Author's Note: So the response to chapter 2 wasn't as good as chapter 1, but hopefully you guys are just sad about the lack of Rachel/Puck interaction and not thinking the story is sucky. Unfortunately there's nothing in this one, either, but I promise there will be plenty of Puckleberry in chapter 4 (and then beyond!). This chapter is a little short, but I wanted to post because 1) I probably won't again until at least Monday and 2) I wanted to AGAIN point out that this is NOT a slash fic. When I said "Puckleberry Finn" I was talking about a love triangle. That is it! Hopefully I didn't lose anyone because of that.

Anywoo, thank you so much for the reviews. They definitely alter my mood, so leave lots of glowing feedback and good things can happen in the story ... I'm just sayin'. ;)

Rachel walked into the back entrance of The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, a carrying case holding four different specialty drinks from Starbucks balanced in her one hand as the other struggled with the heavy metal door. It closed behind her with a loud clang, the force of it creating a breeze that kicked up her skirt a little bit. Over the short, portable clothes rack, Rachel could see Kurt in the middle of a conversation with one of the other cast members, so she simply caught his attention, showed him the cup, and set it down on a nearby table. He mouthed his gratitude and she accepted in kind before moving on.

Everyone was preparing for the show that was set to start in a little more than an hour, which explained why Rachel was able to walk basically from the back entrance/exit all the way to her dressing room without stopping even once. Typically she was bombarded with questions and demands from at least a handful of people. Beauty and the Beast was one of the longest-running shows on Broadway so the production was a well-oiled machine. The people, however, were hit and miss on any given day, and Rachel used her seniority often to pull rank when things got out of hand. She played Belle on stage and was an essential part of the show. If she wasn't happy, no one was happy.

Walking into her dressing room, Rachel placed the carrying case down on her vanity and tossed her purse onto the loveseat to her side before sitting at the stool in front of the mirror. She'd planned on taking one of the cups to her understudy, Erin, and pump her for information about Dr. Puckerman, but in maybe the first time ever the young girl was not right on Rachel's heels. In fact, she was no where to be found, which was unsettling for many reasons, but inconvenient because Erin had been the one who'd recommended his office in the first place. Even though Rachel had thought she'd heard enough about Erin's reasons and the other women's reasons why, she was now a bit more curious after she'd met him.

"Hey, girl. Did I see a cup in that thing for me?"

Rachel looked at her friend Mercedes through the mirror, smiling and nodding as the black woman entered the room. Mercedes Jones played Mrs. Potts in the musical, and had for almost two years. The two hadn't immediately hit it off, basically because they both had such strong personalities, but their shared admiration for the other's talent eventually turned into respect and later friendship. Much like Rachel, once you got past the harsh exterior, Mercedes was a lovely young woman who simply knew what she wanted and went after it. She came from a small town in Mississippi, the oldest of seven other kids; basically Rachel's polar opposite, but somehow the two complemented each other perfectly.

Rachel leaned forward and twisted the cup marked "M" out of the holder, holding it out for her. While Rachel had ordered her standard cup of hot, decaffeinated green tea with honey, lemon, and ginseng, Mercedes demanded a tall, light caramel macchiato with an extra shot of espresso. She said the stickiness of the caramel gave her voice more texture, but Rachel never believed her. She wanted her throat to be clean and clear before getting up on that stage to perform.

"Mercedes, you were one of the people who'd recommended Dr. Puckerman to me, weren't you?"

"Mmmmhhhmm," she answered while taking a seat on Rachel's plush loveseat, her feet rising to the other side as she lounged more comfortably. "Did you go? He's crazy good looking, right?"

"He … I … yes, I went," she stumbled over her response, and Mercedes lifted one eyebrow questionably. "He was quite attractive."

"I typically need a little more mocha in my coffee, but white bread was fiiiiiiiiiiiiine."

Rachel rolled her eyes at the way Mercedes drew out the last word, turning in the stool to face her friend head on. "Do you know his name? It wasn't on his card."

"His card? You were looking at his card?" Mercedes pressed her palm to her forehead, shaking her head lightly. "Girl, it's no wonder you don't have a boyfriend."

Rachel scoffed lightly, used to the teasing. "I don't have a boyfriend because I don't have the time for a relationship."

"Women like you only say things like that because you have trouble thinking about anyone but yourself." Rachel scoffed at the analysis, but couldn't form a proper rebuttal as Mercedes went right into her next point. "Which is precisely why Doctor Love is the best solution. My guess is between his demanding schedule as a doctor and all the time you know he has to spend at the gym, homeboy probably only has a few hours a free time, which might be exactly what you need."

"What does that mean?"

Mercedes rolled her eyes at Rachel over the rim of her cup, swallowing slowly and licking her lips before responding. "It means you've been working that tight, little ass of yours off for the past two years without stopping to breathe let alone have fun. And since I know you won't actually take the time to date anyone, maybe someone who definitely doesn't look like the girlfriend type is just your cup of tea."

Rachel looked blankly at her friend, wondering many things all at once. The first was a throwaway thought, a quick rebuttal that her cup of tea was actually in her hand. The next were similarly insignificant, ranging from the little ass comment to correcting Mercedes' slip of saying it had only been two years that she's been working – she'd been dreaming of starring on Broadway since she was two years old. All of those thoughts, however, lowered in importance to just one. Was she really that easy to read?

"Are you implying I should …"

"She wants you to dust away the cobwebs," Kurt summarized, entering the room and the conversation simultaneously.

"Put sex back in the lineup," Mercedes clarified.

"Okay. That's enough." Rachel blushed profusely, but Kurt and Mercedes made no motion to leave. In fact, Kurt took a seat in the overstuffed chair beside the loveseat, crossing his legs while taking a ginger sip of his iced chai tea that Rachel had gotten him. She met Kurt Hummel three years ago when he'd started working as the costume designer for the musical. He'd come right into her dressing room and after getting her measurements proceeded to explain to her everything she was doing wrong in her everyday wardrobe. She'd been taken aback, of course, and had a few (alright, a lot) of choice words ready to fire back at him, but then he did this thing with her hair and … it looked amazing. After that he took her to Bryant Park for a real New York fashion show and he'd sort of been her style guru ever since. He'd graduated from The Parson's School of Design and lived in trendy SoHo with his partner Blaine, who she was also quite close with now, too. He worked as an advertising executive at some major corporation; that's actually how the two met – five or so years ago now. Both men were extremely talented vocally and she'd been trying to convince them to at least audition for the musical, but they'd both assured her that singing wasn't their passion like it was hers.

Rachel cleared her throat softly, inhaling a breath and hopefully some courage, too. "Let's say I did want to entertain the idea of Dr. Puckerman and I sharing a meal …"

"And bodily fluids," Kurt chimed in cheekily.

"How would I even approach him about such a thing?" She continued without pause, then added on a whisper, "He's seen my flower."

"Ah Hell to the no." Mercedes was up out of the loveseat in a flash, her head shaking and one hand moving around like it had a mind of its own. "I can't talk to you when you're like this."

Mercedes walked out of the room, leaving just Rachel and Kurt staring at the closing door. A few moments of silence passed and Rachel wondered if Kurt was going to let it all pass and move on or interrogate her. Knowing her friend, it was definitely more likely to be the latter. But, there was a small sliver of hope that he'd leave her in peace seeing as how she usually spent this time resting her voice. Kurt opened his mouth to speak, though, and she realized he didn't care about her routine.

"Just ask him out to lunch after your appointment in a few days," Kurt advised softly, taking off the snarky hat and putting on his friendlier, supportive one. "He'd be a moron not to want to spend time with you." Rachel beamed at the compliment. "And, if he is in fact a moron, he isn't the only option. Guess who is officially moving to New York?"

"Taye Diggs?" Rachel asked excited, literally moving to the edge of her chair.

"No. God, I wish," he sighed dreamily, momentarily lost in what was no doubt some impure thoughts. "Now the news seems like a letdown, but the answer is my stepbrother, Finn. He's taking over teaching for some lady going on maternity leave."

"That's incredible." She'd heard Kurt talk about his stepbrother randomly in conversations over the years, but she'd never met the gentleman in question, which suddenly struck her as odd. "Why is he moving to New York to teach almost at the end of the school year?"

"He's been in Brazil for the past three years working for Teachers Without Borders." Rachel's eyes lit up even though she frowned slightly. Suddenly her donations to select organizations didn't seem as charitable when compared to such a noble cause. "He's lucky he found a job at all or he'd be spending his summer working at my dad's garage. Instead, he'll be moving here in two weeks."

"Well, he sounds lovely." Rachel blushed lightly, wondering if that sounded a bit too obvious. While Kurt had been the one to insinuate that perhaps Finn and Rachel would hit it off, she still felt weird about being set up with someone. "Are you two quite similar or no?"

"Not. At. All." Kurt laughed, and in the humor Rachel could see that he'd missed Finn through the years. It was endearing. "He was the star quarterback at our school, which isn't particularly impressive because there were like, a hundred kids in our graduating class. But, he's your basic All-American boy. Super tall, clean cut, bumbling in a cute way."

"Will I get to meet him?" She asked a little more excitedly then she wanted it to come out. What happened to not having a time for a boyfriend? Now she was contemplating dating two men?

"He's actually coming to the show next Friday. We should all hang out afterward." Kurt smirked, adding, "You know, if you aren't already tongue-deep in Dr. PuckerLips."

"It's time for you to leave," Rachel deadpanned, but was completely serious. "I have to prepare for my show."

"It's my show, too."

Rachel smiled. "Of course."

She waved politely at Kurt before he walked out of her dressing room. If she really didn't think about anyone other than herself like Mercedes had said, she would have told Kurt that while his involvement was critical to the show's success, it wasn't dependent on it like hers was. She was the star. She lived and breathed this musical, selling out seats months in advance.

And, in that capacity, perhaps Mercedes was right. Maybe Rachel had earned a break, deserved a chance to have a good time outside the theater walls. It had always been her dream to star on Broadway, but she'd also dreamed of balancing that life with one of a more personal nature. Like any woman, Rachel wanted to be able to come home and share her success with someone. She craved the security that she knew could come from being in a relationship, and she wasn't going to be able to find it if she didn't even bother to date anyone.

Not that she hadn't had a boyfriend before. She'd dated a few boys in college, and had been serious with one of them. Jesse. He was in the theater program like her, a natural performer. They had so much in common that the two had been able to finish each other's sentences even during that first meeting. It hadn't been in a class or even on the campus, but rather at a local music store. She'd been searching for a song to perform for one of her assignments, and he'd appeared like a phantom. They'd ended up performing a duet right there in the store, and continued to make beautiful music together for about a year after that.

When they'd broken up, Rachel had been devastated. He'd chosen a role for a traveling theater group over their relationship, and didn't look back. At least not for another year, when he showed back up in New York and claimed to still love her. And she'd taken him back. Rachel had done her best to live her life without regrets, but that had certainly been one of them. She'd been lonely and had just been rejected for a role in a community play, and she was vulnerable. Jesse had swept in and made her feel pretty again, loved, talented. The next time they broke up, she'd been doubly crushed, but had then learned that she had to count on herself to make things right. Just like in her career, she needed to take charge and pick herself up. So the next time he came crawling back, two years ago, she was confident enough to politely decline.

And, see, that was just more evidence that she thought about other people than just herself. Because if she didn't, she wouldn't have politely declined but rather pointedly told Jesse that he was far too inferior to have such a big head. Plus now she was thinking about two other people, both of whom she didn't really know. Perhaps that would change once Finn moved into town, but the thing with Dr. Puckerman was entirely up to her. She was still on the fence about whether she wanted to pursue anything with him, though, as his behavior had been quite on and off that day. While he was clearly intelligent given his profession and there was no question that he was brutally hot, he did seem a little rough around the edges, which wasn't exactly the type of man Rachel usually dated. There were hot theater guys, yes, but they were usually gay or at least as equally high-maintenance as herself.

Dr. Puckerman was very much the opposite. He was the antithesis of what she normally dated, a brute of sorts. Rachel could tell he got by on his looks and charm. He seemed funny, though, and there had been that moment of extreme comfortableness that had taken her off guard. If talking to him could come so naturally, perhaps the other stuff could too.

And, like Mercedes said, maybe that's just what she needed.