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Just so you know, for the song, if you didn't hear the original version they did: Rachel, Puck, Both.

It's weird how fast shit changes, Puck thought, following behind his mother into temple the next morning. She stopped to talk to Mr. and Mr. Berry, like she normally did at some point on Saturday, and before this week, Puck would have just scooted around the group as usual and taken a seat in his mother and his typical place. He would have taken a quick nap ('Cause seriously, it's Saturday.) until she nudged him awake when she slid in beside him right before the service started. Instead, he found himself, almost subconsciously, lingering beside his mother to say hello to the father he had met at Rachel's house on Monday. The other father introduced himself as well, and they had both insisted that now that they were all familiar with each other, Puck should call them Hiram and Leroy instead of Mr. Berry.

Puck kept zoning out of the conversation that he still felt weird sticking around for, and found himself looking around the synagogue, although not quite sure what he was looking for.

"Rachel's in the bathroom." Hiram, the father he had met on Monday, informed him when he noticed how he kept looking over his mother's shoulder towards the door.

"Oh, uhh, thanks, but I wasn't…" Had he been looking for Rachel? He totally had been looking for Rachel. More weird! "I just, ya know, mixer question." He grumbled, trying to cover.

"Oh yes, the famous mixer." Hiram chuckled. "Sarah, has Noah been biting your ear off about this event the way Rachel has ours?" He addressed Noah's mother.

"Noah doesn't tell me anything!" Sarah jokingly chastised Puck. "All I know is that I am very glad that Rachel will be co-hosting the event, because I'm not sure I'd trust my baby boy alone with all these teens in the house all day." Puck was a bit offended until she gave him this pointed look that translated roughly to "I have not forgotten your stint in juvie." Puck knew that if Rachel wasn't a part of the event, his mother would have just refused to let Puck host it on the same day that she would be gone until late with his sister at a soccer tournament.

Just then, the girl in question appeared at her father's side. Puck tried not to pay her much attention, but he couldn't help but notice, like he did most Saturdays, how pretty she looked in her dressy clothes. Not that he really minded her usual attire, but if anyone ever forgot that Rachel Berry was sneaky hot, all they had to do was see her in her Saturday best, looking like a normal teenage girl, to remember.

"Shabbat Shalom, Rachel," Puck's mother greeted her.

"Shabbat Shalom, Mrs. Puckerman." Rachel returned.

"Rachel, for the last time, call me Sarah, sweetie!" His mother scolded. "After all, Noah was able to remember to call your fathers by their first name after one instruction."

At the mention of his name, Rachel seemed to notice he was there for the first time and smiled widely at him. Even prettier when she smiles, Noah's thoughts betrayed him before he could stop himself. Damn! He had managed to keep any thoughts about Rachel's smile in check since May when Finchel the Sequel had started. He was starting to think hanging out with her this much was going to make his life much harder. He tried to keep the expression on his face the usual one that normally landed somewhere between bored and intimidating as she scooted around her father to stand next to him.

"Good morning, Noah."

"Mornin'"

"I will be leaving in one hour. All the decorations are in my car. Is the spare key under the mat like we discussed?" Puck almost thought it was cute the way she whispered the last part, looking around like someone in temple might want to use this information to break into Puck's house…almost.
"Yep."

"And after temple, you'll supervise the carpool to make sure everyone can get to your house?"
"I'll watch the brat train depart, yep." At the thought of the other kids going to the mixer, both teens glanced around. There were at least twenty to twenty-five more teenagers there that weren't normally. Considering that was probably the entire teen Jewish population in Lima, Ohio, Puck felt kind of pleased with himself. He glanced over at Rachel, kind of hoping to see that self-satisfied bright smile she was fond of whipping out when she was pleased with herself, but she just looked uncomfortable at the sight of Jacob Ben Isreal's frantic waving and motioning for her to take a seat next to him a couple rows behind where they were standing.

"Don't want to sit with Creepy Jew Fro?" Puck chuckled, nudging her in the ribs.

"He is extremely unpleasant company." She turned away with a shudder, and Puck was kind of curious exactly how many bad memories she had of the disgusting pervert. He was already plotting ways to get Jacob lost on the way from the temple to his house.

He held himself back from placing a comforting hand on her shoulder before mumbling, "You can sit with us, I guess."

Rachel looked extremely grateful, especially when they both noticed that her fathers had chosen a seat with the very chatty, slightly smelly, Mrs. Smithfeild. She wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"Unless you'd rather sit with Stinky McCougar over there." Puck smirked.

A few hours later, Rachel stood proudly on the deck of the Puckermans. It was the end of September, and quite warm enough to warrant the bathing suit she had on under the cotton dress she had changed into after arriving. She had kept her decorations tastefully simple, with only a few streamers, and tablecloths over the fold-out tables she had borrowed from the temple. The pizzas she had picked up on the way over (Puck's suggestion, after laughing hysterically when she had suggested ricotta and lettuce finger sandwiches) sat on one of the tables, and her karaoke machine was plugged into the necessary outlets. She had a few pitchers of lemonade set next to the pizza, and had left a place for the soda that Puck had told her he'd get on his way home. She had even gone so far as to buy a couple of blow-up rafts that kids could lounge on in the pool. Now, the only thing that was missing was the forty to fifty teenagers en route from their respective temples that would pile into the guest room and Puck's room (which Rachel had deemed the girls' and boys' changing rooms respectively) to change into their swimwear before the fun began. Due to her previous social experiences being slightly limited, despite her recent upswing in party and sleepover invitations due to Glee, she was a little nervous, but mostly excited, and her smile showed just that when she heard a lot of engines rumbling in the driveway.

She had expected the rush of teenagers, and as soon as all of their heads came into view, she quickly slid open the door from the deck into the kitchen and began pointing the teens in the right direction based on gender. She didn't even notice that one boy had a very recognizable Mohawk until he laughed at her.

"I think I know where my own room is, Rach." Rachel couldn't contain her squeal of delight at seeing a familiar face.

"Noah!" She exclaimed. "Thank goodness! I was beginning to worry you had decided to make alternate plans and I was going to have to entertain all of these children by myself." She was mostly teasing, but it had kind of been in the back of her mind anyway.

"Dude, that would make me like, the worst Jew ever." He faked an offended look. "I wouldn't do that to my main man in the sky." He looked at her and she was kind of hoping the look implied, or you, but she didn't want to make any assumptions yet about if her friendship with Puck outside of temple business was something they both wanted. She was hoping he wanted to be friends again as much as she did, but since he had been the one who had gone out of his way to avoid her for Finn's sake first, she didn't want to get her hopes too high up. She decided to distract herself with the thing she was best at, organization.

"Did you bring the soda?" She pulled Noah to the side of the kitchen, since she had now directed enough kids that the crowd had gotten the flow of it.

"Better." Puck grinned wickedly, indicating for her to look in the bag, and not even flinching when she gasped upon spotting the handles of rum and vodka.

"Noah!" She hit him on the chest and he grunted. "This is a holy affair!"

"Rach, they have wine at every service! We have a fucking prayer to say before we drink it!" Noah defended himself. "I knew you'd try to blabber your way out of it if I told you before, but it got all these big-nosed kids here, so you should now just accept it like you have to and say thank you." Rachel was about to hit him again, but faltered. He was right. It was too late for her to do anything, save something extremely dramatic like spilling out the full bottles that Puck had paid a decent amount of money for. Besides, she knew, especially after her disturbing-to-remember house party, that the average teenager valued alcohol at a party over most else. If she wanted these adolescents to keep coming back to events she organized, she had to give them what they wanted at their first taste of a Rachel Berry experience.

"Noah, in the future, I would appreciate you warning me when you and I have different ideas about what "soda" means, but I must admit that you know your demographic." She conceded.

"That's a thank you, right?" Puck winked and walked away to set up his "soda".

Three hours and three glasses of vodka and lemonade (girliest drink mix he ever remembered having) later, Puck was surprised at how much fun he was having. He was competing with a Shawnee temple guy named Rob in a cannonball contest, with two very scantily clad hot Jewish girls judging, when Rachel appeared at the side of the pool. Puck had to admit (and he felt he was allowed to admit now that he was a little more than tipsy) that he was disappointed Rachel hadn't gone in the water yet. He knew from all of the Glee summer pool parties that she was hiding an impressive body under her cover up. She waited until he had gotten out of the pool before latching on to his hand and pulling him towards the deck.

"Karaoke with me Noah!" She squeaked, and Noah could tell she was farther gone than he was.

"Rachel Berry! When'd you start drinking?" He teased her, tickling her sides slightly as she went up the steps. He told his conscience to shut the fuck up, he wasn't in his right state of mind or some shit, so flirting with her was ok.

"Some of the Shawnee girls I was talking to asked me if I wanted lemonade. I had forgotten that did NOT just mean lemonade, but it was go-ood!" She giggled and pulled him the rest of the way to the karaoke machine. Puck was surprised by just how popular it had been. Apparently alcohol made a lot more kids enjoy singing badly (although everyone who wasn't Rachel seemed kind of bad when you heard Rachel). Of course, Rachel had been taking many turns, but since she never seemed to take anyone's spot or anything, no one had been complaining. She actually seemed to be making friends, and Puck was really happy about that. She was nice to people, it was stupid as balls that they normally couldn't return the favor.

"Noooooaaaaah." Rachel whined. "Sing!" She handed him a microphone, as she flipped through the CDs. Damn, she was cute even when she was whining.

"I'll make you a deal. I'll sing if you swim with me afterwards." Puck offered and Rachel nodded like an over-eager puppy and then plucked a CD up in triumph. She popped it in the machine and Noah watched as her song choice flashed on the screen. Puck groaned.

"Rach, this song got me in a lot of trouble last year." He tried, as the opening notes to the Lady Antebellum song came out of the speakers.

"No Finnegan around, mister. I want to sing this!" She insisted, and he rolled his eyes, giving in. He kind of liked that they could sing this together and then it wouldn't always be a memory of him singing with her just so she could make Finn jealous. In fact, the second she started singing, he forgot all about his best friend.

Picture perfect memories
Scattered all around the floor
Reaching for the phone 'cause
I can't fight it anymore

And I wonder if I
Ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time

It's a quarter after one
I'm all alone
And I need you now
Said I wouldn't call
But I've lost all control
And I need you now

And I don't know how
I can do without
I just need you now

Another shot of whiskey
Can't stop looking at the door
Wishing you'd come sweeping
In the way you did before

And I wonder if I
Ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time

It's a quarter after one
I'm a little drunk
And I need you now
Said I wouldn't call
But I've lost all control
And I need you now

And I don't know how
I can do without
I just need you now

Whoa, whoa
Guess I'd rather hurt
Than feel nothing at all

It's a quarter after one
I'm all alone
And I need you now
And I said I wouldn't call
But I'm a little drunk
And I need you now

And I don't know how
I can do without
I just need you now
I just need you now

Oh baby, I need you now

As she sang the last line, she was looking at him in a very different way than she had when she sang with him just to put on a show for Finn. Puck wanted to blame it on the alcohol in both of their systems, and was starting to think that drinking around her from now on might not be such a good idea, but whatever moment they were having was broken by a giant round of applause around them. Apparently, they had attained an audience at some point during their duet.

Rachel smiled proudly to her adoring crowd and immediately ran down the steps to immerse herself in them.

"Man!" Rob came up behind him and slapped him on the back. "You and your girlfriend are freaking hot when you sing together. Is it like that in the sack too?" Puck wasn't sure why, but the comment about Rachel in the sack made him feel kind of like punching his new buddy in the face. He wasn't used to the feeling of protectiveness that it caused. The only thing he could compare it to was when Jenna, his thirteen-year-old sister, brought home a new "boyfriend".

"She ain't my girlfriend." Puck grumbled, trying to shrug it off. Rob was obviously clueless that he had done anything wrong and just smiled.

"So she's free for the taking then?" He smirked, raising his hand for a high-five, but Puck just stared at it.

"She has a boyfriend." He responded, really trying to remember why he had liked this kid ten minutes ago.

"Lucky Bastard!" Rob turned his head to watch Rachel, and as Puck's eyes followed his and he saw Rachel complete her half of the deal by throwing off her cover-up and jumping in the pool with some of the other girls, he thought he might agree with Rob there. However, thinking, especially when it came to Rachel, was something he wasn't a fan of, so instead of wondering why it was bugging him that he and Rob weren't the only ones now that were openly staring at Rachel in her bright red bikini, he ran down the steps and jumped in after her. Pushing past a few overly-friendly guys to get to her, he scooped her up, threatening to throw her.

"Noah!" She laughed with delight. "No! Don't!" She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself as close as she could to his body, so he would have a harder time throwing her into the water. He knew it was the alcohol. He would never have tried that and she would never still be clinging on if it weren't, but for a few seconds, it felt like the Finn wall finally wasn't between them or their friendship, and he really, really liked that feeling.

Therefore, it was quite a shame when a really, really large shadow was cast over the pool.

"Finnegan!" Rachel shrieked, jumping out of Puck's arms and splashing to the side to smile up at her boyfriend, as if she hadn't been doing something that probably didn't look right. He glowered down at her.

"Get out Rachel." His voice was colder than Puck had ever heard it, and for the second time that afternoon, Puck felt some sort of need to protect Rachel. He knew he shouldn't have been touching Rachel as much as he was, but he could tell from Finn's tone that something bigger was up. He quickly got out and followed Rachel and Finn to the side of the house. As much as he wanted to run in the other direction, he was scared to leave Rachel alone with a Finn that was this menacing, and Puck did NOT get scared. He stayed a few feet back to give them the illusion of privacy, and started slowly drying his Mohawk with a nearby towel.

"Finn, what's wrong? What are you doing here?" Rachel's quiet voice just barely reached him.

"I went by your house to get the math book that I left, and Hiram was home. I was trying to make small talk 'cause I know your dads like that, and when I mentioned that I might stop by here to see you he said, 'oh yes, tell that nice Noah that he's welcome back here anytime'." Shit. "When was he at your house Rachel?" Finn's evenness had not cracked during his entire story, and all Puck could think was shit shit shit shit over and over and over again.

"Monday," She whispered back. Puck kept waiting for her to talk, to defend herself, to do a Rachel Berry monologue of epic proportions, but she stayed quiet. Just that one word she had uttered had sounded so sad, so defeated, so un-Rachel that Puck couldn't take listening anymore. As he walked away and into his house, he realized that Lauren was most likely going to find out from Finn now too, and it looked like Finchel and Pizes might both be in a lot of trouble.

Don't worry! The mixer ain't over yet…

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