Title: Breakaway, Part 6/?

Spoilers: This part to '3x18 - Choke'; whole series will be through the Glee season 3 finale.

Disclaimer1: I don't own Glee, so I'm just borrowing the characters and ideas for the fun of writing, *but* I do own the original characters, original plot and other original ideas.

A/N1: I edited this, so all mistakes are mine.

A/N2: Feedback keeps me writing, so please comment or review. :D

Disclaimer2: Title from one of my favorite Kelly Clarkson songs 'Breakaway'. Just borrowing. I don't own!

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Disclaimer3: Any familiar lines from the episode listed have been underlined... Just borrowing them! I don't own!

A/N3: In going back through each scene of 'Choke', I realized they jumped around a lot. It's only supposed to cover a few days, but they kept flashing back to days before and bouncing around, so I've sorted out a chronological order of how things happened... In other words, things will still happen that did in the show, but they may not be in the same order we saw them. I just wanted to let you know, in case you're wondering.

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3x18 - Choke

...

It's a Thursday afternoon, and Rachel had something on her mind. She and Puck have been together officially for four weeks and a day and it's been a little over a week since he'd admitted he was her Secret Admirer. She'd hoped that with his admission, he wouldn't keep any more secrets from her, but after accidentally overhearing a conversation he had with one of his teachers that morning, and him not mentioning anything about it during lunch when they worked on her audition song, she needed to talk to him.

Usually he found her between classes, but she went in search of him and saw him at his locker, "Noah, we need to talk," she started, moving to stand next to him.

Puck turned to her and raised a curious eyebrow, "alright. Um, did I do something to upset you?" He asked, closing his locker gently.

Rachel shook her head, "no, but do you have anything you'd like to tell me?" She asked, giving him a chance to bring it up first.

"No, I don't," he replied, not sure what she was getting at.

"I overheard you talking to one of your teachers," she bit her lip nervously, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I saw you so I was going to talk to you, but," she sighed, "I heard her tell you that if you don't pass her test next week that she'll have to fail you, which means you won't be able to graduate on time," she said sadly, "Noah, I didn't realize your grades in that class were that bad. Why didn't you tell me?"

Puck sighed, and turned, motioning down the hall for her to walk with him, "I didn't want to say anything, because the last thing you need is to be worrying about me and my grades. Your audition is next week and you need to focus on that," he said honestly.

"Noah, but I still care about you and I should have known this. What if you don't pass?" She asked nervously, trying not to panic.

"I'm sure I'll pass it. Don't worry," he draped an arm around her shoulders to help calm her down, "since I was out for several weeks and never thought to get any make-up work for it, I'm gonna talk to her tomorrow and see if she will let me take the test later."

"Oh, um, okay. Hopefully she'll allow that. Are you doing okay in your other classes?" She asked softly.

Puck nodded, "I'm passing auto shop, wood shop and metal shop, so this is the only class I need to deal with."

Rachel took a deep breath and nodded, "okay. I just wish you would have told me. I can help you study."

"It's alright, babe. Don't worry about me. I'll take care of this. I just want you focused on your audition," he said honestly, "practice after school at your house?" He asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Yes, my place after school. I quite enjoy our after school practices," she smiled at him, glancing around a little and then leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips once they stopped outside her class.

Puck returned her kiss, "then I'll see you after school," he promised with a smile.

Rachel nodded and turned to walk into the room and once she was inside, Puck headed towards his next class and sighed, "fuck, what the hell are you going to do, man? Mrs. Doosenberry isn't going to let you take the test later," he thought walking down the hallway, "I'm better off dropping out of school and doing odd jobs around town to make money until Rachel graduates and then I'll have more saved up for when we move to New York," he told himself, "that's not such a bad idea, actually... But she's probably not going to want to date me anymore... She deserves better than a high school drop-out. Fuck, what the hell am I going to do?"

...

Rachel trusted that Puck had everything under control, so she didn't bring up their conversation in the hallway again, while they were at her house working on her audition piece and hanging out.

When Friday morning arrived, Rachel went on like usual and while she was at her locker before Glee, she got a text from Puck, "talking to my teacher. Meet you in Glee." Glad to hear he was talking to her, Rachel went to the choir room to wait for him there and hoped he was able to work out something with his teacher.

Greeting her friends and taking a seat near Kurt to talk to him about their NYADA auditions the following week, she didn't think anything was wrong, until everyone had entered the choir room, except Puck, and Will was starting class. Just after Will began talking, Puck walked into the room, wearing all black, including a leather jacket and grabbed the nearest guitar, turned on the amp and began rocking out to 'School's Out'.

Everyone jumped in shock, as they watched him bounce around and jam on the guitar. The song itself, though good for an end of the year song, didn't make sense with over a month left before school was out, so the teens and Will were all confused why he picked it.

Music was a great way for Puck to show his feelings and when he talked to his teacher, he got pissed off and went to Glee afterward, doing the only thing he could to express what was going on. In his mind, he was rocking out on the football field, with Cheerios dancing along to his song, but in reality, he was jumping around the choir room, rocking out.

As the song came to an end, he dropped the guitar to the floor, waking him from the daydream he'd been in. Glancing around the room briefly, he saw the shocked faces of his friends and teacher, and then his eyes landed on his girlfriend. Her mouth was hanging open in shock and he couldn't face her at the moment. He needed some time to cool off, so without a word, he turned on his heel and walked out of the classroom, heading for the parking lot; he was done with high school.

...

"What the hell just happened?" Santana asked as Puck walked out of the room.

Kurt reached out and placed a hand on Rachel's shoulder, "Rachel, what's up with him?" He asked, knowing of their relationship.

Jumping when Kurt touched her, Rachel snapped from the daze she'd been in to gather her thoughts. She knew it wasn't necessarily her place to tell them, but she also knew Puck wouldn't, "um, all I know is that he was going to talk to his teacher today about postponing his test, because he missed so much school," she explained, "um, if he doesn't pass it next week, she'll fail him, which means he won't be able to graduate," she murmured, taking a deep breath, "I um... I'll..."

Without another word said, she stood up and rushed out of the room, hoping to catch up to her boyfriend, but had no clue where he had gone. Given the words of the song, she had a feeling she'd find him leaving school and as she finally reached the exit, and looked out into the parking lot, she saw his truck pulling out of a parking space. Walking as fast as she could, she tried to chase after him, but he was driving out of the parking lot before she could get anywhere near him. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she quickly sent a text message to him, "Noah! Don't leave! We can fix whatever it is!"

Feeling tears in her eyes, she took a deep breath, "oh, Noah, what are you doing? Don't do this... Don't give up. We can figure this out..." She thought, jumping a little as her phone vibrated in her hand. Seeing a text from her boyfriend, she opened it up to read, "I'll be at your house after school."

Though she wished she could have gotten more from him, she settled for that and responded with, "I will see you there. Noah, I hope you know I care about you." She wanted him to know how she felt, even if it was just being concerned about him. They'd only been together for a short time and she definitely felt more for him, but she wasn't sure she was ready to use the word 'love', yet, but hoped one day she could.

Walking back into McKinley Rachel was lost in her thoughts. She knew, without being told directly, that her boyfriend's conversation with his teacher didn't go as he planned. She figured he decided to just give up, which is what caused him to sing 'School's Out'; he was dropping out of school. "Oh, Noah, I know you're stubborn and I can only imagine what you're feeling right now, but don't run away. We can figure this out," she thought with a sigh. She hoped she could talk him out of his drastic choice, but also knew she couldn't push him too much, or he'd probably run further away, so she agreed she needed to take things slow. She'd talk to him after school to see what happened and then take things one step at a time.

Rachel found herself walking back into the choir room, where most of the club was still hanging out. They immediately asked if she'd caught up to Puck, but she shook her head, 'no'. "I didn't. I got outside in time to see him pulling out of the school parking lot. He did message me and told me he'd be at my house after school. He's been coming over so we can work on my audition for NYADA, so hopefully later on and this weekend I can talk him out of dropping out school," she explained.

The bell rang to end class, so no one got a chance to respond, but Rachel could tell everyone was shocked Puck was dropping out. They all filed out of the class, and needing to get on with her day, Rachel headed to her locker to get her things for her next class.

After going in the opposite direction as Blaine, Kurt caught up to Rachel at her locker, "hey. Do you really think he's gonna drop out?" He asked softly.

Rachel sighed, "I don't know. I'm hoping he's just upset and needs some time to cool off. I also know I can't lecture him too much, or he'll probably totally give up, so I'm just going to be a concerned and caring girlfriend and see how things go," she explained.

"Understandable. If you need to talk, I'm here," Kurt told her.

"Thanks," Rachel smiled, "that means a lot."

...

To say that Puck was upset was an understatement. His teacher was not willing to give him any special treatment, even considering the special circumstances that caused him to miss so much school. He knew there was no way he'd be able to cram a year's worth of World Geography into his brain in less than a week, to even get a 'D-' on the test, so he figured it was easier to just drop out.

As he left McKinley, he saw Rachel outside, trying to stop him, but he didn't want to drag her into his mess, so he kept going. When he got her first message, he responded that he'd be at her house after school, mentally adding, "to give back your music. I'm sure you're not gonna want to date a high school drop-out. You deserve better than that."

When Rachel's second reply came, he was shocked to see the words 'I care about you'. He knew she did, but for her to tell him, meant even more at that moment, and a little hope was restored in him that maybe she wouldn't break up with him after all. "Rachel deserves better than a high school drop-out, so if she doesn't break up with me, I need to. I'll only hold her back. She needs to just move on to achieve her dreams in New York because I'm just the Lima Loser everyone thought I'd be," Puck sighed, chucking his phone into the passenger seat, not bothering to reply to her message.

...

Finishing out the school day, Rachel was nervous to get home. She needed to talk to her boyfriend and figure out what was going on. She hadn't heard from him the rest of the day, but she expected it, and couldn't help imagining what he was thinking or doing. "I'm sure he figures that I don't want him anymore. Well, Noah Puckerman, you have another thing coming. I'm not giving up on you. I care about you too much to just watch you drop out and give up," she thought, nodding as she closed her closer and made her way to the parking lot. "You need to graduate, Noah. If you don't pass this test, that doesn't mean it's all over. There are ways of making up the grades. You could take a summer school class and by the end of summer you'd have your diploma, but I don't think we need to think that far off. I believe if you just relax and study you could get a passing grade. I'm sure you're going to be stubborn and I'm not going to push you constantly because I know you'll get mad at me, but I definitely want to help you."

Rachel's thoughts occupied her as she reached her car and started her drive home. Emotions continued to build as she got closer to her house and as she pulled up in front, she parked behind Puck's truck and noticed he was sitting on her porch stairs. Taking a deep breath, she climbed out of her car and grabbed her bag, then closed her doors and walked towards him. She could tell he was upset and he didn't even look up when she got near him, so she set her bag down on the stairs and took a seat right next to him, resting a hand on his thigh, "hey Noah," she said softly.

"Hey," he murmured, taking a deep breath. Reaching for something next to him, he picked up the large folder full of sheet music she'd given him, "I brought back your music."

"You didn't need to do that," she said, refusing to take it.

"Yeah I did," he sighed and stood up, leaving the folder sitting on the steps near her, "you deserve better than a high school drop-out Lima Loser. That's all I am. I'm only going to hold you back and I'm not that good playing music. I'll probably fuck up your audition, so it's better if I just walk away. You've still got time for Brad or someone else to learn the music for your audition," he commented, "and you're probably going to break up with me. If you're not, then I think we should, because I'm probably only gonna ruin your life."

Tears filled Rachel's eyes and she stood up to face him, "do you really think that little of me? Of yourself? That you're a Lima Loser?" She asked, and as he turned his gaze to the ground, she knew he was trying to hide his feelings, "we're not going to break up because of this. Don't tell me who I deserve. I deserve someone who makes me feel fireworks when they touch me and someone who treats me like I'm special. You do that," she reached up and rested her hands on his cheeks, "Noah, you picked me and Glee over football years ago. You helped talk me out of getting a nose job last year and this year, after breaking up with Finn, you spent months being my 'Secret Admirer', just to cheer me up and help me get through our break up. That's the Noah Puckerman I fell for. A diploma doesn't change my feelings for you, so don't even think that I'm letting go of you because of this. I know you're upset, but I want to know what happened and I want to help you."

With her hands on his cheeks, he couldn't look away, so while she spoke, Puck closed his eyes and contemplated her words. As she finished, he looked at her again and saw tears falling from her eyes, "you don't want to break up with me?"

"No, I don't," she said firmly, "I'm not giving up on you or us."

Relief washed over him at her words. For the moment, he didn't care about what happened at school, what he was happy about was that she still wanted to be with him, even with the drama from school and that meant so much to him. Reaching out, he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly, "thank you," he murmured, ignoring the feelings he had about school to focus on her and their relationship.

Rachel smiled and happily wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug, "we'll get through this together," she murmured, pulling back gently to press a kiss to his lips, "now that it's clear we're not breaking up, let's go inside and talk about what happened at school," she suggested.

"Uh, yeah, okay," he sighed, knowing she wouldn't let him get by without an explanation.

...

Moving into her house, her dads weren't home, so after a few moments of taking their jackets off and getting some water, the two settled onto the couch to continue talking, "so, what happened when you talked to your teacher?"

Puck sighed, "I asked her if I could take the test later, because I'd missed so much school. She told me that since I haven't done any work for her all semester she doesn't think it's fair to give me an extension on the test. She said I should have been more concerned about my grades when I could have done something to make sure I was at least passing, but now that it's close to graduation it's too late to do anything. She said she's already giving me 'special consideration' anyway. This is her last test of the year. She said whatever I get on the test, she'll give me as my grade for the semester, and she'll overlook at the work I never did," he paused and took a deep breath, "I'm 'street smart', not 'book smart'. I know I'm going to fail it, so I figured there was no point in taking it and failing anyway, so I'll drop out and work odd jobs around town to make some extra money and then when you graduate, we'll have more money to move to New York with," he explained, preparing for the lecture he figured he'd get.

Rachel sat so she was facing him and took his hand in her's, squeezing it gently. During the few hours after this happened, she'd done some thinking and had come up with several things that he'd said, so she expected a lot of it, "Noah, I imagine you're expecting me to lecture you, but I'm not going to. What I am going to say is that I think you should take the test to see what you get. You might surprise yourself. You could pass it and then don't have to drop out," she smiled at him, "I believe you can do it, if you put your mind to it. If you don't pass it, then at least you can say you tried. Like I said, a diploma doesn't change my feelings for you, but Noah, graduating from high school is a big deal and I want you up on that stage with me when we throw our caps. You deserve to graduate," she shifted and wrapped her arms around him, "so please, just think about that before you decide to drop out for good, okay?"

Holding her against him, Puck felt tears fall from his eyes, "she believes in me. No one ever has," he thought, "maybe I could do this." He knew he had a lot to think about, but knowing she believed he could do it, give him an incentive to think about trying, "can I think about it for a while?"

"Of course," Rachel nodded, "I know I can't force you to do something you don't want to do, but I want you to know that I'm here for you, just like you've been here for me. Take the time you need to figure out what you want," she pressed a kiss to his lips, "and we'll go from there, okay?"

"Okay," he smiled, "thank you. I just need some space from school to think, but it really means a lot to know that you believe in me. I've never really had that from anyone."

Rachel kissed him again and rested a hand on his cheek, "that's what friends and girlfriends are for," she smiled, "what kind of person would I be if I turned my back on you when you need someone the most? Especially when you've been there for me, encouraging me and telling me that I can be the star I've always dreamed of. It's time to let me repay you, but you've got to promise me you'll still play for my audition."

"Yeah, I guess I will, if you still want me to. Do you really think I'm that good?" He asked biting his lip.

"Yes, Noah, I do. You're very musically talented and I'd be honored to have you on that stage with me," she told him honestly, "and I don't want it to be the last time we perform together, either. Promise me we'll do it again."

Puck smiled, "alright. I'll play for your audition and I promise we can do a duet or something else together."

"Awesome!" Rachel kissed him once more and smiled, "just don't take too long to figure out about school. There's not much time left."

He nodded, "yeah, I know. Just give me a few days to think everything out."

...

Having gone through a break-up in the past, Rachel was familiar with needing space to sort out thoughts and feelings. With that on her mind, even though it wasn't quite the same situation, she still had a good idea of the dilemma he was facing, and reluctantly settled to let Puck have the space he needed to make his own choice. She didn't want to force him to do something he didn't want to do, but she wanted to offer to help him study that weekend, instead of working on her audition, but she decided not to. She knew he was still in the 'thinking' stage and didn't want him to feel like she was trying to rush him, so she 'stepped back' and decided to change the subject to something else.

Puck was so thankful to have Rachel in his life. Not only did she believe in him, she was giving him the space he needed to figure things out. He knew dropping out of school was a bad idea, but he didn't see himself passing the test. He hadn't made his decision yet, and would still need some time, but after hearing what she said, it gave him a little confidence boost and helped him realize that he maybe could pass the test, so he knew he had a lot of thinking to do. He also knew that even if he did decide to take the test, he wouldn't ask her for help. He didn't want her thinking about anything besides her audition for NYADA.

...

Getting past the discussion of what happened at school, Rachel and Puck spent the rest of Friday and the whole weekend at her house, working on her audition. They still spent sometime as a couple, hanging out and talking, but their main focus was her song. Rachel didn't bring up his decision, because she didn't want to pressure him and Puck didn't want to stress her out before her audition on things he needed to deal with on his own.

...

Monday morning, when Rachel was driving to school, though her boyfriend's troubles were still on her mind, she was also thinking about everything that led up to her big audition that week and the metaphor for her being a star. "Deep in space, there are giant interstellar clouds. Most of them just float through the universe content to be balls of gas and space dust, but there are special ones. Maybe they collide with a supernova or are just made up of something extra amazing, but one day they just get too big for the nebulous they're in and with the sheer gravitational force of their awesomeness, they become a star... I am that amazing cloud. My whole life has lead to this moment... My audition is this week and once I get into NYADA, I'll be one step closer to my dreams of Broadway and a Tony by the time I'm twenty-five. I'm so thankful to have Noah playing the piano, too. I know he has a lot of things going on and I hope he doesn't take too long to make a decision about school, but the support he's given me has definitely been helpful. Yes, I am confident I'll get in, but I also can't help having some doubts about my audition and Noah's encouragement has helped keep my worries at bay, allowing me to focus on impressing whoever the NYADA scout is. They're going to be the one who decides if I get in or not."

Rachel's thoughts passed the time it took her to drive to McKinley and once she parked in the lot, she looked at herself in her rear-view mirror and smiled, her confidence building up even more than it had been, "you are a star, Rachel Berry. And in just two days from now you are going to shine so bright on that stage that the sun is gonna cry with envy. You know when your time is and it's now."

...

Though most of the teens in the Glee Club had passed off what had happened with Puck, Finn couldn't forget it. He knew from what Rachel had said on Friday that Puck would be helping her out with her audition over the weekend, so Finn went in search of Rachel between morning classes, in hopes she had some answers. Seeing her at her locker, he walked up and smiled at her, "hey Rachel."

"Good morning, Finn. How are you?" She asked simply, closing her locker and turning to face him.

"I'm alright," he shrugged, "so, I was wondering if you got a chance to talk to Puck about what happened on Friday."

Rachel took a deep breath and nodded, "yes, I did."

"Oh, okay. I usually see him in the mornings, but I haven't today, so I wanted to know what's going on. Is he really dropping out?" He asked concerned.

"I hope not," Rachel admitted, "his World Geography class has a test this week and because he missed so much school, he was hoping his teacher would allow him to take the test later, but she won't. I guess he hasn't done any work in his class and this is the final test. If he takes the test and gets a passing grade on it, she's willing to give that grade to him as his grade for the whole class, allowing him to graduate. He doesn't think he'll be able to pass it, so he thinks that he should just drop out and clean pools and do odd jobs around town to save up more money," she explained.

Finn's eyes widened, "damn it! I didn't realize he had that bad of a grade. So he's just gonna drop out and that's it?"

"No, he's thinking about it. I believe if he tries, he could get a passing grade, which I told him. Apparently he's never really had anyone believe in him before, so he doesn't have a lot of confidence when it comes to education and needs some time to figure out what he wants to do," she told him, seeing concern on Finn's face and realized he cared about him, "as much as I want to force him to come back to school, and I can tell you'd like to do the same thing, if we try to drag him back, he might shut down even more. I hate to say this, but he needs to make this decision on his own. He has to be the one to want to come back. We can't push him into anything."

"Yeah, I know," Finn sighed, "I just wish... There's gotta be something we can do."

Rachel knew they had to get to their classes, so they couldn't talk too long, but she knew what to say, "he needs some space, but he also needs people to believe in him. He needs his friends."

...

Rachel was glad Finn seemed to care enough about Puck to ask her about what happened. She hoped Finn and some of their other friends would also reach out to him, to show there were others that cared about him and wanted him to succeed. This could give him helpful push in deciding to return to school, to try to pass his test. She just wished it would happen soon because his test was in a few days and he had a lot of studying to do before then.

...

Because Kurt and Rachel had their auditions that week, Will gave the teens the week free from Glee. This allowed the two Seniors to focus on their preparations and the others would have a free period to do whatever they wanted. Kurt still had last minute decisions to make on his song choice and decorations for the stage, so Rachel let him use the auditorium, while she practiced in the choir room during their usual Glee time.

...

Finn had been doing a lot of thinking about what Rachel said that morning about Puck. He felt bad that Puck was that upset and wanted to drop out and was also mad that none of the other guys seemed to mention Puck at all that day. He contained himself until he got to gym, when all the guys from Glee, except Kurt, were working out in the weight room. Mike was getting advice from Blaine about using hair products, Sam and Artie were lifting weights and talking about one of their classes, Rory was at the bench press with Joe as his spotter, talking about a new movie, which is when Finn finally snapped, dropping his weights, "hey! I hear you guys talkin' a lot, but is anybody gonna mention what's missing? What's different here?" Finn asked, looking around at the others.

"You finally shook the last five pounds. Dude! Congrats!" Sam grinned.

All the other guys clapped and cheered, thinking that's what Finn was talking about, but he shook his head, "no... No... It's Puck!" Finn snapped, "he's not here... Anybody notice that?" When the others shrugged and shook their heads, he sighed, "he's thinking about dropping out of school."

"I'm going into full-blown prayer mode," Joe admitted honestly.

"I talked to Rachel this morning. She says he needs to pass his World Geography test this week or he doesn't graduate. He figures he won't be able to pass it, so he took off and now he's thinking about dropping out completely. She says he needs some space to figure things out, but honestly, we need to go all Black Hawk Down here. All he needs to pass is that one test. Either we all graduate together or what was the point of all this?" Finn motioned around, "no man gets left behind. We will get him to pass. By any means necessary."

"That's right!" Sam agreed, nodding at Finn, "we can do this!"

"While I totally agree we should help him, how are we going to get him to go along with it?" Artie asked curiously.

The guys all exchanged glances and then looked at Finn, "any ideas?" Sam wondered.

"Well, from what I gather, he's still helping Rachel with her audition and he's cleaning pools, so," Finn thought for a moment, "I know we all have plans today after school, but since gym is our last class of the day, this time tomorrow meet in the choir room. I'll figure out a plan to get him here to cram for his test. It'll also give me time to get his book and figure out what exactly he needs to study."

...

Rachel didn't say anything to Puck after school about her conversation with Finn. She figured if it was important to Finn to ask her about him, then he'd reach out to Puck on his own. The couple focused on her audition and both were looking forward to it being over. Puck knew the piano part by heart and Rachel had been familiar with the song for years, and had sung it before in Glee, so there wasn't much 'work' needed. She just wanted to keep going through it to make sure they didn't miss notes and she was on key.

Tuesday started out like usual, and like the day before, instead of the Glee students meeting in the choir room, Kurt and Rachel worked on their auditions and the others had a free period to do what they wanted. Rachel still went to the choir room to use the piano and spent the time practicing, wishing her boyfriend was there to help her. She knew the song, but preferred to only sing, letting him be the one on the keys, so she could focus on her voice. He still hadn't made a decision on returning to school and she hoped he would. She didn't want to spend the next month without him and it also meant he wouldn't be able to go to Nationals. With that thought, she realized she could use that as an incentive to come back, so he could at least have one more competition with everyone before some graduate.

Rachel's thoughts also were on her audition and she realized that in all the time she and Kurt had talked about them, they hadn't shared the songs they were doing. Wanting to find out what he was doing, she decided she'd catch up to him later that day to find out.

Leaving the choir room, she made her way to her locker and picked up things for her next class. As she walked away and rounded the corner, she noticed Kurt at his locker, so she walked up to him, "hey, Kurt."

"Hey, Rachel. What's up?" He wondered, smiling at her.

"Nothing much. I just realized that you've never told me what song you're singing for your audition," she admitted.

Kurt sighed, closing his locker and leaning against it, "I haven't decided yet."

"What?" Rachel gasped, "why not? It's tomorrow!"

Taking a deep breath he looked at her, "I know. I'm torn. I have been practicing Phantom for the last three months," he started, "well, 'Music of the Night' from 'Phantom of the Opera', but recently I've felt like my audition needs something more, so I'd really like to do 'Not The Boy Next Door' from 'The Boy From Oz."

Rachel's eyes widened, "you can not sing that for your NYADA audition."

"Yeah, but I need to be excited about this and when I came up with it, it was the first time I've been inspired this whole process."

"But it's too controversial," Rachel replied honestly.

Kurt rolled his eyes, "it was too controversial in 1962. The play and that song won Hugh Jackman a Tony."

"Trust me, I know," she nodded, contemplating his idea.

"Look, I just thought that since NYADA is a Broadway school it would make more sense. I know Phantom is also a Broadway show, but..."

"Kurt, can I be honest with you?" Rachel asked and when he shrugged and nodded, she continued, "you haven't practiced 'Not The Boy Next Door' enough to be ready. This is the biggest moment in our lives and we can not be taking risks."

"Isn't that the exact moment to take a risk?" Kurt asked slightly confused.

Rachel took a deep breath so she wouldn't freak out on him, but she also wanted to get her point across, "I'm singing 'Defying Gravity'. I've known it for years and we even competed for it our Sophomore year, remember? It's been one of the songs Noah and I have been working on for months, but since I picked it weeks ago as my song, during every lunch and almost every day after school and on the weekends we've been working on it. I think he'll be sick of the song by the time my audition is over, but my point is that it's not just something I picked off the internet and went with. I understand you want to sing it, but the day before your audition is not the time to change your mind."

Taking in what she said, Kurt nodded, "yeah, you're right. It is way too late to be changing my mind. 'Music of the Night' it is," he confirmed.

"Good," Rachel smiled at him, "I believe in you and I believe in that song, Kurt. You're going to be amazing!" She added, throwing her arms around him in a hug.

Kurt returned her hug and smiled, "thanks, Rachel."

...

Puck had been doing a lot of thinking about if he wanted to go back to school and 'tough it out' until the end of the year, or just give up. He didn't really like the idea of 'quitting', but even with Rachel's confidence boost, he still wasn't ready to believe he could do it. The test was in two days and he hadn't even opened a book about it, so he was definitely not ready to take it. A part of him thought if he skipped a few more days and came back to school after she'd given the test, she'd have to let him make it up, so it would buy him some more time to study, but even then, he didn't think it would help.

With all the time thinking about school, Puck also didn't have anything to do. He didn't want to sit around his house all day, and he definitely didn't want to study, so he decided since Rachel was in school, he'd kill some time by making the rounds at some of his pools to get an extra cleaning in, to make a little more money.

He stopped at the first house, not too far from his home and went right to the backyard and got to work. No one was home at the time, but as he finished up, and was gathering his things, Mrs. Moore came outside, surprised to see him there so early. He passed it off as he just had a free day from school and she bought it, happily paying him for his work.

Puck thanked her and headed over to the Collins' house a little after one-thirty, figuring he'd finish up there with just enough time to be at Rachel's by the time she got home.

When he arrived, he knew Mrs. Collins was home, because her car was in the driveway, so he gathered his things and headed for their backyard, expecting her to come outside soon. Within ten minutes of getting started, she came walking out, dressed in a very revealing bathing suit that just barely covered her, a sheer over shirt and a pair of heels.

"Noah, I didn't expect you to be here today," Mrs. Collins said honestly, walking towards him.

Puck did his best to avert his eyes, but he couldn't help glancing at her, "damn it, Mrs. C., I have a girlfriend," he thought, "oh, I just had a free afternoon from school, so I thought I'd get an extra cleaning in. Hope that's okay," he told her.

"That sounds perfect," she grinned, "and maybe when you're done we could take a dip," she suggested, motioning to the pool.

"Uh, sorry Mrs. C., but I don't have a lot of time. I gotta be somewhere soon," he replied, not wanting to go into too many details.

"Oh, well, if you change your mind, I'll be inside," she winked at him and turned, sauntering back into the house.

"I'm not looking, I'm not looking... I wonder what Rachel looks like in a bikini," he thought, smirking a little as he returned to skimming the water to get the leaves out.

...

Puck had only been at the house about twenty minutes and was currently testing the chemicals in the pool, when Mrs. Collins came back outside, "lookin' good, Noah," she smiled, dressed in the same thing she had on earlier, "hey, the kids are at the neighbors. You wanna go for a quickie in the pool house?" She asked, trying again to get a little something from him.

Shaking his head, "not this time, Mrs. Collins. I'm gonna keep it legit like I have been for the last few months. Gotta work to save up as much as I can."

The older woman sighed, "well, it was worth a try," she stepped over and handed him some cash, "I added in a little extra, too," she winked at him.

Puck saw double what he usually charged, "I can't take that much extra, Mrs. C. I appreciate it, but..."

"Just keep it," she assured him, "the view is definitely worth it," she grinned, looking him over and her eyes focused on his toned, muscular arms that were exposed from the black tank top he had on.

"Uh, thanks," he couldn't help a blush creep onto his cheeks as he pocketed the money.

"No problem. So why do you have to save up money all of a sudden?" She asked curiously.

"I'm moving soon," he replied, keeping it simple.

The older woman nodded in understanding, but sighed, "too bad," she looked him over once more, "I'll miss those abs," she added, before turning and walking back into the house to let him finish.

Puck smirked, but continued what he was doing and after seeing all the chemicals were where they needed to be, he went back to skimming out some leaves and other things that had falling into the pool while he'd been there and knew he'd be done soon.

A few more minutes passed and he was almost done, when he heard footsteps. He thought it was Mrs. Collins again, but as he turned to look at who was approaching, he thought he was seeing things. Taking off his sun glasses, to focus even more, he gasped, "dad?"

"Hey son," the older Puckerman said, "can we talk?" He asked hopeful.

The last thing Puck wanted to do is talk with the man who had abandoned him, his mom and sister years prior. He also knew he was in the backyard of a client's house and he definitely didn't want to make a big scene, so he shrugged, trying to keep his anger at bay as his dad motioned to two lawn chairs near by.

Moving towards them, Puck grabbed his over shirt and slipped his arms into it, letting it hang open as he sat down on the edge, nervously waiting to find out what his dad wanted.

"I brought us a little refresher. The last six-pack from my microbrewery 'Puckerman's Special Sauce'," he explained, popping the top on one bottle of beer and held it out to him.

Puck waved his hand, declining the bottle, "I'm good," he replied, knowing alcohol was the last thing he needed at the moment.

"Oh, come on. A dad likes to share a beer with his son. It'll be fine. I won't say anything," he continued to hold it out, but he could tell Puck wasn't gonna take it, so he sighed and took a swig of it himself, "alright..."

Knowing he didn't show up just to have a beer and 'talk', Puck knew his dad wanted something. His dad took a few more swigs of beer and they sat in silence for a long moment, but Puck was tired of waiting, "so, what are you doing here?" He asked simply.

With a sigh, his dad looked at him, "I hate to do this, but, uh, I'm kinda at the end of my rope. I need to borrow some money."

"From me? For what?" Puck asked in shock, surprised at the request.

"Rent," he admitted sadly, "hardest thing for a man to do is ask for help," he added, looking at Puck hopeful.

Puck's mouth fell open, completely stunned. His mind also began racing in a thousand different directions, including remembering that his dad never graduated from high school. From that, he had a brief flash of himself in eighteen years, begging Beth for money and he didn't want that to come true. This was the kick he needed to get back into school and as much as he wanted to tell his dad to 'fuck off' he also knew if he gave him the money, he'd never have to see him again, so he reluctantly gave in, "how much?"

...

Finn had spent the whole day coming up with a plan to snap some sense into Puck. At two, when the guys usually were in gym, he, Blaine, Sam, Artie, Joe, Mike and Rory all met in the choir room, so Finn could show them his plan, which he'd sorted out once he confirmed that Puck would be at Rachel's after school; he'd even drawn up a diagram to show them.

"Alright, everyone listen carefully," Finn called out, catching the other guys attention as he stood by the board he'd set up, "Puck's been going to Rachel's house after school and he usually gets there a little after three, so we're all going to head over to her house and then when he gets there, we're going to grab him and bring him back here," he explained simply, "Sam, you're the driver, so stay in the car."

"Can I play with the radio?" Sam wondered curiously.

Rolling his eyes at the question, he decided to just go on, "Rory, you're on look out here," he motioned to a spot on the poorly drawn diagram of the area around the Berry's house.

Rory nodded, "who am I looking around for? I mean, besides Puck?"

Again, moving on, Finn took a deep breath, "Blaine, Mike and myself will triangulate a very carefully planned attack on Puck here, here and here," he pointed to a few spots on the diagram, including where Blaine was going to be, behind a large bush, but it didn't look like one; it looked like a grizzly bear standing up on it's back feet.

"Is that a bear I'm hiding behind?" Blaine asked, motioning to the drawing.

"No. No, it's a bush," Finn assured him.

"It looks like a bear," Blaine commented honestly.

"It's not a bear, it's a bush," Finn said again.

Rory leaned over to Blaine, "maybe a shrub," he offered.

"What's the difference between a shrub and a bush?" Sam wondered, hearing the discussion about the picture.

Artie rolled his eyes and looked at Finn, "what do I do?" He asked, trying to stop the conversation about the 'bush'.

"Oh! It's the best part! You're going to be the bait, so when Puck gets to the Berry's, you just roll your wheelchair into the..." Finn paused and glanced up when he and the guys heard the door open.

Everyone was shocked that the person they were just talking about, was walking into the room, "you alright, dude?" Mike asked Puck, seeing him looking really upset.

"You look like you saw a ghost, man. What's up?" Finn asked concerned.

When Puck gave his dad the money he'd asked for, which he had in his truck, and then watched him drive off, Puck sat in his truck for a few moments gathering his thoughts. Some things clicked into place and even though he hadn't wanted to see his dad, he realized it was the reality check he needed to snap out of the funk he'd been in. Soon he was driving and wasn't sure where he was going, but he ended up at McKinley. He knew school wasn't out yet, so he figured he'd hang out in the choir room until the day was over and could catch up with Rachel; he needed to see her. When he walked into choir room, expecting it to be empty, he was surprised to find all the guys from Glee, except Kurt there. Seeing their friendly faces was a relief and when they asked him what was wrong, Puck moved towards the piano bench and took a seat, "I just saw my dad. I haven't seen him in five years," he started, continuing on to tell them about the short conversation he had with his dad and what he asked him for.

Finn's eyes widened, "what did you do?"

"I gave it to him. Five hundred bucks," he sighed, "it was a large chunk of money I'd saved up for my move."

"I don't get it. Why?" Artie wondered, surprised.

"The last thing I expected was for my dad to show up and ask me for money, but I did it because I knew if I gave it to him, I'd never have to see him again," he replied, scrubbing his face with his hands gently.

The guys were all silent for a long moment, not really knowing what to say, but felt bad that he'd given away a lot of his money.

"I've kept my money stashed in a box under the seat of my truck, so I was able to give it to him easily. After he thanked me and told me I was a good son, he got into this beat up, old truck, and drove off. I guess this was the wake up I needed. I just started driving and ended up here. You know he dropped out of high school, too? I thought about myself, sitting where he was sitting, across from Beth. No dignity, no future, begging her for rent money," he admitted, taking a deep breath and looking around at his friends, "I can't turn into my dad. I have to graduate and to do that, I have to pass this damn World Geography test," he paused, gathering his thoughts, "something my dad said also stuck with me and made sense."

"What's that?" Sam asked him.

"He said the 'hardest thing for a man to do is ask for help' and he's right. It's not easy, but I need to. I know there's no way I can pass this test on my own. I'd ask Rachel for help, but she's got her audition tomorrow and I want her to only focus on that, so please don't be offended that you guys weren't my first choice, but will you help me? Please?" Hated to ask, but he needed to.

All of the guys smiled at him, glad he'd made the decision, on his own, to ask for help. Finn turned to him, "no offense taken," he said honestly, "we'll help you out any way we can," he promised, holding up a fist to him.

Puck fist bumped him and smiled, "thanks, bro. Thanks guys," he smiled at everyone in the room.

"You're welcome. So how are we going to do this?" Blaine asked curiously.

"Well, I'm playing the piano for Rachel's audition, so tonight and tomorrow is gonna be taken up with that, but after her audition is over, I'll be free," Puck explained.

"So after it's over, we'll all meet in here and spend all night helping you cram for the test. We'll help you pass it," Finn replied.

...

When the school day ended, Rachel made her way towards her locker and as she turned the corner, she gasped, seeing Puck leaning against her locker, "Noah! What are you dong here?" She asked quickly, rushing to him to give him a hug.

Puck smirked and hugged her tightly, "it's a long story. Can we talk about it later?" He asked, relaxing more now that he was with her.

"Um, I suppose so. I'm glad to see you. I miss you at school," she admitted, looking up at him, "are you alright? You look a little pale. Are you sick?" She asked, reaching up to rest her hand on his forehead to see if he had a fever.

"No, I'm not sick," he promised, "I just... it's been a long day."

Rachel nodded in understanding, "want to go back to my place and talk?"

"Sure," he moved so she could get into her locker, "relaxing sounds good right about now."

"I think that can be arranged," she smiled, "but we also should put the last minute touches on my audition for tomorrow."

"That's cool. We can do that. I just mean I wanna kick back and relax with you. Been thinking about you a lot today. I've missed you, too," he said honestly.

Rachel smiled, her heart fluttering at his words. She could tell he was upset and needed to talk, so she quickly gathered her things and closed her locker, slipping her arm around his waist, "well, then I say we go back to my place and spend some quality time together and you can talk about whatever is on your mind," she suggested.

Puck draped his arm around her shoulders, not caring who saw. He was glad the guys were willing to help him with his test, but being with Rachel made him feel like things would be okay, "I think that sounds like a great idea."

...

Getting back to Rachel's, Puck kicked back on the couch in the living room and Rachel got them some bottles of water, before joining him. "Alright, what's up, sweetheart?" She asked, taking a seat on his lap, leaning her back against the arm of the couch.

Puck smiled a little at the pet name and took a deep breath, "I've been doing a lot of thinking about school, but I figured while I was off, I could clean a few pools. Went to the first and got done, so I had time to go to another. While I was there, my dad showed up."

Rachel gasped, "oh, Noah. What happened? What did he say? Are you okay?"

He shrugged, "I don't know how he found me and I guess I don't really care. He needed rent money. I gave it to him. I don't have much left to move to New York on, but at least I don't have to see him again," he murmured.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she hugged him tightly, "I'm so sorry, Noah. We'll figure something out, I know it."

"I hope so," he replied, accepting her hug and holding her close to him, "because I gotta get out of this town. There's more, too," he added.

"What else?" She wondered, pulling back a little to look at him.

"Well, I couldn't really say all of this to the guys, I'll tell you about them in a second, but while my dad was asking me for money, I realized that if I dropped out of school I'd be just like him in eighteen years, a divorced high school drop-out, with no future and begging Beth or my other kids for money. I don't want to turn into him and I really care about you, but you deserve better than that, so I'm not gonna drop out of school. I wanna be with you, but I don't want you dating some drop-out when you deserve a whole lot more," he told her.

Relief washed over Rachel, happy to hear he didn't want to drop out of school, but the last part of his statement caught her, "I'm so glad to hear that," she said honestly, smiling at him, then rested a hand on his cheek, "but please don't do it just because of me. I've already told you how I feel about that and though I get where you're coming from, you need to do this because you want to."

"I know, babe. I am doing this for me, but you and my dad are my inspirations for wanting to," he assured her, "I don't want to be like him and I don't want you dating some high school drop out, so even though you'd be willing to date me either way, I at least want to graduate. It's important," he admitted with smile.

"Well, then in that case, I'm really happy you decided to continue with school," she said happily, hugging him again and then pulling back to press a kiss to his lips.

Puck smiled into their kiss and as he pulled back he looked at her, "thanks for saying what you did last week, about believing I could do it. That helped me decide, too."

"You're welcome and it's true. I do believe you can do it, and I'm happy to help you out any way I can," she said, "I can help you study."

"Nah, I got that covered," he commented, "that's what I was getting at earlier about the guys. They were all in the choir room when I got to McKinley. I think they were actually trying to figure out a plan to get me to school. Anyway, something my dad said stuck with me and it was really hard, but I asked the guys to help me study. You were my first choice, so please don't be upset that I've asked them, but I don't want you thinking or worrying about anything except your audition. After school is out tomorrow, the guys are gonna spend the whole night helping me cram for my test on Thursday," he finished.

"I'm not mad at all," she assured him, "I appreciate your concern for my audition, but I'm sure it'll be over by lunch tomorrow. I can still help after school," she kissed him again, "unless you don't want me to ruin the guy time."

He shrugged, "I don't mind if you come. I'm sure they'll be fine with it, too," he told her, "the only problem might be Finn. What I meant earlier about not being able to tell the guys everything, was because I couldn't tell them the other reason I wanted to get back to school: to graduate so you weren't dating a drop-out. I didn't figure he'd be too happy with that, and I kinda worried he might have changed his mind about helping. Sorry."

"Don't be. I get it and we have agreed to keep our relationship quiet until after my audition, so if we are together tomorrow after school, then we could tell him. The sooner everyone knows, the better. I'm tired of keeping it a secret," she replied.

"Yeah, me too," he agreed, "pretty soon we won't have to hide. As soon as your audition is over, if you wanna tell him, we will."

Rachel smiled, "alright. Sounds good."

...

After spending the rest of the evening working on Rachel's audition, Puck went home, but the next morning, Wednesday, they changed things a little. Puck was gonna pick her up, but before he did that, he stopped and bought some flowers for her, and then headed over to her house. When he arrived, he took the flowers up to the front door and knocked lightly.

Since Rachel was expecting him, she didn't take long to answer they door, "morning, Noah!" She greeted, motioning inside. "I just have to grab my bag and we can go."

"Alright," Puck stepped into the house, "these are for you," he said, holding out the bouquet of brightly colored flowers.

"Oh, Noah, thank you, but you didn't have to do this," she smiled happily, taking them.

"Yeah, well, now you can't say I don't bring you flowers," he winked, hinting at the duet by Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond called 'You Don't Bring Me Flowers'.

Rachel laughed lightly, "very true. You know, we should sing that together sometime," she admitted, moving into the house, "I'll put these in some water before we go."

"That's why I brought them in," he commented, closing the door and following her into the kitchen, "figured you might not have anywhere to put them at school and we should sing that sometime. I got Neil Diamond down and you've got Barbra, so it's a perfect match."

Setting the flowers down on the counter, she then turned to face him, "are you trying to say that we're a perfect match?" She wondered curiously.

Puck moved to stand right in front of her, "I'd like to think we are," he grinned, reaching out to rest his hands on her hips.

"You're not the only one," she stood up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips, "and I'd like to continue this, but we've gotta get going soon."

"I know, but a few morning kisses don't hurt, do they?" He wondered, kissing her again, "especially since today makes five weeks."

Rachel wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close for a moment, "I'm glad you're also keeping track," she commented, smiling at him, "and are these for that or for my audition?"

"Both. Definitely for five weeks, but also to show I hope you do well today and all that," he replied, kissing her forehead, before letting her go so she could do what she needed.

Moving away from him to get a vase, she returned and started to take them out of the packaging to put them in the vase with water, "well they are appreciated for both and are beautiful. Thank you again."

Puck smiled as he watched her, "no problem. You deserve them, star."

Rachel blushed at the nickname her 'Secret Admirer' had started calling her, which was him all along, "I hope it shows today."

"It will," he assured her, "you've got this, babe."

...

Rachel and Puck headed to McKinley and after dropping off their things at their lockers, they made their way to the choir room, finding Kurt and Blaine. After greetings the four sat down and talked for a short while, but when it was almost time for classes to start, Blaine left, leaving the other three for the morning.

Kurt and Rachel had been excused from classes that day, so they could audition whenever the NYADA educator arrived and since Puck wasn't returning to 'school' until the next day for his test, he also stayed with them. The three hung out in the choir room until about nine, when Will stopped in to tell them the NYADA person would arrive in about an hour.

Making their way to the auditorium, Kurt passed on the news to his boyfriend, step-brother and a few others to let them know and soon he and Rachel were making their last minute preparations to their costumes. Rachel wore the outfit to school that she was going to audition in: a simple black dress and black shoes; she didn't want anything too fancy, while Kurt was going full out 'Phantom of the Opera', mask included.

"Have either of you decided who's going first?" Will asked, joining them backstage, "I can tell whoever this is you have decided when I meet them and show them to the auditorium."

Rachel and Kurt exchanged glances, "no, we haven't talked about it."

"Uh, can I go first? If I have to wait much longer I may panic and not be able to do this at all," Kurt commented honestly.

"That's totally understandable and I'm fine going second," Rachel replied.

"Okay, I'll let them know. I'll also text you when they arrive," Will said, excusing himself and going to the front of the school.

As he was leaving, Blaine and Finn showed up, both wishing the two good luck. At the same time, Rachel could hear talking in another section of the backstage area, but she thought it was the band setting up for Kurt's performance, so she didn't think much of it.

"I hope they hurry up because I don't know how much longer I can wait," Kurt murmured.

"It'll be fine. I'm sure they're close," Rachel commented, trying to help Kurt stay calm.

"Relax, Kurt, you're going to do amazing," Blaine assured him.

At that moment, Rachel's cell phone vibrated, and she glanced at it, seeing a text message from Will that they'd arrived, "they're here," she said softly, glancing at Kurt.

Kurt groaned, "I can't do this."

"Yes, you can," Rachel agreed, turning to the guys, "why don't you go find somewhere to sit and I'll meet you out there in a few minutes," she suggested.

Blaine gave Kurt a good luck kiss and then he, along with Finn and Puck took Rachel's suggestion and headed out into the auditorium. The two performers were left and though Rachel was calm, Kurt was still a mess, "is there anything I can do to help you relax?" Rachel wondered.

"I don't think so," he replied with a sigh, "I just want to get this over with."

Rachel moved to the curtains to peek out into the seats, to see if she could see who was there from NYADA and at that moment, an African-American woman walked in, followed by Will carrying her bag. Rachel immediately knew who she was and dashed back to Kurt, "oh my God," she gasped.

"What? What's wrong? Who is it?" Kurt asked quickly, when he saw her pale face.

Taking a deep breath, Rachel looked at him, "it's Carmen Tibideaux."

"What? Carmen Tibideaux? She's one of NYADA's most famous and infamous alums!" He gasped, rushing to the curtain to peek out, seeing her sitting down at the director's table, "she's played Broadway. She's performed the most demanding roles in the greatest opera houses in the world," he groaned, rubbing his stomach, "I think I'm gonna throw up."

Rachel sighed, her own nerves building and something her dads told her recently came to her mind, "my dads have been trolling the NYADA chat rooms and they said that she's been appointed Dean of Vocal Performance and Song Interpretation and now she's going across the country to pick out her own inaugural class."

"Rachel, you know the stories of her wrath as well as I do. Once, Tibideaux stopped a performance [...] at the Met, because someone glanced at their watch. [...] She destroyed him. Do you think she's gonna have any qualms about cutting us off if we displease her?" Kurt babbled.

Before Rachel could respond, Carmen called Kurt, so the two performers exchanged glances, and Rachel patted Kurt on the shoulder, "you're gonna be amazing. Alright? I believe in you." Rachel noticed Kurt's hesitation as he nodded, so she gave him a gentle nudge towards the stage, "go get 'em," she added, before dashing to a side door to get to the seats where the guys were watching from and sat down next to Puck as Kurt was walking out on the stage. "You can do this, Kurt," Rachel thought, glancing at Puck before turning her attention back to Kurt.

...

Kurt started out introducing himself and the song he was about to song, but he hesitated, mentioning he thought it was a common audition song. Carmen agreed she had heard it several times, so at the last minute, Kurt changed his mind, wanting to do something more 'him' and said he'd be doing 'Not The Boy Next Door' from 'The Boy From Oz'.

The older woman's face remained neutral as Kurt called out someone from the side stage and Tina, Brittany and Mercedes walked out, dressed in their gold dresses from their first Regionals competition years prior. Rachel realized the voices she'd heard were the three girls and she was shocked that Kurt was willing to change his song at such a late time, but it was too late to change again.

The music started and Kurt quickly pulled his cape, pants and jacket off, revealing a black button up shirt and a pair of gold pants, matching the girls dresses. It wasn't long before Kurt was dancing around on stage to the upbeat song, and the girls were even following some of his steps to add another level to the performance.

Though everyone was shocked at the quick change, when Kurt finished, Will, Blaine, Finn, Puck and Rachel all stood up and started clapping, but quickly stopped and retook their seats, waiting for Carmen to say something. During his performance, she'd remained neutral while she wrote notes on the paper in front of her and then looked up at him, "you know Hugh Jackman won a Tony award for playing Peter Allen?" Carmen started, and saw Kurt nod while he stood on the stage, "he trained with me the summer I was in residence at the Sydney Opera House and I'm certain that he would have been," she paused for a moment, "as impressed with what you did with that song, as I am. A bold choice, young man. I congratulate you for taking such a risk today."

Kurt gasped, "thank you!" He exclaimed, turning around and waving at the girls in thanks as he made his way to the curtains, bowing lightly before going backstage.

...

Hearing Carmen compliment Kurt about taking a risk, Rachel firstly felt bad she'd tried to talk him out of that song, but she also briefly worried that her 'safe' song choice would not make her stand out to Carmen as much as she hoped it would. Knowing there was nothing she could do, because she didn't have another song picked out, she pushed the feelings aside and glanced at Puck. The two silently got up and headed backstage, knowing she wouldn't have too long until she'd be called to go on.

Once backstage, Rachel took a seat at the small mirror and began fixing her hair and touching up her make-up and lip gloss. After a moment, she took a deep breath, "millions of moments have led up to this moment. All you have to do is just be yourself, because you're a star," she said, staring at herself in the mirror.

Puck had given Rachel a bit of space, but at her words, he walked up behind her and gently rested his hands on her shoulders, "you definitely are," he agreed. Rachel smiled and stood up, turning around and gave him a quick hug and as they pulled away, he smiled at her, "you nervous?" He asked simply.

Rachel took a deep breath, all the thoughts and feelings she'd had earlier were gone or being ignored and she shook her head, "oddly enough, not at all. No, I'm ready," she replied, "I was briefly, but right now, I'm not. I'm calm," she added. "Are you?"

"A little," he shrugged, "it's not every day I'll play piano for a professional actress while my girlfriend auditions for her, but I'm good."

Carmen took that moment to call for Rachel, so with one last smile to each other, the couple made their way onto the stage and Puck walked right over to the piano and took a seat. He had a clear view of Rachel, standing in the center of the stage and he nodded that he was ready, so she turned her attention to Carmen, "hi, I'm Rachel Berry and I'll be singing 'Defying Gravity' from one of my favorite musicals, 'Wicked'."

On his cue, Puck began to play the introduction to the song and Rachel picked up at the right moment, "something has changed within me. Something is not the same. I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game. It's time to close my eyes and leap..." Rachel gasped as she realized what she'd done and felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment.

Puck's eyes widened and stopped playing when he realized she messed up the words and glanced out to see Will, Kurt, Blaine and Finn, all with their mouths hanging open in shock.

"I'm so sorry!" Rachel gasped, "I'm so so so sorry. Please, let me start over one more time. I'm sorry," she took a deep breath and glanced at Puck, nodding for him to start over.

Eyeing her curiously, Puck knew it wasn't the time to start asking her questions, so he nodded back and started playing the song again.

Rachel gathered her composure and started singing again, "something has changed within me, it's time to close my eyes..." Her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped again, this time tears coming to her eyes in frustration. She couldn't believe she'd just choked twice on a song she'd been practicing for months and knew for so long. "I'm so sorry. I know this song backwards. Okay, please just let me do it one more time. I can start it over one more time," Rachel said honestly.

"No," Carmen said simply from the director's table, beginning to gather up her papers.

"Excuse me?" Rachel asked, stepping forward a little to hear her better.

"You get eight bars. I gave you sixteen," Carmen told her truthfully, "do you know what happens when you forget the words on Broadway? They give the job to your understudy. I'm very sorry, but this audition is over."

"No, please, please!" Rachel begged, tears falling from her eyes as she watched Carmen stand up and begin to leave, "you have to believe me! You just... please, you have to give me one more chance, please?" She continued, watching the woman disappear through the exit.

Realizing she was not going to get another shot, Rachel began sobbing, "oh God! I've ruined everything!" She choked out.

Puck jumped up and rushed over to her, wrapping his arms around her tightly, "I've got you," he murmured, unsure what to say.

Rachel clung to him, burying her head in his chest as she sobbed, totally confused and frustrated that she'd just ruined her only shot to get into a NYADA. "Everything was perfect and I just... I lost the words... I... I don't know what happened," she murmured.

"I don't know either," he agreed, rubbing her back gently, noticing Will, Finn, Blaine and Kurt coming up on the stage. He could see Finn's eyes on them and Puck realized the upset expression wasn't from the audition; he'd figured out their relationship status. "I'm gonna take Rachel home," he said honestly.

"I think that's a good idea," Will agreed.

"But what about studying?" Blaine asked.

Puck glanced to Finn and saw his neutral expression, "I'll be back by four. If I change my mind, I'll let you know," Puck replied, not caring about school at the moment.

The four guys reluctantly left, leaving Puck to help Rachel out, and he gently guided her backstage. "Rachel, let's get your stuff so we can get you home," he said softly.

Rachel pulled back a little and motioned to the small make-up bag and her phone sitting by the mirror, "that's all that's mine. The rest is in my locker," she murmured, reaching out and grabbing a few tissues to wipe her eyes with.

...

Puck hated seeing her like that; an emotional wreck and he was totally confused about what happened, too. He knew talking about it was probably the worst thing, so he grabbed her things and silently guided her out of the auditorium, before heading to her locker. Getting her backpack and purse, he led them out to his truck and she clung to him, as if he was the only thing keeping her from collapsing on the ground.

The entire ride to the Berry's house was silent, except for the sniffles and sobs that hit her every few moments and Puck didn't try to talk to her. He just kept his hand on her shoulder or back, gently rubbing it to remind her he was there.

Arriving at her house, the two walked inside and her dads were now up, which they hadn't been that morning when he'd picked her up. Both men were in the kitchen and heard them come in, so they got up and came to see how things went, but Rachel didn't want to talk about it. She stormed up to her room and slammed the door, the sound echoing through the house.

Puck was left to tell her dads what happened and both men were shocked and saddened to hear she'd choked. The three headed up to her room to try to talk to her, but she didn't want to talk about it. She just wanted to cry, so Puck kicked off his shoes and laid back on her bed, letting her curl up and cry why he held her. He didn't know what else to do and figured at least she'd know he was there.

...

Surprisingly, Puck and Rachel fell asleep for several hours and it was almost four when Puck woke up, "ah shit," he groaned, seeing her clock.

Rachel gasped and sat up quickly, "what? What's wrong?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.

"I told the guys I'd be back at school at four," he motioned to the clock, which read '3:49pm'.

"Oh, yeah. They were gonna help you study," she said softly, "you should get going, then."

"You sure? You need me more than I need to study," he admitted, looking at her.

"And I appreciate that, but studying is just as important, Noah. You need to go. I'll be fine. I've got my dads here and," she glanced around her room, "maybe being a Broadway star just wasn't meant to be," she sighed.

"Don't talk like that, babe," Puck told her, "you are going to be a star. It was one mistake and so what if one person didn't like you? I told you NYADA wasn't the only school for you and I bet there are hundreds of teachers looking for someone with your talent, Rachel. You'll make it; it just might not be with NYADA."

Rachel smiled, "thank you and thanks for being there for me today. It means a lot."

"No problem," he pressed a kiss to her lips, "you gonna be okay?"

"Not anytime soon, but I will be. I appreciate you being here, but you don't need to sit around all night watching me cry and blow my nose," she admitted, lightly cracking a smile.

"Alright. If you need me, don't hesitate to call," he kissed her once more, and hugged her, before sliding off her bed to get his shoes on.

"I won't. Good luck," she smiled lightly and waved as she watched him walk to her door.

As soon as he was gone, and she heard his truck start up, she felt her tears returning. All of the posters of musicals in her room, the playbills and other decorations geared towards her dreams of Broadway seemed to be taunting her, and she couldn't stand being in there any more, so she grabbed her phone and a blanket and headed downstairs to curl up on the couch.

...

Puck hated leaving Rachel, but he knew she was right. She was emotional right now and probably needed some space to herself anyway, so he reluctantly gave in and headed back to McKinley. Parking in the almost empty lot, because school had gotten out an hour prior, he headed to his locker, got his bag and a few things and then went to the choir room, finding Finn, Mike, Blaine, Kurt, Joe, Rory, Artie and Sam all there.

The room looked like his World Geography textbook had thrown up; continent maps hanging up around the room, a huge beach ball of the globe sat on the floor, more maps were stacked on a chair with note cards, flashcards and worksheets piled with more textbooks on the piano.

Seeing everything in there and knowing it and the guys being there was all to help him study meant a lot to him. It made him feel like there were other people that cared about him besides his girlfriend. "Wow, thanks guys. You're really into helping me."

"Of course we are, man. We want you to graduate on time," Mike replied.

Puck glanced at Finn, surprised to see him there, but before he could say anything, Kurt rushed over to him, "how's Rachel? She hasn't answered any of my texts."

"That's because she cried herself to sleep. She's... As good as can be expected, I guess," he shrugged, "she's definitely confused and upset. Probably devastated, too. I don't think she really wants to talk about it. Just give her some space," Puck explained, his eyes going to Finn's, "can we talk, man?"

"Uh, yeah," Finn nodded, getting up.

Puck dropped his backpack on the piano and then the two went out in the hallway and closed the door, so the other guys couldn't hear them. "I saw you looking at me and Rachel earlier."

"How long have you guys been dating?" Finn asked, knowing what Puck was getting at.

"Today makes five weeks," Puck replied honestly, expecting to have a black-eye by the time their conversation was over.

"Five weeks?" Finn's eyed widened, "and you're just now saying something?"

"Look, Rachel and I agreed we'd wait until after her audition to say anything. I didn't want her stressing out over what you or anyone else thought about it," Puck said firmly, "and she agreed, so if you're gonna be pissed at anyone, take it out on me. She doesn't need to deal with any added drama right now."

Finn contemplated what Puck said and nodded, "I get it," he agreed, "and um, it does upset me, but I had a feeling you guys were together."

"Really?" Puck asked in surprise, but then realized they hadn't been completely secret at times, they did sit together in Glee and he knew Finn found out about them spending time together outside of school.

"Yeah," Finn replied, "when Rachel told me that you guys were hanging out, I kinda thought there was more going on and I was preparing to find out. Rachel and I are over, but I do still love her. I know I screwed up things with her and we'll never be a couple again. It sucks, but it's true and it's hard to see her with anyone else," he sighed, not wanting to get into it too much, "but on the other hand, I do want to see her happy and if she's happy with you, then I'm happy for her. I'm not a huge fan of this, by a long shot, but I'll deal, okay?" He told him, holding out his hand.

Puck was hesitant to believe Finn was that calm about things, but he also didn't want to dwell on it if Finn was trying to pass it off, so he shook his hand, "alright. I'm glad. She seems happy, well, with us, obviously she's not about what happened today, but it's just a bump in the road to Broadway for her."

Finn nodded at his statement, "yeah, and I'm sure she wants you to pass this test, too, so let's help you do that," he patted him on the shoulder.

As much as Puck hated studying, he did want to pass the test, so he sighed, "alright, let's do this."

...

The guys agreed to work through the night, if they had to, to make sure Puck was ready for his test. Finn had talked to Mrs. Doosenberry and found out the test focused on Europe, so they were all putting their attention on that. It also helped to have Rory there, since he was from Ireland and was more familiar with some of the European countries.

An hour turned into two and the guys all chipped in for pizzas and Blaine and Kurt went out to get them. Once they got back everyone kicked back for a short break, but Puck wanted longer, already feeling like his head was going to explode from everything they were trying to cram into his brain. They didn't stop for too long, getting back to work, but they had only scratched the surface of what Puck needed to study.

"Alright guys, I need a break," Puck admitted, glancing at his phone to see it was already nine at night.

"Come on, man, if we keep taking breaks you'll never get this down," Blaine commented honestly.

Puck had a feeling the guys would fight him on it, so he decided to go a different direction, "I want to call and check on my girlfriend, since she had a rough day, before it gets too late and would be rude to call," he admitted.

"Girlfriend? You have a girlfriend? Since when? Who is it?" Sam asked in shock.

"Yes, I have a girlfriend. Have had for five weeks, but we kept it quiet because we wanted to wait until after her audition to tell everyone," Puck explained, figuring they'd quickly figure out who it was.

"You're dating Rachel?" Artie wondered, putting together what Puck said.

"I am," he confirmed.

"Wow! Congratulations," Sam smiled at him, while the others said something similar, "I didn't know, but I did notice you guys had been hanging out a lot."

Puck nodded, "yeah we have been. We love spending time with each other," he said truthfully, "so if you guys don't mind, I'm gonna see how she's doing," he finished, grabbing his phone from where it was sitting on the piano.

When no one complained, Puck got up and moved out of the classroom and down from the door a few feet to a large window that looked out to the parking lot and took a seat on the small ledge. Pulling up Rachel's number, he hit send and hoped he didn't wake her up. After the third ring, he was about to hang up when she answered, "hey babe."

"Oh, hey, Noah! Sorry, I didn't expect you to call. It startled me," Rachel admitted.

"Sorry about that. I figured it'd be easier to call than text right now," he told her, "how are you dong?"

"I'm alright, I guess. Watching TV right now. Not really in the mood to do anything else," she replied, "how are things going there?"

Puck groaned, "my head hurts."

Rachel laughed lightly, "that's a good thing. It means you're picking up what you're learning."

"Yeah, but I don't want to learn it," he sighed, wanting to change the subject, "um, there's something I need to tell you."

"Oh yeah? What is it?" Rachel wondered.

"When we were hugging on the stage today, Finn saw us and I realized that he figured us out, so when I got here, I confirmed it," he said softly, "I know we should have been together to do that, but part of me felt like it was better coming from me, you know? Bro to bro," he admitted.

Rachel was silent for a long moment, "yeah, you're right. It probably was better that it came from you. How did he take it?"

"He seems to be okay with it. He's not a huge fan, but he'll deal because he wants you happy. He also said he had a feeling we were together, once he found out we were hanging out more," Puck told her, "and just before I walked out of the room to come call you, I told the guys. They congratulated us, so I hope you're okay that I told them."

"Of course it is," Rachel nodded, "I'm glad they're okay with it and that Finn seems to be accepting, or at least will deal with it. The last time I had a boyfriend after we'd split up, he got into a fight with him at prom last year and both him and Jesse got kicked out."

"I know. I remember," Puck agreed.

"Anyway, enough about them," she commented honestly, "I'm focused on you and our future together."

"Yeah, in New York. I don't care how it happens, babe, but we're going to New York and you're gonna be a star," Puck said firmly.

Rachel smiled at his words, "thank you, Noah. I... I really appreciate that you're so supportive, but maybe it's time that I just reevaluate my dreams and try to find some that are a little more down to Earth."

"No, Rachel, don't do that. You've only hit a rough patch. I'm sure you're not the only person out there who's ever had problems at an audition. We'll figure this out, okay?"

Taking a deep breath, Rachel sighed lightly, "okay, but I'm not as confident as you are anymore. It's gonna take me some time to deal with this, so if I'm not my usual positive self for a while, don't get upset."

"Fair enough. You need space. Trust me, I totally understand," he replied, "and I'll definitely give it to you, just like you did for me."

"Thank you, Noah. That means a lot," she replied happily, "and there is one thing I'm positive of," she paused, "us."

"Yeah, I am, too," Puck smiled, "and you're welcome. That's what friends and boyfriends are for," he added, returning the sentiment she'd said to him before.

...

Finishing up their conversation and saying 'goodnight', Puck returned to the choir room and passed on how Rachel was doing, before the guys got back into studying. The hours began to pass by and Puck was growing more frustrated and tired of cramming things into his brain. They were all getting a little worn out, but they pushed on.

Puck knew some of the countries in Eastern and Central Europe, from his Jewish history; the countries where the Nazis had concentration camps and he also knew where some of the bigger European countries were like Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

They'd finally worked their way to the western region of Europe and Rory started doing most of the 'teaching'. He began pointing out countries on the map and asking him what it was and what the capital was. Puck had only been getting a few right; like Pairs being the capital of France and Berlin as Germany's capital, but the rest he was blanking on. He knew it could be because he was exhausted and felt like his brain was going to explode from being on overload all night; he'd never studied that much in his life.

"Here's an easy one," Rory said, pointing to Dublin, Ireland, "what's the biggest city in Ireland?"

"Balarneycock," Puck replied, from where his head was resting on the piano.

"Dude! He's pointing right at it. Come on," Sam groaned, from a few feet away.

"My brain is fried!" Puck snapped, glancing at clock to see what time it was, "it's frickin' three in the morning!"

"That's awesome! We've still got six hours to cram before your test!" Artie said energetically, as if he'd been drinking coffee all night.

All of the guys groaned loudly. They were all in various states of exhaustion and some of them had even fallen asleep for a few quick minutes, but Artie had been the one to keep them on their toes.

"Okay, so let's hop on back to sunny Spain," Finn said, standing up and reading in the text book he had in his hand, "hey look, here's a fun fact: Spain is considered a mostly mountainous country, [...] with picturesque plateaus and arid valleys."

Joe turned to Puck, "see, fascinating."

"No, it's not!" Puck snapped in frustration as he sat up a little, "who the hell cares? Not even Einstein uses this crap!"

"So wipe it from your memory, after your test," Blaine suggested.

"Now, for the bonus round... Which region of Spain receives the most rainfall?" Finn asked, glancing in the book.

"I don't know!" Puck groaned, rubbing his head.

Finn sighed, "just think about it, dude... The rain in Spain falls mainly..."

"Whatever... In the flatlands?" Puck offered, "the plains?"

"What was that?" Finn asked, pointing at him happily.

"The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plains," Puck replied, looking around.

"This sounds like a song from a movie," Artie commented.

Puck glanced at Artie and nodded, "yeah... That's where I've heard it! Rachel had me watch it... Something with 'Lady' in it..."

"My Fair Lady!" Kurt grinned.

All the guys exchanged glances and before too long, Finn was at the drums, Puck, Sam and Joe were all rocking on guitars, while Rory, Mike, Kurt, Blaine and Artie all joked around, singing 'The Rain In Spain', a song from the movie 'My Fair Lady'. The lyrics were mostly 'the rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains', and Puck sang most of those lines, as a way to help him remember that important detail.

The impromptu jam session was the wake up all the guys needed to help them push through the rest of the early morning, and when the song was over, Artie grinned, "okay! Movin' on! What rhymes with 'pre-industrial European deforestation'? Anybody?"

Puck groaned, shaking his head and thinking, "it's gonna be a long few hours."

...

After another three and a half hours of cramming, the guys agreed to call it quits a little after seven. School would start at eight and Puck's test was at nine, so he didn't want them to miss their first class of the day for another hour of studying. Puck thanked them for all the help and the nine guys cleaned up the mess in the choir room, before heading to the locker room to change their shirts, since they didn't have time to go home.

When Puck changed his shirt, he pulled his phone from his pocket and glanced at it, seeing a text message from Rachel, "Noah, I won't be at school. Not ready to be there. Good luck on your test! I believe in you! Let me know how it goes! Miss you!"

Reading her message, Puck smiled, appreciating the words and also understanding why she decided not to come to school that day. Hitting the reply button, he typed in, "thanks babe. Means a lot. I'll come over after school. I also understand why you're not here. Take all the time you need. Miss you, too!" Sending his response, he left the locker room and headed for his first class, nerves building for his test in less than two hours.

...

Getting to his class at nine, his teacher handed out their tests and he immediately stared at the white paper and black letters and sighed, "I can't do this," he thought, his pen going to the side of the paper and began sketching a guy, rocking out on a guitar. After about ten minutes, he glanced up and saw Finn, Mike, Rory and Sam peaking into the small window of the door. Seeing them made him smile and gave him a little confidence boost, glad to see they were trying to support him.

"Eyes on your paper, Puckerman," Mrs. Doosenberry commented, noticing his attention was somewhere else.

Puck sighed and turned back to the paper, "focus, you can do this. Okay... 'What area of the Spanish countryside receives the highest annual rainfall?' Holy crap! I know that one!" Puck thought, grinning as he remembered the song and wrote 'in the plains' into the blank space. "Question two... 'Name three countries in England where violent storms rarely occur.' This is the easiest test ever!" He thought, writing 'Hartford, Hereford, Hampshire' in for the answer, because that was in the song he and the guys had played, "Puckgellan is on a roll."

...

Question after question, Puck put in his responses. Some came easily, because he'd learned them the night before and were fresh in his mind, but most of them he was still confused, so he guessed. He figured putting in something gave him a chance of getting it right. When the bell rang, he'd just finished the last question and smiled confidently. He felt like he knew enough of the answers to have gotten a passing grade, so he stood up and walked the test up to his teachers desk, placing it on the corner with the rest of them.

Walking out of the class, he was met by all of the guys and Mike was the first one to ask him, "how do you think you did?"

"My best," Puck replied honestly.

"Did you pass?" Blaine wondered.

"Does your head hurt? 'Cause sometimes after I take a test and my head hurts, it's usually a good sign," Sam admitted.

Puck took a deep breath and nodded, "you know, it's weird, but I think I did; thanks to you guys," he told them, seeing all of the guys smiling, "so thank you, all of you," he smiled back and wanted to tell them something he'd through of during their cram session, "you know, it's hard growing up without a dad, 'cause you don't have any dude roll models, except NFL players and video game characters, but I lucked out. Instead of one dad, I've got a whole gang of them," he looked around, "you guys showed me what it means to be a man. Not just last night, but for the last four years."

"Let's hug it out!" Sam said, stepping forward a little.

The other guys crowded closer together, sharing a quick group hug and Puck relaxed. He meant what he'd said, too. For the past few years, he'd grown up a lot, learning bits and pieces from the guys in Glee. Most of it was what not to do, but they'd all had their moments of positive influence on him and he was glad to have known all of them.

...

Without Glee that day, the guys went and hung out in the cafeteria for their free period, talking and resting through lunch, because none of them had slept that night. Puck was also not used to having much free time, because for the past few months, all of his extra time had been spent with Rachel, working on her audition and now that it was over, he didn't know what they'd do, but for the moment he was glad to hang out with his friends.

After lunch and a few more classes, school ended and Puck headed out. He stopped and bought two large slushies and was glad they had grape that day. Once he left there, he went over to Rachel's house and with the cups in his hands, he tapped on the door with his foot.

Rachel opened the door moments later, "Noah, hey!" She smiled, moving aside to let him in.

Puck could tell she'd been crying, because her eyes were red, "hey, babe," he walked into the house and leaned in, pressing a kiss to her lips, "I brought us refreshments."

"I see that," she replied, closing the door, "sorry I'm not very dressed up," she motioned to her yoga pants and baggy sweater, "but I was just not in the mood to be too dressed up."

"It's okay," he assured her, "I'm totally cool with just kicking back and relaxing. You look amazing, by the way, so no worries."

Rachel blushed and took one of the cups from him, "thank you, for the compliment, for understanding and for this," she motioned to the slushy.

"No problem," he moved into the living room and took a seat on the couch, kicking his tennis shoes off.

"So, how was your test?" She asked, taking a seat next to him and pulling one leg up so she could turn to face him.

"It was okay," he nodded, "I think I did, well, I hope I answered enough to get a passing grade. Some of the questions I learned, but others I was confused on. I remembered someone once telling me that I should always put an answer down, even if I'm not sure, because I could get it right, so for the ones I wasn't totally sure on, I put something I thought it might be and hopefully I got a few right," he explained.

"Yes, that is a very good idea. Sometimes teachers will see that you made an attempt and give you partial credit if it's not completely right," she agreed. "I'm hopeful you passed."

Puck bit his lip and sighed, "but what if I don't? No offense, but we were both confident for your audition and look what happened," he said softly.

Rachel nodded, "yeah, I get what you mean and no offense taken. I had thought the same thing, but it's two different things, so hopefully this time we'll be right to be confident," she paused, "as for what to do if you don't pass, well, it's only one class, so they can't make you come back next year for one class. That's what summer school is for. I don't know exactly how it works, but we can figure it out, okay?"

"Okay," he smiled, reaching out and taking her hand, "and we'll figure this audition thing out, too," he assured her.

Even though Rachel was skeptical that there was anything she could to do fix what happened or to get a second chance, she appreciated that he was willing to be there for her, so she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips, "thank you."

...

Rachel was surprised at how quickly things had changed. At the beginning of the week, she was full of confidence and looking forward to her audition and now, on Friday, she was the totally opposite. She was nervous and scared about her future and was still trying to figure out what happened to cause her to choke during her audition.

She really appreciated that her boyfriend was there for her, and he was helping keep her confidence up, but she was still skeptical. She was wondering if her Broadway dreams would ever pan out like she wanted them to, and realized while her main focus had been on performing arts, she also was an excellent student and any college or university would probably be happy to accept her, because of her high grade point average and all the clubs she'd been involved in over the years. She definitely had other educational options, but aside from staring in musicals on Broadway, she'd never sat back and thought about anything else she'd like to do, and now she was faced with the tough reality that Broadway might not be an option and she may need to figure out another path in life.

...

At the end of his second class, Mrs. Doosenberry returned the tests from the day before and when Puck got his, he glanced at the large red letter on the page and nodded. The bell rang, echoing all over the school, so he got up and with the test in his hand, began walking through the halls, surprising himself when he ended up in the auditorium. He needed to think, so he found a seat in a darker area and kicked back, figuring since Glee was next and the teens weren't meeting that week, his girlfriend would be in there soon, anyway.

...

Getting through her first two classes of the day, Rachel seemed to relax a little, now that she had something else to think about besides the bad stuff in her life and once she was at her locker, dropping her things off, she noticed Kurt walk up to her. "Hey Kurt," she said softly.

"Hey," he reached out and rested a hand on her back and rubbed it gently, "how are you doing?"

Rachel shrugged, "I'm dealing, but it's not easy. Can we talk about something besides our auditions? How has your week been? What have the girls been doing? I haven't talked to any of them all week."

Nodding in understanding, he smiled lightly, "my week's been okay. I guess the girls got into a bit of trouble with Coach Washington and Sue," he admitted, "Brittany, Tina, Mercedes, Sugar and Santana were all standing together and someone made a rude comment when they saw Coach Beiste had a black eye. I guess Sue, Washington and Beiste talked to the girls and told them that joking about domestic violence was not okay. I totally agree; it's not something to even joke about," he explained.

"Definitely," Rachel nodded, "was it from domestic abuse or was it something else?"

"At first, Coach Beiste was saying it was something that happened at the gym, but after the girls sang 'Cell Block Tango' to the three coaches the other day, Tina said Coach Beiste admitted that her husband hit her," Kurt told her sadly.

Rachel gasped, "oh no! That's terrible! She's gotta get out of that relationship," she said honestly, "my dads have a friend who was in an abusive relationship and after years she finally got out, but I hope Coach Beiste doesn't let it continue."

Kurt nodded in agreement, "yeah, I hope she gets out, too. The girls are going to sing her another song, 'Shake It Out', to apologize for joking about it."

"Good for them," Rachel nodded, "if I had been with the girls when that happened, I'd be doing more than just singing a song. She needs help. Granted, just like with Noah, he needed to make the decision to ask for help on his own, so if she's not willing to accept it, it'd be hard to help her, but hopefully she wakes up soon. She doesn't deserve that."

"I totally understand what you mean and you're right. She needs to want the help before it will work and all that," he replied, biting his lip. He really wanted to respect Rachel's request to not talk about their auditions, but he needed to say what was on his mind, "can I just say, for the record, that Carmen Tibideaux is a total bitch? She should have let you start over," he blurted out, "sorry, but I've needed to say that."

Rachel nodded at him and sighed, "she did."

"I mean a second time. You killed the beginning of that song. I wouldn't be surprised if you got accepted from that," Kurt said honestly.

"Kurt, I really appreciate what you're trying to do, but we both know what happened, alright? I had my chance and I choked. I choked on a song that I've known for years and now it's over and there's no one to blame, but me," she bit her lip and took a deep breath, "you were amazing, though. You were... You went with your gut and you were better than you've ever been. You're gonna be great in New York."

"Well, you're coming, too. Of course you're coming, and so is Puck. Just because NYADA didn't work out, doesn't mean you can't still move there and try out for another school," he said honestly.

Rachel felt the tears building up in her eyes again, "can we not talk about this anymore? I feel like I've been crying for two days and I just..."

Immediately feeling bad, Kurt stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her in a friendly hug, "I love you, Rachel Berry, and I'm here if you need anything. I mean it."

Begging her tears not to fall, Rachel smiled weakly at his comment and as they pulled back, she nodded, "I love you, too, Kurt, and thanks. I'll let you know."

Kurt nodded and smiled, rubbing her shoulder gently, before turning and walking down the hallway.

Rachel watched him walk off and she closed her locker and began walking the opposite way down the hall, tears beginning to fall as she started to whisper the words to Kelly Clarkson's song 'Cry'. "If anyone asks, I'll tell them we both just moved on. When people all stare I'll pretend that I don't hear them talk. Whenever I see you, I'll swallow my pride and bite my tongue. Pretend I'm okay with it all, act like there's nothing wrong."

By the time she finished the first verse, tears were still falling and she was walking into the auditorium. She went right up to the stage and continued on with the chorus, "is it over yet? Can I open my eyes? Is this as hard as it gets? Is this what it feels like to really cry? Cry..."

Puck was already in the auditorium when Rachel came in and it startled him, hearing the words she was singing. He could tell she was extremely upset, with tears leaving wet streaks on her cheeks as they fell to the floor, and as much as he wanted to walk up there and hold her, he knew she needed to express her feelings and music always seemed to be her way to do that.

Sobbing even more, Rachel managed to continue, "I'm talking in circles. I'm lying, they know it. Why won't this just all go away?" She grabbed her chest and took a deep breath, feeling her legs shaking and worried that she was going to fall to the floor.

As he realized what the song was, and he meaning soaked in, Puck realized that Rachel was about to collapse, so he jumped up and rushed towards the stage. He quickly climbed the stairs and when he reached her, he pulled her into his arms and she sunk against him, clinging to him so she couldn't stay standing. His own emotions spilled over, tears finally slipping from his eyes as she sobbed against his chest.

Rachel wasn't sure when Puck had gotten into the auditorium, but she was glad he was there. She definitely felt herself calming down with him holding her and at the moment, he was keeping her on her feet. "Thanks," she coked out, lifting her head a little to look at him.

Puck smiled lightly at her, "no problem, babe. You looked like you needed the support; physically and mentally," he admitted honestly, reaching up to gently wipe her eyes. "I'm guessing the song has nothing to do with us breaking up, right?" He asked, hating to bring it up, but he'd heard the song before and it seemed more like a break up song than anything else.

"We're not breaking up," she confirmed, "it's more because of the crying part. Talking about wishing the pain would go away and being tired of always talking about what happened and just wanting to ignore it so I can move on."

"Good, I'm glad we're not and I had a feeling it was because of that, but I couldn't help asking. Sorry," he murmured, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

At that moment, Rachel noticed his own tears and her eyes widened, "Noah, what's wrong?"

"Got my test back," he replied softly, reaching in his back pocket to pull out the folded papers he'd put there so he didn't have to look at it anymore. Gathering his thoughts, he unfolded it and reluctantly showed it to her, "guess this just isn't our week," he said sadly.

"Oh Noah," Rachel choked out another sob as she saw the bright red 'F' shining back at her, "I'm so sorry."

"It's not the first test I've failed before, so I'm used to it. It just sucks, because it's the first time I've actually tried to pass," he sighed, "I did my best, but I guess I'm just meant to be a failure."

"Don't talk like that," Rachel pushed aside her own problems to focus on him and reached up, gently resting her hands on his cheeks, "you're a good person, Noah. You're not a failure," she said firmly, "you've just had some bad luck and hit a low spot. I know we've said this a lot already, but you'll get through this; we'll figure it out together. I'll help you out however I can and maybe we can talk your teacher into letting you retake the test. I'm not going to let you give up, Noah. You're going to graduate. I believe in you."

Puck smiled and slid his arms around her again, "thank you," he murmured as more tears fell. "I love you, Rach," he said, and at her gasp, he realized that what he was thinking, actually came out of his mouth.

"Noah?" Rachel pulled back to look at him, studying his expression, "do you mean that?"

Though Puck hadn't planned to tell her that for a while, he did feel it, "I didn't mean to say it right now, but I do feel that way."

Tears filled Rachel's eyes again and she hugged him tightly, her shoulders shaking lightly as she cried.

Immediately worrying that he'd just screwed things up, he rubbed her back and gathered his thoughts, "I don't expect you to say it back, if you don't feel the same way, babe. I..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Rachel stood up and pressed a kiss to his lips, one of her hands slipping around to rest on the back of his neck, and let her fingers brush through his mohawk, "I love you, too," she told him honestly, locking eyes with him, "I've almost said it a few times, but I was worried I'd freak you out. I definitely didn't want to scare you away."

"If anyone else would have said that to me, it probably would have, but you could never scare me away," he assured her, his entire body relaxing once he found out she felt the same way.

"Good to know," she took a deep breath, "and this definitely makes our crappy week seem a little better. I know it can't fix everything, but given that we share the same feelings, I'm hopeful that we're past all the bad stuff and together we can work on picking up the pieces."

"I really hope we can, too," he nodded in agreement, "and I like that; picking up the pieces together, I mean."

"Good," Rachel leaned up and kissed him again, "because you're stuck with me."

Puck smirked at that comment, "I definitely don't feel 'stuck'. I'm happily dating you, babe," he promised, "and I'm not going anywhere."

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Disclaimer4: Don't own the rights to the music used. Just borrowing for this work of fiction.

- 'Cry' by Kelly Clarkson, as song in this episode by Lea Michele.

- Defying Gravity... From 'Wicked' sung by Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel. This song, as you may remember was a 'duet' between Rachel and Kurt in episode '1x09 - Wheels'. The duet was released on Glee's first album, which we saw in the show, but iTunes also released two other versions. A Lea solo and a Chris solo... I know Rachel's 'choke' storyline came from Lea's own fear of forgetting the words to 'Don't Rain On My Parade', something she mentioned while on tour in the summer of 2011... What upset me, and I know a bunch of other fans were also pissed about, was they had Rachel sing DROMP out of the blue in '1x13 - Sectionals', a song she'd been working on since she was a child and only had a short time to prepare. She nailed it then, yet for her audition, she forgets the words. I get that they were going off of Lea's fear of choking while singing that song, but given the past with Rachel, I wanted to go with a different song. I love Defying Gravity, so this is no way because I dislike it, I just couldn't stomach using DROMP as the 'choke' song, like Glee did.

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A/N4: Hope you all enjoyed. I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written. I knew it would be long; just didn't expect it to be 36 pages! Please, please review if you can. I really need the feedback, everyone. I'm not getting a lot and it's hard to know how you all feel, without it. To those of you who have reviewed, thank you so much and I will get to them as soon as I can!

A/N5: I hope you guys are alright with how I incorporated the Coach Beiste storyline into this. I really felt bad she was going through that, but since it didn't involve Puck or Rachel, I wasn't sure how to bring it up, until Rachel and Kurt had their conversation at the end.

A/N6: Still going through some testing for my abdomen, but the specialist I saw also thinks it's gallbladder. I just have to do the tests to confirm it before I can go see a surgeon. Thank you all for your kind words and support!

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