It's Kurt who wakes Rachel the next morning, and Rachel moans tiredly into her pillow as the sound of her cellphone pulls her from her sleep. She keeps her eyes closed as she reaches out for the phone, as she fully intends on going straight back to sleep after this call.

"Hello?" She mumbles, and suddenly Kurt is spewing out words at the speed of light, his voice more amused and high-pitched than normal. She can make out only a few words here and there, and she genuinely has no idea what he's talking about.

"Wait. Kurt. What? Slow down!"

She hears Kurt sigh impatiently at the other end of the phone, and Rachel only buries herself further under the blankets.

"Wake up, Rachel! You need to head down to the nearest newsagent right this very second!"

She sighs, opening one eye. Her apartment is dark, though the sun is fighting against the curtains, desperate to let light into the large bedroom. "I don't- Why? What's going on?"

Kurt's voice is dripping with sarcasm. "Oh, don't worry, it's nothing major. Your face is only on the cover of pretty much every tabloid in the entire world!"

Rachel bolts upright, eyes wide. "What?"

She hears Kurt chuckle, and she can tell he's absolutely thrilled over this. "It seems a certain date you went on last night with a very rich, well-known, notorious, film-producing bachelor has people questioning your relationship with him."

A squeak escapes Rachel's lips. "Oh no. Oh, this is bad, Kurt. It wasn't even a date! I was merely trying to reconnect with him for the sake of team morale! It was-"

She can almost hear Kurt rolling his eyes as he cuts her off. "I don't care about that Diva. What I do care about is how... cozy you look in the pictures I have in front of me."

"How are there pictures? There was no one around!"

"You're not in Kansas anymore, darling. You're in Hollywood now. Keep up."

Rachel whimpers and swings her legs out of her warm bed, slipping her feet into her fuzzy pink slippers. "This is bad. This is so, so bad. Last night was nothing. He was only being friendly, really. Nate is going to freak out!

"Call him," Kurt urges her, and she nods despite the fact he can't see her. She holds the phone close to her ear as she pads into the kitchen and fills her kettle with cold water. She needs coffee. She needs to wake herself up. "Explain what's going on. Then go grab these newspapers and do some damage control. I knew I was right all those years ago when I said that I should be your publicist. But no, you said you didn't need one. Well, as your best friend I feel like I'm almost encouraged to say that I told you so."

Rachel rolls her eyes, and sets up a mug of coffee. "Kurt, I need to go."

"Yes, you do." He replies. "Call me later."

"I will."

She hangs up then, and suddenly realizes she has 34 missed phone calls, mostly from Nate. She closes her eyes as the kettle boils. She has absolutely no idea what she's supposed to do about this.

… … …

Puck's phone starts blowing up when he's out running. It's not even 8am yet, but a good morning run along the oceanfront wakes him up way more than coffee does. He loves running, especially when the beach is generally empty (with the exception of joggers and dog-walkers), and he doesn't need his iPod, because he can just listen to the sound of the waves without the annoying noises of children and tourists added in.

He's ran a good three miles when the first call comes in, but he doesn't stop to answer, just keeps running, letting the phone buzz in his pocket. Then it rings a second time, and a third, and a fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and in between rings, it vibrates and beeps, alerting him of a bunch of text messages.

He swears and stops then, pulling the iPhone out of his pocket and scowling as it begins to ring again. It's Nick, and he answers grumpily, his breath coming out in shallow pants.

"'Lo?"

"Finally!" Nick says cheerfully. "Puck, man, you're a genius."

He's confused, and begins walking towards the sidewalk, noticing a little convenience store that's obviously just opening. He sees the owner sorting the display of newspapers and thinks he could use a cold bottle of water. "What'd I do?"

"That thing with Rachel last night, man! Fucking brilliant!"

Puck rolls his eyes, breaking into a light jog. "Nick, you're gonna have to lay this out for me, man. We only had dinner."

Nick sighs. "The paps found you, dude."

"So? The paps find me every other day, it's not-"

"Shut up. The paps found you taking your co-star to a fancy restaurant, walking her to her car, and kissing her goodnight. It's a slow news day. You're all over the papers and so, congratulations Puckerman, you and Rachel have just become Hollywood's new hottest couple!"

Aw, fuck.

"Aw, fuck."

Nick laughs. "It's brilliant. The exposure this is gonna get us... Fucking epic."

"Well I'm glad you're happy," Puck sighs. "The press aren't gonna leave me alone. And Berry's gonna freak the fuck out."

Puck reaches the sidewalk then and crosses the road, heading to the store. Sure enough, on a bunch of different newspapers he can see a dozen grainy pictures of he and Rachel leaving the restaurant, and the angle which they've been taken make the whole thing look a lot more intimate than it really was. One of the shots make it look like he's almost pressing her against her car. Another makes it look like they're holding hands.

Shit.

"I'm gonna go," Puck tells Nick, grabbing the nearest paper and heading for the counter.

"M'kay. Stand by though, I think Ben wants to see us today. Rachel too."

"Alright. Talk to you later, dude." Puck hangs up then, and passes the paper to the guy standing by the cash register. The older man blinks twice, looks at the front page and then back at Puck.

"Aren't you-"

Puck knows where this is going and stops it before it gets there. "Nah, I just look like him."

… … …

"SPOTTED: Everyone's favorite movie producer, Noah 'Puck' Puckerman, was seen wining and dining his new flame Rachel Berry last night at Di Salvo's restaurant, Hollywood. Berry, who has starred in several Broadway productions including Wicked and West Side Story, is swapping the stage for the big screen in the brand-new thriller 'Dirty Little Secrets', due to be released early next year. However, Berry isn't the only one who's lucky in love – her characters are too! The newcomer stars opposite Leon Carter, who will be playing the part of her ridiculously good-looking love interest. Puckerman signed on to produce the movie in February, along with Nick Cook. They'll work with director Ben Austin, who directed the Oscar-winning horror movie 'The Hunt' in March of last year.

It's been confirmed that Puckerman, although he arrived at the restaurant obviously late, used his well-known charm to make it up to Rachel. Our source told us "You could practically feel the sexual tension radiating from them. She was mad at him at first, but by the end of the meal they were laughing and making fun of each other. They're a hot couple."

It's no secret that Puckerman has an undoubtable love of women. The producer has been linked to some A list celebrities before, including a brief affair with Taylor Swift, and pop sensation Dana Rose. Let's hope that this time, up-and-comer Rachel Berry can keep Puckerman on a short leash. See our website for more pictures of last night's date between Hollywood's new power couple!"

… … …

Rachel paces back and fourth across her living room, clutching her cellphone to her ear as she one-handedly tries to fasten the zipper of her dress. She's been trying to reach Nate all morning, but he hasn't answered his phone so far. It's worrying her, especially because he tried to reach her twenty times this morning. Is he really that mad at her? She thinks he might actually believe the trash in the tabloids, which is completely ridiculous. She's just about to hang up and try texting him again when he answers.

"Hello?" His voice is cold, and Rachel's face falls.

"Please, please tell me you don't believe it," She says immediately, as she tugs at her zipper. "The pictures make it look a lot worse than it was! It was nothing, Nathan, absolutely nothing!"

There's a short pause and then he sighs. "I know what the press is like. I do work for the New York Times, you know. Not that we'd ever print that garbage."

Rachel exhales in relief, finally managing to fasten her dress. "You believe me?"

"I believe you," Nate confirms. "Although I don't understand why you didn't tell me you were going for dinner with him."

"There was nothing to tell," Rachel replies, running into her bedroom to get her shoes. Ben had called her about half an hour ago, requesting her presence at the studio for an unplanned meeting. Rachel would have been annoyed, if he hadn't apologized for ruining her day off and made it up to her by telling her she can have three full days off next week. She's excited for that.

"Rachel-" Nate sounds slightly stand-offish and Rachel interrupts him quickly.

"Nate, it was more of a punishment than anything! Noah is one of the biggest jerks on the planet, trust me."

"But you let him kiss you in full-view in a parking lot in Hollywood anyway?"

"Please don't do this, Nate! It was nothing, just a goodbye kiss on the cheek. You said you believed me!" Rachel's fully aware that her voice is growing a little frantic, and she takes a deep breath to calm herself down. She hears Nate sigh again, and she clutches the phone tightly to her ear as she rummages in her closet for her silver flats.

"I do, darling. I believe you. I'm just jealous, I guess. I miss you."

Rachel smiles at that. "I miss you too. Come visit me."

"I plan on it."

"Soon?" Her voice is hopeful. Her bed gets lonely at night, without him.

"How does in three weeks sound? I have a huge amount of deadlines I have to finish before then, and I have Micheal's bachelor party, but then I can come."

Rachel squeals excitedly, tucking the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she successfully pulls out her shoes. Holding onto her dresser for balance, she slips them onto her feet. "Really? You can?"

"I can. I'll book the flight tonight, okay love?" He sounds happier, and that instantly cheers Rachel up.

"Yes! Oh, I'm excited! I can't wait to show you LA!" She's beaming as she pulls on a little purple cardigan and shoves her purse and keys in her pocket.

"Darling, you know I don't really like LA."

"You will like it, because I'm here!" She giggles, and she hears him laugh through the phone.

"Very true. I have to go, Rachel. I'm heading out to lunch with some guys from the office."

She smiles into the phone as she heads out of her apartment, locking the door behind her. "Okay. Have a good day."

"Bye, my love."

"Bye!"

She hangs up then, immediately feeling a lot better about the day ahead. Who cares if the world thinks she's dating Noah? She has a fabulous boyfriend already, and she wouldn't change that.

… … …

Puck rolls his eyes as Rachel steps into the room and is almost attacked by Nick, who leaps up to hug her. He thinks Nick's about three seconds away from humping Rachel's leg, but Ben steps in to kiss Rachel on the cheek, and Nick moves away. Puck reaches out, grabs the dude's arm and pulls him back into his seat. Nick glares at him and Puck only shrugs his shoulders, flashing him a small smirk.

The guy's totally head over heels for her. That shit's kind of hilarious.

"Let's get started, shall we?" Ben says as Rachel smiles and takes a seat across the table from Puck, next to a small group of studio executives. He kicks her leg lightly under the table, for no real reason other than the fact that he wants to. She meets his eyes across the table and glares at him before she kicks him back, a hell of a lot harder than he did. He jerks a little in his chair, and she breaks into a smirk at the dirty look he sends her.

Chick looks hot when she smiles all self-righteously like that. He's not gonna lie.

"So I'm sure we've all seen the newspapers this morning," Ben begins, and Puck watches Rachel bite her lip. "For those of you who haven't, Puck and Rachel have graced the front covers along with some story about their new relationship. This is, of course, a lie. Nothing but a fake piece of gossip."

Ben turns to look at Puck and Rachel then, his eyes wide, excited. "We need it to be real. Kind of."

What the fuck?

"What the fuck?" Puck leans back in chair, and watches Ben with an expression of complete disbelief. "What are you talking about?"

"He's talking about the fact that in just a matter of hours, the movie has become the subject most searched about on Yahoo," An executive named Jeremy stands up and walks over to Ben. "Because of you two, the movie is hot news, and we need it to stay that way."

"I don't understand," Rachel chimes in, and everyone turns to look at her. "What are you asking of us here?"

Ben purses his lips, choosing his next words carefully, and Puck knows what's coming. He doesn't like this one bit.

"We're asking you to please consider forging a relationship with each other for the sake of the movie."

Rachel's mouth drops open and Puck frowns, running a hand over his mohawk.

"You can't be serious!" Rachel splutters, and Puck looks at her as she protests to Ben, her face slightly reddened. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! This movie is great, it doesn't need a fake relationship to increase interest! The well-written script and the talents of Leon and I will enforce it to stand on it's own. Right?"

Jeremy shakes his head. "Actually, no. I hate to admit it but we're in trouble. There's no buzz around this movie at all, and we need this or we may have to close production."

"What?" Rachel gasps, and she looks at Puck, her eyes wide. "I asked you and you said-"

"I know what I said," Puck interrupts, crossing his arms. "I lied. Sue me."

She glares at him, and Puck shrugs. So he wanted to protect her from the bad news. No big deal.

"Listen, guys," Ben says and he takes the seat next to Rachel, resting a hand on his shoulder. He looks between the two as he speaks, his voice but understanding and eager. "We need this. Just this morning, thirteen different journalists called to request an interview with you two. This could make the movie big."

Rachel is biting her lip, unsure. "I don't..."

Ben squeezes her shoulder. "Rachel, don't you want your first movie to be a success? It could make you a star here in LA."

She still looks uncertain. "I have a boyfriend already."

"So? It's not like you and Puck would really be dating," Jeremy scoffs, and Puck sends the guy a murderous look for being so insensitive. Jackass.

"We're not going to force you to do something you don't want to do," Ben chimes in, and Rachel looks at him gratefully. "But please, consider it. This could be exactly what we've been needing. This could make your career."

Pick sighs. He knows Ben's right, and he knows the extreme problems that they've been having lately. He sits up in his chair. "Well, I'm in."

Rachel blinks at him. "You are?"

"Well yeah, but only if I can get a raise." He shrugs and looks at Ben, who smiles a little and looks at Jeremy. The guy looks unhappy about it, but he nods.

"I suppose we could manage that, if you two dating gets us the publicity we need. What do you say, Rachel?"

Everyone in the room turns to look at her and Puck can't help but notice how uncomfortable she looks. Shit. He moves his leg back to hers under the table and nudges her gently, and her head snaps up to look at him. She sighs.

"I don't know. Maybe. I'll consider it, but I need to talk to my boyfriend."

Jeremy frowns. "But can't you just-"

"She said she'll think about it," Puck snaps at Jeremy, and the dude shuts up, just scowls at Puck instead. He's always hated that douche. "Don't push her."

"Okay then," Ben gets to his feet once more, and gestures to the door. "I think we're done here for today. Rachel, just give us a call when you decide, okay? No pressure though. Like I said, we won't make you do something you don't want."

"Thank you," Rachel says quietly, and everyone stands, heading for the door.

"Uh, I don't think Puck and Rachel want to leave yet," Nick says suddenly, from where he stands at the window.

"Uh, why?" Puck moves over to stand with Nick, and he swears loudly when he looks out of the window to see a huge amount of paparazzi waiting in the parking lot, all straining to get a good shot of the doors. "Shit. Rachel, don't go out there."

The girl nods tiredly and takes a seat back at the table.

He's protective over her. So sue him for actually caring about this. Whatever.

Puck closes the blinds on the window, anger coursing through him. He knows exactly who called them, and turns to look at Jeremy, his stare furious and accusatory. "You got them here, didn't you?"

Jeremy shrugs casually, and it just angers Puck even more. "I may have called them earlier..."

"Fucking..." Puck trails off, clenching his fists as he walks back to the table. "Thanks. Thanks a lot, buddy." His voice drips with sarcasm, and he only stops when Nick claps his hand on his shoulder.

"I'll call security," Nick says, and he leaves the room, pulling Jeremy with him.

Rachel and Puck are left alone, and he's looking out of the window, but feels her eyes on him.

"Are you really okay with this?" She asks, and he moves to take the seat next to her.

"Well, it's not ideal, but I've seen this shit before," He says. "We kind of need to do it."

Rachel sighs. "I had no idea it was like this. You should have told me."

"And let you freak out over your first movie? I don't fucking think so. You'd have been hell to deal with."

Rachel smiles a little, shoving his shoulder. "Don't be mean to me."

He laughs. "I can do whatever I want. Hey, you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I just don't think Nathan is going to like this one bit."

"Your boyfriend? Stupid name."

"Hey. Don't."

"Whatever."

… … …

The first thing Rachel does when she gets back to her apartment is collapse on her sofa, without even bothering to take off her shoes. She thinks it's ridiculous that a security team had to help her get out of the building and into her car. Is this how it's going to be from now on? Okay, and so maybe there's a tiny little part of her that loves the attention, but most definitelynot to that extent. If it means that a crowd of photographers are going to follow her around LA, then she doesn't think she'll enjoy this business as much as she expected. In all honesty, it's actually quite terrifying needing a group of men to hold back people trying to get close to her, taking pictures and screaming things at her. The whole experience was rather stressful.

She calls Nathan.

"Rachel, darling! Hi! I can't talk for long, I'm about to go into the subway."

"Oh, it can wait," She says quickly, because sure enough, she can hear the bustle of the city in the background.

"No, no. What's wrong, love?"

"It's just... You know Noah?" She sounds uncertain, hesitant, and she knows that Nathan can tell.

"Your producer? The one who's kissing you in all the pictures? Yes, I know of him." His voice is cool, and Rachel sighs.

"Ben asked me to maybe forge a relationship with him to help the movie," She says, a strange type of guilt running through her. She bites her lip and continues speaking, quickly, before Nate can get a chance to reply. "I know, I know! It's crazy! But we really need the publicity. They're talking about shutting down the whole entire movie."

There's silence on the other side of the phone.

"Nathan?"

A deep breath sounds, and Rachel clutches the phone tighter.

"Nate? Would you rather I didn't do this?"
"It sounds like you've already made up your mind, Rachel." His voice is cold, seething anger, and Rachel shrinks back into her sofa, hating this. "First a date and now a relationship. Do whatever the hell you want. Just call me when you remember me, will you?"
"Nathan, no, it's not like that-"
She's interrupted by the dial tone. He's hung up on her.

Her eyes filling with tears, Rachel quickly redials his number, and let's out a soft sob as he sends her straight to voicemail.
She's not sure what she's supposed to do.

… … …

Rachel shows up to set the next day feeling drained and tired, and judging from Noah's reaction, she doesn't look any better than she feels.

"What's up with you?" He asks as he catches up with her in the parking lot. He looks her up and down, jogging backwards in front of her while she strides to her trailer. "You hungover?"

Rachel's mouth drops open and she stops in her tracks, staring blankly at him. "Thank you for implying that I look a total wreck. That just completely made my day, Noah. You're so full of charm sometimes! No wonder women throw themselves at your feet."

And with that, she marches around him and continues on her way, leaving him standing behind her, mouth hanging open slightly.

It's not fair. He's obviously just shoved on shorts and a shirt, sprayed on some deodorant. Why does he have to look so good with no effort at all? She'd spent over an hour on her make-up alone this morning, using nearly a full tube of concealer in an attempt to hide the dark circles under her eyes, a result of no sleep and endless worrying. She'd lay in bed, tossing and turning for hours, unable to shake the guilt. She'd tried to call Nate a bunch of times throughout the evening, and every single one of her calls had been ignored.

"Hey!" She hears Noah call from behind her and she keeps walking. He catches up with her easily. "Hey, don't be pissy."

She turns to look at him, her stare almost murderous. "Well you told me I look bad!"

"Naw, I didn't," He protests, falling into pace beside her. "I just meant that you look tired. Not bad. Shit, Berry. Have you seen you? You're smoking hot."

She ignores the sudden flip her stomach does. She has to. She can't, however, ignore the small, involuntary smile that graces her lips.

"Don't," She murmurs, looking at the ground, and oh God, she thinks she's blushing. What is happening right now?

"S'true." He insists. "Now stop being a bitch. I can't be fucked with it today. You okay, or whatever?"
He's so insensitive. But he's kind of right, even if he shows no sign of tact whatsoever.
"I'm fine, Noah. Go away."

"You got it," He says, and winks at her as he cuts across her path and heads in the direction of the set, where she knows he'll go straight for the food table.

… … …

Puck finds Rachel later that day, and goddamn, she looks fucking miserable. She's sitting at one of the small tables with just a small cup of frozen yoghurt in front of her, slowly typing something into her phone. He can't stop himself from sliding over and taking the seat next to her. Whatever, he doesn't want her to be like, legit sad, okay?

Fuck. So much for that stay-out-of-her-way-and-continue-to-hate-her plan of his. That didn't really work out so well.

"Yes, Noah?" Rachel asks tightly, not taking her eyes off her cell. Puck laughs at that, and reaches for her little plastic spoon, dipping it into her yoghurt.

"Just making sure you're okay," He says lightly, mouth full of dessert. Rachel glances at him then, and rolls her eyes.

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

She gives him that cold stare again, and Puck shrugs. What? He's just telling it like it is.

"Give me one good reason why I should tell you my problems," She challenges, and Puck smirks. "Why do you even care?"

"I don't care," He says honestly, stealing some more of her yoghurt. "But who the fuck else do you have to talk to here? It's Hollywood. You talk about shit with strangers and it ends up on Perez Hilton. So I'm your safest bet, babe."

She sighs, tucking some of her hair over her shoulder. "Don't call me that."

"Sure thing, babe."

"Urgh."

He grins. There's just something about getting a reaction out of her that gives him a feeling of satisfaction. "C'mon, Broadway. Spill."

Rachel looks away from him, down to her hands, and she kind of looks smaller than usual, if that even makes any sense at all. It probably doesn't. Whatever.

"It's Nate." She admits quietly, and it's then Puck notices how tense her shoulders are.

"Stupid name," He says light-heartedly, and she looks at him.

"So you've said."

He smirks at her. "So what did he do?"

Rachel shakes her head hesitantly, and bites gently on her lower lip for a moment before she answers. "It's silly really... I- He's ignoring me."

Puck scoffs at that. "Not possible."

"Excuse me?"

"Rachel, I hate to break it to you, but out of all the people in the goddamn world, you're probably the one who's hardest to ignore. I mean, shit, you're like really loud. And you never know when to quit."

She looks offended, but really, that isn't even an insult. Okay, so maybe it came out badly, but he didn't mean it to sound like that.

"So I'm pushy and obnoxious?" She says, eyes narrowed. Puck can only nod and grin sheepishly.

"Well... Yeah. But shit, not in like, a bad way."

Rachel inhales sharply, and brings a hand up to rub at her temples, kind of like she has a headache. "You are so, so bad at this."

"Hey, I never said I was good. So what's this douche's deal anyway? Why is he ignoring you?"

She shoves gently at his arm, her eyes flashing with annoyance. "Don't call him that, Noah! God, it's... I told him about the meeting yesterday, and unsurprisingly, he didn't like the idea of me pretending to date another man."

Oh, yeah. That. Puck nods, because okay, that's kind of understandable. It's fair enough that they really need to get a buzz going with this movie or the company will pull the plug, but yeah, shit must be awkward for Rachel's boyfriend.

"What did he say?" Puck asks, and Rachel shakes her head sadly.
"Nothing, really. He pretty much hung up as soon as I pitched the idea."

"Shit Rachel, he sounds like a pretentious asshole."
"Noah!"
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry."

Rachel smiles a little and reaches over to take her spoon back from his hand, and he watches her silently as she dips it in the yoghurt and licks it from the spoon, and holy shit. Now he's half hard. She has absolutely no idea how sexy she looks doing that. There's a little spot of the dessert at the corner of her lip, and Puck's mouth goes dry as he watches her dart her tongue out to lick it off.

Fuck.

"For the record," Puck says in an attempt to distract himself from looking at Rachel's lips. "I'd make a fucking kick-ass fake boyfriend."

Rachel legit snorts, and the sound makes him smile a little.

"Says the womanizing man whore." Rachel giggles, and her hand flies to her mouth, like she can't believe she even said that.

Puck waggles his eyebrows at her. "But a womanizing man whore who'd fake rock your world."

"Oh, stop it!" Rachel protests, but she's laughing, loudly and freely. Her face instantly looks ten times lighter, and fuck yeah, he's the man.

"Are you doubting me?" Puck probes, elbowing her lightly, and she doesn't reply, just smiles at him in a know-it-all way that reminds him of when they were younger, when she'd just proved Mr Schuester wrong.

Puck fakes offense. "You're totally questioning my badassness!"

Rachel shakes her head amusedly. "On the contrary, Noah, I'm actually questioning your ability to be a decent, mature man. I know well enough that your badassness can't be questioned."

"Fuck yeah, it can't," He agrees proudly. It makes her scoff.

"You know, for a egoistic man whore, you can be very-"

Rachel's cut off by the sound of her phone ringing, and she gasps as she looks down at the screen. Puck reads Nate's name over her shoulder.

She doesn't even spare him a look before she accepts the call and presses the phone to her ear. She immediately gets up from the table, breathing her boyfriend's stupid name into her cell as she walks away, heading for an empty room.

She's left her frozen yoghurt on the table, and so he steals it, immediately spooning a half the cup into his mouth as he watches her hurry away.

He wonders what she was going to say. He can be very what?

… … …

Rachel finds an empty corridor and her heart is pounding as she talks to Nate. She's always hated it when people are mad at her. She thinks she's just one of those girls who needs to be liked, especially by the people that she cares about. She's just not good at arguments.

"Nate, I'm so sorry," She breathes into the phone, moving to lean against the nearest wall. "I'll figure out something else, I don't need to-"

He interrupts her in a slightly subdued version of his normal voice. "No, it's okay. I can handle this."
She licks her lips. "What are you saying?"

Nate takes a deep breath at the other end of the phone. "What exactly would this fake relationship entail?"

"Oh, Nate, it would be nothing major," Rachel replies earnestly into the phone. "I'd never put us through anything to seriously jeopardize us, you know that. It would only be a few interviews, arriving at a couple of events together, some photo opportunities. That's all."

There's a brief silence, and all she can hear is his steady breathing. Rachel nibbles nervously on her lip.

"Okay," Nathan agrees. "Fine. But Rachel, don't let this guy take advantage-"

"Nathan, I won't! Of course I won't," She reassures him quickly, and she can feel her entire body just relax out of sheer relief. "I love you."

"I love you too, Rachel. I hope you know that."

"I do," She breathes. "I do."

… … …

Later that night in his apartment, Puck hangs up his phone. Ben has just called him, telling him that Rachel agreed to their plan, and that he should release an official statement to the press next week, after going to some premiere with crazypants this Friday. The dude sounds fucking ecstatic and yeah, whatever, good for him.

So Puck's now got himself a fake girlfriend who just happens to be his ex. His ex who he just happens to have all kinds of crazy mixed feelings for. This should be interesting, to say the least.

He texts Rachel a quick little message, before he heads into the kitchen to get himself a beer.

… … …

Rachel's lying in bed when her phone vibrates, signaling a message. She puts down her book and smiles fondly at the text message, shaking her head as she types out a reply.

Ready 4 me 2 rock ur world? ;)

Goodnight, Noah.