A/N: I'm so happy for all the alerts and favorites I got! I wanna give a shout-out to Paceismyhero and Jem1596 for their reviews. I literally squealed and then jumped up and down when I read them lol (along with the alerts and favorites). Each one makes me happier than the last one:)
Glee disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own anything of Glee except their cd's. If I did, Puckelberry would dominate the show.
Chapter 2
Rachel opened her eyes just as the plane was landing in New York. She couldn't believe that she had slept so long and so deeply. Sitting up, she noticed the plane was a lot lighter this time than previously and silently thanked God for that. The image of Puck in the bathroom surfaced and she nearly groaned. Would that stupid image ever leave? Probably not. She thought. She wasn't sure, but it felt like a little green monster had invaded her head (or heart) while she slept.
Rachel strained to see where everyone was and gasped silently when she saw that it was only her and Noah in the back. He was seated across from her but two rows up. She could clearly see his Mohawk, but as she peered over a little more, she found a pair of hazel eyes staring back at her, Hiding the rest of his face like a little boy, Rachel giggled at the pathetic sight of Noah looking scared. That's when the thought crossed her mind, why does he care what I think? He doesn't even like me. He probably has one night stands all the time. Rachel made an 'hm' sound and noticed that during her sneek a peek time, the plane had been cleared for passengers to get off.
She realized that her stuff was over where Puck was. She swallowed her embarrassment…and envy to walk to her former seat. She tried to open the bin, but was too short. Grunting, she started to climb on the armrests when she felt a hand on her wrist.
Puck had noticed her starting to wake up and decided that staying low would be a good option. She might throw up if she saw his whole face like she'd done three hours ago. Peering over the seat, he watched her looking at him and realized that even though his eyes were barely over the seat, his head was above it. Idiot! You've been hangin' around Brittany for too long he thought. He saw her swallow hard, like she'd been holding a lemon in her throat (or another wave of puke) and demurely walk in front of him, only to try and open the bin. Problem was, she was about 10 inches too short. Suppressing a grin, he grabbed her wrist and told her he'd get it.
Scooting to the side, Rachel let him help her with her stuff. It was the least he could after scarring her for life right? "Thank you Puck" she said curtly.
Crap, she called him Puck. Never a good sign. "Hey Berry," he rushed out, "sorry. You know, about earlier." He was going to explain but she held up one of her hands to cut him off.
"Puck, please don't explain" she said sweetly- a little too sweetly for his peace of mind. "I know your incessant need to sleep with anything that has breasts and a pulse. I'm just sorry to think that here your teammates and friends are changing and trying to mature and yet you refuse to even leave Neverland for a visit to reality. Really, I thought you were finally willing to let go of the Peter Pan fantasy. Obviously, I was wrong." She strutted down the aisle with Puck following, and just as she got down to the middle, she abruptly turned and warned him, "I don't ever want to talk about this again." He nodded vigorously. "I'm serious Puck. Never again." With that closing remark, they walked quickly to join their group.
Rachel joined Kurt and Mercedes at the baggage claim where the boys were waiting by the belt to grab all the bags. Rachel kinda felt sorry for them because there were so many. She looked to her right and saw Mercedes smiling at her in a worried way, and then she shifted her head to the left and saw Kurt doing the exact same thing. "Did you guys take some medicine or something?" she asked Kurt. He shook his head while still smiling. "Then why are you both smiling like you've taken a bottle full of Prozac?"
"It's a free country Rachel. Besides, it hasn't hit you yet that you're in the city of your dreams? Because I'm pretty sure that if it did, you'd be out searching for Idina Menzel's house." Mercedes said. "I know I'm looking forward to running into her husband. That man is a fine piece of chocolate."
Kurt nodded his agreement and replied gloomly, "All the good ones are straight." Rachel and Mercedes turned their heads slowly to him with amused expressions. "It's true! Anytime I like a guy, he's straight: Finn, Puck, Taye, Brad. The list goes on."
"Yeah but now you've got Blaine." Mercedes retorted.
"I know! Isn't it great?" Kurt practically glowed every time someone mentioned the name. Or something even remotely sounding like it.
"Hold up" Rachel objected quickly before they switched off the topic. "Puck? You liked Noah?"
Kurt blushed and nodded shyly. "I couldn't help it. Everyone loves a bad boy. Especially good girls. Am I right Rachel?"
Rachel shot a glare at Kurt before asking, "What are you talking about? I love Finn. Noah and I have nothing going on. He's…obnoxious, loud, crass and disgusting."
Mercedes and Kurt exchanged looks quickly before they could get caught, but Rachel clearly saw it. "What?" she asked.
"Girl, even Finn admits that you and Puck have some serious chemistry. And don't even try to deny it. Everyone sees it, and if they didn't before they certainly got it when you two did your duet." Mercedes informed her. She and Kurt had seen Puck trying to comfort Rachel earlier on the plane but for some reason, Rachel didn't want it. They both thought that odd because every time Rachel was in some sort of personal dilemma, it was Puck who was there to tell her she was hot with her nose or tell the Glee club that he did, in fact like her when no one else did. Not to mention the fact that every time Rachel would be in front of him, he couldn't stop staring at her. Oh yes, there was something between those two-and Kurt and Mercedes decided that their Rachel had been mourning Finn long enough.
"Mercedes, please" Rachel objected. "I love Noah. And he loves me. He'll realize it when Quinn dumps him for the next quarterback." She heard a snicker beside her and saw Kurt hiding his smile. "What?"
"Who do you love?" he asked with an amused expression.
"Finn of course." She was wondering where this was going.
Kurt bit his bottom lip and informed her, "You just said you loved Noah."
"I did not. You misunderstood" Rachel declared.
"If you say so" Mercedes said with a snort. And with that, they dropped the subject since Puck was walking toward Rachel with her bags in tow.
Rachel grabbed her suitcases in a hasty manner and stormed out to get on the bus.
Puck got stuck with Kurt and Mercedes in the back row of the greyhound bus. Normally, he would be irritated but his mind was on what to say to Rachel. They were gonna be around each other a lot for the next couple of days and he didn't want it to be awkward.
"Why don't you tell her how you feel?"
Puck was pulled out of his thoughts by Kurt's voice. "What? What the hell are you talking about Hummel?"
"Puck, you're staring at her."
"I'd say he's leering" Mercedes chimed in.
Puck turned his head toward them. He did have a clear view of Rachel since he was on the end of the row by the bathroom, leaving him open to view down the aisle where he could see Rachel half sitting in her seat behind Mr. Schue no doubt chattering his ear off about sightseeing in New York. "You better shut your mouth Hummel. You don't know what you're talking about" he fired back.
"Oh Puck, the masculinity is so overwhelming" Kurt mocked. He knew Puck wouldn't do anything but defend him. Of course, he did spend some time in juvie… "Why don't you go sit by her?"
"I'm not staring at Rachel!" he half shouted.
Kurt gave him a confused look. "Who said anything about Rachel? Mercedes, did you say anything about Rachel?"
"Hell to the no. Puck don't like Rachel like that Kurt. That'd be the day he sings a duet with her at Nationals" Mercedes replied. Of course, both knew that Mr. Schue had planned on selecting Puck for just that. Finn would, but he was getting sick and his voice not be recovered in time.
Puck eyed them suspiciously and turned back to staring at Rachel. He couldn't help it, his eyes were just drawn to her. He stared harder the more she talked and he half hoped that she would turn around so he could see her face.
"That's leering" Mercedes pointed out. Kurt nodded his head slowly. They certainly had their work cut out for them. "Hey, where's Miss Pillsbury?"
"Oh, Mr. Schue said that she had an appointment she couldn't miss but she'll be here tomorrow." Kurt informed her. With that, the bus slowly quieted down as the passengers began to feel sleepy.
Just as Puck was about to fall asleep, he felt a jolt. The bus had come to a stop in front of the Chelsea Hotel. It looked really fancy and made him feel like a hobo being dressed in sweat pants and a t-shirt.
"Holy shit!" Santana shouted. "Mr. Schue, the Chelsea Hotel? Isn't that super expensive?"
Will nodded with a smile, "Yes it is. Glee got a very generous anonymous donation a few weeks before we scheduled which hotel. Everything's paid for guys. Welcome to Nationals!"
The bus had come alive at the mention that everything was paid for. They couldn't believe it!
"I wonder who it was!" Kurt gasped.
"Someone who really loves Glee club" Puck said with amazement.
Everyone made their way off the bus in a haze mixed with awe, shock and sleepiness. The mood intensified when they entered the lobby. None of them had ever seen anything so beautiful. It had a classic yet modern feel to it.
Mr. Schue went to check in while the Glee clubbers just stood around in their haze. Puck guessed that by the looks people were giving them, they looked high…and homeless. Everyone but Rachel, that is. Her soft pink top matched the pink and black plaid skirt, which looked spanking new. Hmmm, spanking Puck mused. He shook his head to get out of his haze, Snap out of it! You're a badass! You don't chase girls like Berry. You go for the Santana type. Puck shrugged his jacket over his shoulder and glanced over to where Satan was standing with Brittany; she looked pretty content leaning on Brit's shoulder. Knowing Satan like he did, that look wasn't just because she was tired. He mentally counted everyone and realized that someone was missing.
"Hey, where's Wheels at? Did someone roll him down the ramp or something?" he asked. Despite his rough way of saying it, he was kinda worried that they left him behind. He couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed it before.
"Really Noah? You just now noticed he isn't here?" Rachel asked. Damn, how does she always use the words he thinks?
"Well, yeah. Where is he?"
"He's coming tomorrow with Ms. Pillsbury. His dad's in the hospital remember?" she informed him.
"Shouldn't he be with his dad then? I mean it's not serious is it?"
If looks could kill, Puck would've been on his way. Berry was giving him all sorts of glares. "No it wasn't. It was just a scare so they're discharging him tomorrow" she said as she rested her head on Kurt's shoulder.
Mr. Schue walked over with a handful of cards. He made everyone knew their roommates before handing out the keycards. "Right, so Brittany and Santana here's yours. Don't leave just yet, I have something to say while we're all here" he announced.
Santana rolled her eyes and Brittany whispered, "I hope he's not pregnant."
Will continued to call out names, "Finn and Sam, here's yours."
"Actually Mr. Schue, I'm gonna bunk with Mike. If that's ok I mean" Finn said.
"Yeah that's fine with me. Puck? Sam? You good with sharing a room?"
Puck smirked at Sam and grabbed the card, "I think we can handle we it."
"Great. Now, for the rest of the girls: Mercedes, Tina. Quinn, Lauren."
Rachel timidly put her hand up, "Um, Mr. Schue? I don't have a roommate."
"Yeah, about that Rachel. Do you mind if you share with Kurt? Just for tonight until Emma and Artie gets here."
"S-sure" she stammered. She wasn't opposed to the idea, it's not like anything would happen but the suggestion surprised her. Usually Mr. Schue was a stickler for properness. I mean, he wouldn't even let Tina and Mike make out on the bus. Either way, she wasn't going to complain.
"Great! Now, I know we had a long day today so tomorrow everyone gets to sleep in until 10 am. We need to be together by 10:30 sharp."
Everyone nodded absentmindedly in acknowledgment and headed for their rooms. Due to the amount of Glee clubs this week for Nationals, the rooms were all on different levels.
Puck and Sam had made to their bedroom on the 4th floor. The elevator ride seemed to take forever, but they finally made it. It was amazing how tired of everyone was when they had just been sitting all day. Sam had some trouble with the key card causing a sigh of impatience from both guys. Suddenly, there was a familiar voice coming from across the hall. No fucking way Puck thought. He looked at Sam and could tell he was thinking the same thing.
"What the hell man? Don't tell me she doesn't sleep" Sam asked with a cry.
Puck grinned lazily and replied, "You're lucky. This time last year she would've been skipping the halls singin' some showtune crap. Let's just get this fuckin' door open and then I'll take care of her." Sam nodded and 3 more tries with the card seemed to do the trick.
Puck was so tired, he didn't even care about the room. He threw his bag on the floor and headed across the hall to Rachel's room. Under any other circumstances, he would've loved to hear her sing, but right now, all he wanted was some damn sleep. His hand was raised when he noticed something odd about her voice. He had no doubt it was her, but maybe she was singing in her lower register? "She's probably just tired Puckerman" he muttered to himself.
He banged on the door hard. "Berry, come on! Enough singing. Some of us actually need sleep!" he half shouted.
The door swung open and the brunette was standing in front of him.
"Noah?"
"Miss Corcoran."
