A.N. hey everyone! I was so happy to see that a lot of you read and reviewed my last one-shot. Your kind words humble and flatter me. Well, my Puckleberry mind was at it again and this time, a multi-chapter fic came out. The whole story is written, so you won't have to wait too long for updates. I hope you enjoy this!

Disclaimer: I'm not rich, otherwise I'd buy the rights to Glee and take over for RIB.

This story, as well as my last one is dedicated to my sister from another mister, Justine whose pure shipper heart and flailing keep the fire of my inspiration going. Love you, hun!

Will Schuester couldn't believe what he was seeing. Artie was walking. As much as the faculty response had lifted the glee kids' spirits, this had done wonders for their morale. Whoever made all this happen would be an honorary member of New Directions for life. Although he was inspired by the generous gift to Artie, he still felt a pang of depression come over him when he realized that it all didn't change the fact that he'd be going home to an empty apartment. Everyone else had plans for the holidays, and he would probably spend the break holed up in his apartment, avoiding all the happy holiday revelers.

He got home, expecting to grab a beer, throw on a DVD, order takeout and ride out the wave of excitement over Artie's miracle before letting the depression fully sink in. His talk with the kids about "Gift of the Magi" just made him realize how much he had become that person he was talking about, the one that would give almost anything to view Christmas the way that his five year old self did.

He didn't think that he would ever cease to be amazed by the enigma that is Sue Sylvester. She spent about 90% of her time doing her best to make his life a living hell, but the other 10%, she was actually a decent human being…some may even mistake her as a good human being if they didn't know her better. Somehow Sue's grinch heart had grown and found a way to get in touch with the remote parts of her that were still human.

After the kids were done decorating the tree, they slowly started to make their way out and back home to their families seeing as how it was Christmas Eve and all. He thanked them for taking the time and making his Christmas a little brighter and told them to enjoy their two weeks off from school.

Rachel and Puck were the only ones who remained. Puck was on the couch, grape soda in hand and was mindlessly flipping through channels waiting for something to compel him to stop. Rachel was busy tidying up in the kitchen and was working on cleaning up the popcorn that had been thrown around during the festivities. She kept shooting glances Puck's way and sighing loudly every now and then in hope that he would get up and help her out. Puck was being a typical guy and was completely focused on the classic movie, "A Christmas Story" blatantly ignoring Rachel's passive-aggressive cues.

"Noah, that movie is on every year and I know you've seen it and probably have it memorized like everyone else in America, so will you get up off your butt and come help me clean this up? The sooner I get this done, the sooner we can get out of here."

Puck got up off the couch and started to help, basically just following Rachel around with a garbage bag while she picked everything up off the ground. Will couldn't believe his eyes and ears. The only time he knew that Puck responded to Noah was when he didn't have a choice about it, like when he was in trouble. And Rachel was one of the bossiest and most abrasive people he knew which is why people tended to tune her out and resisted getting dragged into her plans. So why he would respond to her calling him Noah was very intriguing to him and he made a mental note to watch them more closely and see what made this relationship so special.

When they were finally done cleaning they joined him in front of the TV.

"I appreciate you kids staying and cleaning up, but don't you have to get back home to your own families for your holiday celebrations?"

Rachel laughed. "I think you're forgetting, despite the fact that we remind you regularly, that we're Jewish and we don't celebrate Christmas Eve like the other kids do. I actually talked to my dads earlier and they're both working late tonight."

"Yeah, my mom is doing a double today since she gets paid extra for working on the holiday that no one wants to work on. My sister always gets invited to sleep over at her non-Jewish friends' houses for Christmas. I guess she likes seeing how the other half lives and likes to rub it in their faces that she gets 8 days of presents, while they only get 1."

"So did either of you get anything interesting for Hanukkah this year?"

Rachel dove straight into her answer. "Well, every year my dads spoil me. I got tickets to a Broadway show, a new cell phone, a bunch of gift certificates to go shopping, and a few other small gifts. How about you, Noah?"

"Things have always been tight since my dad took off, so every year I tell my mom to just get me cheap gifts to open every day with my sister, but to really do it up for her, since she's still young and deserves to have that magical feeling. I guess it's so that she doesn't feel the pain of his absence as badly as my mother and I do."

Will was stunned. Ever since he joined glee, he had known that Puck wasn't nearly as bad as people thought he was, and there were times when he felt bad about the rap that people gave him. Will thought it a shame that he was the only one who knew that Quinn made the Glist and that everyone else still assumed it was Puck. The club also didn't appreciate how far he'd come in terms of stepping up as a leader. He had a natural charisma and charm that drew people in and made it easy to get swept up in his performances, and he was the reason they were even able to compete at Sectionals.

He thought back to the day that Beth was born and how Puck came out of the delivery room, announced to the group that Quinn and the baby were both fine, but then broke down in Will's embrace over the pain of having Beth wrenched from his arms and ripped from his heart. Everyone else seemed to have sided with Finn and Quinn on the matter, and for the first time, Will saw that it wasn't about sides because Puck hurt just as much as (if not more than) Finn and Quinn.

After summer break, Puck seemed different. Not quite the huge theatrical personality that he was the first two years of high school, he just sort of faded into the background, still obviously reeling from the pain. He got into trouble and thrown into juvie, and while everyone seemed to write him off as a screw-up, Will knew that there was a lot more going on than he realized. He came back from juvie hell-bent on living up to his badass image, but something funny happened and he changed course and really came through for the club.

Will also thought about Rachel's journey in the last year. She definitely has her battle scars, just like Puck. Shelby forced her way into her daughter's life only to bolt at the first sign of things becoming real. She's also had her roller coaster with boyfriends and heartache. If any two kids in glee deserved a break it was Puck and Rachel, but it seemed as though people couldn't quite seem to get past their larger than life personalities.

Puck broke into his thoughts with a question.

"Hey Mr. Schue…are you bringing these gifts to those kids tomorrow?"

"Yeah, what better way to spend Christmas Day than playing Santa?"

"Would you mind if I went with you? It would mean a lot to me."

"That would be great Puck."

Rachel was quite surprised that he would offer to do something so nice and selfless.

"Can I go too Mr. Schue?"

"Sure, Rachel the more the merrier. It's really awesome of you guys to volunteer to do this. Since your parents aren't home tonight, why don't you two stay for dinner? We can order some Chinese. My treat."

Rachel was just going to go home and eat leftovers, so she happily accepted. "Just make sure that we order some vegetarian dishes."

Puck was happy to not have to eat frozen pizza tonight. "As long as I get my sweet and sour pork, I don't care what rabbit food you order."

"I can't believe you eat pork Noah. You know we're not supposed to."

"Well, Berry, if you bothered to read the rest of the Bible, you'd know that my man J-money basically said that all those rules didn't matter anymore. It's not what goes into a man that defiles him, it's what comes out."

Will and Rachel's mouths dropped wide open as they stared at him. Will remembered that Puck made a lot of sense when he was yelling at Finn about his newfound faith in Jesus. Plus, he had never seen that look on Rachel's face. Spending time with Puck away from school felt like he was really being taught not to judge a book by its cover. "Okay Puck, sweet and sour pork for you, and Mongolian beef for me. Rachel, let me go get the menu so you can pick out what you want and then we'll call the place."

The rest of the night was pretty enjoyable. Puck and Rachel were very different than people assumed they were and there was something special about their interaction that made Will very curious.

The next morning, Rachel showed up very promptly and Puck came a few minutes later. He had a cup tray with 3 coffee cups and a bag which Rachel noticed was from her favorite Jewish bakery.

"I figured it would be good for us to start with a little something. I picked up some cinnamon raisin challah from the bakery and some coffee."

"Oh Noah, that's my favorite! It was so thoughtful of you to bring that." She sipped her coffee and realized that it was a chai latte, also her favorite. She looked up at him with questioning eyes.

He smirked and looked very proud of himself. "They told me it was your favorite when I was ordering. I kinda figured you'd be a regular at that place too. I got you a regular coffee, Mr. Schue."

"Thanks Puck. This bread is amazing."

Rachel cut a few slices and looked around the kitchen. "It's even better if you toast it. And you can make some really awesome French toast with whatever's left."

They left for the homeless shelter after they were satisfied and warmed up.

Will was a bit worried about how they would interact with the kids, but Puck took to the kids like a fish took to water. He spent tons of personal time with each kid that wanted to, and personally assembled toys and taught them how to use them properly. Rachel was a little bit uncomfortable with the kids at first, but she took her cues from Puck and had those kids comfortable with her in no time at all. It really was a shame that they couldn't spend the whole day with those kids.

Mr. Schue dropped Rachel off on their way back to his apartment, where Puck left his truck, and he took advantage of their time alone. "Puck, you've really amazed me these last couple of weeks…well this last year actually. I've seen you go from an arrogant, insensitive, immature boy to a responsible, caring friend and leader in the glee club. I know that Finn has been the "official" leader, but you're the one who really comes through in the clutch for us. You found a way to make the bake sale for Artie a success, you're the first one to defend the club when we're under attack, and you really stepped up in getting Lauren to join the club so we could compete in Sectionals. I know I haven't said it nearly enough, but thank you and I'm proud of the man you're becoming."

Noah was really touched by his words. "Thank you. Glee is where I get to showcase the best part of me and it feels good."

"Well, I have another request of you if you don't mind."

"Sure. What can I do?"

"I know that Rachel is taking her breakup with Finn especially hard. She's been pretty unbearable away from him, but I've noticed that she's different around you. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but you seem to have a good effect on her, so would you do me a favor and just be a friend to her? She seems to be short on friends at the moment, and I think you'd do a good job of keeping her reined in."

Puck thought that it was going to be a tough request, but this was a piece of cake. He put on a sly smile "Sure Mr. S. I can handle Berry, no problem."