TurnTable

Cresendo

Damn, Berry looked good. Seriously. As a matter of fact, she looked so good, he might have to just take her behind the school and get her pregnant.

Okay, that would've sounded so much funnier hours ago. Now it just makes him look like a douche that went around impregnating innocent girls and taking some sick enjoyment out of it. And then…

Damn, he needed to stop getting ahead of himself. Because Berry liked things in order, and well…shit. Now everything was chaos.

Last Night's Dream:

He walked up in Berry's house again, except straight to the kitchen this time and when he raked his hand across his scalp, there was no hair. Ordinarily, he'd be getting pretty pissed at this point, but it was a dream, so it's whatever.

Then he looked down at the kitchen floor and Berry was sprawled out in all Betty Crocker gear. The frilly white apron, the peach colored dress, the whole nine yards. Even the place smelt like chocolate cake. Yeah, even though this was a freaking dream, Puck took it all in because believe it or not, dreams made a lot more sense than real-life.

At least in his world.

Anyways, he looked down, and he was wearing a starch white muscle shirt, which, hey, he wore that type of shit. Except his mind could only come to one conclusion. If Berry in all of her prissy glory was beckoning him to get down on the kitchen floor with her and a peanut butter cookie in hand as the bribe, which also told him this was a dream because no matter how many tap, ballet, or singing trophies and medals she had plastered in her room, she still didn't cook. Ever.

But if she was Betty Crocker and he was wearing a white shirt with a shaved head, this could only mean that he was Mr. Clean.

Fuck.

As always, the dream was silent and somehow he just knew how to get from point A to point B without making himself look like an ass. He guessed that it was because it was a dream and everything was fuzzy and clear all at the same time. So he sat cross-legged on the floor while she lay on her back, just looking up at the ceiling lights because only Berry would do something like that. Lay on the floor, dreaming into space about how big of a star she would be.

Many would think that sex was on his mind 24/7, but he was about to fall asleep in class when he heard that dreaming about sex meant insecurities with sex in the real world. And he didn't have that, so no sex dreams for him. No, his dreams had a message. Like God was giving him a nudge through life.

Puck the Prophet, or some crap like that.

So, he just starting staring at the florescent lights too and was almost lost in how soft and bright they were, until he felt Berry take his hand and lay it flat on her stomach. She turned her head to look up in his questioning gaze with her warm mocha orbs and he knew she had something to say, but of course, she wasn't talking.

Come on, just say it.

She shook her head with a light smile, mocking him. As if she heard his thoughts without him moving his lips. His expression turned surly, now cursing the fact that Berry was always eerily quiet in his dreams, when it looked like she was withholding information concerning him. She began tracing invisible symbols on the back of his hand, not taking her pleading eyes off of him.

So, you want me to guess?

She nodded, the curls she had framing her face fell into it and he absently brushed her bangs away from her eyes with his other hand. Her face faded into a somber state and she was coiling her fingers between the ones lying on her belly.

You…have a stomachache.

It was a statement, not a question. It was actually hopeful, but she shook her head, her eyes softening encouragingly. Like she was trying to tell him to not give up. He looked down at his hand over her stomach, the warmth of it penetrating through the cottony material to his skin. He looked back into her eyes, which became saddened as she stared at the contact. He didn't know what to make out of this at first, but it somehow made him feel guilty because it was like she didn't like him touching her. He went to move his hand off, but she held it closer, pressing it firmly into the apron's fabric.

By the time he could've put two-and-two together, his little sister was jumping up and down on his bed, jarring him out of his sleep and rambling on about how Thursdays suck because they're not Fridays and how Mom wanted him to wake up for school. He didn't put much thought into the dream after that.

Not until he stood toe to toe with Berry, that is.

She was standing stock still, biting her lip in embarrassment and probably in humiliation after Israel just outed her. And everything just seemed to hit him all at once. Rachel Berry was pregnant, and soon everyone was going to know. Even though Jacob was a little chia-pet haired freak, the boy had subscribers, whether it was those who wanted to stay in the loop of things, or laugh at his take of the situation. Hell, even the cheerleader coach stayed in communication with him for whatever reason.

But the words 'baby daddy' and 'Rachel Berry' just didn't sit right with him. At all. Puck didn't have any claim on her whatsoever, or at least, he shouldn't have. But he touched the Promised Land first and the thought of some other dude taking up where he left off, even after one drunken misadventure was just unsettling and coiled in the pit of his stomach.

Or maybe it was that beef jerky from fourth period acting up.

Puck couldn't see Rachel's face from behind but the fact that she stood still for longer than thirty seconds was an indication that something was up and he just had to know because even though he didn't talk to this chick on a regular bases and she still seemed to crawl and fester under his skin, he still sat close to her in Glee and he would patronize her with the occasional acknowledging comment. Plus, she put out for him, intentionally or not, and he guessed that even though they weren't friends, they were…something.

So he put his hand on her shoulder to jar her from whatever trance she was in and whispered in her ear because bitches at this school just could not keep a secret. He saw Rachel take a steady breath when he backed away, and she looked over at him over her shoulder.

"I've only had sex once, Noah." She whispered his name meaningfully, as if that was all it took to answer his question and it turned out it was. She was blinking back tears and Puck didn't really know what to do, so he just stood there at first, but then he blacked out and his autopilot turned on.

"I'm shocked," He said, but the dry tone and blossoming smirk didn't mirror his words. "I mean, I know I popped that cherry first, Berry. But I would've thought that you would've let Finn sneak up in there and get a taste of that rainbow."

Her body's visibly shaking, even worse than when he used to throw slushies at her, and he feels like a pile of shit. Maybe that's why she looks at him like he is one. Then she rounds on him, brown eyes narrowed in fury and determination and he doesn't even feel the slap she delivers, but the sting afterward stuns him.

"Don't you dare imply that I am some cheap harlot that sleeps around and steals boys away when their girlfriends aren't looking."

"But you've thought about it," Puck sneers. "I bet when you weren't passed out you were thinking it was Finn the entire time, so get the Hell off your high horse Berry." His eyes flicker to her the area above her solar plexus and he can feel the bile rising in his throat. He's seriously arguing with the girl he used to slushy, the girl he boned with they were all about making bad decisions.

The girl he would now be calling his baby mama. It all came rushing back and autopilot is permanently shut off because this is serious and from now on it would be all about her and their little bundle of joy.

Not that Berry wasn't the center of attention anyways, but he just helped push her center stage. Way to fail, Loser.

He grabs her arm firmly, but gingerly enough to where he wouldn't hurt her, and pulls her into an empty classroom despite the fact that she threatened to scream bloody murder. He was already getting a pounding headache and the prospect of her making his ears bleed after this dropped bomb wasn't something he wanted to experience.

And to think, he was having such a good day.

Anyways, he knew she wasn't going to scream because this wasn't something she wanted an audience for. Winning a solo? Yes. Returning to Glee after her diva bitch fit? Yes. Discussing baby makes three plans with her former bully. Uh…yeah, no.

"What's going to happen?" He asked urgently, wanting to get straight to the point. Rachel stood in the shadowed corner of the room, appalled that he would even ask. He wasn't that much of an ass, just his autopilot.

"Happen with what?" She murmured, not knowing how to react with this change of demeanor.

"The baby, Berry." Puck said annoyed, with a roll of his eyes. "What else have we been talking about?" She crossed her arms and directed herself towards the door, but he blocked her with him larger build. "What is it with you and running away from me when I say something you don't like?"

"I do not run," Rachel emphasized. "I merely cannot stand to be in your presence for too long."

"Get used to it Berry," Puck's eyes narrowed, searing hers. "We're going to be seeing a lot of each other pretty soon."

"Not if the procedure goes through," She hissed and covered her mouth, realizing what she had just said.

Puck's eyebrow rose, wrinkling his forehead. "What procedure, Berry?" His eyes averted to her stomach and he looked back up, realizing that she was staring reproachfully at her stomach too. "No. Fucking. Way." He seethed, and grabbed her shoulders. He stopped himself from shaking whatever sanity she had left. "That…goes against our religion, Rachel."

Her eyes snapped up to meet his and a furious blush adorned her cheeks, but he wouldn't be deterred, even if he did say her damn name.

"I'm aware of that," She muttered, the words hollow. However, under the circumstances, I really don't see any other alternative."

"Keeping the baby," He said curtly. As if that were the simplest thing in the world to do. Her eyes widened at his statement. "What, did you think I'd tell you to get rid of it?" He gritted out and she averted her eyes from his intense stare.

"Actually, yes," Rachel murmured. Puck's expression darkened as she continued. "We cannot take care of a child. We are not equipped and we are defunct. How can we raise a child and…" She pauses, wracking her mind for some plausible explanation for his actions, "Why would you want to?"

The dimple in his cheek puckered in as he bit his tongue and shoved his hands into his William McKinley letterman jacket because the last thing he needed to do right now was curse out his baby mama for wanting to kill their kid and feeling justified in doing so. Then, after taking a few deep breaths through his nose, he leaned in closer and held her by her shoulders again. "I want to be there for you and the kid Berry. But I can't do that if you…"

"Have an abortion?" She finished for him, and he glowered at her.

"Yes," He said tightly. "Have an abortion. Right now, you think you're doing the right thing-"

"I know I'm doing the right thing Noah." She glared and his nostrils flared.

"For who? You?" Puck inquired indignantly and she freed herself from his grip.

"Yes, me! And you!" She added, pacing about the room and running a hand through her scalp. "We're too young and financially unsecured and obviously too irresponsible to take care of another human being! In fact, I'm quite sure that we would kill one another if left alone for too long. And furthermore, we're not ready to be parents, and surely, I imagined this with my husband, not with the person who deemed me so unworthy that they humiliated me throughout school." Rachel blinked, realizing she was crying at this point and dabbed her cheeks with her fingers. She never expected all of the years of repressed hatred to just pour out of her the way it did.

Puck stood rigidly, staring at the way Rachel tried to compose herself and he tried not to feel affected when he reached out to brush away a stray tear, and she moved away in revulsion. She headed toward the door and this time, he didn't try to stop her. Before she left, she paused and whispered, "I cannot be the mother of a bastard child at sixteen, and even if I could, I couldn't do it with you. I'm just not strong enough."

When the door slammed shut, it felt like the death sentence had been put on him instead.

Today at Glee, Rachel sat at the very front again, and Puck sat on the back row to the side, for good measure.

He tried to ignore the looks she gave to Finn, half adoringly and half apologetic. Puck wanted to smash something, anything, in. But there was no football practice on Thursday and he was pretty sure that if he grabbed his guitar, he'd go all Jimi Hendrix on it. The way his hand would twitch and clench told him that, so he didn't do the jam session today.

So instead, his snapped to the direction of Santana and Brittany, huddled off in the corner and giggling to themselves over Santana's cell phone. When everyone else was preoccupied, they called Quinn over and the blonde covered her mouth, muffling her laughter. It didn't take a genius to figure out that bitch shit was happening, and the sight of seeing others happy when he was pissed and depressed all at the same time made him want to wipe those smiles off their pretty little faces.

"Santana," He nodded at his ex-girlfriend, who sneered at the fact that he would even talk to her. He smirked, "What the Hell are you looking at?"

She rolled her eyes, "Well, if you had a better credit score, you could buy yourself a better cell phone with mobile web connection." She said condescendingly and he resisted the urge to throttle her. For now.

Brittany shook her head at the exchange and turned to Puck, "Jacob updated his blog today. And, I don't know, he's kinda weird, but kinda funny too, you know?" She mentioned off-handedly, and Puck felt his face tighten. Jewfro was dead, effective immediately.

Quinn and Santana were still devoted hunched over the latter's phone, until they saw his recent post and they gasped, Santana nearly dropping her phone in shock. She looked up at Puck with a mild disgust and he felt something twist and turn in the pit of his stomach again. Then, she turned her gaze on Matt who was bobbing his head to Artie's electric guitar and strode over to grip on his collar fiercely. "You better not have screwed that walking-singing jukebox, do you understand me?" She just about bared her teeth and Puck shook his head pitying for Matt, wondering what the Hell he saw in that chick.

"I haven't…What are you talking about, San?" Matt asked obliviously, still under her weathering stare.

"I'm talking about you and Man Hands over there!" Santana shrieked and pointed at Rachel for emphasis. The room fell eerily quiet and all production pretty much stopped at that point. Everyone honed in on Berry like she was just diagnosed with chronic Swine Flu.

Shit.

Then Quinn took up Santana's abandoned cell phone and looked over accusingly at Finn, who happened to be standing right next to Rachel since they were practicing their duet. If that glare stayed too long on her face like that, she'd have that constipated bitch look on her face all of her life.

Oh, wait…

By the time she crossed the room, Finn had inched away from Rachel but it was too late. Quinn slapped the crap out him, and when she was done she pulled him by the collar and practically made out with him right in front of Berry. When she pulled away, she gave Rachel a satisfied smirk, "Go find someone else to manhandle, Man Hands. He's mine."

Puck felt his teeth clench together at the blonde Cheerio and his eyes went to Berry, who looked his way for a moment before dropping her sheet music and running out of the room.

Double shit.

The room was still quiet in the wake of the whole gang-up-on-the-Glee-nympho thing, not that she was a nympho since she just told him that he was her only, and Puck calmly stood up and ambled to the piano. Picking up the sheet music, he left the room, not even caring how weird it would look for him to go looking for Berry. He figured he'd be chasing that girl for quite a while, so he better get used to it.

He saw her disappear into one of the girl's bathrooms and he walked in since the school was basically empty anyways. He sighed when he heard the puking and walked over to the second to last stall, where he saw Rachel basically chucking out today's mystery meat. He stepped in beside her and crouched down to her level. Then he held her hair away from her face, allowing her to let it all out without worrying about it getting on her deep brown hair. He patted her back when she lunged forward again into the toilet and realized that she wasn't wearing a skirt today.

She looked like crap, if he was being honest with himself. Probably felt like it too, and again, it was his entire fault.

Triple Shit.

He could feel a wave of nausea hitting him too, but seeing as he had no physical reason to feel that way, he stifled it quickly and kept his focus on Rachel. She still had her face angled in front of the toilet when she turned her eyes to him. Her almond eyes were pooled with sickness-induced tears and they were questioning him.

Why are you here? Why are you doing this?

Puck didn't know what to say, so he just didn't say anything. He felt his actions told the whole damn story. He only gave her a reproachful look, wanting her to understand and they were locked in a moment of time, gazing at one another for answers to unspoken questions.

You didn't think I'd let you do this alone, did you?

And then the moment was broken when Rachel hacked up into the toilet, even if it was just empty air. Puck rolled his eyes at this even if he knew it was involuntary and he patted her back softly, but firm enough to make an impact. Way to ruin a moment, Berry.

She stayed kneeled for about a minute or so before she stood up and she rummaged in her hot pink purse before shoving a business card in Puck's hand. She left the bathroom quickly and silently, fixing herself as she went and he stared down at the card, slowly raising an eyebrow.

She had her own business card. With a star on it. A golden freaking star on it. He was the one with his own business and she was the with the business card.

Figures.

Final part of chapter three. Finally. Next chapter: Rachel apologizes, an abortion clinic is visited, and someone goes baby hunting. Whew!

Challenge Stories That Have Caught My Eye: (But .Pink. was not consulted in the creating of this psudo-list. So don't furiously PM her, or something equally crazy. You know who you are…)

Once More with Feeling by desespoir

The Truth or something like it by Stroplok

With Arms Wide Open by mag721

Snapshots by everdancer

At Least She's Jewish by cleanslate

Riding in Cars With Boys by alien09 (Uh-duh)

…And a few others that haven't entered. Which is good because my chances just increased. ;) Booyah.

Gah, it's three in the morn, I'm exhausted, and all of my 100+ lurkers out there can thank my lovely reviewers for this chapter getting out as quickly as it did. 'Specially Hips for emphasis on the dream sequence. Nah, kidding. I love everyone. But my 100th reviewer may get something special…

DAC