Moments That Matter
A Puckleberry One-Shot Series
A/N: This story is a one-shot series, all about those missing Puckleberry moments that we've all been waiting for in the deleted scenes on our DVDs. Unfortunately, the creators haven't taken the time to give us those little moments, so I'm going to give them too all of you Puckleberry fans-if you'd like a scene, please recommend it in a review.
Born This Way

Rachel Berry stood in the girls' bathroom on the first floor of McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio, leaning towards the mirror as she examined her nose-the nose she'd always been slightly proud of, because it went to show her Jewish heritage, and it also made her special. After all, hadn't they always told Barbra Streisand that she'd never get anywhere in life without a nose job? Well, if her role model could stand up and refuse to do something to make her look like another Marilyn Monroe-type of girl, why couldn't she do the same? There was no reason that Rachel couldn't be the next Barbra, right?

Unfortunately, as her doctors had pointed out, Barbra was one in a million. Rachel Berry? She was just another girl with an incredible voice and a passion for performing. There was nothing that made her stand out the way Barbra had. She was nothing special-just another girl with a dream and the drive to get her there.

She was startled as she door the bathroom opened and a tall, muscular figure walked in. The mohawked football player was most definitely not a girl-yet Noah Puckerman always seemed to find his way into this particular bathroom. It was pretty much his thing, and neither the faculty or the other students noticed. If a girl saw him walk in, they spread the word and nobody else entered until everybody was sure he was roaming the halls again. If he wasn't talking to a girl who was already in the bathroom, then she left him and the girl he was looking for alone. Of course, most of his little girls' room meetings happened to have taken place with this particular girl who was in here, examining her beautiful face in the mirror.

That bothered him, because it just made it even more clear that Rachel Berry did not realize her own beauty. She was gorgeous, with long, glossy, dark hair and perfect skin. Her eyes led a person right to her soul. And with her voice? She was destined for fame, and her nose was just another asset to her own beauty. It helped to make her seem special, which she was. She didn't need glee club to make her special, like she'd once believed, but the glee club did need her to be special.

"You can't be in here, Noah," She sighed, not quite looking at him as she pulled out another picture of an option she had for the nose job she was planning on getting to 'improve her voice'. Which was ridiculous, as she'd always been afraid to get one because of the affects it could have on her voice.

She didn't want to admit that she was doing this for pure vanity, but Puck knew the truth and he knew that she knew the truth as well. He was also fairly certain that she too knew that he knew her real reasoning. Yet, neither of them spoke about that. After all, they weren't supposed to be friends. They weren't supposed to be anything other than a bully and his victim. Yet, they typically ended up being so much more than that, in a completely better way.

"I can't? I believe I've been in here countless times before, and most of them have had to do with you," He teased her, walking towards her. She glared as she set the picture down and turned towards him, crossing her arms as he stopped right in front of her. She glared up at him, hating the height difference between them.

"What do you want?" She asked him, cocking her hip out, only to realize that it made her seem even shorter. So she un-cocked her hip, standing up straight again, narrowing her eyes just a little bit more, trying her best to look as devious as she possibly could in order to make him realize just how angry she was. "If this is to try and convince me not to get my nose job, then I'm not going to listen. You might as well just turn around leave. Because I'm getting my nose job. It's going to help me with my future and my soon to be career, and while you all just laugh at me constantly for believing I'm going to be famous, but I'm going to-"

"Oh, will you just cut the crap, Rachel? I'm the only one around, alright? It's just you and me, so let's be honest with one another. We've always been honest, right?" He asked, even though that was a lie. He'd lied to her before, but that was a different story and he didn't want to remember that. Besides, she'd deserved to be lied to for what she'd done to him that time.

"We're not even friends, Noah-you've made that clear enough already," She said bitterly, turning back towards the mirror, but she didn't compare shots this time. She simply put a hand to her nose, examining her own nose on her own face. "Why should I listen to you?" She wondered.

"Because I know that this is stupid, alright? I told you-girls from Temple do this all the time, and it's just not...they aren't the same anymore. They've cut off their Jewish heritage and it just makes me sad, alright? Because while I may not be the best Jew, I do respect my religion and I do happen to love it, alright?" He told her. "And I always thought you did too," He said softly, turning away from her. "That was what attracted me to you," He admitted.

"You were-never mind, that's not important," She shook her head, turning back towards him with a sigh. "Listen, this is to help better my talent and ensure my future. I'm not doing this because of my culture or any vanity reasons. This is purely a way to help increase my vocal talents. So don't-"

"Cut the crap, already!" Puck snapped, turning around and pacing a little bit before turning and walking back towards her. That was what he did when he was angry. Rachel recognized that, mixed in with his face that she'd only seen him make once before, when they were working on their music video the previous year. "Rachel, I know why you're doing this, alright? And it's ridiculous, because you're too good for him and he doesn't deserve you," Puck said.

Rachel froze as she brought her lipstick to her lips, about to touch up her make-up. She was leaning towards the mirror, her lips parted slightly and the lipstick just about to hit her lip. She lowered herself from her tip toes and straightened up, slowly putting the lipstick away, trying to figure out how Puck could have figured out her real reasoning for this. After all, it wasn't like any of her real friends-anybody close to her-had yet to figure it out. She slowly turned towards him with her head low and panic flooding her deep, dark brown eyes.

"How'd you figure out that I was doing this to get Finn back?" She whispered softly, running a hand through her hair as she pointedly looked anywhere but up at him, knowing that he wasn't going to feel any sympathy towards her and her sadness for what she was doing and why she was doing such a thing.

"Why else would you pick Quinn's nose?" Puck wondered, surprising her with the softness of his tone and the sincerity in his voice. He reached out and set his hands on her hips. "I mean, you're much more beautiful than her, because all of your flaws and imperfections? Those are what make you you," He whispered, pulling her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her waist. "And, like I said before, you can do better than a guy like Finn. You deserve better and he's not worthy of a girl as beautiful and talented as you, with such determination to get what she wants." He told her, breaking the hug apart but still keeping his hands on her hips. "I actually think that he's a little intimidated by you," He whispered fiercely into her ear.

"Noah, what are you getting at?" She asked, taking a step away from him and picking up her bag. She started putting her things back in her bag. She slid it onto her shoulder and stared up at him. "We should be in rehearsal right now, alright? So can you get to the point please, and tell me what you want?" She wondered, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I need one hour of your time tomorrow, alright? Just give me that, and," He sighed, taking a deep breath. "I'll never bug you again," He whispered. She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his own. She softened a bit as she noticed the honest intensity that was flooding his eyes as he spoke, a pained expression on his face, showing that he really didn't want to make this deal, but figured it would be the only way to make her listen to him and his reason.

"I don't want that," She whispered.

"Rachel, come on-I don't know what else I can offer you to make you-"

"No, I mean...I don't want you to never bug me again."

"So you want slushy facials?"

"Well, no. An end to the bullying would be a welcome change, but, well...sometimes you don't bully me, and sometimes you're quite helpful and sweet," She shrugged.

And this was true. After all, he'd noticed she was upset when she'd found out about Santana and Finn, so he'd come to her, offering to walk with her as she talked. He'd listened to her, wondering what it was that she'd done wrong, exactly. And then he'd come over, kissing her because he knew that she felt unwanted. And maybe that had caused some trouble in her relationship with Finn, bringing it to an end, but it had still been sweet. It had still been nice. Besides any of that, though, he'd even confronted Finn, which was something nobody else knew but her, to wonder what exactly Rachel had done wrong to cause him to dump her.

He'd even offered to help her when it came her bad reputation project. Sure, he'd tried to hit on her countless times at that, but they'd had a sweet, honest conversation while working on the project, and that had been a nice surprise for her. She found that she enjoyed having nice, regular conversations with him.

And then he'd stood up for her, when even Finn, her boyfriend, hadn't bothered to do that. Santana had been rude to her, saying that nobody in the club really liked her. And Puck? He'd defended her, saying that he actually did sort of like her, maybe, just a little bit. Kind of. And that had probably been the point where Finn had first started to get angry and jealous due to the relationship between the two of them-the one that didn't really exist.

"I'm sweet?" He wondered, coughing slightly, as if the word itself choked him.

"You've never heard that before, have you?" She wondered, a playful smile on her face.

"Of course I've never heard that before. I'm the school's bad ass!" He said.

"If I can't say that I want the nose job because of my career, than I believe you should admit the real reason you try to be such a bad ass all the time," Rachel said reasonably.

"Why? Because I'm afraid of getting hurt," He said. He could have said it bitterly or sarcastically, but Rachel was around and he was always honest with her. So why wouldn't he keep that up now. No, his words were, in fact, sweet and truthful. "My dad left me and my mom, and my little sister. I'm afraid to get attached to people, and I don't ever want anybody to make me feel the way my dad did when he was around. He made me miserable. He made me feel like shit and he hurt me. I swore, the day he left, that nobody was ever going to do that to my sister or to me-or my mother-ever again," He said.

"I know," She whispered.

"Then why'd you-"

"Because I thought it was time you admitted it to yourself," She shrugged.

"Rachel...please, don't get some sort of nose job just so you can look a little bit like Quinn and make Finn want you again. That's not right. If he doesn't want you because of your talent and your humor and...your personality over all, then he doesn't deserve you at all. If he only wants your body or your face, well, he's not worthy of a girl as complex as you, and he won't be able to handle it," He shrugged.

"Coming from you, don't be offended if I don't choose to believe you or listen," She said, pushing past him on her way to the door. He grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"I never wanted any girl just because of their body. Not a girl I've wanted an actual relationship with," He told her, a fierce look in his eyes. "I've never dated a girl, having a real relationship with her, when all I wanted was her body," He said intensely. It was the first time that Rachel had ever been just a little bit afraid when talking to him.

"You've never had a relationship before..."Rachel said, lowering her head.

"I dated you," He reminded her.

"You-"

"Rachel, I liked you, alright? I'm not ashamed to admit that," He shrugged.

She lowered her head, gulping, but not looking at him. She didn't want to look at him, because then she'd loose it. She'd tell him that she had always liked him, just a little bit. She turned pulled her arm from him and started walking towards the door. When she reached it, she turned around and faced him, still not looking up at him

"One hour, alright?" She offered.

"And I'll never bully you again," He promised.

"And, Noah?" She asked.

"Yeah, Berry?"

"I just wanted to let you know...I liked you too," She said before she disappeared into the hallway.

Puck stood there, crossing his arms as he smiled slightly to himself before turning around and heading off towards the hallway, to head towards Glee.

He didn't feel one hundred percent accomplished. After all, Rachel had said that she liked him-which implied the past tense, and that she didn't feel the same way he did.

THen again, he hadn't exactly told her his real feelings yet.

Rachel Berry studied her closet, trying to figure out what she wanted to wear for her 'date' with Puck. She wasn't exactly sure what they'd be doing when they got there-she really had no idea what they were even going or where they were going. She shrugged as she selected a pair of bleach stained skinny jeans and a long, purple tee shirt with an open back. She added on a pair of black wedges. Then she got to work on her hair and make-up, finishing just as a car horn beeped outside of her window.

She hurried from her bedroom, down the stairs, and outside, right towards the truck. She opened the door and lifted herself inside, smiling up at him. Their conversation from the day before was stuck in her head, and she couldn't help but consider that they were friends...at least, in some ways.

"You look different," He observed, not taking his eyes off the road as he drove. "You're not wearing one of your skirts," He explained. "You look...well, like a normal teenage girl," He said. "And I don't like it," he shook his head.

"You don't think I-"

"I think you look amazing, Rachel, but this isn't you. It's not the girl I know and-anyways, how come whenever you're not in school, you're dressed like...this," He asked softly.

"Because then I don't have to worry about the slushy facials. I'd rather not ruin my clothes," She explained. "In case you haven't noticed, some of my nicest outfits I wear to school are when I'm sure I won't be slushied that day," She said, crossing her arms.

"I'm sorry about that, alright?" He asked.

"Where are we going?" She asked, changing the subject off of his bullying.

"The mall," He shrugged.

She frowned, trying to figure out what he could have in store for her in order to make her change her mind about her surgery at the mall. She frowned slightly, looking at the handsome boy sitting next to her. The one with the shaved head, except for his mohawk-ed strip right down the center. The one with those beautiful, hazel eyes that dragged her right in until she thought she'd be stuck staring forever. The boy who was about a foot taller than her, with muscles that could easily hurt her, if he wasn't the type to be such a gentleman around girls.

He was the boy with the beautiful smile that made her want to smile right back-and know that she was the one who had earned that smile from him. He had this incredible singing voice that she loved to hear. His dancing was so incredible that she thrived to be his partner in group numbers.

And it was just so comfortable to be with him. She fit perfectly in his arms, and she loved how his chin could just rest on her head when she was being held close to his strong torso. He was everything she wanted in a guy-yet that wasn't enough for her. For some reason, she'd rather be with Finn Hudson, than with a guy who seemed to care about her so much.

That was why she found herself just as confusing as she found him.

"Rachel? We're here," He said, pulling open her door and helping her down.

She followed him into the mall, surprised that he was holding her hand as they walked. And that she wasn't getting those looks that she'd gotten when she was with Finn. When she was with him, boys would stare at her as if they wanted her. As if they wanted to date her and...other things. Girls would look at Finn as if they couldn't believe he was with a girl like her. Sometimes, if they didn't know about Finn's popularity, then Rachel was the one who was too good for him. When it was somebody for school, they were shocked that Finn was with that loser girl.

Instead, when she was with Puck, boys pointedly looked anywhere but at her, because they were afraid Puck would get angry and attack them for looking at his girl with that longing desire in their eyes. Girls looked at her with envious looks, and awed at the adorably cute couple. It made her feel good-as if she finally belonged to the golden couple. One of those perfect couples that people saw in movies that they wished they could be a part of.

Puck was also marveling at what was happening around him as he walked hand and hand with Rachel. He liked the feeling of being with a girl who was so beautiful, so talented, and so fun to be around.

Rachel teased him-for every little thing. But she didn't do it in a mean, cruel way. She did it in a fun way, as if they were actually friends. And that made Puck happy. Sure, he knew that he was breaking his promise to Finn-the promise he'd made to stay away from the beautiful girl that they both had such strong feelings for-but he honestly didn't care anymore.

If Finn was really his friend, then he should want Puck to be happy. Finn had Quinn, after all, and the two of them were very happy in their relationship. So why shouldn't Puck be allowed to have Rachel and have his own happiness with her? Didn't he deserve that opportunity.

He held her hand tighter as they walked towards the food court, hating the deal he'd made with Kurt. He'd give Rachel right to Kurt, and Kurt would take over from there. He wasn't happy about the arrangement, but he figured he'd have the ride home with her so grateful for what he and Kurt had done, that maybe he'd finally be able to tell her how he felt.

"Kurt?" Rachel asked. And then Kurt began his Barba Vention.

Rachel was more than a little bit shocked at how much work her fellow Glee Club members had put into this intervention to make her realize that she was beautiful just the way she was-the next Barbra Streisand. Of course, she was sure that most of the work had been done by Kurt, who was singing the Duck Sauce song to her and leading the flash mob, but it was still sweet. She was sure that Puck had also put in a lot of work-especially since he'd taken the near-impossible task of helping get the stubborn girl to come to the mall and at least attempt to listen to reason.

She grinned as she hugged Kurt Hummel, her best friend in the entire school, thanking him for all of the hard work she was sure he'd put into this for her. Then she turned to Brittany Pierce, who had also been dancing in the mob, thanking her as well. She hugged and thanked each member of the club in turn, before turning to Puck and hugging him, smiling a bit as he pulled her closer to him.

She really did love how perfectly she seemed to fit into his arms, and she didn't care if she'd already thought that countless times that day. She felt like she belonged there and she wouldn't change her mind until she met a boy who's arms wrapped around her to create a better fit than his already did for her. She'd never felt as comfortable in the arms of Finn Hudson or Jesse St. James. Noah Puckerman's arms just seemed to belong around her tiny little waist.

She waved goodbye to her friends as Puck wrapped a single arm around her waist, starting to direct her back towards the entrance they'd entered through, exiting the mall and walking towards his truck, as if he was in a hurry to get away from the rest of the group. She frowned a little, wondering what had come over the boy to make him want to flee their friends so badly.

But she knew better than to question him, no matter how quickly he was moving or how hard it was for her to try and keep up with him. She just kept trudging along, doing her absolute best not fall behind. He was clearly in a hurry.

And as much as it killed her to admit, she was sure he most likely had some sort of date that he was going on that was much more important than carting Rachel to and from the mall after giving her a pep talk that would most likely just inflate her head a little bit more and boost her confidence to the point of bursting at the seems.

Of course, in reality, Puck was just so worried and nervous about what he was about to admit, that he couldn't help but walk fast. It was just a nervous habit of his. He wished he could slow down and prolong the conversation that he knew needed to be said as soon as they reached the truck, but he couldn't.

He understood that he was probably hurting her and tiring her out as he walked as fast as he could, taking the longest strides his long legs would allow, but he didn't care. He couldn't help it. And he could only imagine the horrible things that he was sure she was coming up with for his reasoning for why he was in such a rush, and that just made him panic a little bit more and walk that much faster. He hated that stupid nervous habit, but he'd had it too long to try and delete it.

"We need to talk," Puck said, stopping at his truck, right at her door. She was standing with her back to it while he stood in front of her. She looked up at him with a confused look in her eyes, head tilted slightly to the side as a half grin formed on her face. She looked so beautiful and it made him even more nervous.

"What's the matter, Noah?" She asked. He sighed. He loved it when she said his name-his real name. It sounded so sweet and so right coming from her mouth. And he loved how soft and sweet it sounded. It was innocent, unlike Puck. Noah was a sweet guy who could be friends with a girl like Rachel Berry and could deserve her. But Puck? He was nothing but an arrogant bully who could never have any real friends in his life, because he was selfish and would do whatever he had to in order to get what he wanted. After all, he was pretty much giving up his friendship with Finn in order to get with this girl in front of him. Well, maybe Noah and Puck had more in common than he thought.

"Nothing...I just...I need to tell you something," He said, licking his lips-yet another nervous habit he had. The only good part about this one was that it turned some girls on. Other girls, like Rachel, were disgusted by it, though, and made them think he was nothing more than a pervert who only wanted sex and their bodies.

"Well, I should have figured this was going to come along," She sighed, standing up and crossing her arms, cocking one hip out as she shook out her full mane of hair.

"What do you mean?" He gulped, nervous and worried that she could already know what he was about to say, and clearly be angered by it.

"Well, I expected that you'd have some sort of ulterior motive for doing such a kind and sweet gesture. And you do, don't you?" She wondered, her expression softening just a little bit.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," He said coyly with a smirk on his face.

"You don't know what ulterior motive means, do you?" She asked, laughing a little.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," He said, not wanting to admit his own stupidity to her. She sighed as she ran a hand through her hair and relaxed a bit.

"Okay, what do you have to tell me?" She asked.

"Well, I can show you better than I can tell you," He winked.

"Oh?" She asked.

"Yeah," He grinned, placing a hand on her cheek as their eyes locked.

"And what's that?" She whispered, her voice low.

"Shush," He said, leaning in closer to her.

"I have to tell you something, too," She said softly as they moved in a little closer.

"What's that?" He mumbled.

"I can show you better than I can tell you," She teased, her voice a low, deep sound from the back of her throat-almost a purr-as they lips connected and they kissed, telling one another how they really felt for the first time. And from the intensity of the kiss, it was clear that they were both madly in love with one another in a way that only teenagers can be during their first love.