged the book toward him. “This is your part. Learn it so we won't have to do the five page paper.”
“I'm not really into reading,” he said, his eyes drifting toward the blonde again. Lauren watched the 'come on baby fuck this Puck' look cross his face and couldn't stop the frown on her lips from deepening. “Or acting,” he finished distractedly.
She clapped her hands loudly in front of his face, her patience gone, snapped like a twig- kinda like what she would like to do to him right then - she didn't have much to begin with. “Let me make this as clear as possible so you can understand, I- don't- give- a- fuck.” Her hands came together, her fingers interlacing, her eyes burning with anger. “You're going to read, you're going to memorize, you're going to perform- because if you don't and I get an F, you're going to know how exactly how John Bobbit felt when Lorena went all crazy on his ass.” An overly sweet smile curled her lips and she tilted her head to the side, “Got it?”
“Yeah, whatever,” he said but his light hazel brown eyes got wide. He looked at her more intently than before. It was the first time he didn't look through her. Lauren grimaced at him, pulling the book back to her then slammed it shut and gathered her stuff as the bell rang. It was time to leave this place- thank God- and she had a lot to do to get ready for her trainer later today. She exited the classroom without a backwards glance, already forgetting about her English assignment and her ding bat of a partner.
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From four to six every Wednesday and Friday, she went to Iron Man gym and took boxing lessons from a friend of her older brother, Max Cousins. He was tall. Built like a brick house, all muscle under dark skin and as mean as a fucking snake in the ring. She grew up watching them spar and then went to some of their matches before he joined the army with her brother Nathan. They served in the same unit, spent two tours living in each other's pocket. Max was there when her brother was shot during a routine walk through. He saw it happen, he was the one that pulled Nate behind cover while the medics worked frantically to save him. The bullet missed vital organs but not his spinal column. When Nathan came home, he was paralyzed from the waist down. Given no chance to walk again.
The brother that used to be like Superman to her- a boxing, wrestling, football champ- was suddenly very human. For the first four months, Nate struggled, finding more comfort in a bottle of Jack Daniels than his family. She watched as he refused to do anything but drink. The bitterness and wariness of war made him impossible to live with. The tension in the house grew thicker and thicker every day. To Lauren it was like he left one battle zone to create another. Then one day, she stopped watching him and forced him to watch her- as she dumped all his booze down the drain and screamed at him. Lauren was sure he would yell back at her, but instead he cried, raging at God, angry at fate, devastated by what happened to him. They spent hours throwing stuff against the walls, screaming at the top of their lungs, doing anything that would make them feel better. Two days after that he went to rehab. That was almost a year ago and he hasn't touched a drop since.
During that time, she got really close to Max. Boxing became her release. The sweat, the movements, the power, the control. She loved it. William McKinley High didn't have a boxing team, but they did have wrestling. Nate told her that she would thrive in that sport as well. It was all about control- controlling opponents, controlling strength, controlling ones movements. When he got out of rehab, he taught her everything he knew- with Max's help- and now she was the state champion on her way to being National Champion if she had anything to say about it.
Lauren stepped back in the ring, her feet bouncing on the mat, her arms up ready to fight. Max held up his hands- red mitts on his large hands for her to punch. She did. Jabbing and ducking, moving with each one of his moves. Her right fist crossed her body, but her aim was off and she nearly fell to the ground. Shaking her head, she tried again quickly. Same result. Anger filled her. She never missed. What the fucking hell? Taking another step back, she narrowed her eyes and decided to do an easy combination to get her head back in the game.
Well that sucked ass, she grimaced, slapping her boxing gloves together in frustration. Her last combination was off and her balance shifted,causing her to roll her ankle slightly. Max looked at her from behind his protective gear. His deep brown eyes were giving her a 'what the fuck' expression. She'd like to know that as well. Lauren wiped her brow with her forearm, before placing her gloved hands on her hips. “Fuck,” she hissed.
Max pulled off his head gear and Nate rolled toward the side of the mat, “Geez, Laur, what the hell was that?”
Her eyes narrowed, “What?”
“Where is your head at?” Max asked from the other side of the ropes by her brother.
“I know you can box better than that. Hell in this fucking wheelchair I can box better than that. Is something wrong?” Nate chimed in.
She shrugged. She couldn't explain it and didn't feel like trying to. She just felt off right then. Rolling her head from side to side, she slapped her gloves together again. The door to the gym opened up behind her brother and Max, light quickly spilling in to the tiny gym. She nearly passed out at the guy that walked in. What the fuck was he doing there? Puck walked through the gym, swinging sand bags as he moved, heading toward the locker room, which passed right by the ring. Lauren looked to the heavens then down at her outfit- a pair of ratty gray shorts and an old White Snake t-shirt that he dad gave her. She looked like fucking hell. His head turned toward the mat and she quickly turned around to pull the gloves from her hands, tossing them in the bag on the ground just outside the ropes.
“I'm heading home,” she told the two guys behind her, loud enough for them to hear but not Puck.
“Laur,” her brother wheeled closer to her as she pulled the bag up onto the mat. “We still have an hour left. You never want to leave early, are you okay?”
She opened her mouth to respond but never got the chance. “Zizes?” Puck called out, she turned to see him standing by Max. “You box too?” The smirk on his face infuriated her. It was slightly disbelieving and very condescending.
“I'm sure better than you can,” she snarked, swinging her gym bag over her shoulder and sliding under the ropes. She passed him without looking in his direction. She heard Puck laugh behind her. Her hands curled into fists. Bastard, she muttered to herself.
Her legs moved as quick as she could go without running. Way to cap off her day. First she had to deal with the fucking Glee club at lunch, then she got stuck with the walking poster boy for condoms and finally her boxing lesson- her way to relieve stress failed miserably. Climbing into her car, she tossed her bag toward the back seat and jammed her key into the ignition. She just needed to get home and relax.
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Placing the brush that she was running through her hair on the desk, Lauren turned up the radio and flopped on her bed with an exhausted sigh. She closed her eyes, letting the music knead some of the tension from her shoulders. It's been a long time since she's needed something other than boxing or wrestling to help her unwind. Usually putting someone in a half Nelson put her in a pretty chipper mood, well as chipper as she let herself be. She did have a rep to protect.
Her computer chimed in the corner indicating she received an instant message. She raised her head slightly off the bed, looking over at the screen. Her insides clenched up and she nearly threw something at the machine. Getting up she sat down at the computer rolling her mouse over the blinking icon. “Lauren” bing “We need to talk” bing “Please”.
She quickly hit reply before he could say anything else, “Kyle, what part of go die in the fiery pits of hell did you not understand?”
“I made a fucking mistake”
“A mistake? How is what you did a fucking mistake?”
“I didn't mean to hurt you”
She sucked in a breath. That lying piece of shit. Curling her hand into a fist, she counted to ten then responded, “what makes you think you did?”
“Lauren”
“Listen, Kyle, I have to go. My date is waiting for me.”
“You're date?”
She typed her reply quickly then logged off. The last words she said, staying frozen on her screen a second before she closed the window. “Yeah. My date. Noah Puckerman.”
What possessed her to do that she didn't know and didn't fucking care. It wouldn't make a bit of difference. Kyle Lloyd didn't go to her school. He didn't even know Lima that well, having only come over to pick her up for their dates. She fell onto her bed. A year of her life, a year, she spent on that lying, back stabbing, fucking cheater and now it was finally done. She knew that was one of the reasons she was so off today. But tomorrow she would bounce back and be bad ass once again.
Kyle could kiss her ass!
Rolling over, she stared at the ceiling for a moment then grabbed her English book to read over her lines to The Taming of the Shrew. Her teacher's sense of humor was just astounding. Lauren rolled her eyes toward the heavens.
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