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A Rachel/Puck fic.

Chapter Eight.

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Disclaimer: See Ch. 1. Also, I don't own "At the Beginning" by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis, just borrowing it for the purposes of this story.

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A/N: Have I ever mentioned how much I love the Glee fandom on fanfic dot net? You guys are pretty much awesome.

Special shout-out to JustAmazing, you are my absolute favorite reviewer, you always put a smile on my face! You rock! This one's for you!

So, here we are: the conclusion to New Beginnings. I hope you guys like this ending. I almost don't want to end this, but I feel this is as good a place to finish it as any.

Without my further ado, here's the last chapter.

As always, please read and review, I live for feedback!

The next week had gone by in a blur of school, rehearsing and kisses. Lots of kisses. Rachel had found herself wondering if one could actually be kissed to death. If Noah Puckerman were the one doing the kissing, it just might be something to look forward to.

She had thanked Brandon for sticking his nose in when he did, and he had replied with, "It's kind of funny that two people who had so much animosity for each other, end up making such a good pair."

Rachel couldn't have agreed more.

The day came to present their songs, and Rachel was over-excited as usual. Finn and Quinn were up first, and they sang "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", originally by Elton John and Kiki Dee. Mike and Matt sang "Fortunate Son", originally by Credence Clearwater Revival. The others sang their songs, and Rachel was happy to see that Brandon had finally started letting loose, and seemed to enjoy singing with Kurt and Mercedes.

Finally it was Rachel and Puck's turn, and Rachel practically bounced her way to the center of the stage, handing the pianist their sheet music.

The music started up, and Rachel didn't have to act when she looked at Puck lovingly.

"We were strangers,

Starting out on a journey.

Never dreaming,

What we'd have to go through.

Now here we are.

And I'm suddenly standing,

At the beginning with you," she sang, singing to Puck while moving around him slowly.

When his part came up he stopped her with a hand on her wrist.

"No one told me,

I was going to find you," he sang, twirling her with a smile on his face.

"Unexpected,

What you did to my heart."

She came back towards him, sliding her hand into his while they moved carefully around the room.

"When I lost hope,

You were there to remind me:

This is the start.

And ...

Life is a road,

And I want to keep going.

Love is a river,

I wanna keep flowing.

Life is a road,

Now and forever," they sang, stepping towards each other for a second, their eyes meeting.

"Wonderful journey.

I'll be there when the world stops turning.

I'll be there when the storm is through.

In the I wanna be standing,

At the beginning with you."

Rachel smiled, taking a breath for her lines and tracing her palm softly against Puck's cheek.

"We were strangers,

On a crazy adventure."

Puck took her hand, pulling it away from her face to turn her so that her back was to him.

"Never dreaming,

How our dreams would come true."

"Now here we stand,

Unafraid of the future.

At the beginning with you.

And ...

Life is a road,

And I want to keep going.

Love is a river,

I wanna keep flowing.

Life is a road,

Now and forever.

Wonderful journey."

It didn't even occur to Puck that he should care that he was singing a sappy love song to a girl he'd been dating for barely a week. It didn't occur to him that everyone's eyes were watching them with sweetness and amusement. All that he saw was Rachel.

"I'll be there when the world stops turning,

I'll be there when the storm is through.

In the end I wanna be standing,

At the beginning with you.

I knew there was somebody somewhere,

Like me alone in the dark.

Now I know my dream will live on,

I've been waiting for long.

Nothing's gonna tear us apart," they sang, dancing around the room closely to one another.

"And ..."

"Life is a road,

And I want to keep going.

Love is a river,

I wanna keep flowing."

"Life is a road,

Now and forever.

Wonderful journey.

I'll be there when the world stops turning.

I'll be there when the storm is through.

In the end I wanna be standing,

At the beginning with you.

Life is a road and I wanna keep going.

Love is a river I wanna keep going on ..."

"Starting out on a journey," Rachel sang to him, wrapping an arm around his neck so that he could dip her.

"Life is a road,

And I wanna keep going.

Love is a river,

I wanna keep flowing.

In the end I wanna be standing,

At the beginning ... with you."

Rachel finished the song with a long hum while smiling back at Puck.

The glee kids and Mr Shuester applauded, smiling at the two of them.

Puck tried to figure out when the hell he'd become such a sucker for chick-flick moments, but he found himself enjoying both the attention, as well as singing with Rachel.

When Rachel had asked Puck if he wanted to come over and rehearse their song, he'd been confused. They'd already sang their song, and they'd sung it pretty damn well, if he did say so himself. But, he figured that since she was such a perfectionist that he must have done something wrong during the song, and she wanted to fix it.

It was after eight o'clock when he'd pulled up to her house, just like she'd asked him to, and he didn't even register the fact their neither of her fathers' cars were parked out front. He walked in the front door without knocking, also as she'd asked him to, and closed it behind him, shucking his shoes.

"Rach?" he called out, wondering where she was, surprised that her dads weren't sitting in front of the TV, watching American Idol.

"I'm upstairs," he heard her reply from above him, and trudged up the stairs to her room. He could hear soft music coming out of her room, the instrumental version of the song they'd sung, and got ready for a long night of singing and dancing.

To say that he was surprised at the sight he was met with when he opened the door would be an understatement.

Rachel Berry, in what was quite possibly the shortest night-thingy ever designed, laid out of her bed and waiting for him.

Now it was his turn to be speechless.

"Hi," she greeted, sitting up a little.

He blinked a couple times, his gaze wandering up and down her legs. "... Hi."

"Surprise," she stated bravely.

He nodded, swallowing even though his mouth was dry. "Yeah."

Rachel had expected a slightly different reaction from him, and began to wonder if he found her visually unappealing. "Do you not want to -?"

Puck shook his head. "No, I definitely want to. I'm just a little ... caught off-guard."

Rachel nodded in understanding.

Puck's grin began to show after a few seconds. "You continue to surprise me, Rachel Berry."

She smiled happily. "Good."

He shrugged out of his jacket, placing it on the back of her desk chair before coming to sit beside her on the bed. "Are you sure? I mean, we've only been dating a week. I don't want to pressure you into -"

He was cut off by her mouth on his.

"Do you really want to talk me out of this?" she asked him between kisses.

He shook his head, launching himself forward and causing her to squeak when he pinned her to the bed. "Definitely not."

The end.

I hope you guys liked it, I know I loved writing it.

Now I shall move onto ... you guessed it! More Puckleberry fics! I just can't get enough of this pairing!

Reviews are appreciated, positive or negative.

Until next time ...!