A/N: I know I said I would have this chapter up by 11/9, but obviously that didn't happen. I apologize for that.

Thanks to all who reviewed last chapter. I love all of your comments, they make me smile like a goofball.

This chapter was difficult to write and I don't have a beta so please forgive any mistakes you see.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, Sonic, The Sandlot, or anything else you recognize in this little story.

Chapter 3

***NPOV***

I arrived at school on Friday feeling more anxious than I had in a long time. Ever since my father had left, I had been determined to not let the opinions of others affect me. Today could be different though. Today the opinions of others had the potential of getting past my hard exterior. This was new territory for me.

I had committed the ultimate sin in the world of guy friendships. You never sleep with your best friend's girl. Last night I had been focused on Rachel. It was easy to distract myself from my own worries with helping her. Now, Rachel wasn't here and I didn't know what to expect when I walked into school. I could very well find myself with no friends left. I shrugged my shoulders though and decided "fuck it." It's not like I really cared what the losers at this school thought anyhow. In 10 years I probably wouldn't even remember half their names.

I made my way through the halls to my locker. It seemed like any other day. The same people as always greeted me and the same people as always scurried away from me in fear that I would choose them as my intended target on that day. Matt Rutherford was waiting at my locker. If I would have seen him sooner, I probably would've found a way to avoid him, but it was too late now.

"Hey Puck. How you doin' today?" Matt was upbeat as usual.

"Fine I guess." I all but grunted my response at him.

"So, did you hear about Finn and Rachel?"

"What about them?" Crap. Had something else happened since yesterday? It wasn't even 8:00 a.m. yet.

"Check this out, man." As he spoke Matt was rocking from his heels to his toes and back again like some weird jock rocking horse. "I saw everything – just before sixth period yesterday Finn told Rachel and anyone who would listen that he would never be with her and that he was with Quinn and that was it."

"Oh, yeah, um, I heard about that."

"Oh, well um, I wasn't sure you knew since you had that doctor's appointment yesterday."

Good thing he mentioned the doctor's appointment. I needed to remember to keep that façade up today. The only three people who knew the truth were Rachel, Kurt, and me. I'm pretty sure Rachel would like to keep it that way too. I could care less.

I started off in the direction of my first class. "See you later Matt."

"Later."

My first class was on the opposite side of the school from my locker. The entire walk from my locker to first period I could hear people talking about yesterday's incident. Any other day I would find a way to turn the object of the gossip's misfortune into an opportunity to torture that person. It was part of my modus operandi – keep the attention away from me and focus it on someone else, anyone else. Today was different (how many times can I say that today?) I didn't know if Rachel could survive if all of this negative attention was directed at her today. I know she always put up a strong front, but yesterday I saw that she was really quite fragile under it all. Besides, it wasn't like Rachel's public humiliation was the only gossip to break yesterday. Everyone had to have heard by now that I was the father of Quinn's baby, not Finn. Apparently that wasn't juicy enough to take the spotlight off of Rachel. Fucking idiots. They just love to kick people when they're down around here.

I suddenly had a need to see Rachel. I wanted to make sure she was okay. I turned and started jogging back to the student parking lot to wait for her. I would walk her to every class today if it meant all the vipers at this school would keep their fangs out of her. Just as I made it to the lot, Kurt's Navigator pulled into the lot. After a minute, Kurt and Rachel emerged from the vehicle and walked into the building together. Rachel's head was held high and she marched right past the huddled masses that were gathered waiting for the show. A smile found its way to my face. I knew she was just acting, but damn, I loved how she could give a performance like that and basically tell the whole school to fuck off. I caught Kurt's eye just before they entered the school. He nodded in my direction. Hmmm, wonder what that was about?

The school day crawled by. I couldn't focus on anything. I looked for Rachel between classes to make sure she was okay. She was always flanked by one of her friends from Glee Club. They were a loyal bunch, which is more than I can say for the majority of wannabes at this school. The kids here were quick to leave you to fend for yourself at the first sign of trouble. The Glee kids though, they stuck together no matter what. You had to admire that.

Rachel maintained her tough act throughout the day as well. The only times I saw her falter was when she would see Finn. It was probably not detectable to anyone else. Every time Rachel and Finn would cross paths in the hall, her stride would slow minutely, her normally tan skin would pale just slightly and I could see she would hold her breath until he was out of her sight. I don't know why all of a sudden I was a Rachel expert. It was kind of creepy.

I knew by the time sixth period rolled around she would need something to keep her going. I left campus at lunch and went to the Kwik-E-Mart to grab some snacks for myself. When I was there, I saw the perfect thing for Rachel. I grabbed the candy for her and took off back to school. When I was at her locker, I scribbled a note her, tied it up with some ribbon I found in the art room and put it in her locker. Lucky for me, I had the master key to all of the lockers in the school. Don't ask how or why – you won't like either answer.

Then there was Glee, I was nervous to see how Rachel would react to the song choices. I couldn't help but let a smile slip when she started eating the Pixie Stick during Tina's song. Then, it started heading south. During the third song I looked at Finn and Quinn to gauge their reaction and it was in two words – not good. Even that dumb ass Finn had figured out the theme of the songs. Shit. I hadn't meant to bring more heat on Rachel by my actions. I scribbled another note to her and included a quote I had found earlier in the day. Normally, I'm not into corny shit like that, but I knew Rachel would appreciate it and I wanted to cheer her up. I convinced Kurt to slip the note to Rachel when I gave him the signal and went up to sing my song.

I looked up at Rachel during the chorus and I could see the tears start streaming down her face. I had never been so thankful for Kurt before in my life. He was comforting her as he sat next to her. My song finished and the room was silent. I knew I had done a good job, why wasn't anyone saying anything? Then the room erupted, but I couldn't hear a word that was said. Rachel had fled from the room. I had to find her and make sure she was okay. I started in the direction of the door, but Kurt caught my attention and subtly signaled for me to stay put. He and Mercedes slipped out to find Rachel.

I just wanted to get out of here and find out if she was okay. I really wanted to see her, but I would settle for just getting an update from Kurt if she didn't want to see me. I was pretty sure she wasn't mad at me, but I wasn't 100% confident in that opinion. What if I had pissed her off? What if she thought I was making things worse instead of better.

My self-deprecating train of thought was cut short when Artie rolled up to me. "Stop."

"Stop what?" I was on the defensive.

"Stop beating yourself up. You just did a great thing for Rachel. She needed to know that all of us are standing behind her and having you of all people arrange that for her was just a little overwhelming."

"Ummm. . . ." I wasn't sure how I was supposed to respond to his little speech.

"She'll come around, you just have to give her time." After Artie finished saying this, Tina rolled him away. There was nothing left for me to do, but pack up my stuff and head out. I looked for Rachel as I walked through the school out to my truck. I didn't see her anywhere and Kurt's Navigator was no longer in the parking lot so I assumed he took her home. I let out a huge sigh, got into my truck and took off towards home.

***RPOV***

After I ran from the room, I went straight out to Kurt's vehicle. Kurt would know to find me here. I just wanted to get away from the school. I laughed wryly to myself. This was the second day in a row I was running away from my problems. Running away from problems was not typical Rachel Berry behavior. Typical Rachel Berry met her problems head on and didn't back down. I was tired of typical Rachel Berry though. I was on a roller coaster. I was rejected by Finn yesterday in front of an audience. Then, all of a sudden Noah is being nice to me and doing kind things for me (in front of an audience no less). I didn't know heads from tails at this point.

Kurt and Mercedes found me quickly. They didn't say anything as they each gave me a hug. Once again, Kurt had all of my stuff. He loaded it into the car. I got in the passenger seat as Kurt got behind the wheel.

"Where to cherie?"

"Home. I just want to go home." My voice was small. I had stopped crying, but I felt as if I would start again with even the slightest provocation.

The ride home was quick. As I slipped out of the car without a parting word to Kurt, he whispered to me, "Let him in."

I didn't acknowledge his words. I made it into my house and up to my room without my dads noticing anything was wrong. I really didn't want to post a performance tonight. I did it though. I knew that if I didn't do it I would regret it on Monday. I normally was on a bit of a high after I posted a video, but not tonight. Tonight there was too much on my mind.

My thoughts drifted to Noah's song for Glee Club. The lyrics were so touching and I knew he was sending me a message through the song. He had stared right at me as he sang the chorus. There were also the two notes he had given me today. Noah had been nothing but kind to me since this whole mess started. I knew from the conversations he and I had yesterday that he wasn't the person he tried to make everyone believe he was. There was more to Noah under the surface than anyone realized.

I went to my computer and looked up "Silent Lucidity" on Youtube. I needed to hear the song again. As the song played through my computer's speakers, I could see Noah in front of the Glee Club singing this song. My heart warmed again as it had during his performance.

My phone chirped to let me know I had a text message. It was from Kurt:

Stop brooding in your room. Go talk to him.

That was easy for Kurt to say. I know that Noah said he would help me, but he didn't know the whole story. I didn't know if he would stick around if he knew the whole truth. I hugged my arms around myself. How could I have been so stupid? The dam broke and the tears started again. I needed to get out of my house before my dads heard me sobbing and came to investigate. If they pressed, I would break and tell them everything. That was the last thing I wanted.

I quickly changed out of my school clothes into a pair of jeans and a plain white fitted t-shirt. I threw a lightweight jacket on over the shirt, grabbed my phone and crept downstairs. I didn't know how much longer I could keep my tears silent. My dads were in the living room watching TV. I grabbed the keys to Daddy's car and scribbled a note:

Dad and Daddy:

Went out with some friends. I have my phone. Call me if you need me.

Rachel

Once I made it to the end of the block, I realized that I again had no where to go. I stayed at the stop sign for a couple of minutes trying to determine somewhere I could be to go over everything running through my mind. There was no football game this weekend so I couldn't go there. I hate going to movies by myself so that was out. For some reason it didn't even feel right to go to Kurt's, Mercedes' or Tina's houses. I couldn't explain it, but I found myself being drawn back to Noah's house. I turned Daddy's car in the direction of Noah's house.

I willed myself to hold back my tears until I reached his place. Studies prove that driving when one is upset is dangerous. I didn't want to become a statistic tonight. I swallowed my emotions and kept driving towards the Puckermans' residence.

Like some cruel test, I had to pass by Finn's house to get to Noah's. I but my lip when a rogue tear slipped out. Not yet, not yet. I couldn't start crying yet.

I parked Daddy's car in Noah's driveway and made my way up to the porch. I range the bell and waited. Strong, even footsteps approached the door. When it opened, a woman about by height was on the other side. She appeared to be in her forties and had the same dark hair as Noah. This must be Mrs. Puckerman.

"Can I help you dear?" Her voice was kind and laced with concern. Perhaps I looked as bad as I felt.

"Yes ma'am, is Noah home?"

"He's in his room – follow me." She didn't ask any questions, like who I was or what I needed. I found this odd. I followed her back to Noah's room. I didn't let on that I already knew where it was. I didn't want to have that conversation right now.

Noah's door was shut. Mrs. Puckerman knocked softly. "Honey, you have a guest."

"Tell them to go away. I don't want to see anyone right now." Noah's voice dripped with annoyance.

"She's right here. You can tell her yourself." Mrs. Puckerman's voice had changed from soft and sweet to commanding when she addressed Noah. She then turned to me, "I'm sorry dear. I don't know where his manners are."

Just then Noah's door opened. He saw me standing behind his mom. "Rachel, what are you doing here? Are you okay?"

Mrs. Puckerman turned to leave. I waited for her to walk away before I spoke. I didn't trust my voice. "Can we talk?"

Noah reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me into his room and shutting the door.

"I want to say thank you for everything today. That was really sweet of you."

"No problem. I was kind of worried about you after Glee today." My tears had started about halfway through my thank you and by the time he finished speaking I was full out sobbing. You would think I would be out of tears by now.

Noah didn't say a word. He just pulled me onto his bed with him. He positioned us so we were both sitting with our backs against the headboard and his arms were around me. One of his hands was softly rubbing my back and he tucked my head under his chin.

"Just let it out Rachel. You need to let all of this out." Noah didn't say anything else as he let me cry. I cried for at least twenty minutes before I was able to calm down.

"Here, take a sip." Noah handed me a bottle of water. The water felt so good as it went down my raw throat. "Rachel, tell me what's wrong. Is it something I did?"

"No." My response was accompanied by one of those gulping snort things that happen after a hard cry. Great, as if I needed further embarrassment. To his credit, Noah acted as if the noise never happened.

"Then what is it Rachel? Is it Finn?" Once Finn's name passed Noah's lips, I started to cry again - at least this time I wasn't sobbing.

I was waging an internal battle. Noah had stated he was here for me in two notes and in his Glee song, but he didn't know the whole story. Nobody knew the whole story. Could I trust him? Could I tell him everything and risk losing him?

In the span of just over twenty-four hours, Noah Puckerman had gone from Puck to Noah. Yesterday before sixth period I had viewed him as my tormentor, a bully, and a jerk. Today, I only saw the good things in him. I don't have an explanation for it, but the bad deeds of the past were wiped away. I didn't care anymore about what used to be. I could be myself around Noah and I desperately needed that. If he rejected me now, that would hurt more than any prank he had ever pulled on me before.

"I feel so stupid. I can't believe I thought someone like Finn could like me." My voice was soft and subdued.

Noah was still holding me. I felt safe in his arms. "Rachel, you are probably the least stupid person I know. Stop beating yourself up. None of this is your fault."

"Still, I should've known better than to think I would ever have a chance with him."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, I guess," I said as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Why did you think you had a chance with Finn when he was with Quinn?"

I pulled away from Noah and started to stand up. My body was already feeling off being separate from his. "I knew it was a mistake to trust you."

"What are you talking about?"

"You just had to rub it in, didn't you?"

"Seriously – what in the hell are you talking about?"

Mocking his voice, I spat back at him, "Why did you think you had a chance with Finn?"

"Jesus Rachel. I wasn't trying to upset you. I only wondered if he had said or done anything to make you believe that you stood a chance."

I instantly felt ashamed. Noah was only trying to talk things through with me and I jumped to conclusions and accused him of being unkind. "I'm sorry Noah."

"Don't worry about it. Come sit next to me again," he said as he patted the bed.

I sat back on the bed and scooted up next to him. We fell back into the same position and a sense of relief swept over me. I just sat there not saying anything for awhile enjoying the feel of his hand making circles on my back and his warm breath on the top of my head.

Noah was the first to break the silence. "Are you going to answer my question?"

"Oh, um, yeah, Finn kept telling me things like he wanted to leave Quinn or that he really cared about me. You know, stuff like that. I thought it was taking him awhile to leave Quinn because of the baby and I understood that."

"So he would just tell you this stuff? Didn't you wonder why he never kissed you or anything like that?"

Noah's words were hard to take. If he didn't know about what was going on between Finn and I, then I truly was Finn's dirty little secret. "No, we kissed – a lot. He was always sneaking kisses with me or taking me on little outings, but I guess he made sure no one ever knew about that."

"Rachel, how long has this been going on?"

"Since Finn joined Glee." Just then my stomach growled loudly. I hadn't eaten since lunch (with the exception of the Pixie Stick) and even then I had only picked at my food. My appetite was gone knowing that the entire cafeteria was staring at me.

"Okay, here's another question for you – when was the last time you ate?" Noah had a smirk on his face.

"Lunch."

Noah stood up and walked to his door. I was still sitting on his bed trying to figure out what he was doing now. He turned to me, "Come on, get up."

"Excuse me? What?" I was having a hard time with the rapid subject change.

"I'm hungry, you're obviously very hungry – we're going out." He went on before I could interrupt him. "Don't argue. If you want, I'll find someplace where no one knows us. I just want to get food."

I followed Noah out to his truck. He raised an eyebrow at Daddy's car, but didn't say anything. He opened my door for me and after he was sure I was in, shut it before jogging around to his side. Once he was in the cab, he started the truck and backed into the street.

"You don't have to worry about where we go. I'm not worried about anyone seeing me with you."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I don't care if people know we're friends and frankly, its not going to change how much they talk about me." It was the truth. Kurt had been right this morning when he spoke it.

"Okay, well how about burgers and fries? We could hit Sonic."

Noah Puckerman managed to find my greatest weakness without even trying. A huge smile found its way to my face. "I adore Sonic. It's the one guilty please I afford myself."

"Only one?" Noah looked at me and he was grinning that sinful half-smile that made all the girls at school drool.

We fell into easy conversation as he drove the rest of the way to Sonic. Nothing of any consequence was discussed, but it was the easy back and forth of two people who were comfortable together. He pulled into the parking lot and picked one of the end slots to park his truck.

"What will it be?" His tone was playful. "Let me guess – a grilled chicken wrap with a diet soda, no fries?"

"How about I order for myself?"

"Suit yourself." Noah pushed the button and placed his order.

Once he was finished placing his order, the voice at the other end asked, "Anything else?"

I leaned across Noah to place my order, "I'll have the foot long chili cheese dog combo with tatertots and a chocolate milkshake instead of the soda."

"Well, I am surprised. I never would've guessed that you would order something like that."

"There's a lot you don't know about me."

"For now, but I plan to change that." If his voice hadn't been so serious, I probably wouldn't have believed him.

The food arrived quickly and I began devouring my chili dog. I was more hungry than I thought.

"Easy there, Killer. You really like that hot dog, huh?" he teased me.

"Well, I always love a good foot long." As soon as the words were out of my mouth I realized how they sounded. Unfortunately, Noah did too. He had been taking a rather large drink of his soda and my verbal slip caused him to spray the soda in his mouth against the windshield of his truck.

"Jesus, Rachel. I can't believe you just said that!"

"Noah! You know that is not how meant that!" My voice was frantic. I wanted him to understand that it was intended to be an innocent comment.

Noah grabbed a bottle of window cleaner from under the seat and the napkins from the Sonic bag and began cleaning his window. He was laughing though as he did it. "You're killing me Smalls."

"I hardly think a dig on my short stature is warranted." I was beginning to become slightly irritated.

"I'm not calling you small. Its from 'The Sandlot'."

"What is that?"

"Are you serious? Its only one of the greatest movies ever made. Don't tell me you've never seen it!" His voice was raised and he was looking at me like I was from Mars.

"No, I've never seen that movie. Not to change the subject, but why do you carry window cleaner in your truck?"

"You've seen how I keep my house. I treat my truck with the same respect. I keep this in here in case of emergencies such as this." When he was finished cleaning the window he turned to me, "If you and I are going to be friends, you will have to see that movie at some point."

"I guess I can agree to that. You did sit through my movie. Turnabout is fair play." I finished my meal and sat there waiting for Noah to finish.

"Noah, do you think I'm pretty?" My question caught him off guard. The handful of fries froze halfway to his open mouth. I stumbled to recover, "Its just a question, I don't mean anything by it." I took a deep breath. "I guess I'm just wondering if you think I'll ever have a shot with any of the guys at your school."

Noah relaxed after my explanation. "You are very pretty Rachel. The guys at our school are just intimidated by you because you're so smart and pretty and focused on your dream of becoming a star."

"So, I should change who I am so guys will like me? Is that what you are trying to say?" Maybe I should tone it down. I could pretend to be one of those ditsy girls at school that got the guys' attention.

"Don't even talk like that. The guys at our school are idiots and if they can't see how great you are, then they aren't worth it. Don't change, especially not for some high school guys."

I let Noah's words sink in as we drove back to his house. When we got back to his house, I hopped out of his truck and started walking over to Daddy's car. "Thanks for everything Noah. You've been a really great friend to me."

"Where are you going?" Noah was standing on his porch staring down at me.

"Home?"

"Don't leave yet. Come in for awhile. Its only 8:00." He had a point. If I came home now my dads would be full of questions. It was too soon to come home after "going out with friends" on a Friday night.

Once we were in Noah's room again, I made myself comfy on his double bed. He was searching through some DVDs on the small TV stand in his room. He kept rummaging around mumbling to himself. "Aha! Here it is. I knew this fucker was here somewhere."

"What did you find?"

He held up the DVD case to show me the movie – it was "The Sandlot." I should've known. "You are watching this tonight."

I shrugged my shoulders. I truly didn't care. He popped the movie in and settled next to me on his bed. Just before the movie started, Noah hit pause.

"Rachel, I know you're still upset about Finn. I understand that he led you on and that your feelings are hurt because you believed him. Look at it this way though, at least things ended before you ended up sleeping with him or some shit like that."

My heart stopped. I could feel all of the color drain from my face. There was no way I could lie about this and have Noah believe me.

"Rachel?" I still couldn't answer him. "Rachel? You didn't sleep with him did you?"

All I could do was lower my head as the tears of shame escaped my eyes. I was counting down the seconds in my head until he kicked me out of his room. He surely didn't want to be associated with this much drama. I had barely known Noah (vs. Puck) for a full day and now I was going to lose him. The seconds passed by and his room was silent.

Then, he did the most shocking thing. Instead of kicking me out, he drew me in. He reached out and pulled me into an embrace. After a short while, he tipped my chin up with his finger so I was looking into his eyes.

"Did you have sex with Finn?" His voice was barely above a whisper.

I knew I had to answer him. "Yes."

A/N: Please leave a review. They really do make me write faster. I'll take suggestions and criticism as well as praise. Just let me know what you thought.

I know there's been a whole heap of tears in this little story so far, but I promise it will get better soon.