A/U from Original Song although in this fic Kurt is already back (from Night of Neglect) :) I don't own anything! If I did I'd be very happy! Also includes a few spoilers about upcoming episodes (mainly based around them). Hope you like!
In the weeks that followed Regionals the excitement for prom seemed to spread throughout McKinley High School, at times it was hard to bear. Rachel slammed her locker shut. If she saw one more poster advertising Quinn and Finn for prom royalty she could not be held responsible for her actions. As expected, the couple went public about their relationship less than an hour after Regionals: truthfully, Quinn exposed the secret because having the quarterback on her arm increased her chances of winning the tiara she dreamed about. Did Rachel care? Yes. She wasn't going to deny that it hurt that despite her solo at Regionals (which was aimed purely at Finn) he still chose the typical blonde bimbo. Even so, Rachel was independent and no boy was going to hold her back. Not from now on.
Her pure focus was going to be on song writing; as Mercedes had rightly pointed out, the divas that they idolized had been single when they rose to fame: they took all the pain they had and created masterpieces. Rachel would do that, she would head off to New York, just like Quinn had predicted, and become a musical sensation. It was simple. That was why, instead of wasting her time campaigning for a plastic piece of headwear, Rachel was going to go straight to the music shop after school and buy some more songs that might inspire her next piece of work.
Currently, she was working on producing a song for Nationals that would hopefully lead them to victory. Vocal Adrenaline was going to be stiff competition but Rachel knew that the glee club had enough talent to beat them- they had beaten the Warblers hadn't they? She scanned the hallway for her favourite countertenor and former Dalton Academy attendee, Kurt and Rachel had grown close despite the whole accidental drunk kiss fiasco that Rachel had apologised for countless times, now Kurt was truly helping her song writing. It was the least she could do to invite him to the music shop with her, although Kurt specialized in show tunes he had a good ear for other songs and Rachel knew he would eagerly jump at the opportunity to lay fingers on the music shop's piano.
She found him admiring himself in the mirror that adorned his locker. "Kurt!" she shouted, causing the boy to raise his head at the mention of his name. He smiled when he saw the preppy soloist waving at him.
"Rachel! What's up?" he asked, closing his locker (albeit, reluctantly) and turning to face her.
She pushed a stray hair out of her face before answering. "I was just wondering if you wanted to come to Groman's Music with me tonight, we could invite Mercedes along too." she said, her smile growing as she mentally planned the night.
Kurt frowned, "Tonight?" Rachel nodded. "Can't, Blaine is taking me out to Breadstix tonight for our first official date." Rachel understood fully- the pair had officially become an item just weeks before Kurt left Dalton and had not had time to have a proper date even though they were forever getting coffee together it wasn't official. She was glad that the two were going to go out properly for a night, they were trying hard to adjust to not seeing each other at school every day but it was hard and every member of New Directions could see the annoyance it caused in Kurt (even Quinn who was wrapped in her envisions of prom).
"Oh okay," she replied. "It doesn't matter. Maybe some other time?"
"Definitely," he agreed, linking his arm through Rachel's and leading her down the hallway.
Puck threw a glance at Rachel who was wittering on to Kurt at a hundred words per second and showed no signs of stopping. Most people would have considered her behaviour annoying but Puck preferred it, perhaps she was finally getting over Finn and moving on with her life? Hell, she needed to, that girl was one fine ass Jewish chick and if he wasn't caught up trying to get into Lauren's pants then she would definitely be an option he considered.
"You got the hots for Berry or something Puckerman?" asked Lauren Zizes gesturing at his wandering eyes.
"Nah, just glad to see her back to her old self." he shrugged, turning his full attention to the curvy girl stood before him. "Why? Jealous?" he asked, amused as he raised an eyebrow.
His attempt at rallying any envy in Lauren failed. "Of Berry?" she laughed. "No, like I said one day I am going to be a phenomenon with my own fragrance. I don't get jealous." Puck smiled, he kind of knew that he would get that type of response, Lauren denied any human weaknesses, it was part of the reason that he was so turned on by her. "Puck my face is up here." Lauren said, tilting his head up so that he was focused on her face now.
"Oh, yeah, sorry." he blushed. Puck did not blush, at least not publically; this girl had changed all that.
From across the hall Quinn was giving out cupcakes at an attempt to buy more prom votes. Her fake friendly giggles could be heard above the hum of students talking. Lauren had never liked Quinn, in fact out of the glee girls she only vaguely liked Tina, Brittany and Mercedes, it was mainly because she was what people would view as perfect and she looked down on anybody who did not meet her levels. "Superficial much?" she muttered to herself, unaware that Puck had heard.
Puck was at her defence straight away. "What? Quinn? No, she's okay really; you just have to get to know her."
"You would say that Puckerman, you two have a baby together but I bet she's not mentioning that as she explains why she should be prom royalty."
"Hey, if you want a baby, well that's never going to happen unless you and I get serious in the bedroom. In fact it is lunch now and I know a few janitors closets that we could use." Puck proposed, already considering their options. He had been waiting so long for the chance to have sex with Lauren that he would not wait until after school when she could have changed her mind.
Less than two seconds later Lauren was protesting. "No, I wasn't talking about that Puck; can you focus on anything other than sex for a second please?" He nodded although he couldn't make any promises. "I'm talking about that position as Prom Queen she's running for."
"What about it?" Puck asked before finally understanding. "I thought you weren't the type to get jealous."
"I wasn't. I'm not," she corrected, before continuing. "It just seems that everybody has this image of Prom Queen and Quinn fits the bill but what about every girl huh? Do they get a look in if they aren't skinny or blonde? I'm different but does that mean I can't try out for it?"
Puck was quick to answer. "If you want we can start campaigning, it's not too late." After all, the prom royalty had to slow dance after the crowning and it usually ended with a kiss, he would do anything for another moment like their short lived seven minutes in heaven episode.
She shrugged, wanting to seem casual but Lauren was truly excited by the idea. Somebody had to change the stereo type and why couldn't that somebody be her?
"My parents are out tonight, come over and we can do the planning."
"Sounds great," he grinned.
Lauren walked off to the canteen for lunch, leaving Puck standing there watching after her.
Quinn couldn't help but notice Puck standing alone by the lockers: it was the fact that he wasn't wearing one of her badges that stuck out most. She left her table of cupcakes, beaming at the cheerios who were contemplating whether one cake would hurt their figures, and walked over to him. "Noah," she smiled, after an hour of smiling it seemed as if her face knew no other expression.
He nodded at her, "Yeah Quinn?"
"You just looked lonely; I thought you could do with some company." She could have fooled anybody else but Puck knew the girl too well and could tell when she was lying and being truthful. He sighed and let her go along with it; it was easier than accusing her. "So are you accompanying Lauren to prom?" she asked, hoping that their past history wouldn't make the question awkward. "You two would make a nice couple." she added even though she had made no effort at hiding the fact that she did not exactly rate Lauren at the best of times.
"Yes, I am Quinn. I guess Finn's taking you?"
Although it was an obvious question she acted as if he had just solved a hard sum throughout the praise in her voice. "Yes, maybe you'll vote for us for prom courtships! It would mean a lot to me. I hope that you've gotten over any past rivalry you felt for him Puck, we both think the world of you."
Lies, lies, lies, it was okay though because it increased the pleasure Puck felt when he responded with his reply: "Thanks, but no thanks. Lauren and I are running as competition against you guys, like you said we make such a nice couple." Quinn frowned at him, she hadn't heard of this and Quinn was keeping very close tabs on any competitors that she might have.
"Oh," she replied, her fake smile falling at the edges to a determined scowl. "Well I wish you both the best of luck," she said falsely and with that she headed back to her booth.
Finn had offered many times to help Quinn with their campaigning for Prom King and Queen but every time he did Quinn ended up infuriated and normally shouting and Finn did not like Quinn when she was angry. She was worse than angry Rachel. Somehow, he still felt a pang in his heart when he thought of Rachel's diva strops; oddly it was one of the many things he missed about her.
When Quinn was angry she looked as if she could bite off Finn's head if he gave the wrong answer even if on the surface she acted calm to disguise it, she had the fury of a tiger. Rachel on the other hand still managed to stay cute on the surface even when she was screaming at him. He loved the way that Rachel placed her hands on her hips and would throw him an evil glare with her brow puckering just slightly.
Stop. He had to stop thinking about Rachel like that, for one if Quinn ever found out he'd be road kill. As far as she was concerned she was helping Finn get back to where he belonged- the top- and Rachel Berry did not fit into any of that. He sighed and closed his eyes. He was busy thinking when he was interrupted by a certain mohawked badass.
"Warning Hudson, your girlfriend is on the warpath."
Finn couldn't help but groan. "Why this time?"
"I accidentally let it spill that Lauren and I are going against you for the crowns." Puck tried but he couldn't keep his good mood out of his voice. Finn stared at him: did he want a death sentence? It was a miracle that he had made it out physically unscathed. It wouldn't be the first time that Quinn threw a cupcake at somebody for upsetting her.
"Thanks for the warning dude." he said, deciding that he would avoid her for the rest of the day until glee club in the hope that she would of cooled off by the end of the day. He would head to the gym to do some work outs.
He didn't bother to get changed and headed straight to the gym apparatus, Finn had not expected to have company. Sam. The blonde boy crinkled his nose when he saw Finn, the two had not spoken but they knew that they weren't on good terms.
"I'm just here to lift some weights," Finn explained as he crossed the room, his eyes still trained on Sam. The other boy grunted in reply. Clearly conversation wasn't an option for the two but Finn was a naturally friendly person and did not want to let things be awkward. "I'm sorry." he muttered as he began to pump his iron.
"For what?" Sam replied. "Kissing my girlfriend or lying about it?" he accused. That was a low blow but something that Finn accepted.
He shrugged, "Both. I know it doesn't seem like it but I'm not a bad guy."
"Not a bad guy?" he repeated. "Well does a good guy have double standards?"
"What do you mean?" Finn asked in confusion.
Sam laughed but not in humour, in irony. "Well we all know that you finished Rachel for cheating on you, even if it was for some sort of revenge for you lying to her. However, you quite happily assisted Quinn and led her astray by making out with her." Silence echoed throughout the gym. Finn wouldn't admit it out loud but Sam did have a point. "The fact is, you can dish it out but you can't take it. What Rachel did was in revenge and she is sorry about that but the sad truth is that Quinn isn't even sorry, why would she be? Now she has the quarterback as her accomplice to win prom royalty, you're just a pawn she is using to get that title that she cares about. That's all Finn." Sam left Finn no time to reply, he turned the treadmill off and left Finn thinking about his relationships.
Please review, I know it is long but I have so many ideas for this and I want to see what you think about it.