Hey guys! Wow.. 11 reviews and its barely a day after I posted this! So, this story will remain "One-shot" no longer! Glad you all thought it didn't suck :D (I wrote this chapter during the day today on pen and paper.. hope that didn't mess it up).
A/N at the bottom of this chapter :) (i'm really excited about the idea i have.. hope you guys think it's interesting :DD)
Rachel walked down the halls of McKinley High that day with a spring in her step the following Friday morning and a smile not even a face full of slushy could wipe off.
She was still thinking about this morning hours after it had happened.
Rachel and Puck had woken up together, still in their embrace. They had been woken by a school janitor who had come to clean, as Rachel had predicted. The janitor had a very confused look on his face, but didn't ask any questions and just told them to get out, he had to clean.
They'd both slept in their clothes, but Rachel kept an emergency change of clothes in her locker (life was better when prepared for a slushy to the face) and Puck just wore his football jersey and the same jeans he'd had on yesterday. "Not like anyone's gonna care." He'd said, when Rachel had questioned this.
Rachel found that all of the theater doors were unlocked now, and she and Noah raced each other to the one farthest away from the stage, laughing and pushing each other playfully. Rachel won.
Puck waited as Rachel ran to the choir room to retrieve her phone. Turning on the blackberry, (Puck had found that amusing. Berry had a berry.) she'd checked her messages. There were three missed calls and six concerned text messages from her dads. She replied in a rush to explain, she was fine, she'd just gotten locked in the theater overnight but she'd handled it, she was at school and no harm done.
When she'd pressed send, Rachel glanced up and noticed Noah checking his own flip phone. "Shit. My battery is about to die." He said. Rachel looked at the phone, a worn out looking red Razor phone. "I don't think that phone suits you." She said. Noah looked up. "Why not?" Rachel raised her eyebrows. "Noah, I would think a member of the elite high school crowd such as yourself would be aware of popular cell phone trends. The razor in it's time was only popular because of it's 'pretty colors' and most people found that it had bad speaker phone quality and sent text messages with the speed of a dying tortoise." She said.
Noah chuckled. "What makes you think I'd consider all of that when looking for a phone? Berry, I couldn't care less if the phone sounds like crap on speakerphone or texts slow. As long as it makes calls, I'm happy." He said, and Rachel paused.
Of all people, she wouldn't have expected Noah Puckerman to stun her into silence.
Then the first period bell had rang, Rachel slinging her backpack over her shoulders and Noah adjusting his grip on the duffel bag he had. Rachel knew she should be leaving right now, before she was late – yet somehow, she couldn't get her feet to move properly while staring at Noah. He seemed to be having the same problem.
Rachel took several hesitant steps forward, Noah doing the same but with a bit more confidence. Her hands flew up to his face, and she kissed him. Noah's hands rested at the small of her back.
The kiss brought back feelings of the night before, it was deep and passionate and amazing. Noah tangled one hand in her hair, groaning quietly again. Rachel felt a little shiver – that sound! There was nothing like it.
A tapping against the glass of the theater lobby doors broke the spell, Rachel and Noah jumped apart. It was a hall monitor, yelling "Quit sucking face and get to class!"
Rachel looked at her watch and realized that she had one minute until the late bell rang. Her first period class was on the other side of the building. "See you at Glee!" She'd yelled over her shoulder to Noah as she took off running through the almost deserted hallways.
Now it was lunchtime, and despite a tardy slip Rachel would give anything to relive a morning like that all over again.
She sat with the Glee kids at lunchtime, and Noah sat with the rest of the football players. That was how it had always been. Although this time, Rachel wasn't as deep in conversation with her fellow Glee-clubbers as she always was.
Rachel never would have thought that Noah would do something so cheesy before, but from his place at the cafeteria table next to all the football players, he had eyes for only her. His light brown depths reflected warmth, and her spine tingled as memories of last night floated to the surface again.
"Rachel? You O.K?" Kurt asked, tapping her on the shoulder. Rachel jumped, startled, and cleared her throat. "Of course, Kurt. I'm fine." She said, smiling innocently at Kurt. Kurt raised a well plucked eyebrow, and nodded dismissively, turning his head back to the conversation.
Rachel rested her head in one hand, her gaze darting back to Noah. He had turned to say something to Finn but when he turned back he smiled at her. Rachel sighed.
Deep down it occurred to her to that the dreamy feeling welling up in the pit of her stomach might all be for nothing if Noah's attention wavered only for a little while.
That afternoon in Glee, Rachel was running a little late after staying behind in her last class to finish an extra credit assignment and showed up a tad late.
Mr. Schuester didn't appear to be present in the room, and Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. She sat gracefully down in a chair by herself. Looking around the room, she saw Mercedes, Tina and Artie talking with Kurt by the piano. Matt, Santana, and Brittany were in a huddle by the door, talking close. The door opened and Mike strutted in, looking pleased with himself. Everyone turned and said they're 'hey' to Mike. He joined the group by the door.
Rachel fidgeted in her chair as Finn and Quinn walked in, holding hands and talking close. Finn glanced briefly at Rachel, his smile fading for a moment before it returned. They grabbed two seats in the back, and Finn whispered something in her ear. Quinn giggled low.
Rachel turned away from them, staring at the floor blankly. There would have been a time when she would have to fight the urge to cry when something like that happened.
Now she passed it off smoothly. She didn't even feel a longing pang of sadness whenever she thought of Finn anymore. Noah was right – they would never leave each other with Quinn carrying his child.
Speak of the devil – Mr. Schuester walked in suddenly, with Noah following him and trying not to get caught late. He smirked at Rachel as he grabbed a seat next to her when Mr. Schuester was looking over sheet music on the piano. Rachel bit her lip to hold back her laughter as Mr. Schuester clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Alright guys, gather round'. Puck, the next time you try to sneak in late, do it when I'm out of the room." He said, grinning at Noah. Noah turned the smirk to everyone. "Sorry Mr. Schuester." He said sheepishly.
Mr. Schuester nodded to Noah before standing at the center of the room. "Guys, I have an announcement. A couple of weeks ago we tried a little healthy competition with the girls and the boys and it didn't work out so well." He said, and there was a moment of silence before he continued. "Uh, anyway, I thought that we might try again, but a little bit differently." Mr. Schuester said. Rachel sat up straighter in her chair, intrigued. She didn't see Puck's amused smile at her eagerness.
"This time, we're going to have a duet competition. Six partnered couples against each other. Who ever wins gets to pick the number for Regionals!" He said, and this time almost everyone stood or sat up straighter at this news. Mr. Schuester grinned. "Ok, partner up everyone."
Finn stayed where he was with Quinn, naturally. Mike took Brittany's hand, and they laughed, smiling at each other. Santana paired up with Matt, and Tina and Artie stayed together – leaving Mercedes with Kurt. Rachel stayed with Noah, an idea forming in her mind. She tilted her head at Noah, looking closer.
Almost everyone but Mr. Schuester stared at Noah and Rachel, including Finn and Quinn, but Rachel was too distracted with an idea for their song to care and Noah was too distracted with trying to figure out what Rachel was thinking.
"So today, you can spend time working on your number. At the end of this week everyone will present their numbers and a celebrity judge along with myself will decide." Mr. Schuester said, but everyone know it was just going to be Ms. Pillsbury the guidance counselor. "This time guys, there's no reason to try anything that would help you win. We're going to be judging purely on your talent." He said firmly, and everyone seemed to understand.
"Good luck, I'll be by the piano grading papers if you have any questions." Mr. Schuester said, and everyone started talking at once, discussing numbers and songs and choreography. Rachel leapt up from her seat and walked to Mr. Schuester. "Show tunes are optional right?" She asked, and Mr. Schuester smiled. "Of course, Rachel. What did you have in mind?" Mr. Schuester asked, and Rachel grinned. "I was thinking Noah and I could perform 'Dangerous Game' from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." She said confidently. Noah hopped up from his seat, walking over to Rachel and Mr. Schuester. "We're gonna do what now?" He asked, and Rachel smirked. Mr. Schuester raised his eyebrows. "Intense. We'd be happy to see your rendition of it, Rachel." He said.
Rachel grinned. "Thank you Mr. Schuester. I only asked because I was worried that it might be considered too graphic a song. We'd of course want to use accurate choreography and if you'll recall the moves are less like dance steps and more like.. well..." Rachel paused, trying to describe the steps in her own words. "They're not completely alien from dance steps, they're just more like.. a tango." Mr. Schuester said, reassuring Rachel. Rachel nodded, understanding dawned on her.
Rachel walked back to her chair, aligning it next to Noah's. Noah sat. "So, what are we going to sing that involves us tangoing?" He asked, and Rachel smirked. knowingly.
TBC
Hey guys! Now for a little explanation. I never thought of this until recently, but wouldn't Puck make a good Hyde? He has the build for it.. and certainly the attitude xD. Rachel would make a divine Lucy in my opinion as well. Plus.. well, just think of the opportunities that come with the choreography. Specifically, this version of the choreography:
.com/watch?v=Kae3EPVpXJA&feature=related
New chapter not long after this one! It's too exciting for me to leave you hanging now :D
