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She got her towel and was about to go into the bathroom, when her parent's bedroom caught her attention. Rachel took a few steps into the room, staring at the bed. She remembered all the time she'd climbed in bed with her parents after having a nightmare or when it was storming out, now it just seemed like all the love in the house was a lie. Moving further into the room, Rachel stood in front of her dads' dresser. For whatever reason, Rachel pulled open the top drawer and started going through the socks. She didn't know what she was looking for, but she continued through each of the drawers. After the fourth, Rachel stopped and didn't go through the last two. There was no point. Shelby did the laundry and would have gone through the drawers when putting stuff away, Hiram wasn't stupid enough to leave evidence of his affair in a place where it would be easily found. She went over to the filing cabinet Hiram used to store some work files and pulled open the first drawer. Rachel went through each of the hanging file folders, but didn't come across anything.
The third drawer was where Rachel began finding things Hiram had hidden. Ticket stubs to concerts and movies, dinner receipts, playbills, letters, and even pictures. Rachel took the evidence and kicked the drawer shut, carrying the papers into her bedroom. She dropped them on the floor and knelt down, lifting up the mattress so she could get to the box spring. There was a part of the box spring where the fabric had been torn from when they had moved into the house a few years ago and the mattress had gotten caught on the door frame and torn. Rachel peeled back the fabric and took out a shoe box she kept hidden. Inside she had her diary, this month's pack of birth control, and condoms. Tossing the items she had recently discovered, Rachel put the shoe box back and went into the bathroom down the hall to take her shower.
Shelby closed the door to her car and walked into the house, through the garage door. She was happy to find Rachel sitting at the kitchen table, eating some soup and she was even happier to find that her house had not been destroyed. Rachel often had the tendency to not pick up after herself, leaving a huge mess for Shelby to deal with.
"Hey, sweetie." Shelby placed her bags on the chair across from Rachel and walked over to her daughter, placing a hand on her forehead. "Your fever seems to be going down. Did you take your medicine?"
"Yeah."
Shelby was slightly thrown off by Rachel's indifferent tone. "Are you feeling any better?"
Rachel only shrugged and replied. "I guess." Rachel wiped her mouth with a paper towel and got up, leaving everything where it was at. "Can we go now?"
"Sure." Shelby glanced at the half eaten bowl of soup, empty water bottle, and used napkin. She really wanted to tell Rachel to clean up her things, but she could already see that Rachel was in a bad mood. She also knew that Rachel would probably clean it up when they got home from the doctor.
An hour and a half later, Rachel and Shelby left the doctor's office. Rachel had been given orders to stay in bed and rest, while drinking lots of fluids. The doctor suggested some medicines for Rachel to take and prescribed her an antibiotic to keep her from developing a sinus infection. She was also told to stay home for a couple of days. Of course now that her perfect attendance was ruined, three or four more days wasn't going to make a difference.
Now, the pair got into the car and headed towards the elementary school to pick up Beth. Shelby pulled up along the curb and internally sighed. Next year, her little bitty Beth was going to be in sixth grade, her last year of elementary school and would then start middle school. By that time, Rachel would be a senior, ready to graduate and move off on her own. She looked over at the sick child beside her, noticing that Rachel was almost asleep. Shelby reached over and held Rachel's hand, bringing it up to her mouth, where she placed a kiss to the back of Rachel's hand.
"What?" Rachel turned her head to look at her mother.
"Nothing, I didn't mean to wake you up." Shelby quietly said. The tears in her eyes didn't go unnoticed by her sixteen year old.
"Why are you about to cry?"
"I'm sorry, I was just thinking about how in two years, Beth is going to be starting middle school and you're going to be a senior. My babies are growing up." Shelby sniffled.
"Gosh, Mom, get a grip." Rachel rolled her eyes. Her mother was so dang dramatic.
Rachel leaned her head against the window once more, leaving Shelby to wipe her eyes with the sleeve of her long sleeved shirt. It took several minutes for the bell to ring and another couple seconds for the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth graders to start pouring out of the building. Rachel stared at the door, impatiently waiting for her little sister to come out of the school. Over and over again, Rachel though her sister was walking out of the building, but each time she was disappointed. She really wanted to go home and crawl into her bed and sleep. Rachel, aggravated from having to wait nearly ten minutes, used her hand to smack the side of the door.
"Rachel!" Shelby scolded. "Do not hit the door."
"What is taking the brat so long?" Rachel growled, folding her arms like a petulant child. "I want to go home."
"Beth waits for her friend, Mallory, and I take them to Mallory's house." Shelby told Rachel, even though the girl knew how the after school routine went. Hiram didn't get home until after seven. Shelby left right after school ended to pick up Mallory and Beth, dropping them off at Mallory's house for Mallory's mom to watch them. After dropping Beth off, Shelby headed back to the high school to watch Rachel's Cheerio practice. Once that ended, Shelby had glee rehearsal at four thirty. Rachel more often than not, stayed at school with Shelby and work on her homework and then the two picked up Beth and went home. "And what have I told you about calling Beth a brat? I do not like the name calling and it hurts Beth's feelings."
"Sorry." Rachel bit. "I won't hurt your little princess' feelings."
"Rachel, what is with your attitude?" Shelby asked. It seemed there was far more wrong with Rachel than just missing a couple days of school.
"Nothing." Rachel replied.
"You sure?" Shelby pushed.
"Yes! I'm sure nothing is wrong!" Rachel snapped.
"Do not yell at me." Shelby rose her voice slightly, but her tone told Rachel she was walking a very fine line. "When we get home, I want you to go right up to your room and stay there until I say so."
"Fine." Rachel said, turning as much as she could to face her back to her mom.
Shelby gripped the steering wheel tightly, counted to ten and then unwrapped her fingers from the wheel and stretched them out. Rachel was wearing on Shelby's last nerve, but the mom was trying to remain as calm as possible. Another five minutes passed, filled with huffs and groans from the passenger seat.
"What is taking so long?" Rachel scowled.
"I don't know, I'll go find the girls, you stay here
and text me if they show up." Shelby snatched her phone from the center console and got out of the car.
She wasn't exactly sure what was keeping Beth and Mallory and assumed the girls had gotten distracted by something, which happened on occasion. Shelby's first stop was Beth's classroom, she noticed the purple zebra stripped backpack hanging on the backpack rack in the room. Mallory's bag was already gone and this troubled Shelby. Beth's teacher, Miss Brady, was sitting at her desk and looked up when she noticed the mom had walked in.
"Mrs. Berry, hi, how can I help you?"
"I'm looking for Beth, I see her backpack is still here and did Mallory come to school today? Normally she rides home with us."
"Oh." The teacher said, looking over at the backpack rack. "I thought she took her bag with her down to the nurse's office."
"Nurse's office?"
"Yes, she started feeling sick a half hour or so ago, after we got back from our field trip and I sent her down to the office. Didn't they call you?" Miss Brady continued when Shelby shook her head. "And Mallory asked me to call her mom for her and tell her she needed a ride home."
"Thank you, I will take Beth's bag and check the office for my daughter." Shelby retrieved the bag and headed towards the office.
She was slightly annoyed that she had never received a call from the office, telling her Beth wasn't feeling well. She opened the office door and went over to the nurse's office. Beth was laying on the cot, looking miserable.
What a good actress, Shelby thought. She knew Beth was faking the moment she laid eyes on her youngest child.
"Mommy? Is that you?" Beth groggily said, squinting her eyes in Shelby's direction.
"Nice try, come on, let's go." Shelby said.
"The poor girl came in not feeling well." The nurse came into the room after getting some paper towels from the stock room down the way. "I offered to call and have you come get her , butshe said she'd rather call and ask you to come in and get her after school."
"Really?" Shelby said, looking at Beth. "I must have missed that call, Beth."
"What?" The nurse said. "Beth said she spoke to you."
"No, she didn't." Shelby turned to the nurse. "I had no idea she was even in here. Her sister and I have been sitting outside in the car, waiting for Beth."
"I am so sorry, Mrs. Berry, I had no idea."
"It's not your fault, but I'd prefer to have you call me the next time Beth finds herself in here."
"Of course." The nurse nodded.
"Let's go Beth, I need to go to the pharmacy to get some medicine for your sister, you know who is actually sick." Shelby placed an arm on her perfectly shaped hip. "And I think we need to have a little talk, don't you?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Beth sighed, standing up from the cot.
Rachel was delighted when Shelby came out of the school with Beth at her side. From the hard expression on Shelby's face to the shameful look on Beth's, Rachel knew the ten year old had gotten in trouble for something and she couldn't help but snicker. Shelby motioned for Beth to get into the back seat and the girl did as she was told.
"Oooo, you are in trouble." Rachel said in a sing song voice, teasing Beth.
"Shut up." Beth replied angrily.
"You shut up, little brat, I could have already been home and in bed, sleeping." Rachel countered back.
"Don't call me a brat!" Beth shouted.
"If you didn't act like one, I wouldn't call you one."
"Mallory's cousin is right, you are an annoying troll."
Rachel's eyes instantly watered over. Mallory's cousin happened to be Quinn Fabray, one of the many people who teased and bullied Rachel on a daily basis. Annoying and troll were two of the many names the popular kids at school called her. She had thought being a cheerleader would have brought her some popularity and would have reduced the bullying, but it didn't and sometimes it seemed as if it was worse. Shelby wasn't aware of what the girl was dealing with at school and Rachel wanted to keep it that way, but having her sister call her the names that Rachel suffered through at school, made Rachel upset and she turned around in her seat, raising her hand. Just as her hand made contact with Beth's leg, the driver's side door flew open and she felt a hand connecting with her own backside.
"Rachel Barbra Berry!" Shelby bellowed, climbing all the way into the car and shutting her door. "I cannot believe you hit your sister."
"She called me an annoying troll." Rachel said, rubbing the spot her mother had swatted her.
"I don't care what she did, you do not hit." Shelby scolded.
"You don't even care that she hurt my feelings." Rachel pouted, her tears finally streaming down her face.
"That is not what I said. I will take care of Beth, but you do not get her back by hitting." Shelby replied. "I want you to apologize to Beth, right now."
"Sorry." Rachel said in the most unapologetic tone she could muster.
"Rachel." Shelby loudly sighed.
"What?" She snapped at her mother. "I said I was sorry, even though I am not. She shouldn't be able to get away with being mean to me just because she is ten. It's not fair. You let her get away with everything."
"You stop right there." Shelby held up her hand. She was all for letting her children express their thoughts and emotions, but Rachel was quickly becoming irrational. "I do not let Beth get away with anything because of her age. She is old enough to know right from wrong and that she will be punished for any and all wrong doings. I already told you that I was going to deal with Beth calling you names."
"Whatever." Rachel muttered under her breath.
Shelby let Rachel's comment go, telling Beth to put her seatbelt on so they could go home. She'd deal with her children in their own home and not in the car. For the most part, the drive was quiet and neither Rachel nor Beth said a word. They knew they were in trouble for whatever reason and knew it was best to not say a thing.
After stopping at the pharmacy to get medicine for Rachel, Shelby took the girls home. She reminded Rachel and Beth to take their shoes off at the door and place them in the closet. She fixed each one their own snack, sliced apples and peanut butter for Beth and applesauce for Rachel, and sent them up to their rooms to eat. She didn't usually let them eat in their rooms, but Rachel wasn't feeling well and it would give Beth and Rachel time alone to think before she went and talked to them about their recent actions.
Deciding to start with Rachel first, Shelby got out one of Rachel's antibiotics and the new medicine she picked up and made the girl a glass of chocolate milk before going upstairs. Rachel had finished her small bowl of applesauce and was now laying face down on her bed, her head buried beneath several pillows and her legs dangled of the edge of the bed. A warmhearted smile crossed Shelby's lips when she saw that Rachel had her pillow and blanket and was wrapped in the purple colored throw. She sat down on the bed, setting the milk on the nightstand, and began to rub Rachel's back.
"Sit up, I have some medicine for you." Shelby kindly said. Rachel did as she was told and sat up to take her medicine. Shelby felt the girl's head and frowned, feeling the fever was coming back again. "Let's have a little chat."
"I know I shouldn't have hit Beth, I will apologize to her later." Rachel said, looking up at her mother to show her she was remorseful of her actions.
"I'm happy to hear that and I don't ever want to find out that you've hit her again. Am I understood?"
"Yes."
"Yes, what?" Shelby said, giving her child a look, telling her it was one of those types of conversation.
"Yes, Ma'am." Rachel corrected herself.
"Good, now let's talk about your attitude problem." Shelby said, making herself more comfortable on the bed.
"There's nothing to talk about." Rachel replied.
"You've been moody all afternoon since I picked you up for the doctor's, I understand you are upset about missing school-"
"I'm not moody. I am fine." Rachel rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I beg to differ."
"Well I don't care what you have to say, I am fine, now, go away." Rachel said, moving to lie back down.
"Rachel,"
"Get out!" Rachel yelled.
"Consider yourself grounded for three days. I am taking your phone and computer away until Saturday afternoon." Shelby stood up and grabbed the phone from next to Rachel and went over to the desk and unplugged the laptop. "And you are to stay in here until I tell you otherwise."
Shelby closed the door to Rachel's room and stopped short when she heard a shoe hit the door.
"You're so mean!" Rachel complained from the other side of the door.
"Throw one more thing and I will add a day to your grounding." Shelby threatened. It only took a few seconds for the second shoe to hit the door. "Sunday it is."
Dropping Rachel's confiscated items in her closet, Shelby went into Beth's room to talk to her little darling about faking sick at school and calling Rachel names. Beth was sitting at her desk, working on some social studies homework and Shelby grabbed the extra chair from the corner of the room and sat it next to the desk. Beth stopped writing and looked up at her mother.
"I'm in trouble, huh?" Beth quietly asked.
"I am very unhappy with you right now. Lying about being sick is not okay, but what I am most upset by is that I didn't know where you were. Rachel and I waited almost twenty minutes for you to come out of the school. You're lucky your teacher was able to tell me where to find you."
"I'm sorry." Beth pouted. "I won't do it again, I promise."
"I hope you stick to that promise because I want to be able to trust you. Even lying about something small as not feeling well, makes my trust in you start to fade and I don't want that to happen." Shelby lectured. "What are you going to do if you keep telling lies and then one day you do get sick, really sick and I don't believe you?"
"I don't know." Beth shrugged her shoulders.
"Exactly, I don't want that to happen. I want to believe you when you say you don't feel good."
"I'm sorry I lied." Beth said.
"I forgive you, but you best not lie to me again, you hear me?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Good, now, you know what happens when you lie." Shelby said. She then pointed to an empty corner in Beth's room. The girl slumped her shoulders, but stood up and walked over to the spot she spent a lot of time in. "Ten minutes, young lady and then you can come out and tell me why you called your sister an annoying troll."
Ten minutes later, Beth found her mother in the kitchen, searching for something to make for dinner. She brought her plate down and scraped the last bit of peanut butter into the garbage can and put her plate in the dishwasher.
"Can I help with dinner?" Beth asked, standing next to her mother as she searched the food pantry.
"Sure." Shelby smiled down at her baby. "What should we make?"
"Homemade chicken noodle soup." Beth suggested. "It'll make Rachel feel better."
"That is a good idea and very nice of you." Shelby said, checking to make sure they had everything they'd need to make soup. "Why don't you find the big pot?"
"Okay."
Shelby knew it was kinda early to make dinner, but it was going to take almost two hours to make and it could stay warm on the stove until Hiram would come home so they could eat. Once dinner was started, Shelby and Beth moved into the living room, where Shelby handed the remote for Beth to pick something for them to watch.
"So." Shelby started out. "Tell me why you called your sister an annoying troll."
"That's what everybody calls her." Beth shrugged.
"What do you mean?" Shelby inquired. "Who told you that?"
"The big kids call Rachel a lot of mean names." Beth said. "Rachel said so in her diary and she even keeps a list of names she gets called. And the other day at Mallory's, her cousin Quinn told her friend Santana that Rachel was an annoying troll."
"What else did her diary say?" Shelby asked, though she questioned herself if she should really be asking her ten year old to recite things she's read in her sister's diary.
"She's dating this boy named Puck or something like that."
"Dating? Puck? For how long?"
"I don't know, she just started writing about him a couple months ago." Beth said, staring at the television.
Shelby sat back on the couch, she knew who this Puck kid was, he was in one of her classes. Though, ideally Puck isn't someone she wanted her daughter to date, he wasn't a horrible kid, he just made some bad choices. She started to wonder if the two had gotten into an argument or had broken up and that was the cause of Rachel's bad mood. Of course, she couldn't out right ask Rachel about them because then she'd be accused of reading Rachel's diary. For now, Shelby was going to let it be.
It was a little after seven when Rachel heard her father walk into the house. Her eyes narrowed at how chipper he sounded and she clenched her jaw as she listened to him pretend to be a loving husband and father. Deep down she knew her father loved her, her sister and her mother, but it was clear to Rachel that he didn't love them enough.
Rachel didn't move from her bed, mostly because Shelby had told her stay in her room, but also, Rachel didn't want to see her father. There were a few moments of silence, then footsteps on the stairs. Rachel sighed, it was going to be her mother, telling her it was time to eat dinner. To her surprise, following the knock on the door, she heard her father's voice.
"Rach, can I come in?"
"I guess." Rachel grumbled. She really wanted to say no.
The door open and Hiram walked in, closing the door so they could talk. "How are you feeling?"
Rachel shrugged her shoulders. She didn't even bother looking up at Hiram and instead picked at the blanket beneath her.
"Dinner is ready, are you hungry?"
Rachel only shrugged.
"After dinner, I need to make a run to the store to get some supplies for my next project; I thought maybe you could come with so we can talk. We could get some ice cream on the way home?"
"No. I don't want anything from you." Rachel said through clenched teeth. "Go away."
"Rachel, I understand that what you saw this afternoon is a shock to you and I am sure you have a lot of questions. I think we should talk about things."
"There's nothing to talk about. You're cheating on mom and you've decided your boyfriend is more important than being at my competition to support me."
"Please keep your voice down." Hiram said, checking behind him to make sure Shelby wasn't coming up the stairs.
"Why?" Rachel said, getting louder. "You really think mom will never find out? She's not as stupid as you might think."
"I do not think your mother is stupid. And I will tell her about Leroy when the time is right."
"How could you do this to us? Don't we mean anything to you?"
"Of course you do, Rach. I love you and your sister and I love your mom." Hiram said. "But I, Leroy and I, it's just complicated."
"Get out." Rachel said, dangerously low.
"Honey, I-"
"Get out!" Rachel yelled louder.
Shelby heard her daughter yell from the kitchen and needed to see what was going on upstairs between Hiram and Rachel. Beth was sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for Shelby to make her a bowl of soup. Shelby ladled a few scoops of the soup into a bowl and set it in front of Beth, along with a glass of apple juice.
"Eat up, okay?" Shelby smiled at her child, placing a calm hand on Beth's shoulder.
Shelby entered Rachel's room, finding her sixteen year old sobbing on her bed and Hiram standing in the middle of the room.
"Rachel." Hiram tried to get her attention.
"I told you to get the hell out of my room." Rachel snapped.
"Rachel Barbra! You do not talk to your father that way." Shelby chastised. "You apologize right now."
"No!" Rachel looked up at her mother.
"Shelby, it's alright." Hiram tried to assure his wife.
"It most certainly isn't alright." Shelby scoffed. "Rachel, I am waiting."
"Well you're going to have to keep waiting because I am not apologizing to him." Rachel said, wiping her face. "He can go to hell for all I care."
Shelby, surprising both herself and Rachel, moved across the room and pulled Rachel over her lap so quickly that Rachel didn't realize what was happening until she felt six hard swats land on her yoga pant covered bottom. Tears filled her eyes by the eighth swat and after the tenth, she was turned up right to be sitting next to Shelby.
"You have three seconds to apologize because if you think your butt hurts now, you are sorely mistaken." Shelby glared at Rachel.
Rachel took a moment, contemplating her next move. Either she apologized to her father and acted as if nothing happened or she continues to refuse to apologize, get more swats, and possibly add to her grounding. She really, really wanted to just object to saying she was sorry and receive another round of swats, to her it would be worth it. She owed her father nothing. However, Rachel didn't want to run the risk of getting more days added on to her grounding as she had plans.
Facing her father, where Shelby couldn't see the look on her face, Rachel apologized to Hiram for yelling at him.
"You are forgiven." Hiram said and Rachel rolled her eyes.
"Honey, why don't you go downstairs and get a bowl of soup? Rachel and I will be down in a second." Shelby smiled at Hiram. Hiram nodded and Shelby waited until he had left the room to face Rachel. "What on earth is the matter with you today?"
"Nothing."
"That's not an answer. You need to tell me what has put you into a bad mood because I am tired of dealing with it, Rachel."
"It's nothing." Rachel said with an exasperated voice. "I just want to be left alone."
"Well I have news for you, that is not going to happen." Shelby stood up. "You need to go into the bathroom and wash your face and hands and then come downstairs for dinner. I don't want to hear anything, but yes ma'am, am I understood."
"Yes." Rachel glared, purposefully not adding ma'am at the end.
"Rachel." Shelby warned.
"I'm going to wash up." Rachel said, moving past her mother and out into the hallway to the bathroom. She slammed the bathroom door shut and locked it.
The next day after school had ended, Puck arrived to the Berry home, wanting to check on his girlfriend. He was supposed to be at football practice, but there was no other time for him to visit Rachel when no one was around. And he had promised Rachel almost a month ago that he wouldn't skip anymore school and he had kept his promise for nearly three days now. Shelby, according to Rachel, had picked up and dropped off Beth and Mallory and returned back to school to grade some papers and work on next week's lesson plan. Hiram, as usual, wouldn't be home until much later.
It wasn't the first time Rachel had snuck Noah Puckerman into her bedroom. There were times the two didn't have practice right after school and if Beth still went to Mallory's house, Rachel talked Shelby into dropping her off at home. Puck would come over and spend time with Rachel until he had to be at glee rehearsal. And then there were the times Rachel would get her cousins to cover for her.
Shelby has two sisters, Ruby and Kristy. Shelby is the middle child with Ruby being the oldest of the three and Kristy the youngest. Ruby got married at age eighteen, much to her parent's disproval, to Philip Anderson. Three years after getting married, their daughter, Lucy was born and when Lucy was four, her baby sister, Sadie joined the family. Now at age eighteen, Lucy was about to graduate high school and attend college in Nevada. It was Lucy who had taken Rachel to the doctor a couple towns over to get the sixteen year old birth control. And both Sadie and Lucy often covered for Rachel so she could sneak off and see Puck. Most of the time, Rachel would tell her mom she was going to a game at Sadie and Lucy's school, but would go and hang out with Puck instead.
Shelby's younger sister, Kristy married a wealthy man named Al Motta. Together, they have a daughter named Sugar, who is just four months older than Rachel. Though very close in age, Sugar and Rachel do not get along very well. For the most part, Sadie and Lucy don't get along with Sugar either. It wasn't always like that. When the four girls were younger, they liked to spend time together and did nearly everything together. Around the time Sugar turned nine, she self diagnosed herself with Asperger's Syndrome, using that as an excuse to say whatever she wanted. That was the turning point in their close relationship. Lucy, Rachel, and some times Sadie, who was seven at the time, started to do things on their own without their cousin.
Rachel knew she needed to be careful about making sure Sugar didn't find out about her and Puck. Even if Sugar got a small suspicion about the relationship, Sugar would 'accidentally' say something to Shelby. So far, Sugar seemed to not know and that's what Rachel wanted.
Rachel and Puck sat in Rachel's room with Puck sitting at Rachel's headboard so he couldn't be seen through the window and Rachel sat beside the window so she could see down the road in case one of her parents came home early.
"Wait, you caught your dad with another dude?"
"Yeah." Rachel sighed. She was relieved to finally get her father's affair off her chest and talk to someone about it. "I don't know what I should do. My mom needs to know, but I don't want to be the one to break her heart. She loves my dad so much."
"You should scare your dad into coming clean. Tell him that if he doesn't tell your mom, you will."
"I don't know." Rachel said. It could work, but there was also her relationship with Hiram, Rachel needed to think about. Sure, her dad wasn't around a lot and he was tearing their family apart, but Rachel didn't want to permanently damage her relationship with her dad.
It's all so complicated, Rachel thought to herself. Being stuck in her position was hard and she didn't know what to do, especially since she had some time to cool down from the night before.
"I guess for now, I'm just gonna act as if nothing happened. I never saw my dad and Leroy." Rachel said.
"Eventually he will slip up and your mom will find out." Puck said.
"Yeah."
"When do you think you'll be able to come back to school?"
"I don't know, the doctor said I have to spend a couple days at home. It's only Wednesday, so maybe I will get to go back on Monday."
"I don't know how I am going to survive school without you." Puck said, leaning forward to kiss Rachel's warm forehead.
"I'm sure going to class and homework will keep you pretty busy, on top of glee and football." Rachel smirked.
"Or, I could come over here during lunch and my class after lunch."
"No." Rachel narrowed her eyes.
"But you need someone to take care of you." Puck said, reaching for Rachel. He grabbed her by her arms and pulled her to lie beside him.
Puck covered the two of them up and snuggled against Rachel. The girl kissed her boyfriend's cheek and then shook her head at him. "No. You're going to all your classes."
"Babe." Puck all but whined.
"Noah, you promised." Rachel pouted. "Don't you want to get into a good college with me?"
"You don't even know what you want to do after high school."
"That's not the point, the point is I want to attend the best college, with my boyfriend."
"Alright, I will stick to my word and I won't skip anymore classes."
"Thanks." Rachel kissed Puck's cheek again. She pulled back, giving Puck the biggest set of puppy dog eyes and pouty lips. "Will you hold me for awhile before you have to leave?"
"Sure." Puck and Rachel settled into the bed, Rachel's back was pushed against Puck's front.
It wasn't long before Rachel's breathing slowed down and Puck leaned across the girl, seeing that she was asleep. He carefully pulled his arm from under Rachel's head and slid off the bed. Rachel shifted a little, feeling the loss of Puck's body and body heat, and she whimpered slightly. Noah leaned down and kissed Rachel's temple and rubbed her back.
"Shh, it's okay. Go back to sleep." He whispered.
"Stay?" She mumbled.
"Your mom will kill me if I miss practice."
"Awe." Rachel whined.
"I love you, Rach." Noah said for the first time.
A large smile spread across Rachel's sleepy face. "I love you too, Noah."
A/N: Please let me know if you liked this chapter and the story as a whole so far, I promise it only takes a second. It really makes my day :)
Next chapter will be posted either Sunday night or Monday, just depends.