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4
"Dude as much fun as it is watching Rachel decide whether to be deliriously happy or totally bummed about being shackled to the Puck-meister, undo these things, now." Puck lifted his, and Rachel's, hand to indicate the handcuffs.
"I can't." Kurt shrugged apologetically. Rachel made a small sound like a lost kitten.
"What do you mean you can't?" Puck's head tilted and the rest of the Glee kids took a step backwards.
"Well, I put the keys in that purple box Rachel has over there behind you and you're in the way…"
"You what?" Rachel turned suddenly to look where Kurt had pointed, "Say you're kidding Kurt. Because if you're not this is going to be…uncomfortable." Rachel dragged Puck the couple steps to her dresser and pointed to a smallish box; "This one?"
"Yes?" Kurt answered slowly. Puck watched as the color drained from Rachel's face and her shoulders sagged.
"What?" Puck asked, when she didn't answer he tugged at the handcuffs until she was close enough for him to tilt her head with a finger under her chin. Expecting to see something else he was surprised at the panic in her eyes. She frowned at him before pushing him to one side to get a better line of sight on Kurt.
"Kurt, that box is a 'Consideration Box'." There was a collective gasp of dismay and then the Tina and Mercedes were out Rachel's bedroom door with Artie and had him halfway down the stairs before Puck could ask what the hell a 'Consideration Box' is.
"What the hell?"
"It's a box that locks for twelve hours." Rachel explained... a little.
"And what kind of lame-o-loser purpose is it for?" Puck asked, he was getting a little exasperated and he halted Kurt's careful exit towards Rachel's bedroom doorway with a glare, when neither Rachel nor Kurt spoke he actually growled.
While Rachel had to mentally condemn Puck's descent into Neanderthal-like grunting, she had to admit that it was kind of a turn-on. She reminded herself that Finn should be the guy she found manly and sexy, no matter that Noah's chest and delightfully muscular arms gleamed gold in the light from her bedside lamp.
"My dads decided I was spending too much money on show tickets and other performing arts related material," like signed posters of Hugh Jackman and a catsuit that Elaine Paige actually wore during a performance of Cats, at least the e-Bay seller said it was, anyway "So now I have to lock my credit card in the box to give me time to decide whether I really need….the stuff I want to buy." Rachel finished her explanation with a sigh.
Kurt squared his shoulders and brushed his hair to one side before saying "Then I guess you two are stuck together for the next twelve hours then, happy birthday Rachel, thank you for the invitation Noah." Kurt was out the door and Puck would have followed him if it wasn't for Rachel sitting down on the edge of her bed with a large sigh. The others called out their good-byes and the front door slammed.
"I knew this was all too good to be true, a birthday party where people came because they wanted to and I end up crying in my room. They really did want to come didn't they?" Rachel turned large liquid eyes on Noah and he sat down next to her, his weight causing her to rock into his side.
"All I said to them was that it was your birthday today and that maybe we might want to get you food and some more cake, but Tina and Mercedes ran with the idea of a party. Guess they think you're worth it. I think you're worth it, if that means anything."
"Of course it means something Noah. I mean you organized a party for me and a babysitter…oh no, Sunny!" Rachel bounced off the bed but was ricocheted back into Puck's side when she forgot that they were attached at the wrist. "I have to get Sunny…" Rachel was a tad distracted by her nose being so close to Noah's bare bicep. He seemed to be a little bit cold, in fact - he shivered. She could offer him a blanket, or to share body heat as Kurt suggested earlier. She really shouldn't want to, but she really, really, did.
"No you don't." Puck said with a quick shake of his head.
"What?"
"You don't have to pick Sunny up, remember you packed enough baby crap for a two week sleepover."
"Sleepover?" Rachel couldn't keep her eyes off the hollow at the base of Noah's neck; it made it very hard to keep track of what ever it was he was talking about.
"Plus my mom's not expecting us back," Noah shrugged and Rachel did what any sensible young woman with a pulse would do, she touched the centre of his chest, touched and then spread her fingers outwards until her palm touched his warm skin. And then he moved; his muscles flexed under her hand in a most interesting fashion. Although neither Finn nor Jesse lacked for muscles; Noah's seemed to be much more solid more… Alive.
"Back?" Rachel looked up from staring at the skin beneath her fingers and Puck found himself rapidly repeating his plan over and over in his head. She was not part of the plan. No, not at all, not even the rapid pulse beat he could see flickering at the base of her throat or the flush that crept from under the precariously low neckline of her tanktop.
"Back?" he reached up with his left hand to brush Rachel's hair back from her face and found himself cupping the back of her head and gently urging her closer.
Rachel couldn't catch the sigh that escaped as Noah angled his head to kiss her; oddly enough it felt kind of like coming home as his lips hovered precariously close to her own. Noah Puckerman was the last person anyone, let alone a girl alone and handcuffed to him in her bedroom, should feel at home with.
But he always made her feel this way, a jumble of excitement from the risk his bad-boy persona advertised stemming from the rumors regarding his experience and skill at applying the knowledge he'd gained from years of booty-calls, delicious tinglings of fear at his size and strength, knowing that if he wanted he could make you do almost anything he choose but always knowing he never would, and that's where the feeling of being safe and protected came in, followed by the knowledge that this was a guy who choose to sing love songs to express himself. And he had a smile that when genuine could light up a whole room.
He felt right, and always had felt right in her room, no uncomfortable silences, and honest conversation and at times like these, pure unadulterated lust. Lust? No Noah shouldn't equal lust, what about Finn? What about, oh dear if he didn't actually kiss her soon instead of hovering Rachel was probably going to throw him down on her bed and have her wicked way with him. Never mind the fact that even after two hormonally supercharged boyfriends she was still at the same V status as she had been when joining Glee, there was nothing wrong with what would have to be, because he wasn't part of her plan, mindless sex. Nothing wrong at all, and oh God his lush lips felt so good trailing small kisses across her cheek and neck, how could anyone ever consider this sort of thing a sin? She understood all over again why Quinn had let Puck into her bed or backseat or wherever it was…
*CRASH*
"Eeek!" Rachel jumped and screamed as the loudest thunderclap she'd ever heard shook the house. She looked up as Noah laughed. "What? That was loud. And more than a little surprising and a little unsettling considering I was thinking… stuff... thoughts" Rachel smoothed down the front of her top and remembered the fact that she was currently braless. How could she forget again that he was not part of her plan? For one thing in a couple of months he would be on the other side of the continent in California while she would be in New York at Tisch. Her plan did not have room for a long-term what ever this would turn out to be.
"What stuff?" Noah sighed and shifted back a little, giving Rachel the distance she seemed to need, but he was still Puck, "Were you thinking sex 'thoughts' about me? Because don't let me stop you acting out on your impulses." He flinched a little as lightning lit the room and then Rachel screamed as thunder clapped and then screamed again as the lights flickered and went out completely. The only things glowing in the room were the stupid purple consideration box and Rachel's phone, which bleeped once mournfully and then died on its charger. "I think your phone is fried sweets. And if you don't loosen your grip on my arm soon I might lose it to consumption."
"Gangrene, you'd lose it to gangrene."
"I know; I just wanted to make sure you hadn't lost all your marbles when the lights went out and the central heating. I'm going to lock Kurt in a locker for consideration on Monday at school. I'm cold." Puck wasn't kidding; the temperature was dropping like cheerleaders behind the bleachers at homecoming.
"Me too." Rachel agreed around the chattering of her teeth.
"You're cold?"
"Yes but no; I'm going to lock Kurt in a locker, and then I'm going to fill his iPod with Nickleback, Lindsay Lohan and Michael Bolton's complete back catalogue." Rachel fumed, at least anger made her warmer, that and jumping up and down a little on the spot. Noah's hand brushed against her thigh every time she moved, but that wasn't the worst thing that could happen, unlike freezing to death and being found frozen like a popsicle by her dads when they got home on Monday night handcuffed to Puck.
"Wow you're really mean." Puck wasn't kidding, something like that could break something in Kurt. But it was sexy as hell knowing that Rachel could be just as Machiavellian as he could when she allowed herself to be. He really was getting cold, and being handcuffed to Rachel meant he couldn't pull on a shirt. "Do you guys have a fireplace?"
"Sure, it's in Daddy's den." Rachel answered, as his eyes adjusted Noah could make her out, dimly lit by the purple box. The box, it looked pretty flimsy. Puck reached out to pick it up and threw it at the floor. He had to admit to a little disappointment when the thing didn't instantly break and give up the key, so he stepped on it, and then jumped on it. Nothing, except he was a little warmer. He also had to admit that something about being shackled to Rachel was a little warming to his soul. Did he really just think that? To bring Puck back Noah thought about cars and MILFs and gave up when none of that worked and allowed himself to toast a while near to Rachel Berry's inner fire. "Shall we?" Rachel asked before pulling the comforter and blankets from the bed and he allowed himself to be led downstairs.
"Daddy likes to come in here to read and pretends to smoke; we don't let him really smoke because apart from being bad for his health, it's bad for everyone." Rachel was talking fondly as Noah checked the fireplace by the light of the torch Rachel had found. Everything looked okay and Rachel had said they used it quite often and recently. He struck a match and lit the carefully laid fire.
As the flames started flickering brightly Rachel and Puck looked everywhere but at each other. It was one thing to be shackled against your will in Rachel Berry's bedroom - the decoration of which would still do any ten year old girl proud. It was another thing altogether to be handcuffed together while half naked in front of a large fireplace that was complemented by a thick, soft looking, rug and comfortable sofa built for making out.
They both jumped as Puck's phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and mouthed 'Mom'.
"Yeah, yeah, okay… Really? She wants to talk to you," Puck held out the phone to Rachel.
"No… really… I'm so sorry… yes those hazel eyes will talk you into anything…" Rachel looked up from her conversation with Noah's mum and was distracted by the beautiful set of hazel-brown eyes looking right at her with an unreadable expression. "Sorry, uh… no allergies but we try to avoid things like nuts and egg, oh and dairy, but I'm pretty sure she's scammed a lot of those things from my dads. Yes, no, we won't try driving in the storm… bye, see you tomorrow..!" Rachel half shouted the last when Puck grabbed his phone back.
"Bye mom… yeah… you don't need to… not until I'm thirty. Love you too." He hung up and the look he gave Rachel dared her to ask.
"What until you're thirty? She doesn't think you're still a virgin?"
"Maybe she was talking about babies." Puck suggested wryly.
"Oh right, yes well." Rachel didn't know where to look; Noah's mum thought they might get into a situation where they'd have to consider a baby as a consequence of their actions? What would a baby do to her plans? Quinn had managed to get back to a point where it was hard to believe she'd ever not been a Cheerio, but she'd had a couple of years to do it. If Rachel had a baby now, college would be delayed and from there everything might be delayed and in an industry like musical theatre if you hadn't made it by the age of thirty you probably never would. "Are you warm yet?"
"Only the half facing the fire."
Puck said and grabbed one of the blankets to wrap it around his shoulders before doing the same for Rachel and sitting down on the sofa, half dragging her with him. Soon they were tucked in up to their chins. It felt more than natural when Noah twined their fingers together. She smiled as he huffed and then maneuvered himself until he was lying down with Rachel snuggled into his side and their clasped hands under his blanket, resting just below his heart.
Minutes passed in a bizarrely comfortable silence and Rachel was getting mesmerized by the flames as she tried to reconstruct the careful plans she'd made, the center-pin of which was supposed to be Finn. But she was having trouble concentrating over the sound of Noah's quiet humming. It wasn't a song she recognized, and anyone could tell you that that was a rarity. She turned her head, resting it on their hands, to ask "What song is that?"
Noah paused before answering, to be honest he hadn't realized that he was humming, he'd been lost in his thoughts, considering his future, his plans and how Rachel Berry was dangerously close to upsetting all those plans. Thinking about the song, and in some ways thinking much more about the fact that it might let Rachel into his thoughts even more than she already seemed to manage, he answered.
"It's Missy Higgins' version of Stuff and Nonsense by Split Endz, they were big in the eighties college music scene when my mom was sorta cool. She used to sing me to sleep with it."
"Sing it for me?" Rachel asked quietly.
Disobey my own decisions And you know that I love you I once lived for the future And you know that I love you
I deserve all your suspicions
First it's yes and then it's no
I dilly dally down to duo
But I've got no secrets that I babble in my sleep
I won't make promises to you that I can't keep
Here and now not forever
I can give you the present
I don't know about the future
That's all stuff and nonsense
Every day was one day closer
Greener on the other side
Yes I believed before I met you
But I soon learned your love burned brighter than the stars in my eyes
Now I know how and when, I know where and why
Here and now not forever
I can give you the present
I don't know about the future
That's all stuff and nonsense
His eyes never left hers as he sang.