Sometimes Love Needs A Little Guidance

Chapter 1

Rachel stared at the football field with a million thoughts rushing through her head. Other than herself, the bleachers were empty and silent. Football practice wasn't on so the field was also empty. It was the perfect place for Rachel to be alone with her thoughts.

Earlier that day, Finn had sung a duet with Quinn. They had sung Fleetwood Mac 'I don't want to know' for the weeks 'Rumours' theme. Seeing them as a couple broke Rachel's heart, and she believed Finn should sing with her. After all, they sounded so much better together than Finn with Quinn. As if the duet wasn't bad enough, Quinn told them that she doesn't trust Rachel, and the only way she'll stay with Finn is if he doesn't sing with Rachel.

How could Quinn really tell Finn that he couldn't sing with Rachel any more? More importantly, would Finn really go through with it to keep dating Quinn? The whole thing was ridiculous in Rachel's opinion. Quinn had no right to tell Finn what he could or couldn't do, she had no power over him. Yet Finn didn't argue with her, he just went along with it. It infuriated Rachel that Quinn thought of herself so highly, and that Finn allowed her to.

As Rachel tried to sort through her thoughts, she heard footsteps walking towards her. She looked over her shoulder and saw Puck walking in her direction. He sat down on the row behind Rachel without a word to her. Rachel turned back around, ignoring Puck's presence.

"What Quinn said today sucks, right?" Puck eventually broke the silence.

"What do you want, Noah?" Rachel asked, without looking at him.

"You still love Finn, don't you?" He asked. That caught Rachel off guard. Why would he say that?

"I said, what do you want?" Rachel turned so she could look at Puck. She gave him a stern look that caused him to sigh.

"I have a proposition," Puck got right to the point. "But I need your help."

"Why would you need my help?" Rachel frowned in confusion. She rarely spoke to Puck any more, so why would he need her?

"I want to break up Finn and Quinn." Puck admitted, looking straight ahead of him instead of at Rachel. "And I can't do that without you."

Rachel raised her eyebrows in surprise and shock. Why would Puck, of all people, want to break up Finn and Quinn? And why would he ask for Rachel's help with it? This was certainly a conversation Rachel never imagined having with Puck.

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked.

"You still love Finn. I still love Quinn. We break them up and keep the pieces for ourselves." Puck told her, looking at her properly for the first time.

"You love Quinn?" This conversation just got more and more surprising. Rachel could hardly believe that it was happening. All this seemed to come completely out of the blue.

"It's not that surprising." Puck told her with a sigh.

"What about Lauren?" Rachel reminded him.

"She was supposed to be a distraction." Puck looked away again, avoiding Rachel's gaze. "But it didn't work."

Rachel nodded and turned back around, processing her new found information. It was strange to think Puck still had feelings for Quinn, even after all this time. But then again, Rachel still had feelings for Finn after all this time. Then a thought occurred to Rachel, causing her to frown. She whizzed around again to look at Puck.

"If you loved Quinn, why would you help Lauren dig up all the 'Lucy Caboosey' crap?"

Puck sighed and looked down. "I didn't know we would find that stuff; and when we did, I thought maybe Finn would break up with her for not being honest with him." Puck began to play with his hands before muttering, "obviously not."

Rachel turned back around again. She looked right ahead of her and thought for a while. After a few minutes in silence, Puck spoke again.

"So are you going to help me, or not?"

Rachel stayed silent for a few moments, contemplating things. She ultimately shook her head. "No, Puck. Breaking up a happy couple is despicable."

"A 'happy couple?'" Puck repeated, quirking an eyebrow at the back of Rachel's head. "You honestly believe they're a 'happy couple?'"

Rachel shrugged. "At times."

"And people think I'm stupid." Puck grumbled, causing Rachel to turn to him and scowl. "Do you see them getting married and living happily ever after?"

"I don't know..." Rachel said quietly. The thought caused a sharp pain in her chest.

"Everyone knows they don't belong together." Puck said confidently. "Everyone knows Finn belongs with you."

"That's not true..." Rachel weakly argue, trying to hide the smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Please Rachel," Puck looked at her doubtfully. "Even Quinn knows it!"

"Now that is definitely not true." Rachel almost laughed at Puck's words.

"Is it?" Puck leant forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Then why won't she let you and Finn sing a freaking duet together at nationals?"

Rachel didn't have an answer, so instead, she turned back around. Puck made some good points. Maybe he wasn't as stupid as everyone thought he was.

"So?" He asked. Hope apparent in his voice.

"No." Rachel told him, less convincingly than last time.

"Come on!" Puck said. "We'd be doing them a favour too. It'll be a win-win-win-win!"

"How will we be doing them a favour?" Rachel asked.

"Have they seemed happy to you recently?" Puck questioned.

"Well, no..."

"You know why?" Puck seemed determined to get Rachel's help. "Because of their history. Quinn cheated on him in the past, so he now doesn't trust her. He chose you over her in the past, so now she views you as a threat. Their relationship revolves around a lack of trust and deceit."

"That still doesn't give us the right to interfere." Rachel argued, looking at Puck.

"We'd be saving them." Puck told her. "They just need a little help finding who they really belong with. Help from us."

"I don't know..."

"Rachel," Puck said sternly. "We both know I'm going to convince you; so we can either argue about this for another half hour, or save us both some time and give in now."

Rachel looked at him for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. She had the impulse to argue, yet no arguments left. Eventually, she sighed.

"Fine." She mumbled.

"So, we have a deal?"

"Yes."

A wide smile spread across Puck's face and he held up a hand for Rachel to shake. Rachel shook Puck's hand without looking at him, clearly not proud of her decision.