I'm Yours

Noah Puckerman smirked at the cheerleader in front of him, casually leaning against her locker and crossing his arms in front of his chest. She giggled quietly, moving forward and closer to him.

“Puck!” He flinched, closing his eyes and instantly regretting flirting with the girl.

“Gotta go,” he muttered, turning around and flashing a dazzling smile at his sort-of girlfriend, Quinn Fabray. He wasn’t sure exactly what they were, but he figured after telling her he loved her in the hospital, they had to be dating. This probably explained that look on her face, the one that said I’m super pissed at you right now. His dazzling smile had no effect on her. She stalked over to him, grabbing the arm of his letterman jacket and dragging him away from the Cheerio, barely glancing at her to give her a scathing glare before shoving Puck against a nearby row of lockers, standing in front of him with her arms crossed in front of her, giving him her signature icy glower. He smiled sheepishly, shrugging slightly.

“Hey babe.”

“What the hell was that?” She hissed, throwing her arm back to motion towards the freshman Cheerio, who was currently scrambling to get away. Quinn may not have been head Cheerio anymore, but she still had the reputation of being able to cut down a girl in three words or less.

“Baby, you know I have needs! I’m like a-”

“Save it, Puck. You know, you’re right. You have needs, and so do I. I need a man who can be faithful to me, who I’m enough for. We’re done, Puck.”

“Quinn, you can’t be serious!”

“I have never been more serious in my life. We are through, Noah Puckerman. Don’t talk to me.” She said, turning on her heel and storming down the hallway. He sighed, sinking against the lockers and running his hand through his Mohawk, feeling worse than he had in a long time.

For the rest of the day, Puck tried talking to Quinn, trying to explain himself. Every time she would ignore him, pretending like he had never spoken. By the end of the day, he had attempted to talk to her at least a hundred times and each time she had given him the cold shoulder. He sighed when she walked right past in him in the parking lot, laughing about something with Brittany and Santana.

I really screwed up this time. He thought, getting into his truck and starting in up, slumping against the seat and frowning slightly. He knew that as a stud, he shouldn’t worry about it. It was just one girl, after all. By tomorrow he could have six to replace her. But somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that he didn’t want to replace Quinn. He had worked so hard to get the real thing that a cheap substitute wasn’t going to be enough.

Two weeks went by and Puck had yet to talk to Quinn. Every time he tried to approach her either Brittany or Santana or both were there, giving him biting glares and linking their arms with Quinn, walking away from him. After the tenth failed attempt, Puck sighed, running his fingers through his hair. The weekend came by and Puck realized he had a few appointments to clean pools for some of his best clients. He grinned. This had to be the solution to getting over Quinn. He packed up his junk into the back of his truck and drove to the first house. He grabbed his stuff and walked into the backyard of the cougar’s house, stripping off his shirt and getting started on cleaning her pool. When she brought him lemonade and asked him to come inside to cool off, he smirked slightly and was about to say yes. There was a twist in his gut and he saw Quinn’s face in his mind, and he shut his eyes, shaking his head.

“No thanks, Mrs. P. I’m fine.” He said, turning around and continuing to clean. He could feel her staring at him, but he didn’t turn around again. She eventually went inside and he felt confused. What the hell was that? I just passed up a really good cougar! He thought, shaking his head at himself. It’s because you’re not over Quinn, idiot. A small voice in the back of his head piped up. He sighed, knowing it was true. He had to figure out a way to get her back.

That Monday during Glee rehearsals, Mr. Schuester stood at the front of the choir room, scribbling “Meanings” on the whiteboard.

“Songs with meaning are written specifically to say something to someone. They have the power to give us a way to say what we could never say normally. Your assignment this week is to find a song with a meaning and a message behind it, and perform it for us. Alright?”
Everyone nodded and began chattering amongst themselves for what they were going to do. Puck smirked slightly. He had the perfect song in mind.

He spent the entire night finding the sheet music for the song, learning the chords on his guitar and memorizing them so he could play them without the sheet music. He grinned widely when he played through the entire song without any mistakes. If this doesn’t work, I don’t know what will.

The next day, Puck got to school early and asked Mr. Schuester if he could keep his guitar case in the choir room until Glee. Mr. Schuester agreed, smiling proudly.

“I’m glad you found a song, Puck.” He said, patting him on the back.

“I just hope it works.” Puck muttered, waving off the confused look Mr. Schuester gave him.

He sat through all his classes that day, more distant than usual. He kept running over the words of the song in his head, not really caring about history or math. Finally, it was time for Glee. Puck practically ran to the choir room, wanting to just hurry up and perform. When he walked into the room, he noticed that Quinn was sitting between Brittany and Mercedes, quietly sitting in the top row. She looked regal, like a queen surveying her country. When her gaze landed on Puck, her eyes drifted over him as if he wasn’t even there. Please let this work, he prayed, walking into the room and taking a seat near Matt. When everyone was sitting down, Mr. Schuester walked in, smiling slightly.

“Alright! Does anyone have a performance they’d like to share with us?” His eyes went to Puck and Puck nodded, standing up from his seat. There were a few exchanged glances, but Puck ignored them, unlocking his guitar case and pulling out his baby. He glanced at Schue, who took a seat in the audience.

“Whenever you’re ready, Puck.” He said. Puck nodded, starting to play the first few notes of the song.

Going back to the corner where I first saw you, gonna camp in my sleeping bag, I'm not gonna move, got some words on cardboard, got your picture in my hand, saying, "If you see this girl can you tell her where I am?", Puck sang, his eyes trained on Quinn. She blinked, making eye contact with him for the first time in weeks.

Some try to hand me money, they don't understand, I'm not broke I'm just a broken hearted man, I know it makes no sense but what else can I do, how can I move on when I'm still in love with you? Puck continued to sing, not paying attention to what anyone else was doing. His attention was all on Quinn, watching her reactions. He wanted to make sure she understood what he was trying to say.

He sang through the entire song, watching as Quinn’s expression went from icy to confusion to shock to warm again. He grinned widely when she finally smiled slightly, a small smile, but a smile nonetheless.

Going back to the corner where I first saw you, gonna camp in my sleeping bag I'm not gonna move, Puck sang the final words of the song, letting the last notes linger in the room. There was a moment of stunned silence and then loud applause, everyone grinning widely at Puck.

“That was great! A good song with a good message. Good job, Puck.” Mr. Schuester said, standing up and clapping him on the back. Puck nodded, muttering thanks before his eyes flickered up to Quinn. She smiled slightly, nodding. “We need to talk.” She mouthed, and he nodded, grinning widely. After rehearsal was over, Puck waited for everyone to leave the room before turning around and looking at Quinn.

“Quinn, I-”

“Let me talk first.” She said, holding up a hand to silence him. She stood up from her chair, stepping down the risers until she was in front of him. Puck closed his mouth, nodding.

“You’re an idiot. You’ve done more stupid things than I can count, and you annoy me more than anyone else can. Just when I think you can’t get any worse, you’re off flirting with some girl.”

“Quinn, please-” She held up a finger, shaking her head.

“I’m not done. You come off as selfish and insensitive, and a big egghead. But then you do some of the sweetest things and remind me why I fell in love with you.” Quinn finished, a slight smile playing on her lips. It took Puck a second to realize what she was saying, but when he finally got it he smiled widely.

“I love you too, Quinn. And I’m sorry, really. I can’t promise I won’t ever do anything stupid again, but I’ll try.” He said, scratching the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. Quinn smiled slightly.

“That’s all I’m asking for.” He grinned widely, stepping forward and pulling her in for a hug. She laughed softly, hugging him back. He pulled back slightly, kissing her quickly.

“C’mon, I’ll take you home.” He said, reaching down and taking her hand into his. She smiled a shy smile and laced their fingers together.

“I’d like that.” She said quietly, and he grinned widely.

“Good.”