(jump then fall) [open]

[Noah Puckerman]

A year ago, Noah Puckerman was on top of the world. He was a star football player and his status let him get any girl he wanted (including his best friend’s girl). But then everything changed. He joined Glee club and everything went downhill. Well, if he was honest, everything started going downhill before that. Everything changed when he slept with Quinn Fabray, but since that got out a lot later than when he’d joined Glee, that’s where his problems started. The guys weren’t happy that he was still in Glee. Kids he used to call friends weren’t really very friendly anymore and they didn’t want some musician on their team. Puck had a slushie-stained shirt to prove it. They really weren’t wasting any time showing them how things were gonna be. For all he knew, Finn had gotten the same treatment and Chang and Rutherford were next. This whole geek thing? Wasn’t Puck’s style. He was still trying to get used to it. And he’d thought that maybe his growing-in mohawk would prevent him from the war. Apparently not.

One year changes everything. Puck became a leading man, had a kid, and lost his mohawk…and that was all before the end of the school year. Right now? He was hiding out in the choir room like a loser to avoid another slushie facial. A year ago, he’d be in the cafeteria at lunch surrounded by a group of jocks and Cheerios. Right now, he was in the rehearsal room like some little girl. But he just wasn’t in the mood to get humiliated in front of everyone. And maybe he wanted to avoid Finn. He had no idea where they stood –all three of them, him and Finn and Quinn- but he was pretty sure his best friend was still pissed at him. And Quinn could’ve been head over heels for Finn again for all he knew. That girl’s moods changed faster than his girl of the week. Hopefully now that she wasn’t pregnant, things would settle down.

It was still awkward, though, and Puck was trying to avoid the confrontation as long as possible. He was sitting at the piano bench with his brown bag lunch spilled out in front of him. His Ma had packed him peanut butter and jelly and Twinkies like he was eight-years-old again. Things were simpler when they were eight. Girls had cooties and the biggest decision he had to make was if he wanted French fries or apple sauce. Things were complicated now and Puck would much rather not think about it. Instead of eating, hazel eyes fell upon the instruments laid out in one corner of the room. It struck him as odd that people just left instruments in here when anyone could walk in and take them. Shrugging a little, he picked up an acoustic guitar and began plucking the strings idly. Puck snorted softly. He’d gone from big man on campus to the Glee kid who practiced during lunch period. Oh, how the mighty had fallen.

tag anybody!
words 507.
notes Puck's bored? I guess.
credit t to the illy @ caution 2.0

[Rachel Berry]

The bell rang suddenly, stirring Rachel from her thoughts of how she could help make the Glee Club better. She closed her notebook, hiding a page covered in little hearts with the letter "F" inside of them. She scooped up her books and headed for the door. She was determined not to get a slushie face today as she prepared to enter the hallways. She hurried through the hallways, dodging several of the football players and Cheerios. She took a sharp corner and snuck into the choir room. She shut the door quietly behind her. Sighing with relief, her shoulders became less tense. She stood there for a moment before turning around. Rachel let out a gasp when she saw Puck.

"Oh God!" A hand instantly flew to her chest and she laughed a little nervous. "Sorry Puck, I didn't mean it like that. I just figured I'd be in here alone." She smiled at him a little, before heading over to the piano. She sat her books down on top of the piano and sat down, staring at the black and white keys, her head tilted to the side a little. "If only life was as simple as these piano keys..."

She wasn't one to see the world in black and white, but with the way all of the cliques were at school and whatnot, she felt like things needed to be in black and white for everyone to get along. Rachel placed her hands gently in starting position and began to play the first few bars of Defying Gravity. Her eyes closed as she played a little more of it, starting to sing the beginning lines. ”Something has changed within me. Something is not the same. I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game… She opened her eyes and instantly stopped, looking at Puck.

"Sorry, it's just my go-to song when I'm down or something." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and placed her hands in her lap as she turned to face him. "So why are you in here? You cannot have anything to hide from."

words 356
notes Sorry the post isn't as long as yours, I tried, but I have a bit of writer's block right now.
lyrics Defying Gravity- Wicked the Musical
credit Wicked the Musical for lyrics

[Noah Puckerman]

He was idly playing the chords of Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl without really noticing it, his fingers plucking the strings while his thoughts were a million miles away. Puck didn’t sit and think about his emotions all that much. He wasn’t some girl. But, whenever he did, it was a safe bet that he’d have his guitar in his hands and be playing along to something. He wished he’d brought his acoustic guitar into school –this one didn’t really feel the same- but the one he was holding would do. His fingers fumbled a little on the strings when someone opened the door. It wasn’t like the jocks would hunt him down in here. They wouldn’t be caught dead in the choir room. And what did he care if the others heard him play? The rest of the club knew of his once hidden musical talents by now.

But Puck wasn’t exactly ready to confront Finn –or Quinn, really- about whatever it was they were doing. Their love triangle was probably broken for now while all three of them tried to figure out their own lives, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t awkward. So Puck breathed out in a relieved sort of sigh when he found it was only Rachel Berry sneaking into the room for the same reason he was. He shrugged a little, balancing the guitar on his lap and looking down at the strings. ”It’s cool, Berry.” His eyebrows arched a little in question, but he knew Rachel well enough from spending a year together in Glee –and their short-lived romance- to know not to bother her when she was in a singing mood (which was often). He watched her through lazily half-lidded eyes as she started to play, recognizing the notes from her diva-off with Hummel.

Puck was no Kurt Hummel. Hell, he wasn’t even a Finn Hudson. There was no way in hell he was going to sing that. It was totally out of his range, anyway. He turned his attention to adjusting the pegs on the neck of the guitar. He’d noticed it was out of tune when he’d been playing. Puck offered her a dry sort of chuckle, an echo of his usual laugh. ”Oh, really? My slushied t-shirt says otherwise.” Balancing the guitar in his lap, he pointed to the stain on the dark t-shirt he was wearing under his button up. Rolling his eyes slightly, Puck began picking at the strings of the guitar again. ”Karma’s a bitch, I guess. I probably got about a hundred more to make up for.” Which was as close to an apology as she was gonna get out of Puck. He did feel kind of bad about throwing so many slushies at kids who had turned out to be some of his only real friends now, but Puck didn’t apologize for most things. Wasn’t his style.

It really wasn’t his style to play counselor for other people, either. Puck had occasionally listened to Finn’s problems with Quinn, but that was mostly because he’d felt guilty about hooking up with her and that maybe if he helped out in some way, it’d make up for it a little. His best friend –and, on occasion, Quinn- were probably the only people who knew he could be a pretty good listener. Breathing out in a heavy sigh, and though he thought he might regret this as soon as he asked, he did anyway. ”What’s up?”

tag rach.
words 575.
notes no worries. i'm kind of known for long-ish posts. xD
credit t to the illy @ caution 2.0

[Rachel Berry]

Rachel looked at Puck's shirt, a little shocked. She hadn‘t noticed the slushie stain when she first entered the choir room. "I didn't think you would...but I guess...." She looked down at her own white blouse under a black cardigan and was glad that no one has slushied her-yet. She had a feeling it was coming up soon. She sighed and looked back at Puck. "I guess Karma can be a..." She made a motion with her hand, not being one to really cuss.

She got up from the piano bench and took a seat across from Puck, smiling slightly. "Not much, just..trying to keep away from slushies, like you.." She giggled a little nervously and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, once again. She never realized it to be a nervous habit of hers.

Rachel looked at Puck and sighed. She couldn't believe that they once had a short-lived romance. She could still feel some tension between them, but she was positive it was him more wanting to be with Quinn and her wanting to be with Finn. She sighed a little sadly and shook her head slightly. "What have you been up to?'

Rachel played absent mindingly with her fingers, twirling a strand of hair around her index finger. She swung her feet under the chair that she was sitting in, looking at Puck's guitar. She could remember the night she was singing in her room, him playing his guitar and then....I guess you could say one thing led to another, but in all honesty, they just made out. Nothing major to him, but to her, it was just a bit.

words 356
notes Okay. I will try to post longer like you, but I can't promise much. Like this one, I feel so bad.
lyrics Defying Gravity- Wicked the Musical
credit Wicked the Musical for lyrics

[Noah Puckerman]

Puck shrugged lazily. Getting slushied sucked, but at least they’d kind of avoided his face this time. It was really gross how the icy drink seeped all the way through his shirt and into his boxers, but the hair was safe. For now. He could only assume it would get worse as the year wore on. It was really strange to imagine that Carmel’s Glee Club ruled the school when it was the complete opposite here. The first time he’d ever gotten slushied, it’d been because of Rachel Berry. Thinking back on it now, it was kind of funny…After all, he’d been the guy throwing them at her for almost two years before that. Karma was a bitch. He arched one eyebrow at her when she sat down, but he didn’t really mind. ”Football. And nothing else.” This town was so boring that the only exciting thing that happened was getting hit in the face with a slushie. Cool.

He didn’t really know why he cared, but he sort of did. These kids in Glee Club with him were practically all he had, and as annoying as Rachel could be, he was sort of…getting used to her. And he was maybe a little bit protective. Whatever. Clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth and, even though he knew he was offering to let her rant, said ”If you’re singing Defying Gravity something must be up.” Puck wouldn’t have known any better if she hadn’t mentioned that it was her go-to sad song, but even he wasn’t that oblivious.

What Rachel didn’t know –and what Puck would never, ever admit- was that he’d initially had a couple reasons for going after her. The first was definitely that weird dream he’d had and he was still convinced his Ma would approve of Rachel Berry since she was raised Jewish. And the second reason was because of the messed up love…quadrangle or whatever it was. Finn had been with Quinn at the time. And even if she was carrying Puck’s baby, Finn thought it was his. So watching Finn and Rachel make eyes at each other during Glee, Puck just knew it’d complicate things. So the easy solution was to date Rachel himself…After all, that had made things okay for a little while, at least until she’d started pining after Finn again (and somehow knew he liked Quinn).

What he hadn’t expected was that he’d actually grow to like this girl. Maybe they wouldn’t work out romantically, but Puck figured he could use all the friends he could get right about now. And if he just so happened to talk her into making out once or twice? Well, that’d be okay, too. Without really noticing it, he began playing the notes to Sweet Caroline. Smirking a little and peering over at her from beneath dark lashes. ”Where it began I can’t begin to know when.” He smirked a little. Rachel Berry loved a musician. ”But then I know it’s growing strong.”

tag rach.
words 500.
notes it's no biggie. i am the ramble-master.
credit t to the illy @ caution 2.0

[Rachel Berry]

Rachel blushed slightly. He knew her too well, but then again, she did tell the whole Glee Club that Defying Gravity was her go-to song. She looked at him, frowning slightly. "Just a little." She looked up at him, shrugged a bit. "Nothing major though. I'm used to it by now." She then muttered under her breath, "Considering it's been a few months now..."

She couldn't believe the love mess she was in now. It seemed like more than a triangle, more like a sqaure, if you could even say that. She hated that she was even in this mess, but didn't know what else to do. She cared too much for Finn to give up on him. She knew he would come around sometime, somehow. He had once before, who was to say he wouldn't again. She just hoped it would be sometime soon.

Rachel smiled a little when he started to sing. She loved guys who could sing. She joined in with him softly, trying not to seem overpowerful. "Was in the Spring. Then Spring became Summer." She smiled at him a little more, swaying in tempo to his guitar strumming. "Who'd a believed you come along?"

Rachel really had to resist the erge to get up and dance around the room like she always did when she would sing. She pulled her hair over one shoulder, closing her eyes. She continued to sing with him, a litte louder and with a little more emotion. "Hands...touching hands. Reaching out. Touching me....touching you." She really crescendoed the last note, just like Mr. Shue had taught them to do.

Rachel stopped singing and smiled at Puck, opening her eyes. She could not believe how close they had gotten in the past few weeks. She figured he'd want to be done with her after their little fling. She was positive that he would stop talking to her, but hey-if he was going to keep it up, she would too.

words 328
notes That works. (:
lyrics Defying Gravity- Wicked the Musical
credit Wicked the Musical for lyrics

[Noah Puckerman]

He smirked a little. It was nice to know that he could still make her blush so easily. Puck shook his head vaguely and came to one conclusion. ”Finn?” He rolled his eyes at his possibly ex-best friend. He wasn’t sure where he stood with Finn after everything that had gone down last year. But he knew the guy long enough to know that he was a little bit…careful with his emotions. ”Look, he’s probably just confused. I saw the way he looked at you when I was looking at her.” Glancing off to the side, Puck cleared his throat and focused on the song instead. Close or not, Noah Puckerman didn’t talk about that kind of crap. Maybe about other people’s emotions and stuff, but never his. He always felt stupid when he did.

Puck’s smirk only seemed to grow when she joined in. That was the Rachel Berry he knew and…well, liked. If she could still sing songs that weren’t incredibly depressing, he figured it wasn’t too bad. As long as Finn hadn’t gotten back together with Quinn or something, he was pretty sure there was still hope for Rachel to slide in. And, if he was lucky and figured out what was going on in his head, there might be room for him to get close to Quinn if she wanted. If not, he was back to his old ways of a different girl every week…not that he’d stopped that practice entirely just yet.

Continuing to play the guitar, he managed an impressed incline of his head when she hit that note. It wasn’t like he was surprised or anything. Puck had been listening to her hit notes left and right since joining Glee, so he wasn’t as caught off guard by it as the judges always seemed to be. Rachel was their big gun, a not-so-secret weapon. He, on the other hand, was a football player who had no musical training what so ever. His Ma always used to tell him he had a gift. Well, it definitely helped with the ladies, Puck had to admit…”Oh, sweet Caroline.” He’d memorized the chords to this song before he’d performed it for the club, so he didn’t have to look down to play it and could focusing on singing instead. ”Good times never seemed so good.”

Puck had never been one to resist a challenge, so when Rachel Berry said she could only date a leading man, he’d said to hell with it and became a leading man. Granted, he didn’t sing as many solos as Finn did, but he could and that was all that mattered. ”I’ve been inclined to believe they never would.” Although he continued strumming the strings, his voice trailed off a little bit so that he could talk rather than sing. ”You gotta admit,” he said, looking down at the guitar for the first time since he’d started playing. ”You thought this was pretty hot.” Smug? Just a little.

tag rach.
words 496.
notes same old puck.
credit t to the illy @ caution 2.0

[Rachel Berry]

Rachel could not help but smile when Puck sang along with her. It made her think once more about that night in her room when they first kissed. She shook it from her head, continuing to sing along with him. She had figured he would have just dropped out and just let her take over. Most of the kids would do that and she was tired of them always doing that. There was something different about Puck now, but she just could not figure out what it was. Was it about giving Beth up for adoption? Was it about Quinn? Or something else all together…

Rachel let out a little laugh that seemed a bit to be mocking. "Sorry.." She covered her mouth, giggling a little more. "It's just...you are so into yourself sometimes." She stood up, fixing her skirt. She walked around the choir room.

"You just always seem like you are this....It-Guy. Like that since you are a jock and are in Glee Club...but then..." She knew she was not making any sense at all, but she did not know how to put it. She turned to look at Puck. She had this look about her that was like she wanted to say something, but did not know how to. She stopped herself, biting on her thumb nail.

What was she going to tell him? That she still liked him in a way for his bad boy image and the fact that he stepped up as a lead singer. No, she could not do that. He obviously was trying to get together with Quinn and she still wanted Finn. She just could not help but wish...

She crossed her arms over her chest and walked slowly towards him, trying to keep her gaze from his eyes. "You just seem so different anymore..."

words 304
notes Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Busy with band camp, yeah...I'm in Color Guard. lol
lyrics Defying Gravity- Wicked the Musical
credit Wicked the Musical for lyrics

[Noah Puckerman]

Puck snorted when she laughed, rolled his eyes at her in a patronizing sort of way. It wasn’t like he could argue with her. He was probably the most egotistical person on the entire football team, and he wasn’t even the quarterback. Granted, he was usually the only one scoring touchdowns…when they managed to score, anyway. It was just the way Puck was. He thought he was pretty much the best in everything he did. Puck knew he had skills –with sports, with girls, and with music. Why should he hide that? Besides, girls seemed to like the confident thing as long as he didn’t go too far with it. And even if they didn’t? Well, they probably weren’t his type anyway. ”I am pretty much the big man on campus, in case you didn’t notice.” The laughter faded off into a long, low sigh. ”Even if Glee’s knocked me down a few pegs. Whatever.” It didn’t matter anyway. Noah Puckerman had always been the guy who broke the rules. He guessed the jocky glee club kid was just another unexpected thing he could do…but with Finn, Matt, and Mike, it wasn’t like that was really rare anymore.

His fingers were still picking over a couple of notes, different from the ones he’d been playing before. Puck peered up at Rachel as he played, shrugged his shoulders lazily. ”I know, right? I’m not a total asshole. Who knew?” The Puck that slept with people’s moms and threw slushies at people was completely different from the Puck who sang ballads and slashed Vocal Adrenaline’s tires for payback…Okay, so maybe they weren’t totally different. Sighing softly as he played the wrong notes, Puck rearranged the guitar in his looked up at Rachel. ”Well, since you only knew me as the kid that threw slushies at you for two years-” He ducked his head a little in what might have been an apology in Puck-speak. “-I guess I am kinda different.”

Rachel Berry was hot. And she was a genuinely nice person, a little annoying and overly perky at times, but nice. If the timing was right, and she wasn’t still totally hung up on Finn Hudson, they probably could’ve worked. Puck started playing again, humming off the first few lines of the song. He didn’t know this one as well as Sweet Caroline, so he actually had to glance down as he plucked the chords. ”Slipping and sliding all along the waterfall with you.” He grinned a little, peering up at her from beneath dark lashes. ”My brown eyed girl.” His fingers caught and the strings screeched a little. Puck winced and set the guitar aside. ”Y’know, I really hate not playing my own guitar…”

tag rach.
words 450.
notes no worries. my camp's next week. trumpet. xD
credit t to the illy @ caution 2.0

[Rachel Berry]

Aug 7, 2010 15:24:22 GMT -5 Rachel Berry said:

At that point, Rachel felt a little bad for telling Puck that he thought he was the big man on campus or whatever. She could see that it hurt him a little not being exactly on top like he used to be. She could sense that he did not like being knocked a few pegs down.

Rachel crossed her arms when he started to play a new song. She did not recognize the notes, but figured in time she would. She cringed a little when he played the wrongs notes, clearing her throat a little as she brushed a stand of hair out of her face. “Yeah, you did kind of do that for two long years…” She sighed a little. “But you are right. You have changed…a little.” She smiled teasingly at him.

When Puck started to sing, she instantly knew the song. It was Brown Eyed Girl by Steel Pulse. She smiled a little. If only I was not still so hung up on Finn, she could not help but think to herself. She watched Puck play, her head tilted to the side just a little. She continued to walk around the room, as if walking to the music. She halted when the guitar screeched. She sucked her lips in and turned on her heel to face him. She let out a long sigh and nodded. “I think I know what you mean.”

words 235
notes Whoops, sorry it's kinda short.
lyrics Defying Gravity- Wicked the Musical
credit Wicked the Musical for lyrics