Two hours later, Puck sees an Exit for a Diner and takes it, because a) he's fucking tired and b) the sun's rising, so he figures breakfast is in order. When he cuts the engine, he looks over to Rachel who is slowly waking up from her nap. She literally talked herself to sleep, yapping on and on about what to do in New York until she finally fell asleep. He didn't feel like waking her up a) because she looked pretty hot when she slept (he was a badass, he might be a bit of a pansy right now with crying half the time, but there was a line, the c – word wasn't even gonna be thought!) and b) was he fucking crazy ?!?!?!? As much as Rachel meant to him (he wasn't even gonna think about that right now, he was too fucked up to do anything with someone like Rachel), he could do with an hour without Broadway tunes and fun facts about the Empire State Building (AN: whoever gets the reference, gets a cybercookie (I mean the good ones, honestly!)), because hey, they weren't fun!

"Hey, Berry, wake up!" He reached out and touched her shoulder softly. A snuffle was his answer, before her eyes popped open and she looked at him confused.

He had to smile at the soft look on her face, so different from the usual crazy people saw. He had only seen a few glimpses of calm Rachel during their week together, but he had liked it. A lot.

"Noah? Where are we?" Suddenly she seemed to remember everything.
"Are we in New York already? If yes, I do apologize for the duration of my nap, even though rest is important for a young starlet such as myself, it was be terribly inconsiderate of me not to offer to share the burden and responsibility of driving this vehicle, though I have to admit that I have as of yet not learned how to best utilize a non-automatic gear shift, as it appears your car is equipped with. Nonetheless …" Truth be told, she'd lost him after I do, but there was something comforting about Rachel's rambling. The constant stream of big words was something that was just so … Rachel … that he couldn't help but smile.

"Berry, cool your jets, we're not even out of Ohio yet. Just gotta get some breakfast, or I'll starve at the wheel."
She turned and looked at her surroundings for the first time.

"Oh.." A few metres from where they were parking was a road-side Diner.

"Come on, we ain't getting younger, and if you're waiting to grow until you can reach the door handle, I got news for you, it ain't gonna happen." With a smirk he got out of the car, walked around and opened her door. Rachel gave him a glare, though it was more amused than actually annoyed.

"To be perfectly honest Noah, I do believe the constant attempts to make fun of me due to my height have become rather tedious and lack a certain innovative approach."

He raised his eyebrows.
"Berry, if you were trying to burn me, you gotta loose about half that sentence…"

"Well, excuse me for taking pride in an extensive vocabulary. Not everybody communicates with nothing but grunts and smirks like your football teammates!"

"Yeah, but we get what the other one's saying…you're like, not understandable and shit!" He waved his hand around, trying to illustrate his point.

"To be frank, Noah, I'd much rather be understood by the people who understand me, than degrade myself and my vocabulary by attempting to engage in conversations with Neanderthals throwing a ball across a field and trying to throw each other down. I doubt I could learn anything fruitful."
By this point they had reached the doors, gone inside and sat down in a booth next to the window.

He leered at her, more out of habit than true sleaze.

"Trust me, babe, I could teach you a thing or two" He winked at her.

Rachel fought a blush.

"I don't think your ideas of teaching would require a lot of talking. Your reputation as stud" she wrinkled her nose at the word and Puck was again struck by how cu --- (HOT! HOT! HOT!) she was "is exceedingly exaggerated if you have to get instructions every time you attempt to have sex." Her reply struck him a bit speechless.

"Berry . . .did you just give me a burn?" He looked at her with a grin.

"Bazinga?" She grinned right back, with just a hint of pride.

Puck broke out laughing, Rachel following soon after. He suddenly realized, in the last few hours he had laughed more than in the last few months together. With a genuine smile he picks up a menu.

"What can I get y'all?" A cheerful Southern Drawl comes from the side.

With a smile at Rachel, he orders eggs, bacon, toast, whatever there is really, he hasn't eaten since Lunch the day before.

To his great surprise, Rachel copies his order, only adding and orange - juice instead of his coffee.

"Hungry much, Berry?" She blushes.

"I have a very fast metabolism, hence I require copious amounts of sustenance to retain a healthy weight."

He shoots her a lazy smile, that forces her to look down. What is it about this boy that just gets her to do things like jumping into a beat-up truck and driving to New York for the Summer, with no plan of what to do when they get there?

"No need to explain. It's sexy, babe…" He gives her a wink.

Rachel clears her throat and tries to focus on more pragmatic issues.

"So, do you have a plan on how to proceed when we arrive in New York?" She asks. One half of her hopes he does, because that would make things so much simpler. The other half hopes he doesn't because the exhilaration she derives from simply letting go is exciting and a whole new feeling.

He shrugs and sheepishly ducks his head.

"Not really. I mean, leaving was kinda spontaneous for me too, so…I've got about 300 bucks cash, plus some stuff on my bank account. Was gonna be for Quinn, but…" he suddenly trails off, looking very uncomfortable. She gently places a hand on his.

"It's ok, Noah. I told you, you can tell me whenever you are ready." He heaves a sigh.

"I know. Just…not yet, I have to…like, think and shit…" He shrugs again, and it strikes her suddenly that underneath all that bravado, he really only is 17, only a few months older than her.

Rachel pushes those thoughts aside, pondering Noah's emotional vulnerability would bring her nothing, and from their brief relationship (she refuses to call it a fling, because no one calls their first boyfriend a fling) she has learned that pushing Noah is never a good thing to do.

"I have about 50 Dollars in cash, and around 1000 on my bankaccount" She announces instead cheerfully.

He looks at her weirdly.

"Berry's got some dough, huh?"

"I have been working at the 7/11 every summer since the 9th grade, I was going to take a trip with friends after Senior Year, but well…" she trails off uncomfortably. It goes without saying that, while she might have the money, she doesn't have the company. He scrubs his hand over his Mohawk, a nervous habit he picked up.

"You know…I'm sorry." He looks down. Talking about feelings and shit doesn't come easy to him, in fact he'd rather jump into a swamp full with crocodiles buck-naked, but he figures, he owes Rachel more than an apology for all the shit he pulled, especially considering how important she is to him.

"I don't know why I slushied you back then. You were like, crazy n shit…" She just sits there, sensing instinctively that if she interrupts him now, he'll clam up and just pretend everything's fine.

"You were this crazy person, and you had like talent and shit. And you always talked about how you were gonna get out of Lima and Ohio and shit. And I just knew, I couldn't. I'll always be a Lima Looser, and you…you're Rachel Berry, you were larger than fucking life….so I figured I'd take you down a little, show you where you belong. I mean, in school I'm actually somebody, you know?" he looks up at her, and the vulnerability in his eyes shocks her a little.

"But then I got to know you, and you're, like, cool and stuff. And you believed in me, nobody's done that before. And I know I was an ass back then and that that doesn't make the stuff I did ok, and I'll probably always be a jerk, but…you asked if we could be friends, so, I'm wondering, that still on?" The look in his eyes is so hopeful, she almost starts to cry. Rachel places her hands on his and squeezes.

"Oh Noah…I accept your apology. As for the friends – bit, I have considered you a friend since you joined Glee club." She smiles at him when he perks up and beams at her, with such happiness.

For his part, Noah can't help himself. He doesn't know what this thing with Rachel is, but as he said, she believed in him, which is more than most people do, even more than Finn, though he was probably right to do so. Anyways, in his books, that counts for something. At that moment, he vows to try his hardest to make it up to her, he knows years of slushies and putting her down are going to be hard to erase, but maybe, just maybe, he can overwrite it and get her friendship back. That one week he felt like he could have a normal life, and he really wants that feeling back. But he knows it's too soon, he's in no place to give something to anyone, simply because he has nothing left to give. He wonders if you can mourn the loss of a person that never really existed. He loved his daughter, he truly did. The simple knowledge that she isn't his, it's gonna take time for him to get whether or not what he feels is loving that kid regardless of who the dad is, or if it's just feelings left over from his little daughter. Until he's in the clear, there is no way he can start anything with anyone, especially not with someone like Rachel. He gives her hands a last squeeze and pulls his out from hers, making room for the breakfast coming their way. It smells delicious and only now does he really realize how hungry he is. The rest of their time at the Diner is spent devouring the food, before getting back on the road. They briefly argue over who drives (he refuses to let her near his baby, with her having no clue how to handle a stick, she argues he will crash them sooner or later, being as tired as he is, he argues he won't , he's a badass!, it ends much like last time, him picking her up and seatbelting her to her seat before she gets much chance to point out the ridiculousness of his statement), and are back on the road by 9 am.