More than anything, Puck wished he had a freshman in front of him to beat-up on; a scrawny one that he could stuff in a locker, or a big one that he could use as a target for paintball practice.

Puck wanted to punch something.

At this moment, he was running around a soggy track in the pouring rain with freakin' boots on. Not to mention the fact that Finn was running a few feet behind him.

At any other school, Puck thought, this punishment would be considered cruel and unusual. However, the words "cruel and unusual" fit Sue Sylvester perfectly. Puck would have blown off the running, but it was a widely known fact that Sue had spies everywhere at school. It was also believed that she had strategically placed listening devices throughout the building. Puck himself avoided the drinking fountain near her office because it made a static sound anytime anyone walked by.

Puck completed his first lap and dismally realized that he still had nine more to go.

Silent until this point, Finn finished his own lap and pulled up next to Puck. He huffed in an accusatory tone, "This is your fault."

Puck kept a fast pace, but shouted through the rain, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Finn increased his speed to catch up and said, "We both got busted for making out in the hallway, and you were kissing Rachel first."

"What are you twelve? I didn't force you to do anything. I was minding my own damn business when Ms. Sylvester showed up."

"Well, if you hadn't been with Rachel then Quinn wouldn't have gotten pissed and retaliated. You know how Quinn feels about Rachel."

"I'm not Dr. Phil; I don't generally pay attention to people's feelings or emotions. Quit whining like a girl, you're embarrassing all males everywhere." Puck said.

Finn unsuccessfully tried to wipe the rain out of his eyes as both guys finished their second lap. He paused a few seconds before saying, "Fine, it's not your fault we got caught but why were you with Rachel to begin with?"

Puck smirked. He and Rachel had just started "dating" and Finn was already jealous.

He shrugged his shoulders before answering, "Rachel and I have been hanging out."

"Hanging out or hooking up?" Finn asked with force in his voice.

"What difference does that make? You're with Quinn. You worry about your girlfriend and I'll worry about mine."

"Oh, so now she's your girlfriend. Next you're going to tell me that my wedding invitation is in the mail."

"It is," Puck joked, "and we'd like it if you bought us a toaster."

Finn was not amused..

Puck slowed to a jog as they crossed the finish line for a third time and said, "Seriously dude, stop being so pissy. Is it your time of the month?"

"This isn't funny," Finn shouted. "Just answer my question."

Since Puck could practically see steam pouring out of Finn's ears, he decided to oblige.

"I just started seeing Rachel, so no, I haven't tapped that yet."

Finn let out an audible sigh of relief, "That's good."

"Fan-freakin-tastic," Puck muttered.

The rain started to let up as Finn crossed his hands in the air as if to signal a time-out. He stopped running and Puck followed suit.

Finn took in some deep breaths, and then said, "Sorry I got weird man. It's just that, I sorta liked Rachel before this whole thing with Quinn happened and I don't think of her as being your type."

"What's my type?" Puck couldn't wait to hear the answer to this question.

Finn stared at his feet to avoid eye contact, "You know, cheerleaders like Santana, or hot moms, or people like April."

Puck was annoyed and lashed out, "Well at least you know I'll never date your mom."

"Are you saying my mom's not good enough for you because she's not hot?" Finn wanted to know.

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Well sure she's not magazine attractive, but she's lived a hard life. My stepfather left, and she's had to take care of me all by herself. So what if she likes flannel, and she wears jeans that make it look like she has a butt in both the front and the back…" Finn rambled.

Puck rolled his eyes but tried to make Finn feel better by saying, "Dude, I was just kidding. I would totally do your mom."

"You would?"

"Yeah man, she may lack a certain outer beauty, but inside she's wicked feisty. I like my women feisty."

"She is feisty," Finn echoed.

"Yeah she is," Puck assured him while inwardly thinking that this moment deserved the award for the most awkward conversation ever.

'Thanks," Finn sniffed. "I'm just going through some stuff right now."

"How's Quinn doing?" Puck tried to keep his voice from sounding too anxious or eager.

"She's alright."

Puck couldn't prevent the following words from practically leaping out of his mouth, "And how's the baby."

Finn smiled, "Great. It's a girl. Can you believe I'm going to have a daughter?"

"Wow." Puck felt like he had been punched in the gut. Quinn was having a baby girl. He had pictured himself throwing a ball around with his kid, but he had never imagined playing dolls or having tea parties. Not that his daughter couldn't be into sports if she wanted to.

"Does Quinn know what she wants to do yet?" Puck dreaded the answer.

"She wants the baby to be adopted," Finn said with hesitation.

"Is that what you want?" Puck asked.

"I don't know. Quinn says we're too young to raise a kid, and I kind of agree with her, but apparently I don't get to have an opinion either way."

"You could help her change her mind. Get a job, make some money, and show her that you can be responsible."

Puck knew that Quinn didn't trust him to take care of her and the kid. If Puck could get Finn to man up, then maybe Quinn would rethink her decision before handing the baby off to complete strangers.

"I would get a job, but I'm so busy with school, and football, and glee..."

Puck was angry, "I do all those things, and I still manage to hold a job. You can too."

Puck and Finn's conversation was interrupted when Ken Tanaka rode up on a golf cart.

"Hey gentlemen, sorry to intrude upon your bromance, but you two should not be out here."

"Hey coach," Finn said, "Ms. Sylvester told us to run ten laps."

"The last thing our team needs is for you to get injured because you were running around in the rain without proper athletic equipment on. I'll talk to Sue. Get your butts inside."

"Thanks coach," Puck and Finn said with relief.

"Oh boys, make sure you dry your shoes really well when you get in there. The last thing you want is to develop a bad case of athlete's foot." Ken shuddered as he remembered a past horror, and drove away muttering something about sensitive toenails.

As they were walking inside, Puck said to Finn, "Don't forget to think about what I said."

"I won't," Finn promised. "But I want you to take things slow with Rachel. She's so talented and really cool. I don't want her to get hurt."

Puck slapped Finn on the back, "Don't worry man, Rachel can take care of herself."

"One more thing," Finn added, "If you ever have sex with my mom, I will rip your face off and flush it down the toilet."

Puck nodded his understanding before walking toward the nurses' office for his daily nap.

*********

Rachel sat in detention staring at the clock and silently begging the minutes to go by faster. Quinn, who was sitting at the desk next to Rachel's, was also eagerly waiting for the hell known as detention to be over. The teacher supposed to be monitoring the room was currently playing games on her Blackberry so Quinn felt comfortable enough to lean over and whisper to Rachel, "I see right through you."

"Pardon me?" Rachel was not in the mood to get into a fight, but she would bring it if she had to.

"I just wanted to let you know that you were not fooling anyone in the hallway this morning. You were only kissing Puck to make Finn jealous."

Rachel tossed her hair over her shoulder and said, "Sorry to disappoint you, but Noah and I have formed a connection."

Quinn scoffed, "Yeah right, you still have R hearts F written all over your notebook."

Rachel casually tried to slide the offending notebook to the opposite side of her desk and out of Quinn's sightline. "I'm not denying that I had a slight crush on Finn before, but I've moved on to Noah."

"You don't actually call him Noah do you?"

"Sometimes, that is his name."

"Whatever. I still don't believe that you'd go out with a guy who throws slushies in your face because you've suddenly developed a 'deep connection.' What do you even have in common?"

Rachel wracked her brain to remember some of the facts that she and Puck had discussed in the car. "Well, we're both Jewish, we both like to exercise, and we're both talented. I was skeptical at first, but Puck plays the guitar very well and his voice is lovely. Not to mention the fact that we are physically compatible."

Quinn had to concede that point, Puck did have a nice singing voice and he looked great holding a guitar. She did want clarification on one thing though, "By physically compatible you mean…"

Rachel lowered her voice, "He's a good kisser and he's nice to look at. It's as simple as that."

"Fine, he's a stud but he's also a Neanderthal like most of the other guys here at school."

"He seems that way on the surface, but once you get underneath all that, Puck can be caring and sensitive." Rachel thought the sincere delivery of these lines were almost Oscar-worthy.

Quinn couldn't believe her ears. No way could Rachel Berry be describing the Puck that she knew—the Puck who had taken advantage of her and had ruined her life. Quinn tried to reason with Rachel one more time, "Puck's a loser; a townie that's never going to amount to anything."

Rachel thought carefully before she made the following statement, "I think you more than anyone else would try not to judge people based on appearance, rumors, or past mistakes. I certainly don't think what's being said about you in the halls is one hundred percent true, and I would never pretend to know exactly who you are or what you're going through."

Quinn didn't know how to respond.

"The same goes for Puck, I don't know what's happened in his past, but I'm willing to give him a chance," Rachel continued. "Everybody deserves a chance to have what they want in life, even you Quinn."

The bell finally rang, signaling the end of detention. While every student started packing up, Quinn remained sitting in her seat. She hated when Rachel was civil to her, it made it much harder for Quinn to be mean.

As Rachel exited the room, Quinn couldn't help but try to process what she had said. The one thought that repeated in Quinn's mind was that Rachel couldn't be right about Puck, she just couldn't be because that would make Quinn wrong--terribly wrong. Then everything she had done until this point to protect her secret would have been for nothing.