Rachel woke up the next morning and decided she was done stepping on eggshells. She wanted to talk to Noah, and if no one was going to help her do it the traditional way, then she would do it the Rachel Berry way- her own unique brand of intervention.

At Glee rehearsal, Mr. Schue was talking about the assignment for the week ("moving forward") and Rachel's hand shot up into the air.

"Yes Rachel?" the curly-haired teacher acknowledged.

"Thank you, Mr. Schue. As you know, the Community Center is performing Les Miserables. I've therefore decided that the duet "Everyday" from this epic musical is quite appropriate as Cosette and Marius prepare to move forward to the next phase of their life and relationship."

As Mr. Schue nodded his okay and Finn began to rise, the brunette shook her head slightly. "Actually Finn," she told her friend. "I think it would be beneficial to test the range of the other potential male leads of our team." She stepped in front of the one person in the room making a solid effort to avoid eye-contact with her. "Noah?"

Puck's widened eyes quickly recovered, and he scoffed at the offer. "Sorry, Berry; I don't dig on show tunes." He pushed the music back towards her.

Rachel Berry was nothing if not persistent, however, and instead grabbed his hand, forcing the pages back into it. "Humor me," she told him, nodding to Brad.

(Rachel, Puck, both)

Every day

You walk with stronger step

You walk with longer step—

The worst is over.

She wasn't really sure her plan would work, and she could tell she wasn't the only person floored when his rich voice pushed through.

Every day

I wonder every day

Who was it brought me here

From the barricade?

Puck couldn't believe he was doing this, that he was singing a duet with Rachel in front of everybody. Besides sex, this was the thing he thought about doing with her the most (he even once had this bizarre dream that involved the two of them having sex in the middle of them singing "You Can Be As Loud As the Hell You Want" from Avenue Q- though he's never looked at Muppets quite the same since). He could feel Quinn's eyes searing into his head, but for now, he was all for losing himself in Rachel's song, and her eyes.

Don't think about it, Marius!
With all the years ahead of us!
I will never go away
And we will be together
Every day.
Every day,
We'll remember that night
And the vow that we made:

A heart full of love
A night full of you
The words are old
But always true.

Oh, God, for shame
I did not even know your name!

During her verse he'd allowed his feet to move toward her, drawn to their voices intertwining, and as he began his own he took her hand.

Dear Mad'moiselle
I was lost in your spell.

Their eyes locked and he pulled her closer.

A heart full of love,

No fear no regret

He knew he didn't deserve her forgiveness, didn't deserve her song, and yet here she stood, giving both to him willingly.

I saw you waiting and I knew

Waiting for you

At your feet

At your call

And it wasn't a dream

Not a dream after all

The song ended, and for a moment they simply stood inches apart, eyes locked. Puck was then jolted back to reality by applause. His eyes turned to Quinn's, and, unable to think of any alternative, he thrust the papers back at Rachel, muttering "whatever," and sitting back down between Mike and Matt, ignoring all of the looks aimed his way.

After Glee ended, Puck all but flew out the door. He'd been an idiot, risking her safety from Q just to have a moment to hold her hand (did he just say all he wanted was to hold her hand? When the fuck had he turned into a chick?), and he needed to get away from here before he did something even more stupid.

Just as he reached the parking lot, however, he heard a familiar voice yelling "Noah!" (and not in the way he liked).

He groaned softly, trying to increase speed, which caused him to drop his keys and allowed the tiny brunette to catch up to him.

"Would you stop?" she all but yelled at him, grabbing his arm.

He continued fumbling with his keys, refusing to look at her. "I've got nothing to say to you."

"Dammit Noah, I'm done playing this game!" He couldn't help but face her; apparently it was a lot hotter watching her swear in real life than in his dream. "I just want a chance to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about Berry," he insisted, trying to keep an eye out for Quinn. "It was good while it lasted, now it's over. The end."

She shook her head vigorously. "I don't believe that you mean that."

"Doesn't matter if you believe it," he told her. "You don't know me, and shit is what it is."

Her eyes glared up at his, and he had to work to keep his cool and resist the strong urge to grab her hot angry body- which went completely out the window when she instead pulled herself onto her tiptoes to crash her lips against his.

The kiss was a surprise, and his every part of him threw caution to the wind as he responded. He felt his arms move of their own accord as the one she held reached behind her head to wind his fingers in her hair, as the other snaked around her waist, bringing her closer as his fingers trailed to the waistband of her skirt, fingering the zipper. Puck's tongue slid into her mouth, greedily wrestling with hers that he'd missed so much. In that one kiss he felt every flash of every moment they'd had together, and it burnt through his body like a flame on gasoline.

The kiss ended a lot sooner than he would have he liked (although to be fair, eternity may be a long time for a kiss to last), and when she pulled away, he had to suppress a moan.

"You're right" she told him. "I don't know you, Puck, and I accept that."

"Okay," Puck's stomach dropped a little that she seemed done with him (especially after getting his blood up like that), but he maintained his front. "So are you going to let go of me?" He gestured to her hand, still firmly fixed on his forearm. Apparently it hadn't moved through the entire interaction.

"No," she stated firmly. "Because I still have something to say to Noah." She took a deep breath and fixed him with those damn penetrating eyes that made him think she was reading his mind or something.

"You, Noah Puckerman, are more than all of this," she told him. "I know you: I know that, although you insist upon using profanity to express yourself, you took the PSATs and got a 147; I know that you took the time and helped your little sister learn to ride her bike when she was 7; and I know that, despite your tough exterior, you would do anything to keep the people you care about from getting hurt."

Puck let his eyes drop. He couldn't understand why she was doing this: why she couldn't just move on.

Rachel continued. "I also know that you're afraid: afraid of what other people think; afraid of what being associated with me will do to your reputation—"

"Damn it Rache!" he shouted over her shaking his head. "That's not it at all." He stared at her in frustration as she looked at him skeptically. "Don't you understand? It's not just me—do you understand what they'd do to you if we came out as a couple?" He shook his head in disgust. "You have no idea what those assholes are capable of, Berry. The way things are now? It'll die down soon enough. But if Qu—people found out we got back together, even as friends, you'd spend the rest of high school with a huge target on your back, listening to trash talk and looking over your shoulder."

"It's only two years Noah," she insisted.

"Two years is a long time, Berry," he countered. He looked back at the school. "I mean, maybe two years for you is short: your future is huge and open and away from here. But me in two years? I'll probably still be within a five mile radius of where we're standing; end up working at Hummel's car shop or the grill at Denny's." He tried to shrug indifferently, finally voicing that damn voice in his head that he'd heard since he'd met her. "You're better off forgetting about all of this…about me."

The noise that came from her mouth sounded like a mix of a groan and a strangled scream, causing Puck to back up a step. Unfortunately, she still had a tight grip on his arm (he hadn't really wanted her to let go anyways), so she simply took a step forward, closing the distance between them again.

"Noah, you are incorrigible!" She yelled at him, slamming her free palm into his chest. "The only reason you haven't succeeded yet in life is because you keep getting in your own way; it's like you're too afraid of failure to even try to succeed. With a C average, which you could accomplish by simply showing up to class, you could easily get into OSU; with a little more ambition, who knows? You could be anything you want—"

"Really, Berry? Really?" Puck scoffed, fuming at her unwavering belief in him. "You're so full of it! I'm nothing Berry, can't you see that? You keep going on about my potential, my promise; you refuse to see what everyone else does—that I'm just another Lima loser!"

Rachel's eyes flashed with anger, and she hit him again (in the back of his mind he wondered if she knew that her punches didn't hurt). "Shut up you idiot!" she yelled, and Puck winced as that weird groan/scream thing wrenched from her throat again. She let go of his arm and turned away from him as she took a deep breath.

Puck rubbed his arm absently, shifting uncomfortably in the silence. He waited, but the small brunette did not turn back to face him. Finally he sighed and turned back to his truck, opening the door.

"You're right," she said softly, and upon hearing it, Puck could feel his chest tighten and his lips press together firmly. She turned back to him, and her eyes were glistening. "I'm not your girlfriend, Noah, and I'm not your friend, so maybe what I think doesn't matter. But you're never going to accomplish anything until you stop caring about the imbeciles in this town and what they think." She paused a moment, standing on tiptoe again to kiss his cheek softly. "You need to decide what's more important: Puck or Noah? The next two years or the rest of your life?"

Her eyebrows quirked up at him, and she turned to walk back to the school. He just sat in his truck, frozen as he watched her figure become smaller and smaller.

A/N: I have to take some time off, so I'll see you guys in a week!