He couldn't concentrate at all second period. His heart was beating a little faster than usual and droplets of sweat dripped down his abs under his tight shirt. His eyes were glued to the clock behind 's head, knowing that every time the hand ticked it was a second closer to seeing her. The bell finally rang and jolted him out of his daze. He grabbed his bag and barged out of the classroom, heading straight to the choir room for Glee-clubs scheduled welcome-back meeting. He walked in hesitantly, nervous in case she had beaten him there. To his relief he was first to arrive, quickly followed by Mike and Matt who he proceeded to high-five and do the usual jock-type greetings with. Most of the others breezed in within the next few minutes, right before Finn and Rachel made their grand entrance, hand-in-hand, grinning from ear to ear. The clock struck on the hour, just as appeared. 'Good morning glee clubbers and welcome to your Junior year at McKinley! Hope you all had a good summer?' he beamed enthusiastic as ever. Everyone nodded and "Mmmmm'd", except Rachel who proceeded to give a detailed account of her entire fantastic romance-fuelled summer. Puck wasn't listening though. He was too busy staring at the door. Why isn't she here yet? Has she like – transferred or something? His mind raced with questions and doubts – he felt sick. 'Right then guys! It's time to share some of your assignments on what you did this summer. Who's going to start us off?' Rachel wasted no time in springing up from her seat, dragging Finn with her as they swiftly went into the first verse of 'Summer Nights'. Puck slumped back into his chair and sighed, having surrendered to the hope of Quinn ever turning up.

Summer lovin' had me a blast

Summer lovin' happened so fast

Is this my life now? Puck contemplated, pissed as ever.

I saved her life – she nearly drowned

He showed off – splashing around!

Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed someone scurry into the room and sit down at the end of the row. He slowly tilted his head and saw her golden blonde hair falling down past the straps of her pale green dress, leant back a little and saw her beautiful yet sheepish face with her perfect pink lips mouthing a 'Sorry' at Shue. He couldn't breathe.

-o-o-o-

She slammed her car into the bay on the parking lot, right next to Finn's, like she used to. She grabbed her crap and hurriedly locked the door before dashing towards the school in an attempt to be at least kind-of on time. She hated being late. Her mom had overslept too, and if it wasn't for the neighbours roaring lawn-mower she'd still probably be fast asleep. She spent the rest of the morning sorting out her timetable at reception seeing as though she'd missed orientation. By the time she had everything organised (and after a run-in with Miss Pillsbury, whereby she spent 10 minutes reassuring the guidance counsellor that she'd definitely book an appointment to 'chat') it had already gone past the hour and she was yet again late, this time for glee rehearsal. The hallways were deserted now, causing the squeaking sound of her pretty new flats to echo against the freshly polished floors as she skipped along them. Yet as the choir room crept ever closer she started to slow down a little. He's gonna be in there – shit she suddenly remembered He's so pissed at me. She'd managed to read a few of the dozens of text messages he'd sent her over the summer whilst wolfing down her breakfast:

Puck: Hey u ok? What u up 2? x

Puck: Hey, Mike havin pary tonite – up 4 it? x

Puck: Bed still feels weird without u Answer ur damn fone! x

Puck: U get my mssgs? Tb x

Puck: U dealin with everythin ok? Tb x

Puck: MILF? x

Puck: Plz tb I'm worried bout u x

Puck: Did I do somethin wrong?

Puck: Thanx for lemme know bout ur vacation ….

She stopped dead outside the door. She could hear Rachel and Finn belting out some Grease medley and rolled her eyes laughing. Cute. She took a deep breath, put her head down and slinked inside, taking the end seat in the row not daring to look at anyone except to mouth an apology to Shue. The duet was over, and Brittany was up next.

I kissed a girl and I liked it!

Quinn could feel his eyes burning into her head. She just couldn't bring herself to let hers meet them. She just smiled her way through the rest of rehearsal, blankly watching her friends perform whilst thoughts of him ran through her mind.

Well, up until he got up to sing …