The following day, Rachel cornered Puck in the hallway, stating that they absolutely needed to get together this afternoon to work on their project.
"What, Berry, can't stand to be away from this hot body?"
Rachel immediately blushed, recalling their close encounter from the previous night. Puck was quick to notice this and for reasons even he couldn't understand, he enjoyed the effect this statement had on her.
"No, I'm just realizing how quickly the end of the semester is approaching and we really need to get working on this project."
"Fine, but I've got work this afternoon, so we'll either have to meet after that or you can meet me there."
"Puck, you clean pools. It's November."
"Yes, but occasionally I also housesit when my clients are out of town. Also, this place has an indoor pool."
"Well then I suppose I will meet you there. We can't afford to lose time and we'll need to do a great deal of talking about the paper before we actually write it, so we can do that while you're working."
Rachel promptly arrived at the address that Puck provided and was taken aback by the palace in front of her. The house was amazing; she understood now how they could have an indoor pool. Puck let her in and after he sorted the mail and fed the dog, they got to working on their project. He figured that they might as well do work in this spacious house than go to his house where it would be noisier. Afterwards, he insisted on showing Rachel the pool, and especially the ceiling skylight. Rachel sat down on the poolside chair and gazed up at the skylight that was the entire length of the pool.
"This is amazing, Puck. Have you ever swum in here?"
Puck never actually had swum in this pool. But Rachel's question gave him an idea that he was certain she wouldn't like too much.
Puck sauntered over to Rachel with a playful, yet devilish look on his face. He peeled off his shirt and Rachel felt herself drooling a bit. He reached for the zipper to his pants.
"Say, Berry, ever been skinny dipping?"
Rachel slapped her hand in front of her eyes. "I absolutely have not! This is the second time that you've insisted on being naked in front of me. Honestly, are you an exhibitionist?"
"Relax, Berry, ever hear of boxers".
After diving into the pool, Puck said, "So, are you coming in or not?"
"I don't have a bathing suit…and don't you dare suggest I get naked."
"Come on, Berry. You've got to live a little. You've got underwear on, right?"
Rachel just stared at him. On the other hand, joining Noah 'Badass' Puckerman in a clandestine nighttime swim clad only in undergarments was probably not the wisest thing to do. On the other hand, the pool did look awfully inviting and honestly, underwear is practically the same as a bathing suit…
"Turn around."
Puck was so shocked that she agreed to join him that he automatically turned around. However, he was then facing a wall of windows that against the nighttime sky had become mirrors for all intents and purposes. Thus, Puck was treated to the vision of Rachel Berry stripping down to a matching pink bra and panties. They weren't necessarily sexy, but suited her perfectly. He felt himself practically ogling her sensuous curves. Oddly enough, despite all of the naked women he'd seen in his time, this was still hot as hell. When he finally turned around after hearing her splash into the pool, he was met with the sight of a perturbed Rachel Berry across the width of the pool.
"You peeked, didn't you?"
"I'm me. What did you expect?"
"Yea, I guess I assumed you would…"
Wait, she assumed I would and she still decided to get practically naked within eyesight of me.
"Okay, so what do we do now?", Rachel asked, interrupting his thoughts.
"We swim, Berry, obviously. You do know how to swim, right?"
"You're an idiot", she said laughingly.
"I prefer the term badass. Besides, that's part of the appeal, right?"
Strangely, Puck noticed that Rachel was getting suspiciously close to him, which was quite unexpected given their current attire. Then, suddenly, he was hit with a giant splash of water.
"Oh, you're dead", he exclaimed, chasing her as she swam away.
The two swam around the pool, splashing each other for awhile. At one point, Rachel launched herself out of the pool, no longer seeming to care if Puck saw her in water-soaked cotton. Puck quickly followed and chased her around the pool. For some reason, she stopped short and turned around, but Puck's reaction time was not as quick and he slammed into her. He reached out to grab her arms to steady her and then their eyes locked. Her cheeks were red and her hair was drenched and droplets of water were dripping down her face and Puck thought she never looked more beautiful. Wait, beautiful? It was one thing to think of Berry as hot, but beautiful was another story completely. Rachel thought he looked so different standing there in the moonlight. She found herself unable to look away from his bright, shining eyes. He looked so happy. I better be careful or I'll start drowning in the depths of his eyes.
Puck was still holding her in his arms and they were close enough for them to feel the heat radiating off each other. Rachel was taking shallow breaths that made her chest heave. Puck was finding it incredibly difficult to not look down. So, he took a step back and couldn't help but notice that Rachel looked slightly disappointed. But then she smiled…and pushed him into the pool. He grabbed onto her at the last second and she went flying in with him.
An hour later, after they'd both dried off and Puck had locked up the house, Puck walked Rachel to her car. He had a strange feeling while standing next to her car because if this had been a date (which it was not), this would be when they decide whether to kiss or not, which was especially strange since Puck didn't date per se. Rachel opened her car door and smiled up at him.
"This was a lot of fun, Puck. Thanks."
"Anytime, Berry."
The strange thing was that he meant it.