One whole week had passed since Puck and Rachel had come to their arrangement. After school, in the auditorium, they worked diligently on the new number Mr. Schuester had presented to them. Rachel would wait for Puck on the bleachers on the days he had football practice and watch him on the field. There was something about his body language that changed after the first couple of one-on-ones they had. He didn't seem as tense on the football field and he had more agility than he thought possible. It kind of put a smile on Rachel's face. Not only were their lessons helping him out for Glee, but it was showing out there on the field as well. It served a dual purpose and that made Rachel beam with accomplishment. It was a win/win all around.
Now, it wasn't all perfection to begin with. They had a rough couple of days. For instance, they were down each other's throats on Tuesday afternoon. On Puck's end, he was doing his best to go against every fiber in his being. There were times that he wanted to strangle Rachel so she wouldn't reprimand him about how he forgot to do a turn or that he still couldn't hit that high B. However, he found himself picking fights with her on purpose.
"You are the worst, most impatient instructor on the face of this planet! And that's saying a whole fucking lot seeing as to how I have Coach Tanaka riding me about shit all the time." The fury on Rachel's face was inescapable, but he relished in it. The fact that he could evoke that in her felt kind of empowering.
"Hey, you're the one that signed up for this. I told you it would take lots of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears. Just because you aren't man enough or capable enough to do it is not any of my concern! And you watch that mouth when you're talking to me. Although I'd prefer if you never talked to me again, I'm done here. Good luck, I bid you adieu," she said in a huff, grabbing her sweater from the piano bench and preparing to storm off the stage as only Rachel Berry knew how.
Puck let out a sigh in frustration, rubbing the back of his neck as he watched her stomp down the steps of the stage. The comment about his manhood didn't go unnoticed, but now wasn't the time to pick an even bigger fight. What was that saying again? Oh yeah… 'Pick your battles.'
"Rachel…" he called out, not budging one inch from where he stood on the stage. "Rach, come on, I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. Please come back?" Pushing her buttons may have been his favorite pastime, but if he wanted to achieve his goal, he needed to bend a little. The funny thing was that he actually felt a pang of remorse in the pit of his stomach after the harsh words left his mouth. Rachel, however, didn't look like she was about to fold. Dropping to his knees, he clasped his hands together in pleading form.
"Damn it, Rachel! I'm really, truly sorry. I didn't mean anything I said. Could you please come back up here so we can finish for the day? You have me groveling on my knees." Did he use the word 'groveling'? Yeah, he was now using Rachel Berry words in his vocabulary. That was only day three, by the way.
Rachel came to a stop and turned slowly on her heel, the anger still evident on her face. Then her stare fell on him and he was doing this really pitiful attempt of the puppy dog face, his lower lip jutting out in a pout. The fury she felt slowly started to melt away when she realized how silly he looked. "Noah, never make that face again. It doesn't suit you. You should leave it to the pros like me." She slinked back up the steps until she rejoined him on the stage, motioning him to get up off of his knees. And yes, after a couple of days, Rachel felt compelled to return the courtesy and call him by his first name.
He stood to his feet, reaching out to grab a hold of her hands, jerking her toward him. "I'm not letting go of your hands until you say I've been forgiven." His thumbs grazed the back of her hands unconsciously. It wasn't something he actually intended to do, but after he got over the initial mental block of being this close to her, his body just reacted in response according to the situation they were in. Once he did realize what his thumbs were doing, he didn't care to stop. It seemed to be working because Rachel's hands started getting clammy and her cold, hard stare had softened considerably. She had also dropped her sweater onto the floor.
Rachel gazed up sheepishly into his eyes. They had this little glimmer of mischievousness, something that she wasn't surprised to see considering this was still Noah Puckerman. It made her wonder what was really behind hat stare. What was running through his head while he had her trapped in his strong grasp? Although she could tell there was something else behind his eyes, she welcomed whatever that was. Mostly because it was so different from the blank stare she usually received from Finn. Now that she finally remembered Finn, she tried to get out of his hold.
"I-I forgive you, Noah. You can let go now," she stammered out, wiping her palms down on her plaid patterned skirt. Did it get hotter in there or what? Something must've been wrong with the air conditioning again, that had to be it. With a half-grin, he bent down and picked up her sweater, tossing it up on the piano. At that moment, he knew he was having an effect on her.
Shaking the memories of Tuesday afternoon away, she realized football practice had wrapped up and all the players were on their way out. Finn glanced up at the bleachers to look at Rachel. The first time she had come to watch, he assumed she was there to watch him and it was kind of flattering and creepy all at once. However, when he noticed her staring at someone else past him, his ego kind of deflated when he realized it was Puck. What was going on this week? It was like he had stepped into the Twilight Zone. Quinn promptly came to take up his attention before he could come up with an answer.
Puck, on the other hand, made a beeline for the bleachers. Rachel stood from where she sat and leaned over the railing, her shiny locks cascading around her face as she peered over at Puck below. He held a hand over his eyes, shielding the sun away as he tilted his head back to see her face. It was breathtaking; the way her hair fell around her face and the backdrop of the glaring sun behind her gave her an angelic glow. A smile appeared on his lips. One that wasn't forced or planned, it didn't hold contempt or anything malicious behind it. It was actually very… honest.
"Hey, I'm going to go shower up and I'll meet you in the parking lot."
Rachel's brow furrowed in confusion. "Wait, we're not going to practice in the auditorium today? So, I basically waited here, in the sun, for nothing? Noah Puckerman, I swear, you are so inconsid--"
"Rachel!" He cut her off, fighting the urge to snap at her. "We're still going to practice, but just not in the auditorium."
"I don't understand. Where are we going then?"
"Don't worry about it, just go to the parking lot and stay put. Don't go anywhere else!" Puck was already jogging into the building to head to the boys' locker room before Rachel could ask anything else.