Puck managed to get about 4 hours of sleep that night, tossing and turning and apparently dozing off every half an hour or so, only to wake up from a recurring nightmare where Rachel and Jared were making out, quickly followed by a scene where Jared proposed to Rachel and she accepted, kissing him after shouting yes. Now Puck knew he wasn't ready to get married; he was only in high school! But still that dream freaked him out to no end…And unfortunately for him, he had that dream over and over and over again during the course of the night.
He got up earlier than usual the next morning, tired and anxious, but still anticipating his meeting with Rachel. He showered, sprayed on some cologne that she'd mentioned she'd liked, put on a light blue button down shirt and a pair of jeans, and hurried out of his house to his truck, speeding off to school an hour and ten minutes early.
Upon reaching McKinley High, he parked, grabbed his bag, and speed walked into school and into the practice room. Before opening up the door, he took a deep breath, trying to mentally prepare himself for any of the possible outcomes of this meeting.
"Hey, Rach, I'm he-" he started, until he saw that he wasn't actually addressing Rachel, but Jared. "What're you doing here?" he questioned, rudely.
"Hello to you, too, Puck. Rachel and I are meeting here momentarily, so if you don't mind leaving…" he motioned toward the door.
Puck gave a short bark of laughter. "Well, I'm meeting Rachel here, too, so it looks like neither of us is going anywhere, huh?" He couldn't believe that he had to have one of the most important conversations of his life with stinkin' Jared Limmer present.
Jared cleared his throat. "Listen, Puck, I realize that you and Rachel have some history together and that you're having a tough time letting go. But Rachel is one of the best girls I've ever met and being with her is possibly one of the most amazing feelings in the world. I don't plan on letting that go without a fight. I just wanted to make that clear to you," he said calmly, albeit fairly emotionally.
Before Puck could reply, he heard the door close, and looked quickly in the direction of the entrance where Rachel was now standing. She was looking at Jared with an expression that Puck did NOT like…
"Jared," she said softly, clearly choked up, "that was really sweet, wow. I, I, I don't know what to say in response to that…"
"It's okay, Rachel, you don't have to say anything; I didn't even expect you to hear that. I just wanted to let Puck here know where I stand. I just wanted to let him know how I feel about you and that you're too crucial a part of my life for me to give up on," Jared responded, buttering Rachel up even more.
Puck knew that if he stood here for a minute longer, he'd do something he'd regret…well, it'd be something that would feel really REALLY good in the moment, but that after getting yelled at by Rachel, he'd probably regret. So, rather than listening to any more punching-lockers-or-better-yet-Jared moments, he decided to interrupt.
"Hey, Rachel, did you have enough time to sort everything out in your head?" Puck asked, boldly.
Rachel tore her gaze away from Jared, glancing at Puck, as if she had momentarily forgotten his presence. "Oh, right, um, yeah, Noah, I did."
Puck waited, but she didn't continue. He couldn't believe that of all the times for Rachel Berry to stop talking, it was now. Man, there were times when the only way he could shut her up was to kiss her, and he'd actually really appreciate that opportunity now, come to think of it. But instead of droning on and on, she was simply quiet.
"Well?" he probed. "What'd you decide?"
"Ok, I think you both should sit down for this." After Jared and Puck had plopped down onto a couple of chairs, she continued. "You have to realize that this is really hard for me…you see, what you're both essentially making me do is make a choice, choosing between you two. I know that if I choose one of you, my relationship with the other will suffer or completely disintegrate, which is why this is so hard.
"I've really grown to care for both of you. Jared, I've only known you for a little while, but we've really connected on so many levels, and I can't imagine not knowing you or being able to have long, deep conversations with you about anything and everything." Jared smiled reassuringly and encouragingly at Rachel, while Puck scowled. He didn't want to hear about how wonderful Jared was; he wanted to hear about how Rachel had realized that she couldn't do without him, Puck, in her life.
"Noah," Rachel continued, and Puck looked up, hopeful. "I have such strong emotions associated with you and our relationship. During the months that we dated, I realized what an amazing person you are, how sweet you are, how caring you are, and what an astounding amount of potential you have, if only you'd realize it. Then, when I found out about you and Quinn, it really threw me for a loop; I thought I had completely misread you." Puck's emotions were rising and falling like a roller coaster with Rachel's speech, but he continued to listen to her, paying attention to everything she said. "However, I realized after a lot of thinking, that that initial rejection of you was quite unfair. After all, we all make mistakes, and you're definitely entitled to yours, too. You obviously recognize the error in your actions, so who am I to continue to be your judge without giving you a fair chance?"
Puck swallowed the lump in his throat, but knew he had to ask. "So what are you saying, Rach? Who are you choosing?"
Rachel looked down, playing with a pleat on her skirt. "It's hard for me to imagine my life without either one of you, but since you guys are making me choose, I realize that only one of you could I really not live without. Only one of you makes me feel totally complete, encouraging me and all my endeavors in your own way."
Puck rapidly tried to remember if he'd ever told Rachel outright that he supported her and her career. Oh, no! What if he'd never actually told her that and now she was going to choose Jared?! Darn it!
"Therefore, as much as it pains me to have to only say one person's name, I'm going to have to choose you, Noah. My Noah." She looked at him with, dare he say it, love in her eyes.
Puck gaped, not quite believing that he'd actually gotten the girl. As he was processing it, he absentmindedly observed Rachel placating Jared.
"Jared, I really really care about you, and I respect you enormously. But I never quite stopped caring for and, to be frank, loving Noah. You see, instead of thinking about my actions and my feelings on the Quinn-Noah matter, I just kind of moved right to you, without letting myself really evaluate the situation. I honestly didn't mean to lead you on in the slightest, I hope you believe me about that. I think you're an amazing person and one day, you're going to find someone who's perfect for you and treats you and cares for you the way you deserve, because you really deserve the best." Rachel said, begging Jared with her eyes to believe what she saying.
Jared nodded. "I can't say I'm not hurt, Rachel, but I do understand what you're saying. But know that if you need anything, I'm here for you. I don't think I'll be able to be as close to you as we've been, even before we started kissing, and it'll take some time, I won't lie to you about that. But you have become an important part of my life and to shut you out of it without any warning, well, that wouldn't be fair to or good for you or me. Just give me some time, though, okay?" he was obviously having trouble reigning in his emotions. He picked up his bag from next to his chair, gave Rachel a small smile, nodded to Puck, and left the room.
"Rachel…" Puck began, at the same time that Rachel had started with, "Noah.."
Instead of even bothering to do the whole "you go first, no, you go first" dance, Puck decided to go for it and just drew Rachel toward himself, put his hands on her cheeks, framing her face, and kissed her.
"I love you, Rachel Berry," he said simply, pulling away from her lips for a moment.
"I love you, too, Noah Puckerman. We still have things to discuss so don't think we're just going to ignore them and-" she started to ramble, but Puck wasn't ready for that just yet. For right now, he just wanted to kiss his girlfriend, the love of his life, the only girl who believed him, and the one who had chosen him. So he did just that: he kissed her.
A.N. Okay, everyone, that's the end of this story. I hope you enjoyed! Thank you so much for all of the reviews…I hope to now go and continue/finish my other story, Subjective Emotions, and then possibly start a new one. I don't know what the title would be yet, but it'd involve a Finn-Rachel-Puck triangle, something which I haven't really delved into yet. The plot would be about Puck and Rachel being together, but Finn all of a sudden coming to school and slowly worming his way into Rachel's heart, much to Puck's chagrin. It's a little similar to this story, but it wouldn't involve Puck and Rachel breaking up right before Finn showed up. It'd be about Puck realizing that he shouldn't take Rachel for granted, and trying to prove to her and to himself and to everyone else that he's the one that belongs with Rachel. What do you think?
Please let me know your opinions on the ending of this story (Leading Man) and if you like the concept for my new story!