A/N : Hi guys! I bet some of you thought this new story alert was going to be the sequel of my first story The Heaven but sadly it's not. I have to be honest even though I had this sequel all figured out my muse left me after the first chapter and as a reader I know how frustrating uncompleted stories are so I won't post it.

I want to thank Mel and Carrie for their support and esp Carrie for being the best beta ever :*

I own nothing!

"Hello?"

"Hey babe!"

"Noah? What's up?" She answered confused. Why was he calling her? Could he not call one of the guys?

"Well I'm on the road now, I'll be here in less than an hour"

"Oh I-I will let the guys know that you called"

"Sweet, I hope I won't be too late for the pizza though..."

"Oh well, I guess I can try to do something about that,"

"I gotta go see you soon babe."

She still couldn't understand why he had called her and not one of the guys. She shrugged it off and went to the kitchen. They were indeed already putting the pizzas in the oven,

"Boys wait, Noah called he'll be here in an hour"

"I don't give a fuck about him Rach, he should have been here sooner, we are starving" she huffed at Finn's statement before turning to Sam. Unfortunately while his eyes showed her that he didn't agree with the other boy's words, he wasn't prepared to go against them.

"Yeah so which one do you want Ray?" Crossing her arms over her chest she stated,

"I don't want anything because I won't eat without him, it's not fair" she stormed out of the kitchen hearing Finn muttering a "whatever" while she went to lay down in one of the room.

xXx

Sounds of laughter woke her up. She rubbed her eyes. Damn she'd fallen asleep. Looking at the clock she realized that it'd been 2hours since Noah's call. She got up and followed the sounds leading to the living room. They were all gathering around the fireplace, San and Britt were talking softly whereas Sam and Matt seemed to be in an intense debate about some video games and of course there was Finn and Quinn making drinks unaware of how obvious they were. She guessed they had all arrived while she was resting. She spotted Noah on one of the couch and smiled shyly at him. Once he saw her, he stood and stopped in front of her.

"Hey" he breathed, he was wearing a grey shirt and black denim jeans, that fit him in all the right places. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she rose up on her toes to kiss his cheeks like any other formal kiss between their group. But as she leaned in to his second cheek, he seemed to have misunderstood just why her hand was on his shoulder, and used his hand on her waist to pull her closer to him. Stumbling against him, the kiss missed its intended target, so instead of kissing his second cheek, her lips actually touched behind his ear. She gasped and he squeezed her tighter. She stepped away awkwardly while he just smirked at her,

"So I heard you didn't eat?" She bit my bottom lip nervously,

"I'm sorry Noah they didn't want to wait for you,"

"It's ok babe, we're gonna eat together"

"We are?"

"Mmmh I'm taking you out", he took her hand and rubbed her thumbs with his,

"Oh that's huh nice of you" she looked down totally confused,

"So shall we?" she nodded and went to grab her coat and purse.

Sensing her hesitation, Sam answered for her,

"I put your coat in the spare bedroom Ray" she nodded at Sam and went to get it.

She stopped as soon as she stepped in, taking in the view of the room. The bed, the little desk next to it, the fireplace facing the bed, creating this amazing light in the room. Then it clicked. The video. The video he'd posted a month ago. The video where he'd played that Christmas song with his guitar. There was no way she would ever forget how his long fingers moved along the strings. Or the way he sat bare foot on his bed, while his pouty full lips showed his concentration. How she had wanted to trace them with her thumbs while watching him. How she had imagined him in this room enjoying this fire while chilling on his bed with his guitar. How many times she watched this video, imagining she'd join him and rest on her side looking at him play just for her, humming songs he loved. She sighed dreamily and blushed at how far her mind went by just stepping in here. She couldn't help it, when it comes to him, her heart beats faster and her mind goes everywhere.

She gasped and shut her eyes as she felt those same long fingers she had fantasized about on her so many times caressing her arms slowly…

A throat being cleared made her turn around abruptly. She found Noah against the door frame with her coat and other belongings in his arms. She did it again she was day-dreaming, this needed to stop before she embarrassed herself.

"Sam had put them in the office actually", he said nervously, her standing in this room seemed to make him uneasy. She looked behind her once again and shook her head to clear her mind.

"Oh right, thanks," grabbing them from him before rushing to the front door, therefore avoiding having to look at him for fear he'd see her flushed face.

The ride to the restaurant was made in an awkward silence. Rachel kept glancing out the window while Noah kept a tighten grip on the steering wheel , trying to start a conversation but repeatedly closing his mouth so often, he began to feel like a dumb ass.

Noah parked at the local pizzeria and they made their way inside. The waiter welcomed them, led them to their table, and then took their drink order before leaving them alone. Rachel kept staring at her menu, nervous as hell. She didn't know how to act around him, they had never been together without at least one other person from the group. The waiter came back before Puck could start a conversation. He took their order, a salad for Rachel and a pizza for Puck. Rachel seemed totally oblivious to the way the waiter was looking at her but Puck saw it all and it pissed him off, he just didn't know why though. So when the guy brought them their meal still smiling at her, he couldn't control himself anymore and he grabbed her hand on the table sending a death glare at the other guy. The waiter took the hint and went away.

"Noah what are you doing?" Rachel asked quietly pulling her hand away,

"I didn't like the way he looked at you," he shrugged before taking a sip of his water,

"Don't be silly he was just doing his job and being nice to get tips is not flirting" she dismissed him and started eating.

They ate in silence, both lost in their thoughts. Rachel kept taking glances at him from under her lashes. After another moment of silence, Puck rolled his eyes and broke the tension,

"You can ask me stuff, I don't bite ya know,"

"Really?" She asked skeptically a fork full of salad stopped half way to her mouth,

"Let's say I don't mind you asking then," he shrugged,

"Oh well then, where have you been since graduation?"

"I went away, I needed that ya know, I ended up working at some place all summer." She nodded letting him share what he wanted about the subject, not pushing him,

"I didn't feel like going to college, it wasn't for me ya know, so I looked up all my options..." she smiled at him encouragingly at him, showing him that she was really interested, because she was,

"I thought about the army first, it was the easiest", he shrugged and missed her whimpering sound at the thought of him getting hurt,"

"I was still enjoying myself at the garage so I decided to stay here," then he started talking about his job and she saw in his eyes that he was really enjoying it,

"So that's why you're staying at Sam's, because the shop is close by?" she asked checking his reaction, afraid of having pushed her luck too far,

"Yeah we talked a lot and he suggested that I crash at his place, he's my bro."

Even though she really wanted to, Rachel decided it was probably for the best if she didn't ask about the video. The last thing she wanted was to ask him something too personal and have him clam up on her, so she turned her attention back to her meal.

"So my turn right?" he chuckled and added, "what about you, whatcha been doing since graduation? She played with her glass, to avoid his eyes that she felt on her. Still not really sure about what she should say or not say, she took a deep breath,

"Well not much, college, side job," Rachel kept her answer simple.

"What about Finn, I was curious to not see him making a scene and keeping you under his watch at the house", he stared at her, gauging her reaction. She looked up at him and he managed to see the pain in her eyes before she could hide it,

"I thought you talked with Sam?" she asked,

"Finn had never been a main topic for us..."

"Well we broke up last summer, I couldn't compete anymore I guess..."

"Compete?" She kept looking anywhere but at him so he took her hand in his on the table, in an attempt to keep her talking. Clearing her throat again she looked up at him, her blank expression stunning him, in particular the emptiness of her eyes.

"With Quinn, her attributes, I-I couldn't fight against it anymore. She is pretty flawless in every way" she added, before trying to distract his attention away from her face with a sudden movement of her hand. It didn't work, Puck was still focused on her, his jaw clenched,

"Don't do that", he said through gritted teeth, "don't put yourself down like that." Her eyes snapped back to his in surprise first but then anger set in.

"I didn't say that so you'd pity me, I'm just telling you the facts," he snorted and shook his head,

"I'll tell you some facts. Finn is an ass, you're worth so much more than him Rae. You are an amazing woman, I just wish you could see that for yourself. Also you really need to stop comparing yourself to others," he squeezed her hand again,

"I'm going to keep telling you that until you believe it babe. Fact" He grinned at her and she smiled back squeezing his hand as well.

Puck's phone buzzing on the table broke the spell. Rachel sat back on her seat as he answered,

"Sup? Yeah yeah we'll be there soon." He hung up, "it was Sam, they started the party and are wondering if we'd be home soon",

"Oh sure, I don't want you to miss the fun, we can go now." He raised an eyebrow at her,

"You in a rush, don't you want a dessert or something else?" she flushed,

"I'm not hungry anymore, thank you. And no rush at all, I just want you to have fun like I said."

He rolled his eyes and got up, "I thought by now you'd have realized that I didn't come back for them."

With that he left the table to get the check, leaving a quiet and very confused Rachel behind.

A/N: It's gonna be a 4 or 5 parts kind of story so let me know what you think of it so far;)