Author's note: I don't know how any one else feels about this, but I was seriously miffed when I discovered they'd gotten rid of Sam. I was like "Sheesh! A glee club can have more than 12 characters, you know!" And Sam had an awesome voice, too. So, in retaliation, not only am I going to keep Sam in my story, but I'm also going to bring back Matt. So, be on the lookout, you all! Matt will be back within the next three to five chapters, depending on how I can believably work him back into the rotation.

Music suggestions: 'She's not there' by Glee Cast, 'Defy you' by The Offspring, 'Some kind of wonderful' by Grand Funk.

Disclaimer: Don't own Glee.

The Puckelberry Shuffle

"Noah!" Rachel called out when Mr. Schuester dismissed the club. Puck stepped out of the flow of traffic leaving the classroom, now doubled in size due to the football team's rush to exit the room, and turned inquisitively to look at Rachel. "Do you have a minute?"

Grimacing, Puck looked down at the floor before looking back up at Rachel regretfully. "There's kind of something I need to do right now. And it can't wait."

Damn Finn. Somehow, he always worked his way inbetween him and Rachel.

"Oh." Rachel uttered in a disappointed tone. She then reached one hand out and laced her fingers through his. "How about later? Maybe you could stop by. My dads are going out for their monthly anniversary dinner tonight, and I thought that maybe we could...talk."

Staring down at their linked hands, Puck recalled the last time she'd reached out and held his hand like she was now. The expression on her face was the same. The tone of her voice was the same. Even the way their hands and fingers lined up.

If any of those clues were alluding to what he thought they were alluding to...the talk she was referring to might actually be that sex discussion she mentioned earlier. And knowing her, there actually would be a talk involved.

But...if he played his cards right...they just might get back together tonight. Both in the boyfriend/girlfriend sense as well as the physical sense. Because if there was one stipulation about having sex with Rachel, it was that it was only going to be had if they were in a serious and stable, exclusive relationship.

Not that he wasn't being exclusive to Rachel already. He'd been whipped for quite some time now.

Screw Finn. His original plan had been to make up with Finn, maybe hang out and stay up all night playing Halo like they used to. If they wanted to win this championship game, he and Finn needed to get it together. Like "bro" together. But they didn't need to hang out right then as soon as they made up. Rachel was more important.

She would always be more important.

"Sure, babe. What time would you like for me to stop by?"

ooooeooooo*ooovoooooo*ooozooooooo

When Puck woke up the next day to Rachel shoving him onto the floor and hissing at him in an undertone to hide under the bed, Puck had a bad feeling about the day ahead.

He was kind of disappointed when the night didn't actually end with them naked in bed. But, the night hadn't been a total loss. Puckelberry was back on the bandwagon once again.

No romantic words or poetic declarations were used in the process. He just flat-out asked her if she wanted to get back together. She said yes. And that's all there was to it.

It had been long overdue, and he would have been a complete ass to completely ignore the opportunity she'd laid out for him. He also thought it earned him bonus points for suggesting they shouldn't rush the whole sex aspect of their on-again relationship.

In fact, it earned him just about everything but the actual final act. It also earned him his first sleepover with Rachel since their breakup. Which is how he ended up half-naked, barely half-awake, and trying not to breathe too deeply as he squeezed in under Rachel's bed as her dad, Leroy, knocked on the door and bent his head in around the door to wish her a good morning and to make sure she was awake.

"Good morning, daddy." Rachel greeted cheerily, if perhaps a touch too brightly.

"You stayed up too late last night and overslept your morning workout, didn't you?" Leroy taunted lightly, catching her guilty tone and thankfully misinterpreting it.

"Sorry, daddy. Gone With The Wind was on TMC last night, and I just couldn't turn it off." Rachel supplied, ducking her head guiltily.

"Just as long as you don't make a habit out of it, sweetie." Leroy chastised. "Better start getting ready soon. School starts in an hour and a half."

"Alright, daddy. Thanks." Rachel said in a demure tone. Rachel's feet then dangled to the floor and the door clicked shut as Rachel's dad left. Getting down on her hands and knees, Rachel's face appeared next to his. "You can come out now, Noah."

"I have to say, it's been awhile since I've had to do that." Puck commented dryly as he hauled himself out from his hiding place and stretched. "Good thing I parked my truck two block away, just in case. Old habits."

A small smile appeared on Rachel's face as she rose up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "You should probably go now. You know which way."

"Yep. Dangle from my fingertips and try not to land my ass in those thorny bushes right underneath your window." Puck commented in a grumpy tone as he made his way around Rachel's bed for his shoes.

"And don't forget to check both ways before you drop." Rachel added informatively.

Finishing up lacing his shoes, Puck looked over at Rachel just in time to watch her pull her sleepshirt over her head. The only downside had been that her back had been turned to him. But she made up for it with the puckish expression lighting up her face as she tossed the shirt his way. She was wearing a pair of bikini style panties, white with multi-colored stars patterned all over. Nothing else.

Perhaps the day wasn't going to be quite as bad as he'd originally thought.

ooooaoooo*oooxoooowoo*ooorooooooo

So, finding out that Sylvester had royally f-ed up their half-time show by stealing away the Cheerios upgraded the day from "not-so-bad" to "total crap" in less than ten seconds. Turned out, his prediction hadn't been that far off the mark. Rachel had just distracted him with her perfectly shaped, star covered behind and bedroom eyes.

But, they still had a football team. And they were going to get to zombify themselves and perform Michael Jackson's badass Thriller in place of the Cheerios performance. And if things kept going the way they were, they were going to kick ass at it, too.

Zombie camp was turning out to be a total blast. And it really did look as if the glee club was winning over the "hardcore" football team.

To quote Brittany as she was helping Santana with her makeup, it was a zombie double rainbow.

He really wasn't surprised when Rachel pulled him aside and applied his zombie makeup on the second day of zombie camp. Nor when she stepped away from the mirror and he saw a believable zombie version of himself staring back at him.

He almost gave Karofsky a hug for his awesome idea of a warmup song, and he hadn't felt like hugging Karofsky since...ever. He had never felt such a sense of togetherness as they performed "She's not there" on day three of zombie camp. This idea of Mr. Schu's might actually work.

He really hoped their luck held out. Because if it didn't...there wouldn't be any half-time show. Or championship football game. Or a football team at all.

oooosooo*oowooooooo*oocooooooo

After he finished scrubbing what was left of his zombie makeup and cherry slushie off his face and out of his hair, Puck went in search of Rachel.

Not saying a word when he found her, he grabbed her hand, and led her to the nearest empty room. Obviously, she had questions, but she thankfully held them in until the storage closet was securely shut behind them.

She didn't even get the chance to finish her "What's wrong?" question before his lips were attached to hers. As his arms circled around her, he pulled her in tight and drowned his sorrow in the only way he knew would do him any good.

Because the other best part of his life had just been flushed down the drain due to all the cowards for football players they no longer had.

oooxoooooo*ooosooooooo*ooouoooooo*

Looping his arm through hers, Kurt nonchalantly eased Rachel away from Mercedes and Blaine as they exited the coffee shop into the heavy mall traffic. Rachel forced a smile until she met Kurt's serious expression and the smile faded.

"Rachel, sweetie, what are you planning?" Kurt asked as they walked arm in arm.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Rachel countered, perusing the window displays to avoid Kurt's probing eyes.

"I could see the wheels turning the moment Blaine mentioned that little fact about needing only four more members for the team to play." Kurt said straightforwardly.

Rachel hesitated a moment before turning and stopping Kurt. She latched onto his other arm so they faced each other directly. "I was thinking about the glee girls. There are four of us left, now that the Cheerios are gone."

"Rachel," Kurt began in a wary tone. "You cannot possibly be thinking of doing what I think you're thinking about doing."

"Yes I am, Kurt." Rachel stated resolutely, her chin jutting out proudly. "I'm thinking about joining the football team. And after I talk to all the other girls, I'm sure they will too."

"God help us all." Kurt uttered as Rachel let go of him and power-walked away from him to catch up with Mercedes and Blaine.

oooozooooo*ooovooooo*oooxooocoo

Starting as her phone vibrated in her pocket, Mercedes extracted her phone and read the text message on the display.

She peeked at Kurt, seated across the table as they ate a snack at the food court and nodded her agreement.

There was no doubt why Rachel was doing this. Why she'd hatched this crazy plan. And his name was no longer Finn. It was Puck.

It was a good thing they'd decided on the date Rachel and Puck announced their on-again status as the winning terms, because if they hadn't, she'd have totally lost.

Those two were so back together.

"Definitely." Mercedes typed and sent in response.

ooosoooo*ooomoooooo*ooouoooooo

Clapping her hands together while singing "football team" cheerily, Rachel reached up and slapped Sam's high-five as he wandered down to the collection of girls standing at the front. Standing from his seat as well, Puck ambled down behind the rest of the football players.

Coming to a stop in front of Rachel, he stared down into Rachel's eyes intently. Rachel dropped the hand she'd been holding up for a high five and stared back at him. A wide grin then broke out on his face and he swooped her up off her feet. Spinning her around, he made a silly cooing yet purring sound in the back of his throat.

Puck could hear her tinkling laughter in his ear as he finished spinning her around and placed her back on her feet.

"Thanks, Rachel." Puck stated gratefully.

He knew there was a reason why he loved this girl more than any other.

oooaooooo*oooeoooooo*ooocoooooo

I know, it's been too long. Have you ever had a relationship stuck in your mind, and scenes to go with it, but it wasn't the one you really needed to be working on, but as hard as you tried, that was the only thing you could think about? Well, that's what has been going on with me for the past month. I've been seriously obsessed with Firefly/Serenity and as a result, my River/Mal story The Perfect Woman. So, I apologize for it being so long.