Spoilers: Up to The Rhodes Not Taken

Disclaimer: See first part.

Notes: Part 3. Wherein Puck and Rachel are thrown together in Glee, sure to become a mega fandom cliché. Once again, I'd like to say 'thank you' for the reviews! I love that so many people are into Puck/Rachel. The bad boy thrall is tough to resist, I guess. Up next, possibly my favourite part thus far featuring: a road trip, people other than Puck and Rachel and cookies.

iii. Let's Roll

Mr. Schue had walked into Glee that day and told the assembled club members that he had a new project for them. He had paired them up, and selected songs for duets. Something about building trust and team work through song. Puck had stopped listening. Until he'd heard his name.

And Rachel's. Together. As in duet partners. Seriously? He was spending way too much time near Rachel Berry lately.

Mr. Schuester had allotted twenty minutes for the pairs to meet and plan before the whole group began rehearsing the numbers they were performing at the next competition.

Puck glanced around. The other groups were together. Finn and Quinn. Mercedes and Santana. Kurt and Mike. Artie and Brittany. Tina and Matt.

Mr. Schue was not subtle kind of guy.

He handed Puck sheet music to a song called, 'Set Yourself On Fire.'

Mr. Schue was so not a comedian. Was that a smirk Puck detected? He was pretty sure that teachers were not allowed to smirk at students.

Rachel was sitting about as far away from him as she possibly could while still being in the same room. It was kind of nice to know that he wasn't the only one trying to preserve the 'Puck and Rachel hate each other' dynamic.

She looked across the room at him. He looked back steadily. He was not about to move over there.

Finn slapped him across the back of his head. Not gently.

"Ow! Dude, what the hell?"

"Go over there. And be nice."

"Ha! Good one, man. Nice."

Finn glared. You'd think a glare from Finn would be intimidating, considering that the dude was kind of a giant, but it wasn't. Puck knew that in a fight they'd be fairly evenly matched. He spent way more time in the weight room and watching ultimate fighting than Finn did.

But Puck was still feeling kinda shitty about the whole 'sex with Quinn' thing. So he humored Finn and got up and walked over to Rachel.

He sat down next to her but didn't say anything. No greeting, and no digs at her clothes, her appearance or her personality. And wasn't that nice of him?

She took the sheet music from his hand.

"I've never heard this song. Have you heard this song?"

He grunted. Rachel correctly took that was a no.

In no time Rachel had whipped out her laptop and downloaded a copy of the song, the album, as well as a brief bio of the band. Stars. He bet she liked that, at least.

"Do you want me to e-mail you a copy? We can both listen to it tonight to become familiar and than meet up tomorrow to compare notes and ideas."

He ignored that she wasn't really asking. And he actually gave her his e-mail address.

Wow. He was capable of not being a total dick to Rachel Berry without parental supervision or ulterior motives. Who knew?

"Great! I have third period free, you?"

"Same."

"The choral room is free then. I usually use it to go through some material for MySpace but I suppose I can devote a day to this."

"Whatever."

Mr. Schuester called for them to get into position.

That evening, after football practice, and leftover spaghetti, he went over to his computer to check his e-mail. Rachel had sent the song Mr. Schue had assigned, as well as a fairly significant amount of text, which he did not read. She always used way more words than she actually needed to, so he figured that it wasn't important.

He listened to the song. A few times. He didn't love it, but he didn't hate it either. The guys' voice was nothing like Puck's, though. Plus the girl part was pretty much just background noise. Rachel would so not go for that. She'd probably insist upon the reverse.

His mom tapped on his door, and he said, "Come in." She was big on personal space. She was holding a basket of laundry and folded neatly on top was Rachel's jacket. He'd totally forgotten about that.

"Mom! I can't believe you washed it. She's gonna know I brought it in the house."

His mom looked at him like he'd grown a second head, "So? That was thoughtful of you, Noah. It was damp and might have started to mold."

"I don't do thoughtful things for Rachel Berry." Or anyone. But that would not go over well.

His mom rolled her eyes, "Well, you'll just have to suffer this once. I checked the label and this is not a cheap item of clothing. I want you to take it to school with you tomorrow."

It was his turn to roll his eyes, she was a part time seamstress, and very particular about the proper care and maintenance of clothing. That was why he did not do his own laundry, as he usually just threw everything in the dryer.

"Can't you just bring it with you to the Glee thing?"

"No. Besides, I'd forget. And what are we going to do with it here? You planning on cross dressing?"

"Like it'd even fit."

"True. And don't just crumple it up in your backpack. I slaved over a hot iron."

"Fine."

"Are you pouting?" Was his own mother laughing at him? Not cool.

"No."

"Good." Definitely laughing. The traitor. She closed his door on her way out and he pressed play on his computer to restart the song.

The next day he ran out to his truck between second and third period to retrieve the jacket (which he'd put in a plastic bag, because he wouldn't put it past his dear mother not to check the next time she saw Rachel).

Rachel was already at the piano when he entered the room with the sheet music spread out, "You're late. Did you listen to the song? I did and I think it's quite an onerous selection. I don't know what Mr. Schuester was thinking, as there are several songs on that same album much more conducive to a male/female duet then this one. 'The First Five Times,' for example, even though it seems to be about sex, and probably inappropriate…"

He would bet a good chunk of the money in his savings account that everything she'd just said had been in the e-mail that he didn't read. And why did Rachel Berry have to talk about sex so much?

He held the bag in front of her face, and she reeled back, like she expected it to explode.

"What… is that?"

"Present," he smiled an evil smile. If he was doing this he might as well fuck with her a little. He shook the bag a little more insistently, and she took it hesitantly with just her fingertips.

She peeked inside, "Oh! My blazer. Thank you! Daddy would have killed me if I'd lost this," she sniffed it delicately.

"My mom washed it."

"That was really nice. Of her."

"She's a total laundry dictator."

Rachel stared at him for a few moments in a way he found kind of alarming. "Right. I'll have to remember to say thank you the next time I see her."

"Okay."

"So this song," for once he was a little grateful to her for just plowing right ahead, "There's no way we can handle the instrumentation so I think we should really deconstruct it. You play guitar, right?" He nodded. "So you can do that and I'll handle the piano and we can make it kind of a call and response sort of thing? What do you think?"

"I think you're really working hard at all this team player, self-improvement, bull-shit Mr. Schue's been peddling."

She tilted her head to the side, "So is that acquiescence to my plan of action or do you have another idea for an arrangement…"

"No, I'm cool with yours. I didn't bring my guitar, though."

"There's a couple lying around in the instrument closet next door. There's a key in the bottom drawer of the desk, underneath the red mug." She turned to the piano and began to play.

Puck went to get a guitar.