The rest of the Warblers came onto the stage with the ever-present stage grin, though that Sebastian dude was kind of creeping Puck out. Evil queens like that do not smile happily.
Their music began to play, it sounded a little familiar. At the sight of Berry squealing up and down in her seat, she definitely knew it. Annoying as the fangirling should have been, he found it a little adorable. Besides, she hadn't really been excited about anything ever since she had turned down Finn's marriage proposal. Captain Finnocence hadn't taken it well, needless to say. She had decided to sit as far away from him as possible, which was where Puck happened to be.
"Everything cool, Berry?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. She nearly jumped out of her seat, giving him a wide-eyed look in surprise.
"Of course, Noah. I am fine. I don't intend to be rude, but may we talk later? It's rude to talk during a fellow glee club's performance."
"Fine, fine, Berry." She shushed him loudly, staring at the stage excitedly. He made a note to ask about this later.
Sebastian hadn't really gotten into the dancing part yet, but had sung halfway through the first verse.
Puck nearly snorted as he caught the line. He'd be happy to make her glad she came.
He stopped Berry in the parking lot, studying his iPhone as he walked towards her. He had Googled the lyrics he could remember and now was reading them to himself.
"Hello, Noah. What did you want to talk about earlier? Noah? Noah!" She waved her fingers in his face as he was about to click on another song. He locked his phone and looked up at her.
"Oh, yeah. Why does The, uh, Wanted get you all hot?"
"Excuse me?"
"Cool it, babe, it's just a question. You got all hot and bothered when the Warblers began to sing a The Wanted song. I'm just wondering, is all."
"Oh." She smoothed her dress down and began to answer him coolly. "I am simply an slightly avid fan of them, Noah. They're just a boy band. Glad You Came is one of the songs I particularly enjoy performed by them. However, the Warblers did not do them enough justice," she added with a critiquing expression. "Did my answer suffice, Noah?"
He was in deep thought, staring into the dark behind her.
"Uh huh, Berry. Later." He left her standing there confused as he opened the browser on his phone again to read more about this "just a band" that got Rachel's probably star-patterned panties in a twist.
At the Puckerman household, his ma and sister had already gone to bed. The only light in the house was illuminating Puck's face as he skimmed through page after page about The Wanted. The next day, he stole the seat next to her in glee in the back row and began to bother her. He flipped it around so he could straddle it comfortably.
"Hey baby, how's it going, my hot little Jewish American Princess?" She frowned.
"Noah Puckerman, how many times have I told you not to call me that? I am in no way of royal descent, nor have I ever lived in Israel. My name is Rachel."
"Whatever, Rachel. Would it kill you to take a compliment from the Puckmeister every now and then? Jeez."
"I do appreciate your misguided attempts to flatter the masterpiece that I am, Noah." She flipped her hair over her shoulder, causing the scent of her shampoo to float in his direction. He leaned over his chair, leaning on his elbows.
"Who's your favorite?"
"My favorite what?"
"Wanted-er. You know, one of the dudes that sings in the boy band."
"Noah, you can't possibly ask me to single out a favorite. They are all very talented young male artists. It would be unfair."
"You single out Barbra, Whitney, Patti-"
She cut him off with a firm, "Fine, you make a valid point! I'll answer your question!"
"So is is that Indian dude Siva with the majorly unpronouncable last name? Jay or Nathan? What about that one dude who looks like Edward Cullen? I think his name's Tom or something."
"Max George. That's my favorite 'Wanted-er.' Are you satisfied?" she answered, making air quotes with her tiny fingers.
"Who the hell is Max?" He scratched his head as he tried to remember. All he remembered was the brown dude, but otherwise, all of the others just pretty much melded together in his brain. She pulled out her bedazzled monstrosity, opening it to the photo gallery. She held it out for him at a picture of a guy with a shaved head. She shut the phone and put it away. "So why is he your favorite?"
"He has a beautiful voice and family values. What more could you want? In addition, he is British."
"I'm sure he's a nice dude. Does he make you all hot?" he asked with a smirk.
"Physical attraction is not the point, Noah." He noticed her blush, giving her a look. She sighed, continuing. "Even if that did matter, he possesses that in spades. He has wonderful hazel eyes, a fit physique, and manages to pull off the shaved head look. You would understand, as you did also. Now you have that infernal Mohawk once more, and it's getting too long. Don't you believe that it is time for another visit to the barber shop?"
He brushed a hand over his head defensively and noted how much thicker the bristles were. He put that thought away, grinning at her suddenly. "Sounds like me, babe. I've got hazel eyes, a hot bod, and a mostly shaved head. I don't sing half bad either." At each comparison, he displayed them dramatically.
"You sing excellently, Noah. I can't say the same for most males your age."
"Thanks, Berry."
"You're welcome." He was about to shoot out more Wanted-related questions, but Mr. Schuester finally graced them with his presence, going into a long-winded speech about congratulations and other crap.
As soon as the rest of the glee club had cleared out, he shut the door so the guys wouldn't leave.
"You're not going to kill us, are you?" Sam asked with a scared expression.
"Cool your jets, Evans. I'm not here to kill you. What's wrong with you?" Puck gave him a look of disbelief. He probably really was blond under all that dye.
"What do you want, man? I've got somewhere I need to be," Finn asked, doing his best to glare at him. Puck resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but he needed his bro's help.
"Look, I need your help. I need you guys to help me sing a song to Rachel."
"Hell no! Why should I help you sing a song to my ex-girlfriend?"
"Oh, please. Hudson, you're lucky I'm even asking you." Finn stomped towards the door, trying to jerk Puck's hand off of his arm. "Dude, I can't do it without you. I know you have the hots for Quinnie."
"Don't call her that," he muttered.
"You're going to need all the help you can to get into those pants, man. But you know how chicks dig being sung to, especially Quinn and Rachel. Come on! What are bros for?" Finn gave in, leaning sitting back down with crossed arms.
"Fine. What's your bright idea anyway?"
"Hold on a sec," Mike interrupted. "Dude, why didn't you ask Artie? Tina and I are fine."
"God, no wonder you guys never get anything done," Puck groaned in frustration. "Fine, let's get this straight, okay? There's not an Indian guy in glee. I'm not even sure that there's one in Lima, for crying out loud. You're the next closing looking thing to a foreign guy. And Chang, I know you can fucking sing so don't even try to get out of this. Finn, I'm helping you out because we're bros. Evans, you founded the Justin Bieber Experience. Need I say more?"
Sam didn't say anything, looking quite pleased with himself. Blaine raised a tentative hand from behind the piano.
"Yes, Blaine?" he asked dryly.
"I don't have a girlfriend, obviously. What am I supposed to do?"
"Seriously? You can sing." Blaine gave him a pointed look. "Plus you've got majorly curly hair from what I've heard. I need a guy with curly hair to make this work."
"No way!" he protested. "Can't you just a stick a wig on somebody else? I look like a drag queen with bedhead or something!"
"Blaine, please!" Puck begged. He paused, blinking in surprise. He had never heard the Mohawked teen say please to anything or anybody.
"Sure, man. I'll wash out the gel later."
"Awesome! First things first, I need someone to shave my head..."
Mr. Schuester plucked the Post-It from the choir room door, reading out loud.
"Meet in auditorium. Special performance today. From Puck, Blaine, Mike, Finn, and Sam." He looked at them and they shrugged, not really caring. "Alright guys, let's go see what this is about."
They arrived in the auditorium a few moments later. Their eyes were met with five good-looking guys slunk sexily in plain wooden chairs. They couldn't really be seen since the stage was mostly still in shadow. Puck sat in the center, straddling his chair. As soon as he saw them, he met Rachel's eyes briefly. He winked and waited until they were settled in.
"Since we can't walk through a London street for dramatic effect, you're going to have to fucking settle for us in chairs because that's the best we could do. Ladies, and Hummel, you're welcome to sit up front. But remember, you can look, but don't touch." He smirked, leaning back out of sight. The spotlights switched on and several gasps were emitted at the sight of Puck's newly shaven head and Blaine's loose curls. Blaine tried to resist the urge to run out of the auditorium for gelling time, but regained his confidence at Kurt's approving glance.
Puck's cue came in and he began to sing the first words, concentrating solely on Rachel's expressions.
Pop hits weren't really his thing, but the least he could do was fucking try for her. He hoped that how her walls came down with serenades (via the Puckasaurus) still worked. He was better for her, that was for sure. Maybe no one believed it, but he damned well knew it.
Mike tried not to swallow too audibly and joined Puck, steadying himself with a hand in the air. The look on Tina's face was already worth it.
The principal dancer of the glee club glanced at his bare-headed friend, seeing the look in his eyes. He felt a little proud actually. The dude was growing up.
The five of them abandoned their chairs and walked toward the front of the stage in sync. They were making their own smoldering expression at their respective recipient of song.
Sam stepped in front of them, pointing at Mercedes in a cheesy manner that she had grown fond of from him. Blaine added his voice near the end of the second verse. He strode next to him gracefully, his arms coming together in his usual addressing pose.
They cut off for Puck and Mike to take their part before the chorus.
The other four exchanged a quick look between each other, then at their lead. If this didn't work, what the hell were they going to do?
All of the boys stood shoulder to shoulder as they grew louder. They each made their own different gestures that somehow went together for all of them.
Blaine placed a hand over his heart, forming a makeshift phone with his fingers in reference to the lyric. Kurt reached wildly for his boyfriend with excitement.
Kurt mouthed "I love you" at him, unable to let out a noise.
Santana waved her hands in the air with the music slowly, pantomiming a flame. The rest of the glee girls joined her, making a woo noise every now and then.
Puck held out the last note by himself, executing it easily. He looked to his fellow glee clubbers with a smirk, telling them they could applaud now. They did so, running up to the stage to compliment all of them on their performance. Kurt, Tina, and Mercedes came onto the stage to attack who had presumably been singing to them. Finn had already exited the stage and was holding hands with Quinn off to the side. Puck shot his bro a thumbs up.
Hudson gave him a short nod; they were cool.
Rachel followed shortly after her friends, coming to a stop in front of Puck.
"Did you like it?" Puck asked, sounding a bit nervous.
This was it. This was his moment of truth. Would she let him in her heart? For good, he hoped.
"I loved it! You performed one of The Wanted's songs wonderfully! I hope you consider singing more in the future. It works with your voice range rather adequately."
"Thanks, Berry."
"What was all of this for?" Rachel asked in astonishment, a big smile gracing her features. He noted how clueless her doe eyes were as they blinked at him. He ran his hand over his head, having nearly forgotten he'd shaved it off. It felt nice, to be honest.
"Dammit, Berry! I mean, Rachel. I'm into you. Jesus," he said exasperatedly. She beamed brightly at him after getting over the shock. "Seriously! I shaved my head, I looked up a bunch of stuff about your favorite boy band, I sang it for you, didn't I? My God-"
"Shut up and kiss me, Noah," she replied sternly, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Anything you want, babe," he answered, complying with his mouth pressed hard against hers. Suddenly, they broke apart when they were surrounded by cheers.
"I've always shipped Puckleberry!" Brittany shouted enthusiastically. Santana walked up to them, her arm around Brittany's waist.
"Good job, Berry." She strutted past them, whispering something in Rachel's ear that made her giggle while motioning over her head. As soon as they had left, he demanded to know what she had said.
"What did Satan say?"
"She told me you had a tan line." He face-palmed with a groan, cursing under his breath. She tugged him by the hand with another bright smile.
"Come on, Noah. I'll make you feel better. It's a girlfriend's duty, right?"
"Definitely!" he grinned.
Noah Puckerman as Max George
Blaine Anderson as Jay McGuiness
Mike Chang as Siva Kaneswaren
Finn Hudson as Nathan Sykes
Sam Evans as Tom Parker