Beautiful Nightmare
A Glee Fan Fiction
Chapter 12

Rachel studied her reflection in the mirror one last time after hearing Puck honk the horn outside of her house. She ran her hands through her long, luscious, full mane of dark brown hair and fluffed her bangs one more time before straightening the hem of that infamous black mini skirt that everybody knew Puck loved so much. She'd paired it with a red and black corset styled tank top that she'd borrowed from Santana weeks ago and pulled a cropped leather, distressed jacket over it. She stepped into her black ankle boots and puckered her lips before turning on her heel and starting from her house, heading towards Puck's truck and climbing inside.

"Woah," He breathed, studying her with wide eyes. "Wow," he repeated, his eyes scanning from her perfectly messy hair all the way down past her long, toned legs and to her feet. "Wow," he said one last time before pulling out of her driveway, shaking his head.

"What?" Rachel asked, biting her bottom lip and lowering her head.

"I never thought I'd see you dress like that. You look...completely and utterly hot in every single way imaginable." He told her honestly, his eyes focused on the road ahead of him as he drove. "But, you don't look like Rachel. You look like some sort of slut in Rachel's body," He told her.

"I...I thought this would bother Jesse more than my usual sweaters and skirts...I...you really think that I look like a slut?" She asked, her voice lowering as she hung her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "I was just trying to think of what would get to him the most, you know? Do I really look that...bad?" She wondered, looking up at him with a sad gleam to her eyes and no smile at all on her usually cheerful face.

"Oh, god, no Rach! Don't say you look bad, because you don't. You look sexy. But you don't look like the Rachel that we all know and l-put up with. You look like some kind of...I don't how to describe it...but you just don't look like Rachel. Instead, you look like some sort of-"

"Sad hooker clown?" Rachel asked softly, looking up at him with a frown on her face, but there was a bit of humor and laughter coming back to her now.

"What? No, god that's awful. Where the hell did you hear that?" Puck asked, laughing as he hook his head.

"Finn told me that one time. Kurt did my hair and my make-up so I looked like a bad-girl, you know? All red and black make-up with my hair all curly and full and wild and shit? And then he put me in this crazy cat woman outfit thing and I invited Finn over, because I was trying to impress him. It was stupid, I know that-especially since I really didn't even want him anymore, but I just wanted to know that somebody thought I looked-"

"Never do that again." Puck cut her off. "Don't ever change, Rachel. Promise me that you'll never change, no matter who you're trying to make jealous or impress? Just be yourself, because she's an insanely hot, smart, talented, and beautiful girl who any guy would be lucky to have. You don't need make-up to look pretty. You don't need to make your hair look all like Sandy's from Grease. And you don't need to wear skin tight clothes or short, revealing stuff with sky high heels. I've got one of my sweatshirts in the back seat. Take that torture chamber looking thing off and wear that today, alright?" Puck smiled at her.

"But, Noah, the whole point of this is to-"

"Trust me-guys are territorial. We're like dogs that way. If he sees you wearing my sweatshirt, he's going to be mad, alright? And he'll be more jealous that you trying to make your boobs look bigger and practically pushing them out of your shirt." He shook his head as she lowered her blushing face.

"Why are you helping me? I broke up with you because you made a mistake and I was nothing but a bitch to you. Why are you helping me?" She wondered.

"Because...because even though you were a little mean to me, I knew that I deserved it. I had an amazing, incredible girl and I wasn't being honest with her. Because, that's why you were mad, right?" He asked, watching the rearview mirror as she leaned into the backseat, searching for his hoodie. He had to admit that he was enjoying the view he was getting. "You were upset that I didn't tell you," He sighed. "And I knew that I was lucky you were only giving me the cold shoulder, because it could have been a lot worse," He shrugged as she sat back down in the passenger seat.

"Nobody deserved to be treated the way I treated you. Nobody should have been lied to the way I was, that much is true, but nobody deserved to lose their best friend over a stupid mistake they made that they didn't want to admit to. Santana and I talked about it quite a bit and we both realized that you only lied because you didn't want to hurt Finn. And you were afraid you'd lose me if you told me," Rachel said.

"And I lost you anyways. I mess everything up, Rachel. I ruin every single good thing that happens to me in my life because I get jealous and I get angry and I make stupid mistakes and don't think things through!" He said as he parked the car in his usual spot towards the back of the lot.

"Yet you're helping me right now. And that's showing that you're sweet. That you're forgiving. That you're honest and loyal and an all around great friend. But, my question isn't about any of the stuff we've been talking about. I'm asking why you're offering to help me after I broke up with you and treated you like a total stranger for the past few months." Rachel said softly, lowering her head so she wasn't looking at him.

"Because I...damn it, don't make me say it, Berry," He shook his head. "Please, just don't make me say it," He begged.

"Noah, what are you talking about?" Rachel frowned, shaking her head. "I don't understand and I don't know what you're trying to get at," She said.

"I never stopped loving you, okay? You broke up with me. You were hanging around Finn. You were acting like Finn was your new boyfriend and he needed all the support from everything, but I never got mad at you. I couldn't get mad at you, because through it all, I was still in love with you. I still wanted to be with you. I love you Rachel Berry, and I hate seeing you with that Jesse kid. I want you to be with me, because that's where you belong, okay?" He blurted out, turning around to face her. She opened her mouth to respond, but he never gave her that chance. He swooped right in and kissed her, directly on the mouth.

"Don't do this. Don't go through with whatever plan you had to piss Jesse off and make him jealous. Please, Rachel? I could forgive you for a lot of things, but it's going to hurt too much to know that some guy you barely know means so much to you that you feel the need to use me to make him jealous," Puck whispered. "Please, just break up with him and be with me? I'll do anything, Rach. I love you. I honestly, truly love you," He whispered to her harshly, staring directly into her eyes. He'd stopped the kiss, but his hands were still on her shoulders.

"He's using Santana, Noah," Rachel whispered to him, not able to look away from those beautiful eyes she'd fallen in love staring into. She knew if she didn't stop she'd fall for him all over again, but she just couldn't help it. Just like him his eyes were pure and wonderful. She could feel herself falling in love with him all over again. "I can't just let that go..."She told him, wishing she could break this spell he'd casted over her.

"If he cared about you half as much as I do, he'd feel like he was going to die just because he'd lost you. And he'd always feel bad about that one mistake he'd made that caused him to lose you. He'd be stuck feeling like I do. Only he'd be lucky, because you're hate him so much you'd never ask him to help you make another guy jealous," Puck said, breaking the spell for her.

"Noah, please don't be angry with me! I just...I don't know what to do, okay? I'm confused and I'm angry...I'm sad, and honestly? I'm a little scared," She whispered.

"Scared? Of what?" Puck asked, frowning as he turned to stare at her.

"I'm afraid of what I feel about you. I'm afraid of loving you, alright? I'm afraid of getting hurt, because I know what you've been like in your other relationships. And I know that you say it's different with me, but I still can't bring myself to believe that I could be enough to change a guy like you, alright?" Rachel admitted, lowering her head.

"I couldn't hurt you, alright? I'm not capable of it. And don't be so down on yourself all of the time. You're more than enough to change me. I'm an ass hole. I'm a jerk. I'm a bully. I'm a liar. I'm a Lima Loser-but when I'm with you? I don't feel like a stupid idiot anymore. I can control my anger. I feel like I'm better than everybody thinks I am. I realize that I'm more than Puck. I'm Noah again, and it's all because of you," He told her.

"I'll stop being so negative, if you do something for me," Rachel bargained, looking up at him with those large milk chocolatey eyes that he could stare into for days. He'd fallen in love with her eyes the same way she'd fallen in love with his own eyes. Love was, after all, hidden deep inside a person's heart, buried away in a secret part of their soul. And the eyes were the key to the soul, weren't they? "I never want to hear you call yourself a Lima Loser again, alright? Because you're not, and it bothers me to hear you say that about yourself," She said sternly.

"I'll do anything to be with you," He promised her.

"But, Noah, I'm still so confused. I want to really hurt him, the same way he hurt me-not because I care about him, but because he tried to ruin my friendship with Santana. What am I supposed to do?" Rachel asked.

"Forget about him and be with me," He told her, pulling her in for one more kiss. And this time, she kissed him back with just as much passion as he kissed her with. When he broke away from her, she went to work on removing her corset, his sweatshirt alright wrapped around her to cover her torso. "Aw, I was looking forward to the show!" He whined, giving her a fake pout as he stared at her, longing for the sight of even the smallest sliver of skin.

"No free passes," She stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'm your boyfriend!" He protested. "They're all free for me-and there aren't any tickets for anybody else, right? There better not be, or there's going to be a lot of explaining to do. I'm going to have to hurt some people if that happens," He informed her with a stern look replacing his teasing one.

"Do you really think I'm that type of girl?" She asked, tossing her top into the backseat and zipping his hoodie up a little bit more. Puck studied her for a second before shaking his head and kissing her one last time. "Come on-let's go. I think I've cheated on him enough for one day. Let's go end things with the vampire dude and then we can be together again, alright?" She wondered, opening her door and waiting for him. "Are you going to help a lady down?" She asked him, a teasing smile tossed over her shoulder as she winked at him. "After all, you were just complaining about wanting to see the show," She teased. He hurried over.