Disclaimer: I am just borrowing them for the fun of writing, BUT I do own the plot, ideas and original characters.
A/N: Not beta'd; all mistakes are mine. Please mention them if you find any.
A/N2: Feedback keeps me writing, so please comment or review. :D
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A/N3: Keep in mind, within this AU... There is no Puck/Quinn, no Finn/Rachel, Quinn is NOT pregnant at all, Puck's dad never left when he was a kid and Puck will be OOC so yes, totally AU, though you'll see similarities to the episodes.
A/N4: When Noah and Rachel's families are mentioned, those of you who are reading my fic 'Out of the Blue' will notice the same character names. When I started writing it, I took time to choose the names I wanted for their parents and Noah's sister, and they have grown on me so much, that no matter what fic I write, I'm going to stick with the same names and professions; the only change (in this one) is that Rachel's dad, David, is going to be a medical doctor in this one, not a psychologist like he is in 'Out of the Blue'.
A/N5: Some mentioned things happened fast; but it will all be explained in this chapter and the next one.
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The two teens made their way back to the choir room, and stepped inside, heading right for the empty seats in the front row; Noah taking a seat between Rachel and Finn. Once everyone was there, Mr. Schuester came out of his office, "hey, Noah, you made it. Finn told me you were up for joining; I've gotta say I'm shocked," he admitted.
"Good thing you didn't chicken out," Matt laughed from the back.
"I don't chicken out, Rutherford," Noah smirked, nodding at Will, "yeah, I made it."
"You're joining the club?" Kurt gasped, "oh my God!" He exclaimed.
"I have to say, that while I am surprised, it will be good to have a very dominant male voice in the club, no offense, Finn," Artie said.
"None taken, he can sing a hell of a lot better than I can," Finn shrugged, "Noah, this is Artie, and that's Tina and I think you already know everyone else," he said glancing around.
Noah nodded at the only two he hadn't met yet, "nice to meet you both. And thanks, Artie, for the compliment."
"You're welcome," Artie nodded at him.
"Not that we don't need another person, but I thought you were taking a break from music," Tina said.
"I'm taking a break from the recording industry, not music itself," he explained.
"I, for one, am very glad to have you in here, and honored that you'd be up for this. I didn't think you'd be into this type of performance group," Will admitted.
"I usually hide behind a guitar or piano, but I've been known to dance a little here and there. Though sometimes I've also been know to have two left feet, so we'll see how things go," he laughed.
"At least you know your rights from your lefts," Finn muttered, a blush growing on his cheeks.
"Still haven't figured that out yet, dude?" Noah asked his friend, "how long have we been working on that?"
"Dude, shut up!" Finn nudged him playfully.
"You shut up!" Noah retorted, a grin on his face, nudging him back.
"Uh, guys, could you focus up here?" Will laughed.
"Sorry, Mr. Schue," Finn laughed.
With it being the first practice since the previous school year, and they were missing a twelfth person; since Noah didn't know the dance steps, Will had the other eleven run through 'Don't Stop Believin' to give Noah an idea as he read over the sheet music. Rachel agreed that she'd help him with the steps and then Will passed out two new songs that he thought the club would be interested in singing; 'Somebody to Love' and 'Last Name.' Wanting them to work on the music a little before they sang the songs, Will let them out earlier than normal, so it was just after four. As soon as Will had told them Glee was over for the day, Rachel pulled out her phone and looked at her messages, "Noah, are you ready to go? I just got a message from my daddy. He and dad are already at your house, so they want me to follow you home," Rachel said.
"Really? I'm ready to go," he nodded, glancing at Finn, "you wanna follow us, too?"
Finn shrugged, "sure, don't matter. Gonna walk Quinn out. Are you leaving right now?"
He motioned towards his backpack under his chair, "yeah, in the next few minutes, or whenever Rachel is ready," he said.
Rachel looked in her bag, "I have everything I need," she agreed.
Standing up, Noah grabbed his bag and threw it over his shoulder, then held out his hand for her, "alright, then, lets go," he said, "sooner I get yelled at, the better," he sighed.
She took his hand and stood up, putting her bag over her shoulder, "see you guys tomorrow," Rachel said, waving with her free hand to the few that were still left in the room as Quinn, Finn, Rachel and Noah walked out of the choir room and towards the front of the school.
Finn had his arm around Quinn's shoulders, but turned to look at his friend, "I'll just head out there and meet you," Finn said.
Noah nodded, "alright, see ya," he replied.
Finn and Quinn headed off in the direction of their cars, while Rachel motioned in the direction of hers; a row over from Noah's, "I will let my dads know we are on our way," Rachel told him as she pulled out her cell phone and let go of his hand so she could text. As she finished with her message, she put her phone away and couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips.
"What's so funny?" He asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
"So much for taking it slow. We're meeting the parents in a little while," she admitted.
He nodded, "yeah, I realized that earlier," he said, "but at least it's all at once, so we can get it over with," he laughed as they paused at a car.
She blushed, "yes, I suppose that is a good way of looking at it," she agreed, tugging her keys from her bag and unlocking the door of the car they were standing by; putting her stuff in the backseat.
"My parents and sister will love you, that's all that matters; well that and I don't want your dads to kill me," he commented, rubbing his neck nervously. "You have two dads?"
"Yes. They are gay; do you have a problem with that?" She asked concerned.
"Oh no!" He shook his head, "not in the way you think," he ducked his head, "I don't have a problem with them being gay... Just that you have two of them... And I'm sure they're not going to be happy with me, so it's kinda scary."
Rachel giggled, "well, daddy, that's David; he's a doctor at St. Rita's Medical Center, you know, where your mom works, or worked; does she still work there? Daddy said he worked with her, but I didn't know if he meant she didn't work there anymore."
"Yes, she still works there. Only like short shifts so she can take care of my sister," he replied, "go on."
"Oh, yeah, so David is daddy and Alan, is dad. He's a lawyer in town," she finished.
"A lawyer? Ah, crap! One that can kill me and knows how to do it without suspicion and another who could come up with some legal reason-"
"Noah! Stop being so dramatic; they'll like you, don't worry," she assured him resting her hands on his forearms.
Taking a deep breath to calm down, he shifted his hands to take hers in his, "I'm trying not to worry," he replied softly.
"Good, so shall we go?" She asked squeezing his hands.
He nodded, "yeah. I'm the black SUV over there, so I'll wait for you to get behind me. When you get to my place, just park where you can," he added, "I have a remote in my car that opens the gate; it'll stay open until you pass through."
"Gate?" She paused a moment and then realized what he meant, "oh, security gate?"
"Yeah," he nodded, "so I'll see you there," he smiled releasing her hands to pull his keys from his pocket.
Waiting until she got into her car, he headed towards his SUV and got in. Chucking his bag into the passenger seat, he glanced back and noticed her pulling out of her spot, so he followed suit and headed towards the exit. Once he was sure she was behind him, he made his way out of the parking lot and started the drive home.
"Dude, what's going on? Not even six hours ago you meet her and now you're... You're dating her? Seriously? Talk about way fast! But... You've got to take things slow; she's never had a boyfriend so this is all new to her; just like it is me... I gotta talk to her about this before we go inside... Oh shit... What are they going to ask? This is major," he sighed, rubbing his face with his hand, "you sure screwed up this one, Puckerman. I hope you can fix it... I bet Elliott has already had a heart attack and is waiting on the second one," he thought as he finally pulled onto his street.
The street itself was lined with trees of all shapes and sizes, but homes could be seen within the trees, large front yards separating the road from the homes. Getting a little further down the street, he slowed his car down when a black metal fence was seen sitting just off the road. He hit the button clipped on his visor and moments later, the gate slid open and once it was wide enough for his SUV to slip through, he turned into his driveway and drove in, making sure Rachel was right behind him, which she was, so she made it before the gate started closing.
There was one way into his house and that was along that driveway, but at the house, they had a looped driveway, allowing them to turn around without backing up much. Driving up to the two story, six bedroom house, he opened the garage door where he usually parked and pulled right inside, while Rachel parked along the loop.
Getting out, he grabbed his stuff and walked out of the garage, hitting the lock button on his keys and glanced down towards the gate to make sure it was shut. Rachel walked towards him and he met her half way, motioning towards the grass on the other side of the garage, away from the house, "we should talk before we go in," he said.
"About what?" She asked concerned as he led her towards the lawn.
"Do you realize that in less than six hours we made our status 'boyfriend and girlfriend'?" He asked calmly.
Rachel bit her lip and nodded, "yes, I realized that on the way here. It... We... It was pretty fast. Do you want to change things now?" She asked softly.
"No," he shook his head, "I just want to make sure you're alright with it," he explained resting his hands on her shoulders, "because I want the world to know we're taken, but neither of us have been in a relationship before, so this is all new for both of us. We need to take things slow, I want to be friends first," he whispered, "let everyone else think what they want, but we know where we stand."
"I agree," she nodded, "it is none of anyone's business, but we need to agree on our relationship. I also want to take things slow... Saying we're boyfriend and girlfriend means a lot of things, but we hardly know anything about the other, except that we have some sort of feelings for each other. Yes, friends first, and we'll see where things go?"
"Yes, perfect. I'm glad we do agree," he smiled and took her hand in his, "because I'm sure we're going to be asked if we're crazy for jumping into a relationship so soon, but if we explain that we're taking things really slow to get to know each other, they probably won't be as pissed," he said softly.
"Will they... Will they be mad at me?" She bit her lip.
"No," he shook his head, "it'll be on me," he admitted.
She took a deep breath, glanced down at their hands, "ready?"
"No, I was thinking we could stay out here a while longer," he admitted.
"Noah, I thought you said the sooner you get yelled at the better," she nudged him a little with her free hand and tugged him towards the driveway.
He groaned, "fine, but if your dads want to kill me, I'm standing behind you," he muttered, taking the lead and heading to the driveway, and then into the open garage door and over to the door leading into the house. He pressed a button on the wall and the garage door began to close, plunging the room into darkness, but he quickly pushed open the door to the house and guided them inside, first coming into a small hallway that had the washer and dryer. Passing through they reached the main area in the house and he stopped by the stairs to drop his backpack and jacket at the bottom; Rachel adding her bag next to his stuff. Moving forward a little they came around the corner and stepped into the living room, finding his mom, dad and sister, Finn and his mom and two men he didn't recognize. "Hey," he said biting his lip.
Rachel stepped around him nervously and looked over the room, her eyes widening, "Debbie?" She exclaimed. "You're Noah's mom?"
Noah did a double take at his girlfriend and his mom and then his mouth fell open, "how do you... what did I miss?" He gasped.
"Why don't you guys come sit down," Deborah laughed motioning towards the empty couch across the room.
Glancing at Rachel, the two moved to sit down and Noah glanced at his mom. "Would someone please explain this to me?" Noah requested.
Finn just started laughing, "dude, you're gonna think this is hilarious; because I sure do. I knew Lima was small, but not that small."
Noah just glared at his friend for a moment, "I'm not laughing, dude." Finn quieted down and Noah turned his attention to his mom, "what is going on?"
"Well, first, Noah, these are Rachel's dads, David and Alan, and Rachel this is my husband Ethan and our daughter Arin," Deborah said quickly making introductions, "and this is Finn's mom, Carole," Deborah motioned towards Carole, knowing that Rachel wouldn't know her. After the introductions, Deborah started, "Noah, do you remember when I told you that I found out one of the doctors I had been working with was Jewish?"
"Yeah," he shrugged, "it's been a while, though," he commented.
"Well, David is the doctor I was talking about," Deborah explained.
"Didn't you want to... Weren't you trying to set me up with... Wait a second, that... You were... Rachel?" Noah's eyes got wide, "are you serious?"
Deborah nodded, a grin on her face, "yes. Though I've known about Rachel for a while, I didn't meet her until June," Deborah explained, "but yes, we were trying to set you two up," Deborah added motioning between her and David.
Glancing at Rachel next to him and then back to his mom, he realized something, "so the wild goose chase we went on in New York for Broadway stuff, for your friend, was for Rachel?" Noah asked quickly.
Deborah nodded, "yes, it was."
"Why didn't you say anything? Mom!" Noah exclaimed, staring at her.
"Because every time I'd bring up the topic of dating or meeting a girl to be friends, you'd change the subject or not want to talk about it so I gave up," she retorted.
"Daddy!" Rachel exclaimed, "is Noah the boy you kept talking about who would be going to McKinley this year and I should meet him and invite him to join the Glee Club because he liked music?" Rachel asked.
"Yes he is," David admitted, "but apparently neither one of us needed to do any kind of setting up because he joined the club and you two met and seem to be getting along," he grinned, a chuckle escaping his lips.
Rachel's eyes widened, "did you know who he was back then?"
"Yes, of course I did. Who doesn't know who 'Puck' is?" David replied.
"Rachel didn't," Finn and Noah said at the same time. "She had to Google my name," Noah added.
"Well, I don't listen to pop music," Rachel admitted.
Rachel's other dad, Alan smirked, "this from someone who blasts Hannah Montana."
Rachel blushed, sinking down into the couch, "she has some good music," she defended.
"I did not hear you say those words," Noah muttered glaring at Rachel.
"You like Hannah Montana?" Arin asked with a grin, "you should come over and watch the movie sometime!"
Noah shook his head and rubbed his face, "back to the topic at hand. So you both have been trying to set us up for awhile... Why the hell haven't we met before?"
"Well, your tour didn't end until July, and you just came home less than a month ago," Deborah commented. "I didn't want to push you with anything right away because I knew you'd get all defensive and shut down like you always do; since we weren't getting any positive responses from either of you, we figured once you got back into school, if you two hadn't met, we'd set up something and see what happens. Like David said, it looks as though we didn't need to do anything," she explained
"Speaking of 'seeing what happens', what is happening?" Ethan asked curiously.
Glancing at Rachel, Noah took a deep breath and then took her hand in his, "here goes nothing; good luck," Noah thought, "we know we just met and we're taking things really slow, but we're saying we're boyfriend and girlfriend."
"What?" Deborah exclaimed.
Ethan rested a hand on her knee, "define taking things 'really slow'," he requested.
Noah looked to his parents and then her dads, "this is new for both of us and using the titles of 'girlfriend' and 'boyfriend' is pretty quick, but it's more for, I suppose you could say appearances," he admitted, rubbing his neck nervously, "we want to get to know each other and see where things go; if people know we're together, it won't raise suspicion when we're seen together. People can think what they want, but her and I, along with our close friends and family know the truth," he explained. "This way, if we get closer and find more in common, then no one will be surprised. If things don't go well and we figure we're not suited for each other, we can 'break-up', and no one would see anything unusual about it."
Rachel squeezed his hand, "it also gives us an opportunity to take things at our own pace and no one will have to know what our pace is."
Ethan leaned forward and rubbed his hands over his face, "it seems you have got things thought out, but... You know Elliott is going to want to know what's going on. What do you want me to tell him?"
"I really don't care," Noah said, "tell him we met today and hit it off and are dating. We'll see how things go from there," he shrugged, "does he have to know any more?"
"He's going to want to know about Rachel, and Rachel, you may want to make your Facebook and MySpace pages private. Change your password on your e-mail and don't give out your address or phone numbers," Ethan added.
"Um, alright." Rachel bit her lip, "well, our home address and phone number is not listed in a phone book, because of dad and daddy's professions, and I don't give out my phone number to anyone unless I trust them, so that won't be hard. As for email and my social networking accounts, I can easily protect them," she agreed. "Who is Elliott?" She asked curiously; the name had been thrown around a few times and no one had said who, but she assumed he was his manager.
"Elliott Case is my manager," Noah said. "Why are you so concerned about her contact information?" He asked his dad.
Deborah looked at him, "if any of them get out, she's going to start getting calls or emails and they won't be pretty."
Noah rubbed his face and nodded, looking at Rachel, "if you get any, you've got to tell me."
Rachel nodded, "I will," she agreed.
"This isn't how I expected this conversation to go," Noah admitted, "but I think it's better this way."
Ethan laughed, "you haven't talked to Elliott yet. I got an ear full when you blew him off."
"I was in class!" Noah snapped.
"Hey, don't go snapping at me. We're on your side," Ethan held up his hands in defense.
"Sorry dad, but damn it! Why can't he just leave me alone for a day?"
"He would have if he hadn't seen the pictures," he replied, "Noah, like it or not, you're still under contract with Elliott and the record label, so you've got to answer to them just like you have to answer to us as your family and friends. I'll deal with Elliott for now, but you're going to have to talk to him sooner or later."
"Thanks," Noah replied, looking at his dad. "What are you going to tell him?"
Ethan slid forward on the couch and looked at them, "I'm going to tell him that your mom and Rachel's dad work together at the hospital and they have been trying to set you guys up for a while, but you hadn't met yet. Coincidentally you guys met at school today and hit it off," he shrugged, "he doesn't need to know more than that right now. Do you want me to be the one to break the news that you joined Glee Club, too, or do you want to do that?" Ethan asked with a grin.
"Tell him," Noah nodded, "I don't wanna do that."
Rachel bit her lip, "I know this might sound like a weird question, but is it legal for him to be in the club? We perform songs from various Broadway musicals to pop and everything. We need another guy and Noah will fit great with us, but if he's unable to, we need to look for someone else."
Ethan nodded in understanding, "he can be a member. He's not making any money off of it and it's a school club. The music you guys perform is all licensed to be distributed to the public with permission, so it's free game for anyone. It's no different than if he joined the school choir or band."
Rachel exhaled, smiling, "good, that's good. I didn't even think about it until just now."
"I had. I wouldn't have agreed to join if I legally couldn't. I'd thought of joining the band or choir," Noah admitted, "but Glee Club seems more fun," he smirked.
Deborah stood up, "alright, so now that is over with, come eat. Carole and I made lasagna."
"Our favorite," Finn and Noah replied, both grinning as they stood up.
"How long have you been friends?" Rachel asked standing up with everyone else.
"Kindergarten," Noah replied.
Making their way towards the dinning room, Rachel nodded, "that is nice guys. I didn't know you two knew each other at all."
Finn shrugged, "everyone knows my best friend is a guy named Noah, but I never said any more; I don't see him as a pop star or anything, but now people are figuring it out."
Passing through the dinning room to the kitchen, Rachel was looking around, "this is so normal. There's no fancy decorations or big expensive pieces of artwork, reminds me of my house... but larger," she thought.
"You should see our basement. That's my domain," Noah realized she was looking around the house, "that's where all my awards are," he commented, "and some other things."
"What other things?" Rachel asked.
"Workout stuff, dance studio and a recording studio; well not a full one, but enough for me to play around with stuff and get a good feel for how the song will sound," he replied.
Rachel's eyes widened, "what? You have all that downstairs?"
"Yeah, it's why we bought this house. Had a large basement, so we could put all that in," he said.
"I thought you said you didn't dance," Rachel commented.
He smirked, "dad, do we have any extra copies of my DVDs and CDs?" Noah asked.
"Yeah, they're in the storage room off the studio," he replied with a laugh.
"Cool, I'll dig them out. Rachel, you have homework," Noah grinned.
Passing out plates of pieces of lasagna, the teens moved into the living room, while the rest ate in the dinning room. Rachel had been nervous when they first arrived, but after finding out who his mom was and just what their parents had been attempting, she felt more comfortable around the house. "It could be because they were planning to set us up all along, but maybe it's because he is so normal... He and Finn; best friends? It's so easy to see when they're around each other... Dad and daddy seem alright about all this, but I suppose we'll see when I get home... Noah's parents are... Debbie is great, and his dad seems pretty nice and concerned about Noah... Arin is cute. I wish I had a sibling... I think we'll get along great..."
"Rachel, are you done?" Noah asked.
"Yes," she nodded, breaking from her thoughts to see her empty plate in her hands.
He smiled and took the plate from her and headed towards the kitchen, returning to the living room moments later and sat down next to her again, "you okay?"
"Yes, I am. Just been a very interesting day," she admitted.
"Yeah, it has been," he agreed leaning back.
Finn was sitting on another couch, "I think it's been funny. You should have seen your faces when you figured out that your parents were trying to set you up," he laughed.
Rachel blushed, "that was a shock."
"Tell me about it," Noah muttered, looking up to see her dads come into the living room. "Sirs," he said sitting up a little straighter.
The two men laughed lightly at him, "you can call us David and Alan, Noah, it's alright."
Rachel got up and moved towards her dads, hugging them both; since her arrival at the house, she hadn't had much time to speak to them, but she knew a conversation would come once they got home.
"We're coming in to say goodnight. We're going to head home. We have some things to take care of before we go to bed tonight," David said.
"Oh alright, may I stay longer?" Rachel asked.
"Of course. We figured you two would want to talk without the parents around anyway," Alan laughed, "just don't come home too late. It's a school night. Ten or so."
"Okay," Rachel nodded hugging them again.
Noah stood up and moved around the couch, "it's nice to meet you both. I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot of you now," he admitted.
"Yes, you will," David agreed, "you're welcome at the house anytime and don't think you're getting out of a discussion with us," he added with a grin.
"I knew we would talk at some point," he replied honestly, a blush covering his face.
The two fathers shook his hand and after saying goodnight to the rest of the house, they left. Finn and Carole stayed a bit longer, but were the next to leave; Finn wanting to go see Quinn before he went home for the night.
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A/N6: It's been almost a week since I posted and RL is getting into the way of writing at times, but I'm trying to keep up. Hope you all liked this chapter! As I started writing it, I came up with the idea and I thought I'd run with it. My dad grew up in a small town and everyone knew everyone, so I thought, well why not change the 'game plan' a little, LOL. Let me know what you think! I wrote and re-wrote the family meeting several times, LOL. Took me forever, hehe.
A/N7: This had been twice as long, to finish up the night, but I chose to split it up, so that should be coming when I have my next day off (Monday).
A/N8: I have a request... 'Puck' has 3 albums out... Anyone have any suggestions of songs that you could imagine him singing (keeping in mind he's a teen pop star). I have a lot, but would love to see some suggestions. Mention them in a review OR you can PM me; it'd be appreciated!
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