Chapter 20

Author's Note: I've decided to make this the last chapter. Thanks for all the comments and nice reviews. I can't wait until Glee returns in a few weeks.

Puck walked down the halls of William McKinley high school, guitar in hand, dreading what he was about to do.

He was Noah freaking Puckerman.

A stud.

A God among the testosterone-challenged underclassmen.

He was a man who refused to follow the rules.

Instead, he liked to make up is own.

If someone asked him to jump, he would say "No thanks," and punch them in the face.

If a teacher asked him to write a report on Canada, he would reply "Why don't you write a report on why your life sucks so much that you decided to become a teacher, eh?"

Puck didn't take crap from anyone.

And yet…

And yet, Puck had gotten up that morning with the express intent to…well…to grovel.

He would beg.

He would plead.

He would get down on his hands and knees (get your minds out of the gutter) and pray if that's what it would take for Rachel to forgive him.

He needed Rachel to forgive him.

Speaking of Rachel, Puck spotted her in the hallway, standing about thirty feet away. She was taking some star-encrusted notebooks out of her backpack and placing them in her locker.

As always, Rachel looked pretty hot.

Puck decided that half her hotness quotient was reliant on the fact that Rachel had no idea just how pretty she was.

Puck didn't even care that her orange argyle shirt and purple skirt were a bit clashy. Puck liked that Rachel had her own sense of style.

Taking a deep breath, Puck approached his target.

He felt his palms get sweaty and the grip on his guitar loosen.

This was the moment of truth.

Puck was ready to strum the strings and make his big declaration.

He was close now.

Puck opened his mouth to sing…

"I see you Noah Puckerman. I'm onto your games. You better not be planning a prank."

The words he was about to say got jammed in his throat as he watched Rachel whirl around. Puck thought he had prepared himself for any eventuality, but Rachel looked really angry.

"Cat got your tongue?" Rachel asked while moving closer to him.

Puck shook his head mutely. In his mind, he was silently screaming RETREAT!

She had some crazy eyes going on.

"Well I'm waiting," Rachel said expectantly.

Puck still hadn't regained his ability to speak.

"There aren't any cameras around, are there?" Rachel asked with the faintest hint of a smile, "Because you know I don't give free press or interviews."

That statement sparked a memory. Puck thought back and remembered how paranoid Rachel had been when he had first approached her to be his pretend girlfriend. Although only a few short months ago, it now felt like a lifetime.

Puck looked into Rachel's eyes, and realized that she had just been playing with him. She wasn't really mad.

Confident that she wasn't going to bite his head off, Puck leaned charmingly against the lockers.

"There aren't any cameras."

Rachel batted her eyelashes. "That's okay, I know why you're here."

Puck straightened up a bit, he was not that transparent. Was he?

"Oh really?" he asked.

"Yup," Rachel answered. She looked down at his guitar. "I mean, it's pretty obvious."

Puck was desperate, but that didn't mean that Rachel had to know that.

"Actually," Puck shrugged, "You were standing in my way. I was just trying to go around you."

"Then by all means," Rachel used her hands to make a sweeping gesture down the hallway.

Puck had no intention of moving.

"You know, Berry, you can be the most infuriating person sometimes."

"What a great way to start an apology," she commented.

"Who says I was going to apologize?"

Again, Rachel looked down at the guitar. "I've seen enough teen movies and romantic comedies to know when someone is planning on making a grand gesture. You were going to apologize through a song."

Well, it sounded stupid when she put it that way.

Puck set the guitar on the floor. "Ha, I was just carrying this to the band room."

Nice recovery, Puck thought.

"The band room's the other way."

Shit. Puck winced.

"Besides, your fingers were on the strings when I turned around."

Puck faltered. "Sometimes, I just like to hold things…"

What? Puck was mad at himself. He was trying to be coy, not sound like a pervert.

Rachel shook her head as if to say that she didn't believe him.

"What song were you going to sing to me?"

"I wasn't…"

"Come on, what song?"

Time to come clean.

Puck lowered his head and mumbled, "Why can't we be friends?"

Rachel's voice was gentle, "Is that what you want, for us to be friends?"

Puck kept his head down. "Yes. I do. I'm really sorry that things got screwed up, and I'm sorry I lied in the first place. If you give me another chance, I promise not to be such a jackass."

Rachel reached into her locker and pulled out a small stack of CDs. "If we're friends now, does that mean I get to hold onto these?"

Puck recognized that these were the CDs he had lent Rachel when she had come over his house. Except for the CD on the top, Puck hadn't let Rachel borrow that one.

Puck tried to grab the top one, but Rachel pulled it back. That particular CD had the following words written on it in black magic marker: Songs by Puck.

"What the hell Rachel, I didn't give you that one."

"It must have accidentally fallen off your shelf and into my bag when you weren't looking," Rachel said by way of explanation.

Puck was perturbed. He didn't like sharing his private stuff. "Did you listen to it?"

"No, I used it as a coaster," Rachel joked.

Puck was not impressed.

"Of course I listened to it, and the songs were great. I especially liked the one where you talk about getting lost in the quicksand of a particular girl's eyes. That line was so poetic."

"Are you mocking me?"

"No, I'm being sincere Noah. I almost approached Mr. Schuester with one song because I thought it would be a lovely choice for us to sing as a group. But, I didn't want to go behind your back."

"So, you didn't show it to anyone else?" Puck asked feeling relieved.

"No," Rachel assured him, "But I think that you should. There's a lot of great stuff on here, and I should know because I have excellent taste in music."

"Hey friend," Puck said, "I think you should hand it over now."

Rachel casually put the CD into her bag and out of sight. "Well, friend, I would love it if I could hold onto it for a little while."

Puck knew something that might change her mind. He reached into the front pocket of his jeans, and pulled out a tiny scrap of paper.

"I propose a trade. If you give me back my CD, I will let you see what's written on this paper."

Rachel's curiosity was piqued. "Is that the paper…?"

"Yup," Puck confirmed. "This paper is from the writing exercise in glee that went terribly wrong. I didn't put it into the hat when everyone else did because I didn't want to potentially share my business with the entire school."

"Smart move," Rachel acknowledged.

"I thought so," Puck said smoothly. "So do we have a deal?"

Rachel thought for a moment before saying, "No."

"No?"

Puck thought that he had convinced her.

"No, that paper could be blank for all I know. I've watched Let's Make a Deal; I know how these things can turn south. Therefore, I think I'll stick with what I've got." Rachel smiled sweetly.

Puck pretended not to care, and put the paper back in his front pocket.

Rachel turned back to her locker, and Puck gestured vaguely toward his pocket, "Are you sure you don't want to know what's hidden behind curtain number one?"

Rachel pointedly stared at an area of his jeans that was suspiciously close to his crotch, and said, "I think I can guess."

Whoa, that's not what Puck meant at all.

Puck coughed, slightly embarrassed by Rachel's perusal.

He was looking around the hallway, trying to gain some composure, when he heard Rachel say Ouch!

Puck quickly glanced over at her. "What's the matter Rachel?"

Rachel wriggled to the side slightly, "It's just that my bra strap is pinching my back, and I can't untwist it."

Puck's mouth went dry. "Uh, do you want some help?"

"Sure, thanks." Rachel presented her back to Puck.

Hmmm, Puck was suspicious. She was up to something.

He knew that this was some kind of trick.

He should resist.

He was going to resist.

Oh hell, he didn't care.

Puck reached down the neck of Rachel's shirt. He didn't see any major tangles in the straps of pink lace. He ran his hands down one strap and then the other just to be sure.

It was a difficult job, but somebody had to do it.

Finally, he pulled himself away. "Rachel, did I fix the problem?"

"Rachel?"

Rachel turned around with a triumphant look on her face. She raised her hand, and grasped in her fist, was the tiny scrap of paper that had previously been in Puck's jeans.

Puck immediately reached for his pocket, but came up empty.

That little sneak!

"You picked my pocket," Puck said matter-of-factly.

"Yes, yes I did."

Puck pretended to be disgusted. "What kind of person would do such a thing?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Oh please, you were well compensated."

Puck couldn't help but smirk, heck yeah he was. He just wished that he was paying more attention when Rachel had reached into his pocket…

Puck had secretly wanted Rachel to read it, but now he was nervous. What if she didn't feel the same way?

Rachel unfolded the paper. She read it once, and then read it again. She turned it every which way, but the paper contained only two words:

Rachel Berry.

"I don't get it," she said at last. "All this says is my name."

"Exactly," Puck said.

Rachel bit her lip. "What is this supposed to mean?"

Puck remembered what had prompted him to write what he did in the first place.

"Mr. Schuester told us to write down a hope, a fear, or a wish. Well, you're all those things wrapped into one. I like being with you and I hope you like being with me, you scare the crap out of me, and I wish things weren't so damned complicated so that we could just be together."

Rachel was silent for a few moments.

Puck was wicked antsy. He felt like he was going to jump out of his skin. He wildly thought that anyone who walked by right now would think he was about to pee his pants.

Right when Puck was ready to take Rachel by the shoulders and shake a response out of her because he could wait no longer, she managed to squeak out one word.

"Wow," she said.

What the heck did that mean? Puck couldn't tell from her intonation. Was that a good wow like—yay I just won the lottery, or a bad wow like—oh no, I just found out I've got the clap.

"Wow," she repeated.

"Yeah wowzers," Puck half-mocked. "I'm gonna need a little more than that Rachel."

Rachel looked up shyly. "So, you like me huh?"

Puck moved his thumb and forefinger a few inches apart and held them up like a measurement, "Just a bit yes."

"Thank you," Rachel said simply.

Leave it to Rachel to pay attention to manners.

Because he felt like he had to, Puck said back to her, "You're welcome."

Rachel sagged against the lockers. "You're right about one thing, this sure is complicated."

Puck nodded his agreement as he listened to Rachel think her thoughts out loud.

"I mean," she continued, "you're still the father of Quinn's baby and she's gonna be pregnant for another couple of months. Plus, we should be focusing on getting ready for Regionals, we still have a lot of work to do. And, if we have a relationship that might adversely affect the dynamics of the whole group, especially now that I've kissed Finn and he might have lingering feelings for me…"

Puck's ears perked up. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You kissed Finn?"

"You know that I kissed Finn before I ever kissed you."

"I know, but have you kissed him recently?"

"Yes, but you kissed Quinn," Rachel said defensively.

"She kissed me," Puck pointed out.

"You didn't exactly push Quinn away."

"Well it sounds like you didn't exactly push Finn away either."

"Huh, did you ever notice how weird it is that their names rhyme?" Rachel observed while getting off topic.

"Now that you mention it that is kind of weird. Quinn and Finn, Finn and Quinn, that sounds lame. Hey, maybe they should wear matching outfits."

"Yeah," Rachel laughed, "and maybe they could be in one of those Doublemint gum commercials."

Puck snickered at the thought.

"Listen," Rachel said getting back on track, "I did kiss Finn. But while I was kissing him, I realized that he wasn't what I wanted."

"I thought Finn was the perfect guy for you," Puck said half-kidding and half-not.

Rachel tapped the side of her head, "I thought the same thing in here. But," she tapped the center of her chest, "I didn't feel it in here."

Puck inched closer. "Do you feel it now?"

Rachel's heart began to race a little faster. She placed her arms around Puck's neck, and let one hand drift lightly across his mohawk.

"I knew it," Puck said smugly. "You're just using me to get close to my hair. I don't blame you, it is pretty badass."

"You caught me. I only like you because of the mohawk; I find myself being drawn to such a rebellious display."

Puck put one of his own hands on top of his head and referred to the mohawk by saying, "This baby has turned heads in its day."

"Oh God," Rachel stifled a chuckle. She didn't want to encourage him when there was something else she had to say.

"Hey Noah," she maintained steady eye contact. "I need to tell you something."

"Hit me."

Rachel kept her arms wrapped loosely around his shoulders. "Well, I meant what I said before about things being complicated. I mean, you are having a baby with Quinn, and the glee club does need to practice if we have any hopes of winning."

Puck didn't like the sound of this. "So, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I want to be with you, but…" Rachel trailed off.

Puck knew her well enough by now to know what she wanted to say. "But, you don't think that now is the right time," Puck finished.

"I think we should wait a little while. You know, let things settle."

Puck wasn't angry, just disappointed. He understood where Rachel was coming from. He had broken her trust, and it would take more than a measly apology to gain it all back.

"You're not gonna back out on me, are you Berry?" Puck teased.

Rachel blushed. "Not a chance. I just think we need to wait until it's the right time for both of us."

Puck backed Rachel up against the lockers. "It's the right time for me. So, when you're ready, all you need to do is give me a sign."

Rachel was intrigued. "What kind of sign?"

Puck smiled the smile that only he could pull off. "You figure it out."

"Should I write a note?" Rachel asked.

"You know I don't like to read." Puck's eyes twinkled.

Rachel thought hard. "Should I call on the phone?"

"You know, I'm not too great at the verbal thing either." Puck's eyes positively sparkled.

Rachel had it this time. "Should I write you a musical number and sing it?"

"Uh, too dramatic. I'm not the biggest fan of grand gestures, you know that." Puck teased.

Rachel was stumped. "Well, what kind of sign do you want?"

Puck leaned closer so that there were only scant millimeters between them. His eyes drifted to Rachel's lips and lingered there.

Rachel noticed the attention and licked her lips for her captive audience.

"Well?" she prompted again. "What sign do you want?"

Puck thought back over the past couple of months, how Rachel had stormed into his life and changed it for the better. How she had made him want to grow up and be a responsible person that someone could depend on. He thought about all the fun times they had had together, and all the serious times too. When Puck took into account the way Rachel made him feel, there was really only one sign that he needed from her.

In a voice barely above a whisper, Puck revealed what he wanted most in the world.

"Pucker Up, Rachel."

"Just Pucker Up."

At that moment, she had no choice but to comply.

The End