Title: Very Berry Special

Category: Glee

Rating: PG

Genre: Humor/Romance/Comfort/Fluff galore

Pairing: Puck/Rachel

Word Count: 1861

Prompt: # 97 Dirty

Summary: Puck and Rachel bake. The way 'Wheels' should have been.

~*~

"Check out Betty Crocker."

Rachel looked up from her measuring cup at the sound of her ex-boyfriend's mocking tone and found Puck leaning against the doorway of the Home ED Room. Dress in dark washed jeans and a black dress shirt, which fitted him like a second skin, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. She swallowed the sigh of appreciation that worked its way at her throat at the picture he presented. Having not spoken to him since the day they had broken up on the football field bleachers, she was surprised that he would seek her out now. 'We weren't friends in the first place.' He'd made his feelings on the subject very clear. They weren't anything. They had been attached at the hip for a week, and then, after the breakup, he had acted as if she was made out of air, seeing right through her. She hadn't expected it to affect her as they weren't anything before, just tormentor and target; and, to go from that to him simply ignoring her should have been a blessing. But in the end, it had hurt deeper than anticipated because he became just another person who seemed to be able to dismiss her with incredible ease.

To have him paying attention now got her more excited than she cared to admit.

"Hello, Puck," she greeted with a small cautious smile that wilted some when he frowned at her.

"Berry," he acknowledged, pushing himself off the wall he was leaning on, closing the door behind him as he walked to her workstation. "What's all this?"

"Cupcakes," Rachel pointed at the recipe book in front of her.

"For Artie's bake sale," Puck nodded, looking over the slight mess she had going. "That's nice."

"Yes, I know it must be anomalous to see me, Rachel Berry being anything other than irksome, self-involved, and an absolute horror but I assure you it does happen, Puck. On rare occasions I'm even pleasurable." Rachel bit out bitterness lining each of her words and had Puck raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"I didn't understand half of what you said, Berry, or why you just bit my head off but I do remember you being 'pleasurable' even if you didn't let me touch your boobs," Puck teased carefully, afraid of saying anything else. Taking in Rachel's slouched shoulder and frowning brow, she looked like she was about to launch into another speech or worse, cry.

Sighing, Puck got closer to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, flashes of her doing the same to him just days earlier playing in his mind. "What's wrong, Rachel?"

"Why do you even care?" she snapped at him, shrugging his hand off her shoulder as she turned to face him fully. "We're not friends… remember? We never were."

Puck swallowed the retort that itched to come out as he took in her glassy eyes and flushed face. He might be a grade-A asshole but he could never take a chick crying. "You want to reel in the crazy for me? It's spilling all over my feet."

"Ugh," She sighed, placing her hand tentatively on his biceps and leaned forward. "I'm sorry that was completely uncalled for."

Looking up at him, she took a deep breath. "Puck, am I really that irritating?"

Puck's mouth twisted into a smile. "Berry, you're a pain-in-the-ass."

Rachel let her hands fall away from his arms, a frown playing across her face as she tried to take a step away from him. Anticipating her retreat, Puck quickly grabbed her by her waist, twisting around to press her against the counter. He used his body to cage her in, his arms like steel bars on either side of her. "You're a pain-in-the-ass who uses really big words which half the time I don't even understand. You're a diva and you manage to fit a lot of crazy into that tiny body of yours."

"So, I'm horrendous."

Puck just looked at her knowingly.

"You know a substantial vocabulary is the indication of a bright mind and ought to be something all should aspire to achieve." Rachel said, defending herself, sighing when he rolled his eyes. "Fine, so you're saying I suck."

"If you do, then I was totally deprived during the time we went out, you owe me a boob touch and a BJ," Puck joked, laughing when she gave him a disgusted look. "Look, you can be all those things, but you also care about those gleeks a lot more then they deserve which is why you care about what they think of you."

"Don't call them that," Rachel said disapprovingly. "Besides, you're in Glee, too, doesn't that make you a gleek?"

"I'm a stud, Baby, get it right!" Puck answered matter-of-factly.

Rachel felt her lips twitch into a reluctant smile at his tone. "Right, your guns."

Raising his hands from the counter, he flexed his arms showing off the hard-earned definition. "And don't you forget it!"

"Like I said before, your arms are lovely." She said laughingly as she lowered them.

"And you're not so bad," he answered, brushing a strand of glossy brown hair out of her face, the bright smile she flashed him warming him in such a way that he was starting to suspect the tip of his ears were turning pink. Clearing his throat when the peaceful silence that settled over them dragged on, he shifted away from her slightly and offered a hand.

Rachel looked up at him curiously as he moved to the side, fingering her recipe book. "You can bake?"

"Do special brownies count?" He asked, chuckling when she gave him a look.

"Delinquent," she joked, going back to her measuring cup as he continued to laugh at her. "We're not making 'special' anything, just simple cupcakes."

"Oh, I don't know," he started, a playful tint coloring his voice. "We could make a 'Very Berry Special' cupcake."

Rachel looked over at him, her brow frowned as she noticed that once again he was very close, also pasted to her side. "Very Berry?"

"Yeah," he answered with a toothy grin as he tipped a finger into the frosting she had set aside, bringing the finger up to her face, he smeared a squiggly line on her cheek. "Very Berry, I already know you taste good, bet you taste better now."

Rachel stared at him in shock; she could feel the sticky concoction slowly running down her face. Ready to blast him for dirtying her up, she watched as his smile grew bigger, unlike his usual grins that always seem to be mocking whoever they were directed at, this one seemed joyful and carefree and as much as she fought it, she felt her own mouth curving into one in return. "You're dead."

"Bring it on, Berry," he answered, laughing as he reached for more frosting while her hands now covered with cupcake mixture closed in on his face. Rachel felt flour rain down on her and she reached for the brown sugar, throwing a handful in the air; their laughter mixing together the same way the ingredients on their bodies did. Only when she went to reach for an egg did he move to stop her. Rachel found herself once again being pressed into the table with Puck's body pushed against her and her hand still holding the egg while his hands held hers between them. Still laughing, she could feel the shake of his body, the intake of every breath. Feeling breathless herself, she looked up at him, his eyes shining bright in a way she was sure hers were, too.

"Noah," she breathed before his head tipped and his lips found hers. Vaguely she heard the egg she had been holding smash onto the floor when her arms moved to circle his neck. His sticky hands ran over her hair and she couldn't find the energy to care about it when his lips were busy on hers, pulling them apart and sinking into her mouth. She could taste the frosting as his tongue danced with hers. Sucking on his bottom lip, she shivered when he emitted a deep groan that vibrated through him and onto her. Letting go of her lips, he peppered her jaw line with wet kisses, working his way to her ear, whispering how good she tasted to him, causing her to buckle into him when he drew her earlobe into his mouth. Pressed the way she was, she could feel him on her stomach, getting another moan out of him when she rubbed faintly against him. Slowly he stopped, pulling back that mischievous grin still adorning his handsome face.

Running his thumb over her plump, kiss-swollen mouth, he said, "If we could bottle the taste of you, we'd make a killing."

Rachel felt a blush start from her hairline to her neck, turning even brighter still when his already impossibly large smirk seemed to grow at her reaction.

"Noah," she all but whined, feeling the embarrassment at his playful words.

The amusement on his face drained away, making room for a softer look to pass over and taking her face in his hand, he placed a soft light kiss on her lips. "That's right."

"That's right… what?"

He sighed heavily, once again turning a light shade of pink that seemed to surprise both of them and rolled his eyes almost at himself, answering in a tone that screamed with awkwardness. "Earlier you called me Puck."

Rachel lifted an eyebrow when he didn't continue and this time when he rolled his eyes again, she knew it was as much for her as it was for him. "It didn't sound right, you calling me Puck and not Noah… it doesn't sound right when you said it."

This time it was her turned to give him an amused grin which he returned with a half-heartfelt glare.

"You don't have to get such a joy out of it, Rachel, I already feel like my junk is shriveling away, without you looking at me like I'm made of candy canes and purple unicorns."

"I like unicorns," she quipped.

"Of course you do," He droned dryly.

"I also…" she said ignoring his tone and pulled him close by his belt hoops, "… like you."

"You'd be crazy not to," he answered, tilting his head as he considered what to say next, "Well, crazier anyway."

"And you like me, too," she continued, some of her well-hidden insecurity seeping in when he remained quiet. "Don't you?"

Puck just nodded softly, cupping her cheek when she lighted up at him. Leaning into his touch, she closed her eyes before his lips even touched hers again.

While over a week ago, she had been the one to walk away from this, she knew she wouldn't be walking away now. Whatever this would become, it would most likely always be like this: sticky and sweet and with the chance of becoming messy time and time again. But as she tasted him once more, she realized that she didn't mind getting dirty if it always tasted the same way it did now.

A very berry special way.