"Nothing, Finn," Rachel said with a sigh, "There's nothing going on between us."

"Stop saying 'Nothing'! I saw you in the music room, and there was something going on. I saw you backstage last night, and that was definitely not nothing. You left with him Rachel! I saw you get in his truck!" Finn exclaimed.

Rachel leaned against the wall and looked dejectedly at the floor, "It's not what you think Finn."

Finn threw his hands up, "Then what is it? Puck made up some crazy story about you helping him with his music. I just want to know the truth."

"He told you about the song?" she asked with surprise.

"Song? What song?"

"Nothing, never mind..." Rachel said, looking back down the hall where Puck had just been.

Finn grabbed her arm, "would you stop saying 'nothing' and just tell me what's happening here?"

Rachel straightened noticeably. "What's it to you Finn? Why do you even care?"

Finn's face softened, "Because I care about you, Rachel. You know that."

"Care about me how?"

"I...Rach, you know..."

"No, Finn, I don't know, and I'm not sure you do either. All I know is that no matter how or in what way you care about me, you can't give me what

I want."

Finn's shoulders slumped. "I care..." he whispered.

Rachel actually felt sorry for him, "I know you do Finn," she said softly, "but it doesn't matter now. You have Quinn and the baby to think about it. She needs you, now more than ever." She couldn't believe she was saying this, couldn't believe she was telling him to go back to Quinn.

"Rach... about Puck..."

"What about him?"

"Just... be careful, okay? He's not exactly a nice guy."

Rachel laughed, "He mentioned that, actually."

"He did?" Finn asked, looking confused.

"Never mind, it's..."

"Nothing. Yeah, I see how it is. Look, just... you... you deserve better."

Rachel gave him a quizzical look. "I don't think you have anything to worry about Finn, but I'm curious, isn't he supposed to be your best friend?"

"He is, but..."

"But what?"

"But I don't know what he's up to with you... what his angle is...."

"Why does there have to be an angle? Maybe this really is about his music." Rachel frowned, she couldn't quite figure out why she was defending him.

Finn gave a sarcastic laugh, "Yeah, right Rach. His music."

"Why is that so funny?"

"Because Puck doesn't care about music, he joined Accafellas for the cougars..."

"Excuse me, did you say cougars?" Rachel asked in confusion.

"Yeah, cougars... hot moms... Anyway he joined Accafellas for the hot moms and he joined Glee..." Finn's voice trailed off as he realized he had no idea why Puck had joined Glee..

Rachel watched him carefully, it really was adorable how you could almost see the wheels turning in his head.

Finn gave up, "Well, I don't know why he joined Glee, but there has to be a reason, and it's definitely not the music."

"Really? Why is that so hard for you to believe?"

"Because I've known Puck my whole life, and I know he doesn't care about singing and stuff."

"What about the guitar?" Rachel asked pointedly.

"The guitar? I mean he plays a little, yeah, but it's not serious or anything."

Rachel found that hard to believe, she had seen him yesterday, he had poured his heart and soul into that guitar.

"I think, Finn, that you might not know your best friend as well as you think you do."

"Huh?"

"I'm saying he's a talented guitar player, gifted even. If you're his best friend, why don't you know that? Even Artie knows it, he was telling me this morning how they played together yesterday."

Finn just stared at her in disbelief.

"Maybe," she continued, "he's not a total loser, maybe he's just afraid people will judge him, kinda like you were afraid when you joined Glee."

Just then the bell rang, and Finn looked down at her.

"Maybe Rach, but being a good guitar player doesn't make him a nice guy. Just watch yourself."

It really wasn't a surprise that Rachel couldn't concentrate during her first period chemistry class. She kept thinking about her conversation with Finn. Well, that and what Puck had said to her, but she was afraid if she replayed that conversation too many times, she'd forget how to breathe. So instead, she concentrated on what Finn had said. She really wasn't stupid, she knew Finn was right. Puck wasn't a nice guy, and he wasn't interested in her. She wasn't quite sure why he was even talking to her, but he must have his reasons.

It had genuinely surprised her that Finn didn't know anything about Puck playing the guitar. If there was one thing she understood, it was how lonely it could be when you had no one to share the things you were passionate about. She just never thought, in a million years, that Noah Puckerman could be lonely in any way. It was kind of sad, really.

"Well," she thought triumphantly, "it doesn't have to be that way." She spent her study hall in the music room working on her master plan. She finished just before the bell rang, and dashed out into the hallway excitedly, clutching a stack of papers to her chest.