Breathing slightly harder than usual, they broke apart. Puck was pleased to see Rachel blink owlishly, as if in a daze. Her lips were swollen and her brown hair slightly mussed from the pads of his fingers weaving through it.

She looked, he thought proudly, well and truly ravaged.

'I…' Rachel trailed off as Puck tasted peppermint on his tongue. She seemed to steel herself and Puck immediately felt wary. After all, the last time this had happened she had all but shown him the door.

But no strings attached this time around Puckerman.

'There a reason you felt the need to violate me Berry?' Puck asked, attempting a nonchalance that he wasn't feeling. Anxious was the first word that came to mind. It was as if his senses had gone into self-imposed overload and every little thing came across his radar – the subtle shift of Rachel's posture, the way the lights that filtered through the velvet curtains struck her chocolate tresses just so. It was maddening and yet strangely thrilling at the same time.

'I kissed you,' she said very matter-of-factly.

'I know. I was there.'

'You kissed me back,' Rachel was looking him in the eye, barely blinking.

'I did.' Because, really, what was the point in denying the obvious.

'Which means that you obviously must hold some kind of interest in me. Clearly you find me symmetrically pleasing – your blatant ogling of my body is proof enough of that.'

Puck shrugged his shoulders. 'You're a hot Jew.'

Rachel seemed pleased with his answer. 'And while my personality is often abrasive, conceited and hard to take in, you've remarked on numerous occasions that you do not find that a negative trait.'

'Well, it couldn't hurt to dial down the crazy. Sometimes,' Puck hastily tacked on towards the end. Because Rachel was giving a speech. And whenever she did, it often led to something important.

'I also find your honesty, which you seem to have tempered with tact rather than your previous juvenile-'

'Is there a point Rachel?' Anticipation was making him nervous. Puck hated feeling this tense, especially over a girl.

She sucked in a deep, audible breath that puffed out her cheeks comically. Puck stood there unmoving and still. His fingers toyed with the hole in the pocket of his jeans, twisting and tugging it so hard that he was afraid of making it bigger.

'While I am usually very verbose, I believe that in this case I wanted my actions to speak for themselves.'

'I see,' Puck replied.

'Well?' Rachel resisted the urge to stamp her feet. Why was he acting so reticent? For a second she was sitting on a plaid blanket with a picnic basket by her side, an airplane cup of virgin cosmo discarded as Finn sealed his lips over hers. Finn was bolting upright, pulling his shirt over his pants, and telling her to forget that what had happened had ever really occurred.

'Well what?'

Was he purposefully trying to make this more difficult than it already was?

'Noah Puckerman, are you deliberately being obtuse?' She demanded, jabbing a finger at his chest. Rachel had taken a chance, a deliberate and foolish one that dangled them both over a precipice. It was a chance for something dangerous yet intoxicating at the same time.

'What do you want me to say Rachel?' His voice was quiet and this made Rachel blink. There was a sadness that lingered behind his words, a kind of subtle resignation that made her want to throw herself at him and wrap her arms around his waist. It was this juxtaposition of sweet and sour that fascinated her so much. It reeled her in and tightened its grip on Rachel the more time she spent with him.

'I want you to tell me the truth. About us,' she finally said. Puck fixed his green eyes squarely on hers and she could see the flecks of gold dotting the rims.

'Aside from you shoving your tongue down my throat, twice, there is no us Berry,' he remarked evenly. Rachel winced.

'Yes, that's a rather simplistic summary of our…situation,' Rachel answered delicately, making sure to choose her words carefully. Puck studied her furrowed brow and tamped down the urged to run this thumb down the middle to smooth away the lines forming there.

'You have a complicated version then?' Puck asked her, shifting closer towards her. His words seemed to echo around the empty auditorium and for a brief moment, he wondered whether anyone had noticed that the both of them were gone.

'Your caution towards my gesture of affection is understandable,' Rachel began. 'When this happened previously I was involved in a relationship with James. Therefore, though I wanted to explore our sudden and unexpected-'

'What's different this time? I mean, aside from the fact that you're not playing Stepford for pretty boy anymore-'

'I'm trying to tell you that there should be an us you Neanderthal!' Rachel yelled and Puck took a step back in surprise. 'I meant what I said before about the feelings that you inspire within me. Despite the fact that you've spent years tormenting me, these past few months you've shown me a side that I believe very few people have had the opportunity to see. You're sweet, kind, good. And while your penchant for violence could be rectified, sometimes its admirable the way you it as an alternative to dispense a rather personalized form of justice.' She said this all without needing to take a breath, much like she had done before the girls had performed their mash up of Halo and Walking On Sunshine.

She thinks I'm…good.

'I'm not…I'm not this great guy you think I am Rachel. I'm a complete asshole at the best of times,' he told her thickly, swallowing.

What are you doing? She's all but saying she wants you and you're starting now to take the moral high road?

I got Quinn pregnant. I can't tell Rachel that. She'll hate me.

Quinn isn't going to let that little fact slip. Keep your mouth shut and Rachel will never know. It's not lying if she doesn't ask you about it.

Really?

Really.

Her features softened and she was looking at him with a small smile. He watched as Rachel reached out her hands and grasped the arm that was entrenched in his pocket, gently tugging his hand free from its confines and sandwiching it between her tiny palms. Her skin was soft and smooth, gliding across his with barely a catch.

'I believe I mentioned the fact that you tormented me with slushies for a while,' she informed him gently, peering up at him through her lashes. Puck stared at their joined hands, running the tip of his tongue over his front teeth.

'We won't work. You're like high maintenance and I don't have a good credit score,' he said, keeping his eyes downcast.

'Noah,' Rachel said forcefully and Puck felt his belly tickle his spine. When he didn't lift his gaze, she hooked a finger under his chin and turned it towards her. 'The feelings I have for you are new and they confuse me! I realize that this is uncharted territory for you, dating someone obviously below your social standing-'

'Don't say that,' Puck hissed through his teeth. 'Like I give a fuck what anyone else says about you. If I want you to be my girl, they can all learn to deal with it.'

'Do you want me to be your girl?' She parroted.

'Fuck Rach, what do you think?' Puck groaned, skipping his glare away from her.

'I think that you do. But because of some inherent self-esteem issues-'

'I don't have self-esteem issues, alright? I'm a fucking stud,' Puck protested vehemently.

'Clearly,' Rachel drawled and Puck wasn't sure whether she was being sarcastic or not.

'Everything I touch gets screwed up,' he mumbled. 'You're special, in a crazy kinda way. I just-'

Rachel's grip on his hand tightened to the point where Puck thought the bones were powdering to dust.

'Jesus fucking Christ Berry,' Puck gritted out, trying to extract his hand. Rachel held firm.

'You, Noah Puckerman, are going to be my boyfriend,' Rachel told him, tone clear and focused. She narrowed her eyes, taking in the subdued set of Puck's jaw and the understated slump of his shoulders. Rachel had come too far, put too much into this to let Puck's martyr complex get in the way of achieving her goals.

Because if Rachel Berry couldn't have Noah Puckerman, no one else could.

'You can't just tell someone to be your boyfriend. It doesn't work that way,' Puck countered.

'I can and I will. Unless, of course, you'd prefer it if I found someone else to fill the vacancy?'

'Fuck no.'

Rachel nodded her head sharply. 'I will take your vehement expression of distaste for that idea to indicate that you are willing to be my boyfriend.' She beamed up at him and Puck was caught off guard by the way her face lit up. Was that because of him?

'I'm not going to be your Broadway bitch Berry,' he muttered sourly. Rachel titled her head to the side, her thick hair spilling behind her shoulder like a fan.

'You don't expect me to be anything but myself. Why would I expect any less from you?'

Her question was so simple but the full force of it struck Puck like a full-bodied tackle.

She doesn't see anything wrong with the way you are now. Either this broad is really that insane, or – just like Pringles – once you Puck, you can't stop.

Puck couldn't help himself. Soon he had slanted his lips over hers in a kiss that wasn't necessarily toe-curling, but it was enough to make Rachel's heart flutter and for Puck to show her just how much her faith in him meant.

Her lips were curved upwards and Puck noticed that she had a dimple in her right cheek.

'Rachel? Puck? Where are you guys?' Mike's voice was jarring. They heard the stomping of feet and a moment later the curtain was being drawn back. 'Oh. There you are.'

Stupid, smug bastard.

'What Chang?' Puck bit out, aware of Mike's intent gaze on their enjoined hands.

'Mr Schue wants us back in the choir room,' the Asian boy said moderately. Rachel appeared to colour ever so slightly.

'Oh. Of course.' She calmly disentangled her hand from Puck's, shooting her eyes back and forth between Mike and Puck. 'Well, we shouldn't keep Mr Schue waiting,' she announced too brightly. Flashing Puck a meaningful look, she swept past Mike almost nervously.

Fuck. Left to the sharks.

'Dude, you totally look like you found White Castle,' Mike blurted out the minute Rachel was out of hearing range.

'Whatever,' Puck tried to brush it off. Rachel Berry is yours. Rachel Berry is yours.

'Brittany is-'

'What the fuck? Are you Gossip Girl or something?' Puck bit out, staring at Rachel who was walking in front of them.

'I wish. Though the whole disembodied voice thing might get lame after a while,' Mike mused.

'Thanks for joining us,' Mr Schue looked annoyed.

'No problemo Mr Schue,' Puck replied, offering the New Directions chair a lopsided grin. Mike made a beeline towards Brittany, who was nudging Kurt in the shoulder. Puck spotted the empty seat beside Rachel. She was looking at him hopefully, expectantly.

Puck threw himself down next to her, tossing an arm over her shoulder and lightly easing her into his side.

Mr Schue faltered slightly at this before resuming his speech about their set list for Sectionals. The teacher didn't seemed to notice how the rest of Glee was staring at the two of them, open-mouthed.

Puck found he didn't care.

After all, Rachel had placed her head on his chest and a hand on his knee. Her touch was feather light and Puck found himself reaching over to touch it.

Hands, touchin' hands
Reachin' out, touchin' me, touchin' you.

Puck thought Neil Diamond couldn't have been more right.

a/n:

Christie: ah! the fanforum is being retarded. i give up! but i hope you guys down at the thread like this update.