you belong with me

chapter 21

The final chapter!

It's fairly short actually, but in my opinion a wonderful way to wrap things up :)

Rachel hurried down the long school hallway, desperate to find Puck. She was in shock and couldn't seem to understand why he would take the fall for Finn in the way that he did. As far as Rachel knew, Puck couldn't care less about what happened to Finn.

His words from earlier in the hallway rang in her ears. He said that someone had to put a stop to the football players. Rachel wasn't sure how that mindset could lead him to taking this hit for Finn in the auditorium, but she was determined to find out.

As Rachel rounded the corner, she and saw Puck exiting the boy's locker room, wearing his spare set of gym clothes that he always kept stashed in his locker.

He saw Rachel and he flashed her a look that Rachel knew well. It meant, "Leave me alone, Berry." He attempted to brush past her, but Rachel grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop and talk to her.

Rachel gently let go of her grip on his arm so she could wipe away a few stray pieces of ice in his hair. "Puck," she said softly, "I don't understand. What happened back there?"

He sighed, and looked at the ground before he spoke. "You were right, okay?" He lifted his gaze again and looked into her eyes as he spoke. "What happened between me and Finn, it happened years ago. He was always my best friend, and come down to it, he'd take a slushie for me too."

Rachel smiled, thankful that Puck was finally coming around. "So what made you change your mind about him? What was with the sudden heroic gesture?"

"When you told me about Karofsky's plan, I immediately went to go and find a teacher to tell them what was about to happen. Unfortunately, none of them were in their rooms, they were all already in the auditorium. So, I went there, and I saw Karofsky up above the stage with the bucket. That's when it all kind of hit me, and it was more of a spur of the moment thing. I knew that it was the right thing to do," Puck said honestly.

Rachel smiled again. "You're a good guy, Noah Puckerman. Any girl would be lucky to have you."

"Except for you," he replied sadly, his gaze dropping again.

"No," Rachel said, making him bring his gaze upwards, "Even me. Things just don't always work out the way we expect them to."

A small smile formed on Puck's face. "You know, Finn's really lucky to have you."

The sound of footsteps walking towards them captured Rachel's attention, and she turned to see Finn coming towards them. She smiled at him, gesturing for him to come closer.

Finn approached Puck first, giving him a sympathetic look. "I am so sorry," Finn said sincerely. "I had no idea they were planning something like that."

"Don't be sorry. Honestly. It wasn't your fault," Puck replied.

Finn shook his head, "Why did you do it?"

Puck glanced towards Rachel with a knowing look before facing Finn once more. "Because you're my best friend. There was no way I was going to let them humiliate you like that."

Rachel watched as a huge smile erupted onto Finn's face at the mention of best friend.

Puck raised his hand into the air between him and Finn, "Friends?"

Finn's smile widened more, "Friends." He took Puck's hand and pulled him into a hug. He pulled away from the hug, and instead pulled Rachel into his side. "You know," he said to Puck, "Rachel and I were going to go and hang out at my place after school. Would you want to join us?"

Puck looked between the two of them before smiling, "Sure, why not."

Rachel clapped her hands and cheered before she looped her arms around both of them and pulled them both down the hallway with her. As the trio reached the doors leading out to the parking lot she looked up between both of them and smiled brightly.

"I love you guys."

I just love a happy ending :)

And I wanted to give a special thanks to those of you who read my story and to those of you who voted and commented! Your comments never fail to make me smile!

Anyway, thanks for reading! I plan on posting a new story as soon as I can :) I have some ideas for a new story in mind, but haven't decided on one yet. If you'd like to leave a comment on what kind of story you'd like to see next, I'd greatly appreciate it!