1.
They go to pick out a tree in an attempt to cheer up the glee club. Rachel hopes that it will lead to something cheerful for her as well, but those hopes are crushed when Finn walks away from her.
She blinks the tears away and looks around her, realizing she has no way to get home (it also makes her hate Finn a little bit). So she pulls out her cell phone and calls the one person in the whole world who doesn't hate her. (She should resent the fact that he only 'kind of likes her', but really, she'll take whatever she can get right now).
Puck gets there and it's been a 15 minute wait where she had to sit alone in the cold, which made her sob into her white scarf and now her eyes are red and puffy. He stares at her when she gets into his truck. "Are you crying?" he asks, because he doesn't really know how to deal with crying girls.
"Not anymore," she answers.
He pulls out of the parking lot and she rests her head back.
"What happened?" he tries to make conversation because it's kind of weird when she doesn't talk.
She just says, "Finn", and he shuts up. No reason to start talking about that now.
He drives and she realizes he's taking her home. "No," she says. "I can't go home."
"Where am I supposed to take you?"
"I don't know…"
He hears the tears in her voice so he turns the car around and starts driving towards a coffee place he likes. He parks the car and opens the door for her, taking her arm and leading her inside.
They sit across of each other, and when a waitress comes over, Puck order two hot chocolates. Rachel quickly interrupts, "Soy milk for me, please," before dropping her eyes to the table. She grabs a napkin and dabs at her eyes a little.
"Don't cry," Puck says desperately. She smiles a little. "Is my make up all ruined?" she asks and looks up at him, and well, there are black smears around her eyes but, "Not really".
"Thank you for picking me up," she says and he just nods. She sips her drink slowly and when she's done with it, she doesn't make any sign that she wants to leave, so he orders some kind of apple pie and they share. In total silence.
Puck knows Rachel doesn't really do 'quiet' so he looks at her anytime she looks down and checks out her face to see if she's going to start crying or maybe go full-on depressed chick on him, but she just seems distracted.
When they finish the pie, he asks, "What are you thinking about?"
She bites her lips. She's been thinking about Finn (no surprise) and she knows if she says it out loud it's different than if she says it in her mind. But she needs to. "I'm thinking that Finn and I are over."
"Well…" he raises an eyebrow, because Finn broke up with her so they're definitely over for now.
"No, I mean for good. Finn and I are over for good. I don't see any way we can overcome this and I don't think I should keep trying. I should move on."
He's definitely surprised because he just assumed that Rachel will forever be in love with Finn and spend the rest of her life trying to make him feel the same.
They go back to his truck and this time he takes her home. When they get there, she kisses his cheek and says thanks you again and he watches as she walks to her front door and gets in. He only drives away when the light in her bedroom turns on.
Five hours later she calls him and when he picks up she immediately starts apologizing.
"Rachel," he laughs. "Chill out, you can call me."
"I didn't wake you up?"
"No." Crazy girl who definitely doesn't know him well enough to know that when he sleeps nothing can wake him up. But maybe they can work on that. "What's up?"
"I'm trying to find a song to sing in glee and I can't make up my mind."
"It's Christmas break, Rachel. There's no glee."
She's quiet for a while but he hears her sniff. "I'm just having a hard time," she finally says. "And I have no one to talk to."
Damn her for making him feel sad and all that. "You wanna go sit somewhere?" he ends up saying and she says yes. So he gets out of bed at 1am in the morning and drives over to pick her up. When he brings her back home at 6am he thinks she feels better.
2.
They're in New York City and Rachel is twirling around his hotel room. It's past midnight and they have to wake up real early to get back to Lima, but Rachel can't fall asleep.
He should have known to stop her that morning at breakfast when he saw her grab her third coffee, but she claims it's 'performance high'.
"You're just so shocked we won that you can't get your eyes closed," he makes fun of her and she stomps her foot on the ground. "Noah, I am not shocked that we won. We've worked really hard for this and we deserve it! It's just all the excitement from the show and winning and I have all this energy in me so I can't go to sleep!"
"Do you want me to tire you out?" he suggests with a smirk and a wink and she punches him in the stomach. (It doesn't hurt, and the location of the punch just makes him laugh because he knows it's because she's too short to make it to his head)
"Come on, let's go out," she says and keeps on jumping around. He's getting tired of watching her skip from one side of the room to the other so he grabs his jacket and motions to the door. She squeals in happiness and takes his hand, grabbing him to the elevator.
"Where are we going?" he asks once they're on the street and she reaches her arm out to get a cab.
"Times Square!"
He can't argue, because he's seen that place in movies and it looks cool.
They get there and everything is so bright. Rachel spins around, taking in the lights. "It's amazing, isn't it? I wish I could move here right now."
He just laughs at her. "Come on, let's get some pizza."
Her eyes light up. "Yes! New York has vegan pizza," she says, the 'Lima doesn't' implied.
They get their pizzas and walk around.
"You want your name up here one day?"
She nods excitedly. "Of course. But you know some people are campaigning to take the advertising down, so maybe I won't get the chance," and she pouts so cute that he laughs and pats her head. "Maybe you can start the anti-campaign."
And that is a really good idea, she thinks, and tells him so. "Of course, I will have to start working immediately and try to reach out to as many people as I can and convince them. Oh Noah, you're brilliant!"
She kisses him in the middle of Times Square.
3.
They've been kissing ever since they got back from Nationals, mostly in her room but sometimes in his truck too. Not at school, though. There, she keeps her distance.
He's been contemplating asking her out on a real date, but she keeps pulling away from him so he's not so sure she'll say yes.
On a Saturday she calls him in the middle of the night and asks to meet. He drives them to a park and they sit on a bench in the middle of it. Everything is completely quiet and the only sound he hears is her breathing.
Finally she turns to look at him and she's nervous. She's been thinking about saying this and she's not sure about it, but it's keeping her up at night so it's time. "Noah," she quietly says and he raises an eyebrow and waits for her to go on.
"What are we?"
He chuckles. He should have known this is what it was about. They were never friends but he knows things about her, including how she's a relationship person and how she can't stand confusion and non-definition.
"Noah…"
"I don't know, Berry. What do you want us to be?"
And honestly, he's never seen her so unsure of herself. She just bites her lip and doesn't speak, only looking at him with those big eyes like he's supposed to solve all her problems.
"Do you want to sing it?" he says with a laugh and she swats at his shoulder, breaking into laughter as well. "It's not funny!" she defends herself, but he just shakes his head. "It's hilarious. Just say it."
"I don't know what to say because I don't know what you think and what you want."
He wants to kiss her because she's so cute. "Come here," he says and motions for her to get closer. It's ridiculous how far away they're sitting from each other. She scoots closer and he puts his arm around her and pulls her to him. "I want to kiss you at school," he whispers and brings up her chin with a finger. He kisses her softly and she smiles when they pull apart. "Really?"
He just kisses her again.
"So you're my boyfriend now, right?"
He rolls his eyes.
"I'm going to sing about this in glee, you know."
He pretends to look appalled. "I know."
4.
She comes flying through the front door of his house, waving excitedly at his mother and sister before coming to a full stop in front of him (he'd just come out of the kitchen, and he looks at her like she's crazy). She then jumps up and down and he sees she's holding an envelope.
"Rach…" he says slowly. He feels like he should know what's in it, or at least guess.
"I got in!" she screams, and she does it right in his face so he flinches a little but then she throws her arms around him and actually jumps onto him so he has to catch her, and he's holding her and looking at his mom with one eyebrow raised and a WTF look.
Apparently mother knows best because his mom claps once and walks over to them. "Oh, Rachel, that is so great, I'm so proud of you," and she's hugging his girlfriend all happy.
Rachel turns back to him. "Noah?"
He's learned long ago that she won't explain herself in moments like this, so he just grabs the envelope out of her hand, takes the letter out and looks at the NYU header. Then he reads the 'I am pleased to inform you…' and oh. "You got in."
"Yes!"
"You're going to New York."
"Yes!"
She looks at him like he's crazy and taps her foot on the floor. He chuckles, grabs her into her his arms and spins her around. "You're awesome baby, you know that?"
She giggles. "Yes."
He takes her to his bedroom and they sit on his bed. "I knew you'd get in," he shrugs and she hugs him tight. He pushes her down on the bed, runs his hands down her body. When he pushes her skirt up, she doesn't stop him. He looks at her and she just smiles. Then, she reaches for his jeans. He sucks in a breath when he feels hands on skin, and she reaches up to kiss him. "I want to celebrate," she whispers, and he's all up for that.
After, she's in his arms and watching him sleep. She thinks he's beautiful (and he thinks she's super hot). She softly traces a finger on his cheek and lips and he wakes up. "You're not asleep?" he asks groggily and she just shakes her head. He flips her on her back and grabs her arms. "I should take advantage of that."
She agrees.
5.
They graduate. He never thought he would.
New Directions perform and Puck and Rachel sing lead. It feels amazing to be on that stage with her and sing and take her hand as they move together to form a line with the rest of the club.
His mother cries right next to Rachel's dads and take pictures of the two of them in their gowns. Rachel flashes her show face with every pose.
At night, everyone's sprawled around in Rachel's basement after their own private glee party (there was karaoke. He tried to tell her it was lame but everyone loved it).
Who would have thought they would actually get along well enough to have a functioning party?
Tina and Mike slow dance in the corner of the room. Rachel sits in Puck's lap and whispers to him, "Can you believe this? School is over. Glee is over. Lima is over."
He nods and kisses her forehead. "You want me to kick everyone out?"
"No! Everyone should stay. Hey guys," she calls out. "You up for a movie?"
Mumbles of 'yes' cross the room (Santana puts on her most threatening face and says "Only if it's not The Way We Were") and she pushes herself up. "Popcorn?" she smiles at him and he grunts but gets up as well and makes his way upstairs to the kitchen.
Halfway through the movie Puck looks around the room and almost everyone is asleep but not Rachel. She's staring at the TV (he knows she's not watching. Finn picked the movie) with tears in her eyes and he reaches out his arm to rub her back a little.
She leans back on him and he puts his arms around her. "What's wrong baby?" he whispers in her ear.
"I don't know. I just can't believe it's all over." She looks at him with tears and a smile. "I think I'm going to miss it."
He tries hard not to laugh. "Crazy."
"Don't make fun of me, Noah. High school wasn't amazing all of the time, but we've had some good times."
He kisses her temple. "I know. Like that one time in the choir room when no was there…"
She rolls her eyes. She's trying to be serious here and he's ruining it. "Stop it. You know what I'm talking about."
"It's going to be amazing from now on, Rach. And you can keep your friends, you know," because he understands what it's all about and he knew her back when she was all alone.
"And you. I can keep you."
"Forever."
She falls asleep in his arms and as he closes his eyes he thinks he wants her to do it for the rest of his life.
1.
It comes without warning. She invites him over for dinner while her parents are out of town. She cooks. It smells delicious when he walks into her house and she looks hot in her little apron.
When they sit down to eat, the table is all decorated and she pours two glasses of wine (that probably should have been a hint).
They're naked in her bed curled up in each other and he's resting his eyes when she clears her throat. He looks at her.
She brushes the hair from her eyes, and looks at him nervously.
"Everything okay, Rach?"
A nod.
He raises his eyebrows because obviously she has something she'd like to say.
"Well… we've been together a while now, Noah, and it's been going well."
He nods when it seems she's waiting for a response.
"So I feel like this is a good time to tell you this. I love you."
His eyes get all big and he's staring until she rushes to speak again. "You don't have to say it back! It's okay, I just wanted to say it because I feel it and I can't keep it in but you don't have to say anything."
To prove it she leans down to kiss him.
She's sleeping and he just looks at her mesmerized. He knows what he has, what she's worth.
She mumbles something in her sleep and he brushes the hair from her face and plays with the ends of it. He can't sleep, can't think. Can't do anything but watch her through the night.
It's 5am when he's had enough and he shakes her awake. She yawns deeply and looks at him confused.
"Wake up," he says.
It's hard to roll your eyes before fully opening them but she manages. "I'm up."
"Okay. Now listen to me," he says, his voice hoarse. "I love you."
It's her turn to be all big-eyed and shocked and she smiles really big. "You woke me up for that?"
Suddenly he's terrified. He did not want to mess that one up. "Are you mad?"
"No," she tugs on his shirt to pull him to her. "No."
He breathes out in relief and kisses her.
"I love you too," she whispers and kisses him again.
Well, he already knew that, but he's definitely okay with hearing it again. And again. (and again)