A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews/favorites/alerts! This is my first fanfic, and I was really nervous about posting. So thanks again, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Also, I still don't own Glee.
Rachel rings the doorbell to Matt's house and waits, nervously clutching a tray of home-baked chocolate chip cookies. It's Friday night, and he's invited all the Glee club members over to his house to hang out (sans alcohol, since his parents will be home, although they'll be upstairs all night and out of the way). He had winked at her when he announced it at practice the previous day. She really appreciates how he and Mike seem to have taken her under their wings. Honestly, she hadn't expected much when she approached Matt the other day – it had been kind of a last resort, really – but she's so glad that she did. She feels a little like Cinderella, with the two football players as her fairy godfathers (she probably won't tell them that though, since they would probably object to being described as fairy anythings).
In the one Glee practice that's taken place since talking to Matt and Mike, Rachel tried to implement their advice, with overall positive results (in her opinion, at least). Yes, she did snap at Finn for messing up on the choreography, but honestly, how many times have they discussed the whole left-turn vs. right-turn thing? Anyway, she also suggested he put a sticker on his left sneaker to help him remember, so that was a good thing, right? Still, she's making an effort, and she recognizes that she has a long way to go if she wants to win over the rest of the Glee Club. In order to help her focus on her goal, she's posted a list on the wall across from her elliptical machine that says: "1) Do not date anyone in Glee. 2) Be a team player. 3) Relax and be yourself." It's right below the sign that says "REGIONALS."
The door opens and Matt greets her enthusiastically, taking the tray and ushering her inside. Mike, Tina, and Artie are already in the living room. "Hey guys, Rachel's here!" Matt announces. "And she brought cookies. Delicious cookies." The last part is a little muffled since he has shoved one in his mouth. Mike scoots over in his seat on the couch and gestures for Rachel to sit between him and Tina. He hands Rachel an Xbox controller.
"Hi Rachel!" Mike greets her happily. "I was playing Left 4 Dead. Remember, we talked about it the other day. Here, try it!" It takes some time for Rachel to figure out the controls, but soon she's blowing away zombies left and right. She abhors violence, of course, but she can't deny the feeling of satisfaction she has as she mows down a row of the flesh-eating monsters with a shotgun.
As the other members of the club arrive (except for Jesse, who left for San Diego that day, and Finn and Kurt, who are out bowling with their parents in an attempt to "bond" as a family), they switch the Xbox over to Rock Band. Rachel is actually enjoying herself; Mercedes is always much nicer to her when Kurt's not around, and Santana hasn't called her Man Hands all night. She tries playing the guitar and the bass parts, which she picks up fairly quickly, but she's absolutely hopeless on the drums. In between songs, Rachel chats with Tina and Artie about horror movies (unsurprisingly, Tina loves horror movies, and Artie is just a huge fan of movies in general), and Mike tries to teach them how to pop and lock.
She's cheering on a passionate rendition of "Livin' on a Prayer" (with Artie on vocals, Matt on drums, Puck on guitar, and Mercedes on bass) when she feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. She opens up the text message to see a photo of a blonde, big-breasted girl in a bikini kissing Jesse full on the lips. Eyes filling with tears, she drops her phone with a gasp, and looks up to see everyone staring at her.
"Are you okay, Rachel?" Mike asks, picking up the phone. He glances down and sees the photo, which is still displayed on the screen. "Oh."
Rachel jumps up and asks everyone to excuse her for a moment, and she runs to the bathroom. She splashes her face with water, and stares up at her reflection. Logically, she knows she shouldn't be so upset. She and Jesse were, after all, no longer a couple, and she'd realized that the relationship wasn't really working anyway. Although they both loved music and the theater, and they were both wildly talented, being with him just didn't feel right; the Run Joey Run video had just been the final straw. Still, he'd been her first serious boyfriend (she and Puck hadn't really dated long enough to consider him a boyfriend, and she didn't count Finn either since he'd said he hadn't even realized they were dating), and she'd even considered giving him her virginity. Just because Jesse isn't her boyfriend anymore doesn't mean she wants him flaunting his new…hussy in her face.
There is a light tapping on the door. "Rachel? Are you all right?" It's Mike. Rachel dries off her face, takes a deep breath, and opens the door. Mike gives her a sympathetic look and hands her the phone she had dropped.
"Thanks," Rachel says. "I'll be okay. I know it's an unfair generalization, but why are boys so…"
"Mean?" Mike supplies. "Thoughtless? Completely horrible?"
Rachel giggles in spite of herself. "Yes. All of the above."
"Yeah, we can suck sometimes." Mike shrugs. "But hey, girls can be pretty bad too. I mean, look at Santana."
Rachel laughs, and then claps her hand over her mouth, glancing towards the living room as if expecting to see Santana storming over.
Mike smiles. "Hey, it's okay. Santana would be the first to admit that she can be a horrible person sometimes. She's cool once you get to know her. Just don't put up with her crap and stand up for yourself, she'll respect that. Anyway, don't worry too much about Jesse. Look at it this way – everyone needs a good story about an evil ex. Consider it a future anecdote to tell the readers of Us Weekly."
"It may be missing a little something…maybe I'll say she was my best girlfriend or something to make it a little more juicy," Rachel suggests.
"Hey, why stop there?" Mike says mischievously. "You can say it was your best guy friend. Whatever, you've still got a couple of years to perfect your story." Rachel laughs. "But, hey, who are you?"
Rachel is confused. "Um, Rachel Berry?" Mike raises his eyebrow at her. "I am Rachel Berry," she repeats, this time with conviction in her voice.
"Right, and the Rachel Berry I know does not put up with this crap from anyone, right?"
"Right," Rachel agrees firmly. "And especially not from any guy."
Mike grins at her. "Damn straight."
"Thanks, Mike," she says sincerely.
He puts his arm around Rachel and gives her a small hug. "No problem. Ready to go back in?" She nods.
The rest of the group have been talking quietly, but fall silent when the pair enters the room. Even Santana looks mildly sympathetic.
"So," Puck says finally, breaking the silence. "Can we kick his ass when he gets back?"
Rachel giggles, and everyone looks relieved that she's not, like, hysterical. "No," she answers. "Jesse is not worth the suspension you would undoubtedly receive. And if he wanted to upset me by hooking up with some bleached blonde harlot who wears too much makeup and has what I suspect are fake breasts, he doesn't know me at all, and obviously didn't deserve me in the first place."
"Hm," Santana says, eying her appraisingly. "There may be hope for you yet, Berry." Rachel smiles at the cheerleader, and sits back down on the sofa, picking up the controller to flip through the song list.
"So who's up next?"
The party begins winding down a little before one. Santana, Brittany, and Mercedes have already left, due to a seven a.m. Cheerios practice, and Artie's mom has just pulled up to the curb. Quinn and Puck are talking quietly on the couch as Rachel collects the paper plates, napkins, and plastic cups strewn about the room into a garbage bag.
"Hey, Artie?" Quinn calls. "Do you think your mom would mind driving me home as well? I mean, to Puck's house? He's gonna stay a little longer, but I'm beat."
"Sure, no problem," Artie shrugs. "We're dropping Tina off too – she lives on Adams. Puck's on Monroe, right? It's only a couple of blocks down." He and Tina wave goodbye to Rachel and Puck as they leave.
Quinn gathers her things, and stops in front of Rachel. "Hey. Jesse is an ass. If you want to destroy him, let me know, because I can totally help with that." She gathers Rachel into a hug. "Well, good night!" Quinn moves on to say goodbye to Matt and Mike in the kitchen, leaving a stunned Rachel in her wake.
"Yeah, it's weird, right?" Puck asks, stretching out on the couch, his arms crossed behind his head. "I think it's the hormones. One minute, she's all peace and love, offering advice like she's Dear Abby, and the next, she's chucking cans of Pringles at my head because I got her the wrong flavor."
Rachel laughs. "I'm not complaining. Seeing the nice Quinn Fabray every once in a while is better than never seeing it at all."
"Hey," he says seriously, sitting up. "Are you sure you're okay? I mean, with the whole Jesse St. Dickhead thing?"
She sighs, taking a seat at the other end of the couch. "Well, I am upset, and I won't deny that my ego is more than a little bruised. But I'll be okay. I didn't think he was right for me anyway, and his behavior tonight only confirms that belief."
Puck cocks his eyebrow at her. "All right. But my offer to kick his ass still stands."
"Duly noted," Rachel says wryly. "So, how are things with you and Quinn?"
He shrugs. "Well, living with her is kinda weird. We have to share the bathroom, and she takes forever to get ready in the morning."
Rachel giggles. "And how are your mother and sister doing with situation?"
"Sarah loves Quinn. She finally has someone to like, braid her hair and shit. My mom, though, she's not taking it very well. She keeps making up all these bullshit rules, like the whole no bacon thing. We haven't kept kosher in years. She's doing it just to punish us."
Rachel frowns. "But your mother is always so nice at temple."
"Yeah, at temple, to you, because you're 'that sweet little girl with the lovely voice.' I swear, she said that." Rachel blushes. "Anyway, Quinn and I, it's weird, but we get along a lot better now that we decided not to date. Who knew having a baby together would make us friends?" He shakes his head.
"Speaking of the baby," she says gently. "Have you found a family for her yet?"
A sad look passes across Puck's face. "Yeah. There's this couple from Columbus, Ned and Charlotte. They seem pretty cool, and they've agreed to keep us updated on the baby. I know it's the best thing for her, but…it's hard, you know?"
Rachel scoots down the couch and places her hand on his forearm. "Oh, Noah. I can't pretend to know what you're going through. But at least you'll get to know how she's doing. She'll be so lucky – she'll have her adoptive parents, and you, and Quinn to love her."
He looks up to meet her gaze, and she is taken aback by the emotion she sees in his hazel eyes. She feels like she's forgotten how to breathe. She can feel the heat of his body next to hers and she realizes how close they are sitting on the couch. Her face grows warm, but she finds she can't (or doesn't want to) look away.
"Hey, Rach?" Matt's voice calls, approaching from the kitchen. "You're a guest, you don't have to clean up."
Rachel jumps up from the sofa and picks up the garbage bag she had dropped as Matt enters the living room. "Oh, no, it's no problem. I couldn't leave you to clean up all by yourself."
"Well, thanks." Matt takes the bag from her. "Mike had to leave since his curfew's at one, asked me to say goodbye to you for him. Are your dads picking you up, or do you need a ride home?"
"I can take her home," Puck offers.
Matt looks at Rachel, who nods. "Okay, man," he says, "thanks."
Rachel collects the leftover snacks from the table and brings them into the kitchen, and meets the two boys at the front door. They fall silent at her approach, and she wonders what they were saying about her (because, come on, they couldn't have been more obvious). She gives Matt a hug, thanking him for the lovely evening, and bids him good night. When Puck and Rachel get to his truck, he opens the passenger door for her before getting into the driver's side. He turns to her and asks, "Hey, do you have to be home by a certain time?"
"No. I think my dads were so glad that I was 'doing normal teenaged things' that they neglected to give me a curfew. Why?"
Puck shrugs as he starts the engine. "Don't really feel like going home yet."
They drive in comfortable silence for a little while, and Rachel begins singing along softly with the radio. He glances over at her, and she smiles ruefully. "Sorry, I can't help it. Sometimes I don't even realize I'm doing it."
"I don't mind," he says.
Puck pulls over in front of the Community Center Park and they walk to the playground. He plops down into a swing and motions for Rachel to join him. She puts her hands on her hips and teases, "You really are just an overgrown child, aren't you?"
"Whatever," he scoffs, "swings are awesome." She laughs and sits in the swing beside him, letting her legs dangle.
"Bet you I can go higher," she challenges.
"Now who's the child?" Puck grins. "You're on!"
It's close, but Puck beats her by a hair. "It's just that your legs are longer than mine!"
"You keep telling yourself that, Berry."
He leaps off the swing at the height of the arc and lands heavily. Rachel does the same (although much more gracefully, if she does say so herself), and grins at him. "I've always loved doing that."
"Me too. Race you to the jungle gym!" He says, taking off.
After goofing off on the jungle gym for a while, the two climb up to the top and sit, both lost in their own thoughts. "Hey, Berry," Puck says, breaking the silence. "Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer if you don't want to." She glances at him, taking in his sober expression, and nods. "Do you ever see your mom?"
The question takes Rachel by surprise. Other than her therapist, no one has ever asked her about her mother before. "Oh, I…no, I don't."
"It's cool if you don't wanna talk about it –"
"No," she reassures him, "it's fine. And no, I've never met her. I actually don't know very much about her. She was a student at Ohio State, and she responded to an ad my dads placed in the paper. She carried me to term, popped me out, collected the money, and vanished." She can't keep the note of bitterness out of her voice, and she sees Puck's surprised reaction to it.
"Are you mad at her? For not keeping you?"
Rachel understands where this is going, and she is torn between answering honestly and reassuring him that he's making the right choice for his own baby. "Noah, my situation was different from yours and Quinn's. My biological mother signed a contract – I was never hers to keep. And don't get me wrong, my dads are wonderful, but sometimes, late at night, or when I'm going through a particularly difficult time, I do think about her. I wonder what she's like. I wonder if she's a singer, and if she is, if she's better than me. I'd also like to know if I have her to blame for this nose," she says with a wry smile. "Most of all, though, I wonder where she is, and if she ever thinks about me. But I wouldn't say I was mad at her." Rachel glances at Puck, but he's still staring out into the distance.
"Have you ever thought about looking for her? Or about what you'd say to her if you found her?"
"Honestly, I've been too afraid. I don't want to hurt my dads by asking about her. But if I ever find her, I'd like to ask why she did it. I mean, I know the compensation was fairly substantial, but I can't imagine it was an easy decision for her to make. But Noah, at least your daughter will know about you. She'll never wonder why her parents didn't want her." Not like I do, Rachel thinks, but doesn't say aloud.
Puck cocks his head at her, as if he knows what she is thinking, but he doesn't comment. Finally, he says, "Come on, it's getting late. I should probably get you home."
They are both quiet on the ride to her house. As Rachel is about to open her door, Puck grabs her arm, and says softly, "Hey, Berry…Rachel. Thanks."
She smiles, and impulsively leans over and kisses him on the cheek. "You're welcome." A strange look crosses his face, and she pulls back a little nervously. Oops, are we at an appropriate stage in our friendship for it to be okay for me to do that?
His mouth lifts into his signature smirk, and he says, "So, Berry, now that we're both single, now can we make out?"
She rolls her eyes at him. "Good night, Noah," she says with a smile, and steps out of the truck.
