Lightning Crashes (Formally known as Sweet Caroline)

A/N: So, this story was originally Meowkittehmeow, those are girls are amazing. But they had some issues with readers, so they took it down and offered to me, you guys wanted to read, so I took it. It's now mine. I don't own anything! But now this plot.

A few things. Quinn was NEVER pregnant, the story does start after Mash-up's. This story is very A/U, OOC (For Finn at least) THIS IS AN ABUSIVE STORY! If you don't like, STOP reading NOW! Okay, everyone has been warned!

Prologue

A heavy hand came across the cheek of the small girl, who could only cower in a corner. "Why were you late? Don't lie to me!" The voice boomed in the small room.

"I was at practice." Her voice quivered, tears threatening to spill.

The larger boy loomed over her, "You're lying to me!" Another smack across the girls check brought her to her knees.

She held her tears back as she cupped her cheek. "I'm not lying. I promise you!" She let the tears fall as she looked up at her boyfriend. "I swear baby, I went to practice, and we were let out late…"

"Enough! I don't want to hear your lies!" He yanked her up forcefully by her hair. "We have to be ready in 20, my mom's expecting us for dinner. Just remember, don't be late, ever again." The girl simply nodded, holding back sobs.

Chapter 1-The Way You Lie

"Are you kidding Santana? Where are you going?" Puck sat down at the bar of the bowling alley, he was suppose to meet her there so they could 'go out', but now she was blowing him off.

Santana sighed, "I already told you, Quinn needs me right now."

"She moved away five months ago!"

"Your point, she needs me right now Puck. I'll be back in a week." And she hung up, not even waiting for his response. Huffing, he put his phone back in his pocket, turning just in time to see Rachel walk in with Finn. Puck eyed Rachel carefully, there was something up about them. Rachel was more often than not being quiet and letting people chose songs, letting Finn decide which solos were best for her. Puck shook his head, why should he even bother? She didn't want him, she was the one to break up with him after only a week, even Puck knew that wasn't enough time to figure out whether a relationship would work or not. But Quinn had moved away and Finn was ready to move on.

We weren't friends in the first place… Puck shook his head, even four months after he regretted saying those words. Every day he wishes he could take those words back, every day he says he'll answer her text or return her calls but he never does. Sighing, he ordered a coke and just sat there, a heavy feeling in his heart.

…***…***

It was Friday night, and Rachel was at the bowling alley with Finn, she kept her eyes down, following Finn closely.

We weren't friends in the first place…The worst part was living with this feeling that rested in the pit of her stomach, it felt like regret and sadness, it made her want to cry yet scream, she knew it was from her broken friendship with Puck. She knew a week wasn't long enough to figure whether a relationship would work but Finn had approached her, explaining Quinn was moving and he wanted to date her, how could she have said no? She had wanted Finn for a long time but he always had Quinn. She missed Puck.

Finn grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You okay?" Finn asked with general concern in his voice. She had been doing this spacing out a lot this past week, it would have been her and Puck's five months…if she had stayed with him.

"Hmm? Umm yeah, fine." Rachel said, she couldn't get her mind off Puck. She put their picture from when they were younger away, but not even that helped. Every night she would kiss Finn good night, and try to text Puck, but he would never answer and every time her heart would sink, and the tears would start rolling down her cheeks.

Finn and Rachel continued to just sit in a companionable silence; she watched Puck from afar, knowing Finn wouldn't have liked it if she went over there. She stared at his back, willing him to turn around and notice her.

"Babe, did ya hear a word I said?" Finn asked, even more concern lacing his voice.

"What? No, I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Finn eyed Rachel warily. "My mom called, she needs me at home, now, so I have to go. Will you be okay?" Rachel nodded. "Okay, I love you, bye." He kissed the top of her head and headed out. Rachel's mind drifted back to Puck and what they used to have.

We weren't friends in the first place…Puck never lost those words throughout the five months, he thought about them all the time, every time he saw them together, or just Rachel. People told him he looked like shit, but how do you tell people you're sick from a broken heart? He noticed them when they first walked in, that's why he stayed at bar. He noticed Finn leave, without Rachel, but he wasn't ready to talk to her. He glanced over his shoulder to see Rachel sitting there all by herself, staring into space. He watched three big guys approach her, this can't be good. Puck thought to himself, but was battling on whether or not to go over there. He didn't want to go over and save her it wasn't his job to protect her anymore...

"Please can you just leave me alone?" He heard Rachel plead with the men.

"Come on baby, your here all alone, you can with the three of us and we'll give you a good time. Not like the boring one you're experiencing here." One of the guys said, Puck turned around to see the guys hovering over Rachel, when the same guy who spoke reached over and touched her arm. Rachel visibly flinched away from him.

Her voice quivered from tears. "Please, leave me alone..." Puck sighed and walked over to Rachel.

"She asked you to leave her alone, so I suggest you do just that." Puck said through clenched teeth.

"And who the hell do you think you are?" The guy turned to come face to face with Puck.

"Noah..." Rachel sighed in relief, Puck grimaced at the sound of his name falling from her lips, he held on to his anger though and faced the guy who was bothering her.

"Your worst nightmare. Now, leave. Her. Alone." Puck punctuated each word, to his surprise they just nodded and left.

The guy, who had been talking all night, handed Rachel a piece of paper. "Call me babe, if you ever want a real man." With that the guy followed the other two out of the building. As soon as they were gone, Puck turned and headed back to the bar.

Rachel was in shock, Puck had protected her, after all this time, he was still there for her; she looked and he was already at the bar. She stood and ran towards him, when she approached him, she tried to put her hand on his shoulder but he flinched away from her. Rachel was hurt, correction, she hurts all the time, the feeling in her stomach grew more when he flinched away from her again. "Noah...thank you?" It came out as a question.

"Sure Rachel, no problem." It came out hard and cold. He could feel Rachel standing over him, not moving. "What Rachel?" His said with clench teeth, she didn't reciprocate any feelings, why should he be nice to her anymore? He was hurting, she had Finn, and he had no one.

"I...I...ugh! I miss you Noah! God do I miss you!" The tears came then, she finally let the sobs lose, she didn't have Finn to calm her down or tell her how wrong it was to cry over something that never was, she could finally get them out. "I miss what we shared, I miss our friendship, I miss your arms around me, I miss the way you used to kiss me, I miss your smile, the way you comforted me, I miss everything about you! I can't stop thinking about you, I should have never let you go…" Rachel finished in a whisper.

We weren't friends in the first place…He still couldn't shake the words that he had said that cut them both deeper than anything had ever had in their lives. "How do I know you're not lying to me right now?" Those words Puck said hurt Rachel, they cut her, not him.

She ran out of the bowling alley, crying. Her luck, it was pouring rain, she didn't even care though, she dropped to her knees and cried.

"Rachel, its pouring, come on, get up!" Puck yelled at Rachel, she would be soaked and could catch a cold. Why do I even care! Puck thought, but he soon realized she was crying because she did have feelings for him.

"Why? Why Noah? Why did you say that?" Rachel croaked out.

"What? That we weren't friends in the first place?" With a weak nod from Rachel he continued. "Because Rachel, I wanted to hurt you as much as you hurt me!"

"I'm so sorry, please believe me when I say I never wanted to do that! Never! I never wanted to hurt you, I miss you so much…" Rachel's voice dropped to a whisper. "Please believe me…"

"Rachel, I don't know what to believe anymore. You're telling me you miss me but love him? You can't have both of..." Puck was caught off by Rachel's lips, they stood in the parking lot, in the pouring rain, kissing. He forgot how soft her lips felt against his; he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. Rachel put her arms around his neck, looking to get closer to Puck. For what seemed like an hour, Puck kissed Rachel deep and passionately.

Rachel was the first to break the kiss, she heaved to get oxygen back into her lungs. "Oh god, I'm so sorry Noah, please, I never meant to hurt…" Puck cut her off with a gentle kiss. Rachel's mind flashed to her boyfriend and the trouble she could be in.

"Do you want me Rachel?" Puck asked huskily.

"Y-yes, I want you Noah." She stuttered out.

"Come on Rach, let's get out of the rain." He took her and hand and ran to his car. They jumped in, both soaked, he turned on the heat and drove off, heading to his head. Thank god mom's working the night shift and Hannah is at her friends. Puck thought to himself, as he held Rachel's hand tightly.

The ride to his house was very quiet, Rachel didn't say a word, just stared out the window. Puck was more than a little worried as he got out of the truck to go unlock the front door. "Rach? Are you okay?" Puck looked behind him and saw her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Rachel nodded, afraid to talk. She followed him into the house and up the stairs. He handed her a pair of his sweats and a t-shirt. "Change into these, and I'll dry your clothes."

Rachel nodded, and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She stared at Puck's clothes, not really knowing what to do with them. Would Puck call Finn to tell him that she was with Puck? Was this all just a test to Finn? Did he know Puck was there? Was Finn trying to see whether she still had feelings for Puck? What kind of trouble would she get in if Finn found out she was here?

A loud knock at the door startled her. "Rachel, it's been 20 minutes, you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'll be out in a minute," she croaked, it was then she realized she was crying. Wiping the tears off her cheeks, she dressed in what Puck gave her.

Puck stood across from the bathroom, waiting for Rachel to come out. When the door opened and Rachel stepped out he noticed that she looked smaller. Has she lost weight? Puck tried to remember what she looked last time she was here, over five months ago. His eyes traveled down her arms, noting there were what looked like faint bruises on her arms. "Do have a sweat shirt I could borrow?"

Puck's eyebrows shot up, "It's almost 70 degrees in my house, how can you be cold?" She shrugged, "Where are your wet clothes?" She handed him the clothes that were in her hands. As she stretched out her left arm, the sleeve rolled up, and Puck caught a glimpse at the dark purple bruise that looked swollen, like it just happened.

Puck took the clothes with his right hand but dropped them on the floor with his, catching her left wrist with his other hand, "What happened? Where'd you get the bruise?" He let his finger's brush across the mark watching her flinch.

Rachel looked towards the floor, "I slipped on ice, Finn caught me, he must have gripped too tightly."

Puck looked skeptical, "Berry, it's late March, there is no ice on the ground. Where'd you get the bruise?" Puck asked again.

"Well we went to this ice skating rink, there's ice there…"

"Except there are no ice skating rinks in Lima. Berry, where'd you get the bruise?" Puck glanced back down at it, it was too deep of a purple and swollen for it to be a month old.

"I…I…tripped, Finn caught me." Rachel stuttered out, still not meeting Puck's eyes.

Puck sighed, "Okay, well we should get some ice on it. Does it hurt?"

Rachel finally looked up at Puck, nodding slowly, "Yeah, it does."

They walked down stairs, Puck threw the wet clothes in the dryer before heading to the kitchen for ice. After getting the gel pack, he walked back into the living room, where Rachel sat on the couch, legs pulled up to her chest, head resting on her knees, silently crying. "Hey, you okay?" Puck handed her the ice pack, taking the seat next to her. "Do you wanna tell me now how you got that awful bruise?"

Rachel sighed, "I fell Noah, please stop asking."

"Why Rach? I know your lying, just tell me how you got it." Puck realized as he raised his voice, she coward away from him. "Come on Berry, we've known each other for how long? Just tell me."

Rachel shook her head. "That's my story and I'm sticking to it." Rachel had a small smile on her face as she said it. "How long till my clothes are done? I really need to get home."

"About an hour, just let your dad's know you're here, I'm sure they won't argue too much. They do love me." Puck smirked at Rachel, who just shook her head and went back to silently crying. "Come on, why are you crying?" Puck wrapped his arm around Rachel's shoulders, pulling her into his side.

Rachel sobbed, "I-I-I c-c-can't tell you."

"You can tell me anything…"

"No, I really can't." Rachel sobbed a little harder.

Puck's mind started going through the possibilities of what could make Rachel so upset. He remembered the bruise, how it was shaped like a hand. Even though he didn't want to, his mind thought of her father's. They would never lay a hand on her…would they? Puck shook those thoughts from his head, they wouldn't, they couldn't, she's their princess. As soon as the thought came, it left. It was just too impossible.

But he did let himself think of her story, Finn caught her. If Finn was walking next to her, why would he grab her upper arm? Finn wouldn't hurt a fly, he just seemed to…caring. Puck was completely befuddled, how did she get such a bruise? He glanced at Rachel, whose sobs had quieted and she was now about to fall asleep.

Puck brushed a piece of hair out of her face, "Rachel, I'm going to let your dad's know your crashing here for the night." Rachel tried to sit up and protest but Puck gently pushed her back on the couch. "Your clothes aren't done and you're just about asleep. I'll be right back." Rachel nodded sleepily as Puck stood.

Puck dialed a familiar but at the same time unfamiliar number, letting it ring. "Hello?" The older man answered, sounding like he just woke up.

"Mr. Berry? It's me, Noah." Puck knew he wouldn't know him by Puck.

"Noah Puckerman? It's so nice to hear from you. A late hour, but still, how are you?" The older man sounded more awake now.

Puck chuckled, "I'm doing okay, I just wanted to call you and let you know, Rachel's here, she crashed on the couch."

"Oh? I thought she was with Finn tonight…" The poor man sounded confused.

"She was, he um left her at the bowling alley, she went outside and was soaked. I brought her back her to dry her clothes and she fell asleep on the couch." Puck tried to explain.

Puck could hear a door shut and Mr. Berry walking around his house. "Well, I don't blame her, she hasn't been sleeping well lately, poor things probably exhausted."

Puck nodded, leaning against the door frame of the living room, watching Rachel sleep. "Yeah, hey, before I go, Rachel has an awful bruise on her upper left arm, she said she fell…" Puck trailed off.

"No, I haven't seen it, but if you're saying it's bad, I'll ask her about it tomorrow."

Puck once again nodded to himself. "Okay, thanks Mr. Berry, I'll let you go back to sleep. I'll bring her home in the morning."

"Sounds good Noah, keep her safe."

"Don't I always." Mr. Berry laughed, agreeing with him, they said there good nights and hung up with each other. Puck was about to turn off the light and head upstairs when Rachel started whining and thrashing on the couch. Puck glanced back at her, and before he knew it, she shut up, panting. A nightmare? He could hear her sobs, turning around, he went to see if she was okay. "Rachel, it's okay, it was only a nightmare." Rachel shook her head, "Come here." As soon as Puck sat down, Rachel curled up next to him, holding on to him for dear life. Puck rubbed her back, comforting her as best as he could. Within minutes she was back to sleep, Puck following soon after.

A/N: Here's the first chapter. Questions? Comments?

This story was originally named Sweet Caroline by meowkittehmeow. If you've read it when that was up, this is waaay different. The girls there gave me what they had and I completely re-worked it for the first chapter, I'll use more and more of their work as the story continues. In Sweet Caroline, it was very heavy on the Puck and Rachel, it will be here too, but we need to work through our Finn drama too. This is very A/U and OOC, as you can all tell.

Abuse is a very heavy subject, and a very serious matter. Please, if you suspect anyone of being abused, you need to tell authorities or if you're in school, let them know so they may handle it. Again, whether it's mental, or physical, it's still abuse and no one should go through it.

Okay, that being said. The first couple of chapter's will just be re-works of the original. I really hope you all enjoyed the first of many chapters!