Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 67th cycle. Now cycle 68!

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

He'd texted her at two in the morning, knowing she wouldn't be sleeping yet; she'd be too nervous for the next day. He could picture her, lying in bed, trying to convince herself to let everything go, but then before long, her head would go back to the day that was to come, the day where their production of Rent would open, and she would reach for her phone, going back through one video, one list, anything. As far as he would know, she'd finally relented and agreed to really concentrate herself on sleeping, around three thirty.

He was having trouble sleeping, too. This was a big day for both of them, for their whole company. They had worked so hard for this, and they were going to kill it.

Puck was satisfied for the way his life had changed in these past few months. Back in the day, he might not have found it so easy to admit it to himself if no one else, but it was different now. It all went back to that one day, when Rachel Berry had summoned him – and summoned definitely seemed like the right word – to her house and gave him the hard sell on doing the musical with her. He didn't know yet, but that would be the day he'd start falling for her.

When morning came, he had to be up and ready to go early enough, because Rachel would be coming to get him, and if he wasn't ready, it would throw the whole day off for her. They may have been co-directors, but she was the lead in all this; she knew more than anyone what they needed to make this show great. She would roll up to his house, refreshed and energized, and he would already be there waiting for her. She smiled, and he knew then and there: this premiere was going to be everything they'd wanted and more. He could feel it.

They had the auditorium all to themselves, for the whole day, and that was something Rachel was not going to let go to waste. Cast and crew were to present themselves there bright and early, too, though not nearly as early as them. Puck figured the 'bright' part was going to take more work for some of them, too.

As they started rolling in, their appointed departments and department heads split off, making sure that everything was in order, ready to roll for that evening. They had already gone through it so many times that there was no chance of anything going wrong, but they couldn't assume, not with Rachel flitting around. The hours ticked down, closer and closer to the time where they would have to get ready, costumes, hair, makeup…

The camera would be going around, too, gathering footage from place to place, so they could edit it all together later for one of their last vlogs.

"Alright, listen up!" Rachel's voice boomed through a microphone, getting the attention of the group spread out around the auditorium, having their dinner. "As soon as you're done, we need the cast to get ready. Those of you in the costumes and hair and makeup departments, that's you now."

"Yeah, we know," Santana called back. Rachel frowned, putting the mic back for a second before noticing… "Has anyone seen Puck?" She couldn't see him.

"He said he had to step out for a few minutes," Kurt told her.

"When was that?"

"I don't know, twenty minutes ago?" he shrugged, and she moved backstage to get her phone and text him. She hit send and, a few seconds later, she heard the tone from his phone behind her. She turned, surprised, then breathed out with a smile.

"Sorry, it took a while," he smiled back, presenting her with the flowers he'd gone to buy her.

"They're beautiful," she breathed them in.

"I figured it was appropriate, premiere night," he explained. She gasped.

"I didn't get you anything," she realized.

"Hey, don't worry about it, I wasn't looking for that," he shook his head. "Besides, I've already got you," he put his arm around her, kissing the top of her head.

"Well, yeah, you do," she smirked, making him laugh. "Now go and get ready."

"Yes, miss," he pulled back, bowing his head and dashing off.

Backstage at the McKinley auditorium would be chaos in a flash. The cast would change into their costumes, have their hair fixed, makeup done, microphones fixed… As more of them were ready, it became a buildup of energy; they couldn't wait to go on. They hadn't wanted to say it, but many of them had never believed they would get to this moment. Between the secrets, the running around, the arguments and the face offs, it did not seem possible at all. But they'd made it, they'd actually made it, and now… now this was where it really came off the ground. That audience had better watch out.

"Guys, hey, people are here!" Brittany came back to announce.

"Isn't that kind of the point?" Lizzie asked.

"Yeah, but they're arriving!" she clarified. "The seats are filling up." Six or seven of them would dash back with her to sneak a peek.

"There's Mr. Schue," Brittany waved at him from between curtains. The teacher waved back, smiling. His involvement had been minimal, this was their show, but he still looked nervous and excited for them.

"Five minutes!" Rachel called, and the cast came back around her and Puck. She took a deep breath, looking around. "Well… this is it, guys." The cast cheered. "This has been… one of the best experiences in my life, and I want to thank all of you for that, I hope… it's been good for you, too." They cheered again.

"Alright, now listen up!" Puck took over. "We make this the best we've ever done it. And when it's done, party back at my house!" he announced, getting another explosion of sound from the group around him. "Everyone in position, let's go!" Before he could move off to his place, Rachel had snatched him up, kissing him with all the frenzy buzzing in her heart.

"Break a leg," she told him. He grinned.

"Both of them."

THE END

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