At The End of the Day
Summary: 'At the end of the day, I'm the one left holding the baby.' What if Quinn wasn't the Glee Clubber who was pregnant? And what if one of the teens wasn't the father? From Rachel's POV. RachelxWill RachelxPuck friendship.
AN: This is my first Glee fanfic so I'd love it if you could R&R and drop me some constructive criticism if you feel the need. I know there's a lot of RachelxPuck in this chapter but more RachelxWill next chapter, promise!
Chapter 1- 3 Weeks
'Dear Diary,
I'm so scared. I just found out I'm pregnant, three weeks to be exact. I don't know what to do or who to talk to, but writing down my feelings may help me to process the situation, so here goes. I've been seeing the father of the baby for just short of two months and he's a married man, trapped in a loveless marriage. I don't know how he's going to react. He's a really decent guy but I shouldn't be seeing him, we could both get into a lot of trouble if anyone finds out. It started off as just sex; we were both in a bad place and kind of depended upon the relationship we shared. But the more we started seeing each other, the more we realised we actually had feelings for each other, which I guess means I am having an affair with him. But ultimately whether he is happy or not, he's married, and he's my teacher. God I've screwed up so bad!'
I stop writing, throwing my pen aside, lying back on my bed and massaging my temples. Tears begin to well up in my eyes. "I have to talk to someone." Realisation hits me. I wrack my brains, who can I call. Finn will be with Quinn and I'm not exactly her favourite person in the world. Kurt and Mercedes would start gossiping and I'm not as close to Tina and Artie. I finally decide who to call, pick up my cell phone and dial.
"Hello." Came the familiar male voice.
"I need to talk to you." I manage through the tears that have begun to fall again.
"Rach? Are you okay?" He asks concerned.
"No. Please come." I whisper.
"Where are you?" He asks his voice unusually soft.
"Home, room." I mutter.
"Window?" I hear him chuckle, amused.
"I'll open it for you." I confirm, the tears start to subside.
"I'll be there soon." He promises before hanging up.
I sigh and heave myself up from the bed and wander over to my mirror. God I look awful. My eyes are red and puffy, my face is streaked with black mascara but I honestly don't care. I cross over to the window and push it open just wide enough for a person to climb through before flopping back down on my bed. I roll onto my side, facing away from the window and wrap my arms around my torso. I don't know how I feel about this, do I want a baby? I just feel lost, I want to cry but the tears wont come so I simply shut my eyes and lie still in the silence. Suddenly I feel soft, strong arms wrap around me. "Hey." He says and presses a gentle kiss to the back of my head. I immediately relax, feeling completely safe in his arms.
"Hey." I whisper back and cover his arms with mine.
"I hate having to climb in the window." He comments.
I smile my first genuine smile of the day. "My dad's hate you Noah."
"Not my fault." He countered.
I can't help but grin again. "Then whose fault is it?" I ask and I feel him shrug against me.
Puck takes one of my hands in his. "Rach, what's up? You sounded like you were crying on the phone."
I frown and begin to chew my bottom lip anxiously.
"Rachel?" He asks concerned.
"I'm pregnant." I mumble quietly.
"What?" He sounds surprisingly calm.
I swivel around in his arms to face him and wrap my own arms around his waist. "I'm pregnant." I repeat.
"Shit Berry." He responds. "I didn't even know you were seeing anyone."
I knew this was going to come up sooner rather than later. As soon as people find out I'm pregnant there is going to be speculation about who the father is. I think people will presume one of the boys in Glee Club is the father. And while technically he is a part of Glee, he's hardly a boy.
"Rach?" Puck breaks me out of my inner monologue.
"Sorry." I flash him a brief smile and snuggle closer to him, resting my head against his shoulder. "I have been seeing someone, but I didn't want anyone to know." I admit quietly.
Puck begins to play gently with the ends of my long hair; he's being unusually kind to me. "No pressure Rach," He whispers, "Who's the father?"
I take a deep breath. What to do? Confide in Puck and pray he keeps his mouth shut? Or do I simply tell him that I can't possibly tell him who the dad is, because I shouldn't really have slept with him in the first place?
"You're not going to tell me, are you?" He comes to the conclusion on his own.
I sigh loudly for the umpteenth time today. "I'm sorry Noah. Part of me wants to tell you, but part of me is screaming not to tell you. It's not that I don't trust you, because I do! It's just that the father is someone I really shouldn't have been sleeping with and I don't want to let the cat out of the bag before I've told him. It's really nothing to do with you." I reiterate. The last thing I want to do is hurt his feelings. "Please tell me that you understand?" I beg him, me eyes pleading, Truth be told I probably look slightly deranged. But at the moment Puck is the only person I have, and I need him to tell me it's all going to be okay.
"I understand." He tells me and I immediately let out a sigh of relief.
"You've no idea how much of a relief it is to hear you say that." I blurt out, causing him to grin.
"I'll always be here for you Rachel." Puck said and he begins rubbing soothing circles on the small of my back. I shift myself a little in our embrace to gaze into his eyes, he's telling the truth. I hug myself close to Puck again and he continues to rub soft circles on my back with his fingertips.
"Thanks." I mumble, I find myself smiling into his chest.
"When are you going to tell the dad?" He enquires.
I pause, taking a moment to comprehend his question. "Tomorrow." I decide.
"Tomorrow?" He asked sceptically.
"Tomorrow." I confirm as I completely relax against him, closing my eyes.
"When are you going to tell your dad's?" His next question opens up a whole new can of worms.
"I don't know." I answer honestly. "I need to talk to my baby's father first, see how he feels about this, what he wants to do."
"Okay." I feel Puck nod; he seems to accept my answer.
"Noah?" I ask softly.
"Rachel?" He responds.
"Can you stay with me tonight, please?" I don't want, or mean, to sound desperate, but I really can't bear the thought of being alone tonight.
"Sure babe." He agreed, placing a kiss on top of my head.
"Thank you." I whisper in return, completely grateful he's agreed to stay.
"Anytime Berry." He informs me casually.
"You know I actually like it when you call me Berry." I tell him, betting that he didn't know that.
"Really?" He asks slightly amused.
"Do I detect sarcasm in your tone Noah?" I raise my eyebrow at him; the way I know turns him on.
"I dunno. Do you?" He turns my question back on me, trying to act non-chalant at my raised eyebrow.
"You're unbelievable!" I can't help but emit a soft laugh.
"I know." He agrees casually with a cheeky grin. "Come on I need to sort you out." Puck tells me as he manoeuvres me into his arms, standing up and taking me with him.
"Noah!" I hiss, horrified that he thinks he can take advantage of me in my current vulnerable state.
"Trust you to take that the wrong way Berry!" He bites back. "That wasn't a sexual suggestion; I meant I was going to run you a bath. Help you get cleaned up and ready for bed." He explains, trying to sound calm.
"Oh!" I gasp softly. Now I feel like an idiot! "Sorry." I reply sheepishly.
"Your room has an ensuite right?" He gazes into my eyes, his look gentle, he appears to have let go of my mistake from moments earlier.
I nod and point to a door at the other end of my room which is when I realise he's still carrying me. Like I weigh no more than a newborn baby.
Baby. A huge lump begins to form in my throat and I feel tears spring to my eyes.
"Rach, there isn't anything we can do about it just now. It's late." Puck reminds me.
"Bath sounds good." I manage to croak.
"Okay, bath it is." He says and carries me through to my bathroom. He places me gently on the cold tiled floor and begins to run me a bath, pouring a generous measure of my lavender bubble bath into the hot water.
"We cannot let my dad's find out you're here." I stress as I roughly rub away the tears, unable to make my mind up whether I want to cry or not.
"I kind of got that when I climbed through the window." Puck replied quietly.
"Sorry." I mutter, dropping my gaze to the floor.
"Why did you call me Rachel?" He asks suddenly. "Of all the people you could have called?" He looks so confused.
"Because," I begin shakily. "You're my friend, I trust you completely, and I knew you wouldn't judge me." I reply honestly.
"I thought maybe you called me because I was the only person that would come." He confessed softly.
His confession broke my heart. "Noah, I called you because you were the only person I wanted to come, the only person I wanted to talk to. I could lose everything because of this baby" I touch my hand briefly to my stomach. "I can't afford to lose the guy I consider to be one of my closest friends." I finish in a whisper.
Puck moves away from the bath and kneels in front of me. "I already told you Rach, I'll always be here for you. I meant it." He tells me before taking me in his arms. "I'll even pretend to be your baby daddy." He offered as he held me.
"Thanks Noah, but that won't be necessary." I promise him and press a soft kiss to his cheek as we separate.
"You know Rachel" He begins as he goes back to fixing my bath. "I say this to a lot of girls, but with you, I mean it. I love you."
"I love you too. And I', so glad you're here." I inform his enthusiastically.
"Bath's ready." He clears his throat. I think he's a little embarrassed that he admitted he loves me.
"Okay." I smile. Puck comes back over to me and gently teases the bottom of my blouse out of my skirt and begins to undo the buttons.
"Noah!" I gasp, shocked that he is undressing me.
"Chill Rach. I've seen your underwear before." He informs me as he pushes my blouse away from my body.
"When?" I ask warily.
"Every time you bend over." He replies casually. I stare at him open mouthed. "Honestly, your skirts couldn't be any shorter." He slides my skirt off too, followed by my socks.
"Noah." I mutter, embarrassed that he is seeing me so naked.
"Seriously Rach I've seen chicks in their underwear before." He couldn't help but grin though, Rachel had an amazing figure. "Okay, here we go." Puck carefully lifts me up and places me in the bath, still in my underwear.
"Is the water too warm?" He asks gently.
"It's perfect." I reply with a smile.
"Cool." He whips his t-shirt off in one fluid movement, revealing his unbelievably perfect abs.
"What are you doing?" I ask with a frown.
"Coming in beside you." He informs me; cool as ice as he slides off his jeans. I sigh. There's no point in telling him not to, he'll never listen. So he climbs into the bath behind me, positions his long legs on either side of my body and motions for me to lean back against his body. I comply and lean back against him, feeling surprisingly comfortable and relaxed.
"You're amazing." I tell him as we both relax in the hot bubbly water.
"I know." He replies confidently as he wraps his arms around my bare waist. I work hard to suppress a snort that escapes anyway. We lie in the bath for about fifteen minutes in a comfortable silence when suddenly there is a loud knock at my door.
"Rachel honey? Are you okay, we've hardly seen you all night?" I freeze against Puck, it's my dad. I feel him give my waist a gentle squeeze where his hand is rested and I come back to life.
"I'm fine dad. I'm in the bath I just want to chill out and have an early night." I tell him casually. I'm an actress, I can almost always convince my dad's that I'm okay when I'm really not.
"Alright. Goodnight Rach." He replies.
"Night Dad." I relax again in Puck's arms. "That was close." I mutter to him.
Unknown to Rachel, Puck frowned. 'If she's this worried about her dad's finding me in her room, how are they going to react to her pregnancy?' He thought anxiously.
"Puck?" I ask gently, his silence slightly freaking me out.
"Want me to wash your hair?" He asks me. Unusual question, I'm just glad he's acknowledging me after my Dad almost walked into our cosy little scene which they would have most definitely taken the wrong way.
"Um, okay." And so he washes my hair, his fingers working their way gently through the long lengths of my hair. He conditions it also with the same gentle movements. He rinses my hair carefully and then gets out of the bath. He pats the water away from his toned body with a towel and I avert my eyes as he removes his wet boxer shorts and slides his jeans back on.
Once he is decent he helps me out of the bath and wraps a thick fluffy towel around me before draining the bath. Reaching underneath my towel he unclips my wet white bra and removes it from my body, then slides my matching panties down my toned legs.
Puck smirked. "Didn't anyone tell you Rach that only virgins wear white underwear?" He asks me playfully.
The irony is not lost on me so I can't help but grin back. "Liar." I retort.
"Have it your way." He continues to grin as he dresses me in his t-shirt, pulling it down over the towel. His t-shirt falls past my ass so I let the towel fall away from my body and use it to rough dry my hair.
We go back into my bedroom and before sitting down in front of my mirror I put on a fresh pair of panties. Black this time hoping these will not say anything about my virginity, or lack thereof. When I do sit down in front of my mirror to fix my hair Puck picks up my hairbrush, brushing it softly and sending shivers down my spine.
"You still have your make up on." He reminds me softly as he places my hairbrush down.
'Shit!' I catch my reflection in the mirror and I'm indeed still covered in mascara. "I'll be right back." I excuse myself quietly and dash back into the bathroom. I hear Noah snort as I close the door and I imagine my run to the bathroom must have looked a little undignified. I shrug it off; reminding myself things can't get any worse! I clean off my make up and once I have gone through my usual skincare routine I join Noah back in my bedroom.
"Hey." He smiles, I smile back. "You look a lot better."
"Thanks, I feel better. But that's mostly down to you; I really appreciate you coming over like this.
"Come to bed Rach." He beckons softly. "Things will seem better in the morning."
I know he's right so go cross to my bed and slip under the covers. He switches the lights out and joins me moments later, his strong arms wrapping around me once more.
"Night Berry," He says into the darkness, oozing his usual confidence.
"Night Puckerman." I reply and eventually we drift off to sleep in each others arms.