AUTHOR'S NOTE: ANOTHER UPDATE! I HOPE YOU LIKE IT. ALSO MAKE SURE YOU READ THE NOTE AT THE END PLEASE. THIS ONE IS A LITTLE DRAMATIC AT LEAST AT THE END. I HOPE YA'LL ENJOY IT! – KRISTINE.
RATING: PG-13 BECAUSE I USED THE F-WORD SEVERAL TIMES
DISLCAIMER: YEAH, RIGHT.
CHAPTER FOUR: HER ROCK
- P - & - R -
He couldn't help but think she looked beautiful. She might have been wearing a plain black dress that was longer than most of the miniskirts she wore to school. Her makeup might have been understated to the point that it consisted only of mascara and lipgloss. Her hair might have been pulled up in a bun on top of her head. Still somehow it all combined to make it almost impossible for him to stop staring at her in awe until finally Hannah elbowed him softly in the gut.
"Stop being so obvious," she muttered softly in that voice that nearly every preteen girl seemed to have. She'd suddenly developed it.
"Stop being annoying," he shot back because fuck if he was going to admit that he was being obvious.
On the tip of her tongue was another scathing remark but she let it die when she saw Rachel walking towards them. Instead she shot him a look that said don't be mad just because I'm not a dumb little kid anymore before saying hi to Rachel and rushing off to find to her friends.
"I'm so glad you're here," Rachel said as she enveloped him in one of her signature just short of air-constricting hugs. "Everyone is going to be here in an hour and almost nothing is ready."
Puck smiled knowingly. This was what made Rachel special. She cared about everything so much that when there was a chance it wasn't going to be perfect it nearly wrecked her. Of course at the very last minute she'd fucking get it together and everything would go off without a hitch. "What do you need me to do?"
"Will you help Dave set up chairs?"
"No problem," he assured her.
"You're the best Puck."
"You know you aren't the first girl to tell me that," he smirked.
She rolled her eyes, "You do realize that this is practically a temple right?"
"I'm not the one who immediately jumped to the conclusion that there was some sort of innuendo hidden in there."
She wanted to be irritated with him, but then he had to use the word innuendo and well it just made her melt a little because she loved when he quit the tough guy façade and was the cute Jewish guy who every girl in her dance class whispered about. Instead she just shot him a look before smiling and rushing off to make sure that all of the dancers were getting stretched.
- P - & - R -
"I can't decide if you took my advice or not."
Puck looked up, startled, and was surprised to find Jesse St. James staring at him wearing an expression he couldn't quit place.
"You look surprised to see me."
"That's because I am. You aren't exactly Jewish which means there's little chance you knew Adele even though I'm sure you would have liked her."
"Has anyone ever told you that you sound smarter when you're away from that dreadful McKinley High School?" Jesse asked before adding, "And Rachel invited me but from what she's told me I'm sure you're right."
Puck chose to ignore the comment about him being smarter even though it was actually something that Rachel pointed out all the fucking time. She always asked how going to school actually seemed to make him even more of a Neanderthal. Instead he continued setting up chairs before finally saying, "It's good you didn't skip out on her when she picked Finn."
"You know Puck despite what people think I'm actually not that vile of a human being."
Puck didn't say anything but instead shot him a look that Rachel shot him often. It was a mix of disbelief and dismay.
"I'm not when I actually care about someone." Jesse clarified. "You and I have that in common you know. You didn't leave her either when we both know Finn has many times. Anyway none of that matters really as much as whether or not you took my advice."
"Listen St. James I barely take advice from my mother let alone some tool that until recently I wasn't sure had a fucking soul. You might have shit with Finn but the gentle giants one of my oldest friends and I'm not about to fuck that shit up just so you can say you succeeded in beating him." Puck told him coldly, refusing to make eye contact in fear that Jesse would be able to read him. Most people couldn't see past the blank expression that he'd developed after his father left them high and dry but he had a sneaking suspicion that just like Rachel, Jesse would be able to read him like a fucking Dr. Seuss book.
Jesse stared at him trying to figure out who the hell he was kidding before saying, "We both know this isn't about me beating Finn."
Puck stared at the floor for a minute before looking up to try to contest Jesse's point. He was eerily shocked when he found he wasn't standing there anymore. He looked around in the near vicinity. It was almost like the dude was fucking David Blaine or some shit.
- P - & - R -
She looked up when she heard the door to the small office open, thinking it was going to be Puck telling her that they were good to go on chairs so she could calm her tits or something equally ineloquent. Instead she was surprised to find Jesse standing there in an obviously meticulously picked outfit. "Jesse, what are you doing here?"
Okay so when Jesse told Puck that he'd been invited he was lying. Instead Rachel had casually mentioned it to him when he asked what she had been doing recently. Still when he learned that she was choreographing a tribute he'd of course had to come to support the only girl he could really call his actual friend who loved him for being something other than the lead singer of Vocal Adrenaline. "Supporting you," he said in the soft, caring voice that only Rachel knew he even had.
"That's so sweet of you," she replied as she furiously dabbed her eyes with a tissue. Despite the fact that Rachel was in touch with her feelings she wasn't one to cry as much as her fellow glee club members would have guessed. In fact she couldn't remember the last time that she'd cried as much as she had in the days since learning the news about Adele. One minute, usually when she was with Puck, she would be fine, and the next when she was by herself, and allowed to really think about the fact that Adele wouldn't be there anymore, she'd absolutely lose it. She squeezed his hand and motioned for him to sit down. "I thought you were heading back to California."
"I am but I have a few things I want to handle here before I do."
She nodded, silently wondering if his answer was as vague as she thought it was.
"I saw Puck out there. Is that his name? The one with the Mohawk and the permanent I'm a badass scowl," Jesse pretended to be the in the dark because it was easier this way. He hoped that if she didn't know that he actually knew of Puck's existence that she'd never know that getting them together was the thing that he had to handle before he headed back to California hopefully better prepared for the harshness of rejection.
"That's Puck."
"So you two are friends again?" He asked alluding to the conversations they'd had in the lead up to nationals.
"He's been my rock since this whole thing with Adele. It was the strangest thing before the news he wouldn't even glance my away for more than a millisecond and after the news he has been by my side for everything."
"Shouldn't Finn be your rock?"
Rachel chuckled softly. It never ceased to amaze her at how good Jesse was good at getting a dig in at Finn.
"This isn't just me getting in a dig at Rachel despite what the smile on your face suggests. I really just wonder why your boyfriend's best friend is the one standing by your side and setting up chairs instead of your actual boyfriend. I mean he may be a moron but even he can set up a chair." He flashed a weak smile that said now that one was an actual dig.
"Puck's Jewish too. He grew up with Adele just like I did." Rachel explained though what she didn't say was that part of the reason she couldn't imagine turning to Finn right now was because Adele didn't want her to be with him. She couldn't shake the feeling that that just wasn't right.
Jesse nodded obviously unconvinced despite her attempts to convince him of her logic. "What song are the girls going to dance to?" He changed the subject before this somehow became a heated argument and his being here did more harm than good.
"Puck's going to play Keep Me in Your Heart."
"There isn't going to be a dry eye in the house."
"That's exactly what Puck said and what I'm hoping for. A woman as beautiful dramatic as Adele deserves a poignantly dramatic tribute." Rachel looked up at the ceiling and found herself started to get choked up again. Everything about today seemed to suddenly be getting to her. On the drive over this morning she'd heard Swim by Jack's Mannequin. It had her crying so badly she'd had to actually pull over at a rest stop to get her emotions in check before she could continue on to the Community Center.
He reached out and gently squeezed her knee, "You're going to be stronger because of this Rachel. This is going to make you a better performer. Even though I didn't know Adele from what you've said I think she'll appreciate that."
Rachel placed her hand on top of his knees and stared into his eyes about to thank him for his kind words when the door to the small office opened. Again she looked up expecting Puck and again she was surprised to find someone else. This time though it was Finn and by the way his eyes instantly travelled to Jesse and then to his hand on her knee it was obvious he was pissed. She stood quickly, "Finn what are you doing here?"
"Supporting you, but apparently you found other people that you thought were better suited for the job." He said casting an angry glance at Jesse who of course was sitting there looking impossibly smug. "I'm going to go now."
"Finn, don't…" she pleaded quietly as she chased after him down the long hallway. "He was just comforting me."
He stopped and turned to look at her. "Yeah right Rachel. I may not be as smart as you but I'm not that stupid."
"Stop being so impossible," she told him, her voice revealing just how tired she was despite her best efforts to hide it.
"Why is he here Rachel? Shouldn't I be the one in there comforting you? I'm ready to be needed if only you would actually need me for once."
She stood there staring at him. She couldn't come up with a single thing to say. Her eyes widened in surprise though when suddenly Puck turned the corner with Dave.
Finn saw her eyes and turned around only to come face to face with his best friend. He looked at Rachel and didn't say anything. Instead he looked at Puck and whispered, "What the fuck man?"
"Dude watch your language this place is practically a temple," Puck echoed Rachel's earlier sentiments even though just twenty minutes before he'd been cursing at Jesse St. James.
Finn didn't say anything. Instead he just scoffed and pushed Puck out of the way.
"What the hell was that Rach?" Puck asked.
"He walked into the office and found me sitting there with Jesse who was just trying to comfort me. He got angry and apparently seeing you sent him over the edge." Rachel explained. She was torn between chasing after him and just letting him walk away.
"I'll go talk to him," he offered even though it was the last thing he felt like doing. He didn't even let her say whether or not she wanted him to. Instead he just jogged hoping that he'd be able to catch him before he drove off.
- P - & - R -
AUTHOR'S NOTE: WHAT'D YOU THINK? I CAN'T DECIDE WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN NEXT. WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO SEE? THE RESPONSE FOR LAST CHAPTER WAS ALMOST NONEXISTENT SO I'M NOT SURE IF PEOPLE ARE LOSING INTEREST IN THIS STORY. IF THEY ARE THEN THAT'S FINE I'LL JUST FOCUS ON A COUPLE OF OTHER STORIES I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THAT HAVE A TENDENCY TO FALL TO WAYSIDE BECAUSE OF MY LOVE TO WRITE ABOUT PUCK/RACHEL. JUST LET ME KNOW. YA'LL ARE AMAZING FOR READING. – KRISTINE.