Finn strutted through the halls of McKinley in a great mood Monday morning. He'd been crowned Prom King (not that it really mattered to him, but it was still awesome that people thought he was cool), he had completely ended things with Quinn, and he'd talked to Rachel before Puck could make any sort of skeazy move. Granted, she hadn't said anything yet, but she knew he loved her, and he was certain that they'd be back together again by today.

His mood only improved when Kurt and Mercedes walked up to either side of him, each eager to know the new status of Finnchel. He'd forgotten how much he'd missed that name, and their mentioning it only made him grin wider. He floated through all of his classes on Cloud Nine (not that he understood why that was such a great cloud, but he'd heard Rachel say it once).

The gawky teen walked into the choir room for Glee, taking his old seat in the front row, next to where Rachel would be. He frowned as he noticed that the petite brunette wasn't there yet, which was weird; she had always been the first one there since basically Glee had started. But he was certain she'd be there soon and watched the door, ignoring the pointed avoidance of eye contact from his former best friend and girlfriend on opposite sides of the row behind him.

Just then Mr. Schue walked in, smiling in a way that made Finn think his mentor knew about his reunion with Rachel, or had maybe had just as good of a weekend. The curly-haired teacher walked over to the whiteboard and started scribbling on the board.

"Okay guys—who knows what cathartic means?" he addressed them, rubbing his hands together.

"It's when your cat goes to visit Santa Claus," Brittany answered proudly, causing everyone to pause a moment as they puzzled the blonde's answer.

"Catharsis means to do something to get a big emotion off of your chest," Quinn corrected softly. Finn looked back at her downcast eyes and his own dropped in sympathy, his expression saddened from her pain. He hated seeing her unhappy like that; it made him want to gather her up in his arms and tell her how awesome and beautiful and skinny she was.

"Right," Schue replied, grinning at his group. "I know that with all of the drama happening over the last couple of weeks, we have a lot of tension in the group. So this week's assignment is to pick a song that you think will help you get whatever you're dealing with off your chest, and help us as a team to move on."

"I'm so pleased you suggested this, Mr. Schuester," Rachel spoke up as she strode into the door. "I've been working on something just like that all weekend, regarding the events that transpired during Prom, and would be happy to perform it for the group."

"God, we have to listen to her gloat already?" Quinn half-moaned, half-sneered. "It's not enough that it had to happen in the first place?"

Mr. Schue studiously ignored the comment and urged Rachel to go ahead. As she took out her sheet music, handing it to Brad, she explained, "Since Taylor Swift was used to address the initial matter, I felt it would be appropriate to respond with a piece by the same artist."

Finn was thrilled. He loved to hear Rachel sing, and Taylor Swift was full of happy "we're so right for each other" songs like You Belong With Me and Love Story. Which was why he found himself confused by the slow, haunting melody that Brad started playing.

Puck couldn't tune out Rachel's explanation about her song; he never could really tune her out, no matter how much he wanted to. And based off of Finn's face, he had figured it was going to be a bubbly piece of crap about being happy and together or some bullshit. But when those first slow chords came from the piano, the mowhawked boy found himself perking up and leaning forward as Rachel began her song.

Say you're sorry, that face of an angel
Comes out just when you need it to

As I paced back and forth all this time
Cause I honestly believed in you

Puck couldn't believe his ears. Not that Berry sounded amazing—no surprise there. But unless the song suddenly changed gears and burst into a celebratory parade piece of shit, it sounded like she'd actually listened to him. That maybe she'd realized Finnocence wasn't the Golden Boy everyone made him out to be.

Holding on,
The days drag on
Stupid girl
I should have known, I should have known

That I'm not a princess
This ain't a fairytale
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet
Lead her up the stairwell

This ain't Hollywood,
This is a small town
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down
Now its too late for you and your White Horse,
To come around.

Baby I was naíve,
Got lost in your eyes
I never really had a chance,
My mistake, I didn't know,
To be in love you had to fight to get the uppper hand

I had so many dreams about you and me.
Happy endings
Now I know

Berry may know, and by the stunned shitless looks of the Gleeks around him so did the rest of the group, but Puck smirked (what? he couldn't help it) as he watched that pained expression on Finn's face as he tried to figure out what Rachel was trying to tell him. As the fucking St. Finn tried to understand what it meant to be told what he was doing was a fucking douche thing to do, and, despite what he thought, he didn't deserve someone like the crazy-ass midget singing her heart out in front of him.

I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairy tale
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet
Lead her up the stairwell

This ain't Hollywood,
This is a small town
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down
Now its too late for you and your White Horse,
To come around.

And there you are on your knees
Begging for forgiveness, begging for me
Just like I always wanted

But I'm so sorry

Cause I'm not your princess, this ain't a fairytale
I'm gonna find someone someday who might actually treat me well
This is a big world, that was a small town
There in my rearview mirror disappearing now

Puck grinned as Berry broke into the last chorus. She finally looked away from Finn (though the doofus still seemed lost on the message) and let her gaze float to him for the second line. And in that look he knew she'd finally figured it out: she may not have been Frankenteen's princess, but she sure as hell was his.

Now it's too late for you and your white horse

To catch me now

Puck felt his gleeful (no pun intended) expression taking over his face as she wrapped up the last notes and watched the rest of the New Directions try to absorb what had just happened. That their precious Finnchel was done, because the diva had finally figured out that there was more to a relationship than just having some guy that people liked on your arm.

He didn't have to press his ear up against the door like the others while they listened to the two of them walked out to have their swan song in the hallway. He'd had enough of listening to Finn anyways.

But when he saw Rachel reenter, smiling and confident as she quietly took the seat next to him (something the others gawked at in equal disbelief as the moments before), he could see the challenge in her eyes: that the time was now. And he worked his butt off to present his Jewish tribute for her (Heroes by The Wallflowers), so that when he asked her out, and she kissed him in response, he knew that fuck Finnchel—endgame was going to be Puckleberry.