AN: Again, Glee does not belong to me in any shape, form, or fashion - though if anyone wants to get it for me for my birthday in 6 days, I'll be more than happy to take it.
Btw, I made a few changes to the last chapter, but nothing drastic. The only thing important that I changed was the party - it's no longer an office/firm party. Now, it's a Glee party hosted by Mr. Schue.
"So what were you doing at the mall anyways?"
It was the following afternoon, and Puck and Rachel were curled up in her living room on the couch, with the T.V. blaring in the background. They were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, but Puck had one of his knees drawn up and his body was facing towards her while Rachel was curled on her side, her head propped on her arm staring at him.
Puck shrugged, his eyes focused on the basketball game on the widescreen television set. "I'unno," he muttered unconvincingly. When Rachel just stared at him in silence, he finally looked at her, taking in her raised eyebrow and the unbelieving tilt to her head. "Geez, Berry. I was trying to find presents for my mom and Daniella. Even though we're Jewish, we open presents on Christmas morning like everyone else, and – well, I don't have presents for them yet." Shrugging again, he sighed. "To tell the truth, I don't really know what I should get them. I spent an hour in that stupid toy store looking for something to get Daniella, but I still have no idea what she'd like."
Rachel shifted on the couch, edging closer towards him. "Maybe I could help. How old is Daniella?"
Puck flipped off the television with a sigh, realizing that Berry wasn't going to shut up so he could watch the game in peace. "She's 9, will be 10 at the end of February, but I have no idea what to get her. Don't girls her age all like Barbie dolls and shit like that?"
Rachel's lips quirked up in a smile. "A lot of them do, but not necessarily all of them. I did, but then again I was about as girly as a little girl could get. What's Daniella like?"
Puck laughed softly. "You were about as girly as a girl could get? Berry, get real. You're still exactly the same way."
Rachel just shrugged, her brown eyes sparkling excitedly. "And? Now, tell me what your sister's like, and I'll help you figure out what to get her."
Puck nodded. "Okay, fine. She's the most annoying little brat in the world, but she's still a Puckerman, so she's a badass by default. She has a killer spiral with a football and can play just about any sport better than most of the guys. She's smart though. She reads a lot, and she makes good grades. And, she's good. Best daughter a mom could ever ask for."
Rachel smiled as she listened to Noah describe his sister with obvious pride, his gold-green eyes sparkling brightly. She was proud of herself even, when she only felt a little twinge of jealousy when Daniella was described as the "best daughter a mother could ask for." It was interesting though, to see how different Noah could be when he was away from all of the other jocks and the Cheerios, when he wasn't worried about his appearance or reputation.
Puck stopped abruptly when he realized that Berry was just staring at him, zoned out and not paying any attention to what he was saying. "Yo! Earth to Berry!" he called, waving a hand in front of her face.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Noah. I sorta spaced," she apologized, coloring prettily.
He shrugged, waving away the apology. "Nah, not a big deal. I was talking too much anyways – I was starting to sound way too much like you," he teased, nudging her with his shoulder.
She laughed, a pretty tinkling sound. "Noah! I could be very good influence on you if you'd let me. I have perfect attendance, all A's, every extra-curricular activity possible, as well as much influence with some of the older generation around Lima."
"And, you obviously don't have a self-esteem problem, do you, Midget?" Puck laughed, winking at her.
Rachel's face fell for a split second at his words, but she quickly recovered. "But, anyways," she smiled too brightly as she changed the subject, "I think I know the perfect gift for your sister, and possibly your mother too. What about a charm bracelet?"
Puck just stared, uncomprehendingly. "Isn't that just like a plain bracelet? Wouldn't that be sorta boring or impersonal or what the fuck ever? Like, I still want to get them something that actually means something."
Rachel sat up earnestly. "Oh no, not at all. Not unless that's what you make it. You can make it really personal and pretty if you put a little bit of thought into the charms. You said Daniella likes football and reading, right?" She paused until he nodded, unsure. "Well you can get her charms of a football and a book and whatever else you see that feels like it's right for her while you're there. Same for your mom's. All you have to do is make sure the charms actually mean something."
Puck nodded. "Ok, I think I can do that. You wanna come with?" he asked, standing up and shrugging into the jacket he had carelessly flung across the back of a chair.
"What, now?"
Puck shrugged. "Why not? No time like the present, right? Carp of the day or whatever that saying is? And what about you? You never did get that outfit you said your dad sent you for yesterday."
"It's Carpe Diem, Noah." Rachel laughed slightly before furrowing her brow. "And - well, no. I didn't find a dress or anything," Rachel murmured, unsure.
"Then what's the hold-up? We can kill two birds with one stone."
Rachel shrugged, uncertainly. "I'm really not certain that I want to go to Mr. Schue's Christmas party at all, Noah, and that's what the outfit would've been for. I figured, if I don't buy a new outfit, my dads can't make me go, right?"
Noah stared at her in surprise. "Why don't you want to go, Berry? I thought you'd be all up for that. I mean, it would give you a chance to sing for all of the Glee kids and their parents. I thought you were always up for that shit, the spotlight and all."
Rachel just shrugged self-consciously. "I really just don't want to see Finn so soon," she muttered, wrapping her arms around herself in a defensive gesture.
Puck nodded slowly, suddenly understanding. "Berry – um, I mean, Rachel – what happened with ya'll anyways? Everything seemed fine one day and then Bam! All of a sudden, ya'll were broken up and Finn and Quinn were back together."
Rachel shrugged. "I don't really know. Finn just said that he still had feelings for Quinn that he couldn't get over and he broke up with me. Next thing I knew, they were back together."
"Ok," Puck nodded, processing everything. "What about Sam?"
Rachel just shrugged, not knowing what to say.
"Bet he was surprised." Mentally shaking himself, he glared at Rachel. "Berry, you are going to go to that party if I have to drag you there in sweats. So do you want to go get an outfit or not?"
Rachel stared at him, astounded by his earnestness. "Why does it matter to you, Noah?"
Puck shrugged. "I don't know. Does it matter that much? But, I'm not gonna let you miss out on something you love just cause Finn's a dickwad. Plus, I'm a badass, so if I'm taking you, you're sure as hell gonna look smoking."
"You're taking me?" Rachel cocked her eyebrow at him, waiting.
"Well, yeah." He grinned endearingly. "Come on, Rach, you know you want to." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Giggling, Rachel gave up the fight. "Ok, ok. I'll go. Give me a minute to change though."
"Why?" Puck asked, confused. He thought she looked fine in her jeans and t-shirt.
"Because I'm not going out in public like this. I haven't even done my makeup or my hair." Rachel turned and dashed up the stairs to her room. "I'll only be a minute! I promise!" she called back down the stairs.
Puck just rolled his eyes and flopped back onto the couch. Might as well watch the game if Berry's gonna take forever to get ready, he thought to himself, flipping on the T.V.
Rachel was ready to go in 10 minutes.
*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.
Puck was really starting to regret making Rachel go shopping with him. "Shit, Berry. Are you done yet?" he called through the dressing room door again.
"No, Noah. Go on and get something to drink or something. I'm trying to pick the best dress."
Puck sighed. "Fine, whatever. Just text me or some shit when your done, 'k?"
"Ok," Rachel called back through the door, sending Puck on his way.
*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.
Santana stopped dead in her tracks when she heard Puck's voice. What the hell is he doing at Macy's during the fucking Christmas break? Did he go and grow a vagina or something? She thought caustically.
As she eavesdropped longer, she found herself seeing red. What the fuck is he doing with fucking RuPaul in the dressing room? His dumbass is probably screwing her. That's why he hasn't called me in 3 fucking days. Fucking asshole!
She saw Puck walk away alone, but Santana waited until Rachel came out of the dressing room to make a move. The Jew was in a gorgeous strapless violet dress that hugged her slim curves and made her even more appealing as she twirled gracefully in front of the 3-way mirror in front of the dressing room.
"You look absolutely stunning, ma'am!"
The attendant's voice grated on Santana's already shot nerves. "You know she's paid to sell beautiful clothes to disgusting people like you who ruin them, right?"
The tiny brunette jumped as Santana's face suddenly appeared above her own in the mirror. "What do you want, Santana?" Rachel asked cautiously as she turned slowly to face the other brunette. "Other than to insult me, of course."
Santana smirked at Rachel's obviously false bravado. The tiny girl's eyes projected fear and hurt though her facial expression was carefully schooled into a neutral mask. "I just thought I'd offer some charity to the fashion challenged," Santana said sweetly. "That dress definitely makes you look fat." She paused significantly, a perfectly manicured hand thoughtfully pressed to her cheek. "Well, maybe that's not the dress."
The attendant's outraged gasp just made Santana's sadistic grin wider. "Oh, I'm sorry, Manhands. Did I hurt your feelings?"
Rachel's eyes had grown suspiciously bright at the Cheerio's cruelty, but she held her own. "At least I don't have to get a boob-job at 16 to be appealing, Lopez."
Santana's grin morphed into a cruel snarl as she hauled her arm back to strike the smaller girl. Rachel flinched and tried to turn away as the larger girl's clawed hand came towards her, but she knew her reflexes weren't good enough to get all the way out of the way. Hoping it wouldn't hurt too badly, Rachel clenched her eyes closed and waited.
And waited.
"What in the fucking hell do you think you're doing, Satan?"
Puck's voice penetrated Rachel's dark world with a sudden knowledge that she was safe. Opening her eyes, she found Santana snarling at Noah who had her arm pulled back behind her back.
"Let me go you fucking asshole!" The Cheerio didn't seem nearly as pretty with her face twisted into a mask of rage.
Puck calmly kept her restrained. "I'm going to. But, first, you're going to apologize to Rachel, and then you're going to walk away – without saying anything else."
"You son-of-a-bitch!" Santana was still glaring at him, but she had stopped struggling. "Fine. Sorry, RuPaul."
Puck just stared at the Cheerio, not releasing her.
"What? I fucking apologized. What more do you want?"
Puck raised his eyebrow. "That's not her name, Satan."
Santana grimaced. "Sorry, Rachel," she spit out the name distastefully. "There are you happy?"
Puck nodded and finally let her go.
Santana spun around, marching away from her two classmates and causing all the other shoppers to stare as she screamed back to them, "I hope you realize that if you ever fucking call me again, I'll cut your dick off, Puckerman!"
Puck just shrugged uncaringly before turning back towards Rachel. "Damn, Rach! You look fucking hot! That's definitely the dress."
The dressing room attendant smiled at him before clucking sympathetically into Rachel's ear and rushing her into the room to change out of the dress and calm down.
Puck scowled in the direction Santana had taken but knew he couldn't do anything else yet to stop the harassment Rachel received from his former friends and lover, but when she came out he rushed her directly to the cashier.
"Are you sure this dress is the one, Noah?" Rachel still looked pathetically close to crying.
"I'm sure, Rach." He awkwardly patted her shoulder to reassure her.
"Ok."
They didn't talk again until after they had stood in line and paid.
"I know that I was supposed to help you find your mom and sister bracelets, but can you just take me home?" Rachel scuffed her shoe across the ground self-consciously.
"Sure." Without thinking about it, Puck wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close as they trudged across the parking lot, silently offering her comfort and support.
The ride home was silent.
AN: Ok, so I'm not really sure if I'm happy with how this chapter turned out, but let me know what ya'll think. It's ya'll's opinions that matter after all. There's more angst and some minor self-hurt in the next chapter or 2, so be fore-warned. Anyways - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I know people have been reading this and seem to like it because of all the story and author alerts it's been put on, but only 8 people have reviewed. To those who have reviewed (one reviewer posted on both chapters) thank you so much. Ya'll made me so very very happy. To everyone else, please review! Thank you 3 ~ Morgan