Hello everyone and happy holidays! Enjoy!

Chapter 10

Puck spent the whole weekend trying to get ahold of Rachel but she turned her phone off. Finn tried to call him to understand what happened between him and Sam but he didn't have time to think about that. When Monday came and she wasn't even in school, Puck felt even worse. Rachel was shutting out everyone, including him and he hated it.

"Dude you can't keep waiting by the phone," Jake said, entering his room after school. "You'll only drive yourself crazy."

"I can't help it. Rachel is probably feeling like crap right now and it's my fault."

He shook his head. "You're not the one that cheated on her, Sam did."

"Yeah but I knew about it and didn't tell her. She probably saw the time Sam sent me that picture and realized I kept it from her the entire trip. She probably hates me too."

"Look Rachel just found out her boyfriend cheated on her. She probably has a million thoughts going through her mind right now and can't even think straight enough to be pissed at you."

Puck shook his head and got up to grab his coat. "I'm going over there."

"You sure that's a good idea?"

"I guess I'll found out. Watch Sara," he said, walking out.

As he drove over to Rachel's house, Puck tried to think of what he could say to her to make things better but he knew there was nothing he could say to erase what Sam did. When he got there, he found Kurt and Mercedes walking out.

"What are you doing here?" Mercedes asked, clearly angry with him.

"Yeah shouldn't you be high-fiving your friend?" Kurt followed. "He played her and you stood around and watched."

"It's not like that," Puck replied defensively. "Look it's a lot more complicated than that and I need to talk to her."

Mercedes shook her head. "She doesn't want to speak to anyone, especially you. You were supposed to be her friend; how could you not tell her what he was doing?"

"Believe me, I wanted to tell her but come on when is there ever a right moment to tell your friend her boyfriend is cheating on her?"

"Any time would've been better than when she did," Kurt answered before sighing. "Look I doubt Rachel is going to feel up to talking to you seeing how she barely talked to us. But if you want to try knock yourself out. Just know that her dads will be home soon and they know everything."

"Crap," Puck mumbled before nodding and walking up to the door. He knocked and waited for what seemed like forever. A few seconds after knocking again, the door finally opened.

"What are you doing here?" Rachel asked with no emotion.

Puck frowned from seeing her red eyes from crying. "You turned your phone off and I haven't been able to reach you so I had to come here. I understand if you hate me but please hear me out."

A moment of silence passed between them before Rachel finally spoke. "I don't hate you."

Before he could respond, she opened the door further to let him in. They walked into the living room and he sat down on the chair as she curled up in a blanket in the couch across from him.

He took a deep breath. "Rachel I am so incredibly, deeply sorry that I didn't tell you about Sam. I should have and-"

"When I was about to perform for Sam, were you trying to tell me?" she quietly asked. He nodded. "And when we were about to go on vacation you wanted to tell me something but said you were just glad that we got to go to New York together. Were you trying to tell me then?"

"Yeah but I couldn't do it."

"And when we were ice skating and you were asking about what I see in Sam. You were asking because you knew he was cheating?"

He nodded. "Yes. Rachel-"

"How long has he been doing this?" she asked, refusing to look at him.

"As far as I know it was only over break."

"You tried to tell me. Why couldn't you?"

He sighed. "I didn't want to hurt you. You liked Sam so much and I knew it would crush you if you knew."

"Yeah well you were right." She sniffed as a tear slid down her cheek. "I feel like such an idiot. How could I not see it? You tried to get me to see that he wasn't the guy for me but I didn't want to listen."

"Why would you? This is a guy that you really cared about, I understand you not wanting to listen to me."

Rachel paused. "Is that why you were avoiding me when we got back from break?"

Puck froze, unsure of how to answer. This wasn't the time for his feelings for her to come up but he also didn't want to lie to her. "Kind of."

"Kind of?" she raised an eyebrow.

"It's complicated."

"Complicated how?" When he remained silent, Rachel rolled her eyes. "Puck I'm really not in the mood for anymore secrets. Tell me the truth."

"It's really not the right time for this-"

"Puck," she demanded.

He sighed. Looks like he had no other choice. "I was avoiding you because I started wanting to tell you the truth about Sam for the wrong reasons."

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.

"I didn't want to tell you about Sam just so you could know the truth about him." He looked away from her before he continued. "I wanted to tell you so that you would break up with him then I would have a chance to be with you."

Once the words left his mouth, Puck felt like a ten-pound weight had been lifted off of him. His feelings had just been released to someone other than Jake and now Rachel had to decide what to do with it. But the silence that came over them worried him. When he finally looked at her, Rachel stared back at him.

"You…like me?" she hesitantly asked.

He nodded. "Yes. A lot."

Before she could respond, the front door opened and Hiram and Leroy walked in.

"Noah," Hiram said. "We didn't think we'd be seeing you anymore."

"Dad relax," Rachel told him. "He's been trying to tell me the truth about Sam for a while. I just never wanted to see the truth."

"If it helps, he has a nice black eye now," Puck said, looking at Rachel. "After you left the auditorium, I kind of let him have it. Jake had to break us up."

Leroy smirked. "As much as I don't condone violence the punk deserved it. We never liked him anyway."

"Dad," Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Well will you be staying for dinner, Noah?" Hiram asked.

He shook his head. "No, I think I should give Rachel some space to process everything."

"No," she quickly said. He looked at her, confused. "Stay. Please."

Shocked, he hesitantly nodded. "Okay let me just text my mom."

As he sent Maria a text to tell her his plans, Puck couldn't help but feel nervous about the conversation he had to have with Rachel. He should've known there was no way she would let him leave after what he just admitted.

"Well I guess you two can go hang out and we'll let you know when dinner is ready," Leroy told them.

The teenagers nodded and went to the back to sit on the porch swing. After a moment of silence, Rachel spoke. "How long have you…"

"Since we met," he answered, knowing what she meant. "I wanted to ask you out but before I could you already accepted a date with Sam."

"So this whole time you've been giving me advice about Sam and letting me confide in you while having these feelings?"

He shrugged. "You were happy with Sam and I couldn't ruin that for my own selfish gain. So when Sam told me what he was going to do over break, I knew that would've been the perfect opening for me."

"So why didn't you take it?" she asked.

Puck thought for a moment. "I didn't want to get you that way. It wouldn't feel genuine. I wasn't even expecting to tell you now but you asked."

"Puck-"

"Look I get if you don't feel the same but you needed to know and-"

She took his hands in hers. "Puck stop. To be honest, I think I've felt the same way since we went to New York and went through all that stuff with Shelby. I wasn't sure about it because I still had Sam but when I found out what he did and how you knew I was just so confused about everything."

"It's okay." He sighed. "Look you just broke up with a guy that you really liked. I don't want to be a rebound so I think after tonight we need to give each other some space so we can deal with everything. When you have a clear head, we can revisit the topic of whatever is going on with us."

After she thought about it, Rachel nodded. "Deal."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

For the next two weeks, Puck stayed away from Rachel and he hated it. Even though it was his idea, that didn't mean he enjoyed being away from her. He just hoped that she wouldn't come to the conclusion that she really didn't like him.

"Earth to Puck," Finn said, snapping Puck out of his thoughts at Finn's house after school.

"What?"

"I asked when are you and Sam going to let go of whatever happened with you guys?" he repeated.

Puck shrugged. "I don't know, once he stops being an asshole who cares about no one but himself."

Before Finn could respond, the doorbell rang and he went to answer it. When he walked back in with Sam behind him, Finn looked at his two friends. "Look whatever is going on you guys need to get over it."

"He's the one that went crazy on my face," Sam replied.

Puck shook his head. "Because you deserved it for doing that to Rachel."

"Why do you care so much? If I didn't know any better, I would think you had a crush on her or something."

"I doubt that," Finn said, looking at Puck. "Right?"

Puck thought for a moment. Whether or not Rachel truly reciprocated his feelings, that didn't change how he felt about her. He had held it in for long enough, it was time to let it go. "Yeah I do."

Sam let out a snort. "What?"

"I like Rachel. A lot actually. In fact, I've liked her since we met."

Finn looked at him. "Wait seriously? Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"Sam got to her first and I didn't want to mess it up. But since he managed to do it on his own, I have a shot now."

"I knew Rachel finding out wasn't just by chance," Sam replied. "You let her find out because you wanted all of this to happen."

Puck shrugged. "Think what you want, I really don't care. All I know is I didn't make you cheat, you did that all your own. So the fact that I have a chance is actually all because of you so thanks for that."

Sam tried to lunge at him but Finn held him back before looking at Puck. "Dude seriously?"

"I'm out of here," he said, grabbing his jacket and walking out. The last thing he cared about was Sam being pissed at him. He had already come to terms with losing his friendship but at the end of the day it was probably for the best.

When he pulled up in front of his house, he was surprised to find Rachel waiting outside. He got out and went over to her.

"Hi," she said.

"Hey. What are you doing out here, it's freezing?"

"No one is home and I knew if I didn't stay here to get all this out I would never do it." She took a breath. "I did what you said and thought about everything."

"Let's get you inside first," he said, opening the door.

"Puck please. You said to make this decision with a clear head and I have."

"And?"

Instead of responding, Rachel leaned in and gently kissed him. When they pulled away, she looked at him. "And I'm here."

Puck smiled before taking her hand and leading her inside. While his friendship with Sam might've been over, looks like he had a new beginning with Rachel.

Let me know your thoughts! Bye for now :)