In order to more fully enjoy this chapter I would recommend going to and typing in 'hot mess' and listening to that song. I feel it sets the tone beautifully.

And I hope my readers can appreciate the irony.


"You're a hot mess and I'm fallin' for you,

I'm like 'Hot damn, lemme make you my boo',"

Rachel wouldn't admit it, and most certainly not to Puck, but this was her first legit high school party. Nobody was going around with slushies in their hands, she wasn't getting teased for her overly pompous wardrobe choices because all the other girls were even more ridiculously uncovered. There was alcohol in at least three places, the snack table, a cooler on the porch and the sinks in the kitchen.

It was still high school; there wasn't a D.J. or a strobe light, just a computer and some excessively large speakers in a living room with the lights turned down. The sketchy dance party hadn't started yet but she figured it was just a matter of time before a couple of girls decided they wanted to gyrate around like they were having sex on the floor. She turned her nose up at the dark room and continued to the kitchen, where three or four kids were standing around. A rather pretty girl with rather too much makeup was hanging off a boy and a couple other guys were chatting by the beer-filled sink.

So this was it. One of the boys laughed. The moment of truth, the point of no return. Rachel took a deep breath and glanced to the side to see if there way anyone she knew in the vicinity. Nope. Like anyone from Glee club would know about a party like this, much less be here. Maybe two weeks ago Quinn and Finn would have been invited, but not today. No, Rachel knew full well that there was no one but herself to judge her tonight who would remember her name tomorrow.

"So babe,"

Rachel started a little and turned around as Puck slid an arm around her shoulder. He took a step forward so she was nearly pinned to the doorway. He already had a beer in one hand and it was obvious that he was getting ready for a good time.

"I am not your babe." Rachel replied, shaking her head a bit.

Puck smiled and took another sip of his beer. "Not yet,"

He laughed as she acted offended.

"Calm down. Joking. But really." Puck glanced at the sink, "Want me to get you a beer?" The bottle rose to his lips again.

She hesitated, "I-" Rachels eyes widened as Puck leaned down, far too close for comfort.

"One beer won't do anything to you." He pushed off the wall and walked three steps over to the sink as Rachel glanced around. He shoved the ice cold glass in her hand, the top already screwed off. "Here"

Rachel looked warily at the drink and Puck rolled his eyes. He took another long drink, finishing his. "Well give it back if you're not going to drink it."

"Puck! How are we getting home?" Rachel exclaimed as he took the beer out of her hands and took a sip.

"Remember how we got here?"

"You can't drive drunk!"

Puck rolled his eyes again. "You have a lot to learn if you think that three beers is going to impair my driving."

She looked scandalized as a couple kids came through the door, pushing Puck closer to her. Rachel frowned and took the drink back from Puck, staring at him defiantly as she took a sip, wincing as she swallowed but still daring the boy to say something.

"Just don't drink too much."

The boy smiled and shrugged. "For you, one more beer and I'll be done. Besides, it'll be like an hour or two before we leave and after that time I'll be so sober I could pass military inspection."

Satisfied Rachel nodded again and took another sip. Ugh. How did anyone drink this stuff?

Puck smiled and got another beer, a couple of kids calling out to him and taking him away from the kitchen. He didn't even look back at Rachel as he left.

Of course. Rachel put the glass to her lips and winced as she heard a cheer from outside. Frowning and wiping the back of her lips with her hand she made her way past the kitchen and over to the sliding doors that led out to the porch.

A group of people were standing around a table and Rachel, looking over her shoulder and recognizing a grand total of zero people. Fantastic. She stepped outside and looked at the table.

Well this must be beer pong, Rachel thought as she watched the ball fly over the improv pong table. It must have been the scared look on her face that made Adam come over to her and start talking. A few games later he asked her to play with him and Rachel, after only a few seconds hesitation, agreed.

"Okay so I just throw this over-"

"And try to make it one of those little red solo cups, no sweat." Adam explained, pushing his blonde hair out of his eyes. "I have mad beer pong skills, so it's pretty okay if-"

Rachel had already thrown a ball and sunk it into one of the corner cups.

"-you don't do so hot." Adam smiled and laughed, a hand running through his hair again. "Well damn girl."

Rachel smiled. "Don't be intimidated. I'm this impressive normally." She said, acting snobby. She had never drank before and this wasn't Nattie Light. After a beer and a couple cups from beer pong she was feeling a little more daring than usual. She and Adam lost to mixed groans and cheers from the crowd. It had come down to the last cup, after all.

After they had been replaced Adam grabbed a couple bottles out of the cooler placed on the porch, handing one to Rachel (how much could it hurt?) who immediately took a long drink. What was she thinking before? Beer was fantastic!

"Hey, so it looks like they've got some kids on the dance floor." Adam said, sipping on his drink as well. Rachel suddenly noticed how tall Adam was. He was fantastically tall, and he had broad shoulders! And those blue eyes. . . Whoa. Hello Adam.

"Want to go dance?"

Rachel nodded and smiled. "Yeah! I'm not much for dancing, I can do ballet and tap and jazz and that sort of thing but this sort of thing I'm a little clueless at. But I'm sure that I can figure something out." She said, tossing her hair over her shoulder and following a laughing Adam into the building. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Puck sitting on a couch with a girl on his lap and Rachel narrowed her gaze forwards, reaching out to grab Adams hand.

That would show him!

She really didn't know if he had seen or not, but if she had looked behind to watch his reaction change she might have felt a bit better about herself.

Puck had finished his second beer a while ago and (as per his promise to Rach,) was not drinking anymore. Evan, however, had no such trepidations and once the party had picked up she had strolled in and literally taken over Puck.

Evan noticed his shift and looked over across his gaze, seeing Rachels green dress slowly float through the dark doorway that led to the dance floor.

"Who's the chick?" Evan asked, almost slurring her words. She had pregamed pretty hard before getting here and wasn't in the most correct state of mind. "I think I have seen heeeer before, you know. Like déjà vu but in reality."

"She stopped us in the car last Thursday."

"That's the bitch." Evan said, smiling and snuggling closer to Puck, who wasn't really feeling the attention he was getting. He glanced at his watch. Where did those three hours go?

"Yeah, I brought her here, actually." Puck almost winced. That would be a hint if he ever threw one out. But it was Evan – a girl who didn't take rejection easy and who was slightly drunk at the moment. This might not be good.

"Really? What did she do? Offer to give you a blow job? Why would you let her in your car? She's such a fucking geek." Evan stated. She really wasn't expecting an answer aside from a short chuckle but she definitely wasn't expecting Puck to (albeit gently) push her off his lap.

"Well Evan, Rach has a curfew so I kinda gotta go." He stood up without much of a goodbye. No 'I'll talk to you laters' or 'see you arounds'. Puck really just didn't want to deal with Evan right now.

Evan pouted, crossing her legs and arms, simultaneously showing off her ridiculous amount of leg and her cleavage. Puck didn't even give her a second glance as he walked out of the TV room into the living room-turned-dance floor. He found Rachel almost instantly, she was the girl who looked like she was both having a great time and finding the entire situation a little awkward.

He walked over to where she was dancing with Adam and pulled one of her hands off his hsoulder.

"Hey Rach, time to go."

Rachel turned around to face Puck as Adam stuck out his hand, having to yell pretty loudly to be heard over the pumping bass.

"Hey man, don't worry. I'm Adam, I'll get her home fine."

Rachel glanced between the two boys, confusion and then realization settling on her face. Puck was just about to respond in a rather aggressive manner when Rachel stepped in.

"No Adam, I really should be going home. Getting there with another boy would be a little awkward for my dads."

"Long story," Puck interjected, putting an arm around Rachel as Adam looked bewildered. Rachel muttered an apology and Adam watched them leave, a little angry and a lot confused.

"I was having fun, you meanie!"

"Definitely time to go," Puck muttered as Rachel hit him lightly on his chest. Rachel wasn't that upset, just annoyed that Puck seemed to enjoy spoiling her good time. They were just to the door and Puck had moved his hand from across her shoulders to his hand lightly resting in between her shoulderblades, steering her out, when suddenly someone spun Puck viciously around.

Evan stood there, looking fantastically hot and more than a little pissed. She stood on her tip toes and pulled Puck down, her hands on either side of his face. Pressing her lips to his quickly, Puck hardly had time to protest before she pulled away. Smirking she walked back into the party.

"Call me."

Puck took a deep breath. Immediately afterwards he rushed Rachel out the door and into his car.

"So who was that?" Rachel asked as he buckled himself in. "Wait! Before you turn on the truck. How many fingers am I holding up?" She asked, scooting closer to him and holding up a peace sign.

"Three."

"No way! You are so right! Okay, you're good to drive. I trust you, Noah and I put my life in your hands on this night! Let us go forth and you may drop me off at my daddies house good sir!"

Puck laughed a little and shook his head. Well if she said so.

"Sounds good."

They arrived back at Rachel's house in about ten minutes. While she struggled with her belt buckle Puck walked around and opened the door for her. A triumphant 'aha!' came from within the truck and suddenly Rachel fell out off her seat and into Pucks arm.

"Whoa! Hey, you okay?

"Yeah! Yeah, no I'm good. I'm really good." Rachel stuttered, pulling her purse up higher on her shoulder and realizing half-drunkenly that her cardigan was nearly off. Oh well.

Puck shook his head, still standing too close to Rachel. She didn't seem to be pushing him away, which was nice.

Rachel reached behind her to close the door and then looked up at Puck, frowning.

"What?"

"Do you know just how much I hate how much I don't hate you?" Rachel asked, poking the boy in the chest. "It's not a pleasant feeling, you know?" Puck chuckled darkly and shook his head. "It's really unfortunate, actually. I think that you should know. And try to fix it later on." Rachel stated, a bit imperiously.

"I'll work on it." Puck said, sticking his hands in his pockets. "So just go inside, drink a couple glasses of water and go to bed. Okay?"

"Roger roger!" Rachel said, saluting Puck and nearly hitting him. To her, however, it looked like she really did make contact as Puck shook his head back and forth. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

"What?-"

Rachel raised her hands to cup his face, turning him so that she could see both cheeks. "I hit you, are you okay?"

Puck rolled his eyes. Drunk bitches. The absolute fucking worst. He raised his hands to take Rachels, taking them off his face.

"Don't be silly. I'm fine, you didn't touch me."

Rachel didn't say anything. They were still holding hands and her impaired state couldn't quite comprehend what was going on. Suddenly her back was pressed against the truck door and Pucks face was way to close to hers. Her brown eyes widened as she stared at the boy she had almost convinced herself she didn't want.

"I gotta secret." Puck said, turning to murmur in her ear, his body pressing her against the truck. Rachel didn't say anything and he leaned down even closer, his lips almost brushing her ear as her eyes widened.

"I wasn't really going to break up with you."

Rachels breath hitched in her throat and her motor functions temporarily stopped working as Puck pulled away and walked around to his side of the truck. Rachel took a couple of steps up the brick path to her house. She glanced back at the truck to see Puck watching her. She awkwardly raised a hand in a wave goodbye.

"Have a safe trip." She said, watching him carefully.

"Thanks." He was watching the wheel now, not moving. Rachel made her way up the steps, continuing to look back. She was inches from closing the door when she heard him again.

"Hey Rach!" She peeked out from behind the door.

"Goodnight."

She nodded and smiled, shutting the door. She heard the engine start and the motor run, and thirty seconds later he was gone. She was still smiling as she walked up to her room and quickly changed out of her party outfit.

He wasn't going to break up with her?

Did that mean he wanted to go out with her again? That he wanted to continue trying to get Quinns attention by showing off? Did it mean nothing, was it just a huge mindfuck to freak her out?

Rachel fell asleep thinking that maybe she didn't really want to break up with Noah Puckerman either.

I just want to note to my readers that I started off by listening to Cobra Starship and Busta Rhymes and ended with The Lion King Soundtrack.

Be Prepared.

This next chapter is going to be epic. I can tell already. Shameless review plug here. ^^