A/N: thank you all for the great response i've had to this story! Sorry this chapter is a bit short...

He knew he was completely wasted.

If the swaying and the inability to walk in a straight line wasn't enough to tell him, then the empty bottle of whiskey in his hand was. He couldn't remember starting it, but whatever. He'd sure as hell finished it.

The party was starting to wind down and he knew that most of the glee members had already left. Finn was still in the den with Matt and Mike and Santana would be around somewhere, probably fucking some random guy in his bed (he made a mental note to himself to change his sheets). Other than that, it was just an assortment of cheerio's and dudes off the football team.

He was heading to the kitchen – to get a glass of water? He wasn't really sure – but yeah, that sounded like a good idea. His mouth felt dry and tasted disgusting, like something had crawled in and died when he wasn't paying attention. To be honest he didn't have a fucking clue what was going on anymore. He'd stopped thinking straight half a bottle ago and the only thing he could see was the image of Rachel winding herself round Mike, stretching upwards so she could get as close to him as possible.

And fuck. It got to him a shit load more than it should. Because she wasn't his girlfriend; he wasn't even sure if she was his friend.

But they'd totally had a moment out there on the veranda. They'd been having moments for weeks really – at least, he'd been counting them as moments and the more he'd seen her, the more she'd driven him crazy. And when he'd finally come to the conclusion that he should got get her she'd been right there in front of him – only she'd had her lips all over Mike Chang instead on him.

Which was messed up, because the dude had only figured out how hot she was like two minutes ago (and granted, he was on pretty weak ground here seeing as he'd never actually done anything about it even though he'd known it for years) but the dick was getting her already. It was all wrong. If there was any kind of justice in the world it would have been him kissing her senseless. It would be his name she would be moaning and if he had it his way, she'd be waking up next to him the next morning too.

Without paying attention to where he was going and before he could really stop himself, his feet had carried him to the den and Mike was suddenly in front of him. And even though the alcohol had taken the edge off his anger, he was still fucking pissed. Mike was sitting next to Finn on the couch and grinning, which made him want to punch the guy straight out, but he settled for walking over and glaring down at him stead.

"Where's Rachel?" he growled.

Mike took a swig of his beer and then shrugged. "Went with Kurt I think."

"You mean you didn't even fucking bother to see if she got home ok?"

His fists clenched at the unconcerned look on Mike's face and he was starting to lose signal from the part of his brain that was telling him that beating up his best friend would be a bad idea.

"Dude, what's up?" Finn asked, starting to get to his feet. The look on Puck's face was setting alarm bells ringing in his head, because whenever he got that belligerent expression you knew shit was about to go down.

Puck took an aggressive step closer to Mike. "What's up is that this douche bag kisses girls then doesn't give a shit about what happens to them after."

"I do give a shit; I'm seeing her again tomorrow aren't I? And Jesus Puckerman, how much did you drink? You smell like a brewery" the Asian guy laughed.

Puck scowled, but there was part of him that now felt justified in beating the crap out of Mike. Because, fuck it. Rachel deserved better. And the jerk deserved what was coming to him.

"Not enough, asshole."

Mike's smile disappeared. "Look, I don't know what you're problem is –"

"You."

"I haven't done anything to you!"

"Guys, I think you should both calm down" Finn interjected, trying to place himself in front of Mike, who had stood up too.

"I want to know why the hell he's all in my face."

Puck took another step forward. "How fucking dumb to you have to be? She could have been drunk and you know she can't handle it. Kurt might have left without her – it looked like he was hooking up with Lawson anyway. So she could be lying in a flowerbed somewhere right now! You've basically just let Rachel –"

"What's any of this got to do with Rachel?" Mike demanded.

Everything.

"Nothing."

"So why do you suddenly give a damn about her now?"

That was when Puck broke. Because he hadn't just started giving a damn about her. He'd cared about her for weeks – months even – and had just been too stupid to act on it. And here was Mike, all high and mighty, pointing out what a huge fucking mess he'd made of everything.

So he launched himself forward, not caring that Finn was standing in the way; not caring that he was still holding the empty bottle in his hand like a weapon.

It was only much, much later when he was lying in bed in the dark, his knuckles bruised from blow after blow that he'd reigned down on Mike's face before Finn and Matt had managed to pull him off, that it dawned on him that Rachel would definitely not approve of violence.

Rachel woke up with a horrible hangover and an ominous feeling in the pit of her stomach. But she decided to ignore both of these things for the immediate future, because her bed was warm and comfy and she didn't want to move even in the slightest because her head ached terribly and she was guessing it would only throb more the second she got up. And if she had done something she would later regret, she didn't want to deal with it until she was feeling less inclined to throw up. Sighing, she snuggled down under her duvet and tried to concentrate on anything other than the dull pain pounding in her temples.

She must have gone back to sleep, because when she opened her eyes again the light in her room had taken on a different quality. She could hear Mr Oldman mowing the lawn next door and the low rumble of cars from the freeway, but no sound from downstairs. A golden shaft of sunlight was streaming in through a gap in her curtains and she guessed that it must be around midday, in which case her dad's would have already left for work. Sitting up (her head didn't seem to protest too much against this, which was promising) she noticed that there was a note lying at the foot of her bed. Leaning forward, she picked it up and read –

Rachel,

We didn't like to wake you seeing as you got in so late. Kurt brought you back at around 2am (such a sweet boy, he helped daddy get you up the stairs after you were sick in the hall) and I think he wanted you to call him when you woke up. Something about discussing the success of your make-over – I hope that makes sense to you, sweetie because we had no idea what he was talking about! We've left coffee and toast for you on the counter and should be back around six for dinner.

Love Dad

X

Her dad's words seemed to trigger memories in her brain and then suddenly, the events of last night were flooding back to her. The crashing disappointment and hurt as Puck had walked away from her, following Santana in to the house. The way she'd sat out there, alone in the dark, wondering why she'd been stupid enough to believe that wearing a short, low cut dress would make him like her – feeling humiliated for dressing up like that for a boy who evidently didn't see her as anything more than an amusement, a pastime. And hating herself for abandoning her principles that women should never allow themselves to be objectified by the opposite sex. Then she had gone into the kitchen and accepted the drink Brittany had offered her (or was it two drinks?) and after that all she could remember was wondering into the hall and bumping into Mike, who was smiling, and wrapping his arms around her and whispering in her ear that she was beautiful.

The next thing she knew she'd been kissing him, and not really knowing why, but having a vague notion that it was something to do with Noah and her stupid red dress and the fact that she didn't want to be alone.

"Oh God" she murmured, pushing the covers away and getting hurriedly to her feet.

Because now that she was sober and was viewing things in the cold light of day, it all seemed rather dramatic.

She wasn't the sort of person that went round kissing boys that were supposedly her friends to get back at other boys who had never really expressed an interest in her. And she certainly didn't usually get drunk.

This was obviously just a chapter that she would have to put behind her (once she'd sorted things out with Mike of course, and explained to him that she didn't actually want anything to happen) and then store it away in the back of her mind. She could draw on the experience if she ever had to play the role of a loose woman.

And Noah, she would just have to forget entirely.

Even thinking about him caused her to feel a small stab of anger, mixed with embarrassment. Because really, it had been her own foolishness that had got her into this situation, and nothing more.

When she pulled up outside Mike's house she was surprised to find Finn and Matt coming out the front door.

"Hello" she greeted them, as she climbed out of her Volvo. "Isn't this rather early for you two to be up? I would have thought you would have been recovering after last night."

Finn grinned ruefully. "I did have a bit too much to drink."

"Not as much as Puck though" added Matt.

"True."

The two boys exchanged looks and Rachel's intuition was aroused.

"Did something happen?" she asked.

"Er, he sort of got into a fight" Finn admitted.

"Couldn't really call it a fight" Matt chipped in. "More of a one way punch-the-crap out-of-Mike."

"He attacked Mike?" she demanded. "Why on earth would he do that? What was he thinking?"

Ok, so her decision to put Noah completely out of her mind wasn't going all that well.

"Well he wasn't thinking" said Finn. "At least, not in any sober sense anyway."

"I figured that's why you were here" said Matt, looking at her curiously. "I thought you must have heard about it and come to see if he was ok. You know, after last night and everything…"

The implied meaning in her words made her blush.

"Well, no… actually I was – sort of coming to apologise for last night actually."

"Oh."

Thankfully, Matt was a man of few words.

"Well he's inside" said Finn. "If you hurry up he might offer you some of his breakfast. I got two pop tarts."

She laughed. "Thanks. See you guys later."

As Finn and Matt walked over to their cars she walked up to the front door and rang the bell. After a minute or so Mike opened it and she gasped in shock at his appearance. He had a black eye, which gave his face a strange lopsided look and his left cheekbone seemed to be completely covered in dark, purplish bruises. His lip also seemed to be quite puffed up and she thought she could detect a small fleck of dried blood on his hairline.

"Mike! Are you alright?" she cried, taking a step forward.

"Hey Rach" he said, trying to smile, although the action looked strangely grotesque considering his present state. "Come on in."

She followed him into the kitchen and as soon as she was seated, with Mike sitting across from her at the table, she started up again.

"I'm appalled that Noah did this to you! It's completely irresponsible and violent behaviour like this entirely backs up my theory that alcohol and teenagers never mix! What made him do it? I mean, I knew he was somewhat hot headed but I never thought he would turn on one of his friends, especially seeing as it was Finn's birthday party!"

Mike shrugged. "I'm not taking it personally."

Rachel gaped. "How can you be so calm about this?"

"He was an asshole. And yeah, it's not like I'm happy with him right now, but Finn and Matt managed to pull him off before he did too much damage."

"That's hardly the point! The fact that he even tried to inflict harm at all, implies that –"

"Rach, seriously. You don't need to get all outraged on my behalf like this, however cute it is." He smiled at her. "But Puck wouldn't go for me like that if he didn't have a reason. He's not a bad person, however warped his motives may have been. So I'm just trying to figure out what it is."

"Have you got anywhere?" she asked, not sure why her heart was suddenly pounding.

"Yeah. I have actually."

"And?"

Mike sighed. "It's all about you."

She wasn't sure she'd heard him correctly. "I'm sorry, did you say me?"

"Yes. It's obvious he likes you."

"I – think you must have got it wrong" she told him blankly. Why was Mike saying this? Had Noah said something to him? She should really stop thinking about him when she was sitting in front of somebody that he'd just beaten up. It was highly unethical.

"The reason he got mad at me was because I didn't see you home last night. I think he must have seen us kissing."

Noah was concerned about her safety? This was completely contradicting everything that she'd thought about him since she woke up and it was leaving her feeling extremely confused. But before she could ask him any more, she had to deal with the situation at hand.

"Mike, about that –"

"I know" said Mike, and his expression was resigned.

"You do?"

"When I was getting you into the passenger seat of Kurt's care – you really can't hold your drink you know – you told me that it had all been a mistake."

Oh God. She really didn't remember any of this.

"I did?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah. And I get it. I think that maybe we're better as friends anyway."

She sighed in relief. "Mike, I'm so glad you feel that way."

"So we're cool then?"

"Definitely" she smiled. Which at least sorted out one of the problems in her life.

Mike was standing up, and she followed his lead. "As one friend to another then, I think you should go and talk to Puck."

"I think you're mistaken" she told him quietly.

"Perhaps" he shrugged. "But you can't know until you ask, right?"

Right. And what was there to lose?

Other than her pride, her dignity and her heart.

Ahh things are finally starting to get sorted out! Please review and let me know what you think! :)