Thursday game night had become a sick little ritual that Rachel had somehow sweet-talked him into.

Puck wasn't sure how exactly she'd managed that considering (a) she wasn't his girlfriend, (b), she wasn't having sex with him, and (c) she wouldn't even make him dinner.

But every Thursday, Puck faithfully showed up and partnered with his crazy roommate. At least she was a decent partner, because Puck hated to lose.

Tonight, however, was a different story. There was no fucking way he was down with whatever had Kurt Hummel zipping around the room.

"It's called The Fiancée Game! It's for" – pause for dramatic effect – "engaged couples."

Puck prayed to God right then and there that he would never again hear the high-pitched noise Rachel Berry emitted at that moment as she flung herself across the Blaine and Kurt's coffee table to practically strangle both guys in a hug.

Puck sent a commiserating glance at the other two people in the room, a relatively sane lesbian couple that lived in Kurt's building, but they were both grinning at Rachel's antics.

"God, Berry, let 'em breathe," Puck finally interjected, then offered a hand to Blaine. "Congrats, man. You too, Hummel."

"Oh, Kurt, Blaine, I'm just so happy for you! Engaged!" Rachel shook her hair back and sighed deeply as she regained her seat. "I can't wait to hear all your wedding plans. I still have some of my binders, since, well, you know." She turned to the other two women. "I was almost engaged once-"

"To my step-brother," Kurt interjected for the women, since obviously Puck and Blaine already knew that.

Rachel continued without missing a beat. "We planned our whole futures together." Her lower lip trembled before she resolutely firmed it and gave the room a winning (and fake ass) smile. "No offense, Kurt, but I hope he dies."

Puck glanced at Rachel, expecting another diatribe of how she'd wasted the best years of her life on Finn Hudson, and all she had to show for it was living in Puck's guest bedroom. But, oddly enough, she seemed finished. He turned back to their hosts. "We, like, don't have to actually play that, right? Because Berry and I are not engaged."

Kurt pouted a little.

"Not just dies, burns," Rachel muttered darkly next to him.

"And that's more than fucking okay with me," Puck added and rolled his eyes. It was just his luck to end up with the two biggest divas in New York City as his closest friends.

"I wanna step on his face with a golf shoe." That from the midget at his side.

Puck knew from a decade of dealing with Rachel Berry, there was only one way to drag her out of her self-involved pit: shock her. "That's very hostile. Hey, Berry, wanna get married?"

Rachel looked up, her brown eyes wide. "Sure, Noah!" she said brightly without even stopping to consider. "Why not? We already live together."

The game, as expected, sucked balls. Big hairy ones. But he and Berry cleaned up, kicking the asses of everyone around the table.

While Blaine tried to coax Kurt out of the bathroom with, "Of course, we should still get married. It was just a game!" Rachel wrapped her scarf around her throat while Puck held her coat open.

"Kurt, honey, I'll talk to you tomorrow!" Rachel called while slipping her arms into her coat sleeves, then mouthed an "I'm sorry" at Blaine who waved them out. In the hallway, Rachel grinned at Puck. "I know I should be sorry for potentially ruining their engagement, but I just love winning!"

Puck laughed and moved his arm to accommodate hers as she wrapped her hand into the crook. "We make a kick-ass team, babe."

"We really do," she agreed, stepping into the elevator before him. "Sometimes we work so well together that it's like we've been married forever."

"You've been living with me for about two years, so in celebrity marriages that practically is forever." He smirked as she giggled.

"Maybe you should tell your mom that and she'd finally get off your back about us dating."

Puck considered it, and then shook his head. "Nah, she'd just get started on, 'Noah, when are you going to give me my awesome looking, musically talented, badass Jewish grandbabies?'"

Rachel laughed at his impression as they walked out onto the sidewalk, causing a few passer-bys to grin in their direction. "Is that how she describes your future children?"

"Nah, she just wants 'em Jewish. But face it: you and me together? If we had a kid? That's exactly what he'd be."

"Oh, Noah." Rachel rested her head on this arm for a moment as they continued walking.

Puck glanced down at her, concerned. This was the longest he'd heard her silent in nearly two years. "What's up, Rach?"

"Don't you think it's sad that the first time someone has asked me a question even remotely related to getting married – other than times including the words 'when are you' – was during a game?"

Puck thought about it for a moment. He moved his arm a bit to bump her head up so she'd look at him. "Finn's a moron, Berry. And you'll hear it. One day. And you'll be glad it wasn't Hudson who asked you."

"You can't know that, Noah."

He stopped to hold the door to their building open for her. As she passed him, he couldn't help himself. "Yes, I can, Rachel. Believe me."

And for the first time in ten years, Rachel Berry looked at him without Finn-colored glasses.

For the "Boy Meets World" prompt:

Topanga: It's the Fiancee game. It's for engaged couples.

Rachel: Oh, I was almost engaged once. We planned our whole futures together. I hope he dies.
Eric: [to Cory and Topanga] We don't actually have to be engaged to play the game, do we?
Rachel: [rambling to self] Not just dies, burns...
Eric: [to Cory and Topanga] 'Cause that'd be okay with me.
Rachel: [rambling to self] I wanna step on his face with a golf shoe...
Eric: [cheerfully] That's very hostile. Will you marry me?
Rachel: Sure, why not? We already live together.