November 12, a hotel in Virginia

"Hey Rachel what the hell is question 7 talking about. What controversy in Huckleberry Finn?"

"Hello Noah, I'm fine and yourself." Came her cheeky tone.

He chuckled, "I'm mostly okay. It's pretty nice here in Virginia but I've got some growing pains in my legs and back."

"Oh that sucks. I never had any growing pains."

Puck nearly choked on his Pepsi when he heard that and as soon as he cleared his wind pipe he threw back his head and laughed. He could hear Rachel vaguely going on about it was no laughing matter and that she wasn't short but it wasn't till his belly laughs died down to chuckles that he was able to respond. He could picture her on the other end of the line. Long legs crossed riding up a short skirt, one arm wrapped around herself under her breasts while the other held the phone to her ear. Her shiny pink lips pouting with that annoyed look on her face that never failed to make him want to tickle her till she couldn't stay mad at him anymore.

"You never had any growing pains? But you're so tall Rachie!" He grinned as her heard her huff on the other line then the lightest of giggles which she quickly tried to cover up.

"So Huckleberry Finn not quite as good as Puckleberry minus the Finn but I doubt that's the problem here." Puck tried to get back on target the sooner he got homework out of the way the sooner he could talk to Rachel freely.

"Huckleberry Finn has always been controversial. It mostly circles around Jim the old black man with him. There's the fact that Jim was running away which was unacceptable at the time. There's some speculation into to a homosexual relationship between the two but that's an issue that doesn't get a lot of limelight. There were some early movies on the book that excluded Jim completely because of racial prejudice. Now a days it's the opposite as people want the word 'nigger' stricken from the book as a racial slur."

"So first they were pissed that Twain had a black man escaping slavery now they're pissed because he called him a nigger while doing it? That's a load of bullshit Rachel."

"Agreed. You have to look at the book in its historical context with a modern viewpoint. Historically nigger was a common word at the time from a modern viewpoint slavery is bad but not everyone wants to approach the book from a logical stand point." She had that teachy superior tone of voice now and he could just see her with her nose in the air. This was the voice that made him want to set himself on fire before. Now he just found it cute, probably because it wasn't directed at him. "In any case something about the racial tensions surrounding the book is what the teacher is looking for. Please try not to cuss in your response."

"I'll try my damnedest." He smirked as she huffed again but was already scratching out a response. At first he had a lot of catching up to do having neglected the books those two weeks without regular contact to a certain brunette. Soon Rachel had him caught up now they just covered the material at the same rate and Rachel had promised to check his work over Thanksgiving in two weeks.

"And done."

"Really?"

"Yeah, got the Math and History done before I called you just this nutty book that's killing me. Speaking of Finn and things that kill me how are you and Finnessa doing? Got anything planned this Friday night?"

"I plan to stay in and watch a Children of the Corn marathon with my dads. I don't know what Finn's doing, probably Santana."

"Whoa, trouble in paradise?" Puck crosses his fingers.

Rachel sniffled, "He lied to me Noah. He lied and lied and he just keeps lying."

"Oh Rachel don't cry. Talk to me. What did he lie about?" Puck finished putting a way his books and slowly stretched his achy form out on the bed. He groaned loudly into the phone as he stretched and had a few joints pop.

Hundreds of miles away Rachel listened to Noah's groan and tried to ignore the tingles that rushed through her, her hardening nipples, her moistening sex and the unbidden memories the sound pulled from her brain. Had it really been a year ago that Noah had made that sound in her bed while she wantonly grinded against him, letting him slip his big hands under her shirt and skirt to reward him for his solo? "A-are you okay?"

"Yeah just stretching Sweetheart. Since you've never had growing pains I'll tell you they hurt way down deep in the bone. I suppose it's worth it I'll be taller once it's done and Tate's been packing muscle on me every time we stop so I'm not a bean pole like Finn but damn it I hurt. After I get off the phone with you I think I'm gonna go down and soak in the hot tub." Puck closed his eyes and tried to relax his sore body. He wasn't kidding while on the road they sat around a lot so as soon as the bus stopped and they had a moment during setup Nathan took Puck either to the hotel gym or a chain one he belonged to and worked out with him, packing muscle on to his still growing frame. Nathan himself was a rock after years of sports in high school, carpentry with Amos, Puck's Zeyde, then heavy lifting as a roadie and now the gym since as a guitar tech he no longer did as many of the physical things he once did as a roadie which Puck was now doing.

"Maybe you should go ahead or call down to the desk for some Epsom salts and soak in a hot bath as well. I can let you go and…" Rachel began to ramble not sure she wanted to talk about Finn when her body yearned for Noah's warm embrace. Maybe talking to her hot, semi-sweet, bad boy ex-boyfriend every night instead of trying to mend fences with her lying, current boyfriend wasn't the best of ideas. Actually thinking back on that statement maybe there was more wrong than she thought.

"Oh no, you're not getting away that easy Sweetheart. Tell the Puckerone what Frankenteen did this time." Puck chuckled.

"Well he's been lying to me all along about you."

"About me? What's he been saying about me?" Puck slit open his eyes and glared at the ceiling like it was a certain former best friend's face.

"That you're in juvie and that he's seen you and you're fine. But I found out that lie real fast when I called the Lima Detention Center who had no idea what I was talking about. Hence my frantic search for you. Since then I've asked him over and over about you trying to get him to confess he doesn't know but he just keeps lying to me about it. He got mad about me asking last week." Her voice angry at first trailed off at the end.

"I see. Why would he lie about that?"

"I don't know and why not admit you don't know?"

"What else did he lie about? I think you mention this before when you first called."

"Santana."

"What about her?"

"She told everyone in Glee about her taking his virginity last year."

"So…Wait you didn't know?"

"You did?!"

"Well yeah after Finn dropped her she called me over to finish her off. Apparently he has a short fuse in every way that should count." Puck chuckled but sobered up quick when Rachel sniffled again.

"Did everyone know but me? He told me he was still a virgin too when I told him I didn't actually have sex with Jesse. He said that we could lose it together and…and…that LIAR!" Rachel sobbed then shouted her anger winning out over her tears. Puck heard something crash against the wall and vaguely made a mental note not to ever make Rachel mad.

"Yeah that's a pretty douchebag move right there. I slept around...a lot but my sexual history wasn't ever anything I hid. Hell I carry my test results in my wallet with my condoms just so girls know I'm clean." He chuckled.

Rachel giggled, "That's horrible, but honest. That seems so much more important right now."

"Yeah well honesty is something I value very highly." 'Especially after how much Mom lied to me about Tate. And how Quinn lied about Beth.'

Rachel bit her lip she could hear her dads downstairs calling up to her wondering what the crash was and knew she didn't have much time. If Noah had a flaw it was his ludicrous sexual history and if she didn't ask now she might now get the gall to again.

"Noah do you ever think you could remain faithful to just one girl?"

"I know I could."

"How? How do you know?"

"I was for you."

Rachel paused and she could have sworn she could hear her blood rushing in her ears. "For a week, and I wouldn't let you touch my breasts."

He chuckled darkly, "Let me let you in on a little secret Rachel. Making out with you is better than any sex I've ever had. I told you a lie that day Rachel. You were right. I wasn't going to break up with you."

"Rachel what was that noise?!"

Rachel breathed into the phone with her eyes wide and at first couldn't answer her father. Finally she pointed at the wall where she'd thrown the collage of all things Finn she'd made before saying to Noah, "I have to go."

"Talk to you tomorrow?" Puck wondered if he'd gone too far.

"Tomorrow. Don't forget to go soak."

"I won't. Good night Rachel."

"Good night Noah." Rachel hung up and turned to her confused parent to explain her current mess of a room.