Just like he promised, Noah was there bright and early to pick her up all week. Things between them had been amazing, but she was still feeling more unsafe than usual. She didn't have to fear slushies to her face, but now damage to her property; it was scaring her. She couldn't even focus at Glee, and Mr. Shuester noticed. He heard about what happened to her car, and was tempted to have her see Emma Pillsbury. "I am ok Mr. Shue, really," she said to him, "lets run it one more time,"
"I don't have time today, but you know that the choir room is open for a while after school," Mr. Shue said. "That's a wrap," she let out a sigh. Noah walked up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her. She relaxed against him, feeling safe once again. He wished that he could do more than just hold her to make the fear go away.
"I'm ok Noah," she murmured.
"No you're not," he whispered back. "Is there something you want to do to get your mind off things?" he asked. She didn't know; it was bad enough that she could barely sing on key at the moment. She shouldn't have been so shaken up, but she was. "I am going to go pack up my things...I'll be right back," he murmured. She nodded her head, and pecked him gently on the lips. He walked over towards Kurt, Tina, Artie, and Mercedes. He had no idea how to talk to them about anything, but besides himself, they were the ones who seemed to know Rachel best. His fists were shoved deep in his pockets, and he managed to grunt, "Can I talk to you guys?"
Although they were reluctant, they quietly made their way out of Rachel's hearing. "I know...you guys don't think altogether highly of me from my actions in the past, but I am worried about Rachel," he murmured. "And I am trying everything I can to try and make her feel a little more content again...."
"We can at least attempt to help," Artie said, surprising everyone. Besides him, Noah always used to get at Kurt by throwing him in the dumpster all the time. It shocked Noah more when the rest of them nodded their heads.
"Rachel's favorite musical is West Side Story," Kurt supplied, "maybe we could pop that in and just hang out,"
"We all know how Rachel is about parties," Mercedes said, "that girl has some issues when it comes to people, so we should probably limit it to just us," she said, gesturing to the small group. Noah nodded his head, and felt awkward still.
"You-you-you really care for her don't you?" Tina asked nervously. Noah nodded his head, and felt himself relax slightly. He was glad that they were being so forgiving; only a few of his football friends talked to him after joining New Directions.
"So...what are we planning on doing for Rachel?" he asked, looking towards his girlfriend.
Mercedes and Kurt gave each other a look, and they moved over to Rachel. "Hey...we were thinking of doing some sort of movie night at my place," she said, "and I know that you own West Side Story on DVD..." and instantly Rachel was in.
"Sure...I'll just have to talk to Noah-," she started, and Kurt shook his head with a smile. She was still the diva she was when she first walked in, but she had changed certain aspects so she seemed more human. "This...this was his idea wasn't it?" she questioned Kurt. He nodded his head, and she headed over towards her boyfriend. Noah had packed up his guitar, and saw Rachel heading towards him.
"Hey...I was just coming-," before he could finish his sentence, she threw her arms around him.
"Thank you," she said; she knew how nervous Noah had been around with certain people at Glee, but here he was. He just grinned, and brought her close to his body. It felt nice to act more like himself instead of Puck. "So...where we doing this movie thing?" she questioned.
"I don't know...where do you feel most comfortable?" Noah questioned, gently swaying with her.
"I guess my house...if that's ok with everyone," she said to everyone as they came closer. They seemed alright with going over to her house. "Just follow Noah's truck okay?" she requested as they started to head out of the classroom. Finn and Quinn were outside discussing something, and each had a look of shock on their faces as Puck was hanging out with them. Finn kept thinking about what Rachel had told him about not being a very good best friend, but Quinn seemed to hate him. If she wasn't pregnant, he could try and talk to her about it, but she was. She was so hormonal, that it gave him a headache.
Quinn grabbed her boyfriend's hand, and dragged him away from the group. "Quinn, what's wrong?" he questioned as they walked further and further from them. "Is there something wrong with our baby?" he mumbled worriedly.
"No..." she started, "I'm....I'm just not feeling well," she said to him; she just didn't want her boyfriend near that horrid Rachel Berry. "Can you please take me home?" Finn nodded his head, and wrapped an arm around Quinn. He knew he shouldn't be thinking about Rachel as much as he was; it wasn't fair to Rachel or Quinn; or even Puck. She didn't want Finn to find out about the mistake she had made with Puck.
Meanwhile Noah was driving Rachel home, and felt his cellphone buzzing. He saw that it was his sister's elementary school. "Hello?" he questioned, letting go of Rachel's hand.
"Mr. Puckerman?" the school receptionist questioned.
"Yeah...is something wrong with my sister?" he questioned.
"No...its just that the after school care is canceled today...we can hold your sister for a little bit. Can you or someone else come get Alex?" she questioned.
"I'll be there in a bit," he sighed, hanging up his phone. "Rache...I have to go pick up my sister.."
"I...well, ok," she murmured as he pulled up in front of her house. "Are you guys going to come back?" she questioned.
"Of course..." he said, "you didn't think I would?" he questioned.
"I just...just don't want you to do anything you aren't comfortable with," Rachel breathed. Noah took a deep breath, and tried to remember that this was Rachel's first serious relationship. Things were going to be different than any of the Cheerios or Cougars; which he found out wasn't exactly a bad thing.
"I will be back with Alex as soon as possible," he assured her. He pressed his lips against hers once more before getting out of the car to open up the passenger door for her. She nodded her head, and waited for the rest of the Glee club sans the rest of the Cheerios or Football players. She smiled when she saw the rest of her friends pulling up to her house; her dads were going to be happy to finally see her have friends over. That thought actually made her quite happy.
Noah drove as fast as he could to his sister's school; Alex would be happy to hear that she was going to come to Rachel's with him. She hadn't stopped babbling about her ever since the first night they met. He kept thinking about the look on his Mom's face whenever he talked about his girlfriend; she seemed genuinely happy. She still hadn't asked to meet the girl in question yet, but Noah knew that she wanted to. Maybe he would ask Rachel later that day if she wants to meet his mom. He knew it wouldn't be a mistake like when he had introduced Santana to his mom. Before he knew it, he was at the school. "NOAH!" Alex exclaimed, running up to his truck. He chuckled, and opened up the passenger door. "I had such a good day at school today!" she yelled, bouncing up and down in her seat.
"I'm glad Alex," he said to her, "but before you tell me anymore, can you buckle up?" he asked, "we are going somewhere,
"Where we going?" she asked, completely forgetting about her school day.
"We are going to go watch a movie at Rachel's," he said, making sure that she was buckled in completely before driving once more.
"Really?" she asked excitedly. Noah laughed, and nodded his head.
"You'll meet some of my other friends too," he said to her, and that prospect seemed good to her as well. "Are you going to behave?" he asked as they approached Rachel's neighborhood. She nodded her head, and Noah parked his car in front of her house. As he opened up her passenger door, "Do you have homework?" she frowned at that note. "You know the rules,"
"Ok Noah..." she said, sadly grabbing her backpack. He ruffled her hair lightly, and they walked to her front door. Rachel had the blinds open, so she saw them walking up. She opened up her door, and pressed a kiss to Noah's lips. "Ew...you guys are kissing,"
"Hey..." she murmured against his lips, trying not to chuckle as she heard the ew coming from Noah's little sister. She pulled away, and bent down to her, giving her hug as well. "How are you today Alex?" she asked, as she let them inside.
"Good..." and then she saw the rest of Rachel's friends. Alex instantly got nervous and buried herself between Rachel and Noah.
"Its ok..." Rachel said to her.
"They are nice people honey," Noah said, bending down and picking her up. Seeing Noah like that; it reminded her of when she was Alex's age. Noah treated her like his daughter. It must have been hard on him raising his sister with his mom. "But if you too nervous we can stay out here," she shook her head, and pulled out her homework.
"I'm a big girl," she said to him, as she started her homework, "I'll finish my homework, and then meet your friends,"
"Ok," he said, ruffling her hair again. "You want a snack?" he asked, and she shook her head pulling out what was left of her lunch. "I'll be in there with Rachel and everyone if you need me ok?" he questioned. She nodded her head, and Noah went over to Rachel. She leaned against his side, and felt an arm go over her. "You alright?" he asked her.
"We'll talk later," she promised; she knew that he didn't want anyone else to know about the true paternity of Quinn's baby. She wrapped an arm around his waist, and started to lead him to the living room where the TV was. He wondered what was bothering her, but decided not to press it. Stick with the original plan, and wait for her to come to you Puckerman, he thought to himself. The movie went on, and halfway through, he heard his sister walk into the room.
"You all done with your homework?" he asked. Before she lost her cool, he introduced everyone, and she instantly sat on the other side of Noah, burying her face into his shoulder. "Alex...its ok," he said to her, "they are very nice people; they are my friends," As the movie went on, Alex felt herself relax. Soon she was back to her normal bouncy self, babbling to their friends. Noah seemed relaxed for the first time in a very long time, and Rachel was glad. Now that he was relaxed, she felt herself relaxing as well.
"We really got to get going Rachel," Mercedes said, "me and Kurt were planning on doing something,"
"Its alright you guys..." she said, giving each of her fellow Glee members hugs. "See you guys at school tomorrow," she walked them to the front door, and they left. It was nice to actually have friends; actual ones that stuck around. She closed the front door, and walked over towards Noah. He was just relaxing on the couch with his sister at his side. "You are a good big brother," she observed, and he looked up at her.
"Sometimes I am," he said, seeing as she was napping once more. "I know...on certain days...I act like him. Even though she doesn't remember much...I know every once in a while..." he trailed off. Rachel went over to him, and ran a hand through the line of hair he had. "Rache.." he mumbled.
"You are not your dad," she whispered. "Your dad left; you haven't," she murmured.
"There...there has been times that I wanted to ya know?" he questioned. "But I can't. I can't leave my sister and my Mom like my Dad did," he said. She gently pulled his sister aside, and made him stand up and away from his sister's ear shot.
"I know you are worried about your own kid," she didn't want to get Noah mad at her, but this needed to be said. "I have been looking into lawyers...primarily in paternity cases," she said.
"You what?" he questioned, pulling away.
"I know you are probably upset, but I found some lawyers that would be willing to help you if you wanted to look into them..."
"Rache...I don't have that kind of money," he said softly.
"With certain cases..." Rachel said, "especially like yours and Quinn's; since she wants to give up the baby for adoption, you can talk to her about it. Maybe we won't have to get them involved," she said.
"Rachel...I appreciate you looking into them for me," he said to her, "and maybe in a few days I will talk to Quinn. Thanks Rachel..." he couldn't help the feeling that was slowly starting to form inside of him. He couldn't dare utter those words that he only said to his mother and his sister; not yet anyways. Before he could fully lean in and kiss her, he heard his little sister scream his name. They ran into the room, and he picked her up. "What's wrong?" he asked, holding her tightly against him. "Shh...its ok," he whispered into her hair.
"I thought you ran away from me and Mommy..." she cried into his shoulder.
"No....no," he whispered, "Don't worry Alex..." he murmured, feeling tears enter his own eyes. "I am not going to leave you...." he promised over and over again. He let out a sigh, and made her look at him, "It was just a nightmare,"
"What about Rachel?" she questioned, rubbing her face with her hands. "What if you break up with her and we won't see her anymore?" Noah let out a sigh; he was going to have to try and break it to her gently. There was no way he was going to ask her to do something like that.
"Even if me and Noah break up, I will still come see you ok?" she promised, readjusting her glasses on her face. Alex nodded her head; seeming content once more. He wrapped an arm around Rachel, bringing her close to his body.
"I...I want you to meet our Mom," he said after a moment. "She has a day off in a couple days...maybe you can come over?" he asked.
"Don't be so nervous..." she said, "of course. I would love to meet her," Noah felt himself calm down; hopefully this will show his mom that he is willing to change. He really cared for Rachel, and was glad that she was feeling the same. He just hoped that nothing was going to happen to them.
I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter :)