AN: So this took me a lot longer than I had anticipated but here we go…it's a lot longer than I had anticipated as well. I'm not sure the rest of the chapters will compare. This may have belonged better as the ending to All These Words on Replay, but like I said during the AN on that story, I truly believe that there had to be the break there. I don't own Glee or any of the tons of music I used in this chapter. PLEASE Read and Review!!! I love when I can check my email and actually have feedback on what I've done, it makes me more inspired to write as well. Okay, here we go….

Puck was bored out of his mind as Mr. Shuester was reminding New Directions yet again that the showcase was tonight. There was no way Puck was going to forget. One, because Mr. Shuester reminded them daily; two, he had been rehearsing every single day for the last two weeks; and three, his arm was currently draped around the shoulders of Rachel Berry, his girlfriend, and there was absolutely no way that Rachel was going to let him forget about something this important. He smiled a little at all the craziness that had been going on as Rachel had placed Puck, herself and even Quinn on a rigorous rehearsal schedule. Puck understood why Quinn was involved since the two girls had recently formed a close bond and had decided that they should perform a duet during the showcase. No one was more shocked than Puck when Rachel announced to the entire glee club that she would indeed not be singing a solo at the showcase. It was what Rachel lived for, the spotlight, but from what Rachel would let Puck hear of their song, she was going to have enough of the spotlight to get through without any emotional damage. Rachel had insisted Puck sing a solo, to go with their performance of Broken. After rummaging for the perfect song, he made his choice after being forced to actually watch RENT with Rachel. Puck would never admit this to anyone, and even hated that he was thinking it, but Mark was, despite Rachel's previous assessment, a badass Jew. He wasn't truly alone at the end like Rachel had said before.

Mr. Shuester dismisses rehearsal with another reminder to return to school by six o'clock for a final run through of their group number and to make sure that everyone else's solos and duets were proficient. Everyone got up and began to exit, yet Puck felt Rachel escape his hold as she shot straight for Mr. Shuester to ask him another series of questions about tonight. While he admitted her passion and dedication was admirable, having to sit here and wait while she bombarded their leader with ridiculous questions was doing a tough job on his patience. But when Puck looked at Rachel and the smile on her face, and the scowl on Mr. Shuester's, he suddenly had all the patience in the world. That girl could convince him to wait in that ridiculously uncomfortable plastic chair forever; all she had to do was smile. Puck had convinced himself that this was the new Noah-Puck combo speaking. While Noah was interested in her smile, Puck was solely concerned in what else Rachel could be doing with her mouth.

Puck turned as Quinn sat down in the now empty seat next to Puck.

'I thought you'd be on your way home by now," Puck said to the blonde who had moved back in with her idiotic parents who couldn't have been more thrilled by the miscarriage.

"I have a duet with Rachel tonight; do you honestly think she's letting me go home?" Quinn said laughing.

And although Quinn sounded upset about the idea of rehearsing with Rachel again, she wasn't. In fact, she couldn't be more thrilled. After everything with baby gate, Quinn found she didn't really have the friends that she was struggling to hold onto before. They may have all felt sympathy for her because of the miscarriage, but she still cheated on Finn, and for whatever reason Finn was glee's golden boy, and everyone including Santana and Brittney seemed to have taken Finn's side. So having Rachel on her side, and as her friend was more than Quinn could ask for; and in her opinion more than she deserved after the way she treated Rachel. But Quinn was determined to be a changed person.

"You walked into that one Quinn," Puck said laughing, as Rachel seemed to finish with Mr. Shuester. He stood up and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close and placing a kiss on her temple.

"Santana's having a party after the showcase tonight. We should all go." Quinn announced.

"Like a glee party?" Rachel asked.

"I'm pretty sure she's inviting most of the school, but yeah."

"I didn't think she was talking to either one of us." Puck said motioning his fingers between him and Quinn with his free hand.

"Neither did I. But she came up to me today and made sure that I knew that all three of us were invited."

"Weirder things have happened," Puck said. And that was the truth, like the fact that he was dating Rachel Berry. Weird wasn't always a bad thing.

"So we're going." Quinn said.

Puck looked over at the brunette beside him whose face was suddenly covered in a panicked expression, "What's wrong?"

"I-Well I've just never been invited to a party before."

Puck pulled Rachel closer to him, "Well then we are going to make sure that you get the full party experience."

"Oh, I will not be drinking alcohol."

"Great! Then you can be the DD!" Quinn said jumping from her chair, her blonde hair bouncing around her head.

"Quinn, I'm not sure that my dads would allow me," Rachel said timidly.

"You can spend the night at my house. And it's a glee party, you HAVE to be there," Quinn said as Puck rolled his eyes at the amount of excitement that was in Quinn's voice.

Rachel thought about it for a second, this was finally her chance to bring glee closer, and despite how much she loved her new relationships with both Puck and Quinn, she longed still to be completely accepted in Glee. "I suppose I can work something out. And it isn't uncommon for teenagers to select what information to tell their parents."

"Perfect!" Quinn said wrapping her arms around Rachel, knocking her out of Puck's grasp, and nearly onto the floor.

Rachel wrapped her arms around the blond trying to keep them upright, "But we should focus on the showcase tonight before we can focus on our recreational activities."

Quinn groaned and pulled away and Puck smiled at Rachel, well, being Rachel.

~~~~*~~~~

By 6:45, the group number for the showcase had been polished and everyone was off doing last minute preparations for their own numbers. Quinn was happy that the only thing that Rachel was nit picking was some of the choreography.

From the corner of the room, Puck sat and watched Rachel guide Quinn through the steps she was missing and couldn't help but smile. Despite all the hurt that Quinn still felt, and even though he wouldn't admit it out loud, that he still felt from the loss of their relationship with Finn, watching Quinn smile, and with Rachel of all people, made him feel that everything was going to work itself out.

~~~~*~~~~

Santana had volunteered to perform first. She said that she wanted to do this and if she sat up there watching everyone else go first, she'd never get the courage go through with it.

Can't breathe
When you touch my sleeve
Butterflies so crazy, mmm mmm
Whoa now, think I'm going down
Friends don't know what's with me, mmm mmm

Since Rachel, Puck, Kurt, Quinn, and Finn weren't scheduled until the second half of the show, they were positioned in the front row to the right of the stage. Mr. Shuester, Ms. Pillsbury, Principal Figgins, and even Coach Sylvester sat behind them. Rachel watched as Santana, dressed in an outfit almost identical to the one in the video Fergie did (big hair, yellow dress, long black gloves). Rachel rather liked the look on Santana; it made her look less like the "mega-bitch" Puck claimed she was. She realized then that this was the first time she had really heard Santana sing on her own and was surprised that her talent was far greater than she had anticipated.

You got me tripping, stumbling, flipping, fumbling
Clumsy cause I'm falling in love
You got me slipping, tumbling, sinking, fumbling
Clumsy cause I'm falling in love
So in love with you

Rachel knew that the boy next to her, who was holding her hand, had once had a…relationship…with the Latina on stage. When Santana set her gaze in their direction, a small bit of jealousy went through her. Santana's eyes were filled with something sultry (and Rachel hoped that Santana was just performing). That was until she remembered that Santana was now in a relationship of sorts with Glee's own dim-witted blonde Brittany. While it was a secret that stayed within the members of New Directions, Rachel had never been more comforted by the fact that Santana would hopefully never be bothering Puck again. Everyone cheered for Santana as she curtsied and then left the stage.

~~~~*~~~~

As Matt took the stage Rachel wasn't exactly paying attention anymore, and mostly because of Puck. She had warned him adamantly before that show that their contact would be limited to hand holding, if, and only if, he were able to restrain himself. Rachel made sure that this disclaimer was intact because of an incident the week before which got them removed from the movie theatre. It wasn't so much what they were doing but the fact that Puck flipped the usher his middle finger when the gentleman asked politely that they refrain from their activity. Right now, Rachel was extremely distracted by the circle Puck was rubbing into the back of her hand and it took all of her energy just to at least look as if she was paying attention to Matt's performance.

I know sometimes it's gonna rain,
But baby can we make up now
cause' I can't sleep through the pain
girl I don't want to go to bed mad at you
and I don't want you to go to bed, mad at me
no I don't want to go to bed mad at you
and I don't want you to go to bed, mad at me

Rachel was extremely disappointed with herself letting Puck distract her this way. She found herself being rude. She expected her fellow glee club members to watch her performances tonight, and wanted to give them the same respect. However as Puck leaned over to kiss her behind her ear, It was becoming more and more difficult.

"Guys," Mr. Shuester said sharply, "Knock it off or you'll be separated."

Puck pulled away and smirked at Mr. Shuester before going to back to only entwining his fingers through Rachel's and laughed just a bit when Rachel's eyes matched the sharpness of Mr. Shuester's voice before clapping as Matt finished his performance.

~~~~*~~~~

Rachel was incredibly entranced and pleased with Mike's rendition of The Scripts "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" because it was one of Rachel's new favorites. She felt that Mike was doing an amazing job.

'cause If one day you wake up and find that you're missing me
And your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I could be
Thinking maybe you'll come back here to the place that we'd meet
And you'll see me waiting for you on our corner of the street
So I'm not moving, I'm not moving,
I'm not moving, I'm not moving

Puck wasn't exactly thrilled when he saw Rachel's eyes light up at Mike's performance. She had sat through the last two performances without any special interest, now, she wasn't singing along with Mike but she was mouthing the words. Would she do that during his song? Would she look like this? Was he really getting jealous of Mike Chang? Would Rachel even be interested in Mike Chang? "Dude, you're going to make yourself crazy. Stop thinking about her with out guys," Puck thought to himself trying to keep himself from jumping up and dragging Rachel away. Rachel squeezed Puck's hand and he looked over to find her giving him an "is something wrong?" face. When he shook his head, Rachel smiled at him then went back to watching Mike. He would be asking her about her thought on Chang later.

~~~~*~~~~

This is the man that I plan to entangle
Isn't he fine?
My claim to fame was to maim and to mangle
Vengeance was mine
But I'm out of the biz
The name I made I'll trade for his
The only trouble is...
I'll never tell

The only thing Puck knew about this song was that it was from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and that the show itself was pretty badass. However, watching Brittany and Artie up on stage, he remembered why he only watched this episode once. Brittany was taking the part of Anya and Artie was taking Xander's part. While Puck wasn't too thrilled about listening to another song that he had no interest in, Rachel was so excited. When both Artie and Brittany had asked her for help in choosing a duet, she named off everything from Another Day from RENT and As Long As You're Mine from Wicked, but as she was lost in her own thoughts, Artie and Brittany started talking about the Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon they were planning on having. The two had become good friends over their love for Sarah Michelle Gellar and the Willow and Tara romance, and Rachel was excited when she caught wind of their conversation and suggested, "I'll Never Tell". It was the only episode of Buffy that Rachel had watched when she stumbled across it on youtube. Brittany and Artie were both so excited and Rachel was proud to watch them perform it so spectacularly on stage.

~~~~*~~~~

Rachel had been really excited for Tina to sing a solo on the showcase. Despite her frustration over solos in the past, Rachel was looking forward to Tina finally getting her moment in the spotlight. Unfortunately, due to whatever problems were going on with Artie (everyone knew something was different, no one really knew what had happened). But Tina refused to sing a solo so instead Mercedes gave up her solo singing Rihanna's Russian Roulette to perform Brandy and Monica's The Boy is Mine with Tina.

You need to give it up
Had about enough (Enough)
It's not hard to see
The boy is mine (To see the boy is mine)
I'm sorry that you (Sorry that you)
Seem to be confused (Seem to be confused)
He belongs to me (He belongs to me)
The boy is mine

As the girls finished their song, Mike, Matt, Santana, Brittany and Artie returned center stage to take a bow, signally the end of the first part of the showcase. Once the curtain closed, all the members of New Directions were to meet in the choir room. Following behind Mr. Shuester, Puck, Rachel, Quinn, Kurt, and then Finn (Finn making sure that he didn't have to walk next to Quinn) started down the hallway towards the choir room. Puck pulled Rachel to a stop for a moment before kissing her against a locker.

"Puck and Rachel, now!" Mr. Shuester called.

Puck rolled his eyes, grabbed Rachel by her hand, and led her down the hallway.

"You know Noah; I've never gotten in so much trouble from teachers until we started dating. You seem to be a bad influence on me." Rachel said.

"Baby, you knew I was a bad influence when you kissed me on that stage."

'I guess then I can't be angry, you did warn me.," she said laughing as they entered the choir room.

Those who had performed during the first half were greeted with hugs and congratulations on their outstanding accomplishment, but Mr. Shuester was quick to rally everyone together for one of his famous pep talks.

"Alright guys, the first half was amazing, I've heard nothing but good things from those I've spoken to. And although he might not always be our biggest supporter, Principal Figgins outside right now trying to create a music boosters program, so that we can get some of the funding we need, so you won't have to sell cupcakes every month," the club laughed as Mr. Shuester continued, "but we are going to need parents to help out, so please ask yours after the show. There is nothing more I can say to you about tonight. You are all fantastic and you have all grown so much as performers since the day you joined the club. So all I have to say is go out and show everyone what you've worked so hard on."
New Directions applauded each other before making sure their hair and make up was perfect and heading back to the auditorium. This time, Rachel, Puck, Quinn, Finn and Kurt were waiting in the wings. As the show started again, it was Kurt's turn.

~~~~*~~~~

Puck sat on a stool, his arms wrapped around Rachel who was nestled against him. Rachel looked over at Quinn and Finn who just stood awkwardly before looking back towards the stage at Kurt.

Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes: and leap!

A smile formed on Rachel's face as Kurt's very dream came true. Since they never used Defying Gravity at Sectionals, Kurt had assumed that Rachel was going to use this song in the showcase, but when Rachel announced her duet with Quinn instead, Kurt took the opportunity to finally get the spotlight.

I'd sooner buy
Defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye
I'm defying gravity
And you can't bring me down; bring me down!

As Kurt hit the high F, tears fell from Rachel's eyes. Defying Gravity was just as beautiful sung by a boy then it was if she had sung it herself. As Kurt came off stage, Rachel rushed to him wrapping her arms around him, she had never been so proud.

~~~~*~~~~

Rachel returned to her place with Puck, as it was time for Finn to take the stage. Since he wasn't talking to anyone who was standing their but Kurt, he said nothing before taking the stage. The music hit and Rachel took another glance at Quinn who was standing there with pain in her eyes.

I want to scream, until no sound comes out and you've learned your lesson
I want to swallow these pills to get to sleep
So I don't have to make a bad impression

I need to start to be myself
Cause I'm sick of everybody else

It was obvious to everyone, that Finn had chosen a song that he could sing to Puck and Quinn. Rachel pulled Puck's tighter around her and noticing Quinn had taken a step closer to the couple reached out and grabbed her hand tightly.

I took one big step and I looked away
And then I thought of all the things that I wanted to say
I'm always too late
You never got your story straight
I'm always up late
I think I'm everything you hate

I won't let you bring me down
It's here and now, I'm breaking out
I will learn to love again
But I will stand a broken man

By the time Finn finished singing, Quinn was sobbing and Puck was holding on to Rachel for dear life. As Finn started coming off stage Rachel felt Quinn's hand slip from hers and Quinn disappeared. Rachel gave Finn a glare but he just walked past everyone and stood beside Kurt.

~~~~*~~~~

Quinn and Rachel were supposed to go on next. And Rachel looked at the three men in front of her in a panic.

"Noah, you have to go on now."

"Now?"

"I have to go find Quinn, I can't just go out there without her. Kurt we're going to need your help" Rachel said moving past everyone in search of her blonde friend, pulling Kurt behind her. Before Puck could argue Rachel and Kurt gone, leaving him staring at Finn. The audience had expected someone to be onstage now and Puck had to go out there and perform. Puck shook his head and Finn knowing that this was his fault. Okay, so maybe Puck wasn't entirely mad because he had to go onstage at that moment. The truth was, Puck wasn't singing Your Eyes from RENT like Rachel thought he was. He was singing a song that he had been working on with Mr. Shuester before the showcase had even been announced. And he had chosen tonight to perform it for her just like he had Sweet Caroline. And now here he was with a song, for Rachel, and Rachel was who knows where. Taking center stage could see the confusion on Mr. Shuester's face and just shrugged and started singing.

Lately, I hear you callin' debating whether you are falling

This love won't benefit you but its good for me

Religion is what you believe, to save you from what you achieve

This blood was shed and it washes your conscious clean

But you give the most incredible feeling, I don't mind taking you troubles away

You will find me flying far from the real world, waiting again for you to tell me I'm not dreaming.

Rachel and Kurt found Quinn crying on one of the benches outside the auditorium. Rachel knew that words were going to help her friend, but instead sat down next to her and wrapped around her shoulders as Quinn fell against Rachel's shoulder, sobs shaking her body. Rachel could faintly hear Puck singing on stage and took her a moment to realize that it was his voice, but it wasn't the familiar song from RENT she had expected. Quinn pulled away from Rachel and forced a weak smile. The make up on her eyes had run down her cheeks with her tears and Quinn wiped them away looking at Rachel.

"We're supposed to be on stage right now." Quinn said afraid that Rachel was upset.

"Don't worry, I threw Noah out there. However, I do not hear anything that sounds like its coming from RENT coming from inside the auditorium."

Quinn's eye got wide, "You need to get back in that auditorium right now. Kurt, we need to fix my make-up, and we will meet you in there Rachel, but you have to get in there now!"

Rachel was completely shocked at Quinn's sudden change in attitude but she nodded and hurried into the back of the auditorium.

But you give the most incredible feeling, I don't mind taking you troubles away

You will find me flying far from the real world, waiting again for you to tell me I'm not dreaming.

As Puck finished his song, Rachel realized that it was most definitely not RENT, and it wasn't a song she recognized at all. And she also realized that she had missed it. A rush of sadness came through her as the door behind her opened and Quinn and Kurt rushed through. Quinn looked perfect, like she hadn't cried a single tear, and Rachel was grateful for Kurt's almost magic like abilities. However, as the two girls rushed towards the stage, Rachel couldn't shake the fact that she missed her boyfriend's big performance. Rachel and Quinn arrived just as Puck was walking off stage. She flung her arms around him and kissed him.

"I'm sorry I missed that!" she said holding him close to her.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Quinn needed you."

"Play it again for me later?" she asked.

Puck nodded, "Now go out there and do what you do best," he said placing a quick kiss on her lips.

~~~~*~~~~

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

In the center of the stage, Quinn and Rachel both sat on stools looking at each other. Rachel had been extremely excited when Quinn had agreed to sing something from Wicked and Rachel was even more when Quinn agreed to sing the part of Glinda and thought that For Good was an excellent choice for both their talents. As she sang, Quinn looked at the friend in front of her. She appreciated all that Rachel had done for her, and even what she had done for Puck in the last couple of weeks. She had found a good friend in a person who she had once been cruel to. But she was changing, and she knew that part of it was due to the fact that she had lost her daughter, but part of it was the support that Rachel had given her. She was remembered as she sang how she was so upset that Puck had told Rachel about the baby, but in reality, it was one of the best things he had done. Rachel proved trustworthy and as Quinn's relationship with Finn disengaged, she was there to pick up the pieces.

It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a sky bird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you

As Rachel sang, she looked at Quinn, happy for their newfound relationship. Just like she had done for Noah, she had forgiven all the bad deeds done by the blonde in order to create a great new relationship. Rachel thought that even though the lyrics of this song didn't exactly fit her relationship with Quinn at that very moment, she hoped that one day that they would. She was excited to have Quinn in her life, to finally have a girl friend who she could confide in. And For Good was about overcoming differences right? And Quinn and Rachel couldn't have started out this school year more different. As the song came to an end, the girls came together standing now, face to face.

Because I knew you...
I have been changed for good...

~~~~*~~~~

Rachel felt Quinn's arms envelope her and she responded by wrapping her arms around the blonde who she could tell was crying over her shoulder. Rachel gave her a reassuring squeeze before Quinn pulled away and made her way off stage. Rachel stayed and sat back down on the stool as Puck joined her on stage, to sing Broken. This time there wasn't so much pain between the two, but just as every other time, their voices encompassed the emotion of the song and those in the audience who cried during For Good, were crying more. And some of those who hadn't cried now were. From their stools, they ended the song, hand in hand, holding tightly. It was simple, but it had everything Rachel wished and wanted in a performance. She felt the tingle of adrenaline during the song, the crowd was moved, and the applause at the end gave her such a rush. Puck and Rachel bowed to the crowd before standing center stage. Just like Rachel had done, alone, at Sectionals, Puck and Rachel introduced New Directions to their audience as the rest of the club joined the couple on stage for their performance of You Can't Always Get What You Want. It of course was choreographed better this time, but it still held the lose feel that New Directions embodied that night in front of all those people, and it still held the special something that one them first place. And just like the first time New Directions was received with a standing ovation. Family, friends, and other community members stood and applauded the amazing work that the twelve members of New Directions had put into their amazing performances. Mr. Shuester joined them on stage to celebrate yet another achievement. Rachel smiled as she looked at the other members of New Directions. There were so many obstacles that they had gone through, and some they still had to overcome, but right now, despite the separatism outside, she knew that no matter what they would all come together for their common purpose. And now they would have Regionals to worry about.

AN: So here is the song titles that the New Directions sang in this chapter: Santana: Clumsy-Fergie; Matt: Mad-Neyo; Mike: Man Who Can't Be Moved-The Script; Mercedes/Tina: The boy is mine-Brandy/Monica; Artie/Brittany: I'll never tell from Buffy TVS; Kurt: Defying Gravity-Wicked; Puck: Incredible Feeling-Jericho (that song was just screaming P/R to me); Rachel/Quinn: For Good-Wicked. I'll hopefully have the next chapter up in a few days but I work the full days the next couple of days, but I (hopefully) won't be taking this long to update again…okay I've talked to much

R&R!!!