I know this one is short, but I should have the next chapter up within the next 24 hours. I hope you enjoy.

I don't own any of the character or the songs used in this fiction.


Rachel wrapped herself in a towel and tucked her clothes from the day into her laundry hamper. She walked out of the bathroom and into her adjoining bedroom. Looking through the clothes in her dresser she decided on a comfy pair of yoga pants and one of her Daddy's Harvard sweaters. She braided her wet hair to the side and threw on some warm, fluffy socks before wandering downstairs to await Noah's arrival. She found herself nervously straightening her immaculately cleaned house as she waited. She hadn't expected to have company and she still wasn't sure that it was what she really wanted. She just hoped that Noah remembered to get some vegan options. Finn was always forgetting about her vow to never eat meat. She would never forget how sick she was the last time he had fed her meat.

Her cell phone started blaring 'Take me or leave me', but Rachel chose to ignore it for the moment. She wasn't sure she was in the mood to talk to Mercedes tonight. The Troubletones had come back to Glee but Mercedes was still telling everyone she had left New Directions because she was sick of being Rachel's backup singer.

Headlights flooded the living room as Noah's truck pulled into her driveway. Rachel skipped to the door to help Noah with the food. She was pleasantly surprised when she opened the door to find not only Noah but Sam as well.

"Sam! I didn't know you were coming as well! I hope that Noah is well prepared and bought enough food for all of us!"

Sam just grinned at her as Noah rolled his eyes at her.

"Don't worry little one. I found Sammy boy wandering around in the snow and decided to bring him along. There's enough food to feed all of us and more. But don't invite anyone else woman! I plan on eating as much as I can fit in me. Sammy boy will help. Right Sammy?" Noah patted her head as he walked by just to get a reaction out of her.

"Hey Rach. I hope you don't mind me tagging along. Puck said he was coming over to hang out and he was bringing Avatar so I wasn't going to say no!" Sam blushed when the two of them laughed.

Rachel took his jacket and showed him where to put his boots. She admonished Noah for not hanging up his jacket because he knew better!

"Can I get either of you boys anything to drink?" Rachel asked trying to be the perfect hostess.

Noah had clearly beaten her to it though. He was walking out of the kitchen with forks and cans of pop for each of them. He had only been there for a few moments but he already had the living room set up to eat their food and watch movies.

Sam laughed at the look of surprise on Rachel's face and made his way over to the couch just as Rachel told Puck not to put his feet on her coffee table.

"Jeez woman I hear you." Puck said through a mouthful of noodles.

Sam laughed again as she muttered something about Puck being a total barbarian. He had never hung out with just the two of them but he found himself hoping it would happen again soon. The two of them could be hard to handle when they were alone so he had always figured they would be even worse together. He had heard the other Gleeks talk about the days of Puckleberry before, but he hadn't been at the school when they had briefly dated. Santana had said Rachel was actually kind of fun to be around while they were dating. Artie said that Puck sort of mellowed her out and she didn't feel like she had anything to prove so she didn't yell as much. Quinn told him that Puck had given up football just to be with Rachel before they had broken up. Brittany had told him her favourite fruit was Puckleberry.

"Noah! You're being rude. Did you even ask Sam if he wanted one of the three egg rolls you're devouring?" Rachel asked trying to sound indignant and failing miserably. Sam could see her lips twitching in reluctant amusement as Puck said something crude through a mouthful of food.

"I prefer springs rolls. But thanks anyways Noah." Sam laughed as Puck threw a chopstick at his head.

Rachel completely lost it when it hit him in between the eyes. She was laughing harder than he had ever seen her laugh. He looked at Puck who shrugged, clearly used to seeing her acting so carefree.

"I'm so sorry Sam. Are you alright?" She finally asked when she was able to catch her breath.

"Even with a chopstick lodged in my forehead I'd still be better looking than Puck." He said and she started to giggle again.

"Not a chance Trouty Mouth. Have you seen my guns?" Puck threw back with a laugh. Rachel's giggling turned into full on cackling.

Sam was amazed by how carefree she was at the moment. She was laughing to the point of tears and she seemed so happy. He snuck another glance at Puck and this time his look went unnoticed. Puck had the weirdest smile on his face. It wasn't his trademark smirk. Sam had never seen him smile before and found it very interesting the effect that the two had on each other.

"Alright midget, deep breaths. Sammy you can throw the movie into the DVD player." Puck got up and burped as he made his way back into the kitchen.

"How gross." Rachel sniffed with a scowl on her face.

This time Sam was the one who couldn't stop laughing.


Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing.