Chapter 1

Rachel Berry lived for her routines – her whole world revolved around those routines. Each morning, she would wake up just a minute before her alarm went off. She'd slip into some comfortable workout clothes and do thirty minutes on her elliptical before eating breakfast and getting ready for school, or, alternatively in the summer, getting ready for her daily activities.

But today, as she was lying in bed waiting for the alarm to go off, her eyes went to the gap between her curtains. She saw the bright blue sky and fluffy white clouds, the sun peeking out invitingly from behind them. She was so distracted thinking about how perfect the weather was that her alarm went off before she could shut if off, as she normally did. Startled out of her morning reverie, she rolled onto her side and slammed her hand on top of the clock to stop it.

She was well aware that she was disrupting the flow of her normal morning routine when she rolled back onto her back. But the bed was so inviting and the pillows so fluffy and…

Rachel snapped out of her lazy ponderings, her body suddenly going ramrod straight with tension. What on earth was she doing wasting her precious time like this? She was working her butt off to achieve her dream of becoming a Broadway star – she couldn't (and wouldn't) stop for anything!

Even as she thought it, a sudden wistfulness overcame her. Her gaze was once again drawn towards the window. Surely, it wouldn't hurt her all too much to deviate from her preparatory routine just this once? Kurt was always on her case, saying how she should learn to live a little; Mercedes always insisted that perfection was boring and not necessarily any fun; even Tina and Artie, who were pretty quiet most of the time, mentioned that Rachel might need to learn how to chill just a bit.

She thought about it for a few seconds longer before she pushed away her covers and got out of bed. She quickly slid into a pair of black jogging pants and a pink tank top, brushing her hair back into a quick ponytail and slipping on a stretchy pink headband with a gold star in the middle. She slid on her running shoes, followed by the armband for her iPod. Pulling the iPod out of its dock atop her speakers, she slid it into place, pressed play and hooked the earphones onto her ears.

She began her warm-up stretching as the upbeat song from All-American Rejects began to play. When the song came to an end, she went down the stairs and out the door, grabbing her house keys off the front hall table. After locking up, she walked down to the sidewalk.

With a deep, happy sigh, she breathed in the early morning summer air. It felt good to be outside, early enough for it to seem like she was alone, the world at her fingertips. She turned to the right and began jogging lightly keeping in time to her music.

The running at a steady pace calmed her and she always thoroughly enjoyed it. It was even nicer to be doing her exercise out of doors on such a beautiful day. With a smile, she turned to head down the next block.

Noah Puckerman blinked once, twice, allowing his eyes to adjust, before he finally opened them to stare up at the ceiling. Judging by the light filtering into his room through the window, it was still early in the morning for summer. With a halfhearted groan (out of sheer laziness), he let his eyes drop down to the end of his bed where the culprit responsible for his early rising was sitting.

"Dumb puppy." He grumbled under his breath, although he wasn't too annoyed.

Cleo, the black Labrador puppy who was the latest addition to their household, stared at him imploringly, her dark eyes shimmering. Puck groaned and shut his eyes against the onslaught of her begging face. He snuck a peek a few minutes later; Cleo still sat there, staring at him patiently. He shut his eyes and tried to ignore the image of her begging face. He was forced to concede defeat a few minutes later.

"You realize that it's too fucking early to be awake, much less go out?" He scolded, although he sat up in bed and stretched his long, muscular arms.

Cleo let out a little bark and padded towards him, resting on top of the blanket just on top of his knees as she watched him curiously.

"Alright, alright, alright. If you weren't so fucking cute…" Puck knew it was an empty threat in all reality and he just knew that Cleo knew it too.

He pushed the blanket away and allowed Cleo to hop off the bed before he got up. Cleo curled up on the spot she liked on his floor (atop his extra McKinley High sweatshirt). He rummaged around in his dresser until he found his wife beater and the black shorts he had used yesterday, which he proceeded to slide on. Pushing off some dirty laundry from his desk chair, he sat down and tugged on his trainers. Grabbing a black hoodie, he slipped it on, followed by quickly stuffing his mobile phone and house keys into his pockets.

"Well, come on girl. Since you woke me up, we might as well go out." He called to the puppy as he stood in the doorway.

Cleo let out another bark and trotted out of his room, promptly heading towards the locked front door. Puck shook his head in amusement, picking up her leash from the front end table where he had tossed it yesterday.

Cleo yipped and began to pace back and forth nervously, her eyes on the leash that Puck held in his hands.

"Aww come on girl, do we have to go through this again?" Puck coaxed, getting down on his knees.

Cleo just stared up at him, her eyes darting in different directions, shifting her weight from paw to paw.

"It's just a fucking leash girl, not a death sentence." Puck grumbled when he made a pass for her and she slipped out of his grasp.

Cleo barked and kept backing up until she was up against the door. Puck made a grumbling noise as he caught the fidgety puppy and slipped her leash on.

"I know you don't like it Clee, but if you want to go out, you have to have it on."

Cleo whined, finally sitting patiently on her haunch. A moment later, she had her head up, paws scratching against the door, as she demanded to be let outside. Puck shook his head, a small, amused smile on his face.

"You sure are fucking bossy for a puppy Cleo." He commented, even as he unlocked the door.

Cleo let out a yip of joy and tried to make a mad dash for the outside. Puck slipped the loop of the leash onto his wrist and tugged her backwards gently. Cleo strained for a moment longer before she finally sat and stared at him, her tail thumping against the ground. Puck laughed and turned around to lock up.

"Okay girl, let's get going." He said, slipping his keys into his pocket.

Cleo barked happily and began to tug on the leash, pulling him along down the walkway to the sidewalk. Puck stifled a grin, although he followed behind the puppy. Despite the fact that it was way too fucking early to be up on a summer morning, the promise of some exercise and some quality time with the dog was overwhelmingly enticing.

Cleo sniffed around a bit as she pulled to the right, making her way slowly down the sidewalk. Puck kept a careful eye on Cleo, making sure she didn't bite anything she wasn't supposed to and that she was comfortable with the leash on. Though Puck would probably never admit it because it would put his badass reputation into question, he had discovered recently that he had a soft spot for the dog.

"Hey girl, you want to run?" He asked out loud after a few minutes of walking. He felt like he had stretched his muscles enough to break into a jog.

Cleo paused and looked at him with a question in her eyes, her tongue poking out of her mouth as she panted.

"Come on girl, run, run!" Puck suddenly yelled exuberantly, picking up the pace as he broke into a run.

Cleo barked sharply before she began to run, keeping apace with him eagerly. Puck laughed out loud, still amused that Cleo would try to keep up with him all the time.

"Good girl." He said between breaths, jogging towards the park.

Cleo's only response was a bark and a mad sprint that put her ahead of him. Puck smiled, thinking how Cleo was turning into one badass puppy. He pushed away the thought that he was going soft for a puppy, deciding not to question whether or not his badassness was in jeopardy.