I'm Sorry p.2

The next day, Puck stormed up and down the hallways. Rachel was obviously still in the hospital, and since his mom worked there, she was able to stay. He argued with his mom for hours, wanted to stay with Rachel, saying he wouldn't have a good day being away from her. In the end, she made him go, citing that Rachel would be disappointed if he didn't go. Puck sat stone faced, but left, saying he was only going to get notes for Rachel.

So there he was, a permanent scowl on his face. He didn't say a word to anyone, no matter how many people tried. Only Sam, Artie, and Mike were smart enough not to try and make him talk. They had seen that face plenty of times, and knew that pushing might make him mad enough to hit you. All day he went to his classes, turned in his homework, took notes in the classes he and Rachel shared, and arranged for someone else to in the other. His teachers were perplexed, as he did all the classwork, and got the answers right, but wouldn't move a muscle when they asked a question of him.

Before he knew it, 3:30 came around, and it was time for glee. While he hadn't actively avoided the other gleeks, they were among the top people he wouldn't speak to. He rolled his eyes whenever any of them spoke, and downright glared when they aimed anything directly at him. A couple of them (i.e. Kurt and Mercedes) kept persisting, and were very close to getting punched. Luckily, Sam steered them away. He hadn't seen Finn at all, but he was glad, as he might've started beating him on sight.

Reaching the choir room late, he stopped just in the doorway, catching sight of Finn. He was flirting with Brittany and Santana, no regard for the fact that Rachel was in the hospital. And he knew that Finn knew, as he was there when his mom called Carole to tell her Rachel's condition. He was trying to stay calm and just make it through practice, when he saw Finn put his hand on Santana's knee and whisper something to her, making her giggle. It enraged him to a point where he didn't care what happened next.

Slamming the door behind him, he made everyone jump, but he only had eyes for the jolly green giant. Finn looked confused until Puck spoke. "I bet you feel real good about yourself huh. Think you're the big man on the fucking campus." Everyone else was wondering what he was talking about, but Finn just lowered his head and clenched his fists.

"You know she almost died!" he shouted. "Had I not gotten her to the hospital in time, they would be burying her next week!"

Finn still hadn't moved or said anything, just continued to stare at his lap. The others were looking around at each other, trying to figure out who he was talking about. They all realized that he was talking to Finn, and they alternated with whispering to each other and looking back and forth between Puck and Finn.

"Wait," came a voice to his right. Tina stood up from her place next to Mike, a questioning look on her face. It was clear she was putting the pieces together. "You're talking about Rachel aren't you?" Cause she wasn't in any of our classes today, and she hasn't answered her phone nor texted me back." Slowly, everyone else remembered that they haven't seen their fellow diva today, and were now openly staring at the two boys. Mr. Schue, who had also been watching the events unfold, finally spoke up.

"Now Puck, I don't think that Finn would ever do anything to seriously harm Rachel."

"Well he did. He and Rachel went to the Christmas Tree Lot outside of town, and he left her there in the freezing cold, after dumping her. By the time I got to her, she had been outside for two fucking hours! She was ice cold, couldn't move, and was turning blue. When I finally got her to the hospital, they said she was suffering from hypothermia, and that they had to put 7 of those warming blankets on her. And even then, she still wasn't warming up fast enough!"

He heard the entire club gasp, and even chairs scrape against the floor as those close to Finn scooted away, but he paid them no attention. He was hell bent on making Finn feel like a complete jackass, and he had been staring at his head for a couple minutes until he felt a tap on his arm. Looking away, he saw Mike and Tina standing next to him. "Can we see her?" He knew it would be okay, as Rachel had been trying to become a better friend to the couple.

"Yeah. But I'm not staying for the rest of this bullshit, so either come now, or text me when you're on your way."

After some quick eye contact the two decided to skip as well, knowing Rachel was more important. As they were starting to leave, they heard the shuffling of feet and backpacks, and turned to see some of the club trying to follow them. The only one's not moving were Finn, Mr. Schue, and the Unholy Trinity.

Enraged, Puck rounded on the group. "And where the hell do you think you're going?" They all looked at each other, not sure why he was mad. Finally Mercedes spoke up, "We want to see her too. She's our friend-"

"You're nor her friends!" Surprisingly, it was Tina, not Puck, that shouted. "Friends don't gossip behind each other's backs. Friends don't pretend to 'forget' to give someone and invite to a party, when you know full well you had no intention of inviting them anyway. And if you were really friends, she would've called you! But she didn't! Because she knew that you probably wouldn't answer. None of you would! Mike, Puck, and I are the only ones trying to right our wrongs with her. So don't act concerned when you know you wouldn't give two shits about her on a normal day!"

With that, Tina grabbed Mike's hand, who was standing there with his mouth completely open, and drug him out of the room, a smirking Puck following. The rest of the club, along with Mr. Schue, just stood there, stunned to hear an outburst like that from the girl who used to fake a stutter. Outside, Puck had climbed into his truck and had pulled out of the parking lot. Asian Fusion were right behind him in Mike's car. Since the school was closer to the hospital than his house, the drive was cut down, but not enough to ease Puck's mind.

During the drive, he got a call from his mom, who was still with Rachel. She said that she had woken up, and that her temp had finally gotten up to normal, but they wanted to keep her for another night for observation. Hanging up, he pressed on the gas, even more upset that she had to be there in the first place. They got to the hospital, Puck paying for both cars, and they luckily found two spaces next to each other. He restrained himself from just sprinting in, instead waiting for Mike and Tina to get out before leading them in. At the front desk, they had sign in, and at the one on her floor, they had be but on the visitors list before they could see her. Turning to go into Rachel's room, he was stopped by him mom coming out, who was very happy to see him.

She smiled, giving him a long hug. "Oh Noah. You have to help her. When she woke up, she completely shut down. She won't talk or respond at all to any of the doctor's questions, she barely ate anything. We finally got her to sleep, but she woke up screaming from a nightmare. Please, see if you can get her to do something." During her little speech, Puck was slowly getting angrier. He so wished that Finn would rot in hell for what he's done to her.

Calming himself, he walked into her room, hoping that Rachel would be happy to see him. When he could see her, her eyes were open, but she seemed to be staring at something only she could see. She wasn't blinking, wasn't even acknowledging his presence. The only way you could tell if she was breathing was if you stared for a long time. Reaching the bed, he was unsure if Rachel knew he was there, or if she was simply ignoring him.

Puck climbed into bed with her, being careful not to mess with any of the wires hooked up to her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his chest, hoping to transfer some of his warmth to her. Only then did she react, turning into him and immediately sobbing and crying. He was surprised at the force of her crying, but knew that she needed to let it all out. While she continued crying, he hugged her tightly and started singing their song:

"Sweet Caroline, good times

never seemed so good.

I've been inclined to

believe they never would."

Eventually she quieted listening to his soothing voice. He reached up and wiped her tears away, kissing her on the forehead. They lay there in silence, Rachel enjoying him being there, and Puck gathering his thoughts. "You're my girlfriend now." Rachel looked up, unsure of what he was talking about. "You're my best friend, and I almost died when I saw you at the tree lot. And now that you're not with that idiot, you'll need protection at school, cause lord knows what he's gonna tell everyone. If you're my girlfriend they won't mess with you."

Frowning, Rachel opened her mouth to argue when Puck cut her off. "I'm not just doing it for the protection either. You know how I feel about you, and I want to show you how a real boyfriend is supposed to act. Cause Finn….he's a disgrace to the word 'boyfriend'. He was supposed to make sure you were okay, supposed to treat you like you're his whole life, and he didn't. I'm not gonna push you or anything, I promise. We don't even have to kiss. I just-"

He was stopped by a finger to his lips. When he looked down, he saw that Rachel was smiling. Confused, he watched her lean up, then he felt smooth, slightly cold lips touch his. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it was long enough for him to realize that Rachel had kissed him and he wasn't dreaming. When she opened her eyes, his were staring back at her with curiosity and love floating through them. Rachel smiled and leaned back so she could see him properly. She wanted him to understand her properly, because he had a tendency to only hear parts of things.

"I love you too Noah," she rasped out. Her voice hadn't been used in almost 24 hours, and it hurt. "And I would be honored to be your girlfriend. Just promise to go really really slow?"

As he listened to her, Noah's smile grew. Hugging her close he whispered to her, "Anything you want princess. It's all yours." And with that, he knew that she would be okay.