Author's Note: So, I can't explain it but I really love the Run Joey Run video from Bad Reputation but I love Puckelberry more so I need an explanation as to why she didn't use Puck for the whole video (aside from trying to be racy) since he is a bad reputation embodied for all to see. So this is what by muse came up with. Enjoy:
Disclaimer: I am not Ryan Murphy therefore I do not own Glee, just my own ridiculous interpretations of all things Puckelberry.
It wasn't as easy as they all made it seem. They all looked at her like it was trampy, but her video was actually a lot more meaningful and thought out than they realized.
It was originally going to be a project with Jesse, if only because he was her boyfriend. But he was too camera aware and kept trying to direct the shots to force focus on himself.
Then it was going to star Finn, but he was too gentle for the beginning. With all his boyish charm, the quarterback couldn't produce the strength required from Joey's character. He wasn't at all believable until she had already taken the bullet for him.
And Noah, Noah was just too...fierce, came across as too protective when he was on screen with her. It was bad enough in the opening scene, when he was relaying their tragic tale to the audience, and was supposed to be protective and distraught.
But during the scenes where they were on screen together, Noah was near frightening with his glare and Rachel was sure that there were still bruises on her shoulders from his grip when he'd pulled her behind him. There was an intensity there that neither of the other boys brought to the project.
But he couldn't stand back and take direction when Rachel explained that her father killed her because she stepped in front of him. A smile plays across Rachel's face as she remembers the way Noah's shoulders had tensed up before he took off after a terrified Mr. Ryerson during the first take.
In the end, Artie only had bits and pieces of usable footage of each of Rachel's attempts and the two had spent hours trying to make it work. But no one cared. They all had their opinions of Rachel, and nothing Artie said would sway them. And Rachel stopped defending herself long before Jesse had originally waltzed into their choir room.
So she got up and tried to apologize through song, knowing that none of her teammates would understand, or care to ask, why she had done what she had. She wanted to explain herself to one of the boys, but had yet to find him alone and wasn't about to take on Quinn to offer an undesired explanation to someone who probably didn't care in the first place. So, when she finds a frustrated Noah Puckerman on her porch, the tiny brunette doesn't know where to begin.
"What the hell was that shit, B?" He rises and crosses the driveway in long strides, coming to stand in front of her with his arms crossed tight against his chest. "You asked me to do that damn video with you and then you show the club that trash?"
"I-I didn't mean for it to turn out like that, Noah. It was supposed to be a project with you. What's a better way to earn a bad reputation, right?" The attempt at a laugh she releases is more of a squeak.
He scoffs before grabbing her arm and pulling the tiny girl toward the front door. He knows she has some of the nosiest neighbors on the block, and he doesn't need any part of this conversation being misconstrued and repeated to his mother. He can't even imagine the hell she would make his life if some busybody housewife headed down to the JCC to tell her all about the corruption he's rained down on Rachel, the only nice Jewish girl over the age of six (and therefore a viable option for future Jewish grandbabies) in Lima, Ohio.
The short tempered teens make their way to Berry's blessedly soundproof bedroom and throw down the metaphorical gauntlet.
"What. The. Fuck. B?" Each word is a punctuated sentence as Puck settles himself on the bench seat at the end of Rachel's polly pocket bed and crosses his arms in agitation.
"It's your fault!" She's pacing and stomping her foot and pulling at her hair and she's just so frustrated with him. She should have known that he'd be the one to confront her. The one person she wanted to explain it all to in the first place. But he's not giving her the chance, he's just...being Puck.
"How the hell is your crazy my fault?"
"I am not crazy! And it's your fault because you're the one that screwed up the shots! You were all glare-y and evil looking and...and you made Mr. Ryerson cry! How was I supposed to work that into the video?"
"Ha, I totally forgot! I did, didn't I?" The mohawked mongrel smirked to himself for a moment before focusing on what else she had said. "And 'glare-y' isn't a word. And, damn Berry, I'm terribly sorry if you can't handle that I didn't want you to die."
Rachel really didn't know how to respond to that, she just sort of stood there gawking for a moment too long.
Now he's frustrated again because she doesn't even respond when he breaks out the emotions she's always asking him to get in touch with. So he's pacing and his fists are clenching and unclenching before Rachel catches up with herself.
"Well, obviously you don't want me dead, Noah. I've never thought your were malicious. Besides, you need Glee Club-"
"I don't need Glee for shit. I just had a problem seeing you laying on the ground all bruised and bloody. Deal with it."
She groans in frustration as she turns away to pull her laptop from her desk to her lap on the bed.
"I did deal with it, Noah. And that's why you're upset..."
Sinking down on the bed beside her, Puck shakes his head. "No, I'm upset because you only used me in the lame ass intro so you could have your boyfriend and your puppy dog play hero for you and-"
"Noah! Just...shut up for a minute and watch. I couldn't use you in the other scenes...Just watch."
The two sit in silence as Rachel shows Puck what she means, how he completely changed the tone of the whole video with just a clenched fist or a furrowed brow.
"You were so good in the beginning, you had all this emotion but by the end of the video you were just angry. And then you made Mr. Ryerson cry and it was just a mess from there."
Puck's really trying to understand what the hell Rachel is saying here, but he can't. Yeah, on set he had a pretty overwhelming desire to protect and save the tiny girl, but he couldn't help it. First off, no girl should step in front of a guy in a fight. Second, if this Joey guy is so in love with this girl (and yes, he means 'Joey and girl' and not 'Puck and Rachel' 'cause he's not in love with her. He's not.) then how can he just stand there while her dad kills her and not do anything?
"So you used them because they didn't give a shit?"
"You know what...I guess so. I used them because they don't seem to mind seeing me dead. And what does that say about me? Or my taste in guys for that matter?"
Rachel tries to laugh, but the sound is humorless and the tears welling in her eyes kind of ruin the effect. Puck leans against her shoulder for a moment, a feeling of camaraderie passing between them.
"Just means that you should rethink your priorities a little bit, babe. Check out your options before you pick the guy who looks best in the yearbook photos and shit."
Puck shrugs as he stands, leaving Rachel's room with the thought that maybe they should both rethink their options.