AN: This story is based off the recent pictures of the Glee cast filming in New York. Lea Michele was wearing a fabulous coat that I want for my own but apparently it's vintage. What a curel world it is we live in. Any way this is a future fic. And it's been hopping around my brain since I first saw those pictures. So hopefully you like it.
This is the coat in question - http:/30 .media .tumblr .com/ tumblr_lkkpkvnbPH1qb3o48o1_500 .png remove the spaces and hopefully the link will work. :)
Disclaimer : I don't own Glee or any of the characters in this story ... sadly.
"Baby, come on!" He shouted from his spot on the couch to Rachel in the bedroom. She'd said be ready for 10am, or they would be leaving regardless of how ready he was, and so he was ready. He'd been ready for quite some time. It was now 11:30 and he'd resigned to the fact that she was just going to make him wait, so he'd made himself comfortable on the couch and put ESPN on. He may as well check the scores while he waited right? No harm in that? Right? Wrong! Just at that moment she came shooting out of the bedroom, apparently ready now, and frowned down at him.
"Noah, we haven't got time for you to watch ESPN. I told you to make sure you were ready or we'd -" He stood up and took hold of her shoulders, shaking her slightly.
"Ok, firstly you need to tone down the crazy just a little bit, and secondly I was ready at 10 when you told me we'd be leaving. It's been an hour and a half Rachel, what were you doing in there?" He took the opportunity to look down at her outfit, "And what are you wearing?"
She looked down then, and answered, "What? Don't you like it? It's vintage." She had on a striped coat that had various colours on it, and red tights with yellow wedges.
"It looks good, I just can't look at you for too long without my eyes hurting is all. And baby, I've told you before, just because it's vintage doesn't mean it's nice." He smirked at her when her eyebrows creased and he could tell she wasn't impressed with his little joke.
"Well if I look that hideous then I'll have to go and change won't I?" She went to move back towards the bedroom, but he reached out and grabbed her wrist.
"No! No. You look perfect. You are not going back in that bedroom, I might never see you again. Apparently there's like a black hole or something in there, sucks all sense of time away from you. We're both ready so lets just go. You said you wanted to go out so lets go out." And with that he pulled her out of the door and down the stairs, barely letting her turn around and make sure the door was locked.
As they walked down the street he kept noticing how women were staring at them. And while that was common occurrence for him, I mean come on, look at him, it never usually happened on such a scale. So he just smiled and pulled Rachel closer to him, maybe that would warn some of them off. It was quite unnerving actually, to keep getting stared at like this. Rachel didn't seem to have noticed, chattering on about how Linda from work was really annoying her at the minute but he couldn't fully concentrate on what she was saying, what was with all these people? Clearly he was with someone, had they no class? He thought women in Manhattan were supposed to be like sophisticated or something? So he pulled Rachel in to a café he'd been in a few times and made good coffee, hoping that they could get some privacy in there. But as they stood in the queue waiting to order he couldn't believe it, they were still staring! The women in the café were all staring at them. What was wrong with the world today? This was just too weird!
When they got to the counter he placed their order, while Rachel rummaged in her bag for her phone. He tried not to look at the other customers but he could feel all of their eyes on them. It was beginning to annoy him, he was trying to keep his cool but this was getting ridiculous. He knew if he blew up in the middle of the café Rachel would be mortified and not speak to him for weeks so he needed to just remain calm. Let them stare. He wasn't interested. It was fine.
They took their drinks and went and sat down by the window. He was slowly sipping his while Rachel continued to talk about work or something he wasn't sure. And then it happened, he saw her getting up from her table across the room. Surely she wouldn't hit on him when he was clearly with someone. That was just rude. But she kept on walking towards them and he was in shock. But what happened next shocked him even more.
"Excuse me," The woman began, "Sorry to interrupt but can I just ask you something?"
"Look lady, I'm sorry but I'm here with my girlfriend so I'm not -" He looked up at her confused face and was completely bemused.
She shook her head, "No erm, it's not that. I was just going to ask where you got that coat? It's fantastic. And so vibrant. I must get one for myself. I haven't been able to stop looking at you since you walked in here."
And then it hit him, those women on the street weren't looking at him, they were lusting after that coat. That hideous COAT! But it was so garish, and obviously Rachel, why would the entire female population of New York want to have that coat?
"Oh, well thank you. But I got it at a vintage store I'm afraid. The likely hood of finding it again are slim. But you never know. You might be lucky." Rachel smiled up at the woman. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help."
The women just smiled down, thanked her for her time, and then went back to her table. And Rachel went back to looking out of the window at the passers by, commenting on a few of them while he just sat there, completely in shock, unable to see the appeal of that coat.
When they left the café and continued on their way to Central Park, the staring continued. But at least now Puck felt a bit more at ease, at least he wasn't being oggled. Although it was kind of distressing to know that the coat was getting more play than he was.
"So, where exactly did you find that coat?" He couldn't help but ask, it was like some chick magnet. They couldn't keep their eyes off it. He was surprised someone hadn't tried to physically rip it off Rachel's body yet. And while it would have been pretty hot if that had happened, the fact that it would have been over a coat was just ridiculous.
"That vintage shop I like, I can never remember the name, but I know exactly how to get there. Isn't that weird? It's off Fifth Avenue. I'll have to take you there one day, they do men's clothes as well. I always look for something for you but I know how particular you are about stuff like that."
He stopped in his tracks, "I'm not particular." She stopped as well, and turned to look at him. A small smile playing on her lips.
"Of course you are. I bought you a t-shirt just last week and you told me you would never wear it and that it had to leave the apartment immediately before it was mercilessly set on fire." He could tell by her tone that she wanted to laugh as she quoted him almost correctly.
"It was pink Rachel. PINK! When have you ever seen me wear anything that was pink?" He thrust his hands up in agitation, which she knew wasn't a good sign.
"Are we really going to argue over a shirt Noah? Come on, lets keep walking. There's a gelato cart over there. My treat?" At that she grabbed a hold of his hand and pulled him back in to step with her. He couldn't believe she said he was particular about clothes, the girl who had colour co-ordinated her wardrobe. No self respecting guy would ever wear a pink t-shirt, it was just weird and wrong. But he really did want the gelato so he figured he wouldn't bring it up again. As they walked past a free bench Rachel looked up at him, "Wait here. You save the bench and I'll get the gelato ok?"
"Ok." He sat down and tried to take up as much space as he could. While in his mind someone sitting alone on a bench generally didn't want to be disturbed, he'd come to realise that not everyone saw it like this. Just last week he'd been sitting on a bench waiting for Rachel to come out of the theatre when a random stranger had sat down next to him and proceeded to tell him their entire life story. He just nodded along, there was no need to be rude, especially because the fact that they were telling a stranger such intimate details meant they might be a bit unstable, so it was best to just go along with it and not cause a scene. Appeasing them generally worked out better than trying to escape. He sat back with his eyes closed, waiting for Rachel to return when he heard someone clear their throat. He opened his eyes and saw a man staring at him, looking largely uncomfortable.
"Can I help you?" He asked, sitting forward, making his arms look bigger to try and frighten this dweeb.
"This might sound a bit...well, weird. But I was just wondering, was that woman you were walking with a friend?"
Oh great, now he was being asked if he could set someone up with Rachel. His GIRLFRIEND!
"Actually, she's my girlfriend. So no she's not interested in dating you, or getting your number or whatever you came over here to ask me."
The man took a step back, cleared his throat and shook his head. He was visibly nervous. "Erm, no, it's not that. I work for W magazine, well I'm an intern actually. And we're always looking for pieces for our street fashion section, and I was just going to ask if you knew where she'd bought that coat?"
Puck almost choked on his own tongue when the guy asked him that. What was going on? Had the world gone completely mad? The coat...AGAIN?
"Are you serious? You want to know about that coat?" He was in disbelief, and his face clearly showed it when he was saw the man look at him and start to smile.
"Yes, the coat. Clearly you don't have the same opinion?"
Puck shook his head, "I just don't see it? It's so, so...bright? I'm not sure if that's the right word. But I just can't believe so many people are amazed by it. In high school that girl got ridiculed for her fashion sense. And now we live in New York and she's a secret style icon. I'm in shock I guess."
The guy had moved to sit next to Puck on the bench and snickered slightly at his closing remark, "Well welcome to New York. This place is a world unto itself. What the rest of America considers hideous, here it is the most coveted item on the planet. That's what makes New York style so unique. And your girlfriend there, she's found her place. She was clearly too out of the box shall we say, for your high school. Here in Manhattan she's at home."
"Well I can save you the trouble, it's vintage, she can't remember the name of the shop but it's off fifth avenue and I'm pretty sure she won't know how much it costs because she seems to think we have an infinite amount of money in our bank account."
The man laughed out right that this and then stood from the bench. "Well thank you for your time. If we don't know any of the details I can't really put it in the magazine. But tell your girlfriend she's on to a real winner with that coat." He held out his hand and Puck shook it. "It was nice to meet you."
He nodded his head, "You too." And with that the man walked away, just as Rachel came over with the gelato.
"Sorry it took so long. The line was huge. Who were you talking to?" She sat down next to him, curling in to his side when he put his arm over the back of the bench and around her, running his fingers through the curls on her hair absent mindedly.
"Oh some guy from W magazine, he wanted to know about your coat."
She almost chocked on her gelato as she shot around to look at him. "W Magazine? W MAGAZINE?" Her mouth was hanging open and she was frantically looking around for the man, who had obviously left the park as he was no where to be seen.
"Yeah, so what?" He didn't understand what was so exciting about that. He'd seen a few copies of said magazine lying around their apartment but he'd never felt the need to look through it.
"W Magazine is only one of the most esteemed magazines produced Noah," Her tiny hard shot up and hit him in the middle of his chest, and it actually hurt a little too, "I can't believe you didn't shout me over. I would have happily told him everything about my coat. He might have taken my picture. I could have been in W." A pout came over her lips as she sat back in to his embrace and playing with her gelato.
Clearly this meant a lot more to her than he had realised and so he put down his gelato and took his hand in hers. "Baby, if it helps ease the pain, he said you were on to a winner in that coat. And that you looked at home in Manhattan."
Her face instantly brightened up and that huge smile crossed her lips, "Really? He said that?"
Puck just nodded, which resulted in a huge squeel from Rachel as she threw herself in to his arms. A few people walking past turned to look at them, probably thinking he'd proposed, not told her someone said she had a nice coat. He just smiled back at them while he tried to detach Rachel from around his neck.
She eventually released her grip and sat back against the bench. A small smile still playing on her lips as she muttered to herself, "W liked my coat. I look at home in New York. Someone from W wanted my coat."
He couldn't help but smile along with her, she was so proud of her coat and he couldn't help but be happy for her. If something as little as someone commenting on her coat made her happy then who was he to complain? It was so Rachel, she loved the little things that life gave her. And so he couldn't help it if he pulled her a little closer on their walk home, or kissed the top of her head whenever he heard her whisper those words again. She deserved to feel like this, she was after all, the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen in his life, even if he didn't always agree with her outfit choices.
When they finally made it home she ran straight to the phone to call Mercedes and tell her about the incident with the man from W. Anyone would believe he'd come right up to her and offered her a cover shoot the way she was gushing about it. But he let her have her moment, grabbing a beer from the fridge and falling on to the couch. He turned on the TV and resumed his position from this morning, checking the scores and general sports news. When he felt the couch dip next to him and her weight lean against him he shifted so that he could look down at her. But when the saw her, he just rolled his eyes and chucked. She looked up at him questioningly, "What is it?"
He smiled at her and then leant to her ear whispered, "Take off the coat Rachel."
She moved away to look at him again, smiling widely, "But someone from W wanted to know where I bought it." Puck moved both their bodies so that she was lead back across the couch and he was hovering above her. His weight being held on his arms so he didn't crush her beneath him.
"I don't care what that guy from W said, this coat," He started to undo the buttons as he spoke, "Still makes my eyes hurt." And with that he pulled the now open coat from beneath her body and threw it over the back of the couch and towards the kitchen.
"Noah! I can't believe you just -" But she never got to finish her rant as he pressed his lips over hers. Effectively removing any train of thought she had and soon she was completely melted in to his kiss. And while he would never figure out the appeal he was sure, he knew he would just have to get used to the stares because there was no way Rachel was ever going to wear any of her other coats again.
