It Just Takes Some Time (puck/rachel, finn) - R
Title: It Just Takes Some Time.
Author: nicolasamaria
Pairing,Character(s): Puck/Rachel, Puck, Finn, Rachel.
Rating: R
Word Count: 5466
Spoilers: Up to Funk.
Summary: "To be honest, he doesn't really know why he cares so much. He swears that it's Rachel's day job to get on his nerves from nine-to-five ... But there's something in her smile, not her freaky show smile, but her actual smile. The one she gets when she's watching them perform, like she's proud of them. Puck's pretty sure no one has ever been proud of him in his life, except for her."
Author's Note: Written for natih, since I didn't finish that other fic I promised her I would. Thanks to sepibear for all the hand holding and catchxfireflies for the beta. I actually finished a fic you guys, GO ME! On a side note, I realize what transpires in this little ficlet is totally unrealistic, but hey, a girl can dream. :) Oh and the title is from a Jason Mraz song and completely unrealted to the fic. :)
Puck's about halfway to his car when he sees the giants gooey mess of yellow sitting in the middle of the parking lot. He's on his way to grab a burger since the cafeteria food basically sucks and all that performing made him really hungry.
He smirks to himself as he thinks about his and Finn's rendition of Good Vibrations. Yeah, they pretty much kicked ass, fuck what Mr. Schue says. Puck's got more funk in his pinky finger than Mr. Schuester does in his whole body. Dude is just bitter because Puck can rap better than him.
He drops his bag into the back of his truck and turns his attention back to the raw eggs splattered across the blacktop. It looks like a massacre happened and Puck has to give props to whoever orchestrated this egging. The person who was on the receiving end would probably be washing egg out of their ears for days. He's chuckling to himself when he hears it, the quiet whimpering coming from behind the dumpster he used to toss Kurt into every morning.
Pushing himself off his truck, he walks over to the dumpster and grins widely. He can't believe he's actually gonna get to see -
He feels his heart drop into his stomach.
“Shit, Rachel?” he asks softly, she looks up at him and quickly wipes the tears from her eyes, smearing more egg onto her face in the process.
“Wh-what are you doing here?” she stutters as she struggles to push herself off the ground. Her hands, still slippery from the eggs, slide against the grass and she ends up falling flat on her ass. Her eyes get all glassy and she buries her face against her knees as her whole body racks with sobs.
“Berry … what happened?”
“Isn't it obvious?” she says, her voice muffled by her jeans. Puck kneels down in front of her, reaching out tentatively to touch her arm. Shit, crying chicks are really not his forte.
“Who- Was it Karofsky and Emizio, dude Rachel- I'll kick their asses.” he bites out, trying to control his blind rage at seeing her crying and covered in egg.
Rachel shakes her head, hiccuping, “It was J-Jesse and Vocal Adrenaline. I thought that maybe he wanted to … but then he … and they ...” she bursts into tears again, looking at him with wide eyes as fat teardrops roll down her face. He brushes one away with his thumb.
“Hey, let's go get you cleaned up.” he murmurs, trying to be soothing while resisting the urge to go fucking annihilate that Jesse kid. To be honest, he doesn't really know why he cares so much. He swears that it's Rachel's day job to get on his nerves from nine-to-five. Not to mention the fact that she's constantly insulting him, telling him his efforts are mediocre at best, whatever that means.
But there's something in her smile, not her freaky show smile, but her actual smile. The one she gets when she's watching them perform, like she's proud of them. Puck's pretty sure no one has ever been proud of him in his life, except for her.
“I don't have any extra clothes here.” she whimpers as more tears fall. Puck sighs; the idea of Rachel sitting in his truck, all gooey, makes him cringe, but she just looks so pathetic and hopeless that the words leave his mouth before he can stop himself.
“Come on, I'll give you a ride home.”
- -
He pulls into her driveway after ten minutes of Rachel sniffling to the sound of Johnny Cash humming through the radio. After he shuts off his truck, he and Rachel sit there for a moment in companionable silence. He doesn't really know what to say to her, she's still crying and she's got yellow shit all over his seats and every time she moves she makes squelchy sounds.
“So ...” he says slowly, but Rachel keeps her eyes trained on her hands. With a huff, he unbuckles his seatbelt and swings open the door, her house looks empty so he assumes her fathers aren't home. Walking around to the passenger's side, he carefully opens the door and holds out his hand to her. Rachel takes it somewhat hesitantly and lets him pull her out of the truck. She nearly slips when her feet hit the pavement, but Puck reaches out and steadies her. Shooting him a small smile, she lets go of his hand and makes her way to her front door. Puck takes a moment to appreciate the subtle sway of her hips before following after her.
Even covered in raw egg, she's still fucking hot.
- -
“Why are you being so nice to me?” she asks quietly as she sits on the toilet in her bathroom. Puck adjusts the water in the shower to the right temperature and takes a step back, he doesn't turn to look at her. He's never been in her bathroom before, every time he's been over to her house she's always made him use the one across the hall.
It's pink. Big shocker.
“Noah?” her voice wavers as he turns to face her. He realizes that he could totally take advantage of her right now, she's all vulnerable and practically on the rebound. Instead he pulls a piece of eggshell out of her hair and drops it on the counter. Her face flushes red with embarrassment and he gives her a small smile before continuing with the rest of her hair. His fingers move deftly and all the eggshell is gone from her hair in a few minutes. He hasn't failed to notice the way Rachel keeps leaning into his hands, so he lets his fingers linger on the back of her skull, rubbing softly.
“You're good at this.” she murmurs.
He smirks, “ I learned from the best.”
Rachel tilts her head back and gazes up at him with hooded eyes, Puck is so close that all he has to do was move his head an inch and-
“I need to … shower.” she whispers and he drops his hands from her head. He crosses his arms tightly over his chest, hoping that they'll stay there, as he moves to lean against the wall. Rachel's head lolls forward and hangs for a minute before she looks up and frowns at him.
“What?” he mutters and Rachel looks pointedly at the door. Puck rolls his shoulder against the wall and grins at her flippantly. “I don't mind.”
With a tired sigh, she stands and pulls back the shower curtain before stepping in, fully clothed. Puck cocks an amused eyebrow at her as she pouts at him, waiting for him to leave. When he doesn't, she rolls her eyes and then swiftly pulls the curtain closed. Puck stands there for a minute, staring blankly at the pink and white polka dotted vinyl, listening to Rachel bustle around the shower. He's just about to ask her what the hell she's doing in there when she slips her hand through the edge of the shower curtain and drops her egg and water sodden clothes to the floor.
Holy fuck. Puck feels his jaw drop and he struggles to pick it back up because Rachel is nakedand the only thing separating them is a flimsy piece of-
“Fucking shit.” he breathes as he realizes how hot it is in the tiny bathroom, the mirrors are already fogged up by the steam from the shower. He needs to get out of there before he does something he'll probably really regret later.
He almost kicks open the door and stumbles into Rachel's bedroom. God, Rachel Berry was naked, in the shower and he-
What the fuck is he doing? He should go back in there and like … ravage her or whatever. It's not like she wasn't asking for it, right? She did practically strip right in front of him. Then he remembers how he ended up in this situation and his hand curls into a fist.
Not. Gonna. Happen, Puckerman. Not after what she's been through today. he tells himself.
Shit, when did he grow a conscience?
- -
He rummages through her garage for awhile, looking for something to clean the egg off of his seats. The only thing he finds is a couple of old, worn shammies and a bottle of Windex, not really what he was looking for, but whatever.
Rachel kept the egg-carnage to a minimum, he notes, as he looks down at the gooey mess on his passenger's seat. It's only in one area really and he wipes it down with a shammy before spraying it over with the Windex.
He can't believe this douche actually had the balls to do something like this. From what Puck could see, the kid was pretty much a pussy all around. Who the fuck gangs up and eggs a tiny girl?
Aside from him. Not that he would do that to Rachel. Or anyone anymore. Maybe he's getting soft, but some things just aren't right.
Yeah, he has morals and shit now.
The more he thinks about Rachel, sitting there crying and covered in raw egg, the more pissed off he gets. He scrubs at the seat with a little more vigor than need and then tosses down the shammy in frustration. Nobody threw things at Rachel but him.
Slushies are one thing, but eggs? That's taking it too fucking far.
He's this close to finding Jesse and giving him the worst beat-down of his life when he hears Rachel shuffling around behind him. He turns to look at her and all his anger kind of fades away, she looks so small and pale. Her hairs still a little damp from her shower and she's wringing the strap of her bag in front of her.
“Hey.” he greets hoarsely and she gives him a tight smile. She clutching that bag like it's a life line as she walks stiffly towards him.
“Even though the lives of countless baby chicks were lost in a slaughtering that would make Auschwitz seem minute, it was very chivalrous of you to come to my aid in my time of need and I would just like to express my gratitude. Not many people would have helped me and I- ”
“No problem, Berry.” he interjects, grinning. He moves out of the way so she can get in the truck and she furrows her brow as she moves past him, the scent of her her strawberry shampoo trailing after her.
“No problem.” he repeats to himself after he shuts the door.
- -
Schuester is a fucking buzz kill.
But, Puck's got other plans. If anyone seriously thinks he's just going to sit by and let Vocal Adrenaline get away with this bullshit, they're crazy. No one screws over the people Puck cares about. Because yeah, maybe he does care about Rachel, you know, at least a little. And if Kurt has ever been right about anything, it's that no one fucks with Rachel or any of the other gleeks but him.
So, he has a plan. Or at least he's going to have one soon.
- -
Puck does all his best thinking when he's sitting in his truck in the parking lot next to the school with a fat bowl at his disposal. He really only does this when he knows that he has some serious shit to sort through. The week he found out Quinn was pregnant? Puck has never been so high in his life.
But this, this is all about strategy. Which is why Finn is sitting next to him, getting stoned off his ass. It may seem really unlikely, but when Finn is high he gets like that Japanese dude who went ape shit on Pearl Harbor, Yamatomato, or whatever his name is. He gets really fucking smart and starts talking about all this philosophical shit or how they're going to steal beer from the 7-11. Puck doesn't know if it's 'cause normally he's high too, but all of Finn's ideas always sound golden.
“I say we leave gay porn in his locker.” Finn muses, his fingertips tapping on his chin. Puck chuckles and brings his mouth to the pipe, sucking lightly.
“Why, you got some extra Playgirls laying around?” he says around the warm glass. Finn waits until he's taken his hit before reaching over and punching him on the arm. Puck starts coughing and passes the pipe back over to Finn, who calls him an asshole.
“Hey, dude, did you know the longest vagina was nineteen inches?” Finn chokes on smoke and Puck reaches over to slap him on the back.
“Seriously?” he asks once he can breath again.
Puck nods, smirking, “But don't worry, I'm sure yours is bigger.”
Finn scowls and thrusts the pipe back at Puck, “Why am I helping you again?”
“Because, “ Puck starts, turning to face him more fully, “You owe it to Rachel, man. I mean, you said it yourself, we can't just let them get away with turning her into an omelet.”
Finn thinks about this, long and hard, Puck can practically see the wheels turning in his brain. Then he nods, grinning like the giant dope that he is, and picks up the pipe again. They each take a hit and then the bowl is done and they're both laughing hysterically, Puck's not sure about what.
“Alright, I saw we go to his house, wait till he leaves for ballet practice and steal all his hair gel.” Finn gets out before he doubles over, laughing again.
“What the fuck- ballet practice? Does he wear a fucking tutu?” Puck asks, chortling. The image of Jesse wearing a tutu flashes through both their minds and they’re both howling with laughter.
Finn gasps loudly, reaching over to grab Puck's shoulder, “No man, we should steal his tutu instead!”
Puck nods in agreement and they're both laughing so hard they're not making any noise. Truthfully, he's missed this, hanging out with Finn, having a best friend. Things seem cool between them right now, but you can never be sure when Finn will have one of his girly-ass mood swings and start fucking pouting and shit. So Puck does what he does best, which is avoid. He pulls out a baggy from his pants pocket and waves it in front of Finn.
“One more bowl?” he asks hopefully and Finn doesn't even hesitate when he nods. They've already got it packed in there when there's a tap on the window. It scares the shit out of both of them and they'll never admit it, but they scream like a couple of chicks. Puck lets out a cry of anguish to see that all of his weed is on the seat and not in his pipe.
“Fucking shit.” he mumbles as Finn precariously rolls down the window an inch, he leans up so he can see out of the crack.
“Oh, hey Rachel.” Finn greets and Puck swears under his breath, trying desperately to scoop the bud into the plastic baggy again. He trips out for a second at the feeling of the seat underneath his fingertips, all smooth and kind of slippery.
“We're just chilling.” Finn's voice snaps him out of his trance and he quickly zips the baggy up and tucks it back into his pocket. Reaching across Finn, he cranks down the window until he can see Rachel's head peeking up into his car. She doesn't look much better than she did earlier, but at least she'd not covered in egg and crying.
Oh yeah, they're supposed to be helping Rachel.
“What's that smell? Are you guys ...” Rachel looks completely appalled as she waves away the smoke that traveled out of the window.
“What are you doing?” she hisses, fisting her hands on her hips, “What on Earth made you think it would be a good idea to get high right in front of school?”
“To the side of the school.” Puck points out, but slouches down in his seat when she glares at him. “No one is even here around this time.” he mumbles and Rachel scoffs.
“I was here.” she says pointedly.
Finn frowns, “Why are you here this late?”
“Well,” Rachel sighs deeply, “If you must know, my … Old Maids club meeting went over. I've pretty much given up hope of ever having some semblance of a love life, since I doubt my heart will ever heal from the way Jesse crushed it under his boot. It's truly a waste, I'm too young to be ruined for good. But, I'll just have to make due. My fellow maids were expressing what I'm hoping is sympathy for my cause, they were oddly comforting. Although, I don't really know if I appreciate being voted most likely to be like Annie Wilkes. And why am I even telling the two of you this, you're clearly under the influence of illegal substances and in no way fit to process this information.”
Puck is pretty sure he has no idea what she just said, but he nods anyways. Rachel stares at them for a good long minute and Puck is starting to feel uncomfortable because she's just standing there. He glances down at the pipe, sitting on the seat between him and Finn, and reaches for it tentatively.
He holds it up and motions towards her with it, “Do you wanna smo-”
“Don't even finish that sentence, Puckerman.” she snaps and then gives them a pitying look that Puck isn't sure he really appreciates, “Anyway, I'll be going now. I just saw your truck out here and thought I'd come and-” She sighs and shakes her head, “Never mind, I'll see you guys tomorrow.”
Finn turns to look at him, kind of dazed and then Puck sees the lightbulb go off in his head, the moment he's been waiting for the past three hours. Finn has a plan.
“Dude, didn't Rachel date Jesse?”
Or maybe not.
“Yeah, so?”
“So - wait, I don't know.” he frowns, obviously thinking hard. Puck rolls his eyes and slaps the back of Finn's head before leaning over him again and pushing the door open.
“Yo, Berry!” he calls out and Rachel turns to look at him, glaring, before reluctantly stomping back over to his truck. He all put pushes Finn out of the cab, throwing him an apologetic look when he jerks against the seatbelt.
Seriously, who puts on their seatbelt in a parked car?
“What do you want?” she asks as she watches Finn detangle himself. Puck sighs, there's only one way he's going to get Rachel Berry to agree to any of this. And that's by force.
“You're coming with us.” he tells her, trying to signal Finn with his eyes and hoping that he gets the gist of whats about to happen.
“Wha-” Finn scoops her up under his arm and tosses her in the truck before she gets a chance to finish her sentence. Puck stifles a laugh as he bumps fists with Finn over Rachel's head as she struggles to sit upright.
“Excuse me! That was completely uncalled for!” She shrills, turning to glare at Finn as he climbs in after her. It's a tight squeeze, with the three of them in there, but Rachel is tiny so it's not like she needs a lot of room.
“I demand that you let me out right now. I refuse to be a part of any other illegal activities that the two of you are about to partake in.” she stops talking when Puck pulls on his seat belt, watching as he starts the car. Her mouth drops open and her eyes get really huge and he knows he's never going to hear the end of this. “Noah Puckerman! I know you are not about to drive, under the influence, while I'm in the car!”
Puck rubs a hand over his face, digging is palm into his right eye, and groans, “Jesus fucking - do you ever shut up? Like, me and Finn are just trying to help you out here and all you're doing is bitching at us. Now, do you want to get back at your douche bag boyfriend or not?”
“Ex boyfriend.” she seethes.
Puck rolls his eyes, “Whatever.”
They glare at each other before Rachel's shoulders drop a fraction of an inch and Puck knows that he's won. She mumbles something under her breath that sounds a lot like I can't believe I'm doing this and then puts on her seatbelt.
“If I get arrested, I will agree to a deal and put all the blame for this on you.”
“Arrested?” Finn squeaks, “You didn't say we would get arrested!”
- -
“I hope you realize that this is the most unoriginal plan that the two of you could ever come up with.” Rachel informs them matter-of-factly, Puck scowls at her while Finn looks a little heartbroken that she doesn't like his idea.
“But, Rach- they're tomatoes and he's a performer. It's like … Puck, tell her it's a good burn.”
Puck sighs, reaching into the crate to dig out a tomato and hold it in front of her face, “Rachel, this is a genius idea. And don't make Finn cry.” he adds as he unbuckles his seatbelt. It's getting late and they need to get this done before Jesse comes back from ballet. Puck still can't believe the dude actually wears tights on his own free will.
“Shit!” Finn yelps, jumping back away from the window, nearly crushing Rachel. She tries in vain to push him off her without any success, so Puck takes pity on her and pulls her out from under Finn.
“Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you?” he mutters as he slaps the back of his friends head. Rachel throws him a look over her shoulder and reaches out to touch Finn's shoulder and he jerks around, staring at them with wide eyes.
“There are effing people out there!” he cries and Puck rolls his eyes at Finn's refusal to say the word fuck. Rachel's frown only deepens and she shoves the crate of tomatoes off of her lap and onto Puck's.
“Is it Jesse?” she asks, sounding a little too hopeful for Puck's liking, as she looks out the window with Finn. The way she's bending over, Puck can nearly see up her skirt, just a little lift and-
“No one is even out there!” she huffs, plopping back down on the seat. Puck snatches his hand away just in time, pouting at the near miss.
“I saw someone, I swear!” Finn insists and Puck chuckles, the guys got more than a good buzz going on right now. He turns towards the two of them, clearly flipping the fuck out, “Oh my god, I'm seeing ghosts! Puck, man, I'm like that little kid from the Sixth Sense!”
“Shut the fuck up, there's no one outside, all right?” Finn nods tensely and Puck squares his shoulders, “Okay, now lets do this.”
Except no one moves. Puck is staring out the window with Finn while Rachel sits between them, inspecting her fingernails closely. His fingers curl around the edges of the plastic crate in his lap as he looks out at Jesse's front yard. He's not tripping out or anything and he sure as fuck isn't scared, but-
He slides it back onto Rachel's lap. “You first, Berry.”
Rachel blinks at him, confused, and then disgust flits across her face and she tries to push the crate back towards him. They push it back and forth for a few seconds before he growls in frustration and picks it up, holding it off to the side,
“Come on, Berry. Be a man and go fucking throw tomatoes at this ass-hole's house.”
Rachel gasps and reels back, “Well excuse me, but wasn't this your idea in the first place? I mean, you are the one who ruthlessly kidnapped me and then forced me to buy two dozen tomatoes.” Puck cocks an eyebrow at her, wondering how long she can go without needing oxygen, “And I am not a man, as you very well know!”
“Well, I'd know even more if you had let me touch your boobs.” he snipes and Rachel looks even more offended than before. She lets out a feminine growl before reaching across Finn and shoving the door open, then she turns to Puck and grabs the crate from him forcefully before crawling out the truck. He enjoys the view as she goes, chuckling when she nearly falls flat on her ass.
“Cowards.” she hisses after she's collected herself and then slams the door, rattling the whole cab. Finn turns to stare at him with wide eyes.
“Wait, Rachel's a man? Oh my god, I kissed a dude!” he wails. All Puck can do is punch him on the shoulder as he watches Rachel walk towards the house, nose in the air. She's cute, Puck will admit that much, and sometimes she's even funny when she's not trying so hard. Earlier, when they were in the grocery store, she asked him if he knew why the tomatoes were blushing and then pointed to the bottles of salad dressing that were sitting next to the celery stalks.
Yeah, he laughed, but only because it was so lame it was funny.
Finn clears his throat, “So … you and Rachel ...”
“What about me and Rachel?” he grumbles, shifting in his seat so he's staring straight ahead. His buzz is starting to wear off and now he's just kind of in the mood for a double cheeseburger. He briefly wonders how pissed Rachel would be if they left her there.
“What do you think about her?”
“She's alright, I guess.” Puck shrugs. “At least when she's not running her mouth.”
Finn shakes his head, “No I mean … do you, you know, like her ?”
Puck snorts, “What are you, like 12?” Finn pouts and petulantly crosses his arms. Puck turns his attention back to Rachel, who is standing in front of Jesse's house still, the crate at her feet.
“Has she even thrown any yet?”
“I don't think so.”
“What the fu-” Puck moves to get out of the car, sucking in a deep breath when the cool night air hits him. He rubs his hands together, sticks them into the pockets of his letterman and then walks around the truck.
“Uh … you actually have to throw it for the full effect.” He says when he's a couple feet behind her. Rachel whirls around, one hand grabbing her chest, the other holding tightly onto a tomato. Then he sees that she's almost crying, her eyes are all big and wet and he groans.
“Fucking shit, not again.” Then he sort of gets pissed off because - “Why are you crying?”
“I'm not crying.” she mumbles and then turns back to the house, “I just thought that- I don't know what I thought.” she starts sniffling again and Puck bites back another groan. Why is she always crying in front of him?
“It's not fair!” she continues angrily, “I never get anything I want. It's because I want everything too much, remember? And I wanted Jesse … I wanted him so much and now he doesn't want me and I don't understand why.” Rachel is crying in earnest now, her shoulders shaking and everything.
“Fuck this.” Puck says on a sigh. He grabs the tomato from her hand and chucks it at the front of the house, where it lands with a loud splat against a window. Grabbing the same hand that held the fruit, he pulls her against him and tucks her under his chin.
And then he just lets her cry. Her tears seep through his t-shirt and burn his skin and he tightens his hold on her. Puck's never been one for words, but this is Rachel and that's the only thing she's ever been about.
“Look, Rach ...” he says softly, running his fingertips softly over the ends of her hair. “This guy … he's a douche bag, okay? I mean … you deserve better than some guy who put all this fucking effort into completely ruining your life.”
“You used to.” she says, her voice muffled by his shirt. Puck stops touching her hair, he doesn't know what to do with his hands, they hang there idly for a moment, his fingers curling and uncurling slightly.
He finally just drops them to his sides, “Yeah, well that was before.”
Rachel shifts against him, rests her cheek against his chest and angles her gaze up at him. Her nose is all red and her cheeks are flushed and a stray tear escapes from the corner of her left eye; Puck desperately wants to wipe it away, but he doesn't.
“Before what?” she asks softly.
“You know before what.” he murmurs, before he joined Glee, before he made out with her on her bed, before he sang to her, before he knew her at all.
A smile tugs at the corner of her lips and she ducks her head and nuzzles his collar bone. Yeah, she definitely knows.
“Thank you Noah.”
He chuckles, “No problem, Berry.” Then he pats her on the back, a little too roughly, but- “Just don't tell anyone this conversation happened, I've got a rep to keep up with.”
She laughs, loudly, and Puck grins at her. Everything gets really fucking corny after a few seconds, like a total chick flick moment, and it's all quiet and they're just looking into each others eyes and-
Rachel Berry fucking kisses him.
It's not like she full on attacks him with her tongue. She just reaches up on her toes and pecks him quickly on the lips and he's kind of bewildered because, what the hell?
She drops back down onto her heels and rocks back, “Thank you.” she says again and Puck can't help himself. He just goes for it, when she leans forward on the balls of her feet slightly, he ducks and chases her mouth.
He gets pretty damn close to kissing her again, but she stops him with a pat on the cheek, “Yeah ...” she drawls, pushing his head to the side, “I don't think so, Puckerman.”
And then she just walks away.
Normally, Puck would be pissed off, you know, 'cause she totally just left him high and dry. But then she throws him this little smile over her shoulder and he laughs.
“Nice, Rachel, really nice.” he calls out to her, rubbing his thumb along his jaw. He glances down at the crate of tomatoes at his feet and sighs.
It kind of was a really stupid idea anyways.
- -
After they drop Rachel off at home, he and Finn go to McDonald's and order so much food that the kid working at the counter looks at them like they're crazy.
But they're dudes, so whatever. That's a valid excuse, right?
Puck sits there while Finn scarfs down four double cheeseburgers, absentmindedly stuffing french fries in his own mouth, and starts thinking that maybe he should just forget about what Jesse did to Rachel.
She obviously doesn't approve of his violent tendencies, not that he really cares about what she approves of or not, but she has been crying a lot lately. Puck just can't let that slide.
So yeah, he decides he's going to introduce Jesse's face to the fist of Puckerone.
Right after he finishes his cheeseburgers.
- -
The look on Rachel's face at Regionals when she sees Jesse's black eye?
Completely worth the bitch fit his mom threw when he came home with a broken knuckle
(Also, the big hug and kiss on the cheek she gave him right before they went on wasn't so bad either.)
Author: nicolasamaria
Pairing,Character(s): Puck/Rachel, Puck, Finn, Rachel.
Rating: R
Word Count: 5466
Spoilers: Up to Funk.
Summary: "To be honest, he doesn't really know why he cares so much. He swears that it's Rachel's day job to get on his nerves from nine-to-five ... But there's something in her smile, not her freaky show smile, but her actual smile. The one she gets when she's watching them perform, like she's proud of them. Puck's pretty sure no one has ever been proud of him in his life, except for her."
Author's Note: Written for natih, since I didn't finish that other fic I promised her I would. Thanks to sepibear for all the hand holding and catchxfireflies for the beta. I actually finished a fic you guys, GO ME! On a side note, I realize what transpires in this little ficlet is totally unrealistic, but hey, a girl can dream. :) Oh and the title is from a Jason Mraz song and completely unrealted to the fic. :)
Puck's about halfway to his car when he sees the giants gooey mess of yellow sitting in the middle of the parking lot. He's on his way to grab a burger since the cafeteria food basically sucks and all that performing made him really hungry.
He smirks to himself as he thinks about his and Finn's rendition of Good Vibrations. Yeah, they pretty much kicked ass, fuck what Mr. Schue says. Puck's got more funk in his pinky finger than Mr. Schuester does in his whole body. Dude is just bitter because Puck can rap better than him.
He drops his bag into the back of his truck and turns his attention back to the raw eggs splattered across the blacktop. It looks like a massacre happened and Puck has to give props to whoever orchestrated this egging. The person who was on the receiving end would probably be washing egg out of their ears for days. He's chuckling to himself when he hears it, the quiet whimpering coming from behind the dumpster he used to toss Kurt into every morning.
Pushing himself off his truck, he walks over to the dumpster and grins widely. He can't believe he's actually gonna get to see -
He feels his heart drop into his stomach.
“Shit, Rachel?” he asks softly, she looks up at him and quickly wipes the tears from her eyes, smearing more egg onto her face in the process.
“Wh-what are you doing here?” she stutters as she struggles to push herself off the ground. Her hands, still slippery from the eggs, slide against the grass and she ends up falling flat on her ass. Her eyes get all glassy and she buries her face against her knees as her whole body racks with sobs.
“Berry … what happened?”
“Isn't it obvious?” she says, her voice muffled by her jeans. Puck kneels down in front of her, reaching out tentatively to touch her arm. Shit, crying chicks are really not his forte.
“Who- Was it Karofsky and Emizio, dude Rachel- I'll kick their asses.” he bites out, trying to control his blind rage at seeing her crying and covered in egg.
Rachel shakes her head, hiccuping, “It was J-Jesse and Vocal Adrenaline. I thought that maybe he wanted to … but then he … and they ...” she bursts into tears again, looking at him with wide eyes as fat teardrops roll down her face. He brushes one away with his thumb.
“Hey, let's go get you cleaned up.” he murmurs, trying to be soothing while resisting the urge to go fucking annihilate that Jesse kid. To be honest, he doesn't really know why he cares so much. He swears that it's Rachel's day job to get on his nerves from nine-to-five. Not to mention the fact that she's constantly insulting him, telling him his efforts are mediocre at best, whatever that means.
But there's something in her smile, not her freaky show smile, but her actual smile. The one she gets when she's watching them perform, like she's proud of them. Puck's pretty sure no one has ever been proud of him in his life, except for her.
“I don't have any extra clothes here.” she whimpers as more tears fall. Puck sighs; the idea of Rachel sitting in his truck, all gooey, makes him cringe, but she just looks so pathetic and hopeless that the words leave his mouth before he can stop himself.
“Come on, I'll give you a ride home.”
- -
He pulls into her driveway after ten minutes of Rachel sniffling to the sound of Johnny Cash humming through the radio. After he shuts off his truck, he and Rachel sit there for a moment in companionable silence. He doesn't really know what to say to her, she's still crying and she's got yellow shit all over his seats and every time she moves she makes squelchy sounds.
“So ...” he says slowly, but Rachel keeps her eyes trained on her hands. With a huff, he unbuckles his seatbelt and swings open the door, her house looks empty so he assumes her fathers aren't home. Walking around to the passenger's side, he carefully opens the door and holds out his hand to her. Rachel takes it somewhat hesitantly and lets him pull her out of the truck. She nearly slips when her feet hit the pavement, but Puck reaches out and steadies her. Shooting him a small smile, she lets go of his hand and makes her way to her front door. Puck takes a moment to appreciate the subtle sway of her hips before following after her.
Even covered in raw egg, she's still fucking hot.
- -
“Why are you being so nice to me?” she asks quietly as she sits on the toilet in her bathroom. Puck adjusts the water in the shower to the right temperature and takes a step back, he doesn't turn to look at her. He's never been in her bathroom before, every time he's been over to her house she's always made him use the one across the hall.
It's pink. Big shocker.
“Noah?” her voice wavers as he turns to face her. He realizes that he could totally take advantage of her right now, she's all vulnerable and practically on the rebound. Instead he pulls a piece of eggshell out of her hair and drops it on the counter. Her face flushes red with embarrassment and he gives her a small smile before continuing with the rest of her hair. His fingers move deftly and all the eggshell is gone from her hair in a few minutes. He hasn't failed to notice the way Rachel keeps leaning into his hands, so he lets his fingers linger on the back of her skull, rubbing softly.
“You're good at this.” she murmurs.
He smirks, “ I learned from the best.”
Rachel tilts her head back and gazes up at him with hooded eyes, Puck is so close that all he has to do was move his head an inch and-
“I need to … shower.” she whispers and he drops his hands from her head. He crosses his arms tightly over his chest, hoping that they'll stay there, as he moves to lean against the wall. Rachel's head lolls forward and hangs for a minute before she looks up and frowns at him.
“What?” he mutters and Rachel looks pointedly at the door. Puck rolls his shoulder against the wall and grins at her flippantly. “I don't mind.”
With a tired sigh, she stands and pulls back the shower curtain before stepping in, fully clothed. Puck cocks an amused eyebrow at her as she pouts at him, waiting for him to leave. When he doesn't, she rolls her eyes and then swiftly pulls the curtain closed. Puck stands there for a minute, staring blankly at the pink and white polka dotted vinyl, listening to Rachel bustle around the shower. He's just about to ask her what the hell she's doing in there when she slips her hand through the edge of the shower curtain and drops her egg and water sodden clothes to the floor.
Holy fuck. Puck feels his jaw drop and he struggles to pick it back up because Rachel is nakedand the only thing separating them is a flimsy piece of-
“Fucking shit.” he breathes as he realizes how hot it is in the tiny bathroom, the mirrors are already fogged up by the steam from the shower. He needs to get out of there before he does something he'll probably really regret later.
He almost kicks open the door and stumbles into Rachel's bedroom. God, Rachel Berry was naked, in the shower and he-
What the fuck is he doing? He should go back in there and like … ravage her or whatever. It's not like she wasn't asking for it, right? She did practically strip right in front of him. Then he remembers how he ended up in this situation and his hand curls into a fist.
Not. Gonna. Happen, Puckerman. Not after what she's been through today. he tells himself.
Shit, when did he grow a conscience?
- -
He rummages through her garage for awhile, looking for something to clean the egg off of his seats. The only thing he finds is a couple of old, worn shammies and a bottle of Windex, not really what he was looking for, but whatever.
Rachel kept the egg-carnage to a minimum, he notes, as he looks down at the gooey mess on his passenger's seat. It's only in one area really and he wipes it down with a shammy before spraying it over with the Windex.
He can't believe this douche actually had the balls to do something like this. From what Puck could see, the kid was pretty much a pussy all around. Who the fuck gangs up and eggs a tiny girl?
Aside from him. Not that he would do that to Rachel. Or anyone anymore. Maybe he's getting soft, but some things just aren't right.
Yeah, he has morals and shit now.
The more he thinks about Rachel, sitting there crying and covered in raw egg, the more pissed off he gets. He scrubs at the seat with a little more vigor than need and then tosses down the shammy in frustration. Nobody threw things at Rachel but him.
Slushies are one thing, but eggs? That's taking it too fucking far.
He's this close to finding Jesse and giving him the worst beat-down of his life when he hears Rachel shuffling around behind him. He turns to look at her and all his anger kind of fades away, she looks so small and pale. Her hairs still a little damp from her shower and she's wringing the strap of her bag in front of her.
“Hey.” he greets hoarsely and she gives him a tight smile. She clutching that bag like it's a life line as she walks stiffly towards him.
“Even though the lives of countless baby chicks were lost in a slaughtering that would make Auschwitz seem minute, it was very chivalrous of you to come to my aid in my time of need and I would just like to express my gratitude. Not many people would have helped me and I- ”
“No problem, Berry.” he interjects, grinning. He moves out of the way so she can get in the truck and she furrows her brow as she moves past him, the scent of her her strawberry shampoo trailing after her.
“No problem.” he repeats to himself after he shuts the door.
- -
Schuester is a fucking buzz kill.
But, Puck's got other plans. If anyone seriously thinks he's just going to sit by and let Vocal Adrenaline get away with this bullshit, they're crazy. No one screws over the people Puck cares about. Because yeah, maybe he does care about Rachel, you know, at least a little. And if Kurt has ever been right about anything, it's that no one fucks with Rachel or any of the other gleeks but him.
So, he has a plan. Or at least he's going to have one soon.
- -
Puck does all his best thinking when he's sitting in his truck in the parking lot next to the school with a fat bowl at his disposal. He really only does this when he knows that he has some serious shit to sort through. The week he found out Quinn was pregnant? Puck has never been so high in his life.
But this, this is all about strategy. Which is why Finn is sitting next to him, getting stoned off his ass. It may seem really unlikely, but when Finn is high he gets like that Japanese dude who went ape shit on Pearl Harbor, Yamatomato, or whatever his name is. He gets really fucking smart and starts talking about all this philosophical shit or how they're going to steal beer from the 7-11. Puck doesn't know if it's 'cause normally he's high too, but all of Finn's ideas always sound golden.
“I say we leave gay porn in his locker.” Finn muses, his fingertips tapping on his chin. Puck chuckles and brings his mouth to the pipe, sucking lightly.
“Why, you got some extra Playgirls laying around?” he says around the warm glass. Finn waits until he's taken his hit before reaching over and punching him on the arm. Puck starts coughing and passes the pipe back over to Finn, who calls him an asshole.
“Hey, dude, did you know the longest vagina was nineteen inches?” Finn chokes on smoke and Puck reaches over to slap him on the back.
“Seriously?” he asks once he can breath again.
Puck nods, smirking, “But don't worry, I'm sure yours is bigger.”
Finn scowls and thrusts the pipe back at Puck, “Why am I helping you again?”
“Because, “ Puck starts, turning to face him more fully, “You owe it to Rachel, man. I mean, you said it yourself, we can't just let them get away with turning her into an omelet.”
Finn thinks about this, long and hard, Puck can practically see the wheels turning in his brain. Then he nods, grinning like the giant dope that he is, and picks up the pipe again. They each take a hit and then the bowl is done and they're both laughing hysterically, Puck's not sure about what.
“Alright, I saw we go to his house, wait till he leaves for ballet practice and steal all his hair gel.” Finn gets out before he doubles over, laughing again.
“What the fuck- ballet practice? Does he wear a fucking tutu?” Puck asks, chortling. The image of Jesse wearing a tutu flashes through both their minds and they’re both howling with laughter.
Finn gasps loudly, reaching over to grab Puck's shoulder, “No man, we should steal his tutu instead!”
Puck nods in agreement and they're both laughing so hard they're not making any noise. Truthfully, he's missed this, hanging out with Finn, having a best friend. Things seem cool between them right now, but you can never be sure when Finn will have one of his girly-ass mood swings and start fucking pouting and shit. So Puck does what he does best, which is avoid. He pulls out a baggy from his pants pocket and waves it in front of Finn.
“One more bowl?” he asks hopefully and Finn doesn't even hesitate when he nods. They've already got it packed in there when there's a tap on the window. It scares the shit out of both of them and they'll never admit it, but they scream like a couple of chicks. Puck lets out a cry of anguish to see that all of his weed is on the seat and not in his pipe.
“Fucking shit.” he mumbles as Finn precariously rolls down the window an inch, he leans up so he can see out of the crack.
“Oh, hey Rachel.” Finn greets and Puck swears under his breath, trying desperately to scoop the bud into the plastic baggy again. He trips out for a second at the feeling of the seat underneath his fingertips, all smooth and kind of slippery.
“We're just chilling.” Finn's voice snaps him out of his trance and he quickly zips the baggy up and tucks it back into his pocket. Reaching across Finn, he cranks down the window until he can see Rachel's head peeking up into his car. She doesn't look much better than she did earlier, but at least she'd not covered in egg and crying.
Oh yeah, they're supposed to be helping Rachel.
“What's that smell? Are you guys ...” Rachel looks completely appalled as she waves away the smoke that traveled out of the window.
“What are you doing?” she hisses, fisting her hands on her hips, “What on Earth made you think it would be a good idea to get high right in front of school?”
“To the side of the school.” Puck points out, but slouches down in his seat when she glares at him. “No one is even here around this time.” he mumbles and Rachel scoffs.
“I was here.” she says pointedly.
Finn frowns, “Why are you here this late?”
“Well,” Rachel sighs deeply, “If you must know, my … Old Maids club meeting went over. I've pretty much given up hope of ever having some semblance of a love life, since I doubt my heart will ever heal from the way Jesse crushed it under his boot. It's truly a waste, I'm too young to be ruined for good. But, I'll just have to make due. My fellow maids were expressing what I'm hoping is sympathy for my cause, they were oddly comforting. Although, I don't really know if I appreciate being voted most likely to be like Annie Wilkes. And why am I even telling the two of you this, you're clearly under the influence of illegal substances and in no way fit to process this information.”
Puck is pretty sure he has no idea what she just said, but he nods anyways. Rachel stares at them for a good long minute and Puck is starting to feel uncomfortable because she's just standing there. He glances down at the pipe, sitting on the seat between him and Finn, and reaches for it tentatively.
He holds it up and motions towards her with it, “Do you wanna smo-”
“Don't even finish that sentence, Puckerman.” she snaps and then gives them a pitying look that Puck isn't sure he really appreciates, “Anyway, I'll be going now. I just saw your truck out here and thought I'd come and-” She sighs and shakes her head, “Never mind, I'll see you guys tomorrow.”
Finn turns to look at him, kind of dazed and then Puck sees the lightbulb go off in his head, the moment he's been waiting for the past three hours. Finn has a plan.
“Dude, didn't Rachel date Jesse?”
Or maybe not.
“Yeah, so?”
“So - wait, I don't know.” he frowns, obviously thinking hard. Puck rolls his eyes and slaps the back of Finn's head before leaning over him again and pushing the door open.
“Yo, Berry!” he calls out and Rachel turns to look at him, glaring, before reluctantly stomping back over to his truck. He all put pushes Finn out of the cab, throwing him an apologetic look when he jerks against the seatbelt.
Seriously, who puts on their seatbelt in a parked car?
“What do you want?” she asks as she watches Finn detangle himself. Puck sighs, there's only one way he's going to get Rachel Berry to agree to any of this. And that's by force.
“You're coming with us.” he tells her, trying to signal Finn with his eyes and hoping that he gets the gist of whats about to happen.
“Wha-” Finn scoops her up under his arm and tosses her in the truck before she gets a chance to finish her sentence. Puck stifles a laugh as he bumps fists with Finn over Rachel's head as she struggles to sit upright.
“Excuse me! That was completely uncalled for!” She shrills, turning to glare at Finn as he climbs in after her. It's a tight squeeze, with the three of them in there, but Rachel is tiny so it's not like she needs a lot of room.
“I demand that you let me out right now. I refuse to be a part of any other illegal activities that the two of you are about to partake in.” she stops talking when Puck pulls on his seat belt, watching as he starts the car. Her mouth drops open and her eyes get really huge and he knows he's never going to hear the end of this. “Noah Puckerman! I know you are not about to drive, under the influence, while I'm in the car!”
Puck rubs a hand over his face, digging is palm into his right eye, and groans, “Jesus fucking - do you ever shut up? Like, me and Finn are just trying to help you out here and all you're doing is bitching at us. Now, do you want to get back at your douche bag boyfriend or not?”
“Ex boyfriend.” she seethes.
Puck rolls his eyes, “Whatever.”
They glare at each other before Rachel's shoulders drop a fraction of an inch and Puck knows that he's won. She mumbles something under her breath that sounds a lot like I can't believe I'm doing this and then puts on her seatbelt.
“If I get arrested, I will agree to a deal and put all the blame for this on you.”
“Arrested?” Finn squeaks, “You didn't say we would get arrested!”
- -
“I hope you realize that this is the most unoriginal plan that the two of you could ever come up with.” Rachel informs them matter-of-factly, Puck scowls at her while Finn looks a little heartbroken that she doesn't like his idea.
“But, Rach- they're tomatoes and he's a performer. It's like … Puck, tell her it's a good burn.”
Puck sighs, reaching into the crate to dig out a tomato and hold it in front of her face, “Rachel, this is a genius idea. And don't make Finn cry.” he adds as he unbuckles his seatbelt. It's getting late and they need to get this done before Jesse comes back from ballet. Puck still can't believe the dude actually wears tights on his own free will.
“Shit!” Finn yelps, jumping back away from the window, nearly crushing Rachel. She tries in vain to push him off her without any success, so Puck takes pity on her and pulls her out from under Finn.
“Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you?” he mutters as he slaps the back of his friends head. Rachel throws him a look over her shoulder and reaches out to touch Finn's shoulder and he jerks around, staring at them with wide eyes.
“There are effing people out there!” he cries and Puck rolls his eyes at Finn's refusal to say the word fuck. Rachel's frown only deepens and she shoves the crate of tomatoes off of her lap and onto Puck's.
“Is it Jesse?” she asks, sounding a little too hopeful for Puck's liking, as she looks out the window with Finn. The way she's bending over, Puck can nearly see up her skirt, just a little lift and-
“No one is even out there!” she huffs, plopping back down on the seat. Puck snatches his hand away just in time, pouting at the near miss.
“I saw someone, I swear!” Finn insists and Puck chuckles, the guys got more than a good buzz going on right now. He turns towards the two of them, clearly flipping the fuck out, “Oh my god, I'm seeing ghosts! Puck, man, I'm like that little kid from the Sixth Sense!”
“Shut the fuck up, there's no one outside, all right?” Finn nods tensely and Puck squares his shoulders, “Okay, now lets do this.”
Except no one moves. Puck is staring out the window with Finn while Rachel sits between them, inspecting her fingernails closely. His fingers curl around the edges of the plastic crate in his lap as he looks out at Jesse's front yard. He's not tripping out or anything and he sure as fuck isn't scared, but-
He slides it back onto Rachel's lap. “You first, Berry.”
Rachel blinks at him, confused, and then disgust flits across her face and she tries to push the crate back towards him. They push it back and forth for a few seconds before he growls in frustration and picks it up, holding it off to the side,
“Come on, Berry. Be a man and go fucking throw tomatoes at this ass-hole's house.”
Rachel gasps and reels back, “Well excuse me, but wasn't this your idea in the first place? I mean, you are the one who ruthlessly kidnapped me and then forced me to buy two dozen tomatoes.” Puck cocks an eyebrow at her, wondering how long she can go without needing oxygen, “And I am not a man, as you very well know!”
“Well, I'd know even more if you had let me touch your boobs.” he snipes and Rachel looks even more offended than before. She lets out a feminine growl before reaching across Finn and shoving the door open, then she turns to Puck and grabs the crate from him forcefully before crawling out the truck. He enjoys the view as she goes, chuckling when she nearly falls flat on her ass.
“Cowards.” she hisses after she's collected herself and then slams the door, rattling the whole cab. Finn turns to stare at him with wide eyes.
“Wait, Rachel's a man? Oh my god, I kissed a dude!” he wails. All Puck can do is punch him on the shoulder as he watches Rachel walk towards the house, nose in the air. She's cute, Puck will admit that much, and sometimes she's even funny when she's not trying so hard. Earlier, when they were in the grocery store, she asked him if he knew why the tomatoes were blushing and then pointed to the bottles of salad dressing that were sitting next to the celery stalks.
Yeah, he laughed, but only because it was so lame it was funny.
Finn clears his throat, “So … you and Rachel ...”
“What about me and Rachel?” he grumbles, shifting in his seat so he's staring straight ahead. His buzz is starting to wear off and now he's just kind of in the mood for a double cheeseburger. He briefly wonders how pissed Rachel would be if they left her there.
“What do you think about her?”
“She's alright, I guess.” Puck shrugs. “At least when she's not running her mouth.”
Finn shakes his head, “No I mean … do you, you know, like her ?”
Puck snorts, “What are you, like 12?” Finn pouts and petulantly crosses his arms. Puck turns his attention back to Rachel, who is standing in front of Jesse's house still, the crate at her feet.
“Has she even thrown any yet?”
“I don't think so.”
“What the fu-” Puck moves to get out of the car, sucking in a deep breath when the cool night air hits him. He rubs his hands together, sticks them into the pockets of his letterman and then walks around the truck.
“Uh … you actually have to throw it for the full effect.” He says when he's a couple feet behind her. Rachel whirls around, one hand grabbing her chest, the other holding tightly onto a tomato. Then he sees that she's almost crying, her eyes are all big and wet and he groans.
“Fucking shit, not again.” Then he sort of gets pissed off because - “Why are you crying?”
“I'm not crying.” she mumbles and then turns back to the house, “I just thought that- I don't know what I thought.” she starts sniffling again and Puck bites back another groan. Why is she always crying in front of him?
“It's not fair!” she continues angrily, “I never get anything I want. It's because I want everything too much, remember? And I wanted Jesse … I wanted him so much and now he doesn't want me and I don't understand why.” Rachel is crying in earnest now, her shoulders shaking and everything.
“Fuck this.” Puck says on a sigh. He grabs the tomato from her hand and chucks it at the front of the house, where it lands with a loud splat against a window. Grabbing the same hand that held the fruit, he pulls her against him and tucks her under his chin.
And then he just lets her cry. Her tears seep through his t-shirt and burn his skin and he tightens his hold on her. Puck's never been one for words, but this is Rachel and that's the only thing she's ever been about.
“Look, Rach ...” he says softly, running his fingertips softly over the ends of her hair. “This guy … he's a douche bag, okay? I mean … you deserve better than some guy who put all this fucking effort into completely ruining your life.”
“You used to.” she says, her voice muffled by his shirt. Puck stops touching her hair, he doesn't know what to do with his hands, they hang there idly for a moment, his fingers curling and uncurling slightly.
He finally just drops them to his sides, “Yeah, well that was before.”
Rachel shifts against him, rests her cheek against his chest and angles her gaze up at him. Her nose is all red and her cheeks are flushed and a stray tear escapes from the corner of her left eye; Puck desperately wants to wipe it away, but he doesn't.
“Before what?” she asks softly.
“You know before what.” he murmurs, before he joined Glee, before he made out with her on her bed, before he sang to her, before he knew her at all.
A smile tugs at the corner of her lips and she ducks her head and nuzzles his collar bone. Yeah, she definitely knows.
“Thank you Noah.”
He chuckles, “No problem, Berry.” Then he pats her on the back, a little too roughly, but- “Just don't tell anyone this conversation happened, I've got a rep to keep up with.”
She laughs, loudly, and Puck grins at her. Everything gets really fucking corny after a few seconds, like a total chick flick moment, and it's all quiet and they're just looking into each others eyes and-
Rachel Berry fucking kisses him.
It's not like she full on attacks him with her tongue. She just reaches up on her toes and pecks him quickly on the lips and he's kind of bewildered because, what the hell?
She drops back down onto her heels and rocks back, “Thank you.” she says again and Puck can't help himself. He just goes for it, when she leans forward on the balls of her feet slightly, he ducks and chases her mouth.
He gets pretty damn close to kissing her again, but she stops him with a pat on the cheek, “Yeah ...” she drawls, pushing his head to the side, “I don't think so, Puckerman.”
And then she just walks away.
Normally, Puck would be pissed off, you know, 'cause she totally just left him high and dry. But then she throws him this little smile over her shoulder and he laughs.
“Nice, Rachel, really nice.” he calls out to her, rubbing his thumb along his jaw. He glances down at the crate of tomatoes at his feet and sighs.
It kind of was a really stupid idea anyways.
- -
After they drop Rachel off at home, he and Finn go to McDonald's and order so much food that the kid working at the counter looks at them like they're crazy.
But they're dudes, so whatever. That's a valid excuse, right?
Puck sits there while Finn scarfs down four double cheeseburgers, absentmindedly stuffing french fries in his own mouth, and starts thinking that maybe he should just forget about what Jesse did to Rachel.
She obviously doesn't approve of his violent tendencies, not that he really cares about what she approves of or not, but she has been crying a lot lately. Puck just can't let that slide.
So yeah, he decides he's going to introduce Jesse's face to the fist of Puckerone.
Right after he finishes his cheeseburgers.
- -
The look on Rachel's face at Regionals when she sees Jesse's black eye?
Completely worth the bitch fit his mom threw when he came home with a broken knuckle
(Also, the big hug and kiss on the cheek she gave him right before they went on wasn't so bad either.)