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A Rachel/Puck fic.

Chapter Four.

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Disclaimer: See Ch. 1

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A/N: Thanks for the great reviews guys, you rock! You keep me inspired!

I'm so excited for the new episode of glee tonight, can't hardly wait! I just had an all-nighter, online glee-athon with a friend of mine, so I'm sufficiently caught up and psyched about the new episode.

I happy you guys are still liking this story, even if it's a bit darker than my last couple of fics.

Not much to say about this chapter ... more Puck in this one. Woot woot!

Alrighty, let's get on with it.

As always, please read and review, I live for feedback!

In gym class Rachel was seated next to Mercedes and Tina, listening to the teacher lecturing them on proper gym attire. Many of the girls despised the outfit the school had supplied for them to wear, and often came in their stylish sweats or cut-off shorts, and multi-layered, skinny-strapped shirts.

"What's wrong with your lip?" Mercedes asked her.

Rachel shrugged. "Just a slip."

"Th-tha - that looks l-like more than a slip," Tina commented.

Rachel sighed, saying under her breath, "First Puck, now you."

"Puck what?" Mercedes interrogated. "What did that fool do now?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Just ... never mind. What did you guys work out for your glee assignment?"

Mercedes spyed on her out of the corner of her eye. "Don't think this convo's over, chicky."

Despite their conversation the other night, Brandon was still trying to distance himself from Rachel. He barely talked to her in the hall or during their classes, and when lunch came around, he went out to the bleachers to eat his lunch, instead of the cafeteria. Rachel wished that he would move past what had happened - as she had - but she understood that he needed his space to deal with what had happened.

What made her most nervous were the looks that Puck kept throwing her way.

He was confusing the hell out of her. He drove her completely insane, always sticking his nose in where it didn't belong.

She hoped that Brandon's talk with Miss Pilsburry had gone well. Her dads were considering sending him to a psychiatrist, instead of just the school guidance counsellor, but they wanted to give this a chance first. She agreed. She didn't want Brandon to think that they thought he was ... well, in need of psychiatric help.

She tentatively fingered her split lip. The swelling had gone down considerably, but it would be a few days at least until the cut was healed. That cast certainly packs a whallop.

She saw Mr Shuester grabbing a soft drink out of the vending machine before making his way back to the staff room, and decided to follow him.

"Mr Shuester, can I talk to you for a moment?" she asked him, catching up.

"Sure, Rachel," he answered. "What can I do for you?"

"It's about glee this afternoon. I was wondering if you would consider giving Brandon a solo, or even a duet. I think it would really help boost his confidence, and bring him into the group more."

He nodded after a moment. "Sure. I'm sure I can think of something simple for him." He smiled down at Rachel. "That's really nice of you Rachel."

She shrugged. "Just trying to help him out."

He glanced at the cut on her lip. "Ouch. You okay?"

She looked away, nodding automatically. "It's fine. Just a little slip. Um, thanks though. For giving Brandon a chance like this."

He nodded again. "No problem. I'll see you later."

At glee club that afternoon, Brandon was still trying to avoid Rachel. She ignored this and purposefully sat right next to him, pulling out her notes from the last class.

"You don't have to be so nice to me," he told her.

She flipped her hair casually. "I try to be nice to everyone I meet, Brandon. You're certainly no exception."

"Well, not everyone hit you in the face with a hard cast," he countered.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Like a little puffiness is gonna scare me off. Now, let's work on your scales. Show we what you got."

The others piled in a few minutes later, glancing at the two by the piano.

Artie rolled up to them. "Hey, how about you sit down and give it a try?"

Brandon looked at the piano for a moment. "I don't know ..."

Rachel nodded encouragingly. "Sure, come on. We'll try something easy. Do you know "Heart and Soul"?"

He nodded after a moment.

The others watched them curiously, Puck leaning back in his chair with narrowed eyes.

Rachel patted the bench beside her. "Come on, give it a go."

He sat down slowly, and she took the opening, leaving him to do the high notes with his cast-free hand.

He held his left hand in his lap while he stroked the keys flawlessly, but tried not to put too much emotion into it. He hadn't played in over ten years, and any time he had tried, his father had gotten furious at him. He remembered every note though, and when it got to the chopsticks part of the song, his long fingers made it easy to hit every note.

Rachel played along with him, smiling at his talent.

Mr Shuester walked into the room when they were halfway through the song, clapping eagerly.

"Very nice, guys," he commented, and Brandon stopped playing.

"Oh, don't stop on my account. It sounded good," Mr Shuester urged, but Brandon stepped away from the piano, walking to his seat.

Will Shuester pursed his lips, but didn't say anything as Rachel too returned to her chair beside Brandon, and behind Puck.

"Alright, I've got a new task for you this week. I'm going to pair each of you up and have you perform a duet of your choice. Of course, one group will have three members now that we have thirteen people, but I think it should work out great. We'll also be performing another song at the assembly this week, so we'll work on that first, and then I'll assign your pairs at the end of class. So, the song we'll be performing is "Bust a Move"."

The girls giggled at that, and the boys whooped excitedly. "That's what I'm talking about!" Mike said, nudging Matt with his arm.

Rachel smiled, imagining the fun they could have with that song. It wouldn't be her first choice, but she knew it would be fun.

"Alright, let's get the guys on one side of the room, and the girls on the other," Mr Shuester told them, wanting to get started right away.

Puck smirked as he passed, "Looks like you're gonna have to settle for singing back-up on this one, Berry."

Rachel rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the forced contact their bodies made.

"Dude, what's up with you lately?" Finn asked after practice the next day.

"What do you mean?" Puck replied, gulping down water.

"You've been out of it for like, I don't know ... a while now."

Puck shook his head, wondering how it was possible any of the teachers at McKinley High had ever passed Finn in anything.

"Just got a lot of stuff on my mind. It's nothing," Puck told him.

"Well, since when does "nothing" affect you on the field?"

Puck gave him a disbelieving look. "I'm playing just fine."

"Exactly," Finn countered.

"What?"

Finn pressed, "You've never been "just fine" at football. Ever since I've known you, whenever you love something, you give like, 150 percent. You've been giving maybe 90 percent lately."

It amazed Puck that someone so clueless could be so perceptive about such trivial things.

"Alright, you know that dude that's been hanging with Berry lately?" he asked him.

"Oh, yeah. Her foster brother?" Finn responded.

Puck paused. "Since when does she have a foster brother?"

Finn thought for a moment. "Almost two weeks now, I think."

Puck allowed that to soak in. So the dude wasn't her boyfriend, but her new foster brother. A new foster brother who apparently took out his anger on girls half his size.

"So, what's his deal?" he asked Finn, seeing as he clearly had more information than he did.

Finn shrugged, making his way to the locker room. "Rachel didn't tell me much about him. Just that her dads had taken him in, and that she hoped we'd make him feel welcome."

Puck snorted at that.

Finn shrugged again. "That's what she said.

They shucked their gear and headed to the showers, and while Puck was in the middle of sudsing himself up, he had a sudden thought.

"Dude," he called out over the spray of the showers.

"What?" Finn called back.

"I have an idea."

"What do you mean, you want him to try out for the football team?" Rachel asked Finn with Brandon beside her.

"Well, we're looking for a new tight end, and you're the one who wanted me to make him feel more welcome," Finn told her.

Rachel wracked her brain. "But his wrist ... he can't do -"

Finn interupted her after Puck coughed discretely behind him. "It's not like he's gonna have that cast on forever, and he's right-handed, right?"

Rachel nodded slowly.

"So it's not like it'll be a huge obstacle," Finn told her, replaying the line he and Puck had rehearsed. Even though he wasn't entirely sure where Puck was going with this.

"Still ... I'm not sure it's the best idea," Rachel spoke.

"So, why not let him talk for once," Puck suggested from behind Finn, having left himself out of the conversation until now. "After all, it is his decision."

Rachel eyed him suspiciously. "Since when did you decide to be nice?"

Puck put on his best innocent eyes. "What? Now you're gonna get mad at me for taking your suggestions?"

She sighed deeply, looking at Brandon. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

He thought about it for a moment. He wasn't great at contact sports. He didn't like putting himself into violent situations. But, Rachel's parents - and Rachel herself - had told him he should try to be more outgoing in school, and if Puck and Finn were extending an olive branch, he didn't want to turn it down and have them alienate him for the next two years.

Finally he said, "Sure. I'll try out."

End of chapter four. Sorry for the wait. I tried to update this last night, but I fell asleep ... my all-nighter finally caught up with me.

I know this one is short ... I keep promising to make longer chapters, and I just don't deliever. Grr to myself.

I'll try harder with the next one.

Loved tonight's episode of Glee. So good. And I hate to say it, 'cause I'm a die-hard Puck/Rachel fan, but I wasn't entirely against Quinn in that episode. Don't worry, I'm sure it will pass.

Anywhoo, reviews are appreciated, positive or negative.

I hope you liked it!

Until next time ...!