It was summer vacation. Rachel Berry was sitting on the park bench, hands crossed over her chest, her dark brown eyes staring at the bright orange sky. She was contemplating how her life had been a blur for the past few weeks. It was mind-boggling. Glee club had gotten another year which she was very thankful of of course. She had gotten tighter with her fellow glee club members, and, Finn Hudson had professed his love for her just before regionals.
That actually made it problem number 1. Finn. He understood not to rush her to say the three little words back. But to be honest, she actually no longer felt the butterflies in her stomach that used to reside when he was around, she didn't even know why she had kissed him in the first place. She probably was still caught-up in the post-Jesse heartbreak and Finn was there for her, she was broken and she tried to seek warmth in him. She tried to like him the way she used to but it only resulted in her wondering where the sparks had gone and feeling numb.
Problem number 2. Shelby Corcoran slash her so-called mom. She just found out that her mom had just adopted a daughter. She was in rage, how could she just adopt someone's child but she didn't even want to maintain any type of relationship with her own flesh and blood? What made it worse was that the baby she just adopted, was Quinn Fabray's, the girl who tormented her throughout her high school years, which made it problem number 3.
She could go on and on but she decided to just enjoy the chirping of the birds and the remaining cool, crisp summer air instead of just dwelling on the things that were wrong in her life. That was until she heard a voice calling her name.
"Berry?"
She turned around to see who it was. "Well hello to you Noah, may I ask what are your intentions here?"
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" The mohawked boy smirked as he replied. "This is pretty much my sanctuary Berry. I go here whenever I'm pissed okay? It helps me think."
"Care to tell me why you're here now then?" the tiny brunette simply asked and gestured the boy to sit right next to her, which he gladly followed.
"I don't know I just started going here every day since wegave up Beth." He replied, eyes shot at the sky, trying to hide his vulnerability.
"Oh." She tried her best not to wince at the name remembering how Noah really loved her and practically begged Quinn to keep her. She didn't want to hurt him but despite all of her attempts she still managed to look a little annoyed.
"Something bothering you Berry?" He apparently had catched her expression.
"Nothing." She answered nonchalantly.
"Oh come on, Berry. You won't be here or on in this case, wince at what i just said, unless there's something going on." He replied giving her an assuring smile which finally got him a response even though it was only a sighing.
"So spill, what happened?"
"Nothing, just leave it be okay Puckerman?" She retorted, hoping the boy would leave the matter alone, sparing a glance at the boy before looking straight forward. Thankfully he knew better not to mess with Rachel Berry when she's in her catatonic state. So they just sat in silence until the brunette finally utter a word.
"Life." She said.
"What's with it?"
"That's what happened." She stated, still staring into nothingness.
"I thought you had it all together, i know Finn had told you that he loves you and shit-"
"Language, Noah." She reminded.
"Whatever, the point is I thought you're happy now?"
"Absolutely. I am ecstatic, i just found out that apparently my birth mother adopt the baby whose parents are the girl that has practically made your high school life a living hell and the school manwhore. My life couldn't be any better." She sarcastically replied, she couldn't control her temper at times like this.
"So you found out huh?" He answered, staring at brunette right in the eyes, he spotted the tears that started welling up and felt the guilt that had started to arise .
"What do you expect? This is Lima, news spread fast."
"I swear to God Berry, i didn't know before the adoption agency told us so. I didn't mean to-" He was again cut off by the songstress.
"Aren't the name-callings and the slushies that probably worth more than my collection of Broadway CDs enough?" She scolded while wiping a tear that has been shed unnotice.
"Well what about Finn? You've finally got your knight in shining armour or shit."
"As I said before, language. And are you kidding me? Hell, I got egged at the school's parking-lot and do you seriously think that an improptu kiss and 3 words could fix everything?" She went silence for a while. "Look, I'm sorry okay for putting the blame on you and being such a pain in the ass. None of this were your fault. But, God, i don't even know how i could make it this far, it's just infuriating. Depressing to be exact." She huffed in frustration.
"No worries Berry. Besides, this is probably my only chance to hear you swear, which is actually worth it." He answered smirking, trying to lighten the mood which earned a small genuine smile from her. "I know things might look bad-"
"Try catastrophic."
"Stop cutting me off Berry, seriously."
"Fine." She snorted.
"So as I was saying, I know things might not be in its best state right now but I know it'll get better soon. Trust me."
"Yeah right Puckerman, the last time you said that line you impregnated the Head-Cheerio."
"Watch it Berry. And for your information I did make one good looking child."
"Whatever." She replied rolling her eyes but managed to let out a grin. They went silence again but this time this was the soothing kind, the type that made you feel...happy, and truth be told Noah Puckerman was the cause of all this. Shocking indeed. He watched as the edge of her lip curled upwards forming a small smile on the petite singer.
"Noah?" She asked, looking straight into his brown eyes. The smile still plaguing her face.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you." She simply conveyed. No long rants on how he should try to omit his tendency to curse or how he should stay away from people's private matters, only a simple statement of gratitude.
"You're welcome." He beamed a smile at the brunette, continuing to chat. They just talked, about glee, about school, about their lives, forgetting all of the problems that had errupted, until they were starting to realize that it was getting dark.
"It's getting, I should probably go home now. I promised my dads that I'll be home by dinner. The last thing I want is for them to give me a speech on how punctuality is truly essential in our daily lives." The brunette checked her watch and stood up.
"Me too. You know Berry, you're kind of cool when you're not as much of a control freak as you are in glee club." The boy gave her one of his infamous smug.
"Thank you Noah, i guess?" She giggled.
"Anyway, i'm having a party at my place this Friday night, glee club residents only, to you know, catch up. Care to join?"
"Noah you and i both your idea of catching up involves an inconsiderate amount of booze and music on an ear-wrecking volume. That's just your other way of saying 'We're going to get wasted.'"
"Damn straight. So, you in?"
"As much as i abhor the idea that actually sounds quite pleasant."
"Awesome. See you at 8 then?"
"See you at 8."
She turned on her heels and head straight towards her car. She spent the drive to her house singing along to whatever that was on the radio. She felt the happiness started errupting inside, no one else had made her feel this way. Not even Finn could illicit the thunderous heartbeat that she was sure would cause her chest plate to shatter. She pulled off to her her driveway and got into her house.
"Hello pumpkin." Her dad, Hiram, greeted her with a kiss on her forehead.
"Hello dad, daddy." She smiled at them and went into the kitchen to check what was on the menu for the night. "Is that veggie burger i smell?" She grinned and gave her daddy, Leroy a hug.
"The very one, sweetie." Her daddy answered giving her a smile.
The dinner went real well considering how Rachel had gone back to her usual self and always jumped cheerfully into the conversation that were ongoing every chance she had. They spent the rest of the night watching re-runs of Two and A Half Men and listening to the brunette's incessant rant on how annoying Charlie is.
"Dad, daddy, I think i will be going to bed. I'm quite exhausted. Good night." She smiled and gave them both a peck on the cheeks. She headed towards her room and slouched on her bed, sleeping with a smile etched on her face knowing that Noah Puckerman's the main reason of it.