AN: Thank you once again to all you wonderful people who reviewed and added this story to their favorites and alerts. I really like this story so I'm glad that you all are enjoying it! R&R!!! Also as I submit this I am preparing my house for a glee party…I have no interest in football so I'm enjoying some glee with my girls….and trying to recruit a few gleeks!


Rachel spent all day Sunday crying. Her father's had tried on several occasions to get her to come out of her room but she refused every one of their requests. So they were more than thrilled when Quinn showed up. Opening Rachel's bedroom door Quinn looked into to see Rachel sitting up in bed watching the Notebook with tissue scattered around the bed.

"You look horrible," Quinn said, hanging her purse on Rachel's desk chair.

Rachel looked up at Quinn, her face looking similar to the way it had the previous day before all of the makeup, "Thank you Quinn that boost in my confidence is greatly appreciated."

Quinn let Rachel's snippy comment slide, "At least you didn't sleep with his best friend?"

Rachel shot Quinn a look, "Not funny."

"Well I don't know what you want me to do or say. He's not answering the phone for me either. Did you try Finn again?"

"Yeah, nothing."

"He just needs to calm down and all of us annoying him isn't going to help that happen any quicker."

Rachel just shrugged. Quinn moved to sit on Rachel's bed and noticed the tissue in scattered mess around Rachel, "Well you can't sit here like this. Not if I'm going to be here. Get up and at least get showered and dressed, we can be all sappy today but you at least need to get yourself changed."

Quinn grabbed Rachel out of her bed and pushed her into her bathroom.

And that is how Rachel and Quinn spent Sunday afternoon, crying over sappy movies.

~~~~*~~~~

By Monday morning, Rachel still hadn't heard from Puck. He had been Rachel's usual ride to school. However, Puck had sent Quinn a text asking her to pick Rachel up for him. He doesn't respond to Quinn's text asking why. Rachel's heart fell a little more when she sees Quinn pull in her driveway to pick her up. She almost reluctantly got inside. She fortunately had stopped crying somewhere between West Side Story and How to Deal. How to Deal somehow gave Rachel hope that everything would be okay. She had nowhere near the same emotional issues as Mandy Moore's character had, and that other cute guy reminded her of Puck the entire time.

The ride to school was silent. Quinn and Rachel having spent the last two days and all their resources trying to sort through the problem. Quinn was trying so hard to comfort Rachel, however without any idea where Puck was, there was no way of telling how long this was going to go on.

For Rachel, walking into school was the harder than it had ever been. Slushies and other forms of torment constantly threatened her, however the idea of seeing Puck made things a million times worse. Rachel wasn't sure what she expected when she walked through the hallways of William McKinley, but she was immediately greeted with silence, and then the loudest whispers she had ever heard. Rachel ignored them. People had whispered before and Rachel had realized that most of the time they didn't need a reason to do so.

~~~~*~~~~

Puck was happy for two things today. One was the fact that he didn't have to see Rachel face to face until Glee, and the second was that he could still listen to her sing during lunchtime. Puck felt something inside of him break as he watched her walk to the middle of the stage and stop, staring directly into the empty audience. She stood there silent for a long time. Puck couldn't really tell but on stage, Rachel fought long and hard to keep the tears at bay. She couldn't cry at school, not the way she had at home, so she had to be strong enough to get through the rest of the day without shedding another tear. When she finally thought she had firm control of her emotions, Rachel took a deep breath and began singing.

I don't mind at all
It's like you're the swing set and I'm the kid that falls
It's like the way we fight, the times I've cried, we come to blows
And every night the passion's there so it's gotta be right, right?

Listening to Rachel sing, Puck was angry with himself. What he had done with Savannah on Saturday night was absolutely inexcusable. There was no way that Rachel was going to forgive him for that, nor did Puck expect her to. But that still meant that he had to tell her, that he had to see her and know that he had hurt her. And that he was going to hurt her more. Puck could hear the pain in Rachel's expression as she sang strong with that amazing Rachel Berry voice that made his skin tingle.

No I don't believe you
When you say don't come around here no more
I won't remind you
You said we wouldn't be apart
No, I don't believe you
When you say you don't need me anymore
So don't pretend
To not love me at all

At some point Saturday Puck knew that he had been out of line. It had come way too late and he was way too intoxicated to look back, but he knew it. Rachel wasn't trying to hurt him; she hadn't meant what she said. But still Puck latched on to that small speck and turned it into one of the biggest messes of his life.

I don't mind it
I still don't mind at all
It's like one of those bad dreams when you can't wake up
Looks like you've given up, you've had enough
But I want more no I won't stop
'cause I just know you'll come around... right?

Rachel wondered what glee would be like this afternoon. Would they sit in awkward silence until it was over and then they had a chance go talk? Would they even talk? Rachel wondered if Puck even wanted her anymore. The last couple of months had been hard and they had been painful but they had found each other in those months and they got through all the ugly. 'Maybe Noah doesn't need me anymore' Rachel thought.

No I don't believe you
When you say don't come around here no more
I won't remind you
You said we wouldn't be apart
No, I don't believe you
When you say you don't need me anymore
So don't pretend
To not love me at all

As Rachel finished singing, Puck knew that he had to reason with Rachel. He would tell her the truth and that counted for something right? Well probably not but he had to hope that it was. He would tell Rachel that sleeping with Savannah was a mistake and that it'll never happen again. Rachel was a forgiving person. She had forgiven Finn for all his idiotic behavior and she had forgiven him for the slushies. Puck knew inside that this was completely different from slushies; slushies washed away. Puck needed Rachel to forgive him; he needed her in his life. This was never happening again and Rachel had to understand this. She needed to understand that he loved her. Yes, Noah Puckerman had been in love with Rachel Berry for a long time but he had never said anything. Why? He wasn't really sure.But it was time to bring out the big guns, and Puck was ready to do everything and anything to make this okay again.

~~~~~*~~~~

Puck's best scenario for fixing this was during glee. There was a small chance she would fight with him in front of an audience and she would at least listen to him. Or storm out, but Puck was hoping for the first one. So he skipped his last class of the day and arrived at the choir room really early in order to start this conversation before anyone else got into the room. Puck sat in the front row of chairs anxiously awaiting Rachel walking through that door. He was ready to do everything, including gravel in order to get her to listen. The door opened and Puck's heart nearly came up through his throat and then plummeted immediately into his stomach when Quinn walked in the room slamming the door closed behind her. She moved towards Puck grabbing the books in her hands and immediately started hitting Puck repeatedly with them. Puck tried his best to block each hit but Quinn came at him still.

"What the hell Quinn?" Puck said when she finally stopped. She looked pissed.

"Are you an idiot? Don't even answer that because I know the answer. You're not just an idiot. You're the biggest dumbest idiot I have ever met in my entire life. What the hell were you thinking, sleeping with Savannah Jeffreys?" Quinn's voice dropped to a whisper at the last part even though they were alone.

"How did you-"

"Savannah just had to gloat. She told Santana who was able to keep it from Brittany so none of the other gleeks know. But she told me. The whole school is going to know pretty soon and do you have any idea what that is going to do to Rachel?"

"It was a mistake," Puck said looking at Quinn seriously.

"She's been torn apart all weekend Puck," Quinn said referring to Rachel, "Because you had that fight and then I found out you weren't even a bit upset about the whole thing that you were too busy getting drunk and laid by Savannah. First, she is trying horribly to be me and second of all, you don't do that to Rachel!" Quinn said hitting him again with her books.

"I don't know what to say Quinn,"

"You don't have to say anything to me. You had better hope that Rachel hasn't heard about this already or you're going to be in even more trouble. I just spent my entire weekend comforting her because she thought you were mad at her for accidentally calling you a Lima Loser and now I'm going to have to spend who knows how much more time comforting her over this. There isn't enough ice cream or enough chick flicks for that poor girl to deal with."

"That's why as soon as she gets here, I'm going to talk to her."

"You were going to do it right before glee? Tell her that the boy she adored so much was unfaithful to her. And what we could all sing around her as she cried? It doesn't matter, she's not coming."

"What do you mean she's not coming?"

"I don't know I haven't seen her since after lunch. She said she wasn't feeling well and she sent me a text to let me know one of her dads came to get her and to tell Mr. Shuester she was sorry."

"What am I going to do Quinn?"

"I have no idea Puck. You might really be screwed this time." Quinn said taking a seat next to Puck as everyone else began filing in the room.

Puck couldn't help but notice the completely obvious dirty looks Kurt was giving him. He had no idea how much Hummel knew but it wasn't anything compared to the dirty look Santana was throwing him, and she knew everything. Mr. Shuester walked in ready to start rehearsal and immediately noticed Rachel's absence.

"Where's Rachel?" the glee director asked.

"She's not feeling well Mr. Shuester," Quinn said, "Something about protecting her vocal chords this close to regionals."

"Well alright then. Speaking of regionals, we have three weeks. And after reviewing Finn and Puck's What You Own and everyone's I Wanna Be the Rain, I have chosen to go with the group number rather than the duet because I want to make this as much of a group effort as a singular one. Now I really want to focus our strength as a group during Finale B. There is only one line considered solo and Artie is going to take that. Now for I Wanna Be the Rain, we are going to split the verses up and I want Finn and Quinn to take the solos in that song. In One Sweet Day, I have divided it up between Artie, Mercedes, Finn, Puck and Rachel. I really wanted to run through One Sweet Day today but with Rachel absent, we will have to get started on I Wanna Be the Rain." Will said starting rehearsal.

~~~~*~~~~

After a glee rehearsal in which Puck found himself only half-participating in, he rushed to his truck and headed straight to Rachel's. He parked in front of her house and was surprised to see that her dads weren't home. If they had picked her up from school because she was sick, one of them should have stayed home, right? He shook it off thankful they were going to have the privacy they needed for the conversation. He was also grateful that there would be no fathers to beat him to a bloody pulp for hurting their little girl.

Puck walked the path to the front door and rang the bell. Standing there, he felt time begin to move slowly, waiting for Rachel to come answer the door. Puck stood there for what felt like five minutes (well that's because it was five minutes) before he rang the bell again. This time he added a couple of knocks to the door. 'Shit' he thought as he banged on the door again. The truth was he had no idea if Rachel was even home but he was full prepared to bang on that door until his hands bled incase she was inside. Finally, just as Puck was about to launch into another assault of the Berry's front door, it flung open but there was no one standing there to greet him. Puck peeked his head inside to see that Rachel had opened the door but immediately gone to sit down her couch.

Puck stepped into the house and closed the door behind him. He didn't move any farther though. He just stood in front of the door and looked at Rachel who was visibility upset. He didn't know how to start talking so instead he just stood there, like a fool while Rachel looked everywhere else in the room but at him.

Suddenly Rachel shot up and turned so that she was facing away from Puck.

"You know I had a really interesting conversation with Savannah Jeffreys today. She told me that she saw you at her party Saturday night, and that she would have slept with you sooner if she'd known how good in bed you were." Rachel was glad she was still facing away from Puck so he couldn't see the tears slip down her face, "And I knew she had to be lying to me. Right? I kept telling myself that you would never do that to me. But she was telling me about all of the texts I sent you Saturday night, apologizing and then I thought well maybe she just got a hold of your phone. So now I'm going to ask you Noah, was she telling the truth, did you sleep her?"

"Rachel-"

"NO!" Rachel yelled probably the loudest she ever had, "I just need a yes or a no."

Puck hesitated for a moment, "Yes. But Rachel just listen-"

It was then that Rachel turned to look at him, a stream of tears emptying her eyes and carving marks into her cheeks. She wiped at them furiously and Puck's heart snapped knowing that he had caused all of this. He moved closer, away from the door.

"Was it because we hadn't had sex?" Rachel asked bluntly.

"What?! No. Of course not, I told you I was okay with waiting."

"Then why?" Rachel whispered, a stark contrast from her voice only a moment before, "I don't understand."

"I was upset about our fight and I was drinking, I wasn't thinking clearly."

"So that's your excuse, alcohol?"

"Pretty much yeah."

"Well that isn't going to work this time. It might have worked to get Finn to forgive you for sleeping with Quinn, but it isn't going to work now."

Puck flinched at Rachel's words, "Rachel, I'm sorry." Puck said moving to close as much of the distance between them as he could.

Rachel put her hands up and kept him at arms length, "I'm sorry is what you say when you're late or you forget something. But I'm sorry doesn't work when you've broken my trust and humiliated me AGAIN in front of the whole school."

"Rach, I don't know what else to say other than it was a mistake and it will never happen again."

"You're damn right it won't," Puck would have thought in any other situation that her use of the word 'damn' was cute; however when it came from the anger aimed towards him he couldn't help but avoid that thought, "I spent this entire weekend completely beside myself because you weren't answering my texts or my calls. But the entire time I was beating myself up for what happened on Saturday you were off doing disgusting things with blonde cheerleaders."

Rachel looked down at the floor as Puck's eyes pleaded with the top of her head to look into his eyes and see how sorry and upset he was over this whole thing. He was silently pleaded for her to do anything that gave him the slightest bit of hope that everything was going to be okay.

"I love you," Puck said.

Rachel's head shot up and she looked at him wide eyed. Puck said he was going to pull out all the stops and he hadn't been kidding. It probably wasn't the best time or in the most romantic setting that he thought she deserved, but he wanted Rachel to know.

"Well you've got a hell of a way of showing it," Rachel spat.

"You love me too, I know you do." Puck said grabbing Rachel's hand.

Rachel felt his warm hand on hers and his flesh burned against her skin. She pulled her hand back and looked him in the eye, "I loved you more when you threw slushies at me."

"You don't mean that Rachel."

"You can leave now."

"Rach-"

"GET OUT!" Rachel shouted walking away from him and into her kitchen leaving Puck alone in the middle of her living room.

It took a moment but Puck finally walked back towards the door. As he opened it, he stopped calling back to her before walking out, "Just because I have a hard time showing it doesn't make it any less true."

Once in his truck, Puck slammed his hands against the steering wheel. He turned his truck on and the radio poured through the speakers. He hadn't listened to the radio on the way to Rachel's and it was still on the country station that Rachel had put on days ago. She had been looking for new songs to sing and thought she should at least entertain the idea of country music given its popularity. Puck backed out of the driveway too angry to change the station. Puck was more than half way to his house when he finally started paying attention to the lyrics to the song that had been playing since he had left Rachel and he realized that it was time for a change, one he had once hoped would never come, but it was time.

"Another love grows cold, on a sleepless night. As the storm blows on, out of control, deep in her heart, the thunder rolls"

Puck felt it rolling it in himself as well.


AN: I kid you not, I listened to "The Thunder Rolls" by Garth Brooks on loop the entire time that I was writing the last part with Rachel and Puck. Which if you didn't know was the song that Puck heard on the radio. I'm really glad that I didn't out Puck's hiding spot when I had originally planned because I like that he can have it now that they are going through all of this.