And Here's What You Missed on...GLEE

“Mom!” I heard Puck hiss from behind me, “Why did you let her in the house? She’s the one who told Ellie to get lost!”

“Because whether she told Ellie to get lost or not, she’s still the mother.”

They left, the stairs creaking under their weight. And I was stuck in the kitchen with my mother, who hated me.

My eyes were still locked on her, watching her every move, as if she was some sort of wild animal that could kill me at any second.

“Ellie, please listen to me,” Mom started in a soft voice, keeping her eyes on her wringing hands. I had no idea why that annoyed me so much, the fact that she wouldn’t look at me while she was talking. “I didn’t mean what I said, when I kicked you out.”

For a couple minutes, so it seemed, I just stared at her, wondering whether she was serious or not. “I don’t believe you,” I told her, shaking my head. “Because if you honestly didn’t mean it, then you would have come here a lot earlier, telling me to go back home. But it’s been weeks, Mom.”

“I know. I just…needed to finish the divorce and settle things. I didn’t need you in the house when that was happening because-”

“Because I’m a bother?” I finished with disbelief. “Because it’s an obstacle, having a daughter? Well, I’m sorry that I’m nothing to you but an irritating little brat.”

“That’s not it, Ellie, and you know that.”

“Do I, Mom? And don’t even start on the whole ‘respect your elders’ thing. There’s no way in hell that I’d ever respect you after you kicked me out of the house over nothing.” My voice was very calm, eerily calm. It scared even me.

Finally, Mom brought her eyes up to mine. “Things were just difficult. I didn’t know what I was saying.”

“And it took you this long to find out what you meant? That kicking me out meant that I wasn’t coming back?”

I expected Mom to argue, but she just cleared her throat. “Elegance, we’re not having this discussion anymore. You’re packing up your stuff and moving back into my house. Thank Ms. Puckerman for letting you stay here, but you’ve overstayed your welcome.”

My jaw dropped. “Mom! You don’t even like me.”

“You know I love you, baby. I told you, the divorce was hard on me, and it made my mind a little messed up.”

“I agree that I shouldn’t be mooching off Ms. Puckerman, but I don’t want to live with you anymore, Mom. You don’t like me, and you showed me that when you booted me to the curb. I was damn lucky that I had Puck there for me! What if I was like I had been before I joined Glee? A friendless loser? Imagine then?”

“Glee’s the reason that you’ve gotten like this, isn’t it?!” She stood up as she screamed at me, trying to gain power. “They’re telling you that it’s good to rebel against your parents! Well, let me tell you, it’s NOT. Now pack your damn things and get in the car.”

Gnashing my teeth together, I turned around and started for the stairs. She was wrong, and I hated her, but she was my mother. If she told me that I had to go home, I had to go.

When I threw open my door, eyes watering, I saw that Puck was sitting on my bed, waiting for me.

“Red,” was all he said, simply, as I threw my duffel bag in front of him.

“Puck,” I said in a wobbly voice, trying my hardest not to cry, “I want to thank you so much for bringing me into your house, and I’m so grateful for your whole family. I really shouldn’t have stayed so long. My mom’s bringing me back home, so I won’t have to mooch anymore.”

I felt something clasp around my arm, and I turned to find Puck looking down at me. “You were welcome here, you know. Even my mom liked you.”

“Yeah, well. That’s very nice, but I have to go home now.” I finished throwing my stuff into my bag and started down the stairs. Why did it feel like I wasn’t just walking away from Puck’s house, but walking away from Puck himself?

My hand reached for the doorknob of my bedroom when I was forced to turn around. Puck forced his lips against mine, and I forgot for a second what I was trying to do. Wait, I was supposed to be leaving. What was he doing?

After a minute, I pulled away and stared at him. “Puck, it’s not like I’m not going to be your girlfriend anymore. I’m just not going to live here.”

“You just ruined the whole moment,” he laughed a little. “Remember what you said earlier, when we were making out, and I kind of freaked out a little?”

My face flushed, the memory rushing back to me. Damn, I’d forgotten about that.

“I seem to recall,” I murmured, clearing my throat. “Look, I understand if you don’t feel the same way and everything, I just wanted-”

“Oh my God, shut up.” He slapped his hand over my mouth, stopping my word vomit, and continued, “I was trying to say that…” A long pause, and his face contorted, as if it was hard to say, before returning to normal. “I love you, too.”

My eyes turned into saucers. “ARE YOU KIDDING?! That’s just…that’s so weird. Noah Puckerman loves me. The fact that you love anyone is totally weird, since you’ve always been such a player.”

“And you’re talking again,” he reminded me. “Haven’t you ever heard of keeping a moment…nice? Haven’t you seen chick flicks?”

“Yeah, and that’s a movie, not real life. In real life, there are girls that won’t shut up and get really embarrassed by it.” But I wasn’t going to lie, I was downright giddy. So there was one worry, totally gone.

But there was still the biggest problem, which was in the shape of a woman standing in Puck’s kitchen, probably tapping her foot with impatience.

“I guess I’ll see you in school on Monday,” I bid, starting for the hallway.

“I’ll text you,” he promised. “And I’ll come over tomorrow sometime. No need to wait until Monday.”

“Okay. Thank you for everything. And pass it along to your mom because I have absolutely no idea where she is. Tell her that I really appreciate everything she’s done for me. Make sure you cry to make it really authentic.”

“Me? Cry?” He let out a snort. “I wouldn’t hold your breath for that one.”

“Oh, I know how I could make you cry.” I gave him a sad smile, knowing that I was going to miss more our stupid banter. I was going to miss having him kill spiders for me and seeing him every day. What if our relationship died because we didn’t see each other as much? I hoped that it wouldn’t.

“Don’t try it,” he warned, ripping me from my thoughts. He kissed me quickly one more time before I finally had the nerve to turn around and walk away, down the stairs, joining my mother in the kitchen.

When I arrived, she straightened up and adjusted her shirt. “Ready to go, Ellie?”

“Oh, yeah,” I responded, trying to make it as clear as possible that I hated her. “Just to let you know, I had a good thing here.”

“I’m sure you did, whoring around with your boyfriend every night. I don’t even want to think about the things that you let him do to you.”

“Thanks for thinking I’m a slut, Mom. Really, I appreciate it.”

“Well, just look at that shirt you’re wearing.” I looked down at my v-neck t-shirt that didn’t show much of anything. “Am I really supposed to believe that you’re still the same wholesome little girl that you used to be while you’re wearing that? What happened to the Ellie I used to know?”

No, I corrected in my head, what happened to YOU?!