-1A/N: I haven't written fan fiction in a really long time. So this is obviously my first Glee fic. So let me know how I'm doing. I was too anxious to get this out before my Beta could read it so there are more than likely some errors. And I guess it must be said that I own nothing, not Glee, not the song.

Saturday morning Rachel was up in her room practicing the latest song that Mr. Shuester had assigned the Glee club. She was pouring her emotions into the words and didn't notice as the doorbell rang. She continued to sing until whoever it was rang it continuously until Rachel finally loses her concentration. She sighed heavily before running down the stairs. Her fathers were both out for the day and whoever was on the other side of the door was very anxious to be greeted. She smoothed her skirt and opened the door. Puck stood on her porch, wrapped in his letterman jacket, his hands buried deep inside the pocket.

"Noah, what are you doing here?" Puck was the last person that Rachel had expected.

"I…uh…I think I left one of my t-shirts here. The last time I remember having it was when we were…you know...and now I can't find it. I think it may have fallen out of my bag or something. I normally wouldn't care, but it was one of my favorites."

"Come inside. I'll run up and take a look."

Rachel moved aside so that Puck could entire her house without a word. Rachel shut her front door and ran up in her room. She knew exactly where the shirt was. But when Rachel got into her room, she sat down on her bed, her feet dangling off the side. She took a deep breath. Then Rachel reached under the pile of pillows at the head of her bed and pulled out the shirt. It was grey with red lettering that said "William McKinley High School" on it. She had found it after she had gotten home from their discussion on the bleachers. The same discussion in which she learned that she was coming in second to Quinn Fabray yet again. That was weeks ago, but as she lifted the shirt from its hiding place, she lifted it to her face, the same she had when she first discovered it. The scent had begun to disappear but it lingered. Rachel couldn't really describe the smell; it was a mixture of his cologne and something that was unique to Noah. Every night, she took it out for just a moment and held it, enveloping herself in the familiarity and peace that it brought to her. She eventually realized that Noah was still waiting downstairs and taking the scent in a final time she hurried back downstairs.

Downstairs Puck had stood patiently, looking around. He'd been in the Berry house on several occasions when he and Rachel were dating, so there was nothing new, but he still marveled in the way everything laid perfectly. As if everything inside was given a set place, never to be moved. He always looked at the pictures of Rachel and her fathers that plastered the perfectly painted white walls. He smiled seeing Rachel in her many costumes, at different ages, each reminding him of the Rachel she had become. When he heard Rachel coming down the stairs he quickly focused his attention on her, more specifically on the way her hair bounced on her shoulders and her skirt bounced against her legs. He smirked as Rachel stopped just before getting to the bottom.

"I assume this belongs to you, "she said holding the shirt up against herself, modeling it for him and Puck couldn't help but smile.

Rachel tossed the shirt at him.

"Thanks," Puck said, "I was beginning to think I'd never see it again."

"Yeah, I'm surprised I didn't find it sooner," Rachel lied twisting the ends of her hair as she looked at him.

An eerie silence fell over the two, but Puck couldn't help but look at her. Their eyes met and as Puck looked into her brown eyes, he felt something inside him fluttered.

"So, yeah," Puck said burying his hands deeper into the pockets of his jacket, "Thanks again Berry. I'll see you on Monday."

"Yes, of course." Rachel said descending the last of the stairs to open the door as Puck gave her one final look and walked out of the house.

Walking to his truck Puck examined the shirt in his hand, it was a little wrinkled, but it seemed to be in the same condition in which he had left it. He opened the door and threw the shirt across the seat but as he did whiff of something sweet. He got into the truck, picked the shirt back up, and held it to his face. The smell of his cologne was buried underneath the strong smell of vanilla. Rachel always smelled like vanilla.

~~~~*~~~~

Every day during lunch, Puck sneaks into the back of the auditorium, sits down in a dark corner and listens to Rachel sing. Monday was no exception. He rarely ever watches her, maybe only for a second until he settles on the floor. He started doing this after he found out Quinn was pregnant and he used the time to get his thoughts in order. He hadn't intended to be an intruder but it was the only place he thought no one would find him. He needed to be alone and it was the first place he found to hide. He sat down in the back row and just stared at the stage. He didn't know at that point that he would be on it with the rest of the Glee club so soon after. When Puck had heard Rachel come in, he scurried to the wings and as she started singing, Puck relaxed into himself. There was something about Rachel's voice that calmed him, all the traffic in his head seemed to disappear, or at least move in a much more organized manner. Today, he heard her come into the auditorium, set her ihome on top of the piano, and start something up. Puck listened as the sound of the instrumental filled the auditorium and he settled back to get lost in his thoughts at the same moment Rachel's voice flooded the auditorium "Oh it's deafening, the bitter truth. I'm doing everything for the first time again without you. I pretend I'm okay, But it aches inside. There's got to be a way that's better than just getting by."

Puck knew that he needed to find some way to get Quinn to let him be part of his baby's life. But he didn't know what else to do. He had already tried giving her money, he had offered her everything he had but she still continued to push him away. He wouldn't even allow himself to imagine what would happen when Finn found out that the baby inside his girlfriend belonged to his best friend. He hated himself every day for letting things with Quinn happen as they did. It was only a matter of time before everything imploded around him and he knew he would be left standing alone. Quinn had chosen Finn a long time ago and even when everything was out there, Puck didn't see Quinn wanting the family he did. He listened for a moment as Rachel's voice filled his head again. He thought back to the day on the bleachers. Rachel was so sure that the reason Puck looked at Quinn was that he liked her. The truth was he couldn't stand her most of the time, but she was the mother of his child and he was looking at her trying to find out a way to be close to his baby, not to her. Rachel had been so adamant about ending the relationship, that he didn't have it in him to beg her to stay. "Tell me how I'm gonna make it, you're the one I can't forget. It's like I'm running in slow motion in a nightmare that never ends. When I try to face it when I wake up, I hate the way reality sets in. God, I wish you could hold me through the seven days of lonely." Rachel's words washed over him and he remembered Saturday, the way her hair fell, the way his eyes locked with hers. He laughed a little remembering how she had modeled the shirt for him from the staircase, and how when he got it in the car, it smelled like she did. He was wearing the shirt now, and it still smelled like the sweet vanilla it had. He felt that same odd flutter inside himself and jumped to his feet. Rachel had finished singing and was packing up. Puck walked out of the auditorium.

Rachel always felt better after she sang. And the song choice definitely fit her emotions right now, but even now after she had finished, the ache inside her hadn't gone away completely. She thought about singing another song, but she knew that it wasn't going to help. She had felt this way after singing for a few weeks. Sure, while she was singing she was happy, there was no doubt about that. But it was like the moment the music stopped, there was nothing but ache and a void she tried hard to fill. Rachel put her music and her ipod back into her bag and headed outside the auditorium, her fathers would be there to pick her shortly and she still had to stop and get a few things from her locker.

The doors of the auditorium hadn't even closed when she felt someone pulling on her arm. She let out a startled scream and jumped away, but calmed herself when she saw that it was Puck who had his hand tightly clasped to the crook of her elbow.

"Noah, what are you doing?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Then all you had to do was inquire for my time. There was no need for this ambush."

"Come with me,"

"What? Where? Now?"

"After school. Meet me at my truck."

"My fathers are picking me up today."

"Call them and tell them you're doing some Glee thing. I'll drive you home."

"Noah…"

"Look, I would understand if you turn me down. I just, I need…"

"I'll be there." She said interrupting, "See you after school."

Puck hadn't noticed that his hand was still on Rachel's arm until she turned around and walked away down the hall. Rachel was confused yet she noticed that the ache she had felt for the last couple of weeks was not as strong, and she smiled. She had no idea what Noah Puckerman wanted to talk to her about. He had made it clear that they were not friends. But she made a promise to herself as he walked away that day on the bleachers; if Noah ever changed his mind, she was going to be there for him.

A/N: The song is "Seven Days of Lonely" by I Nine