AN: Thanks for all your reviews, lovelies. I really appreciate them. It makes me think I'm doing something right, and it makes me want to keep writing. And don't worry to my one reviewer—I have no plans for Samchel in anything more than a friendship at this point, and I don't think that's going to change. There's going to be a few more major characters introduced within the next 5-6 chapters—most likely going to be Blaine, Brittany, Will, and Artie with a few others who I haven't decided on yet!
Rachel woke up to a gentle knocking on her dorm room's door. She was lying in her bed with Sam curled up next to her. What had started as a simple movie and ice cream night had turned into a game of 'see-what-makes-Rachel-turn-bright-red'. Rachel claimed it was cheating if Kurt played, but none of the three of them seemed to listen to her protests.
They'd stayed up until two in the morning when Lily, their RA, knocked on their door and told them they were being too loud. Rachel and Quinn then decided the first meeting of the virgin club should end with a sleepover which was how Sam Evans and Rachel Berry ended up spending their first night of college sleeping in a bed together.
Kurt had bunked with Quinn since she felt awkward sharing a twin-sized bed with someone she hardly knew who also happened to be 100% straight, regardless of the fact that he was a virgin. Rachel, however, had no qualms sharing her bed with Sam. She'd already made a complete ass out of herself in front of him on multiple occasions—hair-feeling and mouth-staring included. Spooning in a small bed with possible accidental boob grazes was nothing compared to that.
Rachel picked up her phone and saw it was just past nine in the morning. She wasn't sure who was at their door—her only three friends here were all still sleeping in her room. She figured it was Lily, ready to give them all another lecture for their excessive noise the previous night.
Rachel carefully climbed out of bed, being careful not to disturb Sam. She tiptoed over to the door, pulling it open. Puck was standing there with two cups of coffee and a paper bag Rachel assumed held some sort of pastry—she could smell them from the doorway.
"Noah?" she asked, covering her mouth as she stifled a yawn. "What are you doing here?"
"What, no smartass remark or insulting nickname?" he teased, his eyes going straight to her chest as she lifted her arms over her head. Praise to the Jewish gods, Rachel had gone braless and her high beams were on. He knew he'd get smacked if she saw him staring, but she seemed to be too sleepy to realize it.
"Too early," she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest, effectively blocking Puck's peep show. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "Your sister essentially banned you from coming near me again in case you forgot. I'm surprised she didn't weld a chastity belt to me," she joked.
"Ah, there's the sex jokes mixed with sass," he teased. "I thought I'd come over and offer my welcome tour. You know, show you around campus. I'll even buy you lunch."
Rachel narrowed her eyes. "You're just going to give me a tour of campus out of the goodness of your heart? That's totally out of character for you or so I've heard. What's the catch?"
"No catch," he said, holding up his hands. "Honest. Can't a guy take his sister's roommate on a tour and it be completely harmless with no strings attached?" he asked.
"When that guy is a notorious manwhore who spent the good part of yesterday trying to get into said roomie's pants? No." She looked up at Puck, pursing her lips. "I don't know what kind of angle you're playing, but I'm not biting. I'll come on the tour, but I buy lunch. You keep your hands to yourself, and if you attempt to sweet talk your way into my designer jeans, I'm coming back here and instituting a ban on your presence from this room. And this is not a date," she added. "Give me a few minutes to get dressed."
"I'll wait in her—"
"No!" Rachel said, cutting him off. "You'll wake everyone up. Plus, I don't need you catching peeks of my cute ass while I change. Go wait downstairs for me. I'll be right down." And with that, she shut the door. Instead of heading downstairs like she told him to, Puck leaned against the wall outside her door, coffee and muffins still in hand.
Rachel quietly moved around the room, not wanting to wake anyone. Quinn and Kurt were sleeping side by side while Sam, in the absence of Rachel, had spread out and taken up her whole bed. Part of the other reason Rachel hadn't wanted to let Puck into their room was that she didn't want him knowing she let Sam sleep in her bed. The most that had happened was a butt touch around three in the morning, but with Puck's sexual experience, he was bound to make assumptions about what kind of antics were had in Rachel's bed.
She pulled out some of her 'new' clothes, changing into a pair of tight jeans. She pulled a fitted white tee shirt on and paired it with a black, three-quarter sleeved blazer. She pulled on a pair of black, flat ankle-high boots. She grabbed her bag, running a brush through her hair as she did so. It was too dark in the room to put on any makeup—but this wasn't a date, so she didn't want to look like she was trying too hard.
Rachel made sure to put her keys in her bag, opening and closing the door quietly. She placed a hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming when she saw Puck standing right outside. "Jesus, you scared me," she gasped, turning her face up so she was able to see him properly. "I told you to wait downstairs, creep."
"Well, I didn't want your coffee to get cold, so I thought I'd wait here for you," he said, handing her one of the paper cups.
"For all you know, I don't like coffee. I could hate the stuff and refuse to drink it." Rachel, however, was a coffee addict, and the morning dose of caffeine was appreciated—not that she'd let him know. She took a sip of it, making a face. "What, are you trying to give me diabetes? There's got to be ten packets of sugar in here."
Puck and Rachel made their way down to the main floor, walking out the dorm building. It was sunny and warm, but not too hot—the perfect kind of day for walking around campus.
"So, what do you think of the school so far?" Puck asked her, leading her past the giant lake that was in the middle of their campus.
"It's okay. I mean, all I've seen so far is my dorm. I don't know what to think. It's very different than home, though," she said, looking up as a flock of birds flew by.
"Where are you from?" Puck asked curiously, desperate to know more about Rachel.
"Ohio," she said. "I'm from this really small town where everyone is way too involved in everyone else's business and knows every piece of gossip minutes after it happens. I was glad to get out of there."
"And California was where you wanted to be?" he asked, taking a bite out of his muffin.
"No, actually," she admitted. "California was second. New York was where I really wanted to go. I applied to Julliard and NYU. So did Kurt. I got into Julliard but got waitlisted at NYU. Kurt didn't get into either, but we both got in here. We made a promise our junior year that if we both didn't get in, we weren't going. California was the only thing that made sense. I wasn't going to leave him behind. I'll get to New York someday. Just not yet."
"What's so great about New York anyways?" he asked. "It's cold and everyone there is rude as fuck." Puck had lived in California his whole life—he'd never seen the appeal of the East coast. Things were much more laid back on the West.
"Broadway," she said. "It's my dream. One day I hope to be a real Broadway actress, and the only place to do that is New York. California's great if you want to go into movies, but I much prefer the stage. What about you? Why'd you come here?"
"Football," he answered. "I got recruited, so I came. Finn followed since we're like brothers. And then Quinn came because…well, I really don't know why she came here. She always used to go on and on about how she wanted to be her own person and do her own thing, yet she goes to the same school as me."
Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "You don't understand because you're not a girl."
"Then enlighten me, oh wise one."
Rachel shook her head. "No can do, Admiral Dorkface. Girl code and all that shit. I can't tell you the inner workings of a girl's mind. That's like, treason or espionage or some shit like that. Plus, Quinn would kick my ass if I ratted her out to you."
"Vagina's loyalty, right?" he asked. "I get it, I get it. Ovaries before brovaries or whatever the fuck it is you girls say."
"Yeah, something along those lines," she said, pausing at a giant oak tree on the edge of the lake. Underneath it was a tree stump that lots of students liked to sit on. Rachel handed Puck her coffee, walking over to it. She took a seat on it, placing her hands behind her and leaned back, her long hair falling behind her.
Puck was struck by how beautiful she really was. Puck didn't fall for girls. He was a one and done kind of guy. And he certainly didn't try to woo girls. They flocked to him because he was the quarterback and hot as fuck. And when he did flirt with girls, they melted like butter.
But not Rachel. She wasn't taking any of his moves. She shut him down one after the other. She was a different kind of girl, the kind who didn't go for the popular, cocky jock. She seemed like someone who preferred preppy rich boys who drove Mercedes and shopped at Armani, the opposite of him.
Puck wasn't rich. The only reason he was here was because he had a full ride. Quinn got a scholarship for her grades. Quinn's dad had some money, but he wasn't loaded like Rachel's parents obviously were. As soon as he laid eyes on her, Puck knew she had money. The clothes she was wearing cost more than he made in a month—the bag itself was probably worth thousands of dollars. She was the opposite of what Puck normally went for.
Yet he wanted her. It wasn't lust like he tried to tell himself initially. She was funny and witty and sarcastic. She kept him on his toes and insulted him like she didn't give a fuck what he thought of her. Here she was, a spoiled little rich girl, yet she had yet to act like an entitled brat around him. She brought up pop culture references like it was nobody's business and threw out sexual innuendos without ever intending to. She was so innocent and adorable yet sexy at the same time. She was driving him crazy.
Puck needed this on film. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, snapping a picture of her as she sat. Rachel heard the click his phone made as it snapped the photo, turning in his direction. "Creep," she teased, standing up. "What are you, the paparazzi?"
"Hey, if you want to be a famous Broadway star, you better get used to perverts taking pictures of you without your permission," he joked, handing her the coffee.
Rachel hit him in the shoulder lightly as they continued on the path away from her dorm.
"Again with the abuse," he laughed. "Abusing me is not the best way to start a date off, you know," he teased.
Rachel's cheeks turned pink. Hanging out with a guy who wasn't gay was a whole new concept to her. "Yes, but this isn't a date. This is you giving me a tour while simultaneously being a total creep and taking pictures of me while I'm not paying attention."
Puck pulled his phone out, taking another picture of her. She stuck her tongue out at him as he did so. "See? That time you were paying attention." He reached his hand over, showing her the picture on his phone. "That's got to be the most attractive picture I've seen of you," he teased.
Rachel rolled her eyes at him. "Totally using that as my profile pic," she said, running a hand through her hair. "I'll drive all the boys wild with an attractive gem like that." She turned her face back to him. "So, Mr. Noah Puckerman, tell me about you. I want to hear all about the slutty, football god brother of my roomie and new biffle for life."
Rachel ended up not seeing most of the campus. She and Puck took a seat on a bench outside the upper classmen dorm and talked for hours. She wanted to know all about him: what year he was (junior), what his major was (sport's management), where he was from (Santa Monica, California), his position on the football team (he'd thought of saying something vulgar just to get a rise out of her, but ended up telling her he was the quarterback even though he was pretty sure he'd told her this before), and anything else she could think of.
Rachel had geared up for another line of questioning after Puck mentioned he'd learned to swim when he was sixteen, but his stomach growled, interrupting the moment. Rachel let out a laugh and Puck was struck by how easy it was to make her smile. She really was one-of-a-kind.
"Someone's hungry," she teased, rising to her feet. "Come on, I promised I'd buy you lunch. You'll have to show me the best place to get a good burger where the waitresses don't wear bikinis and eye fuck you while taking your order," she said, rising to her feet and extending a hand to Puck.
He took it, smiling as he felt how nicely hers fit into his. He shook his head, trying to get the mushy gushy thoughts out of his head. Noah Puckerman did not think about how nice a girl's hand fit into his. He thought about how nice his—
"So you mentioned something about a drama club?" she asked, interrupting his thoughts. She'd let go of his hand, her arms hanging loosely at her sides. "Do you know if they ever cast innocent little freshies like me or do all their roles go to the more experienced seniors who are probably fucking the directors to land the lead role?"
Puck honestly had no idea. He'd seen the spring show last year, but only because the girl he was sleeping with forced him to come. She'd only been a minor role and he'd been bored the whole time. He avoided drama club productions like the plague, though he was pretty sure if Rachel was in it he'd be able to pay attention.
"I honestly couldn't tell you. I'm not a drama kind of guy. I'm a jock, which makes anything and everything theater my kryptonite."
"Well, I guess that makes us your everyday Blane and Andie."
"What?" he asked whatever reference she was trying to make going right over his head.
"Oh, come on! You can't tell me you've never seen Pretty in Pink!"
"No, because I have a penis. You should tape record yourself and see how many pop culture references you make in the average conversation. Half the time I have no idea what you're saying."
"It takes time. It took Kurt a few years, but he understands Rachel speak. He's actually fluent in it. I'm sure he could give you lessons. Kurt would just love that," she giggled. Kurt would be in heaven if he managed to get Puck alone with him.
"I still have no idea what you're talking about, but I'll nod my head and pretend I do." He linked his arm with Rachel's leading her towards the on-campus restaurant all the students hung out at. It was close to noon, so it was starting to get a bit crowded, especially since most of the students were back on campus and hadn't seen their friends all summer.
Puck led Rachel inside, shifting uncomfortably as the hostess very obviously flirted with him while simultaneously shooting daggers into Rachel. He'd hooked up with her the semester before. In fact, there were a few girls in here he'd hooked up with, and he didn't want them near Rachel. Girls he'd been with before sometimes got a bit…possessive. Puck turned to Rachel. "How about we get some take out instead?" he suggested. "There's a park a few minutes from here. We could have a picnic like they do in some obscure movie you've probably seen," he teased, grinning at her.
"There are quite a few movies, Noah, But since you already gave me shit about never understanding the references I make, I'll just say having a picnic in the park sounds fun, Though that still doesn't make this a date," she added, pointing a finger in his direction.
Puck chuckled under his breath. "Whatever you say, babe," he teased before ordering a few things from the menu. He had no idea what Rachel liked, but since she'd mentioned a place to get a good burger before, he ordered her one of those along with some French fries for the two of them to split.
The two of them waited in the front of the restaurant while their food was being prepared, Rachel taking most of the time to tease him relentlessly. He wondered if that was something she'd ever get tired of, though he doubted it.
"Seriously, how have you not seen Pretty in Pink?" she asked for what felt like the tenth time. "It's a classic film! You've been deprived, Noah. This is just simply unacceptable that you never saw the movie with Jon Cryer before he was one of the Two and a Half Men…you know, before Charlie Sheen started fucking porn stars, drinking tiger blood, and becoming a fucking mess."
"You used fuck twice in one sentence and brought up porn stars. I swear, you were made in a laboratory as the perfect woman."
"Not true. I was made in a laboratory where they make all the kids who go to high school in rad movie musicals. You know, the ones who break out into perfectly choreographed song and dance in the middle of the cafeteria."
"Ah yes. That would explain the singing about asses while jumping on a bed with your gay bestie. Though I still maintain my opinion that you were only singing the truth," he grinned, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"Hey, watch the touching, bud," Rachel said, shrugging out of his arm. "Quinn swore she'd put me on Penicillin if you so much as breathed in my general direction. She'll probably amputate my arm to prevent the spread of infection if she finds out you actually touched me."
"Who needs enemies when I have a sister like Quinn," Puck laughed, leaning back against the wall beside the front door.
"Hey, you can't blame her. She's just trying to protect her pure and innocent roomie from the local tramp," Rachel teased, poking him in the arm, something she'd been doing all morning to try and annoy him. He wasn't giving in, though.
The radio was playing in the waiting area and Rachel started swaying her hips to the rhythm, singing along softly to the song.
Until you're back here baby
Miss you, want you, need you so
"You know, you really do have a killer set of pipes. Do you take voice lessons every moment you're awake or something?"
Rachel paused in her movements, turning her face towards him. She shook her head. "Nope. Just raw, natural talent. I think I get it from my mother. My dads must have gotten a true Broadway diva to donate her precious egg to make me. I mean, I love them both, but they're tone deaf. I couldn't have gotten my talent from them. I like to think my mother is someone fabulous like Liza or Patti."
Puck's ears piqued at that. "Dads? And who's Liza and Patti?" he asked.
Rachel held a finger up. "Wait 'til we're out of here. The next few hours are Noah-asking-Rachel-questions time. I had my turn this morning. But nothing too vulgar or I pinch you so hard you'll scream like a little girl," she warned. "And Liza is Liza Minelli while Patti is Patti LuPone—two of the baddest bitches the great white way has ever seen."
Puck laughed at that, nodding his head. "Fair enough," he agreed as the door opened. A group of tall, built guys walked in, talking loudly to one another. Puck shrunk back against the wall, hoping they wouldn't see him. Of course, they did.
"Puckerman!" the one greeted, clapping him loudly on the back. The other guys crowded around him. Puck looked over at Rachel, waiting to see her reaction. He wasn't sure how she'd react seeing the entire football team.
Especially Brody.
