AN: Thank you to those who continue to read and those who read and review. I don't own glee. Please R&R! I'm not too thrilled with the way this chapter turned out but I'd still love to hear how bad it sucks. Most of this chapter focuses again on Puck, but only because I think all Rachel is doing during all of this is crying and that didn't sound like too much fun to write. So I'll shut up and here you go:
With only one week until regionals, the snow was finally beginning to melt as March began coming in full force. Puck was less than thrilled that Mr. Shuester had decided to call rehearsal every day that week after school. After a great weekend of parties, girls and video games with the boys, Puck was less than to spend more time than usual stuck inside the choir room with the glee club. He had had a dream the night before that involved him begging for forgiveness for his 'wrong doings' in front of Rachel and then Rachel turned into the entire glee club and now he wanted to avoid them all. Instead, he was going to spend two hours a day dancing and singing. Maybe he wouldn't come back to glee after this year was over, maybe he couldn't do it all anymore. He couldn't watch as everyone, including Quinn and Finn judged him for his actions. Puck knew Finn wouldn't say anything to him about it, because he had done it for years before everything and now, it was like riding a bike, you don't forget. Puck saw the way Quinn shook her head in disappointment almost every time they were in the same room. He didn't need that. And Rachel's eyes; well he refused to think about Rachel's eyes.
Monday morning was spent once again trying to avoid Savannah who insisted on practically following him around school. She was there at his locker when he walked in; and he just ignored her, grabbed his books and left. She was there after gym, lunch. He had fully intended on going to English but he didn't have anywhere to run when they were stuck in the same room for forty-five minutes. Savannah had been at his locker again after lunch, and he almost expected her to be standing outside the auditorium when Puck arrived to glee practice. He had several texts from her and in that moment, he realized that someone could be crazier than Rachel Berry could. Walking into the auditorium, everyone was setting themselves up on stage. Mr. Shuester hadn't arrived yet but as Puck joined everyone on stage, Rachel announced the arrival of everyone and started the vocal warm ups by herself.
Puck hates Mr. Shuester when he decides that the entire rehearsal will be spent perfecting the choreography for I Wanna Be the Rain. Puck spends two hours holding Rachel's hand, twirling her around and holding her close. Shuester was obviously a masochist. Puck managed to concentrate strictly on the dance moves and not the way Rachel felt underneath his fingers. And while Rachel had managed to remain professional during the entire rehearsal, Puck did notice that Rachel ran from the auditorium the second that Mr. Shuester dismissed them, Finn and Quinn hurrying behind her. That night, with his mom working late, and his sister at a friend's house for a few more hours, Puck called Jenna over to finish the make out session they were having over the weekend.
~~~~*~~~~
By lunchtime on Tuesday, Puck had shut his phone off completely. He wasn't doing relationships or Savannah Jeffreys again. But somehow, Savannah didn't understand that at all. The calls and texts were becoming a bigger hassle than Puck even wanted to deal with. He hadn't answered a single message but that only seemed to make them come more frequently, and in each one of them Savannah sounded a little more pissed off.
After lunch, Puck met with Clarissa Roberts at her locker. Clarissa was a tall brunette. She had just started attending McKinley only a few weeks ago. It was only proper that Puck help her get acquainted with the school and get especially acquainted with "Puckerone". Puck could totally tell Clarissa was into him; he was after all, a stud. Clarissa had asked Puck to come over after school. Puck would have been more than willing except for the one little problem: glee practice. Puck lied and told Clarissa that he had something to do right after school, but would be there shortly after. Puck and Clarissa were interrupted by the sound of a piercing scream filling the hallway. Puck looked to see where the scream had come from to find Savannah staring straight at him. Her face was red from screaming but she didn't say anything. She only starred at Puck and Clarissa before storming off. Clarissa gave Puck a confused look.
"She totally wants me" was Puck's only response.
Later that day, Quinn and Finn were sitting in the choir room waiting for everyone else to show up for rehearsal.
'Do you think she's lying," Quinn asked Finn.
The rumors had started going around school some time after lunch. Savannah was again bragging about how she slept with Puck all that time ago, but this time she mentioned that she was late for her period.
"I don't know," Finn said simply.
Quinn sighed and chose to ignore Finn's comment. When had agreed to them trying their relationship Quinn vowed to be a little less bitchy in regards to his less than stellar intelligence level.
"She has to be lying. She wants to be me. Which is probably why she slept with Puck."
Finn shot her a look.
"Look," Quinn continued, "Savannah Jeffreys has been trying to be better than me since the sixth grade. I wouldn't put it past her to try to copy my life, including all of its less than perfect parts."
"What about Rachel?" Finn said trying to move the conversation forward. (He wasn't stupid all the time).
"If this is true, she's going to be absolutely devastated. I just got her to smile yesterday when I let her teach me a song from West Side Story, then I watched it with her. That poor girl can't take anymore."
"Who can't take anymore?" Puck said walking into the choir room.
'Puck-" Finn started.
"You need to go talk to Savannah." Quinn said cutting off whatever catastrophic thing Finn was about to say.
"Now why on earth would I do that?"
Quinn just looked at him, afraid she would let on that she knew something."
"That's because I shouldn't" Puck said to Quinn's silence response.
Before anyone could say anything the rest of the club, including Mr. Shuester came in, and the discussion stopped.
During rehearsal, Puck had to sing with Rachel. Like really sing, with emotions and that stuff; and dance with the touching and everything. It was the first time he realized that Rachel Berry was now nothing more than the girl he had to sing and dance with for glee. She had gone back to the girl she was before she returned his shirt, and this time there wasn't even a shirt or any article of clothing to throw her back into his life. They had not a reason to speak to each other outside of glee and even then, it could be avoided.
That night Puck decided only fifteen minutes into making out with Clarissa that he wasn't feeling it. He went home and spent the rest of the evening watching sitcoms with his mother.
~~~~*~~~~
Wednesday and Thursday things got quiet. Surprisingly the rumors that Savannah had been spreading had ceased there way through the student body and neither Puck nor Rachel had heard of Savannah's possible impending motherhood. Well that was until Friday afternoon when Savannah cornered Puck in the locker room after Puck had gym.
"Why are you ignoring me?" Savannah demanded her hands on her hips.
Puck groaned, "What do you want Savannah?"
"You. Again."
Puck laughed, "That's not going to happen," Puck tried to move past her.
"Why not?" Savannah said moving to block him from leaving.
"Because, I don't do relationships Savannah. Nor do I want one with you."
"But you were in a relationship with Rachel Berry? Who knows why." Savannah said harshly.
"Well that was before. It's not going to be like that anymore."
"Well, either way, you should come to my party tomorrow night."
"Another party? It doesn't matter I can't. Glee has regionals this weekend."
"I keep forgetting that someone like you affiliates yourself with something as pathetic as glee club."
"Look Savannah, I just need you to leave me alone."
To say that Savannah was pissed at this point would have been an understatement. She had been trying for weeks to get Noah Puckerman to notice her, to want to date her.
"I'm pregnant," Savannah blurted.
Puck froze in place. Those were not the words he wanted to hear from anyone for a very VERY long time.
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah. I wasn't sure and then I took the test and now-"
"And I'm suppose to believe that its mine?"
"Of course it is silly. What we did that night, I don't do very often."
Puck was silent.
"Look," Savannah said moving close to Puck, "I don't know what's going to happen. But I'm not going to keep this baby from you like Quinn did."
Puck gave her a sharp look, "I have to go."
Puck ran out of the locker room and out of the school and home. He didn't care about glee right now because all he kept thinking was 'this isn't happening again'.
Rachel walked into glee to find Mercedes, Kurt, Tina, Artie, Santana, and Brittany whispering intensely. It reminded her of the time she had come back to glee the first time after quitting for the play, right before she found out that Quinn was pregnant. None of them had seen her.
"Do you think Rachel knows?" she heard Kurt mutter.
"She won't show up here today if she does." Mercedes said as Rachel watched her friends discuss her.
"She's going to be absolutely crushed," Tina said.
"Savannah Jeffreys is a ho. I bet the baby isn't even his." Santana said.
"What?" Rachel said. She hadn't intended that to be out loud but the five singers turned around to meet Rachel with surprised expressions.
"We didn't think you'd be here," Brittany said.
"Why wouldn't I be here? We have regionals tomorrow."
"But after the bombshell," Kurt said.
"What bombshell?"
"Savannah Jeffreys is pregnant." Brittany said.
"She says it belongs to Puck." Mercedes added.
Even after the cheating and the weeks without Puck, Rachel's chest had never felt so tight. It was like what was left of her bruised heart had finally crumbled into a million pieces and Rachel struggled just to remember to breathe.
"Aren't you going to say anything?" Kurt asked.
Rachel struggled to control her emotions, "What could I possibly say? That the way he's been acting lately this isn't surprising. It's very Puck of him."
Rachel went through rehearsal the same way she had since her and Puck had split up. She was completely dedicated to her work. There was not a single thought in her mind accept winning tomorrow.
When Puck got home he went straight for him room. He sat down and took position on his bed, the same position that he held for those weeks after Quinn lost her-their-baby. He remembered the panic that set in when Finn told him that Quinn was pregnant and how different (but similar in its severity) the panic was this time. He wasn't ready to be father, not now. He had wanted Drizzle and he imagined that by now she would have been almost ready to be born. He would have fought with Quinn and she would have let him take care of her and they would have kept her and they would have raised her; they would have been a family. But he didn't feel want to be family with Savannah. There was no way that he was going to abandon this baby; his feelings towards fatherhood were still the same. He might not want to be a father, but he was and he was determined to try his hardest not be his father, not be there, despite the circumstances. That night the Puck he had tried so hard to become again disappeared and he became simply, Noah. And it was then that he cried.
As Rachel finished getting her things together for the trip tomorrow, she was playing her play list entitled Forgetting Boys with Mohawks. Kurt had "borrowed" her laptop while they were doing homework the other day and when it was returned it there was new music on there, the saddest music Rachel had ever heard about women and men who had lost the one they loved for whatever reason. Kurt could probably have come up with a more clever, less memory inducing title, but Rachel didn't feel the need to change it. Putting her bags next to her bedroom door, Rachel got into bed and cuddled up with her pillows. She knew she needed to get to sleep if her and her vocal chords were going to perform at their maximum potential tomorrow. Turning the lights off Rachel let the façade she had been using to shield herself since glee had started down and let the heartache wash over her. Her body shook as she began to cry. Puck was having yet another baby with yet another girl who wasn't her. As she cried, she cried for him. She knew that this must be very emotional for him. To find out that he was about to be a teenage father for the second time in seven months. She remembered when Quinn had her pregnancy scare that Puck told her he would be there for her, if the situation ever came to it. And Rachel cried even harder for the fact that it was probably true now that Savannah was having his baby. Despite everything that would happen Rachel cried because she had lost Noah Puckerman forever.
AN: So Regionals is next. I'm also debating how much longer this story is going to be. I have a lot more to happen however, like with All These Words on Replay, it comes time for this part of the story to end. So I'd like to hear what you have to say. Do you think this story need to wind down before Rachel and Puck's story can go any farther? Or do you think it would be more appropriate to continue it inside this story?
