Puck sat there in the choir room, staring at the paper and wiping the tear drops from the corners and smoothing the paper carefully. He couldn't let it get hurt. He needed this piece of paper so he could remember what happened.

"I can't believe I forgot it! Where could it possi-" He heard muttering coming from the door and approaching footsteps and shoved the paper in his bag, concern for its condition thrown out the window as he wiped his eyes furiously. He couldn't be seen like this. He looked up with a scowl, hoping he looked intimidating enough to scare whoever it was away. His eyes looked up to the concerned face of Rachel freaking Berry. "Noah, what's wrong?" She asked as she approached him. Apparently he still looked like a wreck.

He sniffed a manly sniffle and wiped his eyes furiously. "Not a damn thing Berry. Get what you came for and just go." He snarled, but he knew he didn't mean it and she could tell.

She flinched slightly, but refused to back down. She frowned and a scowl of her own formed on her face, only hers was real as her nose. "No Noah, I most certainly won't just go! What I came in here for doesn't matter when one of my friends- don't you dare give me that look. We are friends Noah James Elliot Puckerman and we've been friends since we were in diapers, despite all the mean stuff you did before and all the mean things you've said about me. We are friends God dammit! And when my friends are in trouble, I like to help them any way I can. So cut the… the… bull shit! Yes! Cut the bull shit and tell me what the hell is wrong so I can fix it…. dammit!" Her face was red the longer she talked and her finger pointed out menacingly the closer she got until she was jabbing his nose painfully.

He stared wide eyed at her, speechless for a full minute before he grinned. "I got Rachel fucking Berry to curse!" He said proudly and flinched when she jabbed his nose again.

"You know I don't like that language Noah." She said warningly.

"~I got Berry to cuuuurse.~" He sing-songed and stuck his tongue out at her.

She rolled her eyes and laughed a little under her breath. "Very funny Noah." She muttered and took the seat next to him. "But seriously, what's wrong?"

He went on the defensive again. "I didn't think anyone would care." He muttered and flinched slightly when her finger pointed up threateningly. "Calm down woman! I'm showing, I'm showing!" He quickly said and bent down to reach in his bag, pulling out the paper. "Just, be careful with it." He said as she took the paper, reading it over.

He watched her face carefully as she read the words. Her eyebrows scrunched up in that way when she was confused or angry. "Y-you.. This is… Noah?" She looked up at his face with the same confused expression, then saw the tears in his eyes again and the big grin on his face.

"Well I think I deserve an award. I got you to curse and made you speechless in the same sitting… And I didn't have to take my clothes off to do it either." She slapped him hard on the shoulder, and then tackled him right out of his chair.

"Oh my god Noah!" She squealed into his shoulder and squeezed his chest hard.

"I know." He muttered, feeling the tears forming again. "I can't believe it either." He whispered. "I passed." He squeezed her back and rested his chin on top of her head.

She pulled back and looked up at him, big bright smile on her face as she wiped his happy tears from his cheeks. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me most, but I always… always believed you were amazing. And you'll always be an amazing, caring, loving, smart, talented, and manly badass. I know it." She watched him smile at her and wipe the tears off her face.

"You know I suck at this emotion crap." He muttered with a laugh. "But honestly, if it weren't for you and the stupid glee club, I would have never done it. But mostly you." He added at the end and gently pulled away, wiping his eyes gently. "But our friendship is over if you tell anyone about what you saw today." He gently jabbed his finger at her nose. "Got it small fry?"

She just rolled her eyes, "Somehow I'm not nearly as intimidated as you were."

"Yeah apparently Jewish chicks are the only ones able to pull it off." He shrugged his shoulders and gently pulled the paper from her hands again, reading the bright red marks at the top of his geography test, 'A-'.

"Yes, but apparently Jewish boys are the only ones who can tolerate it." She laughed as she released the paper easily. "I did that to Finn one night and I swear he shivered in fear. Oh! You don't know that. I promised I wouldn't tell." She quickly said and buried her face in her hands.

"Good to know you're still not a blabber mouth. Guess I shouldn't count on my secret to not get spread all over school." He grinned and stuck his tongue out.

"So what are you going to do now that you're not failing?" Rachel asked curiously.

Puck stood up straight smoothing out the paper once more. "I'm gonna get a nice frame for my test so I'll never forget how I rose from the Lima loser ashes and finally became the man I always dreamed I would be." He said proudly.

Rachel's smile couldn't be any bigger as she took his hand and led him out the choir room. "I think that's a lovely idea. I'll drive." She declared and forcefully linked her arm with his, though he didn't seem to mind it.

They were halfway down the hall when he looked down at her. "Weren't you looking for something in there?" He asked curiously.

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter now. I have more important things to do." They both smiled as they walked in step out the doors and into the sun.


I'm not gonna lie, no editing happened in the making of this fic. I thought it up as I watched some of the recent episodes and felt bad for Puck when he had his little breakdown. I thought about all the ways this moment could have gone down, and I liked this one the most. I'm surprised it didn't get all romantic, considering I'm a HUGE Puckleberry fan, but I didn't think this moment called for romance, just two friends and a little drama. So let me know what you thought. Was it good? Bad? Let me know please!