Title: Broken Road, Part 7/?
Disclaimer: I am just borrowing them for the fun of writing, BUT I do own the plot, ideas and original characters.
A/N: I edited this, so all mistakes are mine.
A/N2: Feedback keeps me writing, so please comment or review. :D
A/N3: Title comes from 'Blessed The Broken Road' a song by Rascal Flatts. I do not own it, just borrowing for the fic.
...
A/N4: A super-belated, but much anticipated, birthday fic for a good friend of mine, PKteach. I wanted to write her a birthday fic, and this is from an idea she gave me.
A/N5: The Gleeks were Juniors in high school when Quinn was pregnant.
A/N6: AU after 1x22 ~ Journey, but contains a relationship that began in 2x01 ~ Auditions.
WARNING: Contains a line from: 2x14 - Blame It On The Alcohol.
...
"I cant believe you're making us get up at," Noah groaned and sat up to read the clock, "two-forty-five am!"
"I know! We should have been up fifteen minutes ago," Rachel commented, sliding out of bed and heading for the bathroom.
Noah shook his head, "that's not what I meant!" He yelled out as the door shut. "Stupid Black Friday shopping spree," he sighed, pulling a pillow over his head, "five more minutes," he begged.
Before he could get his eyes closed, Rachel came out of the bathroom, "Noah, get up! You said you'd come with us. We have to meet everyone at four, so that doesn't give us much time to get ready," she commented, tugging the blankets off him.
"Why so fucking early?" He replied, pulling the blankets back over him, "the stores don't even open until six."
"You of all people should know why we need to leave early. It's going to be very busy and parking is going to be a mess! The sooner we get to the mall, the better," she explained.
Noah sighed again, but realized she was going to be on his case until he got up, so he pushed himself up and looked at her, "alright. I'm up. Now what?"
"Go wake up your sister while I take a shower," she said, "then when I'm done you can use mine while she uses the hall shower."
"Okay," he nodded and got up, moving across her carpet to the door, then turned back around to see her digging through her closet, "you know, you're awfully chipper for being up so damn early. What's gotten in to you? Not that I'm complaining, but it's like a total one-eighty from what you've been like all week."
Rachel paused what she was doing to look at him, "do you know what we get to do today?"
Raising a curious eyebrow to her, he thought for a moment, "stand in long lines, deal with cranky and pushy people and wander around stores for hours?" He offered, unsure what she was getting at.
Moving closer to him, she took his hands in hers and smiled, "we get to go out as a couple, officially, and that makes me extremely happy."
Noah smiled, "you're right, we do," he said, wrapping his arms around her in a loving hug.
Though Rachel rested her head on his chest and smiled, feeling safe and content in his arms, she knew they only had a short time to get ready before they had to leave, so she pulled away, "come on, I don't want to be late."
...
Just before four-am, Noah, Rachel and Arin pulled up to Matt and Mercedes' house. Tina and Mike were already there, and Quinn pulled up just moments after Noah parked his SUV. With some time free, everyone collected inside the Rutherford's house to talk and Kurt, who had come home for Thanksgiving and came with Quinn for the shopping trip, got a chance to see everyone, since he hadn't in some time, and got to talk to Rachel for the first time since high school.
Rachel knew Kurt was living in New York City and working in fashion, but she had no clue about any details. Not having a long time to chat, they didn't talk too much about the past, but mentioned a few things they'd done in the city and found out they frequented some of the same places, so they were surprised they hadn't seen each other yet.
About four-thirty, they all piled into cars and followed each other to the mall, parking together, further out in the parking lot than they usually did, because it was already filling up with people waiting to get into the mall when it opened at six.
Standing in line for over an hour, the doors finally opened and they moved inside, heading towards the first store the girls wanted to go to. At first, the guys suggested they split up; everyone going in the direction they wanted, but because of how busy it was they chose to all stay in the same general area.
Moving from one shop to the next, their hands were beginning to fill up with shopping bags of all sorts of things, including clothes, accessories, housewares, and holiday gifts. After over four hours in the mall, everyone was beginning to get to the end of their shopping high, so they left and moved onto a restaurant for brunch.
"Okay, I have to ask. Last I heard, which was less than a week ago, you two were just friends. What gives?" Kurt asked, looking at Noah and Rachel from across the table.
Rachel blushed and glanced at Noah, then turned back to their friends, "we were, up until last night. Noah and I made it official before dinner yesterday," she admitted, squeezing his hand.
"So you guys are together, for real?" Tina smiled.
"Yep, we are," Noah nodded.
"I thought you guys were going to wait a while, you know, since all that crap is going on with the ex," Matt commented.
"We were," Rachel replied, "but why? I'm completely over him and Noah and I want to be together," she replied.
"No one sets the rules for dating and every person is different, so why prolong what we want?" Noah asked, though it was a rhetorical question.
As the group passed their congratulations around the table, Kurt looked confused, "well, I'm happy you two are together, but I have no clue what you're talking about with this ex person."
"Sorry, I didn't think that was my information to tell," Quinn said, glancing at Rachel, "but I can tell him later if you'd rather not talk about it," she added.
"No, it's alright," Rachel said, "I can talk about it. I think the more I talk about it the better I feel. I'm not going to let him win," she said, turning to Kurt and began to explain the situation with Daniel.
Kurt was just as worried for Rachel as everyone else was, but also agreed that letting him 'win' by giving in or being scared all the time was not the way to live, so after she explained, the subject was quickly changed to a happier one.
As brunch came to an end, the early beginning to their day was getting to everyone, so when their meals were paid for, they walked back out to their cars. Standing outside to chat for a short time, the cold air began to freeze everyone, so slowly the group left, saying 'goodbye' to Kurt, because he was leaving the next morning to go back to New York and Rachel made sure she got his number so they could keep in touch.
Rachel, Noah and Arin climbed into Noah's SUV and drove back to the Berry's. Once back, Arin gathered up her things from the overnight stay, packed up her car and thanked the Berrys for letting her stay the night. They assured her she was welcome anytime and Rachel told her she wanted to hang out a lot more before she left again, so Arin promised to get in touch soon to make plans for their next outing.
Once Arin was on her way home, Noah and Rachel went back into the house and decided to take a nap for a few hours, so after telling her dads their plans, they curled up on her bed and fell asleep, getting a chance to recharge their batteries for a few hours. Just after five that night, they two crawled out of bed and had dinner with her dads, telling them about their early morning shopping adventure and then the four settled into watching a few new movies that Rachel had gotten that day.
When the second movie ended, her dads gave in and went to bed, having been up since six-am, but Noah and Rachel managed to barely last through a third movie; as the credits rolled, both of them were nodding off, so they headed for her room and returned to bed.
...
"What do you want to do today?" Noah asked, relaxing in bed with his girlfriend Saturday morning.
"I don't know," she shrugged, "I never really thought about it. Do you have any ideas?"
"No. I picked our date last weekend. Your turn," he replied, winking at her.
"We get to go on another date?" She sat up a little and smiled.
Noah raised a curious eyebrow at her, "well, couples usually go on more than one," he admitted, "or do I need to train you in the art of real relationships?" He wondered, reaching out to brush his hand against her cheek.
Rachel blushed, leaning into his touch, "no, you don't have to, but it's still going to take some getting used to."
"Yes, it will," he agreed, "so, you figure something out to do and we'll go do it today."
"Okay," she smiled, "I'll come up with something."
...
Rachel pondered what she and her boyfriend could do that day, but was drawing a blank. She didn't really know what was going on it Lima anymore, since she had only been there about a week, so when she and Noah went downstairs to have breakfast, she took the entertainment section of the paper that wasn't getting looked at by her dads and began reading it over, between times she was gathering items to make breakfast.
"How about a movie?" Rachel asked.
Noah shrugged, "sure, but it's kinda hard to talk during a movie," he admitted.
"Oh, yeah, that's true," Rachel nodded, moving back to the stove to continue cooking.
Noah took a sip of his coffee and relaxed, "if you want to, we can, but it's up to you."
Rachel moved back to her spot to glanced through the paper again, landing on a few ads and skimmed them, "what about the 'Dancing Brush'(1)?" She asked, pointing towards the brightly colored ad.
"What is it?" Noah asked, leaning over to look at the ad, "oh, that's that new pottery place down on Front Street."
"I've heard of them," Rachel admitted, "you buy the unpainted pottery and then you can decorate it however you want. They finish it and you pick it up a few days later."
"Yeah, that sounds cool," Noah agreed. "I can't say I'm very good at art, but I'm willing to try."
"Okay, great! We'll do that this afternoon," she replied with a smile.
Noah nodded, "it's a date."
...
Heading into town, Noah and Rachel's first stop was at his place. Like the previous weekend, he stopped by to pick up some clean clothes and check his mail and soon they were on their way to the 'Dancing Brush'.
"So I was thinking that we should make something for each other," Rachel commented during their drive.
"Like what?" Noah asked, glancing at her as he came to a stop at a light.
"I don't know. Maybe each of us make a plate. I'd decorate something for you and you for me," she replied.
"That sounds cool. Kind of something for the start of our relationship," he smiled and continued driving, "finally," he added, winking at her.
Rachel blushed, "yes, finally," she agreed. "Better late than never, right?" She asked as they pulled into the parking lot near the place they were going.
"Right," he nodded, leaning over and kissing her lips. "I think this is a great way to commemorate the official start," he added, before sliding out and moving around to open her door and held out his hand.
Taking his hand, Rachel climbed out of his SUV and laced their fingers together, "it is. We're also going to have a lot of fun."
"I hope so," Noah replied, smiling at her as he closed the door and locked his SUV. "I also hope it turns out decent. I have a hard enough time drawing a straight line, so I don't know how I'm going to manage this, but it's worth a shot."
"Don't worry about it," she assured him, as they began walking towards the shop, "I'm not very good at art, either, Noah and it doesn't matter what it looks like. It's the thought that counts," she added.
Noah nodded in agreement, "yeah, alright. I get you."
Walking up to the building along the sidewalk, they were greeted with a brightly colored sign, matching the ad in the paper. Noah reached for the door and he let her go inside first, following right behind her. Stepping inside the shop, they quickly noticed the large room, the center full of tables and chairs and along the walls were shelves full of unpainted pottery pieces, but the tops of the shelves had examples of art. It wasn't very busy, with a few other couples and a few families sitting around the tables and soon they were greeted by an employee. "Hi! Welcome to the Dancing Brush. I'm Jordan, how can I help you today?" She asked politely.
Rachel glanced at her boyfriend and then turned back to Jordan, "we're looking at doing an item each, today, and have never been here before, so we're not sure where to start."
Jordan smiled and began explaining how everything worked. She guided them over towards the plates and it didn't take long for Noah and Rachel to be sitting across from each other at a table, paints with brushes, stencils and other items to help in their decorating, scattered between them. Noah had been thinking about what he wanted to do and already had an idea, so once they were settled at their table, he began to work on his plate, while Rachel spent some time contemplating what she wanted to do.
...
Sitting across from each other, Noah and Rachel focused mostly on their designs, but chatted lightly while they decorated their plates. Instead of going with the traditional round plates, they both chose square ones and promised not to peek until they were both done.
"I think I'm finished," Rachel said, sitting back in her seat and studying her plate, "want to see it?" She asked, taking a nervous breath.
"I do," he nodded, keeping his hidden for the moment. When she turned it around, he saw her familiar handwriting in the center, "You're right. We are a couple of good lookin' Jews and I'm so glad to finally have your guns and badassness to keep me safe. 11/24/2016 to Forever," it read. Noah smiled brightly and looked around the plate, seeing all the gold stars, red hearts, his football number '20', and a few blue Star of David symbols randomly painted on and at the bottom, each corner had a red cup, with a purple liquid inside and he immediately knew what they were - slushy cups. "That's awesome, babe, great job!" He told her, turning his around to show her.
Rachel studied his work and she smiled brightly. At the top he'd written, "11/24/2016 - I finally got my hot little Jewish-American princess and it all started with..." and under the words was a musical staff and notes. At first, she thought they were random notes until she saw the words under the staff said 'Sweet Caroline' and she realized the notes corresponded to the words in the song. Below the staff were several important shapes, including a heart, a crown, a Star of David, a guitar and a red slushy cup, along with a few flowers and gold stars, matching hers. "Oh Noah," she set her plate down and got up, moving to slide into his lap, "it looks like we were thinking the same thing," she said, hugging him tightly.
"We were," he agreed, returning her hug, "maybe one of these days I'll play that song for you again," he winked at her.
"I'd love that," she replied, kissing him, "how about we drop these off and then go to dinner."
"Sounds like a plan to me," he nodded.
...
Spending the afternoon pretending they were in elementary school art class, Noah and Rachel cleaned up their mess and left their plates to be glazed and baked, before heading out of the shop and back to his SUV. Quickly deciding on Breadsticks, Noah drove in that direction and as they were pulling into a parking spot, they noticed Mike and Tina waving at them, so when they got out, they spoke for a moment and agreed to have dinner together.
"It's so great that you're back home for December, Rachel," Tina commented.
"It is," Rachel nodded in agreement as she sat down across from her, "I'm so glad I had the time. The last few years I've only had time to come home for breaks of only a few days, so my dads did most of the traveling to New York to see me," she admitted.
"We're thinking of taking a trip to New York for our honeymoon. Kurt is almost insisting. What do you think?" Mike asked, hoping to get another person's opinion on the idea.
"To be honest," Rachel thought for a moment, "it would be a great trip, but it all depends on how long you plan to be gone and what kind of money you have. If I was in your shoes, I'd pick someplace exotic that you wouldn't always go. Since you have friends there, if you visit again, then your honeymoon wouldn't be as special as it would be if it was to someplace you probably will never get to go again," she told them, "but if you really do want to go, it is a great place," she added.
The engaged couple nodded, exchanging glances for a moment, "the thing is, we don't want to go there, but Kurt keeps saying that it will be cheaper than any where else we want to go and he knows someone who could get us a deal on a place to stay," Tina explained.
Noah shook his head, "I'm sure Kurt means well, but you have to do what you want to do. It's your honeymoon and I think you'd rather not have friends or family members stopping in whenever they feel like," he grinned.
"Dude, exactly," Mike nodded, laughing lightly when both girls blushed.
"My dads know a travel agent in town. I'll ask them to talk to her about great deals on trips," Rachel offered.
"Really? You'd do that?" Tina gasped, "that'd be awesome! We don't want to go out of the country, but we're not quite sure where we want to go," she admitted.
"That's alright. If you just tell me when you want this for and how long you'd like to be gone, they can look up some places and see what is open. The sooner you book something, the better, too," Rachel explained.
"We haven't set an exact date, but we do plan to get married this summer, since I won't be teaching summer school," Mike told them, "as for how long, I guess that depends on how long Tina can take off."
"No more than two weeks," Tina added.
While they had been talking, they also had ordered their meals and as Rachel said, "great! I'll talk to my dads about it soon," their server brought over their salad and breadsticks to get started with, so their conversation ended while they dug into dinner.
With light conversations through dinner, Rachel felt at peace. She'd had a great few days with her friends and boyfriend, without the worry of keeping to a busy schedule of practices, costume fittings, meetings or many other things she had to do for a musical production. While her mind was on her usual schedule, it drifted to the things she'd done with her friends in New York and quickly realized that a lot of the people she'd hung out with in the past few months were friends she'd met through Daniel.
"Rachel, is everything alright?" Tina asked, waving her hand in front of her face to catch her attention, "you look like you spaced off."
"Oh, um," Rachel shook from her thoughts, "I think I did. I must be getting tired," she admitted, trying to pass off the question.
"Well, dinner is covered, so if you're ready to go, we can head back to your place," Noah offered.
Rachel nodded, "yeah, I think that would be a good idea."
With receipts in their hands and a tip on the table the four adults made their way towards the exit, bundling up in jackets and scarves to go out into the cold Ohio night.
Once outside, Rachel promised Tina and Mike she would talk to her dads soon about the travel agent and let them know what she found out and after hugs and promises to be in touch, Tina and Mike headed towards their car.
Noah and Rachel walked towards his SUV and he noticed that the entire time, once Tina and Mike were gone, she was silent. Noah didn't say anything right away, but once they were in his SUV and buckled in, he glanced at her. "Alright, what's wrong?" He asked knowing she wasn't 'just tired'.
Rachel opened her mouth to respond, but seeing the 'I know you're not tired' look on his face, she didn't want to hide what she was thinking from him, so she gave in, "I was just thinking that I have true friends here and only like a handful in New York, because most of the friends I have now, I met though him."
"If they are friends, it shouldn't matter how you met, but if they turn their backs on you because you guys broke up, they weren't really friends to begin with," Noah said softly.
"I know," Rachel nodded, "but what if... I mean, I've been realizing that he really controlled most of my life. About the only break I had from him was when I was at work. He never came to my shows. Never wanted to do anything I suggested. He always wanted to go out to his favorite places and we were always meeting up with his friends and coworkers to have drinks or dinner, so I just got to know them... I didn't see it until now, but all he wanted was me on his arm, doing what he wanted. Now I know that and I'm free to do what I want. I also know that here at home is where my true friends are," she trialed off, taking a deep breath, "but what if he's back in New York, lying to everyone about what happened between us; turning the tables, so it sounds like it's all my fault? I'm not there to say any different."
"Rach," Noah reached out and rested his hand on her cheek, "if anyone believes a word that douche says, then they are not worth your time and like I said, they weren't really your friends to begin with, so you don't need them. He was trying to control your life, so you'd depend on him, and I bet, if you hadn't caught him and broken up with him, he would have talked you into getting married, so he could be even more controlling," he paused to think about his words, "don't think for a second that you should have figured it out or that you're smarter than that, because you had feelings for him and were blinded by them. Now you've woken up and have seen him and you know you are so much better than a piece of arm candy, which is what it sounds like he wanted," he told her honestly, staring at her, "he fucked up many months of your life, but it's time to get them back."
Rachel felt tears in her eyes, realizing what he said was exactly the kinds of things she'd been thinking about in the back of her mind, but had been trying to ignore, "thank you, Noah," she murmured, "you're right. I'm taking back my life, doing what I want and being who I want to be."
"Damn right, you are," he nodded, "and I'll always have your back."
She unhooked her belt and leaned over, kissing him, "I know you will, Noah," she paused a moment and smiled, "I love you."
Noah stared at her for a moment, his mind wondering if she'd really said those words. Seeing her biting her lip nervously, told him that she really had, so he smiled, pulling her against his chest in a tight hug, "I love you, too, Rach, always have, always will," he promised.
"Thank you, Noah, and I know you'll protect me," she assured him, pulling back to study his face in the dark night, the only light coming in from a street light nearby. "So you're saying that I should be doing what I want, right?" She asked softly.
"Yeah, exactly," Noah nodded, "do what you want and not let anyone else tell you differently."
A smile tugged at her lips as she thought of her words carefully, "then marry me."
Noah's mouth fell open in shock, "say what?"
"You say that I need to do what I want and I want to marry you. So, did I scare you, or do you agree with me?" She asked, immediately worried that she had scared him away.
"You want to marry me?" He asked, wanting to make sure his mind was not playing tricks on him and when she nodded, he smiled, reaching up to brush his hand along her cheek, "I'd love to," he replied softly.
"Really?" She looked at him, surprised for a moment.
"Hell yeah," he kissed her, "but are you sure this is what you want?"
"More than anything," she replied honestly, a smile on her face, "I know it's rushed and we've only been together two days, but Noah, we've known each other for a long time."
"You don't have to sell me on it, but since you proposed, you get to be the one to bring it up to your dads," he winked at her, sitting back in is seat, "and where's my diamond?"
Rachel's mouth fell open in shock, "I, um," she bit her lip, contemplating his question, but when she looked back at him, she saw the trademark Noah 'Puck' Puckerman smirk, and realized he was teasing her, "Noah! I'm being serious!"
"Oh, come on, babe, you just proposed to me. You didn't scare me, just shocked me, I'm trying to recover and be serious at the same time," he replied kissing her once more, before guiding her back into the passenger seat, "I'm just giving you a hard time. I don't need a ring to know we're getting married," he assured her, "but wedding rings; now that's a different story."
"Yes, that is true," she agreed, "what do you think about getting married before I go back to New York?"
Noah had started the engine and was about to pull out of the parking spot when she asked that and his hand slipped off the steering wheel, causing it to hit the horn, a shrill sound echoing through the quiet night, "as in before the end of the year? In December?" He asked, glancing at her.
"I know it's soon, but all of our friends are here, except a few, and my friends from New York, the ones who I know will always be my friends, would fly out for it," she told him.
"Um, wow," Noah stared outside for a moment, thinking about their options, "I, um," he smirked, "as long as we're married I don't care how, but do you really think we'll be able to pull it off?"
"I think we can, if we get our friends' help," she replied.
"Alright, I'm in," he smiled, "as long as you talk to your dads, my mom and sister first. I want them to be the first ones to find out and I also want their blessing before we move forward with the plans," he added.
"So do I," she nodded, "I definitely want our family members to approve," she assured him.
He nodded and finally pulled out of the lot, once his shock had worn off enough to function, "as long as our families are cool with it, it looks like we're getting married in less than six weeks," he told her.
Rachel grinned brightly and took his free hand in hers, "I can't wait! This is going to be amazing! I'm finally doing something I really want to do."
"It's definitely something I've thought about, but I never thought I'd actually be lucky enough to marry you," Noah admitted, smiling at her.
Ducking her head, she blushed, "I thought of it a few times, too and right now it's the only thing that makes sense to me. Even though we lost touch for a short time, you actually care for me and love me and I trust you with everything, so I know I'm making the right decision."
"And it's for good, too. I don't do this bull shit break-ups or separations because we have an argument; we work through them, because I don't ever want to hear the 'd' word come from your mouth," he told her honestly.
"The 'd' word? What's... Oh, divorce?" She asked.
Noah nodded, "yeah, my dad took off when Arin and I were kids and it left all of us really messed up and I swore to myself that when I marry, it's going to be for good. I'm not going to be my dad."
Rachel squeezed his hand, "I know you won't be. You're already a better person than he is," she assured him.
"Thanks, Rach," he smiled, pulling up to her dads' house, "you want to talk to our families at the same time? I can call and get my mom and sister over here; it's not that late," he glanced at the clock to see it was just after seven.
"Um, I think that would be a good idea," she nodded, "I'll go inside and let them know they're going to come over," she told him.
"Alright," Noah leaned over and kissed her, "I'll be inside in a few minutes."
...
Though confused at why they needed to have a 'family meeting', Deborah and Arin made their way over to the Berry's house and soon the six of them were sitting in the living room.
"So when's the big day?" Arin asked, kicked back on the couch, while everyone was silently passing confused and curious glances around the room and since they'd arrived, aside from some greetings, nothing had been said, so she figured she'd break the ice.
Rachel's gasp echoed over the room and she turned to her boyfriend, "Noah, I thought you were going to wait to tell them anything!"
"I didn't say anything!" Noah exclaimed, holding up his hands in defense.
"What?" Deborah gasped, looking at Arin and then to Rachel and Noah.
"What's going on?" David asked.
"Rachel? Noah? Arin?" Alan questioned staring at the three when no one said anything.
"Uh, I was just trying to joke with you two. I didn't think you guys would take it seriously," Arin commented.
Realizing she'd just let the news out, Rachel turned to the group, took her boyfriend's hand and smiled, "I proposed to Noah tonight and he said 'yes'. We're getting married."
The three parents in the room were stunned silent at the words Rachel said, but Arin grinned, "go Rachel! It's about time the girl asked the guy," she said clapping her hands together, then looked at Alan, David and Deborah, "oh, come on! Don't tell me you didn't see this coming."
Alan laughed lightly, pulled his wallet out of his pocket and handed David a fifty-dollar bill, "the conversation came up, but I really didn't think it'd happen, but David figured it would," Alan admitted.
"Dad! Daddy! You bet on me?" Rachel exclaimed.
"Sweetheart, the night you came home and all of this started," he motioned between her and Noah, "I knew then it wasn't going to be 'just friends' for long, nor did I expect you guys to beat around the bush. Alan, on the other hand, didn't think you'd go as far as marriage so soon, but I was sure you would, so we put a little wager on it," David commented with a grin, sliding the money into his pocket.
Rachel's cheeks turned bright red as she ducked her head, surprised her dads' seemed okay with the idea.
"Mom, say something," Noah begged, seeing her sitting on the couch, staring at them. He couldn't tell if she was happy, upset or mad by the look her her eyes, and he was starting to get worried.
Deborah blinked her eyes and bit her lip, "my baby is getting married?" She asked, wiping her eyes, "this is real? It's not a joke?"
"It's real, mom. We want to get married," Noah nodded, "with all of your blessings."
"You've got mine," Arin said honestly, smiling.
"Noah, we would not have let you stay at the house if we didn't trust you with our daughter. We know you'll take care of her. You've showed us that already, so you have our blessing," David replied looking at them as Alan nodded in agreement.
"Thank you," Noah smiled, as everyone turned to look at his mom.
"This is wonderful news!" Deborah grinned, "it's just all so sudden, I... I have so many questions, but I'm extremely happy to welcome you to our family," she told Rachel.
A sigh of relief escaped both Noah and Rachel's lips at her words, "thank you, Deborah, Arin, that means a lot and if I may explain a few things, it may answer a few questions," Rachel offered.
"Go for it," Alan said, getting nods from everyone else.
"As you know, Noah and I briefly dated our Junior year of high school, and though we didn't continue a relationship, we remained friends," she started, looking at Noah. "Today, we realized that we have loved each other since we dated in high school, which is a little over seven years. Yes, we did lose touch for a few years, but our feelings never changed: we still love each other," she paused, "with my previous relationship being what it was, tonight I got thinking about how he was trying to control my life and Noah reminded me that I need to do what I want. I don't want to prolong what I want with him. I want is to marry him, so I proposed," she glanced at their parents and Arin and smiled, "I know this may seem sudden, but we do both want to get married and since I'm here until early January, I'd really like to get married before I have to go back to New York."
"Whoa!" David sat back, "sweetheart, that's less than six weeks. You have a lot to talk about and plan before then."
"We know," Noah nodded, "as far as I'm concerned, I'd just go to the courthouse and sign the papers, but Rachel deserves a real wedding. We want to be married and we think we'll be able to pull it off. I also think I know the perfect place to have it."
"You do?" Rachel asked, looking at him, "where?"
"McKinley," he smiled, "they have proms there all the time, so I know it could be fixed up for a wedding. There is plenty of space and several spots to do it and school is out for two weeks over Winter Break for the holidays, so we wouldn't have to worry about rushing to decorate one night for a ceremony the next day," he told them, "and with Will and Dave working there, and me being on Figgins' good side, I think they'd let us, because a lot of my guests will be cops and the school has a special meaning for us, considering our feelings began there."
Rachel's eyes widened and she grinned brightly, "that's an awesome idea! We'll have to discuss it with Principal Figgins and several others, because I'm sure that's not an easy decision to make, but I'd love to get married there, if we can."
"Great!" Noah smiled, "that covers the where, but now we have to figure out the when and everything else."
"What about your friends from New York?" Alan asked, turning to Rachel, "won't it be hard for them to come out?"
"I don't think so. To be honest, Noah and I got on the topic of me doing what I wanted when I admitted I didn't know how many friends I had left there. I have a few close friends from college, but most of the people I call friends now, I met through him, so I don't really know if any of them would be my friends, now that he and I are no longer together. The few I have from college, that I know are my real friends, would drop everything to come out for the wedding, but the others, I don't know, but we do know that our families and our true friends are here in Lima, so aside from those few from New York, everyone is here already," Rachel explained.
"Oh sweetheart, if they really are your friends, it shouldn't matter how you met," Alan told her, "and if they choose him over you, then they're not worth it."
Rachel smiled, "thanks, dad. Noah told me the same thing and I think I know that, too."
Noah slipped his arms around her, "we've all got your back," he promised.
She nodded and returned his hug, "I know. Thank you," she kissed him and then looked at the others, "all of you."
Arin jumped up and moved over to Rachel, sitting down next to her, "you're welcome. This is awesome! You guys are getting married! We'll be sisters!"
"We will be," Rachel nodded, moving from Noah's arms and hugged Arin, "but we were already," she added.
Pulling away from the hug, Arin nodded, "yeah, I think so, too," she agreed, "and I'll help you plan as much as I can," she promised.
"Thank you, Arin. I'd love the help," she replied.
"We should probably round up all of our friends tomorrow and make the announcement, so we can get them helping, too," Noah added.
"Right. We don't have a lot of time," Rachel commented, blushing.
"We'll get it taken care of," Noah assured her, "it'll be great."
"It will be," Rachel nodded and smiled, "we can do this."
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1. ( dancingbrushstudio . com/ ) - This place is not too far from where I live. I chose that, since I've been by there and know the place a little better. If you haven't seen season 2, there is an episode where someone brings up 'Color Me Mine', which is the same type of place, but I chose to use a familiar name to me.
Underlined text came from 1x08 - Mash-up and 2x14 - Blame It On The Alcohol
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A/N7: I surprised myself with this idea, but I love it! When I thought of it, I ran it by PKteach, who said she loves fics where 'they elope or get married quickly', and since she's the one I'm writing this for (as a birthday fic) I'm sticking with it. Hope you guys all enjoy the twist!
A/N8: This was getting longer than the normal chapter lengths, so this seemed to be an okay spot to stop. I'll try to keep your waiting for the next update to a minimum. I am sorry for the long gap between updates. I thought I would have done this sooner, but I've been playing catch up with another fic and dealing with some things in my regular life, so time just got away from me. Hopefully I'm back now.
! PLEASE READ ... IMPORTANT WARNING !
Starting with Part 10, the rating for this fic will change from 'T/PG-13' to 'M/R'. Part 10 & beyond, though spoiling a bit, will feature some discussions about rape and the actions of attempted rape. Myself, along with a few trusted readers and fellow writers, agreed that this topic was serious enough to warrant the change to a higher rating. I'm aware of the seriousness of this topic and decided to warn you early enough so if the topic bothers you in any way, you can stop reading. If you do continue on, that's great, but if you don't, I totally understand and have no hard feelings.
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