Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 36th cycle. Now cycle 37!

"Cast Rules"
Rachel/Puck, New Directions & Rent company
Project No Day But Today #10 (following "Creative License")

They'd moved back on stage, gathering the chairs around the table from when they'd done "La Vie Boheme," as they waited for Brittany to return with the rest of the case she'd gone to gather. It had been a big day, from the showcase, to the 'verdict,' and then realizing that they weren't as done as they'd thought they were… and there was one more thing now.

Slowly they would start coming back, clueless. Brittany had said she wouldn't tell them what they'd just found out, let the two of them do it, so whatever she'd told them to get them back…

"Come, come, sit," Rachel ushered them up when they entered.

"Are you going to lecture us on your disappointments now that we failed?" Santana asked as she passed by. Rachel could have just sprang the news on her right then, but she was going to wait until everyone was sitting at that table. It took about ten minutes to get all of them gathered up so that when Brittany came in with the last bunch, Gus, Lizzie, Mike, Tina, and Artie. The others had been talking, and as the last sat and gathered around, Rachel tried to call their attention, no luck. She tried whistling with her fingers, only got spit and wrinkled her face. Puck shook his head to himself, smirking, then did the whistling for her. The others quieted down.

"Thank you for coming back," Rachel started, as she and Puck stood at the head of the table.

"What's going on?" Miranda asked.

"Not going to try and recruit us into Glee Club now that this didn't work, are you?" Greg went on. "I mean this is all fun and everything, but I'm not…"

"It's not about Glee Club," Puck cut in. "It's the musical."

"The musical's over," Mercedes reminded him. "Mr. Schue…"

"No, but he didn't, that's just it," Rachel took the talk back. "It was actually thanks to Brittany that we figured it out," she indicated the blonde. Everyone turned to look at her. She smiled, looked down to find Santana's hand on the arm at her side. "Mr. Schuester never told us to stop what we were doing, just that he couldn't back us up with the school," Rachel explained. There were rumblings around the table as this sank in, faster with some than others.

"So we still get to do it then?" Ellie asked, sounding hopeful.

"We do," Rachel smiled. "That's if everyone's still in."

"Oh, good, we're voting again?" Elliott joked, getting a chuckle.

"Last time, I swear… I hope," Rachel nodded.

"Fine, then let's do this," Santana raised her hand in the air. Brittany looked at her and did the same. Rachel and Puck raised theirs simultaneously, and after that, one by one, two by two and on and on, each of them raised a hand. The whole thing took no more than ten seconds. "So there, now it's settled."

"How does it work though?" Tina asked. "If we're not backed up by the school…"

"Can't raise funds and not tell why," Kurt agreed.

"Look, we don't know, we only just learned about this now so we'll need time to figure this out," Rachel nodded along.

"Okay, so what if we put things on hold until after Christmas break," Puck suggested and Rachel looked back to him. "That way we can try and figure things out… and let things cool off."

"Good, yeah, we can do that," Rachel agreed, looking to the others. "Sound good?" she asked, and everyone nodded. "Okay, so… We'll keep you posted, I guess… until then…" Their gathering 'adjourned' once again, they started getting up, looking to the pair of directors as though they waited to see if they'd get called back again or if they could really go now. Rachel nodded them off, so they went. A few of them hung back, helped gather up everything from the stage to put away and then they left as well. Puck came up to Rachel.

"Can I drive you home?" he offered his hand, all gallant like, making her smirk as she placed her hand in his. Off they went to his car, driving to Rachel's. When they got there and he stopped the car, she had an idea, turning back to him with a smile. "What?"

"Stay? For dinner? I don't know, is that weird, am I… I just thought it might be good if my dads could meet you, but if..."

"Sure," he told her, almost amused by her discomfort, like she'd assumed he'd say no. "Have you told them? About me, and you…"

"Well, they know we're dating, yes. Did I tell them about you and Quinn last year and then your stint in juvie this year… I figured I'd leave that to your discretion," she looked to him.

"Right…" he nodded.

"Then I told them you were Jewish and I didn't need to add anything else," she smirked and he laughed.

They went inside the house to find one of two fathers present. Pop was attempting to fix the sink, a how-to book resting on his chest as he had his head and arms reached in. "Who's there?" he called.

"It's me, Pop," Rachel spoke, careful not to spook him and make him bump his head… again.

"Hey, just give me a second here, I think I've got…" He was interrupted by a gush of water from the pipe. Rachel jumped; Puck rushed in to help.

"Afternoon, Mr. Berry. Noah Puckerman, nice to meet you. Pass the wrench?" he managed to get in as he squeezed in by the man's side.

"The boyfriend? Hello," Pop laughed. Rachel stood back and watched, handing them things where she could. All in all she was barely able to keep from laughing at the idea that this was how they would have ended up meeting for the first time, him and Pop… They fixed the leak, though after that Pop was more than ready to call it a day and cave to the 'call a plumber' option. Puck offered to give it a shot, but Pop thanked him and closed the matter.

"Is it alright if he stays for dinner?" Rachel asked.

"Well, sure, if he doesn't mind take-out," Pop got up, offering a hand to help the boy up.

"I really don't mind," he gave a nod.

As they waited, for Dad to arrive and for dinner to be ordered, Rachel took Puck up to her room, grabbing her notebook from her bag and sitting on the bed. "Okay, let's see, I…" she slipped the pen out from the spiral binding, clicked it and aimed to write, but found the notebook tugged out of her hand. "Hey…"

"I'll have this, and this," he took the pen as well, put both objects carefully on her desk before turning back to her.

"What are y…" She gasped. "My… Pop's downstairs…" she whispered.

"Okay, let's just calm down here, I have standards," he defended himself, and she gave him a look. "Well, you know, some… Anyway we don't have to make out if you d…"

"N-no, I do, I do," she was quick to cut him off.

Half an hour later they heard Dad arrive and, after a quick fix up, they went downstairs to meet up with him. In the time since his arrival, Dad had already been told the tale of the pipe leak by Pop, and all of a sudden Noah Puckerman was their new hero. He was allowed to decide which restaurant they'd order from – which Rachel later claimed to be 'a badge of honor' in their house. Dinner was ordered and then served, as Dad and Pop inquired about their musical project – with the house having been Rent central for so long, they couldn't have kept them from knowing if they tried. The whole meal was so normal and lively and just… everything she needed after the week they'd had. Puck had been right about taking this time to regroup, with the musical. Now they could make it even better.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!