It was 3:26 when Puck rolled over to glare at his clock. He groaned. This insomnia had been plaguing him for a few weeks now. It was all her. Thoughts of her rampant in his mind, forever pushing him toward the pinnacle of explosion: her smell, her eyes, her cute little smile, the way she'd twirl her hair and giggle when he told her she was beautiful, her voice- God that voice! Rachel Berry was all he could think about. Despite how much he wished her face away, it was always there. How could he tell her though; she was in love with Finn. And Finn was with Quinn. And Quinn was pregnant. With Finn's kid. At least...that's what everyone else thought. There was much more to that story though.
He thought back to that fateful night when he, like an idiot, had taken advantage of a drunken, hormonal Quinn Fabray. And knocked her up. God he was such an idiot! Why did I have to be such a horn dog! He frequently went through the memories in his head, coming up with different scenarios in which he took Quinn home, or left her at the party for some other douche to prey on. In all of them, he would speed off from the party towards Rachel's house, to finally confess his love, and in all of them, he made it as far as her front steps. But the fantasy would abruptly end when he rang her doorbell; too chicken to tell her, even in his dreams.
He stared hard at the clock, willing it to turn back time, to that night. Or at least back a few hours so he could get some more sleep. He finally gave up and mumbled some profanities as he got out of bed, deciding to go for a jog instead. He threw on his shoes and a hoodie, put in his earbuds, and walked out the door, being sure not to slam it on the way. He jogged for what seemed like hours, trying to get her out of his head. Nothing seemed to work. He was beginning to consider electroshock treatments. He had to do something, anything to make her go away. He looked at his watch and saw it was almost 5:30 so he decided it was time to head back and shower and grab a bite to eat. He turned the corner to head in the direction of his house when he saw it; Rachel Berry's house. Just like in his dreams. His heart skipped a beat. Actually, it didn't beat for a good 20 seconds. He approached it slowly, trying not to panic; that's when he saw her.
He couldn't think, couldn't breath, couldn't do anything. He watched her at her computer, probably uploading another video. Her every move caused his pulse to falter. He studied how gracefully her hands flew across the keyboard, then to the mouse. Suddenly his feet began to carry him at a steady pace towards her front door. Now he really began to panic. His heart was racing as he internally chastised his legs for what they were doing What are you doing you dumb ass?! She's just going to laugh in your face! Stop! STOP! It wasn't working. Nothing he did was. His legs just kept moving, dragging the rest of him towards Rachel Berry's house at an alarming pace.
Puck closed his eyes and tried to imagine it was just another fantasy and it would end the same way as the others. He walked up the front side walk waiting to open his eyes and being lying in bed staring at his ceiling. He rang the doorbell. Nothing happened. He was standing there staring at Rachel Berry's front door. At 5:30 in the morning! And he rang the doorbell. What the fuck was he thinking?!
He wasn't thinking. That was the problem in the first place. More, he was thinking and his legs weren't listening. Yeah, that was it. But, he couldn't tell her that...or her dads. Puck saw her get up from the computer desk and walk towards the window.
"Shit!" he muttered as he took a nose dive into the hedge by her front steps.
He peaked out and saw that she had seen someone, but from the look on her face, he knew she couldn't tell it was him. He waited for her to leave her post before he climbed out, with a new determination. This is it! You've made it this far. Stop being such a fucking pussy and tell her!
He began to straighten out his clothes wipe off his face; suddenly very uncomfortable with his current appearance. He peered in the window and saw her walking down the steps. All of the breath immediately rushed out of his body. She was so beautiful. Even in pajamas with her hair mussed and without make up, she still managed to literally take his breath away. The way she walked was so elegant she made every other girl at their school look like a moose when compared to her.
He forced himself out of his trance and back to the real world when she reached the bottom of the stairs. His hands began to twitch when he heard the locks click. The door swung open and her mouth fell open.
"Noah..." was all she could manage to get out.
Then there was silence. He couldn't speak. His brain damn near stopped functioning all together. He tried to form words, but it came out all garbled like mush. C'mon dude, you have to do something!!!
And he did. And it was either the most stupid or smartest thing he'd ever done.
He sprang forward, snaking his arm around Rachel's waist and planting his lips flat against hers. He continued kissing her for a few moments, waiting for a reaction. And she did nothing. Just stood there, seemingly waiting for it to end. Shiiiit! He pulled away from her, immediately darting his eyes towards the ground.
"I...I'm sorr...I...err...mis...ah...uh...I...ugh...crap...I...I...I fucked up and I miss you!"
"Noah," she cooed as she reached a hand up to stroke his face "I missed you too."
She stood on her tippy toes and gently pressed her lips to his. It only lasted for a few seconds, but to Puck, those few seconds were heaven. He opened his eyes and saw her grinning back at him and couldn't help the smile that began to spread across his face.
He could feel the happiness spreading from his heart to the tips of his fingers and toes. He scooped Rachel into a bear hug and began to swing her in circles. The giggles the erupted from her were quite possibly the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.
"Come on," she whispered "I'll get us some coffee and we can talk."
"Talk". That word slowly sunk in and caused his happiness to evaporate. This is where his fairy tale was going to end, and it put his stomach in knots.
