Disclaimer: I still don't own anything, but if the powers that be are feeling generous, I'd gladly accept ownership.
Author's note: Thank you all so much for your reviews. Seriously, when I feel stuck writing, I go back and read them again to encourage me to keep going. So again, thank you!!
This chapter is for iamladyliberty because you rock!! Here's your happy. :)
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Feet pounded against the pavement as Finn and Puck turned the corner on their final lap. Most of their run had been in silence, with the occasional insult required for male bonding. Finn grunted and nodded his head towards the bleachers where Rachel sat with Nate. Puck just shrugged. As they ended their run and began to walk, Finn caught his breath and spoke. "Man what's going on with you and Rachel? Quinn keeps telling me to encourage you towards her but I'm not sure what that means exactly." Puck laughed as he stretched his arms behind him. "It means Quinn has decided that Rachel is the best friend she never had and if we hook up we can double."
Finn glanced at him. "So what's wrong with that? I mean you two are together all the time. She was pretty last year, but even I can admit this year she is smoking…" He trailed off as he noticed the death glare Puck was giving him and raised his hands in defense. "Hey, I'm taken, not blind. And I don't know why you'd get mad at me for just saying it when Roberts is over there doing his best to appreciate it." Puck shrugged again as he watched the interaction on the bleachers. "He doesn't bother me. She's not serious about him and he knows it. He's just someone to flirt with when she's bored." They both watched Nate scoot behind Rachel and begin to rub her shoulders. Finn's eyebrow arched as he watched the impromptu massage. "You sure about that?"
Puck nodded. "Watch this." He turned to grasp a Cheerio by the waist as she tried to jog past him. The girl giggled, giddy to be caught by him. "Hey Puck." He grinned at her while trying to place her name. "Hey Sarah. Looking good." Her smile was huge as he released her. She ran backward to keep him in sight a little longer. "You too." She turned and with one last saucy glance over her shoulder returned to her original speed. Without peering at the bleachers, Puck tapped his friend. "Now look at the bleachers." Finn turned but didn't see the pair that once occupied them. "Where'd they go?" Puck laughed. "They're on the track so she can see what's going on better."
They sat on the cool ground and watched the couple walking and laughing. He noticed how Nate slid his hand down Rachel's arm to hold her hand, and how she stopped and spoke to Kurt which gave her the opportunity to free herself. When she returned to Nate, she tucked her hands in the pockets of her cardigan to discourage a repeat of the move.
Rachel was very aware of how close they were getting to the spot where Puck and Finn sat. She listened half-heartedly as Nate droned on about his high score on DJ Hero the previous night and noticed Puck staring at her. She met his gaze head on and smothered a smile as he flexed a hand to indicate he saw her maneuver. She ducked her head down and bit her lip to keep the laugh from escaping. As they neared the guys, she turned and began towards them. Nate followed her closely, then rushed up to wrap an arm around her shoulders.
Nate wasn't sure what was going on with Rachel and Puck, but he was almost positive it was the reason that Rachel wasn't interested in getting serious with anyone. He'd asked her about it and she'd always just shrug and say they were friends. He hadn't been brave enough to ask Puck what the deal is. He just knew that when they were around him, Nate felt the need to puff his chest out. He did it subconsciously but Rachel noticed and rubbed his arm comfortingly before turning her attention to her friends. "Hey."
Puck nodded as Finn grinned happily. "Hey Rach… Nate. What's up?" Nate shrugged and tried not to notice that Rachel and Puck were smirking at each other. "Not too much. Making plans to watch you guys play tonight." Puck looked away finally. "Coming to the game? Cool. It should be a good one. You coming to the after-party at Mike's?" "Yeah man, definitely." Nate glanced at Rachel waiting for her confirmation. She shrugged. "Not sure, I need to work on some things for Glee. Maybe I'll see you there." Puck knew immediately that she was coming to the party but didn't want to be in the position of Nate's date. He smirked at her again and watched as her cheeks flushed warm because she knew he knew.
Finn checked his watch and got to his feet. "Gotta hit the showers and meet Quinn for lunch. See you guys later. You coming Puckerman?" Rachel and Puck stared at each other again. Feeling superfluous, Nate decided to save face and excuse himself. "I'll walk with you Finn. I need to check with the guys and see if they're down for the party. I'll pick you up for the game at 6 Rachel." She nodded as he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Bye."
Rachel and Puck stood in silence for a few seconds before he broke it. "So why don't you want go to the party with the ice skater?" She rolled her eyes. "He's sweet… but I'm trying to keep from leading him on." He stood and she immediately stepped back to give him room. "Just tell him you're not interested." She arched a brow. "I haven't decided if that's true." They turned in tandem and began walking towards the school. "Yes you have, you're just too stubborn to admit it." She sighed. "Either way…" Deciding to test his appeal, Puck reached down and gripped her hand. She gazed down then back at him. He lifted his brows waiting to see if she would allow it. She shook her head gently laughing, but didn't pull away. He grinned as they entered the building and went their separate ways.
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Rachel bounced in her seat watching the game unfold. The first half had been pretty one-sided with their team scoring a touchdown in the first minutes and holding the other team at bay the rest of the two quarters. The second half seemed more even with the score tied. She tried not to scream too much when Puck caught the ball. For some reason she felt like she was hurting Nate's feelings, but she was getting to the point where his puppy dog looks were pissing her off. She had told him clearly that she wasn't interested in being his girlfriend. She didn't understand why he continued to watch her interactions with Puck as if they were the reason. True, she wanted to rip his clothes off, but Puck didn't do girlfriends. She knew that as a fact. She was starting to fall in love with him but that was her problem, not his. She wasn't going to tell him her feelings anymore than she was going to fake feelings for Nate. And she wasn't going to just ignore her friend because another friend had a problem with it. That was weak and if there was one word that didn't describe Rachel Berry… it was weak.
She leaned back and rested her arms on the empty seat behind her and watched the game. She wrapped her cardigan a little tighter around herself, glad that she'd pulled leggings on under her skirt. The weather was rapidly announcing fall and she was looking forward to pulling out more of her New York wardrobe. She started mentally cataloging what she would wear first when she saw Puck running towards the end zone. Her breath caught as she jumped to her feet with the rest of the fans and began screaming and clapping. She gasped as he was hit hard from the side and hit the ground. The few seconds he stayed down were all she needed to realize he might be hurt. She dashed to the stairs and thundered down them, while keeping her eyes on him. Right as she reached the fence behind the bench where he was sitting, she ran into Nate. He grasped her arms to hold her steady during the collision and looked around. "What's wrong?" She leaned to the side to see Puck and saw that he was sitting on the bench watching her. Their eyes met and he gave her an upturned thumb to indicate he was okay. She nodded once and blew out the breath of fear she had been holding in. She looked up at Nate and saw that he had missed the exchange and was looking up to the bleachers to see what she had been running from. Her remorse rose as she realized she hadn't been running from, but to someone. And yet there was a perfectly nice boy in front of her waiting to slay the dragons. She smiled because she sensed he needed it. "Nothing, I started running down to speak to Quinn and my momentum must have caused me to seem like I was rushing."
Nate nodded, already past the small drama. "Did you still want to see her? I'm going to go back to the seats." She shook her head. "No, I already forgot what I was going to tell her." She laughed to make him laugh and turned to walk back up the stairs.
Puck stood on the field watching for Finn's snap. When he saw the ball spiraling towards him, his adrenaline rose and he felt the anticipation. The ball fell into his arms and he tucked it into the pocket and began zigzagging his way through opponents. He ran the first 40 yards with a lot of difficulty and saw the timer winding down. Jumping over a member of the other team, he dove into the end zone as the buzzer sounded. McKinley had won the game! Exhilarated, he rolled to his feet and threw the ball to the ground. He took a running start at Finn and chest-bumped him in front of the bench. He gasped, cursing as a couple of his teammates poured ice water from a cooler over his head. He immediately turned and looked for Rachel. She was already standing at the fence behind the bench and he smiled at her. She grinned back and returned the upturned thumb he'd given her earlier. He chuckled at the sassy kiss she blew him before he was swallowed by the crowd of his schoolmates.
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Showered and refreshed, Puck walked across the empty parking lot towards his truck. He had waited until everyone else was gone because he needed time to himself to think about what he was doing. He knew that he liked Rachel. If he was honest with himself, he knew he was half in love with her already. He knew she liked him, but the look on her face when he'd been carried to the bench had led him to believe it was more than just flirting, that maybe she cared like he was starting to. He was beginning to depend on her and that was more than a little unnerving, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he knew that she was feeling the same thing. He sighed to himself and kept walking, wishing she was with him.
Rachel sat on the bed of the truck and smiled softly when he finally noticed her. "Congratulations Noah." He stopped and stared at her. He couldn't even speak he was so flustered by the fact that he had been hoping for her and she was suddenly there. That had to be the reason he acted before he thought. He dropped his bag to the ground and stalked towards her. Rachel swallowed at the intense look on his face, but didn't move from her spot. He stopped in front of her and without warning, drove his fingers into the thick mass of her hair. Their eyes met and his searched hers for some sort of sanity because his was slowly slipping away. All he saw was desire. When her tongue darted out and swiped across her lips, he groaned and crushed his mouth to hers.
Rachel forgot how to breathe as Puck slowly devoured her. Moans of pleasure caught in her throat as his mouth trailed down her neck. Colors exploded like fireworks behind her closed eyelids and she slid closer to the edge of her seat. That was all the encouragement he needed. Still kissing her mouth, he reached down and gripped her thighs, pulling her up until her legs were wrapped around his waist. She gasped as she felt him hard and ready against her core and sent up a prayer of thanks that she had taken those stupid leggings off. She clasped her arms behind his head and ran her hands over the strip of hair covering his scalp. It was his turn to groan as she bit down lightly on his bottom lip and held it.
Turning, he sat in her seat with her clamped around his lap and licked a line up her neck to her ear. She was incoherently murmuring in his ear and he didn't think he'd ever heard a sweeter sound. Her hands raced up the back of his shirt under his jacket and as her palms hit his bare skin, they both hissed with pleasure at the contact. Her nails began tracing vague patterns on his body as her hips ground down on his. Puck tried to clear his mind and remember all the reasons that they should stop and when none came, his hand slid between their bodies. As it trailed into the lace of her panties, her breath caught then rushed out as he slid his finger over her clit.
Puck groaned again, unable to help himself. She was so fucking wet. He skimmed his thumb over her again and grinned when she whimpered. He did it repeatedly increasing the speed and pressure until she was writhing in his arms. When he felt her body tightening, he bit her shoulder where her cardigan had fallen away and flicked her slippery nub harder. He kissed her hard and sucked her scream into his mouth as Rachel came apart in his arms. Puck tucked her head under his chin and slowly rubbed her back, whispering to her as she continued to shudder and shake on his lap. When she was finally still, he waited for her to meet his eyes. Rachel leaned back and stared at him in wonder as he kissed her swollen lips softly. Stunned, she let him carry her around the truck and deposit her on the seat. Her heart stuttered as he lifted his fingers to his mouth and sucked them slowly while watching her. "That's how you congratulate me babe. Now let's go party."