Sorry for the delay, this is a pretty heavy chapter, so it was a little tougher to write. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of the reviews and story alerts. I'm so glad there are people out there enjoying this story. I don't own Glee or the characters, sadly Ryan Murphy does.
Puck stopped talking mid-sentence when he caught site of Rachel stomping her foot, hands perched forcefully on her hips. A scowl was on her face. All eyes at the table were on him and he honestly couldn't understand why.
"What?" Puck shouted, glaring around the table at the multiple faces staring at him.
"Rachel thinks you may know how she and Sam won king and queen." Kurt shrugged. Puck's eyes got wide, shifting momentarily to peer at Lauren.
"Um yeah, it's called voting. That's how people usually win." Puck slapped his hand on the table, turning to smile triumphantly at Lauren. Mike and Tina nodded in agreement. He exhaled a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, silently thankful that it seemed everyone was content with his answer. Everyone that was, except for Rachel. Puck noticed that she was still standing, though the annoying foot stomping has stopped.
Her hands were no longer on her hips, but crossed in front of her chest, head tilted in disbelief. She shook her head slowly. Puck sighed, pushing his chair away from the table. He stood up, directing his eyes to Rachel and shrugged his head towards the door. He walked away without a word to anyone, hoping Rachel had understood his signal.
Puck leaned his shoulder against the wall and stared down the hall. A group of girls were standing outside of the bathrooms, whispering and laughing. He really didn't care what they were talking about; it just gave him something to concentrate on while he waited to see if Rachel would follow him. The minutes ticked by and he was growing tired of watching people come and go to the restroom from his vantage point.
"Tell me you didn't have anything to do with it." Rachel pleaded. "Please." The last word whispered so softly, Puck almost didn't hear it. He continued to stand with his back to her; not sure if he should face her.
"What do you want me to say" Puck asked. He had planned on taking the easy way out, but the disappointment in her voice was making it harder.
"I want you to say you didn't have anything to do with Sam and me winning." Rachel implored, reaching for Puck's arm. She tugged gently, hoping he would turn and face her. He was obviously stronger than her, barely budging at her attempt. Rachel released her hold on his arm. The air between them was silent for a few seconds. Puck sighed loudly, finally rotating his body slowly in her direction. Her eyes were cast downward as she picked nervously at one of her fingernails. Shit, he thought, it's not usually this hard for me to avoid the truth.
"Quinn and Finn didn't deserve to win." Puck finally said. He quickly cut his eyes to his right, so he didn't have to see the expression on her face.
"Is that your confession?" Rachel asked bluntly.
"What? It's not….shit." He shook his head, trying to figure out what to say next.
"It's not what, Noah?" Rachel demanded, raising her voice slightly. "Make me understand. Right now I think…"
"Quinn and Finn didn't deserve to win." Puck repeated, cutting off her words and returning his gaze to hers. Her brown eyes were searching his face for answers. "You deserved to win, Rachel. You and Sam did."
Rachel stood motionless, watching Puck turn his back to her once again. She realized this was as close to a confession she was going to get from him. She opened her mouth to speak, but found herself without words for once. A million thoughts were racing through her head, yet she couldn't seem to formulate any into complete sentences. Stepping closer to him, she placed her hand on the side of his arm. She could've sworn she felt him flinch slightly.
"Just tell me how you did it?" Rachel questioned. Puck inhaled, then let out an exaggerated breath, causing his shoulders to slump just barely.
"Lauren helped me. She printed out new ballots with your names on it." Puck paused, as Rachel's hand fell from his arm. "We found the ballot box in the band room and just added the new ballots to the box before the dance started. I never thought to count how many ballots were printed. I was just hoping it was enough for you guys to win." Rachel walked around Puck and stood in front of him.
"I have to give the crown back." Rachel whispered.
"Damn it Berry, just keep it and pretend to be happy for once." Puck huffed.
"I don't need to pretend to be happy, Noah." she replied. "I can't, in good conscious, keep that crown, knowing that I was not the intended winner."
"Why? You'd rather see Quinn add it to her collection, further rubbing it in your face? When are you going to stop being so goddamn nice to everyone?" Puck shouted. Rachel's eyes widened at the tone of his voice. A scowl spread across her face as she looked right into his eyes.
"You need to make this right." Rachel said. "Tell Principal Figgins what you did."
"I, I can't" Puck stammered. "I can't get in trouble. I'm still on probation, remember?"
"Is everything ok?" Sam's voice boomed behind Puck, causing Rachel to jump. She peered around Puck's shoulders to find Sam standing just a few feet from them, a slight frown brushed across his lips.
"Yeah." Rachel forced a smile, as Puck rolled his eyes. "Everything's fine, Sam." Sam's expression softened a bit when he saw Rachel smile, however Puck's back was turned to him and he noticed his friend made no attempt to acknowledge his presence. Rachel's eyes darted back and forth between Sam and Puck.
"I was hoping to have at least one last dance with you before this magical night was over." Sam winked at Rachel. He waited for a smart comment from Puck, but the boy remained silent. Sam held out his hand for Rachel to take. She smiled nervously, before glancing one last time at Puck.
"Why of course, Mr. Evans." Rachel beamed, walking past Puck and placing her hand in Sam's. Sam grinned triumphantly, tugging on Rachel's small fingers that were intertwined with his. She turned her head faintly, as Puck twisted around to watch them walk away. His body sagged against the wall.
"Promise me you'll do the right thing, Noah." Rachel pleaded, her voice barely audible. She turned back quickly and pulled herself closer to Sam as they walked back to the gymnasium. Puck sighed, reaching up and running his hand through his mohawk.
He stood motionless for a few seconds, pretending not to hear the clicking of Quinn's heels as she approached. Puck continued to lean against the wall, as she stood facing his profile. He waited for her to say something. Finally giving in to the silence, Puck turned and looked at her. Her eyes were red and blotchy; a crumpled tissue in her hand.
"What do you want Quinn?" he asked.
"Well I guess you're happy Rachel won." she sniffed, emphasizing the word "you're".
"I'm just giddy." Puck mocked in an almost sing-song tone.
"Figures you and Finn would both be thrilled that Little Miss Broadway is wearing that crown." He watched her bring the tissue up to her nose then lower her head. "I saw the way he was smiling when her name was announced. He didn't even seem to care that I didn't win."
"What happened to you Quinn? I used to think you weren't so much of a bitch." Puck spat, anger rising in his voice.
"Wha-wha-what?" Quinn sniffed, peering up through tear-filled eyes.
"You heard me. You might want to head to the bathroom and pull that giant stick out of your ass." he growled as he walked away from her. Quinn stood immobile, blinking rapidly, as she watched Puck walk back into the gym.
Ok, first off I'll apologize for the lack of Rachel/Sam interaction in this chapter. I can't stress it enough that my characters pretty much take over my writing once I start, so Puck felt he needed to be heard, lol. I hope you all like it regardless. More coming soon…