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.

She'd done most of the basic cleaning up herself, but today, she'd hired a cleaning service to make sure everything was gone. Most of the ladies were Spanish, and though she wouldn't admit it, she had a nice time talking with them while they worked, even helping out without really realizing it. They left happy and well-paid, and she left happy that she wouldn't get her ass kicked when her parents got home that night.

Walking the ladies out to their van, she spotted Puck's familiar truck heading down the truck. She stood on the front porch, rubbing her arms to keep warm and waiting for him to park in front of the house, as she was sure he would. She was surprised; he hadn't called, and they hadn't made plans... She wondered what was up.

[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]

The complete and total silence Santana was getting from Puck was freaking Santana out. And the way he downed that beer... well, she knew he had no trouble draining a good beer, but normally he was louder. So, the silence combined with the drinking worried her.

Still, she took advantage of his touchiness and leaned into his side, cracking open her own beer and offering it up to him. If he needed to drink, she certainly wasn't going to stop him. She could ask questions later; right now, he just seemed to need someone close.

[jewhawk]

After he'd drained his first beer and crushed the can in his hand, he set it aside, taking the one Santana offered. "Thanks," he mumbled, shotgunning the entire thing at once. The quick drinking combined with the fact that he hadn't eaten anything all day meant that even the small amount of beer was starting to get to him.

Getting up from his spot on the couch, he walked over and grabbed another beer for himself and another to replace the one he'd taken from Santana. Handing off her beer to her, the boy returned to the couch, pulling her back against him as he drank the third, a little more slowly than the first two. "Why do you care about me?" he asked her, the beers already serving to lower his inhibitions a little

[iwannabedirty]

It was honestly a little too early for Santana to be drinking beer, and she'd really just gotten over her hangover from Friday night, so she held the beer but didn't open it. She was sure he'd need another one soon, anyway, and was half-tempted to just drag the cooler closer to them.

His question caught her off-guard. He seemed to be doing that, surprising her, quite a lot today. She looked up at him and responded, "Because you're my friend."

[jewhawk]

"But why?" he asked as he took another swallow of the beer. He could've kicked himself for the random words he couldn't control, but that was just it. He didn't have control over what was coming out of his mouth anymore. Third beer down, and he crushed the can. "I've never done anything good for you... Or anybody for that matter," he said, his speech not yet slurred, but with a couple more beers, it would be. It was only just a matter of time.

[iwannabedirty]

Santana narrowed her eyes at him. Maybe she did need that beer after all. She popped it open and took a drink. "What's with all the questions?"

[jewhawk]

Puck shook his head as he went for his fourth beer. "No reason..." Swigging the beer more slowly, he settled down on the couch again. He knew she'd know he was lying, but in his current state, it didn't concern him all that much. The thought of the truth she'd eventually get out of him made him speed up on downing that fourth beer.

[iwannabedirty]

Santana was incredibly tempted to call him out on lying right to her. Did he not think that after so long knowing him, she wouldn't be able to tell when he was making shit up? But...he seemed really down about something, so she chose not to push the subject. "You are my friend because, when you're not acting like a dick, you're a good guy and easy to talk to and fun to be around," she finally answered.

[jewhawk]

Puck looked up at her, pained eyes meeting hers as if probing them to make sure that she was telling him the truth. He wouldn't cry. So far he'd gotten some really red eyes to show for the fight against tears, and he had no intention of losing that fight anytime soon.

Fourth beer down, and Puck was ready for a fifth. His speech was somewhat slurred when he turned to Santana and said, "My... my dad's at my house right now."

He had to stop drinking when he was upset. It always led to him talking a lot more than he was comfortable doing in his day to day life. And here he was, 4 beers in and spilling his guts to his fuck buddy.

[iwannabedirty]

Santana's mouth really did drop open in shock when Puck spoke this time. All of this made sense now. She knew Puck played it off like his dad was totally awesome and a rocker or whatever, but she knew the truth. She knew that he'd left when Puck was a kid, that he was pretty much a deadbeat and that, even though Puck wouldn't admit it, he really hated the guy's guts.

So, her automatic response was to ask, "Did you hit him?"

[jewhawk]

Puck shook his head. "Nope... Wanted to, though..." He forced a drunk version of the cocky smirk he usually wore as he turned up the fifth can and drained the remaining contents. He was pissed that he'd opened up so quick, though he knew that, if there was anyone he could tell and trust, it was Santana.

Beer number six, and he slid down further onto the couch as he sipped that one.

[iwannabedirty]

Santana frowned and snatched his beer away from him. "You've had enough," she declared, hiding the beer behind the couch. She understood now why he felt the need to get drunk in the middle of the day, but he'd already achieved his goal. He didn't need to do more.

[jewhawk]

"Dammit, San!" he swore angrily, rising up from the couch. "You're not my fucking mom!" He walked back to the cooler searching for another beer, and found one, cracking the top. "I got the fuckin' beer right, so it's technically mine. You can't tell me how much I can fucking drink!"

Now he was mad. He wouldn't hurt her, but if a guy had been handy, he would've started a fight. As it was, he stood... or more like slouched against the wall... beer in hand working on being the drunkest he'd ever been.