Final chapter my darling reviewers! I have absolutely loved you all! Thank you so much for your support and I hope you enjoy the last chapter.

Puck saw Rachel at fleeting moments over the next few days. They barely spoke when they were home together, they just sort of co-existed as though they didn't know each other. Puck didn't know what to do with himself in the weekends. Usually he would be drinking, picking up girls or with the boys, but he just wasn't feeling it lately. Santana had text him a couple of times, but after three weeks of radio silence she seemed to get the message. He tried to keep his mind off the petite brunette who had somehow managed to invade all his thoughts and senses. He slumped down in front of the TV with his playstation controller in hand, a cold beer on the ground in front of him, settling into his Saturday night. Rachel worked early into Sunday mornings and even then she didn't always come home. Puck would force himself to stay awake until four in the mornings for just a chance to see her. His phone rang and he propped it between his shoulder and his ear.

"Sup," he mumbled, his eyes focussed on the TV.

"Bro, tell me you're not at the apartment, moping around in your underwear, dreaming about Rachel," Sam's voice was muffled and Puck could hear music in the background. He glanced down at himself.

Technically not in his underwear.

"What do you want?" Puck grunted.

"Dude, there's some fine ass here tonight—you need to get out of that apartment and get laid!" Sam's words were slurred, an obvious sign he was drinking. Several months ago, Puck would have been tripping over himself to join them, but now, he just wanted to sit at home, wallowing in his own misery. Sam was still babbling in his ear and Puck just dropped the phone into his lap and ended the call.

"Used to fucking laugh at guys like this," Puck muttered as he downed the rest of his beer and got up to grab another."

Rachel had considered staying at Quinn's after work but she had been there almost all week and she was missing her own bed. And Puck. She had been trying to keep her distance from him, trying to separate herself from that small piece in her heart that the gorgeous man in her apartment had captured. But it didn't matter how long she would spend away from him, every time she walked back into her apartment and saw his shoes at the door or smelt his cologne, her resolve would crumble just a little bit. And when she came in at three thirty on Sunday morning and Puck was slumped on the couch, snoring slightly and one of her blankets pulled over him, it took all her resolve not to grab those muscular shoulders and kiss those soft lips. Rachel picked up the beer bottles on the ground, wincing as they clinked together and Puck shifted on the couch. His eyes opened blearily, and he blinked.

"Hey, Rach," he mumbled. Rachel felt her stomach clench at how he said her name, his voice thick with sleep and a slight smile curving his lips. Rachel felt herself beginning to smile back but quickly dropped her eyes.

"Come on, let's get you to bed," Rachel kept her eyes locked on the blanket in one hand and the beer bottles in the other as Puck stood and stretched, exposing his toned stomach. He stood in front of her a moment longer than necessary and Rachel finally looked up at him. He was considering her with eyes that seemed to see right through her. He leaned forward and despite everything she had said to him, she wished for nothing more than for him to press his lips to hers.

"Night, Rach," his voice was soft as he leaned forward, his lips brushing over her forehead as light as a whisper. Then he turned and disappeared down the hallway. Rachel felt tears flood her vision and she inwardly cursed herself. She had no right to be getting upset over him—she had been the one who had put the defences up to stop anything else from happening. But she had seen the way Puck had still looked at her even after she had turned him down, and she knew for a fact that he had not been sleeping around. She had seen Finn at a café downtown who had laughed and asked what she had done with his bestfriend. She didn't need Finn to tell her that Puck had changed, though, she could see it for herself. Whenever she was home in the weekends, there were no random girls floating around the place or waiting outside. He never seemed to go out anymore—it wasn't the first time that she had come home early in the morning after a shift and find him asleep with the TV going.

And yet some part of her was still holding her back from letting herself fall completely for Puck. She told herself that he would hurt her—just as she had been hurt before—and that he was onle interested in her because it was hardly ever that Puck heard the words 'no' come from a girl. But the trust was that she was scared for another reason. She was scared because Puck was changing. He was proving that he could be a better man for her and that he could change. And that scared her because soon she wasn't going to have a reason to say to Puck, and then she would be open and vulnerable to him. She was going to fall for someone all over again and they were going to have the ability to trample over her feelings and break her heart.

Nearly two months after their talk, Rachel came home and Puck was sitting at the kitchen table with a newspaper spread out in front of him. Rachel gave him a tentative smile as she unwound her scarf and dropped it by her bag on the couch. Puck dropped is eyes back to the newspaper in front of him, trying not to think about how beautiful she looked. Too late, though, her image was burnt into his memory. It had been colder over the past few weeks and so she was wearing black skinny jeans tucked into low heeled booties and a grey and white hoodie. Her hair was loose and slightly curvy, tumbling around her shoulders and framed her face. The cold wind outside had bitten at her cheeks and they were tinged with pink. Puck kept his eyes carefully downward as she moved around the kitchen behind him, turning on the jug and getting out ingredients for a hot chocolate.

"Did you want a milo?" Rachel asked, her voice soft.

"Nah, thanks, I'm good," Puck replied, trying to keep the tension out of his voice. The apartment fell silent again except for the sounds of Rachel making her drink. She leaned against the bench behind Puck, her hands wrapped around the warm mug. It was then she noticed the highlighted sections and her eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing?" Rachel's voice was tight. She moved forward so that she was leaning over Puck's shoulder. "You're moving out?" There was a hint of panic in her voice and he twisted in his seat to face her.

"I thought that it was for the best," he murmured. Rachel looked pained as she stared down at him.

"I…I,, uh," she pursed her lips together and blinked, and it was like a light just flicked off in her eyes. "If that's what you want." Rachel gave a short nod and walked stiffly down the hallway. She watched her go, his fist clenching around the neon green highlighter in his hand.

"Fuck," he hissed, throwing it down and getting up. "It's too hard, Rachel," his voice rose and she stopped in her tracks. "It's too hard to be around you like this." Rachel cast her eyes downward. "You know how I feel about you, Rachel, and I know how you feel about me, and the whole thing is messed up." Puck ran a hand over his shaved head and let out a heavy sigh through his teeth. "I thought you'd want this," there was a certain pleading note in his voice and a need to understand what she wanted in his eyes. Rachel looked down helplessly, unsure of what to say. On one hand, she wanted Puck to stay, even though everything between them was complicated. On the other hand, if Puck was uncomfortable and he wanted to move on, it wasn't fair for him to stay.

"I get it," she murmured. Puck let out another sigh and raised his eyes to the ceiling, feeling frustrated. She avoided him for weeks on end, barely coming to her own home in an effort not to see him, but when he tells her that he's looking for somewhere else to live, she gives him the expression of a kicked puppy dog.

"Rachel," his voice was a little gruffer than he intended it to be. "If you ask me to stay, I will." Her eyes flashed slightly in surprise and he rolled his eyes, feeling even more irritated. "God, haven't you figured it out yet, Rach? You ask, I do. I'm pretty sure my non-existent social life is testament to that." She was still silent, blinking up at him. Puck didn't know what else to say. This was the most they had talked in weeks, he was definitely out of touch. He softened his tone, cupping her face in his hands tenderly and forcing her to look up at him. "Do you want me to stay, Rachel?" She nodded weakly. "Tell me you need me to stay, Rach."

"I want you to…" her voice drifted off and for a moment Puck didn't think that she was going to continue. But then he felt her little hands come up and grasp his belt loops, pulling him slightly closer to her. "I need you to stay," her voice was steadier now. This time it was his turn to blink at her in disbelief. "I have seen the way you…'are with me'," she smiled slightly as she quoted his words from the last time they had properly talked. "You're acting like an old, married man in the weekends anyway." Puck rolled his eyes at her words but she saw the spark of hope in his eyes when he looked back down at her. "I was thinking that maybe I should start spending some more time here as well…" Puck's hands tightened slightly around her face, one of his thumbs rubbing gently over the smooth skin of her cheek.

"Don't play with me, girl," Puck tried to keep a playful tone in his voice but there was a definite seriousness in his eyes. Rachel licked his lips, Puck following her small tongue keenly with his eyes.

"I need you to stay, Noah," Rachel's voice broke slightly and she swallowed hard. "Because I need you—" if there was anymore of her speech it was lost as Puck's lips came down and crushed against her own. He could feel her shivering as his hands dropped from her face, one twisting itself in her hair while the other trailed down her spine. Their kisses were frantic, desperate, as he pushed her backwards, into her room. Rachel's own hands never stopped moving, running over his shoulders, down his back, occasionally skimming his ass and holding his closer to her body. Clothes began to fall—his shirt, her hoodie, his belt, her singlet. He managed to pull away from her kisses for a moment, their breathing ragged from the vicious attacks of their mouths. She was standing before him in just her dark coloured bra and skinny jeans that hugged her hips and shapely legs. Her lips were swollen from his kisses, and her eyes shone with need.

"You're gorgeous, Rach," he mumbled, one strong arm looping around her waist and pulling her body flush against his. "You realize that if we go through with this, I'll probably never let you out of this room?" Hunger for her glowed in his orbs and they were darkening by the minute as his eyes dropped to her cleavage. Rachel could feel his bare, defined shoulders quivering under her touch as she scraped her fingernails along his skin.

"You realize if you don't take your pants off right now, I'll rip them off you," Rachel replied, her own eyes dark with lust. Puck captured her lips once more, their bodies falling toward her bed.

Their first time was messy and they bumped noses and elbows more than once. But once they finished, they did it again, and again, their bodies moving in sync with each other by the end of the night as though they had been made for each other. They fell asleep on the ground, tangled in each other and a mess of blankets that had fallen off the bed somewhere during their love making. Rachel's head was buried in his neck and his arms were wrapped around her torso, holding her close. She fell asleep before him, while Puck stared down at her perfect face, unable to believe how lucky he had gotten.

"Noah?" Rachel mumbled, blinking blearily up at him. Puck smiled down at her, at her delicate little face and those eyes that were staring up at him, filled with trust.

"I'm right here, Rach," Puck murmured and she made a sleep noise of contentment, her eyes closing and one hand twining around his. "I'm always going to be here."

Let me know what you think, and thank you again.

xx