AN: Hey guys I'm back! I have to admit I have been kinda disappointed with Glee so far this season. The songs are great but I haven't been impressed with the story lines and the lack of Puck for the past two episodes and definitely the lack of Puckleberry. So here is a one-shot. Also I am working on a multi chapter fic but that one will probably be a while.
Disclaimer: I own nothing! I will wish to own Glee but I doubt it will ever happen.
"Ok I'm sick and tired of this!" Santana shouted
"You're always sick and tired of something San." Mercedes replied snidely.
"Listen here Mercedes you can leave if you want but this is an important Glee meeting so either shut up or leave!" Santana spat back.
"Oo are we discussing wardrobe?" Kurt interjected
"Get out Kurt." Santana said having had enough.
"But..." Kurt tried to interrupt.
"No if you think wardrobe is our biggest problem just get out. You and Mercedes can both leave actually." Santana said pushing the two divas out the door
The two divas left leaving Santana standing in front of Mike, Matt, Brittany, Quinn, Artie and Tina.
"Now if anyone else doesn't know what this meeting is about then I suggest you leave too." Santana said turning back to the room.
"Um I don't know why I'm here but I don't usually know why I'm anywhere." Brit stated.
"That's okay Brit you can stay." Santana stated patiently guiding Brit back to her chair.
"This better be about Puckleberry. If not I'm leaving." Quinn announced.
"Yes Quinn this is about Puck and Rachel. They love each other and broke up because of Finn's lies. They are both miserable." Santana reveled.
"Yeah at least when she and Puck were dating she was allowed to hang with us even if he did threaten us if we tried anything, but with Hudson she isn't even allowed to look at us! I miss Rachel" Mike was whining until Santana shot him a quick glare.
"I mean I know Finn can be controlling sometimes I mean I did date him, then sleep with his best friend, then get pregnant and date said friend, and then date him again." Quinn stated realizing how much Finn had screwed with everyone.
"Exactly! And they are both miserable. So it is up to us to fix it!" Santana stated.
With the whole group agreed they started to work out a plan.
At the same time Rachel and Finn were sitting in the gym. Okay correction Rachel was sitting on the bleachers in the gym as Finn lifted weights while complaining about something. Rachel had stopped listening like 45 minutes ago. She really wished that Mike and Matt would come rescue her like they did whenever Noah would drag her to the gym (Which was hardly ever because well… well because he knew she hated it.) but that would cause Finn to flip a shit (and yes Rachel did just swear it had become a habit). She could text Santana to come save her (Rachel realizes this is an odd friendship but really she has been lacking in the friend department for so long she tries not to question spontaneous offers of friendship) but she remembered that San had said something about an important meeting. Rachel finally decided she was stuck for the long haul and leaned back on the bleachers relaxing as much as possible as her boyfriend rambled about something completely idiotic, just like him. (Of course if asked she would never admit she found him unbearably stupid and dull).
Puck was freaking miserable! Some would say he was sulking (Okay maybe those people would be right). He missed Rachel! Stupid Finn! Why did he have to tell Rachel that Puck had slept with Courtney! Fuck he had been totally faithful to Rachel. He didn't even know who the fuck Courtney was. But she went along with Finn and swore they had slept together. And yeah it didn't help that he had lied to Rachel about where he had been the night he supposedly slept with Courtney, but it was supposed to be a surprise for her (Not to mention it was so not badass). So here he was girlfriendless and totally miserable. Not only that but all his friends kept telling him he needed to get back with Rachel (Well duh he knew that one!), but she was like beyond pissed and she was with freaking Hudson again! (Dude may not be his boy anymore, but still you can't steal the guy's girlfriend a second time, even though technically Rachel never would have left him if it wasn't for that douche.) So yeah Puck was sulking.
"So we all clear on what needs to be done?" Santana asked the group in front of her. She was met with nods of agreement from the group. "Good. Now we will meet here tomorrow morning." With that she left the room. As she walked to her car she passed the gym only to see Rachel sitting on the bleachers with her boyfriend lifting weights going on about something. Santana rolled her eyes. Santana was already in a bad mood so she took a deep breath and flung the doors wide open letting them slam. Both teens looking at her in shock, Rachel knowing that whatever had pissed Santana off had made her turn on the Satan in her. "HUDSON!" Okay this can't end well thought Rachel. Finn looked up at Santana. "Hudson what the hell do you think you are doing?"
"Well I was working out."
"You are an idiot! What kind of boyfriend makes their girlfriend sit and watch them work out for" Santana paused as she looked at the time on her phone before continuing. "THREE HOURS!"
Outside Puck could hear Santana and Finn yelling at each other. He listened closer and could hear Rachel trying to calm both of them down with no luck. Really could this day get any worse! He opened the gym doors to see Santana nose to nose with Hudson ready to claw his eyes out still yelling at each other. Quickly he met Rachel's eyes and she gave him an exasperated look. It was the most she had acknowledged him since they broke up so he smiled and moved forward wrapping his arms around Santana as she began to flail to get out of his hold. He nodded once at Rachel before walking out of the gym completely. As soon as they made it part way down the hall he realized Santana was no longer struggling so he set her down.
"What was that about?" He asked seeing her demeanor had completely changed.
"Nothing" she said as she stalked past him out to her car.
"Women" Puck muttered glancing at the gym doors once more before heading in the same direction that Santana had.
When Rachel finally got home 2 hours later thanks to Finn being pissed and wanting to work out more (She'd have to remember to thank San for that tomorrow morning), she was exhausted. She went right to bed and didn't even bother to check her email or facebook. (If she had she would have seen the chat request from Puck asking how she was). Instead she went to sleep wishing she hadn't made a huge mistake by leaving Noah (She knows he didn't cheat. Who is she kidding she always knew. She just freaked a little at the possibility and ended it). She misses him, but she is in too deep now to go back no matter how much she wants to.
Puck sat at home like an idiot and waited for Rachel to log on and respond, but she never even logged on so at least he knew she wasn't ignoring him completely (still he did fall asleep with his head on his desk).
Rachel just wanted to be left alone for like 2 minutes (she wasn't even exaggerating). Rachel had woken up at 6am and jumped right in the shower. She changed into a pair of jeans and a hoodie (Finn didn't like her to wear her skirts or even tight t-shirts because they were too revealing). She checked her phone to see she already had 20 text messages and 6 missed calls from Finn (Really was it necessary for him to call her at 3 in the morning to ask if she was awake? Why the hell would she be awake at 3am?). She ignored the rest of them even as her phone rang again. She threw her stuff in her bag and stalked down the stairs as her phone continued to ring. To her surprise both her fathers were sitting at the table (She didn't even know they were home). She walked over to the coffee pot she had set so it would be ready when she left only to find that her fathers had already finished it and not started another pot. Instead she grabbed her purse and walk out the door so she could stop and get coffee before school (She didn't want to be yawning when Finn was talking at her this morning, it had ended very badly last time) of course she had no such luck when her fathers' called her back to see how she was (really why did they even care they were never home so why did it matter what clubs she was in). She finally got out of the house only to realize she was going to be late. She bolted into the school only to run into a solid wall of muscle, but right before she fell on her ass two arms wrapped around her waist. When she looked up she found Noah (Puck! His name was Puck she couldn't afford to even think about him as Noah). Rachel stared into his eyes before the spell was broken when she heard her name being yelled down the hallway. "Berry! Where the hell are you?" Rachel sighed before untangling herself from Noah's (Puck's!) arms and walking towards her locker to where Santana was calling her. "Where have you been?" the Latina demanded.
"My fathers are home and pretending they care and they drank all my coffee!" Santana just laughed and looped her arm through Rachel's and started towing her to class.
Santana was going on about something when Finn stepped in their path. "What do you want Frankenteen?"
"To talk to my girlfriend who hasn't answered me all morning!"
"To bad you'll have to wait we're late for class." Santana stated before effectively maneuvering Rachel away from Finn.
They walked into English and took their seats. Ten minutes into class Puck came waltzing in and took the empty seat next to Rachel. "Mr. Puckerman you're late." The teacher accused.
"At least I'm here" He stated back. Unfortunately he had a point so the teacher continued with her lesson. When she turned her back Puck pushed a coffee cup in front of Rachel without a word. Both Rachel and Santana stared at him but when Rachel caught a whiff of the coffee she decided not to ask any questions.
Quinn was so over Finn. She just needed to put that out there. This was all a part of the plan. She walked up to him and leaned against the locker next to his. "Hey Finn."
Finn turned to her with a smirk on his face. "Hey Quinn."
In her head Quinn was rolling her eyes. God he was such a moron! She was supposed to let Rachel catch Finn flirting with her so maybe she would realize that he was no good for her. Quinn saw Rachel come around the corner and stop dead in her tracks. Quinn felt a pang of guilt. She was trying to help Rachel she really didn't want to hurt her.
Rachel wasn't stupid. She knew what her friends were doing. They didn't want her with Finn, she got that. (Hell she didn't even want her with Finn) Thing is though Rachel has been hurt. She misses Noah all the time and has tried to break up with Finn several times but every time she thinks to herself that Finn is the safe one. He wouldn't hurt her. He may be boring as all git up but he would never cheat on her, or so she thought before she walked around the corner to see Finn and Quinn. She knew it was a set up, but there he was flirting with Quinn like it was his job. What else could she do but turn and walk away.
After avoiding just about everyone for the rest of the day Rachel finally made it to glee. She sat down in the front row as was normal, what was unusual was that Mike and Matt immediately left their current seats to move to either side of Rachel. No one said anything, but as soon as Finn entered the room Artie called him over to ask him a few questions.
Mr. Schue walked in with armloads full of music, but before he could start talking Brittany ran up with a stack of her own papers. "I have a song I want us to work on!" (And really who could say no to sweet, innocent Brittany?) So Mr. Schue took the papers from Brittany and actually smiled at the notes that had been made (In Santana's hand of course) as he passed out parts. The group all stood up and walked up front.
Puck
Rachel
Both
New Directions
Boys
Girls
Livin' my life in a slow hell
Different girl every night at the hotel
I ain't seen the sun shine in 3 damn days
Been fuelin' up on cocaine and whisky
Wish I had a good girl to miss me
Lord I wonder if I'll ever change my ways
I put your picture away
Sat down and cried the day
I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to her
I put your picture away, sat down and cried today
I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to her
I called you last night in the hotel
Everyone knows but they won't tell
But their half hearted smiles tell me
Somethin' just ain't right
I been waitin' on you for a long time
Fuelin' up on heartaches and cheap wine
I ain't heard from you in 3 damn nights
I put your picture away
I wonder where you been
I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to him
I put your picture away
I wonder where you been
I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to him
I saw ya yesterday with an old friend
It was the same ole same "how have you been"
Since you been gone my worlds been dark & grey
You reminded me of brighter days
I hoped you were comin' home to stay
I was head of the church
I was off to drink you away
I thought about you for a long time
Can't seem to get you off my mind
I can't understand why we're living life this way
I found your picture today
I swear I'll change my ways
I just called to say I want you to come back home
I found your picture today
I swear I'll change my ways
I just called to say I want you to come back home
I just called to say, I love you come back home
The two teens stood staring at each other and breathing heavily. Finn watched angrily from across the room. He started to move towards the pair but was stopped in his tracks when Rachel finally spoke. "Finn we're done." It was said without emotion and she didn't even turn around, just kept staring at Noah.
"We aren't done until I say we are done!" Finn spat. Mike and Matt quickly inserted themselves between Finn and Rachel. Puck also stepped around Rachel, but this was her battle to fight so she moved around everyone until she was standing in directly in front of Finn.
"No Finn, we ARE done. You are controlling, dumb and I don't even like you let alone love you! You lied to me Finn. Noah never cheated on me. It was my own stupid insecurities from back when you and I dated the first time. I don't know why I even let those doubts into my head because Noah isn't YOU! You cheated. You lied. We are done!" With that Rachel turned and walked out of the classroom.
"Wow can someone say Diva!" Kurt sneered receiving an affirmative nod and high five from Mercedes. The two laughed until they found Tina standing in front of them with a menacing grin.
"You two are pathetic! Rachel has been nothing but nice to you!"
"Nice? She takes all the solos!" Mercedes exclaimed.
"No Mercedes that would be you! Rachel has been offered the last seven solos but every single time you and Kurt bitch so she has handed all of them over! She doesn't have a single solo. You on the other hand have seven! Now tell me how does that equate to Rachel having all the solos?" Tina was pissed and everyone could tell but she wasn't done yet. She whirled around to see Puck. "And you what the hell are you still doing here? Go find Rachel! Make up, make out I don't care just fix it!" Puck stood frozen to the spot just staring at Tina. "NOW!" Puck finally turned and sprinted out the door.
It was like some kind of cosmic sign. Puck found Rachel sitting on the bleachers. It had become their spot when they dated. He walked up the steps slowly and sat next to her. It was early spring but the chill was still in the air. Puck took off his letterman's jacket and set it around her shoulders, "I do still love you". Rachel stayed silent after Puck's (Noah's?) admission. Puck didn't know what else to do. "Rachel the night I lied to you about where I was" Puck paused and took a deep breath and looked at Rachel who looked hesitant. "I was taking piano lessons. I had been taking them for about a month and a half at the time and as soon as I got good enough I was going to play a song for you in Glee. I wanted it to be a surprise. I should have told you, but I didn't think you would believe Hudson and then all of a sudden you were telling me we were done. And I just couldn't tell you." Puck figured that was all he could say. The pair sat in silence for a few moments before Puck figured she wasn't going to say anything or forgive him so he got up to leave. He made it down two steps when she spoke.
"I never thought you cheated."
He stopped dead in his tracks but didn't dare turn around. "I knew you would never cheat on me but then I remembered that I had thought the same thing about Finn and well you know how that ended. Then I realized that I loved you more than I had ever loved Finn. I realized that it would hurt so much more and…I just got insecure. I thought it would just be easier this way, but it isn't. It is so much worse! I miss you and I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I love you too."
Puck didn't need any more encouragement. He had Rachel in his arms in a second of her admission kissing her like he had missed doing since they had broken up. They were broken apart by the cheers coming from the bottom of the bleachers.
Mike ran up the bleachers with Matt walking behind him. As Mike reached her he picked her up and spun her around (Everyone fearing for Rachel's safety as Mike almost lost his balance a few times) "Rach are we allowed to hang out with you again? Your boyfriend won't kill us will he?" Mike asked sliding a look towards Puck.
Puck smirked "Well that is totally up to Rach, but same rules apply. You try anything I kick your ass."
"We wouldn't have it any other way" Matt said putting his arm around Rachel, before Puck pulled her close effectively disentangling her from Matt.
The four walked down the bleachers to the rest of the group waiting on the field. Even with his arm wrapped around Rachel he could still see Tina giving him a death glare. "What Tina?" She started to walk towards him. "Don't hit me."
"Is everything back to normal?"
"Yes"
"Have you kissed her?"
"Yes"
"Did you ask her to be your girlfriend again?"
"Ye..No"
"Well…"
"Rachel will you be my girlfriend again, talk to me when you are feeling insecure, and go to prom with me?"
Rachel giggled but then answered, "I suppose that could be arranged." With that they kissed again, and as their friends realized the couple wasn't going to stop any time soon they all made their way to their cars.
"Stop squirming!"
"But…"
"I will poke you in the eye if you don't sit still!"
"Sorry San."
"It's okay Rachel." Santana conceded. Santana was working on Rachel's makeup as Quinn did Tina's hair and Brittany sat on the window seat painting her toenails. "There all done and stop messing with your hair you look perfect. Puck won't know what hit him."
"Thanks San I owe you."
"Whatever B we aren't doing this sappy stuff. To channel Kurt 'Don't you dare start crying and ruin your makeup.' " The girls all laughed as they heard Mr. Berry call that the boys had arrived.
Slowly the girls made their way down stairs. Tina and Brittany went first to meet Artie and Mike. Quinn, Santana, and Rachel were left in Rachel's room. "You coming B?" Santana asked.
"In a minute" she answered while still staring in her vanity mirror at her reflection.
"Hey talk to us." Quinn stated as she and Santana kneeled on either side of her.
"Really I'm good just thinking. Give me a minute and I'll be down I just want to double check my bag." Rachel said trying to convince them to go downstairs.
Reluctantly Quinn and Santana followed the direction Tina and Brittany had gone to meet their dates. Sam the new kid had just joined Glee and Football recently and had asked Quinn to go with him, and Santana descended the stairs to see a waiting Matt. A few pictures were taken of the couples and the guys along with several other configurations and Rachel was still nowhere to be seen.
"I'll go check on her." Said Santana as she began to make her way upstairs.
"No I'll go." Puck interrupted before moving past Santana and into Rachel's bedroom.
He leaned against the door frame and looked at his girlfriend who was sitting on the window seat. "You weren't planning on standing me up were you? Cause you know I'd just have to come after you. I'm never letting you get away again." Puck said in his slow easy draw. Rachel turned to look at him but didn't say anything and Puck could tell she had been crying. He walked over to her and got on his knees taking her face in his hands, "Hey what's up?" he asked a little concerned.
"Are we gonna be okay? Can we really make this work?"
The room was soon filled with his booming laugh. She started to glare at him through the tears until he was able to control himself. "What is so funny?" she asked.
"Rach, I meant what I said when I walked in. I am never letting you go. I love you. If you run I will just have to catch you."
"But what happens when I have to leave for New York?"
"I'm coming with you." He stated like it was the simplest thing in the world.
She just stared at him searching his eyes for an answer.
"Come on Rach we better get down there before Satan comes looking for you."
"Don't call her that Noah."
"Ok Rach, whatever you say. She is already going to yell at you for ruining your makeup. Not that you need it." He said whipping away some tears. Rachel laughed realizing that he was right and San really would kill her for messing up her makeup.
"Give me a sec and I will go fix it." She disappeared quickly into her bathroom coming back shortly with her normal minimal makeup. "How do I look?"
"Beautiful as usual." The couple made their way downstairs and Rachel realized that her and Noah were the real deal and she hopped that the next time she was in a fancy dress it would be when she was walking down the aisle towards him. Little did she know he already had the ring in his sock drawer at home and was just waiting until after they graduated to propose. He was never losing her again not even for one second.
AN: The links to pictures of the girls' prom dresses are on my profile.