Disclaimer: It's been a while since I've said this, but I still own none of these fabulous characters. They belong to Ryan Murphy and Fox.

After swiping a final coat of mascara onto Rachel's lashes, Brittany stepped back to admire her handiwork. Rachel had a gorgeous face to begin with, so Brittany had gone for a minimalist approach, highlighting her eyes with a soft brown smokey technique. The barest hint of blush made her cheekbones seem higher than usual, and the dark muted lip color was subtle but effective.

"Perfect!" Brittany declared.

Rachel reached for her makeup mirror, but Brittany swatted her hand away.

"Nope, you have to see the whole effect at once. Now close your eyes."

Rachel glared at her, "This is stupid. It's way too much for pizza and putt-putt."

"Oh hush, you look awesome. I'm telling you, jaws are going to hit the floor when we walk in."

Rachel looked at her skeptically, but Brittany saw the smallest hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. With a small grunt of protest, Rachel closed her eyes. Grabbing her hand, Brittany dragged her towards the full length mirror.

"Okay, now open them."

Rachel slowly pried her lids open, wincing as though she was in pain. After a few moments, Brittany could see that she was shocked, but pleased by her reflection. She giggled as Rachel turned from side to side, checking herself out from every angle.

"See? I told you that you could trust me."

"I look…" Rachel said.

"Freaking amazing."

Rachel broke out a wide grin. "I do, don't I?" she said confidently.

Brittany stepped back and took in the full effect. It had taken over an hour to convince Rachel to wear the outfit, but it had been time well spent. The soft mulberry top hung loosely over her shoulders, emphasizing her collarbones and neck. The wide neckline draped into soft layers over her cleavage, before narrowing into a tight fabric tube that made her waist look ridiculously small. The shirt ended just below her hips, which were covered with dark stretchy denim. The skinny jeans were tucked into dark brown knee high leather boots, the heels of which added three inches of height onto the small girl's silhouette. They had teased her hair into loose curls, and Britt had strategically pinned some of them up to create a flowing mass of chestnut waves. The completed look was subtle, but elegant, essentially a more modern, sophisticated version of Rachel Berry.

Rachel walked over to the jewelry box on her dresser and started to open it.

"No pearls," Brittany said firmly.

"But…"

"Rachel, seriously? You can't possibly think pearls go with this outfit."

Rachel pursed her lips. "Pearls go with everything, that's what Daddy says anyway."

"No, they really don't. Look, I know your dads are great and all, but trust me on this one."

"Fine," she said sharply.

Rachel continued rooting through the small box and Britt watched with interest as the brunette's annoyance turned to puzzlement.

"What's wrong?" she asked, as Rachel flipped tiny drawers open and closed.

"My favorite earrings, they aren't here. I wore them last night and…" her voice trailed off as a look of horror spread across her face. "Crap, I left them-"

Ah-hah, now they were getting to the good stuff. Britt had been waiting patiently all day for Rachel to spill the beans about what had gone down after the phone calls last night. She'd never seen Puck so tied up in knots over a girl before, so the story must be juicy.

She flipped her hand over and casually studied her nails. "Where'd you leave them?"

"I… Uh.. truck. Left them in Puck's truck."

While she had to admit that Rachel Berry had many talents, apparently lying wasn't one of them.

"Wow, must have been some make-out session."

"What? No.. I mean… why do you say that?"

"Well, if you had to take you earrings off…"

"No, it's not like that… I took them off because… because I was cold."

Honestly, did she really think that was going to fly? Brit was aware she wasn't the best student, but she wasn't an idiot. Pressing her lips together, she raised both eyebrows. "Hmm, I see."

Rachel flopped down onto the bed, and began twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"Stop messing with your hair, we don't have time to redo it. So if you didn't leave them in his truck, where are they?"

Rachel's hand froze mid twirl, and her eyes widened in shock.

"It's okay, I won't tell anyone, pinky swear." She held out her hand.

Rachel hesitated for a brief moment before reaching out and hooking her finger into Brittany's.

"They're in Noah's room. I left them on his dresser."

Brittany bounced up and down on the bed. "Oh my god, you were in Noah Puckerman's room? When? For how long? Did you sleep with him?"

Rachel laughed, "Stop it, you're going to make me sick. Yes, I was in his room last night after the party, it's a long story, but I spent the night. And yes, we slept together," she paused as Brit gasped, "but we didn't have sex."

Britt rubbed her hands together and grinned. "Details, Rach, I need details."

"Aren't we going to be late?"

Brittany waved her hand dismissively. "Better entrance this way. Now spill it."

Slowly, the whole story tumbled out of Rachel's mouth, ending with Puck's departure after the fight.

"Wow…," Brit said, after she had taken a moment to digest the tale, "I'm impressed."

"Huh?"

"Seriously, I've never heard of Puck acting like this. You're driving the poor boy so crazy, he probably doesn't know which way is up right now."

Rachel's eyes narrowed, "What about when he was with Santana?"

"Psssh, No way. If they weren't making out, he ignored her. He was upset for like, five minutes after they broke up and that was only because she did it in the middle of the hallway."

"Seriously?"

Britt nodded. "Trust me, that boy is crushing on you hard."

Brittany stifled a laugh as Rachel visibly brightened and started preening in the mirror.

"You're sure he won't be there tonight?"

"Not at Angelo's Pizza at least, it's Saturday… he always does some dinner thing with his mom on Saturday."

Rachel sighed, although Brittany couldn't tell if it was from disappointment or relief.

"Do you want him to come out tonight?"

"Not really. I mean I do want to see him, just not in front of a bunch of people."

Britt nodded, she could understand that.

"Maybe I shouldn't go…"

"Uh uh, you are not letting my hard work go to waste. If he shows up we'll go somewhere else, easy as that. Now, get your ass in gear Berry, time to knock 'em dead."