Chibi-Kari: Just a short little one shot that was sitting in my mind and I had to get out. I like Puck/Rachel friendship fics...and I think that Puck's personality allows me to do this. I don't own and please leave an opinion after the button.

Promises

Puck glanced around the room looking at all the choir members sitting around the auditorium expressions ranging from annoyed to bored. He shook his head. Only one face in the room looked worried and that was Finn. But of course he would. His girlfriend simply hadn't showed up to the group practice. Most everyone else wasn't surprised that she hadn't showed yet… just annoyed. He had heard Kurt mumble something to Tina about Rachel's dramatics.

It wasn't like any of them really wanted to be here, anyway. The governor had asked the two Ohio glee clubs that had participated in Regionals to perform together for this stupid political ball or fundraiser thing. To be honest Puck didn't pay very much attention when Mr. Schue was telling them about it. He didn't care. What had caught his attention was when Mr. Schue said that Shelby would be leading the practices. She wasn't even the coach of Vocal Adrenaline anymore, but she was coming to the practices. Which meant he might be able to see his kid if she brought her. He was prepared when he saw the small carrier. What he wasn't prepared for was who was carrying it. St. James had walked in behind Shelby, on Fall Break obviously, carrying his baby. Puck was almost glad that Rachel decided that this wasn't worth it. She really didn't need to see the two of them.

Mr. Schue looked around blankly as the two teams just stared at each other, "Finn, do you know where Rachel is? She's a half hour late and we really need to get started."

Finn shook his head blankly staring down at the phone clutched in his hand, "She's not answering my calls."

"Maybe she was too scared to show." One of the members of Vocal Adrenaline sneered from the masses, "Sunshine is a hundred times better than her anyway." The rival team seemed to think the comment was highly entertaining and Shelby just raised an eyebrow at the new coach who was standing behind the group with his Bluetooth firmly in place looking bored.

"Rachel wouldn't just not show up! She's too professional for that!" Finn snapped and even Mercedes and Kurt seemed to nod.

Puck wanted to roll his eyes and scoff. He knew Rachel wasn't coming and of course she wasn't answering Finn's calls. They were on the verge of breaking up, but he seemed oblivious to that fact. Not that Puck could blame him. Their break up would have nothing to do with Finn…and Puck thanked God that it didn't have anything to do with him either. He was just getting into Finn's good graces. He didn't need another Finn girlfriend fiasco with him placed firmly in the middle. No, this time it would be all Rachel at the rate she was going.

Mr. Schue looked around again, "Either way we do need to get going. Has anyone heard from her?"

Puck rolled his eyes at the negatives. None of them probably even had her phone number. He flinched slightly when his own cell vibrated in his pocket. As inconspicuously as he could, and he was a badass for a reason, he pulled it out and looked at the contents. Completely unsurprised, "She won't be coming."

Shelby was the one to question him, "You've heard from her?" She walked towards the stage Puck was sitting on slowly. Meaningfully.

Puck rolled his eyes as Rachel's clone tried to intimidate him. He held up his phone lightly and flicked his wrist back and forth in the air as if to taunt her with it, "Yeah. She just texted me. She's too busy to come. Really, this is a waste of time anyway." This was the perfect segue for him to leave the auditorium and get to where he really needed to be.

"And what is she too busy with to attend a practice for a very important performance?" Shelby's voice was smooth, yet held that same demand that he used to hear from Rachel. He hadn't heard it in awhile and he almost missed hearing it. Almost.

His eyes narrowed slightly. The Puckzilla wasn't one to be pushed around. He pushed others around and it wasn't her place to know that. It was partially her fault. She couldn't just pick and choose when she wanted to be in Rachel's life or what she wanted to know, "See here, lady. I don't see how that's any of your business. You're not her coach. And you certainly lost the right to be her mother last year."

He heard the intake of air behind him from Quinn. He knew she was feeling a certain amount of guilt for leaving Beth that day in the hospital. It probably didn't help that their daughter was only feet away fast asleep in a carrier. And here was her baby-daddy implying that abandoning a child gives you know right to ever know them. But these were two different circumstances and Puck would be sure to tell her that later. First, he had other things to attend to. Things that were, currently, more important.

Shelby's mouth opened and closed for a moment before settling firmly in a thin line. "I'm currently her coach for this performance and I don't approve of this type of behavior."

"You're not her coach if she doesn't plan on attending this performance. And she doesn't." He really needed to head out. He was starting to get nervous at how long this was taking. And Noah Puckerman was too badass to do nerves. "And you know what? I'm out, too."

He grabbed his bag that he had flung on the floor when he first arrived and tossed it over his shoulder. Hopping off the stage he glanced at Mr. Schue who looked as shocked as Shelby and practically dared him to stop him.

"Why did she text you?" The voice was low and malicious. It stopped Puck right in his tracks, something he really didn't have time for.

"Let it go, dude."

"Are you having sex with her, too? Do you make it a rule to screw all of my girlfriends?" Finn's voice raised to a yell.

Puck turned on his heel and leveled a glare at his old best friend, "No, I'm not. Let go of the whole Quinn thing. Rachel wouldn't do that with me…not that I've never tried." He couldn't stop himself from glancing at Jesse who obviously followed the conversation at the slight affronted look that flashed across his face.

Finn was silent for a moment, "Then why did she text you and not answer my calls?"

Puck tried to play it off like he didn't know the answer. "Maybe cause you'd talk her into coming? Maybe cause we're both hot Jews? Who knows dude. Only thing I know is I'm not hanging around here. This is lame." He turned back around and exited as quickly as he could so he wouldn't be stopped again.

Puck walked uninterrupted to his truck before throwing his bag in the back and jumping in quickly. Maybe not telling them was a nonfeasance, but he made a promise to Rachel months ago. A promise that he was starting to regret…another thing that badasses didn't do. At the time it didn't seem like a bad idea. His mother always did say hindsight was always 20/20.

Rachel had been going through a rough time, granted, but even Puck never acted the way she was. He could see her slowly losing the girl he had known just a year ago and he hoped he wasn't going to take the blame for that. Hell, he was the one keeping her together. Holding her hair back when she drank too much. Really he was acting like her little bitch, but a promise to keep quiet also pulled him into making sure she didn't get caught.

She had countered his promise with a promise that she'd tell him what party she was at and where pretty much guaranteeing that they went together so he could keep her in check. Lately, he had been pretty sure that she wasn't telling him every time she was going out. Today just proved that. Maybe that allowed him to break his promise, but he wouldn't. He took promises and responsibility seriously. Rachel was his problem and when she self destructed he would be there to help her get it back together. They weren't friends or anything. He just made a promise.