Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 36th cycle. Now cycle 37!

"Doesn't Matter Why"
Puck/Rachel

She'd just blown into the room like a gust of wind, and for a second he was at a loss for words. Rachel could get into that determined step kind of walk, so fast her hair and her dress would flutter, and then he'd be right back in that dream again, the one that had led him to her in their first year of Glee Club, where she'd come through his bedroom window, like an angel. So he was a little dumbstruck when she came in to the choir room, and it took a second or two before he could process what she'd asked him.

"Okay?" he hesitated, getting up. "Why?" Her eyes hesitated at meeting his, even if she was playing like she was on top of things. "I thought you wanted to get him back, won't that be hard if you keep hanging around the guy you made out with? Which made him dump you?" he stated.

"Are you going to help me or not?" her voice rose above his.

"Of course, you know I will," he shrugged. "That's not what I'm saying." He came to stand in front of her, and after a moment of shifting on the balls of her feet she turned her eyes up to him. "Are you sure that's what you want?" She kept silent for a moment, thinking.

"Yes," she spoke, determined. He gave her a small nod.

"Alright," he told her, stepping back and picking up his guitar again. "What did you have in mind?"

"I have three songs in mind, and I've been weighing them against one another, for which one would work just right. I think we should do "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum," she explained carefully.

"Right," he nodded in approval. "I like that song," he slipped the strap over his shoulder, settled the instrument in his grip.

"Great," she smiled, "Let's try it." He didn't argue, started playing, and they started singing.

He would go with the flow on this one, sure, though part of it still wouldn't go so smooth with him. It was some of the same reasons why he'd stopped her, that afternoon when he had backed out. He was being offered all of her, but it wasn't all of her… he knew it. Call it big talk for a guy who'd been party to his fair share of cheating girlfriends – where he was guy they cheated with, not on – but it wouldn't have been right. Him and Rachel, they'd been doing this dance since the year before, and it wasn't that he didn't enjoy it, he did, but if it was ever going to go anywhere other than where it'd been, then he didn't want it to happen in the midst of her trying to get back at someone else… especially Finn.

When they'd sung through the song once, he stood and waited, knowing she'd have no problem giving all the critique they needed. "Okay, good start," she began, smiling.

"Like that's a surprise," he pointed out. "If you were golf, you'd be a hole in one," he shrugged.

"I… thanks," she looked halfway between confused and touched, bowed her head and reached to tuck her hair behind her ears. "You… were excellent, too," she declared.

"Really?" he wasn't buying that she didn't have anything more to say.

"Well, if I can make… one little suggestion," she cracked.

"Tell you what, I'll let you have three."

"Do I have to use them all at once?" she asked, cautious. He shook his head, fighting back the smirk. "Okay, well I'll use one now…"

After she'd given her piece of advice, he offered they go at it again, so they did. He watched her now, discreetly; he watched how she watched him while they sang. She tried not to make it too obvious, but he could see it now. She was watching, evaluating, and performing all at once… he expected no less. Sometimes it could get a little scary, how she got when she was focused on a performance, a competition, but he kind of liked it. She was driven, and he got that, respected that. So many of them went about their day, and some of them were trying to figure out where they'd end up, some had zero expectations… Rachel didn't just know where she wanted to be: she knew where she belonged.

His father had never really stuck around to give him too much direction, his mother just wanted him to have this perfect life… perfect according to her. He'd joined Glee Club, not so much because he wanted to sing and dance, just so he could keep an eye on things, with Quinn… But then Rachel, she was the first one to look at him as someone with potential. There was Schuester, but that wasn't the same. Rachel was something else… probably why he didn't blink when she called him Noah. When it came from her, it was like a reminder, more than a name.

"Should we try and put more performance into it now?" he asked after the third run, turning about, but when he looked back to her, she had this meek look on her face. "What?" he asked, and she showed two raised fingers. "Using your second correction?" he chuckled. "You know you'll only have one left."

"I'll risk it," she moved to him. "Your hand keeps slipping."

"What do you mean?" he looked down.

"When you… May I?" she pointed carefully to the guitar. He took it off his shoulder and handed it to her. She looked clumsy with it for a second, but then she placed the strap over her shoulder, adjusted her hold on the guitar… She looked even smaller holding it. "When you do this…" she demonstrated.

"Show me again?" he asked, crossing his arms before himself. She replicated the motion. "Sorry, one more time?" he nodded. She was about to do it, but then realized what he was doing and stopped.

"Like the show?" she tried to look reprimanding but just came out amused.

"Looks good from here," he nodded. She 'frowned,' taking the guitar off from her shoulder and handing it back to him.

"Just watch your hand."

"You got it," he resettled the guitar in position, checking the 'slip' Rachel had indicated… she was right. He looked at her, saw her eyes divert; she'd seen him see she'd been right… she didn't want him seeing. "Come on, hole in one, back to work."

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!