For SMC_27- because we your loyal fans owe you a few good fills.
Prompt: Puck puts all Rachel's stuffed animals into obscene positions. It's really funny, until she starts crying.
He loves her. He's even manned up and told her a couple of times. Even though she says the first time doesn't count cause he was balls deep down her throat when he said it, it's two more times than he's told any other girl he's been with.
He's known her since forever but it took him till their third year in college before he actually made a move on her. They've both grown up a lot since glee club, but he kind of digs that she's still the kind of girl who will actually wear the sweaters his bubbe knits for her. (His bubbe is his other favorite girl, so it's important to him that they get along.)
It's his Feb break so he flew down from Vermont to visit her in the city. He's waiting for her in her apartment cause she has a late class. He made sure to pick up four dozen bunches of flowers on his way in from JFK- one for every week they've been apart. As far as she knows they don't have a lot planned for the next ten days. That's total bull shit though. He's been busy making plans for what he hopes will be their best 10 days together so far. He wants this to be epic. See he'd bought tickets the day they went on sale for Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, but then shit started happening and Rachel freaked out about it being cursed. So he sold the tickets to one of his KDR buddies for four times what he got them for then called Rachel's parents to ask them what four shows they thought she'd want to see.
He looks at his watch and sees that she's running late. He's already showered and changed for the theater and she doesn't have cable so he's totally bored. He looks around her studio for something to do and he sees that she has some of her stuffed animals out. She doesn't really have that many- they are seniors in college now after all. He spots the giant pink cat he won for her at Coney Island last spring when they went on their first official date. It's on the floor next to her couch and a box of tissues. Avi, the ratty old lion her aunt and uncle got her as a souvenir on the trip the three of them took to Israel after her bat mitzvah is on her favorite over-stuffed chair. The teddy bear her parents gave her when she started preschool and the humpty-dumpty Shelby sent home with her from the hospital are both on the bed.
He wonders if she had a bad audition or something, cause even though his girl still wears knee socks now and then, he doesn't really remember her ever having this many of her comfort objects out at one time. Ever. And he used to have to go over to her house for Shabbos dinner a couple of times a year all the way through high school- and that includes the two years he made it his job to tie-dye her shirts with slushees.
He only has one official job in their relationship and that's to make her smile when she's having a bad day. (He's got a shit-ton of unofficial jobs that he's given himself cause he never wants to loose her, three of which relate to sex, and 47 of which relate to him not fucking their shit up. Job 32- call her and wish her sweet dreams every night- especially if he goes to a party since he doesn't need her worrying about him keeping it in his pants. He knows he used to be a man-whore, but he's reformed now. Don't judge.)
He figures if all four of the animals are out, chances are, she's had a bad day. It's time to go to work.
He walks around the apartment once to try to get a feel for the space. There are flowers everywhere of course, but this is his girl and if she needs something more, he's going to push it. Push it real good.
He checks his watch again. She's already 15 minutes late so he really doesn't have time to go get more flowers. He decides he's just going to fall back on his mad skills. The two things he's best at are making her laugh and making her cum. (He used to list making her cum first when he told her shit like that, but she got mad once and made him promise not to because it made it sound like their relationship was only about sex when it really was about more than that.)
Fuck it. She's always saying that she thinks funny is sexy so he decides to be funny AND sexy at the same time. He grabs the stuffed animals and starts arranging them in his favorite sex poses. It's fucking hilarious to see Avi mounting the pink pussy and Teddy the bear getting blown by humpty. He wonders how many dirty puns he can make using the words teddy bear and humpty dumpty. He'd be lion if he didn't say that the idea of a dirty limerick hadn't crossed his mind.
He's about to start snapping pics with his phone to post to Facebook and text to Finnessa when he hears her slip her key into the lock. By now he's got a full back story for his cast, and he wants to put on a dirty puppet show for his lady after they get back from Avenue Q.
He's on his knees next to her bed with his phone in one hand and the other spreading humpty's legs when she comes in. He turns to greet her with a big smile on her face- only she bursts into tears almost the instant she sees him.
He drops his phone and the doll and is off the floor and across the room in a flash. He takes her in his arms and just holds her for what feels like forever. He knows this isn't about him, or them. She just needs a good cry.
He reaches behind her and locks the door quietly because shit, this isn't Lima or Middlebury, this is NY-fucking-C. Safety first bitches. After he slips the chain into place he picks her up bridal style and carries her to the couch. He sets her down gently and kisses her forehead before whispering that he's going to get her a glass of water and he'll be right back.
He makes quick work of it and is back at her side before she's even had a chance to grab a Kleenex and wipe her tears away.
He takes the tissue out of her hands and gently wipes away her tears before kissing each of her eyelids. "I love you baby," he whispers as he tilts her chin up and kisses her once again, this time on the lips.
She gives him a tremulous smile and presses her lips against his cheek. "I love you too Noah." She takes the glass of water from him and takes a few sips while she gathers herself together.
He strokes her hair and pulls her on to his lap. "We have tickets for Avenue Q tonight if you feel up for it. If not we can order in and I can give you a massage till the food gets here."
She puts the glass down, (on a coaster of course because she is still Rachel Berry), and leans her cheek against his chest. She doesn't say anything for a moment, so he gives her a gentle squeeze to let her know she can take her time.
"I'm sorry… I'm a mess," she says softly. "I'm late."
His heart stops beating for a moment but then it kicks into overdrive.
"Everyday I wake up and I reach for the phone to call you and see how you're doing. You're the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing on my mind when I go to sleep at night Rachel. I fall more in love with you everyday and that's pretty fucking impressive since I'm already stupid for you. Nothing's going to change that Rachel." He tilts her chin up again so he can look into her eyes. "I was going to wait till next Friday to ask you and then till maybe after we graduate this summer for the ceremony, but I have Bubbe's ring over there in my bag and I'd marry you right this minute if you can find us a judge. But whatever you decide Rach, you gotta know I'm here for you."
She grabs the back of his neck and pulls him in for the kind of kiss they should have started off their reunion with. "You're not mad?" she asks when they finally break apart.
"I'm not mad," he replies with a soft smile.
"You wanted to marry me? Even before?" she asks quietly.
He laughs a little and looks away bashfully, "I can't really remember a time when I didn't want to marry you."
She rolls her eyes at him but can't hide her smile. "So if… I take a test and it comes out positive, we're going to be okay right?"
He gives her a gentle nudge and nods his head. He knows she's scared to death, but she's having a bad day and he's made her smile so he knows he's done his job and he's not lying when he tells her, "Hell Rach, we're going to be awesome no matter what happens. We're a couple of good-looking Jews. What could go wrong?"
~fin~