So everyone thought they were dating.

It took Rachel two weeks and Puck two minutes to pick up on it, but within a few hours of them deciding to be just friends, the rumors were already circling McKinley like last year's bout of mono. He thought it was naïve of her not to think that far ahead. He had known from the moment he'd stuck up her after the breakup that it was going to happen. Now that it finally had, he wasn't about to stop it. That was part of his whole plan anyhow. He wanted her to be his; more surprisingly, however, he wanted to be hers.

"And I was thinking that you could go with me to the Autistic Children's Center," Rachel rambled as he followed her down the hallway toward English. Rachel had somehow convinced him over lunch that actually going to all of his afternoon classes today would be a good idea. Her latest suggestion had him seriously doubting Rachel's judgment. "They're doing a rendition of 'Victor Victoria' that I've been dying to see. My dad got us tickets."

Puck paused as Rachel stopped at her locker to exchange her Spanish book for her history one. "So you want me to spend my Saturday night hanging out with you and your two fathers seeing some musical?" he asked rhetorically. He smirked at her knowingly, happy that she was oblivious to what it sounded like. She wanted him to spend time with her parents. Guys like Puck didn't do that without getting something out of it, and girls like Rachel knew that. "I'll have to check with Ma to make sure she's not working, but it should be fine."

"Wait, really?" she asked, looking up at him in surprised wonder. She had counted on more of a fight.

"Of course, that's what friends do, right?" he asked before slipping his arm around her waist. She smiled up at him like he had cured cancer, and he felt like a fucking champ. He should have known that getting the key to getting into Berry's heart was giving her exactly what she wanted. Puck also knew her well enough to know that she also liked a challenge. The key with her was to pick your battles. "Maybe we could grab dinner afterward. The pizza place on Findlay just got vegan stuff."

"Oh! I've been wanted to try that place," she said when they finally stopped outside her classroom. Puck reluctantly drew his hand away and adjusted the strap on his backpack. A strand of dark hair had fallen across her cheek and it was taking literally everything he had not to tuck it behind her ear. "My fathers have plans already, so it'd be just the two of us."

It's then and only then that he allowed himself to reach out for her. He quietly pushed the hair away from her face and smiled his best smile. "Oh, the torture," he teased her lightly. She giggled in response and pressed playfully against his chest. The bell rang, and he suddenly hated school even more. "I guess I should get to class."

"I'll see you in glee?" she asked, earning a nod from him in response. Rachel leaned up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "And pay attention, Noah."

Three hours and three classes later, Puck should have been shocked to realize he had actually taken notes but wasn't. He called it the Berry Influence, and its power had helped even Finn pass math last year without having to resort to cheating off Brittany. She was waiting for him outside the choir room when he got out of his government class. It was nice to see her looking so happy standing there talking with Brittany, the two girls giggling quietly while occasionally nodding or waving to their friends as they passed by. He watched her for a long moment before Rachel glanced up at him. Her grin widened even further when came over to join them.

"Hello, Noah, how was the rest of your classes?" she asked as she slipped her arms around his sturdy torso to hug him. Rachel had always been a hugger; it was just how she greeted people. Okay, so this internal logic seemed to fail but she couldn't look at him and not hug him. The boy was gorgeous.

"Hey, babe," he told her before pressing a kiss to the side of her head. "I only missed two on my English quiz, so I guess your good influence is rubbing off on me."

Brittany looked at Rachel with concern. "Are you sick? Is it contagious?"

While Rachel seemed briefly confused, Puck spoke Britt Britt fluently. "It just means that she got to me to study, Britt," he explained to her carefully.

"Oh, okay!" she beamed. "Maybe Rachel could rub off on me then. Although I don't think she'd like it if someone else rubbed me…."

"Uh, right, we should sit down," Rachel interrupted her.

Brittany shrugged and bounced into the choir room ahead of them. Rachel glared at Puck, who was muffing laughter into her shoulder. She gently shrugged him off before grabbing him by the wrist to drag him into the room behind her. The two of them took their now usual seats by Brittany. Puck hooked his ankle around her chair and pulled her close to him so that he wouldn't have to stretch his arm so far. Rachel turned into him immediately so she could fill him in on the rest of her day.

The two of them seemed not to notice the conversation going on around them. "So I guess it's official," Kurt clapped happily. "Puckleberry is back on!"

"Great, Britt is gonna go on about that forever," Santana said as she rolled her eyes. It was a sudden turn of events for both of them considering where they were weeks ago. However, Kurt had truly always been a fan of Puckleberry and he didn't want to see his best friend as sad as she had been since the breakup. And Santana was a fan of anything that made Brittany happy, so the two of them were going to be supportive no matter their initial feelings. "You just know she's going to have Yentl on her webshow."

"I think it's sweet," Blaine mused while patting Kurt's hand affectionately. "They're happy."

"Yeah, Blaine's right. We're their friends, we should be supportive," Mercedes added.

"Wait, do we even know that they're actually dating?" Mike asked. Tina rolled her eyes in his direction. "Look, dude's my best friend and he's never said anything to me about making it official. Don't you think Rachel would make them matching shirts or decorate his locker or something?"

"Chang has a point," Santana acknowledged. "Berry's not exactly subtle."

Tina looked at them for a long moment. "Maybe it's different with Puck," she suggested. "With Finn, she was always looking over her shoulder, waiting for the other shoe to drop. C'mon, guys, we all knew that he was going to go back to Quinn eventually. They always end up together."

"And weirdly, Puck ends up chasing after Rachel," Sam realized aloud. "When did that happen?"

"Oh, Sam," Kurt laughed as they all looked over at their friends, "that's been happening for years."

Meanwhile, not everyone was thrilled about the blossoming friendship. Quinn couldn't help buut notice the way that Finn was staring daggers at his best friend and his ex-girlfriend. She didn't want to be jealous of the way Finn was looking at Rachel but it was pretty much engrained at her at this point. It wasn't to say that she hadn't done this to herself. She knew that if she hadn't made those mistakes sophomore year, there was a good chance that she would have never lost Finn in the first place. He had loved her, always loved her, and even with Rachel Berry in the picture, nothing had ever really changed that.

"They look happy together, don't they?" she asked quietly. The two of them were on the back row, sort of separated from the others. "He relaxes her."

"And she makes him more serious," he acknowledged. "I can't believe she's with him."

Quinn reached down and touched his wrist. "I'm sure she thinks the same thing about us," she replied. Quinn had some of those moments herself. "Finn, hey, can you look at me for a minute?" He was silent as he pulled his gaze away from their friends and to her. His eyes softened when they met hers, and she couldn't help but smile that certain smile she seemed to reserve for only him. "People look at us and can't believe that we've forgiven each other after everything. They deserve to have people say the same thing about them. I don't expect it to change overnight, but you have to let it go. You have to let her go. Please, Finn, just let her go."

He reached for her hand and entwined their fingers together. "I'm trying, Quinn."

Finn wasn't the only one unhappy about the shifting chemistry in the group. Mr. Schuester had seen enough combinations over the years with this group to know that Rachel and Puck were about to happen again. And while he ordinarily would have wanted whatever was going to be best for the group, right now, he needed to know that Finn and Rachel could sing together without interference from Quinn or Puck. He needed to know that they could check the drama at the door and get the job done.

"Rachel, Finn, I would like you two to stay late today to work on your solos."

"I have plans with Q, Mr. Schue," Finn replied.

Quinn looked at her teacher with determined eyes. She knew what he was doing and he knew that she knew. "It's fine, Finn," she said softly, making sure to rest her hand on his knee. "You need to rehearse."

"Noah brought me to school today."

"I'm sure that Finn would be happy to give you a ride," the teacher answered.

Puck didn't like how the guy was interfering in their business. What gave him the right? Then again, he was always sticking his nose where it didn't belong. It was how they ended up with those stupid assignments that only half of them ever seemed to do anyhow. "I'll wait for you, Rach," he told her without tearing his eyes away from their teacher. "I'm sure you guys could use some feedback."

Schue was about to say something when Rachel turned and gazed up at him like he'd just lassoed the moon. "That would amazing, Noah, thank you!" She waited a beat before looking at her teacher. "And you know, about that solo, I was thinking we could make it a quartet. Both Noah and Quinn have beautiful voices, and I think the four of us work harmoniously on a song."

"Hey, that's not a bad idea," Artie mused from the front row, catching on before the others. "We haven't used Quinn in a solo all year. She'd be great on the second verse."

"Yeah, and the way Puck gets kind of throaty could be great on the bridge," Mike added.

"So we should all four stay and practice then," Quinn said, exchanging a smile with Rachel. She was really glad the two of them were back to fighting on the same side of the law. "I mean, since rehearsal is so important."

Rachel nodded. "I think it'd be a perfect time to work on the new arrangement."

"Hold up, I haven't agreed to this…"

Finn looked up at him innocently. "It's our song and our club, seems like we should get a say for once," he said. "I think it's a good idea. We always sound better when we layer the sound. Besides, I'd kinda like to sing with Quinn since this is the last time we'll all be together."

"Puck, you've been decidedly quiet," Schuester spoke up.

"Whatever Rach wants me to do," he shrugged lazily. "It's her call." He ignored the muttered comments he heard about being whipped before he looked back up at the teacher daringly. "Besides, you know how well we sound together or have you forgotten? I know you've got a hard on for a good Finchel solo but I think it's time for Puckleberry to take the stage again."

"Noah," Rachel warned lowly.

"What, Rach? It's clear that he's worried about Q and me upsetting his perfect little duo. I've sat through this for three years but enough is enough. Schue, it's none of your damn business who Berry's hookin' up with," he spat. "And for the record, we're just dating. We're not together. We're friends. Finn is with Quinn but so what? The two of them can sing to each other and be grown up about it. The thing is, the thing you're not seeing, is that maybe they don't want to sing to each other. Maybe she wants to sing to me, maybe he wants to sing to Quinn. Either way, we get to choose. You're the choir director, but we're the singers. We got you to New York just as much as you got us there. For once, why don't you listen to what we want?"

They were all shocked that it took Puck's soliloquy to finally get Mr. Schuester to hear what they were saying. There was no doubt that he was an amazing teacher, and he had definitely taken them further than any of them had ever imagined. However, he did have a way of living vicariously through Finn and pushing his own agenda. Puck had been on the sidelines waiting for his moment in the spotlight, just like they all had. Their time together was drawing to a close, and they had to take control of their own destinies if they wanted to shine in New York. It might have not been handled in the right way, but Puck was just happy they were all getting their way in the end. And Rachel, she was happy that she going to get to sing with Noah because she knew that some things were inevitable.

They definitely weren't just friends.