A/N: Howdy :)

Ok, so I've fast-forwarded a few weeks because I didn't want the story to get so slow it stopped lol I'm thinking I might get it to a point where it can follow the show with Nikki inserted, but that's just an idea, I might not do that...

Well, I don't know what else to say until it starts to pick up a little haha! But I promise it will soon :D

Please let me know what you guys are thinking of this story! I'd love to hear whether you guys are enjoying it, or if you're not, what isn't so good? I know there are some writers who get completely over protective over their work, and don't like it when people criticise their work, but I don't mind! As long as it is constructive criticism, I'm totally open to it, because I truely believe that it will help me grow as a writer :) And it'll help me produce something that you lovely people like reading haha! So yeah, just drop me a little comment...

:D

xoloveJBox

Chapter 4.
"5, 6, 7, 8" will prompted. It had already been a few weeks since Nikki had joined New Directions, and they were only just falling back into a workable routine. Given the reluctances of some of the kids at the beginning, Will was surprised by how well she had been integrated into the group. Nikki was tutoring Finn in Spanish, and Will had seen her with every single member at least once outside the choir room.
The problem was Nikki's dancing.
As if on cue, Nikki not only tripped herself, but Rory too, leaving them both sprawled across the choir room floor.
"God, I'm such an idiot!" Nikki hissed to herself. "I'm really sorry Rory. Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Rory replied as he stood and brushed himself off, extending a hand for Nikki.
"I am getting rid of these things." she told everyone, reaching down to her large, scuffed leather hiking boots. "I don't even know why I have them. I've never even been hiking."
"It's alright," Will interrupted her as she pulled a lace. "Let's call it a day anyway."
Nikki sighed dejectedly, frustrated at herself for cutting everyone's rehearsal short. It took only a minute for most of the room to clear out, and only Nikki and Will were left.
"I'm really sorry Mr Shue." she said desperately. "I'm trying to do better."
"I know you are, and you'll get it." Will assured her, though Nikki could tell that he wasn't completely convinced. Will gathered his things and bade Nikki goodbye, and she decided that she was going to stay for a while. She knew that her position in glee club was a precarious one, and Nikki would do anything to keep it. She was going to stay in the choir room until she got it right.
With a sense of renewed determination, Nikki started the cd again. She got into position and counted herself in.
Puck had got halfway out of the building before he had realised that he had forgotten his geometry book, so he circled back to get it. The corridors were empty, and all he could hear was the sound of his own footsteps on the linoleum. As much as he hated to admit it, the desertedness of the school after-hours irked him, and his most predominant thought was to get into the open air of the school parking lot.
However, he was distracted by music filtering through the air. He could tell that it was the music from glee rehearsal, and he followed it back to the choir room. He stopped in the doorway, but he could see immediately that Nikki was fully immersed in what she was doing, and she didn't notice him. Puck watched silently as long, dark curls tumbled over slender shoulders that were covered with a loose floral patterned shirt. He noticed how her faded jeans hugged her legs comfortably, and he suspected that the bulky boots that adorned her feet made them look bigger than they actually were. Even from where he stood, Puck could see the sheer concentration in Nikki's face as she did the steps in the dance. She had made it successfully through at least half of the steps, but the turns always seemed too much for her colossal incoordination, and Nikki once again ended up on her rear. She grunted irritably when she hit the ground with an oomph.
"Wow." Puck finally said, making Nikki jump as she realised he was there. "You give a new meaning to the term 'two left feet'."
"Thanks Puck." Nikki replied sarcastically "You're encouragement is incredibly useful."
"I could lie." he told her as he walked over and held out a hand to help her up "but what help would that be?"
"I suppose you're right." Nikki agreed as she took Puck's hand and let him pull her to his feet.
"I'm never going to get this." she sighed "And everyone'll kick me out."
"No one's going to kick you out Nikki"
"I would!" she exclaimed with a half bitter laugh "If someone as ad as me joined a club I was in, I would tell them to get lost."
"*That* is your problem." Puck told her firmly "You're being too hard on yourself. You need to relax and *feel* the music."
"That's easy for you to say," Nikki replied "you can do the moves."
"I'll help you."
"I'm sure you have much better things to be doing with your time."
"No. Not really." he said kindly, and Nikki smiled. "Come on, I'll walk you through it."
Puck put the music back on and counted aloud the beats, which Nikki felt helped her concentration a lot more than if she had counted herself. Once again, when they got to the turn, Nikki stumbled, though she didn't stumble, which was at least an improvement. She grounded loudly in frustration, and Puck silenced the cd player.
"It's ok." he told her encouragingly "Let's try something else."
Puck knelt down in front of her, and Nikki was thoroughly confused by his actions, but she didn't say anything.
"Close your eyes." Puck requested. Though she knew it was strange, Nikki did as she was asked.
"Let me control your feet." Puck continued, and Nikki followed his lead as she felt him tugging on the bottom of her jeans, humming a slowed down version of the song.
"Now turn." he told her at the correct beat.
"No!" she exclaimed, keeping her eyes closed. "I'll fall flat on my face, and then I'll look like an even bigger idiot."
"Nikki, I'm not going to let you fall." he told her seriously. "Look at me."
Nikki slowly opened her eyes and looked down, directly into his light brown orbs.
"Do you trust me?" he asked.
"Yes." she whispered honestly, struck by how true her answer was, despite only knowing the boy for a few weeks.
"Then do it."
Nikki took a deep, shaky breath, closed her eyes and spun. She could feel Puck's large, firm hands directing her feet. After a flash of certainty that she was going to fall on the floor, her thoughts were jolted by the sound of Puck's voice.
"See. You're not so bad Winters."
Nikki's eyes flew open when she realised she was still again. All she saw was the back of Puck as he threw a goodbye over his shoulder, leaving Nikki bewildered at what she had just achieved. It wasn't a lot, but just the idea that she could do it at least once left Nikki feeling like a whole new set of doors had been opened for her. What she didn't realised was that Puck had known that she could do it all along.