It was one of those spring afternoons where everything finally felt like it was coming alive in Ohio. The sun was bright and the breeze was blowing in through Lauren's open window. They had so few of these glorious days when neither of them had any practices or rehearsals or commitments. And in a stroke of absolute god-loves-me luck, her parents and sister were still gone for the day until at least dinner time.

Lauren never intended to test their resolve by ending up half naked on top of Puck, but times like these it always seemed to happen. Maybe it was that smirk. Or the way he twirled her hair around his finger when they were supposed to be "just cuddling." Or the sound he made when she pressed her ass back into him in response to the hair twirl– a low rumbling "mmmmmmm" like he had just bitten into a bite of something really warm and tasty. But like every other time, here she was, straddling his hips with her shirt open, his hands cupping her breasts and his mouth on her neck, making what was sure to be another amazing and totally unhideable hickey.

Lauren sat up quickly, forcing his hands and mouth away from where they wanted to be. His confused, sad little boy face was quite possibly her favorite. "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey…" he whined.

"We need to discuss prom. I have ground rules."

"I'll agree to anything you want right now, babe," Puck murmured as he tried to entice her to resume their activities with a hand on her hip and one skimming fingertips over the curve of her belly (just like she loved, that bastard).

"One. I do not ride in limos. Period. If I wanted to make an entrance, I would have six half naked men carry me in on a golden platform. Two. If you bring me some monstrous corsage with covered in ferns and baby's breath, I will vomit. Three. There will be dancing. And four. I get to plan after prom activities."

"Those are totally fine with me," Puck managed to strangle out and rolled his hips up to grind against her. "Now come back here." This time she let him pull her back down to him and flinged her shirt totally off on the way down. "You are evil," he mumbled against her mouth before her flicked open the clasp of her bra with one hand.

Lauren spent the afternoon with Tina, Rachel and Mercedes at the salon getting their hair done and talking nonstop before they all descended on Lauren's house to do makeup and get ready together. Rachel was still floating about three feet off the ground that she was going to prom with Finn after his spectacular and very public breakup with Quinn.

They were all in Lauren's bathroom while Lauren was bent over the counter trying to figure out her contacts. "Mother fuck me, how in the hell?" she yelled after the fourth time she poked herself in the eye.

"Girl, sit down," Mercedes instructed Lauren, closing the lid of the toilet and washing her hands. Lauren was not so sure about this much girl bonding time, but she certainly was glad for the help. "Just look towards the ceiling and don't blink till I tell you to." It only took one try for the contact to settle where it belonged and Laure blinked a few thousand times.

"Oh thank GOD!" Rachel said. "Can we throw these things away already?" the tiny girl ranted holding up Lauren's grandma glasses.

"Hey, those are retro chic!" Lauren protested, but Tina just grabbed them from Rachel's hand and tossed them into the small garbage can.

They actually had a lot of fun sharing make-up and showing each other new tricks and tips. Like how Rachel's eyelashes always seemed so impossibly long. "Falsies! I brought you guys some too!" Rachel bounced over to her bag. Tina's eyeshadow skills, Mercedes' impressive lipstick selection, and Lauren's hidden but extensive perfume collection . "Tell anyone and I will hunt you down," Lauren said before she opened her closet door to show them the dozens of bottles on a shelf.

After Puck, Mike, Finn and Sam arrived, Lauren's mom finally knocked on her door. "It's show time ladies!" All of the boys looked amazing in their tuxes, none exactly the same. When Lauren walked down the stairs in her black strapless dress, Puck's mouth went dry and his eyes went wide. She looked amazing - her hair was wavy and wild, her dress accenting all the best parts of her curves. And Lauren almost tripped down the last step when she caught sight of Puck. His tux fit him like a glove, black pants and shirt with a white jacket – and the look in his eyes made her mouth water.

After exchanging flowers, shockingly similar single red roses – his for his lapel and hers for her wrist, and posing for approximately 800,000 photos, they finally linked arms to get in Puck's truck. "Oh shit, the bag!" Lauren turned on her heels and grabbed a small duffle bag waiting for her right inside the front door. Puck raised his eyebrow at her in a silent question, but Lauren just smiled and continued towards the truck without a word.

The gym looked equal parts amazing and tacky, which surprised no one. Within seconds of laying claim to a table with their glee friends, Puck was being pulled onto the dance floor. Every song was one of the girl's favorites, or offered an opportunity to dance up on his girl – hands on her swaying hips, or even a chance to just hold Lauren close and breathe in her scent.

When the song "Better Together" started playing, Puck pulled her in even closer to him. "I hope you're having fun. You're the most beautiful girl in here." Lauren's head was nestled against his shoulder but he could still hear the snort she let out, so he let the conversation drop and started lowly singing along to the song.

Love is the answer,
at least for most of the questions in my heart.
Like why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving.
I'll tell you one thing,
it's always better when we're together.

"Where to now, pretty lady?" Puck said as he climbed behind the wheel of his pickup.

"Mike and Tina are throwing a party. Mike actually convinced his mom to let him stay out all night, how I have no clue, and they got a room at the Holiday Inn."

"Let's hit it, mama!" Lauren laughed at his corny ass harder than she had laughed in a long, long time.

They easily found the room where there was an obvious party going on. All of their glee friends were already there. All the guys had abandoned their tux jackets into a communal pile on a chair and the girls were hitching up their dresses and dancing wildly to the music blaring from the stereo someone brought along. It appeared as if they were the last ones there because the room exploded in choruses of "Puck! Lauren! Paaaaaaaaty!" when they walked into the room.

Someone handed them each a red solo cup from the makeshift bar someone set up under the window. The stereo rang out the first few notes of Pink's "Raise Your Glass" and people nearly exploded in half drunken excitement. Blaine and Kurt started to literally bounce while they sung at the tops of their voices.

Puck took a tiny sip of his drink and leaned over to whisper (okay, yell) into Lauren's ear, "How long are we staying here? I don't think I should drink this if I am gonna drive, it's about 800 proof." She just smiled coyly at him and squeezed her hand into his, pressing their own keycard into his hand.

"We don't have to worry about driving, let's have fun!" She gave him a wink and a peck on the mouth before she joined the bouncing girls nearly tearing the roof of the place singing "dirty little freaks" with their red glasses shoved high into the air.

They held hands while the silently walked to their room. Neither one of them would admit it, but there was a very real tension hanging in the air between them. Puck slid the card into the reader on the door and they stepped in together. "Thanks for coming with me tonight. I know prom is not your thing or whatever, but I had a lot of fun." Their eyes both settled on the one king size bed.

"Yeah, I did too." The ensuing silent pause was more than awkward. Neither one of them even attempted to make eye contact. "Look, I didn't mean this room as a we-have-to-have-sex-tonight thing. I just wanted us both to have fun at the party without worrying about driving," Lauren sputtered without looking at Puck.

Puck looked up at her and smiled. Lauren could let go of the breath she had been holding since they left the party room. He crossed the distance between them quickly, "I would never give up a chance to sleep next to you" and kissed her softly as his fingertips played with the bare skin of her back above her dress. His kiss was gentle and with it he tried to pour into it all the emotions that he didn't know the words for. It wasn't even in the same ballpark as their normal, please come tear my clothes off kisses. Not that this kiss wasn't also sexy as hell and made them both breathe a little harder.

"Why don't you go get the bag from your truck? I brought you some sweats and my stuff is in there too. I'm gonna hop in the shower and get ready for bed." Lauren kicked off her shoes and turned around so Puck couldn't see the blush rising in her cheeks from his kiss. "Can you unzip?"

He came up close behind her without making a single noise. Her pulse quickened when she felt him slowly start to lower the zipper. Lauren wrapped her arms across her chest to keep the dress up. She heard a noise, like a hitch in his breath a split second before she felt his hot breath on her exposed back followed by his lips marking the descent of the zipper. Each inch, each kiss, sent a bolt of electricity to her lower belly, where she most certainly didn't need to feel more electricity right now.

When he reached the end of the zipper, Puck turned Lauren around by the shoulders, meeting her eyes with his own heavy lidded and full of desire. Silently he picked up her arms, allowing her dress to fall to the floor. "Holy mother of…" She was standing in front of him, more exposed than she had ever been, just a strapless corset and black lace panties between her nakedness and him. He was instantly on her, hands buried in her hair and mouth at her neck, breathing in her scent and nipping at her skin.

This time he kissed her so deep that she didn't even begin to notice her lungs burning for air. When he finally pulled away it was to look at her again. This time his hands followed his eyes – down the curve of her breasts - which were close to escaping their confines as hard as Lauren was breathing, down her sides to her waist, across the roundness of her belly and hips, down her thick thighs as far as he could reach and still have his mouth crushed her hers. He nipped at her lower lip a breathed, "so beautiful" into her mouth. She had reached the third button of his dress shirt before she stopped herself and plated her hands firmly to his chest.

"Not yet. Celibacy. Drunk. Shower. Bag." She had completely lost the ability to form complete sentences. She was right and he knew it. He backed to the corner of the bed and sat down. "Uggggggh" was all he could manage to say as she turned around and headed into the bathroom. The view from behind was no less magnificent than the front. He sat in the same spot of the edge of the bed, listening to the shower turn on. He needed to give himself a few minutes before he could walk down to his truck without physical pain.

The cool night air cleared his mind a little as he paced by his truck. She's right, we can do this. We are about way more than sex. He grabbed the McKinley High duffle bag from the truck and rushed back to the room.

He unlocked their room door, thankful the shower was still running. He opened the bathroom door and was greeted by the sound of her voice, "Come on baby, light my fire. Try to set the night on fi-rrrrrrrrre!" He just grinned to himself. "Babe, I am throwing the bag in on the counter." He could hear her mutter "shiiiiit" as the pulled the door closed and had to laugh out loud. God, I love a girl who can rock the Doors.

She came bouncing out of the bathroom still wringing out her hair with a hotel towel. She was wearing a white tank top and boy short panties which appeared to have the superman symbol on them, but Puck couldn't look hard enough to know for sure. Fuck, those're even hotter than the other ones. He jumped up and nearly ran to the bathroom. "I ordered us a snack, it should be here soon," his voice trailed away as he slammed the bathroom door behind him. She seriously had no idea the effect she had on him or the fact that his shower was ice-fucking-cold so he could resume brain function.

Lauren flopped down on the bed and grabbed the remote. She found a marathon of the original Star Trek series from the 60's as the room service guy arrive with their snack – French fries, cheesecake and Dr Peppers. Oh man, this boy gets me.

"I thought I smelled deep fried awesome," Puck said, sauntering out of the bathroom in the sweats Lauren brought for him and the naked skin of his chest still damp. I was her turn to swallow her groan of appreciation. He grabbed a fry and popped it into his mouth and he jumped into the bed next to Lauren. They laid side by side, up on their elbows, enjoying their snack and joking around. Every time their elbows or feet brushed up against each other, both of them felt the jolt. It was all very friendly and playful until Puck insinuated that Captain Kirk was not the best captain in the Star Trek franchise, and obviously Lauren had to put him straight.

Their wrestling match only last a few minutes, but it was long enough for both of them to be sweaty and panting. Lauren's shirt had been tossed to the other end of the room and Puck was finding even his sweats were getting uncomfortable. They pulled apart reluctantly and Lauren said, "We should probably sleep, it's really late."

"Um, yeah sleep. Good plan." They got under the covers and laid stiffly next to one another, careful not to touch. It had been a long, long day, and in spite of the tension, they were both asleep within minutes.

Puck was the first to wake up well after 10am. He didn't even open his eyes to rub the sleep from them before he was halfway to the bathroom. Although he wasn't hung over, he drank enough the night before to feel ready to burst when he woke up. He stumbled sleepily back towards the bed, but stopped short. The sun was peeking through the heavy curtains and was creating slivers of light slicing across Lauren's body. She was lying on her stomach with her arms folded under her head and all the blankets kicked to the floor, her back completely bare and the bottom of her ass just peeking out from the bottom of her panties. God, she's amazing. Last night was perfect. Nothing in the world could have made it any better.

It was the exact moment that he realized he finally wasn't missing anything. What they had together was perfect, even without sex. He didn't need it to feel completely and utterly happy when he was with her. It was like the last piece of their puzzle was finally snapped into place. He felt whole.

He crawled into the bed next to her, trying to disturb her as little as possible. He pressed himself close to her side and wrapped his arm across the small of her back, pulling her closer into him. She made a noise like a small baby animal when he started nuzzling the back of her shoulder. Her eyes opened slowly and she grinned at him sleepily. "Good morning," she croaked out.

"Good morning babe." Puck ran his hand up her side to the side of her breast. "You are beautiful."

"I think that sentence would have made more sense last night before I had pillow creases on my face and morning breath." She chuckled as she pulled her arm out from under her pillow and rolled to face him.

He kissed her slowly and deeply. "You're perfect right now," he breathed. They were both slow and smooth, moving like honey. She could feel his hardness press into her thigh through his pants. His fingertips played around the edges of her panties until he slipped a finger underneath to rub along her folds. Her gasp made his eyes snap open. He was amazed by the deep blue color of her eyes and the passion he saw there. He started to kiss his way down her body, beginning to remove her panties. "Can I please?" He looked up at her with pleading eyes, kneeling on the bed between her opened thighs.

"But, but… what about…?"

"It's time. I want to. I need you."

"Do you really want to be that prom night couple?" She teased him.

"It's not like it's your first time or mine. Plus, it's not prom night… it's morning now." He looked at her with his signature crooked smirk before he began his descent again, kissing her soft belly. He pulled her panties totally off and gave them a toss, not caring where they landed. "Perfect," he murmured at her neatly trimmed sex, more to himself than for her sake. He teased her with light kisses and licks along the inside of her thighs while his fingers began the exploration of her folds. "Oooooooooooh God," escaped he throat before she could swallow it back. He smiled and sunk and finger into her wet pussy. She bucked slightly toward his hand, driving him deeper. He rolled his finger around inside of her as he started to lay soft kisses on her clit. "Oh my god." She didn't even try to hold it back this time. He loved the sounds she was making for him. His heart swelled knowing that it was him that could make her feel this good. He added a second finger inside of her and began a sucking and licking rhythm in earnest. When he felt her starting to tighten around his fingers, he curled them forward, finding that spot that sent her hurdling over the edge. She gripped the sheets next to her body and screamed incoherent syllables.

Puck was grinning like the Cheshire cat as he rose from his position between her legs. Lauren's chest was flushed pink and her hair was splayed out around her in a crazy mess. He thought she looked possibly the most beautiful he had ever seen her look. She grabbed his head and pulled him to her in a fierce kiss, tasting herself on his tongue and groaning into his mouth. He continued to kiss her with all the fire and passion they had been building for months. Her hands left his head and reached down to pull off his sweats. He was impossibly hard and she moaned her approval of his manhood and his pants went flying. She opened her legs further to him and hooked one around his hip.

Puck pulled his face back from Lauren's to look in her eyes. "Are you sure?" he asked making sure she wanted this as much as he did.

"Please, yes. Now. I love you." He wasn't sure if he even heard her right with the blood crashing through his veins so hard he could hear the rush. He lined his erection up against her wet entrance and locked eyes with her and pushed so slowly inside of her. He was desperate to make this last and make sure she wasn't hurting. It had been a long, long time since either of them had done this. "Oh Noah," Lauren moaned when he stopped, buried fully inside her. He had been supporting his upper body on his hands on either side of Lauren's face. Hearing her say his name like she had never done before, he sank to his elbows, pressing their bodies fully together. She wrapped her other leg around him as well, digging her heels into his ass, urging him deeper.

"I fucking love you," he said never removing his mouth from their kiss, starting to move inside her. His thrusts started slow and even but quickly became faster and more erratic every time she moaned or threw her head back. He could feel the tightening in his stomach and slipped his hand between them to stroke her clit while he continued to move inside her. Her body slammed up, meeting his every thrust before she froze and began to tremble. "Oh fuck! Noah!" she screamed. It only took a split second before he was exploding with her, her name all he could say.

He stayed frozen in the same position catching his breath and watching Lauren's chest heaving until his muscles finally screamed at him to move. He rolled off of Lauren and pulled her into his side, stroking her face and the hair off of her forehead. He kissed her gently.

"And why the fuck haven't we been doing that for months now?" Lauren said with a voice full of just fucked haziness.

He just laughed out loud. "So it would be that amazing when we did."

"Well, you better not make me wait another five months to do it again," Lauren laughed as her hand rested on his hard stomach and curled herself against him to put her head on his chest.

"Never again, I promise." He paused. "And I meant it Lauren. I do love you. I know we're only seventeen, but I don't care. I love you more than anything in the world."

"Puckerman, you are really a big sap, you know that?" she smiled and rolled herself on top of him, straddling his hips. She leaned down pressing her breasts into his chest and her lips to his ear lobe. She whispered, "I meant it too."

"Round two?" he asked and she could feel him hardening underneath her.

"Five minutes is muuuuch better than five months," Lauren said as she reached down and guided his hardness into her and sunk fully on to him. "Much, much better."