AN: Wow, I can't believe this is the conclusion of "A Gleeful Christmas"! I hope you enjoy it!! Hopefully it's what you've been waiting for! ;o) Please R&R! :o)

Twelve Happy Faces

"We should do a Secret Santa," Kurt suggested.

"That would be fun," Mr. Schue agreed. "That way you all wouldn't have to spend all your money buying me something," he teased.

The kids groaned at his lame attempt to joke around, but they all agreed a name drawing could be fun. So, they all wrote down their names and threw them in the bowler hat Mr. Schuester had.

"There's that hat again," Brittany whispered to Santana. "I wonder if the duck is in it this time."

Santana figured that statement didn't even deserve a response so she just eyed Brittany and shushed her. Then, she threw her arm around Brittany's shoulder and gave her a side hug. Brittany smiled at her, glad her friend wasn't really mad at her.

They passed the hat around and picked names. Rachel had wanted to pick Puck's name so she was more than a little disappointed to get Mercedes'. But, she was sure she could find something appropriate for the club's dignified diva.

Puck hoped he would get Rachel's name. He already had her gift in mind. Instead, he picked Finn's name. That wasn't so bad, being that Finn was his best friend. But, he really wanted Rachel. He'd just have to find a way to get it.

In the lunch line, Puck heard Kurt and Mercedes talking about their Secret Santa names. He distinctly heard Kurt say the name Brittany. Hmm, he thought. What were the chances that Mike has Rachel's name? He supposed they could be pretty good odds, so he went to find Mike.

"Yo, Chang," Puck said when he reached the Asian boy. "Whose name do you have for Secret Santa?"

"I'm not telling you, Puck. That'd spoil the fun," Mike replied.

Puck glared at him. "Seriously? Spoil the fun?"

Mike faltered under Puck's hard gaze. "Okay, fine, I have Rachel," he sighed.

He knew it! Lady Luck was on Puck's side today.

"I feel weird buying a gift for another girl that's not Brittany," Mike said, interrupting Puck's thoughts.

"Yeah, I get that," Puck sympathized. "Listen, if I can get Brittany's name, will you trade me?"

"Sure, but why would you want Ra…" Mike stopped talking as a light bulb went off in his brain. "Ohhh, I get it," he concluded. "You want Rachel…"

Puck chuckled at Mike's use of words. "Yeah, something like that. We got a deal?"

"Totally, man," Mike said, pumping Puck's fist with his own.

"Awesome," Puck said.

Now to find Kurt.

"Hummel," Puck said, sliding into the seat next to Kurt. They had math together, and normally Puck didn't go, but they had their exam today.

"Puck," Kurt regarded the Mohawked boy with suspicion. "No, you may not cheat off my test."

Puck rolled his eyes. Contrary to popular belief, he actually studied. He just didn't enjoy attending class.

"Whatever, Beyoncé, I don't need your answers. I need your Secret Santa name," Puck explained.

"But I have Brittany's name," Kurt said, thoroughly confused. "Why would you want Brittany's name?"

"I just do, okay?" Puck spit out, getting irritated.

"Puck," Kurt began, "does this have anything to do with you manipulating the game somehow to get Rachel Berry's name?"

Puck did a double take. How did he know? Was he really that obvious?

"How did you know?" Puck hissed.

"I didn't," Kurt said. "But you just confirmed it," he finished smugly.

Puck groaned at his own stupidity. He had actually fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the book.

"What's in it for me?" Kurt asked.

"I've got Finn's name," Puck said proudly.

Kurt's eyes widened like saucers. He could hardly dedicate his love to Finn with a ten-dollar gift, but it was at least a good start. But yet, Kurt was conflicted. Sure, he wanted Finn's name, and he even wanted Puck and Rachel to get together, but he also believed in fate. If Puck and Rachel were meant to be together (and they were), then they didn't need a silly Secret Santa gift to push them along.

"I can't let you just influence the gift exchange in your favor. It's not fair," Kurt stated.

"What is it with everyone and being fair?!" Puck cried.

"Puck. You like Rachel. You don't need to pick her name to pick her," Kurt explained.

"I know that," he admitted quietly. "But it might help her to pick me."

Kurt sighed, not knowing what to say. He wasn't used to a semi-unconfident Puck.

"Look Hummel, I have Finn's name," he waved it tauntingly in Kurt's face, "Do you want it or not? What's it going to be?"

"Fine," Kurt sighed, grabbing Finn's name and shoving Brittany's name into Puck's hand. At least he tried.

"Good choice, Beyoncé," Puck said.

Now to find Mike again.

It was easy to make the trade with Mike. He was more than willing to give up Rachel's name for Brittany's.

When he finally had Rachel's name rightfully in his hands, Puck kept remembering Kurt's words. You don't need to pick her name to pick her. Puck knew that. He had picked Rachel a long time ago, but he meant what he said back to Kurt. He needed her to pick him.

"Okay, guys, are all the gifts on the piano?" Mr. Schue asked.

There was a chorus of "yeses" from the Glee kids. They were stuffing their mouths with Artie's mom's special cookies and Miss Pillsbury's chips and queso.

"First gift goes to," Mr. Schue paused for dramatic effect, "Mercedes."

She excitedly grabbed the bag and read the tag, "From one diva to another. Love, Rachel." She smiled at Rachel before lifting the gift out of the bag.

"Broadway Belter's Songbook," Mercedes read on the front cover. "Awesome! I love it! Thanks, Rachel."

"You're welcome, Mercedes," Rachel said quietly.

"Next up: Finn!" said Mr. Schue as he handed Finn a small, square box.

He opened it and smiled. "Sweet! Axe Hair Gel!" He looked at the tag on the front. "Thanks, Kurt! It's my favorite kind too!"

No one else heard Kurt mutter, "I know," but Puck did. He caught Kurt's eye and nodded. Kurt gave him a tiny smile of understanding.

Everyone opened their gifts one by one. They were surprised at how well they knew each other from the gifts they bought one another.

Rachel's name was soon called, and she reached for the bag that said "To Rachel, From Noah." She smiled at the use of his given name. No one was allowed to call him Noah, except for his mother, sister, and her. She held her breath in anticipation, wondering what Noah had gotten for her. She pulled out a three-pair pack of black patterned knee socks. Rachel did her best not to look disappointed. She thought she meant more to Noah than some old knee socks.

"Thank you, Noah. I can always use more socks," she forced herself to say with a smile.

"You're welcome," he shrugged.

Kurt and Mike looked at him like he'd stuck a fork in an electrical socket. They had switched the names all around so that he could get Rachel socks?!

The kids finished giving the gifts out, and then they went back to eating. Artie pulled out his guitar and Finn took to the drums for a jam session.

Puck slowly made his way over to Rachel. He had dodged dirty looks from Kurt and a questioning stare from Mike, but he got there.

"Hey, Rachel, can I talk to you for a second?" Noah asked carefully.

"Sure, what did you need, Noah?" Rachel replied.

He motioned for her to follow him away from the group a little. He situated them near the door out of everyone's way.

"Well, I just wanted to say that I have your real present," Noah started.

"What do you mean 'my real present'?" Rachel interrupted. "You gave me knee socks, which are lovely, by the way."

"Don't say that, Rach," Noah sighed. "You know the knee socks are lame."

"No, they aren't, Noah. I think it shows you have excellent observational skills seeing as how you realize knee socks are my hosiery of choice," she explained, holding out one leg for him to see.

Puck had to force himself not to stare at the shapely leg before him. He mentally shook himself to get back on track.

"Look, Rachel, I just got you the knee socks so you could open something in front of the group," he said exasperatedly.

Rachel looked at him in sheer confusion.

"I really wanted to give you this," he said, handing her a tiny red box.

She opened it warily and gasped when she saw what was inside. There, sitting on a black velvet pillow, was a Star of David necklace, much like the one she had broken at the children's hospital. Tears immediately made their way to Rachel's eyes as she looked to Noah for confirmation.

"Noah, it's beautiful," Rachel breathed. "This means so much to me; you have no idea."

Noah nervously wiped his hand on the base of his neck. He had a whole speech planned out to tell Rachel when he gave her the gift, but when he saw her start to cry, all the words left his brain.

"Rach, I'm not good when it comes to words. But, I just wanted to say that I messed up last year when we broke up. I should have fought harder to keep you. You were like, well you are, like, the best thing that's happened to me," Puck said all in one breath because he was afraid he wouldn't get it out otherwise.

Rachel's eyes widened considerably while he was saying his little speech, and her cheeks had reddened significantly too.

"Do you mean that?" she whispered.

"Yeah," he said assuredly. "I really do. Can we start over?"

Rachel paused for a moment. Then, she shook her head slowly, and Puck's heart dropped. He had opened himself up for this hurt, and now he had to take it like a man. He began to turn away, but Rachel's hand grasped his arm.

"When I shook my head no, it was because I don't want to start over, Noah. I want to move forward. What we had back then was good. What we've had these last few weeks has been better. Why spoil it by going in reverse?" she said tenderly.

Puck looked up at her to make sure he understood what she was saying. What he saw in her shining eyes made his heart soar. She cared for him just like he cared for her.

Just as he was about to take her in his arms and kiss her, they were interrupted by a loud clearing of the throat.

"Ahem," Kurt coughed.

When Puck and Rachel turned to Kurt, they found that the whole Glee club, along with Mr. Schuester, Miss Pillsbury, and even Brad the piano player, were watching them in anticipation. Kurt then smugly pointed to something just above their heads. Puck and Rachel looked up together and saw that they were standing underneath a sprig of mistletoe.

"I do believe you know what that means," Kurt said haughtily.

"Yeah, I do," Puck said, smirking. "It doesn't really matter, because I would've done it anyway."

And with that, he swept Rachel into a dramatic dip then pressed his lips to hers. She melted into him, and he smiled against her lips.

The room let out a collective sigh of approval. Puck pulled away from Rachel to stand her back upright, and they all laughed when Rachel grabbed Puck by his collar to kiss him once more.

Merry Christmas, indeed.

AN2: I can't believe I finished my first multi-chapter fanfic! Yay! *shameless plug alert* Please check out my other story: Long Time Coming. It's a Puckleberry story, and I'd love to have your feedback on it! *end shameless plug alert* Thanks again for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Remember, R&R = Love (and an awesome Christmas present to me!) :o)

Merry Christmas, everyone!

~Mallory~