My Guardian Angel
A Glee Fan Fiction
Chapter 7

It was Thursday, and Rachel had yet to make her decision. Well, announce the decision. No, make her decision. Ugh, this was so confusing. She wasn't sure if she wanted to settle. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be with Finn, safe, usually loyal, sweet Finn who loved her with all his heart and thought nothing but the absolute best of her, or if she wanted to take the risk and be with Puck, the sex shark, who could have any girl he could ever want. But...no, he decision wasn't between Finn or Puck. She had to choose whether she wanted Finn or Noah, with his sweet, protective ways and his loyal love for her that had never faltered throughout the years of their friendship.

Noah had always been there, on the sidelines, defending her from anybody who tried to mess with her. Sometimes Puck got the best of him and hurt her, but then Noah would come over or send her a text, asking to meet at the over pass so he could make it up to her with a grape slushy and a bouquet of wild flowers-even Finn didn't know that she much preferred those to roses. Noah would show up with some sort of vegan snack, and though he'd grimace the entire time, he would sit there with her and snack on it with her, sharing a slushy rather than tossing it in her face.

Noah was the one who would listen to her problems with Finn, clenching his jaw and holding his hands in tight fists that practically turned his knuckles white. He'd tell her, through a hoarse whisper that she should just dump Finn. He'd reach out and grab her hand, building up her self esteem while she cried over her ending relationship with the boy she loved. He would hold her tight, allowing her to cry into his shoulder, staining his tee shirt with tears as he wrapped her up in his leather jacket so she wouldn't get cold.

It was a typical routine for them. Every Friday they met up at the overpass, but they hadn't done that since senior year had started up. Instead, she'd been caught up with her mother returning, the musical, the election, her college applications, and he'd been too excited that he could finally be a part of his daughter's life. They hadn't realized that upon Shelby Corcoran's arrival back into both of their lives just gave them another way to bond with one another. The hadn't realized that their connections to her should have made them closer, rather than causing the strain between their friendship at the same time that she and Finn began to grow even closer to one another.

She remembered his reaction to her telling him about how Finn had left her, when she'd been trying to make to make their first attempt. She could recall his anger, at the fact that it was with Finn and not him. At the fact that she'd wanted Finn in a way that he himself wanted her. And that was the memory that was flooding back into her head.

"How was it?" Puck glared at her as she approached in her tiny little, gold Prius. He whirled around as he glared at her. It was late, just after eleven, and she looked like she'd been crying. "Rach...what's wrong?" He softened, taking a step towards her.

"He walked out. He walked out before we even did anything," Rachel said blankly.

"What?" Puck asked. "Come here," He sighed, reaching out and wrapping her in a hug. He'd wondered why she'd sent him a 911 text, begging him to meet at the overpass when she was supposed to be at Finn's, but he's assumed she'd just wanted to talk, as she typically did when she'd done something exciting. He sighed as she shivered in her pink, spaghetti strap dress. It was a thin material with a tight bodice that made her boobs like incredible, and flared our around her legs. It was so typically Rachel and so subtly sexy that Puck wanted to take her right then and there-screw Finn Hudson.

"We were making out and he asked me why I suddenly wanted to...you know," She sighed as she buried her face in his chest, the wind being blocked against his leather jacket as her face was buried deep inside of it as he held onto her tightly. "And I told him it was because I love him, because I do...and then I accidently let it slip that Artie said Blaine and I lacked the-"

"Screw Artie, alright? I don't care what he said about you and I don't care what he said about Blaine. What I care about is the fact that Finn ran out on you when you wanted to sleep with him. I don't care what your freaking reasons were or how selfish they were. Finn should know the rules well enough to know that you never question a girl's reasons, and you absolutely never just leave or send a girl away. That's not cool and it's not allowed. I thought I taught him well enough about that. I bet he never asked Santana or Quinn why they wanted to sleep with him-and you know why? Because he knows that you can do better than him!" Puck said, his anger growing with each word.

"I just can't believe he really left me...I thought...I thought he actually loved me and wanted to be with me, despite whatever self-absorbed reasons I had for it." Rachel said, her voice shaky as she spoke.

"Rachel, believe me, Finn's just an insecure idiot who wants you to beg him and need him. He knows that you're better. He knows you can do better. He knows that he doesn't deserve you, and he's stupidly throwing away everything he has with you, because he's so afraid of losing you. Don't hold it against him..."Puck sighed, and Rachel could practically hear all of the pain in his voice as he said the words that she was sure were hard for him to get out of his mouth. He sighed as he tightened his grip on her.

"When did you stop being Puck and turn into Noah?" She wondered.

"I've always been Noah with you...but if you'd prefer I act like Puck," He said slyly, pushing her away slightly and looking down at her with a wicked grin on his face. "I'm perfectly available and I have no problem with hooking up with you so that you can get the experience you believe you need for a believable performance in the musical," He said brightly.

"Oh, Noah," She giggled, throwing herself tightly into his arms as he wrapped them around her once again, holding onto her as tightly as he possibly could, whispering reassuring words into her hair as she cried into his chest. "I'm sorry...I'm staining your shirt, aren't I? Then again...you've never been one to care about your clothes...oh, I'm rambling on-I'm just going to shut up now and stop talking and let you hold me...although, I just want to add that I've missed you holding me like this," She sighed as she buried herself even further into him, wrapping her arms around his waist as he held her, giving her a gentle kiss on the top of the head before releasing her.

"Hey, Rachel?" She glanced up to see Puck standing there, holding his guitar. "I wanted to sing something to you, and I haven't been able to find you alone, and everybody else left because Glee's over and-"He was rambling, something she could never recall him doing before. "Anyways, it's an embarrassing song for me to sing, because it's the opposite of Bad Ass and all, so I knew that I had to sing it when you and I were alone together. So...yeah, just, listen and think, I guess," He sighed, shaking his head as he sat down besides her, strumming his guitar as she lifted her head and brought her legs up to her chin, resting her chin on the top of her knees as she wrapped her arms around her legs.

"I am not the kind of boy/Who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion/But you are not the kind of girl/Who should be marrying the wrong boy/I sneak in and see your friends/And his snotty little family all dressed in pastel/And he is yelling at a bridesmaid/and you're back inside a room wearing a gown shaped like a pastry/This is surely now that you thought it would be/I lost myself in a daydream/Where I stand and say/Don't say yes run away now/I'll meet you when we're out of the church at the back door/Don't wait or say a single vow/You need to hear me out and they said speak now," Puck sang, his voice in a lovely, strong false setto as his eyes focused on the guitar.

"Fine gestures are exchanged/And the organ starts to play/A song that sounds like a death march/And I am hiding in the curtains/Seems like I was uninvited by your lovely groom-to-be/You float down the aisle like a pageant queen/And I know you wish it was me/You wish it was me-don't you," He glanced at at her with that sheepish grin on his face that always managed to make her fall in love with him all over again. She sighed as she blushed, turning her head away from him. He stood up, walking towards her as he strummed along on his guitar with the second verse of the song, his eyes never leaving her, now that he'd finally gained the strength to look at her.

"Don't say yes, run away now/I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door/Don't wait or say a single vow/You need to hear me out and they said speak now/Don't say yes, run away now/I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door/Don't wait or say a single vow/Your time is running out and they said speak now/Oh, la la-oh-oh, say a single vow," He sang on, sitting down besides her once again as she unfolded herself from her tiny little ball that she'd rolled herself into and turned around to look at him, a small smile on her face as she shook her head, looking quite amused at him and his country, girl-y song choice to win her over.

"I hear the preacher say speak now or forever hold you peace/There's the silence, there's my last chance/I stand up with shaky hands, all eyes on me/Horrified looks from everyone in the room/But I'm only looking at you/I am not the kind of boy who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion/But you are not the kind of girl who should be marrying the wrong boy," He sang on, still strumming the guitar as she started to smile a more real, more earnest smile at him as she tapped her foot along with the beat that he was playing. He knew that his words were getting to her, and that gave him a little bit of hope. And he was going to clutch whatever tiny bit of hope he had.

"So, don't say yes/Run away now/I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door/Don't wait or say a single vow/You need to hear me out/And they said speak now/And you'lle say, let's run away now/I'll meet you when I'm out of my dress at the back door/Baby, I didn't say my vows, so glad you were around/When they said speak now," He sang, observing the small, slightly grateful smile that she flashed his way when he stopped playing the song, pushing it to the aside as she leaned in closer to him, whispering softly into his ear, a sweet, gentle thank you, before standing up and strolling out of the room and away from him as he sat there, wondering if it had worked or not.