When Berry asked me to help her with the music video I couldn't refuse. Who knew our lives would end up paralleling the video so much? Of course, instead of it being one scary, murderous father… we had two, oh and an evil ex-boyfriend.

'Noah, I need your help.' The tiny brunette said as she plopped down next to me.

'What is it Berry? Another make out session to make one of your obsessions jealous?' I asked gruffly, getting tired of the Rachel Berry Jealousy Game.

'No,' she said smiling, 'I am making a music video for the assignment and I need your leading man skills'

'Since when did I have 'leading man skills'? I've worked really hard to NOT be noticed.' I glared.

'Yes you have but I notice everything and your performance of Sweet Caroline proved that you have the chops. Will you do it or not?'

'Will we make out?' I knew we wouldn't be but I had to give it a shot.

'Absolutely not Noah Puckerman, I have a boyfriend who would not appreciate it.' She said crossing her arms and pouting.

'Really Berry? You're pouting? I have a seven year old sister… I'm immune to the puppy dog lip. But I'll help you.' Immune my ass, I fall for that shit EVERY damn time.

'You're the best Noah! Be at my house at 5:30 sharp.' She said getting up and walking off. I groaned at the thought of missing the new episode of Supernatural, picked up my backpack and headed home. My ma was home so I had dinner with her and my sister Ruby before heading to the Berry home. I raised my hand to knock but before I could it swung open.

'I'm proud of you Noah. Its 5:25!'

'Yeah, when I told my Ma I was coming over she practically carried me to my truck.' I shrugged.

'Well good! Come in and head up to my room. I'm just going to grab some drinks and I'll be right up'

'Alright' I said following her instructions. I learned really quickly that if you just do what she says, her word count is cut substantially. I walked into her room and sat in my usual spot, the computer chair. I tried to snoop around her desk to see if there was any hint of what we would be doing but there was nothing. She knew better. She walked in a few minutes later carrying a bag of Funyuns and a six pack of Mountain Dew.

'Hell yeah Berry, you remembered my favorites.' I smiled.

'Of course I did Noah! Have you met me?'

'Good point. So, what are we filming?'

'Well, our assignment was to pi-'

'I know what our assignment is, remember… less words and I'll pay more attention.' I said cutting her off.

'Oh yes! You're right. So, we are going to do a music video to Run Joey Run. It's a terrible song but I think it would be fun to perform.'

'Sounds good, but why did you ask me Berry? You could have asked St. James, ya know, your boyfriend.' She glared for a second, blew out a long breath and threw herself back on her bed.

'He doesn't work for this. I don't really know why but I just couldn't get you out of my head for the staring role.'

'Well that's pretty honest there B. Are you sure it was my rocking body you couldn't get out of your head?' I winked.

'Don't make it less than it is Noah. Sure, you have a rocking body but there's more to you Noah and not everyone gets to see that. I do though. I can't help my feelings; I just don't know what to do about them.'

'So… does this mean that you kind of want to date me again?'

'Yes Noah that is exactly what I'm saying.'

'Wow…'

'Yeah…'

'Why don't we work on the music video right now and we'll see what happens. I'm totally down to try us again but not until you are actually free. I'm over being the substitute.'

'You're absolutely right Noah and you don't deserve that. Let's do the video and go from there.' She said sitting up with a huge smile.

To say that the song was terrible is a huge understatement. Run Joey Run deserved to be locked in a deep dark depressing cave where it can never be seen again. I did totally dig my black leather jacket that B bought for me to wear. We recorded the video in record time considering I had never heard the sad excuse of a song before. Afterwards we sat in her room in a weird uncomfortable silence until I couldn't handle it anymore.

'This is whack B. Since when have we EVER felt awkward like this?'

'I conquer; however, I do not know how to resolve the issue. I keep thinking about my predicament and I don't know what to do.'

'Why don't you call the Shue wannabe and tell him you all are over and we can make out for a few hours?' I shrugged.

'If I do break up with Jesse will you go out with me? I really don't want to leave him if I can't have you.'

'You've had me for awhile babe. Call the creep so we can get to the good stuff' I smiled.

'Hand me my phone!' she squealed. She put the phone on speaker because she knows that I'm fucking nosy.

'Hey honey, what's up?' I heard that curly haired freak say as he answered. I couldn't help but make a gagging motion which nearly broke Rachel into a fit of giggles.

'I'm breaking up with you Jesse. I'm sorry but I just don't think this is going to work between us.'

'It's about Puck isn't it?' Her eyes widened when he said it.

'I don't know what you're talking about Jessie! I simply do not find myself attracted to you anymore.'

'Uh-huh. Find yourself more attracted to a beefcake Lima Loser with a Mohawk?' he asked sharply

'Noah is not a Lima Loser!'

'See, I told you! You are a pathetic bitch Rachel Berry! You deserve to be miserable with that loser!' I couldn't keep my mouth shut after that particular comment. No one calls my girl a bitch and gets away with it!

'Fuck you Jesse! Don't you EVER say anything like that to my girl again or I'll guarantee you won't see your next birthday!' I yelled through the phone.

'Noah!' Rachel scolded.

'He's there? Both of you will pay for this!' Jesse said hanging up the phone. Rachel closed hers quickly and her face lit up with a bright smile.

'What are you smiling at Crazy? He just threatened our asses!' I asked baffled.

'Because you defended me Noah, you called me your girl, and I know that you will keep me safe!' she said excitedly.

'Damn straight babe. I ain't scared of that fruitcake!' I said faking seriousness and pulling her into me. 'I am really happy you want to be with me Rach'

'I'm really glad you want to be with me Noah' she replied with a grin, 'because I really, really wanted to make out with you again!' she giggled. And make out we did, and then some. It was magical. Screw you, it was like the best sex I've ever had and I've had a lot of it! Unfortunately my Ma called while we were snuggled all cozy and I had to roll out. I gave her a goodbye kiss and told her I would come by the next day but she got all shady.

'Uhm that would not be a good idea Noah'

'Why not Rachel? You're not having second thoughts about us being together are you?' I asked slightly nervous of her reply.

'Of course not, it's just that my dads will be home tomorrow.' I could see worry on her face.

'I can meet them if you want me to. It's not my normal routine but nothing about me and you is normal.' I shrugged.

'I have to explain something about my dads. See, my actual father, the one that had me with Shelby, passed away when I was about two. David had adopted me soon after I was born because he had gotten together with my real father. After he died, David was legally obligated to keep me. He met Hiram soon after and he adopted me too. The thing is, David never really cared about me… like, at all. Hiram on the other hand, literally hates me. This is not teenage rebellion or anything like that; he really said that he hates me. The problem is that he feels like he is responsible for me so he is ridiculously strict and almost possessive over me. He said that I was NEVER allowed to bring a boy home and if I try and he finds out, he will have to resort to extreme measures. He has only hurt me physically once or twice but I would hate to find out what he'd do if he found out I had a boyfriend.'

'What the hell? I'm sorry babe, you really don't deserve that. You're amazing! Meet me at the diner on Fredrick St on Monday at 7 and I'll treat you to breakfast, okay?' I said kissing her forehead.

'Thank you Noah for being so good about this. I have never told anyone before' she said quietly.

'No thank you needed babe. You only about two years to get through and then you'll be off to NYC. I'm not going to make those two years harder than they have to be.'

'I'll see you on Monday at 7!' she beamed.

'Bye babe'

'Bye'

Monday breakfast was really fun. We were the only customers in there so we got to pick whatever seat we wanted. There's a booth in the back away from any windows so we sat there.

'I want blueberry pancakes!' Rachel said excitingly.

'You want blueberry pancakes? Chocolate chip is the way to go' I feigned being appalled.

She wrinkled her nose in like a really cute way, 'Chocolate for breakfast? You call me crazy but I'm pretty sure it's the other way around.' She laughed.

'You've never had chocolate chip pancakes have you?'

'Nope'

'You can't talk smack about something you haven't tried!' I laughed. 'You are so trying chocolate chip pancakes today.' She grumbled her discontent but after she tasted them she practically stole them from me.

'Whoa Rach, you have blueberry pancakes on your plate, remember?'

'Yeah, but yours are so much better!' she said sticking her fork back on my plate to steal more.

'Fine, I'll share but you owe me'

Her eyes narrowed, 'Owe you what exactly?'

'How about the next time I want you to try something, you have to. No arguing about it.'

'Okay, I can do that.' She smiled.

We were stared at all day but it was worth it to have her tiny hand in mine. We ate lunch and made out in the auditorium and had two out of three classes in the afternoon together. It was a pretty awesome day, until we got to Glee of course.

'Anyone have anything for today?' Mr. Shue asked.

'Noah and I do' Rachel said raising her hand.

'You and who? Oh, Puck! Sorry… forgot for a minute. Go ahead you guys.'

Rachel put our video on and sat back down.

'This song really sucks babe' I whispered.

'I know Noah, but you look really handsome in it.' She whispered back with a wink.

'Are your dads home today?'

'Nope' she replied with a wicked smile. I was about to say something inappropriate but the video finished before I had a chance.

'Rachel, you wanted to go to Broadway? If that performance proves anything its that you will NEVER be good enough. You and Puckerman will be stuck in Lima for the rest of your pathetic lives. You'll probably be knocked up before the year is over and he'll get sent to jail before either of you graduate. I can't wait to see it!' Jesse said in front of the whole club. Rachel ran out of the room before anyone could respond. I wanted to stay and beat his face in but Rachel was more important. I ran after her and found her standing in the empty hallway with her back to me. I walked up and put my arms around her waist pulling her against me.

'He's just jealous Noah' she whispered.

'Exactly; DO NOT let him get to you. You and I will prove his ass wrong when we take over New York, okay sweetheart?'

'You want to go to New York with me?' she smiled.

'Of course Rach, you're pretty much stuck with me' I smiled back.

'Good!' We walked back into the choir room with huge smiles on our faces, almost forgetting why we left. We sat back down in our seats and waited for our review.

'I think you guys did a great job.' Mr. Shue said to us.

'Thanks' we said in unison.

Everything went well for the next few weeks. Jesse didn't give us anymore hell which was surprising. But other than that, everything seemed pretty fantastic. Of course, my life never works that way so when Rachel called me crying I knew it was going to be bad. Her dads were away, again. I pulled up to her house and practically took the door out trying to get inside. When I finally realized turning the knob is generally how doors work, I got in and ran up to her room. The view I got when I walked in to her room like literally broke my heart into a million pieces. Rachel was curled in a ball on the floor next to her bed sobbing uncontrollably. I walked over, picked her up and sat against her headboard, holding her in my lap. The poor thing had a death grip on my shirt and had already created a large tear stain on my chest, but I really didn't give a shit. I was scared as shit. It had to be bad for her to break down like this.

'What's wrong baby?' I asked lifting her face to look in her eyes.

'P-promise you w-won't leave me?' she choked. This scared me even more but I couldn't turn back now.

'Of course I won't Rach; I love you too much to leave you. Tell me what's wrong.'

The next words out of her mouth knocked the breath out of me and I literally almost threw up the pizza I had for lunch all over her fucking floor.