Just tighten those shoulders. Just clinch your jaw til you frown...

[jewhawk]

Who? Puck and Santana
Where? Santana's house
When? Directly after THIS
Rating: R to be safe

Comments

[iwannabedirty]

Santana's New Year's party had been a hit. The place had, of course, been nearly destroyed, and it had taken her most of New Year's Day to clean up -- she'd even taken the extra precaution of washing all the bedsheets, assuming people had gotten it on even with the upstairs off-limits. And these people, she decided, were pigs. Still, she was glad she'd had everyone over. It was one hundred times better than New Year's Eve alone or with her conservative grandparents

[jewhawk]

As he climbed out of his truck, Puck noticed that Santana was standing on the porch. In the back of his mind he felt bad for her standing out in the cold, but he didn't have the presence of mind to mention it. Walking up to where she was standing, Puck put his arms around her in an uncharacteristic show of affection. He couldn't explain it, but he had to feel something that was real with someone right now. His father was perhaps the most fake person he knew, and right now, he really needed something real.

Pulling back from her with no explanation, either for the unusual hug, or for the redness of his eyes from the hard won fight against tears, he said simply, "Got any beers left?"

[iwannabedirty]

Santana's mouth nearly dropped open in surprise when Puck walked up to her and just...hugged her. It wasn't like he hadn't hugged her before, but they were very few and very far between. She hugged back for as long as she could before he pulled back, and she really got a look at him. His eyes were red. Had he been...crying? Was this the Twilight Zone? Wow.

At his question, Santana nodded. "In the basement." She took his hand and led him inside, closing the door behind them before leading him down to the basement, which was really the Lopez family's little game room, where she'd stashed a leftover cooler of beers. She lifted the lid, handed him one, took one for herself and led him over to the wraparound couch against the wall.

[jewhawk]

Puck couldn't help how thankful he was that Santana wasn't the type to start by asking questions. He followed her down to the basement, bracing himself for when she finally did start questioning him. The cold beer in his hand, he followed Santana to the couch and sat down.

Cracking the can open, Puck pulled Santana close to him while he took a sizable gulp of the beverage. The carbonation burned going down, and the boy laid his head back a second, concentrating on the sensations of what was real around him... The warmth of Santana in his arms, the ice cold beer in his hand, the softness of the couch underneath him, and the cool wall against his head. Another gulp of the beer, and it was all but gone.

[iwannabedirty]

"Yes, you are," Santana said, just as firmly. She was sure of this. Did he not know she could read him like an open freaking book right now? "You're scared that it won't last again. I think...you might almost want to believe he's back. But you can't 'cause of the past or whatever. So, you're scared."

[jewhawk]

The knowledge of how damn right she was served to piss Puck off, but he didn't want her to leave, so he said nothing but, "Whatever, San." His hand curled gently into her hair, and he sighed just a little.

"He won't stay," Puck said finally. "He never does. Why would he start now?"

[iwannabedirty]

"Like I said, maybe he's manning up. Maybe he's realized he's been a huge piece of shit and actually wants to fix it. Talk to him and find out," Santana suggested.

[jewhawk]

A part of Puck gave in to the flicker of hope that she might be right. "I'm gonna be a good guy, San," he said, trying to convince himself as much as, if not more than her. "When I have kids, they're gonna know who I am... I'm gonna be a real dad." He didn't know why he was telling her this, but he needed someone to know.