Breakaway

by SapphireEJ

Alternate, deleted and additional scenes leading to Puckleberry being endgame by the end of season 3. Parallels with my LJ Lark series. Slightly AU after the end of '3x11 - Michael'. Posted in honor of Puckleberry Week. For fic table prompt #31 - Space.

7. Part 7: '3x19' '7a & 7b on LJ'

Title: Breakaway, Part 7/?

Spoilers: This part to '3x19 - Prom-A-Saurus'; 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!

...

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

A/N3: Just a little warning. Becky's storyline will be absent from this fic. I love Becky and have nothing against her, but her storyline in this episode didn't fit with my plan for Puckleberry, so I made the choice to not include it into this fic. Yes, Puck was involved with her storyline and he was such a wonderful guy to her, but I've changed things around and I hope you enjoy what I do have for you. Just please don't send me hate for removing her.

...

Finding out that Puck failed his test, made their bad week even worse, but even with their personal struggles, the couple managed to share their feelings with each other. Both were shocked that the three meaningful words had been exchanged at such a low moment, but they knew they'd be there for each other, to help bounce back from such a upsetting week.

Puck was used to failing tests, so even though he was still upset, he pushed his feelings aside to be there for his girlfriend. He knew she was trying to stay 'strong' around everyone or at least hide her emotions, but when they were alone, she let her guard down and showed him just how devastated she was. She felt like all of her dreams of Broadway and being a star had crumbled to the ground and she had lost her confidence, no matter what he, her dads or anyone else said about it being just a 'bump in the road'. She logically knew that, but in her heart, she was having a hard time believing she'd have a second chance.

Rachel felt horrible about her boyfriend's test, but every time she tried to talk to him about it, he shrugged it off. She wasn't sure if it was because he didn't want to talk about it, didn't care, or he just had other things he wanted to focus on, so she didn't press him too much. She was pretty worn down from her failed audition and wasn't sure how much support she'd be for him, but she at least wanted him to know she cared and that she really appreciated him being there for her.

...

The couple spent the weekend hanging out at her house, watching movies, talking and focusing on anything, besides his test and her audition. Returning to school Monday, everything was back to 'normal', but Rachel was quiet and by then, all the Glee members knew what happened. A few passed on their sympathies and Rachel appreciated it, but didn't want to keep talking about it, so they moved on, continuing to discuss Nationals.

Puck and Rachel's relationship had also been confirmed to everyone, too. The guys had found out the week previous, but the girls hadn't heard until that day. Some, like Quinn, had a suspicion and others were shocked, but the girls were all happy for them, and so were the guys, which made the couple relieved and happy they had their friends' support.

After school, Puck and Rachel returned to her house to hang out like they had all weekend, relaxing on the Berry's couch and watching movies. They had dinner with her dads and then returned to the living room to curl up to watch a little TV. She was leaning against him and his arm was draped around her shoulders, and in that time, a thought came to his mind, so he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, "babe, can I ask you something?"

"Of course," Rachel nodded, lifting her head from his chest to look at him.

"Um, did you notice the posters for prom today? It's Saturday. Would you like to go together? I know you've been kind of down, so I totally understand if you'd rather not, but I wanted to ask you," he said looking at her.

Rachel stared at him for a moment, having totally forgotten about prom that weekend, "I haven't even thought about it," she admitted, but smiled, "Noah, I'd love to go with you."

"Really? Awesome!" Puck smiled, kissing her gently, "I wasn't sure if you'd be up for it."

"I get what you mean," she nodded, "I'm still upset, but I'm getting better. I also know that this is the last time we'll be with everyone, before Nationals and graduation, which is just a few weeks away."

"I know," he replied softly.

Noticing his quick change, she realized what happened, "I'm so sorry, Noah," she reached up and rested a hand on his cheek, "I didn't mean to bring that up again."

"It's okay. I get it. Graduation is coming up. It just sucks that I won't be able to graduate with you. There's no way my teacher will let me retake the test," he sighed, sinking into the couch a little more, "I just gotta realize that I'm a failure. Then figure out how I can manage to get through summer school to pass, so I can at least get my diploma, because I'm not repeating my Senior year, just for one stupid class."

"I'll help you, Noah and I really wish you'd stop calling yourself a failure. You just had some bad luck," she told him honestly. "You'll get through your class, I promise."

"Thanks, babe, but just like it's hard for you to believe that this audition isn't the end of the road for your Broadway dreams, it's not easy for me to see myself succeeding in school," he murmured, "and I guess I just need some more time," he shrugged.

Completely understanding what he was getting at, Rachel nodded and leaned up, pressing a kiss to his lips, "I get it," she assured him, "time, we have. But now, we can focus on prom. What are we going to wear? I need to go get a dress this week, maybe tomorrow," she commented.

He nodded, "I figure I'll just wear black jeans and a dress shirt and tie. Maybe my leather jacket or if you'd rather me wear a dress jacket, I think I have one."

Rachel grinned, "your leather jacket, definitely."

"Really? You like me in it?" He wiggled his eyebrows a little and watched as a her cheeks began to flush, "you do! Leather jacket it is!"

"You look amazing," she admitted, not trying to hide her feelings as she crawled onto his lap and kissed him, "it's definitely a turn on."

A groan escaped Puck's lips and he was surprised she was getting that close, but happily welcomed her by resting his hands on her hips, "damn babe, if I knew that was enough to get you turned on, I'd wear it more often."

Rachel leaned in, pressing a kiss to his cheek right by his ear and whispered, "and maybe after prom we could go someplace a little more private."

Puck's eyes widened, "do you mean what I think you mean?" He murmured, not wanting to get his hopes up.

"Yeah," she nodded, her blush continuing as she bit her lip, "I want to be with you, Noah, in every way. If you're... I," she sighed, realizing it was the first time they'd really talked about 'when' they'd do that and she wasn't sure if he want to.

"Hey," he reached up and rested a hand gently on her cheek and turned her head so she'd look at him, "relax," he murmured, feeling how tense she'd gotten, "I want to be with you, too. If you're ready, I am, too, I'm just surprised, that's all."

"I want our prom night to be special. I have always wanted that night to be our first together, but I just hadn't realized it was Saturday," she admitted, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"That's understandable and I'm all for it, but I want you to be ready. I know this won't be your first time, but..."

Rachel pressed her lips to his, silencing him for a moment, "I'm ready, Noah," she assured him, then bit her lip, "and I kinda wish this was my first time," she added softly.

"I honestly always thought it'd be me," he admitted, "but we can't think about that. What we can do, is make our first time together the most memorable for us. I know I'm not gonna think about anything else except enjoying our time together and making sure you're comfortable."

"Thank you," she smiled, hugging him, "that really means a lot and I know I'll enjoy our time together. I trust you and feel safe with you, Noah."

"No thanks needed, babe," he assured her, "and I'm glad you feel that way. I hope that never changes."

"I'm pretty sure it won't," she replied, kissing him, "we're going to prom," she smiled, "promise me you won't get into any fights that will get you kicked out."

Remembering what had happened the year before, Puck nodded, "I promise I won't get kicked out."

"Good! Now, I just need to figure out what dress I want to get," she commented.

Puck smiled, "I'm sure you'll be gorgeous in whatever you pick out."

...

After Puck left Rachel's house that night, she was glad to have something else on her mind besides her failed audition and her boyfriend's failed test. Unfortunately, her audition returned to the front of her thoughts as soon as she walked into her room and was faced with all of the Broadway memorabilia; posters and various decorations from her favorite musicals. Even though logically she knew someday she could have another chance at stardom, at the moment, her heart ached and the reminders made it worse. "These need to come down," she thought, moving to the nearest poster and began to take out the small tacks that held it in place, "it hurts too much to look at all of this stuff," she added, tears coming to her eyes as the poster began to expose her colored walls. "Maybe one day I'll be able to look at these, but right now, I need some space. I need to do a lot of thinking and I can't keep reminding myself of my Broadway dreams. I can't keep dwelling on or being upset about what happened. It's over and done with and I need to move on. It's time to focus on some more realistic dreams, like winning Nationals, graduation and helping Noah get his diploma. Then after, I can figure out what I'm gonna do next. NYADA isn't the only school in New York and I've already found a promising one, but it's too late to get in for the Fall, so dad, daddy, Noah and I will need to talk about what to do. Until then," she paused, taking a deep breath as she began rolling up the few posters she'd already taken down, "I need to focus on what I have that's important to me. I'm healthy, I have two amazing dads, many wonderful friends and a loving and caring boyfriend... Everything else will work out... Somehow..."

...

Getting to school Tuesday morning, Rachel found herself spending one of her breaks between classes in the library looking at a few magazines with prom dresses in them. She wasn't sure what to get, but knew where to go, so after an uneventful day at school, she went home, long enough to drop her things off and meet up with her boyfriend and the two headed toward the Lima mall.

"Babe, I don't know why you want me to come along on this trip," Puck admitted as he drove them through town, "isn't a prom dress supposed to be a surprise?" He wondered, "or is that just a wedding dress?"

Rachel shrugged, "I'm not sure. I'm not familiar with prom etiquette. And I wanted you to join me, because while I trust Kurt's fashion opinion, he can go a little over the top at times, and I want you to like what I wear," she replied with a smile.

Puck smiled at her as he parked in an empty spot in the mall's lot, "I'm sure I'll love whatever you wear, but I get what you mean and I'm glad to be here," he assured her.

"Great!" She leaned over and kissed him gently, before turning and opening the door to get out, "then come on! We've got lots of stores to check out!"

...

Puck and Rachel spent several hours moving into various shops in the mall, looking through their dress selection. Rachel wasn't sure what color or style she wanted, so she tried on several dresses and by six, she still hadn't chosen one.

Feeling a little defeated, Rachel and Puck took a break for dinner in the food court, before moving on to the next department store. There they had a large selection of colors and designs and she moved through them, looking for dresses in her size.

Dress after dress she tried on the one's she'd picked out and on the sixth one, she stepped out of the dressing room and smiled, "what do you think?" She asked her boyfriend, who was sitting on a chair nearby.

Puck smiled, looking over her dressed in the pastel pink strapless gown, fitting her form down to her knees, where it flared out to give it some movement, "babe, you look amazing. I think that's a winner," he admitted honestly.

"Really?" She turned to look at herself in the mirror a few feet away, twisting around to look at it at other angles, "I do love the color and it fits perfectly."

"Yeah it does," he agreed, standing up and moving to stand behind her, "you're gonna be the prettiest girl at prom."

Rachel couldn't help the blush grow on her cheeks at his compliment and turned to face him, "thank you, Noah," she stood up on her tip toes and pressed a kiss to his lips, "this is definitely the dress. I'm going to change and we can go find shoes; then I'll be all set."

"Sounds good to me," he nodded.

"Thank for coming with me today. I'm sure this is not your idea of a 'date' or even fun, but I'm really glad you're here," she told him.

"It's definitely not my scene, but I had fun. I love spending time with you and you're gorgeous, so seeing you in all those dresses today was worth it."

...

Rachel managed to find comfortable heels at the same store, and once her shoes and dress were paid for, the couple left the store and headed back to her house. Since it was getting late, Puck walked Rachel to her door and they promised to see each other the next day at school and ended the evening together with a hug and kiss.

Getting to school Wednesday morning, Rachel was happy and definitely looking forward to the weekend. She still had her audition on her mind, but it seemed to be taking a backseat to her ideas for prom and couldn't wait to tell her boyfriend what she'd already planned. During the class before Glee, the Prom King and Prom Queen nominees were announced by Coach Sylvester and Rachel was definitely not surprised that Quinn and Santana had been nominated for queen. She was happy for them, but was pretty shocked to hear that Brittany had been nominated for king, along with Rick 'The Stick' Nelson and Finn. She understood Rick, and even Finn, being that he was the quarterback of the football team, but she wasn't quite sure how Brittany managed to get nominated for king.

Passing off her curiosity, Rachel returned her focus to her and her boyfriend's prom plans and couldn't wait to talk to him after class. As she walked to her locker, she found her boyfriend just arriving at it when she did, "hey, Noah! Just the person I was thinking about."

"Oh really?" He grinned, slipping his arms around her, "just what were you thinking about?" He wondered, pressing a kiss to her lips.

"After prom," she replied with a smile, returning his hug, before opening her locker to put her things away, so she didn't have to take them to Glee.

Remembering what they'd discussed a few days prior, he nodded, "okay. Are you having second thoughts or you still ready?" He asked, not wanting to push her into anything.

"I'm still ready," she assured him as she closed her locker, "and my dads are going to rent us a hotel room."

"What?" Puck gasped, not expecting her to say that. "They're... really?"

"Really," she nodded, slipping her arms around his waist, "I told them what I wanted us to do and they were surprised, but understood that it's not necessarily something we want to do while they're in the house, so they offered. They trust you and know it's my idea and you're not forcing me into anything," she explained, turning a little to guide them towards the choir room.

Puck wrapped his arm around her shoulders and smiled, "wow, that's um... That's awesome. I didn't expect it, but I'm glad they trust me and I hope I never lose their trust."

"I'm pretty sure you won't," she commented. "So, you're okay with the room?" She asked, wanting to make sure she wasn't assuming anything.

"Definitely," he nodded, smiling at her, "as long as you're okay with it," he added, pausing outside the choir room.

Standing up on her tip toes, she pressed a kiss to his lips, "I'm very okay with it," she promised, guiding him into the choir room.

Letting their conversation settle, Rachel and Puck greeted their friends already in class and soon took seats next to each other, waiting for the rest of the Glee members to arrive.

It wasn't long before everyone was there and Will was walking in from his office with Brittany right behind him, "hey everyone! A big congrats to all of our prom nominees!" He started, clapping for everyone in the choir room who'd been nominated for king or queen and the others joined in to congratulate them again, "but hey, listen up... We are all winners, because Principal Figgins asked New Directions to sing again this year!" He said happily.

"Fantastic," Puck groaned, definitely not looking forward to that.

Rachel leaned into him and took his hand, rubbing his arm gently. She didn't really want to sing again either, so she completely shared his feelings.

"Alright," Will caught everyone's attention, and then turned to Brittany standing next to him, "Brittany has an announcement," he added, stepping aside so she could talk to them.

Brittany, the Senior Class president, stepped up and smiled at everyone, "hello, my fellow Americans. The theme for this year's prom will be," she paused, making a drum roll sound with her hand on the binder she was holding, "dinosaurs!"

Groans of disgust echoed through the room as the other members of New Directions reacted to the news. No one liked the idea, except Santana who thought it was 'sheer genius'.

"I was inspired by the new girl, Joe, who reminds me of a cave woman," Brittany continued, still not understanding that Joe was a guy with dreads in his hair, "the refreshments will be berries, meat and rain water. As you are no doubt aware, the US elections are riddled with corruption. Therefore, to keep the prom election completely fair, I've appointed Santana and Quinn to count ballots."

"What? That makes no sense!" Kurt exclaimed, "they both are nominated for queen!"

"Shut it, Richard Simmons!" Santana snapped, "yes, Quinn's my homegirl, but I don't trust her and we know she doesn't trust me."

"We'll keep each other honest," Quinn promised.

"And last, but not least, all hair gel has been banned from prom," Brittany commented.

Blaine laughed, "right!"

"I'm actually not joking. Hair gel was not invented til almost 30 million years after the upper paleolithic stone-age and frankly I don't like the way you look. Therefore, anyone who shows up to prom wearing hair gel will be turned away at the door," Brittany replied, "I hereby decree this to be the best prom ever!"

...

Aside from Santana and Brittany, no one was looking forward to prom. No one wanted to talk about songs and when everyone left the choir room and returned to their classes, Rachel stayed quiet about her feelings until she and her boyfriend met up during lunch and headed for the auditorium for some privacy, "I can't believe our prom theme is Dinosaurs!" Rachel huffed, plopping down on the piano bench.

"Neither can I. That's the theme of a kid's birthday party. It's not for a high school prom," Puck replied, taking a seat next to her.

Rachel sighed, leaning into him, "I don't even know if I want to bother going now. It's not like we have a reason to. I refuse to sing this year and by your reaction in Glee, I'm assuming you won't either, so what's the point? I'd rather spend my night alone with you."

Puck wrapped one of his arms around her and rubbed her back gently, "me too, babe," he agreed, "if you don't want to go now, then we won't. We can do whatever you want."

"That's what I'm having a problem with. I want to go, but why? It's not like I'd ever be voted queen," she murmured.

"Are you upset you weren't nominated?" He wondered, having a feeling she felt that way.

She shrugged, "kind of. Logically, I know the school would never vote for me, so I didn't expect it, but everything might suck a little less if had been nominated," she replied softly.

"I voted for you, and so did Kurt and Blaine," he told her honestly, "and you're already my hot little Jewish-American Princess, so being queen is the next step. I think you deserve it."

"You do? You guys all voted for me? Thank you," she smiled brightly, shifting to wrap her arms around him, hugging him tightly, "that really means a lot, Noah. I remember last year when you called me that... I'm really your princess?" She wondered, looking at him.

"Yeah, babe, you are," he nodded, "always have been. I definitely think it's time for you to be my queen," he winked.

Pressing a kiss to his lips, she pulled back and continued to smile, "I wanted you to be my king, so I voted for you, too, but I will settle for you being my knight in black leather."

Puck grinned at her comment and shifted on the stool a little, "I'm your knight?"

"Yeah," she nodded happily, "you helped me when I needed it the most and have been there for me, Noah. I'd say 'knight in shining armor', but black leather sounds more badass."

"It definitely does," he agreed, kissing her again, "thanks for feeling that way, babe, and I'm happy to be here for you. I definitely won't turn my back on you."

"Thank you," she snuggled against him, "and I'll always be here for you, too."

"I know," he nodded, holding her close, very thankful to have her in his life. As they sat together, a thought came to him, "if you don't want to go to prom, we could still get the hotel room. We could hang out and make it our own special night."

"That's a great idea!" She grinned, "we could order room service, watch a few movies, have our own prom, but better."

"Sounds like a plan to me," he nodded, "but I'm willing to do what you want, so if you wanna change your mind, just tell me, okay?"

Rachel nodded, already excited about their night, "alright, but I don't think I'll change my mind," she admitted, "happy six weeks, Noah."

Puck smiled at her, "happy six weeks, babe."

...

News traveled fast within McKinley and by the end of school, Rachel and Puck were not the only Seniors disliking the prom theme. Many of them were also thinking about skipping prom and Rachel and Puck discussed inviting a few of their close friends from Glee to their hotel room for a mini-prom, if they didn't want to go.

Keeping the idea to themselves for the time being, the couple spent their time after school at her house, just being together and not worrying about anything school related for a while. After dinner Rachel had a few emotional moments from the stresses she'd faced because of her audition and Puck was there for them all. He hated seeing her like that and knew the prom nominations didn't help her emotions, either. He could tell, even if she wouldn't directly admit it, that she was jealous that Quinn and Santana had been nominated, and he wished she could be crowned queen.

Rachel and Puck managed to relax a bit, even if she had been emotional for a short time, and soon their evening came to an end. When Puck left for the night, he promised he was only a phone call away if she needed to talk, and they parted with a long kiss 'goodnight'.

Appreciating and accepting her boyfriend's support, Rachel was able to get a decent night's sleep and woke feeling partially refreshed. Her mind still drifted to their plans for their own prom night and continued to think about them during her morning classes before Glee. Unfortunately, her positive outlook dwindled as soon as she and her boyfriend walked into Glee. The girls and some of the guys were talking talking about prom; everything from songs to sing, to what they were wearing, the decorations, the theme, and most of them were all curious who would end up being crowned king and queen.

The last thing Rachel wanted was to sit and listen to the girls go on and on about prom and the nominees, so she avoided joining the discussion. Instead, she, Puck, Kurt and Blaine had a conversation about song ideas for Nationals. During their talk, Kurt couldn't help noticing Rachel's mood. He knew something was up, but he couldn't tell why exactly, until someone said the word 'queen' a little louder and Rachel's attention went right to who said it. Once she returned her focus to the conversation she'd been involved in, he could see the look in her eyes and knew she was upset about prom. He didn't blame her; he and Blaine were not looking forward to it either, and he wanted to talk to her about what she was thinking about, but he knew the middle of the choir room wasn't the place to do that, so he decided to catch up with her later in the day.

As Glee came to an end, everyone filed out and Puck and Rachel walked to her locker. The two agreed to meet during lunch in the auditorium and then parted ways for a short time. As Rachel walked to her next class, the lyrics to 'Big Girls Don't Cry' by Fergie came to her. It didn't exactly relate to her situation, but it could be seen as a metaphor for her feelings. She was trying to be strong and not cry over everything that had gone on. She was successful most of the time, but there were still those times when she'd let her guard down around her boyfriend, letting him see just how upset she was.

With the lyrics fresh in her mind, Rachel decided that during lunch she'd sing it. She hadn't done any singing since her failed audition the week prior and she missed it. Music had always been a positive experience for her and she didn't want to let her audition ruin that and knew if she waited to sing much longer, it'd be harder to get her voice back in shape for Nationals. Rachel also knew that her boyfriend would be familiar with it, because they'd tested it out as an option for her audition a few months prior.

...

"Thank you, Noah. I know a lot of the songs I ask you to play are not ones you usually listen to, but..."

Puck cut Rachel's comment off with a kiss, "don't worry about it, babe. I'm totally cool with it. I do like this song, too," he assured her as they took seats on stools in the middle of the stage during lunch, an acoustic guitar resting on his lap, "only wish you would have told me sooner, so I could have brought my guitar to school," he added.

"Sorry. If I would have thought about it sooner, I would have, but it only came to me after Glee," she said honestly, smiling at him, "but thanks for being okay with this."

He nodded and adjusted the guitar strap as he put it on and strummed the strings a few times, "and this is a good thing, so I'm happy to help out. I haven't wanted to push you into singing until you were ready, so I'm definitely not going to say 'no'."

"Thanks," she said again, taking a deep breath, "you remember it?"

"Yep," he strummed the first few notes, "so whenever you're ready."

Taking a moment to relax, she nodded at him and he began to strum them song from memory. He definitely liked the song, and after she explained why she wanted to sing it, he was happy to play it for her.

Rachel sang the familiar words and did her best to stay calm. She didn't want to start crying or get mad and quickly realized how much she missed singing. It'd only been a week, but it seemed much longer and the song was perfect for how she felt at that moment. She also loved that her boyfriend was playing along and joined her for the chorus.

What the couple didn't expect was to hear two more voices with them, and both looked up to see Kurt and Blaine walking onto the stage, Kurt moving a stool towards Rachel and taking a seat on it, while Blaine grabbed an empty chair and sat on it backwards next to Puck, the four of them all singing the chorus and smiling to each other.

The guys let Rachel sing the next verse, and when she sang "fairy tales don't always have a happy ending, do they?" She looked at her boyfriend, having mixed feelings. Even though she was upset about her audition, she felt like, in a way, she was living in a fairy tale and he was her handsome prince; she was after all, his princess.

Puck and Blaine sang the line, "yes, you can hold my hand if you want to," and then Blaine stopped and Puck added, "cause I wanna hold yours, too. We'll be playmates and lovers and share our secret world."

Rachel returned his smile and mouthed 'love you' to him before they all started singing the chorus again, ending the song.

For a moment, the four sat in silence, before Blaine broke the ice, "rehearsing for prom? Because I love that song, but it's sort of a downer, don't you think?"

"It's not for prom," Rachel shook her head, "it's just how I'm feeling right now. With my audition and trying to put on a brave face for everyone and," she bit her lip, "prom... Hearing everyone talk about it, knowing I'd never be crowned queen and thinking the theme sucks," she said honestly.

"I thought that's why your attention was drawn to the girls when they started talking about being queen. We voted for you," Kurt admitted, motioning around to the guys.

"Noah mentioned you all did. Thank you," Rachel smiled, "but it still doesn't make me want to go," she added, not wanting to tell them right at that moment that she and Puck were not attending.

"She's right. Prom sucks. I don't want to go," Kurt said, looking at Puck and Blaine.

"You have to go. You're the reining Prom Queen. You have to crown the next one," Blaine replied.

"As much as I love a good coronation, I can't risk it. With this school's strong and insane tradition of write-in ballots, I could get elected Prom Queen again. And I know I put on a brave face last year, but it was humiliating and had I known, I would have worn a full kilt," Kurt sighed.

"Well, how do you think I feel with Brittany's insane ban on hair gel? It's prom. There's gonna be balloons all over the place, not to mention the taffeta and silk blends. The sheer amount of static electricity in that room is gonna be terrifying," Blaine commented seriously.

Puck, Rachel and Kurt all were trying hard to contain their laughter, "it's crazy!" Kurt smirked, looking at his boyfriend.

"You've never seen my hair without gel. It's baby-hair fine. I'm gonna look like Medusa!" Blaine huffed, sighing when all three of them burst out laughing, "it's not funny! I don't wanna go, either," he mumbled.

"Well, Noah and I don't have to worry about any of that, because we've decided we're not going," Rachel admitted, getting up and moving to her boyfriend, draping an arm around his shoulders, "we'd rather spend the evening together."

"Buy it's our last prom together!" Kurt gasped in shock.

"So what?" Puck replied, "it's not the last day of school. We've still got plenty of time to hang out."

"That's true," Blaine agreed, "you guys aren't going and Kurt and I are complaining about not wanting to go, so why are we?" He asked, looking at his boyfriend, "if you want to go, we can, but no one says we have to."

Kurt listened to what they said and nodded, "yeah, I get what you're saying. We don't have to go. I'd rather not go."

"Rachel's dads are renting a hotel for us; it was supposed to be just for after prom, but since we're not going, we're just gonna hang out. You guys can join us," Puck commented, looking at Rachel who smiled and nodded in agreement.

Blaine and Kurt exchanged glances, "I'm in," Kurt nodded, "what should we wear?"

"Considering we probably already have what we were going to wear to prom, we still can dress up, you know? Like we're going, but then we don't," Rachel admitted.

"I mean, I did get a tux for it, so at least it wouldn't go to waste," Blaine nodded, "I'm in."

Rachel grinned, "great! We're gonna have so much fun!" She promised. "I'm going to invite the rest of the club tomorrow. I don't know if anyone else would want to join us, but at least we can still offer."

...

Rachel was glad that she and her boyfriend were not the only ones who didn't want to go to prom. The four of them all agreed the theme was lame and decided to call their night an 'Anti-Prom', to go along with their plan to still wear their formal clothes they'd gotten to wear for the dance.

"Thank you for inviting Blaine and Kurt," Rachel commented to her boyfriend, later on once they were back at her house after school, "I was going to, but I wasn't sure if you'd be alright with that. I know we'd discussed it, but I didn't think anyone would be against going like we were, so I figured it'd just be us."

"It's okay. I kinda figured that's why you hadn't brought it up yet. They're cool to hang out with, as long as we make sure we get some alone time," he wiggled his eyebrows at her, "you know, to use the hotel room for what it was gonna be for in the first place."

"We definitely will," she promised, sliding into his lap, "I'm sure they'll figure out just what we're going to do, so they won't stay too late and then we can have our own special prom."

Puck smiled, slipping his arms around her and tugging her close, "sounds good to me."

...

By the time everyone was at school the next morning, Friday, now only a day before prom and it was all the school could talk about. The more she heard, the more upset she got, but also was glad she wasn't going and didn't need to deal with it. When her boyfriend met her before Glee at her locker, they greeted each other with a kiss, "hey, babe. You doing okay?" He asked curiously.

"Yes, I suppose. I can't wait for prom to be over. I'm tired of it being all we hear about," she commented.

"Yeah, I know. When the hockey players are talking about something like this during our entire class, you know something big is going on. They're expecting Rick to win," he told her, mentioning the hockey captain, who was running for king.

"I doubt he will," Rachel admitted, slipping her arm around his waist as they began to walk to Glee.

"Same here," he agreed. "I was thinking about something last night and I want you to be prepared for some negative comments when you invite everyone to our little prom party."

Rachel nodded, "I figured there would be. Especially from those who are nominated for king or queen," she replied with a shrug, "it's okay. I'm ready for it. I don't want to go to prom. No one can force me to."

"I agree. I just wanted warn you. I didn't know if you'd thought about it and I've got your back whatever is said, but figured I'd say something before we got into Glee," he said honestly.

"Thank you, Noah," she smiled at him and pressed a kiss to his lips, "I never doubted you'd back me up."

"Good," her returned her smile and guided her into the classroom.

...

Glee started out with a discussion about Nationals options, but then Will moved on to finding out who was planning to sing at prom the next night. As it turned out, the only ones not singing were Sugar, Finn, Kurt, Blaine, Rachel and Puck and Rachel thought it was the best time to talk to everyone, "Mr. Schuester, may I speak to the club?" Rachel wondered, looking at him.

"Of course, Rachel, what's up?" Will asked, motioning to where he was standing.

Getting up, Rachel turned to face the majority of the class, while some, like Santana and Brittany were sitting on the piano bench behind her and Kurt and Blaine were standing near the piano with Finn, "as you might have noticed during the discussion of music for prom, Noah, Blaine, Kurt and I are not offering anything. It's because we're not attending. We're actually throwing our own party," she said honestly, "we've dubbed it an 'Anti-Prom'."

Several of the teens gasped and Mercedes looked at her, "what's an Anti-Prom party?"

"It's a party for those of us who maybe feel a little," she paused, trying to pick the right words, "uninterested in the theme of the actual prom or don't want to attend for our own personal reasons," she explained, "we've got a hotel room at Lima's best hotel, The Red Rooster Express, and any of you are welcome to join us, if you'd rather not go to prom."

"The mood will be celebratory, the food will be catered and we're wearing what we were going to wear to prom," Kurt said from behind her.

"Yes, and unlike the actual prom, which ends at eleven-pm, we can go much later than that," Rachel added happily.

"Okay, how is everyone welcome when this is clearly just a party for you, mohawk boy and those two?" Santana asked from a few feet away, motioning to Kurt and Blaine.

Before Rachel could respond to Santana's question, Artie turned to look at Puck, "but what about your tradition of trying to spike Coach Sylvester's punch bowl? I almost lost my teeth for it last time," he commented.

"It's impossible," Puck admitted, "and I'd rather spend the night with my girlfriend."

"Can we just talk about what this really is?" Santana started, "Rachel Berry isn't getting her way, so she's punishing the rest of us."

"Santana, that's not the case at all," Rachel sighed, preparing for what would come next.

Santana rolled her eyes and stood up, moving to face Rachel, "stop acting like you're fine and start dealing with your crap. Look, you choked at your big audition. I get it. I'm sorry, but it happens and I understand that you're pissed off at the universe, but imploding on one of the last nights that we have to spend together, because basically, you're just not in the mood to dance, is maybe the pettiest thing you've ever done," she commented, "so have fun at your 'I'm a victim' party, acting like you're not some selfish, self-centered..."

At first, Puck expected some of what Santana said, but as her rant continued, he realized she wasn't going to shut up and his blood began to boil. The moment he heard the word 'selfish', he couldn't hold back any longer and jumped up, rushing to stand between Santana and Rachel, glad he was several inches taller than the Cheerio, "watch your fuckin' mouth, you stuck-up bitch!" He hissed, watching her snap back in shock at his tone, "you think everyone needs to follow along with you. Here's a newsflash; we're allowed to make our own choices. Just because you're gonna waste your time going to some lame ass dance, doesn't mean we all have to and end up being miserable all night. We can do what we want and we don't want to go to prom. Simple as that! Rachel was just inviting our friends to join us, if they felt the same way, because not everyone shares your opinion, so calling someone 'petty' and 'selfish' is totally uncalled for and you know it!" He paused, taking a deep breath to prepare to continue, having a whole lot more to say, "and don't you dare try to say that she isn't dealing with her problems, because she is. She just chooses to keep it to herself or among the few people who actually care about her," he turned his attention to the entire club, directing his next comment to all of them, "how many of you have even bothered to say 'sorry to hear about what happened at your audition', 'I'm here for you' or even 'that sucks'? I mean, taking the time to really go up to her and say it and not just doing it because everyone else was. I can count on one hand the people who have done that. You haven't been there to see her boxing up every reminder of Broadway, because it hurts too much to look at right now, or held her while she cried herself to sleep, listened to her talk about what options she has now, or why she didn't have a back-up plan. Some friends you are. Whenever she needs you or is upset, most of you tell her to just 'deal with it', but yet if it was you in Rachel's shoes," he turned back to Santana, "you'd expect every single one of us to feel sorry for you, sing you a sappy song, and try to make you feel better. Yet, when it's her, you just shrug it off like it's no big deal and want to move on. Talk about being hypocrites! This Glee Club is full of double standards and don't tell me it's not true. I'm fuckin' tired of it! So don't stand there and belittle her decision, because if you had the same idea, you'd expect all of us to show up and if we didn't, we'd never hear the end of it!" He finished, taking that moment to step away and walk towards the door, not even bothering to look back at the silent room as he walked out. He definitely didn't want to hear their bitching anymore and he wanted to clear his head, knowing his girlfriend would find him shortly.

Rachel was completely stunned at the very long speech her boyfriend made. She was definitely surprised at everything he said, but her heart also filled with warmth, realizing he'd kept his promise to stand up for her. Not wanting to give anyone the opportunity to talk to her, she quickly followed Puck's path and went in search of him, hoping he'd be easy to find, because she wanted to see him. Rounding the corner near her locker, she paused and smiled, seeing him leaning against it, looking down at his phone, "Noah," she said softly.

Puck looked up and pocketed his phone, ready to defend what he did, "look, in my defense, Santana started it with what she said to you and it was about time someone stood up to her. I'm tired of her attitude, so I don't regret calling her a bitch at all. I also truly meant what I said to you; I'll stand up for you no matter what."

Tears filled her eyes and without saying anything, she closed the distance between them, threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a loving kiss. Any anger she'd had towards what was said in the choir room slowly melted away as their lips connected, only caring about what he'd done.

Instinctively, Puck wrapped his arms around her and held her close, reacting to her kiss and happily returning the gesture, hoping it meant she wasn't mad at him for what he'd said. As the need for air came to him, he reluctantly broke their lips apart, but pressed his forehead against hers, "you okay?"

"More than okay," she assured him, smiling, "thank you, Noah. For standing up for me. I knew you would, but to actually see it, means the world to me," she admitted, before resting her head against his chest, content to just stand there with him.

"You're welcome, but you don't have to thank me. I promised you I would and I meant it. I'm not gonna let someone talk to you like that, babe, you don't deserve it. What she said was totally uncalled for," he told her.

"I know and I had thought my offer of friendship would have stopped that, but apparently not," she sighed, "but it doesn't matter. She's not changing my mind."

"Good," he nodded, "but, if you did end up changing your mind, we can go, you know? It has to be our choice."

"Very true," she agreed, "and I'm pretty sure I won't change my mind, but thanks. Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," he replied, rubbing her back gently.

"How did you know about me taking down all my Broadway stuff in my room? You haven't been in it since I started doing that," she admitted, having purposely kept him out of her room, because she wasn't sure how he'd take what she was doing.

"Your dads told me one night. You went to get something from your room and they said they'd seen it when they'd passed your room and your door was open," he explained.

"Oh. How come you didn't say anything?" She wondered.

"Because I figured you had your reasons for not telling me and I also knew you'd tell me when you were ready. They didn't need to know that detail, though," he motioned in the direction of the choir room.

"Right," she agreed, "I... I was going to tell you, I just didn't want you to talk me out of it. It's too hard right now. It was difficult to sleep with all of it. It gave me more anxiety than I needed," she explained, "I need some time."

"Of course you do. It's only been a week, babe," he kissed her forehead, "but this isn't so you can help yourself give up, right?"

Biting her lip, she took a deep breath, "I don't want to, but I part of me feels like I should."

"I'm not going to let you," he told her honestly, "this is just a bump in the road. You're gonna make it, okay?"

Rachel smiled at him and nodded, "okay."

...

Kurt and Blaine caught up with Puck and Rachel during lunch and talked to them. The guys were shocked at what Puck said, but were also glad he'd stood up for Rachel and their choice and though they didn't expect anyone else to join them, they were happy to be doing what they wanted.

After school, while Kurt, Blaine and Puck stood with Rachel at her locker, talking a little about the next night, Quinn wheeled up to them, "hey, can we talk?" She wondered, looking at Rachel.

"Of course," Rachel nodded.

The three guys offered to leave, but Quinn shook her head, "no, I want you guys to hear this, too. It's about tomorrow night," she admitted, and when she saw all of them shift, she waved her hand, "I'm not here with some secret reason or anything, I just wanted to ask you guys to reconsider attending prom. You all have your reasons for not wanting to and I understand that. Believe me, I hate the theme, but I'm still going. I don't agree with how Santana said it and I can't believe I'm gonna admit this, but she was right about some of it. It is one of our last nights to spend together. The next few weeks are gonna be busy with Nationals and then graduation, so we should take all the time we can to be around each other before we all go in different directions," Quinn explained, looking at them, "I want you guys to come. And if you don't want to stay, then don't, but at least come for a little while. Think about it," she reached out and took Rachel's hand, squeezing it gently, before wheeling off, leaving them to think about her request.

Watching her disappear around the corner, the four teens exchanged glances and Rachel sighed, leaning against her boyfriend. Up until that moment, she was completely against going to prom, but listening to what Quinn said, she couldn't help her feelings start to change, "I guess we've got a lot of thinking to do before tomorrow night," she murmured.

Puck wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "yeah, I guess we do."

"We'll go if you guys go," Kurt commented, glancing at Blaine who nodded in agreement.

Rachel nodded, "maybe we could meet for dinner and decide from there," she suggested, looking at them.

"Sounds good to me," Blaine replied.

"Okay, Breadsticks? It's probably going to be busy, but if we meet around six, it should clear out a little," Kurt admitted, knowing the dance started at seven.

"Yeah, then we're not showing up right at the beginning of the dance if we decide to go," Rachel nodded, biting her lip, "maybe we should."

"Rach, just think on it. We've still got a whole day to decide and if you want to, we will. Don't let what Quinn said make you feel guilty or anything," Puck said, "she wants us to come, but she'll also understand if we don't."

"I know," Rachel nodded, "we'll see how I feel tomorrow."

...

Puck headed over to Rachel's in the afternoon Saturday and they spent the time together, before getting changed in her room. Once they were ready to leave, both dressed in what they'd planned to wear to prom, Rachel's dad's pulled them aside to get some pictures of them together. The couple reluctantly posed for a few photos, but then left, each with an overnight bag and headed for the hotel. They checked into their room and Puck took their bags into it, dropping them off for later, and then the couple made their way to Breadsticks to meet Kurt and Blaine.

Rachel had been doing a lot of thinking about attending prom and though she was still against it, she did feel like they should go, even if they were there for a short time, like Quinn suggested. The conversation about actually going didn't come up until the two couples were almost all the way through their meal, a little after seven that night, "well, I guess it's time to make a decision. I'm fine with either option," Puck commented, glancing at his watch, "but the dance has already started and if we're gonna go, we should probably do that soon."

"I'm open to either," Blaine admitted honestly.

"Me too, so I guess it's up to you," Kurt said, turning his gaze on Rachel, "what do you want to do?"

With many things swirling around in her mind, Rachel glanced down at her pink strapless dress and then turned her gaze to her boyfriend and their friends across the table, all three dressed up, "I've been doing a lot of thinking and maybe we should go. I still think it's a waste of time, but at least we'll be with friends," she admitted.

"That is true, and like Quinn said, if we don't want to stay, we don't have to," Kurt supplied.

Rachel nodded in agreement, "as much as I've been against going, I think maybe we should. We'll never get to experience this the same way again. Last year sucked, honestly. Maybe this year will be different, so we can remember something good from prom," she offered.

The three guys nodded, and Puck shifted to pull his wallet out of his pocket, "then I guess we'll meet you guys at school," he said, glancing at Kurt and Blaine.

Kurt nodded, smiling at them, "alright."

...

Arriving at McKinley a little after seven-thirty, Puck, Rachel, Kurt and Blaine met and walked in together. "We're not gonna be seen as hypocrites, right?" Rachel murmured.

"I don't think we will be. And if people think we are, they can fuck off," Puck replied honestly, as they walked down the hallway towards the gym.

"I totally agree," Kurt nodded, pushing the gym door open as they reached it, a rush of music hitting them.

The only light was coming from long strands of white and blue lights hanging from the ceiling, along with disco balls scattered around. Fake palm trees and large dinosaur models were set up around the gym and a long table with a banner reading 'When Dino-Prom Ruled The Earth' hung on it, was covered in various food and drinks and sitting near one end was Sue Sylvester's famous punch bowl, full of a red liquid. Music was beating through the speakers and a stage off to one side was set up, for the club to use and the band was currently sitting in front of a prehistoric dinosaur backdrop.

Hand-in-hand the couple walked in, passing under an archway of balloons and looked around, taking everything in and looking to see if they could find their friends. "Just help me stay away from Brittany. I'm not washing my hair out just because of her rule," Blaine commented.

"Don't worry," Puck smirked, "just tell her it's a lot of hair spray. She never said anything about that."

"I didn't even think about that. Thanks, man," Blaine smiled.

"No problem," Puck replied.

"Let's dance!" Kurt exclaimed, grabbing Blaine's hand and tugging him towards the dance floor, when one of his favorite songs came on.

Rachel laughed lightly at the two and then turned to her boyfriend, "I suppose since we're here, we could dance a little."

Puck took her hand and nodded, "yeah, that could definitely be arranged," he agreed, pressing a kiss to her hand, before they both began walking towards the dance floor.

...

With her hands around her boyfriend's waist, Rachel tried to relax as they danced lightly to the song playing and as it came to an end, she glanced a few feet away and noticed Quinn coming towards them, "hey, Quinn," she greeted.

"Hey Puck, Rachel. You guys are here," Quinn smiled, "I wasn't sure if you would show up."

Rachel took a deep breath, "to be honest. Kurt, Blaine, Noah and I didn't decide until dinner about an hour ago. They were open for either, and were letting me make the final decision. At first, I just didn't see a reason to come, but after hearing what some people said, including you, I realized we probably should, because you were right. It is one of the last times we'll all be together."

Quinn nodded, "I'm glad you guys made it. I know you both have had a rough few weeks, which I'm sorry about, but tonight's a good night to help forget about it all and have some fun, right?"

"Yeah, it is," Rachel agreed, "so, have we missed much? We just got here before the last song started. Any of our friends sing yet?"

"Brittany sang 'Dinosaur' by Ke$ha about fifteen minutes ago with some Cheerios as back-up dancers. Santana should be going on soon," Quinn explained, "and Finn and I have to share at least one dance together before voting starts at eight," she admitted, deciding to keep her 'fight' with Finn, in the bathroom, to herself.

"Good luck, tonight. I'll be voting for you," Rachel told her honestly, pushing aside her previous feelings to be supportive of her friend.

Quinn smiled, "thanks."

...

The three chatted for a few more minutes, but when they saw Tina, Brittany and Santana walk up on stage, they knew Santana was about to start her song. Quinn looked around and saw Finn by the snack table, so she excused herself to get Finn for their one required dance, and Rachel and Puck returned to dancing, listening to Santana sing Selena Gomez's song 'Love You Like A Love Song' with Tina and Brittany as her back-up.

As they danced, Rachel glanced around the gym a little and saw Mercedes and Sam dancing together, and off to her other side, not too far away was Finn and Quinn dancing together. "Is it just me or does something seem to be going on between Finn and Quinn?" Rachel asked her boyfriend softly.

"What?" Puck turned to look at them, "what about them?"

"Quinn's looking around nervously and Finn doesn't even want to look at her," she murmured.

"Oh, yeah he does look pissed, but what about?" Puck wondered.

Rachel shrugged, "let's go ask," she said, guiding him towards the couple, just as she heard Quinn say, "it's just one dance. Can you finish it with me?"

"Yeah, I will... As soon as you stand up and show everybody how much you deserve this. How much you deserve to be Prom Queen," Finn told her harshly, dropping her hands, just as Puck and Rachel reached them.

"Are you really doing this right now?" Quinn hissed, nervously glancing around the gym.

"What? Making you walk? Making you stand up and show everybody how much of a crazy lair you are? Yeah! Come on! Stand up!" Finn exclaimed.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Puck snapped, moving towards Finn as Joe joined them.

Finn glared at Joe, "did you know that she could walk, too? You must with all that physical therapy you've been given her!"

Rachel gasped, looking at the anger in Finn's eyes and glanced at Puck before her eyes landed on Quinn, who was now turning red, "finish the dance with me!" Quinn begged.

"Stand the hell up!" Finn yelled, bending down as if he was going to force Quinn from her chair.

Puck and Joe rushed forward, pushing Finn away from her, "what is wrong with you?" Joe exclaimed.

Before Finn could respond, Sue rushed in, grabbing Finn by the shoulder, "hey! You forcing me to eject you from yet another prom, Hudson?" She snapped.

Finn glared at her and then glanced at Quinn, "not this time, coach," he replied, before storming away from the small group.

"Good idea, grumps!" Sue called out, watching Finn walk away, then turned to look at Joe, "what are you lookin' at, Jar Jar Binks?" She wondered, before going back to guarding her punch bowl.

Joe, Puck, Rachel and Quinn were silent for a moment, trying to process what just happened, "Quinn, are you alright?" Rachel asked, reaching out to rest her hand on Quinn's shoulder.

Quinn took a deep breath, "I'm fine. I just need a minute," she said quickly, rolling away.

"Quinn!" Rachel called out, then glanced at her boyfriend who just nodded in the direction of Quinn, silently telling her he knew where she was going. Rachel returned his nod and then dashed off, following Quinn and ending up in the girls bathroom. Watching Quinn get a tissue to wipe her eyes, Rachel walked over to her, "Quinn, you're not fine," she said softly.

"No, I'm not," Quinn murmured, dabbing tears from her eyes and checking to make sure her make-up didn't run.

"Don't let Finn upset you. He was completely out of line and being an idiot," Rachel commented.

"I know," Quinn nodded, taking a deep breath and trying to calm down, "and I don't know why I even bothered to campaign with him. I can't stand his attitude! I hope it doesn't hurt my chances of winning, because I've dreamed of winning for so long."

"I don't think it will," Rachel assured her, "plenty of people will be voting for you. Out of all the candidates, you deserve it the most. You're beautiful, popular, talented, inspirational, humble, friendly, and honestly, I'm jealous that I'll never get a chance to even be nominated for queen."

"You're jealous of me?" Quinn gasped, looking at her and realizing something.

"When we first met, you were everything I wanted to be," Rachel started, biting her lip, "and part of the reason why I didn't want to come to prom was because I've been upset knowing the school would never vote for me. I'd love to be recognized for something like this, but they still see me as a loser and it sucks. I've lost so much over these past few weeks and I honestly don't know what the hell I'm going to do, right now, but even being nominated would have helped give me some hope that things would work out, you know?"

"Things are going to work out, Rachel," Quinn said honestly, reaching out to take her hand, "you're going to make it. I know it. You're a star," she assured her, "and I'm sorry. I didn't realize this was bothering you, though I just realized that I should have figured it out yesterday when you said you guys weren't coming."

"It's okay. You don't have to apologize. I purposely kept it from people, because I didn't want certain people to make a big deal about it," she admitted.

"You mean Santana?" Quinn wondered, already knowing the answer.

Rachel nodded, "yeah. After what she said yesterday, I'm glad I kept among a few people, because I can only imagine what she'd say if she knew," she took a deep breath, wanting to change the subject a little, "when I look back on my high school career, one of the accomplishments that I'm gonna be so proud of is that I found a way to be your friend and as your friend, I want you to know that I completely support you. I want you to win," she replied with a smile, squeezing her hand.

Quinn returned her smile and nodded, "thank you and I'm really glad we're friends, too, and I hope we always are," she paused, looking around at the empty bathroom.

"What is it?" Rachel asked, noticing what she was doing.

"I need to tell you something," she said, "it's why Finn was so pissed at me."

"Hard telling with him. It's not like you could just..." Rachel paused, watching Quinn rest her left hand on the sink and carefully move her feet from the pedals on her chair. Using her right arm, Quinn pushed herself up so she was standing, using the sink to brace herself, "oh my God," Rachel gasped.

Quinn bit her lip, "I was doing this earlier before you got here and Finn caught me. He got pissed because he felt like I was lying to everyone," she explained, turning a little so her back was to the sink and her hands were holding onto the edge behind her, "I just started doing this at physical therapy this week and I wanted to surprise everyone when I won. I tried to explain that to him, but he wouldn't listen. I'm far from normal and have fallen more times than I can count, but I'm getting better."

Rachel felt tears in her eyes as she rushed towards her, wrapping her arms around her in a hug, "this is amazing, Quinn!" She exclaimed, pulling back a little, but staying close to help her balance.

Gladly returning her hug, Quinn smiled as she started to pull back, leaving one arm around Rachel's shoulders, while her other hand rested on the corner of the sink, "so you're not mad?"

"Of course not! I'm so happy for you," Rachel said honestly, "a few months ago no one knew if you'd ever walk again and now look at you, Quinn! It's wonderful!"

Quinn smiled at her, "thanks."

"Alright, you two, I'm coming in. Joe is worried about Quinn, but is too chicken to come in here, so he asked me to check on... Whoa," Puck froze in the doorway, his eyes widening in shock at seeing Quinn standing up.

The unexpected interruption startled Quinn and she jumped a little, causing her shaky legs to give out, "shit," she hissed, reaching for her chair, trying not to put all her weight on Rachel, but at the moment she was the only thing keeping her from falling to the floor.

Seeing her struggling, Puck rushed over, "sorry, Quinn, I didn't mean to scare you," he said quickly, nudging her chair closer and slipping his arm around her back, and between the three of them, got her settled back into the seat.

"It's okay," she waved off his apology, "I just wasn't expecting it and I'm still very weak," she replied, "thanks for the help."

"No problem," he glanced between Rachel and Quinn, "is everything alright in here?"

"Yes, it is," Rachel nodded, smiling at Quinn, who nodded in agreement.

"Alright, cool. So, is it safe to assume that Finn found out and got pissed?" He wondered and when Quinn nodded, he continued, "now it all makes sense, but that still doesn't excuse him raising a hand to you, or well, trying to force you to stand up. That's wrong on so many levels. He definitely doesn't deserve to be even a king nominee after that, let alone be given a chance to win," he admitted honestly.

"I agree," Rachel nodded, slipping her arm around her boyfriend's waist.

Puck pressed a kiss to her forehead as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, then turned back to Quinn, "congratulations, Quinn. I'm really glad to see you're getting better," he told her, "it's nice to see there's at least one person not failing around here, like I am."

Rachel nudged him in the stomach, "Noah, stop it. You just had some bad luck, that's all. Quit calling yourself a failure. If you won't let me think I'm a failure, then I'm not letting you, either," she told him.

"Neither of you are failures," Quinn supplied, "you'll figure it out. Just don't give up," she added, glancing at Puck, "and thanks. I'm far from healed, but getting there."

"I see that," he nodded, "so, when are you going to tell everyone?"

"Tonight sometime, so keep it quiet for now, okay?" She requested.

"Alright, no problem," Puck nodded, then motioned towards the gym. "Come on, the guys are going to sing in a few minutes and they want us to watch."

...

Settling their conversation, the three moved out of the bathroom and was immediately met by Joe, concerned about Quinn. She assured him she was fine and then he, Mike, Rory, Sam and Artie headed up on stage to sing the song 'What Makes You Beautiful' by One Direction.

"So, are you glad we came to prom?" Puck asked Rachel curiously as they danced lightly to their friend's song.

Rachel reached up, adjusting his black tie a little and then rested her hands on his chest, covered by a white dress shirt, under his leather jacket, "yeah, I am. Not a very good prom theme, but we're hanging around with our friends, so it's okay," she shrugged.

Puck pressed a kiss to her lips, his hands resting gently on her hips, "we are and just say the word if you want to go."

She nodded, "thanks, but I'd like to stay, at least until we find out who wins, you know?"

"Yeah, I get ya. That's fine with me," he assured her.

"You know what I'm really glad about?" She wondered and when he raised a curious eyebrow at her, she continued, "I told Quinn earlier I'm glad we managed to get to be friends, which is true, but I'm also extremely happy that you and I got back together and we gave our relationship a second chance. In some ways, I really wish we'd never broken up, but part of me is glad we did, because I was able to get him out of my system. Since we've been back together, I've realized that you're really the one I want to be with and I'm not letting go again," she stood up a little taller and kissed him gently, "I love you, Noah."

Returning her kiss and resting his forehead against hers as they pulled apart, Puck smiled, "I love you, too, babe, and I promise I'm not letting you go again, either."

...

Clapping for their friends once they finished their song, the Glee members all seemed to join up to talk a little, relaxing at a few of the tables set up. It's wasn't long before voting began for king and queen and the nominees got up to mingle with classmates, hoping to get a few extra votes. The couples, Sam and Mercedes, Rachel and Puck, Kurt and Blaine, found themselves back on the dance floor, dancing to the music and when everyone had their ballots cast, Quinn and Santana took the boxes into an empty classroom to count the votes, leaving everyone else to wonder who would win.

"Thank you for not trying to spike the punch this year," Rachel commented softly, while she and Puck danced.

Puck rubbed her back, knowing where she was going with that, "you're welcome. I'm not gonna try something stupid that's gonna get me kicked out, I promise. I won't ruin your prom night," he assured her, remembering Jesse and Finn getting kicked out the year before.

"I appreciate that, Noah," she leaned up and kissed him before relaxing against his chest.

"I've got better things to do than worry about distracting Coach Sylvester so I could," he added, looking at her, "like be with my gorgeous girlfriend. I have told you that tonight, right? You look amazing."

Rachel smiled, blushing at the compliment, "yes, you have said that a few times, but I love hearing it, so feel free to say it again."

He winked at her and leaned in, pressing a kiss to the soft skin right next to her ear, "you look amazing, and I also can't wait to get you out of that dress," he whispered, his hands resting on the small of her back.

The words were unexpected and she couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips, "Noah..."

"What?" He grinned, pulling back to look at her, "it's true."

Rachel felt her heart begin to race as her cheeks began to warm up, unsure exactly what was making her blush more - his words or because she couldn't wait to get back to the hotel, "maybe we should leave right after the coronation," she murmured.

Studying her features, Puck smiled gently, willing to hold back if she wanted to wait, "if that's what you're ready for."

"I'm ready, Noah. I want to share ourselves with each other and I can't imagine this night ending any other way," she assured him.

Puck nodded, hugging her tightly, "it's the only way I imagine tonight ending, too."

...

It seemed like forever that Santana and Quinn were gone, but in reality, it was only about forty minutes. When the two girls entered the gym, a white envelope was sitting in Quinn's lap and the two went right over to Principal Figgins and handed it over to him. He thanked the girls and walked right up on stage and got everyone's attention, starting out by calling the nominees for king and queen up on stage.

When the six teens were standing up there, Rachel, Puck and the rest of the Glee members slipped closer to the stage, waiting to hear the announcement, but Santana stepped forward, whispering something in Figgins' ear, before retaking her spot next to Quinn.

"I would like to invite last year's queen, sassy Kurt Hummel, to crown this year's winners," Figgins started, motioning towards where Kurt was standing next to Blaine, Rachel and Puck. Kurt hesitated, but with Blaine and Rachel's encouragement, he walked up to the stage and stood next to Figgins, then the principal continued, "I've just been informed that the winners are a couple, so Ms. Lopez suggested they be announced together. Is everyone alright with that?"

The large group of students cheered and Rachel immediately assumed that the winners were Santana and Brittany, the only two nominated that together made a couple. Sharing a glance with Blaine and Puck, she turned her attention back to the stage, waiting for confirmation of her assumption.

Figgins pulled the card from the envelope he held and looked over the winning names, "students, for the second year in a row we have prom anarchy. Receiving the majority of write-in votes, I would like to welcome on the stage, your 2012 Prom King and Queen," he paused briefly to allow a drum roll to fill the room, "Mr. Noah 'Puck' Puckerman and Ms. Rachel Berry!" He called out, clapping as the spotlight quickly panned into the audience to Puck and Rachel.

Rachel's mouth fell open in shock as Puck's eyes widened, the entire room falling into a shocked silence, before clapping and cheering erupted from the teens. Puck recovered quicker than Rachel and took her hand, guiding them through the large group and up onto the stage. He couldn't help sharing a confused glance with Santana and Quinn as the two girls smiled and clapped with everyone else. Pushing aside a bunch of questions, he and Rachel turned around to face everyone.

Kurt happily picked up the king's crown and placed it on Puck's head as Figgins handed him the scepter and then Kurt looked at Rachel, "smile and breathe," he said softly, letting the queen's tiara settle onto her head.

Taking Kurt's advice, Rachel took a deep breath and looked around as he handed over her scepter, confused, shocked and worried there was some bad reason why she'd been chosen as queen. Puck had been nominated the year before, so she wasn't too surprised he'd been picked, but as far as she knew, she'd never been on the school's radar as even an option, let alone have enough people want her to be queen that she'd get enough write-in votes.

"McKinley Titans, bow down to your new leaders," Figgins grinned as the teens cheered again, "and now, the first dance of this year's Senior King and Queen," he motioned in front of the stage, as the band behind him began to play Santana and Quinn's duet, 'Take My Breath Away' by Berlin.

Rachel smiled lightly, feeling her heart racing as she took Puck's hand and let him guide her back onto the dance floor, this time their classmates parting in the middle to give them some room. Puck turned to face her and they stepped close to start dancing as Quinn began singing on stage and Rachel couldn't help the nerves building, "I... I don't understand," she murmured, "we weren't even nominated and," she bit her lip, "is this some kind of joke or something? What if they only voted for me because I'm your girlfriend and they wanted you to be king?"

"Babe, stop. Don't do this," Puck murmured, taking her hand in his, "you deserve to be queen. You're more beautiful than any of the nominees, inside and out, you're smart, driven, involved with a lot of clubs in school and to be honest, you're an inspiration to every single person in this room, just like you are to me. You've helped me be a better person, even by just believing in me and loving me for who I am," he reached up and brushed her cheek gently, smiling at her, "so don't question the 'why'. I'm just as curious as you are, but let's just enjoy this, together, because your knight just got crowned king and my princess just became queen. It's not every day we can experience something like this and we shouldn't let our worries ruin it, okay?" He asked softly, looking into her eyes as they swayed to the music.

"Okay," Rachel smiled lightly at him, tears filling her eyes, as she slid her arms around him and rested her head on his chest, trying to push aside her thoughts.

Puck pressed a kiss to her forehead, then settled for a moment to just dance, but he couldn't help his eyes dashing around the room, looking out for anything unusual. As they danced, he saw Sam and Mercedes together a few feet away. Sam smiled and gave him a thumbs up, and that helped calm his nerves a little, so he returned the sentiment and noticed Mike doing the same thing as he danced with Tina. Glad to have the silent support from two of his best friends, Puck returned his focus to Rachel, snuggled up to him.

At her boyfriend's calming words, Rachel's worries had subsided a little and for the moment did her best to push the rest away so she could enjoy the moment. She'd never forget it, being crowned queen with her boyfriend being king. It was a perfect memory for her and she didn't want it ruined by some stupid joke, so she prayed that it wasn't for some humiliating prank.

Rachel's negative thoughts were slowly dissipating, being replaced by the encouraging words her friends recently had said to her and it finally clicked that others believed in her, so she should start believing in herself again. She'd been down on herself, skeptical of her future and worried she'd lost her dream, but this one moment was the extra kick she needed to snap her out of the 'funk' she'd been in, to help her push forward and fight to make it, somehow.

Lost in her mind, Rachel looked towards the stage and gasped, "Noah," she murmured, catching his attention.

Puck followed her gaze, seeing Quinn's feet now on the floor and the blond was pushing herself up from her chair and grabbing onto the mic stand for support, as she and Santana continued to sing. "Wow," he smiled, pulling back from Rachel a little.

Quickly the sight washed over the gym and soon everyone was clapping, cheering and whistling for Quinn, as Santana rushed to her side to help support her. It wasn't exactly how Quinn wanted to show everyone she was getting better, but from noise echoing through the gym , it was just enough to make the moment special for her.

Tears filled Rachel's eyes again and she turned back to her boyfriend, smiling at him, "never in a million years would I have thought that someone like me could actually win prom queen. I dreamed of it, but I didn't think it really would happen. Now, I'm queen, you're king and after seeing Quinn walking when we weren't sure if she ever would, I've realized that anything is possible and that you all believe in me, so maybe it's time for me to believe in myself again. Maybe this was our sign to encourage us to not give up, that we can do it," she told him, "that you'll somehow graduate and I'll make it into NYADA after all."

Puck smiled at what she said and nodded, "yeah, maybe it is," he replied, reaching up to wipe her eyes, "now we have something to celebrate tonight, too," he added with a wink.

Rachel smiled, standing up to press a kiss to his lips, "yes, we do."

...

Once Rachel and Puck's dance was over, confetti began to rain down on the dance floor, covering both of them and everyone else in multicolored pieces of paper. Classmates and friends congratulated Puck and Rachel on winning and the couple happily thanked them, glad to see everyone seemed to support their win. They were also congratulating Quinn, and those moments of the night seemed to be the ending to prom, a lot of the teens beginning to leave.

"Come on, Noah, let's get going," she said softly, after another song ended.

"As you wish, my queen," Puck replied with a grin, pulling away a bit, but left an arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"King Noah and Queen Rachel. I like the sound of that," she commented, a blush growing on her cheeks as they walked towards the exit, waving at friends who were still there.

He smirked, "me, too. I can honestly say I never thought I'd be any kind of royalty."

...

Puck and Rachel snuggled up together in bed to calm their racing hearts, as they came down from a wonderful high, giving both of them a strong feeling of love and contentment. "I'm never going to forget this night," Rachel admitted, resting her hand on his bare chest just over his heart.

"Neither am I, babe," he assured her, taking a deep breath as they relaxed, "you okay?"

"More than okay," she promised, tugging the sheet further up so it was covering their bodies a little more to keep warm, "you were wonderful and I'm quite content."

"Good to know," he pressed a kiss to her forehead and rubbed her back, "are you sore anywhere?"

"No, I'm not. At least not at the moment. I might not know until morning," she admitted.

"Maybe. Just let me know if you are. I brought some Tylenol just in case," he said, "I wasn't sure, um, and I didn't know..."

"It was only a few times, but they were quite spaced out," she explained simply, "and that's all I'll say if you'd rather not know."

"I won't deny that you've been with someone, but since he's a friend, I'd rather not think about it, you know? Honestly, sometimes it's hard to look at Finn, because I'm reminded that you guys have had sex and it pisses me off. I know it sounds a little territorial, but no guy wants to think about their girl being with someone else, especially if they're also friends. It's part of the reason why I haven't told you much about my past. You know I've been with others, but I don't want you to know details, because I want us to focus on our relationship, not our past," he told her, "does that make sense?"

Rachel nodded and shifted closer to him to kiss him lovingly, her hand moving to rest on his cheek, "yes it does," she assured him, "and as far as I'm concerned, I just had my first time, Noah. I've never felt the way you made me feel tonight and it's an experience I want us to continue to share whenever we can, because I know you'll be just as gentle and respectful as you were now, yet you'll still make me feel wonderful and show me things I never knew about," she explained, pressing another kiss to his lips, "my other first... I'm considering it a learning experience I'd rather forget."

Puck reached up and brushed his hand through her hair, "if that's how you want to feel, then you can. I won't try to change your mind either way on that. It's your decision," he told her, shifting a little, so his head was laying more on the pillows. As he moved, the dim light on the nightstand beside the bed reflected off their crowns and the evening's events came back to him, "I know I asked you earlier, but that was before we won king and queen. How do you feel about prom now? Are you glad we went?"

"I'm very glad we went to prom," she shifted her body so she was laying partially over him, "this whole night, from us winning at prom to this moment right now, has been one of the best nights of my life and I'm so glad we got to share it all together. I also don't want it to end just yet, so I was thinking," her hand gently came to rest on his side, "that maybe we could make love again."

He grinned, having had a feeling when she moved that she was gong to suggest it, so he thought about his answer for a moment, "I think that definitely could be arranged, my Queen, because I would never turn down your request."

...

A few lyrics from 'Big Girls Don't Cry' by Fergie (as sung by Lea, Chris and Darren in this episode) were used in this fic. I do not own; just borrowing for this work of fiction.

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A/N4: Wow! 28 pages! I thought would be shorter. Took me a lot longer to write this, because of a lot of things going on, but I did it and I hope you all enjoyed! Please review and let me know what you think!

A/N5: Only three more 'episodes' left! Props, Nationals and Goodbye. I honestly don't know how long they will be, but I can imagine they'll be about 20 pages, maybe more, maybe less; depends on how much I have to work on.

A/N6: Though this is a stand alone fic, it is the Glee 'side' of my LJ Lark series. I haven't titled it yet, nor have I worked on a new part to it, but I will be trying to do that soon. Eventually I'll have it (along with all my other fics) posted on AO3, because I finally got an account there (SapphireEJ), but I haven't had the time to learn about it enough to post any of my fics, so that's a project for this summer, among other things.

My health - Thank you all for your support and understanding! In mid-June I had my gallbladder removed after finding out that it was only working at 6%. My surgery went very well, I was home within 2 hours after I was out of surgery and after spending a few days on the couch, I was up and moving around a lot more. I'm mostly back to myself, but for a while there I did have some issues dealing with what I ate, but that's mostly gone, though there are some things that don't agree with me still. For a while I was playing catch up, and I'm not completely caught up, but I'm getting there. Thanks again for all the well wishes you guys sent my way. It really means a lot and hopefully I'll be back to updating a little more frequently soon.

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