Noah's Worth
Authors Note: AU fic, with Rachel OOC cause I don't quite have Rachel speak down. Puckleberry established relationship. Timeline is Junior year spoilers for some episodes. Anti Finn.
I don't own anything! First time writing ever, constructive criticism welcome :)
Noah Puckerman was a stud, and studs don't get their hearts broken. But as he listens to those words over and over again in his head, he thinks his whole world may have just shattered.
Flashback
Once glee rehearsal was over for the day, Rachel Berry and Noah Puckerman leave the room and head out to his truck.
"So babe, think we can continue our conversation from earlier?" Noah asked, thinking back to their seriously hot make out session in the janitor's closet next to the science rooms' right before glee practice.
"If by conversation you mean grope fest in the closet, then no. I have a test of upmost importance in my chemistry class that will be the deciding factor in establishing my semester grade and I cannot afford a blemish on my transcripts, especially my GPA. So therefore I cannot afford to have you distract me during my studying. Noah you know how important maintaining my grade point average is to me, colleges require above and beyond in this generation during their entrance interviews" Rachel replied.
"Ah come on babe you can't leave me with blue balls, its like against the fucking boyfriend/girlfriend manual"
"Noah there is no such thing as a boyfriend/girlfriend manual! Besides tomorrow is Friday and my dads are going out of town this weekend, which means I will have the entire house to myself. I will be more than willing to make up for any discomfort I may have caused you today." A grinning Rachel responded.
Only one thought was circulating in Puck's brain, BEST girlfriend ever! Damn how did I get so lucky with Rachel, he thought. Puck proceeded to pull Rachel against him and show her exactly how much he was looking towards this weekend. Rachel in response wrapped her arms around his neck and reciprocated his feelings in kind. Breaking apart they finished their walk to the truck, once their Rachel realized she forgot her Chemistry book in the glee room.
"Oh shoot, Noah I need to go back to the practice room and grab my Chemistry book before we leave. No, no you can stay here it will just take a minute" Rachel explained, with a peck on the check Rachel bounced out of the truck humming and practically skipped to the room.
Noah watched her exit the truck, and the way her ass moved with the swaying of her skirt. What, that's his girlfriend he is allowed to check her ass out! After she entered the school Puck noticed some of the hockey guys walk in after her, becoming suspicious and worried (it's his gf of course he can be worried, stud or not) he followed her into the school.
As Rachel entered the practice room, she realized she wasn't the only one in there. Holding her Chemistry book was Kurt, along with Mercedes, Finn, Artie, and Tina.
"Oh thank you Kurt I was just coming to get that, I have a very important chemistry test tomorrow that I simply must study for!" Rachel exclaimed.
Kurt and the others all looked at each other and nodded, and Kurt began speaking "Sweetie, what do you think your doing with a guy like Puck?"
"We are dating of course; we have been for a couple weeks. I thought you guys all knew about it" Rachel explained, growing more confused by the way they all kept looking at each other.
Outside the room Puck comes to a halt and hears the conversation going on inside, curious he listens in as Mercedes continues.
"That boy aint right for you girl, we all know what his reputation is like. Your just gonna be another number to him, he is no good for you" Mercedes included.
Rachel listened wide eyed as the others jumped in with reasons why Puck was no good for her, why she deserved better but it wasn't until Finn stepped in and started speaking badly about Puck that Rachel snapped.
"Look Rachel, we all know that Puck is just using you and I am sorry that you can't see that. He is just playing with you until you sleep with him, then he is gonna leave you just like all the others. You're no different to him than all the other girls he has slept with. We are just trying to look out for you Rachel" Finn reasoned, as he tried to get Rachel to see just how bad a guy Puck is.
Inside and outside the room a resounding slap is heard. The others stare in wonder after watching Rachel walk up to Finn and slap him after he finished speaking.
"How dare you Finn Hudson, how dare you" Rachel began in a deadly whisper, letting the others know just how angry she truly was, a quiet Berry is a very angry and a very scary Berry. "How dare you talk about Noah, like you are some Saint? Noah has never lied to me; he has never used my feelings for him to get me to come back to glee so he had a chance at winning a scholarship. That was all you Finn; you repeatedly used my feelings towards you for your own benefit. Noah cares about me something you know nothing about" Rachel continued in her whisper as she glared at Finn.
"Look honey we all know you're going places" Kurt said as he stepped in, "and we all know that Puck, well Puck isn't. We are just looking out for you, we don't want to see you get hurt by him" Kurt explained with the others all nodding their agreements.
Rachel looked on, on the verge of tears "Why are you guys doing this" she whispered. She couldn't understand how these people could call themselves Noah's friends yet speak so badly about him. They spoke as if they did not know him and only knew him by his reputation.
"Were just trying to protect you Rachel" Kurt responded. "Yea girl, I mean he threw slushies on you for almost two years!" Mercedes continued.
"Rach I get that your confused and all, but guys like Puck don't change. They can't change, it's like physically impossible!" Finn exclaimed.
Outside the room, Puck was growing increasingly pissed. How dare they make Rachel cry!? She has cried enough because of him and now the people who are supposed to be her friends are making her cry. But deep down, what the others were saying he believed. Puck was terrified that Rachel would realize that she could do so much better than him, a simple Lima Loser; that she was going to be held back by him, that he was going to ruin her dreams for her all because of his feelings for her. This is why Puck didn't do feelings, they always complicated things. But what scared Puck the most was how much he needed Rachel, not just wanted but needed. He had become attached to her and now he was going to lose her. He realized just how stupid he was to get attached to her, people always leave; just like his deadbeat dad, Quinn, Finn and now Rachel. He wasn't so sure how he was going to survive this time though.
Back inside the practice room, Kurt was still trying to get Rachel to see that she and Puck just wouldn't last. "This could ruin your future honey; it could ruin your chances at getting into NYU and Julliard. Is he really worth that?"
Rachel put her head down as if collecting her thoughts; her answer came out in barely a whisper. "No". It was so soft that Puck almost didn't hear it, he really wished he hadn't. Noah Puckerman was a stud, and studs don't get their hearts broken. But as he listens to those words over and over again in his head, he thinks his whole world may have just shattered.
End Flashback
Puck was beginning to walk away when he heard Rachel speak again. She continued speaking softly "he is worth more; he is worth more than that". "He is worth EVERYTHING!!" she screamed. "You're supposed to be his friends; you're supposed to have faith in him! Noah is going somewhere; he will make it out of this place. If you took the time to see how much Glee has changed him, how much he has grown; you would see how wonderful he is and how amazing he is going to be!" Rachel continued yelling with tears streaming down her face. "How can you not see that? He hasn't slushied or thrown anyone in a dumpster in over a year! He was there for me after you broke my heart Finn, after Jessie dumped me. You treated me like trash, like I was your play thing. He treats me like I am his whole world, like I matter. You say he doesn't deserve me, the truth is he deserves more than me. He has been through so much in his life and he has taken all the crap thrown his way and continued on. He deserves more than what I can give him" she finished her rant in a whisper.
"So thank you for your concern, but I do not appreciate you speaking of my boyfriend like that. So if you would kindly keep your horrendous thoughts about Noah to yourself from now on, or I might not be to upset if he were to relapse a little into his old habits. I will take my Chemistry book and leave now; I won't speak of this to Noah even though you don't deserve his friendship." Rachel finished as she grabbed her book and left. Rachel was so angry; she couldn't understand how they could think so little of him and so little of their relationship. So angry in fact that she almost didn't see Noah as she entered into the hallway, but there he was with this look on his face that she couldn't even begin to figure out.
"Noah?" she whispered, almost afraid of his reaction to the conversation in the room that he must have overheard.
"Did you really mean it? Did you mean what you said in there? I don't want to hold you back from your future Rach, you're gonna be this amazing star their right about that. I am just a Lima Loser Rach, you deserve more than me" he whispered with his head down.
"Stop it Noah, don't you ever call yourself a Lima loser. You are going to make it out of this town Noah. I know this because I believe in you Noah, I have faith in you. I know how badly you want to get out of here; you're not your father Noah. You are better than he could ever dream of being." Rachel said as she grasped Noah's head in her hands and forced him to look her in the eyes to see how much she believed in him and how much she loved him. "You are not the same person you used to be, you aren't that guy from Freshmen and Sophomore year, you're better than him. You have grown so much Noah, I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. You are a beautiful person Noah, and yes you are still a badass" Rachel said as she giggled the last part. "Forget them Noah, the only opinion that matters is yours. Just trust in yourself Noah, you know who you are, you know who you can be" she said with so much love and passion for the man standing in front of her.
"Yours matters to me too Rach, I don't want to be the guy that holds you back. I don't want to be the guy that disappoints you." Noah argued.
"Then don't be" was the only thing she replied before she kissed him soundly, trying to show him just how much she cared about him, how much she believed in him. Breaking the kiss they stayed wrapped in each others arms before Rachel spoke again. "Let's get out of here; I still have that Chemistry test tomorrow that I have to study for".
"Babe, if you have time after you study, think you can help me with the Trig homework" he asked looking extremely uncomfortable with that question.
"I will always have time for you Noah" Rachel responded smiling brightly, all traces of her previous anger and grief gone. She grabbed his hand and together they walked out to his truck for a long night of homework, studying and of course making out, Noah is a stud after all.
