AN: This story kind of just popped into my head & wouldn't leave so I decided to let it out. It might be terrible, I'm not really sure (I hope it's not though) but it had to be let free. The timeline of the story essentially is taking place during season 3, but I've changed some things. Like, Sam is still at McKinley and while I do like Brittana, for this story they aren't in love, just besties and Britt is still with Artie. And that whole Rachel running for president against Kurt is not going to happen. Also I think I might avoid going down this Quinn going crazy over Beth path the show seems to be headed, I might even make it so she didn't do the whole bad girl thing at all. And I'm most definitely not doing the whole Puck/Shelby thing. Now that that's out of the way...enjoy & I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, but I wish I did : (

Chapter 1-Some People Never Change…Others Do

~~~~McKinley High, Monday night~~~~

"Are you sure it's time, Will?" she said with uncertainty. She glanced at the man next to her, who was leaning over some of the books. The school was silent; no one else had a reason to be here this late at night.

"Yeah, Emma, it's time," William Schuester looked over to the red-headed woman beside him, "I'm almost positive, I can feel the Darkness coming closer and we need to prepare them."

"Yes, but we are short a person and the two who need to lead aren't even together," Emma voiced her worries. She knew they had to do this soon, but she still wasn't sure.

"We're not short since Blaine joined. And we will get them together. According to the Books, they are destined to be together so there's no way they can deny the chemistry between them. We just need to give them a little push in the right direction. There's a reason I made sure they had all their classes with each other and why I mentioned he needed to keep his grades up in front of her because I knew she would want to help him. I made sure that they spend time together, and it will be even easier once we perform the ritual, given the gifts the two will have. And I'm going to put them together in glee. So you have nothing to worry about," he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"But what if the Books are wrong? What if we think the wrong people for the Pair?" Emma was about to go into panic mode.

Will just chuckled at his girlfriend's frenzied questions; she knew the answers, but he figured he'd reassure her, "Emma, you know that the Books are never wrong so you also know that we have the right two."

"That is true," she answered, still there was a little doubt in her voice, "it's getting late, why don't we go home?"

"Sounds good, this is going to be a big week," he shook with anticipation, "plus I'm assigning a duet competition, and I'm going to have to deal with at least two upset students when I break up their partnership." A grimace was apparent on his face as they hid the books they had been reading and grabbed their things to leave.

"Is it as weird that we are going to be messing with their relationships to you as it is for me?" Emma asked Will on the way back to his apartment, "I mean don't you worry that it will ruin some friendships, which will make it harder for them to keep together especially with powers added to that stress?"

"Yeah, it is weird and it may for a little bit, but they always come together when things get difficult. Which is why I think we should get the Destined Pair thing done before we do the ritual; I was thinking we'd do that on Wednesday or Thursday. Their friendships will hopefully mend, but the Pair is our main priority. The only way he will be able to control his powers and not destroy everything is with her powers and help. Plus she's always had a way with keeping him under control and calming him down."

"It's like they were made for each other," Emma keep a straight face until she turned to Will, then they both burst into laughter, "oh wait, they were." They joked while they could and savored it because they both knew that while it was a big week, it was going to be long and there was going to be a lot to do. And soon they would have a lot of explaining to do, serious explaining to do.

~~~~McKinley High, Tuesday~~~~

"Hey, B, Hummel, Warbler Blaine, have you seen my boyfriend?" Santana walked up to the other three students.

"Santana, you do realize I am not a Warbler anymore?" Blaine questioned, only to receive a wave of dismissal from the girl, at which he rolled his eyes.

"I would imagine he is with Noah, where ever that may be," Rachel answering her question. A while ago seeing Santana talking to Rachel without insulting her was unheard of, but now they were actually good friends. It happened sometime after Mercedes dumped Sam for that Shane kid and left New Directions. While he and Mercedes had been dating, Rachel became almost like a little sister to him. So when he was heartbroken Rachel showed up on his doorstep with her delicious "I'm sorry" cookies. By the time summer was over, Santana and Sam had gotten back together, and her and Rachel became friends; slowly but surely.

"Thanks, so where's your man? Normally, he's always around," she glanced over to Kurt and Blaine who were giving her warning glances and shaking their heads. The Latina's eyebrows shot up as she turned towards to Rachel again, "Rae?"

"I broke up with him yesterday," Rachel said with a matter-of-fact tone.

"What? Why? And why I'm I only hearing about this now?" Santana was practically yelling. Rachel sighed and told her what had happened.

~~~~Flashback~~~~~

Rachel had stayed late to practice a song she thought was perfect for Sectionals. She walked out of the auditorium into the, what she thought to be empty, hallway. Only when she turned the corner, she froze in place at the sight of her boyfriend kissing the one and only Quinn Fabray. A strangled noise made its way out of her mouth and the pair broke apart. Their eyes found the tiny brunette.

"You…you cheating…jerk!" Rachel finally found her voice and screamed at him. She turned around quickly and made her way to the nearest bathroom, as she ignored Finn calling out her name. As she stood in front of the mirror and splashed water on her face, hoping to ward away the tears, she heard someone enter.

"Rachel…I'm sorry," Quinn apologized.

Rachel scoffed, "sure you are Quinn, and did you come in here just to rub it in my face that he will always go back to you."

"No, he told me he broke up with you," Quinn sighed, "I'm tired of being the girl who hurts people on purpose. I never would have kissed him if I had known. But I still love him, Rachel, and I'm not going to let him go this time."

Quinn looked genuinely sorry and Rachel believed her, "I believe you Quinn…I hope you two are happy together." Rachel was serious; she had known this might happen that Finn would go back to the blonde girl. She had really hoped it wouldn't and she was sad, but there was no use moping. Rachel looked into Quinn's eyes and nodded. Quinn went to leave, but Rachel stopped her, "And Quinn, tell Finn I'm breaking up with him."

Quinn nodded and left. Rachel looked into the mirror one last time before she sent a text to Kurt, telling him to spend the night and bring the ice cream and musicals.

~~~~End Flashback~~~~

"Ok, so I'm not as mad at Quinn, but you're just going to let him get away with that?" Santana's voice rose during the last part of the sentence.

"Well, of course I'm not going to let him get away with it, but calm down, you don't need to scream; it's not that big of a deal." Rachel turned to put her books in her locker.

Santana opened her mouth to reply, when a voice from behind her, "What's not a big deal?"

"Oh, hi Noah…Sammy, nothing, it's just Santana over-reacting," Rachel said looking up at her mohawked best friend and her blonde "big brother".

"Over-reacting my ass, Rae, here, broke up with Frakenteen after she caught him sucking face with the Ice Queen," Santana immediately realized maybe it wasn't the best idea to tell two people who were extremely protective of Rachel this while still in school having the possibility of seeing Finn sometime soon, "oh, but Fabray did apologize."

Both of the boys looked very angry, but Rachel knew that Puck had a harder time controlling his temper than Sam. She saw his jaw clench and his fists tighten, and knew he was moments away from hunting Finn down. "Guys, it's fine, like I was telling San I'm not going to let him get away with it," Rachel saw Sam relax a little, but Puck was still tensed up, "Noah, calm down."

"Why should I? I should be pounding his face in for hurting you again," he replied still angry.

He visibly relaxed when Rachel placed her hand on his arm and stared into his eyes, "while that is sweet of you to want to do that, you know that violence is never the answer. Besides I don't want you to get in trouble."

"While I hate to break up this Puckleberry goodness," Santana started, "what do you plan to do to get back at him?"

"Well after a long discussion Kurt and I came up with a suitable plan; since Sam beat him for the position of starting quarterback, Finn's popularity has dropped some, and so has his confidence," Rachel paused, making sure everyone was still paying attention, "Being the male lead vocal in glee was something that brightened his day a little bit, but I feel, and I'm sure you'll agree, that he doesn't exactly deserve it anymore. Sure, he is talented, but he isn't the most talented of the boys and his voice blends well with mine, but there are other voices that blend better. The position was kind of just given to him and I feel it is time it goes to someone else."

"I was hoping for something more John Tucker Must Die, but this is good enough. And Hummel plotting against your own brother, nice. Also why was I not included in this planning?" Santana asked both impressed and offended.

"Well, we didn't exactly want Finn to be hurt so bad he would transfer schools, which is what would probably happen if you had been included, sorry, we're not that evil. And Finn may be family, but that was a douche move and he deserves this," Kurt replied.

"So, Rachie, who's going to be your new lead and how are you going to convince Mr. Schue?" Sam asked.

The brunette linked her arm with Kurt's, and started walking away before she said over her shoulder with a smirk, something she picked up from Puck, "don't worry we figured that out, too. You'll just have to wait and see."

Rachel wasn't going to give away any info. And she definitely wasn't about to tell them about the conversation she had with Kurt the night before about why she wasn't as broken up about the break-up or what Kurt thought about her and her hopefully new leading man.

~~~~Flashback~~~~

Rachel's fathers were on another one of their long business trips so the house was quiet. So when there was a knock on the door it seemed to echo throughout the house. Rachel left her spot on the couch and went to answer the door. On the other side was Kurt holding up a big tub of ice cream and some dvds.

"Hey diva, what did he do now?" he didn't even have to ask why she was crying, knowing very well it had to do with his not to bright step-brother. Rachel went on to explain what had happened and how Quinn at least had the decency to feel bad about it.

A while later, Rachel's tears had finally ran dry and she had an epiphany, "you know what, Kurt, I'm not even all that sad about not being with Finn. I'm angrier at myself that I fell for it again, that I believed that we could make it work. I just realized that I don't love him anymore like I used to. I mean I was willing to leave him for New York and let it be, if I really loved him I would have fought for him more or pushed him to apply to more schools in New York."

"Like you did with Puck?" Kurt asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Kurt, Noah is one of my best friends and I know he could do so much more than stay here in Lima. He can go on to do great thing if he put his mind to it. And I'll remind you that I also convinced Sam and San to apply to some New York schools as well, not just Noah. I want all my friends with me."

"Yeah, but Finn was your boyfriend at the time and you didn't push them as much as you did him." Kurt tried to get her realize what he was saying without him having to say it, but it wasn't working very well.

"What are you trying to say?" Rachel asked seeming genuinely confused.

"Are you sure that another reason that you aren't that sad and why you pushed Puck so much more is that you…" Kurt paused, almost scared to continue, "...is that you, maybe like Puck in a "more than best friend" kind of way?"

"I do not…I, I don't know," she sighed in defeat and Kurt sighed in relief, "I mean a part of me knew me and Finn were drifting apart and I had been spending so much time with Noah and I really don't know. I think I do, I think a part of me knew Noah was the one I wanted, but I didn't know if he felt the same and it might kill me if he didn't because I can't lose him, he's one of my best friends. Oh my, I'm just so confused."

Kurt smiled at finally getting the girl to admit her true feelings, "Oh, he feels the same way alright. Do you not she the way he looks at you?" Rachel just blushed and Kurt went on, "now let's get going on a plan to get back at Finn and get you a new leading man."

Rachel's face lit up with an idea at Kurt's last few words, "Kurt, that's it! I know how I'll get back at Finn!"

~~~~End Flashback~~~~

The other four just stood there for a while before Puck turned to Blaine, "do you know anything 'bout this?"

Blaine just shook his head, "nope, I was told nothing, but we better get going, class is about to start." Puck and Blaine went to join Rachel and Kurt in math class, which yes, Puck went to now thanks to Rachel, while Sam and Santana went in the opposite direction towards their class holding hands.

~~~~Meanwhile in Mr. Schue's office~~~~

"Hey," Will looked up from his computer to see Emma in the doorway.

"Hey, how's it going?" he asked as Emma came over and kissed his cheek.

"Good, it's a slow day. How's the planning going? Did you pick a day yet?" she replied sitting in the same chair she occupied the night before.

"It will depend on how quickly we can get Puck and Rachel to partner up. I mean I know they're good friends, but I know Rachel will have something to say about me switching Finn out as her duet partner and putting her with Puck." Will rubbed his face, hoping Rachel wouldn't put up too much of a fight about this.

"Well you have one more period to figure it out and prepare yourself," Emma chuckled and rubbed his shoulder. Neither of them knew that Rachel was going to make Will's task a whole lot easier.

~~~~Back in math class~~~~

Puck had spent almost the whole class period bugging Rachel about her new duet partner. She wouldn't tell him anything, but he still pushed, "Come on, Rach, at least give me a hint."

"Only if you promise to stop asking until glee club."

"Fine," he was leaning forward to make sure he could hear every word.

"Ok, well he's a guy and in glee, and I have sung a duet with him. There you go, now pay attention," Rachel had a mischievous smile which should have been a clue to Puck that this hint wasn't going to help much.

Puck's heart sped up at his first thought; I've sung a duet with her. But then he realized, so had Sam, Kurt, Blaine, and Finn, even Mike had been practicing with her the other day; did that count. It didn't narrow down the choice very much; all he knew was that it wasn't Finn or Artie. He groaned and he could have sworn he heard Rachel giggle. He didn't even know why it was bugging him so much; ok so maybe he did, but he couldn't tell her. Just the thought of any guy but him singing duets with her made him angry. Then he remembered the talk he had with Mike last week.

~~~~Flashback~~~~

Puck was putting some stuff in his locker when Mike walked up and Puck looked over to him, "sup, man?"

"Hey, have you seen Rachel today?" Mike asked.

"No, not yet. But I have like every class with her. Why do you need her?" Puck was curious.

"The other day when we were hanging out she said she would help me out with this song," he explained.

"You guys hung out?" Puck got this feeling in his stomach that he didn't like. His fists tightened and Mike noticed.

"Yeah, with Tina and Kurt, too. Calm down, dude, if I didn't know any better I would think you were…" Mike trailed off and the thought dawned on him, "you are jealous!"

"What are you talking about? Why would I be jealous?" Puck defended.

"You're jealous because you like Rachel, a lot. I can't believe I didn't notice before. I mean I should have especially the other day when you shot down that Cheerio." Mike was almost talking to himself.

"Dude, what are you talking about? Rachel and I are just friends."

"Well we're friends too, but when I told you to go to class, you laughed in my face. You and Santana are friends, but you don't get angry or protective when she's with other guys and you don't listen to her either." Mike pointed out. That's when they heard Rachel's voice and Puck immediately looked to find her. She was walking with Finn further down the hallway. Puck's face turned into a scowl, just like every other time he saw the two together. Mike noticed this, "So it must kill you to see them together."

Puck looked at Mike, and for a moment Mike saw the person Rachel normally saw, Noah, "Yeah, it does."

Mike was glad for the admission, because normally Puck was too stubborn to allow himself to feel, "don't worry, man, it'll all work out, they won't last very much longer, plus she feels the same, but she's just as stubborn as you." After being the quiet guy for so long he had learned to be observant and it came in handy.

End Flashback~~~~

Puck was pulled out of his memories by the bell and the sound of Rachel's voice, "Come on Noah, only one more class and then glee."

She was smiling down at him so he smiled back, got up and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they left the classroom, "thank Jew God, 'cause that was a useless clue." Rachel just laughed the laugh he had come to love.

AN: Sorry if some of this is kind of confusing, like me not really going along with the show, but at some parts I do. Like I said before it's essentially during season 3. I tried to make it as non-confusing as I could. : ) oh and sorry no super powers yet, my bad…I just want to get all the basic stuff set up before I get into that.