Author's Note: Please do not kill me. I'm just increasingly unhappy with Glee right now. I just counted down the days to watch Bad Reputation, crazily hopeful for more PR hotness and two duets by them, but I'm given PR friendship (very cool by the way), two lousy (but hot) almost-kisses, St. Berry breakup and no duet. The last two weeks have been so not cool to Rachel!

This was supposed to be St. Berry. I don't know why it ended up being a Puckleberry story (I think it has to do with me drooling over Mark's sexy 'turn around' in Total Eclipse of the Heart, excuse me as I go for a cold shower)

As for Never Gonna Be Alone, I lost my focus (and the back nine aren't helping to get it back). I have it all worked up in my mind, but I'm torn in between considering to stick to the future I've built in Presents Underneath the Christmas Tree, or make a whole new one. Tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: Sadly, unfortunately, not mine. If it were, we would have a St. Puckleberry triangle of sorts.

Turnaround

A single-chaptered Puckleberry story

"Turn around, bright eyes…" Jesse whispered as he walked out on Rachel singing 80's power-ballad Total Eclipse of the Heart. He never thought it would end up like this – him quitting everything to be with her, only to be heartbroken by the girl with the best voice he had ever heard.

Rachel was left to stare at his retreating back, eyes filling with tears as Jesse walked out and possibly away. The band members started to put away their instruments, and she smiled brokenly at them, in appreciation. Little by little, as they scattered out, she was left alone, and the tears she had managed to keep at bay during her performance started to trickle down her cheeks. Placing her hands over her weeping eyes, she sat down on the higher row of chairs, filled with nothing more than heartache and loneliness.

Hours seemed to trick by her, before she finally managed to control her unleveled emotions. Wiping at her eyes, she picked her tote and walked out of the glee rehearsal room. McKinley's halls were silent, her footsteps echoing down the large space, and she thanked God there was no one left to see what she had been reduced to be – the broken, manipulative shell of the person she used to be.

It all started, she thought, with Finn. Finn, with his sweet eyes, gentle smile and misled steps to assure he could provide for a child (that wasn't even his to start with), had used, betrayed and manipulated her feelings in order to have things happen the way that was better for him. Finn had broken up with her to 'chase his inner rock star' (what kind of excuse was that?), only to regret it, promise her he wouldn't give up on her… And then he went off to sleep with Santana. Yeah, he didn't give up on her, alright.

And then it took her to her next boyfriend. Jesse St. James. Jesse ran into her – or she ran into him, whatever – on the music store by Carmel's mall and criticized her performance on Sectionals. But then he serenaded her with Lionel Richie's 'Hello' (not the first boy to do that, the serenading move). And when she was forced to make a decision, he transferred from Carmel – giving up his place as Vocal Adrenaline's leader – to McKinley, and revealed to be more than just his star persona. But she couldn't help it, she felt he was in their relationship with ulterior motives, and in the end she would just end up heartbroken.

Aside from Finn and Jesse, Noah Puckerman demanded a category of his own. He had this outward character, 'Puck', who was the self-proclaimed 'sex god' from McKinley, a persistent cougar chaser and one of the bully leaders of the school. He had come up with the slushie idea, to which she was a victim to this day, but since their paths entwined he had shown a different, softer side of his personality – he had given her glimpses of Noah, the man he was growing to be. Noah was a honest, caring, sometimes even romantic man who would make a woman (she suspected Quinn) very happy some day.

She reached her car and blinked in surprise when she recognized the tall, toned silhouette leaning against her New Beetle. Noah Puckerman in person was there, hands shoved deep into his pockets, looking at her with guarded eyes. Sighing, she clicked the car open and threw her bag in the passenger seat. "I'm sorry for what happened today, Noah, but I'm not with the disposition to argue it with you right now", she said quietly.

"Fine", he said, just as quietly. "I didn't want to talk anyway". He approached her, forcing her to look up at him, before his lips crashed against hers in a passionate kiss. She blinked and stiffened in surprise, before relaxing against her car's side, her fists clenching his jacket so she could stand up (her knees were so weak, she thought she would fall on her butt if she didn't have the option to lean on him).

Both were slightly breathless when they broke apart. A lock of her hair fell in front of her eyes, and he silently flicked it behind her ear. She stayed silent for a minute, before asking quietly, "What was this?"

Puck chuckled quietly at her question. He couldn't lie and say it was just a random need to make out with her (and maybe get in her pants now that she was heartbroken and single). No, ever since she invited him to her house to work on 'Run Joey Run' and they had that… Moment (for lack of a better word), he was remembering how avid and soft her lips had been against his, how smooth and warm her skin had been under his hands, and how much a better person she made him feel. He faced it: Rachel Berry was the only one to still have faith in him.

Finn thought he was a horrid friend, his mother saw him as a lost cause, and Quinn always made clear he was second best to her true love, his ex best friend. Rachel was the one to believe that he had the power to turn his life around and get his ass out of this craphole after graduation. She was the one who said he had star potential (in that unforgettable week last fall when they were together). She was the one who stuck by his side when all Hell broke loose with his role in Quinn's pregnancy being revealed.

"This", he said, with his fingers still lingering in her hair, "was the kiss we both wanted but never got yesterday at your room, Berry".

She blushed and let go of his jacket, smoothing the wrinkled fabric. "I just broke up with Jesse", she whispered, her eyes stuck on the McKinley symbol on his chest. Then she chuckled bitterly. "He broke up with me, I mean".

Puck snorted. "His loss. What did he think? That you didn't have a love life before he jumped in your life? Come on, Berry, you're hot. It's a given that you had us guys all by the balls". He relaxed when he heard her giggle (he had hated to hear her bitter chuckle, right then). Wrapping his arms around her, he said, "I know you're not over ma- Jesse" (no need for her to know his personal nick name for her mama boy boyfriend) "Or Finn", he added as an afterthought. "But they can't deal with you the way I can. We're two good-looking Jews, Berry. It's natural", he repeated, and she laughed.

"Not really interested in Finn right now", she whispered, and then sobered. "What about Quinn and the baby?"

"I'm not with Quinn – not like that. She still lives for Finn. We're together because she has nowhere to go and I wanna care for my daughter. It's a win-win situation for her and for me. But we're not together, not anymore, we don't work out as a couple".

She smiled tentatively, and with a light blush she stood in her tiptoes and whispered against his ear, "Wanna make out?"

He laughed and hauled her against his body and pressed his lips firmly against hers. "Sure", he mimicked her nervous tone from the first time those words were exchanged between them, and she giggled and jumped in her car. "Aw, Berry, come on, your bed is much more comfortable than the front seat of your car".

She laughed (ignorant of two pairs of broken eyes watching her interaction with Noah from afar) and leant over the passenger seat. "Just hop in, Noah, who says I'm not taking you home?"

Noah chuckled in response and got in the car. Just before she turned the ignition, he pulled her face close to his. "Listen up, Rachel Berry. This time, there's no way in hell you're kicking me out to the curb for Hudson or god forbid, St. James. I'm in to stay".

She smiled and placed an open-mouthed, ardent kiss to his lips. "Good. I'm glad. I never really wanted to break up, you know?"

"Me neither. Put this car in motion, Berry. I need to get to know your body again".

She laughed. "Yes sir!" And she added with a wink, "Maybe more of me than you know already, hum?"

He groaned. "You're gonna be the death of me, Berry. Let's go".