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 32nd cycle. Now cycle 33!

Hear that little bird twitter! Been thinking about doing this for a couple days, then this morning decided to just go for it. If you go there, find 'gleekathon' and there I'll be. There's also a video explaining everything... Yep... ;) Check it out!

"Audition the Rest"
Puck/Rachel
Project No Day But Today #7 (sequel to 'Meet the Cast')

It quickly became self-evident to him that the best thing he could do at this time was to stand by and try to alleviate the stress building inside her before she exploded. And since his usual manner of relieving stress was not only off the table but had never even come close to being 'on the table' yet when it came to them, well… He had to go to plan B.

She only grew more certain that someone was on to them as time went by. Whether this was in relation to them as a couple, or to their 'Rent' project, he didn't know… or care… He'd be there to calm her down either way. Paranoia on her was making her eyes go beyond wide and into scary twitch territory… He had to step in and so he pulled her into a class one day, as she was mumbling something about having gotten in too deep. He shook his head, placing his hands on her cheeks so she would look at him. "Breathe," he told her, and she frowned as though to say 'I am.' He stretched out his thumbs to prod at her brow so it would relax, and she sighed, closing her eyes and leaning into his chest. He moved his arms to encircle her.

"Were we crazy to do this?" he heard her words resonate into his shirt. He'd learned quickly that he shouldn't even joke about her frowning so much that she'd get wrinkles at a time like this. Instead, he opted for comfort.

"The world needs a little Rachel Berry crazy every once in a while," he pointed out, as she turned her head, ear to heart. "You got me convinced on that."

"Good…" he heard her say. She looked up at him. "Except we're still lying…"

"Wasn't that the idea? I mean we haven't told them about us because they might freak and quit on us, and Schuester and the others don't know about the show so they don't cancel it," he shrugged.

"Neither of us has had that great of a track record with these things though, have we?" she reminded him. He stood there for a moment, then held out his hand to her. She wasn't sure what it was for, but she still put her hand in his. "So let's go tell them," he started to pull her along, but she tugged him to a stop.

"W-wait, which part?"

"Has it ever occurred to you I've been waiting to take you out, dinner and all?" She looked incapable of settling on smiling, blushing, or welling up. "But I will wait, if that's what we have to do. Just… Don't make it too long…" She grew serious now, understanding what he was getting at.

"Right, then we should look into figuring out the rest of this cast," she nodded along, back in director mode and now it was her who started for the door, and him who pulled her back.

"Hey…" he pulled her back for a kiss, and once they separated she breathed out… Now she was calm… as calm as could be expected of her.

Now the task was to find a number of people in this school who, having apparently shown zero interest in Glee Club, could nonetheless be convinced to try out for a – secret – musical production. Rachel had suggested going to the Cheerios, though Puck resisted the idea.

"They'll just tell Sylvester," he told her, though he was also thinking of not putting too much in evidence his 'past' with some of those girls. Rachel probably wasn't unaware, but he wasn't about to rub it in her face either.

"How many do we need anyway?" he asked her, and she counted.

"I'd say… about a dozen if we include understudies," she nodded.

"A dozen?" he spoke before he could stop himself. "There's no way…"

"I know it sounds like a lot, but maybe once we get one or two, then it'll be easier…" She was trying to sound positive, but he could tell even she could see how massive of an undertaking that was. Except now that they were – secretly – together, or even a bit before that, since they started this project, he had grown to have determination in never seeing Rachel disappointed.

"We're going to get it done," he promised her with a nod, and she smiled.

They hadn't been wrong though: It was very difficult. As if tracking down candidates to audition wasn't hard enough, they had to do it without anyone catching on. But then, slowly, names started to come up. It had been Puck's 'stroke of genius' to go not after active roster Cheerios but rather ones who'd been dismissed by the Coach and now had no reason to please her anymore. Of the five auditioned – in Rachel's living room – three were retained, two girls and one guy. Rachel had reached out to a handful who had been involved in the failed production of Cabaret the previous year. It was a tougher sell, with the main roles gone, but they got two more guys and girls out of it in the end.

Now with seven, as predicted, the rest came to look a bit easier. Maybe the fact that they were getting closer to their number was getting them to think even deeper. Rachel remembered the guy sitting in front of her in history, always tapping his feet away. That made eight.

"You know I think a couple of the guys I'd throw in the dumpster might be into it…" Puck told her that day, and she stared at him. "What?" She was weighing the options in her head.

"If you can offer the audition without them thinking it's that or the dumpster…"

"Right," he understood. When the boys showed up to audition they still looked half uncertain, but once Rachel spoke with them they did their bit, and Puck had been right… This made ten.

"We just need a couple more girls," Rachel said, after the boys had left.

"Freshmen?" Puck suggested. She looked at him with that 'I'm thinking, I'm thinking' face again, but slowly it turned into a nod.

So the next day at lunch, Rachel got her tray and she went on scout mode, discreetly passing through the cafeteria. She scanned face after face, table to table, and then she heard laughter from behind which drew her attention. The two girls, freshmen indeed, were sitting at a corner table, listening to music off one of their iPods. Rachel stared for a beat… It could work… It was worth a shot… So, she approached the girls. Even at this grade they knew of Glee Club and what people thought of it. But Rachel worked her magic and finally got them into auditioning… By that afternoon, it made twelve, for a grand total of twenty-five in their company.

"See?" Puck looked at her with a smirk. "Told you we could do it." She was beaming… Everything was perfect now…

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!