Hello Everyone! Just a quick little addition to the RBDN Series.
Rachel Berry Does Not Forget
This Wednesday night was a rare evening that neither Puck nor Rachel had any homework and happened to just be lounging around the Berry living room. Puck was sitting on the floor in front of the couch with the remote control and was channel surfing so fast it was starting to make Rachel a little dizzy.
She sighed from her lying down position on the couch, her right arm tucked under her ear and her left hand lazily tracing the lines of his mohawk with her fingertips softly. She idly noticed that the hair on the sides of his head had grown out a little longer than he usually let it which also meant his Mohawk was shaggier as well. She lightly dragged her nails along his scalp and smiled happily when he tipped his head back and sighed into her touch.
Her faint smile faded when her fingers traced over the small bald scar on the edge his Mohawk. She vividly remembers how he had gotten that scar. It had happened more than 10 years ago during one of Elijah Puckerman's many drunken rages. When intoxicated Elijah was truly Noah's worst nightmare. Noah had once told Rachel that thankfully Elijah never once struck his mother, verbal abuse was more his style for his pregnant wife. He left the physical abuse for Noah.
It was a warm Friday evening in July, the summer going into third grade. She remembers now how the change between second and third grade was such drastic one. It was the last summer before 'real' school started. Third grade was the first steps of actual learning. No more coloring and singing along to ABC songs, though Rachel never grew out of that. But for Noah, he'd grown up so much sooner than everyone else in their class. That balmy summer night, Leroy Berry opened his front door to a young Noah Puckerman holding the back of his head, tears in his eyes and stains down his face and bloodstains down his neck.
Springing into action quickly, young Rachel watched from the top of the stairs as Leroy called to Hiram and told him to grab the first aid kit as he ushered Noah into the kitchen and down into a chair. She wasn't sure exactly what had happened but she knew it had to be bad. Noah never cried. He was the toughest boy she knew.
She saw her father Hiram rush from one room to the other and then finally cross in front of the stairs towards the kitchen. Rachel slowly made her way down to the living room and moved towards the kitchen where she heard all the bustling of her fathers and the concern in their voices. She heard Leroy ask Noah what had happened to get the rather large gash on the back of his head, which Rachel could see as she poked her head into the kitchen. She pulled back quickly and braced herself on the wall as she swayed at the sight of dried blood and open wound on her friend's head. Luckily for Noah, she knew that her father would be able to clean up and fix his cut easily being a surgeon at Lima General.
From the other side of the door she heard Noah stumble through an answer that she knew was probably untrue.
"I—I was—um, climbing up the tree at, uh, Finn's house, Dr. Berry. And my foot slipped and I fell out."
Rachel couldn't see her fathers or their reaction to Noah's answer. It was quiet for a few minutes as she heard just the movements of a skilled surgeon doing what he does best and the soft sniffles from Noah. She peeked her head in to see Leroy dressing Noah's head with a piece of gauze pad and a long strip to wrap around the boy's head to keep the pad in place.
Rachel's wide concerned eyes caught her father's and he smiled warmly at her. "Noah will be fine, Sweetie. He just got a little cut when he fell out of a tree." He slyly looked to his husband which did not go unnoticed by Rachel. Hiram belated realized that their daughter was way more intuitive than any 6 year old should be and cleared his throat. "I'll just, go call your mom and let her know you're alright." He patted Noah on the shoulder as he walked out of the kitchen past Rachel giving her shoulder a squeeze as well.
She took the empty space her father had left and stood beside Noah as he sat with his hands in his lap, his feet dangling from the chair and his head bowed down. Rachel gave her other father a concerned look and was met with his soft brown eyes conveying in their own little silent language that her friend really would be fine. She nodded back to him when he finally said, "Hiram's on the phone with your mom. I'll go tell her what happened. Luckily you didn't need stitches or have a concussion." Noah nodded silently as Rachel watched her father leave the kitchen. Looking back to Noah she couldn't name the feeling she had. Years later she would easily place it as 'dread'.
Rachel saw how the bandage pushed up his shaggy dark hair off his forehead and made it stick straight up in all directions. She took in how the bandage made him look way less tough than he ever liked to show people. He actually looked small to her. Quietly, she greeted him, "Hi, Noah."
"Hey Rach." He said back in that husky little voice he used to have. He didn't look up at her though which made Rachel upset for reasons she wasn't sure of.
"Are you okay? Does your head hurt? Do you need anything? Are you thirsty? I can get you a cup of water." Always the polite hostess, even at six years old.
He shrugged his shoulders dully. "Whatever."
She nodded resolutely and went to the dishwasher to pluck up a clean plastic cup from the top rack. Then moved to the water dispenser that the Berrys had in the corner of their kitchen. She turned to hand the cup to him with a smile on her face. Happy to be able to help him in some way.
He took it silently, sipped from it, and then placed it on the table beside him. Her smile died. She was sure that would have cheered him up a little. Her fathers always gave her a glass of water when she was upset and it always made her feel at least a little better.
"I'm sorry you got hurt, Noah." She said.
He shrugged again. Rachel stood there silently. She was uncomfortable and she wasn't sure how to help Noah. He'd helped her a time or two before on the playground at school and she wanted to be able to do the same for him. Her brows were knit together in concentration as she heard her fathers making their way back to the kitchen.
Leroy cleared his throat and stood behind Rachel placing his hands on her shoulders. Both Rachel and Noah raised their heads to look up at him. "Noah. We spoke to your mother; she's glad that you're okay. But, she also thinks since it's already…dark out, and if it's alright with you, would you rather just stay here tonight?" Rachel looked between her father and the boy with the bandaged head sitting quietly in her kitchen.
She watched as Noah sniffled again and brought his hand up to swipe at his nose. He nodded and said "Okay" so low Rachel wasn't sure if her fathers had heard him. She tilted her head up to look at Leroy and saw the soft smile on his face; however she could also see the frown he was also trying to hide.
She nodded her head and grabbed Noah's hand and began to drag him up the stairs towards her room. "Daddy, Noah can sleep in my room. He can even have the bed. I'll sleep on stuffed animals on the floor." Noah followed behind her quietly.
Hiram chuckled at his daughter. "That's very generous of you, Rachel. But we'll get the air mattress for you, Honey, so you won't have to sleep on the floor."
Rachel was already halfway up the stairs with Noah in tow.
She guided him over to the edge of her bed and plopped him down. He still said nothing. She was starting to get worried. Noah didn't speak much on a normal basis but given the circumstances it gave Rachel an unsettling feeling in her chest. She stood awkwardly in the middle of her room staring at the small boy with the bandaged head feeling utterly helpless.
Looking around her room there was nothing at all accommodating for a boy. There were pinks and yellows and sparkly gems on surfaces that her fathers had helped her decorate and stuffed animals and frilly pillows. Her eyes settled on the small boom box that sat on her desk. Music alwaysmade her feel better! And Noah liked music. He was always playing the air guitar out on the playground during recess while Finn pretended to play drums. She smiled and flitted over to her desk and flipped on the radio to a random rock and roll station, opting for something more 'Noah' than her own musical tastes.
Her fathers came in after a few minutes with a fully inflated twin size air mattress and fixed it up with a bed sheet, pillows and a soft blanket. Once they were done, Noah finally spoke. "I can sleep on that. Rachel can have her bed, Mr. Berrys."
Again Rachel looked between her fathers and Noah searching for some kind of consent. Hiram nodded and Leroy spoke up. "That's fine with us, Noah. As long as you're both comfortable." Noah nodded and Rachel set her soft brown eyes on him with a warm smile. "Well, I think you'll be fine to get some rest. You weren't showing any signs of a concussion. But if you start to feel sick or your head starts to hurt, you come wake us up, alright?" Leroy placed his hand lightly on Noah's shoulder.
"Yes sir. Thanks." He said quietly.
"Ok. Good night you two." Rachel's father said going over to give her a kiss and tuck her into her bed. "Good night, pumpkin. We love you." Hiram whispered into Rachel's ear.
"Night Daddy. I love you too." She said through a yawn, suddenly getting hit with a wave of fatigue.
Leroy tucked Noah in reminding him that they were just down the hall if he needed anything. The older men left the room flicking on the nightlight on their way out.
It was quiet for a long while. Rachel felt the brink of sleep creeping closer but just as she was about to succumb to sleep she heard whimpers and soft sniffles coming from the air mattress on the floor.
She lay still a moment longer until she heard the sniffle again. Turning on her side towards the sounds, she scooted to the very edge of her bed. "Noah… Are you okay?" she asked quietly into the dimness of her room.
"I'm ok, Berry. You can go back to sleep."
Rachel rolled her eyes and slid out of bed onto the air mattress. Noah said nothing as she made herself comfortable on the mattress beside him. Wordlessly, Rachel took Noah's hand and held it in her own. "I don't think you fell out of a tree, Noah." She said softly into the air between them.
He shook his head and sniffled again. "Because I didn't." He said just as quietly and she nodded sadly.
They fell asleep like that. Hand in hand with a silent understanding between the two of them.
The following morning Rachel was awoken by the sound of hushed urgent voices drifting up the stairs. Disoriented and groggy, it took her a moment to realize she wasn't in her own bed but the air mattress with Noah. Peeking over at the boy beside her, he was all curled up with his back to her and the blanket pulled all the way up to his neck.
She watched the way his shoulder rose with every breath he took and how the bandage had rode up slightly and was about ready to fall off. She gasped when she saw that the wound on the back of his head needed redressing.
She poked his shoulder gently with her finger. No reaction. She poked at him again, a little harder this time. Noah took a deep breath and rolled into his back. Rachel watched as he winced from the pain on his head.
"Wake up Noah. I think my dad needs to fix your head again." She got up off the bed and moved towards the door. He looked at her sleepily then slowly made his way off the mattress to follow her down the stairs.
They quietly stepped halfway down the stairs and saw Noah's mom in the living room with Rachel's dads still quietly talking. But Rachel could tell from their tones that it wasn't a very pleasant conversation. Deborah Puckerman was softly weeping into Hiram's embrace as Leroy kept talking. Rachel didn't understand the conversation fully but picked up a few words here and there. "…This can't happen again, Deb…It could have been so much worse…You need to call the cops…" She looked back to Noah and it seemed that he understood what they were saying a lot more than she did. She grabbed his hand again and pulled him the rest of the way down the stairs.
The adults abruptly stopped talking when they noticed the children. Deb rushed quickly to Noah's side and gathered him into a tight embrace all the while he still held fast onto Rachel's hand. "I'm so glad you're alright, Noah. I'm so sorry you got hurt."
He hugged her back with his free arm and replied, "It's okay, Ma." Quickly Rachel said, "I think Noah's head needs a new band-aid, Daddy."
"Right, of course." Leroy said as they ushered Noah into the kitchen once again. "We'll get this cleaned up for you."
Their joined hands lifted up until the distance was too much and their grips released. Rachel brought her arms around her stomach and tried to give Noah a reassuring smile before he was out of sight and tended to in the kitchen with the three adults.
Presently, Rachel was staring off into the distance not paying attention to what Noah had finally decided on watching, still absentmindedly dragging her nails softly up and down the stripe running the length of Noah's head.
Their history was so intertwined with each other that it was weird for her to think that it took them almost a decade to get together after that one summer night when they were 7. She remembers how after that summer, Noah was always a little more protective of her than ever before. She remembered the first time he showed up with a Mohawk in the last week of eighth grade right before graduation. How this particular haircut showed off the scar that no one but her knew was there until that moment.
She remembers his transformation from jock to gleek also transformed him from Puck back to 'Her Noah'. She was shaken from her daydreams by Noah's deep voice, so much different from the husky voice he had when they were younger. "You okay, Rach? You've been staring off for like ten minutes." The soft smile on his lips and the concern in his eyes making her heart skip a little.
"I'm great, Noah. Just thinking back on some things is all." She said curling her hand around his neck and pulling him close for a quick hug.
"Oh yeah. Anything good?" During her daydreaming he'd made his way onto the couch sitting awkwardly on the edge.
"Just us. Through the years." She smiles wistfully.
Taken aback a little, his hand unconsciously going to the back of his head where the scar sat permanently. "That's a lot of memories, Ber. We've known each other since we were like 3." Still absentmindedly running his hand over the stripe of hair just as she was doing earlier.
Laughing softly, she lifted her hand to pull his face towards hers and nodded. "That's right. And I wouldn't want to forget even a moment of it." She says as their lips meet and he grins into their kiss.
Thanks for reading!