A/N: Sorry for the month-long delay.My computer decided to get itself infected with a nasty virus, effectively anything and everything I had saved...including the chapters that I already had typed. Soooo, we're going to try this again. Not super happy with this chapter, but at least it's something.
Chapter 4: Now let me at the truth
Rachel spent the day after Christmas curled up on the couch of her childhood home. Her fathers had offered to cancel their post-holiday getaway when they found out she was coming home for the holiday, but she had insisted that they go as planned, knowing that a few quiet nights alone were more than okay by her. Rehearsals in Chicago had been draining, both physically and mentally. And while living with the vivacious Kelly was fun, it didn't exactly leave her with a ton of alone time to relax and regroup.
Settling back into her nest of blankets after a quick stretching break, Rachel looked around herself to make sure she had everything before starting the next movie. Plate of vegan cheese and crackers? Check. Freshly brewed mug of tea? Check. Leaning back, she clicked the remote and smiled as the opening credits of "Meet Me In St. Louis" started. Perfection.
An insistent ringing flooded through the Berry house. Reaching blindly for the remote to turn down the volume, Rachel realized that the noise was not coming from the television. She had fallen asleep and the the DVD had ended long ago.
Groaning, Rachel reluctantly unburied herself from the pile of blankets and padded to the front door. The ringing had stopped by the time she got to the door. Writing it off to the neighborhood kids being idiots, she figured now was as good of time as any to arm the security system for the night before starting her next film. As she reached to punch in the code, a rustling noise came from the front porch. Cracking the door open, she was surprised to see a dark form in front of her. Hastily flipping on the porch light, her eyes registered a familiar face.
Puck was sitting cross legged on the front porch, facing the door. He was twirling a snow-covered twig in his fingers and singing under his breath. Reaching forward, he poked at the doorbell with the twig and looked up at Rachel with a goofy grin on his face. "S'up babe? Your Christmas present has arrived." Trying to get up, he stumbled slightly and caught himself on the porch rail.
"Noah Puckerman. Are you drunk?"
"I am currently somewhere between sober and shitfaced. Sadly closer to the former, but hopefully soon to be moving towards the later. Which is why I brought this." Reaching inside his coat, Puck produced a bottle of what appeared to be wine.
Holding back a snicker, Rachel squinted at the label. "While I'm beginning to enjoy this trend of you showing up on my doorstep with wine, did you seriously bring a bottle of Two Buck Chuck? Way to keep it classy Puckerman."
"Nothing but the best for you Rach. Now would you kindly let me in? My very attractive ass is starting to go numb."
Rachel grabbed two water glasses (Probably should keep Noah away from the real wine glasses right now) and dumped a bag of microwave popcorn into a bowl before heading back into the living room. Puck had made himself at home on the couch and was rummaging through the pile of movies on the coffee table. "Sorry to interrupt your evening Rach. Looks like you had big plans for tonight".
Rolling her eyes, Rachel poured some of the cheap wine into the glasses and handed one to Puck before dropping down onto the couch next to him. "Why are you here Noah? Shouldn't you be enjoying your time at home with your mother and sister?"
"Nana Connie and my Aunt Jo are there too. So basically there's a whole lot of estrogen flying around my house right now and I had to get the hell out. I would have called the Changster but him and Q had dinner plans with her parents so you were next on my list."
"While I'm flattered that I rank somewhere near the top of your list of people you enjoy spending time with, a call might have been nice. How did you even know I would be home?"
"One, where else would you be? Grand theft auto isn't your style so it's not like you jacked the rental car and drove back to Chicago without me. And two, your daddies have been talking about their trip at temple and Ma may have mentioned it at dinner last night."
"So you're stalking me?"
"Yes Rach. I'm stalking you. But it's a secret. That's why I showed up on your doorstep and rang the damn damn doorbell."
"As long as you're being truthful. Although I probably should warn you that my fathers still have the Lima PD on speed dial just in case you decide to pull any funny business."
Rachel jumped out of her seat at the bark of laughter that Puck let out. "Jesus Rach. Have we not determined by now that I'm not even close to being the same kid I was in high school? I'm not going to slushie you. I don't see any porta-potties her in your living room. And I have no plans on getting you pregnant with my demon spawn anytime soon. I just wanted to hang out for a while because I like spending time with you. So can you try toning down the drama for like five fucking seconds please?"
Rachel stared slack-jawed at him. "Noah, I didn't mean...I just was surprised. That's all."
"Whatever. Now do you have any movie that we can watch that won't make me regret coming over here?"
They finally settled on "Anchors Aweigh", since Rachel only had brought home her musicals and Puck had determined that Sinatra was "kind of a player" and therefore acceptable to watch. By the end of the movie, the bottle of cheap wine had long since been consumed, along with half a bottle of much nicer wine that Rachel had swiped from her father's wine rack.
"Rach, why the fuck was Gene Kelly dancing with a mouse?"
"Noah! That's the only thing you remember from the movie? I'll have you know that the combination of live action and cartoon..." Rachel trailed off before dissolving into a fit of tipsy giggles. "I honestly have no idea. That is kind of a ridiculous scene isn't it?"
Drunk Rachel may be even hotter than Sober Rachel. Her eyes were shining and a rosy glow had worked it's way onto her cheeks. Her tiny frame was swallowed up in an oversized NYU hoodie and at some point during the movie she had tucked her feet under his thigh for warmth ("You keep stealing the blanket Noah!"). Tell her how you feel Puckerman.
Rachel sighed contentedly. "This is fun Noah. Thank you for thinking of me in your plans tonight."
"It's nothing Rach. I told you, I like spending time with you. In fact, I was wondering if..." The sound of the Berry's doorbell filled the house for the second time that night. Seriously?
"I wonder who that could be!" Rachel pulled her feet out from under Puck's leg and moved to answer the door.
Puck sighed at the lack of contact and reached out to grab her wrist and pull her back down on the couch. "Ignore it Berry. It's probably a serial killer or something. You're safer here."
"Rachel! Puckerman! I can see you guys through the curtains. Answer the damn door." Puck was going to need to have a loooong chat with his roommates when they got back to Chicago about interrupting at very inopportune moments.
A shriek of joy came from Rachel's mouth as he heard her open the door. Moving out into the foyer, Puck saw her throwing her arms around Quinn and jumping up and down. The porch light caught the glint of a diamond on Quinn's left hand.
"Congrats Bro" Puck reached his hand out to Mike, who was standing behind Quinn on the doorstep and watching the women with a look of amusement.
"Thanks man. Sorry for ditching out on you tonight, but obviously I had something I had to take care of. Although obviously it looks like you found something to do" Mike waggled his eyebrows up and down in a suggestive way.
"Subtlety is not your strong point Mike."
"I'm glad you're both here" Quinn cut in. "We wanted to make sure that the two most important people in our wedding party were the first ones to know."
"You want me to be your maid of honor? Q, I'm honored. Although I should probably let you know up front that I don't do pastels or taffetta."
"Pipe down Puckerman. It's not too early to replace you."
"Never" Mike mouthed at his friend with a grin and a fist bump.
"Quinn, I don't know what to say" Rachel's eyes were brimming with tears.
"I'm taking that as a 'yes' Rachel. Now let's start planning" Quinn grabbed Rachel by the arm and dragged her into the house with shouts of "Tulips!" and "String quartet!" trailing behind them.
Sighing, Puck gestured Mike into the house. Universe 1- Puckerman 0.