Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 68th cycle. Now cycle 69!

"Curtains"
Rachel/Puck, New Directions & Rent cast and crew
Project No Day But Today series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

FINAL INSTALLMENT

The curtain went down on McKinley High's final performance of Rent, to the thunderous applause of the audience. There was hardly a dry eye on that stage. They had done it, really done it.

The split of performances between the primary and supporting casts had worked out so much better than they'd anticipated. To some degree, Rachel guessed her main concern had been that this would turn into some kind of competition. Who had the bigger audiences? Who had the best audiences? Who got the longer applauses? Who did it better? There had been none of that.

That last day, knowing it was the last day, it had been as nerve-wracking as the first day, if not more. They wanted to finish strong, just like they'd started strong. They'd had some nights where some things had gone wrong, but this was all part of it and they'd both expected it and rolled with it. They'd been brought closer to one another over the months, all of them, but by the end of it they were properly all over each other, which was what made this day the hardest of all. After today, they had to go back to their lives as they'd been. They would still see each other around school, of course, but it wouldn't be the same. Today was the end of all that.

After the performance had ended, they'd all been so quiet. They would have imagined everyone being so loud, overjoyed that they'd gotten through it, that they'd had such a strong end, but the most they heard people talking was to give each other directions, asking for a brush, a hanger… They were tired, in a good way. When they were ready to go, that was when the silence turned into long hugs and tearful goodbyes, like somehow they wouldn't be seeing each other on Monday morning, which of course they were. The last two to go, as they always were the first and last to arrive and leave, were Rachel and Puck. They'd had their premiere party, and they would have their finale party, but it wouldn't be tonight. They needed this night to process everything.

"Hey, want to stop somewhere to eat?" he asked when they got in the car.

"Yeah, definitely," she smiled. It was late, but they went and got pizza. Sitting across from each other, neither had spoken for a while, but then most of that was because he was busy looking at her. She was off in her own thoughts somewhere, and wherever that was, she looked happy to be there. She had that smile on her face, and he had no idea what she was thinking exactly, but he liked how it showed in her smile, her eyes…

"Look at you all swoony eyed," Rachel spoke all of a sudden, and he coughed, sitting up, making her laugh. "It's sweet," she told him.

"What am I supposed to do, I mean look at you, you're smiling all over the place," he pointed out.

"I am, aren't I?" she sat up, too. "I'm still just sort of… I'm waiting to wake up any second now."

"It's not a dream," he promised her.

"Still feels like one."

"Then don't wake up. You say, hey, I'm the boss here, so keep sleeping."

"Yeah, I'll do that," Rachel agreed. "I wish I could do this forever."

"You will, are you kidding me? This was just the beginning. Years from now, they're going to show clips from this at some kind of lifetime achievement award thing, you know? What's that thing they always say, 'from humble beginnings.'"

"I don't know if humble is the word they'll use," she dragged the straw along in her glass.

"I'm not always big on words, but I know they'll have some great ones for you."

"Well what about you? Do you think it's something you'd like to do, too? I mean, more than here."

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I can always try, right?" When their pizza came, they reminisced about their run of shows, the highs, the not so highs, the near lows. They didn't dwell on those lower moments, but they could rave on and on about the highs. This one's performance of this song, that one's dance, the laughs, the moments that got the audience every single time…

He knew her biggest concern remained the same, even as they'd started these shows. She still worried about what they would become, now that the show was done, now that they would be a couple in their own rights, without the musical to support them. He wished she knew how happy she made him, how he was still scared, even now, of reverting into the 'old' Puck, the one who should have screwed things up with her so long ago. She was scared they'd drift apart; he was scared he'd drive her away.

With the pizza disappearing from their plates, they had been surprised by a handful of girls coming up to their table, saying they'd been at the performance that night, that they'd been watching the vlog. They didn't go to McKinley, or to any school in Lima or Ohio; they'd come in from out of state. They wanted to have their picture taken with them, get their autographs… Alone again, Puck couldn't stop chuckling, seeing Rachel so touched; she couldn't stop smiling.

"I think we should make this a weekly thing," he suggested.

"What, this?" she asked, indicating the retreating girls.

"Well, hey, we are famous," he smirked. "No, but I mean this, pizza night."

"Every week?"

"Okay, we can go other places, too. But date night, alright?"

"Sounds good," she beamed.

"Maybe we can discuss some more plans, too."

"Plans for…"

"Another musical, next year. The time off will be great, but we can't pretend like we don't have an opportunity here. People know us now. We could put our names out there. By the time you get to New York, they'll know all about you. And maybe… I could go with you," he put it out there, and she gave it a thought.

"Any titles in mind?"

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!