"Uh Q, I hate to be the one to point this out, but we have one more groomsmen than we do bridesmaids." Puck called down the line they'd formed in the churches hall. Finn was paired with a girl that he recognized as Quinn's sister, Mike with Tina and Brittany with Artie. Puck was in the front of the line, alone. He thought perhaps Mercedes was going to be his girl but Quinn shook that off saying Mercedes refused to be anything but a wedding planner. Blaine and Kurt were just inside the doors, standing as ushers. That only left Santana but looking through the doors, he saw her standing a bit behind Sam, next to the piano.
Quinn however merely smiled at him like he was slow, "My last bridesmaid won't be able to make it for this rehearsal. She'll be at the dinner though. Its assuring that you're so concerned with my planning abilities."
Puck nearly whimpered under her fake smile, feeling bad for Sam who would have to put up with her pregnancy mood swings this time. As he began to walk down the aisle alone, feeling extremely stupid and lame for not having hot piece of candy on his arm, Puck found himself thinking about the past eight years and how much things had changed since they all graduated.
Their senior year had been the most epic fail Puck could have imagined. He somehow found himself fucking Beth's adoptive mother, and thought he was actually in love. Just like he had with Quinn. Quinn herself was going batshit crazy trying to get Beth back and Puck realized him being close to Shelby would only help Quinn get what she wanted. When Quinn finally snapped out of it at Sectionals, Puck told himself he wouldn't go back to Shelby. It was way too risky and he could have Beth in a bad situation.
They just barely made it through Sectionals, and when the Troubletones joined New Directions again they all thought that everything would go back to normal. They were all so wrong though.
Sam had been trying to win Mercedes over, and very nearly did by the time Regionals came around. The competition had been intense, and they tied with the Warblers again. Rachel blew up at Finn behind the scenes saying if he hadn't messed up the perfectly simple choreography that she set up for him, they would have won first place without a tie and therefore giving them one less competitor for Nationals.
Mercedes had apparently been planning on accepting Sam's advances that night, but when she got to the green room to tell him, she found Quinn kissing him. The two had managed to stay together after that, and after school had ended Mercedes decided that she was happy for the couple.
The pressure leading up to Nationals was so intense that Puck often felt like he was suffocating in the small choir room. Rachel was so tense that he was pretty sure even him giving her a good fuck session wouldn't loosen her up. And then of course those thoughts led to Puck being confused as to why he liked the idea of chilling Rachel out with his Puckzilla so much.
Nationals were a complete disaster. Quinn had sprained her ankle during rehearsal the day before, the zipper on Tina's dress ripped off (although Kurt was able to fix that minutes before they went on), and Finn had stupidly informed Rachel that he was staying in Ohio the moment before they went on the stage.
Puck could tell she was near tears the entire performance, and any time Finn went to touch her during the dances, she flinched away from him. They placed lower than they had the year before.
Everyone stopped coming to glee club, even Rachel, after that. From what he heard, Blaine and the lower classmen still held glee club but he didn't really care. It didn't matter for the seniors anymore. Quinn was going to Yale; Rachel was leaving for New York as soon as she received her diploma with Kurt. Tina and Mike were off to the same dance school. Even Puck had managed to get into a community college. They were all going their separate ways now, and not even glee club could hold them together.
Finn spent months bitching to Puck and Sam about how Rachel wouldn't speak or even look at him now. Puck couldn't understand the stupidity of his friend, how could he think that Rachel would be okay with Finn being happy to stay behind in Ohio?
Puck tried to pay attention as Mercedes showed him exactly where to stand, rambling about what he'd have to do with his bridesmaid and warning him to pay attention to the next pair to walk down the aisle. So to make the crazy woman happy, he pretended to watch as Brittany walked next to Artie down the long aisle, letting his mind trail off again.
After high school Puck very rarely kept in contact with any of the old glee members. Finn would often come to hang out during breaks for the sake of something to do. Shelby and Beth often created a bridge for Quinn and Pucks bizarre friendship. He still talked to Santana once in awhile, but not enough to really mean much.
What had surprised Puck was his fast friendship with Sam. He was attending the same college as Puck, so they often hung out between classes and on weekends, and before he knew it Puck started to consider him his best friend.
Standing next to the blond boy wonder, he started to wonder who Quinn's maid of honor was. He figured that she would have made friends at Yale, but she never mentioned anyone significant enough to hold that place. Puck just hoped whoever it was, that they were smokin' cause it'd been ages since he hooked up with anyone and wasn't it like, an unwritten rule that the best man and maid of honor hooked up the night of the wedding?
Before he knew it, the entire party (besides the mysterious MOH) was up at the altar and Puck couldn't help the small smile that he shot at two of the most important people in his life. He was glad that Quinn had finally found herself, having a degree in psychology along with her minor in theatre. When Sam had told him of his plans to ask Quinn to marry him (a month after she graduated from college) Puck had given his 'blessing' right away. He'd been surprised the two hadn't gotten married sooner. Sam had wanted for Quinn to be able to perform in a small play and get settled in a job first though.
Then a week ago Quinn informed everyone that she was two months pregnant. She'd found out a week after Sam had proposed, and both were relieved that they'd planned for a short engagement so that she wouldn't be showing too much in the wedding pictures.
Puck ignored the sound of the door opening and closing until he heard Finn mutter, "No way…" and looked to the other end of the room to see none other than Rachel Berry walking quickly down the aisle, looking apologetic as she took her place next to Quinn. The two blonds just smiled at her and nodded at the minister to continue.
Puck didn't like the way his heart clenched at seeing the girl-no, woman, again after so many years. Seeing her sparkling smile and soft dark brown hair Puck felt a ton of memories he tried to lock away come to the fore front of his mind.
After Nationals their senior year he'd gone back to the choir room to pick up his guitar. He wanted to be sure everything of his was out of the room so he'd never have to go back. Singing and all that crap was fun while it lasted, but now it was time to get serious with his future and focus on what he was going to do next. He didn't expect to find a sobbing Rachel Berry curled up at the piano bench, her head on her arms.
Crying girls made Puck more uncomfortable than a guy grabbing his ass. Normally he would have walked right back out of the room and grabbed his guitar another day, but he'd never seen Rachel Berry of all people look so… Broken.
So for reasons he would never be able to explain to himself he sat next to her and patted her back rather awkwardly. When Rachel began venting through her sobs, he let her talk, not knowing what to say or do. Eventually she pulled out an envelope that had been ripped open and shoved it at Puck. It was a letter to a college; apparently the one Rachel and Kurt had both applied for earlier that year together. Then Puck frowned, it was a rejection letter. How could any school for the performing arts deny Rachel Berry? The girl was more talented than anyone he'd ever met before.
"I'm not giving up" she proclaimed as she began wiping her tears away and Puck watched as she turned into the girl he knew from glee club, the one who wouldn't let anything get in her way. "NYU accepted me… It's not exactly desirable compared to this school, but after I prove how invaluable I am to NYU, they'll be begging to have me join their school." She nodded to herself and Puck agreed with her.
He watched as she seemed to try to refocus herself, wiping her remaining tears away and stuffing the rejection letter back in her purse. Part of him wanted to tell her that she could do better in Finn, that she'd meet the Tony to her Maria in New York or something. But the words got caught in his throat when she looked up at him with her big brown eyes.
What happened next, Puck tried never ever to think about. It was a hazy mess of passion as clothes came off and Rachel straddled him, his back to the piano. He knew that she and Finn had had sex already, but he wasn't expecting Rachel to be so… good at it. Their kisses were messy and urgent and it was quite possibly the hottest sex Puck ever had.
By the time it was over, Rachel left the room, adjusting her hair and clothes and smiled sadly at him and said the last words he'd ever heard her say to him, "Good bye Noah."
He didn't think she really meant good bye like people say when they're never going to speak to you or see you again, but Puck never heard from her again. He saw her briefly at graduation, but she was avoiding him so carefully, clinging to Kurt's side until it was time to line up for their diplomas. Puck couldn't help but notice the gold star that someone pinned onto her robe that day.
Usually never speaking to the girls he had sex with again was no big deal for Puck, but something about that time in the choir room had been different. Normally he had to focus to make sure the girl got the big O so that they would boast about it later to other girls. With Rachel everything had been blurry and felt so good. He didn't have to focus or try to get her to the edge.
So for once, he was almost hurt that she wouldn't talk to him. He had only seen her one other time after graduation, which was when Quinn and Sam dragged him to her first ever show on Broadway four years ago. He'd sent her flowers saying, 'Grats you totally rocked it Rach' the next day, but never heard from her after that either.
The only person that ever knew about his and Rachel's hook up in the choir room was Sam, who had gotten Puck so drunk one night when he was upset that he ended up spilling his guts to his big lipped friend.
Puck pushed the thoughts away as he saw Sam take Quinn's arm and start to walk back down the aisle, knowing this was his signal to walk with the maid of honor… Rachel. The irony struck Puck then, wasn't he just thinking about how it was his duty to hook up with the maid of honor tomorrow night? He wanted to laugh at himself now as he took Rachel's arm in his own.
"It's nice to see you again Noah." She said quietly as she smiled to their old glee friends.
"I wasn't expecting you." He replied without thinking.
Rachel made a face, "I wasn't really sure if I would be able to make it honestly. I had to convince my understudy to take over my part this weekend in order to attend. She wasn't too pleased about having to actually perform. She has a bit of a drinking problem you see." She informed him matter-of-factly.
Puck raised an eyebrow at her as they neared the door, "I thought you'd rather die than give up your spotlight even for a couple of days" he joked. The short girl rolled her eyes and hit his arm before rushing over to Quinn, giving the blond girl a hug.
He watched, leaning against the door way as the other girls joined them and began gossiping, the guys going in to give Rachel hugs. Finn was the only one to stay away from the group, standing next to Puck. "I can't believe she's here." The tall man muttered, and Puck looked over to see him practically undressing Rachel with his eyes.
For the first time in years Puck felt the urge to punch Finn. He clenched his fists and looked at Rachel as well. In all honesty, he couldn't really blame Finn for checking Rachel out. New York had treated her nicely. The awkward grandma sweaters and kinky school girl skirts apparently had been left in her old closet as she was now wearing a form fitting black dress that came down to her mid thigh with a sweetheart neckline. She'd grown up and filled out perfectly, her years on the big stage making her confidence sky rocket as well.
A hand patted him on the shoulder and Puck turned to see Sam grinning at him, "When were you going to tell me?" he bit out under his breath so that Finn couldn't hear.
The blond man feigned innocence, "Surprise?" Puck rolled his eyes and pushed off the arch way, heading for the doors with most of the group, heading towards the rehearsal dinner.
"Uh, Noah?" a voice called behind him as he started walking down the steps pulling out the keys to his truck. He paused and looked behind him to see Rachel rushing down the steps.
"Sup Rach?"
"Sorry, but would it be a problem to take me to the dinner? I rode a taxi to the church and everyone else's cars are at full capacity. Sam suggested that you might have room in your truck for another passenger." Sam again… it seemed like the two almost-married-blonds were meddling an awful lot to make sure he and Rachel ended up in the same place.
Puck ran a hand through his hair, "Uhm, sure. I have to stop by the high school to pick up Abi on the way though. She had glee practice tonight." He was glad that he upgraded to a newer truck with back seats a few years ago. Fitting three people in one bench was often uncomfortable.
Rachel smiled, "That's fine… I've actually wanted to see the school again." She confessed as they walked towards his truck. "It's strange isn't it? Having the crowd all back together again after so long."
"I guess." Puck shrugged as he started his truck, driving the opposite direction as everyone else. "I see Sam, Quinn and Finn pretty often, plus I saw almost everyone else at Santana and Brittany's wedding last year." He almost wanted to laugh at that memory. Their wedding had been extremely small and last minute. But despite the randomness of it, Brittany had managed to rent a large tent for their group and decorate it in rainbows and unicorns. He was almost surprised that Santana let her get away with some of the decorations, but after seeing the way the two women look at each other, he realized exactly why the Latina allowed her wife to do whatever she wanted. They were so completely in love with each other.
"Oh right, I forgot I wasn't able to attend that event." Puck glanced at her from the corner of his eye to see her frowning at the road as they drove towards the school. "I've missed so many things" she sighed.
"Its chill, you're living out your Broadway dreams." He tried to reassure her. "Plus it looks like you're keeping in contact with everyone. Especially if you're Q's maid of honor." Puck really tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but from the look on Rachel's face, he knew he failed horribly.
"Yes well, Quinn and I began speaking over Skype calls almost daily after college began. I often helped her prepare for her theatre classes, and well…. Girl friends are very hard to come by in the performing arts. It's all very competitive which doesn't really make you want to have slumber parties with your room mate." And for a moment, Puck could see the same eighteen year old girl that was leaning against the piano, feeling insecure and lost.
"I thought all actors were like, best friends or some shit."
The starlet next to him laughed without any humor. "Thing about actors Noah, is that we're all very good at putting on a show when someone's watching. It's very easy to pretend to be friends with your cast, and honestly you do become friends with some, especially the opposite sex. But take for instance, my second roommate that I had at NYU, she had the same dreams I did, wanted the same parts I was auditioning for, etcetera. Being in close quarters like that only makes it too easy to compromise your competition."
"So she'd do shit to make sure she got the part instead of you?" Puck's eyebrows creased, he still had troubles trying to listen and drive at the same time and he wasn't used to people talking as fast as Rachel tended to.
"Well she tried to. Unfortunately for her, I was far too prepared for such occurrences and always had a back up for anything she attempted." Puck turned away to hide his smirk. That's what he always liked about Rachel, she was always prepared for anything that life threw at her and didn't let it stand in her way. It was good to know that she kept that quality all throughout her time in New York too. "I think…" she trailed off, and seemed to debate on saying her next words. "I think I owe a lot of that to you actually."
"Huh?" he didn't understand how he could possibly help with that.
"Slushie Facial anyone?" she smiled wryly at him and he felt the urge to slam his head on his steering wheel.
He'd forgotten all about his moronic bullying attempts in his sophomore year. "Sorry about that."
Rachel shrugged as she opened her door, "Like I said, it actually helped me. Would you mind if we went in to see Mr. Schue?"
"Sure, I wanna hear Abi sing anyways, she refuses to practice around me." The shorter girl beamed up at him as they walked into their old high school together.
It felt odd to Puck, almost like going back in time, to be walking with Rachel Berry down the same halls they used to share together so many years ago. He was a fairly successful business man now, and she was a Broadway star. Even though he hadn't technically made it out of Lima, it was nice to know they both reached their dreams. He couldn't help but watch the smile on Rachel's face as she practically skipped down the hall way, both of them still remembering the way to the auditorium without thinking about it.
"It's nice being here again. Even though I loathed this small town and the Neanderthals inhabiting it back in high school, it feels… safe."
Puck nodded, "I think a lot of that was Schuester. The dude never let us fuck up without helping us fix it you know? The real would isn't like that. Theres some scary shit out there."
"You say that, but from what I've heard you've got the best carpenter and roofing business in the area." Rachel's voice seemed full of pride and admiration and Puck couldn't help but feel his ego inflate a little.
"Yeah… it's not Broadway but," he lifted a shoulder, "it's better than nothing."
She elbowed him playfully before carefully opening the auditorium door, wanting to be as stealthy as possible. They both snuck in and sat in the back row, watching as the newest group of glee students danced on the stage, Abi singing her heart out as a guy twirled her a bit awkwardly. "Damn she's good." He muttered under his breath.
Rachel gasped and turned to him, "That's your sister? Why didn't you tell me how talented she was?"
He snorted, "She didn't even tell me." The brunette blinked at him in shock before turning back to the stage and slumping a bit in her seat. Something, he realized then, was a very un-Rachel thing to do. "You okay?"
She nodded and put a finger to her lips so he sat back with her and watched the group finish up their routine. It was obvious by the large group that glee wasn't as unpopular now as it had been when they'd gone to school. He remembered his sister talking about how New Directions had taken Sectionals every year since they joined glee and Regionals almost every year since too. Two years they'd even snagged trophies at Nationals.
"Great job guys! Jake, remember to work on those steps, I don't want you twirling Abi off the stage at Sectionals okay?" They all nodded and began climbing off the stage. Rachel tugged on his sleeve and pulled him down the stairs. Schuester heard them walking towards him and looked up, "Rachel Berry and Noah Puckerman?"
"It's great to see you again Mr. Schue." Rachel said as she hugged him. Puck simply shook his hand and went to call Abi over, leaving the short woman to catch up with their old teacher.
Soon they were back in his truck, heading towards the reception hall where they were doing the rehearsal dinner. Abi was prattling to Rachel, begging to know anything and everything about going into the drama field after high school.
The rest of the night was a large blur, one moment he was eating dinner with everyone and the next Sam, Finn and the rest of the guys were pulling him away for the Bachelor party that he'd planned out for Sam (after approving everything with Quinn of course).
They partied hard at the local bar, being careful not to drink too much because Quinn would skin them all alive if they showed up for the wedding with hangovers. Once Puck had started to feel the buzz of his third drink, Sam came up to him while the other guys shot some pool.
"So, Rachel looked pretty good today." He commented casually. Puck had noticed the blond's beer had barely been touched since they got there.
"Dude you're gettin' married tomorrow, you shouldn't be lookin' at Rachel Berry." He joked before sighing. "You coulda warned me y'know?" he took another long drink from his mug finishing it off and slamming it down, motioning for the barman to get him a refill.
Sam watched his friend as he started chugging down his next beer, "Where would be the fun in that?" Puck snorted at him and the blond waited a moment before probing, "She's a lot different now."
"Not really, I mean sure she isn't as annoyin' as she used to be." Sam had to laugh in agreement with his friend. "But she's just a less anal Rachel Berry. We're all more mature now too though."
Just then Mike started cheering and slapping Finn on the back, hollering about how he still owned him in pool. "Some of us less than others." Sam commented. "So what'd you guys talk about?"
Puck groaned, "I dunno random shit. Broadway, glee, my business, Quinn." He rambled off the main subjects that had come up.
"She's single you know." The blond said casually as he took a drink of his beer, watching Puck's face carefully.
He found that fact hard to believe. Rachel was beyond hot now, and guys on Broadway were bound to have noticed. In fact… "Didn't Q say a few months ago that she was St. Gay Face again?" his brow creased trying to remember through his buzzed haze. He distinctly remembered Quinn mentioning to Shelby that Rachel and Jesse were together at Beth's last birthday party. He couldn't remember hearing about them breaking up.
Sam swirled his beer around, "Yeah, Rach caught him with another guy in bed a few weeks ago."
This made Puck choke and cough over his beer. His friend patted on his back until his pipes were cleared again. "You serious?" Sam nodded. So Rachel was single now, and Pucks buzzed state made him form situations in his mind where Rachel was vulnerable and needed his strong manly hold. He spent the rest of the night forming these little day dreams as the guys all played pool.
The next morning Puck and the other guys left from his apartment, their tuxes in bags and shoes in boxes. Quinn had insisted that they all changed at the church as well because the tuxes would wrinkle in the car or some crap like that.
Unfortunately for the best man, he had a few too many beers the night before despite all warnings that hangovers would be punishable with death. He just hoped that Quinn wouldn't get suspicious of his extra dark sunglasses this morning. The moment he stepped into the church, his bag slung over his shoulder, his box cradled against his side, he knew today was going to be an extremely long day.
"Noah, you know getting completely wasted the night before your best friends wedding is very unethical right?" Rachel Berry was standing in the middle of the main hall, a hand on her hip, only wearing sweats. Her hair was up in rollers and her face was clean from makeup.
He sighed, "Yeah yeah, save the preaching for another day okay?" the other guys headed towards the dressing rooms that Blaine was showing them to. He hesitated a moment watching Rachel. A lot of last night was a big drunken haze, but he faintly remembered talking about how Rachel and St. Shit Head broke up. His mind was battling, debating on saying something about it, but his hangover pounded reminding him that he needed to get some coffee and advil in his system. "Can you keep my hang over a secret from Q? I don't want her flipping her shit over something stupid."
Rachel tugged on her sweatshirt a bit before nodding. "I can get you some advil if you need?" she offered.
"Nah its cool, I'll see you out here in a couple of ours Rach."
She smiled at him before heading towards where the girls must be getting ready and he headed in the direction the guys went. When he entered the room he was handed a cup of coffee and a pale hand held out two small pills. "Blaine informed me that you would most likely be toasted this morning, so I came prepared." Kurt was standing there in a crisp tux, his hair full of more products than Puck even owned. He muttered a quick 'thanks', downing the pills with the coffee and plopping down on a chair, ready to wait out his head ache until he had to start getting ready.
Nearly an hour later when Kurt rushed back in the room with a bag full of hair supplies, claiming that their hair was an atrocious sight that couldn't walk down an aisle with so many people watching, Puck had been forced to let him style his mohawk. Thankfully his headache had eased off enough that Kurt tugging on his hair didn't make his head throb.
What surprised Puck about all the chaos was how little he was actually paying attention. Everytime he tried to focus on a conversation he'd think back to yesterday, having Rachel in his truck, speaking to him like what happened eight years ago was just a dream that he'd had that night or something. Had Rachel forgotten about that night? The more Puck thought about, he realized that she'd probably forced the memory to the back of his mind, much like he had. The day had been painful for all of them, Rachel especially. What happened in the choir room was probably considered a mistake in her books.
He went to run his hand through his 'hawk out of habit but his hand was immediately slapped away by a hand. "I swear to Barbra Streisand, if you mess up your hair Noah Puckerman, I will kill you." He rolled his eyes but obeyed the diva's wishes. A moment or so later, Kurt finished his hair and ordered him to get into his tux, claiming that it was getting close to show time. The flamboyant man then rushed to start fixing the grooms hair.
Puck quickly changed into his monkey suit, still feeling a little awkward about changing in front of Kurt. Then proceeded to spend the rest of the time making sure his tie was perfectly centered. Finally it was time to leave to the main hall, and Sam was rushed through first by Kurt who led him into a side entrance as the girls walked into the hall as well.
He sighed and stared up at the painted ceiling. He thought it was a bit ironic that the church taught about not having sex until marriage, yet had naked babies all over its ceiling. Kind of sends some mixed signals.
"You look considerably better Noah." He looked down to see Rachel standing next to him, a grin on her face. Puck took a moment to appreciate the red bridesmaid dress with gold trimming that she was wearing. It was a halter top and ended just above her knees. It reminded him quite a bit of the dresses the girls used to wear for performances in glee. Her hair was half up in an intricate bun; the rest lay in perfect curls that reached just below her shoulder blades.
"Yeah well Hummel was prepared." He shrugged it off as he looked behind them; all the other girls were wearing identical dresses to Rachel's other than Quinn. The bride was off to the side talking to Mercedes and her parents. He sucked in a deep breath. He'd seen Quinn in white dresses before… but this… this was the most gorgeous that he'd ever seen the young woman.
Rachel echoed his thoughts, "She's quite possibly the most beautiful bride I've ever seen." All he could do was nod. "Do you regret that you didn't make more of an effort when you had the chance?" she asked quietly enough that no one else would have heard.
Puck thought back to high school and their senior year when Quinn all but threw herself on him trying to ride his not-so-mini-Puck to make another baby. That girl wasn't the Quinn Fabray he fell in love with. The girl he fell for was lost when they gave Beth up. "Nah, she's cool and all, but we're not right for each other." He knew that he and Quinn having Beth together always put a bit of a strain on his friendship with Sam; despite the blond knowing he had no interest in his baby mama anymore. Truth be told, part of him always wondered if maybe he should have claimed her as his own when he could have. But looking at her now, with Rachel by his side, getting ready to watch Quinn marry Sam, he knew everything panned out the way it should have.
The brunette woman nodded before turning forward again and Puck caught the sight of Finn as he started to turn. The tall man was staring at Rachel like a lost puppy, begging his owner to come pick him up and hug him. Once he was facing the double doors he couldn't help but ask, "What about you, do you ever regret not trying to make things work with Finn?"
He realized his mistake a second too late. Rachel froze next to him, and it didn't take him long to figure out why as she replied, "Not at all. We were destined for two completely different lives." Her voice was very curt and her words clipped.
Her reaction made him realize that while she might not regret leaving Finn that day, she certain regretted other things that day. He never considered that since he didn't regret having sex with her so passionately and without considering doing so, that she wouldn't feel the same way. Sure, he figured she'd feel awkward about the situation because they'd formed a weird sort of friendship before hand and after the sex they hadn't spoken again but to regret it?
Puck sighed inaudibly as Mercedes got everyone into formation and motioned for him and Rachel to begin walking down the aisle. At first her arm was stiff around his, and he wanted to kick himself. So he did the only thing he could think of doing that might loosen her up, he leaned in her ear and whispered "Did I mention how beautiful you look?" Rachel looked up at him and smiled just a tiny bit before turning her face ahead, her arm wrapping more comfortably around his as they continued down the aisle at a pre-set pace.
It was then that he noticed someone was singing and looked up to see Santana holding a mic, and Mr. Schuester at the piano singing something he thought he recognized. As he let go of Rachel at the altar to step beside Sam, he realized the song was Songbird, something that Santana had sung during high school. He had to admit, the song fit perfectly for a wedding. He grinned at Sam who he noticed was gripping his sleeves, a nervous habit he'd formed in high school.
And for a moment, once everyone was lined up and Quinn was nearing the end of the aisle, Puck felt like he was back in time. As if they were all in high school in their senior year. To a time before Nationals, maybe even before Regionals. When none of them had any idea what they would be or who they would be with for the rest of their lives. A time of innocence and unknowing. When all it took to be happy was to be together, much like they all were today, singing a song and performing for an audience. Dressed up and living in the moment, not worrying about anything else around them.
Pucks eyes locked with Rachel's, and in that instant he knew she was thinking of the same thing. Would he ever see Rachel again after today? Santana's song came to an end as Quinn's father handed her off to Sam. And as the pastor began to speak, Puck found himself staring at Rachel who had her sights set on the happy couple.
He couldn't focus on the words being said, all he could think about was why Rachel reacted so badly to being reminded about their last encounter. Did she think that he didn't care about her? Well sure, at the time they were just friends, and he wasn't sure why what happened turned into what it did… but he'd made an effort to talk to her afterwards. Well as much as an effort as he could be expected to make.
Her eyes flickered over to him as if she could feel him staring and he noticed she had tears in her eyes. Leave it to an actress to get all emotional at a wedding, he grinned at her before turning towards Sam and Quinn, figuring he'd better at least pretend to watch what was going on so he didn't miss his queue to give the ring to Sam.
When the moment came, he quickly handed over the golden band, watching from the corner of his eye and Rachel did the same for Quinn. Within a moment or so the couple were kissing and rushing down the aisle, Puck following quickly to take Rachel's arm and follow them out.
Puck contemplated pulling Rachel aside to ask her the questions that kept running through his mind, but Mercedes had informed them that they'd be taking pictures right away back inside at the altar. Nearly two hundred poses later, the party was able to leave the cathedral with the rest of the wedding goers who had blown bubbles at the newly married couple as they ran for their "Just Married" car waiting at the end of the pathway. He couldn't help but grin at his handiwork from yesterday before rehearsal. Quinn's old car was decked out in red and gold streamers and balloons. The writing all over her car in the same colors. Why the two ever decided to have such a High School color themed wedding, he'd never understand. But at least they were both happy.
"Shoot. Noah would you mind holding onto my bouquet for a moment?" He looked to his left to see Rachel grimacing at her foot, holding her roses out, towards him. Taking the flowers he tried to get a better look at what was wrong. When she bent down he was able to see that the strap of her shoe had come undone. Like the pro she was though, she fixed it within seconds. "Sorry about that," she said taking her roses back as she flattened her dress back out.
"No problem. Need a ride to the hall?" he asked casually, hoping she'd say yes.
"Actually Kurt…" she trailed off looking towards the parking lot to see Kurt's BMW driving away. "Has left me requiring a ride apparently." She muttered.
Puck laughed, "Beyonce likes to do stuff like that. I guess we should get going then, I heard they wanted more party pictures at the hall."
Rachel groaned, "You'd think being in the business would make you accustomed to these things, but it gets old far too rapidly."
"Oh the hardships of being famous." Puck teased as he jumped into his truck.
"I'm not famous Noah."
He scoffed, "Maybe not yet, but you will be."
She was quiet a moment as he started driving. When he glanced over at her, he saw the broken girl for the second time within twenty-four hours. The same girl he found on the piano bench that day. She was biting her lower lip, debating on something. "Noah, why are you acting as if nothing happened?"
He suppressed a sigh. "I'm not the one that ran off saying good-bye and avoided you the rest of the year." He said bitterly. With a calming breath he continued, "I don't know how to act okay Rach? You seemed like you wanted to pretend it never happened, so I followed your queue. It's not exactly in my nature to talk about my feelings and shit with a girl when she runs off after sex."
He barely caught her grimace as he finished. "I- I wasn't sure what to do after that." She whispered. "It was my first time."
Puck nearly slammed on the brakes. "What?" he growled. Hadn't Finn spent an entire week gloating about how he finally nailed Rachel during their senior year? "What about-"
She cut him off, "Finn and I never went through with it. I allowed him to claim we had, but that night was honestly one of the most awkward experiences with another male I've ever had the misfortune of dealing with." He saw the way her nose crinkled in disgust as she reflected on it.
Puck was tempted to pull over now, but he knew Quinn would skin him alive if he didn't get there in a timely manner. "Why didn't you tell me?" he choked out. It hurt to know that quite possibly the most meaningful sex he'd ever had was also hers and he'd never known. He didn't know to be gentle with her, to make it loving.
It was Rachel's turn to sigh, "I don't know Noah. I wasn't really thinking at the time. All I knew was that whatever we were doing was making the pain go away and that…" she trailed off, and it frustrated Puck further.
"And that…?" he asked as he parked into the spot farthest from the hall, where most of the spots were still vacated. He turned to watch her carefully.
She fiddled with her purse a moment before looking up at him, "And that I had never felt more comfortable, more right with any other guy in my entire life. Granted, my list of males I'd been with prior was very short in comparison to your list of girls. But I haven't even felt that way since." She said this at a slower pace than she normally spoke, and when she was finished, she unbuckled herself and left the truck.
It took a few moments for Puck to calm his mind down, to come to terms with everything that she'd said. He took a few more calming breaths and tried to remember that today was his best friend's wedding. That he needed to put on a smile and pretend that the raging confusion wasn't taking place. He threw on his careful smile that he often used during the days that Finn thought he was Beth's father.
Thankfully the last of the pictures went by fairly quickly, and soon enough they were inside the hall, eating dinner at the head table. Puck was trying everything to distract himself from the words that were spoken in his truck, but every time he heard Rachel's name or her voice, he felt like someone was gripping his stomach. It didn't help that Sam and Quinn kept throwing him knowing looks. If they'd known all this shit all along someone should have said something so he wouldn't be so shocked right now.
After dinner, it called for the first dance of the bride and groom as a married couple. Their parents and eventually the wedding party would join halfway through the dance as practiced last night. Puck found that he was grateful that his sister often used him as a stand in while practicing for glee club; his dancing was still as good as it was during his senior year.
So halfway through 'Lucky' which, Puck had to laugh at considering it was Sam and Quinn's first duet together, he grabbed Rachel's reluctant hand and they joined the others on the dance floor. After a few seconds it was very apparent that Rachel felt uncomfortable after their discussion in his truck, and while he couldn't blame her, he didn't want to have to dance with a girl who didn't want less than a foot of space between them.
When the right moment came along, he spun her out and then straight into his chest before beginning to dance again, holding her securely to him. Rachel tried to keep a smile on her face, not wanting to ruin her best friend's special dance.
"You know," he said quietly enough that only she could hear again. "You're not the only one who felt that way about that time."
She blinked at him without understanding, "Noah, I'm not sure—"
"Did you ever get the roses I sent after watching your first Broadway show?" he questioned.
Rachel nodded.
"What color were they?"
She didn't even have to think before answering. "A dozen red, with a single white one in the center. But I don't see-"
"Why do you remember that? I'm sure you've gotten tons of bouquets within the past few years from all of your friends. Do you remember all the flowers they've sent you?"
By the way her mouth open and closed, he could tell he had her stumped. As the song ended, she admitted, "I'm not sure."
She began to pull away from him, but another slow song started, for the other couples to start dancing as well, making him pull her close to him again. "Kind of like how I'm not sure why I remember why your favorite slushie flavor is grape, or how you signed everything with a gold star, or how you were wearing a green sweater that I thought was pretty cute on you when you broke up with me on the bleachers." He stammered this all out very quickly and felt Rachel stiffen in his arms.
"Maybe you just have a good memory Noah." She whispered.
He chuckled, "Not even, I don't remember half the shit that happened in high school. And I sure as hell don't remember such unimportant crap about girls I liked back then."
"What are you trying to say?" she looked up at him, and he realized they'd both stopped dancing and he was just holding her now.
What was he trying to say? Puck didn't even know at this point. Hell he didn't even realize he still knew all of that stuff until he was rambling it out to her. He stared into her chocolate eyes, which were full of questions and fear. He did the only thing he could think of to explain what he was feeling.
He kissed her in the middle of the dance floor. At first she didn't respond, but after a second her arms tightened around his neck and she was kissing back.
Neither of them noticed their old high school friends around them grinning to one another. They didn't notice when Finn stormed out of the hall, or how he didn't appear for the rest of the night. They didn't see when Mr. Schue passed Shelby a twenty dollar bill, looking dismayed.
And neither of them noticed how they unintentionally fulfilled the unwritten rule of the best man sleeping with the maid of honor that night, and several more nights in the years to come.
AN: So this is my first Glee fanfiction, I hope I did it justice, and that you enjoyed it!