A.N.: Just a small one-shot that came to my mind after listening to Don't Stop Believin' (the original Journey version) on my father's car's radio this morning when he gave me a ride to school. Couldn't focus on anything at all in school because I had this in my mind. Anyway enjoy!
Disclaimer: If I owned Glee, Jonathan Groff would be a regular.
*/*
Just a small town girl,
Living in a lonely world.
She took the midnight train
Goin' anywhere
Rachel Berry has had a constant dream since she was little. It was really simple, just her surrounded by lights. Every time she had that dream she would wake up happy and feeling complete. As she grew up she understood the meaning of that dream: She was going to be a star, that meant living in New York and working in Broadway. That was her dream.
But life chose to send her not to New York, but Lima. Lima, Ohio. She grow up feeling drowned in that small cow town full of people who couldn't understand what it was like to have the need to be someone.
She never had any friend in high school who could understand her. Her Jewish mother, Shelby Corcoran, died when she was just eight. The most beautiful memory she had of her was whenever they sang together. The most important thing her mother had left her was her voice. Shelby had given to her daughter a voice that made angels green of envy. Her father had only given her a name and that was all he did before he left.
Growing up in foster care? Not nice. Not nice at all. She lived in deplorable houses with creepy people who didn't care about her. The only thing that kept her alive was the fact that she had a talent that would get her out of the hole she was in. She was a star and she was going to shine so brightly no one could ignore her. She knew this and when she was adopted, at the age of thirteen, her parents made sure she never forgot that she had talent and potential to be the star she wanted to be.
There was a Jewish community center in Lima where a woman gave piano lessons for free. Emma Schuester was a kind, loving, and a little freaky, woman. Her husband was a teacher, but sometimes he appeared and singed some tunes with his guitar to the kids in the center. They fell in love with Rachel and she fell in love with them. When she was about to start high school they adopted her.
They lived in a small house in Lima and they were very happy, despite the fact that Emma had OCD and Rachel had a "you're-not-my-real-parents-and-I-wanna-be-the-perfect-child-to-make-you-pride" phase where she would be unbearably perfect. The fact that she was ignored, and sometimes bullied by her peers didn't affect her very much because she had a loving home and a supportive family. The Schuester never had a problem paying her any class or lesson she needed to achieve her dreams, but when senior year came that changed. Emma got pregnant and every one was happy about it. But they needed a new house and they had to pay hospital bills and a lot of stuff. So Rachel realised that Juilliard was a dream that they could no longer pay for her.
After a lot of crying (especially by a hormones-driven Emma) she explained that she planned to go to New York, work her ass off and hopefully after a lot of saving and working she would get in to Juilliard and be able to pay it with her saving and the money they could manage to give her. That or maybe she could land very small roles in very small off-off-Broadway productions and make it big without going to Juilliard. They agree to that plan and let her go, hugging her and telling her to call them everyday and promising in helping her as much as they could. She put them Madonna as an example of beginning in the bottom, working hard and moving upwards. They believed her.
Seated by the window, she heard the sound of the train in the silent night and looked at the few lights of Lima she could still see far behind her. She smiled when she thought about how much more lights New York had and what came ahead for her.
*/*
Just a city boy,
Born and raised in south Detroit
He took the midnight
Goin' anywhere.
Noah "Puck" Puckerman was not a loser. When he was little and Dave Karofsky told him that he punched him and nobody ever dared to say it in his face again (except by Quinn). But he still wanted to prove it.
Mostly to his mom and his sister. He wanted to prove them that he wasn't a deadbeat and a fuck-up like his father, he could be someone and he would prove it. So what if he wasn't smart enough for school standards and couldn't do relationships? He could still become and awesome person.
When he was eight and his father had just left and his mother was trying to get his sister Sarah to stop crying, only to cry harder herself, he decided that he would make everything he could so that nothing and no one hurt his girls anymore. He picked his dad's guitar (that he had left behind) and started to play the only couple notes his father had managed to teach him before disappearing. That guitar was the only thing his father left him and it was both a burden and a precious and invaluable object. As he grew up he would stop his sisters crying by singing her some song while gently strumming his guitar. His home life was beyond different from his school life.
He was the biggest jerk in high school. He constantly got suspended and threw kids in dumpsters and slushied them. The only one who really knew him were his friends Matt, Mike and Finn. Finn above everyone else, because he understood him. Finn wanted to make his mother proud, make her effort worth it. They shared the same talents: music and football. Quinn made sure that Finn followed the popular jock path and eventually made him choose football as his key to make it big. Puck never showed any particular attention to anything, except woman and drinking, and burning things once in a while.
When he was sixteen, he and Quinn made the huge mistake of getting' drunk after Finn got angry with both of them for failing support him in his decision of joining glee club. They were so drunk they had some horrible sex that ended up with her pregnant. Out of guilt they joined glee club to make Finn happy, but he found out and got angry at them anyway. He lost his friendship with Finn and Quinn didn't let him be a part of his kid's life and he started to realise how much music meant to him, so he started to compose songs about his pathetic situation. The day he showed them to his sister she looked at him and told him that 'he was meant to do big stuff with his music', he didn't believe her but it was still nice to hear someone say they believed in him.
Quinn eventually let him be part of her pregnancy and be at the birth of their little girl. When he held little Beth in his arms he felt so happy and so sad that he wanted to cry like a girl right there. When he signed adoption papers he felt so devastated that he ran to Finn's house and his friend gave him a hug, let him in and let him beat him in every single videogame they played that night.
One day, during dinner in his house where Finn was invited his mother asked his friend what he was doing after school, Finn was planning on going to Wayne and somehow make it to the Detroit Lions in a few years, with Quinn alongside with him. He realised that he had never thought about what he could do after school. When asked, he said that since he was good in cars he might get some job in the zone. End of discussion.
But a few weeks later his sister told him that maybe he could be a famous musician. He laughed at the though of him and his guitar in the streets of L.A. trying to make it big. His sister pointed out that Madonna went to New York with $35 in her pocket and 'look where it took her'. He just kept laughing.
But next month Quinn came with some photos Beth's adoptive parents had sent them (they were kind enough to accept a very open adoption, which included visits and lots of info about his little girls life) and he realised that one day he wanted his daughter to be proud of who her real father was.
When he told his mother that he had bought a ticket to New York (his cleaning-pools business allowed him to go with more that 35 dollars) she looked at him and started to cry, but eventually understood and told him to go make his dreams (whichever they were) true and not to worry about them. He still did, anyway. He would call at least once a week.
When the train started moving he felt nervous like never before, but he realised that he was an adult now and he had to stop being such a pussy and do something with his life.
*/*
A singer in a smokey room,
A smell of wine and cheap perfume.
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on again.
She went and looked for a job the second day after arriving. She loved the city. She felt like she belonged in here. The lights, the movement, the noise, it was just so full of life.
She never thought that she would end up as a waitress/bar tender in a pub in Manhattan. She lived in the cheapest hotel she could find in the Bronx. She just started right away to save money for at least a small apartment. She loved her workplace, even thought it wasn't the ideal one. "Sue" was an awesome place to work, with the same pace of life of Manhattan. Full of people almost every night, they served awesome drinks, had a great dance floor and occasionally amazing live music. Some day she would try to sing up there. Sue Sylvester owned the place and she didn't care about the fact that Rachel was barely eighteen and couldn't drink-all that mattered was that she saw in Rachel's eyes the desire to work and go forward. After they shared their admiration for Madonna she accepted her under the condition to be a perfect worker. Working in there was amazing and she got along very well with her fellow co-workers, waitress Mercedes Jones (who wanted to be the next Beyoncé) and DJ wanabe Tina Cohen-Chang.
She also had a normal job in a coffee shop near her living place. She honestly loved what she was doing. She looked at auditions anywhere, not only in Broadway and off, but in any local theatre or anywhere she could gain experience acting. She also did a lot of touring and went to a lot of places just so that she could get used to the subway lines and learn the names of the streets.
He liked his job, seriously. He felt like the most awesome bar tender ever. He didn't even need sex to convince his cold-hearted bitch of a boss to hire him. She just told him that he had 'sex appeal' and his cocky attitude would be attractive to girls. He agreed because, c'mon, he was a stud.
The place was great and honestly, he loved this city. It was so badass, a complete concrete jungle where you could be rude or impolite and nobody would bitch about it. Women were amazing (he usually went to the girl's place because he was living in a shitty hotel room).
One night things are going slow and there are only a few tables with people. One of the waitresses (the one he watches sometimes, because she is a midget but has mile-long legs) goes to get the peoples orders and comes back to him asking for two gasses of vodka. He gave them to her but she tripped when she turned around and went straight to the floor, the sound of the glass breaking getting people's attention. Puck swore and quickly helped her clean the mess and served the drinks again. When Sue came in to the room everything was normal. The waitress came back minutes later with a big smile on her face.
"Thank you so much. You saved my life" She said while laughing. She had a beautiful laugh.
"You're welcome. You can pay me back anytime you want" He answered grinning.
"Whatever you're thinking as a repayment-forget it" She chuckled "What's your name?"
"Puck"
"Puck like the fairy? That was very sweet of your mother"
"No, 'Puck' like the short for Puckerman"
"And your name is Puckerman?"
"It's Noah Puckerman, what's yours anyway?"
"Rachel Berry"
"Are you serious? And you were making fun of my name?"
"Actually is Rachel Berry-Schuester, but plain Berry sound better and it's my birth name"
"You should have picked a man with a better surname to get married"
"I'm barely eighteen, I'm not married! Schuester is my father's surname"
"Then why do you wear a ring?"
"It was my mother, It's one of the only few things I keep from her."
"Oh sorry,. I didn't mean to ..."
"It's okay, I don't mind."
They stayed in silence for a while until he asked. "How did you convince Sylvester to let you work in here if you're eighteen? Because I had to use my incredible amount of charm and cockiness to convince her I wanted this job." She laughed at his, now obvious, amount of cockiness.
"Believe or not, we bonded over our fascination of Madonna and how hard she fought for her dream"
"You mean coming to New York with only $35 dollars in her pocket?"
"Kind of. How do you know that?" He realised that must be weird that a guy knows Madonna's freakin' life story. Now she must think that he's weird.
"My sister worships Madonna; she told me that I should come here and make a life of myself." She raised her eyebrows. "senior year ended and I didn't have anything planned for myself"
"When did you arrive to New York?"
"Almost a month ago" She let out a small scream that make him jump before opening her mouth in awe.
"Really? Me too! It's good to know I'm not the only one new in here!" She did have a point. It's good to know you're not the only one who is scared because they just did the most risky thing they've ever done. They had each other now.
People started to arrive and they exchanged numbers. They could call each other anytime the other had a problem. Not that Puck thought that he'd need help if he got lost, but if he ever felt very sick or needed a hand with something, he had someone to call who wasn't miles away.
When they closed that night at 4 am they decided to go to Central Park and watch the dawn from there. While they walked they talked about their lives and dreams. They told each other everything, because they needed a friend. And they found one in each other.
*/*
Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searchin' in the night
Streetlight people, living just to find emotion
Hiding, somewhere in the night.
"Noah" They have just opened and she's already buggin' him to ask him a favour or something.
"Seriously, everyone calls me Puck, please, call me Puck around clients or they'll think I'm whipped"
"It's just a name, 'Noah', big deal"
"What do you want this time Berry?" She let out an offended huff "See? It's not nice when people call you….however they way you don't want to be called!"
"Fine, Puck! Sorry I bother you so much!" She started to turn around, but he grabbed her upper arm to stop her.
"What is it?"
"That guy it's looking at me weird. It's the third night in a row he comes and today he stared at my boobs when I asked his order!"
Puck clenches his fist and looks at the guy who is not even subtle about his harassment or whatever. He walks over there, completely ignoring the way his co-workers look at him (like he's crazy or something, guy is nuts for even thinking of Rachel that way while Puck's around). He grabs the douche by the shirt and drags him out of the bar by the back door. Rachel follows him out and gasps when Puck throws the guy out of the place. "You get near her again, and I'll kill you"
The stupid guy just runs away. He turns around and she's looking at him all…weird. She throws her arms around his torso and holds him close. He can smell her hair and he can feel all her hot little body pressed against his.
"Thank you" she murmurs against his chest. "I don't know how I could ever survive New York without you". He just holds her (he desperately wishes to do more that just that) and then kisses her cheek. She takes his hand in hers (well, not really because her hand is…just…tiny) and they go back together
By the time they go back inside Sylvester is so freakin' mad that scared everyone. The girl who had to perform that night got a cold or something and couldn't make it. Everything was set for her and the stupid girl wasn't going to show up. Sylvester tried calling anyone In her agenda, but in a Friday night every decent singer had a place to perform already. Sue Sylvester was pacing around and every worker was looking at her scared. Suddenly Rachel stepped out and Puck furrowed his brow.
"I can sing"
"What did you say about Berry? You better not distract me if it isn't important"
"I know how to sing. I am a singer. An excellent singer"
Sylvester looked at her for a moment, everyone around praying the scene didn't end up in Rachel crying. "Can you pull out something Madonna-good in an hour?"
"Not alone" She answered before looking at Puck. But he looked at her in horror. This wasn't like the times they would sing some tunes in the park or sang along with the radio of the pub, this was performing. Of course Rachel didn't have a problem, girl had a voice. But he…
"Puckerman, are you useful for something"
"I can play the guitar…"
"And he can sing too."
Puck protested for five minutes before Sylvester threatened to fire him if he didn't got up there and 'help Berry rock this place'.
"I'm going to kill you. Slowly. Painfully."
"Oh c'mon Noah. We're good, we're talented. Consider this practice for you rock star future. You're going to perform in front of thousands!"
"It's not about the audience. I'm badass, I don't have stage fright or anything, but I haven't prepared anything".
"Trust me"
And he did. They got up there and sang all those song they sang whenever they spent time together. Mercedes and Tina actually joined them in a few songs. After an hour of improvisation, Puck was so tired that the only thing that managed to bring a smile to his face was when people started clapping and he looked at Rachel (she was glowing') before saying 'thank you very much, an applause for my partner, Rachel Berry!' after she presented him and they both bowed to receive the applauses they left the stage. He felt something in his stomach; he had just accomplished the first step towards fulfilling his dreams.
"Oh my God! That was amazing! One day Noah, one day, I'll be on Broadway and people will be clapping and God, if this felt so good…I can't wait to…" He interrupted her rambling with a tight hug.
"Thank you" he murmured in her hair.
"Why?" she asked pressed against his chest.
"You just reminded me why I had come here in the first place"
"Noah" she said, breaking apart.
"Rachel" he cupped her face in his arms and kissed her softly. She kissed him back and threw her arms around his neck. Their tongues met and they started to kiss more passionately…
"Get a room or I'll fire you"
*/*
Working hard to get my fill
Everybody wants a thrill,
Payin' anything to roll the dice
Just one more time.
"One day, I'll be living up there!" She said pointing to the top of a building in the Upper East Side.
"I'm sure you will, baby"
"I'm tired of that small little thing I'm living in! And I have to share it!"
"Babe, I share a so called 'apartment' with two guys, and I work with them. I mean, sure we can all be friend in the freakin' music store and we bond over nasty clients, but living with them? Not nice!"
"Stop whining! Not hot."
"I can't believe you just said that"
"I can't believe I'm so close to my dream house! Look where we're walking! One day, this will be my home" she says while spinning around on the sidewalk, completely ignoring the people around her. Her hair all over her face and her laugh getting' lost in the noise of the city. He takes her by the waist and pulls her close.
"You want Upper East Side?" She nodded "Then I guess I'll have to save a shit lot of money" He admitted with a sigh. She ignores the fact that this guy, who is a total badass and doesn't take relationships seriously, just promised her a home together.
"Well, I could live perfectly happy on the Upper West Side"
They both laughed and kept walking hand in hand, but the idea of living together never left their minds.
After two months of being a couple they decided to buy an apartment. It wasn't really a romantic reason, more like…'None of us can't pay a place by our own so why not being roommates?'. They even bought a small two-bedroom apartment. They were lucky because only and insane person would sell a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan at the price they bought it.
Living together was nice. Daily morning sex, daily fights, daily make-up sex and lots of couple stuff that, surprisingly, they seemed to be good at. They both had different day jobs and they were so busy during the night that they never really got to see much of each other, so they didn't got fed up with the other person presence. Puck could keep up with Rachel's craziness and she would accept his stupidities. She also said everyday how much she believed in him, reviewed the music he wrote, cooked him those delicious chocolate chip pancakes, and did a bunch of things for him. He supported her and went to see all of her performances, while keeping her happy and entertained.
Her parents were really cool people, a little weird (specially her mom) but they accepted him and they were very nice. Her year-old sister, called Amelia, was a beautiful girl with a big smile. Rachel was happy knowing that her parents weren't alone and they had something that keeps them happy now that she was gone. During their visits they would tell her not to give up, to keep accepting the small roles that she got in small off-off-Broadway shows, after all they were preparing her for the great leagues.
Puck's mother loved Rachel. At first the girl was a little nervous about meeting the woman, but during the woman's one-week visit she gained her heart. Ava Puckerman was thrilled to learn that Rachel was Jewish, because her mother had been and it was something she wanted to keep as a 'family bond' with the memory of her mother. Besides, as any mother, she wanted her son to be happy and she could see in his eyes that he was happy. His sister was thrilled to know that Rachel came to New York thinking that she could pull out a Madonna and be famous just like that, according to Sarah that meant that they were similar because they had the same line of thought and they were going to get along if the couple ever got married. Ava got thrilled at the idea of marriage; even if both Noah and Rachel said that it was way too soon to think about such a thing. Luckily she never mentioned kids.
*/*
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on
One particular Saturday, Puck was excited for Rachel to arrive. Recently he had been playing a lot in different pubs and bars and…places. A few minutes ago an agent had come up asking for him, after that she revealed that she had been watching him for quite a while now, and she offered making a deal and gave him her card. Apparently today was a big day for opportunities; Rachel had gone to an audition for an off-Broadway musical called 'The Iron Fist'. He was thinking about this when suddenly Rachel came running to the bar, still in her normal non-waitress clothes, and with a smile that lighted up the entire room.
"Noah! I got the part! I got the part! I'm on off-Broadway!"
She breathed heavily while looking at him from the other side of the bar.
"A manager offered me a deal"
She jumped to his arms from the other side of the bar, he picked her by the waist and passed her over the counter to hold her tight, and after that they kissed. They smiled against each other's lips; this was the happiest moment of their lives.
Sylvester agreed to let them free the next night so they could celebrate. After that she told them that it didn't matter that now they were achieving their dreams, they still had to be perfect at work. She also made sure remind them not to forgot where they begun. Even if one day they were as famous and successful as Madonna, they should not forget that Sue Sylvester gave them a job and allowed to perform when they needed it.
*/*
Don't stop Believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Streetlight people
"So let me get this straight, you two began at a pub in Manhattan?"
"Yes, we did"
"Bet you didn't see that one coming"
The audience laughed as the screen behind Oprah showed a photo of them performing in 'Sue'.
"And now here you are, years later, the power couple. Did you ever saw it coming?"
"Well I wanted to be in Broadway since I was little; I wanted to be a star. I wanted to be like Madonna"
"Well, you are, you have won two Tony's and an Oscar, now another Academy Award nomination…and you're only twenty-eight!"
"That's only a few; you should see all the awards she has in the house"
"I guess I never really imagined that it would really happen"
"What about you Puck, did you ever picture yourself winning so many Grammy before you were even thirty?"
"Hell no, I thought I would be performing in bars the rest of my life, never thought I would get called to make a song for a movie, let alone get nominated for the freakin' Academy Awards"
"Well, I always believed in you, from the very beginning."
The audience (and Oprah) let out an 'aww'; they clapped when Puck leaned towards his wife and kissed her cheek.
After doing and off-Broadway musical called 'The Iron Fist', she starred in a revival of West Side Story, after that TIF made it to Broadway and she won her first Tony, She starred in a revival of Guys & Dolls and then finally managed to be Elpheba, earning her a second Tony. When she did a movie under the direction of Sofia Coppola she never thought that she would actually get nominated and let alone win. Now a recognised actress, she could pick the roles she wanted and her latest movie, alongside Susan Sarandon, got amazing review and seven Academy Awards nominations (including Best Actress).
He couldn't have made it without her. He started in a very indie label and managed to release an album, but even though it had good reviews, it didn't have many repercussions between the public. He nearly gave up, but she told him to keep going, write more songs, follow his manager advice and opinion and he would make it big. His second album was an international success, suddenly he was everywhere. He was nominated to Grammy for "Best New Artist" and sold many records. During these era of his life he had to spent many time away from Rachel (who was already a Broadway celebrity and was preparing herself for Wicked), touring and doing interviews. When they got married, in a simple wedding with their families and close friends, the press decided to label them 'Puckleberry' and soon they became an icon. They loved married life; they loved waking up together and share the simple things about day to day life. After another album and many Grammys and awards, he was asked to compose a song for a new James Cameron movie and he got nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
"There's this rumour about you two playing matchmakers with you friends"
"Oh, that's a funny story"
"Just because we introduced them doesn't mean we were matchmaking or anything"
"So it is true that you introduced DJ Tina Abrams to her husband, who is your guitarist?"
"Yeah, they met at Rachel's birthday party"
"I do admit to have played a role in Mercedes Jones meeting her beau" The whole audience laughed at her confession. "What? I met Matt at Noah's birthday party and knew he was the man for her".
"Baby, the next party you practically pushed him all over her" Again the audience laughed at Puck's joke.
"The Academy Awards is in two days, what are you wearing for the ceremony?"
"A design by my good friend Kurt Hummel"
"And you Puck?"
"What every other guy is wearing: a tux. But of course I'll look better that everybody else in there, except maybe Rach"
"Are there any chance that we get to hear a duet any time soon?"
"Soon. Maybe in the next album. Maybe in Rach's next movie."
The audience that day left the studio thinking that Rachel was as nice and sweet as she seemed, and that Puck was probably the most funny and awesome husband/musician to ever walk the face of Earth.
*/*
Don't stop Believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Streetlight people
One night he came late from work in the studio and found Rachel asleep in their bed. It wasn't even that late really, but her pregnancy made her feel tired all day long (Emma had warned her about that one) and even thought she had tried to stay awake to wait for Noah to arrive, she fell asleep while looking at a repetition of last year's Academy Award ceremony, the one where both of them had came back home in New York with that little golden figure in their hands..
He walked over her and kissed her forehead before kissing her belly. "Hey baby, sorry to wake you, but I've got news."
"What is it?"
"Guess who wants to record a song with us?"
She though about it for a moment before answering. "I honestly can't think of who would want such a thing"
"Madonna baby, freakin' Madonna!"
"Really?"
"Hell yes!"
"Noah this is amazing!" She said while he hugged her close.
"I knew you'd be happy, hell I'm…like…dying of excitement or something!"
"Noah, I love you so much!"
"I love you too babe, and this?" He asked while kissing her. "This is perfect"
"Noah, the day we meet Madonna…"
"Yes baby?"
"We need to bring Sue with us or she might kill us"
FIN!
Please review and tell me if you liked this. And if you got any ideas to give me for a new fic, please let me know! My winter break started and that means two week to write freely, without homework or school five days a week!
Please review!