Chapter title from You Make My Dreams by Hall and Oates. R and R please :D

Chapter 6: What I want, you've got.

It was like a scene from a movie. He seemed to lean in almost in slow motion, or at least that was how it felt to Rachel. Here it was: the opportunity she used to dream about. Should she take it?

Before she could finish the battle that was raging in her head, his lips crushed down onto hers. She was kissing Finn Hudson...again. But this time, for some reason, it didn't feel…right. Was it his lips? Perhaps they weren't as soft as Noahs. Or was it the way he was kissing…perhaps he'd lost his touch? No. Rachel knew why it was a bad kiss – it was because she really wanted to be kissing someone else.

Rachel pulled away quickly, and noticed the immediate hurt and anger in Finn's eyes.

"Finn…I'm sorry. I…I can't do this."

"Why not?"

Rachel stayed silent. She'd never really had to reject anyone before; it was always her that was rejected. Apparently she didn't need to say anything. Finn must have (finally) worked it out.

"It's Puck, isn't it?"

"Yes. It's Noah."

"Why do you like him? He's a jerk to everyone, including me, and I'm his best friend! Or rather, I was…"

Ah, yes, it all came crashing back to her now. The kiss had momentarily disarmed her, but it came flooding back. Noah is the father of Quinn's baby. How could they possibly have the same carefree relationship that they have enjoyed? Could she trust him after this, seeing as he kept such a huge, life changing secret from her? Finn was evidently thinking the same thing.

"How can you stand him? Knowing that he slept with her and lied to us the whole time?"

While she was normally a self-confessed know-it-all, Rachel really didn't have an answer to that question. She didn't know how she could stand him. But deep down, she just knew that she could. After everything he had done to her: the slushies, the torment, the insults, being the father of Quinn Fabray's baby…none of it seemed to matter anymore. She knew the real Noah…the kind, sweet, actually kind of smart man that he had become. So she knew that what was about to come out of her mouth was completely and utterly true.

"Because…well, Finn…I think I have fallen in love with him. The rest…well, it will all work itself out."

And with that, Rachel turned away from Finn and walked out of the dressing rooms.

Puck had gone straight home after the confrontation with Rachel. He didn't have the energy for any of it; the impending fights with Finn and Quinn, the fact that soon everyone at McKinley would know…but he knew, that worst of all, Rachel would be humiliated by all of this. That's what he hated the most.

He flopped onto his bed, exhausted, but also a little drowsy from the bourbon. Alcohol always made him sleepy. Within minutes, he was sound asleep.

Puck was standing on the stage in the auditorium. The spotlight was on him; the light was blinding and the heat was intense. He looked around in confusion. What the hell am I doing here?

Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming towards him; the sound of high heels clacking against the stage seemed to echo throughout the room. He whirled around to see who it was. Rachel Berry – but, a different Rachel – was walking towards him. She seemed older; she was dressed in business attire, wearing bold red lipstick, her chestnut coloured hair styled in light curls. She was wearing black pumps, and had a sneer on her face that made Puck uneasy. He should be turned on, seeing her dressed like that, but for some reason, he was only scared.

"You're a pig, Noah Puckerman."

OK, that stung.

"Yeah, but you deserve it."

Puck was shocked. It was as if Rachel could read his thoughts.

"I can. I know everything now. And since I got rid of you, I've never been happier. Sorry, honey, you're just a Lime loser, dragging me down."

She sneered at him. What is going on? Puck thought. Suddenly, Finn came out of the shadows and stood next to Rachel. He was wearing a sneer exactly like she was. He looped his arm around her waist, and pulled her into a big, long, passionate kiss.

Anger boiled up inside Puck, and he made to storm over there and beat the shit out of Finn…but he couldn't move. It was as if he was super-glued to the ground. Rachel and Finn laughed at him.

"You brought this on yourself, you know."

He whipped his head around to see Santana sitting on the piano, filing her nails.

"You really should have just kept it in your pants, then you wouldn't be in this mess. I am so glad it's not me in her maternity wear…"

Puck tried to move, but again he was stuck. He was trapped.

"Not as trapped as me. My parents are going to kill me. And now I have nobody…"

He looked to his front and there was Quinn, sitting front row centre, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"You got me pregnant. It's all your fault. Everything's…wrong…"

She got up and walked onto the stage. Santana jumped off of the piano sauntered towards him. Rachel and Finn held hands and followed Santana. They converged on him, and collectively screamed one fact.

"It's all your fault!"

Puck awoke in a cold sweat. It was that reoccurring dream he'd been having. It was his worst fear come to life.

Rachel walked into Glee the next day and found the group remarkably smaller. Santana had apparently quit, leaving their Sectionals hopes dashed, and Quinn hadn't turned up to school. Finn was there, but not really there – he sat in the corner, fuming, Mr Schuester trying to talk to him. Puck wasn't there either. When Finn saw Rachel walk in the door, his expression got darker, and he grabbed his bag, jumped up and left the room.

"Hey, Finn! We haven't finished here!"

Mr Schue ran after Finn. At the same time, the remaining members of the Glee club converged on Rachel

"So girl, what happened?" Mercedes asked, her eyes alight with the thrill of new juicy gossip.

"Yeah, what did happen? Finn's a mess, Quinn's getting crucified, Puck's drunk as a sailor down by the bleachers, and Santana…well, she's just a bitch."

Rachel laughed at Kurt's description of things. He actually had it pretty spot on.

She looked around at everyone. Artie and Tina sat next to each other, holding hands. Wait…when did that happen? Rachel thought. Matt and Mike sat apart slightly, as if they knew they shouldn't be gossiping, but leant forward like they wanted to know everything. Brittany just sat next to Rachel and put her arm around her shoulder.

"It's OK Rachel, like, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. We know how much you are totally, like, in love with Puck."

"I wasn't…I'm not in…love…"

Rachel looked around at these people, her people, her friends, even people like Matt and Mike and Brittany, people she never thought she would be friends with. She knew that they would support her. This was her group - the Glee club. And, with this knowledge, she broke down into tears and told them everything. And they sat there, and listened, and supported their friend.

Mr Schuester couldn't find Finn. He was walking back to Glee club, but just before he walked in the door, he looked in the window. The kids were huddled around Rachel, who was crying. Will knew something was happening, probably with the baby, and he had to find out what, because it was killing his Glee kids. But he saw Kurt and Mercedes, listening to Rachel, their faces reacting whenever she told them an apparently juicy detail. Artie and Tina sat, frowning at what they were hearing. Matt and Mike were sitting slightly apart from the others, but were still in the group. Brittany (who, Will thought, was actually a pretty good kid) sat with her arm around Rachel, comforting her.

"Give them time, Will, they are good kids. They will help each other through whatever it is."

Will turned around and saw Emma Pillsbury standing behind him. He knew she was right; she was always right about this stuff.

"Come on, Will, how about we get a coffee from the teacher's lounge while they sort this out?"

Will nodded, and with one last look at his glee kids, turned and walked down the hall with Emma. He knew they would be alright.

Puck sat underneath the bleachers, finishing off the bottle of vodka he had stolen from his mom's liquor cabinet, and smoking a joint. He knew he could very well be expelled for this, but he didn't really care anymore. There was nothing for him at McKinley now – Quinn wouldn't let him be the father of the baby, Finn hated him and his impending dumping from Rachel was too much for him to bear.

He looked up and saw Finn marching towards him. This should be interesting, he thought.

"PUCKERMAN!"

Finn looked angry as hell. He threw his bag on the ground, and pulled Puck up by his collar.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't find out?"

Puck just looked at him. He knew he would look like a douche bag, but the alcohol and weed really made him drowsy.

"She didn't want you to know, man. Besides, you should be baking me a damn cake, now that you don't have to deal with this."

He hardly felt the blow that came down onto his face.

"What did you say?"

"Look, she wanted you, man. I offered to be the father, and she chose you."

The second blow to his face was muffled. He could see blood dripping onto the ground, but he couldn't feel it running down his face.

"That doesn't matter! You should have told me! You're my best friend!"

The third blow was only slightly painful.

"She wants you, Finn. She wants you to be the father."

Bam. Bam. Bam. Three successive blows and Puck felt almost nothing. He waited patiently for the fourth one, but it never came. He opened his eyes, and saw Finn crying beside him, blood all over his knuckles. Puck shuffled over to his friend, and put his hand on his shoulder. He expected it to be shoved away instantly, but instead Finn hugged him. Puck decided to return the hug. Despite his usual hate of any public displays of affection with other guys, he didn't mind it.

"I wish I was the father", Finn said into Pucks shoulder.

"You are dude. You may not be its bio dad, but you are its real dad."

As much as Puck hated to say it, it was the truth.

Puck had walked home that night. It took him nearly an hour, but he knew it was better than driving his truck home drunk and high. He knocked on his door (he couldn't be bothered getting his keys out of his pocket). His mom answered. She looked horrified when he had opened the door to see her son with dried blood all over his face and all over his clothes. When he saw her, he broke down into tears, and she pulled him into a hug – a comforting motherly hug.

"Noah, sweetheart, what's wrong?"

Puck sniffed loudly, and she pulled him out of the hug and grasped his face in her hands, surveying her son's bloodied face.

"It's all my fault, mom."

His mom had cleaned his wounds (Finn had actually done some damage) while he told her everything – the baby, Quinn's lie, Finn crying and what was sure to come with Rachel. After she had finished, she sent him upstairs to soak in the bath. He had stayed there for nearly an hour, and when he had hopped out of the tub, dressed and gone downstairs and found that dinner was made for him. He ate in silence, his little sister opening and shutting her mouth as if to say something, her mother giving her a rude look that silenced her before the words came out. Puck finished, rinsed off his plate and walked upstairs to his room. He tried to play something on the guitar, but it just didn't sound right.

Maybe it's because she's not here to sing to it.

He looked at his alarm clock – it was 7:45pm. He sighed, and flopped down on his bed. Almost instantly, he drifted off to sleep.

"Honey, wake up! Quickly, she's here!"

Puck's eyes fluttered open.

"Come on, mom, five more minutes…"

Puck's mom pulled the covers off of him, which caused him to groan in annoyance.

"Get up, Noah, she's here!"

"Alright, alright, let her in…"

He had expected Quinn to come around at some point to discuss what would happen now that the truth was out. He just didn't think it would be this soon.

"Come in sweetie, he's awake."

Puck's mom looked down the stairs at her, a small smile on her face. When she finally reached the top of the stairs, Puck felt like throwing up – he was feeling happiness, sadness, fear, lust and guilt all at the same time, and it made his stomach churn. There, walking into his room was Rachel Berry.

She shut the door and turned to face him, a small smile on her face.

"Hello."

The smile disappeared when she registered his face. She walked over and sat on the edge of the bed next to him, and looked at his wounds.

"Oh Noah, who did this?"

He chuckled nervously.

"Who do you think?"

After a few seconds, her mouth made a little O that showed she understood.

"Finn."

He nodded, and looked down at his hands.

"Rachel…I'm really sorry about everything. I should have told you about Quinn, but she didn't want anyone knowing, and she didn't want me to have anything to do with the baby."

Rachel just nodded.

"I know what's coming next, Rach, so just do it fast…like ripping off a bandaid."

Rachel tilted her head to one side and had a confused look on her face.

"What do you mean, Noah?"

"Well, this is you dumping me, right? I can't say I blame you, who would want to date a Lima loser like me who got his best friend's girlfriend pregnant and didn't tell anyone, especially his new girlfriend about it. It's all my fault, and it's cool, I understand."

She sighed slightly and looked sadly at her boyfriend.

"I don't want to break up with you, Noah. I actually came here to tell you that…well…I think I'm falling in love with you."

Puck's head whipped upwards in shock.

"What? Why?"

She giggled.

"Because, Noah, you are a smart, kind, loving human being. Sure, you may have kept this massive secret from me, but I know that you're a good person. After all, you were keeping it a secret out of respect for Quinn, and I admire that."

Puck rubbed the back of his neck; it was sore from the beating.

"Wow, Rach. I really thought that you were breaking up with me tonight."

"No, of course not, Noah. That is, if you still want to be with me, I mean now that Quinn's free you may want to start dating her…"

"No! I mean, she's great and I'll help her out with the baby and all, but I want to be with you!"

Rachel smiled and took his hand.

"But Rach, I want to be honest with you, I want no secrets between us. I know this may just make you want to dump me, but I need to tell you. The reason I first asked you out was because…well…my mom wanted me to date a Jewish girl. And I saw you wearing your Star of David and I realised you were Jewish, and you were really hot so I asked you out. But now I like you for other stuff too! Like how you sing, and how you use big words, and how annoying you can be, no really I love that! Rach…I think I might love you."

Her expression had gone to one of confusion, then anger, then sadness, then happiness all in the space of thirty seconds. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the lips. He winced a bit (he was worried that his split lip would start bleeding again), and she pulled away.

"Sorry Noah! I forgot!"

"That's cool, it was worth it. So…you don't want to dump me, then? Even after I've been such a jerk?"

"Noah, neither of us is perfect! Besides, I have something of my own to confess. Yesterday after you had told me about Quinn, I went to the auditorium to be alone. After a while, Finn came in, and he had obviously found out because he was angry too. He sat down beside me, and we were talking, and then suddenly…he kissed me. But I pulled away, I promise! As soon as his lips hit mine I knew that it was you that I wanted to be kissing, regardless of everything that had happened. And then I talked to the Glee club today and I realised that I shouldn't waste any time not being with you if I loved you so much. I only hope that you can forgive me for my actions."

Noah chuckled.

"You're already forgiven, Rach."

She smiled and kissed him again, this time longer and softer. He pulled away, and looked her in the eye.

"Rachel, I promise from now on I will never do anything to hurt you ever again."

Rachel smiled.

"I know that already, Noah, or I wouldn't be here right now."

He pulled her into a hug, wondering how he got so lucky.

On the other side of the door, his mom and his sister (who had listened to the whole conversation) jumped for joy.

A/N: All together now…awwwww! Yes, I had to give that chapter a fluffy ending! Anyway, please R and R, I really would like feedback on my writing as I want to write more stories in the future. So any constructive comments (hopefully positive :D) would be fantastic! The next chapter will be the last, and I can assure you that I will wrap up all the loose ends (mainly Quinn's baby drama, as I didn't want it to get in the way of the Puckleberry goodness :D). Thanks guys, and remember, reviews = love 3