Spoilers: Only up to 'Sectionals' though stuff from the back 9 may pop in if I think it fits with my plot line.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Also, some of this is from Puck's viewpoint, and he's kind of an offensive guy, so I'd like to point out that his viewpoints don't always reflect mine. I don't own 'Bring Me to Life' or 'Walking on Sunshine'.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed my story so far. You're all awesome! I hope you enjoy this chapter; the first section is written slightly differently than how I normally write, mostly because this story is going to cover more than just a few days like the last one. I'm pretty happy with how it came out, but I'd love to know what you guys think. As always, please read and review. Thanks!
"Are you free tonight?"
Rachel looked up from her math book to find Puck leaning over from the desk next to hers.
"Since this is the first time you've actually attended a math class in two years, maybe you should pay attention," she responded, ignoring his question.
He frowned at her but pulled back out of the aisle to watch the teacher write on the board. She was astonished that he had actually listened to her. He had been acting so strange since practice on Tuesday. Because really? Breaking their 'ignore and avoid' policy that day and then singing with her yesterday, not to mention the whole showing up at her house thing-so not normal. And then today. He was actually in math. She'd never seen him come to class; she didn't even know he was in trig with her! When she saw him pick up his pencil and start taking notes out of the corner of her eye, she nearly dropped her own pencil.
ooooo
"You know you totally want to take a ride with the Puckerone," Puck claimed as he ambushed Berry coming out of the restroom Friday morning.
He'd been down the hall when one of the hockey team bastards had slushied her. He'd watched her take it stoically before getting her change of clothes out of her locker (he wondered if she kept a set of clothes in there or if she brought a new outfit each day-why the fuck did it matter?) and going to the restroom to change. He was pretty proud of himself; he'd overcome his first reaction at the sight and hadn't laughed (it was still fuckin' hilarious though). So he decided to wait for her outside of the restroom; it would be a good chance to show that he wasn't laughing and maybe win a few points (because he damn sure needed them). Plus, he'd been springing his invitations on her at a different time each day. Maybe if he caught her by surprise she'd agree to hang out with him (and he shouldn't have to fuckin' do that; she should have fallen at his feet like every other girl would have by now).
She paused at his question long enough to glare up at him and answer.
"Again, I am not having sex with you."
Then she walked off to put her slushie drenched clothes back in her locker. Why the fuck had she said that?
When he put two and two together, he laughed and shouted after her, "I said ride with, not ride on!"
ooooo
"Put your shoes on; we're going out."
Rachel stared in disbelief at the boy standing on her front porch. It was Saturday; she wasn't supposed to have to deal with Puck's advances today. In fact, she'd completely let her guard down based on that assumption. She'd been upstairs curling her hair when the doorbell had rang. Because her fathers had taken a day trip to Dayton for shopping, she'd had to answer the door. She definitely wasn't expecting to find Puck standing on the other side waiting to take her out.
"I'm not going anywhere with you. Besides Finn should be here in twenty minutes," she replied as she shut the door in his face.
When he cursed loudly on the other side, she smiled. She may not plan to go anywhere with him, but she was kind of growing to like the fact that he kept asking.
ooooo
"If you want ice cream Berry, all you have to do is ask. I'd take you."
Puck had come to the store to pick up eggs for his mom. She was making matzo ball soup for his sister's family birthday dinner (she had specially requested it) and she had overestimated the eggs she had left. He hadn't expected to see Berry today since he had to be home (it was his sister's birthday after all and his mom would fuckin' kill him if he missed it), so when he'd turned down the cooler section to get the eggs and found Berry staring longingly at the ice cream on the other side of the aisle, he thanked Moses for the good luck. It made up for the fuckin' bad luck of showing up at her damn house yesterday just to get told that Finn was coming over (again).
Berry sighed deeply. "I would love some chocolate, but that's not going to happen. Do you know what the dairy would do to my voice? And not to mention what the calories would do to my figure."
Puck gaped at her then quickly closed his mouth (that was not badass). She was worried about her voice and her body? What the fuck? She could eat two gallons of ice cream and still sound better than anyone else he'd ever heard. And under all that crazy she was fuckin' hot. So, he told her that (yes, in those exact words).
She laughed, softly sure, but it was real (he was oddly proud that he was able to cause that). "Thank you Noah, but I have a rule not to buy ice cream. If I break that rule once, I'm afraid it will become a habit." She walked to the end of the aisle and before rounding the corner, she called back with a small smile, "And I'm not going out with you!"
When Puck paid out, he was happy to see that Berry's car was still in the parking lot. He picked her passenger side lock (what? It was a badass skill) and left the extra item he'd picked up in her front passenger's seat.
He had to drive right home or risk his mom's wrath (Jewish mothers can guilt-trip like no others) so he missed her delighted giggle when she entered her car five minutes later and spotted the single serving container of chocolate Haagen-Dazs.
ooooo
"You fucking Finn tonight or can I come over?"
Rachel pulled her locker door open roughly to shove some books in and pull others out. School was over for the day and since it was Monday, they didn't have glee. Rachel was not happy to find Puck waiting for her when she'd reached her locker. She had actually softened toward him yesterday when she had found the ice cream in the flavor she wanted and a single serving that wouldn't ruin her voice. It was very sweet of him and she thought maybe they could be friends. This morning though, she'd been reminded that she couldn't trust him when she'd caught him coming out of the second floor janitor's closet after sixth period with one of the volleyball girls. He was pulling up his zipper, and she'd remembered who and what he was. He was only ever interested in one thing and one thing only. He didn't do the just friends with girls.
She slammed her locker shut and turned to him. "Don't you have a closet you should be defiling right now?"
The expression on his face turned cautious. "What?"
She rolled her eyes at him. Was he really so clueless?
"Wait, is this about Kerie Lochlin? That meant nothing; it was just a quick fuck," he said.
"Exactly." She turned to leave, but only took a few steps before spinning back around to face him and say what was on her mind. "You can't buy sex with ice cream."
As she walked away she missed the confusion on his face that quickly turned to annoyance as he absorbed her words.
ooooo
All this time, I can't believe I couldn't see
Kept in the dark but you were there in front of me
Rachel frowned and reached over to stop the music. Why wasn't this working?
"Finn, you can't just speak the words. They have to actually mean something," she coached him.
"I'm trying, but I don't get why you're putting so much effort into this song," the tall boy stated. "It doesn't seem like a good choice for Regionals. It's not very fun or happy."
"It doesn't have to be either of those things. The best choices for competition are the ones that will evoke powerful emotions. This song expresses longing in its purest form, so if we can get it right, it will do that. It will make an impression on the judges, thus increasing our chances to win," she explained, irritated by his lack of faith. "And to get it right, you need to pour emotion into the words. Also, that portion of the song is more like rapping than singing. Do we need to listen to the album version again?" She had added it to her I-Pod after her session with Noah.
Last night while they were on the phone, Rachel had asked Finn to meet her in the auditorium at lunch today and help her work on 'Bring Me to Life'. She had made a few notes from her memory of her practice with Puck, but she needed Finn's help to refine them. She also wanted the two of them to have the song down perfectly so that they could present it to Mr. Schuester with most of the work already done (she thought he couldn't really argue with a song where the two leads were already completely in sync this close to Regionals). The only problem was that Finn just wasn't getting it (though she secretly feared she was the problem and Puck had been merely humoring her last Wednesday).
"God, no," Finn responded immediately. Rachel grimaced at him and he hurried on. "I don't need to listen to the song. Just restart the music and I'll try again."
Slightly happier, Rachel reached over and restarted the song from the beginning. They still had five minutes left before the bell would ring and that was enough for one more full run-through. After the opening notes, she began to sing.
When they finished the song, Rachel was just about ready to pull her hair out (and she had beautiful hair, so that showed just how frustrated she was). For some reason she and Finn just couldn't pull it together for this song. She hated that she and Puck had been better together in one try than she and Finn had been in their approximately six gos (not counting the partial ones) over lunch. She and Puck didn't even get along. In fact, they hadn't spoken since their confrontation yesterday (okay, so it may have been one-sided, but she still considered it a confrontation). She hadn't even seen him today and she was really hoping he'd skip math like he usually did (although he had attended all of their trig classes since the first time he'd shown up-so three total).
Finn was giving her that puppy dog look that told her he wanted praise. With a sigh, she did what good girlfriends do. Smiling brightly, she lied through her teeth.
"That was really good Finn; definitely an improvement over the other times," she said in a cheery voice (her internal perfectionist was screaming at her).
Finn returned her smile with a genuine one of his own. "Thanks Rach. I knew it was a good song choice." The bell rang and he swooped down to give her a quick kiss. "I'll see you at glee."
As he hurried off to class, Rachel sighed. Five minutes ago he was complaining about the song, but now he liked it? He was so indecisive.
ooooo
"Hey Rachel!"
When Rachel heard her name in the hallway between sixth and seventh period, she looked around to see who was calling her (always a dangerous thing because half the time it was just someone who wanted her to turn around so they could slushie her). She gave a small smile when she saw Brittany hurrying up to her. The blonde tripped over Jacob Ben-Israel, shoving him into the lockers. When she stopped in front of Rachel, she shuddered.
"Eww, Jacob germs," she commented, a disgusted look on her face.
Rachel laughed; she couldn't help it. "At least he doesn't have any of your panties."
Brittany's eyes widened. "What?"
"What?" Rachel responded back trying to deflect Brittany. She couldn't believe she had said that!
"You just said Jacob Ben-Israel has a pair of your panties."
"No I didn't."
"Yes, you did."
"No I really didn't."
"Yes, you did!"
Rachel shook her head. This was going nowhere, so she changed the subject. "Did you need something from me Brittany?"
She was still staring at Rachel suspiciously but she didn't question her any further. "I'm having some people over to my house on Saturday. Do you want to come?"
To say Rachel was surprised by the invitation would be the understatement of the year. To say she was touched to be included would also undervalue her feelings. Because Brittany was staring at her with a hopeful expression clear on her face and in her eyes. She truly wanted Rachel to come.
"I'd be pleased to attend," Rachel said somewhat formally (she wasn't sure what to say when someone invited her out; the only person who ever asked her to hang out was Finn and that was always at her house except for the one time they went bowling-she didn't count Noah since he didn't want to hang out with her so much as sleep with her, in her opinion).
Brittany gave a small hop of happiness. "Yay! I'll give you my phone number and address in glee."
As Rachel watched her rush back down the hall, running into Karofsky and knocking him into the girls' restroom (he jumped back out two seconds later, red in the face as the girls screamed), Rachel's grin widened. She had a feeling she'd have fun Saturday as long as the other people Brittany had invited were nice to her or at least left her alone.
ooooo
Puck walked into the choir room about fifteen minutes before glee started. He was looking for Berry and he knew she was so fucking obsessed with glee that she always showed up way before practice ever started. He needed to get back on track with the plan; Kurt had approached him yet again after lunch. When he saw that Berry was sitting in her usual chair (front row center), glaring at the sheet music balanced on her knees, he was glad she was so damn predictable.
"Don't you have a life?" he asked. Internally he winced. That probably wasn't gonna help any (but he was still so fucking pissed about what she'd said yesterday-he'd never pay for sex in any form-he was a fuckin' stud, and anyway that's not what he was after with her).
She didn't even glance up (and that pissed him off even more) when she said, "I'm having problems with this song, so leave me alone. I'm not having sex with you."
He came to a stop in front of her, so close that she was forced to look up at him. "I don't want to have sex with you Berry. You're too fuckin' scary for that."
He saw the hurt that flitted across her face before she quickly hid it, and for a moment (seriously, like one tenth of a second), he felt bad, but then he remembered she had fuckin' accused him of trying to buy sex with ice cream.
"Fine," she acknowledged his words before going back to her sheet music.
He stood there for a couple of minutes and watched her eyes scan the familiar pages ('Bring Me to Life' again) frantically as she chewed on her pencil's eraser. She looked even crazier than normal.
Reminding himself of his mission, he asked, "What's wrong? I would've thought you'd nailed that song down by now."
She turned her large brown eyes on him again and pulled the pencil from her mouth (lucky pencil-what? he's a dude). "I thought I would have too, but I practiced it with Finn at lunch, and it didn't go well. There must be something flawed in the way I've marked the song."
He took the seat next to her and watched as she erased several notes and added a couple more. It was completely silent (and suprisingly not awkward) except for the sound of her writing (and erasing) and the way she would hum each new section before making changes.
After three minutes of this, she broke the silence. "If I sang terribly, you would tell me, right?"
He glanced at her incredulously. "Trust me Berry; if you sucked at anything, I'd be more than happy to tell you."
She rolled her eyes. "Thanks Noah."
She quietly went back to work on the papers. Her brow was furrowed, so he knew she was worrying about something beyond her notes.
"Okay. What the hell's wrong with you Berry?" he finally prompted her.
She met his eyes and he could see her hesitation. After a few seconds, she spoke. "I told you it didn't go well when Finn and I tried this song, but," she hesitated again before the rest rushed out in one long word, "whatifitwasmyfault?"
"Slow it down to human speed Berry."
She scowled at him and repeated, "What if it was my fault?"
As she went back to her notes, Puck couldn't believe that she was questioning her talent again (that was the one thing about her that was fuckin' awesome, no questions asked). He was going to take care of this (plus, it was a damn good chance to get on her good side again).
"Do you have your I-Pod and docking station with you?"
She lifted her head back up from the sheet music in surprise and took the pencil out of her mouth again. "Of course. I always have them."
He nodded. "Get them out and hook them up. We're going to try out that song again and you'll see that you're not the problem."
With the way she was staring at him, she clearly thought he'd gone fuckin' crazy (and he knew that look; it was the same one he usually wore when he looked at her).
"What the hell are you waiting for? Get the fucking music," he commanded her harshly.
Startled, she leaned over and opened her bag. He watched as she rifled through several pieces of clothing (he felt a tiny twinge of guilt-how many times a day did she get slushied?) until she found the two items. Hopping up, she hooked them up on top of the piano and found the song. Then she paused.
"Turn the music the fuck on Berry. We can't do this until you do."
As she hit play, he enjoyed the fact that she was doing what he told her to (he had a feeling it would never happen again).
She sung the first three lines of the verse before he got up, walked over, and stopped the music.
"Cut the self-conscious crap Berry. You're voice is fuckin' good and you know it, so act like it," he demanded before restarting the song.
She glared at him through the opening notes but this time when she started the first verse, she was clearly putting her all into it. He was struck again by how powerful her voice was. He covered his parts easily (like her, he didn't even need the sheet music). As he watched her face, he grew absorbed in the song. He could see every emotion she was feeling there as she sang; it was fucking amazing. She'd close her eyes on lines that hit her really hard. She was so damn believable that he wondered if she was longing for something as strongly as the song described. As the song came to a close, with her holding that impossibly long note, he could feel that same stupor as last time settle over him (and that was so not badass). She beamed up at him though, and he knew he'd done the right thing in making her sing.
Applause broke out from the doorway and they both turned from where they'd been staring at each other to face the door. Mr. Schue was standing there clapping, a wide smile on his face.
"It looks like we've got our ballad for Regionals," he stated.
"What?" Both Puck and Berry asked that.
Schue just spoke over them. "I never would have expected that the two of you were preparing a number, but there's no denying it's excellent."
"But I thought the ballad had to be a solo," Puck protested. He didn't want to sing a fuckin' duet with Berry at Regionals.
"Not necessarily," Schue answered. "Although it is highly unusual for a glee club to submit a duet for their ballad, it's not against the rules. According to the rule book, as long as the song tells a story that stirs the audience's emotions and only one or two members of the show choir sing, it qualifies as the ballad. Your number fits all of those qualities."
He glanced over at Berry to see that her mouth was hanging open in shock. At least he wasn't the only one thrown off by Schue's decision. He opened his mouth to protest, but of course the rest of the glee club would pick that fuckin' moment to enter the room.
"Take your seats you two," Schue directed.
Berry gathered her I-Pod and docking station and retook her normal seat between Mercedes and Finn, who shot a suspicious look at him (fuckin' hypocrite), and Puck took his seat in the back corner with Mike and Matt.
"Dude, what's up? You look freaked out," Mike said, leaning over.
Puck just shook his head. He knew Schue'd announce it soon and the question would be answered. Sure enough, they'd no sooner shut the hell up than he told them all.
"I've decided on our ballad. Puck and Rachel will be performing 'Bring Me to Life' by Evanescence."
Everyone was quiet at first but then chaos broke out.
"Damn it diva! You just couldn't let anyone else have it, could you?" Mercedes stated angrily.
"How in the hell did that happen dude?" Mike asked Puck in confusion.
"Yay!" shouted Brittany (he could admit that he kind of chuckled at that).
Those were just the ones he could make out, but he knew that everyone else was talking about it too. Curious about Finn's reaction since Berry had practiced it with him earlier that day and he knew they were together (Finn spent too much time at her house for them not to be), he gazed over at the taller boy's back. He had his head bent toward Berry; Puck could only see his profile, but he looked fucking pissed and they were clearly arguing. When Finn grabbed Rachel's hand and squeezed hard enough to make her wince and jerk it away, Puck kind of wanted to punch the bastard for hurting her (he never did know his own strength). It wasn't her fault Schue had caught them singing together and made the song their ballad. And it wasn't like they were doing anything; Puck was sure Rachel still barely tolerated him. Finally Schue stepped in and got everyone quiet again.
They started to practice the crappy group song. The first two times went okay; Puck had tuned out the music, but he knew they had gotten all the way through the song both times (a fuckin' miracle when Berry's the lead). On the third time through, he was dragged from his thoughts of pool cleaning season (cougars-fuck yeah!) when Berry cried out. Glancing up he saw her head bent, a hand covering her right eye.
"Finn, I can't do this with you anymore if you don't start keeping your arms down when you spin or at least start spinning in the right direction," she scolded him.
Finn scowled at her. "Well if you were taller, I wouldn't keep hitting you in the face."
Even with half of her face covered, Puck could see the hurt (he had never realized that she wore her emotions for everyone to see until they had performed that damn song today-he was fuckin' happier before he started noticing).
"I can't just magically grow, Finn." She turned to Schue. "I don't think this is going to work today. My eye is watering terribly right now. Can I just go home?"
Schue approached her and moved her hand. Puck couldn't see Berry's eye, but it made Schue flinch and dismiss the group for the day (no fuckin' point in going on without one of the leads). While he got his shit together, Puck saw Brittany walk up to Berry and hand her something. They exchanged a smile before Berry left. He wondered about that; maybe Britt was coming out of the shadows to protect Berry openly. He watched Finn cast a worried look at the door and then throw his bag over a shoulder and rush out of the room after her.
When Puck passed Brittany and Quinn, and he heard Quinn ask, "Is her eye okay?" in a worried tone, he decided something.
The entire fucking glee club had gone Berry-ass crazy.
ooooo
"Rachel, I am so, so sorry."
Rachel frowned at Finn. She had only been home for ten minutes when he had rung the doorbell. When she answered the door, she had an ice pack pressed to her eye where he had hit her (on accident of course, but it still hurt-even worse than when he backhanded her cheek a week ago). He was standing in front of her with his head lowered and peering up at her through his lashes, a sheepish expression on his face.
"It's fine Finn; I know you didn't mean to hit me (besides it was the insult about her height that had truly hurt)." She stepped aside and gestured for him to come in. He did, beaming widely.
They went up to her room so that they would have privacy when her fathers came home. While Finn sat down on the edge of her bed, Rachel took a seat in her desk chair. Finn frowned at her distance but didn't say anything about it. They sat in silence for several minutes (it was strangely awkward; she had been more comfortable with Noah that afternoon and that was just odd). Finn was fidgeting, so Rachel waited for him to finally break (he never held back what he wanted to say for very long). She didn't have to wait long.
"Why were you singing with Puck? That song was supposed to be ours!" he burst out.
Rachel sighed; she had known this was coming ever since their argument in glee. He had been furious that Mr. Schuester had picked her and Puck to perform their ballad at Regionals; she didn't think she'd ever seen him so angry (except for when he found out the baby wasn't his and punched Puck). He had accused her of cheating on him and then grabbed her hand in a barbaric display of 'claiming her' as he put it. He obviously hadn't realized how hard he had gripped her because she could feel her bones crunching together. She had flinched in pain and jerked her hand away from him, explaining that Noah had merely been helping her work on the song since there was some time left before practice started. He didn't look very reassured though, so she knew he would bring it up the next time they were alone (and, as usual, she had been right).
"I told you-he was just helping me out because we both had some free time. It was nothing more than that."
"It's always more than that with Puck. He doesn't help girls out with anything unless he thinks it'll get him laid. And he always goes after my girlfriends," Finn argued.
"How would he even know that we're together? It's not like you've ever shown any sort of romantic affection to me in public; as far as everyone else is concerned, we're nothing more than friends," she reminded him. Okay, so this wasn't technically true; Puck clearly realized that she and Finn were together and Brittany had also picked up on it, but Finn didn't have to know that (in the back of her mind, she happily registered that he considered her his girlfriend).
Finn grimaced. "Everyone knows that you're mine even when we're not together; they know to keep their hands off you."
Rachel snorted (no, it wasn't star behavior, but she couldn't help herself). "I am an independent woman; I belong to no one but myself. No one can put their hands on me unless I want them to," she said. Then she calmed, removed the ice pack (he winced at the sight of her eye) and crossed the room to sit sideways on his lap, her hands curled around his forearm. "And you're the only one I want to have his hands on me." Leaning over, she planted a soft kiss on his lips.
Finn deepened the kiss momentarily before pulling back. "We're going public tomorrow. I want everyone to know that you're with me."
Turning her torso to face him more fully, she happily bounced on his lap (he groaned) as she threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. Finally! After waiting for so long for him to break up with Quinn and secretly seeing him for months, she was finally going to get what she had always wanted. Finn was going to be her official boyfriend, even in public.
ooooo
When Rachel arrived at school early the next morning (she was always early; she liked to have time to clean or paint the graffiti off her locker and the restroom walls before everyone else saw it-after the fifth time, the janitor stopped bothering with it, but Figgins stocked paint for her so that her fathers wouldn't sue), she was ecstatic. Honestly, she felt perhaps the happiest she had ever felt. Today was going to be a wonderful day-she would get to hold hands with Finn and kiss him in the hallways in front of everyone. She would no longer have to feel like his dirty little secret (she tried to ignore that feeling most of the time, but occasionally it was so overwhelming she thought she would suffocate); it was like the sun had come out on their relationship and the whole world looked brighter for it. She was humming 'Walking on Sunshine' as she approached her locker.
When she saw the word 'SLUT' written down the front of her locker in large black letters, she didn't lose her smile or break her humming as she moved to the nearest supply closet. She was in such a fantastic mood that nothing could bring her down, not even the cruelty of her classmates. If she got slushied seven times today (her record was five), she would still smile because her life was in an excellent place right now. Finn not only loved her, but also wanted everyone to know that he did.
When she pulled open the closet door, she was surprised to see her boyfriend's back.
But she was completely stunned to hear a girl's breathy voice moan out, 'Oh, Finn'.