As with many people around the globe, I am officially in love with Glee. And Noah Puckerman…and Finn Hudson *sigh*…but I digress. This is a small story (probably consisting of around 5 or so chapters, perhaps more depending on public opinion :D) about Puck and Rachel, who have temporarily taken the lead in my competition for "Favourite Couple on Glee" (Will and Emma are now second, followed closely by Finn and Rachel!). Spoilers up until "Takedown" as well as the Canadian Promo and the two sneak peeks, particularly the clip of Sweet Caroline *swoons*. This is my first story for this fandom, so please be kind and R and R!! :D

As per usual, I own nothing, despite wishing I did.

Chapter 1 – Expectations

Noah Puckerman was sitting alongside his mother on their couch, waiting for the forthcoming lecture that she was going to give him. It was a regular occurrence in recent times; he was constantly failing (or rather, just not attempting) his assignments, and of course there were the many times that she was called into the school for his "pranks" – many of which included ice cold slushies. But this was different – she had caught him in bed with Santana, and his mother was in no way fond of the brunette cheerleader. Contrary to her belief, Puck didn't like disappointing her – quite the opposite: he had taken care of her when his dad had split (taking a fairly large portion of their savings with him), and he continued to provide money for groceries and other bills. His mother sighed and turned towards him.

"Noah, I just don't know why you keep bringing these terrible girls home. You deserve – and quite frankly can do - a lot better."

Okay. So not what he had expected to hear coming out of her mouth. Yelling, crying, the taking away of video gaming facilities…that's what he had expected. Not dating advice. Not from his religiously Jewish mother.

"That Santana girl is horrible, Noah, just horrible. She is rude, and stuck up, and doesn't appreciate what a beautiful boy you are."

Puck was speechless – no-one had said anything this nice to him in a long time. He opened his mouth to say something, and his mother assumed that he was going to argue with her.

"Wait a minute, I'm not finished…Oh Noah, why can't you date a Jewish girl…she would respect you and your values –"

Puck gave a little internal laugh at this – his mother may be insanely religious, and he believed in God and all that, but he was in no way as religious as his mother was.

"- and I want you to try something for me. Please, please try dating a nice Jewish girl. Please, for me?"

Puck sighed and bit his lip. He loved his mother, he really did, and he would do anything to make her happy, considering the amount of sadness she had in her life. But dating someone just because they were Jewish? That sounded a little extreme to him. Just as he was about to tell her that she could "take away his X-Box, but not his choice in women", he looked up at her and saw the sad look in her eyes. She had already had so many horrible romantic experiences in her life…first his father, then her long-term boyfriend Roy who had begun to beat her up before she called the police on him, and then there were what Puck called the "3 date wonders". His mother would date a man approximately three times, and then he was gone. Puck saw the look in her eyes and just knew that he would not be able to refuse her.

"Mom – I'll try…I'll try to find a nice, Jewish, girl to date, OK? But I can't promise anything!"

Her face lit up and she jumped up from the couch.

"Oh, Noah, you won't regret it! I know some lovely girls –"

"No, Mom, no set-ups! If I'm going to do this, I'll do it my way!"

"Of course, sweet heart, of course…I'm sorry…now, how about I go and make us some dinner, OK?"

She kissed him on his forehead and walked into their kitchen. Puck exhaled and lay back on the couch. Why, oh why, did he have a horrible feeling that he was going to regret this decision?

Puck was sitting in the auditorium watching Mr Schuster trying to teach Mike and Brittany the choreography for their new number for the school assembly. Over by the piano, Rachel Berry was helping Finn with his singing and, as Puck scanned the room, he could see Quinn glaring at the two, whispering angrily to Santana. Puck understood the jealousy – Finn clearly had feelings for the crazy Berry chick, and was (apparently) completely oblivious to how lucky he was to have Quinn, the beautiful, pregnant cheerleader who Puck had been in love with – or in lust with – since the fifth grade. The night that Puck had spent with Quinn had not been everything he had hoped – sure, he managed to sleep with her, but she was drunk and he felt extremely guilty after they had finished. Ever since he had found out that Quinn was pregnant, Puck had been trying to win her over. He really did want to be a good father to his baby, and had vowed when his dad had left that he would not turn out the same way. But Puck could also see how much Quinn loved Finn – sweet, innocent, dumb Finn – and Puck knew a losing battle when he saw one. So, he sucked it up, and tried to keep his raging green eyed monster at bay.

"Alright guys, let's leave it there for today. I want everyone to be back here at 3 o'clock sharp tomorrow afternoon, we still have so much work to do before the assembly! See you all tomorrow".

Mr Schuster collected the sheet music and walked out of the room with the rest of the members of the Glee club. Quinn went over and pulled Finn away from Rachel. Puck noticed the fleeting look of sadness in Rachel's eyes – but it was gone before he knew it. That's when he noticed it – the small, silver Star of David on Rachel's chest. Of course! He had completely forgotten that she was Jewish. Not that he knew too much about Rachel Berry – other than she was a complete weirdo who had rejected him in eighth grade when he had asked her out in front of the entire class – a move which had seen her with a slushie down the front of her shirt every day since their freshman year. She talked way too much for her own good, and used many large words that Puck didn't know existed, and she was bossy, argumentative and just plain annoying. But she was pretty hot – those small skirts would turn any man on and she wore many a form fitting sweater that showed of her relatively nice boobs. And, for the first time, Puck noticed that she had really nice brown eyes. What the hell – he was a stud – if he was seen with Rachel Berry she would instantly become cool, and she was Jewish so that would keep his mother happy. So it was a win-win for both of them. He walked over to the piano, where she was sorting out sheet music and putting it into her bag.

"Hey Berry."

She seemed to freeze for a split second when she heard his voice, and then stood up tall and whipped around to face him, disdain in her eyes.

"Hello Noah. Where's the slushie?"

Puck held up his hands in mock surrender.

"I come un-armed. I was just wondering how you were."

Rachel laughed coldly, a laugh which caught Puck by surprise.

"You were wondering how I was? That's rich."

Puck had fully expected this kind of resistance. He had been making her high school life pretty much a living hell.

"Really, Berry, I was. I'm not the heartless man you believe me to be."

"Oh no Noah, you're not heartless. Spineless and gutless maybe… but never heartless."

"Okay, so maybe you're right Berry. Maybe I did have an ulterior motive to coming to talk to you."

"I thought so. So what is it, Noah? Are you going to comment on my quote "squished pig face" as the Cheerio's so sensitively called it last week? Or how about my "uptight virgin dress code"? Or is it something completely different entirely? Lord knows I love some variety in my life."

Puck had never heard Rachel be so sarcastic. Normally she would have used massive words and stormed out by now. She must really hate him. In that case, this might not be as easy as previously thought.

"Berry, I'm shocked that you would think I would say something like that about you!"

She shot him a dark look.

"Alright Berry, the real reason I came over here is because I was wondering if you, you know, wanted to see a movie with me sometime…you know, like a date."

Rachel stared at him. The silence was so intense Puck thought for a split second that he had gone deaf. Then, Rachel let out a cold laugh.

"You want to go out with me? On a date? Ha! That is the single most ridiculous thing I have ever heard, Noah. Do you really think that I would want to go out anywhere with you, after you have made my high school social life non-existent? After you have thrown a slushie in my face every day for the past year? You are crazy if you think I trust you enough to go believe anything you say. Goodbye, Noah."

She turned and headed for the door. Puck knew that this was his window of opportunity.

"If I can prove to you that I am being sincere, will you go on a date with me? If I prove to you that you can trust me and believe what I say?"

That stopped Rachel in her tracks, as he knew it would. There was a silence that seemed to last for ages.

"Yes."

With that one word, she left the auditorium. With that one word, Puck knew that he would be able to woo Rachel Berry.

The next day, Rachel was putting her books in her locker before class. She closed the door, and turned to see Noah Puckerman walking down the hallway with one of his football buddies, slushie in hand. It looked like grape flavour. At least it was her favourite.

The events of yesterday afternoon had been like a dream. Had he really asked her out? Had he really smiled that knee-weakening smile at her? She had secretly always thought that Noah was extremely good looking, but his horrible personality had made her turn him down when he had asked her out. She remembered seeing that look of hurt and disappointment in his eyes when she had said no, and she immediately regretted her decision. And she had payed for it, everyday since, with a slushie to the face.

Puck and his friend got closer and Rachel braced herself for the ice-cold beverage that was about to hit her square in the face. Puck stopped in front of her, and she noticed his toned body underneath his tight shirt, and her stomach did a little flip. Even his Mohawk was gorgeous. She looked him in the eyes and waited for the slushie to hit her face.

"Hey Rach."

Rachel was stunned. She stood with her mouth wide open like a fish as she watched Puck take a sip of the Grape slushie, throw the container in the bin, flash her one of his beautiful smiles, and continue walking down the hallway. It was the first day in an entire year when Rachel did not have to make a trip to the dry cleaners. It was also the first day in a long time that she was genuinely speechless.

A.N. – So there was chapter one! The title was based on the song Expectations by Cut off Your Hands, a brilliant band that I recommend everyone listen to. Seriously, go out and get their music…NOW! :D Please review; I want as many comments/suggestions/questions as possible so that I can make this story better :D

IHeartTennant

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