Wearing the yellow Vitamin D dress had been supremely unintentional. After all, it detracted from the image Rachel wished to portray to the rest of the McKinley High student body. The pleated, stiff skirts and tailored blouses had become a sort of shield, a way to show how very serious she was about her high school education, so that it would deflect some of the hurt she felt when her fellow classmates preferred to see her as some kind of walking joke.
She had stopped wearing nice clothes after her first slushie.
But for some reason, the bright yellow material had called to her. She had reached into her closet as if entranced and slipped it on before she could change her mind. Standing in front of the mirror, admiring the way the colour played off her skin, Rachel decided if she had to go into battle, the closest shade to gold she could get would be more than enough to constitute body armour.
So when Rachel walked down the corridors that morning, she thought people were looking at her because she was different. Well of course she had always been different, but this time, she was making some kind of visual representation of her unique character. It was only when the stares had lingered far too long, and the insistent press of curious eyes had begun to make her uncomfortable, did she begin to seek out someone she knew.
'She's why he did it? Are you serious?'
'I know right? I mean, just look at her.'
Snatches of conversation made her furrow her brow. It was only then that she began to realize that people were looking at their phones again.
Still?
'I need to talk to you Man Hands,' Santana called out from the side. Quinn stood by her side, chewing her lip before disappearing behind her locker door. Rachel didn't want to go stand before the Latina, taking in the incensed expression on her face.
That's odd. Usually my humiliation brings them some measure of satisfaction.
'Hello Santana. Hello Quinn,' Rachel managed to say, squeezing her books to her chest so tightly it was beginning to hurt.
'I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but let's make one thing clear. Puck is off-limits.'
'Okay…' Rachel trailed off, still not sure why they were having this conversation.
'I mean it freakazoid. Just because we're in some lame show choir thing, doesn't mean you have dibs on any of the boys in there. You've already failed miserably with Finn, considering how desperately you threw yourself at him,' Santana sneered, leaning in close to Rachel's face as she tried to swallow the hurt her words engendered. The cheerleader flicked her ponytail as she turned around, whipping it across Rachel's nose and cheek. Quinn remained silent.
'I can assure you Santana that Puck doesn't feel anything more than intense dislike towards me,' Rachel whispered before walking away, not sure she could handle anything else the other girl would have said.
She wasn't desperate in her affections towards Finn. She'd just been so…overcome to discover that there was a possibility that a boy – this sweet, flustered, caring boy – could feel something for her. But in the end he had gone back to Quinn, kissing her and using her feelings towards him to his advantage. And she couldn't find it within herself to hate him for it. No, she was such a masochist. Rachel went back to Glee, hoping that maybe someday she wouldn't be on her own and that Finn would eventually realize that the obvious denial that he was projecting was a futile effort. He would look down at her and tell her that he liked her, and that they could be together.
What a pipe dream.
To make matters worse, Santana had obviously been dropped too many times during Cheerios to even entertain the thought of Puck developing feelings for her. It was preposterous. Alright, Rachel mused thinking back to the last few days, he had been acting rather unlike himself recently but that was merely a guilty conscience seeking some kind of absolution wasn't it? Yes, that was it.
Really, Puck liking her?
It made her want to snort in a completely unladylike manner.
'Oh sweetie, you're wearing colour!' Kurt's excited exclamation dragged her from her thoughts and brought her face to face with a pair of startling green eyes.
What were Puck and Kurt doing together?
Rachel looked down at her dress self-consciously, noticing the way that both boys were dragging their eyes from her toes to her head. Except Puck's felt like he was undressing her. Clearing her throat rather awkwardly, she kept her gaze on Kurt when she spoke.
'Is there a reason people are still whispering about me?' A pause. 'Well, more than usual.'
The feral grin that spread across Kurt's face was rather disturbing, considering the arrogant smirk that had worked it's way across Puck's simultaneously. Cutting back and forth between the two, she accepted the phone pressed into her hands and watched agape as Kralownsky was unceremoniously deposited into a dumpster.
Now I can see why Santana would construe this the wrong way.
Rachel looked at Puck, speechless.
'A thank you would be nice,' Puck commented off-hand, digging his shoulder into the spot next to Kurt's locker.
'But…why?' Rachel blurted out. This is going to make everything ten times worse. Not only will that idiot be stalking my every move, but this just furthers Santana's misconceptions-
'I thought you said I wasn't one of those guys,' Puck told her. 'It's no big deal.'
Something about the way he said the words, the thready note of conflict and baseline of wanting reassurance, made her reach out and touch his arm. The muscles underneath flexed and Rachel dropped her hand, unsure if the contact had been welcome or not.
'Let me state for the record that I was there,' Kurt interjected. 'And if it wasn't already completely obvious, I was the brains behind the entire operation.' The derisive snort Puck offered up in response didn't appear to offend the teenager.
'Thank you for standing up for me,' Rachel said, feeling like a buoy bobbing in the ocean, adrift yet anchored to something that had once seemed so elusive that she had given up on it altogether.
No one's ever done that for me before.
'It's no big deal,' Puck muttered under his breath, angling his face away.
'Remember, say thank you with gifts,' Kurt reminded.
'Why didn't anyone tell me we were going to lay the smackdown on this cracker?' Mercedes appeared from behind, hands fisted and gesturing towards all three of them.
'Yeah dude. We'd totally have wanted in on the action,' Mike commented.
'No one messes with our girl, right Mike?' Matt said, slinging an arm around Rachel's shoulder and pressing her to his side. Rachel grinned up at him.
'I would have rolled over him with my wheelchair,' Artie contributed.
The bell rang. Puck reached over and casually pushed Matt's arm off her, giving them all a slight, muted smile.
'Let's get to class,' was all he said before taking her arm.
'I'll see you guys later!' Rachel called over her shoulders, watching as they all wore similar looks of bemusement and confusion of their faces.
'Done with your fan club?'
Irritation shot through her. 'Excuse me?'
'It wasn't as if I did anything,' was the mumbled response. Rachel stared at him in open bewilderment, taking in the hard set of his jaw and clenched muscles. Why was he so upset?
'No one's ever stood up for me before,' Rachel finally offered, noting the wide berth everyone was giving them as they made their way to class. Realizing that she was almost at Spanish, she caught his arm but didn't let go like before. Puck seemed to still almost instantaneously at the contact though he didn't shrug her off.
'It means a lot to me,' Rachel said, hoping that he knew how sincere she was. That ridge above his brow puckered and he looked at her for a beat or longer before reaching over and squeezing her hand. He gave her another look and then ducked into the classroom next door.
Glancing down at her hand, remembering the moment when his tanned, calloused hand had enveloped it, she knew for a fact that Santana was wrong.
Then why is your hand still tingling?
a/n: just forewarning – updates might be less frequent because I've got my exams coming up. One more year after this before I get that law degree so crunch time. Personal advice to anyone considering taking up law - DON'T. why people would subject themselves to this for a living is beyond me. bleah.
Shameless plug – go check out my one-shot for Ladybug Jess called 'If My Heart Was A House'.
And also, did I come up with Puckleberry or did someone else before me?
ooooh! 260 reviews? You guys don't actually have to reach the threshold. It's just nice knowing that people are reading this and with my rather short attention span, trust me, it contributes towards motivation.