a/n: to everyone who reviewed, alerted, favourited etc? you guys are SO the win :) i'm such a stickler for making characters canon so if i'm veering off, please let me know! but again - you guys are famazing!
Puck blamed the yellow dress.
Berry usually wore those sweater vests, knee-highs and short skirts. Not that he was complaining. He had to admit while the girl was psychotic and could probably talk enough to widen that big hole in the ozone, the librarian look kind of worked for her.
You know, if you were into that kind of thing.
Not that he was. After all, it wasn't like he had dreamed of plaid and black penny loafers last night. How those really long legs had felt really good wrapped around him like-
'Puck!' Kurt's voice brought that line of thought to a screeching halt.
'Now that you've finally decided to grace us with your presence,' the much smaller and much skinnier boy said sarcastically, 'I was wondering if you've seen Rachel?'
Puck raised an eyebrow. 'I haven't seen Crazy anywhere.'
Kurt narrowed his eyes. 'You do realize that you're one of us now, don't you? Therefore those quaint little nicknames have become a bit passé.'
'Whatever. I haven't seen her,' Puck replied. He noticed Finn and Quinn sequestered in a corner. 'I'm out. It's been an experience Beyonce.' Making sure his eyes were focused on the door and nothing else, Puck made sure to swagger out of the choir room. Pulling out a breath, he felt his fingers dig deep into his palms.
God, what was it about Finn that made him so much better than him? It wasn't that his best friend was a bad guy but still. What right had Quinn to rag him about irresponsibility when her boyfriend couldn't decide which of the mains he wanted to sample first?
It made him want to punch something. Heading towards the field, Puck was surprised to hear someone was already there.
I never wanted to say this
You never wanted to stay
I put my faith in you, so much faith
And then you just threw it away
You threw it away
I'm not so naive
My sorry eyes can see
The way you fight shy
Of almost everything
Well, if you give up
You'll get what you deserve
Groaning, Puck wondered why he couldn't catch a break. Seriously, did this chick make it her personal mission to be everywhere he was?
Making sure to stomp his feet, he wasn't sure why he was so disappointed when Berry stopped singing. So used to hearing her belt out show tunes, the almost primal way she had sung those words made his toes curl in a good way.
'Oh hello. I didn't realize that anyone else would be here,' Berry said in what could only be described as a prissy kind of way.
Rachel self-consciously smoothed her hair down, watching as Puck folded his arms across his chest. It made him look even more imposing than he already did. Nervously she flicked her eyes around, wondering if he had brought any of his friends along.
'Something wrong Berry?'
Rachel gritted her teeth, biting her tongue. No matter how brutish he was, she reminded herself that any star worth her salt didn't stoop down to such levels. No, she would be polite and civil.
'No. I was merely contemplating whether this was some kind of preclude to an elaborate set-up you had designed,' she told him, bending down to pick up her backpack.
She had wandered down to the bleachers purely by accident. Sure she had decided that her and Finn couldn't be together anymore. Rachel had even offered an olive branch towards Quinn. But that didn't mean she could tolerate the sight of the both of them canoodling. She had been on her way towards her car when Jacob had appeared out of nowhere, flashing her that creepy grin and perverted smile that made her skin crawl. The football field had presented an opportune refuge.
Well, she thought, until now.
Puck blinked at her words. 'Yeah whatever Berry. Scram.'
'Excuse me?' The frost covering her words was unmistakable. 'I don't see a sign proclaiming this property as yours. Until such time I do, I'll stay here however long I desire.' To emphasize her point, Rachel all but threw her backpack down as she seated herself on one of the benches. What looked like a vein in Puck's head throbbed.
'I've had a shitty day, alright Gleek? Don't make me do something I'm going to regret,' Puck told her, eyes flashing as he started climbing the bleachers. Swallowing, Rachel shifted uneasily.
While Finn was large by any measure, especially considering her rather petite size, Rachel had never felt afraid around him. Safe, warm, sometimes wanted yes. But nothing about Puck screamed safe. Puck made mothers want to lock their daughters in medieval towers and chop all their hair off, maybe grow a tangle of thorny vines and corral a fire-breathing dragon to guard the keep.
Finn was all innocence. Puck was pure, unadulterated sin.
'Nothing to say?' He was in front of her now, his face inches from her own. She thought his eyes flickered over her face, saw something she couldn't quite put a finger on flash through them before that familiar, arrogant smirk pulled at his lips.
Her fingers around the edge of the bench tightened imperceptibly in response.
'I have many things to say Noah-'
'My name is Puck.'
'Puck is a nickname derived from your family name. Your real name is Noah.'
'No one calls me that.'
'Oh, I find it hard to believe that your mother would refer to you in such a manner.'
'Maybe I should have made myself clearer. You don't get to call me that.'
'I can call you whatever I want Noah,' Rachel told him bravely, shrinking away as he pressed his face closer. 'It's within my constitutional right to do so.'
'Listen Berry, you and I?' Puck said, a finger gesturing towards the both of them. 'We don't like each other.'
'I never said I didn't like you.'
Puck snorted. 'Please, I throw slushies at you. I egged your house.'
Rachel felt some of that old hurt swell up inside, taking in his words. Why couldn't she hate him? Why couldn't she hate Quinn? They had made her high school life miserable. She had lost track of the number of times she had had to walk down the corridors, covered in blue sticky ice, trying to hold her head up high as the other students laughed and pointed. Based on all the available information, she should hate Finn too for using her.
'I choose to believe that underneath all that malicious and infantile behaviour, there resides something much kinder,' Rachel finally said. 'After all, someone who loves music as much as I do can't be as bad as he pretends to be.'
Getting to her feet as Puck jerked his head back in surprise, she made sure that none of her extremities made contact with his large body.
'You think you know me Berry? Is that it?'
Rachel was sure her eyes were sad when she looked at him. 'You throw slushies at me and call me names when you don't know anything about me. How is that any different?'
This time when she walked away, he didn't say a word. Looking over her shoulder, she saw his red letterman jacket and hunched shoulders, and wondered whether that had been the right thing to say.
