So as I was writing this last night I thought it was coming out really bad and I was forcing it, but rereading it this morning I think it's actually a whole lot better than I thought it was. I added a few things, changed a few things and here it is. I got more in depth into what Rachel and Puck are thinking. Especially Puck. However more angst is on the horizon. I have half of the next chapter written already and I've had it written almost since I started this story. Anyway as you noticed this is uploaded later then when I normally do. It's because I'm breaking out of that schedule because I know I won't be able to keep it for much longer. I'm still uploading today because I think the chapter is ready to come out. I've reread it loads of times and I'm confident that its how it should be. Also enjoy the longer length :) Enjoy!!!

Puck pulled into a parking space at school, and hopped out of the truck. Before he closed his door, he heard Rachel take a deep breath before opening hers. He walked around the truck before putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Everything's going to be ok," he promised. A smile slowly formed on her face and she nodded. They started to head into school. The others were helping Artie out of the car. Before they got halfway to the door, a hockey player stepped in front of them. He saw Rachel shrink back slightly and he stepped forward slightly, blocking her.

"It's about time you brought her back," the hockey player said. "We thought we weren't going to get our turn." He reached for Rachel. "Thanks-"

Puck reacted in an instant, his fist crashing into the hockey player's face. He crumpled to the ground out like a light.

"Dude…" He heard Mike say in reverence behind him. He turned to see everyone rushing over.

"You knocked him out with one hit." Puck just shrugged before throwing his arm around Rachel's shoulders. She moved closer to him, wrapping her arm around his waist. Everyone saw it as a form of protection. With Rachel that close to him, only idiots would try to confront him. They didn't run into any trouble through the hallways and they soon they reached Rachel's locker. She opened it and pulled out her cell phone.

"I have a few missed calls from Mr. Schue," she said frowning.

"Schue has your phone number?" said Puck scanning the hallways.

"Of course Noah. He has all of our numbers in case of emergency." She then began to collect the things she need for her first couple of classes.

"Well I guess you'll get to know why he called you," said Puck. "He's headed right for us." She looked up to see their teacher making a bee line for them.

"Rachel you're ok. Quinn said something happened with the hockey team? What's going on?" Rachel looked down, her face falling.

"Not here Mr. Schue," she said. He frowned.

"Ok Miss Pillsberry's office then." Rachel just nodded and shut her locker. Puck frowned.

"Do we have to Mr. Schue?" Mr. Schue raised his eyebrow.

"We?"

"Yes we. She's not going without me," replied Puck, pulling her slightly closer to him. She seemed to relax slightly. Mr. Schue's eyes darted between them before finally motioning to them both to follow him.

"It's going to be ok Rachel. You don't have to say anything you don't want to," Puck whispered to her before putting his arm around her shoulders again. She nodded, feeling safer when she was closer to him.

"Thank you Noah."

"It's no problem." They walked into the red head's office and sat down. Mr. Schue looked at both of them. From the look of Miss Pillsberry, their teacher had told her what was going on.

"So what happened yesterday?" questioned Mr. Schue. Rachel looked to Puck who nodded.

"The hockey team tried to get back at me for slapping Noah the other day."

"Why did you slap him?" asked Miss Pillsberry.

"I thought he had thrown a slushy on me."

"But he didn't?"

"No, that was one of the hockey players."

"How did they try to get you back?" Rachel shook her head and look towards Puck.

"They tied her up, took her to the auditorium where they presented her to me as a present for me to use and after I was done they would use," said Puck icily. Both of the teacher's eyes went wide and there was a silence for a while.

"Noah saved me," said Rachel softly. Puck could see the pride and respect in Mr. Schue's eyes and it made him feel really good. To have the respect of a teacher was something he never thought he would have.

"Did you call the police Rachel?" asked Miss Pillsberry.

"No," replied Rachel. Mr. Schue looked at her oddly.

"Why not?"

"Do we really need to do this?" demanded Puck. "I've gone over with her why she didn't call the police. The kids won't get the punishment they deserve because they didn't actually do anything and she doesn't want to relive this anymore than she already has. She's told all the Glee kids what happened."

"The Glee kids know?" said Mr. Schue.

"Yeah so get the story from them or something," said Puck, looking at Rachel concerned. Miss Pillsberry spoke up.

"Ok you can go then." Rachel stood up hurriedly and Puck followed her out of the office. He looked back to see the two teachers deep in discussion. He sighed, grateful they had trusted his word. Though they probably only did because Rachel told them he had saved her.

"You gonna be ok Rach?" he asked. She sighed.

"I don't know Noah." He looked around and pulled her closer to him. He gently tilted her head up so she was looking at him.

"It's going to be ok. Trust me."

"I do," she replied. He smiled at her and she gave a small smile back.

"It'll be ok," he said before they went on their way.

The rest of the day went smoothly. By the end Rachel was into her routine. She had been escorted around the school, but none of the hockey players had approached her. However, when Mike, Matt, and Puck had been alone a few of the stupider ones had confronted them. By the end of the day all three boys were feeling a lot calmer, their frustrations taken out. The bell rang to signal the end of the next to last class of the day. Rachel packed up her things and without thinking left the room immediately, not waiting for her friends to arrive. She was actually thinking about Noah, how he had seemed so insightful about her blocking what had happened. So she hadn't forgotten or blocked what had happened, but it didn't seem to be affecting her the way she thought it would. She had expected it to pop up in the middle of class or just distract her all day, but it didn't. She smiled thinking it must be her friends that were helping her to overcome it. Friends. She never thought she would have them. She owed Noah so much. She rounded the corner and almost ran into Karofsky. A big smile spread across his face. She whimpered slightly, her positive thoughts forgotten, and took a step back.

"Well there you are," he said. "About time Puckerman left you alone. Keeping you all to himself."

Suddenly, she felt someone come up behind her and take her by the arm. She would have freaked out but the touch was so gentle she knew it was one of her friends. She recognized Mike as he began to move her away from Karofsky. She stumbled slightly as she was passed from him to Matt. Matt gently moved her behind him and Artie rolled in front of her, acting as a last defense.

"You got a problem Karofsky?" demanded Mike, the fire of anger clear in his voice. Karofsky growled, upset he had been interrupted.

"Yeah we just want our turn with the little bitch. It's clear you guys had your turn."

Mike shoved him. Rachel gasped as Karofsky fired back with a fist instead of a push. Matt motioned to Artie before stepping in front of Mike and punching Karofsky back. Artie meanwhile had started to roll away taking Rachel with him. Mike followed them and they ended up in the choir room. Rachel rushed over to Mike as soon as the door was closed. Her hands flew to her mouth as she saw the bruises already forming around his eye.

"Oh Mike…" He just shrugged it off.

"It's no big deal Rachel really." At that moment Puck ran into the choir room, a slushy in his hand, but he was so worried he didn't even notice he was gripping it so hard it was about to break.

"Where is she?" he demanded. "She didn't stay at her last class and I saw Matt and Karofsky-"

"I'm fine Noah," said Rachel moving from where she had been hidden behind Mike. She watched as the stress flew away from him and he moved closer to her.

"Really Noah. Mike, Matt, and Artie were wonderful." Mike turned around with a smile and Artie just shrugged.

"Dude man," said Puck looking at Mike's face.

"Karofsky sucker punched me."

"Oh Noah this is perfect!" said Rachel taking the slushy from him and handing it to Mike. "You should get some ice on it right away but if you go to the nurse you could get in trouble." Puck chuckled slightly at her. Then he noticed how gentle she was showing Mike how to hold the cup to his face. She turned back to see a flash of jealousy in Puck's eyes. It was slightly confusing considering they weren't dating anymore but… It almost seemed normal… like they were dating and he was getting slightly jealous. She moved back over to Puck and took his hand with a small smile. He looked down at her with a smile of his own. It still amazed him at how easily she could read him. Matt then walked into the room.

"You ok man?" asked Mike.

"Yeah," he replied. "Karofsky's a pansy and why are you holding a slushy to your face?"

"Rachel told me to," retorted Mike. Puck ignored them and looked to Rachel.

"You just want to stay here until Glee?" he asked.

"But we would miss last period," she replied frowning.

"Rachel, it's not going to be that bad. Besides I think you need a break from dodging hockey players all day." Rachel hesitated before nodding. Mike, Matt, and Artie all said goodbye and it was just Puck and Rachel in the room. He took her hand and pulled her to the chairs. They sat down next to each other, and she leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder with a sigh. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. They sat in silence and before long, Puck began playing with her hair. She still seemed a little tense so he began to hum. He felt her relax as she recognized the song. He smiled and kept humming 'Sweet Caroline'. It was really nice just sitting here with her, he realized. He started thinking about what would happen once this had all blown over. Would she still want him around? Or would she go back to trying to get Finn? The very thought was enough to make him sick. He almost sighed realizing how much he really wanted to be friends with her. (Or more.) He ignored that voice in his head. He would have to tell her he was lying that day on the bleachers when he said they weren't friends. He focused back on her. He was grateful at how easily he was able to calm her down. She really trusted him now that he had saved her. That thought paused him for a second. Was she only being around him because she was grateful he saved her? He quickly decided the answer to that question was no (for more reasons than he didn't even want that to be true). If she hadn't wanted him around, she would have asked for Finn (who had been suspiciously absent from the protect Rachel group) today now that she was feeling better. And everything she had said to him, it seemed more than just gratefulness. He decided that she did consider him a friend and all he would have to do was tell her he felt the same. The period had gone by the time he had come to that conclusion and the bell rang. A few minutes later Kurt burst into the room.

"We have a problem." Puck frowned.

"Like what?"

"Tina was just slushied to hell and back. The hockey team did it. Artie's pissed."

"Beyonce. Why is that a problem? Hockey team are dicks so what?"

"They slushied Brittany," said Kurt breathless. Puck heard Rachel gasp next to him.

"They're…" she whispered. Kurt nodded.

"Spell it out!" demanded Puck, angry he wasn't thinking fast enough to understand like Rachel seemed to. Of course it went without saying he was pissed they had slushied Brittany. How could you even do that?

"They're going after us through the girls," said Kurt. "We've been "keeping" Rachel from them so they're trying to piss us off."

"Well it's working," growled Puck. He stood up. "Get Mercedes here now," he told Kurt.

"Noah what are you doing?" demanded Rachel.

"Going after the douches with Artie, Mike, and Matt."

"And me," said Finn walking into the room, Quinn next to him. "I took her here after I heard what was going on."

"You mean I told you what was going on," huffed Quinn. "How dare they slushy her?"

"It's like slushying a kid," said Kurt shaking his head. Puck and Finn headed for the door but Puck turned around to look at Kurt.

"You and Mercedes keep her safe," was all he said before he left. A huge smirk spread on Kurt's face before he sauntered over to Rachel.

"Does he have it bad or what?" he said nudging her playfully. Quinn rolled her eyes, before pulling out her cell phone and texting Santana who was taking care of Brittany.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about," said Rachel crossing her arms. She refused to let herself think that way. After he had saved her she knew she was at risk for allowing herself to care too much for him from a single event, that while extremely amazing, should have no bearing on how she felt about him. However she knew she had already changed how she felt about him slightly. She trusted him exponentially more, which she had already decided was ok considering the circumstances. However she was worried at how easily he was able to calm her down. Of course she appreciated it but she knew there must be some kind of change in her subconscious emotions towards him to allow that to happen. She really didn't want to embarrass herself because she did something stupid towards Noah. Even more so she didn't want to lose the friendship she felt they had. Of course the worry that his words on the bleachers that day were still true lurked in the back of her mind. At times she wondered that once she was ok again if he would leave her... She focused back on Kurt. If he realized she had stopped listening to him because she was thinking about Noah she'd never hear the end of it.

"Yes you do," giggled Kurt.

"Santana says she just saw all the boys walking together," said Quinn, hoping to get them to shut up. She may have helped out Rachel, unknowingly to all of Glee of course, but that didn't mean she would stand listening to them talk about Puck being in love with her... Puck liking her. As a friend. That's all.

"How's Brittany?" asked Rachel, upset that she had been slushied because of her (sort of). Quinn softened slightly.

"Upset, but Santana thinks she'll be ok." Rachel nodded looking at her hands. All that was left to do now was to wait for Noah to come back. And she hoped he would come back uninjured.

Well there it is. Last night I thought that the Will and Emma convo with Puck and Rachel was kinda bad but rereading it today it seems better than I thought. If you guys think its not that good feel free to tell me. Of course I have a stronger feel of the kids than I do the teachers. Well anyway I'm really happy with this chapter especially the little peeks into what RAchel and Noah are thinking about each other. Hope you guys liked it too!!