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 '(I've Had) the Time of My Life) or the song used later on.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed the first three chapters. You're all just so awesome! I hope you enjoy the events of this chapter. I would like to acknowledge wickedglee. I included your requests in this chapter, though I had to modify them to suit my storyline; I hope I did them justice. As always, please read and review. Thanks!
"Finn?" Rachel whispered loudly, staring at her boyfriend's back.
He jumped and spun around, causing the girl Rachel couldn't see to let out a squeak of pain. When Rachel realized that his jeans and boxers were around his knees, she averted her gaze from him. She wasn't going to see her very first penis under these circumstances; that might just ruin any desire for sex she might ever have. As the situation sunk in, she could feel her stomach start to turn.
"Manhands? Interrupt much?"
Santana's voice broke through her stupor. She couldn't believe this. Finn had cheated on her with Santana? Why? Why would he ruin everything to have sex with the same girl everyone slept with? Shifting her gaze from Finn, who had apparently been stunned motionless, she instead took in Santana, who was readjusting the spankies under her cheer uniform.
"Did you enjoy watching my boyfriend fuck me?" the cheerleader asked with a sneer.
"Your boyfriend?" Rachel was very confused by those words and her nausea was growing. "But, he's my boyfriend. We've been together since January. He said he loves me."
Rachel saw the pain that flashed across Santana's face before she covered it up.
"Rachel, she means nothing to me." Finn had obviously regained his coherency. "I love you. You have to let me explain."
Upon hearing those three little words, words that had made her so happy the first time he'd said them but which just mocked now, Rachel's nausea bubbled up. Clapping a hand over her mouth, she sprinted out of the closet and down the hall past Brittany, Mike, Quinn, and Puck to the the nearest restroom.
"Rach, wait!" Finn yelled from behind her.
Rachel had just finished emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet when the bathroom door opened.
"Rachel?" a soft voice called out.
Sitting back on her heels, Rachel couldn't decide if she wanted to answer or not. She definitely didn't look her best right now; she couldn't possibly. She was crying so hard she could barely breathe and she knew her mascara was running. Unfortunately, her gasping sobs drew attention to her and the stall door, which she had failed to lock in her haste, was pushed open. Rachel glanced over her shoulder to find Brittany standing there, a sympathetic look on her face. That look just hit Rachel even harder, and she buried her face in her hands as she wept violently.
She felt Brittany squat next to her and then her hand rested on Rachel's back. The blonde began to rub small comforting circles as she continued to cry, and it actually made Rachel feel better. Brittany didn't speak, she didn't offer pointless platitudes; it was almost like she knew that what Rachel needed most at that point was silence. Because Rachel Berry never let anyone see her cry.
After several minutes, Rachel regained her control and she and Brittany both stood up and exited the stall. Rachel grabbed several paper towels and wet them down. She began to scrub the makeup off her face, being very gentle with her right eye.
"If you trust me with your combo, I'll get your makeup out of your locker," Brittany offered.
Rachel tried to remember if she had put her bag in her locker before going into the closet (a few more tear leaked out at the thought). Deciding that she had, she rattled the combination off to Brittany, who was concentrating very hard, and then continued to wash her face as the blonde left the restroom.
She should have listened to Brittany last week. She had obviously been watching out for Rachel when she had mentioned that Finn was sleeping with someone else. She wondered if Brittany had known that it was Santana though. The way Santana had called Finn her boyfriend and the hurt Rachel had seen; those two things were haunting her. She wondered if Santana had known about Rachel or if this was all just as big a shock to her. Then, Rachel wondered why she was worrying about Santana's feelings when her own heart had just shattered.
Rachel ignored the way the other girls coming and going from the room were looking at her (a combination of pity, contempt, and righteousness-as if they'd already heard what happened and thought she deserved it) while she waited for Brittany to come back. A few minutes later, Brittany walked through the door carrying not just her makeup case but a whole fresh set of clothes. Rachel cast a questioning glance at the fabric; she hadn't got slushied-her clothing was fine.
"Oh, I decided you need a fresh start to today, so new outfit," she answered the silent question perkily holding the clothing out.
She had obviously decided that normalcy was the best way to help Rachel, and Rachel really appreciated that. She took the white button up blouse, pale blue skirt, and matching pale blue knee socks from the Cheerio and changed in one of the stalls. When she came out, she dropped her other clothes on the counter between two of the sinks and opened her makeup bag.
"Your eye looks awful. Is it really sore?" Brittany asked, examining Rachel in the mirror as she folded her shirt. "I could get an ice pack from the nurse for it."
As Rachel applied concealer to the deep purple bruise around her right eye, she smiled at Brittany in the mirror. "That's very sweet Brittany, but it's fine. It looks a lot worse than it feels as long as no one goes poking around on the bruise."
Brittany nodded, setting the shirt back down and quickly folding the skirt and knee socks before washing her hands (Rachel would wash her hands too if she'd just folded clothing someone had worn, even if it was only for half an hour). She thanked Brittany for her help as she reapplied her makeup. Brittany hopped up on the counter and chattered on about her homework while Rachel finished up. When she was done with her makeup, her black eye was barely even visible.
"You did a really good job covering the bruise up," Brittany commented, studying her face.
Rachel nodded. "I have a special concealer that's made for covering up bruises."
When she saw Brittany's concerned expression, she realized how that must sound so she added, "I bought it the first time Finn hit me during practice just in case. Bruises are not attractive."
Brittany nodded vigorously. "I know. Cheerios get a lot of bruises," she explained as she hopped down off the counter.
Rachel considered that. She imagined it was true due to the highly physical nature of their routines. She was caught off guard in her musings when Brittany tugged her into a tight hug. She didn't say a word, but Rachel thought the sheer strength of the embrace said it all.
ooooo
Puck's day had not started anywhere close to what he had expected. He had expected to come to school, annoy Berry a little, get rejected, annoy her some more, fuck Allison Tandy in the girls' restroom (what? She'd offered), annoy Berry during trig (who knew math could be so fun?), then go home and watch his sister like he'd promised he would. Instead, he'd met Brittany, Mike, and Quinn in the parking lot (a definite improvement over Kurt and Mercedes who kept ambushing him to grill him about his Berry mission) and walked into school with them. He should have known the day would be fuckin' weird then because they never all showed up at the same time.
He and Quinn were getting along much better now than ever. After dating for a while, having a baby, and dealing with the adoption together, it probably shouldn't be surprising that they had settled into a comfortable friendship (or maybe it should-he didn't fucking know). He was fuckin' glad for it; she was a total bitch to the people she didn't like.
They had just entered the school and were heading toward their lockers when Berry had come running out of a janitor's closet. All four of them had stopped and watched Finn, yelling Berry's name, trip out of the same closet with his pants and boxers around his knees (Mike had clapped a hand over Brittany's eyes causing her to complain about wanting to see too). Puck would have laughed at the sight if he hadn't figured out what had happened when Santana had come out of the closet after Finn looking like she'd just been fucked (and Puck knew that look). Her face had been twisted in anger and she had kicked the prone douche hard in the ribs before storming into the nearby gym. Brittany, who had pried Mike's hand off her face, exchanged a look with Quinn before they split up. While Quinn went after Santana, Brittany took off after Berry.
Puck had stood frozen in disbelief, watching Finn struggle to his feet and pull his pants up while the students that had already arrived laughed. Puck knew he should probably do something to help Berry (this could be his in with her), but he was too fuckin' shocked to know what he should do. Plus, he knew Brittany would take care of her.
Mike was clearly not having the same problem. He walked right up to Finn and said, "Dude, you were screwing Santana behind Rachel's back? Not cool." Then he punched him in the jaw. Finn let out a howl of pain.
Hell, Puck couldn't let Mike have all the fuckin' fun. He moved to stand directly in front of Finn and slammed his fist into the taller boy's nose. Finn let out another (girlish) scream of pain and clapped his hands over his nose as it spurted blood. Puck and Mike both turned around and moved back down the hallway. During the whole thing, Puck hadn't said one word.
When they spotted Berry's locker, with the word 'SLUT' written on it, they came to a stop. What the fuck? Who would write on Berry's locker like that? Even he hadn't done that when he was torturing her. Next to him Mike sighed.
"Well, that's why she was in the closet then."
As Mike headed back to the closet (Finn had disappeared), Puck caught up with him.
"What in the hell are you doing?" he asked.
Mike entered the closet and explained, "A couple of weeks ago Brittany and I were running late after glee," he smirked over his shoulder at Puck (way to go Mike!) and then continued, "when we passed by Rachel's locker and saw that someone had painted 'whore' on it in big red letters. Brittany got really upset when she saw it and got into this janitor closet. Turns out," he said, coming out of the closet with two cans of paint and two fresh brushes, "Figgins keeps paint for both the lockers and the bathrooms stocked up."
Puck was fuckin' confused.
As they walked back to Rachel's locker, Mike kept explaining, "Brittany and I have been painting over the graffiti about Rachel in all of the bathrooms-I didn't realize how much porn gets drawn about her-and on her locker after every glee practice. It doesn't last very long; we just repainted Rachel's locker last night and it's already marked up again, but it makes Brittany feel better to do something. Did you know Rachel comes in early every morning to clean off the graffiti? I figured it out after the second night we painted because we'd never seen the writing before that first day but since it reappeared so quickly, it had to be a common occurrence. Plus Brittany spied on her one morning to make sure. Anyway, that first night we saw the writing was the first time we both realized just how bad things are for her around here. That's also when Brittany took on her mission to watch out for Rachel."
Mike set the brushes and one can on top of the locker bank and then fought to open the second can of beige paint, Puck absorbed all of this. He couldn't believe it; while he was fucking random girls, Mike and Brittany were spending extra time at school painting over the Berry porn in the bathrooms and the insults on her locker? He hadn't realized how fuckin' awful everyone was to her. How the hell did she smile the way she always did?
As Mike finally popped the lid off the paint can, Puck grabbed it from him and took one of the brushes. Mike took the other can and brush and headed for the mens' room. Before Puck could start painting, Brittany came up to him.
"I need into Rachel's locker to get her stuff."
Puck moved back and watched as Brittany put in the combination (it took her three tries to get it right). She took several minutes to dig through Berry's bag, finally pulling out some clothing and a smaller bag.
She stuffed Berry's bag back in the locker and shut it then turned to Puck.
"Thank you for fixing this," she said gratefully, gesturing at the locker. "She shouldn't have to see it, especially not right now."
"Whatever. I'm just doin' my fuckin' job," Puck declared, avoiding her eyes as he started painting.
After Brittany had taken off, he finished painting Berry's locker door and closed up the paint can. Mike joined him as he passed the bathroom and they dropped the supplies off in the closet.
So yeah, his day had started out fuckin' weird.
ooooo
"No, Rachel, you're not going to run away. The two of you really need to talk," Brittany declared, clasping tightly to Rachel's wrist.
Rachel so didn't want to listen to Brittany, but she wasn't giving her much choice. Rachel's day had been awful so far; the bright spots had been the fact that someone had painted over her locker for her (she didn't know who and when she'd asked Brittany if she'd seen who it was while getting her stuff, she'd merely grinned at her) and the fact that Brittany, Mike, and, surprisingly, Quinn had all been really nice to her when they'd seen her in the halls. She'd also kind of enjoyed seeing Finn in the hallway with a swollen jaw and bruised nose; she suspected that had been Puck (though she hadn't seen him yet-it just seemed like the sort of thing he'd do and he had been there that morning) and possibly Mike, who just smiled and changed the subject when she asked.
Brittany had met her at the door after her fourth period class, grabbed her wrist, and hauled her off to the cafeteria for lunch. Brittany didn't stop at Rachel's locker so she could get her lunch; she insisted that she would buy it for her. Since Brittany was still dragging her along, she didn't have much choice but to go with it.
So, now Brittany was holding her in place next to the circular table that already held Quinn, Mike, Matt, and Santana. It was the last one that Rachel was trying to get away from. For all her acting skill, she didn't know if she could be civil to the girl Finn was sleeping with. When she glared down at Santana, she noticed that she looked as miserable as Rachel felt. So, she let Brittany push her into the seat across from the Latina before she took the one next to Rachel. She'd already lost Finn; what did she have to lose by listening to whatever Santana had to say?
"If you have something to say, then say it. And let's leave the insults out for once," Rachel directed her (she would let Santana have her say but she didn't have to be nice about it).
"I'm sorry," she said quietly.
Rachel was not expecting an apology. "What?"
Santana scowled at her. "I'm not repeating it." Her expression turned sad again. "I didn't know Finn was dating you. Hell, I thought he was dating me. Then, last Tuesday Britt mentioned that she thought you and Finn were together so I asked him about it when he came over the next night."
Rachel's heart broke a little more as she remembered Finn telling her he was meeting the guys after he told her he loved her for the first time. Apparently he'd actually run off to Santana. After he said he loved her!
"He told me that the two of you hung out but you weren't a couple, just really good friends. I believed him," she admitted then sneered. "Obviously I shouldn't have; he's a lying, cheating bastard." Santana sighed. "Look, I know I'm a bitch, especially to you, but I didn't mean to help Finn cheat on you and I thought, well actually Brittany and Quinn thought, you should know that."
Rachel considered what the other girl had just said. She noticed that Quinn and Brittany were the only ones who didn't look surprised by Santana's story.
"Did you guys know about this?"
The boys both shook their heads, but Mike added, "Brittany mentioned that she thought you two were together and that Finn was sleeping around, but we didn't know anything for sure."
Rachel nodded and turned to Quinn and Brittany. "What about you? You're Santana's best friends."
Also shaking her head, Quinn explained, "When Brittany went after you this morning, I followed Santana. She told me the story then."
Brittany continued, "And they told me during gym third period, so Quinn and I asked her to tell you at lunch."
Rachel was quiet for a while as she thought over everything she'd just found out. While she was thinking, Puck dropped into the seat between Matt and Rachel. Looking between Rachel and Santana, he elbowed Matt.
"Did I miss it?"
Matt nodded.
"Damn it," he groaned in frustration.
"You didn't miss much; they didn't even pull each other's hair or anything," Mike reassured him, earning glares from all four of the girls.
"Well that's a fuckin' waste." Puck addressed the two girls in question, "Are you sure you don't want to slap each other? Then you could pull hair and push each other down to the ground." His expression grew dreamy here. "While you're wrestling, your passion will rise until you start making out, and then..." he trailed off, his gaze distant.
Rachel and Santana shared a look of mutual understanding. As Santana sunk down in her chair to kick him in the shin, Rachel elbowed him hard in the ribs. They struck at the same time and Puck jumped in his seat as he was pulled from his daydream. Quinn and Brittany had also attacked Matt and Mike, who had both zoned out while Puck was talking. All four girls laughed at the way the boys were scowling at them and rubbing their various sore spots.
"Hey, Rach, can I talk to you in private?"
Their laughter died as Rachel looked up to find Finn standing behind Matt with a pleading expression on his face.
"No. Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of them, especially Santana," she replied coldly. She believed Santana's story; the girl looked as heartbroken as Rachel felt so she believed Santana also deserved an explanation.
When Finn's face fell, Puck shot a proud (what?) smirk at her.
"Okay," Finn paused as he collected his thoughts. "I really do love you; I wasn't lying when I said that. You know how I always had a problem when we were making out and thinking of the mailman didn't always help? Do you remember what you told me to try last month?"
Rachel thought back. She could remember the incident in question; it was the first time she ever grasped him with her hand through his boxers and he had exploded the instant she made contact. He had been really embarrassed, so she had made the only suggestion she could think of to help him with his issue.
"Yeah, I told you to take care of the problem on a regular basis," she remembered. "But I meant you should masturbate! I wasn't giving you permission to have sex with someone else!"
When she said masturbate, Puck, Mike, Matt, and Quinn all turned shocked faces to her while Brittany snickered. Santana simply continued to glare up at Finn.
"Oh," he blushed and rubbed the back of his neck, a hangdog expression on his face. "I didn't think of that. But, I also thought that I could use what I learned on you later. All girls like the same things right?"
Puck snorted and the others, Rachel included, shook their heads.
"No, Finn, not all girls like the same things. While we share some of the same erogenous zones, others are different from girl to girl," Rachel enlightened him. She couldn't believe he really was this clueless.
"I didn't know that either. So what are your erogenous zones?" he asked curiously.
Rachel couldn't believe his gall. "You will never know the answer to that question. Are we done here?"
"I want to know why you said you were my boyfriend if you were dating Rachel," Santana spoke up.
"After I had sex with you, the next time I made out with Rachel I didn't have a problem. You said that you wouldn't have sex with me again without a relationship because you didn't want to just be a booty call like with Puck," Finn explained. Santana flushed at being called out as something more than the reputation she had. "and no sex meant that I wouldn't be able to make out with Rachel successfully anymore. I wasn't ready to have sex with her yet-I love her-so I agreed to be your boyfriend so you'd keep sleeping with me so I could keep making out with Rachel."
Santana's face went stony at his explanation. "And the reason you insisted we keep it quiet was because you didn't want Rachel to find out, not because you wanted to have a stable relationship before we went public? And when I asked you about her last week, you lied to me."
"Yeah," Finn nodded sheepishly. "Sorry about that, but I wasn't ready to sleep with Rachel yet."
Santana continued to stare at him frostily while Rachel asked, "Why did you say you wanted to take our relationship public today if you still wanted to have sex with Santana?"
The others, even Santana, cast her a surprised look. Rachel hadn't told anyone about that yet.
Finn's expression turned earnest. "When we first started dating I wanted to keep it between just us because I didn't want anyone else messing up our relationship. Then I had to keep it secret because of Santana. But yesterday when Mr. Schue said that you would be doing that song with Puck, one that you had just told me was about longing, I knew I needed to make sure Puck knew that you were mine. I knew he'd hit on you if he didn't know and then you'd sleep with him. I was going to break up with Santana this morning, but I wanted one more practice session."
In other words, he was aroused, Rachel thought. She was very offended by his accusation too. He thought she had so little self-control that she'd give her virginity to Puck just because he hit on her? He had clearly never trusted her the way she had him (and look where that had got her).
"I loved you; I never would have cheated on you," she defended herself.
"You love me? Does that mean we can be together still?" he asked hopefully.
Rachel gaped at him. Was he actually serious? She studied his face closely. He was!
"No! We're done! I can't be with someone I don't trust, and I will never trust you again," she asserted.
"But I was only doing what you told me to! If you hadn't made that suggestion, I never would have slept with Santana," he accused.
That he would blame his cheating on her, that was just...just...she didn't even know what! She was so furious that her superb vocabulary had broken down. Hopping up, she circled Puck's chair and smacked Finn with as much strength as she could muster.
He reeled back and as Rachel stood there fuming, he turned to Santana. "We can still date now if you want."
Santana was around Quinn in an instant to slap him as hard as she could across the other cheek.
"You can go to hell," she said in a calm tone that belied the fury in her eyes before retaking her seat.
Rachel also sat back down. Even though she normally abhorred violence, she had to admit that she felt a little better after hitting him.
Puck leaned back in his seat, tilted his head, and smirked up at Finn. "Get the fuck out of here."
"Puck, language," Mr. Schuester's stern voice startled them all. He surveyed the table warily; he had clearly picked up on the tension and his eyes lingered on Rachel for a half a second longer than anyone else (and no wonder, she was sitting at a table with all of the jock gleeks), but he didn't say anything. "I'm scheduling an extra practice for today after school since Regionals are next Saturday, so be in the choir room at regular time." He walked off.
Finn took one look around the table and, finally realizing he wasn't welcome there by anyone, took off with a sulky expression on his face.
"I can't believe him!" Rachel burst out. "The whole situation is just so unfair." She looked across the table at Santana. "To both of us," she added.
"Sing a song about it," Puck suggested, popping half a slice of pizza into his mouth.
Rachel wrinkled her nose at the disgusting display (and noted a few spots of beige paint on his hands-had he painted her locker door?), but she agreed, "I think that's a very good idea."
Santana and Quinn leaned forward toward Brittany and Rachel. "What do you have in mind?" Santana asked.
While the boys argued over baseball, the girls conspired on Rachel's plan.
ooooo
At 3:30 that afternoon, Rachel was sitting in the choir room in her normal seat between Brittany and Santana. The two of them, plus Quinn, had relocated to the front row in a show of solidarity after the day's events (it was amazing how one awful revelation could pull them together). They were sitting quietly for the most part, waiting for Mr. Schuester to begin practice. Rachel was aware of the odd looks she was drawing from the rest of the gleeks as they arrived because of who she was sitting with. When Finn walked in and cast a wary look at Rachel and Santana, Rachel leaned over to the other girl.
"Look at him; he's so nervous right now because we're sitting together," Rachel whispered to her.
Santana smirked. "Serves him right; he's gonna regret playing both of us by the time practice is over."
As Santana turned to talk to Quinn on her other side, Rachel sat back in her chair. Brittany had twisted around to talk to Mike behind her.
"So you're free tonight then?" Puck whispered into her ear from behind.
Rachel turned her upper body to meet him and pulled her head back when she found herself mere inches from him. "I just broke up with Finn today; I'm not having sex with you." She felt like that had become her catchphrase.
He rolled his eyes. "Babe, I'm not having sex with you either. You can't deny that you need to fuckin' relax after the shit that went down today though."
She could feel Finn's gaze on her while she talked to Puck, and a part of her was tempted to accept his invitation to hang out in order to use it against Finn in revenge, but that wouldn't be fair to either Puck or herself. Their friendship couldn't be based on revenge, even if he was kind of growing on her (she just couldn't resist someone with so much determination or who painted over the graffiti on her locker like she was fairly sure he had). She refused to use him even if she doubted he'd care too much if she did.
When Mr. Schue entered the choir room, he dropped his bag next to the piano and faced their group.
"Now, let's start by practicing '(I've Had) the Time of My Life' and then I have our second group number for Regionals. They're just over a week away and I have faith that if we get started now, we can nail all of our numbers," he declared.
Finally! Rachel thought. It was about time he picked their last number. She stood up.
"Mr. Schuester, I have something that I would like to perform first," she announced, moving forward to face the rest of the club. "As all of you undoubtedly know by now, Finn has been dating both Santana and myself. What you may not know is that he didn't see fit to inform either of us of the other, so he really has no one to blame but himself for what has happened."
She noticed the disbelieving looks they were casting at Santana. She had known that would be a problem.
"Again, I would like to repeat that this is neither Santana's fault nor my own," she said forcefully. "I have prepared a performance that we believe expresses the perfect amount of anger."
While Mr. Schuester sighed in exasperation, Rachel turned to the band (she had given them the sheet music she printed off the internet earlier) and signaled for them to begin. As she sang, she crossed the room to Finn.
You keep saying you've got something for me
Something you call love, but confess
You've been messin' where you shouldn't have been messin'
And now someone else is gettin' all your best
She was singing directly to Finn in a sick reversal of a serenade. Santana, Brittany, and Quinn joined her for the chorus as they had decided at lunch.
These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you
She began to circle Finn's chair slowly, dragging her fingers along his shoulders and neck as he turned red.
You keep lying when you oughta be truthin'
And you keep losin' when you oughta not bet
You keep samin' when you oughta be changin'
Now what's right is right, but you ain't been right yet
As she reached the front of his chair, the girls once again joined her for the chorus. Even Tina, Mercedes, and Kurt got into the spirit and lent their voices.
These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you
Rachel tossed her hair back in a defiant gesture, focusing all of her attention on Finn as she continued to sing.
You keep playin' where you shouldn't be playin
And you keep thinkin' that you'll never get burnt
She shoved hard on his chest on the next word.
Ha!
She stepped up to the second row and sat sideways on Puck's lap, crossing her legs. Finn twisted in his seat to look at her and she kept her gaze focused on him.
I just found me a brand new box of matches yeah
And what he knows you ain't had time to learn
She trailed her fingers down Puck's chest before standing back up, but never took her eyes off Finn. The girls and Kurt added their voices to the chorus as she stared down at Finn.
These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you
As she spoke the next words, she threw her hand forward in the air and strutted back down to the piano.
Are you ready boots? Start walkin'!
When the music came to a close, the other members of the club clapped for her, and Puck let out a loud whistle. She really hoped he didn't take the whole sitting on his lap thing the wrong way. She was merely using him as a prop for her performance because she knew he'd be the guy to drive Finn the most insane. When the applause died down, she turned to Mr. Schuester with a bright smile.
"Thank you, Mr. Schuester!"
She retook her seat and Brittany, Santana, and Quinn all leaned over to congratulate her on a job well done and a point well made.
ooooo
"Pick you up at seven?"
Puck's day was still fucking weird, but he'd learned three important things. Number one, under her bitchy exterior, Santana was hiding real feelings (who knew?). Number two, Finn was even dumber than he'd thought (and after the whole 'baby with no sex' thing, he thought Finn couldn't get any worse, but thinking his girlfriend was giving him permission to cheat? That's just fucking moronic). And, number three and most important in his eyes?
Rachel Berry was fucking hot when she was pissed.
He'd been proud of how she'd dealt with Finn at lunch (plus, she talked about masturbation and erogenous zones so fuckin' awesome), but the whole proud thing was just fuckin' strange; he was never proud unless it was of himself for nailing someone challenging (he wondered how proud he'd be if he ever screwed Berry; not worth thinking about Puckerman, he reminded himself-Brittany would slice your balls off after). Her little performance had been good, but then she'd sat down in his lap and hello, instant boner. Her running her fingers down his chest and then that fuckin' sexy hip-swaying walk after hadn't helped. When Schue gave them instructions to get into position for their sucky group number, Puck was the last to get up. He'd had to calm the fuck down or he'd draw attention to himself. One thing was for sure-Berry had just fuckin' guaranteed he'd never be able to completely ignore her hotness again.
As soon as he was able to move normally, he'd snuck up behind her and offered to pick her up again.
"Really, Noah, you know that I was just using you as a prop for the performance, right? I still have zero intentions of going out with you," she reminded him in anannoyed tone.
He did know that, but he quirked an eyebrow at her anyway. "You shouldn't have sat in my lap then. It makes you look like a fuckin' tease babe."
When she blushed and mouthed silently, he nearly laughed; he didn't know if he'd ever seen Berry at a complete loss for words before (not counting when Finn pissed her off at lunch). "Don't hurt yourself Berry." He got into his position, grinning when he heard her huff.
When Schue started the music, Puck fell into his robotic mode and moved through the choreography of Finn's first verse. He never actually listened to the singing, but he noticed when Berry didn't come in on her cue and Schue stopped the music. Puck looked over at her and was surprised to see that she was standing still, staring straight ahead at Finn.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Schuester. I just can't do this; I can't be in glee anymore," she said tearfully before grabbing her bag and running from the room.
"Rachel, wait!" Brittany called, grabbing her own backpack and following her.
Schue shook his head. "We'll just end it here for today. Meet back here tomorrow at regular time. I'll rework the numbers to take Rachel out tonight. Please think of ballad suggestions and someone to stand in for our twelfth member."
"No. Mr. Schue, you can't take Rachel's ballad away," Santana protested.
"Yeah, we'll get her back into the club. Just give us a chance to talk to her," Quinn agreed. "But, umm, you may want to make sure she doesn't have to sing opposite Finn on the other two numbers."
Puck watched as Schue examined the two Cheerios (and he was fuckin' shocked they were standing up for Berry even after lunch).
"Fine. I'll give you until practice tomorrow, but if she's not back by then, I'll have to rearrange the numbers. We're too close to Regionals to give you any longer," he finally decided.
Santana and Quinn shared a relieved look.
As soon as Schue left the room, everyone turned on Finn.
"You just couldn't keep it in your fuckin' pants."
Everyone stared at Puck, stunned that he was the first to speak.
"Really, dude, you don't tell a girl you love her and then sleep with someone else," Mike added, recovering quickly.
Matt shook his head in disapproval while Artie muttered, "Not cool."
"If we lose Regionals, I'm blaming you, white boy." Mercedes poked him in the chest.
Kurt nodded, scowling. "As much as I wish it were otherwise, we need Rachel's voice to stand a chance against Vocal Adrenaline. Their male lead is strong, but Rachel's better than their female lead."
"Jesse St. James," Tina sighed dreamily, earning a glare from Artie. She returned it before adding her input. "Finn, lying like that is one of the best ways to ruin a relationship."
She was still glaring at Artie, so Puck wondered if he'd lied to her about the whole not-a-virgin thing. If he had, fuckin' stupid move dude.
Quinn rolled her eyes. "I think we can all agree that Finn was brainless in what he did."
"He was a lying, cheating bastand," Santana declared venomously. "And he has a big problem with premature ejaculation."
With that, she grabbed her bag and marched out of the room. Quinn quickly followed.
Finn was bright red and he practically ran out of the room after Santana's announcement. The others followed until only Puck, Kurt, and Mercedes were left. Puck was trying to get out the door before either of them caught him, but Kurt's voice stopped him (damn).
"You need to fix this. We need Rachel relaxed and even if the Cheerios talk her into coming back, she's going to be ten times worse than she was," he stated decisively. "So we're giving you until Monday to fix it or we will get one of the hockey guys to do it for you. And she's vulnerable right now, so it won't be hard for whoever we choose."
Puck noticed the hesitant look Mercedes cast at the other boy with those words, but she still nodded in agreement.
As Puck left the room thinking about Kurt's words, he had just one thought.
Fuck.
A/N 2: The song Rachel performed was 'These Boots Are Made for Walking' by Nancy Sinatra (not the Jessica Simpson version).