We Belong Together
A Glee One Shot
Puckleberry!

Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray, two newly found best friends in the senior class, were located in the infamous girls' bathroom where most of the drama for the Glee club members took place. It was where Rachel had been insulted and ignored by Quinn, Santana Lopez, and Brittany Pierce on the first day of school sophomore year. It was where Rachel had helped clean Noah Puckerman off during their short lived relationship. It was the same place where Rachel and Sunshine had had their duet together before Rachel had gotten so jealous of the tiny, talented girl.

As the brunette girl brushed out her long, wavy locks, the blonde haired beauty worked on adjusting her make-up. Neither girl was talking to the other. They had too many memories that were running through their heads. Memories of before they were friends and they'd spent their days as enemies. Memories of their friendship's rocky beginning as it slowly turned into the friendship they had now. There was a little bit of fear and dread as well, when it came to what would come next for the girls, and their other friends they'd soon be leaving behind.

"This freshman girl came up to me and gave me a hug." Quinn blurted out. "The told me to never change," She frowned, a sad look on her face. "The poor thing's too young to understand that change can sometimes be a good thing, especially in high school. After all, if you and I had never changed, well, we never would have been friends," She sighed.

"It's weird, hearing you call me that. After all those other choice words we used to have for one another, it's a little, considering one another as friends. We've swapped boyfriends more times than Kurt's power rangers got married," Rachel giggled. She knew what Quinn was talking about though. That painful feeling she got whenever a freshman said their goodbye to her. A part of her wanted to warn the young teenager about what high school could do for them, but another part of her said not to, because that could stop them from becoming who they were supposed to be.

After all, if anybody had told her that she'd be in the Glee club with cheerleaders as her good friends and a football player as her fiance, she never would have believed them. She would have thought of it all as a prank when it started to happen to her.

"I got you sometimes," Quinn said, reaching into her purse and pulling out two envelopes. "One's for you, to get from New York to Connecticut. And the other's for me, to get from Connecticut to New York," She explained.

"Why are you doing this?' Rachel asked.

"Everybody keeps saying that they should stay in touch and they'll always be talking and never forget their friendships, but I don't believe it. I do, however, want to make sure that we do just that. We're going to visit one another next year, constantly. Whenever you need a friend, I'll be on my way to NYADA. And when I'm spazzing out over my latest problem, you can get to Yale to see me and help me," She laughed.

"Thank you-thank you, so much," Rachel whispered.

Rachel had started out high school as a rather pretty and very talented girl. She'd had two supporting fathers who had loved her with all of their heart. She'd had near perfect grades and belonged to almost every single club the school had to offer. Yet she was lonely. She didn't have a single friend in the world. She had nobody she could talk to. Nobody who was close to her. If she was in need of a friend or somebody to just listen to her and give advice, she was forced to go to her fathers. She was the most unpopular kid in the entire school, and she was mocked relentlessly for it. For her passion.

And then Glee club had come along. Her progression to having friends had begun slowly, starting first with Mercedes Jones, a diva that could match Rachel very much in talent. Kurt Hummel had followed by soon after. And the rest had slowly start to come as well. But it hadn't been until her senior year of high school, after three years in the New Directions, that she could say she honestly was friends with every single member of the club. It wasn't until twelfth grade that she could honestly look at all of those faces and saw she was leaving behind her family when she graduated in a few weeks.

That was why it meant the world to her that Quinn cared about their newly developed friendship so much. Enough that she wanted them to continue to maintain an actual friendship where they could see one another whenever they wanted to, even after graduation. The mere fact that Quinn had taken the first step to keep their friendship alive proved to Rachel that the friends she had made this year were her true friends, who would forever follow her into her life. She was sure that they wouldn't be as close as they were now, with the pressure of graduation, but she did believe they would always be there for one another.

After all, Rachel's biggest fear was once again getting to that point in her life where she had nobody. Where there was nobody for her to talk to. That was exactly why the girl who was full of so much potential was going to be married fresh out of high school, to the boy she'd been with since her sophomore year, on and off again, of course. She shook her head. She didn't want any of her regrets for her decision to marry Finn Hudson flood and drown the wonderful feelings that this conversation with Quinn was giving her. After all, she was now guaranteed to have at least one friend in the upcoming year.

"I still don't want to just stand around and watch you throw your life away on Finn Hudson. You know that I'm against teenage marriage, right? And you know that I only want what's best for you, right?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared at the tiny brunette.

"Quinn, you don't understand why I'm marry-"

"Oh, I understand all right. Believe me, I understand. I was at that point before," Quinn whispered. "I guess I just always thought you were stronger than I was. I never thought you'd be weak enough to give into fear and marry somebody, just because you were afraid to face the future without anybody there to hold your hand." She shrugged. "I always just assumed that Rachel Berry was a lot stronger than I was," She shrugged.

"I...Quinn, everybody agrees that this is the right decision, except for you. They all understand that Finn and I are meant to be together," Rachel sighed.

"NO!" Quinn snapped. "No, Rachel, you're not. I'm not jealous of you anymore, alright? I'm over Finn, and I don't want to go back to him again. But, I do know that you don't belong with him. You're not meant to be with him anymore than I was meant to be with him, or Sam or Puck, alright?" Quinn said.

Rachel frowned, mostly because a large part of her agreed strongly with what Quinn was saying. She had always strongly doubted the fact that she and Finn were supposed to be together.

"It's too late now," Rachel said, speaking her fears aloud.

"Rachel, it's never too late," Quinn said.

"You're wrong, you know," Rachel said softly. "You do belong with Noah, a lot more than I belong with Finn. You and Noah have always belonged together, in a sense. I've always felt that way, and I always will," She said sadly, a small, sad smile on her face as she spoke those dreadful words. They killed her to admit.

"Now you're the one who's wrong," Quinn laughed. "I don't belong with Puck and I never have. The girl that belongs with him is the one who changes him and makes him a better person. I couldn't do that. Santana definitely couldn't do that. Mercedes was never able to do that either. None of those nasty cougars could do that and neither could Lauren. Even your mom couldn't change him into somebody else. But you? He wasn't Puck anymore when he was with you. He was Noah," Quinn sighed.

"I don't understand what you're trying to say..."Rachel said, not wanting to believe Quinn's words. Because if she did, when the harsh reality kicked in, it would hurt too much.

"Rachel, he lets you call him Noah. He's always been there for you. He was the first one to step up and offer to kick Jesse's ass after he hurt you. He was the one to get those jerks to stop slushying you. He gave up football so he could be with you. He was willing to take on slushy after slushy so he didn't have to give you up. He sang that duet with you even though it killed him inside, just so you could make Finn jealous. And to make you happy, he promised Finn that he'd stay away from you, even though he knew Finn wasn't going to go back to you," Quinn said.

"Are you-wait a second...how do you know all of that? Is that really true?" Rachel asked.

She refused to believe any of it unless Quinn could offer her some sort of definite sign that Puck truly loved her. If he couldn't do that, than nothing mattered to her. She couldn't give into his sweet charm anymore. She wouldn't allow herself to be hurt by him again. Finn had hurt her in the past, but he was just as confused and afraid of the future as she was. That meant that she'd be safe with him. Finn Hudson was the safe choice, after all, and Rachel had always done what was the safe, smart thing to do. It was one of the few things that had helped calm her since sophomore year.

"Of course it's all true," Quinn sighed. "Puck and I have always remained friends-we had to, after all, when you look at our past. Anyways, he tells me things that he wouldn't tell other people. I know how he feels about you. I know that he loves you. And I know that you love him. You two are the couple that's supposed to make it from our senior class. You guys are the ones who are supposed to be together. Not Puck and I, and most definitely not you and Finn." Quinn said.

"And you really think that's true? That Noah and I belong together?" Rachel wondered.

"Of course I do-have you ever known me to stand in the way of your happiness?" Quinn giggled. Rachel laughed as well. "But, honestly? I do believe that. Because I know you, Rachel-I've watched you change since we first met and I've realized that Puck's changed too. And you've both changed to become more like the other in the past few years," She explained.

Rachel nodded briefly before turning on her heel and starting to walk towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Quinn called after her.

"To set things right before it's too late!" She called over her shoulder. "I'm not going to be afraid anymore," She promised Quinn as she left the bathroom.

Rachel walked through the hallways much in the same fashion she had back when she was a sophomore, working hard to get Sandy fired for over looking her creative ability and the fact that she was much more talented than that idiot he'd given the solo too, just because he'd had some kind of creepy pedofile crush on the teenager. It sickened Rachel to remember what she'd done just in order to get a solo, but she hadn't lied, and it had worked to make high school a much better place for every single member of the Glee club. So she couldn't bring herself to regret the decision.

"Rachel?" Kurt Hummel asked as she passed by him. "I got my NYADA letter-did you get-"

"Kurt, not now okay? We'll talk later-I need to find Puckerman and I need to find him now," She said with a determination most of the glee club members-most of the school, actually-hadn't seen from her in a long time. It actually made Kurt smile a little as he remembered what his little diva of a best friend had been like back when they'd first met and had hated each other just on the principal of the fact that they were both two extremely talented divas, both destined for New York, who happened to be in love with the same boy.

"He's in the library, if you can believe that," Kurt called to her as she passed.

Rachel actually could believe that. She knew how important passing that re-take was for him. She understood that he wanted to graduate and prove everybody in the school wrong about him. She understood that he wasn't really stupid, just as she realized that he wasn't a loser like everybody else thought about him. She'd always felt that he was something special, destined for a much bigger and better place than Lima, Ohio. He just needed to realize that himself.

"Thanks!" She called back at him as she sped up her pace, hurrying towards the library as quickly as she could.

As she walked, she could remember each and every moment she'd shared with the boy that only she was allowed to call Noah. The only other Jew in the school-besides that idiot Jacob. The first boy to be her actual boyfriend. The boy who always made her feel nothing short of beautiful.

"Hey, relax-it's not for throwing." She eyed the boy suspicously as he held the drink that should be covering her from head to toe at that very moment. Yet, for some odd reason, it wasn't. "I picked it up for you when I was buying dip. It's grape-I know that's your favorite, because the last time I tossed a grape one at you, you licked your lips before you cleaned yourself off," He said, that boyish grin that didn't fit his bad boy persona on his face. That same grin that could easily melt any girl's heart. And now it was aimed directly at her, as if trying to get her to fall for him.

"I'm really sorry I ever did this to you," He whispered as she sat on his knee, trying to get all of the slushy from his mohawk and his face. His shirt would be stained-which was probably her least favorite physical effect of the slushies.

"It's alright," She shrugged, wiping a pile of colored ice from his shoulder gentle.

"No, it's not. Nobody should ever feel this way," He told her with a cold, determined look on his face that made her believe that she would never again have to feel that way-not because of him, and not because of anybody else either.

"Do you want to make-out?'

"I'm ironically turned on by your bad boy image..."

"Is that a yes?"

"I'm with Jesse..."

"Cheating on that Jesse kid with me? That would bring your rep right up."

She couldn't help but smile as he walked into the choir room, stopping at the doorway and grinning sheepishly at her.

"Is it too late to pick glee over-"He never got to finish. She ran into his arms and hugged him tightly, before taking a small step back and looking up at him.

"Are you sure about this, Noah? Choosing us over the team? It might mean that you get a slushy facial every day," She told him.

He looked down at her with a determined grin on his face.

"Bring it," He told her, smirking as he pulled her in for another hug.

"Do you wanna make out?" He asked. This was the first of many times he'd ask that question, which would quickly become a regular question asked by Noah Puckerman when he was at her house, sitting on her bed, in her room with her.

"Sure!" She said brightly. Mostly because she knew he could have asked for more, but he'd instead decided to ask for something so simple and so small.

"Do you remember when the school gave us a nickname? Puckleberry?" She wondered.

"Puckleberry?' he groaned, tossing himself backwards on her bed and covering his face with his hands. "Hell, that must have brought my reputation down," He sighed.

"Actually, what I was trying to say was that being with me actually improved your reputation," She whispered.

"When is he getting out?" She asked, as soon as Mr. Shuester told the club that Noah Puckerman, was in fact, in juvie for trying to steal an ATM. He was such a stupid boy. He really was.

"That's not true," He told Santana calmly, defending her in front of the entire club, when nobody else-even her boyfriend-did the same for her. "I actually kind of like her," He shrugged.

"Are you ready?" He asked her, looking down at her in her tiny football jersey with the helmet on her head.

"Let's kick some ass!" She grinned up at him. He laughed as he tapped her helmet.

"What up, my hot, little, Jewish-American princess?" He wondered. It was his typical greeting for her. She couldn't begin to count the times he'd called her that.

She couldn't exactly help but remember that his first solo had in fact been sung for her. He'd been the one to offer her rides whenever she'd needed one. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that Quinn Fabray was absolutely right. She didn't belong with Finn Hudson. Instead, she belonged with Noah Puckerman.

She found him just as he was leaving the library, and she made up the short distance between them by taking off running, throwing herself into his arms, with the only warning being yelling out his name.

"NOAH!" She shouted, just as she reached his arms.

"What up, my hot, little Jewish American-"He never got to call her his princess, because her lips were immediately on his. "Rachel? What was that for?" He asked as she let go of him, standing on her own two feet. "You're engaged to-"

"I don't care, Noah! I don't belong with Finn. You and I? We belong together," She said. "We always have and we always will. I can't settle for Finn out of fear. I can't settle anymore. If I want to be happy, than I have to be with you," She explained.

"Rachel-"

"No, don't tell me I'm wrong or that you can't do that to Finn again, because that's stupid! High school is over and it's about time we all started acting like mature adults. Sometimes relationships don't work out. And sometimes, two things are totally different and it seems as if they have nothing in common at all. That there's no way they could work together. BUt their differences? Those are what make them perfect for one another." Rachel said.

"Isn't that what Mr. Shue said about mash-ups, back in sophomore year?" Puck frowned.

Rachel was slightly amazed at the fact that he'd remembered a lesson they'd learned so long ago, but she didn't have the time to marvel over that fact. She needed to act fast, because time was running out.

"Yes, and I always remembered that, because it was as if he was talking about more than just music. It was like he was talking-"

"About us? Did you think he was talking about the good girl and the bad boy?" Puck asked.

Rachel frowned, unsure of whether he was mocking her or not.

"Rachel, I remembered that lesson out of all of the other ones we learned in the past three years, because that was the only one that mattered. That was the one where I realized that you were a hot Jew-just like me-and the good lord wanted me to get into your pants. But more than that? I realized that I didn't want Santana or Quinn. I could have any girl in the school, but I didn't want them. I only wanted you," He told her.

"Really?' She asked.

"And what I was trying to tell you, before you rudely interrupted me, was that it was about time you realized that you belonged with me and not Finn-nessa!" He told her, grabbing her around the waist and picking her up, spinning her around before kissing her right on the lips.

Rachel didn't mind that they were breaking pretty much every PDA rule the school had to offer. They were so close to graduation, and there was nothing they could do to hurt them.

"But, Rachel, I don't want to hold you back anymore than Finn would. I might not even be graduating," he sighed.

"And I might not be getting into NYADA," Rachel shrugged. "The future is full of what-ifs, okay? And you know what? I'm not opening that letter until I know for a fact that you're graduating with me." She said.

"There is no if about you getting into NYADA and becoming a star. It was the one thing Jesse St. James and I ever agreed on," Puck told her.

"Well, I never doubted that you'd make it out of Lima. And you know what? I thought you knew by now that a kiss was a funny thing," Rachel smiled at him.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"When it comes at the right time, from the right girl-it can be just what you need to become the person you have to be. Even if it's the person you've always been. A complete and total, grade-A bad ass," Rachel said, standing on her tip toes and kissing him again. "You think you can take that test now?" Rachel asked him.

"Bring it," He grinned.

Puck came walking out of his test with a wide smile on his face and a paper in his hands.

"Let me see!" Rachel squealed, racing towards him.

"Open your letter," Puck told her.

"Grade,"

"Letter,"

"Grade!"

"Letter!"

"You are such a-"

"Wait a second," Puck said, holding a hand up. "Have you told Finn yet?" He asked.

"Have I told Finn what?" She wondered.

"That you're not going to marry him?"

"No," She admitted.

"Are you planning on doing that soon?" He asked playfully.

"Well, first I wanted to make sure you loved me," She whispered.

"That was a foolish thought-of course I did," he rolled his eyes.

"And then I wanted to see if you were passing your test-I wanted to be the first to know," She told him.

"Right after we find out what our futures hold, you're telling him, okay?" He asked.

"Alright-now, grade?" She asked.

"Fine, but only because you're my hot, little, Jewish-American princess," He winked, handing her the paper.

"A B- minus?" She asked, eyebrows raised.

"Well, that's a Puckerman A plus...actually, it's better than a Puckerman A plus," He shrugged. "Now, letter?" He asked.

She sighed as she tore open the envelope, pulling out the letter slowly.

"Well?" He asked.

"Hush!" She said as her eyes scanned the letter over.

"Well?" He asked again.

"I got in," She grinned, her entire face breaking into a smile.

"I knew you would, babe," He said, picking her up and spinning her around again. "Now, are you ready to break off your engagement?"

"Bring it."