A/N Sorry it's been a while since the last chapter, I hope you were well distracted by all the great Puckelberry updates that have shown up in the last couple of weeks. What? No, um, I wasn't distracted from writing this chapter because I was reading the new stories and updates...really...you believe me, right?

As usual, I do not own Glee, Puckleberry, or Breadstix, this is a work of fan fiction by someone who merely owns 2/15ths of a house and ½ of a car. Oh, and I own the debt on the other fractions of the house and car. :-)

*****GLEE!*****

Finn took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. He knew he would be in trouble if he waited in the car and honked the horn like he did when he picked up Rachel, but Finn was scared. This would be the first time he had to talk to Quinn's mom since...the last time. He comforted himself with the thought that this time there was no secret pregnancy he could sing about and cause Quinn to get kicked out again. Or, if he did sing something that made Mrs. Fabray mad, at least she couldn't really kick them out the way Mr. Fabray did. He was a lot stronger than he looked, even when he was drunk. All Mrs. Fabray could do was yell at them. And throw things.

At this point, the door was opened by Quinn. Finn sighed in relief. "Hi Quinn, where is your mom? Is she still mad at me for singing last time?" Finn's relief was short lived as he started to panic because Quinn was frowning at him. "Oh no, um, I mean, darn, I was hoping to say hi to your mom?" The panic grew as the frown stayed firmly in place. "What's wrong?"

"Don't you like my dress?" Quinn pouted up at Finn. "If you don't think I look pretty, maybe we shouldn't go out tonight."

"Oh no, I like your dress, it's very pretty, you're very pretty, I mean, you're beautiful, really fantastic looking,"

Quinn smiled sweetly up at Finn, happy that he looked so scared at her threat of not going out with him tonight. She had to keep him in line, on a shorter leash than last time. He could not be allowed to derail her path to the crown. She was born to be prom queen, and by all that was holy, they would be victorious come prom night.

*****GLEE!*****

Sam sat in his car for a minute, staring blankly through the windshield.

Santana rolled her eyes and pushed his arm playfully. "Come on, they weren't that bad."

"Your sister is scarier than you are. And she's NINE!"

"Well, yeah, she learned from the best, so she has an advantage. I had to figure out the HBIC rules to live by on my own."

Sam gives his head a little shake before weakly grinning at Santana. "So, ready for some bread sticks?"

"You know I am always read for some sticks, baby." Santana smirked and pulled Sam's head closer to hers for a long kiss. "Breadstix really does it for me." She gave him a quick wink before settling back in the seat.

*****GLEE!*****

Quinn looked around the restaurant, smiling smugly to herself. There were a handful of tables that had cheerios and jocks seated. Not a lot, but more than enough to establish to those that mattered that the INN's were back and stronger than ever. She knew from the looks and texts taking place around them that the news was spreading quickly. She smiled and batted her eyelids at Finn, pleased with her first step to the crown. "Oh Finn," she cooed, "That is simply fascinating, please tell me more." She wasn't sure what he was talking about, but the waitress that just walked by was in her government class, and she wanted to make sure whatever her name was would help confirm the "it couple" was back among those less popular students that would not be getting a text from a cheerio.

Finn blinked and grinned goofily at Quinn. It was so cool that she wanted to hear more about the drumstick twirl he had been trying to do for six months.

Quinn's happiness died abruptly when the hostess brought Santana and Sam over to sit at the table next to them. "What is this? Why are you here? Why are you here together?"

Santana glared right back. "Sam is a great boyfriend and decided to bring me to Breadstix since it is my favorite. Of course, you should know he's a great boyfriend, but you dropped him for Finn anyway." Santana smirked as she saw Quinn flush in anger with her jaw jutting out and decided to aim another jab in her direction. "Big mistake dropping Sam, Q. He's cuter, nicer, and smarter than Finnessa. Not to mention a much better kisser. Huh. And here I thought Finn was the dumb one in your couple."

Quinn sneered at the hostess. "Excuse me, you need to move these people to a different table. I will not be subjected to this abuse on our romantic date."

The hostess smiled brightly at Quinn. "Oh, I'm sorry, but there are no other tables."

Quinn's eyes widened at the fake niceness she heard. "What do you mean, no other tables? I see four empty tables right now!"

The hostess' smile widened. "Oh, I'm afraid that those tables have been specifically reserved. But don't worry, I'm sure you can handle whatever happens. You are a super strong girl, right?"

Quinn realized with a sinking feeling that the hostess was Carly Michaels, a girl that had graduated last year. She had been the captain of the Cheerios...until Quinn got her kicked off the squad by telling Sue that Carly was eating at McDonalds and not purging afterwards. It was a complete lie, but it got her the captaincy and a higher level of popularity. She remembered taunting Carly, calling her a super strong girl and implying that she told Sue that Carly was taking steroids, just to make it harder for Carly to try to prove the story false.

Santana had also recognized Carly and grinned at her as she took her seat. She felt vindicated in her decision to try to be nicer. "Thanks Carly, we'll take it from here."

Quinn growled softly to herself as she saw the other tables once again texting excitedly.

*****GLEE!*****

Meanwhile, Puck and Rachel were sitting next to each other in a booth at Thai Jasmine.

"Noah, these autumn rolls are delightful, are you sure you don't want to try one?"

Nah, I'm good, thanks anyway Berry."

Rachel smiled up at Noah. "I haven't been here for quite a while, thank you again for bringing me here."

Noah shrugged a little, grinning down at her. "I'm just glad you seem happier. I thought about taking you to Breadstix, just to, ya know, show you that I like being with you and am proud to be seen with you. I know Finn was a douche and was always trying to change you and sh- stuff. It always pissed me off hearing the way he talked to you. But, I don't think there is much that you would eat at Breadstix, so I thought this place would be better cuz they have a couple of pages of vegetarian things, so I figured at least a few things should be vegan."

Rachel's smile had grown throughout his little speech and she placed her hand on his arm, squeezing gently. "Noah, in one day you have made me feel more special, more lo-liked, than Finn did the entire time we were together. Even if, a week from now you change your mind and want to pursue your man whore ways, you will have still given me many happy memories to cherish while I sit in my room alone, looking for appropriate songs to sing for MySpace."

Noah's smile disappeared and he sighed. "Look, Berry, I get it. You're scared to trust that I'm for real, and that's ok for now. You'll figure it out soon, you're a smart chick. Just remember, last year, you dumped me, and you were right, I wasn't going to dump you. I hope you know that last year, Quinn wasn't my first choice, Beth was." He sighed, frustrated. He knew the words weren't coming out right. He just hoped she didn't get pissed off, even though a pissed Rachel Berry was a super hot Rachel Berry. Her face flushed, her eyes got bright, chest heaving as her fists clenched and she bit her bottom lip...

"Noah!" Rachel gave him a little shake. "Are you okay? Your breathing pattern has become erratic."

"Uh, yeah, no problem babe, I'm fine. I, um, just really hate all this talking about feelings and crap, but I know it's important to you so I'm trying, but I'm probably fucking it all up."

Rachel smiled at him shyly. "I must admit, I am pleasantly surprised that you have initiated such a talk, and I feel that you have done an impressive job."

Puck grinned sheepishly. "I guess those forced therapy sessions in juvie weren't useless after all."

Rachel beamed up at him happly. "I'm so glad that you have learned to look at the positive, to make lemonade!"

Puck chuckled and shook his head. "Only for you, babe."

*****GLEE!*****

"So then Quinn got really mad and stomped her foot and it went through the floor! There's a reason why she used to be called Two Tonne Tubby."

Quinn's teeth were gritting so hard it was giving her a headache, but she managed to clench her teeth tighter together as both Finn and Sam looked at her with horror. Finn said in a voice barely over a whisper, "That was you? I-I thought you were a new student freshman year."

Santana leaned closer to Sam and, in a very loud whisper said, "It's amazing what ten weeks at a fat camp can do."

Quinn snarled at Santana, "You know very well that they found termites infesting that house!"

Santana looked over at Quinn and smirked. "I'm sorry, but are you listening in on my private conversation with my boyfriend? That is so rude!"

"Well, maybe if you didn't talk so loud ABOUT ME, I wouldn't have to correct you!"

"Whatever. Try to keep to your table, Tubby." Santana rolled her eyes and turned back to Sam. "So, Sam sweetie, do you want to get some more bread sticks, or are you ready for dessert?"

"Um, well, I dunno... I thought you wanted to be nicer?" He whispered across the table, glancing guiltily over at Quinn.

Santana scoffed, but also lowered her voice. "You have got to be kidding me. After she cheated on you and lied to you, you still feel bad about me telling you true stories about her? Wow, you really are a nice guy. I don't know if I'm comfortable dating a guy who is this nice."

Sam grinned at her. "Aw, come on San, don't you like it when I'm nice to you? You seemed to like your flowers..." Sam was amazed when Santana actually blushed a little.

"Well, yeah, that was nice. And I did like it. Getting flowers before a date is nicer when I didn't tell the guy to get them for me. Okay, that's enough mushy stuff, let's get some spumoni and share it. It's a win win. We get to eat something yummy and try out our chemistry, and it will piss of Q."

Sam grinned and rolled his eyes. "Okay, San, just to make you happy, though...Not because she is an evil bitch or anything like that. And I really don't see us having any problems with our chemistry." He grabbed her hand and kissed her palm before giving her a little smirk and slowly wrapping his lips around her index finger, slowly drawing it back out of his mouth. He could vaguely hear an indignant gasp from the table next to them, but was too intent watching Santana's reaction to care.

Santana's breath caught in her chest from the sensation and the look in Sam's eyes. She grinned and winked. "Oh, the nice guy does have an evil side, me likey a lot. I gotta admit you're right, I don't think our chemistry is anything to worry about "

*****GLEE!*****

Puck and Rachel walked to his truck hand in hand. "I'm really glad we went out tonight, Noah. Thank you for a wonderful meal."

Puck grinned down at her and squeezed her hand. He felt so much more comfortable with her now that he had shared his feelings and crap with her. Maybe he owed that juvie shrink an apology for saran wrapping his office. Nah, but maybe he'd send the quack a thank you note or something. "So, Rach, I have another place for us to go before our date is over, if that's ok with you.

"Of course, Noah, where are we going?"

"I think I'll keep it a surprise until we get there, but I'm pretty sure you'll like it."

Rachel kept up a bright chatter in the truck while looking around the streets they were driving curiously. She knew that Noah wouldn't tell her and ruin the surprise, even if she pulled out the puppy dog eyes. They used to be very effective on him when they were younger, but his sister over used them and ruined the effect they had on him. She really needed to pull Hannah to the side at temple and advise her to lay off the puppy dog eyes for a few months. Maybe they would get lucky and they would work again if they were only used sparingly in very important situations...like watching a double feature of Funny Girl and West Side Story...

Puck chuckled to himself. He could tell that, while Rachel was still giving him the biography of whatever chick was currently singing on the radio, her thoughts were elsewhere. He knew surprises drove her crazy, but he knew they would be there soon and she would love it.

He drove into the parking lot. "Well, here we are."

Rachel looked at the building and gasped. "Noah! How did I not know this was here?"

Puck grinned at her, happy with her response. "It just opened a couple of weeks ago. As soon as I heard about it, I came down and checked it out, and when I saw the inside, I knew that you would love it. I was hoping to be able to bring you here on a date some day, but since you were still hung up on Finnessa, I thought I'd be waiting longer. Really glad that you finally got over him, babe."

Rachel smiled up at him. "Me too. Come on, I can't wait to see the inside!" She walked quickly to the front door, dragging Puck along by the hand.

A lady smiled at them as they entered. "Hello! Welcome to Ahhh Sweet Caroline's, a patisserie specializing in delectable treats for those with dietary restrictions. In our front case, you can see all the pastries that are made from traditional recipes. Today's special is delice aux noix. In the left pastry display are our vegetarian and vegan desserts. The ones with a green label are vegetarian, the ones with a purple label are vegan. And, in our right display are desserts for those with food allergies. Note how each choice in that case is fully separated from each other by glass to maintain a safe choice for all. There are choices for those with peanut, tree nut, milk, egg, peppermint and cinnamon allergies. Please, feel free to browse our selections, and let me know when you have made your choice."

Rachel looked up at Puck with big eyes. "Oh Noah, this place is perfect! I love the atmosphere, and look at the cute cafe tables!" She moved a little closer to him and whispered, "Is that what I sound like when I keep talking and talking? No wonder it's taken me so long to start making friends. I should try to came down a little more."

Puck grinned and kissed the tip of her nose. "Nah, it's cute when you do it, babe."

A/N And there is chapter three. Whew! I hope people that were expecting all three couples to be at Breadstix are not too disappointed. I did want to have more of a INN/Samtana show down on the date, but it got too uneven between them and Puckelberry.

I'd also like to say that I found Thai Jasmine in Lima thanks to Urban Spoon . I couldn't find online menus for any of the restaurants I found, but there was a review saying the vegetarian autumn rolls were good, so I went with it. There also really is a place called Ahhh Sweet Caroline's, but I couldn't find an actual website for them, and I saw many different descriptions for the business...restaurant, bridal store, bakery, catering. So, I used artistic license, because the name was just too good to pass up.

It will probably be a couple of weeks before I get the next chapter finished, so I thought I'd give you an idea of what's coming up. SPOILER ALERT! I love Pezberry friendship, so I'm going to get that started soon, and probably a Sam/Puck bromance, because Sam needs a pal. :-) Oh, and Quinn will still be a bitch and Finn will be pretty stupid. I've read lots of stories where Quinn and Rachel become good friends, but I don't know that I'm talented enough to do that with this story.