AN: I do not own any part of Glee. Only this storyline and any original ideas in it belong to me. The rest of the Glee universe belongs to the wonderful creators and producers who have given us a new creative outlet. :) (Plus, if i owned Glee, Puckleberry would still be canon, not just my fantasy.)
The final Glee practice before Christmas vacation was uneventful other than Britney and Mike's showcasing of their revamped choreography for Light My Candle from Rent. Puck and Rachel had gone back to ignoring each other – well, mostly – or at least some anyways. But, Rachel couldn't seem to keep her eyes from straying to Puck as he played the guitar for Brit and Mike. And Puck couldn't help but notice the way Berry's hair caught in the light or how her lips formed perfectly around her words whether she was singing or just talking.
Needless to say, it was a long practice.
The first week of Christmas break was uneventful for Puck. He stayed home and baby sat his little sister Daniella or he went to parties around town. He definitely didn't spend time thinking about Berry and the way she looked in those short skirts of hers. When he got too bored, he even called Santana to have some fun. Everything was perfectly normal for the Puckarone – at least that's what he kept telling himself.
Rachel, on the other hand, didn't have a spare minute the first week of vacation. Though she was Jewish, she participated in every type of artistic production that she could in her free time, including a Christmas pageant at the Community Center, and then spent time doing community service projects as well as made time for her normal practice times and study schedule. By the time the second weekend of break rolled around, she was exhausted and was forced to take some leisure time by her African-American father, Benjamin.
"But, Daddy, I have to help Mrs. Sullivan with her indoor plants. And, I promised Mr. Rupert's little boy Ryan that I would teach him some more piano this afternoon – plus I still have 3 pans of brownies and a batch of cookies to bake for the Community Center's Bake Sale next week."
Benjamin Berry smiled placatingly at his beautiful daughter. "I'm sure you can put off all of that for one afternoon, Rachel. I'll even call and tell everyone why you won't be participating in your scheduled activities today, and I'll start on those brownies while you're gone." Pressing two crisp hundred dollar bills into her hand, he pushed Rachel gently out the door. "Go buy yourself an outfit for the Glee Christmas party. If you need more money, you can use the emergency credit card as long as you let me know how much you spend."
Rachel tried to protest again but found her front door shut in her face. "Daddy!" she called exasperatedly through the wood. Benjamin's deep laughter and his retreating footsteps were her only answer. Huffing, she climbed into her green bug, taking a minute to warm up. Looking at the wad of money crumpled in her hand, a smile began to grow on Rachel's lips. With a shrug she put the car into reverse and started towards the mall.
*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.
Puck grimaced as he surveyed his surroundings with distaste. The mall was never one of his favorite places, but during Christmas time, it was pure torture for him to be trapped there with all the crazy shoppers and manic shop attendants. Rolling his shoulders, Puck began shoving his way through the shoppers, headed towards the chain toystore in the middle of the mall.
After an hour, he had just about given up on finding something suitable for his sister and hadn't even had time to start looking for his mother. When his stomach rumbled, Puck decided it was time for a break anyways and started towards the food court, once again having to shove through the crazy throngs of people. Just as he reached the front of the line for Xiung Lee's Cuisine, Puck heard a familiar voice raised in annoyance.
"Get away from me, you Neanderthal!" Yep, thought Puck to himself, definitely Berry.
Scanning the crowd for the owner of the voice, Puck found Karofsky and one of his boys standing next to the petite brunette. Karofsky kept moving closer to Berry, making the girl back farther and farther away until her back was pressed against the wall. Amazingly, no one was stopping to help her get away from the jocks though she was obviously distressed. Rolling his shoulders to loosen them up for the brawl that was obviously coming, Puck gave up his place in line, striding angrily towards the three.
*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.
Rachel couldn't believe that she was being accosted at the mall in broad daylight and no one was stopping to help her. The two jocks had seen her in Macy's looking at formal dresses and had harassed her until she left without even buying anything. Then, they followed her all the way to the food court, frustrating her enough that she finally confronted them.
"You can't just torture me in school? You know you could actually end up in jail for harassing me like this in public, right Karofsky? My gay fathers are very influential lawyers and can lodge a complaint with the ACLU if this doesn't stop!" Rachel's voice was strong, but her back was now pressed against the wall and her hands were trembling slightly as the two bull-like boys edged closer.
A tan hand suddenly appeared on Karofsky's shoulder. "I think the lady wants you to back off, man." Puck's voice was light, but there was a steely glint in his eye that Rachel recognized as being a very bad thing.
Karofsky's friend laughed. "Naw, dude. She definitely wants us. You should've seen her in Macy's earlier."
Puck's face eased into a threatening show of teeth. "Really? Cause that's really not what it sounded like a minute ago." Turning to the subject of their conversation he questioned gruffly, "Rachel, are these boys bothering you?"
Rachel nodded her head rapidly. "Yes, very much so!"
Puck nodded his head decisively in response. "See, boys. Doesn't sound like she wants you around so why don't ya'll just go on your way and we'll go on ours?"
Karofsky grimaced, shrugging out of Puck's grip. "Dude, what business is it of yours? You don't even like the freak!"
Puck noticed the way Rachel flinched at the word freak, but he didn't comment. Instead he crowded in between the other jocks and the petite soprano. Stepping into Karofsky's personal space, Puck flashed his teeth again before threatening softly, "All the glee kids are mine – so back off or else."
Karofsky paled considerably but muttered "Whatever" before he slunk off, his friend close behind.
"You ok, Midget?" Puck asked once the bullies were gone.
Rachel looked at him wonderingly, tucking her still trembling hands into the pockets of her white cardigan to hide them. "Yes, I'm fine." She paused, searching for words. "Not that I'm not thankful, but-" She paused again, searching his eyes for an answer to what had just happened. "Why did you help me?"
Puck shrugged, thrusting his hands into his Letterman's jacket pockets uncomfortably. "I'unno," he muttered gruffly. Turning away, he seemed to debate with himself before he added, "You eaten yet?"
Rachel looked at him for a minute, still completely confused, but still, she shrugged. "No. Do you want to get something?"
Puck just nodded, jerking his head back towards Xiung Lee's.
As they ate, Rachel became more verbose until she was talking his ear off as usual, but at the end of the meal, she relapsed into silence.
"What are you thinking, Berry?" Puck's question broke the silence but did nothing to avert the awkward tension hanging in the air.
"Um, I-" Voice breaking, Rachel cleared her throat and took a deep breath before attempting to speak again. "I still don't understand why you helped me earlier, but I really appreciate it, Noah." Staring determinedly into her lap, Rachel's cheeks turned red as she continued softly, "No one ever stands up for me. I-I can't tell you how much it meant to me."
Puck just sat across from her, at a loss for words until he saw a tear slip down the end of her nose and drop onto her jean-clad thigh. "Shit, Ber-Rachel," he groaned, running a hand through his Mohawk. "I'm sorry. I mean I should've not done all that shit before, and I should've stopped the stuff the other guys did. I didn't realize-" he trailed off as he realized that he had realized. Ever since that week they had dated at the beginning of last year and he had been slushied, he had known exactly what she felt like, especially after the Babygate scandle broke. Clenching his fist, he muttered again, "I'm just - I'm sorry."
She looked up at him with wide, wet brown eyes. "No – I didn't want to make you feel bad, Noah. I just – I needed to let you know what it meant to me for you to do that." She groped for a napkin for a moment, her eyes locked on his til a flash of gold caught his eye as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.
His eyes widened at the realization that she was still wearing the bracelet. Rolling his shoulders, as per his habit, he shrugged it off and offered her a smile, small but genuine unlike his usual smirk. "Don't worry about it, Berry."
As they stood up, he slung an arm around the tiny brunette's shoulders. "Look, I know that we've never been friends or anything. I mean besides the whole five minutes we were dating or whatever last year, we've never hung out, even in temple. But, maybe we can try." His words hung in the air for a few heart-stopping moments before a huge smile broke out on Rachel's tear-stained face.
"I'd like that, Noah."
AN: Hi again guys, I hope you like the story so far. Right now, it's mainly fluff, but I have to set the story-line up before anything big happens. I still haven't decided how long this story will be, but I'm trying for at least 10 chapters (possibly more if I can manage it). Stick with me, please. 3