Notes: This is a repost of my story, 'Unexpected Hearts' with some possible changes. I've decided to give this story another chance. Eventually, I will get to the sequel but I may make them both one story.

disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

"speech"

thoughts

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Ever since she told Artie about her not really having a stutter, Tina was feeling miserable because she lost her best friend and the first guy she ever really liked. It was crazy how much she came to depend on his presence at her side. At least they've managed to be civil when it came to glee club matters but that was the only time that he willingly spoke to her. The Asian girl had to wonder why someone as smart as Artie Abrams could not realize the significance of her willingly and choosing to tell him her deepest and darkest secret, or one of them anyways. She sighed as she tucked some hair behind her ear as she shut her locker. In order to avoid another awkward encounter with him, she quickly moved towards the exit because she knew he'd be passing her locker soon because they take the same route home since they live so close. However, she was tired of the dirty looks, so, she's started to try to leave earlier and it's worked mostly. Another sigh escaped the young woman's lips as she shook her head to push all the thoughts of her former best friend from her mind because that was not the time to dwell on the pain and other negative feelings that thinking about the wheelchair bound boy stirs up in her mind.

Tina grabbed her bag then looked around before stepping outside of the school building and started walking in the direction of the home. It was a nice day out so she didn't mind walking home, actually, it was something that she preferred especially when she had someone to walk or roll home with her but now, she walked because she had things that she needed to think about and work through. As she was walking, the Asian girl wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, so when she was almost and caught sight of one of her fellow glee clubbers, she was startled because she hasn't seen him around this part of town before and wasn't sure if she should approach him or not because well, they haven't really talked before. However, given the current situations and that they're both on the outs with the others in the club, everyone could use someone and she didn't think that anyone else would approach him. She tucked some of her hair behind her ear as she made her way over to the bench where the male figure was sitting without paying any attention to what was going on around him.

There was just something about seeing Puck sitting there on that bench and looking so forlorn and lost on that bench that something just reacted to inside of the Asian girl. She took a deep breath as she prepared for what she was about to do because there was a high chance of him biting her head off and part of her was still confused as to why she was approaching The Noah Puckerman at all. As she got closer to the bench, Tina was kind of surprised when he didn't react at all to her presence so she decided to chance it and sat down on the other side of the bench, careful to keep some space between them then placed her bag down on the ground by her feet. She wasn't sure how she should start this or explain why she didn't ignore him like the others have taken to doing lately. Minutes seem to pass without either person saying anything to each other as a gentle breeze blew by them. As she was about to say something, Tina felt the bench move slightly and she turned her head to look at him.

"What do you want, Gothika?" The words were said in a somewhat harsh voice despite Puck not even looking at her. Tina bit her lip but decided that he'd appreciate her being honest with him even if he wouldn't admit it. "I…I don't know actually. Maybe, you just looked like you needed a friend." He snorted in response to her words. "Why would you even bother? Don't you have people you can go be 'friends' with?" Shaking her head, she paused to think about how she wanted to word her reasoning. "Because I can relate to what to your going through at the moment and I'm familiar with the self hate or whatever you want to call it that's currently showing on your face and in your body posture." Something in her words must have set something off inside of him or something because Puck turned to look at her with an unreadable expression on his face. "How the hell could you possibly relate to what's going on?" The Asian girl ran a hand through her hair before meeting his eyes. "You don't think that I can't relate to making a stupid mistake that ended up hurting someone that I care about and now, that person is holding that mistake against me and making me feel like an outcast?" Tina couldn't help the sarcastic words that fell from her lips because she was getting fed up with Artie's and the rest of the glee club members' behavior.

No other words were shared by either party and Tina ended up getting lost in her thoughts as she watched the people that were moving around them. She was startled out of her thoughts when she felt Puck get up from the bench and she turned her head to look at him. "You know, Cohen-Chang, you're not so bad. If Wheels doesn't see that, then he's a bigger idiot than I am." Tina smiled slightly at Puck. "Things will get better, Puck." He smirked at her and some of the old Puck was shining through his eyes before shaking his head. "Whatever you say, Asian. Catch you around." He walked off in some random direction and Tina could only shake her head as a small smiled danced on her lips. She picked up her back and headed in the opposite direction, so that she could end up at her home.

It had been a week since the unexpected run in with Puck and Tina had pushed it mostly to the back of her mind as she tried to get things straightened out between her and Artie. However, he was still being stubborn as a bull, so things were out of sorts between them despite her trying everything she can think of to get him to come around and at least be willing to hang out with her again. A sigh escaped the lips of the Asian girl as she tucked some hair behind her ear before closing her locker and heading towards Glee. She really did love being a part of the club despite all the drama that came with having jocks and Cheerios mix with the people who were at the bottom of social food chain. The choir room was on the other side of the building from her locker, so she struggled with the crowd of students trying to get out of the building at the end of the day because she felt like a salmon going up stream when it was time for said fish to spawn. As she past the locker room, Tina realized that someone had fallen in step next to her. So, she turned her head to the right and was surprised to see that it was Puck that had joined her in her walk to the choir room.

"Well, isn't this a surprise. What's the occasion, Puck?" She raised an eyebrow at him as he snorted in response. "Hello to you too, Girl Chang." Raising an eyebrow at him, she couldn't help chuckling lightly at his response. "Where are my manners? Hello Puck and how are you this afternoon?" Walking along with the resident bad boy, she could tell that he was a bit amused at her overdramatizing of her sentence in response to his greeting. It was fascinating to walk along with him because when people would stare at the unlikely pair that they made, he would simply glare at them and they'd turn their gaze away faster than Kurt moves when he discovers there is a sale on Alexander McQueen. "You know, it's not polite to not answer someone when said person asks you a question." The Asia girl looked at him because she was genuinely curious as to why he was walking with her. Puck shrugged his shoulders in response. "We're both going to the same place, so why the hell not?" Tina looked at him and saw that there was something in his expression that kept her from believing him fully but she didn't say anything because he'd have to admit to whatever it was. So, she decided to just drop it for now because she seen what he's like when he's pushed and that was never a pretty picture and add in the stress from the recent drama, it sounds like a recipe for disaster. As she continued to walk to the choir room with Puck, she was unaware of a certain someone watching them with his blue eyes and a frown on his face.

The glee club rehearsal passed without incident even though things were still tense between Puck, Quinn and Finn but most people were able to at least work with the bad boy without making any snide comments or anything. Tina was glad that things were starting to slowly, get back to normal because she loves the club more than anything but the drama makes it so awkward and uncomfortable. Now that the end of the day arrived for her, she was glad to be going home so that she could just have some time to herself and relax. Mr. Schue had kept her behind to ask her to see if she'd be willing to work with Mercedes on some costuming for their next performance and of course she agreed because the other girl was one of her closest friends but she knew that she would get questioned or rather, interrogated about what's going on with her and Artie. The Asian girl let out a sigh then came to a sudden stop because the boy she had just been thinking about, was only about 200 feet or so in front of her on the sidewalk, talking to someone she recognized from the Jazz band and she was starting to panic internally because she'd have to walk past him so that she could get home but she didn't want to deal with the dirty looks that he would be shooting her. Just as she was about to suck it up and walk pass him while she'd try to ignore the boy that still holds her heart, she was startled when someone tried to get her attention from a nearby vehicle.

"Oi! Cohen-Chang!" Looking around, Tina spotted the speaker standing outside of a nearby truck and somehow, she wasn't surprised when she saw that it was Puck who had called out to her. Shaking her head, she smiled as she headed in his direction, oblivious to the fact that she wasn't the only who Puck got the attention of and though she didn't know it, that was exactly his intention when he saw who else was out on the sidewalk.

Once she reached him, the Asian girl raised an eyebrow at him because she had no idea about what he could possibly want from her. "Did you need something Puck?" He smirked at her. "What makes you think that I want something?" She stared at the male, not believing what she was hearing him say. "Oh, I don't know…maybe because you don't tend to make it a habit to yell for across the school's parking lot where everyone could hear you." Puck leaned against his truck, still smirking at the oblivious girl in front of him. "Thought you could use a ride so that you wouldn't have to deal with Abrams." She shrugged her shoulders. "You're right but what's the catch?" There had to be something in it for him because she didn't that he'd do it just to be nice as that just wasn't like him. Puck smirked at her as he gestured to his truck. "Get in and I may tell you about it, Girl Chang." She thought about it for a moment then decided that she really didn't want to deal with Artie at the moment, so she nodded her head and went to get in the vehicle. The Asian girl didn't catch the look that the rough around the edges boy sent over her should or the glare that he got in return from the boy who loved looking like a grandpa before her got into the driver's seat and pulled out of the parking lot. No, she was too focused on what the guy sitting next to her could possibly want with her and whether or not accepting a ride from was a good idea in the first place.