The song featured is Musical Soulmate by Mark Salling, I thought it fit Puckleberry perfectly. Companion piece to Surprise Matchmaker, although you don't need to have read it.

Deal with the Devil

"Alright Satan, what do you want?" Noah Puckerman asked the girl sitting cross-legged in front of him on his bed. She had climbed into his room through the tree that stood just outside it, something that she had used to do a lot when they were 'dating'. She smirked at him, sitting on his bed. She hadn't been in here for a while. Since Brittany and Artie had broken up, Santana no longer needed Puck to keep her occupied. They were like bros really. She remembered the day when she had confessed to him that she liked girls. He had reacted completely differently to her expectations, simply saying that it meant they had one more thing in common. They had been through so much together, nobody else understood their relationship but they weren't needed to. Anybody important learnt to accept that they came together.

Anyway, Santana needed to get down to business. Her friend had been moping around in his room, refusing to leave for an entire week, since Finn had told him that he was going to propose to Rachel. Puck wouldn't even admit it to Santana, but he had never really gotten over the midget. But now he was properly miserable, so Santana had to step in and help him out of the mess he had created.

"You know this would never have happened if you weren't too much of a pussy to admit how you feel."

"Thanks Santana for you words of wisdom, now I feel much better about it. What am I supposed to do? Do you expect me to go up to her and tell her that I'm in love with her and have been ever since I saw her face light up when I sang Sweet Caroline to her? Tell her that she shouldn't marry Golden Boy Hudson because she never really gave me a chance to prove to her that I can be so much more for her. Even if that would have worked, now it's too late for us. She'll marry Finn and they'll move to New York and she'll win her shelf full of Tony awards and they'll be together forever, while I'll be stuck in this dump because I'm a Lima loser like my dad, who doesn't even have the balls to ask out Rachel Berry."

He then buried his face in his pillow so that he didn't have to see the look of shock on Santana's face.

"You're lucky that Auntie Tana got here in time, I never knew that Lima's resident badass could sound quite so much like a four year old girl who got a dress in the wrong shade of pink. Rachel will never want you with that attitude. She would kill you if she had heard you call yourself a Lima loser, you know that right. Plus I have it on good information that the Pillsbury Dough Turd has changed his mind on the whole engagement thing and broke up with her."

Santana's smirk at the end make Puck wonder how she'd managed to convince Finn to take back his proposal. He went to ask her, but decided that he was better off not knowing. That way he wasn't involved in whatever laws she may have broken.

"How are you going to get Rachel to ditch Finn for me? She'll never go for that, trust me; I'm not good enough for her."

"She deserves someone bigger than this place, someone who can go to New York with her. That person may not be me but it sure as hell isn't Finn. Anyway, I have a plan. What does Rachel do whenever she has any feelings to express?"

"You want me to sing for her in Glee. Somehow I don't think that will work."

"It will if you sing her the perfect song."

"And what song would that be."

"The one that you're about to write for her."

Despite Puck's protests that he couldn't write songs and that she must be high or something if she thought that this insane scheme would work, Santana winked at him and jumped out of his window. Before he shut it he heard her call up to him, "Don't be an idiot. We all know who really wrote Pretending, AKA definitely not Finn. He has the emotional range of a teaspoon."

And that was the story of how William McKinley's resident badass ended up sitting in the choir room before glee the next morning, not looking quite as cocky as he normally did. Santana had convinced Mr. Schue that the new Directions needed a before school practice as Regionals were only weeks away and had also told him that Puck had a song prepared. This meant that he'd had to stay up all night, writing his song for Rachel. It had to be perfect if she was going to take him back. It wasn't too bad really, the song had practically written itself while he had been remembering all of the good times they'd had together even though they only dated for a week.

The rest of the Glee Club had eventually filed in one by one, Rachel being dragged in by Brittany who appeared to be trying to convince her that she couldn't just skip school even for one day. Puck mentally pledged to hurt whoever had her considering risking her 100% attendance and pulled out his guitar and prepared to sing. Santana smiled encouragingly at him.

I remember when I realized
The depth of your beauty for the first time

They had met at temple when they were only about three years old. He had punched Jacob Ben-Israel for pulling up Rachel's skirt and making her cry. When she asked why he had protected her, he told her that his mum had taught him to protect girls. He also said that girls as pretty as her shouldn't cry because it meant that someone had hurt them, and nobody was allowed to hurt a girl as pretty as his Rachel.

A million ears had heard you

But none had listened quite like mine

After they had met, they became close friends. There weren't many Jewish families in Lima and they lived on the same road, so their families spent a lot of time together. Rachel was always having singing and dancing lessons and Noah always loved listening to her. He had started insisting that she had to sing for him whenever they were together, and she was only too happy to oblige. Nobody else really understood her passion for music quite like Noah did.

Every phrase from your lips

Makes me feel as if I'm paralysed

One thing that Noah had never understood about Rachel was her ability to talk so quickly and so fast. He learned over the years that sometimes she just needed to talk, and that he just had to let her get it all out. She'd told him that she knew he never listened to her rants, but secretly he loved listening to her. She was so passionate with everything she did and he could listen to her voice all day, whether she was singing or berating him on something that he'd done.

Talking is trivial, sing another crazy note
And I will be the reload

He'd been the one listening when she had spent weeks practicing to hit the high F at the end of Defying Gravity. She had been obsessed for months, worrying that if she couldn't hit that note that she'd never be able to get onto Broadway. Noah had encouraged her to keep practicing until eventually she got it perfectly every time. She'd been so thankful for his help, but he'd insisted that it was all her. That was the first time that he called her his Jewish-American Princess.

The troubles that we knew before
Disappear and all I know is that

When his father left, Noah changed. He shaved his head and grew his Mohawk. He started beating people up and threatening them. He started throwing nerds in dumpsters and distancing himself from Rachel. He told himself that it was OK because he was a badass and badasses don't care about nerds. The day he started the tradition of slushy facials he knew he'd made the biggest mistake of his life. A sticky, red, crying Rachel Berry told him that she never wanted to see him again. He'd worked so hard to make things right since he'd joined Glee Club, but knew he never deserved her forgiveness even if she'd given it to him.

It makes no difference where you come from
I don't care if you need my love

You know I'll be there

It was true, even if she had her Happily Ever After living with Finn, Noah would always be there to support her. He'd be the best man at their wedding. He'd be the godfather of their children, who takes them out for ice-cream whenever Finn and Rachel needed time alone. He'd do anything, no matter how much it hurt him, just to make her smile. Even when she no longer wanted his friendship, he'd be right there, ready to catch her if she fell but never stopping her from spreading her wings and flying.

I swear I want to sing to the world
No need to keep it a secret

When Rachel and Noah had dated for the first time, Rachel had suggested that they should keep it a secret. She had said at the time that it was because she didn't want people to find out before they were sure about it and before it was serious, as Noah had a reputation. He later learned that it was actually because she'd thought that he'd be ashamed to be seen with her and worried that if his popularity took a dive due to their relationship, he'd just dump her and start sleeping with the Cheerio's to get his badass player reputation back. When he found out, they'd fought about her lack of trust in him, which ended up with him crying on her shoulder apologising for everything he'd done to her in the last few years. She forgave him and he reassured her that he was not like Finn and that he cared more about her than his stupid reputation, which he proved by picking her over football.

You are the one, the only
my musical soulmate

One day, Rachel had arrived at his house, looking as if she'd been crying. When he asked what was wrong, she'd started ranting incomprehensibly about music tastes. He managed to translate that she thought that since they had very different tastes in music, he liked hard core rock and she liked Broadway, that they couldn't be soulmates. He'd called her crazy and explained that being soulmates didn't mean that you agreed on everything. Santana and Brittany are like complete opposites and everyone knew that they would end up together. All that mattered is that they respected and understood each other's views, and everybody knows that opposites attract. He also pointed out that Rachel and Jesse hadn't worked out because they were too similar. She kissed him and thanked him for coping with her "crazy diva meltdowns". He said that he loved her because of them, not in spite of them.

Darling listen
The audience is calling you
(They're calling you)

He knew that one day, she'd be on the stage in Broadway, and he wanted to be there with her. He didn't just want to be there on opening night, he wanted to be in that audience at every single performance, giving her flowers and telling her how amazing she was. He knew she'd get there, everyone did, and there was no way in hell he'd ever make her choose between him and her dreams. Rachel Berry's destiny is Broadway and nobody has the right to stand in her way.

There's no way in hell that
They will ever feel you like I do

Nobody else understood how he felt towards Rachel. Sure, Santana was sympathetic and she loved Brittany, but he couldn't imagine anybody loving someone as much as he loved Rachel. He would genuinely do anything for her, no matter what she asked. She could do or say anything to him and he would forgive her in a heartbeat. She'd changed him so much. Anything she did was adorable or perfect, he even stopped hating those awful animal sweaters that she seemed to love so much. He couldn't even see other girls anymore; Quinn had been trying to flirt with him since Sam had dumped her because she was cheating on him with Finn. Noah no longer felt anything for Quinn; in fact he doubted that he ever had. Yes, he loved Beth and he'd always have a place in his heart for her mother, but he'd never loved her. At least not in the way that he loved Rachel. The way that she smiled through everything and nothing could bring her down. The way her hair was a bird's nest in the mornings. The way that she was so critical of others performances, when really she was just feeling insecure and jealous. He would love her forever.

It makes no difference where you come from
I don't care if you need my love
You know I'll be there
I swear I want to sing to the world
No need to keep it a secret
You are the one, the only
My musical soulmate