A/N: This story is compliant with season 3 up until the Yes/No episode. In my world Rachel said no and then broke up with Finn.
Puck watches as she chats up Sam at his locker down the hallway. He's pretty sure that she somehow feels responsible for the blonde's current heartache over Mercedes not getting together with him officially once she called it off with Shane since it was her and Finn's idea to convince him to come back to Ohio instead of staying with his parents in Kansas or wherever the hell Trouty Mouth went to over the summer.
He stares at the way her long brown hair shines as she flips it over one shoulder and places that hand on Sam's forearm for a fleeting moment. Puck knows it's stupid to feel jealous over that simple touch and the attention that she's giving his friend but he can't help it. Where was she when Lauren dumped him? And while he couldn't really expect her to be there to help him feel better over that whole Shelby fiasco (that shit was really fucked up). He realizes now, that as much as he might love his daughter, it never would have worked out between him and Rachel's mom. He had just been attempting to create the family connection that he lacked growing up and was trying to be a better dad than his ever was.
But still, where was the pint sized midget when he'd been struggling at other points in time this year? Oh that's right, galavanting off with Finn in the La La Land that was their relationship. He was honestly surprised as hell when he heard that Finnessa had proposed to Rachel while they were still in high school. Yeah sure, they were "in love" and all that shit but he still could have waited a few years until they had more life experience and what not before attempting to tie the knot. But no, not Finn. He had to go and try to tie down the one girl that has wanted to get out of this place ever since she could sing and dance at the same time. But what Puck found even more surprising (given how in love they were) was that Rachel turned him down and then broke up with him. Perhaps that's why she's been spending so much time with the blonde synchronized swimmer lately.
Well whatever the reason, Puck decides that he's had enough and thinks up a plan to try and get some of Rachel's attention for himself. Sparing the pair one last glance (and scowling at the way she laughs at something Sam says), he slams his locker shut and heads out the school doors towards his truck in the parking lot.
He makes a quick stop at the nearest drugstore to pick up his supplies before heading home and getting started.
When Puck strolls into school the next morning, everyone stops and stares at him before breaking into heated whispers as he passes them. He just smirks and keeps on walking to his locker. It's not long before he hears a loud gasp.
"Noah?"
He turns his head and sees Rachel standing there with wide unblinking eyes and a hand up over her mouth. "Hey, Rach. What's up?"
"What did you do?" she asks as her hand tentatively reaches out to brush over his newly bleached mohawk, her nose scrunching up in disgust.
Puck shrugs his shoulder and tells her, "Bleached the 'hawk. Thought it was time for a change."
The petite brunette struggles to get her face into a semblance of a smile as she chokes out, "We-well it looks...interesting."
He chuckles because despite how much she wants to be a Broadway actress, he can tell that she's not being completely honest with how she feels about his new look. The bleached blonde badass crosses his arms over his chest and leans back against the bank of lockers to look at the girl. "Come on now, tell me what you really think."
Rachel tries to give him a smile and feed him crap about how it is just such a surprising change and that she's sure she'll get used to it in no time before she finally just caves and blurts out, "Oh it looks hideous, Noah. You look like a reversed skunk and you need to shave it."
Puck smirks at her and shakes his head before closing his locker. "Not gonna happen, Rach. The 'hawk is my signature look."
She just rolls her eyes and huffs before turning around and flouncing away from him. He grins as he watches her short skirt twitch from side to side on her long legs.
He's in a good mood all week because she keeps coming over to him to try and convince him to shave his head to get rid of the bleached strip. And while she's annoyed every time that he says no, he's just happy that he's got her attention once again. Finally at the end of the week, she asks him if she can at least dye his hair to make it look better. Puck starts getting flashbacks of sophomore year in the school bathroom with her tiny hands washing slushee out of his hair and then sitting on his lap. He smirks at her and agrees to let her come over to color his hair if it will make her happy.
It's not until after the dye job is over that he regrets the decision. In hindsight he probably should have asked her what color she wanted to dye it instead of just assuming that she'd return his 'hawk to it's original glory. Instead he's now staring at his image in the mirror and where there once used to be a bleached blonde racing stripe there's now a bright flamingo PINK strip of hair running down his head. His hair is fucking pink!
Puck runs his hand over the neon monstrosity of bristles as he thinks about what he's going to do. The way he sees it, he has three options. Option number one, he could just bleach and dye it back but he's (and he'll totally deny this if word of this ever got out) worried about what it would do to the condition of his hair to bleach and dye it so many times in such a short amount of time.
Option number two, shave it all off and be bald again like that one time that his mom freaked out over a mole on the back of his head.
Or there's option number three and the more he gazes at his reflection in the mirror the more he thinks it has potential.
Come Monday morning, the idle morning chatter of the students comes to an abrupt halt (even quicker than when he walked into school with bleached hair if such a thing was possible) as they all stare at him.
Puck had finally decided over the weekend on option number three and walks into school with his bright pink hair. He figures if he was badass enough to look like a reverse skunk, like Rachel said, then he can be badass enough to rock a pink stripe.
Principal Figgins however apparently doesn't agree with his student's assessment and immediately calls him into the principal's office and makes him wait for his mother to arrive with the hair clippers to shave off his hair.
Later that day, as he walks down the hall with his freshly shaved head, he sees Rachel standing at his locker with a triumphant smile on her face and that's when it all falls into place. She had set this whole thing up to begin with to make him get rid of the bleached blonde look.
A/N: So I had a brief stroke of inspiration thanks to the lovely bewolke/cx7171 over at the drabble meme. She left a prompt of Puck bleaching his mohawk and this little oneshot practically wrote itself.