Author's Note: So this takes place in some of the unseen portion of "Original Song" and is following an AU story line I haven't really posted yet but is along the lines of my story The Only Exception? as far as Puck/Rachel. I have been jumping around trying to write a multichapter fic following the same idea for each episode but I've only written a couple but I really wanted to post this one and hopefully that will give me the motivation I need to finish/post the rest. I hope you like it! Read and review, please and thank you :)

Disclaimer: as this is fanfiction I am not laying any claim to any recognizable attributes of this work.

"Oh, how many times will it take? To get it right. To get it ri-igh-ight?" The last note fades out as Rachel opens her eyes. This is her first time singing the song outside of her bedroom and she's waiting for Santana or Mercedes to say something to tear her down, but no one is speaking.

Rachel Berry is many things, but patient has never been listed among her many attributes and no one in the choir room is even moving and she can't take it so she does what she's always done. She meets each of the thirteen pairs of eyes staring at her, and then she runs.

She can't make herself sit there and listen to Finn lead the charge in telling her how much this song sucks. Not this song. Not when she let herself really hurt over the love she's let go of in the last two years so she could give the New Directions a song to be proud of, a song to win with.

She doesn't let her self think about the pain in the hazel eyes she met first or the dazed confusion in a pair of lost brown ones she only glanced at on her way out the room. She doesn't let herself feel for them until she's at home and the tears are flowing freely.

... ... ...

"That was..." Mr. Schue starts, but can't find the words to express the raw emotion Rachel just expressed to her teammates.

"Wow...does she..." Not surprisingly, Finn has a hard time expressing his own thoughts while Quinn grumbles to herself about the hold Rachel has on the boy.

Without a word, Puck throws his bag over his shoulder and heads out the door, missing the confusion on the faces of the others in the room.

So many things about Berry's song struck a chord in a deep, hidden place inside of him that only she, and the daughter he refuses to think about now, has ever touched. He was physically unable to breathe while Rachel laid all that pain out in front of them, like that. And, no matter how hard it tried, his brain couldn't convince his heart that she was only singing to his former best friend. He has no control over his body as he passes the speed limit in his truck on the familiar path to her house.

It's not until he replaces the spare key in it's hiding spot after unlocking the front door and bounds up the stairs, that he stops only as the painfully familiar sound of her sobs reach him through the closed bedroom door. Without even knocking, Noah reaches for the knob as his heart breaks just a little bit more for his girl. It doesn't seem to matter how many times she leaves him, he can't help it.

Before he knows he's doing it, he has the door open and Rachel is in his arms, his lips pressed against her hair. If asked later, he couldn't tell you what he whispered to calm her. He can, however, tell you that it wasn't until her breathing had slowed in the deep, fitful sleep that one only gets after crying their heart out that he took a full breath and actually looked at the young woman he held dear.

While she has always been small, anyone could see that Rachel's personality diminished the frailty someone of her stature really exudes. Eyes closed, and breathing still ragged, Rachel looks so pathetically tiny that Noah can't even pretend to hide the protective feelings he feels toward the slip of a girl that wormed her way passed his defensive harshness. It's only when he has her tucked into bed and himself spooned up behind her, one arm firmly around her waist, that Puck let's himself think about his own feelings.

When she broke things off and walked away from him again, Noah Puckerman swore to himself that he'd never let her have another chance to hurt him like that. He'd never let her in again. And, in an attempt to prove it to himself, he'd been actively pursuing Lauren, Rachel's exact opposite in every way. He let himself get lost in trying to woo her, and barely spared her a thought. Well, a conscious thought. He couldn't help the thoughts the consumed him when he was alone but that's why wooing Lauren was the perfect distraction - he never let himself be alone.

Every spare moment was spent trying to come up with a way to get Lauren to give in to him. Even still, thoughts of Berry kept him up at night and consumed his dreams when his eyes did finally fall shut. And just when it was working, he was making head way with Lauren and was able to breathe when she was in the room again, she had to go and write this damn song and open it all back up again.

While she was singing, Puck had tried to convince that the song was exactly what it seemed. It was just a reaction to what Quinn had said. (No, he wasn't spying on the girls, he just didn't trust Q's motives when it came to Rachel.) The blonde, ice queen had thrown her barbed words into the weak links in the tiny girl's tarnished armor as only a true bitch can, and that was all the song was. It was Rachel's way of lashing out. And he almost, honestly, believed it.

But then, the watery brown eyes slid toward him, or she sang something like, "I'll throw up a fist," and he couldn't deny that this song, whether she intended it or not, was just as directed at him as it was at the quarterback.

A heartbroken sob wrenches Noah from his thoughts as Rachel cries in her sleep and he can't help the arm that tightens around her in comfort. He doesn't know what any of this means but his eyes fall closed as tiny fingers weave through his own callused digits and the girl sighs almost contentedly.

... ... ...

The rest of the glee club packs up quietly after Puck leaves, each member still trying to articulate their feelings when Artie starts chuckling.

"Brittany, what's wrong?" The smile is evident in his words as the friends around them turn to the blonde girl.

"It's just so sad. The way Rachel feels like she fails us all the time," the dancer lets her head fall to her boyfriend's shoulder as he wheels the two of them out of the room. "She's great and no one ever tells her..."

Something in the former cheerleader's words seems to strike a spark in Finn and he jumps to his feet, letting out a quick, "She's right," as he jogs from the room. The rest of the team follows their lead and empties out into the hallway until only the former Celibacy Club president and her almost father figure are left.

"Is everything alright, Quinn? You haven't said anything."

Shaking her head defeatedly, Quinn looks up at the teacher with a look he's only seen on her a few times. Before he can react she's the broken little girl she was last year in his living room, arms wrapped around his middle as she cries silently against his shoulder.

"Even when I win, I lose. What else can I do, Mr. Schuester? What else can I do?"

... ... ...

The blonde is laying on her bed, feeling sorry for herself when her phone rings. It's Finn's ringtone and she's scared to answer it. With shaking fingers she plucks the device from her nightstand, in a quivering voice, greets her boyfriend.

"Quinn, what did you say to her? Why is she talking to Puck about how she wrote this song because you said something? I thought you were trying to be her friend..."

She can picture the confused look on his adorable face, brows furrowed and cheeks turning red as he tries to figure it out on his own. Quinn takes a deep, shaky breath and prepares herself before starting.

"I told her the truth, Finn. I told her how this story is going to end. You and me, happily ever after and her alone and far, far away from Lima, Ohio..."

... ... ...

The competition is over and the Inn couple is on the outs again, but Finn hasn't gone running to Rachel's side yet. No one has noticed the way Puck is always around the girl, not with her just there, a few steps behind; a shadow to protect her from the world. And no one objects when Brittany calls Rachel the team's MVP before rehearsal on Monday. In fact, Santana agrees and after that, it's not really a vote but Rachel's speech makes them all glad to give her her gold star.