Author's Note: Takes place shortly after Original Song, but not canon after that point. Will include some of what actually happened on the show, but will definitely go off course because I started it a couple of months before the finale and am just now getting around to editing it and fleshing it out.

::And I should probably make this clear now so I don't waste anyone's time who is looking for a specific ship...there will pretty much be bits of Rachel with Puck, Jesse and Finn (and Kurt). Some of these relationships are strictly friendly, but there will be romance in later chapters.

I don't use a beta and my proof reading skills are pretty much negated by my lack of sleep, so I apologize for any typos or errors.

I do not own Glee, its characters or ideas. I don't even own the TV I watch it on.

The aluminum of the bleachers is cold against her legs and she wonders why she thought it was a good idea to wear such a short skirt in the harsh March weather. Just another stupid decision on her part, she thinks bitterly. Rachel looks out at the deserted football field, the season had ended a couple of months ago and there was not a jock nor cheerio in sight, even the grass was dead. She's thankful that God allowed her to have the small comfort of wallowing in peace.

They had won Regionals, and largely in part because of her, but her happiness was short lived. She may have had the trophy now, but she still didn't have the boy, and as silly and not at all Streisand-esque as it was, the boy meant so much more. She had poured her heart out into that song and sung her feelings for all to see, and all she got was a goofy smile and a platonic hug. Finn may appreciate her talent, but he appreciates Quinn's looks more. They all do.

The sound of heavy footsteps clanging on the cheap metal planks brings Rachel out of her daze and she turns her head to see Puck climbing up the bleachers towards her.

"What's up, Berry?" he asks as he casually sits down and slides next to her. "Noticed you skipped Glee today. Maybe you're a little cooler than I give you credit for."

Rachel sighs tiredly and goes back to gazing off into space. "I didn't skip, Noah. I just decided not to attend Glee this afternoon."

"Are you sick?" Accepting the fact that he can't ask the question directly to her face, he settles for leaning back on his elbows and looking off into space with her. Maybe he could figure out what the hell was so interesting out there.

"No."

"Did someone die?"

Rachel shakes her head frantically and looks at him in horror. "No! Why would you even think something like that?"

Puck just shrugs. "So you're perfectly healthy and all your relatives are alive?" he summarizes. "Well, then I hate to break it to you, princess, but you skipped."

"Fine, Noah. I skipped Glee," she admits with a roll of her eyes. "But it's just an extra curricular activity, it's not like I cut class or something."

"Just an extra curricular?" Puck echoes in shock. "Maybe you are sick." His voice is light and smug and playfully mocking, and she finds an odd sense of comfort in his interest in her life, even if it did get her in trouble last time.

Rachel doesn't bother responding, instead she just shakes her head in a gesture Puck can't fully understand and once again turns her eyes away from him.

"So why'd you bail?" he prods not so gently.

"I can't go in there." She sounds so tired and Puck doesn't fail to notice.

"Why not?"

Rachel opens her mouth to speak before thinking better of it and snapping her jaw shut. "It doesn't matter." She feels so defeated, but surely he wouldn't get it, he'd just think she was being overdramatic.

"What's going on, Rach? Why are you out here feeling sorry for yourself?"

Puck knows from the way her body instantly tenses at his comment that he said the wrong thing. He had a tendency to do that. He thinks back to last year when they sat in this very spot and she tried to let him down gently after their week of dating. He remembers how her attempts to comfort him had failed because he felt so beaten down by the situation and couldn't see past his own anger and hurt, so he lashed out at her. He imagines that's probably how she feels right now and maybe he should be more sensitive.

"I'm not feeling sorry for myself! I just needed to think," she snaps hotly. "Why are you even here, Noah?"

He offers her a weak smile because he doesn't do apologies so well and presses on with his miserable attempt at comforting her. "I saw you sitting here all sad and alone, and I couldn't help myself. I'm a sucker for hot Jewish girls in distress."

"Do you really think I'm hot?" she asks him, her interest in the conversation suddenly spiking.

"Of course," he replies easily. "You know if I wasn't with Lauren I'd totally be looking to pop your cherry now that Finn's out of the picture.

"Do you have to be so crude?" she asks, her disdain for his choice of words clear in her voice and facial features.

"Yes."

She plays with the hem of skirt nervously as she rambles. "But you think I'm ok looking? I'm not too hideous, am I? I mean I know my nose is way too big and my eyes are dull and boring, and I could probably stand to lose a few pounds."

"Whoa, Berry, slow down. Your nose is perfect and your eyes are beautiful. And there's not an inch of fat on you. Where's this all coming from?" He looks at her curiously, because while he knew she was a little unsure when it came to romantic stuff, like how she'd always ask if the way she kissed him was right, and it was, because if there was one thing Rachel Berry knew how to work, it was her mouth, but he never suspected she was that insecure. After all, this was the girl who put together power-point presentations explaining why she should get the lead in every Glee competition.

"But Quinn is prettier than me. You'd pick her over me too, right?" she presses, a troubled expression on her face.

Puck doesn't bother to hide his annoyance at her self-deprecating words. "Is that what this is about? Finn and Quinn? Berry, come on-"

Rachel promptly cuts him off. "Why is he able to forgive her but not me? It's because she's prettier than me, isn't it?" she demands.

Puck can tell she's getting worked up and he just wants to put a stop to it because he hates when chicks get sad around him. He knows that's pretty ironic considering he's probably caused a lot of sadness in girls' lives, but he doesn't usually have to deal with the fallout. No one would expect him to clean up his own messes anyway. Except Rachel. She always expected more from him, more than even he thought he was capable of.

"Finn's a douche-bag," Puck states flatly. He's certain he's just solved her problem with that declaration, because clearly it's the truth and the truth sets you free or whatever, but Rachel continues on as if he hadn't said anything.

"I guess I'm just the conselation prize," she mutters. "The girl boys like Finn settle for when girls like Quinn are unavailable."

"Finn didn't settle for you... he was crazy about you." He can't believe what he's hearing because he really thought Berry had her shit together. Puck sort of wants to shake some sense into her, but he has a strict policy against laying his hands on a girl to do anything other than pleasure them.

"Because Quinn broke his heart. I heard what people said, that he must have gone temporarily insane to even consider going out with me." There's a brief pause, as if she's considering something, and when she speaks again her voice is softer, sadder. "You did the same thing, you know? You only went out with me because you couldn't have Quinn."

"Fine, I'm a douche-bag too," he admits. It's probably the most honest thing he's said in a while.

Rachel turns and looks at him hopefully, no longer content to direct her side of the conversation to the open field. "But if I was pretty, if I looked like Quinn, would you want to be with me?" she asks. "Hypothetically, of course, I'm not actually interested in rekindling our brief romance. I believe we make much better friends than lovers."

"I already said I'd tap that," he answers. "As is," he adds to drive home the point that he finds her attractive.

She sighs, seemingly disappointed by his answer. "So it's all about sex, is that it? If someone like me wants to keep someone like Finn around I need to give freely of myself sexually."

"What?" Puck's not sure he heard correctly because he could have sworn Rachel just offered to give out free sex.

"I'm saying I'm not pretty enough to not put out," she elaborates. "I should have known. No guy is going to stick around based on my looks alone, so what's the point if they're not at the very least getting physical gratification from me? Not too mention my grating personality is enough to drive even the most patient of boys away. I'd need to posses the sexual prowess of Jenna Jameson to keep a guy's interest."

Puck glares at her in surprise. Rachel Berry apparently knew of porn stars by name. And Rachel Berry was apparently dangerously lacking in the self-esteem department. "You're sounding crazier than usual, Berry."

"If I hadn't broken up with you because of my misguided feelings for Finn, you would have bailed on me too," she states solemnly. She doesn't realize she's being unfair in her assumption, because she truly believes it.

"You don't know that." Puck resents the implication. Sure, he may enjoy sex, but despite being a total sex shark, he could hold out for the right girl. And he would have never pressured Rachel into sleeping with him last year.

"Oh please, like you'd really stay with me if all we did was make out," Rachel bites back bitterly.

"I happened to like making out with you," he grins.

She can't help the small smile that passes her lips at his flirtatious admission, because maybe Noah did find something appealing in their make-out sessions. She feels good about that for a few seconds but it passes quickly. "But you wanted more."

"Of course. Who wouldn't?"

"So if I had sex with Finn maybe he'd still want me," Rachel concludes after a few moments of contemplation.

"Stop measuring your self-worth by what Finn thinks," he snaps harshly. "He's not perfect, you know. He broke up with you because of his stupid pride, not because he stopped loving you or because you weren't pretty enough. And doing something you didn't really want to wouldn't have helped matters."

"So why isn't he too proud for Quinn?" Rachel cries desperately. "She cheated on him too, and some might even say that what she did was way worse than our little make out session."

Puck runs a hand through his mohawk. He cared about Rachel but she could be so damn frustrating at times. "Look, I don't know how Finn's mind work, if it even works at all, but I doubt it has anything to do with your looks."

Standing up from the bench, Rachel turns to place a chaste kiss on his cheek. "Thanks for stopping to talk to me, Noah. I'll see you around."

Then she's gone. Puck just watches her walk away in confusion because he's pretty sure nothing he said got through to her.

Not much changes for Rachel after her talk with Noah. Sure, he was kind to her and made a point of striding up to her and cracking some ridiculously distasteful joke or uttering some wildly inappropriate sexual comment whenever he caught her gazing sadly at Finn and Quinn making out in the halls, and she'd laugh softly and allow him to lead her down the corridor, away from it all. But she still hurt.

And since she couldn't hold onto Finn, she decides she'll cling to her other great love, Broadway. Maybe that's where she went wrong, she thinks, maybe she shouldn't have let herself fall so deeply in love with a boy in a small town because she was getting out of this place soon.

She refocuses her energy on vocal lessons, dance classes, and acting workshops. She keeps herself so busy that she hardly has the time to long after Finn. And it's almost enough, but she can't completely escape it because Quinn likes to rub Finn's back when they sit together in the choir room, and Finn grins at Quinn whenever he sings a cheesy romantic rock ballad during Glee.

Jesse shows up towards the end of March. UCLA seems to be taking its toll on him because his hair is longer and he looks older. He strolls through the auditorium doors one afternoon like he owns the place and effortlessly joins in on the song she was working on. Her shock at seeing him is evident, but she doesn't falter on her performance.

"Jesse," she says breathlessly after their impromptu duet comes to an end.

"Hello Rachel," he greets, a genuine smile playing on his lips. "It's good to see you again."

Rachel soon learns that college did indeed take a toll on Jesse, so much so that he failed out after the first semester and has been living at home since December. He didn't have the courage to face her, he tells her, and then he apologizes for the egg incident. She finds herself shrugging and telling him it's ok, that she forgives him, but really it's not ok. She does forgive him, because he seems sincere enough in his apology, but she still has some scars from being publicly humiliated and cruelly tossed aside by a boy she maybe sort of loved. Why couldn't anyone love her back?

"So what have you been up to since you've been back in Ohio?" Rachel asks once they get some of the initial awkwardness out of the way.

Jesse's eyes light up when he begins to tell her about an acclaimed director from New York currently working out of Columbus with a local play write, who has reportedly been garnering a lot of buzz. If the endeavor in Columbus is successful, they'd take the play off-Broadway in New York before inevitably hitting the Great White Way. And Jesse had been chosen as the male lead after a rigorous audition process, he reveals.

"Wow, that's amazing! Congratulations, Jesse!" she gushes. There's no bitterness or insincerity in her voice when she does so either because Rachel Berry is genuinely happy to see a Broadway dream realized, even when the dreamer cracked eggs on her head a year earlier.

"Thanks. But that's not even the best part," Jesse says excitedly. "I got you an audition. You'd be perfect for the part, Rach. It's about two kids from Ohio who wind up stuck in a life they don't want. It's angsty and a little dark, but passionate and romantic at the same time. Plus, the music is great. This is us, Rachel. We are this play" He speaks so passionately about the project that Rachel can't help but get pulled in.

Rachel sits momentarily stunned. "Me? Audition for a part in a real musical? With a Broadway director?" she finally stammers out in disbelief.

"Yes, you," Jesse replies sounding so sure of the idea. "I already showed Mr. Ellis a recording of you from Sectionals last year and he's willing to have you audition despite you're being a minor. Underage actors are significantly more difficult to work with, but he's willing to make an exception because you're that good."

"You showed him a tape of me?" she asks, a bit embarrassed but also flattered. She wonders what this Mr. Ellis is like and what he thought of her.

"I had to because I knew that once he saw you, once he heard you, he wouldn't want anyone else. Just be ready Friday after school, I'll pick you up. Ok?"

She takes a moment to think it over. It'd be a great opportunity to break into the business and a perfect distraction from Finn and McKinley in general. She'd have to get her parents' permission, but she doubts that'd be a problem. Rachel flashes Jesse a tight smile and nods. "I'll be ready. Thank you, Jesse."

::Thanks for reading. Drop me a review to let me know what you think if you have the time.