Laughing Fate Read online

  "Ummm....sorry?" Puck asked. Her eyes were wide and hesitant, her mouth slightly open. Potter was thrilled that Puck was feeling good enough to sucker punch him, but he tried hard not to let it show. He kept his mock frown on his face for another minute, but the close proximity to Puck was starting to take its toll on Potter. He stared at her mouth before dragging his gaze to her eyes. Something about that look in them made him feel powerful, like a god. He, Potter, a mere mortal had put fear into Puck’s eyes. He liked that quite a bit.

  "Sorry?" he repeated softly. God, he must sound stupid, but he couldn’t get his mind off of her lips. They looked so soft that he dreamed of kissing her. He smiled slightly as he thought of what her reaction might be. She would decapitate him certainly. The question was... would a kiss be worth it?

  "Yeah...um sorry, blame it on the concussion?" She asked hopefully.

  "The concussion?" He repeated again with his eyes back on her mouth. She felt him all over her body, his hands warm and firm on her arms. And my god that smell! He still smelled of surfing and ocean.

  "Yeah" she said softly, staring at his lips. His lips weren’t bad either. Being this close to the big hunky jerk felt almost good…

  "Yeah" he repeated, moving slightly closer. Their lips were almost touching and Puck wanted the kiss really bad, she realized. Her eyes were half lidded and she thought sluggishly that the hospital must have drugged her. Why else would she want to kiss Mr. Macho?

  The moment was shattered when Perri asked, " Isn’t that Baby in the drive way?" Baby was Potter’s ditzy, nineteen year old girlfriend.

  "I’m stupid" breathed Puck as Potter drew away in shock. It was all there in his eyes. He was shocked that he had almost kissed her. ‘Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!’ thought Puck. Potter tried to help her up, but she batted his hands away glaring at him with death in her eyes.

  "I’m fine!" she said as she straightened herself up. Perri, who had apparently missed the almost kiss, glared at Puck for being rude and parked the car.

  "Baby!" she yelled as she got out of the car. Perri stood there excitedly telling Baby all about Potter’s heroics. Of course Perri was friends with the bimbo. Potter joined them and although he was nervous at first he soon overcame it and basked in their praise.

  Puck stared at her sister. She was beautiful like always. The sun hitting her blond hair and making her look like an angel. Which Puck found funny since right now she was the devil. Had they all forgotten about her??? Where was all the concern? And why was stupid Potter getting all the attention? While they were all praising the cheating bastard dog, they had left the half dead girl by herself. Well she’d show them.

  “I think I’m gonna sleep," she said to no one in particular. No one looked at her. So she repeated it louder. She knew that Potter heard because he glanced her way knowingly and then turned his back on her! The nerve! He was ignoring her!

  "You should have seen him! He was so great. He really took charge! He saved my sister’s life!" went on her ex-sister.

  "Oh come on!" Puck muttered. They were being so dumb! Couldn’t they see what a rat he was?

  A small voice in her head that she dimly recognized as her conscience was saying: " You didn’t think he was a rat when he was about to kiss you." Darn conscience. Puck was sure she had killed it off years ago. Disgusted with her thoughts she stared at the three people she hated most in the world. He was oozing charm, playing the good ol’ boy card. Well dang him anyways!

  Never one to be overly dramatic or spiteful, Puck opened her door and got out clinging to the door as if she was completely weak...which wasn’t very far off from the truth. With dramatics worthy of drama club (she’d been president all four years of high school) she crumpled to the ground in a pathetic lump. She stretched one arm out pleadingly for good measure. No one noticed. God, were they made out of stone?? What did she have to do to get their attention? FREAKIN’ DIE?! Puck moaned softly, not wanting to be too obvious. Nothing. She moaned louder and more dramatically. Still nothing. Cracking her eyes open she looked around. The bastards had went into the house!

  Standing up quickly she shouted, " What the heck is wrong with you bloody people??!" Realizing that maybe she was over exerting herself, Puck fell again onto the driveway. This time for real.

  ****

  ‘My god! I almost kissed the crazy Puck Berri! The one girl that struck fear into my heart and I almost kissed her!’ Potter thought as he stood talking to ‘baby’. Baby was just a nickname for her, but sadly he couldn’t think of her real name. Maybe it was time to move on. Eventually she would want him to call her by her given name....

  ‘Although Puck didn’t look all that scary with her eyes almost closed...she’d looked almost cute. And her mouth...Hot damn!’ Shaking his head to clear it, Potter stared at Baby. She was a good looking blond with great curves and a smiling mouth. Only problem was that she didn’t seem to think very much at all. He slowly tuned into their conversation. They were still talking about him; they thought he was a hero! He could get used to that! He smiled and nodded his head, and even said ‘aw shucks!’ at one point. The girls glowed and he basked in their praise. Now why couldn’t Puck be like that? Speaking of Puck, wasn’t Perri concerned about her? She was still in the car after all. She could be sleeping right now...

  "Yup I’m gonna definitely sleep now," Puck said from the car. The girls didn’t hear but Potter did. So Puck was feeling left out was she? He sent Puck a knowing look and then grinned at the girls. Let her be miffed, he deserved this praise. With the same urge that led grown men to do stupid things on a daily basis like lick batteries, touch electrified fences, and mock enraged seagulls (Well, Potter didn’t have that much courage yet), Potter decided to rattle Puck’s cage.

  "Hey ladies, all that saving peoples lives and being a hero has really left me parched! Let’s go in the house for something to drink." Insert charming smile and he was golden. The ladies led him towards the house. He heard the car door open, saw Puck’s theatrical fall and guessed it to be bogus. She had been the worst actor in high school; she was just way over the top. He knew it for sure when he saw her eye slit open. Woo hoo! She was gonna be so mad! For a brief second he debated the wisdom of leaving her alone, but if she had enough energy to fall like that she had to be fine. Turning up the charm, Potter walked into the house with his adoring fans.

  While he was sipping a beer, he wondered what Puck’s next move would be. She wasn’t the sort to sit idly about. Come to think about it, it had been ten minutes since she’d fallen. What if she wasn’t faking?? Getting worried, he stood by the window and watched her.

  "She’s faking, it’s ok," Perri said softly by his side.

  "You knew?" he asked incredulously glancing at Perri.

  She arched her brow and said, “Of course, I’m her sister! She didn’t like that you were getting all the attention. It’s a tantrum, don’t worry about it. She’ll get bored and come in eventually. I wonder if it’ll rain...what do you think? Does it look like rain?” She said that so calmly as if her sister lying out in the driveway pretending to be dead was ordinary. My god, what kind of family was this?

  "What’s going on?" asked Baby a little too loudly. Baby had forgotten all about Puck. You could see it in her eyes when she finally saw Puck lying on the ground. That irritated Potter, although he didn’t know why he was feeling so defensive of Puck.

  Baby turned to Potter and smiled engagingly, "Don’t worry about Puck; she’s like an old battle horse. She’ll be fine, although, I don’t see why she’s laying around outside. That’s kind of odd, even for Puck."

  Potter ignored Baby. "Do you think she fell asleep? She was tired," asked Potter, concern lacing his voice. "She was tired in the car, kept falling asleep."

  Baby frowned at Potter and turned to look out the window. She idly looked at her French tipped nails and let out a little huff of irritation. Baby did not like being ignored.

  "Maybe...but I really think she’s still faking. She’s really stubborn," P
erri answered Potter. She was also ignoring Baby. She was her friend, but it really annoyed her how Baby had described her sister.

  "But for ten minutes?? With no activity? That’s not like her!"

  Perri glanced at Potter with amusement. "Since when are you an expert on Puck? I’m telling you, she’s stubborn and prideful. It’s a Berri trait. If she gave in now, she’d only look foolish. This, my friend, is a battle of the wills. She’s betting that we’ll eventually be overcome with worry for her and run out there to save her. Then she’ll get up, laugh and walk into the house. I’m betting that it’ll rain and she’ll be forced to come in.”

  “What are you guys talking about?" asked Baby shrilly. Since when had her voice been shrill? Potter cringed as he looked at her. Baby was tired of being ignored and she was growing bored. He could see it in her stance and the way she was flipping her hair.

  "Nothin’," said Potter off handily. He continued to watch Puck and then sighed. If she was faking, Potter didn’t know what he’d do, but if there was even a slight chance she wasn’t faking...

  "I’m going out there," he said in a resigned voice. Time to end the sick twisted game the sisters were playing.

  He left the room swiftly to get to Puck’s side. Potter sat down so that he could put her head in his lap and said, "Come on you little faker. You win. Come on inside." There was no response. He slapped her, nothing. Blew in her face, nothing. Plugged her nose, kissed her forehead and noticed that she had small freckles at the corners of her eyes, shook her, pulled her hair, tickled her sides and belly, gave her a wet willy...Nothin. Holy CRAP! Not again. She was going to give him a heart attack.

  "Pe Pe Perri!" he stammered as loud as he could. "Call the ER and tell them we are coming back!" Perri ignored that order, but did come running out with Baby.

  He knelt by Puck’s head stroking her hair, rubbing her hands, anything to make her respond. Nothing. The girls were talking in some weird, high pitched secret women speech that frankly sounded like gerbil to Potter.

  "Not again. Not again. Come on Puck. Don’t do this baby. Don’t do this. Come on babe..." he murmured softly in her ear.

  "Don’t. Call. Me. Baby." Puck said with a wise ass smirk on her face. Potter conceded defeat on this one. Puck had won this battle, no doubt of that. He stared down at her face trying to decide if he was amused or irate.

  "What?” called out Baby, "Did someone call my name?” God she was dumb. Why hadn’t he noticed that before? Oh wait, he had; but Baby’s slammin body had more than made up for it.

  "Damn it, girl! Don’t do that again! You scared me half to death!" He growled at her.

  "Good." she smirked. He scowled. He either wanted to kill her or kiss her...he couldn’t decide which. Probably just kill her. It would certainly be easier.

  "Were you awake the whole time?" asked Perri.

  ‘Good question!’ thought Potter. He stared down at her face and he saw her thinking fast.

  "Well..." she hedged. “I wasn’t faking the WHOLE time. But the whole time Casanova here was trying to revive me I was awake. My God! Who does that to an unconscious person? Give them a wet willy?! Eww gross!"

  She looked up at Potter and her smile slipped a little. There was a tiny apology in her eyes. In a blink of an eye it was gone and she was gloating again. ‘Gotchya,’ she mouthed up at him. Her head was still in his lap and his fingers were working through her hair, it was very relaxing. The jerk really had nice hands…

  Perri scowled at her sister and said, “Can you get up?" Perri noticed Potter’s fingers tighten just a little as if he wanted to keep Puck there. Great. Poor guy was going to get his heart broken. Not to mention break Baby’s heart. Puck didn’t date men. She was twenty-two and had never been on a date. She disliked anything romantic and she was defensive as all get out. Perri didn’t know why she was like that, she just always had been. Besides she was too busy for a guy right now. She was a workaholic, holding down two jobs.

  "Yep!" chirped Puck, as she gracefully stood up and brushed the dirt off of herself. Potter stood up more slowly, obviously reluctant to let her leave his arms. Perri wondered if he knew how bad he had it. Puck was trying to look cool, but Perri could see that she hurt. Potter must have seen it too, because he took a step closer to Puck.

  "Just Dandy!" Puck chirped again as she walked into the house with false bravado.

  Her steps were still wobbly and her breathing was shallow as if she was in pain. Any anger that Potter may have felt before completely evaporated as he watched her enter the house. He quickly followed her, ready to help at a moment’s notice.

  Perri followed Potter into the house and wondered what it would be like to live in a normal family. Perri was a roll with the punches type of person. She could calmly take on any situation that her crazy family threw at her, but still it would be nice to live with a normal family. She sighed as she entered the house... ‘Welcome to crazy land’, she told herself.

  Potter watched as Puck ran around with manic energy, trying to prove how well she was. When Puck declared with false energy, “I’m bored, let’s go do!" Perri yelled at her to rest. When Puck scowled and stuck her tongue out at her sister, Perri scowled back. Who knew Perri had that much scowl in her? She had always been the sweet sister. To out scowl the warrior Puck was really something. Furious indeed were these Berri women.

  When Puck picked up a base ball and started trying to juggle it (and ended up hitting Baby on accident), Perri yelled and sent her to her room. When Puck pouted and absently played with a pocket knife, heavens knows where she got one, Perri flipped out and pushed her into her room and forced her to rest. Which worked all of five minutes.

  Perri had just shut the door behind her and shared a look with Potter, when they heard a ghastly bellow from the fires of hell, "I’M BORED!" it was a long and drawn out bellow that shook the house.

  ‘Oh my god’, thought Potter. She had to be the most bizarre woman in the history of the planet. He knew she was tired. He knew she was in pain. What was up with the false energy?

  "She doesn’t want us to feel sorry for her. For some weird reason she would prefer us to be annoyed with her than to treat her like an invalid. You have to show your concern and love through teasing and bullying. She hates people to treat her... nice. She’s weird like that." Perri was sitting against the wall, looking up at him. She took a deep breath, looking undecided on whether to say more about Puck.

  “She doesn’t do casual relationships. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her date. I have seen her push a man down and pour soda all over his head for asking her out... so she does get asked. She just never says yes. I think she has issues with trust and commitment, I’m not sure. Puck doesn’t really talk about her feelings. If you’re interested at all in her then you have to pretend not to be. Gain her trust and get to know the real Puck Berri. She’s the sweetest person you’ll ever meet. "

  Potter felt his jaw drop. They both worked at Saltys, but usually he was in the back working on the boards while Perri was up front flirting with the boys. He had nothing in common with her. The chick couldn’t even swim. But she seemed nice enough, even if she was crazy. Him, like Puck? Come on.

  "What are you talking about?" He asked looking around for Baby. He hadn’t broken up with her yet...She was sitting on the couch leafing thru a magazine, oblivious to all that was going on around her. He guessed he should break up with her...she was kind of an air head. He looked back at Perri. My god, she really equaled her sister with the look in her eye! He took a quick step backward.

  “Stop it Potter. I’m serious. If you are going to stick around you better be ready for one hell of a fight because she’s not going to want your attentions. And you have to want to spend the rest of your life with her; because once you do earn her love it’s going to be ALL of her love. If you make her love you and walk away, you’ll kill that part of her forever. Do you understand?"

  Potter felt his lungs closing and air rushing in his ears. Was that a fog horn?? ‘O
h my god I have a tumor’ he thought, slightly hysterical. Perri was talking about commitment to the shrew. To the little warrior who even now was banging something against the wall. My god. He had only just started to entertain the thought that maybe Puck wasn’t as scary as a seagull, though of course she had her moments, not commit his entire life to her! Glancing about wildly for a quick exit, he stammered that he had an appointment to go to and literally ran out of there.

  Perri smiled sadly as she watched him run away. She half hoped she had chased him away, but she didn’t think she had. He’d be back; she knew that he wasn’t one to back away from a challenge. He’d be back with a plan, Perri was sure of it. She walked away from Puck’s door, noting the sudden quiet now that Potter was gone, and sat next to Baby.

  Baby looked thoroughly bored. She had entirely given up any pretense at concern over Puck, and was now leafing through magazines. It was time for her to go, Perri thought. Puck needed some one on one time right now. She smiled at Baby and suggested she leave in the kindest way she could think of.

  "Baby you must be bored. I’m sorry I’m not good company right now. Could you do something for me? Tell Stokes that I can’t see him tonight. I really shouldn’t leave Puck right now."

  "Sure thing love, sure. See you later, okay?" They hugged and Baby walked out leaving Perri all alone. Baby’s expensive perfume lingered in the room, even after she left. Perri paused a second to breath in the delicious scent and then walked upstairs to join Puck.

  She peeked into Puck’s room and saw that she was staring at the ceiling silently. Pushing the door open and walking in, Perri smiled and asked how everything was. Puck smiled gamely and gingerly touched her head.

  "It hurts like the dickens, Perri. I was so stupid today. Did Potter tell you what I did?"

  "No...what happened?" she asked as she sat on the bed with Puck. Puck breathed deep and stared around her room thinking before she spoke.