Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews everyone! I had been getting a little nervous because my first story on here (Maybe They Were Both Just Misunderstood) seemed to get responses more quickly, but I'm glad you're all enjoying this one also! I also wanted to thank La Tigre for the very flattering review of my first story…not sure if you're reading this one, but since I can't acknowledge it there (without confusing people and making them think I've updated it), I thought I'd mention it here!

The end of October passed quickly into the beginning of November and Rachel and Puck had settled into a routine with regards to their project. Much of their time was spent conducting separate research, but they got together during their free period to compare notes. Puck had been strangely participatory, much to Rachel's surprise. However, they had reached a point in the project at which time that after-school meetings would be required, at least according to Rachel.

So, at exactly 4:28pm on this particular Wednesday, Rachel arrived at Puck's house and his mother said to head up to Puck's room because he was home. Puck meanwhile was in the shower after a long football practice. Strange as it may sound, Puck considered the shower his 'thinking time'. Despite everyone's perceptions of him, Puck actually did think about the future and his goals. He was lost in thought as he got out of the shower and headed down the hall to his room, not realizing that it was past the time Rachel was due to arrive at his house.

When Puck entered the room, Rachel quickly realized he had obviously just come from the shower because he was naked except for a towel slung low on his hips. Rachel was not one to ogle, but even she had to admit he was quite the ideal physical specimen. She could totally understand the appeal. It was strange though because although he was looking right at her, it was more like he was looking through her, like she wasn't even there. He turned to grab boxers off a pile on the floor and she realized he obviously hadn't noticed she was there because he was about to remove his towel.

"Um, Puck", she squeaked.

Puck spun around. "Berry, are you trying to give me a heart attack?! How long have you been there?"

"Since before you were here! I'm sorry I scared you, but you were about to be naked, so I thought it best to alert you to my presence."

"Well, you better close your eyes, princess, because I'm about to be naked again."

Puck chuckled as Rachel's lips parted in disbelief and her eyes squeezed closed. He quickly threw on his boxers and a pair of sweatpants, but decided to forgo the shirt, mostly because he liked making Berry uncomfortable. He took the opportunity while her eyes were closed to scan his eyes over her entire body. It was undeniable, she was hot.

"Alright, you can open your eyes now, I'm decent."

"Puck, I don't think you've ever been decent."

"A joke, Berry? That was good!"

They quickly settled down into working on the history project and were able to pull together a lot of the research they had collected, as well as identify gaps in their research. After they were finished, Rachel suggested they work on some other homework together since they were in most of the same classes. Puck agreed, figuring at the very least he could get some answers off of her.

After they had been working for a little while on their math homework, Rachel spoke.

"Puck, please don't take offense but I must speak openly. You clearly have natural intellectual abilities, so why do you skip class and only put forth the minimal effort."

"Same reason that I throw slushies, toss people in dumpsters, and chase cougars. People have been telling me I'm a loser since kindergarten…or since birth if you count my father…I might as well fulfill their expectations."

"Well, now you have one person saying you're not a loser. And I have very high standards, so my opinion should count more. Besides, I don't know about the 'cougars' as you call them, but you haven't thrown a slushie or tossed people in the dumpster for awhile now."

"Haven't really seen too much of the cougars in awhile either", Puck said under his breath.

Of course, Rachel heard anyway. "Huh? Why?"

"I don't know." And Puck really didn't know, but he'd just been less interested in his older women recently.

Rachel had a curious expression on her face and Puck did not like that, so he decided to grab the piece of paper that she was writing on and stood up holding it above his head.

"Puck, give that back", said Rachel jumping up from her spot on the floor, standing in front of Puck, and reaching futilely for the paper.

"Berry, you're really short!"

"I'll have you know my height is perfectly within the normal range for women."

"I'm sure it is, but it's a pity that you're still too short to reach this paper."

Puck admitted to himself that he didn't hate the view looking down her shirt as she was trying to grab his hand and the paper in it. He had been backing up to prevent her from getting it and didn't realize how close he was to his bed until the back of his knees hit it and he fell down onto the mattress, taking Rachel down on top of him. Instead of her getting embarrassed as he would have expected, she just remained intent on her goal of getting the paper. She wriggled her body up his, obviously not cognizant of what such an action could do to a young man of his age, and grasped for the paper. By the time she successfully grabbed it, she was straddling his waist, with her chest basically pressed against his face. He prepared himself for making a sexually-charged innuendo, but when he saw her clutching the paper to her chest with such a look of happiness on her face, the comment just slipped away. Instead, he tickled. And as it turned out, Rachel was ridiculously ticklish. He flipped them so she was on the bed and he was leaning over her tickling her. Neither of them seemed to notice that the paper that was the subject of their 'argument' had fallen over the side of the bed.

"Pu…Pu….sto…that tickles", Rachel said between her peals of laughter. Puck decided to take mercy and stopped tickling her. She continued laughing, but stopped when Puck reached over and moved the hair that had fallen into her face during the tickle assault. At that moment, she became aware of the position they were in. She was lying flat with her back on the bed and her skirt had ridden up her thighs slightly. He was leaning over her, hands still at the side that he had been tickling, one knee between her legs, and his broad chest just barely touching her gently heaving one. Rachel had managed to ignore that Puck was shirtless while they were doing homework, but she became acutely aware of it at this moment.

Suddenly a young voice yelled from the hallway. "Noaaah, mom wants to know if Rachel is staying for dinner."

"Hold on one second, squirt," Puck yelled.

Puck leaned off of Rachel and fell onto his own back so he was lying beside her on the bed.

"So, um, do you want to stay for…"

"I should probably head home. My dads will be wondering what happened to me this afternoon. Thanks though."

Rachel slowly got up from the bed and patted her skirt with her hands. A few moments later, Puck also stood with an unreadable expression on his face. They headed downstairs and Rachel bid farewell to Puck's mother and sister before leaving.