Written for a friend who likes Puckleberry for a Secret Santa.

Adrienne, I hope you like this. There's more to come, I just needed to have this by the deadline.

He hadn't seen her since before the holidays began junior year. He had heard second hand from some of the other glee club kids that she went off to New York, transferred to the School of the Arts there. Tina said that she had managed to charm them with her talent and her personality, to which he responded with an amused chuckle. He knew it was her style to say something like that. Everyone knew she wasn't happy, especially Puck. There was no way she would revisit their long ago fling and re-initiate unless there was something wrong in her perfect little world. She never once tried to pin the responsibility on him, a move he appreciated, but he knew it would destroy Finn. He even tried to convince her not to tell him but honesty seemed to be the key concept. He had been fine with that, since he wasn't the guilty party, but a part of him secretly ached for both Finn and Rachel.

He hadn't been expecting to see her at all, thinking she would spend all her free time in New York. She always seemed to believe that was where she belonged, and she made him believe that. But there she was, in all of her superstar glory, sitting at the counter of his favourite diner in Lima, a year later. The sparkle in her eye, the passion, the light, he could see it again, and it left him feeling as though maybe she turned out to be okay in the end.

"I'll have your Chicken Caesar Salad, that's all," came the familiar voice, loud and clear, "And an iced tea. Thank you."

Puck carefully walked up to the counter and sat next to Rachel. He made eye contact with the waitress, who knew him really well.

"Just give me the usual, to go."

"One Mega Breakfast with orange juice and French toast instead of regular toast, coming right up!"

"Thanks Natalia."

"No problem, Noah!"

By that time, Rachel had turned to face him and was wrapping her arms around him. "Hey, Puckerman!" she exclaimed, "You look good."

"How are you doing, Rachel?" he asked with a calmness about him, trying not to let his personal curiosities get the best of him.

The brunette lit up like Las Vegas and she went into an excited string of sentences that always used to make his head spin. It was good to see nothing had changed. She talked about school, finding her place, having some really steep competition, starting a show choir, and having one last chance to get to Nationals. She was confident, and not so co-dependent like she had been with Finn.

"That all sounds really cool," he said in earnest, "I'm glad that you're happy."

"Kurt really inspired me to find my happiness," she explained, "I mean, I wasn't being bullied the same way, but I felt really...restricted. I needed a place where I could refocus on my dream...and not all the other stuff...I was never really good with that other stuff..."

"Your only mistake was running to me to get back at him, Rachel," Puck told her with a sigh, "You really shouldn't have kissed me like that..."

Rachel smiled wistfully. "Yeah, but it wasn't really meant to be was it?" she asked quietly, "Did I really think I could keep one of the hottest jocks at McKinley interested?"

Puck's brow furrowed. "Rachel..." he began to say, at a loss for words. He was never good at being a friend, not in the way that this called for.

"It's okay, you know? He's probably moved on by now."

"Do you know why I'm so bad ass?" Puck finally blurted out, "Because I believe I am."

Rachel blinked, not entirely sure how to take Puck's advice at first.

"You never did believe Finn could love you, did you?"

Rachel bit her lower lip as if she was going to say something she would regret and instead focused on the salad that arrived for her and began to eat.

"Finn still loves you," Puck finally revealed, "He hadn't dated anyone since you guys broke up. He was just hurt by what you did. But he never stopped loving you. He even stopped singing duets. He let Sam and Quinn take them all."

Rachel was taking the information in, he could tell. She was slowing down in her eating and her face looked as though it was processing the information.

"Look, I'll let you go," Puck said when his food came, "You've been good to me, Berry. I hope you find real happiness in life."

Rachel looked over her shoulder as the boy with the Mohawk walked out of the diner, wondering what had just happened.