Puck isn't sure he's ever heard the rain this loud. When he got to the studio three hours ago the sun was out and everything was bright outside. Now it's just dark and dreary and cold. He supposes that's fitting.
Things never really look or feel the same when the person you love walks out on you.
He's staring at a blank piece of paper when the lights go out. He sighs loudly as he drops his pencil and reaches out for his cell phone to give him some light. He knows there is an emergency kit in the studio but fuck him if he knows where it is. He moves around carefully but still ends up running almost face first into the cabinets that sit behind the soundboard. He squints as his eyes adjust to the dark and he holds his cell into each cabinet before he finally finds the kit.
He fishes his Zippo out of his pocket as he sets the biggest candle in the middle of the room. After that one is lit and he can see what he's doing, he places a few more around the room and lights those too. He's not going to let a little thing like electricty bother him when he has so much more on his mind.
Rachel is crying so hard she can't see straight by the time she gets to the parking lot of Noah's studio. The rain is falling in sheets around her and she feels like the wind is going to pull her umbrella right out of her hands. She reaches her car and is forced to lower the umbrella while she searches for her keys. She silently curses herself in her head for not having them out and ready when she was still in the building.
It's hard to think straight after you tell the man you love that you just can't do it anymore.
She finally gets the door unlocked and gets inside as quickly as she can. The wind is getting worse and she knows there is no way she can drive home in this but there is no way she can go back inside. She figures she can sit and cry here in peace. She's not surprised that Noah didn't try to stop her or follow her outside. She told him not to.
She starts going over their fight, trying to figure out how it brought her here.
Puck listens to the rain as he taps his pencil on the table in front of him. The blank page sitting there seems to mock him as he struggles to put anything he's feelign into words. He can hear Rachel's voice over and over.
"I can't do this anymore Noah, I'm sorry, but I just…I can't."
He never thought he'd love anyone as much as he loves that girl. She calls it fate that they ran into each other in a coffee shop in Manhattan two years ago. He's not sure if he believes in fate but he's always been thankful that he got a second chance with her.
Now he's worried that he's never going to see her again.
He's thinking about that as he puts his pencil to the paper and starts writing. It's not long before the words are pouring out as he writes every thought and feeling down. The wind and rain have quieted outside now and he keeps writing like his life depends on it. He thinks it just might.
It might have taken her almost an hour but Rachel finally pulls up to her apartment unscathed. The rain has calmed to a drizzle now and she doesn't bother opening her umbrella as she walks towards the building. Her doorman notices her coming and quickly opens the door for her.
"Doing alright today, Ms. Berry?" She smiles at him sadly and he just nods in understanding. She thanks him quietly as she walks through the door and heads towards the elevator. Any normal day she'd take the stairs but the soles of her shoes are wet and the last thing she needs today is a head injury
The thirty minutes in her car did nothing to help her dry off so as soon as she's in the door she starts to strip off her wet clothes. After throwing them all into the hamper in the bathroom she turns the shower on to as hot as she can stand it and gets in.
She's always loved how a shower can help hide the tears.
The light is blinking on her phone when she gets back to her room and she checks it but it isn't Noah. Just a text from Kurt asking her how their recording session went that day. She sends a quick message telling him (lying to him) that everything was okay and that she'll text him in the morning. All she wants to do right now is cry and sleep.
The power comes on as Puck finishes the last verse of the song. He decides that he liked the vibe in the studio more in candlelight though and he turns off the lights after he grabs his guitar. He checks his phone and sees that Rachel hasn't called or text since she left. He'd be worried about her in this storm but he knows his girl and he's sure that she waited for it to pass before she left. It doesn't take him long to put music to his lyrics and he writes notes in the margins as he goes.
He's never worked this hard on a song before. He's never worked this hard to keep a girl around either.
He works on it so long that when he's done and checks his phone again it's already close to midnight. He knows she's probably already asleep but that doesn't stop him from dialing her number.
She's half asleep when her phone rings. She was dreaming of their fight, reliving all of the hurtful things they were saying to each other. She heard herself telling him she didn't want to be with him anymore. Watched his face fall as she turned and ran out the door.
She blindly reaches for her phone in the dark and all of a sudden the reality of him not being there surprises her. She's having trouble remembering a day since they got together that he hasn't slept at her apartment. When she sees that it's him, she lets it go to voicemail. She's not as mad as she was earlier but the fight is still there in her mind. It takes a minute for it her voicemail to pop up and it makes her wonder just how long he was talking on his message.
The second she hears him strum his guitar she loses it. All of the tears that she thought she had under control come crashing down and she tries to calm herself down enough to listen. He's pouring his heart out for her, in song, on her voicemail. He's singing about heartbreak and loneliness. He apologizes and Rachel can feel the hurt in his voice when he sings to her and tells her that he promises that things will be alright.
He plays his heart out for her. He doesn't need anything except his words and his guitar to tell her how he feels and he's going to do just that. He cuts the song short because he knows he can't leave the entire thing but he says one thing before he ends the call.
"Baby…I'm so fucking sorry."
"Baby…I'm so fucking sorry." Her eyes close when she hears him say it and she just wants him there, in front of her so she can tell him that she's sorry too. She listens to it a few more times, listening to him tell her how bad he wants her in his life. How much he needs her. She checks the clock and wonders if she should really get a cab this late when theres a knock on her door.
She quickly wipes the sleep and smudged mascara off her face in the mirror before she goes to answer it. He's standing there with his guitar slung over his back and a broken look on his face.
"Rach…"
"Noah…"
They both smile slightly and he stands there until she speaks.
"That song…." He ducks his head slightly and she sees a look in his eyes she's never seen before.
"I wrote it in like an hour….I'm sorry if it sucked." She laughs a little and shakes her head.
"It didn't suck. It was beautiful, Noah. " She can see the hope in his eyes when he looks back up at her.
"I really am so sorry Rachel. I fucked up and I know I did and I'm so sorry." She shakes her head and holds her hand out to him.
"It wasn't all you. It was a fight, it got out of hand. I'm sorry too. I didn't mean what I said." He takes her outstreched hand and hugs her when she lets him inside.
"Which part?" He says it against the top of her head and she pulls him closer and closes her eyes.
"All of it."
