Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.
A/N: This is a futurefic. I'm pretty sure this is a one shot but I may continue this into a story, it would just depend on the response I get from this.
Rachel was clearing the kitchen table of her, Mike, and Tina's dishes when the phone rang. "I'll get it." She called to them and smiled into the phone as she said hello.
"I'm drunk." Puck's voice drifted from the other side of the line and Rachel frowned.
"Again?" She asked.
"Rick won't let me leave. He said I had to call someone." She could tell he was pouting just by his voice and it made her a little less mad at him.
"I'll be there in ten minutes." She shook her head and hung up.
"Puck?" Mike asked from behind her.
"Yea." Rachel sighed. "I'm going to go take him home. Rick's keeping an eye on him until I get there."
"I can take him home if you want." Mike suggested.
"I can handle him. I've been doing it for years, Mike. Besides, you remember the last time he called for me to pick him up and I sent you instead. He went ballistic." Rachel smiled slightly.
"I've still got the scar." Mike winced at the thought.
"I'll be home soon." Rachel pulled her coat on. "Hopefully."
Rick was the bartender at Puck's favorite bar. Rachel got his calls at least once a week to get Puck from the bar after he had drunk too much. She didn't mind it that much. She'd gotten pretty used to being his emergency contact since she'd been picking him up from Rick's bar for the last two years. She had even formed a routine. She'd picked him up, take him home – it was a seven minute walk from the bar to Puck's apartment – help him undress, and then tuck him into bed. She could get it done and be back at her apartment in thirty minutes flat.
She pulled her coat tighter around her as she stepped out into the brisk fall wind and made the familiar route up to Rick's bar, Liquid. When she walked into the bar she easily found Puck sitting on a stool at the bar with a drink in hand and flirting hopelessly with some blonde on the right. She sighed, perching herself on the stood to his left and took the drink from his hands.
"Hey!" He whined but when he saw Rachel, he smirked. "You came for me."
"I always do." She gulped down the last of his whiskey. "You can't keep doing this you know. You're 23, Noah; you have to grow up sometime. What if next time you decide to get hammered I'm not here to babysit you?"
"You like babysitting me." He leaned towards her but she was sure it was just because he was losing his balance. "Come on, baby, let's go back to my place."
"Noah." She rolled her eyes, ignoring the way his hand was drunkenly sliding up and down her leg. "You're drunk and you have no idea what you're saying."
"I know exactly what I'm saying." He leered into her ear. "Why do you think I always call you?"
She looked over at him letting herself get lost in his eyes only for a few seconds – two minutes tops – before pushing his hands away and standing up. "Let's get you home."
"Okay." He nodded letting her pull him to his feet.
"Thanks for calling, Rick." Rachel smiled at the bartender before helping a drunk Noah out of the bar and out onto the streets of New York.
He leaned heavily on her and she stumbled a bit but they finally made it to his apartment building and out of the cold weather.
"Come on, Noah, just a little bit longer." She urged him on.
"No, wait." He slumped against the wall and heaved a few times. "Okay, I'm good."
"Let's go. We're almost to the elevator." She pushed the button and let him lean against her again once they were in the elevator.
"You smell good, Berry." He sniffed heavily. "I like that smell. It's so… Rachel."
"I'm glad you like it." She chuckled watching as the elevator slowly lifted up the floors.
His lips brushed against her forehead but she waved it off until she felt them again but this time they were on her jaw. His hands slid down her sides and rested on her hips pulling her towards him.
"Noah." She tried to push him away but his grip tightened and because he was drunk they both stumbled and he had her trapped between him and the elevator wall.
"You know how long I've wanted to kiss you?" His lips traced her jaw line before coming to slide across her cheek. "Too long." He smirked before planting a kiss on both of her cheeks. "You wanna kiss me too?"
"We're almost to your floor." Rachel pointed out but it was hopeless. Her eyes locked on his lips and then moved to his eyes as she leaned up towards him.
His lips moved slowly on hers and it took her a few seconds to react but when she did he kissed her harder, pressing into her so that she was squished between him and the wall. If she hadn't been so caught up in the way that his lips were moving on hers she probably would have realized he was hurting her but she didn't care about that right now. All she could think about was that Noah Puckerman was actually kissing her. Something he hadn't done since high school.
"Rachel." He finally pulled back and rested his forehead against her. "How do your lips always feel so soft? Are why do you taste like root beer?"
The elevator dinged and Rachel finally came back to her senses. She pushed him back, successfully this time, and helped him hobble out of the elevator. They were at his door before either of them spoke again.
"Keys?" She asked.
He patted his pockets but frowned. "I don't remember where I put them."
Rachel rolled her eyes but pulled her key ring out which happened to have an extra key to Puck's apartment. "How are you always so unprepared?"
"I'm prepared for important stuff." He countered.
"Having a box of condoms in every room of your apartment does not make you prepared." She shook her head and shoved his door open. "Go." She motioned him in and he obeyed.
"I like you, Berry." He told her as he kicked his shoes off. "Have I ever told you that?"
"You might have mentioned it." She smiled watching as he left a trail of clothes from his front door to his bedroom.
She followed behind him, picking up socks, pants, a shirt, and even his shoes, before watching as he crawled into his bed with only his boxers on. She sat his clothes in a pile on his dresser and walked over to tuck him in.
"Why were you drinking this time?" She asked pulled the blanket up to his chin. He grunted something but she couldn't understand what he said. "What?" She leaned closer to him.
"I got fired." He said. "My boss fired me because his wife has the hots for me. It's not my fault I'm a stud and she wanted a piece of the Puckerone."
"I'm sure you flirting with her didn't help." Rachel chuckled. "Goodnight, Noah."
"Wait." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer so that she was sitting on the edge of his bed. "Sing me a song."
"What?" She scoffed. "You're joking right?"
"Please." He whispered and batted his eyelashes a few times.
"Fine." She gave in and he settled back on the bed, still holding tightly to her hand, and waited for her to start her song.
She hesitated for a few seconds before quietly belting out some of the lyrics of 'Funny Girl'. She sighed and looked up to see that he was already asleep halfway through the song. His jaw was slack and she used a tissue from his bedside table to wipe a line of drool that was slowly making its way down his chin. She smiled slightly when he slipped onto his side and pulled the blanket up to his chin. He looked almost child-like tangled in his blankets and curled up in the middle of his bed like that. He still had a hold of her hand so she carefully pulled it away and leaned down to kiss his cheek softly.
"Goodnight, Noah." She whispered, sliding her tips of her fingers lightly over his cheek, and straightened up, taking a few seconds to stare down at him, before pulling her coat back on.
She reached his bedroom door and her heart clutched when she heard him mumble her name. She only paused for a second, to make sure he was really asleep and not calling out to her, before carefully slipping out of his apartment, making sure to lock the door, and back out onto the cold New York street. As she walked she couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she thought about the way Noah had kissed her tonight.