A/U from 5x20 "The Untitled Rachel Berry Project" and intended to be the end of the series in my headcanon - it leaves me in a place I'm content with. Hope it helps you Puckleberries too...
Dreams to Sell
Rachel blew out a breath and considered her options. "You're right. And Kurt was right too. If I'm going to do this, it's going to be my show, or no show at all." She tossed the script on the table and stood. "I'm going to go for a walk, if you'll all excuse me." She grabbed her purse and exited the loft.
The rest of the Gleeks looked at each other uncertainly.
"Do you - is she gonna be okay?" Mercedes frowned. "Should we have gone with her?"
Kurt shook his head. "It's Rachel. When she realizes other people were right and she was wrong, it takes a bit to absorb. She'll be fine when she gets back."
[Author's note: Please insert Rachel walking down the street singing "Glitter in the Air" here. Thank you!]
Rachel swiped at her eyes and collapsed onto a bench by the newsstand. What am I going to do? She pulled her phone from her bag and stared down at it. I'll just call Mary and tell her -
"Ohhhhh, sweet Caroline…"
She jumped, startled, and answered. "Hello? Noah?"
"Hey, superstar." Puck grinned. "Had a minute and figured I'd call you before you make it big and forget all about us little guys."
Rachel choked back a sob. "I - I'm not sure that'll be an issue, Noah, I don't -"
"What's up?" Puck frowned at the phone. "You don't sound right, Berry."
She laughed tearily. Of course Noah would notice immediately..."I have a lot to think about."
He raised a brow. "Yeah? Like what? I heard through the Gleevine that you have a script. So?"
She squeezed her eyes shut. "That's the problem. I have one, I just...it's not right."
"Oh." He shrugged. "So you call her back and have her rewrite it. Easy."
"Well, yes." She swallowed hard. "That's exactly right."
"You sure about that?" He shook his head. "I don't even have to be there to see the look on your face. Seriously, Rachel, spill."
She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "That's really not fair, Noah. Why do you have to know me so well?"
He snorted. "Hebrew school? Whatever, come on, talk to me." He glanced at the clock. "I've got fifteen minutes before I gotta be back."
She shrugged. "I just - seeing this script, after all the time and conversation Mary and I have had...it's discouraging. I thought she understood, but...it seems like she's writing this more for herself than about me."
"That doesn't sound right." He scrubbed a hand over his head. "What's she like?"
"She's…" Rachel caught her lower lip between her teeth as she considered. "She's eccentric, but enthusiastic, and...quirky…"
Puck hissed in a breath. "You know you're describing everything a guy never wants to hear about a chick, right? That's like...when someone sets you up on a blind date with the ugly friend."
She winced. "I - I imagine some might see Mary that way…"
"That's not a good sign either, Berry." He glanced at the Telecharge envelope on the corner of his dresser. "Tell me again what was wrong with Funny Girl?"
"N-nothing, actually." Rachel twirled a plait of hair in her fingers. "I just - I was starting to feel - I don't know...stagnant?"
Puck laughed disbelievingly. "You got the dream you've been driving us all crazy about wanting, and you're complaining?" He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know a lot of guys who'd love to have those kind of problems."
She shrank slightly. When I say it out loud to him…"My - I signed up with an agent who said…" Is that really why I'm doing this?
"Rachel?" He frowned at the phone. "What did the agent say?"
"He asked...if I'd heard the saying 'face for radio'," she murmured. "He said movies and TV weren't for me."
"So when some dude says he'll put you on TV, you jumped," Puck filled in. "You get that, right?"
She shook her head. "I just realized it when you asked, Noah, no one else - no one else questioned, they just went along with me."
"Of course they did, 'cause they love you." Like you don't? Puck clenched his eyes shut. "They saw how excited you were and went with you. I just was the one who got you now, when you're not so sure."
She nodded slowly. "That makes sense."
He bit back a sigh. "You're supposed to be the one that has it together. Should I alert my superiors to raise the threat level 'cause the world's gonna end?"
She groaned. "Noah…" She lowered her sunglasses and looked around at the people passing, a few smiling shyly. Why was I leaving this, again? "I believe the term is temporary insanity. I'm going to call her and say thanks but no thanks."
"You sure?" Puck paced to the window and shook his head. "I don't wanna be the one to talk you out of it if you really -"
"No, please, you haven't talked me out of anything, Noah - you just pointed out what I should already have known." Rachel smiled. "You always did have a knack for making me be honest with myself."
He chuckled. "You think so? I thought I was just a jackass." He grinned at his reflection and turned away. "We've both come a long way since the bathroom with slushie in my 'hawk."
She giggled. "Ah, your fallen haircut. Do you still miss it?"
He scoffed. "Who needs a badass haircut when you're a straight up badass?" He buffed his shirt sleeve over his nameplate. "You are too, Rachel, don't forget that. Go read that review again and then think about what you really want to do. Don't call anyone yet, but remember Fanny's struggle was real. You're doing good work here."
She rolled her eyes even as she laughed. "Nowhere near what you're doing, Noah." She blew out a breath and set her shades in place again. "Thank you, honestly, for the reality check."
He shrugged. "It's what I'm here for, I think." He glanced at the clock. "Gotta go, Rach, you gonna be okay?"
Rach? Rachel shook herself. "I will be, thank you, Noah. I'll let you know what I do."
He grinned. "Or I can read all about it in the papers," he teased. "Broadway stars get that kind of treatment."
"All right, I hear you," she grumbled. "Now go on before you get in trouble."
"Sir, yes sir," he replied. "Later, Rachel. Good luck."
"Thank you, Noah." She smiled. Finn would be so proud of you..."For everything. For being the voice of reason, even when no one would believe it," she said wryly.
"What're friends for?" he countered. "Bye, Fanny."
She chuckled. "He's so sure," she murmured. As if he knows me better than I know myself...She swiped through her phone until she found the Times review and reread to herself, looking around her with a smile.
"Have you guessed yet,
Who's the best yet?
If you ain't I'll tell you one more time.
You bet your last dime
In all of the world so far
I'm the greatest, greatest star!"
Puck smirked down at the text that buzzed on his phone within minutes of hanging up with Rachel. Guess I can stick to that plan after all.
One month later…
"Thank you, thank you all so much! I'm so sorry, I have to go, I have -" Rachel waved and smiled. "Thank you so much!"
"Please, Ms. Berry, one more autograph?" The voice behind the program was familiar and Rachel paused.
"Noah?" She smiled disbelievingly. "You came to see the show?"
"I heard the chick who plays Fanny is a superstar in the making. Figured I'd get in while I could, before she runs off to Hollywood or something," he teased.
She blushed and shook her head. "And I heard a good friend of hers put her in check when it came to jumping ship," she teased back. She waved at the crowd before taking his arm and tugging him along with her. "Speaking of what I heard, Sam told me you and Quinn parted ways - a while ago, in fact, but I was so caught up in the whole Mary debacle that no one mentioned it to me until about a week ago." She looked up at him sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Noah."
"Don't be. We gave it a good shot, right?" He shrugged. "It was actually pretty mutual. Sometimes things sound better than they turn out to be."
She chuckled. "I believe I have a torn up contract back at my apartment that supports that theory." She quirked a brow. "Do you have any plans?"
He shook his head again. "Just hoped to grab dinner if you had time."
She grinned. "It would be my pleasure."
He tucked her arm more securely into his, and they walked together down Broadway as the city bustled and swirled around them.
A/N: And that's what I missed on Glee. I wrote this after reading recaps of the season premiere. I don't know what I hoped for, but whatever the writers could have done to save some part of the show I loved...they didn't. So instead of letting our Diva disappear back to Lima, she comes to her senses in NYC and I imagine there's an eventual Puckleberry ever after.
I once watched this show, Glee...it was so good! Too bad there weren't more than 13 episodes...just the first half of a season...