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Rachel has finally reached the end of her rope. It’s like she’s been wandering around blindfolded for the past two years and someone just took the blindfold off.
She’s shed more than a few tears over Finn Hudson, but this time she’s crying for herself. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have wasted so much time fawning over someone who treats her like something he stepped in?
Rachel always thought that even though they were broken up, they could still manage to be civil. But he flips on her at the drop of a hat. One minute he’s charming and polite, and the next minute he’s telling her she’s desperate and needy.
She’s done trying to please him. She’s done with him full stop. She just can’t seem to stop crying. Truthfully, she’s crying because if Finn can’t love her and Jesse can’t love her, then she doesn’t think anybody ever will, no matter what Mr. Schuester says. She must be completely unlovable if both the boys who were supposed to love her can treat her so badly.
~*~*~
Puck sees Rachel sitting on the bleachers crying. She and Finn broke up last month and Finn’s been like a dude with split personalities. One minute he’s going on and on about how great it is to be friends with your ex and then he’s bashing Rachel for being clingy.
Here’s the thing about Rachel: she’s like the nicest person ever and everybody treats her like shit. So she finds people that are nice to her and then she doesn’t understand that when they start treating her like crap, she should just detach. She just sorta thinks that if she keeps on the way she was, everything will fix itself.
Puck thinks she’s starting to realize that it doesn’t work like that.
~*~*~
When Puck sees Rachel later in glee, he doesn’t say anything about seeing her crying on the bleachers.
He knows that he kind of abandoned his whole “be nicer to Jews (Rachel)” resolution when he started dating Lauren. That’s over now, though, so he figures he should probably be kind to his fellow Jews (not Ben-Israel).
He tells Rachel he’s taking her for vegan ice cream when glee is over. He doesn’t leave room for argument.
~*~*~
The trips for ice cream become a regular thing, which turns into rides home and movie nights, and babysitting adventures, and a million other activities.
They’ve been spending almost all of their free time together for almost three months when Puck makes a comment about what will happen when Rachel gets a boyfriend.
“Don’t hold your breath.” Rachel mutters bitterly.
“Come on, Rach. Some dude is going to sweep you off your feet before you know it.”
“I’m not the kind of girl boys are interested in.”
“Yeah, you’re a genius, you’re like the nicest person ever, you’ve got a voice that makes angels jealous, and you’ve got a smile that could light up this whole town. You’re right, no guy likes that kind of girl.” He tells her sarcastically.
“Noah, I am 18 years old and only two boys have ever been interested in me.”
“Not even true. I’ve seen the way dudes look at you. And what the fuck am I? Chopped liver?”
“You don’t count.”
“Ouch!” Puck grabs his heart.
“Noah!” Rachel giggles. “You know what I mean. You only wanted to forget about Quinn. You were going to break up with me anyway.”
“No. I wasn’t.” The conversation is suddenly serious. “And if I thought you were into me, your feet would be in the air so fast…”
Rachel giggles nervously.
“Not like that, gutter brain.” He seems to consider it for a second. “Okay, maybe like that. You know what? I’m gonna do it.”
“What?” Rachel asks confused.
“I’m gonna sweep you off your feet. I’m gonna woo the shit out of you. Tomorrow night. I’m taking you on a date.”
“Noah, you don’t have…”
“’Course I don’t have to. But I’m gonna show those fuckers what they’re missing. And when you’re my girlfriend, I’ll treat you right.”
Rachel thinks that sounds like a promise.