Turns out? Finn found his way to Santana one night at Britney's. Rachel wasn't there, of course, but Noah was. Rachel wanted to be alone 'with her thoughts' or else Noah would be with her instead of at the lame-ass party.
Noah beat the shit out of Finn and Rachel broke up with him. Santana was under the impression Noah did this because of her. Finn knew his ass beating had nothing to do with Santana and everything to do with Rachel.
Finn had been in complete denial for a long time about the unlikely relationship that formed between his ex best friend and girlfriend. Noah had never treated Rachel the way he treated others. He wasn't the only one that noticed, but he was the only one that got it. Finn knew Rachel. He knew that once you broke down her walls she was impossible not to fall in love with.
He just hadn't counted on Noah breaking down those walls so quickly and easily. He had no idea if Noah and Rachel had ever crossed the line of 'just friends' or not, but he certainly had his suspicions.
Finn knew what he did with Santana was stupid and pointless. It was nothing more than curiosity and he doesn't remember most of it anyway. He was very drunk, which both helped and hurt him when Noah got a hold of him. He didn't feel much pain, but couldn't land a punch.
Finn considers what he did may have been a subconscious way of punishing Rachel for her relationship with Noah. He saw the hurt and anger flash through her eyes as he told her about finding Santana's underwear in Noah's truck. He also knew he only told her so that he could judge her reaction.
He's glad he never had sex with Rachel. It would make what he did with Santana hurt her that much more and she didn't deserve that. No matter what her relationship was and is with Noah, he would never want to intentionally hurt her…even if he had ended up doing just that in the long run.
Rachel almost feels relief? when Finn sleeps with Santana. It broke Rachel's heart how painful and sincere Finn's apology was. Finn knew deep down she was being so cool about the situation because of Noah. She realizes she'll eventually mourn the loss of Finn and maybe even feel hurt by what he did, but she knows she has no right.
His actions saved her from having to end their relationship. She almost can't believe her luck. Yes, she realizes how incredibly insane that sounds, but she has never broken up with anyone before and quite frankly she was scared.
When they first started dating, she was so excited at the possibility of her first love or having a high school sweetheart. Shortly after her new relationship began, Noah came into the picture. He was just her friend at first, but she developed a crush on him rather quickly and told herself it was normal to have those feelings; she's a teenager and look at him.
He was always around. If she took the time to think about it, he was always around when Finn wasn't. He started texting her all the time about one hour after he got her phone number. He even joined Glee club. If he couldn't see her at school, he would show up at her house the following morning, which led to more frequent visits after school and on the weekends. He was there sometimes, when she wasn't. Performing whatever tasks her fathers needed done. She loved it.
Everyone else became aware of their 'friendship' and eventually just accepted it, but never truly understood it. Except for Finn, she thinks he understood it, that's why he could never truly accept it.
She knew things about Noah that no one else knew and she divulged things to him that make her cringe when thinking of them. She was very reluctant to trust him at first, but then he told her about peeing his pants in seventh grade and letting his sister paint his nails last week.
So she told him about how she used to practice kissing so much that she thinks something might be wrong with her. She practiced on her hand, on her pillow, on the door jam, etc. She turns beat red and waits for him to start laughing at her. Instead he kisses her for the first time. It's soft and over to soon and he tells her to 'add Noah to that list.'
Once she opened up to him, he opened up some more, telling her about his father which started her on her lack of a mother, which she hadn't realized bothered her so much.
They started taking late night drives. He would drive them just outside of town on back roads and they would talk, or sing along to whatever song came on the radio. They played a game called 'radio trivia.' They would push the 'scan' button and they had to name the artist and song title before the station changed. You got a point for every correct answer, at the end of the game the points only lead to bragging rights. It was silly and maybe a little juvenile, but she loved not having to think about school or responsibilities or colleges or her GPA. She never laughed harder than she did on those rides.
She fell in love on those rides.
Noah is convinced everything is finally working out for him, but being who he is, he is still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
He got to beat the piss out of Finn, he doesn't have to sneak around with Rachel and once Santana finally found out that he was defending Rachel's honor, she's so disgusted with him he doesn't have to deal with her advances anymore.
If he really stops to think about his feelings towards Finn it almost makes him laugh at how ridiculous they are. Noah was sneaking around with Finn's girlfriend, trying to make her fall head over heels for him. Yet, he was the one who hated Finn. Fucked up shit, right?
He had never been as close to a girl as he was and is with Rachel Berry, except for his mother or sister.
He loved that he never had to tell Rachel exactly how he felt about her, she just knew. He wasn't good at putting his feelings into words. He's more of a man of action. He likes to think that's what she likes about him.
For example, leaving her favorite candy bar under the windshield wiper of her car or when she had to drive herself to school because of conflicting schedules he would stop by her house on his way to school to start her car for her (on the particularly cold days)while she was still getting ready.
Her fathers really like him. Rachel would tell him about them comparing Finn and Noah. To their knowledge, Noah was her 'buddy.' But Finn never came over at 7am to clean the snow off of all of their cars. Or clean their pool. Or cut their lawn. Or fix their sink. Or clean their gutters. Or help paint the guest room. Or make Rachel smile so much it actually hurt their mouths to look at. See? Man of action. Finn could talk the talk all day, but Noah? He could walk it…and then some.
She tells him one day that her dads think that maybe Finn should watch out because Noah has got it bad for her. 'Why else would he be over here offering his 'services' for free all of the time and spend most of said time flirting with our beautiful daughter.'Noah just smiles and tells her that her fathers are very smart men before he kisses her.
But when he does say something, he means it. Not like Finn, who said 'I love you' as frequently as he said 'hi.' Finn may have meant it every time, but to Noah those words lose their value if overused. So, he doesn't tell her that he loves her yet, although he's pretty sure he does.
He loves her for a lot of reasons…number one, she is his friend. She is his best friend. He's never had that with a girl before. She gets him. He doesn't ever have to apologize for being…him. She allows and accepts him, flaws and all. 'Noah, you have to take the bad with the good.' She tells him. It's so simple, but it's perfect. She would never actively try to change him, but he is changing.