A/N: I was originally going to post this for the pr_challenge but didn't finish it in time to submit.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

Speak up, Shut up

~*~

To Noah Puckerman being around Rachel Berry was like watching a humming bird on sugar. The girl bounced from place to place, never standing still, and seemed to have a serious case of verbal diarrhea.
Whenever he found himself looking at her, which was more often than he liked, he would get a little queasy trying to follow her movements and the queasiness would get worse when he was within earshot of her voice. This was the reason why he realized that it was always better for his mental and physical health to get Rachel Berry to shut up.

The first time he managed to do exactly that was a few weeks after sectional, with babygate wide open for the masses to digest and gossip viciously about. Puck found himself more solitary and withdrawn than ever; while he once thrived on attention before, he hoped to just fade into the background now. Of course Rachel wasn't one to pick on social cues like a normal person and read the general 'Fuck off' vibes he was throwing everyone's way as an invitation to get near him. She approached him on the bleachers and like the last time they had sat there it took her less than a minute to break the quiet peace around them.

To be honest, he didn't hear half of what she said, but he picked up enough key words to get the gist. Regretful, misguided, selfish, olive branch. Yeah, he got that she was sorry and while he wasn't really mad at her for revealing a truth that should have never been hidden in the first place, he really didn't want to have this conversation with her. Of course, just standing up and leaving wasn't really an option when there was a crazy tiny person moving faster than expected blocking his escape. Staring down at her, he was honestly amazed at the speed the words were spilling out of her mouth; it wasn't until she looked up at him with glazy eyes that he realized two things: one, maybe he was staring at her too sternly and two, he needed to stop her before those glazy eyes turned into crying eyes.

Trapping her lips between his thumb and index finger, he held them closed, ignoring the indignant look she gave him.

"Jesus, Berry, you want to give my ears a break?" He asked as kindly as he could while being annoyed. "All that yapping is going to make them bleed."

Seeing her trying to free her lips, he shook his head and held them down firmly. "No, you've talked more than enough and while I would rather chew glass than have a chick flick moment… if it will get you to stop, then fine. I don't hate you, hell, I'm not even mad at you. You did the right thing, Rachel. You did what I didn't have the guts to do. You told the truth, so… thank you."

Seeing the doubt in her eyes, he sighed, letting go of her lips but not her face. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth. Hearing her take a shuttered breath, he smiled for the first time in weeks and walked away with a quiet Rachel watching him leave.

The second time he quieted her down wasn't with his hand but with his lips. Assigned to work together for another one of Mr. Shue's silly mash-ups, he found himself standing in her room. Arguing with her that not everything she should sing had to be from Broadway and having her look at him with wild eyes that told him she thought he was being blasphemous. He was reminded of their hot make-out in this very room and was hit with a surge of lust that he couldn't ignore. Snaking his arm around her small waist, he hauled her up to his chest and crushed her lips with his. Never giving her a moment to think, he sank his tongue deep into her mouth, savoring the tasted of her lips gloss, her chewing gum and something that was uniquely Rachel, a tangy spicy taste that left his mouth tingling. Only when breathing became a problem did he pull back and found himself looking into her flushed face, memorizing the way her eyes remained shut while her plump mouth stayed open in a soundless gasp. The grin he flashed her way when she finally looked at him was one he hadn't used in a while, one of male smugness at rendering a female speechless. This time when they landed on the bed, she let him touch her boobs.

The third time he shocked Rachel into stillness was a toss-up: who was more surprised, him or her. And while he used his mouth this time, too, it wasn't the way he would have wanted to use it. They were in his living room and somehow she had gotten him to watch her copy of West Side Story. He still wasn't sure how she managed that but he suspected it had something to do with the way she had perched herself on his lap and had all but given him a lap dance with her squirming. So he sat through it, rolling his eyes when she sighed at key moments. It was once she started sniffling that he couldn't take it anymore and started chuckling at her expense. Knowing he should stop but being unable to, he laughed outright when she gave him a pissy expression that started a lecture of epic proportions and left Puck wondering if it was a Jewish woman thing because his mother and little sister had the same talent.

In the midst of the reaming, he had commented that only he would pick a crazy person for a girlfriend. Only after being met with silence did he realized what he had said and if he hadn't, Rachel's face morphing from shock to giddiness had clued him in. Neither talked much the rest of the night. He had a crazy girlfriend who also seemed to want to paint the inside of his mouth with her tongue.

The fourth time he got Rachel quiet was with his fist. They had been at her locker with her talking and him actually listening when it happened. One second his girl was pretty in the school-librarian-inspired outfit, the next she was covered in blue ice. He didn't even think. He turned around, his fist went flying into the laughing face of one of the juniors on his own team. He didn't stop until he felt himself being dragged away by two pairs of strong arms. While being pulled back he caught her gaze. Her small hand pressed to her mouth covering part of her shocked expression but her eyes. Her big brown eyes were full of gratitude and something else that left him more breathless than the fight had and was totally worth the week suspension he got and his mother's glare.

The fifth time Rachel was shocked into silence wasn't his doing, it was Santana's. And it was also the one time he got hit with the verbal diarrhea disease himself. He was minding his own business, he really was. Everybody had left the music room or so he thought and he was packing up his guitar when he felt an arm pull him around and overly glossed lips plastered over his. He admitted that he kissed her back for a second, instinctively because of the years of being a player taking over like autopilot. It was a second too long because when he broke free from her grip (and really what was it with these small girls being so damn strong.) the damage was done. Rachel stood a few feet away from them, lips pressed firmly together and even from his spot he could tell that she did so to stop the quiver. Spinning on her heels, she ran out. It took him less than a second to run after her, he didn't even spare Santana a look; besides, even without looking, he knew she was looking smug. The girl was a bitch. Always was.

Running after Rachel in silent panic, he took a moment to admire how fast she could run and if she ever spoke to him again, he was going to recommend she join the girls track team.

"Rach, wait!" He screamed as she took off toward the field, his long legs finally starting to catch up with her. Reaching her, he all but tackled her midfield when he plowed into her back. Somehow managing not to fall on his face, he wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her from falling herself.

The shock of his body slamming into her stilled her for a moment. It didn't last as she squirmed out of his grip. Spinning around, she slapped her hands on his chest, pushing him back an inch.

"I didn't start it," he rushed to say. "She kissed me."

She said nothing, just glared at him. He had gotten used to her eyes staring at him with care and affection. Now she looked at him with hurt.

"I swear. I don't know why she did it. I haven't been with Santana in a long time and today she walks in and just laid one on me."

Still, she kept quiet and the small panic that had started in the music room bloomed and expanded until it didn't fit in his body. All those times he had used different ways to shut her up and now all he wanted was her to talk his ear off. Motor-mouth Rachel he could handle, stony-silent Rachel scared the crap out of him.

"Do you believe me?" He asked desperately.

She looked at him with sad eyes, a sole tear breaking free and running down her face as she shook her head softly. Taking a step back, he realized that if she took flight now, this, them… would be over.

"Please," he pleaded, taking her hand. "I'm not lying, Rachel, please. I know I'm not the best guy. I know I'm not the guy you deserve. I know I wasn't even your first choice and honestly you weren't mine, but you're the right choice. For weeks I was miserable, no best friend, the girl who's having my baby has decided that I'm just not fit to be father to my child and the whole school looks at me like I'm the villain who took advantage of her. I'm happy when I'm around you. You drive with crazy. You talk a mile a minute and I love it. I love every crazy second I spent with you and can't wait for the next and the one after that. I'm crazy about you. I didn't start it, I didn't kiss her and it kills me that you had to see that and that it hurt you. But please, please, Rachel, don't let one stupid moment ruin this… ruin us. Cause I'm so crazy in love with you. I can barely breathe and if you leave me now I have no clue what I'll do."

Her lips over his stopped him and the relief of feeling her soft velvet mouth almost made his knees buckle. Much like that time in her room, he pulled her up to him with his arms around her waist while hers around his neck, her feet dangling inches off the ground. When she broke the kiss by pulling back, he got to see a her mouth spread into a beautiful wide grin that had the dimple on the side of it winking at him and his heart, as cheesy as it sounded, skipped a beat.

"Noah, shut up… you talk too much!"

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