Note From The Author—A somewhat silly little vignette set before the season finale and ignoring the preview since I'm a hard core Puck and Rachel fan : ) Enjoy

Disclaimer—The wonderful characters of Glee don't belong to me; nor does the song Skin or the show Instant Star

Rachel couldn't deny that New Direction's funk number had helped her feel a little bit better about everything that had happened with Jesse. It had been cleansing and cathartic to perform the one type of music that the Vocal Adrenaline kids were completely incapable of having, but there was a reason she had let Puck have the last word. It wasn't enough.

She was heartbroken after having her heart stomped on, angry and humiliated after having been turned into a human scrambled egg; to the point where she had been perfectly willing to let Noah and the other boys defend her honor if it meant that Jesse would finally feel some of the pain she had been feeling , even though she loathed violence.

Usually she would just sing to get it out, but everything she tried seemed to make her feel worse. There seemed to not be a single song that gave her the emotional release she craved; and it was for that reason that she had been in the auditorium for a solid hour, singing at the top of her lungs and hoping that she could find something to make some of the explosive anger and hurt go away.

That was how Puck found her; standing at the center of the stage still in the ridiculously tiny shorts combo that she had performed in earlier and running through the last soaring notes of Take a Bow.

"Isn't that song old news for you?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe.

Rachel let out an undignified squeak and clutched at her chest. "Noah, I think you just gave me a heart attack."

He smirked. "Still standing aren't you? And you didn't answer my question."

She folded her arms across her chest, not entirely sure where this was going. "Yes, it is old news, but I've run out of songs."

"Songs for what?" he questioned as he began sauntering up the aisle with his guitar slung over the back of his shoulder. He already knew the answer, but he wanted her to admit it out loud.

It occurred to her that he probably knew exactly what she was doing there, but he looked so dangerously sexy in that tight black wifebeater of his that she couldn't seem to find her tongue to tell him to go away. By the time she found her feet again he was climbing the steps to the stage. "If you must know, I'm trying to…" She paused, not sure what to say to him.

"Get mad about Jesse without breaking a nail or junk punching him?" he supplied.

"Eloquent as always, Noah; but yes, I suppose that would about sum it up."

The smirk was firmly in place as he spoke again, pulling a stool over to sit in front of her. "So how many songs so far?"

"Ten," she said softly, almost unable to believe that she of all people couldn't find a song to accurately express her feelings.

"Shit, Berry, that's a freaking ton of time to spend sitting here singing to yourself over some douche bag with no soul."

Hands on her hips, she stared him down. "I wish I wish you wouldn't use that term, Noah. And it certainly isn't my fault that my inner feelings cannot be appropriately unleashed by anything I've tried so far! I have complicated feelings."

He snorted and pulled his guitar back over his shoulder to play. "Just let the Puckster handle this. Try to keep up if you can," he told her with a challenge in his voice.

Rachel couldn't decide if she wanted to punch him, kick him or just tell him to get the hell out, so for a moment she just stood there and shot him a withering look. Then he launched into the opening cords of a song and a silly grin came over her face. "You watched Instant Star?"

"Chick was hot," Puck said defensively; but the slight blush on his face gave away that he liked the show for more than just the pretty lead actress. "Just quit it with the questions and sing, Berry."

Being an Instant Star fan herself, she knew the song by heart. It was actually one of her favorites, but obscure enough to the rest of the world that it hadn't even occurred to her. Noah expertly played the introduction, watching her silently from his position at the edge of the stage as she launched into the first verse.

I drift away to a place, another kind of life

Take away the pain, I create my paradise

Everything I had has hit the wall

What used to be yours isn't yours at all

Falling apart and all that I'm asking

Is it a crime, am I overreacting?

She was hesitant at first, but as the song went on she began to open up, her heart unconsciously pouring out to the boy in front of her and her blood singing with the music that was flowing from his guitar as her voice soared into the rafters.

Oh, he's under my skin

Just give me something to get rid of him

I've got a reason now to bury this alive

Another little white lie

So what you had didn't fit among the pretty things

Never fear, never fear, I now know where you've been

Braids have been untied as ribbons fall away

Leave your consequence, my tears you'll taste

Falling apart and all that I question

Is this a dream or is this my lesson

Noah could tell she was really letting it all go then. There was a raw quality to her voice that he had never heard before, and there was something in her eyes that was almost haunting. Feeling strangely privileged to be witnessing this completely different side of Rachel Berry he played with all he had.

Oh, he's under my skin

Just give me something to get rid of him

I've got a reason now to this alive

Another little white lie

I don't believe I'll be alright

I don't believe I'll be okay

I don't believe how you've thrown me away

Rachel could feel her breath heaving and Noah's eyes on her but she couldn't seem to care. She was letting everything out; every bit of anger she was feeling towards Jesse was springing straight from her heart and out with the words of the song, and she let the tears fall as she continued.

I do believe you didn't try

I do blame you for every lie

When I look in your eyes, I don't see mine

Oh, he's under my skin

Just give me something to get rid of him

I've got a reason now to bury this alive

Another little white lie

She could feel the end of the song upon them, and as Noah began to play the last climactic notes their eyes met and held.

Oh my permission to sin

You might have started my reckoning

I've got a reason now to bury him alive

Another little white lie

The song slid into its end, leaving Rachel with her chest heaving with ragged breath and Noah staring at her with a strange intensity in his eyes.

Their eyes never broke from each other as he shook his head. "Damn it Rachel, I never knew you had it in you."

"I… I don't think I knew I did either," she told him with a hesitant smile. "But that was good wasn't it?"

Puck rolled his eyes. "Dude, Rach it wasn't about the performance. It was about making you feel better about Jesse St. Ass Hat. So did it help?"

She looked him over as she contemplated the question, taking in his mischevious hazel eyes and the smirk that never seemed to go away. "It did. Thanks to you."

"It was nothing. If you let it go it saves us from having to deal with Mr. Schue up our asses about beating the crap out of the kid."

"There go those walls of yours again," she told him with a sigh. "Her arms folding again she walked up to him, not stopping until their legs brushed together. "Why is it so hard for you to admit when you actually care about people?"

He knew that the husky whisper of her voice had far more to do with the song she had just sung than anything else, but between that and those miniscule shorts she was wearing and the way her hair was curling around her shoulders he was having a hard time keeping his hands to himself. Rather than reaching out his hands tightened compulsively on his guitar. "You know how bad I am with feelings and shit," he muttered.

She finally unfolded her arms, bringing them to rest on his shoulders. "Let me give you a lesson here. Repeat after me."

"Seriously Berry?"

"Seriously. Now, say Rachel Berry."

Puck let out a long suffering sigh. "Rachel Berry."

"I'm glad that you feel better."

"I'm sooo glad that you feel better," he said sarcastically."

Rachel frowned. "No editorializing. Moving on; I'm glad that you feel better, and that I was able to help you let everything out."

"Anyone ever tell you that you talk like a sixty year old British woman?" But she shot him a menacing look , and he had been on the receiving end of the Berry crazy before and wasn't going there again. "I'm glad that you feel better and that I was able to help you let everything out."

"See that wasn't so hard was it?" she asked him with a smile.

He rolled his eyes clear into the back of his head to keep from smiling back. "Small potatoes torture," he told her. Then that freakishly sexy smirk was back and he felt the shiver run through the hands on his shoulders. "Wanna make me feel better?"

She managed to school her features, but she was unable to keep the spark of light from her eyes. "And what precisely would that entail?"

"Well, if you think singing about it made you feel better, think about what rebounding with McKinley high's most eligible bachelor would do for your revenge," he said, wiggling an eyebrow suggestively.

Rachel laughed. "Well, that certainly would make Jesse jealous," she commented casually, leaning into him as she pushed his guitar out of the way. "But what would everyone else think?"

"That we're a couple of hot Jews looking for a good time, and that Jesse St. James will never doubt the fact that you are over and done with him after all of the shit he pulled," he told her, pulling her down into his lap.

There was something electric about him, and though she knew they would likely break up again in a week just like the first time, being there somehow felt right. Jesse was beginning to disappear from her mind and suddenly all that was there was Noah's hand running up and down her arm, his lips whispering against hers; and for the second time in the admittedly short course of her love life she gave in to temptation and fell into Noah Puckerman's arms.

And damned if they didn't both feel amazing.