The next week flew by for Rachel, having set her focus on her grades and on Glee club. She had come up with some ideas for her set list, but she wasn't ready to share them yet, building up her shell for a while to take on the insults whenever she would suggest a solo for herself.

She found strength in having Puck as her best friend. From him, she learned about confidence and about how not to take anybody's crap. Of course, he picked up a few lessons from Rachel himself, like anger management and showing up to class.

She went to work with Noah around 3 times a week for about an hour, sketching ideas for arrangements with Estelle. She found it as a breath of fresh air from her usual work in Glee.

Finn felt a dark storm cloud coming overhead. It was almost Quinn's birthday, and he had no idea what to get her. He knew that what he got her would be talked about all around school, and it would be the perfect time to raise his reputation in the school. It would definitely make people take his relationship seriously after it had crumbled to pieces last year.

He pulled up into the first floral shop he could find downtown, and took a deep breath. Stepping out of his silver Honda Accord, he felt like a boy lost in the woods. He walked into the store hesitantly, only to see a very familiar face at the counter.

"Welcome to Estelle's," Rachel said, not looking up. When she finally did, she fell silent, her eyes growing wide. "Oh, hi, Finn."

His jaw dropped, and suddenly he felt even more queasy. "Rachel? I, I didn't know you worked here, I swear. I didn't even know you had a job. Did you ever tell me that?" he blurted out.

She laughed, which surprised Finn even more. Usually, she would be offended or correct something he said, but she actually laughed. Who was this? "I started a week ago. Noah actually worked here first," she explained.

Finn's face fell once more. "Oh. That's cool," he said, looking down at his shoes. It was still like rubbing salt in the wound everytime there was some connection made between Rachel and Puck. Of course, he told himself that he had moved on to greener pastures, but it still bothered him to see her actually moving on.

"So, can I help you anything?" Rachel asked, breaking the small pause that occurred. Right when Finn was about to answer, Puck popped out of the back room.

"Sup Finnegan," he said, strolling in with his pink t-shirt on.

"Hey man," Finn smiled weakly, nodding at him. "Never pictured you as a hot pink kind of guy."

"Rules are rules," Puck shrugged. He seemed to be taking all the manly jokes well, Rachel had observed. She didn't want to prematurely say that Puck was actually becoming, well, mature. "Whatcha here for?"

Finn shifted uncomfortably, knowing that it was just his luck that he had to discuss it with the two people he didn't want to. He started to speak up, when Puck cut him off once again.

"Wait, I know, it's Quinn's birthday this Wednesday," Puck said, which resulted in a surprised Finn and Rachel. "What?"

"You didn't strike me as a guy who remembered people's birthdays. That's all, Noah," Rachel replied, in which Noah just shrugged.

Finn agreed with Rachel. In fact, he was most surprised with the fact that he actually remembered a girl's birthday, who was not his mom. "So yeah, I need to get her some flowers," he said unsurely.

Puck watched Rachel as she listened to Finn, making sure that she wasn't about to cry again. She seemed to be holding up just fine, and he was impressed. He didn't know how far Rachel had come until now. He had to admit, he admired the fact that she looked like she wasn't hurt at all. He knew she was. If anything, Puck was the best lie detector around, despite the fact that he was a shitty liar.

"Okay," Rachel replied, putting on a smile. "You can take a look around and look for an arrangement and tell me if you see something you like."

Finn nodded, and started to take a walk around the store. Once his back was turned, Puck gave Rachel the look as if he was asking she was okay, and she returned with a quick nod.

Finn turned back around, feeling hopeless. "Umm… I really don't know what to pick," he said, staring blankly at the two.

"Orchids, Hudson," Puck replied flatly. "Her favorites are orchids." The response shocked Finn and Rachel even more. It never came across their mind that Puck had even cared about Quinn, but maybe they were wrong. "Don't look at me like I'm crazy, I figured you at least knew what her favorite flowers are."

Finn's jaw dropped once more, as he started to stammer. "I, I didn't know that, s-she never told me," he said. "But I guess I'll take those then."

Rachel, trying to break the awkward tension, tried to display some form of excitement. "I actually sketched out the perfect arrangement in class today! I think it's my best so far," she said enthusiastically, and pulled out a pink sketchbook from underneath the counter. She flipped open to the page where her sketch was. It was a gorgeous combination of pink orchids, ivory lilies and pink roses.

Finn's eyes grew wide. "That's…" he started to say, then looked up at Rachel. "Beautiful." She blushed deeply when he looked at her, and started looking everywhere else around the room.

"So yeah, you're going to need a message with the flowers, and I can type that up for you real quick here," she said, opening up a program.

"Uhh, happy birthday?" Finn suggested, quite unsurely.

Rachel shook her head. "No, definitely not. You need something bolder than that," she argued. Then she realized this would be her chance to try to make it seem like she was a new Rachel Berry, one who was happy for her friends. Even the one that she was still in love with. "I got it. How about this? Happy birthday, to the most beautiful girl in the world. Love, Finn."

Finn felt a lump rise in his throat. He wanted to tell her that he didn't want to lie to Quinn, because he knew that Rachel was the most beautiful girl in the world by miles. But he couldn't, because he didn't want to wreck what progress he had already made. "Um, yeah. That sounds good," he managed to say.

Rachel smiled weekly. "That's going to be $30," she said. "You can pick it up on Wednesday either before school, at lunch or afterschool. I won't be here then, of course, but I'll tell Estelle that you're coming back."

"Oh, alright," he said. He pulled out a $20 bill and a $10 from his wallet, and handed it to Rachel, who traded it with a receipt. "Thanks."

She nodded, and then watched Finn walk out of the door with his hands in his pockets. When he left the store, she felt the thickness of tension dissipate, and she looked at Puck as they headed to the back room.

"You alright there, Berry?" he asked. Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes, and she shook her head, as Puck walked over to give her a hug. She buried her face on his firm chest, and started sobbing lightly. "I gotta admit, I'm pretty impressed at how you stuck through the whole thing."

She lifted her face off of his chest and smiled weakly at her best friend. "I d-didn't know how m-much you cared about Quinn," she replied threw small sobs.

"I don't," Puck said dryly. When Rachel was about to open her mouth to protest, he raised up a hand. "Look, just because I remember every little thing she said, doesn't mean I'm in love with her. I'm not. I wasn't good enough for her anyway."

Rachel let out a laugh. "So in other words, you did care about her," she smiled.

"Why does it matter if I did, anyway?" Puck shrugged. "I guess we just have to watch them crash and burn, Berry. And maybe hope they're not too damaged afterwards."

Rachel's eyes widened at Puck's insightful statement. "Wow, that was… very meaningful, Noah," she said, and paused for a few seconds. "I just wish that he misses me, even just a little bit."

"You never know, Berry," he replied. "C'mon, let's close up."