A/N: As you can see, the story has a new title! It was a really close competition between Forgiving This Thing Called Life and Changing History but in the end, I made the final decision – Forgiving This Thing Called Life is more in line with the titles I choose for my other stories, so there we go! If the person who suggested this title could get in contact with me, that would be amazing!

And a few people had questions about Rachel and Puck and if they are still Jewish in this story. Sorry, I didn't have an authors note explaining it. Yes, they are both Jewish. However, one of Rachel's dad's isn't Jewish and therefore her family still celebrated Christmas so that she could experience both cultures. Puck only had a small plastic Christmas tree and that was mainly for when people came round to visit. Neither of them technically celebrate Christmas, so sorry if the Christmas tree thing caused some confusion.

Thanks for every single suggestion.

Oh, and there's a POV change in this chapter... we get to hear from Puck again.

Rachel's POV:

Breakfast is better than she expected. Santana and Matt sit at opposite ends of the table and don't make eye contact, but they're both more than willing to engage in conversation and even ask each other basic questions about their week.

Quinn sits by her side and she feels more confident in their friendship than she ever has before. Clearly, Quinn's pleased that she confided in her, and she's glad that the blonde seems to see her as a friend rather than an enemy these days.

Puck sits opposite her, and even when she knows he's not looking in her direction, she can still feel his eyes on her. She finds herself glancing in his direction at least four times before their meals even arrive, and the smirk she gets from Santana assures her than she's being painstakingly obvious.

She doesn't even know why she's staring. Their friendship is shaky at best, and although they've hung out a few times over the last couple of days, she knows that they still have a long way to go before she can officially count Puck as one of her close friends.

He doesn't seem to understand that though. He laughs and jokes with her as though they've been friends for years, and when they leave the restaurant, he throws an arm over her shoulders as well as Brittany's. She doesn't know what game he's playing at but she's determined to find out because this isn't funny.

She pulls him to one side as the rest of the group head towards their favourite coffee shop, and his smirk fades a little as he looks at her. "You've got huge bags under your eyes Rachel... what's wrong?"

"Wow Puck, real smooth. Don't you know that you aren't supposed to tell a girl that she looks like crap?" she growls. She's normally able to coast through her days without any real emotions but he seems to make her feel everything on a grand level.

"Chill Rach, that's not what I said. No need to bite my head off", he teases, his eyes sparkling even though it clearly isn't funny. She wonders if he winds her up on purpose just to see her reaction or if he's this annoying around everyone.

"You've got to stop looking at me", she hisses, surprising even herself with her words. She was supposed to tell him to stop turning everything into such a big joke, but somehow, she finds herself berating him for looking at her.

"Whatever do you mean?" he drawls, his eyebrows slanted in faux confusion as he paints an innocent smile across his face.

"You keep staring at me every time we're in the same room"

"Technically, you were the one staring today Rachel, so I'd be a little more careful before you start throwing accusations around wildly. I look at you just like I like at Santana or Brittany... we're friends, and friends are allowed to look at each other"

"I know that..." she begins, but he just cuts across her."Good, because for a second I was worried that Ohio had some freaking crazy traditions", he jokes, his eyes once again sparkling. She has no idea how this man goes from serious to joking in less than a minute. It must be some sort of world record.

She opens her mouth to retort but finds herself speechless. She has no idea whether she should be angry at him bringing up Ohio so casually or entertained by his joke. She settles on entertained as startled laughter pours from her lips and after a momentary pause, Puck joins in.

"So, if that isn't a tradition in Ohio, what the hell is?" he asks as he pulls her to his side and throws an arm over her shoulder as they begin to follow the rest of the group towards the coffee shop.

"I'm not sure if it's a tradition state-wide, but in Lima, all the families used to go to the Christmas tree lot together to pick out a tree. My fathers and I always used to compete to see who could find the biggest and it took me years of winning to realize that they were just going easy on me", she explains, her eyes lit up as she talks about her family. She doesn't know why she's talking to him of all people, but it feels kind of nice to be able to talk about Lima.

"That's pretty cool. Ever since I can remember, I've always lived in an apartment, so the only Christmas tree I remember our family having is one of those fake plastic ones you put on the table"

"I can't believe you've never had a real Christmas tree before!" she exclaims, her eyes widening in surprise. "Where did you put all the presents?"

"Well, Brittany had a Christmas tree and I always used to crash at hers on Christmas Eve 'cos Mum worked the night shifts, so after I while, I just started putting my presents under her tree", he tells her. "Brittany used to get really excited on Christmas Eve and refuse to go to bed, so Santana always ended up there anyway, because Brittany would only sleep if Santana was there to wake her up in the morning. She only ever trusted San to wake her up bright and early because she was scared the rest of us would forget. Christmas morning became the only time Satan ever crawled out of bed before noon"

"Their friendship really is inspiring", she says quietly. "I really wish I have something like that one day". Her mind is suddenly filled with images of her and Tina over the years, and her heart pounds quickly in her chest. She hates how every single amazing moment she shared with Tina has been replaced with the sheer panic she felt when she couldn't see her best friend on the night the car crashed.

It's as if Puck senses her mood because he abruptly stops his trip down memory lane and turns his joking tone back on. "God, you do not want a friendship like theirs!" he exclaims, his free hand gesturing wildly. "They fight like cats and dogs"

"But that's only because they love each other so much", she tells him, her tone defensive. She doesn't know why she's so invested in their friendship but she hates the fact that Puck is attempting to make it look less amazing.

"Relax Rach. I know they only fight because they care, it's just that when they fight, everyone knows to get the hell out of their way", he explains, his eyes concerned as he looks at her. She knows that her smile looks forced and that her eyes probably show everything that she's feeling, but she has no idea how to hide her emotions.

"Are you sure you're okay Rach? I've been hearing things from the others..." he says quietly, his eyes soft as he looks at her.

"I'm so sick of you guys all discussing me behind my back!" she spits, her eyes narrowing at him. She's so tired of Santana and Puck acting like they're experts in all things Rachel Berry when they really have no idea what's going on in her head and her heart."

The only reason we talk about you is because we're worried, Rachel. That's what family does", he responds, his knuckles white as he tries to explain himself without getting angry.

She's silent for a moment – that's twice in one conversation that he's rendered her speechless. "What did the others have to say?" she asks, her voice tiny as she focuses on the word family.

"Brittany said that you haven't been sleeping properly and that every time she wakes up in the night for a drink or to go to the bathroom, you're awake. Santana says that you keep blanking out in the middle of conversations, and Quinn seconds that – she said that sometimes you don't even remember what conversation you were having with them just a couple of minutes ago", he explains, his eyes roaming her face to see her reaction.

"I'm just tired Puck... NYU has been taking a lot out of me, and I'm just distracted", she responds, her face emotionless. "I'm sure I'll snap out of it soon", she adds, hoping that her eyes don't betray her lie.

"I know you aren't telling the truth Rach... your nostrils flare a little when you're lying and you try and avoid eye contact", he says softly. "But if you don't feel like telling me, I won't push", he finishes, and the look in his eyes makes her heart ache; makes her feel like she's searching for something she lost long ago. "Just know that I'll be here when you decide that you want to talk"

"Thank you", she whispers, not trusting herself to speak in case her voice cracks or she starts crying. She doesn't know why he seems so willing to accept her even though he doesn't even really know her, but she doesn't question it, because she hasn't had someone who believed in her no matter what for a long, long time now.

"You're welcome Rachel", he says after a moment's pause. "I'm gonna catch up with the others for coffee... you coming?"

"I think I'm going to go back to bed and try and get some more sleep, but if you could tell the others thanks for the lovely morning, it'd be much appreciated", she tells him and he just nods in return.

She turns to walk back to NYU, firmly sworn off of taxis after what happened when she left Puck after lunch, but she doesn't make it far before she's swept up into an embrace. She tries to scream but she's already being pulled out of the stranger's arms and when she looks around, Puck is standing protectively in front of her, his eyes narrowed at the man who grabbed her... a man with a very, very familiar face.

"Daddy?" she asks, her voice cracking slightly. "Is that really you?"

"Wait... Daddy?" Puck questions, his tone confused. "That's your dad?"

"One of my dad's", she tells him. "Why are you here?" she asks, her eyebrows furrowing as she tries to work out what's going on.

"Well, work needed someone to go to New York and I jumped at the opportunity so that I could come and see you, princess", he explains, his smile wide as he looks at his daughter. "Your dad wanted to come too but he had to stay at work, so I'm supposed to give you his love"

"How did you find me?"

"I called your phone and a girl called Brittany picked up", he explains. "When I introduced myself, she was only too happy to give me directions to the coffee shop, and she even told me that you should still be outside with someone called Puck... I assume that's you?" he asks, addressing Puck with a crinkle of confusion stretching across his forehead.

"Yes sir, that's me", Puck answers, extending his hand quickly to shake her fathers. "Sorry for the misunderstanding... I thought you were trying to hurt Rachel", he says shyly, and if she didn't know better, she'd say he was blushing.

"Quite understandable; thank you for looking after my daughter", he chuckles. "She really needs someone around to take care of her. I'm Leroy Berry, by the way"

"Pleasure to meet you sir"

"Just call me Leroy", he orders before turning to face his daughter. "Why haven't you been calling regularly Ray? And more importantly, why didn't you tell your father and I that you had a boyfriend?"

She splutters for a second, her cheeks flushing a bright red as Puck smirks victoriously. "This isn't my boyfriend... he's one of my roommates friends", she explains, her eyes focused on the ground, while Puck chuckles. "And while it's great to see you Daddy, I have to go back to the university for a couple of hours to finish and submit one of my assignments. Why don't you go with Puck and meet the rest of my friends?" she offers, her voice leaving no room for arguments.

Before her father or Puck has a chance to answer, she's walking away from them, her body disappearing into the sea of people walking the streets.

Puck's POV:

He watches Rachel walk away and bites back a sigh. It's just his luck to be left with Rachel's dad – hell, he and Rachel struggle to get along most of the time so how the hell is he supposed to hang with Rachel's dad?

He shifts uncomfortably as Mr. Berry sighs in frustration at his daughters disappearing act and silently curses Rachel for choosing now to go and finish her assignment.

"So, do you want to meet the rest of the gang?" he asks as he runs a hand awkwardly through his hair, hoping that the rest of his friends will be able to make conversation because he sucks at first impressions.

"Actually, I'd like to talk to whichever one of your friends knows Rachel best", Leroy orders, his voice stern. "My daughter hasn't called in over three months and she's been ignoring our phone calls too, so this trip is to check up on her"

"Well, I can get San or Britt for you... Britt's Rachel's roommate and San's probably her closest friend... they'll probably be able to help you best", he tells Leroy, his brain whirring as he tries to think of a reason why Rachel hasn't called home in three months. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and sends Santana a quick message, ordering her and Brittany to get outside. "They'll be here in a couple of minutes"

He stands awkwardly next to Rachel's dad while he mentally berates Santana and Brittany for taking their time. He's never been good with parents, and dads especially normally hate him. He can't think of anything to sigh and when he finally results into shifting his weight from foot to foot and smiling a little to break the tension, Santana and Brittany finally make their appearance.

"What is it Puck?" Santana growls. "It better be goddamn important to drag me away from my morning coffee". Brittany smiles slightly at Santana's antics before turning to introduce herself to Rachel's dad.

"You must be Mr. Berry", she says cheerfully. "I'm Brittany, Rachel's roommate, and this is my best friend Santana and that's Puck", she rambles, her eyes lit up as she gestures at them all. "It's so great to meet you" she adds before wrapping her arms around Rachel's dad.

Mr. Berry looks a little surprised and hell, he can't blame him. It's not every day you meet someone like Brittany. Santana smirks a little as she pulls Brittany away and quickly shakes Mr. Berry's hand, before putting her business face on.

"What can we do for you Mr. Berry? I take it this isn't just a social visit..." she trails off, her eyebrows frowning in confusion as she tries to decipher his motive.

"You're right. I want to know why my daughter hasn't spoken to us in three months and you three aren't leaving until you tell me what the hell is going on", he demands, and wow, the dude's kind of scary.

Brittany's eyes widen and she looks close to tears and both he and Santana aren't going to let that fly. No one yells at Brittany – damn, it's like kicking a puppy... you just don't do that.

"I don't know what the hell you are playing at but you better drop the attitude now because no one speaks to my friends like that", Santana hisses. "Now, if you're ready to be polite, tell us what you want from us"

If he's shocked, his face doesn't show it. In fact, he's not showing any emotion whatsoever. "Rachel is our only daughter and we're entitled to be worried about her. I take it she filled you in on what happened before she came here?"

He nods at Rachel's dad, and out of the corner of his eye, he can see Brittany and Santana doing the same. Santana has her pinkie finger wrapped around Brittany's, and both of the girls are a little calmer – Santana isn't ready to tear the guys throat out and Brittany isn't ready to burst into tears. They've always had that sort of effect on each other.

"Well, you can understand why we are so concerned. She hasn't answered our calls and hasn't called us herself, and all our letters have been returned to sender. At first, we thought she was just trying to get herself stabilized but after about a month of no contact, we started to get really concerned. Rachel isn't exactly emotionally stable and we had no clue what was happening..." Mr. Berry rambles, his hands gesturing as he tries to explain himself.

"You better not be asking what I think you're about to ask", Santana cuts in, her voice hard as steel. He has no clue what she's on about but she's always been the best at reading people, partly because she's training to be a lawyer and partly because she used to search out people's faults in high school to protect herself.

"What's he going to ask San?" Brittany says softly, her eyes confused.

"I think he's asking us to spy on his daughter for him", Santana growls, and even though he's standing a couple of metres away from her, he can still feel the anger flowing out of her body.

They're all silent for a moment. Brittany still looks confused but she's moved her hand so that she's gripping Santana's wrist just in case she decides to launch herself at Rachel's dad.

"Is that what you're asking?" he questions, his eyes looking at her father with distaste. Mr. Berry nods his head, and that's all it takes for Santana to explode.

"What kind of father does that? If she doesn't want to talk to you, she doesn't want to talk to you. That doesn't give you the right to fly out to New York and ask her friends to report back to you. If she wants to talk to you, she will talk to you... you don't get to force it, and you don't get to go behind her back to find out information about her life", she shrieks, drawing more than a few curious glances from passers-by.

"Santana..." Mr. Berry attempts to interrupt. "That's not what I'm trying to do"

"No voy a traicionarla. Yo no traicionar a los amigos. Yo no traicionar a la familia", she spits in Spanish, her eyes narrow and her hands curled into fists. Family has always been a touchy subject for her, and for her to hiss in Spanish means that she's incredibly angry.

He takes a few steps towards Santana to help restrain her, but Brittany's already on it, her fingers stroking Santana's hair as she whispers soothing words into her best friends ear. It only takes a couple of minutes before Santana isn't visibly shaking anymore, and Brittany hastily says her goodbyes.

"Goodbye Mr. Berry", Brittany says softly with a small wave as she drags Santana back in the direction of the coffee shop. "It was a pleasure to meet you". Her eyes are full of confusion and disgust, and god, it takes a lot for Brittany to be disgusted with someone. Mr. Berry just smiles in return, relief clear in his eyes, obviously grateful that Britt's taken Santana and dragged her the hell away.

The only downside is that he's left standing with Rachel's dad again and he has no clue what to say.

"You must think I'm an awful parent Puck", Leroy says softly, "and I can't blame you for that"

"I get it", he replies after a moment of silence. "You're trying to protect her. She's your daughter and she's been through a lot. I'd think worse of you if you didn't try".

"Is she okay?"

"It's hard to tell. Some days she's smiling and laughing and other days, it's like she's two steps away from completely shutting down", he says sadly.

"Do you think that you could keep an eye on her for us?" Leroy asks, his eyes hopeful.

"We're already doing that", he answers, "but if you promise not to tell Rachel that I had any involvement in it, I could text you updates on her from time to time"

"You'd do that?"

"Well, you're Rachel's family, and she needs all the support she can get", he responds. "Just program your number into my phone", he says quietly before handing over his cell, "and I'll text you whenever something important happens"

"Thank you Puck, she's very lucky to have someone like you in her life"

"Don't mention it", he says shortly. "I'll see you around", he adds before turning to walk into the coffee shop to join his sits quietly as Santana fills everyone else up to speed, unable to shake the feeling that he just made a deal with the devil.

A/N #2: No voy a traicionarla – I will not betray her.

Yo no traicionar a los amigos – I do not betray friends.

Yo no traicionar a la familia – I do not betray the family.