Summer before Senior Year: July

Every morning since July two-a-days ended, Puck and his boys would play basketball at the park by Sam's house. Him, Hudson, Chang and Evans would play two-on-two and then wait for Artie to come, so they could play COD.

"Yo Rutherford is throwing a party last minute, you're coming right?" asked Mike, his gaze never leaving the screen.

"Hell yeah I'm coming," Puck muttered, shooting the shit out of Hudson and Evan's soldiers.

"You bringing Rachel?" Sam asked, a mischievous smile on his face.

Out of the corner of his eye, Puck could see Finn scowling at him in annoyance as if he was expecting Puck to say no. Idiot.

"Fuck yeah, my girl is coming," he responded, pausing the game and smirking at Sam. Pointedly ignoring Finn, as the scowl deepened on his former best friend's face.

Artie let out a snort, "Your girl, Puck? Does she know that?"

Okay, so it's been going on for a couple of weeks, where they went from being Rachel and Puck to being RachelandNoah (it's still Puck, motherfuckers!) like they were a package deal or some shit. And yeah, so maybe he spent a little too much time with Rachel. Like, he always makes it a point to see her every single day. His boys give him shit all the time, calling him whipped and Finn keeps sending glares his way because he supposedly broke bro code. Three words, asshole: Christmas tree lot. That's a deal breaker right there. But shit like this doesn't bother him much.

And he's not gonna lie, this thing with Rachel is the best thing that's happened to him since Beth was born. Shit, he's been thinking about making it official, even though everyone and their mother knows that Rachel is his. He deserves to be happy, and so does she right? So yeah, he hasn't exactly told her his feelings but it was pretty self-explanatory. Her, on the other hand, he could feel she was holding back.

He scowled at his friends who were laughing at him. Fuckers, "She'll know tonight."

"Okay, Noah," Sam laughed, ducking away from Puck's fist.

"Shut the fuck up and let's play," Puck growled, his hazel eyes dancing.

After he left Sam's house, Puck went home, showered and tried calling Rachel. But the phone kept ringing twice and going straight to voicemail. Weird. Usually, she would be home from ballet and they would hang out. Two hours later, and the same shit kept happening, he was positively glowering. The fuck is going on with this chick?

Everything alright? He typed sending her a quick text message.

Everything is fine Noah, sorry I missed your text I was hanging out with Josh from dance academy and I didn't hear my phone, his phone chirped not even 2 minutes later.

The fuck? Now he was fucking livid. Josh from DANCE ACADEMY? She wants to play some stupid game, then fine. He didn't respond. Instead, Puck texted Santana to bring Berry to Matt's party, coz he sure as shit wasn't bringing her ass.

Everything alright? Santana texted back, the irony wasn't lost on Puck who snorted before shutting his phone off.

He didn't show up at Matt's until close to 10:30, and by then the party was in full swing. Everyone was at Rutherford's house. Kids from Lima and Lima West were there. Puck nodded at a few people, as he pushed his way into the kitchen.

"Puckerman. It's been a minute!" Matt said, grinning widely at him.

Puck smiled for the first time since shit with Rachel hit the fan earlier, giving his bro a hug. He hasn't seen Matt since he transferred to Lima West.

"So you and Rach, huh?"

He grunted, "Nothing going on with me and Berry."

"Not from what I hear," his friend said, smirking at him, "She's somewhere here with Santana, which by the way, what the fuck is up with that? And she's looking good too."

"Oh yeah?" Puck said noncommittally, nodding at a few more people. He clapped Matt on the back and went to talk to the hot girl he spotted from Lima West.

Twenty minutes passed and he was still talking to Elena (maybe its Helena or Yelena?) He saw a bunch of Gleeks watching the two of them like hawks. He almost laughed out loud, fuckers need to mind their own business anyway. But then, shit really hit the fan when he saw Rachel and Tina making their way into the living room. Rachel's eyes immediately flew at his face, and then flicked to the hot Spanish girl in front of him.

Listen, there was acceptable distance between him and Helen, okay? He wasn't even all that interested in what she was saying. And when he saw that look on Rachel's gorgeous face, he politely excused himself and turned to talk to a few guys from the football team. Just as he was walking by, he saw Rachel turn bright red, before she walked towards him.

"Noah, may I speak to you in private please?" she asked him, her voice so controlled, it almost sent chills down his spine. Almost.

He raised an eyebrow at her questioningly, before gesturing for her to lead the way.

Sam, Chang and the other guys from the team watched the two of them walk away with knowing grins. He could have sworn he heard someone say, Puckerman is in the doghouse.

Puck followed her all the way to the back porch, almost running her tiny frame over when she stopped abruptly and turned towards him with blazing eyes.

"I've been calling you all day!" she accused, "and then I see you...with that…hussy from West Lima!"

He rolled his eyes, "Oh, you've been calling me all day have you?"

"Yes! And the phone kept going straight to voicemail, Noah Puckerman!"

"I wonder how that feels," he deadpanned, staring her down. Challenging her.

Rachel's eyes narrowed in recognition, this is why he loves this chick. She's fucking sharp, and knows exactly what he's talking about, "This is about Josh?"

"No! Yes!" he yelled, frustration settling, "I don't fucking know, Berry. This is so much more than fucking Josh and you know it."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Noah!" she yelled back, hands clenching into tiny fists.

"We're back there, huh, B?"

"Back to what?"

This time, Puck was quiet. He turned around and leaned over the porch railing, looking out into the Rutherford's backyard.

"Noah?" she asked, mimicking his actions, standing close to him. She's not an idiot, she knows what he's talking about, but she's the fucking queen of denial.

"I can't keep kissing you, Rachel."

She gasped, and he knew without even looking that tears were filling those big, brown eyes, "What do you mean?"

"It means what it means," he said gruffly, feeling a sharp pain deep in his chest, "I can't keep kissing you and initiating things and giving you the answers."

Another intake of breath, and Puck knew he was done for. He turned slowly and saw tears streaming freely down her face, "Look at me, Rach. Please."

"No. I can't," she said in a pained voice, his heart breaking all over again because she was crying.

"If you felt—even a shred—of what I feel for you…we wouldn't be standing here having this conversation…" he told her quietly, "I was gonna ask you to be my girl today, B. But you were hanging out with fucking Josh. And maybe we got our signals crossed or some shit, but it's painfully obvious to me now that you're not ready to admit that this, right here, it's bigger than either of us ever imagined."

Fuck. He's turning into fucking Rachel Berry. Now he's the one who's got paragraphs of shit to say, when she can't even say more than two or three words to him.

Taking her silence as an indication that the conversation was over, he nodded, running a hand down the back of his head and walked towards the kitchen.

"Noah," she called.

"Yeah?" he replied, turning to look at her.

She ran to him, full midget speed, and threw her arms around him and kissed him. It wasn't the same hot, urgent kisses they'd shared over the past two weeks. This one was gentle and bittersweet. It was a kiss that only goodbyes were made of. And hey, all good things must come to an end right? He was the first one to pull away, the pounding in his ears, and the tightening in his chest becoming unbearable.

"I hope one day, you figure it out, Rach," he said, before walking back to the party, leaving a crying Rachel behind.

Dawson's Creek: Stolen Kisses 3.19

Pacey: I can't keep kissing you, Joey.
Joey: What do you mean?
Pacey: I mean just that. *I* can't keep kissing *you.* I've done it twice now. I can't be the one always initiating things. I can't be the one always giving you the answers. Look at me.
Joey: I can't.
Pacey: Please. If you felt one shred of what I'm feeling for you, we wouldn't be standing here having this conversation.
[starts to walk away]
Joey: [grabs his hand] Pacey
[turns around and starts kissing him]