I am so grateful for all of the reviews, story alerts, and favorites on this story. I know I keep saying it, but thank you all so much! This chapter was my favorite to write so far, so pretty please let me know if you like it!

Rachel pushed her confusing feelings aside to play hostess. She threw herself into replenishing the chip bowls when necessary and making sure everyone was comfortable to stop herself from noticing the way girls kept flocking to Puck. Rachel knew he was attractive, but every time she looked his way, it seemed more had joined in on his fan club, and Rachel thought it was getting awfully ridiculous. She was about three seconds away from marching over and reminding them all that he had a girlfriend, when a member of Sandra's posse suggested they play another game.

"Excuse me," Rachel's protests were louder this time, because she was no longer excited about the prospect of a game since the last one had made her feel things she didn't want to have to feel again. "Don't you think that all of these silly sleepover games are a bit clichéd?" She felt herself slipping into defensive Rachel mode, which was much snobbier and pretentious than normal Rachel. She avoided eye contact with Puck, so she didn't have to see the disgust in his eyes that would obviously be there at her fun-ruining attitude, but surprisingly, it was his voice she heard next.

"Yeah dude, if I have to play some stupid truth or dare game next, I'm out." Was he defending her? "I kind of like my manparts and don't want them to runaway because I'm playing girly sleepover games."

"Fine." Sandra's friend, Rachel thought her name might have been Casey, huffed, obviously displeased that Puck wasn't on board. "No truth or dare, but I bet you haven't played "Marry, Screw, Kill" before, so that wouldn't be clichawed or whatever the walking dictionary over there just said." Rachel tried not to let the feeling that Sandra and Casey were reminding her an awful lot of Cheerios with their behavior get to her reminded herself that no one was going to throw a slushie on her here.

"Her name is Rachel." Puck growled. "And she's the whole reason you're here, so if you're going to be rude, I don't want you in my fucking house."

The room fell silent. Casey looked between the two of them as if she wasn't sure what had just happened. She looked like she was used to getting her way, and if Rachel wasn't trying to control the warmth spreading through her at Puck's words, she probably would have felt smug that the girl got her just desserts. The warmth in her body relaxed her, and she suddenly realized that this was still mostly her party, and she didn't want it to be ruined by a warzone breaking out.

"Thank you, Noah, I appreciate the reminder that I have a name." Rachel forced out a laugh to try and break the tension. "Although I have to say, I am rather intrigued by this new game Casey proposed. Perhaps she could share it with us." Puck looked at her like she was nuts for a moment, but when the group started to once again attempt to form a circle, he made his way over to her.

"Always have to be the perfect hostess, huh princess?" He teased, letting her know he understood her motives now.

"Always have to be my knight in shining armor?" She teased back.

"You like it." He smirked.

"I really do." She agreed, before thinking of the consequences of admitting that. She giggled and then found himself looking into his beautiful eyes and he returned her gaze. His refusal to break eye contact was making something in the pit of her stomach stir, and she knew then that she needed to know what was going on in that head of his, because unlike Finn, he wasn't simple. She could read him, and at the same time, was constantly intrigued by what was under the surface. During the brief eye contact, she realized no matter how much she denied it, now that Finn was out of the way, she really did have feelings for Puck, her Noah, and she didn't have to hide them from herself anymore. Of course, she still had to hide it from him due to the pesky little Lauren factor.

For the second time that evening, Sandra's voice brought them out of their moment. "Casey's going to explain the game now guys. Pay attention because you'll all have a turn." She ordered the room and everyone stopped their chitchatting to listen to Casey.

"It's simple really." Casey began. "You give the person to your right three choices of people of the opposite gender, or same gender if that's their preference. I assume you're sitting next to someone you know kind of well, so it's more fun if you give them three people that you both know, but if you don't know the person, you can give them three celebrities, or three people from your temple or whatever. Then, they say which of the three they would marry, which they would fuck, and which they would kill. You can only use one person for each, so like, I can't marry and fuck the same person and leave one person out completely. Also, our Rabbis are off limits, because that's just too messed up. And-"

"And as our own person twist," Sandra cut in. "The first round, you have to give yourself as one of three choices, no matter what the gender or sexual preference of the person is." She laughed in a way that let the rest of the group know she thought this was the best idea ever, and Rachel didn't fail to notice it might have been because Puck was to the immediate right of her. Rachel realized this meant that Sandra would basically be asking Puck if he would fuck her and then Puck would turn to Rachel and ask the same thing. This game was kind of messed up, and Rachel couldn't even pay attention as most of the circle went because she was dreading when it came back around to Sandra and then Puck and then her. Finally, it was Sandra's turn to give Puck three options and she was forced to listen.

"Ok Puck, Me, Casey, or your girlfriend…Laurie right?" She smiled sweetly, like she wasn't the devil that Rachel was starting to believe she was.

"Lauren." Puck corrected her, and Rachel could tell he was not happy. Puck was nothing if not brutally honest, and Rachel felt bad for Casey, even if she had been a bit berating before, since Sandra was obviously the more attractive of the two.

"Well…err…" Puck stalled, looking for an out, but there was none. Everyone else had played fair and square. "I'd marry my girlfriend, because ya know, she's my girlfriend, and I've known her the longest and we get along and stuff." Rachel tried not to let it bug her, because it made the most sense. "And I guess….I'd fuck you and kill Casey. Sorry." He shrugged, and avoided looking across the circle at Casey's hurt gaze or next to him to Sandra's pleased one. Rachel he could tell he wasn't a huge fan of this game either.

"Rachel's turn." Sandra said in a sing-song, I-got-my-way, kind of voice, and Puck reluctantly turned to her.

"Uh…Me…and…" His eyes were apologizing to her over and over for what he was being forced to do.

"It's ok, Noah." Rachel reassured him, just wanting to get this over with. "Just do the first two boys that come to mind."

"Well…that would be Finn and Mike and I'm sorry…" He mumbled. They both ignored the once-again confused faces of those around them. No one really understood that Finchel and Puckleberry had both been placed in front of Rachel on a silver platter and she had to publicly make a decision about which she wanted to take.

"Even though I think of him as quite a close friend, and Tina might kill me, given the choice, I'd have to kill Mike." She started with the easiest, obvious answer. "Let's face it, his dancing skills are extraordinary, but he does not contribute anything to our vocals." Puck laughed, and Rachel knew it was because, even at a time like this, she was thinking of Glee. She focused on a spot on the carpet in front of her and willed for anything to intervene so she wouldn't have to finish this stupid, stupid game. Maybe it was because she had spent so long planning a religious-based event, or maybe it was due to her impeccable attendance record on Saturdays, but apparently she was on god's good side, because just at that moment, they heard a knock on the basement door, and Mrs. Puckerman poked her head through to peer down the stairs at them.

"Not to ruin the fun, but I just woke up and realized how late it was." She stated in a very Mom-like manner. "Maybe it's time to think about going to bed?"

"I think that makes a lot of sense!" Rachel agreed brightly. She knew going to bed was just a suggestion, and they could very easily nod along and just continue their game in the dark after Puck's mother left, but Rachel was being saved by someone, and she wasn't going to waste it. "Why don't you all claim a blanket area, and we can begin the descent towards dreamland after this hectic day?"

"Thank you, Rachel!" Mrs. Puckerman smiled at her. "Goodnight, children. I'll have bagels for you all in the morning." She then disappeared back up the stairs, leaving the children alone, most of them glaring at Rachel. Sandra opened her mouth to say something that would most likely be nasty, but one look from Puck shut her right up and sent her back into sickly sweet mode.

"I am exhausted, and we could always pick this up over bagels in the morning." Sandra said, and Rachel gawked at her. This girl really was like Quinn, doing anything to get on the guy she wanted's good side. Rachel was happy that the look on Puck's face proved he wasn't buying it. She was also pleased with Sandra's approval, no matter how nasty her motives, because she had somehow turned into the unofficial ringleader, and everyone kind of followed her lead. Before Rachel could even stand up, everyone around her was in bed, and someone had shut the lights. She crawled under the blanket she had to share with Puck in the middle of the room, close enough to him in their spot as a barrier that she could feel his body heat, and knew that sleep wouldn't come easy.

"Noah?" Puck heard Rachel's quiet voice in the darkness. Everyone else around them was snoring, but he could tell she was awake even before she spoke. He wondered if she had been thinking about the same thing he was. All that had been on his mind since his mother had come down had been Rachel's unsaid answer to the "Marry, Screw, Kill" game. He knew it shouldn't matter to him, but it did. He needed to know before he figured out what the hell he was feeling for his best friend's recently ex-girl that was laying under the covers with him while he had a girlfriend. Shit was complicated, so he needed her damn answer.

"Yeah?" Puck responded.

"I just kind of wanted to know someone else was awake." Her voice was quiet.

"I'm right here." Puck reassured her. He didn't quite know why she needed it, but she did, so he reached under the blankets and gave her hand a squeeze. Their fingers seemed to automatically interlace, so he couldn't pull his hand away afterwards. It felt so nice, and fuck, he really needed to know. "Rach?"

"Hmm?"

"You didn't finish your part of the game." He felt her body tense beside him, but she didn't pull her hand away.

"I know."

"Can you please?" He tried not to let the desperation creep into his voice.

"Why?"

"I don't know." Puck didn't really have an answer for that since he had a fucking girlfriend and everything. "I just want to know, and I'll let you ask me one back, ok?" There. He figured that was a good compromise.

"Ok." She whispered, so quietly that he had the urge to move his head even closer to hers to hear it, but he refrained, not wanting to scare her off. "Only because my resolve is so weak due to the exhaustion felt by any normal human being this late at night…or early in the morning as the case may be." He could tell she was rambling to stall and because she was nervous, but he just let her. He wanted her to be comfortable and she could do this anyway she wanted as long as he got his answer out of it.

He turned his body to face her, because with the full moon coming through the windows, when his eyes adjusted, he could kind of make out her face. She mirrored his action, facing him, and somehow their hands stayed locked. She took a deep breath while he thought he was about to die of anticipation. He had never been so eagerly waiting for something that wasn't sex in his life.

"Well, I mean, how could I marry Finn? He's not Jewish." Her voice had a teasing tone to it, and Puck groaned. He didn't want a fucking joke right now.

"Rach…" His voice had a warning tone to it.

"Well, I mean, how could I marry Finn?" Her tone was serious now, and she was staring him directly in the eyes again, and when she had done that earlier, and when she did it now, it took everything in his power now to pull her to him and kiss her, with their eyes still open so he didn't have to stop looking at her. He tried to forget about the effect her dimly-lit eyes had on him, and focused on her words. She hadn't needed to say it, but she had just picked him, or at least, she had picked not Finn, and that was enough for him. He just had needed to know she no longer felt chained to Finn, and that was enough to make him want to tell her every confused thought in his brain, but he was a still a teenage boy that had never been good with feelings or talking about feelings, so he did the only thing he could think of to let her know how he felt.

"Your turn to ask me." He whispered, and saw her eyebrows shoot up in surprise at his response. She seemed to consider for a moment, before nodding her head as if deciding she was ready or something.

"You'll answer honestly?" She asked. He nodded seriously. "Ok. Lauren, Quinn, and me." She broke his gaze then, looking down towards the blanket while waiting for his reply.

"I'd obviously kill Quinn." He snorted, taking the easiest answer first just as Rachel had done, but he felt Rachel breathe a sigh of relief next to him. Maybe she had been wondering if some part of him still belonged to Quinn the way he had been wondering if part of her belonged to Finn. "She didn't want to let me be part of my child's life, even when that child was still in her belly. Once Beth was born, and I didn't have a compulsive need to be around her to be around my daughter, I realized that I would never be able to forgive her for all of those months she lied to everyone about who's daughter it was." He wasn't sure why he was telling her this, just that he had wanted to tell someone for so long, and this seemed like a good time, and Rachel seemed like the right person to tell. She gave his hand an understand squeeze and that was enough to make him glad he had told her.

Now, came the weird part. In a no-strings-attached situation, he would pretty much fuck anything with a nice rack. Rachel knew this, so who he fucked wasn't a huge deal. It was just who he married…which nice rack he'd be willing to commit himself to exclusively for the rest of his life…that was the huge deal.

He took a moment to picture it both ways. Lauren was cool when she wasn't being nasty, she really was, but he still felt trapped when thinking about only being with her until he died. Then, he pictured himself with Rachel, something he had been avoiding doing for a while.

He could see coming home to their apartment in New York…see them cooking dinner while she talked about how rehearsal was going and feeling so proud of her for whatever she did…see them taking their son to temple every Saturday…see them creating that son (probably one of his favorite parts of this imagined life because he was still him)…see them watching old movies in bed when it rained like they always did in those sappy romantic comedies…He could see all of it and it made him feel so happy. He could honestly see himself taking her out and wanting to show off what an amazingly crazy wife he had. He would never miss being with another woman if he had her. The same couldn't be said for Lauren.

He had been holding back these feelings and fantasies for so long, and now that they started, he couldn't stop them. His whole body felt light as air at the realization. He fucking loved this girl. All he wanted to do right now was grab her and hold her until the sun came up, but she was still looking down, and he realized she was waiting for an answer. He gently lifted her chin with his free hand so she was looking directly at him.

"I would marry you." He told her the truth, knowing there was no going back from here. He heard her breath hitch and saw her mouth moving closer to his, and he wanted nothing more than to meet her lips halfway, but he just couldn't, not like this.

"Rachel." The word stopped her dead in her tracks, and she looked confused, and hurt, and all that shit he didn't want to make her feel. "No! I want to, I really do, but you're too special for that. You're too special to have to be the other woman. Just…let me break up with Lauren, ok? I don't want to belong to someone else when I finally get to kiss you again." He rushed out his speech as best he could, because he just didn't want her to be sad. He kept searching her face for clues to what she was feeling, and she finally seemed to understand, and smiled.

"You're the sweetest badass I've ever met, Noah Puckerman." She giggled. "I feel bad for Lauren that she's losing a guy like you…" But the way she said it let Puck know that, even though she did feel bad, she wasn't going to let Lauren stand in their way anymore. They left their hands intertwined as they fell asleep, and Puck was the happiest he had been in a long time.

When he woke up in the morning though, she was gone.