(AN: This is my very first Glee fan fic so I'm extremely grateful to the people who reviewed and signed up for story alerts. Keep letting me know what you think! I really appreciate it. Now on with the Puckleberry goodness…)

Chapter 2

Rachel hummed the last faint strains of the U2 song as she reached a bend in the jogger's path in the park, still keeping a steady pace as she ran. She had initially only planned to go around her block but had somehow found her feet drawn towards the local park. Going with the flow (which was a change from her normally static routine), she let her feet lead her and just kept running – her single focus was getting a good amount of exercise.

Up ahead, she suddenly noticed a black blur that seemed to be pelting in her direction. Caught off guard, she paused momentarily, assessing and identifying the blur as it came closer. She had barely registered that it was an overeager black Labrador puppy before it had bolted straight up to her, sliding to a halt on its paws.

A sudden giggle slipped out of her mouth when she noticed that the puppy was sitting back on its haunches, staring curiously up at her while it panted. It had cocked its head to the side, its tongue lolling out of one side of its mouth.

"Awww, you're quite an adorable pup." She cooed, squatting down to be able to pet it on its head.

It merely glanced up at her, still panting. It barked adorably before it went back to staring at her. Rachel scratched under its chin, smiling when the dog moved closer.

She realized suddenly that the dog's leash was trailing behind it.

"You naughty puppy, have you run off from your owner and left him or her searching for you?"

She felt silly for asking the question out loud but was instantly comforted when the puppy barked as if it understood her.

"Naughty." Rachel smiled once more before gently taking the leash and looping it onto her wrist.

"Let's go and find your owner again, shall we?"

The puppy barked again and stood up, looking up at her with what seemed to be an adoring expression. Rachel had very little experience with animals although she had always entertained thoughts of having a pet someday – an actual living being that might be her constant companion. Satisfied that her first real encounter with a domesticated animal was going well, she tugged lightly on the leash, continuing on in the direction she had been headed.

The puppy trotted alongside her, sniffing curiously at the things they were passing by. Rachel kept a steady pace, keeping an eye out for any person headed their way who might be searching for a dog.

The puppy suddenly stopped moving, sniffing the air. Rachel barely had time to hang on before the dog broke into a run. She began to jog alongside the puppy, surprised to find that it was all she could manage to keep up. When the dog's pace increased, she sped up as well, shaking her head to get rid of some of the sweat.

The dog suddenly came to a stop in front of a boy. The stop was so sudden that Rachel found she couldn't control her momentum and she crashed into the boy, knocking him over onto the grass.

Her cheeks flushed pink automatically in embarrassment. She instantly turned to look at whom she had knocked over in order to apologize when she discovered his identity and all the words flew out of her mouth.

Puck had been searching for Cleo, who had managed to pull away from him and run off into the park. He wasn't too worried as it had happened before and he was confident that he would be able to find her eventually. But it caught him completely off guard when the puppy ran up to him, a hottie in workout clothes holding her leash – a hottie who had knocked him flat on his back and was now lying on top of him.

He could feel himself reacting immediately to the closeness of their bodies. It would not make a good impression to have her feeling his desire right off the bat. As he struggled to control himself, he found himself staring into her face all of a sudden and his desire flew out the window when he realized that it was Rachel Berry.

"BERRY?"

"Noah." Rachel said as calmly as she could manage while she was positioned on top of him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" The words shot out of Puck's mouth before he even realized what he was saying.

Rachel just rolled her eyes at his statement, pretty much used to his unrestricted use of profanity. "Isn't it obvious? I'm out completing my regular exercise routine on a beautiful summer morning."

Puck had actually deduced that from the outfit she was wearing – an outfit that actually showcased the tight little body she possessed. He found, to his surprise, that the desire was starting to creep up on him again and he began to think of other things to distract himself.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him in return.

"I have no fucking idea what I'm doing under you Berry." Puck deadpanned, enjoying the sudden pink color that flooded her cheeks at his words.

Rachel scrambled off of him, getting up and straightening out her outfit. Puck got up as well, well aware that his desire hadn't exactly disappeared, even when Berry had broken her physical contact with his body.

"I meant what are you doing out here in the park this early in the summer." Rachel snapped, her embarrassment clear in the bite of her tone.

Puck cracked a grin at her irritation. There was nothing quite like getting a rise out of Rachel Berry. Her particular brand of crazy was unmatched by any other person he knew.

Cleo, who had been forgotten during the conversation, barked, turning their attention on her.

"So that's where you disappeared to Clee. Naughty dog." Puck remonstrated the puppy, although he contradicted his reprimand by squatting to scratch the puppy behind the neck.

Rachel stared on in shock – this adorable, happy puppy belonged to Noah… to Puck? Puck, the jerk who had begun the whole slushy facial concept, the guy who tossed losers into the dumpster, the one person who ignored her completely save for that brief time they had had a weeklong fling (which she had to admit hadn't been all too bad).

"What are you staring at Berry?" Puck asked sharply, uncomfortably, before he stood up again to face her.

"No-nothing. I just – so this dog is yours?" She finally asked, snapping out of her incredulous thinking.

"Cleo is Sara's dog but she's kind of gotten attached to me. Since Sara's only eight, I have to take care of most of the chores related to her – which is a fucking trial."

It didn't surprise her to learn that the puppy belonged to Puck's little sister. But, to her surprise, she found that she believed he was putting on a front – that he actually enjoyed spending time with Cleo and doing the dog-related chores.

She found herself meeting his gaze all of a sudden and trying not to laugh at the menace in his eyes that warned her that he would do something if she even so much as breathed a word about this at school. It surprised her how easily the thought came into her mind, how easy it was for her to read his expressions.

"She's an adorable dog you know. I've heard that Labradors are easy to train and quite friendly. Cleo seems to fit the bill." She finally said, squatting down to pet Cleo.

As she stood up, she slipped the leash off of her hand and reached out to hand it to him. Their fingers met for a brief moment but it was enough for what seemed to be an electric jolt to pass through from one to another. They instantly stepped apart, carefully avoiding each other's gaze.

"So, um, yeah, you better take better care of her or poor Sara is going to go through a trial of a time dealing with the disappearance of her dog." Rachel finally mumbled, keeping her eyes trained on the ground.

Puck just stared at her, wondering what in the world had happened when they had touched. They had had a brief fling before but ended it when they realized that they were in love with completely different people (namely Quinn and Finn). It wasn't a fucking thing, he finally rationalized to himself.

"See you around Noah."

Her parting greeting snapped him out of his stupor.

"Later Berry." He acknowledged before he looped the leash around his wrist again.

Rachel turned and began to jog away, her mind still preoccupied with her surprise at the soft side Noah had. She had known it existed but there really was more to a person than what meets the eye. She tried to get back into a steady pace, trying to focus on the music, but found her thoughts drifting unnecessarily towards how incredibly handsome he looked in his workout clothes.

Puck walked alongside Cleo, not paying any attention as she sniffed at random things. He still couldn't get over his annoyance at running into Berry while walking Cleo. He knew she wouldn't mention it to anyone at school but still, it annoyed him that someone knew about the chink in his badass attitude.

On further reflection, he realized that wasn't the only part that irritated him – what really got to him was the flush of attraction that he had felt as he had stared at her in her formfitting tank top and jogging pants. He rarely ever saw her out of her plaid schoolgirl skirts and collared shirts or sweaters and she was surprisingly pretty when she dressed normally. And he had noticed – the tightness of his shorts indicated that.

Come on Puck, you remember how crazy she is – how she wants to be in a "real" relationship. And she's still in love with Finn, which is something you don't want to get involved with. But he couldn't shake of the lingering image of her tight little ass as she had jogged away from him. Rachel Berry was hot but she was crazy and that was the end of that.