A/N: Okay so I have no idea why but I've been a little obsessed with Puckleberry lately and so I wanted to write a Puckleberry Fic but was unsure what exactly to write about so I went to a prompt generator website that gave me two prompts that I thought could both be made into a good Puckleberry story so I've decided to do both. They could kind of be called companion pieces, I suppose. They are going to be opposite sides of the same Puckleberry coin so to speak.
This is totally the longest thing I've written. I didn't intend for it to be this long but once I starte writing I just couldn't stop myself. It grew wildly out of control but all in all I'm really happy with it. =)
I'm sorry I'm kind of drawing this out but I felt the need to explain all of this before I started the story. So without further ado please enjoy!
The Prompt:
It was more than I wanted and that was good.
A Bad Boy Goes Good:A Puckleberry Fanfiction.
I asked Rachel out to make Quinn realize what a stud I was. It was as simple as that. Sure it helped that she was a hot jew like me, I mean my mom would love that I was dating a Jew. It's what she wanted after all.
So anyways as I was saying, I asked Berry out to make Q jealous. And I could totally tell it was working. I saw the way she looked at me when I sang Sweet Caroline in Glee. But I'll be honest, it was mainly out of my peripheral because I was paying more attention to Berry at that particular time (who knew she had a hot smile, not just a crazy one?). So when Quinn smiled at me in that way she had while I was serenading my hot little jewish american princess, I saw it but it didn't rank as high in my conscious or subconscious mind as Rachel's smile and nodding head at the end of my performance; saying yes to my request that she be my girlfriend
Of course the only reason Q's smile didn't register with me is because she was still with Finn, she wasn't breaking up with him yet. That was the only reason. It's not like I had feelings for Berry or anything like that. I was only dating her because she was Jewish, she was available, and to make Quinn jealous. Yeah, that's all it was.
X.X.X.X
Making out with Rachel was actually pretty nice (I wasn't into her, but making out is making out, ok?). From the way she dressed and acted I figured she would be a total prude when it came to the physical aspect of any relationship. I mean, yeah she made out with me on her bed after we had been working on mash-up ideas but she was even less than a prude than that. For instance, she let me touch her boobs just two days after we became "official". Of course she said I had to come dinner with her and her dads if she let me but quite frankly I was totally prepared to agree to anything at that point (What? Being in an exclusive relationship was totally blue balling me.).
So that evening only a couple of hours of touching Rachel Berry's breasts for the first time (only over the shirt though), I was sitting at her dining room table trying to eat the chinese she had ordered while being stared down by her two (count 'em TWO) fathers, when I had never even met a girl's one father before. They were staring me down and I swear they wanted to murder me for dating their daughter. I totally get it, I don't look like the kind of guy any dad would want dating their daughter. Which is why I usually skipped the whole meeting of the parents thing.
"Daddy, Papa." Rachel broke into the awkward silence that had descended ever since she had introduced me as her boyfriend "could you please stop staring at my boyfriend as if you are going to stick one of your chopsticks through his eye at any moment?"
"We're sorry, Princess" her father Hiram started "but we're just a little..." he trailed off
"Worried" her other father, LeRoy, took over for him "Isn't this the same Noah Puckerman that goes to temple? The one that you pointed out and told us threw slushies at you almost everyday at school?"
My face started to burn in shame. Even the day that I had brought her a slushie to drink she thought I had brought it to throw in her face.
"Well, yes, but-" Rachel started but I interrupted her.
"I know I was kind of a jerk to your daughter, Sirs" I said "But it was only because she was so different from anybody else in school so I thought she was weird but now I know that her difference makes her the most special person in this whole town, hell maybe even in the whole state and that I'm the luckiest guy alive because she decided that I was good enough to be her boyfriend."
Her fathers looked at me and then looked at each other and smiled and I could tell I had said something right because they didn't glare at me for the rest of dinner (or any other time they saw me at their house).
Rachel stared at me with something shining in her eyes that I couldn't quite identify until after dinner when she took me back up to her room and literally pounced on top of me in her bed and started making out with me. It was happiness (and a tiny bit of lust) that had been shining in her eyes after I said all that stuff about her being special.
I totally got to touch her boobs (under the shirt AND bra) that night. And I told myself that was the only reason I said all that stuff. Well, that and to get her fathers to stop thinking about the best way to hide my body after they murdered me. It wasn't like I actually thought those things about Berry. I didn't like her. I just wanted to get into her pants. Yeah, that's all it was.
X.X.X.X.
It was in the locker room after football practice that Finn first brought up the whole me and Rachel thing.
"So, Rachel, huh?" he said trying to be all nonchalant about it but I could tell he was totally jealous.
"Yeah," I said smirking "She's pretty awesome, right?"
"Totally" Finn said looking at me like he had no idea who I was "but I didn't think she was really your type."
"I didn't think so either, but I started to hang out with her because of Glee and everything, and I don't know, she's nothing like I thought she was. I even met her dads the other night and they're pretty cool too." I said while pulling on my shoes.
"You went and willingly met her parents?" Finn asked skeptically.
"Well, sort of..." I said. He looked at me like he expected me to go on and usually I would have gone into great detail about everything that Rachel and I had done (and I probably would have even exaggerated it to make myself look like more of a stud) but for some reason it didn't feel right to talk about mine and Rachel's private moments that way. I told myself that it was only because Finn would probably tell Quinn and then any chance I had with her would go down the drain. So instead of telling him what we had actually done I said "I went over so she could help me with some homework and it took longer than expected so she had me stay for dinner and her dad's where there."
"You went over to her house to work on homework?" he asked and looked at me like he knew I was lying. "Since when do you do homework?"
"Uh, Rachel says if I continue not to do homework I could become academically ineligible for Glee and football so she offered to help me with it. Listen man, I gotta go." and with a fist bump I left the locker room
I felt weird about lying to my best friend (well about this anyways, obviously I didn't mind lying to him about sleeping with and impregnating his girlfriend). It was obviously because I didn't want him to tell Quinn, I mean if he told Quinn I was making out with and touching other girls' boobs she would never want to be with me and let me take care of our baby. That's the only reason I lied about touching Rachel's naked breasts... wasn't it?
X.X.X.X.
Rachel was totally not kidding when she said was high matinence. For instance, when she asked me if I was ever going to take her on a "real" date and I had asked if a trip to the point counted she huffed, stomped away, and wouldn't even talk to me (let alone make out with me or let me touch her boobs) until I told her I had made reservations at Breadstix for seven on Friday (that got me a ten minute make out session and a quick trip to second base in the janitor's closet before glee club that day).
I showed up to her house at 6:30 Friday night with a bouquet of white star-gazer lilies, which were her favorite (what? I asked Kurt... I was trying to get into her pants, remember?), and in a cobalt blue button down shirt and a pair of khakis (Kurt said that if this was our first "real" date that I should dress nicely). I rang the doorbell and her dads answered and told me that Rachel was just about ready and that I could wait inside for her to come down. To Rachel's credit she only made me wait two minutes before she came down.
My jaw unhinged as I saw her coming down the stairs. I had seen Rachel in a lot of short skirts and dresses but this was something else. She was wearing a spaghetti strapped dress that ended at her mid-thigh and it just so happened to be the same color as my shirt. She had on some black strappy heels with it and had most of her hair swept back into a curly chiffon that rested gently on the back of her neck but a few loose curls framed her face.
It took me a minute to regroup my thoughts and when I did she was giving me that hot smile like the one she had given me when I sang her Sweet Caroline.
"Wow." I said "You look amazing, Rachel."
"Thank you" she blushed "You clean up nicely, yourself."
I held out the bouquet to her and she beamed as she took them from me. "That's so sweet of you, Noah. I'll just put these in some water before we go." She headed in the direction of the kitchen then reemerged a few seconds later with a little black purse (I think they're called clutches?) and one of the flowers I got her threaded through her hair.
I cleared my throat and said "Ready?"
She grinned and nodded before turning a giving each of her fathers a kiss on the cheek. "Be home by midnight at the latest, Princess." LeRoy said as he and his husband returned her kisses.
I led Rachel to the truck and held open the passenger door for her (my mom told me if I wasn't a gentleman that she would castrate me so I was making sure to pull out all the stops). She beamed at me again before trying to climb into the truck (and failing miserably). She got the cutest little frown on her face and I chuckled lightly before I wrapped my arm around her waist and hoisted her up into the seat. I closed the door behind her and walked around and climbed into the driver side.
As I was buckling up I said "Next time I'll borrow my mom's car. Or ask Finn if he has a step stool."
"Finn?" She asked, confused.
I could have smacked myself. Why would I bring up Finn on our first date. She was like totally in love with him (Not that I cared really. Well, Ok, it kind of sucked that both the mother of my child and my girlfriend were in love with him and all but that's it.) "Um, yeah. I figured you would probably wear a dress so I asked Finn to borrow his truck seeing as all I have is the bike."
"All you have is a motorcycle? How do you get to school when it's cold?" She asked, thankfully not saying anything about Finn.
"Sometimes I ride the bike but if it's really cold then my mom will drop me off on her way to work." I said shrugging as I pulled out of her driveway.
"Noah!" She exclaimed "You can't drive to school on a motorcycle in the middle of winter in Ohio! You'll catch pneumonia! If you need a ride when it starts getting cold, I'll give you one."
I smiled softly to myself (only because I thought it was funny that she was acting like we were still going to be together come winter, not because I thought it was sweet that she cared that much about me).
We pulled into the Breadstix parking lot at 6:50 (because Rachel hated being late and I really didn't want to annoy her on our first date). On the bright side we got seated five minutes early because somebody else had cancelled their reservation.
We had just ordered our drinks and were looking through the menus when we heard a (fake) surprised voice say "Oh, hey, guys! I didn't know you were coming here dinner." I looked up to see Finn and Quinn standing next to our table and Finn trying to look as innocent as possible.
"That's weird." I replied to him "Since when I asked to borrow your truck I told you I was taking Rachel to dinner at Breadstix."
"Oh" he chuckled half-heartedly "I guess I must not have heard that part." I could tell by his shifting eyes that he was lying.
"Sure" I said. Through all of this Rachel had been glancing back and forth between me and Finn and Quinn had stood nest to Finn shifting from foot to foot nervously.
An awkward silence fell between the four of us and I could tell that Finn and Quinn were waiting for us to ask them to join us but there was no way in hell I was going to invite the guy my girlfriend was in love with to join us on our first date. Apparently Rachel didn't have the same feelings as I heard her suddenly ask "Why don't you join us?"
I snapped my head in her direction to stare at her incredulously. She was standing up from her seat and moving into the seat next to mine and Finn and Quinn sat down across from us. I noticed as Rachel was moving around the table that Finn had been checking out her bare thighs (which I totally got because for a short girl her legs went on for miles). So when he looked back up at me all I could do was glare at him and I could tell that he knew what it was for as he looked down quickly at his menu.
Rachel slid closer to me so we could share a menu seeing as the waitress had only given us two when we first sat down. The waitress came with our drinks and took Finn and Quinn's drink order and left again.
An awkward silence descended on us again before Quinn cleared her throat and said "That's a beautiful flower, Rachel."
Rachel touched the petals gently as she said "Oh, thank you Quinn. Noah brought a whole bouquet of them when he came to pick me up. They're my favorite."
Both Quinn and Finn looked at me incredulously and I just stared back at them with a scowl on my face.
"Oh, that was nice of him." Quinn choked out before taking a long drink of her lemonade.
The waitress came back right then to get our orders which I had never been more thankful for as it saved us from anymore small talk for a good five minutes since Rachel was very thorough with her order. I smiled at her lightly as she continued to explain exactly how she wanted her tomatoes diced into her salad before I noticed Finn doing the same thing and kicked his leg under the table. He glanced at me quickly then glanced down at the table.
Once the waitress left we were forced to try to make small talk again and this time Rachel started. "So, have either one of you come up with a mash-up for Bust a Move?"
"Um... no..." Finn said while glancing at Quinn who shook her head as well.
"Oh," Rachel said "Noah and I have worked on a couple of things but nothing as seemed like it would sound right with it."
"Yeah." Quinn said glancing at me before quickly looking away again.
We fell into an awkward silence again and I sighed. This was going to be the longest dinner of my life.
Before too long our dinner's came and we all started to eat in silence. Quinn was about half way through her burger when she suddenly stood up and rushed to the bathroom looking green.
"It's the morning sickness" Finn said looking to where she had retreated "It's more like all of the time sickness."
Rachel stood up and said "I'll go check and see if she's alright" before leaning over and placing a quick peck on my cheek and hurrying after the blonde girl.
As soon as she was out of ear shot I turned to Finn and said "Dude, what the hell are you and Quinn doing here?"
"Quinn wanted to come out for dinner and I had some extra money so we came out. What's the big deal?" He responded while looking anywhere but at me.
"We've been friends since pre-school, Dude. I know when you're lying and you are definitely lying to me right now." I said "Look I know you have some sort of feelings for Berry but that doesn't mean you can come in and ruin our first date."
"I-I don't have feelings for Rachel!" he stammered.
"Sure," I said in my best sarcastic tone but didn't push it as the girls were headed back in our direction.
As soon as she sat down, Rachel opened up her purse and started rooting around in it for something. She then pulled out a thing of mints and handed two to Quinn who popped them in her mouth before smiling gratefully at her. Then she pulled a few croutons that didn't have dressing on them out of her salad and handed them to Quinn while explaining that they would help calm her stomach.
Through all of this I was just staring at her amazed. She was always really nice to Quinn even though all Quinn had ever done was be mean to her (it helped that she was totally taking care of my baby, but whatever).
"Thanks, Rach." Finn said while giving her that stupid lopsided grin that always drove the girls wild.
"No problem" Rachel said not even glancing at him.
The waitress came back around and asked us if any of us wanted dessert but a quick glance at my watch told me we didn't have time. Thankfully Rachel said she didn't want any anyways.
We paid and the four of us headed towards the parking lot together.
"So, what else do you guys have planned for the night?" Finn asked, trying (and failing) to act like he didn't care.
"We're going to go see something" I replied vaguely.
"Oh cool." Finn said and I could already tell he was planning to intercept us again. "Well, see you guys around."
"Yeah," I replied gruffly "See you."
"Thank you so much for letting Noah borrow your truck tonight, Finn." Rachel said and smiled sweetly at him.
"Yeah," Finn said "No problem."
Then I placed my hand on the small of Rachel's back and led her to where we had parked the truck. I could feel both Quinn and Finn's eyes on me as I wrapped my arm around Rachel's waist and hoisted her into the truck.
I pulled out of the parking and started driving toward the edge of town. When we passed by the movie theater Rachel turned to look at me quizzically "I thought you said we were going to see a movie?" She asked.
"No, I said we were going to see something." I replied smirking. "Check the glove box."
She opened the glove box and saw the tickets siting on top of everything else in there and pulled them out. She shrieked and jumped on me to give me a hug (nearly making me swerve off the road.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she kept repeating in between kisses to my cheek. "Noah, thank you so much!"
I had gotten us tickets to a small production of Phantom of the Opera in the next town over because I knew she liked all that musical stuff (I was trying to get in her pants, remember?).
"So you like it then?" I asked while chuckling.
"Oh, yes, Noah!" she exclaimed "This will be wonderful."
And to be completely honest it was pretty cool (for a musical). Well at least what I saw of it. I spent most of the show watching Rachel's face. She was radiant as she watched the actors sing and dance on stage. She really lit up.
On our way back to Lima she was humming the tune of Angel of Music. As she sat in the middle of the bench seat with my arm around her and her head resting on my shoulder. Suddenly she spoke up "I had a lovely time tonight, Noah. Even though it was kind of awkward at dinner. I hope I didn't upset you when I asked them to join us, it just seemed like they were going to stand there forever if I didn't ask them to."
"No, I'm not mad. I was a little upset at Finn, he knew I was taking you to Breadstix and that this was our first date and that I really wanted it to be special. I didn't want you to have to spend part of dinner holding Quinn's hair out of her face as she puked her guts up." I said.
"Oh, it was no problem." She said "I just feel bad for her sometimes. I can't even begin what it must be like for her. Pretty soon she's going to have to leave the Cheerios and I think it will really devastate her."
"Yeah" I replied vaguely and we fell into a comfortable silence.
When I pulled into her driveway I realized she had fallen asleep on my shoulder so I shook her awake gently "Rach, sweetie, we're here."
She woke up and I walked her to her door. She smiled at me a little sleepily and said "Thank you again for such a wonderful evening, Noah. It was great."
"Yeah," I replied grinning at her "I had a good time too."
Then I leaned down as she leaned up and I gave her soft slow kiss. When we pulled back I brushed a piece of hair behind her ear and said "I'll call you tomorrow, babe."
"Okay." she said then turned and walked inside.
I went back and climbed back into the truck. I was already halfway down the street when it hit me.
Damn it. I had feelings for Rachel freaking Berry.
X.X.X.X.
It wasn't love. I wasn't in love with Berry. It was lust. And maybe admiration but it was most definitely not love.
Damn it, it wasn't love!
Except it totally was.
Damn it.
I couldn't sleep so I continued to lay in bed and stare at my ceiling while having this damn fight with myself... again. (It wasn't fucking love. Yeah, except it totally was. Damn it.).
How the hell had I (stud of studs) fallen in love with Rachel Berry (Queen of gleeks).
Damn it, it wasn't love (yeah it was)!
I needed to talk to somebody about this, but who?
I couldn't talk to Finn about it seeing as he had feelings for Rachel and would do anything in his power to break the two of them up. Because even though he had a pregnant girlfriend (yeah, the baby was actually mine, not Finn's but whatever) he still wanted Rachel to sit on the sidelines waiting for him forever. So Finn was totally out of the question.
So was Quinn, Matt, Mike, Santana, and Brittany.
So who did that leave?
Mercedes? No fucking way.
Artie? I was fairly certain he would wet himself if I came up to him and started talking about how I was in love (not love damn it) with Rachel.
Tina? I really didn't even want to think about that.
Damn it (again) it would have to be Kurt. I was never going to live this down.
I pulled on a hoodie and basically ran out to Finn's truck (I was supposed to return it in the morning) and started for Hummel's house. Yeah, it was 2:30 in the morning but this was an emergency... sort of.
I pulled up outside Hummels house about ten minutes later. All the lights were off and I was pretty sure he would be asleep but I wasn't going to get any sleep until I had talked this out with somebody so why should any body else get any sleep?
I pulled out my cell phone and called his number (I had gotten it from him when I asked about the flowers for Rachel, just in case I had any other questions about my date with her). It rang a few times and I was afraid it was going to go to voicemail but all of a sudden a sleepy voice said "hello?"
"Hummel?" I questioned gruffly.
"Puck? What are you doing calling me at 3:00 in the morning?" He asked sounding a little more awake.
"I need to talk to you. Now. I'm parked in front of your house, can I come in or do you want to come out?" I said quickly.
"I want to go back to bed but I'm assuming that's not going to happen. I'll be out in a minute, I don't want to wake my dad up." he said before hanging up quickly.
Not five minutes later, out Kurt came in a robe, pajama pants and a pair of slippers.
"This better be life or death, Puckerman, or else I will hire somebody to kill you for interrupting my beauty sleep." he said as he climbed into the truck.
The words were barely out of his mouth before I just blurted it out "I think I might be in love with Rachel."
That stopped Kurt right in his tracks. He turned to fully face me and saw what I could only assume was panic on my face.
"Okay, first of all, don't freak out, Puck. It's love, not the black plague." Kurt said in what I assumed was supposed to a soothing manner. "Second-"
I cut him off "Yeah, I realize it's love that's what has me freaking the hell out right now! If it was the plague it would be a lot simpler to deal with, I could just go to the hospital and get a shot or something. They don't have a shot for love, damn it!"
"Secondly" Kurt continued as if I hadn't spoken "love is a good thing. And I, for one, think that you and Rachel together would be a very good thing. So I don't know, maybe you should tell her you love her and stop freaking out about it."
"I can't tell her I love her, idiot" I said running my hand through my mohawk. "First of all she's totally in love with Finn and secondly we've been dating for like a week, maybe."
"Okay, so then don't tell her." Kurt said "But for the record, she hasn't looked at Finn with those puppy dog eyes of hers since you sang Sweet Caroline to her."
He started to climb out of the car. "Wait, that's all the advice you have for me?" I asked panicked "That was the worst advice ever!"
"Well if you wanted well thought out advice you probably should have waited until morning." and with that he was gone.
It was totally love. Damn it.
X.X.X.X.
The next day I drove Finn's car to the gas station and filled the tank like I promised I would (even though I was tempted not to after the stunt he had pulled at Breadstix the night before) and drove it to his house. He was outside on his front porch waiting for me when I got there.
"Hey, man." He said as I got out of the truck. "How was the rest of your date?" (Loosely translated meant "Why the hell didn't I see you at the movie theater when I took Quinn there after I sabotaged your dinner?")
"Pretty good." I replied as vaguely as possible as I leaned against the side of his truck.
"That's good," he said trying to read my face for whatever clues he could get about the rest of mine and Rachel's date. "Why do you look as tired as shit?"
"I didn't get much sleep last night." I replied and I knew by the disgusted look on his face what he thought had happened last night and grinned to myself. Before he could respond I pushed myself away from his truck and said "Listen, man, I gotta go. I told Berry I'd call her today." And I walked away with my hands in my pockets.
X.X.X.X.
Okay, so I lied. I didn't call Berry but as I rang her doorbell I really didn't think she'd mind.
She opened the door then smiled widely when she saw it was me standing there "Noah!" she exclaimed excitedly as she hopped into my arms "I wasn't expecting to see you today!"
"Yeah, I can tell." I said as I ran my eyes over her. She had her hair pulled into a messy pony tail on top of her head and was wearing a white wife beater and a pair of pink cotton shorts.
She blushed a beautiful pink when she noticed the once over I was giving her. She didn't have any make up on but she had never looked more beautiful (Damn it, what was love doing to me?).
"Would you like to come in?" She asked as she held the door open a little wider and stepped to the side to let me enter. I nodded and walked in.
"Where are your dads?" I asked as I noticed how quiet it was in the house.
"Oh, they got called into work today." She said nonchalantly. "I was just making some waffles for breakfast, would you like some?"
"Sure." I said while following her to the kitchen. I sat at the table as she poured some more batter into the waffle iron.
"So, what are you doing awake so early on a Saturday?" She asked as she walked over to the table. I scooted my chair back and held my arms open for her so she came and sat on my lap and I wrapped my arms around her waist.
"I had to get Finn's truck back to him." I said which wasn't a complete lie, I was supposed to return Finn's truck to him today but he probably wouldn't have cared if I had returned later in the day but seeing as I couldn't sleep anyways I just did it early in the morning.
"I see." she said as she stood up from my lap, pressed a kiss against my temple and walked over to take the waffles out of the waffle iron.
We sat and ate her (homemade) waffles in a comfortable silence. After we were done, I helped clean up and do dishes (Damn it, what the HELL was love doing to me?). The thankful smile she sent me had butterflies (Damn it) flying around in my stomach.
"I want you to come have lunch with my family today." I blurted out of nowhere. Well no taking it back now. Of course with the beaming smile she was giving me, I didn't really want to take it back.
We spent the rest of the time until lunch in her room. God, I loved this girl (Damn it).
I could tell Rachel was nervous as we walked to my house (I had walked straight to her house after dropping off Finn's truck) because she kept biting her bottom lip and fiddling with fingers. "I never thought I'd see the day where Rachel Berry was nervous" I commented honestly as I slipped my arm around her waist and pressed a light kiss to the top of her head.
"Well I never thought I'd see the day where Noah Puckerman would take any girl, let alone, me to meet his mother and sister." she said looking up to me.
I didn't blush. Studs like me don't blush. It was just a warm day out and I got a little flushed. "Yeah, well, I met your dad's so I thought it was only fair." I replied in a mumble.
Before too long we were at my house. I grabbed both of her hands to get her to stop fiddling and ducked down to get her to look in my eyes "Don't worry, baby. My mom will love you and my sister will idolize you, I promise."
She sent a smile in my direction with the same look shining in her eyes that had been shining in her eyes the night I met her dads and said all that stuff about her being the most special person in all of Lima (which I now realized was the truth). I wanted nothing more than to take her up to my room and make out with her for the rest of the day but instead I settled for a quick kiss on her lips before turning and opening the front door.
I followed the sound of my mom singing to the kitchen where she was making sandwiches for lunch. "Wash your hands then set the table please, Noah." She said before I had even announced that I was here. I swear, my mom was psychic.
"Hey mom." I said walking up and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I wanted you to meet my girlfriend."
She turned in surprise while saying "Girlfriend?" like it was some foreign word that she had never heard before. To be fair she had never heard me say that word before but that was beside the point.
"Hi, I'm Rachel Berry." Rachel said with a sweet smile and holding out her hand to shake my moms hand. My mom, however, had different ideas and pulled Rachel into a hug.
"It's so nice to meet you!" she exclaimed. "You're that girl who is in glee club with, Noah, aren't you? You go to temple with us, don't you?"
"Uh, yeah.. Yes on both counts." Rachel stuttered out slightly nervous. I could see that there were tears in my mothers eyes but I knew they were happy tears.
"Yeah, so we're going to set the table, okay mom?" I said grabbing Rachel's hand and practically dragging her out of the kitchen. "I told you my mom would love you." I whispered in her ear as we made our way around the table setting it. "She just loves that you're a nice jewish girl." I chuckled and she giggled beside me.
"Who's that?" I heard from the doorway and glanced over to see my little sister, Sarah, standing there staring at Rachel.
"Hey, Sarah," I said "This is my girlfriend, Rachel."
"Girlfriend?" she questioned in the same tone that my mother had used. I mean, you'd swear that I was speaking another language when I said the word girlfriend.
Rachel just giggled again and said "Yes, I'm Rachel. I've seen you at temple. You have a little crush on Joshua, right?
Sarah blushed and giggled as she rushed from the room.
"How'd you know she had a crush on somebody?" I asked Rachel while wrapping my arms around her. "And who is Joshua?"
"She stares at him and sighs about a million times during the sabbath." Rachel said turning in my arms to wrap her arms around my neck "and he's Jacob's little brother."
"Jacob Ben-Israel?!" I exclaimed shocked.
"That's the one" Rachel said with a tap to my nose.
"Unbelievable." I muttered.
Aside from my mothers constant questions about how many children Rachel wanted and how often she practiced her traditional jewish prayers, the rest of lunch was a hit. I knew my family would love Rachel and I was right. We all loved her.
X.X.X.X.
Man, Coach must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. He was totally ragging on all of us and I'd had about enough but when he said that we had to choose between football and glee club, that was the last straw. Obviously I was going to choose glee club. The woman I loved was in glee club and if I chose football over glee she wouldn't be with me anymore.
I was totally committed to that idea... right up until I got hit by a slushie right in the face. As Rachel was helping me clean off I told her that I was going to choose football instead of glee and when she said that we probably couldn't be together I felt my heart-break but before I could say anything she left with only a kiss to my forehead.
I walked the hallways that day with a heaviness in my heart and I knew what I had to do. So that day at 3:32 instead of being out on the football field, I slowly made my way into the choir the room with my hands in my pockets.
I heard everybody gasp but the only response I really cared about was Rachel's as she grinned widely and walked to meet me halfway across the choir room "Are you sure about this, Noah? Choosing glee means you might get a slushie in your face everyday."
I looked at her and spared a glance at the other members of glee who were all waiting for my answer as well. Then I looked back at the beautiful girl in front of me. "Bring it." I said then she was in my arms again and everything felt right again.
I was sitting in the bleachers watching the football team practice, to be completely honest I was waiting for Finn to get done so I could ask him what the hell was wrong with him. I mean sure him leaving glee club would mean he wouldn't get slushied anymore but Quinn was still in glee and she would probably still get slushied every day and he was just going to leave her to her fate?
X.X.X.X.
I knew Rachel was there before she said anything. "Do you miss it?" She asked before she sat down.
"Hell no." I said. It was the truth, I would give up anything to be with her and it's not like the football team had any real chance of winning anyways.
"I hope you didn't choose glee over football because of me." She said quietly.
"Why?" I asked turning my head slightly.
"Because I don't think this relationship is going to work out." she said and I could tell it was actually hurting her to say that.
"It's Finn, isn't it?" I asked.
"No." Rachel said and I looked back at her in shock. "It's you, Noah. I can feel that you're keeping something from me and I don't want to be in a relationship where the other partner feels so comfortable keeping secrets from me. You aren't the total Neanderthal that I thought you were and I have really enjoyed being with you but if you can't be honest with me then there's no way we can move forward with any relationship."
I was shocked. She didn't want to leave me because she was in love with Finn she wanted to leave me so she wouldn't get further into our relationship and get hurt worse because of this fucking secret. I could tell her and then we could be together. Then I realized, if I told her I slept with and impregnated my best friends girlfriend then she would be disgusted with me. "If I tell you, you'll leave me anyways." I said sadly.
"I might not, Noah" she said as she slid down onto the seat beside me "You'll never know unless you try."
I squeezed my eyes shut and just said it. "Quinn's baby? It's not Finn's. It's mine"
I heard her gasp and then I heard nothing so I peaked open my eyes to look at her. She was looking at me with wide eyes and her hand over her mouth. I could tell that there were tears starting in her eyes.
"Please, don't tell Finn. Quinn's decided she wants him to be the father and I really don't want to get my ass kicked by my best friend for no reason" I begged her. I wouldn't beg her not to leave me, I knew I was despicable and that she wouldn't ever want to be with me again so what was the point in wasting my breath on that?
"I need to think" she said as she pulled her hand away from her mouth. She stood abruptly and walked away. I watched her go until I couldn't see he anymore then I glanced back down at the field and saw Finn watching her retreat then he turned his eyes to me. He looked pleased. Then I saw Mr. Shue headed towards Finn.
Good I thought, he can talk some sense into Finn. I so can't deal with it right now.
X.X.X.X.
I was laying in my bed staring at my ceiling with my ear buds in my ears listening to Sweet Caroline at full volume repeatedly (God, love had turned me into such a pansy). It had been almost a week since I had told Rachel the truth and every time I saw her looking at me she just looked sad. All I wanted was to tell her the truth so that we could be together but all I had managed to do is push her away. I noticed that she had been spending a lot of time with Finn lately too. I bet he was just thrilled about that.
I squeezed my eyes closed against the sudden stinging in the back of them. I was NOT going to cry. I had repeated that to myself a lot lately.
Suddenly my ear buds were ripped out of my ears and I was about to yell at whoever dared to mess with me when I opened my eyes and saw Rachel standing next to my bed with her hands on her hips.
"What you did was despicable, Noah." She started as I sat up.
"I know" I mumbled looking down.
"And while I don't agree with it, I can sort of understand it." she said. My eyes snapped up to meet hers "You were both feeling like you were being left behind by Finn when he joined the glee club and so you guys found comfort in each other and no doubt some form of alcoholic beverage. And I know that you want to step up and be a father to this child and that is quite remarkable and brave of you. But, if you really want to be the father of this baby, then you need to tell Finn the truth." Then she sat next to me on the bed and took one of my hands in both of hers. Her tiny little hands wrapped around mine felt so right and it gave me hope. "Finn doesn't deserve to have all his youth ripped away from him when he doesn't have to. You need to tell him, Noah. He deserves to hear it from you and not anybody else."
"He'll kick the shit out of me and everybody in glee club will treat me like a pariah." I said.
"I won't" she said confidently. "I'll be by your side through all of this. Finn won't hit you if I'm right there next to you and there could be a chance he could hit me and the rest of the glee club won't treat you any differently than they do now when they realize that you're going to step up and help take care of Quinn and your baby."
I stared at her in awe "Why would you stay with me? Like you said, what I did was despicable." I had to know. Could it possibly be what I was hoping for?
"Because, Noah," she started and she turned to face me completely "I love you."
I crashed my lips to hers after she said that. I couldn't believe it. She loved me. She love me. She loved me. She loved me.
I pulled back just long enough for her to pull in a few breaths and to whisper "I love you, too." against her lips before I dived back in again.
After some time she pulled back and smiled at me "You love me too? Really?"
"Yes" I stated matter of factly "I realized it the night of our date. I even woke Hummel up at three in the morning to ask him what I should do."
She chuckled at that then kissed me again. "You really do need to tell Finn the truth."
"I know. I know I can do it if you're by my side" I said then I place a kiss on her nose. We decided that I would tell him tomorrow.
X.X.X.X.
We were both at the school early I had texted Finn and Quinn to meet us in the choir room early that morning. Rachel and I were waiting for them to show up. I was pacing back and forth nonstop and Rachel was sitting at the piano just watching me.
Suddenly she jumped up and in front of me. She took my hands and rubbed her thumbs over them soothingly. "Just relax, Noah. Remember I'll be right by your side through all of it, okay? I love you." She said then gave each of my hands a kiss.
I smiled slightly "Thanks, babe. I love you too." Then I leaned down to give her a kiss on her forehead.
Just then the choir room door opened and I turned around to see Finn and Quinn walking in. Finn looked between Rachel and me confused then noticed our clasped hands. "So you guys are back together" he asked.
"We were never not together" Rachel said "We just both needed time to think some things over alone. But that isn't why we asked you here today. Noah has something he needs to say." She turned towards me expectantly.
I looked at Finn then at Quinn and by the horrified expression on her face I could tell that she knew what was coming. I just spit it out. Similar to the way I told Rachel "The baby's mine, Finn."
Finn stood there for a minute, I think he was in shock just looking at me before he heard Quinn let out a sob then he turned to her and stared at her incrduously "It's true?!" he demanded.
All Quinn could manage was a nod. Finn started towards me but Rachel jumped in between us "Violence isn't the answer, Finn." she said while placing one hand on his chest and one hand on mine. Physically she couldn't have held us back if we had wanted to go at it but Finn stopped as soon as she touched him and I wasn't in any rush to get face beaten in.
Suddenly Finn grabbed Rachel's hand that was on his chest and pulled her to him and started kissing her. She was trying push him off of her but he just pulled her in tighter and kissed her harder.
I ripped Rachel out of his arms and put her behind me "What the hell?!" I roared at him "that's my girlfriend!"
"Oh, what you don't want to share? Because you sure didn't have any problem with it when it was my girlfriend!" He yelled back. "Besides, she wants to be with me anyways."
"Finn," Rachel said from behind me "I'm with Noah, I want to be with him. I'm sorry but that was extremely rude of you to do. I understand that you are angry with Noah, I was too when he first told me-"
"YOU KNEW?!" He bellowed but Rachel continued as if he hadn't said anything.
"But, kissing me is no way to react. I know you're upset now, but you'll see that this is actually a blessing in disguise. You're not going to be a father at sixteen. That's a good thing, FInn." she said trying to soothe him.
He just looked between the three of us and stormed out of the room without another word. "Just give him some time," Rachel said to me and Quinn. "He'll realize that him not being a father at sixteen is actually a good thing. Are you okay?" she asked Quinn.
Quinn was sobbing uncontrollably so Rachel went over to her and wrapped her arms around her "I'm sorry but he deserved to know the truth."
Quinn quieted down a little and said "I know. You only did what I wasn't brave enough to do. It's just, my parents kicked me out last night. They found out I was pregnant and kicked me out. I was going to stay with Finn but something tells me I won't be welcome there anymore."
Well, shit. That put a kink in things.
X.X.X.X.
I should've known that Rachel would be planning something. She was always on top of things but of course I was a dumbass and didn't think she had anything going on until she came into glee that day and walked right up to Quinn and told her that she was going to live at her house.
"We have a spare room that we were using as a storage room but my Papa was home from work today so I called him and he moved all the boxes to the attic and went and got a bed for you and everything. It's not sound proof like mine or anything but it's fairly decent in size and if you want to paint it or anything just let me or my dad's know and we'll get some paint. You really shouldn't do the painting though, I don't think the fumes would be good for the baby but Noah can paint it if you want a different color. And you'll have your own bathroom so you won't have to worry about that. And like I said it's fairly decent in size so if you wanted to keep the baby I'm sure we could set a crib up in there. I know you said that you wanted to give it up for adoption but I know sometimes girls change their minds so if you do just let us know and we can work it out and-"
"Rachel!" Quinn cut off her rambling "Why are you doing this for me?"
"You didn't deserve to be kicked out of your parents house just because you got pregnant. And you're carrying my boyfriends baby so I couldn't in good conscience not offer you a place to stay when I knew I had room." Rachel said softly.
Quinn stood up and hugged Rachel tightly and I heard her whisper in the shorter girls ear "Thank you so much." Then she pulled back turned to me and said "She's way too good for you but she loves you for some reason so you better be good to her or I will get Santana to go Lima Heights on your ass." and then walked away.
I looked at Rachel in awe and said "She's right, you know."
"About what?" Rachel asked with her brow furrowed in confusion.
"You are way too good for me." I said as I grabbed her hand and pulled her into me "but I'll always try to be better for you... and not just because Santana scares the shit out of me sometimes."
She laughed at me.
X.X.X.X.
We went shopping after school that day for bedding, clothes, food and other necessities for Quinn before the three of us went over to Rachel's and she showed Quinn to her new bedroom. It was pale yellow and had white curtains on the window. It wasn't much but Quinn acted like it was the greatest room ever. There was a full-sized bed set up in front of us and the door to the bathroom was open.
Rachel took one of the bags from me (of course, I had been left in charge of carrying everything) and headed to the bathroom. "Noah, honey, can you take the bags of food downstairs and put them away. Papa will help you."
"Sure" I said and took the bags that were filled with food. Seven of the fifteen bags that we had were filled with food that Quinn would like and that would be good for the baby.
Rachel's father, Hiram, helped me unload all the food into the fridge and cupboards. And to his credit he didn't even wrinkle his nose when he put the bacon away. He didn't say anything to me until we were done then he turned to me and said "Rachel really love you, Noah, so I wouldn't try something like forbidding you guys from seeing each other but after finding out about this, you're going to have to work really hard to gain back my husbands and my respect." and with that he walked out of the kitchen.
When I made my way back upstairs the bed was made the bathroom was stocked and the girls were unloading all the clothes into the dresser and closet. I watched them work and joke with each other as I couldn't believe it. Quinn Fabray and Rachel Berry were friends. I never thought I'd see the day.
After they were done Quinn said she was tired and was going to take a nap so Rachel and I made our way to her room. We laid on her bed just cuddling and I said "You're the best person in the world."
She just smiled up at me and said "I'm sure there are plenty of people who would've done the same thing."
"And what I really can't believe" I said grinning down at her "is that you and Quinn actually seem to be becoming friends."
"Well, I have to be nice to her, she's carrying your child and I know how much you want to be a part of your child's life so it's not like I could just shun her and still be with you. But I would've been nice to her anyways. I don't think Quinn is this heartless Cheerio that I used to think she was. I would be honored to be her friend." She said as she nuzzled into my chest.
I smiled into her hair and tightened my arms around her. I had the BEST girlfriend in the world.
X.X.X.X.
The rest of Quinn's pregnancy passed by fairly quickly.
Finn never really forgave us but he was civil to us and he conceded that it was for the best that he wasn't going to be a father at sixteen and he eventually got along with us again especially after I told him that he was kind of an honorary father.
Rachel and Quinn became very close friends which was weird. So when Quinn got too big for her Cheerio's uniform she talked Sue into taking Rachel onto the squad. She explained that Rachel was a dancer so was very flexible and could learn the routines quickly and was light so she would be easy to lift and throw.
The first time I saw Rachel walk down the hallways in her Cheerio's uniform I almost had a problem to rival Finn's (we spent a good half hour in the janitor's closet and were VERY late to glee that day).
Before we knew it, we were at Regionals. I gritted my teeth while Rachel and Finn sang Faithfully to one another (what? I really didn't want my girlfriend singing a love song with another guy) but we left the stage with high hopes.
As we were leaving the stage Quinn stopped dead right in front of me and Rachel causing us to stumble into her.
"Quinn, what's wrong?" Rachel asked the blonde girl.
"My water just broke." Quinn said turning to Rachel with frightened eyes.
"Don't panic." Rachel said "Remember to breathe like we practiced in the lamaze classes."
"What lamaze classes?" I asked confused.
"Not now, Noah. Go get Mr. Shue and meet us by the front door." Rachel said leading Quinn towards the front door.
I rushed to the green room and said "Quinn's having the baby!" Everybody ran towards me and we all ran towards the front door. We got the bus driver to drive us to the hospital and we all climbed on board, Rachel and I helping Quinn into the first seat.
Rachel was helping Quinn through her breaths which I was thankful for because I was terrified. Quinn was half laying half sitting in the front seat with Rachel behind her causing Quinn to lean against her so I slid into the seat behind them and Finn slid in next to me.
We got to the hospital in record time and as Rachel and I helped Quinn off the bus Finn ran ahead and came back with a wheelchair for her. Our entire group rushed into the hospital and Rachel got the attention of a nurse "My friend is having her baby." The nurse started leading me where to go with her wheelchair.
"Wait." Quinn said "I want Finn and Rachel with me too."
The four of us headed into a room together.
To be honest I don't remember most of it and I was kind of light-headed by the end of it and I was fairly certain I'd heard enough of Quinn yelling at me to last a lifetime but when the doctor handed me that little baby girl, I knew it was all worth it.
"She's beautiful, Noah." I heard Rachel say from beside me.
"She really is," I breathed "Do you want to hold her."
"Um, sure" she said and I carefully laid my daughter into my girlfriends arms. "Hi, baby girl." She said to the baby and then she started singing to her while walking with her over to Quinn's bed so she could see our daughter.
I looked upon the sight. My girlfriend holding my daughter while sitting next to the mother of my child and my best friend sitting on the other side of her with his arms around her shoulders and smiling at my daughter.
When I started dating Rachel it was only to make Quinn jealous. I never thought I'd fall in love with her and that she and my baby mama would become best friends or that any would even know that the little girl was mine. It was crazy how fast everything could change in a matter of a few months.
As I stood there watching the three (now four) most important people in my life I reflected on my relationship with Rachel and that's when I realized: It was more than I wanted, and that was good.
A/N: I hope you liked it! And if you read this I encourage you to keep your eye out for the companion piece that will be coming soon it will be called A Good Girl Goes Bad: A Puckleberry Fanfiction. Please review!