Author's Note: So, first, an apology. The last "chapter" wasn't meant to scare anyone; it was just the best break in the story. Sorry. Haha. Second, thank you everyone for reading. I still can't believe this started as just the very first part of the first "chapter" and has turned into this mammoth (for me) of (technically) a oneshot. I partially blame everyone's support. Shame on all of you. ;)

I have a few other Puckleberry ideas, but I never know when the muse is going to play nice. So, until next time ...

Rachel giggled in his ear, the sound melodic but strangled as she attempted to catch her breath after he'd topped off their sexual escapade with an extra orgasm for her. It was just as much of a treat for him as it was her, but he'd also had an ulterior motive. Everything had been good between since the epic fight, but a lot of things were also in a weird state of limbo; they'd started to receive back their admissions letters from the colleges they'd applied to earlier, but they hadn't talked about any of it outside of stating pride and congratulations - or, twice for him, condolences for the rejection letters. And normally Puck was fine with not talking, but that was kind of what had gotten them in trouble last month, and he'd grown enough as a man and as a man in a relationship to understand the importance of communication. Still, he was Puck, so if he was going to have to talk about his feelings and the future and equally heavy stuff, then they were going to do it while naked. Period.

"Hey," he rasped, jostling her a little to keep her from falling asleep until eventually moving her so they were lying side by side, face to face. "Can we, like, talk … about the whole college thing?"

She smiled even with her eyes closed. "You want to talk? Now?" She opened her eyes when he didn't respond, and her smile faded when she seemed to sense his seriousness. "Okay."

He considered putting it back in her court, making her confess first, but something forced him to open up. "I know Lima was never the plan, but … I can't hate it anymore." His eyes found hers as he scooted just a fraction closer, his shoulder that wasn't against the mattress shrugging helplessly. "I thought coming back here was the end, but … it feels like just the beginning now. With you and work and glee and just, with everything." He breathed heavily, his fingers skimming across her bare arm when she'd moved it to grasp his open palm on the bed. "And I'm not comparing you to Q or this to what happened between me and her, but … the long-distance thing scares me." He pushed some of her hair back behind her ear, giving her a full view into his eyes and vice versa. "So, I'm in for New York … I guess is what I'm tryin' to say."

Her eyes shifted down for only a moment, long enough for her to move so they were sharing a pillow, their bodies pressed together so tightly that each could feel the other's breath. Unfortunately, waiting for her response, Puck wasn't breathing.

"I don't hate Lima anymore, either." She smiled softly, her voice just above a whisper. "I'd dreamed of moving to New York and taking over Broadway, and I did. In spite of everything, I did. But I wasn't happy. Those old dreams didn't fit me, didn't fit the person I'd become, and it took moving back here to realize that my real dream is just to be happy. And it had seemed impossible then, but … I am. With glee and being closer to my fathers. And with you, I'm happy."

His soft embrace turned more and more passionate until they were lost in the throes of yet another sexual escapade. But, in the end - still naked - they talked more and they both decided to accept their admissions to the Ohio State University's Lima campus that was right on the other side of 75 … and to officially move in together. What could he say? When he swung, he aimed for the fences.

They'd helped chaperone prom at McKinley and the whole night had not been as horrible as he'd thought it was going to be. In fact, it had been kind of fun, but not in the same way it was when they were younger. He'd helped Rachel zip up her dress when they were getting ready, he'd made sure kids didn't spike the punch during the dance, and, weirdest of all, he'd watched the glee kids have a good time with people not in glee. Their class wasn't like his and Rachel's had been; they were a tight group, but they had other friends, other hobbies (Rachel hated when people considered glee a hobby when she'd always thought of it as part of her career). Without having the burden of supplying the entertainment - Puck still loved that Rachel downright refused Sue's threats; it was hilarious to him that she was playing hardball when she barely had a leg to stand on - the kids had mingled with friends and danced with dates. Everything had been awesome up until the announcement of King and Queen. Jake had actually won, but Kitty had lost to some popular, senior cheerleader and had been pissed. And, unfortunately, during her particularly scathing rant (which he so hoped ended up on You-Tube), she'd ended up pouting that it only made sense that she won because she'd slept with the winner (Jake) and his older brother (Puck).

Rachel, for her part, hadn't said a word about it the rest of the night. However, she'd also not said much of anything since the outburst, and upon entering their apartment, he figured it was best to just clear the air. "So, look, about Kitty ..."

"Please," she shook her head, waving her hand in dismissal once she'd finally undone the clasp on her left heel. "It's fine."

He furrowed his eyebrows, knowing it was a trap but not really sure how to get out of it. "Really?"

"I mean, I feel kind of silly only now knowing, especially considering the amount of time we've all spent together courtesy of glee, but …" she trailed off then, tossing her removed shoes toward the rack by the doorway before looking at him and shrugging emptily. "It's not like you're the only one I've ever slept with."

He nodded in understanding and felt relief wash over him. But, as the seconds passed between her response and the silence that followed while she moved through the apartment to prepare for bed, the relief gave way to a much stronger emotion. One that he hadn't experienced in a very long time, if ever with such ferocity, and one that propelled him toward the bedroom. Their bedroom. He watched her slip out of her dress and into her normal pajamas, but all he could think about was her doing the same thing somewhere else. With someone else. And she was absolutely right that neither of them had any right to be jealous or upset considering they both knew their pasts - he was thinking less of Finn and more of that douche Brody and whoever-the-hell else while she was in LA - but he couldn't help the possessiveness that overtook him in that moment.

"Hey," he practically barked, moving to the edge of the bed and literally pulling her toward him until her legs hung loosely at his sides and her eyes were wide and wild on his. "You're mine."

She lifted onto her elbows and gave that little smile that told him it had been a trap but not the one he'd expected, before challenging, "Prove it."

Puck swiftly crossed the busy downtown street to reach the large building that housed a number of different offices. One floor was related to the medical field, with one side being a legit massage place and chiropractor while the other was a family dentist or something, but the rest of the building was almost exclusively business offices. He rode the elevator to the fifth floor and took a few deep breaths before finally opening the front office door for the law firm. The receptionist was a nice, old woman who he actually knew from her loyal business at the garage, but she also knew he was friends with the family, so she barely batted an eye when he motioned toward the back offices. There were stacks of paper piled high enough that it was almost hard to tell the older gentleman was sitting at his desk, but his head popped up enthusiastically when Puck knocked.

"Noah?" Hiram Berry said in way of greeting, his easy smile faltering a little as he took in what Puck knew was an unexpected visitor. "Is everything alright, son?"

"Yeah, of course," Puck shook his head, immediately squelching any worries Mr. Berry might have had relating to his precious daughter. He repeated the motion for LeRoy when he walked into the hallway, stopping in his tracks at the sight of Puck and then walking slowly toward the common area once relieved that the visit seemed casual. "Sorry to kinda barge in here, or whatever."

"Our doors are always open, but," LeRoy looked at Hiram, then back to Puck, "we were under the impression that you had to work tonight."

Puck nodded, knowing that was what he'd told Rachel and what she must have told them; she'd already informed him that she'd made plans to have dinner with her fathers. It was one of the reasons he'd considered aborting the whole mission - the Berry men weren't exactly great at keeping a secret, or their opinions to themselves. Nonetheless, he'd already made up his mind, and now he just had to do it quicker because he was on a time limit.

"Yeah, this won't take long - and, like, I know you don't drive, so I figured this would just be easier." Hiram seemed to melt a little at his consideration, and it bought Puck a little time to re-find his nerve. "I just, uh, wanted you guys to know that I'mma ask Rach to marry me."

He expected their shock, and it was a full 10 seconds before Hiram was able to stutter, "Wh-when?"

"I dunno." He shrugged, then cleared his throat. "And, like, no disrespect, but I'm not here askin' permission or whatever. I'mma do it either way, and I don't really expect your blessing since I'm sure you don't think anyone is good enough for her. Shit, I agree - almost definitely not me - but … she's kinda taught me to always try."

There was awe shining in both their eyes, but Puck knew them well enough to understand that they were probably thinking of Rachel and less about the words he'd just said. They knew better than him (better than anyone) the kind of effect Rachel could have on someone's life, as each of them had spent the past 21-plus years caring for her. They'd dedicated their entire lives to providing for their daughter, and he's sure to them she'd always be that ambitious, intense, driven little girl, so it was probably hard to even grasp the concept that someone could stand in front of them and think he could just take over that task.

"I know we haven't been dating long and we're still young, and you guys had an issue with that before, but," he breathed deeply, his eyes faltering for the first time the whole declaration, "if I learned anything about Finn dying, it's that we all don't have as much time as we think."

It was quiet again for nearly a minute, and Puck was just about to bob his head and walk out when Hiram cleared his throat. "Finn's death affected us all. We had to watch our daughter grieve, and then flounder as she tried to figure out how to move on from that grief."

"And we watched you, too," LeRoy added, tears shining in his eyes when he turned to face Puck. "We watched you struggle in so many of the same ways and … seeing you two come together and build what we've seen you build …"

"It's incredible, Noah," Hiram finished, his voice shaking just as much as LeRoy's but a smile on his face - the same awe-like one he'd had earlier when thinking of his daughter. "You've become a good man, son, and we couldn't imagine a better fit for Rachel."

Puck let out a strangled laugh, his head shaking in disbelief as their words seemed to echo in his mind. He'd come for no other reason than giving the two men a head's up, mainly because he wanted to be prepared for their objections. And even though it certainly wasn't the kind of manly conversation he'd envisioned missing out on because his own father had left when he was kid, their acceptance and approval meant more to Puck than he'd imagined it would; it filled a void that he hadn't realized was open, and made him even more okay with joining the Berry family.

Puck sprayed down another car after the kids had finished wiping away all the dirt, his eyes flicking over to the other station where Rachel was. The glee club was throwing a last-ditch fundraiser before Nationals, raising money by washing the cars of all the local perverts who wanted to see teenagers all wet and dressed in bathing suits. The weather was surprisingly nice (it was Ohio, so it was always shocking when it wasn't snowing, even in May), and they'd had a ton of traffic, but all of that mattered very little to Puck when the sound of Rachel's full-out laughter rang through the parking lot. She was wearing a pair of cut-off denim shorts that showed off nearly the entire expanse of her long legs, a stupid glee shirt everyone else was wearing (except the boys, like him, who'd tossed it in favor of working on their tan), and the biggest smile he'd seen on her face in a long time. Her eyes were covered by a pair of huge sunglasses and her hair was a little wavy from the weather mixing with the stray water droplets.

Basically, she looked amazing.

Legit, she always did, but he'd recently noticed that her hotness had reached a new level. And it wasn't because she was standing next to Coach Bieste - who he loved to death but wasn't doing them any favors by wearing her typical uniform of red polo, black shorts and white tube socks. Even without the sun, Rachel was practically glowing; she had a confidence about her that somehow amplified her sexiness, and he was never happier they were dating because he just had to tell her.

"Hey, Coach," he greeted as he walked over. "Nice knees."

Coach Bieste rolled her eyes, sarcasm dripping from her voice as she replied, "Yeah. Nice face."

He chuckled and accepted her playful (but still kind of hard) punch to the arm as she moved to the group he'd just abandoned, his attention quickly moving to his original target.

"She's not wrong," Rachel commented first, moving her sunglasses to the crown of her head and eyeing him suspiciously. "Your face is kind of weird right now."

"And here I came over to tell ya thatcha look smokin' today, but eff it."

She rolled her eyes, lifting onto her toes to kiss his cheek. "Thank you, Noah. I'd say the same for you, but the number of cars driven by women hoping to see you closer up without your shirt on speaks for itself." She gestured toward those waiting for their car washes, and he had to admit that one looked as if it had purposely drove through a mud puddle just to come back to the fundraiser. "All I meant by my original comment was that you had your pensive face on before coming over."

"Checkin' me out?" He asked jokingly, though he was really just using it to avoid the fact that she'd again forced him to lose his train of thought. He'd never really had a good time with a girl before, never been in a relationship where the girl was just as much his friend as anything else. It seemed to make all the difference considering how things were going between them, and even though he still felt like a pussy for thinking such, he hoped it would always be like this for them. And, if he was a homo for thinking that, then he was just plain stupid for thinking that, for them, maybe it could be.

"You seem happy."

She laughed at him, then seemed to sense that he looked almost bewildered by the notion. "I am happy."

He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face, though he was slowly learning not to worry about those kinds of things; she'd taught him to be more open to his feelings, to not be ashamed of them. And, through trial and error, he'd learned that hiding them just lead to him fucking up the good feelings. So, to ensure that didn't happen (today), he smacked a kiss to her lips and smiled even wider. "I'm happy, too."

She giggled into another kiss, speaking against his lips for a moment. "I know." She pulled back, gesturing at his face with her finger. "That's your happy face."

He rolled his eyes because she was being cute just for the sake of being cute. And she wanted to seem like she was the only one paying attention, but he knew her pretty well, too. So when he saw that particular look in her eyes just as she made a slight change in her departure to move closer to the working hose, he knew better than to think it was just by chance. In fact, it would be a cold day in Hell before he was out-pranked by Rachel Berry, super hot or not.

"Think fast," he shouted to get her attention, throwing a large, soapy sponge at her. He was surprised when she caught it, but he was not surprised when she ended up with a soaked T-shirt and droplets of soap speckled across her face, hair and torso. "Ut oh," he chuckled, gesturing to her in the same manner she'd done to him earlier, "that looks like your angry, dwarf face."

Her eyes narrowed even more than they'd already had, her voice tight but powerful. "You are going to pay for that, Noah Puckerman."

He just laughed, taking back his post by one of the cars and winking at her. "Bring it."

He couldn't remember ever being as nervous when it was him on stage, but he could barely keep still when the glee kids hurried onto the stage to get into position for their set. Nationals this year was in Nashville, which he thought sucked as far as locations could have gone despite Rachel's constant teasing that he was secretly happy since he loved country music. Nonetheless, the kids were getting ready to start their performance, and he was still having trouble believing they were actually here. It really shouldn't be that surprising considering Rachel's talent just sort of rubbed off on anyone she interacted with, but he was still a little shocked.

"I'm so nervous," she admitted quietly, her voice higher than usual. "I don't even know why." Her left hand gripped his right, squeezing tightly as the lights changed and the first chords of music started. "This just feels like … like I found something that matters, something that combines all the things I love." She exhaled sharply the second the first vocal note was sung. "It sounds silly, but it would absolutely crush me if we lose, because then it would prove that maybe I'm not good enough at those things."

It was never the plan, and it certainly wasn't going to help his stress level, but something about the moment felt perfect. They were standing side by side, watching something that they'd made flourish (legit, the kids were killing it on stage), supporting one another fully. Her hand was nestled in his, and even though both their eyes were on the stage, they still were so connected to one another that it almost took his breath away (if he weren't suddenly breathing more heavily from the panic).

"Ya know," he started nervously, her hand being in his the only thing keeping it from shaking uncontrollably, "I kinda feel the same about you."

Eventually, her gaze drifted off the glee kids and onto him, her eyes questioning his statement until he angled his body so they were face to face instead of next to one another - then her mouth questioned him because he hadn't let go of her hand and his eyes had fallen to one particular digit. He'd wanted this moment to be special, for it to feel perfect and for him to say all the right things. But, while it had felt like the right time, the words weren't as easy for him to perfect.

"Win or lose, marry me."

"What?" She asked, the shock in her voice clear as day given the kids had finished their number and now were being joined on stage by all the other competitors to see who'd be crowned victor. But, instead of repeating himself, Puck merely lowered to one knee and pulled a small box out of his breast pocket; Nana Connie had given him the ring, and he'd been carrying it around every day since he'd talked to Rachel's fathers. Her loose hand flew to her mouth, her eyes welling with tears when she finally pulled her gaze away from the ring to him. The silence seemed so much worse when even the crowd was quiet waiting for the emcee to announce the winner, but the enthusiastic nod of her head was loud and clear.

"Yes," she whispered just before New Directions claimed the top spot, the roar of the crowd nothing compared to the steady chanting of her love for him in his ear as he hugged and spun her around.

Definitely not a bad night, even for Tennessee.

Puck accepted a glass of the red punch from Emma, smiling gratefully before turning around and looking around the room. They'd spent the better part of the morning packed in the auditorium for the graduation ceremony, and now they were still on school grounds for a final goodbye to the glee kids in the choir room. Everyone was still reeling from their Nationals victory, the buzz in the room impossible to kill despite the fact that Sue had not confirmed whether she'd grant the glee club another year. Both he and Rachel were fully prepared to defend the club if need be, but that new, weird, optimistic side of him didn't think a fight would be necessary.

"Hey, Puck," Mr. Schue greeted easily, approaching the young man with a wide smile. "How's things?"

"No complaints, Mr. Schue."

The old director shook his head, lowering his voice as he angled himself just a little more closely into Puck's personal space. "I know we're guys, but we can still talk." He nudged Puck in the arm, his smile back even though his eyes were serious. "I know it's not Rachel, so fess up."

Puck chuckled at the older gentleman, mostly just because he wondered when everything had gotten so flipped. Like, when did Mr. Schue become one of his mentors, someone he actually looked up to? Even now he maintained that the guy's life basically sucked, which made even less sense since Puck was preparing to start schooling for a career in the education field. But, regardless, Will was probably the one person who might be able to help him.

"How do you do it, year after year?" He asked quietly, his eyes again raking over the room and wondering how he was supposed to just pretend like he didn't care that he wouldn't see these kids for three months - some for much longer than that, if ever; it was tough thinking about Jake going away for school (he'd accepted a scholarship to Michigan, which was only like 2 hours away, but still), but Ryder was moving to Seattle and Puck was pretty sure this would be the last he saw of him. "Like, saying goodbye?"

"Honestly, it's the hardest part," Mr. Schue admitted, him looking around, too. "And I really don't have a great answer, because I really struggled with it with your class; you guys changed my life so much, and it was hard for me to not have you guys around anymore." He cleared his throat, and somehow both their eyes drifted to Finn's plaque. "I've learned that it's less about the goodbye, though, and more about starting over. Every year, I have this incredible opportunity to make a difference in kids' lives, and they have the same opportunity."

Keeping with the theme, their eyes both seemed to magically filter through the crowd to land on Rachel, watching her interact joyfully with a group of freshmen (turning sophomores) who were playing some ridiculous card game no one really knew the rules to. "She's happy now, Puck, and you did that. You gave her the chance to start over, to start again … and that's exactly what your class gave me and what I hope to give at least one student each new year. Another chance." He cleared his throat, finally looking at the younger man. "Don't ever take that kind of opportunity for granted."

Puck bobbed his head in understanding, screwing back on his patented smirk when Sarah came over and started to tease him about something that had happened at his graduation. Eventually Marley, Unique and some of the other seniors joined in on the rousing, until finally Rachel came over with her own observation. He laughed with her, sliding an arm across her shoulders and kissing her temple softly. She looked up at him quizzically, and he just shrugged because he knew the gentleness didn't exactly make sense given he was the butt of everyone's jokes.

He just didn't want to take any moment for granted.

Puck chuckled at the way Mike spun into his toss, much of his amusement fading when the Asian landed the bullseye and effectively ended their game of darts. It was his third loss in a row, and only in a matter of about 20 minutes, so he was more than willing when Mike suggested they move back out to the main area and see who else had arrived; almost everyone was in town for one reason or another (summer being the main one), so Rachel had suggested they all come to Ray's to hang out. Really she wanted them to announce their engagement together to their friends (instead of to Kurt and then watch the fire burn from there), but it had been a long time since they'd all been in the same room, too.

"You better have a good reason for making me come back into this dump, is all I'm sayin'."

"You've been here before?" Artie questioned Santana, looking around. "I never even knew this place existed."

"Really?" Brittany blinked, pointing to the opposite wall. "The porn shop next door is incredible."

"Fuck," Puck interrupted with a laugh, throwing his arm around the blonde and kissing her cheek lightly. "I've missed you, Britt."

"Me too," Sam agreed, though Santana seemed to glare at him more than she had Puck. He must have sensed it, too, because he awkwardly cleared his throat before changing the subject. "It's cool that we could all meet up like this."

"Well, almost all," Rachel pointed out, still a little upset Quinn gave some lame excuse for why she couldn't make it tonight despite being within city limits. Puck couldn't care less.

"Whatever. She's a bitch," Santana said, echoing the thoughts rolling through his mind. "And a terrible lay, just like Puckerman said." The Latina eyed Rachel. "Although you could be, too; I never could convert you." She winked suggestively, though her pinkie stayed clasped with Brittany's. "What do ya say, Fun Size? Wanna make it a sweep?"

Rachel rolled her eyes, clearly used to such lewd remarks courtesy of Puck. "Since everyone is here, I think we can go ahead and make the announcement."

"If this is about glee, Kurt already told us," Blaine piped in, laughing when Kurt purposely avoided everyone's eye contact.

Sue had made a big spectacle out of the whole thing, forcing both Rachel and Puck to sign insane contracts with ridiculous clauses (that were deemed completely illegal after Rachel had her fathers look them over), but eventually the glee club was officially reinstated for the coming year. And, less because of the contracts and more because of the chatter the group had earned through the year and after their win, Sue even had to set aside some of the school budget to fund the extra-curricular activity. The only condition that remained in the agreement was that both Puck and Rachel had to be working full-time on earning their degrees, which was another reason Rachel had asked everyone to visit; they'd have to take classes year-round to make up for the time they lost, and everyone else would be gearing up for "the real world" in the coming year, too.

"Congratulations, by the way," Tina offered, giggling when Mercedes said nearly the same thing at the same time; they'd been one of the first few to arrive, and they clearly started drinking earlier than the others given their ultra-light mood.

"Thank you," Rachel stated genuinely, then looked to Puck for a segue.

He looked down at her like she was crazy, which was basically his standard expression, but managed to wink to ease her nerves before blurting out, "I'mma marry Berry."

"Noah," she chastised lightly, her eyes lifting in exasperation before falling to her best friend's face - just like everyone else.

"Duh." Kurt exclaimed, seemingly bored with the news. He shook his head while everyone just stared at him, finally summing up his less-than-shocked reaction with, "I could have told you that years ago."