Author's note: Yet again, I can't say thank you enough for all the encouragement. This is way better than writing H1N1 pandemic management proposals. Sorry for the late post, but not even my love of Puck and Rachel could keep me from celebrating the safe return of several good friends from Iraq. :)

"Fuck, fuck, double fuck," Puck swore to himself as he pushed open the locker room door.

"Puckerman," Coach Tanaka said, "How nice of you to join us."

"Uh... yeah, sorry 'bout that coach."

Puck walked to the back of the room, plopped down on a bench and leaned his head back against the lockers. His heart was beating a hundred miles a minute, and not because he had run down the hall. He could still smell her. He could still feel the heat where that tiny little body had been pressed against his. Damn she'd felt good in his arms. He'd been so close to kissing her... What the fuck was wrong with him? Damn it, what was wrong with her? She was supposed to get mad. She should have slapped him and then lectured him with impossibly long words he'd never remember... Good god, he'd told her she smelled good.

Somewhere in a distant part of his his brain, he knew Coach was going over the game plan. Puck couldn't have cared less. "Wrong answer, Puck" she'd said. What did she mean by that? He was a little hazy on the details, as he had been been distracted by the fact that her hair was every bit as soft and silky as it looked, but he was pretty sure that if he had gotten the answer right he'd be looking forward to a little one-on-one post game celebration right now. Damn it... he'd been so close to figuring out what she wore under those ridiculously small pieces of material she called skirts.

He'd actually spent a great deal of time contemplating that lately. The Cheerio skirts were nice, but there was no mystery there. Even if they did bend over, all you got to see were those underwear-but-not-underwear things that looked like granny panties. What had Santana called them? Spankys or some shit like that.

But under Rachel's skirt? Now there was a mystery...

He was smack in the middle of picturing himself sliding a pair of white lacy thongs down her thighs when Finn's voice snapped him back to reality.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Uh.. yeah... yeah man, I'm good, why?" Puck said quickly, struggling to clear the lingering image of her tan legs from his head.

"Um, cause you're sitting in an empty locker with a really weird smile on your face..." Finn gestured to the now empty space.

"Oh... yeah, no... I was just thinking..."

Finn looked at him oddly. "About what?"

Puck scrambled, trying to come up with something believable, "The.. uh.. the game tonight. I was just thinking about how we're going kick Central's ass."

"Okay..." Finn said dubiously, "... except we played Central two weeks ago, we're playing Roosevelt tonight."

"Right, man, Roosevelt... that's what I meant." Suddenly Puck remembered that he was still pissed at Finn.

Finn must have seen the anger in his face, because he rushed to speak before Puck could say anything. "Look, I just came to say I was sorry."

Puck sat there glaring at him.

"I was out of line this morning, and I'm really sorry," looking down at his feet, Finn continued sheepishly, "you were right about Rachel and Quinn, I can't have them both."

Puck remained silent.

"Rachel told me the same thing, she told me I needed to stay with Quinn... that Quinn and the baby need me."

Puck's insides lurched. "She did?"

"Yeah. She also told me I was an ass for not believing you about the whole music thing."

"She called you an ass?" Puck snorted.

"Well, no... she didn't say ass exactly, but well... you know how she talks."

Puck smiled on the inside, and he must have smiled a little on the outside too, because Finn's facial expression changed drastically.

"Do you like her?"

This was dangerous territory, Puck knew. "She's cool I guess."

"Cool?" Finn asked doubtfully.

"Yeah, like I said this morning, she knows a lot about music and shit." Puck said, hoping to god he sounded sincere.

Finn started to say something, and then paused. After a long moment of silence, he spoke carefully. "She's really special, Puck. Just... be careful with her. She's not as tough as she acts."

Puck just shrugged, "It's not like that man, we're barely even friends." Well, at least that much was true, they weren't exactly friends.

Finn look at him warily, and shook his head. "Whatever you say dude."