A/N: I wrote a little one-shot sort-of prequel to this story. Look for His Smile, and review it!
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Rachel
The door opens and Finn steps in. "Hey, Rach, I forgot—" He breaks off, seeing me and Puck so close together. I freeze, and so does Puck.
"Damn it, Puck! Why do you always have to steal my woman? I'm sick and tired of it." Finn is nearly shouting. His face is red, his eyes wild. "I thought we were friends. I thought we like brothers. But I guess I thought wrong." Finn charges at me.
Everything is in slow-motion as Finn runs towards Puck. I step in front of Puck, shielding him and forcing Finn to stop.
"Why?" Finn asks me. "Why have you put me through this again?"
I take a deep breath. "I never loved you, never had a crush on you. I always loved Noah. I couldn't be with him in public. He would lose his popularity, which he still manages to hold on to while you have thrown yours away." I glare at him. "Satisfied?"
Finn looks broken. His shoulders are sagged, head bowed, and I swear I see a tear run down his cheek. "Fine," he says, sounding like he's choking. In an even lower tone, he adds, "I never expected to go through this twice.
He looks so sad, just standing there, a broken man. It makes my heart twist in pain. I made him like this, I made his heart break again. I step towards him, hoping to comfort, but Puck holds me back.
"Don't," he says.
Why? I want to ask. Why can't I comfort my friend? Why can't I comfort your best friend? But I can't. My throat has closed up. It always does whenever someone cries, ever since I first saw Dad cry when I was two years old.
"I'm sorry, Finn," I whisper. I run out of the room, ignoring Puck who is calling my name, ignoring the sad Finn I have to push past.
I am sitting at the kitchen table, my head on the table covered with my arms. The table doesn't mind my tears dropping on it, unlike Finn who was always uncomfortable when I cried. Puck hasn't come over yet; maybe he's talking with Finn.
I hear footsteps clomp into the kitchen. I lift my head just enough to see that it's Pa, returning home from work. He sees me and rushes over.
"Oh, Rachel, darling. What happened?" he asks, pulling a chair over to me.
I tell him my whole story. Pa sits and listens, not interrupting.
"Well," he chuckles, "you're in a pickle."
True, so true. "What should I do?" I ask. "I don't have a clue.
"Whatever you think is right," Pa says. "I can't decide your life for you. You have to decide what to do."
I nod.
Puck
I stare at Finn. He looks so sad, so broken standing in front of me. "Hey, man," I say.
His head snaps up and he glares at me. "What is it, Puckerman?' he asks, his voice full of contempt.
"Well, Hudson, I'm sorry. But I love Rachel too much to let you have her. So you gotta back off my girl." God, it felt so good to say that. I've wanted to forever. "And no sucker-punching me like you did during the baby drama."
"And what makes you think she's yours?" Finn demands. At his side, his fists clench. "I am the one dating her, I am the one who she has a crush on, I am the one people would accept her dating."
I laugh. "I doubt you're dating her, and she never had a crush on you. That was just a cover. True, you are one of the acceptable people for her to date. But you two aren't dating anymore."
"She never said anything about us breaking up!" Finn yells. "I am sick and tired of you, Puckerman."
Rachel steps into the room, tear steaks on her cheeks. "Boys," she says. The sound of her voice is all it takes to melt my heart, make me almost happy. "Stop quarreling. We need to solve this problem." She looks at Finn's fists. "Peacefully," she adds.
"I don't want to solve anything," Finn says. "I'm mad at Puckerman for stealing my woman twice now. And you, for using me."
Finn storms out, leaving me and Rachel alone. "You okay, Berry?" I ask.
She shakes her head. I hold her close, not minding the tears on my t-shirt. "I hate Finn!" she bursts out. "You know what he did?"
I shake my head. What could he have done?
"He was cheating. I caught him with Quinn a bit ago. They didn't see me, so I kept quiet."
"What?" I demand. "Berry, why didn't you tell me? We can blackmail them."
"And they us," she points out. "Best keep quiet until they blackmail us. Then we blackmail them." She has a little, almost evil, smirk playing across her face.
I laugh. "Good idea."
Rachel
At school, I have no idea what to expect. I don't know if Finn and I are still dating, if Puck and I are public.
Kurt is waiting at my locker. "Hello, Rachel," he says, that ever-evident smirk playing across his face.
"Hello, Kurt," I say. "What do you want?"
"Darling, we need have a boy talk." Kurt takes me by the arm. He pulls me into the empty choir room. "Have you heard the rumors about you?"
I freeze. "What might they be about?"
"Have you been cheating on Finn?" Kurt demands. "With Puck?"
I plop down in a chair. "Damn it! I never thought it would get out. But after last night, I understand…."
"Rachel," Kurt says, "do you really want to be with Finn? Because I want to, and I won't hesitate to take him."
"No," I say. "No, I don't want Finn. But if I were you, I'd wait a bit until you asked him out. Get closer to him; help him get over me breaking up with him. You don't want to be the rebound."
"You know what, diva? I might actually take your advice," Kurt says. He gives me a small hug. "Darling, you desperately need a makeover. You look like a toddler and a grandmother at the same time."
I look down at my outfit. Black skirt, white and black argyle cardigan. "I like how I dress."
"I know!" Kurt cries. "A makeover. I'll come over to your house after school tomorrow."
In case you were wondering, the story started out on Monday. So no weekend for a while.
As always, REVIEW! Please?