The Music In Me
Glee AU Fan Fiction
Chapter 7

A/N: Sorry this took so long. Life has been hectic. I was made routine captain for basketball cheerleading, am having tons of drama (the good kind) with the guys in my life, just got into the first fight with my best friend we've ever been in, had constant rehearsals and practices, been overloaded with homework, had my birthday (seventeen here I am!), and am planning a trip to California with my cousin for Christmas Break which is going to cause me to miss two weeks of school meaning I'm working to get all of the work I'll be missing as soon as possible. I also have to work on my drama class solo, my drama class group ensemble, my composition for music theory, and figure out how I will be working on my ensemble piece and my theory homework while I am gone. Life is driving me crazy at the moment. In good news: the fight was resolved within about two hours. The guy I used to be totally in love with might like me-his best friend keeps hinting at it. The guy I like is acting as though he likes me as well, and I am doing amazing in all my classes. My drama teacher is amazed at my acting abilities, my composition is coming along great and didn't take me half as long as I'd suspected-which is why I managed to get the chapter up when I did-and I got to attempt to fly today at practice and on my second attempt, I got up (with NO support from my back spot). This might not seem like a big deal, but I'm one of the tallest girls on the team (my best friend is the same height as me and we are the tallest girls). I can only fly when there are boys on the team. I've never attempted this before but I know the basics and I've taught girls to stunt before. I'm a back spot ordinarily and I have a lot of muscle, which is heavier than fat. The fact that I was able to get up successfully so quickly is actually a big accomplishment and the entire time now wants me to fly in at least one stunt in either our routine or a cheer. I'm excited for this because I always wanted to be a flyer and now I'm finally getting that chance.

"Rachel! I was thinking we could-who's this?" Jesse St. James' face dropped from his bright, cheerful, show smile as soon as he spotted a beaming Rachel Berry, who was laughing with her head tossed back, hair flowing down her back, a strong, tall, attractive male by her side, smiling down at her with sparkling eyes that showed just how much she meant to him, even if she didn't know that she meant anything to him at the moment.

Jesse had never seen Rachel look like that before, and it wasn't something that he was used to seeing. It wasn't something that he was happy about seeing either. It bothered him to no end, because it showed that Rachel could be happy and that she now knew she didn't need to be with Jesse in order to have the attention and love of a boy.

"Oh, hey Jesse," Rachel said, stopping mid-laugh, her smile slowing turning downwards into a frown.

Jesse found his own smile coming back, a much more sincere one at that. After all, Rachel wasn't supposed to be happy. She was supposed to be sad, because she had lost her boyfriend who she had worn on her arm as a proud trophy for a year, to her best friend, and in that same breath, she had lost her best friend. Did it matter that Jesse and Santana weren't dating? No, because they had hooked up and that was enough to end Rachel's friendship with Santana Lopez and her relationship with Jesse.

Did Jesse miss Rachel? Of course he missed the power that he could hold over her. He was never going to get over the fact that he had foolishly given up having a girl who would do anything for him, losing his biggest fan. Besides, Rachel was a challenge and she was the only person that he could ever have an actual competition with. That was a pretty big deal to somebody like Jesse, but he had lost Rachel and he wasn't going to be the one to go begging to get her back. If she came crawling back to him, however, that would be a different matter entirely.

"Noah Puckerman," the mohawked new comer said, taking a step forward, wrapping one arm around Rachel's shoulders as he held his free hand out to shake Jesse's.

Jesse froze for about thirty seconds at that action.

Could Rachel have found a new boyfriend so quickly? Could she already be over him and moving onto some new guy that Jesse had never even heard of before? But, the name did ring a bell.

Rachel had asked about him the previous day at rehearsal, Jesse was sure of it. She had asked one of the new kids if he was any relation, meaning Rachel was thinking about this boy. Meaning he meant something to her. He was sure of it from the funk that she had disappeared into as soon as the boy had said that he was his half brother.

Of course, none of that really solved any questions that really mattered to Jesse.

What the hell was this guy doing with his arm around Rachel and why was he making her laugh in ways that he had only ever seen Kurt and Sam make her laugh? He knew that there was no way this guy was a new friend in their trio. Sam would never allow anybody into the group that could rival the blonde in trying to get in Rachel's pants, and this boy would obviously be a bigger rival than anybody else at the school could be. And there was no way that his guy was gay, so he couldn't be Kurt's new boyfriend.

The only logical way to explain that Puck was with Rachel and acting in such a way would be if it was Rachel's boyfriend, because while Rachel usually listened to everything that her boys instructed her to do, she never let them control her when it came to a boy she actually wanted to date.

Jesse and Kurt had constantly warned Rachel against dating Jesse, after all. But, when Rachel insisted on giving him a chance, they had been forced to give him a semi-warm welcome into the group and put up with him, trying to get alone with him for Rachel's sake.

"Jesse St. James," the pale skinned senior said, reaching his hand out as he forced himself to regain his cool.

"This your old boyfriend, Berry?" Puck asked, releasing Jesse's hand-the mohawked kid had a strong grip and it took all of Jesse's acting abilities to hide the pain that he was in. "He must have one hell of a personality if he got a girl like you. And I can't believe you'd let a catch like Rachel go," Puck said, giving her shoulders a squeeze.

"Let's just go, Noah-we have to work on your audition, remember?" Rachel whispered.

"Audition?" Jesse froze, confidence faltering.

"I'm auditioning for the Glee club. Rachel was telling me that they could use a couple more male voices, and I figured I might as well give it a try," He shrugged. "Of course, I'd do anything to get this girl to smile," He said, beaming down at her and basking in the light blush that started to spread across her cheeks.

"We have to get going, Jesse," Rachel said, reaching for Puck's hand and pulling him away from Jesse, pushing past the tall, curly haired boy on her way, leaving Jesse St. James in a stunned confusion as he tried to figure out what had happened around him.

He wasn't used to being rejected and practically ignored, and he especially wasn't used to be talked down to. None of it was making sense, especially when everything came back to revolving around a self-conscious girl like Rachel Berry. Nothing was adding up and Jesse swore to himself right then and there that he was going to get to the bottom of things.

"You didn't have to do that," Rachel sighed, shaking her head as she entered one of the practice rooms with Puck.

"Didn't have to do what? Defend an incredibly hot girl who just so happens to be not only a fellow Jew, but a fellow hot Jew, from a vampire-resembling, possibly serial killer status ex-boyfriend? Or are you talking about putting my arm around you continuously and occasionally squeezing your arm to move you closer to me?" He asked, flashing her a goofy smile that forced her to smile in response.

"Brittany's right-you are a total flirt," Rachel shook her head, making her way towards the piano at the corner of the room.

She slid down onto the bench, placing her hands over the keys and playing a familiar melody-well, familiar to herself. Little did she know, it was a familiar tune to Puck as well, having been raised by a Jewish mother who happened to adore any movie featuring one particular Barbra Streisand. As the melody of My Man started to fill the room, he was reminded of those few years before his mother had married Brittany's mom, back when they had spent every Sunday together eating dinner in front of the TV, watching some movie that involved their heritage.

As he approached the bench to take a seat besides her, he started to hum along with the song, causing her to stop, tilting her head up towards him with a curious smile on her face.

"You've seen Funny Girl?" She wondered.

"Does that make you second guess everything Brittany's told you about me?" He teased, smirking at her, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

"I still think you're a flirt," She shook her head. "I just think that there's more to you than that," She shrugged.

"What's it gonna take to get you to give me a chance?" He sighed.

"I couldn't date you even if I wanted to," Rachel protested. "You're Brittany's brother, and she's my roommate and best friend. I don't want to mess up our friendship," She explained.

"Brittany's a big girl. She knows that what happens with me when I'm in a relationship with a girl has nothing to do with her. Give me a chance," He sighed, locking eyes with her.

And when his hazel eyes met her deep, milk chocolate eyes, there was a spark of something that neither of them had ever felt before. It was enough to making Rachel question how much all of her former rules really meant to her, and it was enough to make Puck wonder if Rachel really was just another conquest to him or if she was something more. God, he really hoped that she was more to him, because he would do anything to get those eyes to stay locked on his.

Maybe he had been going on about it all wrong. Maybe, all he had to do, was take a step back and stop worrying about looking like a residential bad ass for dating girl after girl, and sleeping with an even longer line of girls. Maybe his reputation didn't have to be the only thing that mattered to him.

Maybe, just maybe, he needed to hang up his jersey. Maybe the player had finally met the coach, the one who could convince him to go into retirement and stop playing the game as if it were his life line.

Still, was he really wiling to risk getting hurt and ruining his reputation all in one single swipe? If he dated Rachel Berry, who was obviously the school's good girl, and might just be considered a loser at the school, would make it hard to earn a rebel, bad boy label. Still, it might just be worth it to keep being able to make direct eye contact with this beautiful girl as she flashed that beautiful smile towards him.

But, he did have to worry about what a relationship between the two of them would do to her. He could ruin a girl like her. He was a terrible boyfriend-he'd never been a boyfriend before, and Rachel was soft. He was going to melt her and break her heart, no matter what he did, there was no chance that a guy like him was going to be able to do anything other than that. It was just expected of him to hurt girls,. He wasn't meant to have an actual relationship with them.

For a Puckerman male, it just wasn't possible. They didn't have the best luck in that department, after all.

Fuck it, he thought to himself. She's worth it all, he decided with a slight nod.

"Just give me one chance-one date, and I promise, if you have a lousy time, we can call it quits from there. I just want a chance," He pleaded, refusing to break eye contact with her.

"One date," She whispered, ducking her head and moving her hair to create a shield between the two of them. "And that's all you're getting. That one chance. Now, let's focus on your audition-we've wasted enough time already," She decided.

"Right down to business-I like it," He winked at her.

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head, but she couldn't help but show off her smile as she giggled at his flirtatious ways. He really was adorable, and there was something about him that kept pulling her in. She wasn't sure what it was about him, but there was some sort of a connection there that she just couldn't explain.

"What kind of music do you like?" She asked, trying to keep him-and herself-focused on the task at hand.

"Sammy!"

Sam Evans groaned as he stopped in his tracks, not wanting to be rude by ignoring the two blondes who were hurrying to catch up with him before his third class of the day. Unlike Rachel, who had one morning class and then free periods for hours, he had classes until an hour before lunch. Then he was given a three hour lunch break, before resuming his schedule, ending an hour before the regular school day did.

It was weird, that he, the late riser, was the one with a hectic morning schedule, while Rachel, the early riser, always had most of her classes in the afternoon. Kurt had all of his classes in the morning, so that he only had two classes after he went to lunch. He had the best schedule out of the group.

Sam was bringing Brittany to her next class, which was in the same building as his own class. Brittany had pre-calculus while Sam was heading to Algebra. Quinn and Kitty must have had math next as well this year, as they were racing to catch up with him.

"Why are you stopping? Can't you ignore them?" Brittany asked, peaking over her shoulder, but turning around to return to her position at his side.

"I'm not mean," Sam shook his head, cursing mentally as the two blondes arrived at his side, Kitty working to push Brittany out of the way, both blondes hooking their arms through Sam's own.

"We haven't seen you in forever," Quinn Fabray whined. "How was your summer? DId you miss me?" She asked, looking up at him and fluttering her eyelashes.

"Did you finally decide to stop hanging around with Rupaul and spend some time with normal human beings?" KItty wondered with a faux-sweetness to her tone. "After all, we all know that football players are supposed to hang out with cheerleaders. Especially when it's the star quarterback and the captains of the cheerleading team," Kitty went on.

Brittany rolled her eyes, making a face at Sam over Kitty's head. He caught her eye, shooting her a warning look as he fought to get his arms back under his own control.

"What are you doing with Ditzy?" Quinn asked, as if she were finally realizing that Brittany was there.

As soon as Quinn looked at her, Brittany dropped her goofy look and replaced it with a cheerfully friendly smile. She gave Quinn and exaggeratedly friendly wave, rolling her eyes once more when the green eyed blonde turned her attention back to Sam.

"Ditzy? Why would you call Brittany that? She's taking all AP classes. She's really smart," Sam frowned, reaching up and running a hand through his blonde hair. "And it's not nice to make fun of people for not being as smart as you anyways. I mean, I hate it when people do that, especially since I'm dyslexic," Sam explained, reaching out and wrapping an arm around Brittany's shoulders, pulling her close to him before messing up her blonde hair.

"Sam!" Brittany shrieked, pushing him off of her. "Not the hair!" She insisted.

Sam released her hair, but he kept his grip on her shoulders. Something about that position just felt right to him. Of course, he immediately regretted that decision as soon as she reached up and started to mess around with his hair.

"Britt!"

"What a slut," Quinn muttered, obviously angry at the fact that she was no longer the focus of the conversation.

'Whore," Kitty rolled her eyes.

"You two are kinda mean," Sam said. "I'm gonna get to class with Brittany-when you guys are in better moods and done PMS-ing, give me a call, okay? Remember, I'm not a fan of bullies," He shrugged, speeding up to get away from the two blondes.

If there was one thing everybody knew about Sam, it was that he was a gentleman. He was sweet, kind, and innocent. He would never intentionally hurt a girl and not only would he never lay a hand on a girl in a way that wasn't endearing, but he would never swear at a girl. He wasn't one to give a girl an insult on anything, really, but he hated guys who went around and swore at girls.

While he knew that Rachel was one of the strongest people he had ever met, he had grown up believing that the girls in his life needed to be protected and that he needed to be the one who protected them. If there was one thing that Sam always did, it was make sure that he respected the women around him, even if they were girls like Quinn and Kitty-girls without any self respect for themselves.

Sam was one of the rare, few, honest to god, gentleman country boys who only cared about making sure that the females in his life were taken care of and treated with the respect that they deserved. They had to be protected and treated like glass, even if he had learned from the girls in his life that women were some of the toughest people in the world.

He wasn't sexist. Nobody would ever say that about Sam Evans, but he wanted to protect people. He treated Kurt the same way he treated Rachel, his mother, and his younger sister. Sam had always been protective of his friends, and he would do anything to take care of them.

The problem only occurred when the person who was harming them happened to be another girl-or, in Kurt's place, a girl in general-because Sam wasn't sure what he could do to protect them.

He couldn't use verbal attacks and he definitely couldn't resort to violence. So, whenever Kitty and Quinn started to act like idiots and insult one of Sam's friends in an attempt to try and win Sam over, convincing him the join the dark side, Sam searched for the first way out and then jumped at the opportunity, immediately working to escape from the conversation as soon as he possibly could, bringing their victim right along with him.

"Bye, bye, bitches!" Brittany called over her shoulder, waving pleasantly at them as she was dragged off.

Clearly she lacked Sam's rules about how to deal with the blonde twins.

Kurt shook his head at the sight of Rachel Berry walking into their usual lunch spot with Noah Puckerman following right along like a lost puppy dog. It wasn't that the scene came as a surprise to him-he'd been expecting it from the first time the pair had met, after all. But, he was a bit surprised that the two of them seemed to have hit it off so quickly, when last he knew, the weren't even talking to one another and hadn't had a real conversation yet.

Of course, from the way Puck kept reaching out to wrap an arm around her shoulders or her waist, from the way he kept grabbing her hand or making up an excuse to touch her, it was clear that he wanted much more than friendship. And Kurt knew Rachel well enough to know that she felt something for him that was much stronger than friendship and was willing to give him a chance, just by the mere fact that she was allowing him to touch her.

Rachel albeit freaked out whenever Finn laid a hand on her, after all, telling him that unless they were dating, he had no right to try and touch her in any way other than a congratulatory high five after a victory or in the instructed choreography. She hadn't allowed Jesse to touch her in any way further than the above until they were actually dating. Kurt and Sam were the only boys allowed to hug her or walk around with an arm around her on a daily basis. It was a perk that came with being best friends.

The thing was, Rachel was an open book as far as Kurt was concerned, and he knew she hated that, so he tried to pretend he didn't notice some of her obvious give away signs, but she made it too easy for him sometimes. He knew she'd get pissed off and storm off if he dared to make even the smallest gesture about her interactions with Puck, though, so he bit down on his tongue as hard as he could and sat on his hands, forcing his eyes to remain neutral.

He wasn't in the mood for a fight with Rachel, because she was the type who could win any argument in the world. She had once broken Sam's Xbox and, when he'd gotten upset with her, she had started to go on a long rant. The end result was that Sam was so confused, brought to the point that he felt bad for 'overreacting' and started to apologize to Rachel, refusing to take the money she was offering him to replace the gaming system.

"Is he okay?"

"Kurt? Sometimes he gets a little weird. He's fine," Rachel shrugged, slipping into a seat across from him.

"As long as you're sure. He looks a little off," Puck shrugged, sliding into the seat besides her.

Kurt tried not to roll his eyes at how obvious Puck was acting in response to Rachel's own obviousness.

He was doing that overly cliche-d move where he copied her every gesture without realizing it.

And Brittany claimed that her step-brother was a player?

"I'm fine," Kurt said roughly. "To what do I owe the pleasure of the great Noah Puckerman at our table today?" He asked.

"Am I infamous or something now, because I don't remember doing anything to get that title," Puck frowned.

"All the girls at school are buzzing about you. You're the newest hot ticket. They all want a date with you," Kurt explained.

"All it takes to be the most wanted guy at this school is for Kitty and Quinn to be interested in you," Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Are you trying to degrade my success?" Puck asked her with a teasing, carefree smile on his face.

"Of course not-be happy of your stud-muffin title," Rachel said sarcastically.

"Where are Sam and-"

Kurt was cut off by a loud, giggling squeal. The sound caused the trio to turn around-well, Kurt just tilted his body to look around the strong, broad shouldered male in front of him-to search for the source of the noise. It had come from no other than Brittany Pierce, who was perched on the back of Sam Evans, being carried towards the table as he ran towards his friends, head bent down like a bull. Kurt was certain he was going to break something and hurt the both of them, if not the people seated at whatever table it was that he ran into. Sam wasn't known for being coordinated.

When the two blondes reached the table, Sam straightened up immediately, dropping Brittany to the floor as though he were a robot. He grabbed a chair besides Kurt and pulled it away from the table, taking an exaggerated bow as he gestured towards the chair. She giggled at his goofiness, curtseying towards him before she slid into her own seat, shooting him an overly grateful smile as he pushed her chair into the table before sliding into the seat next to her, turning to beam proudly at his friends as if he had just accomplished something absolutely incredible by carrying Brittany and helping her to a seat.

It was when he was done being a complete and total class clown that he noticed that there was a second newcomer to their group, one who wasn't a female and who wasn't Rachel's roommate. It was then that he noticed Noah Puckerman sitting besides Rachel, arm dangling carelessly across the back of her chair. His eyes darkened, all of the glittering joy disappearing from them as his laughing smile froze, before turning into a downwards pout, and then a harsh scowl with a wicked glare to match. Puck just shrugged it off, giving Sam an easy going smile, but the other three at the table picked right up on the tension and weren't so good at hiding it.

"What is he doing here? Since when are we friends with just anybody and since when did we start letting just anybody who wanted to sit at our table? We're referred to as a cult for a reason, you know. This isn't some sort of easy going thing where we let just anybody in. Seriously, who invited him and why is he here, because this is not a part of the status quo and Rachel made us watch that awful Disney movie too many times for us to ignore how important that stuff is," Sam said, trying to act as though he were joking, while really wanting an actual answer. He knew Rachel would yell at him for being rude though, so he tried to toss in some humor.

"Noah and I are friends. He defended me against Jesse today, and that's good enough to give him a spot in the group and at the table for me," Rachel said, shooting Sam a warning look.

"And he's some very attractive eye candy that I can't help but enjoy looking at," Kurt said, trying to diffuse the tensions. "Can't I have somebody to stare at, Sammy?" Kurt stuck his tongue out.

"Sorry, Kurt-you're cute and all, and you've got an incredible fashion sense, but you aren't exactly my type. I'm into people with a little more on the top than the bottom, if you get what I'm saying," Puck laughed.

"Are you implying that my ass is too big for you because Rachel's ass is bigger than mine. Believe me, we've had this discussion before!" Kurt laughed, acting insulted for the wrong reason.

"What? No-what are you talking about-are you kidding me? You guys seriously measured your asses to see whose was bigger?" Puck asked, choking on the water he'd just taken a sip of.

Nobody mentioned what they had all noticed-it was Rachel's water bottle that he'd drunk from, and she had always been a big advocate against sharing beverages, in order to avoid getting sick and to save her voice.

"Unfortunately, he's telling the truth. Kurt tried on a pair of my jeans he was obsessed with one time and was appalled by the fact that they were so large on him in that particular area," Rachel sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Don't worry, babe-you're perfect to me. I happen to like your curves," Puck smiled at her, wrapping a reassuring arm around her waist, giving her a tight squeeze at the hip, causing her to jump slightly.

"What is going on right now? Are you two a thing or something?" Brittany asked, speaking for the first time since arriving at the table.

"Noah and I are going to go on a date-just one date. I figure it's only fair to give him a chance. I hope that this isn't going to affect our friendship, Brittany," Rachel said, frowning at the end of her sentence, as though she had only just remember that Puck and Brittany were siblings and if things went badly, she could lose her newest friend.

"Of course it won't," Brittany said, shooting Puck an angry look.

Rachel had done nothing to betray Brittany. But her brother? Puck had promised Brittany that he wouldn't go after her roommate. He had swore that he wouldn't try to date Rachel, and there he was, talking about the date they would be going on. Still, Brittany wasn't going to jump to conclusions about losing her friendship with Rachel, and Rachel didn't know how Brittany felt about Puck dating her friends. So the blonde found that it was hard to be angry at her new friend.

When it came to her brother, however, she had no such restrictions. And she was going to make sure that he knew just how angry she was with him. The next time she got an opportunity to speak to him away from Rachel, he was going to get an earful and she wasn't going to give him a sweet, filtered version of her rage.

He was going to experience every last feeling in the strongest way she knew how. He was going to have to pay for what he had done to betray her and lose her trust.

And if Brittany ended up losing the first friend she had made at her new school who had given her two other great friends and caused her to have two powerful enemies, she was going to kill her brother. Brittany didn't regret any of the decisions she had made so far in her time at her new school, but if everything she had done had been for naught because Puck went and ruined it, the same way he had ruined just about every other friendship she had ever had in her life, she knew how horrible her life would be at this school.

But, then again-she couldn't really be too angry with Puck, she decided, as she shot a look towards Sam. If Rachel was going to go out with Brittany's brother, she couldn't possibly have a problem with Brittany going out with Sam, if the opportunity every arose. And Brittany really hoped that she would get a chance to date him soon.