Okay, I really had no idea where I was going with this story aye. But I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Glee.
Her clothing sense had improved. He would give her that. The skirts were more flattering to her figure, and she no longer wore clothes that made her look like a two-year old who was wearing her grandmothers' outfits. Since she had gotten over her enormous crush on his bestfriend, Finn Hudson, she had really branched out. She almost had friends now; she was quite close to the other members of Glee club, especially gay-boy, Kurt Hummel. They seemed to have created some kind of alliance—maybe a Get-Over-Finn club. As long as the queer one didn't start looking in his direction, he was okay. Although, if Rachel Berry glanced over his way, he wouldn't mind.
She was totally unlike any other girl he had ever been with—dated, or just hooked up with. Quinn Fabray was different—for multiple reasons. She was a cheerleader, and yet still a virgin. And two, she had been going out with his bestfriend. Well, she was still going out with his bestfriend, except now, she was pregnant. With his kid.
Noah Puckerman, referred to as 'Puck' by the majority, shook his head at the confusion of his life at the moment. He was just glad that he and Finn were back to talking. He would support both of them with the baby, even if it meant standing by and letting some other guy raise his kid. He knew that Finn would do a better job; he was more cut out to be the supportive fatherly type that he was. Quinn had made it obvious that she didn't want to be tied to him in any way, that she had chosen Finn to be the father. Sometimes he thought she had just said that because she wanted to protect her reputation, didn't want to be viewed alongside her other cheerleading buddies as a skank.
But things had been changing lately for Puck. He had noticed Rachel. Well, it was hard not to notice Rachel, she always had a way of jumping into your lives whether you liked it or not, especially if you were part of her Glee club. But she had loosened up, started wearing nicer clothes, didn't use big words as often and didn't act as though she had a bad case of PMS every single day. Among the reasons why he avoided her after he had joined the Glee club—aside from not wanting to be seen with a Gleek—was that he just could never understand what she was saying, or why always seemed agitated.
As he drove home in the afternoon, he saw Rachel walking in front of him along the footpath. She was listening to her iPod, and her head was bobbing slightly up and down, in time with the music. He pulled over to the curb and leaned over the passenger seat to talk to her.
"Hey, Berry," he called out the window. She pulled the headphones out of her ears and flashed him a quick smile that had cautiousness written all over it.
"Hey?" She phrased it as a question more, wondering why he had pulled over and was talking to her. Her eyes were darting around as though she expected a bunch of guys to jump out and kidnap her. "Was there something you wanted, Noah?" She asked. He bit back a grimace. She was the only one, save his grandmother and his stuffy Science teacher, who called him Noah in an everyday sentence.
"I wanted to know if you needed a ride home," he asked her, although he didn't quite to know why she walking home this particular way. She lived on the other side of town, he knew that she usually took the bus. "So, you need a ride?"
"No, I am capable of reaching my destination unassisted," she told him, nodding her thanks and stepping back away from the truck. She was nervous. She always went back to using her long words and smart sentences when she was nervous about something. As he watched her eyes fall downwards, he realized that she was nervous about getting in the truck, and being along with him.
He didn't know whether so feel sad or excited by that fact.
"Come on, you live a good half hours walk from here. And it's boiling," he added, knowing the summers heat was beating down on her. The air-conditioning was going full blast inside the truck, and he was still feeling the heat.
"I am not going home, Noah," Rachel said, raising an eyebrow at him. He let out a sigh.
"Look, let me give you a lift, yeah?" He opened the door and leaned back. Rachel stepped forward and shut the door. Then she began walking again. Puck frowned and inched forward. "I'm tryin' to do you a favor, Berry!" He shouted out to her.
"Yeah, well, we all know how your favors are repaid, don't we, Noah?" She muttered snidely, looking over at him. Puck glowered at her.
"That was uncalled for," he hissed at her. She shrugged and carried on walking. He sighed. Then he turned off his truck and got out of the car, walking after her. "So where are you going then?" He asked her, catching up to her.
"To work," she replied.
"You work?" He asked. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "I didn't know that."
"Well, last time I checked, you didn't really know much about me at all," Rachel tugged at her skirt. "In fact, it has only been in the past three weeks that I have noticed you taking any attention to me, at all. And I have a strong feeling that the attention is due to the clothing that I have attired myself with." For a strange reason, Puck felt himself being turned on by all the fancy talk.
"Maybe," he admitted. Rachel rolled her eyes, coming to a half in front of a small café. "What?" He asked.
"You may leave now," she told him. "I am at work," she nodded at the café. He looked at it appraisingly. It was nice looking, the kind of place you would go out with your mum or something.
"How about I pick you up?" Noah asked, not willing to give up so easy. For some reason, he just wanted to spend time with her. "Ya know, take you home." Rachel looked at him, and then back at his truck, and she stared at it as though visualizing everything that he had ever done in that truck. Thinking back, Puck realized that his truck did have quite a reputation.
"I think that a ride home with one of my fathers would be safer. No need to be worried about rape or molestation," she replied evenly.
"Sweetie," Puck began, a smug smile on his face as he leaned in closer to her, as though sharing a secret. "By the time I finish with you, you'll be begging me to molest you." He was so close he could feel her breath against his full mouth. Suddenly, he realized that a soft blush had spread across her nose and cheeks.
"That's what I'm afraid of," she murmured, turning around and taking off, up the steps. Puck blinked, straightening up and taking in what she had just said. Then he grinned, and walked back to his truck.
He didn't pick her. Puck wasn't no sucker. He wasn't going to hang around the café, waiting for her to finish. But he would. He knew that if he wore her down enough, she would accept a ride home with him, reputation or not. He knew that she was smart, intelligent, she wouldn't fall for his normal pick-up lines, and he would've been disappointed if she had.
He expected more from her.
The next day at school, Puck left a note on her locker, and she found it between second and third period. He was standing near the end of the hallway, surrounded by his football team-mates and a few cheerleaders, one of them was Annie Burns, a cheerleader who was always more than obliging to join him in the back of his truck. He watched her as she frowned at the note and read it. He saw the smile that tugged at the corner of her lips as she put the note into her bag.
Let me give you a lift.
It was simple, to the point.
All he really wanted to say.
School finished, and Puck waited for Rachel. He waited outside the class she knew that she had last period. When she came out, she was talking to Finn. He was smiling at her, his arm brushing against hers. Puck felt a feeling in the pit of his stomach, one that made him feel slightly nauseous. Rachel smiled at Finn and then she looked up, and her eyes met Puck's. She said something to Finn, and he looked over at Puck as well, a confused look on his face. Then Rachel gave Finn a quick kiss on the cheek and made her way over to where Puck was standing.
"I'm not working today," she told him. "So I will be taking the bus home."
"Surely my truck smells better than the bus," Puck replied, an easy smile on his face, although he felt upset, knowing that she wasn't going to come. That she was turning him down. Rachel smiled at him, a small, quirky smile. Her mouth was full, and lined in a cherry-coloured lip-liner. Puck wanted to lean down and lick it off her, and then instantly dismissed the feeling.
"I'll see you tomorrow, at rehearsals," Rachel told him. He wondered if he was entitled to a goodbye kiss, just as Finn had been. At the moment, he would have just been satisfied with a shake of the hand, he just felt such a pull to her. He just wanted to touch her. "Bye, Noah," Rachel murmured, walking away from him in the direction of the bus lines. Puck watched her go, blinking quickly. He didn't even hear Finn approach until he bumped his shoulder gently.
"Bro. It's Rachel," Finn shrugged his shoulders. "She's complex. Are you sure you want to get yourself into that?" Puck looked up at his friend.
"Yeah. I'm sure," he replied.
"Well, she's the kinda chick who likes flowers. And chocolate," Finn grinned, knowing that Puck hated to spend his hard earned pool-cleaning money on anyone but himself. But if he really wanted to go after Rachel, it was a sacrifice.
The next day, there were flowers in her locker. Rachel wasn't sure how Puck had managed to actually get in her locker, but he had and the lilies were beautiful. She didn't know whether it was simply by accident, or if he had actually found out that lilies were her favorite flower, but either way, she was grinning as she walked into Glee practice at the end of the afternoon. Mr Shu was standing at the front of the music room, ready to begin the practice. Puck was sitting at the back of the room with Finn and Brittany Aniston, playing away softly on his guitar, not playing much attention to those around him. When she walked in, he looked up at her and smiled. She smiled back, and then took a seat next to Mercedes.
"Hey girl," the plump, dark-skinned girl said, smiling at her friend. She followed Rachel's eyes and saw they were still connected with Puck's. "Ooh, looks like someone's playing with the bad boys."
"Am not," Rachel fired back.
"Are too," Mercedes practically sung back. Rachel rolled her eyes, and the fell quiet when Mr Shu clapped his hands and called the Glee club to order.
After Glee club, Rachel stayed behind, her fingers gliding across the piano keys, her voice soft and sweet. Puck was standing beside the door, not wanting to interrupt her. Suddenly, she turned around and saw him.
"Did you want something, Noah?" She asked.
"I want to give you a ride home," he said, a small smile playing on his lips.
"Is that everything?" She asked, taking a step closer, the breeze from the window brushing through her hair and blowing the soft scent of her perfume toward him. Puck stood closer to her and took her hand in his.
"No," he told her. "I want a chance," he leaned down toward her, his forehead resting against hers. She smiled up at him.
"Well," Rachel replied. "Maybe if you get me home safely tonight, I'll give you one."
It was tempting for Puck. It was a good ten minute drive back to her house, and it was almost ten o'clock, so it was pitch black. He could hair Rachel's soft breathing over the music which was playing a low level on his radio. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her bare legs and every movement she made. He so wanted to reach over and take her in his arms and kiss her until she couldn't think straight.
But he held back.
He wanted that chance, and she had promised it to him.
He just had to get her home.
They arrived at her house, and all the lights were out.
"My dads are out at a meeting," Rachel told him. Puck nodded, not quite knowing what to say. "Um, did you want to com in?" She asked, her voice soft and shy. Puck looked at her, his eyes widening. "You can have a coffee or something?" He cracked a smile. Only Rachel would offer coffee to a guy coming into her house while they were all alone at night time.
"Sure," he replied. He turned his engine off and done all the windows off, before following Rachel into her house. It was amazingly tidy, everything in it's own place and everything tidy. Rachel headed toward the kitchen and Puck realized that she was actually serious about the coffee. He followed her and put his jacket down on a chair next to the table. She turned on the coffee machine and got two mugs out of the cupboard, followed by sugar and a teaspoon.
"Do you have milk or sugar?" She asked him, looking at him expectantly.
"Uh, I don't actually drink coffee," Puck stuttered. Rachel sighed and turned the coffee machine off, then sat down at the table, opposite where he was standing.
"So what did you think I meant when I asked you to come in and have a coffee? You could have said no," Rachel shrugged. Puck shook his head.
"No, I thought…Like, yeah…" Puck trailed off uncomfortably, running a hand over his shaven head and through his short mohawk. Rachel had a twinkle in her eye. She knew what Puck had been after, she knew what he had wanted.
"So you don't like coffee. Do you like hot chocolate?" She asked him. Puck nodded, resigning himself to the fact he wasn't going to get with Rachel tonight. Surprisingly enough, he wasn't too disappointed. "Okay, how many sugars did you want with yours?" She turned the jug on, checking that it was filled with water before she did so. Then she moved around the spotless kitchen, pouring to glasses of milk and adding the cocoa.
"Uh, two, thanks," Puck told her, sitting at the table and looking around at the photos on the wall. There was on one of Rachel by herself, sitting at a well-placed table, with her hands folded on her lap, her head tilted slightly to one side as she smiled sweetly at the camera. The other was one of Rachel with her two dads, all smiling brightly into the camera.
"Okay, here you go," Rachel smiled, putting both cups down on the table. Puck nodded and took a sip. The milky chocolate slid down his throat.
"Wow. That's real nice," he grinned at her. Rachel smiled back.
"I know. I make great hot chocolate," she replied. Puck laughed. She was so self-confident. She took a sip of her own hot chocolate and smiled back at him. They drank their cups in silent. When they finished, Puck looked up at Rachel, and she laughed. Confused, he frowned and pulled his head away.
"What?" He asked.
"Uh, you…" Rachel grinned. "You have a little, uh…" she leaned over and gently wiped away at the milk chocolate moustache that had gathered on Puck's upper lip. When she pulled back, Puck looked at her in a strange way, his eyes soft. Her smile dropped, and she bit her lower lip, looking away. Puck's hand came up from his side and touched her gently on the cheek. He leaned in, kissing her gently. Rachel raised her own hand and cupped Puck's jaw in her hand. When they pulled apart, Rachel murmured,
"I've wanted to do that for so long." Puck's eyes widened in surprise.
"Really?" He asked.
"Yeah," she whispered.
"Me too," Puck grinned at her.
Xxx