I Promised You A Treehouse

by Isabel5

Puck/Rachel-If Kurt is going live with Rachel in NYC, he needs her to be happy because if Rachel's not happy, no one's happy. That's where Puck comes in, because Kurt knows if anyone can make Rachel happy he can, now he just has to convince Puck. Oneshot

Puck leaned back against the couch, a satisfied moan of pleasure escaping his lips before he could stop it, as all of his muscles relaxed simultaneously. It was the first week of summer and he was already exhausted. He needed to earn as much money as he could now because once school started in the fall, he wasn't going to be able to work at all. Not if he wanted to keep his scholarship, which required him to maintain a 3.0 or above. With a lot of help from Rachel, he'd worked his ass off all year for it and she would kill him if he blew it now.

The thing was, ever since he'd stopped offering the more personal services to his desperate housewife clients, the tips had been pretty scarce. So to make up the difference, he'd had to take on more work. That meant that his client list had more than doubled since last year. And that meant that this was the first chance he had to just sit down and relax since school ended.

His mom and had taken his sister Dani to some lock-in thing at their Temple so he had the house to himself all night long. There was a still steaming hot triple meat pizza with extra bacon on the coffee table, a cold six-pack of beer in the fridge in the garage, and the first Die Hard movie cued up and ready to go in the DVD player. In short, the most enjoyable night in a guy could have that didn't involve naked women and five gallons of chocolate pudding.

He twisted the top off this first beer and took a long drag from the bottle, closing his eyes in ecstasy as the cold brew slid down the back of his parched throat. Just as he hit play on the DVD and took his first bite of pizza, the doorbell rang upstairs. He scowled in the general direction of the front door as he studiously ignored the ringing and took another bite of the piping hot pizza.

There was a party at Mike's house tonight. He'd been getting texts all week from everyone asking him if he was going to show but he'd just ignored them. The last thing he felt like doing after working all week in the hot sun was getting plastered and waking up dehydrated with a monster hangover on his one day off. He'd turned his phone off as soon as he'd finished work that day, hoping everyone would get the hint and leave him the fuck alone. He didn't count on them dragging their asses to his house.

The doorbell stopped ringing and he relaxed again, finishing off the first slice of pizza and reaching for the second when the knocking started up. And kept going. And going. He wanted to ignore it, he really did, but it was hard to concentrate on the finer points of John McClain's badassness when there was an incessant tap-tap-tapping on his front door.

He violently hit pause on the remote, pulled himself off the couch with a bit of difficulty and stormed off upstairs to the door. When he got there, he flung it open, hoping that the annoyed expression on his face would be enough to scare whoever it was off. But his most intimidating scowl was only met by a bored expression.

"Kurt?" Puck faltered, being caught just slightly off guard by the other man's presence on his door step.

"Have you eaten dinner yet?" Kurt said by way of a greeting.

Dumbly, Puck raised the slice of pizza into the air and Kurt wrinkled his nose in disgust. "I guess there's no accounting for taste. Whatever, I'm starving and I'm not eating that. We're going to Breadstix."

"No, we're not," Puck said, slowly coming back to the conversation.

"That wasn't really a request," Kurt told him in the same tone one would have used with an unruly child. "Now I'd be ecstatic if I could get you to put on a decent shirt and maybe a pair of jeans without holes in the crotch—"

"Easy access," Puck smirked and Kurt shuddered at the image.

"—but I'm not in the habit of asking for miracles, so I suppose I should be grateful you're wearing shoes. Come on, you're taking me to Breadstix."

"Dude, look," Puck shifted from foot to foot a bit uneasily. "You're my boy and all but you're so not my type. And even if you were, your boyfriend's a really good friend of mine, not to mention a pretty cool dude. I wouldn't do something like that to Blaine."

Kurt resisted the urge to point out that he did something like that to Finn but just rolled his eyes. "While I'm sure my boyfriend would be relieved to know that my virtue is in fact safe with you, this is not a date." When Puck still didn't look convinced, Kurt sighed dramatically. "I'm buying."

Puck smirked, dropping the pizza slice onto the table in the hall and stepping out of the house, pulling the door closed behind him. Kurt really should have just said that to begin with, Puck was never one to turn down free food.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"You sure this isn't a date?" Puck asked as the waiter brought them to a small secluded table for two in the back corner. "Cause it feels like a date."

"It's not a date." Kurt rolled his eyes. "There is absolutely no chance of you getting lucky tonight."

"Yeah, definitely not a date then," Puck smirked and even Kurt smiled a bit at that.

"Besides, you're not exactly my type either." He picked up his menu and Puck paused, staring across the table at him.

"What do you mean I'm not your type? I'm everyone's type!" Puck said indignantly. "Have you seen my guns?"

"Oh, honey," Kurt smiled, patting Puck's hand before going back to his menu. "The Fettuccine Alfredo sounds amazing but pasta on top of the breadsticks," Kurt shook his head. "It'll take a week to work off the carbs."

"If you want the fettuccine, get the fettuccine," Puck grunted. "Screw the carbs or whatever. You look fine."

"Thank you, that's very sweet," Kurt said. "Delusional but sweet, nonetheless."

"Whatever, it's the truth," Puck shrugged and set his menu aside.

Kurt ducked his head and blushed then paused and looked back over at Puck, narrowing his eyes, "Are you…you are! You're flirting with me!"

"And you blushed," Puck smirked grabbing a breadstick and biting it in half. "Not your type, my ass," he continued, managing to be smug even with his mouth full.

"Yes. Clearly, you're irresistible," Kurt said sarcastically as little pieces of bread flew from Puck's mouth.

"Damn, right I am," Puck nodded. "So if this isn't a date, then what the hell are we doing here?"

"Can't a guy just want to spend some quality time with his best friend's boyfriend's best friend?" Kurt said nonchalantly from behind his menu. "You know, I think I will go for the fettuccine." He folded up the menu and set it down.

"Okay, me and Finn haven't exactly been best friends since I knocked up his girlfriend. If anything your boyfriend is my best friend," Puck pointed out. "And anyway, we're gonna see each other next week at Rachel's barbeque so try again."

"Fine," Kurt huffed. "As you know, Rachel and I will both be attending AMDA in the fall while Blaine will of course be at NYU. Now, Rachel and I have been planning on rooming together since junior year-I don't do dorm rooms," Kurt shivered at the thought and Puck gave him a strange look.

"What's wrong with dorm rooms?" he asked. He had his own room assignment form still to fill out somewhere in the mess of papers lying on his desk.

"Two words—communal bathrooms." Kurt said and Puck laughed. "So anyway, Rachel and I found this ridiculously tiny apartment off campus and Blaine's being a real pain about it. He's complaining about how I'm a horrible boyfriend and if he should have to suffer through on campus housing then so should I. Because that makes total sense," he added with a roll of his eyes.

Puck looked over at Kurt and offered him a small smile. "As interesting as this all is, what exactly does it have to do with me?"

"There's another unit open in our building," Kurt said. "But Blaine can't exactly afford the rent on his own and he seems to think living with a stranger in a dorm room is preferable to living with a stranger in an apartment."

Puck totally understood that. Either way you're living with a stranger, but at least in the dorms you know you've got something in common seeing as how you go to the same school. And based on the questionnaire that he'd skimmed over at the beginning of the summer, you could submit a list of preferences and have some control over the type of person you're paired with.

"Again, still not sure what this has to do with me."

"Well, I started thinking what if he didn't have to live with a stranger, what if he could live with someone he knew? Then I started to think of other people we knew were going to be in New York," Kurt looked over at Puck. "It's come to my attention that you'll be attending City College in the fall." Kurt said, his tone a mixture of honest surprise and a little bit of hurt that he was just now hearing about it.

Puck hadn't really told anyone where he was going. Rachel knew because she helped him fill out his applications and write his essay and get his grades up. His mom knew because she helped him figure out the financial stuff, and Mr. Schue knew because he'd helped Puck with his letters of recommendations.

He figured it was no one else's business what the hell he did after graduation. And by the way no one even bothered to ask him what his plans were, he realized they honestly either didn't care or just assumed he'd stay in town and work at Sheet's 'N Things like the Lima loser they all thought he was.

"Yeah. And?" Puck asked trying to act cool about the whole thing.

"Well, first of all, congratulations," Kurt told him and Puck didn't roll his eyes or come back with a sarcastic retort because he could tell the other boy actually meant it. "Second of all, since you're going to be in New York anyway, and since you and Blaine have a startling amount of things in common, it only makes sense that the two of you room together."

Puck thought about that. Kurt had a point. After Blaine transferred to McKinley and became more immersed into their strange little group, the more it became increasingly obvious that Puck had far more in common with Blaine than anyone would have imagined. They could and would talk endlessly about subjects ranging from sports to video games to a strange affection they both had for 90's rap. They even hung out alone together sometimes, going to ball games or out to see the new horror film which Kurt and Rachel refused to go to on principle. Their relationship both confused and amused Kurt to no end.

"So this really isn't a date. This is you setting me up with your boyfriend," Puck smirked. "Kinky."

Kurt looked over at Puck as the waitress walked to their table to take their order. "How much of what people say do you actually listen to and how much do you just make up in your head?"

"It's generally about fifty-fifty," Puck shrugged unapologetically.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"So the apartment?" Kurt asked him once their food arrived. He expertly twirled some fettuccine around his fork as Puck shoveled baby back ribs into his mouth.

Kurt had kindly pointed out that they weren't exactly kosher when he ordered them and Puck just shrugged and said, "I won't tell Moses if you don't."

"It sounds really cool," Puck told him. "I mean living with Blaine sounds a million times better than living with some roommate picked out by a computer. And I'll actually feel a hell of a lot better thinking about you and Berry alone in the city if you're just down the hall but I'm still not sure."

"It's not big but it's got two bedrooms—well, technically one bedroom and one room that looks like a closet and they call a study but the super assures us you can fit a full sized mattress in there. Granted, you won't fit much else but it's New York, you can't be picky."

"Look, I don't care if it's small," Puck told him.

"That's what she said," Kurt mumbled and then looked up at Puck in shock. The only person more surprised than Kurt at this outburst seemed to be Puck if the look on the other man's face was any indication. "I—"

"Dude," Puck laughed and reached his fist across the table. "That was kind of epic." Kurt smiled sheepishly and leaned forward, bumping his fist against Puck's awkwardly.

"Well, right." Kurt said. "So if it's not the size?"

"I don't exactly have tons of cash lying around to pay for an apartment, especially when my scholarship pays for student housing," Puck said slightly embarrassed.

"Exactly, your scholarship pays for student housing," Kurt said undeterred. "The thing is, student housing on campus is expensive, more expensive than actually living in the city sometimes. Most scholarships will gladly pay for off-campus housing when it's cheaper than living on campus or you can just get the housing allowance in cash and use that to pay the rent."

"Really?" Puck asked him intrigued.

"That's what I'm doing," Kurt nodded and Puck let out a breath.

"Well hell, if I can pay for it through the scholarship then, I'm in." Puck said. Kurt smiled and clapped excitedly. Puck rolled his eyes but he couldn't help feeling just a little bit better knowing that he might have friends close by when he got to New York.

They finished eating and Puck leaned back in his seat, resisting the temptation to unbutton his jeans, knowing it would just make Kurt roll his eyes yet again and studied the other man as he neatly wiped his mouth and pushed his plate away.

"You could have called me or texted me about the apartment or hell, Blaine could have asked me himself." Puck leaned forward and stared Kurt down. "What's really going on?"

Kurt took a deep breath, finally ready to talk about what he'd actually brought Puck there to talk about. Maybe he needed the extra carbs to fortify him or something. "So you know I love Finn, I really do. And not in that totally embarrassing puppy dog way I did sophomore year. He's my brother. He's the first person I go to when I need a jar opened or something off a high shelf," Kurt said, "and usually I can trick him into doing the chores I don't want to do by convincing him that they're actually fun a la Tom Sawyer." Puck looked at him confused. "Whitewashing the fence?" Kurt explained further but Puck just shook his head.

"Who the hell is Tom Sawyer?" Puck asked. "Wait, was he the guy in Chemistry who burned off his eyebrows?"

"I—" Kurt stopped and stared at him. "That was you!"

"Oh yeah. That fire ball was awesome," Puck said.

Kurt's eyes rolled up to the ceiling and he mumbled softly under his breath, "Please lord, remind me again why I thought this was a good idea."

"Why you thought what was a good idea?" Puck asked him.

"Yes as I was saying, Finn is good for many things, but when it comes to Rachel, it seems like the only thing he's good for is seriously fucking her up."

"I hear that," Puck picked up his glass and held it in the air. Kurt smiled and followed Puck's lead and the other guy leaned across the table, clanking their glasses together in a toast.

"So I take it you agree with me that their decision to get back together last summer was the most ill-thought-out and potentially catastrophic decision in the history of ever?" Kurt asked.

"Is there something worse than catastrophic?" Puck asked and Kurt smiled. "Look, it was stupid and more than just a little annoying but try telling that to Rachel. It's like she has these special Finn blinders on that give her super crazy tunnel vision."

When he'd first heard about the epic Finchel reunion after Nationals the year before, he'd gone straight to Rachel's house because he thought there wasn't any possible way she could be that stupid. He'd been wrong.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Puck held onto the trellis with one hand as he pushed Rachel's window up with the other. He grabbed onto the ledge and swung his leg over before pulling himself all the way into the room and then promptly tripped over something and fell face first onto her carpet.

His nose throbbed as he flipped over and looked under the window where Rachel's desk had apparently found a new home. "The fuck Berry?" he asked kicking the chair away from him. His knee was throbbing.

"You could use the door like a normal person," she laughed and he looked up to see her hovering over him, her hair falling down like a curtain around her face as she smiled.

"Doors are for pussies." Puck grunted as she held her hands out to him.

"Yeah,' cause that was real badass, the way you tackled the ground with your face," she joked pulling him to his feet.

"Seriously, what's up with the redesign?" Puck looked around the room, touching his nose gingerly. No blood so it wasn't broken. Her desk wasn't the only thing that had a new home. Her bed was on the opposite wall from where it usually was, her dresser had been shoved into the corner behind the door and it was all just…wrong.

"Thought I'd try something new," Rachel shrugged.

"So it's true?" Puck looked up at her. "You and Hudson are back on again?"

"We discussed some things after Nationals and decided we should give us another try," Rachel smiled.

"What about New York?" Puck asked her.

Rachel frowned over at him, "What about New York?"

"That's still the plan right? New York, Broadway?" Puck asked.

"Of course that's still the plan," Rachel scoffed.

"And Finn knows that?" Puck asked. Rachel's eyes narrowed as she nodded once. "He won't go with you, you know."

"I know," Rachel pushed herself off the bed. "And I don't understand why everyone feels the need to remind me of that. Constantly. You, Quinn, Kurt, my father's. I'm a big girl, Noah. I know what this is, I know this relationship has an expiration date."

"And that's good enough for you?" Puck asked her.

"Yes, yes it is." Rachel snapped at him. "I'm not like you. You've got girls dying for a chance to be with you. I don't exactly have guys lining up to be with me in case you failed to notice. But Finn-he wants me and it's nice to be wanted sometimes," she collapsed back on to the bed.

"I don't like it." Puck told her sitting down on the bed which was now facing the door. You could see all the way down the hallway. Rachel frowned at him and he glanced over at her, clarifying the statement. "Your room. I don't like it."

"Neither do I," Rachel sat next to him on the bed and bit her lip. "Finn did it. I mentioned to him that I was a bit nervous about New York because I'd lived in this room my whole life. So he snuck in and re-arranged things while I was at dance. He said it was to help me get used to living in a strange place. The thought behind it was sweet, the execution…not so much. I don't have the heart to ask him to put it back."

They sat there in silence for a while. "So there is an expiration date?" Puck asked, back on the subject of Finn and Rachel again.

"Graduation," Rachel said.

"And after that?" he looked over at her.

"New York," Rachel smiled brightly.

"Okay, but if this whole thing blows up in your face, I reserve the right to say 'I told you so'." Puck said and Rachel laughed.

"Deal," she agreed.

Puck sighed, knowing there was nothing more he could do at this point. Once Rachel made up her mind, there was no one, save Barbara Streisand, who could talk her out of it. "How do you open the closet?" he asked her, tilting his head to look at where her elliptical machine was blocking the door from being opened.

"I can't actually," Rachel said sheepishly. "I've been living off of what happened to be in the laundry room and whatever I have in the drawers. Though I suppose I will have to get in there eventually."

Two days later she came home from her dance class and everything was right back where it had been. There was a post-it note on her mirror from Puck telling her that she'd be fine in New York. She'd be too busy being a star to notice she was living in a strange place. His postscript ended up telling her in no uncertain terms not to move anything under the window again.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"It doesn't matter anyway. It's over now." When Kurt didn't say anything, Puck paused. "It is over right? Graduation was almost two weeks ago. That was the expiration date."

"She's extended it," Kurt said quietly and Puck leaned forward.

"She what?" Puck asked him, sure that he'd obviously just heard him wrong.

"She extended the expiration date." Kurt said louder this time.

"To when?" Puck asked.

"The end of the summer," Kurt said, his tone clear he wasn't kidding.

"Right," Puck scoffed, leaning back in his seat. "And when summer's over, what then? Does she extend it again? She knows Hudson's going to OSU right? He's practically already moved into his dorm room. So what they do a long distance thing? That shit never works. He'll end up one night at some frat party, drunk out of his mind because dude can not hold his liquor, bitching about how his girlfriend is all the way in New York and next morning, he's doing the walk of shame across campus after crawling out of some skanky sorority chick's bed. Meanwhile, Rachel's crying all night on my shoulder because her douche of a boyfriend was too busy fucking a random to return any of her calls." Puck spat out angrily and Kurt just smiled on in amusement. "That shit is so not kosher."

Kurt resisted the urge to point out that none of that had actually happened yet and it was ridiculous to be upset with Finn over something that Puck had only imagined he might do but the fact that he was actually, genuinely mad about it just made this a whole lot easier.

"So what are we going to do about this?" Puck asked finally and Kurt's smile got even bigger.

"The real question is, what are you going to do about it?" Kurt asked him.

"Me?" Puck stopped being angry for a minute to take the time to be confused.

"Yes, you," Kurt said. "Look, while I'm not quite sure things would play out exactly as you've imagined them to, this whole thing isn't going to end well, and until it ends all it's going to do is rain down misery on us because if Rachel's miserable, everyone's miserable."

Puck knew that all too well. Rachel became downright unbearable the closer they got to Sectionals and Regionals, pushing the glee club just to the limit of what any normal person could be expected to handle. Puck would never forget the time that Quinn threatened mutiny, citing horrendous torture under Rachel's rule.

Rachel simply glared at the blonde, crossed her arms over her chest and said, "According to the Geneva Convention, nothing that I've done to you yet constitutes torture. Believe me, I checked. It would never hold up in a court of law. On the other hand, watching you try and fail to land a simple dance move is the very definition of torture. It's a simply heel turn-lock step-reverse turn-ball change. Do you think you might be able to get that at some point this year or should I just stick you in the back and give you a flower to wave?"

Finn had to hold Quinn back while Rachel reminded everyone once again that this was their last chance to win and if they screwed this up for her, she would sneak into their houses while they were sleeping and smother them with a pillow. The scary part was, none of them really wanted to take the chance that she was joking. The scarier part was Santana was totally backing her up and everyone knew that she wasn't joking.

"Look, I have to live with her next year and there is no way that I'm going to be able to deal with my first year of college and living in a new city for the first time if I also have to deal with a miserable, mopey, Finn-sick Rachel. I just can't do it. She's my best friend and I love her but I will kill her before I go through that again." Kurt shuddered then, thinking about how he spent the majority of his junior year listening to Rachel drone on and on about Finn and how much she loved him and how perfect they were together and how much she missed him. "I just…I can't do that Puck, don't make me do that."

"Calm the fuck down," Puck said sharply at Kurt's sudden turn into hysteria as he looked around the restaurant, making sure they weren't drawing anyone's attention. "I just don't understand what you think it is I can do about it. Rachel's in love with the dude, what could I possibly say to change that."

Kurt took a deep breath and composed himself. "I've been thinking about this for a while now and I think I've got it figured out. It's not about Finn anymore, it's not about some epic romance that just can't be denied. Don't get me wrong, I think there was a time when she did love him, but that time has come and gone."

"Then what the hell is it about?" Puck asked confused.

"She's scared," Kurt said.

"Of what?" Puck asked.

"Of college, of leaving Lima, of New York, of everything she has ending." Kurt said.

"That's ridiculous," Puck scoffed because there was no way in hell that Rachel Berry was scared of anything, much less New York. New York had been her dream since she was eight years old. Her dads had just taken her to see 'Beauty and the Beast' on Broadway and she'd come back, bursting with excitement and told him all about it, in excruciating detail, even going so far as to sing each and every song for him. That's when she declared that she was going to move to New York and be on Broadway.

He'd told her that was stupidest thing he'd ever heard and that it would never ever happen and she'd kicked him in the shin and exclaimed, "My name will be in lights one day, Noah Puckerman. Lights! Just you watch" before storming off. That had been their first fight ever.

"Look, Rachel's not like us," Kurt explained. "She doesn't make friends easily. Hell, she'd never even had a friend before glee club. On first glance, she's quite abrasive and painfully self centered and it takes a while to get to know how really amazing she is and most people just don't have the patience to do that. And she knows it. She's terrified of being alone in New York the way she was alone for most of high school. She's terrified that no other boy is ever going to feel about her the way Finn feels about her. And underneath all that confidence, there is a part of her who knows when it comes to Broadway, there are just as many girls out there with a voice that might not be as big as hers, but a nose that's just a little bit smaller."

Puck stopped to think about that, really think about that and he realized that Kurt just might be onto something. He thought about her telling Finn how nervous she was to live in a strange place on her own. She thought about how frantically she made each and every one of the gleeks, even Quinn, swear on the holiest book of their preferred religions that they would keep in touch.

"I've got the friend angle covered and between me, you and Blaine, I think we'll be able to convince her that she's just as good if not better than anyone else who ever stepped foot on a Broadway stage but as far as the guy thing goes, it's not really my territory if you know what I mean." Kurt said. "So that's where you come in."

"And where is that exactly?" Puck said.

"You need to remind Rachel that there are other guys out there who find her attractive, that Finn isn't her only option." Kurt said.

"And just how exactly am I supposed to do that?" Puck frowned.

"I don't know. You seem to be the expert in seducing Finn's girlfriends away from him," Kurt said and Puck offered him an unamused glare. "Look, I can't even begin to explain the relationship you and Rachel have. It's like your lips have this magnetic attraction. You can't help it. If you're alone for too long, you just start making out."

Puck cringed. They did have a tendency to find themselves in compromising situations. Like at the beginning of the school year when Lauren dumped him for some new guy on the wrestling team and Finn decided that not having Rachel at all was better than only having her for a year. Rachel had come over to take her mind off of Finn and help him take his mind off of Lauren and before he knew it, they were sprawled out on the couch in his basement, his hand sliding under Rachel's bra as her fingers fumbled with his belt buckle. The dryer had gone off loudly, shocking them out of a lust induced haze and then his mom walked down to collect the freshly laundered towels, totally killing the mood. Rachel and Finn got back together a few days later.

Then there was the time over winter break when Rachel had gotten her acceptance letter to NYU and her and Finn had gotten into a huge argument because he'd already secured his spot at OSU and the reality of the situation hit home for the first time. Finn had gone with his mom to her sister's house for the holiday and Rachel suggested they use that time apart to think about what they really wanted. Apparently that resulted in Rachel and Puck, stripped down to nothing but their underwear in Brittany's brother's bed at her New Years' Eve party.

Santana had interrupted them that time, bursting into the room, drunk off her ass screaming, "It's 2012, bitches!" before throwing up all over the carpet. They'd helped her rinse out her mouth, forced two bottles of water down her throat then tucked her into bed soon after that. But neither one of them really felt like finishing what they'd started after scrubbing bright pink vomit out of Brittany's carpet.

"I'm not—that's not—me and Rach—we—" Puck squirmed in his seat, desperate to be out of this conversation and away from Kurt's knowing smirk. "It's not like that, dude."

"It really is. Dude." Kurt said.

"No, look, she's with Finn, whether we like it or not. She's not a cheater," Puck protested. "And I'd never ask her to be."

"Of course not, that's not what I meant." Kurt said. "Just, you know, be Puck. Flirt with her a bit. Make her think you're into her. Make her feel wanted, special. Just so she knows that Finn's not the only guy out there who finds her attractive."

"I don't know man. I really don't feel comfortable messing with her like that," Puck said, disgusted at the thought. "That's the kind of shit Finn pulled on her sophomore year and I won't do that. Not to her."

Kurt leaned back in his chair and stared at Puck, as if he looked at him long enough it would make him change his mind. Puck just leaned back in his seat and stared right back at Kurt, unmoved.

"Ok, fine." Kurt shrugged. "There's this guy in our theater group that's got a little thing for her. Maybe I could get him to—"

"NO!" Puck shouted, the volume and force of his protest surprising to him, if not to Kurt.

"Ah-ha!" Kurt said, leaning forward excitedly, ignoring the confused stares from the diners around them. "You like her."

"What?" Puck asked, feeling as if he'd just been set up.

"Rachel." Kurt clarified. "You like Rachel. You like her like her."

"I do not," Puck wrinkled his nose up.

"Do to!" Kurt practically squealed with excitement. "You totally like her. Oh my God, how did I not see this before?"

"You didn't see it because it's not—I don't—there's nothing there to see!"

"But there is," Kurt protested. "There totally is. Maybe you just can't see it because you don't want to. You can say that Quinn's pregnancy is what screwed up you and Finn's friendship all you want but you could have come back from that. It was Rachel. It's always been Rachel. You sang for her. You quit football for her. You did that stupid video for her. You slashed Vocal Adrenaline's tires for her. You're going to New York. For her."

"I—" Puck started but he had no idea what to say. Everything Kurt had said was true.

"You're going to New York for her," Kurt repeated, a bit slower this time as if testing the words out on his tongue, swirling them around and trying to make some sort of sense of them. His eyes widened suddenly, as if he'd just stumbled upon some great secret to the universe. "You're going to New York for her because you love her."

"I do not," Puck protested sharply, his heart suddenly beating wildly in his chest at Kurt's words.

"You're in love with her," Kurt practically whispered, the revelation almost too much for him to handle.

"Shut up," Puck hissed. "Stop saying that." Kurt slapped his hands over his mouth as if trying to hold something massive in and Puck glanced around the room frantically, tossing enough bills on the table to cover their dinner and tip before grabbing the other boy's arm and dragging him from the restaurant out into the parking lot.

Kurt was practically jumping up and down as Puck shoved him into the passenger seat of his truck. He waited until Puck had climbed into the driver side to explode though. "You are totally and irrevocably in love with Rachel Berry."

Puck stared at the other man, his mouth open to protest, to tell him he had no idea what he was talking about, to tell him he was crazy. But he couldn't, because Kurt wasn't crazy, he knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Oh. fuck." Puck groaned smacking his forehead on the steering wheel as Kurt screeched like a girl beside him, jumping up and down in his seat and clapping excitedly as if he hadn't just turned Puck's entire world upside down.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

A week later, Blaine found Puck sprawled out on the couch in his basement, his phone once again turned off, halfway through the third Die Hard.

He looked at the mess of crushed up Red Bull cans and empty pizza boxes and Cheeto bags scattered around the couch and then over at Puck with a raised eyebrow. "Did you even shower today?"

"Fuck you," Puck growled, not taking his eyes off the television.

"No thanks, I've got a boyfriend and you're not my type," Blaine said and Puck turned to glare at him. He opened his mouth to point out that he was everyone's type but stopped.

"You talked to Kurt," Puck rolled his eyes.

"He is my boyfriend," Blaine reminded Puck, shoving his feet to the ground so he could sit on the couch. "So you're in love with Rachel?"

"Your boyfriend needs to learn to keep shit to himself," Puck groaned. "What the hell are you doing here anyway?"

"Nice," Blaine glared at him. "You've been ignoring everyone's calls all week. I was elected to come by and make sure you were still alive."

"Mission accomplished," Puck mumbled. "You can leave now."

"Then you're not coming to Rachel's barbeque, I take it?" Blaine asked him.

"Does it look like I'm going to the damn barbeque?" Puck snorted looking down at his Cheeto-stained t-shirt and ratty boxer shorts.

"You look like a homeless person," Blaine said wrinkling his nose. "Smell like one too." Puck grabbed his shirt and sniffed before turning his head in disgust. So maybe a shower wasn't the worst idea in the world but he made no move to actually get up.

"Ok, look I get that your whole world was flipped upside down with the realization that you're in love with Rachel and you're not exactly sure how to act around her right now. But she's been planning this barbeque since before graduation and she's really excited about it so get off your butt, take a shower and let's get going."

"Nice try but not gonna happen," Puck said.

"Look, not only is Rachel gonna be super pissed if you don't show up, but you promised her dad you'd man the grill. Remember what happened last time?"

Puck winced, "His eyebrows grew back eventually."

"Puck," Blaine scolded him.

"Finn can handle it then," Puck said annoyed. "He's Rachel's boyfriend after all." Puck spit out then stood up to glare at Blaine. "You know what? Finn can start picking her up from ballet on Thursdays too, and Finn can climb up her freaking trellis at 2 in the morning to check under her bed and in her closet for monsters when she decides that a Supernatural marathon with Tina is a good idea." Puck started pacing. "And you know what Finn can be the one that convinces her she's good enough and that she's gonna make it and that none of those stupid girls in New York can hold a candle to her—or her voice—when she comes home from her first audition crying because the director tells her she's not exactly what they're looking for." Puck stopped then and turned to Blaine. "But wait a minute, he can't do that can he? Because he's not even gonna be in New York and yet once again, she chose him."

"Oh my god. You're jealous," Blaine smiled.

"I'm not jealous." Puck sat up.

"Of Finn Hudson," Blaine added and Puck glared at him.

"I'm not jealous of Finn Hudson," Puck said more sternly this time but Blaine didn't waver so he sighed, relenting. "She extended the deadline."

"I know." Blaine said.

"There's no way this can end well." Puck said.

"No, probably not," Blaine agreed with him.

"And when it all comes crashing down around her, I'm gonna be the one left to pick up the pieces." Puck said.

"Or," Blaine looked over at him. "You could do something about it now before it has a chance to crash and burn?"

"Like what?" Puck snorted.

"I don't know, how about telling her how you feel?" Blaine offered and Puck looked over at him like he was crazy.

"What the hell good would that do?" Puck asked.

"It would let her know how you feel." Blaine said as if the answer was obvious. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"You don't even get it do you? Rachel is like legit the best thing that ever fucking happened to me. She was there for me after Beth even though she knew it would piss Finn off. When I was in juvie, she wrote me letters, like actual letters on stationery and drove two hours there and back every Saturday afternoon to visit for forty-five minutes. And she brought me homemade cookies every time. She believed in me when no one else even gave a fuck. She was the only person who ever thought I could go to college and she's the only reason I got in anywhere." Blaine seemed to be taken aback by Puck's sudden startling confession. "If I told her how I felt, it could ruin everything."

"Or it could make everything so much better," Blaine said. "Look, tell her, don't tell her. It's your choice. Either way she's still your friend and she really wants you there. So you can either man up and come with me, or you can sit here. By yourself. All night. Pining."

"I do not pine." Puck rolled his eyes.

"Sure, fine, whatever you say," Blaine nodded, humoring him. "So you're just going to sit in your basement in your underwear eating your body weight in artificial cheese because you think it sounds like a good time?" Puck punched him in the shoulder and Blaine stumbled back a little before heading up the stairs. Sometimes he really hated the guy.

Puck could hear him making small talk with his mom. She thought Blaine was the best thing Puck ever brought home, you know, besides Rachel. When Puck brought up the prospect of living off campus, his mom had been against it at first. Then she found out he'd be living with Blaine and she immediately offered to cover whatever portion of the rent his scholarship didn't.

And his little sister Dani was practically in love with the guy. Puck had seen her scribbling his name surrounded by teeny hearts in the corner of her notebook the other day so he should probably do something about that before it got too bad. Puck heard music start up and rolled his eyes figuring she was making Blaine sit through her dance routine. He'd probably sit through the whole thing too and clap, and tell Dani how awesome it was. When she'd tried to show Puck, he'd thrown a cheeto at her head and told her to get lost. Blaine was always making him look bad by comparison.

But he also had this way of making Puck see the truth about a situation without actually doing anything. He'd known Finn since they were eight years old and yet Finn didn't know him half as good as Blaine did. Puck was convinced he was pulling some serious Jedi mind tricks on him. When he'd confronted Blaine about the possibility, all he'd gotten was a blank expression in response which prompted a weekend-long Star Wars marathon. Now anytime Puck got mad at him, Blaine would just wave a hand in front of his face and say, "These are not the droids you're looking for." And strangely enough, Puck wasn't really pissed anymore. Fucking Jedis.

Rachel was really excited about the stupid barbeque. They'd only been out of school for two weeks but she said that now they were all going their separate ways, they'd have to make a concentrated effort to keep in touch and this was the first step in making sure they didn't lose touch.

She'd been texting him all week about what kind of food to serve. She wanted to be sure there was something there for everyone. She'd found three different recipes for potato salad and they all sounded so good that she couldn't pick just one so she was going to make all of them. She was also making her famous sugar cookies and Puck would sit through anything, even an excruciatingly awkward barbeque for those fucking cookies.

And hell, maybe Blaine was right. Maybe, if he told Rachel it wouldn't mess everything up, maybe it would make everything better. What other option did he have really? Spend the next four years in New York, living down the hall from her and watch her go from man to man until she got married? Was he just supposed to live the rest of his life with Rachel always being a 'what if'? Puck's stomach twisted at the thought.

"Fuck that," Puck said, taking the steps two at a time and crashing into the living room with a loud thud. "Save it for later squirt, Blaine and I have a barbeque to get to." Puck ruffled Dani's hair, interrupting her mid spin.

"You're fine," Blaine assured her glaring at Puck. "I'm not going anywhere with him until he showers." Blaine wrinkled his nose again. "At least twice." Puck rolled his eyes but headed up the stairs to his bathroom without further argument. "Okay, take it from the top," Blaine called to Dani, clapping his hands together.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

When Puck and Blaine stepped into Rachel's backyard, her face lit up in the biggest smile he'd ever seen. She excused herself politely from her conversation with Tina and practically skipped over to them. She greeted Blaine with hug, lifting up onto her tip-toes to place a kiss on his cheek. "I'm so glad you're here!" she said to Blaine, cutting her eyes quickly to Puck. "Kurt came over early to help me set up but he's spent the last two hours telling Daddy—in detail—how he thinks the new addition should be decorated."

"Your dads are adding on to the house?" Blaine asked confused.

"No," Rachel shook her head. "With all of us in there cooking earlier, Daddy mistakenly mentioned that the kitchen looked a bit small-"

"Oh no," Blaine said.

"Oh yes. In less than five minutes, Kurt had a new layout sketched out. He wants to tear down like five walls, turn Dad's office into a pantry and I'm pretty sure the addition he wants to put on the back of the house crosses over into Mrs. Warton's property."

"Say no more," Blaine smiled down at her. "I'll go save him."

"You're an angel." Rachel beamed at him as he hurried across the lawn.

When Blaine reached Kurt and Hiram, she let out a small sigh of relief and then turned her attention back to Puck, flashing him that brilliant smile again. "I was worried you weren't going to come."

"I told you I would," Puck shrugged.

"You haven't been answering my calls, or my texts. I thought—I thought maybe you were mad at me." Rachel ducked her head.

"I could never be mad at you," Puck nudged her shoulder with his. "That's like trying to be mad at a puppy. I was just…going through some stuff."

"Oh," Rachel said. "Well if you ever need to talk, I'm here."

"Yeah, I know," Puck nodded. "Actually, there was something I wanted to talk to you about." Puck saw Rachel's Dad headed his way and sighed. "Later?"

"Of course," Rachel nodded enthusiastically as Leroy slid an arm around Puck's shoulders.

"Noah, it's good to see you," he clapped him on the back. "The meat's all ready, I got the charcoal you told me to get and the grill is nice and clean."

"Well then, let's get cooking," Puck smiled as the other man led him over to the grill.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The barbeque was a hit. Puck showed Rachel's dad the correct way to light the coals and how long to cook the hamburgers on each side. At one point he went inside and came back out with a small note pad and Puck shook his head. "You can just, you know, call me if you have any questions."

"Really?" Leroy asked relieved.

"Yeah, totally," Puck shrugged.

The food was great and Rachel squealed when Puck presented her with a plate of grilled veggies. He'd found them in the fridge and Hiram said they were for her salad but Puck figured anything was better grilled so he tossed them over the coals just long enough to get some marks on them. Her enthusiasm was tempered a bit when Finn presented her with a hamburger that he'd fixed for her, forgetting once again that she was a vegan.

Finn had been doing stuff like that all day long. Little stuff that just made it even more glaringly obvious that extending the deadline was possibly the stupidest thing Rachel ever did. It also made Puck even more sure that telling Rachel how he felt was the right thing to do. It didn't help that every time Finn did something ridiculously Finn-like, Kurt shot him a knowing look.

The sun started to set and as much as everyone had been kind of making fun of Rachel for the barbeque, they were all pretty reluctant to leave. So they turned on the outdoor lamps and lit a few candles, sitting around the table telling stories of the good old days. At one point Rachel, Tina, and Brittany managed to convince the guys to get up and do a number for them, for old times' sake. Rachel's dad even went up and got her guitar for Puck to play.

It got darker and still no one had left. Kurt's phone beeped with an incoming text and he picked it up off the table, only to drop it immediately, clapping excitedly. "What's going on?" Finn asked with a small laugh. "Is there a sale at Barney's or something?"

Kurt turned to Finn with a patronizing smile and shook his head. "Barney's doesn't have sales, Finn." Finn's face fell and Kurt turned to Blaine. "You got the apartment."

"What?" Puck perked up at this and turned to Blaine. "We got it?"

"You got it," Kurt nodded excitedly, hugging Blaine.

"Sweet," Puck smiled, leaning across the table, holding out his fist for Blaine to bump with his own.

"Wait," Santana sat up straighter and looked from Puck to Blaine with a narrowed gaze. "What apartment?"

"Puck and I are going to live together next year," Blaine explained.

"But Blaine's going to school in New York," Brittany said.

"Yeah," Kurt nodded in agreement.

"It's just…you know that's a really long drive," Brittany said. "New York's like almost 2 hours away from Lima."

"More like 19," Blaine said sweetly.

"You'd have to leave the day before your class just to get there on time." Brittany said. "Unless you have a time machine." She paused looking between Blaine and Puck. "You don't have a time machine too, do you?"

"No Britt, I don't have a…" Blaine paused and studied her for a second. "Wait, too? As in also, as in you have a time machine?"

"What?" Brittany scoffed and looked away. "No, of course not." She leaned in closer to him an narrowed her eyes. "Why, what have you heard?"

"The apartment's in New York," Puck cut in, figuring it would be better to stop this before it went too much further.

"Well but then how are you supposed to make it to your shift at Sheets 'N Things on time?" Brittany asked Puck confused. "You guys really didn't think this through, did you?"

"I think Puck's moving to New York with Blaine," Tina said slowly.

"Don't say it like that," Puck said wiggling his eyebrows at Blaine. "Kurt gets all jealous, then again who wouldn't get jealous about their boyfriend moving in with me. Have you seen my guns?"

Rachel nudged Puck's shoulder with hers, shaking her head at his antics.

"What the hell are you gonna do in New York?" Santana asked laughing hysterically.

Puck's gaze turned to Santana annoyed. The words, "Your mom," were on the tip of his tongue before he was interrupted.

"For your information, he's going for school," Rachel said, jumping to Puck's defense.

"You got into school in New York?" Mike asked Puck as his face split into a grin. "Dude, that's awesome." Mike leaned across the table for a fist bump and Puck gave it to him.

"But how?" Finn asked confused and the whole table turned to him. He sat up straighter, realizing he'd just said that out loud. "Oh wait, I mean….how?" Finn asked again.

"Rachel," Kurt spoke up this time and everyone turned their gaze from Finn to Rachel. "What did you think she was doing all year? Forcing him to study, making him do his homework, helping him bring up his GPA with extra credit assignments."

"You did all that?" Finn asked her. "For Puck?"

"Seriously?" Kurt looked around the table. "None of you guys noticed?"

"Wait, is that why you started going to math class?" Santana asked. "And Spanish? And History?"

"What you thought I was gonna spend the rest of my life working at Sheets 'N Things? Get an apartment down the street from my mom's house and die a Lima Loser?" Puck asked, his voice a little more harsh than he intended. Rachel laid a calming hand on his arm and that relaxed him slightly. Then she pinched him and he looked down at her in surprise only to see her giving him a look that he understood instantly. She hated it when he used that term.

"Whoa dude, chill," Santana sat back a little looking at the two of them. "I just can't believe you two are willingly going to be in New York together."

"It can't be that much of a surprise, they've only been planning this since they were eight," Hiram walked over to the table and sat a plate of cookies down. Puck immediately grabbed for two and would have gone back for more if Rachel hadn't of smacked his hand away.

Everyone turned to Hiram now, including Rachel. "Oh come on, don't tell me you don't remember." Rachel shook her head slowly, her eyes darting from her daddy to Puck in confusion. "It was just after your birthday," he sat down at the table when he realized he had the undivided attention of the group. "We took you to see Beauty and the Beast, that's when you decided you were going to a Broadway star."

"I remember that," Rachel said quietly.

"When we got back, you and Noah got into a huge fight. You didn't talk to each other for weeks." Hiram said. "And neither of you would tell us what happened. Finally, Aviva just got fed up with the whole thing and told Noah that he'd better come over and apologize, figuring the likelihood of it being his fault was better than it being Rachel's."

"I remember," Rachel said slowly. "You came over but you refused to apologize."

"Well, why should I have apologized?" Puck looked over at her. "You're the one who kicked me in the shin."

"Because you called me stupid!" Rachel squealed.

"I didn't call you stupid," Puck countered.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Your mom said you're supposed to apologize to me." Rachel said. They'd been sitting on the steps of her front porch in silence for almost ten minutes.

"You're the one who kicked me," Puck said surly.

"Because you called me stupid!" Rachel glared at him.

"I didn't call you stupid," Puck said finally. "I said living in New York would be stupid."

"No it wouldn't," Rachel protested.

They sat in silence again for a while. "Why do you want to live there anyway?" Puck asked.

"Because that's where Broadway is," Rachel shrugged as if that were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, but I'm here," Puck said gruffly and Rachel turned to him confused.

"No, I thought…I mean you're coming with me, right?" Rachel asked and Puck turned to her, a little bit hopeful.

"What would I do in New York?" Puck grumbled.

"Well they have the biggest park in the world. My daddy took me there. It's so big, it has its own zoo." Rachel said.

Puck looked over at her. "That does sound kind of cool. I like monkeys." Rachel nodded, proud of herself for coming up with the plan. "You really want me there with you?"

"It wouldn't be any fun without you," Rachel shrugged. "Like this summer when I went to dance camp instead of JCC. It was really cool and I learned a whole bunch of stuff, but the girls were mean and one of them pushed me in the mud and you weren't there to tell me it was okay. And there was this lake and I was the only one brave enough to go in and you would have gone in with me because you're not scared of anything." Puck puffed up a bit at that compliment.

"Yeah," Puck said. "JCC was pretty lame without you this year. Jacob wouldn't leave me alone and I got in trouble for hitting him because you weren't there to tell me not to."

"Then it's settled," Rachel smiled. "You'll come to New York with me."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"They planned it for months." Hiram laughed. "Every time I saw them together they were talking about New York and what they would do and where they would live. Rachel was going to be on Broadway of course and wanted to live in the Statue of Liberty's torch. Noah alternated between fireman and lion tamer at the zoo and was convinced they were gonna build a tree house in Central Park."

"Wow," Kurt said, barely containing the demented smile on his face. "So you could say this whole thing has been ten years in the making."

"I'm gonna help Leroy with the dishes," Puck pushed away from the table and turned to go into the house. He could feel Rachel's eyes on his back and only relaxed when he'd turned the corner away from her.

If Leroy was surprised when Puck offered his services washing plates and bowls, he didn't show it. He simply handed over a rag and moved a bit to give him room. Puck was grateful that the other man didn't try and engage him in conversation, simply allowed him time with his thoughts. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten about that, about New York and Rachel and their big ideas. He still had a notebook somewhere in his room with the plans to the tree house they were gonna build.

"It's fate," A voice said from beside him and Puck turned surprised to see that Kurt had taken Leroy's place at the sink. "You and Rachel. It's fate."

"We were kids," Puck shrugged, his excuse sounding weak to his own ears.

"Yeah but kids normally get everything right. They're not bogged down with insecurities and pressure and doubts and fears. They know what they want and they go for it." Kurt shrugged. "It's adults that always mess things up."

"You think?" Puck asked him quietly.

"Look, this isn't about me anymore. As much as I want the Finchel Show to be over for my own selfish reasons, in the end I just want Rachel to be happy. And you. You deserve it just as much as she does. And you make each other happier than anyone else ever could." Kurt knocked Puck's hip with his own, drawing a small smile from him. "Tell her," he said seriously.

"Right," Puck nodded, wiping his hand as he turned around.

"Wait," Kurt reached out and grabbed his arm. "I wrote a little something for you, just in case." He pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket and held it out to Puck.

"What's it say?" Puck asked taking the paper and looking at curiously. It was light purple with little black swirls all over it and Puck caught a faint hint of something flowery.

"It's a sort of script," Kurt said. "More of a guideline really. It's just—you may only get one shot at this and we both know you're not the most eloquent of speakers."

"Thanks," Puck said lamely, slipping the paper in his pocket.

"Now go get her," Kurt reached forward and punched him lightly in the shoulder.

Puck laughed and clapped Kurt on the shoulder. "Thanks, man." He tried his hardest to ignore Kurt's squealing as he walked back outside. Blaine was helping Hiram pick up the last of the trash as Leroy cleaned the grill but besides the three of them, no one else was in the back yard. Everyone else must have gone home. "Where's Rachel?"

Blaine nodded up to the second floor where Puck could see a light on in her bedroom. "Said she had to go look for something."

Puck nodded and walked back inside, taking the steps up to Rachel's room two at a time. Her door was cracked slightly so he just let himself in and smiled at the sight in front of him. The floor of her room was covered in half full boxes that were surrounded by piles and piles of stuff. Like she'd unpacked and repacked them a couple of times already.

"You know we aren't leaving for another two months right?" Puck called out when he didn't see Rachel anywhere in the actual room.

"Noah!" She called out from the closet. "Can you give me a hand please?"

Puck walked into the closet to find her basically doing a split in mid-air. She'd somehow climbed half-way up the wall, one leg balanced precariously on a shelf on either side of the closet. "Thank God," she relaxed a bit when she saw him, peering over her shoulder. "It appears that I'm stuck."

"It does appear that way," Puck laughed and shook his head. "How do you want to do this?"

Rachel huffed, blowing the bangs out of her face as she studied the situation in front of her. "Well, I think the best thing to do would be if you were to position yourself under me and I could just lower myself – stop smirking Noah it's not attractive." The smirk dropped from Puck's face immediately and he glared at her. She wasn't even looking at him. "Please. Like I have to be looking at you to know you're smirking."

"Has Blaine been teaching you his Jedi mind tricks?" Puck asked as he walked under her legs.

"What's a Jedi?" Rachel asked and Puck looked up at her in annoyance to find her smirking down at him. "Kidding. Blaine made me sit through that Star Wars marathon with you guys remember?"

"Alright, slowly now." Puck called up as she dropped one leg and then other around his neck. "Of all the days for you to wear shorts." He joked and she slapped his shoulder as she got herself settled. He turned back toward the room but Rachel gripped him tightly.

"Wait, wait, wait, I almost had it." Rachel said.

"Almost had what?" Puck asked.

"I knew it was in here somewhere," Rachel said grabbing something from the top shelf. Puck walked her back to the room and lowered her down to the bed to find her clutching a bright pink Hello Kitty notebook. She climbed down and handed it to him.

Puck looked down at the cover and smiled when he saw eight-year-old Rachel's girly handwriting proclaiming in large loopy letters: Rachel and Noah's Amazing Adventure in New York City!

"I had totally forgotten about this until Daddy told that story." Rachel bit her lip as Puck sat on the bed and flipped the notebook open. There were pages and pages of Rachel's grand plan for the two of them in New York. She wrote about how she was gonna be a star on Broadway and get flowers every night and that her name was gonna be up in lights so big, the whole world could see it and everyone would love her. Then she wrote about how by day Puck was gonna be a fireman and save kittens from trees and babies from burning buildings and be a big hero and by night, he'd be a lion tamer at the circus.

There were even drawings, little stick figure Rachel in a ball gown with a microphone and flowers scattered all around her. Two stick figure Pucks were right next to her – one in his fireman's uniform holding an axe and the other in safari clothes with a chair and a whip. Puck smiled down at the page for a minute before slamming the note book shut and jumping up off the bed.

"Why are you packing already?" He asked staring at all the boxes.

"It's a big move. I just wanted to make sure that I brought the right things with me." Rachel walked over to a box and dug through it a bit. "It's just…I can't seem to decide what exactly the right things are. And if I start off with the wrong things then that could throw the whole plan off balance and it just…" Rachel sighed. "I want it all to be perfect."

"It's never gonna be perfect," Puck told her after a second. "Sometimes it'll be good and sometimes it'll be bad and sometimes, if you're lucky, you might even get amazing, but if you go chasing after perfect, you're always gonna be disappointed."

Rachel's smile fell a bit but she nodded, ducking her head.

"Hey," Puck got her attention. "You're gonna kill it you know."

"I know," Rachel called absently over her shoulder as she dug through the box at her feet.

Puck sighed, and crouched down next to her. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. "Rachel, I'm serious. You have legit the most amazing voice I've ever heard. Even after all these years, I still get chills every time you sing. I feel like high school, like Lima was just a rehearsal for you and New York is opening night." Rachel smiled at him softly.

"You think so?" Rachel whispered and Puck nodded the hand on her chin moving slowly to cup her cheek.

"What's that old saying?" Puck asked. "The worse the rehearsal, the better the show? Well, I figure between the slushies and the bullies you've had, like, the worst rehearsal ever. If anyone deserves a great opening night, it's you. It's like you've just been waiting for your real life to start and once you get to New York, there'll be no stopping you"

"And you'll be there? Right?" Rachel asked him.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." He assured her before dropping his hand and standing up.

Rachel smiled, stood up and turned around and Puck pretended not to notice her wiping her eyes. "Earlier, you said there was something you wanted to talk to me about." Rachel asked him.

Puck smiled at her, then his gaze slid past her and onto the Hello Kitty notebook lying on the mattress and he remembered the last time he'd seen it. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay, you know, with me and Blaine moving into your building. New York is your thing and I don't want to like get in your way."

"You could never be in my way, Noah," Rachel assured him. "And New York's not just my thing, it's our thing."

"Good, 'cause as it turns out, our apartment is just three flights below yours. Exactly three flights below yours. Connected by a fire escape." He smiled at her.

Rachel smiled brightly at him. "I'll make a point not to block the window."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"How'd it go?" Kurt asked excitedly as Puck walked out of the house and toward Blaine's car. "Was there crying? Who are we kidding this is Rachel, of course there was crying. Did she pick you?"

"No," Puck said gruffly.

Kurt frowned. "Well did you read the thing?"

"No," Puck said.

"That's the problem then, just go back and read what I wrote—"

"No," Puck snapped. "I didn't tell her, okay. She didn't choose me because I didn't tell her."

"Why not?" Blaine asked confused.

"Yeah why not?" Kurt asked.

"Look, even if she did feel the same way about me, she's crazy talented and insanely beautiful and if I have anything to say about it, her name is gonna be up in lights one day. I won't be the one to hold her back."

"How could you ever hold her back?" Kurt asked confused. "I mean, we all heard the story. It's fate."

"Yeah, you want to hear the rest of that story?" Puck asked annoyed.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Puck scraped the bottom of his shoe on the Berry's welcome mat, leaving a large smudge of mud in its wake. He rang the doorbell and then shoved his hands in his pockets and waited. When the door swung open Rachel was standing on the other side, Hello Kitty notebook clutched in her hands.

"Noah! I wasn't expecting you. I've been giving your tree house idea a second thought," she grabbed his arm and pulled him in the house.

"Rach, wait." Puck pulled away from her. "I came over here to tell you that I don't think I'm going to be able to go to New York with you."

"What? Why?" Rachel frowned.

"It's my dad. He left last night and this time I don't think he's coming back. Look, Dani's still really little and Mom told me that I was the man of the house now so I gotta take care of them. I can't do that in New York."

"Oh," Rachel deflated. "I understand. I mean it's your family. They come first."

"Yeah," Puck nodded.

"Maybe I could just stay here too. I could help you take care of Dani. I could teach dance or—"

"No. You gotta go, Rach," Puck said. "You gotta go and be Belle and sing on that stage and have your name in lights."

"But I don't want to go without you." Rachel said.

"You'll be fine without me. Hell, you'll probably be better off." Rachel moved to protest but Puck turned around and headed to the door. "Look, Mrs. Snyder said she'd give me five dollars a week if I mowed her lawn and took out her trash and mom's gonna need to the money so I gotta go."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"She was ready to give it all up for me back then and we were only 8. What happens if I don't make it? What happens if I have to come back to Lima with my tail between my legs and I end up dragging her with me?" Puck shook his head. "How does that make me any better than Finn? I'm not gonna be the guy that she throws everything away for, I won't let her."

"But—"

"Just drop it okay?" Puck snapped. "Can you just take me home?" he asked getting into the car and slamming the door.

Blaine nodded at Kurt to tell him he'd see him tomorrow then climbed into the driver's side. The ride back to Puck's was pretty quiet. Blaine pulled up into Puck's driveway and when he reached for the door handle Blaine finally spoke.

"You know I never really thought of you as a pussy."

"Excuse me?" Puck turned around and glared at Blaine. "In what universe am I a pussy?"

"The universe where you're not going after Rachel because you're scared," Blaine said with a smirk.

"I'm not scared," Puck insisted and Blaine raised an eyebrow. "I'm not."

"Right, you're doing it for her own good." Blaine said.

"I am," Puck insisted.

"So you don't hold her back?" Puck nodded and Blaine shook his head. "Except see, now I may not have known Rachel for as long as you guys, but one of the very first things I learned about her was that no one can hold Rachel Berry back. I also know that if Rachel wants you in her life, she does everything she can to keep you in it and if she doesn't, then she doesn't bother. Look at how single-mindedly she went after Finn. And she got him."

"The thing is, she didn't just make sure you got into college, Puck. She made sure you got into college in New York. She wants you in New York. She wanted you there and she got you there. She didn't even think to ask Finn to try. That sound like the type of woman who would let you hold her back? Just think about it, okay?"

Puck nodded and climbed out of the car. He heard Blaine's car pull out of the driveway as he opened the door and stepped inside, making sure to lock it behind him. The light was on in the kitchen and he made a mental note to yell at Dani for that shit in the morning. She always snuck downstairs after their mom went to bed for a midnight snack and honestly, he could care less about that, it's not like she was a fucking gremlin or something, it was the fact that he helped pay the electric bill. Rule was you turned the light off when you leave a room, not only was it good for the planet or whatever but it saved him about twenty dollars a month.

He detoured into the kitchen to turn off the light but stopped when he saw his mom sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in front of her as she sorted through the massive pile of papers in front of her. "Hey," she smiled over at him when she noticed him standing in the doorway.

"Hey," he walked in the room and sat down across from her, noticing that the papers were all bills. He frowned. "What are you still doing up?" he asked her.

"Just crunching some numbers," she shrugged letting the paper in her hand fall to the table top as she picked up her coffee cup.

"Is everything ok?" Puck asked worried. He'd thought they were doing good, well, good enough that his mom didn't have to sit up nights pouring over this shit all worried like.

"Everything's fine," she assured him tiredly. "Just trying to figure out where to get the extra money to cover what's left of your rent."

Puck's face fell. "The scholarship's not gonna cover it all?"

"With utilities and food and it'll be about $300 short." She said rubbing her neck.

"Shit," Puck sighed. He'd actually been getting pretty excited about the whole living on his own thing – well, living with Blaine. Whatever. "Okay, well I still have time. I can call the housing department tomorrow. I'm sure there are still some spaces open and if not, then they'll put me on the waiting list."

"No," Aviva said firmly turning to him confused.

"Ma, if the scholarship doesn't cover it—"

"I've got everything under control," she assured him.

"With me gone, you're already losing income. I'm not gonna have you waste money just so I can live in an apartment off campus. It's not that big a deal." Puck shook his head.

"It's not gonna be a problem, okay," Aviva sighed. "When your father left us, you really stepped up, helping out with your sister, around the house, with the bills. There were a few missteps here and there but basically for the past ten years, you've done so much for me. Let me do this for you."

"Ma—"

"It's not even that big a deal. See Dani and I, we've both got cell phones so really what do we even need a home phone for? That's around thirty dollars a month. Then there's all those magazines that I get, the recipe magazines and the crafting magazines. You can get recipes on the internet now for free and when was the last time I did anything remotely crafty?" Puck chuckled. "That's a little over twenty bucks a month. And now that you won't be here, I'll save a ton on groceries."

"Are you sure it's not gonna put you in a bad spot?" Puck asked.

"I'm sure," Aviva reached across the table and patted his hand. "And, you know, if I need to, I can always dip into your savings account."

Puck frowned as she stood up to pour another cup of coffee. "I don't have a savings account."

Aviva smiled softly and dug through the papers on the counter, "I started it when you were born. Dani has one, too. I tried to put at least fifty dollars a month in there. Some months were better than others and there were a few years after your father left where I was lucky if I could scrape together five, but I never took anything out." She found what she was looking for and passed it across the table to Puck. He looked down at the bank statement it in awe and then back up to his mom.

"There's almost twenty thousand dollars in here." She nodded, pleased. "But…look, I skipped math for like all of high school but even I know that fifty bucks a month for 18 years isn't anywhere near twenty thousand dollars."

"Like I said, some months were better than others," Aviva shrugged. "Plus, I put all your paychecks in there."

Puck looked up at her confused. "You what? All of my paychecks?"

"Even the five dollars a week you used to give me for mowing Mrs. Snyder's lawn."

"But that money was for you, to help pay the bills." Puck protested.

"No, that money was for you," Aviva said. "It would have been easy, some months it would have been really easy to take the money and use it for groceries or to pay the electric bill but that was your money and I knew one day you were gonna need it. New York is expensive, honey. And while I have no doubt that you're gonna make it, it'll be nice to have a little cushion when you're first getting started."

"But you were saving this years before I started talking about New York," he protested and Aviva laughed.

"Honey, you and Rachel have been talking about New York since you were eight! I always knew you were gonna get there somehow." Puck frowned then and Aviva leaned closer. "Is something wrong, honey?"

Puck looked up at his mom and then down at the bank statement in his hands. It was obvious now that she'd always been sure he'd get to New York one way or another and that floored him. Suddenly, it was all coming out. He told her about Rachel and how he felt about her and how terrified he was of her not feeling the same way, or worse loving him back and him just holding her back.

Aviva smiled softly, almost knowingly as the whole story poured out, all of it including what had happened that night and how he'd wussed out of telling her how he felt. She didn't say anything when he was finished and for a second he sat there in a panic, unable to believe he'd just told her all of that and then she laughed. She straight up starting laughing at him.

"Mom!" Puck said a bit angry, a bit confused and a bit embarrassed. "It's not funny," he huffed in annoyance.

"I know sweetie, I know but it really is," she said attempting to get her laughter under control. Puck crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her until she managed to stop, wiping tears away from her eyes.

"Do you remember about a year after your dad left and I went on all those dates?" Aviva asked once she'd calmed down.

"Yeah," Puck said cautiously. It was hard to forget. His mom went on like fifty dates in three months, more than she'd probably been on in the nine years since. Plus they had this babysitter, one of the old lady's from Temple, and she used to take out her teeth and put them in a glass by the couch and she always smelled like lox. And not in a good way.

"I wasn't really sure I was ready to start dating seriously again but I had women from Temple calling me all the time saying they had a nephew or a son or a grandson who would be perfect for me. It was sweet and I didn't feel like I could really refuse so I went. Plus it was nice just to be wanted again. Most of them were all right, nothing to write home about, and none of them lasted past date two. But some of them were just horrible, almost excruciating to sit through." Puck smiled.

"There was this one guy. Abel Rosenberg, Mae Steinman's nephew. He had to have been the most boring man on the planet. And he told the most awful jokes and then laughed at them all, snorting every time. He still lived with his mother and talked about her so much it was obvious she was the only woman who'd ever been in his life. And when I got home that night, I just couldn't believe anyone would think we were a good match, that I could like a guy like that. So the next time I went to Temple I asked Mae why on earth she would set me up with him. She told me that she didn't think at first that we had much in common but the girl was so persuasive. She convinced Mae we'd make the perfect match."

"What girl?" Puck frowned.

"That's what I asked and she looked at me confused and said, 'Why the little Berry girl'." Aviva told him.

"Rachel?" Puck asked surprised and Aviva nodded.

"So I asked around to everyone else who'd set me up and they all said the same things. They weren't really sure if it was a good idea at first but Rachel somehow convinced them."

"So Rachel was setting you up with all those dudes?" Puck asked. "Why?"

"That's what I wanted to know, so I sat her down and I asked her."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Aviva placed the glass of cold milk on her kitchen table and slid it across to Rachel before sitting down. "Cookie?" she asked motioning to the platter of chocolate chip cookies in between them.

"Yes, please," Rachel said primly, as Aviva put a cookie on a napkin and set it down in front of the girl.

"Rachel, I asked you here today while Noah was at football practice to talk to you about something very important." Aviva said.

"I assumed," Rachel nodded, biting daintily into the cookie and chewing exactly twenty times. "I've been wanting to talk to you about this for a while now as well."

"Have you?" Aviva asked surprised.

"Yes," Rachel nodded and put the cookie down, crossing her hands in her lap. "We've really got to nip this football thing in the bud before it gets out of control."

"Football thing?" Aviva frowned.

"It's a horribly violent sport!" Rachel insisted. "Have you seen them play, they're always knocking each other to the ground and at rather high speeds. I'm afraid if Noah doesn't quit now, he's going to get hurt."

"It's PeeWee football," Aviva said. "And Noah wears pads and that's not really what I asked you here to talk about."

"Oh," Rachel's face fell.

"Have you been going around Temple, asking people to set me up on dates?" Aviva asked and Rachel ducked her head allowing her hair to cover her face.

"Yes ma'am," she nodded.

"Why?" Aviva leaned forward, anxious to hear the reasoning behind all this.

Rachel lifted her head up defiantly. "Noah said that he can't come to New York with me anymore because now that his dad's gone, he's the man of the house. So I thought, maybe if I found you another man of the house, he'd be able to come. But you didn't like any of them and I've run out of people at Temple to ask. So I've been thinking. I have two Dads and they're both men so whenever you have something you need a man to do, you can call them and they'll come do it. They won't mind, they like helping other people."

"Rachel, honey," Aviva got up and walked around the table, sitting in the chair next to her. "What you did was very sweet, misguided but very sweet nonetheless. But I don't think I'm ready just yet for another man of the house."

"So then Noah's not going to be able to come to New York with me?" she asked, her bottom lip quivering a bit. "But I can't go by myself. There are mean people in New York who do muggings and according to the news, that's where the terrorists are. What if Noah's not there and another building falls down?" Aviva felt tears prickling her own eyes as she pulled Rachel into a hug. "And I know he's a boy, and he's kind of gross – yesterday he farted into his hand and made Maria Parkston smell it – but he's funny sometimes and he makes me laugh and he always gives me the pink Starburst and I don't want to go without him."

"I have a feeling that if you want him to go with you to New York, you'll get him there. One way or another." Aviva assured her.

Rachel pulled away and straightened up, wiping the tears from her eyes. "You're right. My daddy says I can do anything I want and I want Noah in New York so, that means I can do that too."

"Of course you can," Aviva nodded. "You feel better now?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You want another cookie?"

"Yes, please." Rachel sniffled.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Puck sat in stunned silence. His mom kissed his forehead gently and told him to turn off the lights when he went to bed then left him alone to his thoughts. He thought about what Blaine said, about how if Rachel wants someone in her life, she makes sure they're in her life. He thought about nine year old Rachel so determined to make sure he went to New York with her that she basically pimped his mom out to every eligible Jewish bachelor in Lima. He thought about eighteen year old Rachel, staying in library for hours after school with him, working on History and Spanish and Math just to raise his grade point average a couple of decimal points.

Blaine was right. You don't hold Rachel Berry down; she pulls you up, sometimes kicking and screaming if it comes down to it. And Puck just knew that with Rachel on his side, there was no way the he could fail.

He pushed away from the table and grabbed his keys off the hook by the door. Five minutes later, he was pulling into the Berrys' driveway. He barely had the car in park before he flung the door open and jumped out. The porch light was off, as were all the lights downstairs and the last thing he wanted to do was wake up her dads so he walked around the side and jumped the fence, heading for the trellis on the deck.

He looked up to make sure Rachel's light was still on before he started to climb. He slid open the window and swung his feet over the ledge, pulling himself through. Rachel jumped up from the floor where she'd been meticulously arranging things in a box and frowned as he headed straight for her.

"Noah! Is something wrong? Did—"

She never got the finish the sentence as his left hand gripped her waist and his right hand slid across her jaw, his fingers threading into her hair, pulling her closer until her lips crashed against his.

She moaned into his mouth, half in surprise, half in arousal, as his tongue slowly slid past her gently parted lips. She dropped whatever she'd been holding to the ground to grabbed onto him, her hands tangling together at the base of his neck. She bit his lip softly and Puck tore his mouth away, slightly dazed, more than painfully aroused and gulped in a huge breath of air. The last thing he wanted to do was stop kissing her but if he didn't, things would get out of hand really quickly and she was technically still with Finn. Though she wouldn't be for much longer if he had any say in it.

Rachel opened her eyes, blinking stupidly as she brought her fingers to her lips. "What was that?"

"Kurt had this whole speech written, made me promise I'd read it word for word." Puck said pulling the folded up pages out of his pocket and tossing them blindly behind him as he brushed his nose lightly against hers. "But I figured if I was gonna do this, then I was gonna do it my way."

"Do what?" Rachel asked, her breath ghosting over his lips. "I don't understand, what exactly are you doing?"

Puck pulled away, making sure that she could see his face, that she was looking him in the eye so she knew that he wasn't joking or messing with her. "I want to make sure when you leave for New York, you take the right things with you."

"Oh," Rachel said stunned.

"Yeah, oh," Puck smiled at her.

Her stunned expression turned into one of annoyance in under a second and she kicked him in the shin, hard "Well, what the hell took you so long?"

"What took me—" he doubled over and grabbed his leg because that shit fucking hurt "You're with Hudson!"

"Because I thought you didn't want me!" Rachel threw her hands in the air and started pacing. "After Finn and I got into that fight about schools, I realized he'd never really understand me and maybe he never did. I suggested a break but really, I was pretty sure that we were over. And then you and Lauren broke up and we started hanging out more and talking about college and New York and you got it. You understood everything in a way that Finn never could and I realized that's because it was you. It had always been you I'd just been too blinded by Finn to see that."

"And that day, when your mom almost caught us on the couch, I thought for sure you felt what I felt. But you didn't say anything. Then Finn apologized and it wasn't like you were stepping up to declare your undying affection for me, you were too busy pretending like it didn't happen so I took him back because I was hurt and confused."

Puck started to say something but Rachel kept going. "And then there was the time after Christmas, at Brittany's party. We almost had sex. But then next day – nothing. So I resigned myself to the fact you obviously didn't feel anything for me. And suddenly it was graduation and after that would come summer break which would mean you'd start up your pool cleaning business again which would mean horny cougars, so I told Finn that maybe it would be a good idea if we extended the deadline to the end of the summer because I figured being with him for a few more months was better than spending the summer alone in my room thinking of you with all those…shiksas."

"I don't do that anymore," Puck said lamely, unsure what else he could say after a confession like that. It seemed to work though because it shocked Rachel into silence.

"Oh, well good," she said, losing some of her steam. "And just so you know, I'm not with Finn anymore." Puck raised an eyebrow at her. "He broke up with me, tonight at the barbeque. He said that it was obvious, with all the trouble I went through to make sure you came to New York and not him, that he wasn't the one that I wanted. And I couldn't exactly deny it so…"

"So you're not with Hudson." Puck asked and she shook her head as he took a step closer to her. "And I'm not banging cougars." He took another step toward her. "So that means we're both free to do whatever we want with whoever we want."

"Looks that way," she nodded, bringing up a hand to play with the hem of his t-shirt.

"Hey Rach," Puck whispered against her lips. "Wanna build a tree house in Central Park with me?"

"Yeah," She smiled widely and pushed up onto her tip-toes to kiss him. "I really do."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Fifteen years later as the realtor handed over the keys to Puck, and with the sound of four tiny feet sliding around the hardwood floors, Rachel looked out of the floor to ceiling windows of the penthouse onto the sprawling image of Central Park.

She felt Puck's strong arms wrap around her from behind and a chin rest softly on the top of her head. "You know Kurt's gonna flip over all the space in here." Puck said and Rachel nodded, already dreading having to explain to him that despite how much they all loved him, she was pretty sure their friendship would not survive him decorating the apartment and that they were going to go with a professional this time around.

"Do we live here now?" Caroline asked, sliding to a stop in front of the window, pressing her little nose up against the glass to take in the view.

"Yeah we live here now," Rachel said, reaching out to ruffle her hair a bit.

"You can see the zoo from in here!" Eli called excitedly from down the hall.

"I wanna see!" Caroline took off down the hall and after a minute the tell-tale sounds of an argument wafted through the empty apartment.

"I was here first." Eli said.

"But I'm older, so I should get this room." Caroline came back with. "'Sides, you don't even like the zoo."

"Yes, I do," Eli said.

"No, you don't," Caroline said.

"Yes, I do," Eli said more forcibly.

"No, you don't! The last time dad took us, you cried," Caroline reminded him and Puck groaned as it turned into a shouting match.

"You think we could get Blaine and Kurt to take them for the night? There are quite a few rooms here and we're gonna need to christen them at some point," Puck offered, willfully ignoring his bickering children, and Rachel elbowed him gently in the ribs.

"I already called him this afternoon. They'll be by to pick them up later," Rachel said in a whisper.

"Because you're a stupid baby who still wears diapers at night so he doesn't wet the bed!" Caroline screamed.

"Thank God," Puck slipped his chin off of the top of her head and dropped a kiss on her neck. "I promised you a tree house, didn't I?" Puck said softly and Rachel just smiled. She hadn't doubted him for a second.