Author's note: I fully admit, this chapter is random and fluffy. I've written it six different ways, and even though I'm not happy with it, I'm just going to post it and move on. Sorry.

Thanks to Christie for her help... Man Candy is all her :)

Puckleberry Finn? McKinley High's Bizarre Love Triangle

This gossip surrounding this particular Berry keeps getting juicier and juicier. Hot on the heels of her Friday night debut into the McKinley High elite social scene, Rachel Berry's appearance (sans a certain big cat hunter) at Angelo's Pizza last night caused quite a stir. Bystanders say that her new BFF Brittany (of Cheerio fame) gave her a long overdue fashion update. The trademark knee socks and pearls were nowhere in sight, replaced by a sizzling hot outfit that could've been ripped from the pages of the latest fashion magazine. The new look is said to have garnished quite a bit of male attention for the darling Diva, but even though her precious Puck was nowhere in sight, Berry made it clear that he's the only one getting a piece of that pie.

Enter Finn, her former flame, who burst onto the scene demanding to see the scrumptious sophomore singing sensation. The exact details of their exchange are unclear, but it's reported that Rachel remarked, "Noah likes me, and I like him. Deal with it." Hmmm… did she call him Noah? This reporter's intimacy detector just shot through the roof.

So where was the Noble Noah? No one seems to know why the brooding bad boy wasn't by his Berry's side, although one person claimed he had a prior engagement with his Mama. It turns out, when the mohawked man-candy finally did make an appearance at the miniature golf course, the ravishing Rachel was nowhere to be found. She was seen leaving Angelo's with Brittany, but when the chirpy Cheerio arrived to play Putt-Putt, she was alone. Again the exact details of the discussion are unclear, but it's said that Britt brought out her bitchy side, taking the two boys to task for their treatment of her new found gal pal. After pronouncing them "pathetic" she gathered up her main squeeze Matt and made a dramatic exit.

Hudson and Puckerman seemed stunned by the outburst, and were only further antagonized by Eric Holman's off color comments regarding Rachel. A furious Finn fought for her honor, but it didn't get interesting until Puck tried to participate in the smack down. Holman hustled out of the picture as the two best friends duked it out, over… Well, no one seems to know exactly what they were fighting about, but it's a safe bet it had something to do with the missing Berry.

Noah likes Rachel and the feeling is mutual, that much is clear. So I ask again, what is Finn (presumably still the property of Queen Bee Quinn) doing in the picture? Methinks there is something rotten in the state of Denmark…

Rachel laughed as she closed the lid to the laptop. For the second day in a row, she was the primary topic of the McKinley High blogosphere, but after a good night's sleep, a long workout and a morning visit with her grandmother, it seemed trivial in the grand scheme of things. Even the previous day's post wasn't the travesty she had remembered it being. It was possible she may have overreacted yesterday morning. Not probable, but possible.

Aside from the fact that Jacob apparently had an unhealthy attachment to alliteration, the second half of today's entry was chock full of interesting news. She really wished she could call Brittany and find out what had actually happened. Stretching her arms over her head, she pushed back from her small desk and stood up. She had just decided to head to the basement to watch West Side Story when the doorbell rang. Peeking her head out the door, she eavesdropped as her Dad answered.

"Hi Mr… Um, Berry? Or is Rachel's other dad Mr. Berry?"

Rachel could hear her dad laughing, they were quite used to such questions. "It's fine, you can call me Dan, Rachel's other father is Rich."

"Oh, well then, hi Dan!" Brittany said, "Is Rachel home?"

What was Brittany doing here? Rachel walked to the top of the stairs, and saw the blond smiling brightly, holding a plate of what appeared to be brownies. Spotting Rachel, she waved cautiously.

"Hey Rach, I come bearing chocolate."

Rachel couldn't help but smile. Her dad ushered Brittany inside and shut the door behind her. Rachel descended the wide staircase and eyed the brownies longingly.

"Those look really good."

"Homemade," Brittany said, "Well, homemade from a box, but still. They probably aren't as good as your 'I'm sorry' cookies, but…"

Rachel laughed, "They're chocolate aren't they? You can never go wrong with chocolate."

Britt smiled, obviously relieved that her peace offering had been accepted.

"I was just about to watch West Side Story," Rachel said, "would you like to stay?"

"Oh my gosh, yes! I love that movie."

Brittany followed Rachel downstairs to the basement, and her eyes widened with excitement when she saw the wall of mirrors and the ballet barre that lined the back half of the large space. Squealing with delight, she shoved the plate into Rachel's hands, raced over to the parquet floor and pirouetted several times.

"You have your own studio? In your house? That's amazing!"

Rachel watched as the blonde effortlessly executed a series of complicated steps. She had seen Britt dance with the Cheerios, and during Glee, but Rachel realized that, although she wasn't en pointe, her movements were clearly from the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Brittany's eyes were closed as she danced around the silent room. When she finished, she dipped into an exaggerated curtsey.

"God, I'm so jealous. I will kill to have something like this in my house." Looking up, Brittany seemed to realize that Rachel was staring at her. "What?"

"That was… you were incredible. I knew you were a good dancer, but…"

Brittany tilted her head to the side. "But what?"

"I just never knew you were that good."

Brittany laughed as she kicked off her shoes and placed her right foot on the barre. Raising her arm over her head, she leaned forward in a deep stretch. "I've taken at least six dance classes a week for as long as I can remember. What did you expect?"

Rachel studied her carefully as she returned to an upright position and then bent backward away from the barre. While Rachel loved to dance, it wasn't her passion, and she focused the bulk of her energy on singing. She knew she was good at the basics of ballet, tap and jazz, but Brittany was clearly a more highly trained dancer than she was.

"Why?"

"Why do I take so many classes?" Brittany asked, looking up from the deep back bend.

Rachel nodded.

"Duh… because I want to be a professional dancer." She pulled upright again, switched legs and leaned forward.

"You do?"

Britt laughed. "You know, you aren't the only with dreams of making it big Rachel. I'm getting out of here when I graduate. I'll probably go to go LA, but maybe New York. Who knows?"

Rachel was stunned. It had honestly never occurred to her to ask Brittany about her dreams or aspirations. The bubbly blonde had always seemed fairly content to be seen as a Cheerio and not much else. Why on earth would she waste her time cheerleading when she could dance like that?

"You're wondering why I spend so much of time on Cheerios, aren't you?"

Rachel blushed. "No, I mean yes, but…"

"It's okay, my mom and I fight about it all the time. Besides the fact that it's a nationally ranked team, it's still dancing and performing, plus it's fun."

Rachel was thoroughly confused now. What did fun have to do with anything?

"You should see your face Rach, it's a trip."

"Huh?"

"You look like someone just told you that they were closing down all of Broadway."

Rachel gasped in horror. "Bite your tongue!"

Britt laughed so hard, her foot slipped off the barre. "You're too easy. C'mon, don't you ever do anything just for the fun of it, just because it makes you happy?"

"Of course, singing makes me happy."

Britt rolled her eyes. "Besides singing."

Rachel searched for an answer, but found that she didn't really have one. Shrugging her shoulders, she said. "I guess not."

"Most people actually admire you, you know, because you know what you want and you work hard to get it. It's the fact that you never relax that weirds them out."

"I weird people out?"

"You know what I mean. But like, Friday night, and yesterday? You were relaxed. Totally normal, well almost totally, and you were having fun."

"What's your point?"

Brittany lifted her foot again and bent backwards, "No point. I'm just saying you should think about doing it more often. You're fun to be around when you aren't lecturing people."

"Is that a compliment?" Rachel found it hard to take advice from a girl who was talking to her while she was practically upside down.

"Totally." Suddenly Britt popped up and clapped her hands. "I have the best idea!"

Rachel eyed her warily, "What's that?"

"We should go on a double date. You know, me and Matt, you and Puck."

"Umm… right. You do remember that Puck and I aren't exactly on good terms, right?"

Brittany furrowed her brow, "But… Oh God, you don't know what happened last night, do you? I mean, after I…"

Rachel shook her head. "No, only what I read in Jacob's blog,"

"I'm sorry Rach, I wasn't thinking."

Rachel shrugged.

"Look, I'm sorry too, for, you know, being such a bitch and all."

Sighing, Rachel leaned against the wall. "It's okay, I know now I was letting my insecurities interfere with rational thinking."

"Is that, like, an apology?"

"Yes," Rachel said, laughing, "it is. I'm sorry for assuming you were like Quinn and Santana."

Brittany smiled, "Apology accepted, so now do you want to know what really happened last night?"

"Of course!" Rachel marveled at how easy that had been.

The two girls sat on the sofa with the brownies in between them, devouring the treats while Brittany told her the whole story. When she was finished, Rachel leaned back and tried to make sense of everything she had just heard.

"So Noah's grounded?"

"That's what Matt said."

"Did he say why?"

"Nope, Puck wouldn't tell him why."

"But his mom let him leave to come see me?"

"Something like that, Matt said he has no idea how Puck pulled that off. Apparently his mom is super strict."

Rachel thought of the woman who called her son 'Honey Bear' and stifled a laugh.

Britt cocked her head. "What's so funny?"

Rachel shook her head. "Never mind, it's nothing."

"Anyway, so that's why Puck didn't come when Matt sent him the picture, he didn't have his phone."

"Did Matt say how long he was grounded for?"

"Just til Monday, apparently."

Rachel sighed with relief. That meant she still had another night before she had to face him. "So I just have one last question."

"What's that?"

"Did you really call Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman pathetic in front of everyone?"

Brittany grinned broadly. "I did. You should have seen their faces. They were priceless."

Rachel smiled and picked at the crumbs on the plate. Is this what normal girls did? Eat brownies and gossip with their friends? Before today, she would have said that was a waste of time, but now she realized just how much she'd been missing out on.