Here's the second to last chapter. Enjoy

I own nothing.

Puck glared at jewfro as he walked into McKinley high on Monday morning. His weekend had sucked major balls. Rachel had blown him off all weekend, clearly panicking about their near-miss on Friday at basketball practice. He had decided that he'd see her when he picked her up on Monday morning and that he'd figure out where her head was at. So he'd been pretty fucking choked when she texted him last night to tell him that she was getting a ride with Santana. Effing Satan totally cockblocked him on that one. Opening his locker he threw his bag inside and grabbed his books for first class. He thought about skipping since he shared that class with Rachel. It was one thing to think that she was panicking and avoiding him. It was another to actually have to see it. Sighing heavily, he slammed his locker shut and headed to first period.

"Hello Noah!" Rachel exclaimed when he threw himself into the chair beside her. He just turned to look at her in surprise. He had half-expected her to run scared when he showed up. Although the closer he looked he realised that it wasn't a real smile that she had aimed in his direction. It was that damn show smile. Eff his life.

"Berry." He replied before turning back to his book. Maybe it wasn't super mature but he was pretty pissed that she was being so weird. The two of them had made out a ton of times. They were two hot Jews, it was only natural. She hadn't wigged out like this before.

"How was your weekend? Mine was fantastic! I went to the mall with San and Q on Friday, but of course you already knew about that!" she laughed nervously. "Then I spent Saturday and Sunday working on something for Glee. I think it'll be very good. I'm very excited about performing actually and I-" She stopped when he held up a hand.

"Berry you're speaking at a speed that I can't understand. So if you could calm down a bit and stop rambling nervously that would be great." He said.

Rachel just sat back and blushed at having been caught so easily.

"I know that 'm hot Berry, but that's no reason to get nervous." He joked because he felt like a jerk for snapping at her. He was rewarded with a snort of laughter and a REAL smile.

"I'm sorry Noah. I just had a strange weekend."

"Strange?" He questioned with interest.

"How about we hang out after glee tonight? I'll tell you all about it?" Rachel asked hopefully.

"Sure B. I'm all yours." He answered before raising his brows in confusion. His answer had caused Rachel to blush profusely. She smiled quickly before turning back to going over her homework.

He stared at her for a moment and just as he opened his mouth to ask her what the hell was going on, the teacher walked in and started the lesson. Shaking his head in irritation he sat back and pretended to listen to the lecture as he watched Rachel in his periphery. She was being weird and he planned on getting to the bottom of it.

The bell rang and Rachel shot up and out of her desk like a bat out of hell.

"See you later Noah!" she shouted over her shoulder as she ran from the classroom. Puck looked up to see several pairs of curious eyes on him. Shrugging his shoulders and muttering about 'her own personal brand of crazy' he got up and walked out as well.

He spent the next two periods thinking over her strange behaviour in their class and decided to confront her about it at lunch. He obviously wanted to kiss her, but if she was going to be so weird about it then he'd cool it. She was his best friend and yeah he'd love it if they could add some sex to the equation, but it wasn't worth losing her. She was the one person who believed in him fully with no strings attached. She had made him work his ass off since juvie. And she was the reason that a letter from NYU had been waiting for him when he got home from basketball practice on Friday. He had really wanted to tell her in person, but she was being a spaz and he was choked about it.

He walked into the lunch room and sat down at his usual table, nodding at the gleeks who were already assembled there. Sam came in and the two quickly got into a heated debate about the UFC matchup on Saturday and before he knew it lunch was over. He realised with great irritation that Rachel had never showed up for lunch.

"Have you seen Berry, Evans?" He glared when the boy shook his head. The midget had managed to avoid him yet again. Grumbling he got up and headed to his locker for his next class.

He managed to walk past her locker in between each class that afternoon and didn't see her at all. He began to wonder if she had gone home. Realising that maybe he was overreacting, he stopped by Santana's locker before last period.

"Where's the midget Lopez?" he growled when she just laughed and turned back to her locker.

"She's around I'm sure."

"Seriously Satan why's she avoiding me?" He did his best to keep the hurt out of his tone. He failed miserably apparently because the devil herself turned to him with something akin to pity in her eyes.

"She's not avoiding you. She's worried about her Glee song today. So just leave her alone until then. I promise it'll all be worth it." Santana answered slowly before heading off to her class.

Puck glared after her and decided to let it drop until Glee practice. He didn't know why Rachel would be nervous about performing. She sang more often than she breathed, and aside from that time she had laryngitis she's always been perfect. He did his best to listen to his teacher and even took notes in an attempt to not obsess over the enigma that was Rachel Berry. He almost raised a fist in victory when the damn bell finally rang. He dropped his books off at his locker and practically sprinted to the choir room. Surprised that he was the first one there, he took a seat in the middle row and waited for the rest of the class.

There it is. Let me know what you think.