Bruises
A Puckleberry One-Shot
A Glee Fan Fiction
Based loosely on the song "Bruises" by Train, featuring Ashley Monroe and "Dancing Away With My Heart" by Lady Antebellum

Rachel Berry shook her head as she entered the Lima Bean. She hadn't been back in Lima, Ohio since just about ten years ago. Not since her last, final and fateful conversation with Finn Hudson when they had told each other to stop all contact. It was too hard, and that was when their relationship had finally ended, for once and for all. That had been when she had declared that Lima was no longer her home. How could it be home, when she had never belonged there and could only be happy so long as she had Finn there, by her side? No, New York was officially her home, as of that moment.

When she had returned to New York, she had officially made it her new home. She had quickly adjusted, throwing out the remainder of her High School wardrobe to replace it with a fantastic new closet picked out by Kurt Hummel, her best friend. She had changed her personality and gained about ten pounds of per confidence. She auditioned at every chance she got and she started to stand up for herself and defend herself. She was handpicked for the Winter Showcase at her college and proceeded to win.

And somewhere along the way, she fell madly in love with an upperclassman who wanted all the same things as her. Somebody who had experiences many of the same disappointments as she had herself with the move, her break-up and her change. Brody Weston became her new boyfriend and they dated steadily throughout their years at NYADA.

They were married right after Rachel's graduation and, after her first Broadway show came to a close, they had their first child. After her second Broadway show, they had another child. A boy-Noah Weston, and a girl, Carmela Weston.

She was pretty sure she had everything she could have ever wanted in the world, especially with her new role.

But, eventually, it all came to an end, like all good things did. She should have expected it, with her luck.

Brody left her and she wasn't sure why or for what reason, besides the fact that he had a very insane wandering eye and a habit to fall for the newest, freshest piece of talent he could find. She was fairly certain he had been cheating, but she wasn't sure.

She was left to raise her children herself, as Brody hadn't even tried to fight for custody. He didn't even want partial custody. And she hadn't spoken to him since the divorce had been finalized. It sickened her to see that he would just leave his kids, but he sent her hefty child support checks every month from wherever he had disappeared to, so she wasn't struggling to raise them.

Her career was still going strong, as she had just been casted in the role of Maria in the most recent revival of West Side Story, and her children were beautiful, talented, and smart. They loved their 'uncle' Kurt and their 'uncle' Blaine, who assisted her in their care when she was having a hectic week with rehearsals and the classes she taught over at NYADA. Kurt was still there for her whenever she needed somebody and she'd even won a Tony award the previous year.

But she was lonely. Despite her close bond with Kurt and Blaine and her loving children who meant the world to her, she was lonely. She had nobody to love her and she had nobody to love herself. Sure, she had her children, but that was different. It was a maternal love that couldn't really be helped. She didn't have somebody to make her feel beautiful or to calm her when she was panic-striken from a deadline she was absolutely positive she wouldn't be able to meet. And she longed for somebody to hold her close at night so that she didn't feel so alone all of the time. Somebody to kiss her and make her feel loved.

Things were good though. She had her talent, her career, her friends, and her children. So what if she was single? Maybe that was what a girl like Rachel-a strong, independent female-needed to be to get on and actually make something of her life. She was over Brody-she didn't even think about him that much anymore, except for when she stared too long into her son's eyes and saw his own staring back at her. And she never thought about Finn-ever. She was one hundred percent over him. And she didn't miss anything about her hometown or her alumni high school. She was so over her dramatic high school years.

Still, being back at Lima, at her favorite coffee shop in the entire, small town, a landfill of memories rushed at her. Memories involving the particular coffee shop she was entering with Kurt and Blaine at her sides-Kurt and Blaine visited Lima far more often than Rachel did, as she hadn't been home in so long-and some about high school and the town in general. Each memory brought its own emotion-a smile, a tear, a laugh...sometimes even anger.

She shook her head as she followed the boys towards the counter to get her coffee, silently praying that they still had her favorite drink-and that she still remembered what her favorite drink at the coffee shop was after all of this time and god awful coffee in New York that was either too strong or too weak, resulting in her Chia Latte obsessions.

Luckily for her, Kurt remembered her order without a problem and placed it for her when he saw her scanning the menu with worried eyes, a frown turning the corners of her lips downwards as she bit her bottom lip.

She flashed him a grateful smile as she wondered just how foreign she was in her hometown.

Noah Puckerman had made it out of Lima.

It hadn't been hard for him. Not one little bit. He'd made it out and taken off for California-for Los Angeles, to be specific-and hadn't looked back. He'd always hated the hell hole he'd called home anyways.

But LA could be a very lonely place. He found himself calling Mercedes Jones, a girl he barely spoke to, non-stop as he tried to find somebody that he could hang out with. And whenever he had the longing for it, he drove back to Lima on his motorcycle for a trip home, typically hiding from his mother who begged him to come home since she missed him.

It wasn't until his half-brother, who he'd never known about until after he'd actually graduated, asked him to come back and be the male influential he could actually be proud of, that Puck relented to his own stubbornness. He wasn't going to allow another rebel-without-a-cause-bad-ass suffer because of his father the way he had. If he could help the kid, he was going to go out of his way to make sure Jake turned out right. It was his goal.

He took some classes at the community college, wanting to shoot himself the entire time when Finn Hudson started to take classes with him. Then, when Quinn Fabray transferred there, after getting kicked out of Yale for her affair with her teacher, he wanted to run himself over with his truck, if he hadn't sold it for LA money. Unfortunately, he had allowed the pretty blonde's hot body, beautiful face, and sexy purr to seduce him. And he had suffered. He'd fallen for her the same way he had back in sophomore year and he had allowed himself to become the man of her dreams.

That is, until she mysteriously disappeared about three years ago. She'd never broken up with him, but she had sent him a letter from who the hell knows where to inform him that she was happy, finally getting her happily ever after with the man of her dreams. His replacement, because Puck was only ever a guy to pass the time with. A fun little one night stand or a phase that a girl needed to grow out of if she ever wanted to get serious. He wasn't anything serious, that was his problem.

He wasn't too heartbroken over the loss, though. Quinn was sexy and she was a good time in the sack, but she wasn't anything special. She wasn't a girl he could actually love. He only could say it in a convincing way if he thought back to the tenth grade girl who was pregnant with his baby girl. When he thought back to the Quinn he'd kind-of-sort-of loved, just a little.

Of course, after Quinn had left him, he had taken off, leaving Lima to do something a little crazy. He went back to LA, where his brother was working to become a music producer, and became a Correctional Officer. Yeah, Noah Puckerman was in law enforcement, in a way.

Who would have ever expected that one?

The irony wasn't lost on him.

But, because of his rocky past and his own record, he was actually pretty damn good at the job. And the kids loved him. He didn't just scold them and lecture them. He related it to his own life.

He gave them examples about all of the terrible stuff he had done himself. He let them know how stupid he had been as a teenager. And just like the conversation he'd given his brother about what it took him to finally become a man, he told any boy he worked with that all it took to become a man was to do something you'd never dream of doing.

He got a lot of thank you letters from Glee club directors at nearby schools for sending in so many new recruits, as the 'bad boys' followed his advice to a T and hurried off to join their own school's show choir, no matter what type of school they were in. Some boys, if their school didn't already have a club, started their own at school. Puck figured Mr. Shuester would be proud of the incredible way he was helping the show choir community and the new generation. He knew Mr. Shue was, actually.

Puck had, surprisingly, stayed in contact with most of the glee club in the past ten years. Kurt and Blaine met up with him whenever they were all in Lima at the same time. He and Mercedes dedicated one day a week to meeting up at some restaurant and have a dinner, alternating who paid each time. Santana and Brittany constantly flew out to visit him, as did Mike and Sam. Tina always came along with Mike, of course, and Artie was his roommate, as Artie had become a wonderful director, making successful film after successful film. As for Finn and Quinn? Puck didn't want to talk to them.

Sugar and Joe, who he had only been in a club with for a year, were given an occasion phone call, but he had never been that close to them. Still, Puck thought he did a pretty good job of keeping in touch with his fellow Glee club alumni. He thought his brother did a good job too. Did he wish Jake had ditched that obnoxious Kitty girl that reminded Puck of Quinn a little too much? Definitely, without a doubt in his mind. But that was probably only because Puck had a soft spot in his heart for that Marley girl that had been so in love with his brother during her high school years.

He didn't know why he felt so strongly towards his brother ditching Kitty for Marley, but he did. There was something familiar about her. Something that told him he shouldn't let his brother make the same mistake with her as he had done with...somebody. He didn't even know who he had passed up the chance to be with. He just knew that that was the connection that he had for Jake and Marley's relationship. Of course, the more he got to know Kitty, the less like Quinn she got.

And she actually was sweet. She cared about Jake and she pushed him to do his best. She didn't lecture him and put him down non-stop. She built him up and made him feel like he was worth something. And watching the pair together, he could see that they were actually happy together. And that was all Puck wanted for his brother.

So, to sum it all up, Puck was keeping in close contact with every member of the Glee club that he wanted to keep in touch with, except for one. And that one was one he didn't have an option to talk to. Nobody had one. She had pushed them all away.

Rachel was only communicating with Kurt, Blaine, and Quinn. Nobody else heard anything from the brunette.

"Rachel?"

Rachel turned around, her latte with extra foam in her hands, to face whoever had just spoken to her.

A tall boy with a shaven head, deeply tanned skin and deep hazel eyes looked down at her with an all too familiar smirk.

"Noah?"

Puck studied the short girl with the wavy, dark brown locks and the deep brown eyes he could get lost in.

"Damn, I haven't seen you in ages." He shook his head.

"Do you...would you like to...I mean, I don't-"

"Rachel, if you want to have coffee with me, you don't need to stutter," He said, signaling to the barista that he wanted his usual.

"I-do you mind?" She asked, turning towards Kurt and Blaine.

Of course, the two boys were the biggest fans of Puckleberry in the world, so their answer was expected.

"Not at all!" Kurt said brightly.

"Go right ahead"! Blaine encouraged.

"Let's go," Puck said, accepting his cup from the barista and leading Rachel towards a table for two.

They sat down across from one another and stared at each other in silence.

"I haven't seen you since high school," Puck observed.

Rachel looked up from her coffee with an eye roll.

"You haven't changed much-good to see that you're still beautiful,"He reached across the table to brush a strand of hair away.

She blushed, lowering her gaze back down towards her coffee.

Sadly, this was the closest Rachel had been to a date in two years. And she wasn't used to this attention from boys anymore.

"Gravity hasn't taken any tolls on you yet-you still look eighteen, you know," He grinned at her.

She shook her head, accepting the compliment in a very un-Rachel-Berry manner.

"Say something!" He blurted. "Tell me about yourself. I bet you're rich as hell," He smirked.

"I've got one that's five and one's that's three. It's been two entire years since he left me," She informed him.

"Finn left you? I didn't even know-"

"Finn? No, not Finn. Brody Weston-a boy I met at NYADA. He was two years older," Rachel said.

"I'm sorry...I didn't even know you got married."

"Where are you living now? I heard you got out of Lima. I'm glad. This town is enough to break anyone's spirits."

It was an excellent way to change the subject and Puck was impressed with her abilities to do so.

"Yeah, it does have a way of pushing people down to their knees," He shrugged.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm a correctional officer. You're on Broadway, of course," He shrugged.

"I just got the role of Maria in-"

"I know the musical. I was in it senior year," He reminded her.

"Oh, right...it all seems like so long ago," Rachel admitted. "I feel so old sometimes."

"What are your kids named?"

"Carmela and...well, actually...my son, the oldest? He's named Noah," She told him softly.

"After me?"

"At the time, no. I just always liked the name and wanted a traditional, Jewish name. That one came up..."

"But afterwards?"

"I remembered the boy who was always there for me."

"Who always bullied you?"

"The boy who got lost for a while, but eventually found his way back to me."

"You always had this way of finding the best in me..."

"Because you would always be my best friend to me," Rachel shrugged.

"Do you remember prom?" He asked suddenly.

"You finally asked me to dance for the last slow song. Finn was pissed at you for that."

"We went outside, because you were afraid Finn would get into another fight at another prom..."

"We danced under the moon and you called it-"

"Our very own disco ball. You know, I can still feel your head on my shoulder-your heels were pretty damn high."

"Shut up! I can't believe I didn't want that song to end. You're so mean to me," She giggled.

Puck had a way of always making her feel younger when she was with him. Even when she'd been in high school.

He shook his head as he stared at the beautiful girl before her. He hadn't seen her in ages, yet he had constantly wondered.

He was always wondering where she had disappeared to. Sure, he knew she was in New York, but what was she doing there?

What was her life like? Why didn't she call him? Did she actually miss him, even a little?

"You know, in my eyes, you're always going to be eighteen and beautiful," He told her seriously.

And dancing, away with my heart, he thought to himself, too embarrassed to tell her aloud.

"Have you seen him?" He blurted out. He hadn't meant to blurt it out and he really hadn't meant for it to be so questioning about who he was talking about, but he was fairly certain Rachel would know exactly who he meant.

"No, not in years," Rachel shook her head, answering his pondering question that gave him reason to wonder whether or not she knew. She absolutely knew, from her quick answer. "How about her?"

She didn't give a name either, just as he had left off that particular word. It would hurt too much. He didn't know how he knew that, but he knew that his best friend's name would kill her. And she assumed Quinn's name would murder him.

"No, but I heard she's out by you now. Somewhere in Queens, living it all up with the man of her dreams and all that fairy tale bull shit she always wanted," He rolled his eyebrows as he shrugged it off.

"It's funny, but I feel like she used to say that about you," Rachel giggled. "Back then, you know? When the two of us hated each other? Even when I first started out in New York she said it," Rachel shrugged.

"Yeah, well, Quinn's always had a way of bouncing around from boy to boy, never settling for the one she had at the moment. She always wanted something she couldn't have," Puck explained.

"Well, whatever. Forget her. You will never guess who I saw when I first got back. Do you remember back in sophomore year when Matt was in our group?" She wondered.

"I'd believe it. And remember him? We're best friends, always have been. Him, Mike and me-and now Sam? We're all best friends." Puck laughed, slapping his knee under the table.

"Rach, come on-we've gotta get home if we want enough time to get ready for tonight. Especially since Blaine and I get to play personal stylish for you!" Kurt said, clapping his hands excitedly as he appeared besides their table.

"Kurt, don't be ridiculous. We don't need to leave right now. We've got plenty of time before seven to-"Rachel began before she noticed the clock on the wall behind the counter.

She and Puck had been talking and reminiscing for hours. She couldn't believe how she had lost track of the time so easily. Yet, it still didn't seem like she and Puck were actually reacquainted once again.

"We should really do this again sometime. Sometime soon," Rachel said as she stood up, reaching for her purse that she'd set on the table in front of where she had been sitting, smiling at her old friend.

"I can't believe it's been ten years...would you look at how the time flies by so fast?" Puck said, a sheepish grin on his face as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

What he was really thinking about was how sad it made him to see her leave. He didn't want to watch as she walked away again. He hated falling in love with her every time she was leaving him.

He sighed as he watched her leave, her curls bouncing against her back. He loved those curls, especially when he remembered their last dance at prom so many years ago and the way he had brushed them away so he could see her beautiful eyes.

They moved together perfectly, like a single unit. She had later expressed to him that it was almost like he was reading her mind with every twirl and every little step. That had made him smile.

And he could still feel the smirk crossing over his lips as he puckered his own mouth, leaning in to kiss her. And she had leaned in to meet him. So what if she was dating Finn? It was a one time thing and it hadn't meant anything.

At least, it hadn't meant anything to her. It had meant the world to him and made all of his terrible high school memories worth the while. Kissing Rachel had a way of doing that for him.

Still, she had taken off and left for college at the end of that school year and they had almost immediately lost touch. Whenever he was in LA and saw somebody disrespecting Barbra's star, he tried to send her a picture and remembered her number had changed.

Puck hadn't realized until the moment the train had started to move, when he had made that heart and mouthed those three words to her before she left, how much she meant to him.

He hadn't seen her in ages. It had been forever, and he wished that he could change that. But he knew he couldn't change the past. He couldn't only control the future.

But Rachel would do as she always did. She would leave for New York as soon as she had finished her torturous experience in Lima that was albeit mandatory for her attendance. And she would leave Puck once again with a broken heart.

Not that he would show it. If there was one thing Puck was good at, it was hiding his emotions. Because he was one hell of a bad ass. It was the thing he did best, after all. That and sex.

Maybe going back to his old self wasn't a good idea, what with all the process he had been making towards being a bright, proper citizen who helped troubled teens like he had been. But when it came to Rachel, he was an idiot. Despite his IQ scores.

Rachel would absolutely love it if she could fix everything that was wrong in Puck's life. She knew he was troubled and she knew he was heartbroken. Maybe she didn't know what girl had caused the heartbreak-even if she was one hundred percent positive that it was all because of Quinn Fabray leaving him to be with her professor. But she knew he was hurting. And she wanted to fix him.

And Puck would do just about anything in his power to make Rachel happy once again. To get just a shred of that short-skirt wearing, animal-sweater-loving, control-freak diva with a powerful voice that made even him impressed. Yeah, she had made him want to light himself on fire, but when she sang, he was in love. And he would love it if he could be the one to bring the old her back;to fix her.

Yet, neither of them really wanted the other one to change, because they knew that no matter what pain they were suffering from, they were proud of their lives now. Puck knew Rachel was proud to be a Broadway star and a loving mother, just as she knew that he was very proud of his career and the success he had been making; in the change he had been making in the area.

It might not make very much sense, but it was their pain that gave them something to talk about. They couldn't move forward with their lives without a little bit of pain thrown in to make them move on and start a new chapter in the book that was their life. It might be completely stupid and unbelievable, beyond anybody's comprehension, but it was their bruises that made for better conversation.

Besides, they were comfortable with one another. It wasn't all that hard for all of the walls they had built up over the years to protect themselves for letting people get too close and hurting them as an end result to come crumbling down when they were together. They trusted each other in a way they would never be able to trust anybody else. They had so many things in common, they worked.

And, besides, it actually felt good for Rachel to let Puck into her life again. It was an easy transition, because she was positive he had always belonged there. And he had never felt happier than when he allowed her to hear all about his sorry excuse for a life. Because she didn't judge and she didn't try to convince him to do something better. She was impressed by what he had done. It was enough for her.

It was good to know that they each had a friend, somebody that they could depend on to talk to when things got rough. Puck and Rachel had a way of letting the other know that neither of them was actually alone in how they had been. One's suffering was that of the other. As long as they could remember, every now and then, that they weren't alone in the world, they could make it.

Puck honestly hadn't even wanted to go to his reunion. His mother had guilt tripped him into coming home when she'd heard about it, but he had been planning on spending the evening with her, rather than racing off to spend the night with people he really didn't care about. He didn't want to see them back in high school. Why would he want to see them now, ten years after the fact?

Rachel had the same ideas. What was the point of attending the reunion? To brag about how successful they had all become? To show off their spouses to one another? She was on Facebook, she already knew all that she needed to know about her ex-tormentors. What else did she need to know, really, when she already knew who was divorced and who had gotten fat? And it wasn't like she really cared.

Yet, Puck felt compelled to show up. Rachel was going to be there, after all, and he really wouldn't be a very good friend if he didn't go and pay her a visit at the reunion, especially after her excitement at the prospect of them catching up again like they had at the coffee shop. Besides, he hadn't seen his fellow Gleeks all together in years. It was his high school reunion, after all. Why shouldn't he go?

And Rachel was being dragged by Kurt and Blaine, against her will. Still, there was a nagging voice in the very back of her head that informed her that she was going on her own accord as well, because she was hoping to see a particular ex-bad-boy sitting at the table she was sure all of the Gleeks of their class would be seated at. Where would they go? They really didn't have anywhere else.

Which is how Puck found himself sitting at a table with Quinn Fabray and her much older, ex-professor of a husband, Finn Hudson and his newest girlfriend who had probably only just graduated high school herself, Mike Chang and his newly made wife Tina, Brittany and Santana with Mercedes and her music producer of a husband besides her, waiting for the final three arrivals to show up.

When he saw Rachel, a few seconds after Kurt and Blaine reached the table, he noticed the panicked look on her face at seeing Finn, not only present, but with another girl on his arm. He instantly stood up, ever the gentleman, and walked towards her. Finn might be a dick who always blew his chances, but Puck wasn't going to allow the asshole to ruin his own chances anymore. Puck would win.

"Noah," Rachel sighed in relief when he reached her.

"I love you," He blurted.

Maybe that hadn't come out quite the way he'd wanted it to, but he figured it sort of made his point. Besides, it certainly got her attention, and that was really all he cared about getting at the moment.

"Excuse me?"

"I want to be with you. I don't care about your past or your kids or anything. Baby, we've all got bruises," He shrugged.

Rachel looked up at his with a small smile working it's way across her face, tugging at the corner of her mouth. Finally, she lost complete control of the muscles and her face broke out into a wide grin.

"What about your career?" She asked.

"I've done enough work in LA-I bet the teenagers in NYC could use some handling," He grinned.

She wasn't answering, but she was pretty much hinting that they should be together. That they should live together. She was practically asking him to move in with her. She wanted him in New York with her.

"Noah," She breathed.

"Say you love me, too," He pleaded.

"Don't be foolish," Rachel scolded him. "Of course I love you, too," She rolled her eyes. "You were just too stubborn and too horny to ever realize it before. Now shut up and kiss me," She smirked.