Damn, she had to wear the dress.

There was nothing wrong with the dress at all really, Puck thought. It was the fact that it was just so damn…bright. And it made Rachel's skin look like she'd been sunbathing – a nice, dewy tan that made all her features that much more obvious. And those legs. Fucking hell. How a midget like that even got legs that long was beyond him.

No one's ever stood up for me before. It means a lot to me.

Then she had touched him. Puck glanced down at his arm, imagining the feel of her small hand against his bicep while Ms Barnett scratched what looked like a quadratic equation on the board.

All around him people murmured in an undertone about how Noah Puckerman had put James Kralownsky into a dumpster because of Rachel Berry. Smirking Puck leaned back in his seat and winked at a pretty blonde in the front row, who immediately turned red and averted her eyes. Let them think whatever they wanted. Fact of the matter was Kralownsky's scrawny ass had gotten what it deserved. Case closed.

'Hello Noah,' Santana cornered him between third lunch, dragging a finger down his chest. Stepping away, he cocked an eyebrow.

'It's Puck. What do you want? My credit line still not good enough?' Bitch, he added in his head.

Santana pouted her lips, looking up at him from beneath her lashes.

'No. Just thought I'd let you know I thought what you did this morning was kind of…hot,' she said in what she thought was a seductive tone. Puck rolled his eyes. What had he seen in this girl again?

'So what did Berry have to do to get you to be her knight in shining armour?'

That's the second time someone's called me that this morning, Puck thought wryly. 'She didn't do anything.'

Santana laughed but that petered out when she caught sight of the bored expression on his face.

'You can't be serious? You actually stood up for that Gleek willingly?'

'I'd explain it to you but it involves feelings and shit. I doubt it'd make sense,' Puck commented lightly, enjoying the incensed expression that came over the Latina's face.

'I hope you know what you're doing Puck. Don't throw it all away because Berry got what she deserved.'

'I'm getting pretty sick of people saying anyone deserves that kind of shit being done to them,' Puck shot back.

'Oh please. Get off your high horse,' Santana scoffed, giving him a hard look. 'You put Artie in a portable toilet and wanted to flip it over. You put Kurt in a dumpster. You threw slushies at Berry. Face it Puck, before you start taking the moral high ground why don't you take a look in the mirror?'

'Hey man, you alright?' Finn asked later at lunch, Quinn by his side. The blonde, Puck noted with a small measure of relief, looked tired but healthy. Though the peanut butter and seaweed sandwich she was having kind of made his stomach turn.

'Yeah I'm cool,' Puck replied as Matt and Mike joined them. Brittany gave him a smile as she perched herself next to Mike, Santana nowhere in sight.

'Dude, no one's shut up about what you did this morning.' Puck lifted a shoulder in response to Matt's words.

'Hey guys! Over here!' Brit waved her hand in the air when she spotted the original Glee members.

'What are you doing?' Quinn demanded.

Brit cut her hand through the air, waving it back and forth. 'Just because they don't cheer, doesn't mean they can't sit with us.' Well well, looks like Brit had found a way out from under Quinn's thumb.

'C'mon Quinn,' Finn said in a pleading tone, which made Quinn sigh and take a bite out of her sandwich.

How the hell does she eat that?

'Sup?' Artie greeted them as he wheeled up to their table.

'Come eat with us,' Britt responded rather perkily. The wary expression on Artie's face made Puck want to frown.

'Are you sure?' The guitarist asked, his hands on the wheels of his chair as if he expected them to chase him away at any moment.

'Dude, don't be such a girl. Just call the rest of 'em over,' Puck bit out. Artie gave him a startled look before adopting a cautious smile and signaling towards the rest of the members of New Directions. The other students were openly gaping as if they had broken some kind of sacred rule.

'Where's Rachel?' Finn asked before Puck could, noticing that the girl wasn't with them.

'Miss Thang should be here shortly. Kurt needed to talk to her,' Mercedes informed them, tapping away on her sidekick. Puck flashed his eyes towards the entrance to the cafeteria, immediately spotting Rachel and Kurt with their heads bent together. Rachel's smile seemed strained while Kurt was rolling his eyes.

'What do you think they're talking about?' Finn inquired innocently.

'T-t-they have a d-d-diva code of silence,' Tina chimed in, opening a Tupperware of cookies and offering it to the rest of them. Puck took one and felt his eyes roll to the back of his head. They were soft, moist and chewy. If it was a girl they'd totally be doing it right now.

'Breaking it is punishable by death,' Artie told them helpfully with a straight face. Puck wasn't sure whether he was kidding or not.

'Greetings my adoring public,' Kurt said, sweeping his eyes over the table and winging up an eyebrow. 'I see we've decided to mingle.'

Puck spotted the kid with the afro talking to Rachel a few metres away. A few minutes later Rachel stormed over to them, pasting on an extremely plastic smile as she slid into the seat next to his. She didn't appear to notice him, the knuckles around her pink notebook white and tensed.

'Is something wrong Rach?' Matt asked, the concern in his tone making Puck shoot him a look.

'Oh I'm fine Matt. I apologize for my rather unfriendly demeanour,' Rachel responded, minutely shaking her head and easing her grip somewhat. It was then she seemed to notice the people around her.

'Oh, hello,' she managed to say before finally regaining some sense of composure. The rest of the table lapsed into conversation, Puck absently putting in his two cents worth as Matt and Mike discussed the new Batman game.

'Girl that boy bothering you again?' Mercedes leaned over and whispered in what she must have thought was a soft voice.

'He was just being…himself. Nothing that I can't handle,' Rachel brushed her off flippantly, inching away from him.

What the hell?

'You got a problem sharing your personal space with me Berry?' Puck murmured the words into her ear; Rachel starting at his words and narrowly slammed her head into his.

'Of course not,' Rachel squeaked out.

Puck looked down pointedly at the amount of space between them.

'I wasn't aware of my actions. Besides, I'm sure you think my ambition-' Puck snorted, drawing a glare from Rachel. 'What?'

'Ambition is what normal people call it. You take things to a whole other level Berry. It borders on obsessively insane.'

'I'm sorry that my goals are such an affront to you. At least I'm working towards what I want, which I don't believe can be said for a vast majority of the student body present.'

'I have goals,' Puck bit back defensively. I want to raise my daughter right. I want to get out of this town and do something with my life. I want to make sure my Mum doesn't have to work so hard to put food on the table. I want to go to college. I want to make sure my sister goes to college.

Rachel blinked at him. 'Well, of course you do. It's obvious that the pool business you have is merely a stepping-stone. Though I think you should consider starting a portfolio. Investing is a great way to…'

The rest of her words blurred into the background.

Well of course you do she had said, like she didn't think it was possible for him not to have any. He had thought everyone entertained the notion he was some two-bit loser without a game plan.

'Puck?'

'Yeah?'

'Are you listening to me?' Rachel questioned, appearing annoyed.

'I would if you were speaking English,' he fell back into the routine that always happened between them. This reliably sparked another verbal barrage from Rachel.

Puck leaned back in his chair and watched her, wondering what goals she thought he had. And why she even considered he had any.