Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.
A/N: I love Finchel, don't get me wrong (though you wouldn't think it based on my St. Berry story), but I always wonder what would've happened if Puckleberry never stopped. Don't worry, I'll write a Finchel fic in the future to make up for its absence in my collection! This was inspired by a long drive and my cousin who obviously didn't respect the headphone rule.
Puck always sat at the back of the bus. No one really bothered to talk to him, especially now as they had pre-competition jitters. To make it better, he had his headphones plugged in, ready to tune out the world with the awesome music of Mumford and Sons. They were off to Regionals again, prepared to absolutely demolish Vocal Adrenaline. As a group, they decided not to have Finn and Rachel sing a duet. After all, they lost every time they had a duet. Must have been some sort of show choir curse.
Someone up there had other ideas as Rachel plopped down in the seat next to him, the ever-chipper grin present. They had become friends, sort of. After Finn and Rachel decided that they were better off as friends with the thoughts of a long-relationship looming overhead and taking its toll, Rachel branched out in her group of friends, eventually roping Puck in. Despite all that had gone on between them on the spectrum of dating to not acknowledging each other, there was no denying that there was chemistry between the two good-looking Jews.
The twanging banjoes and strong bass line couldn't cover up her yapping. True, she had toned it down over the years, but she was still Rachel. He was trying his best to tune her out, but to no avail. With a grunt, he plucked out his headphones and slapped his hand over her mouth. Her eyes widened as they bore into his.
"Rach, I want you to listen very carefully, okay? Just nod or shake your head. Understand?"
She nodded.
"See, there's this unwritten rule that crosses over every continent. We like to call it the headphone rule. Have you heard of it?"
She shook her head.
He rolled his eyes. Of course she wouldn't know about it. She was probably too busy looking up songs to demand as solos in her spare time. "It goes like this: When someone has their headphones in, you don't talk to them. At all. Pretty easy to understand, right?"
Again, she nodded.
"I have had my headphones in for the past 45 minutes, and I can hear you over my songs. Don't you think there's something wrong here? I know how much you follow the rules, so at least do this for me. Follow the headphone rule. Respect it."
She rolled her eyes in response, but she nodded. Puck removed his hand from her mouth and put his headphones, hoping that she got the message. He rested his head back against the chair, closed his eyes, and let the music wash over him.
Rachel closed her eyes, her thoughts all in a jumble. She was ecstatic that Kurt and Blaine got the duet and as a group, they had written another original song, but she was still nervous. Vocal Adrenaline was always their stiffest competition and with their last contest ending in humiliation, she was worried that it would happen again. She really wanted to talk to Puck about her worries, but that stupid headphone rule. Whoever invented it probably just had their headphones in and discovered that no one, save for their parents, wanted to talk to them. Forget about that rule, she needed to get all this nervous energy out before she exploded.
She timidly poked his arm. No response. She poked again. Nothing. With a huff, she sharply poked him, earning a glare from him. She gestured taking out his headphones, but he just gave her a look that said, "Really?" which she responded with an equal look of, "Really." It was a staring contest, but after it was clear that he wasn't going to give in, she started talking away.
The truth was that Puck paused his music and was listening to every word she was saying. He knew that she needed someone to talk to, but he really liked pushing her buttons. She seemed to go on forever and ever…how she was able to do that was beyond him.
He decided that he heard enough and shut her up by kissing her. After a few minutes, he figured that she would be at a loss enough for words, so he let her go. Puck smirked when she had a dazed look on her face with a distant smile that only he could've given her. That smirk turned into shock when she pulled out her own iPod and plugged in her headphones, a too-innocent smile on her face. He gave her credit for being sneaky; he suspected it was from hanging out with Santana and Brittany too much.
The rest of the drive, they didn't say a single word to each other, but just held hands.