A.N. – Who else adored Rachel and Puck in "Mash-Up"? I wish they didn't break up…Oh, and who else is excited about Defying Gravity?!

Chapter title taken from Hysteria by Muse. Enjoy!

Chapter 3 – I want you now

Puck was waiting at the movie theatre, nervous as hell. He was stumped – he was never this nervous before a date – ever. It made him even more nervous to think that the girl who was doing this to him was Rachel freaking Berry. That annoying, crazy…smart, sexy, talented girl…Puck mentally slapped himself – this was getting out of hand. He needed to be his usual confident smooth self, he needed to man up. He went into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face. His heart rate was slowing down now, and his palms became less clammy. That's better, Puck thought, now, stay calm. She's just a girl…she's just Rachel. He walked with a little more swagger out of the bathroom, but the confidence he had re-gained drained out of him at the sight of Rachel waiting for him.

She was dressed in the same yellow dress that she wore for the girl's mash-up a couple of weeks before (he was even remembering what she wore – what was going on with him?). She was wearing a black belt with it and – this made his heart skip a beat – she wore sky-high black pumps. Her hair was curled nicely and looked really soft. Puck seemed to be frozen where he stood. She was so hot. Rachel turned around and saw him, and immediately a huge smile broke out onto her face. She gave a small wave, and began walking towards him. He shut his mouth and gave a small wave back. He smoothed down his clothes nervously, and waited for what seemed like hours until she reached him.

"Hello, Noah."

"Hey Berry."

God, she looked good. She actually made his heart beat so fast it felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. He smiled and chuckled nervously.

"So, Berry, what do you feel like seeing?"

"Oh no, Noah, It's your choice, remember?"

Oh yeah, he had forgot that. He chuckled nervously, and Rachel seemed to sense his anxiety.

"Well, I see that you have not picked a movie yet. How about…"

She turned to face the movie times. Puck looked at her face. She had really nice brown eyes that matched nicely with her brown hair. Her skin looked really smooth, and Puck had to fight the urge to reach out and touch her face. And her lips – so red and full – made Puck want to make out with her right then and there.

"…The Time Traveller's Wife?"

Puck snapped out of his daze when she turned back to him.

"Uh…yeah…whatever you want to see is fine with me!"

He flashed a smile and saw her blushing, which hyped up his confidence a bit. They bought tickets and some popcorn and sat in the theatre, waiting for the movie to start.

"So, here we are Noah, on our first date. Does it feel a little strange to you too?"

"Yeah, I mean, two weeks ago I was throwing slushies in your face, and you thought that I was…what was it that you called me?"

"A terrible, deplorable and horrid man who would not know dignity or kindness if it slapped him in the face?"

"Ha, yeah that could be it"

Wow, Puck thought, she really hated me…

"But Noah, please know that I do not feel that way anymore. After getting to know you over the past fortnight, my views of your personality have completely changed! I no longer see you as the contemptible Neanderthal who has made my high school social life a living hell."

Now, Puck may not have understood all of what Rachel said, but he sure understood the last bit. He felt a stab of guilt in the pit of his stomach.

"Look Rachel, I'm really sorry for all the stuff I've done over the last year. I acted like a complete jerk off."

Rachel gave a small laugh.

"Yeah, you did! But I forgive you Noah. I can tell that you have really changed, and so I accept your apology."

Rachel smiled at him, and the lights in the cinema went down as the movie started. Puck couldn't believe that she was forgiving him for all the stuff he had done to her. If someone had done that to him, he would want to beat them to a bloody pulp.

Puck could hardly concentrate on the movie. Chick flicks weren't his thing anyway, but it was mostly because of Rachel. Even in the dim light of the cinema she looked sexy. Her face would light up when the movie was happy or funny and her lips would make a little pout whenever she was sad or angry. Puck found it quite amusing. He didn't realise how long he had been looking at her – and not paying attention to the movie – because before he knew it the lights were on again and Rachel turned to him.

"So, what did you think of the film?"

"Oh, um, it was…alright…"

"You weren't paying much attention to the film were you?"

"Would you be mad if I said no?"

Rachel chuckled.

"No…I actually am touched that you would choose a movie that I would like in order to make me happy."

She smiled and Puck's stomach did a small flip. What is going on with me? He thought. I'm turning into a chick. Rachel turned to him.

"So, it's getting pretty late, and we have school tomorrow, so I better call my dads now."

She pulled out her phone. Puck didn't know what he was doing, it was as if his body was acting completely on its own – and he grabbed the phone out of her hand.

"Don't bother, Rach. I'll give you a lift home."

"But Noah, we live on opposite sides of Lima! I don't want to be an imposition…"

"Come on, Rach, you're never an imposition! Besides, you can't call your dads if I've got your phone!"

Puck backed away from her.

"Come on, Noah, give it back!"

Her words may have said 'no', but her actions were saying 'yes'. She took a couple of steps towards him, and he took a couple of steps back. The Rachel said something very un-Rachel like.

"It's ON, Noah Puckerman!"

With that, she sprinted towards him, and he immediately took off in the direction of his car. Rachel chased him, laughing and puffing at the same time, and Puck was laughing along with her. They chased each other around cars in the parking lot.

"Come on, Rach, is that all you've got?"

"I'm going to get you Noah!"

Puck ran around the side of the car and made a bee line for his truck. He had almost made it too…until he was tackled from the side and hit the concrete with a thud.

"Ouch! God! Are you sure you shouldn't be on the football team Berry?!"

"Yeah, I know, I think I'm better than half the guys on your team! Oh gosh that hurt!"

Puck pulled Rachel so that she was lying on top of him. They laughed, but that all stopped when they looked into each other's eyes. Puck couldn't remember ever wanting to kiss someone more, and the way that Rachel's eyes kept flickering to his lips made him think that she wanted to do the same. He was going to reach up and meet her full lips…but she beat him to it. The kiss was intense. At first it was soft, and Rachel pulled away slightly, and studied his face. He thought something was wrong – what had he done? But then she smiled and brought her lips to his. He kissed her hungrily, and she did the same – flicking her tongue against hit lips, begging him to open them. He flipped them over so that she was underneath him, and obliged. They kissed for ages; it seemed like hours – until they were distracted by a bright light shining in their faces.

"Hey kids! There's a hotel down the street, huh?"

Puck and Rachel looked up at the security guard who was looking at them with a bemused look on his face. They giggled to themselves, and Puck helped Rachel off of the ground. Rachel straightened her skirt and brushed the dirt off of her shirt.

"Thank you sir, we will be leaving now."

She giggled and pulled on Puck's hand. Puck gave the security guard a salute and let Rachel pull him away. He put his arm around her waist and walked towards the truck.

"Come on, Rach, I'll take you home…eventually!"

Puck woke up in a cold sweat for the sixteenth night in a row. He kept having this reoccurring dream – but he could never fully remember it when he woke up. He knew Rachel was in it; Santana too – and Finn, who kept yelling at him. But he just couldn't figure out what they were saying to him.

The reception had been somewhat icy when Puck and Rachel had gone public with their relationship. The Cheerios and most of the football team completely distanced themselves from him, which confused him, as normally his badassness could make anything cool. The glee club on the other hand accepted the couple with open arms – except Finn, Quinn, Santana and Brittany. Finn was still his friend, but Puck sensed something behind the niceness that made Puck suspicious. Quinn became even more horrible to Rachel, yet even nicer to Puck. Santana and Brittany followed Quinn's lead and were vile to Rachel – but the rest of Glee managed to keep them under control. Puck and Rachel didn't really notice though – they were wrapped up in each other. Puck had never felt like this about anyone – he actually wanted to be with Rachel for her looks and her personality. Sure, she could be a bit of a smart ass and could drive people crazy, but Puck had actually come to like those things about her. She didn't take any of his crap, and he didn't take any of hers – in that way, they kept each other under control. One thing that also made Puck happy was that Rachel never stared at Finn anymore – this showed that she truly liked him.

About a week after they went public, Puck had finished football practice late, as he had given Coach Tanaka some lip, and so had to run laps. He was looking through his bag, and realised that he had left his sheet music for Sectionals in the music room. He walked over to the main building and was let in by the janitor. Puck walked towards the room, but realised that he could hear voices…and he knew exactly who those voices belonged to.

"Look, Rachel, I'm just looking out for you, OK?"

"Looking out for me? Just admit it Finn, you are jealous of Noah and me! You're jealous because my feelings for you have gone away."

Blood rushed to Puck's head. How dare Finn, who was supposed to be his best friend, say these things?

"OK, fine, maybe I am jealous! But seriously Rach, Puck? I'm his best friend, and I know his track record with women! You will be just another one of his conquests, and I couldn't stand to see you hurt!"

"How dare you, Finn Hudson! How dare you say that you couldn't stand to see me hurt! You cannot say those things to me, not after you rejected me! So, I moved on – and Noah is a brilliant person, and I don't believe for a second that he will hurt me! Goodbye Finn! I can't stand to be around you right now."

Puck heard Rachel grab her bag and storm out of the room. He tried to duck into the neared classroom when –

"Noah?"

Rachel's soft voice made him nervous – she clearly knew that he had heard everything. Finn rushed out of the room, clearly in an attempt to catch Rachel before she left. He saw Puck and stopped in his tracks. All three stood stock still, waiting for someone to speak. Puck looked at Rachel, whose eyes were glistening, clearly about to burst out into tears. He looked at Finn, who looked guilty, and it angered Puck to see that Finn kept looking at Rachel longingly, clearly wanting to make her feel better. Puck gave Finn an angry look, and put his arm around Rachel, leading her to his car. They walked in silence, and got into his car. Puck sighed, and turned to her.

"Rachel, are you only with me to make him jealous?"

What silence that followed was the longest few seconds of Noah Puckerman's life.