Puck thrust all the money Rachel gave him at the cab driver, telling him to keep the change. It was one hell of a tip, but hey, it wasn't his money! That should teach her to abandon him in some Broadway joint his first night in town. Ok, so he didn't care all that much, in fact he was pretty happy about the way things had turned out, but that wouldn't stop him from giving her a hard time about it. Looking back at the paper Rachel had given him, he assumed that "6F" meant their apartment was on the sixth floor. "Of course," he scoffed, looking around the lobby of the apartment building. Rachel probably intentionally found a building with no elevator; she was kinda psycho like that about working out. He had to admit though, it paid off. His friend was hot, and he would even say it in front of her husband. He was the only person who could get away with saying it in front of her husband.

Exiting the stairwell, Puck's suspicions were instantly confirmed when he saw the Hudsons' apartment directly in front of him. He would have known it was theirs without the help of the number over the door. Come to think of it, where was the number over the door? Rachel seemed to have forgotten that she lived in an apartment in Manhattan and not a house in the country. On the door was a wreath made of grapevine and an assortment of brightly colored summer wildflowers. He laughed to himself, thinking about how she probably changed the thing for every season or holiday. Above the door where the number should have been, or was probably just hidden, was a wooden plaque with the words "The Hudsons" and various music notes (and of course a star) engraved into it. Under his feet was a very soft mat that simply said "Welcome" in scrolling yellow letters set on a midnight blue background. He realized as he hesitated outside the door that he had never actually been in this apartment before. He had been to their old apartment several times, but they had moved once they graduated and got married. He tried to prepare himself for the disorientation of walking into a dark apartment that he was unfamiliar with. At least, he hoped it would be dark. If it wasn't dark that would either mean they were fighting or that they were, well, definitely not fighting. He really didn't want to walk in on either.

He fumbled with the keys Rachel had given him, trying to decide which one looked like a house key. Why the hell did she have so many keys? Finally picking the one that looked the most promising, Puck gave it a try in the door. Jackpot. He pushed the door, but found slight resistance, like the door was dragging on something. He pushed harder and the door popped open. He had only made it two steps inside when he tripped over something, only able to maintain his balance because he still had one hand on the doorknob. Squinting in the faint light coming from the night light by his ankle, Puck was able to make out the outline of a high heeled shoe, its mate laying about a foot ahead of him. 'It's not like Rachel to leave her shoes lying around on the floor,' he shook his head as he turned to close the door behind him. That's when he saw what the door had been caught on: another shoe, a much larger, more masculine shoe. 'Oh shit,' it was starting to dawn on him why there were shoes everywhere, especially when he saw the pink blouse Rachel had been wearing in a puddle at the entrance to the living room.

Puck wanted to be annoyed, or frustrated, or even disgusted, but all he could do was smile. No, he didn't want to picture what was going on at the other end of the trail of clothes he knew led down the hallway (well, he really hoped it led down the hallway and not just to the living room), but it comforted him to know that something was going on. The only remaining question was, 'Is it still going on?' The apartment wasn't exactly huge, and Rachel had made it sound like the guest room was pretty close to the master bedroom. Sure, their little mini concert earlier had been nice, but he didn't need a private show. Deciding to suck it up and just go for it, he closed the door behind him and shucked off his own shoes next to Finn's. Cradling his guitar close to his body with both hands, careful not to bang it against something in his unfamiliar surroundings, Puck made his way toward the living room. He was thankful to see that the kitchen was large and open to his right, leaving no option but to take the hallway to the left. What had Rachel said to him? Right, guest room on the right. The room on the left is a death trap.

Puck cringed when he reached the hall and heard a noise coming from one of the rooms. So much for hoping they'd be asleep by now. But as he made his way as quietly as possible to his room, he heard the distinct sound of laughter, Rachel's laughter. 'Ouch, sorry buddy,' it couldn't be good to have the woman you're with laughing at you, not that he would know of course. But he paused, reaching for the guest room door, when he heard Finn's laughter follow Rachel's. Surprised, he accidentally let his guitar slip to the floor, banging loudly. 'Shit,' he buried his face in his hand.

"Noah?" Rachel called to him from inside the room.

'Shit!' "Uhh, yeah, I'm sorry. I'm just going to bed. I-I'll see you guys in the morning," he cursed his clumsiness as he again reached for the door.

"Don't be silly, come on in."

"What about your death threats?" He scoffed at her.

"Oh stop it," Rachel chided her friend. "Come celebrate with us!"

"I don't know Rach, I mean you are a hot Jew, and Finn's my boy and all, but …" Puck heard Finn laugh, followed by a grunt, which was probably the sound of him getting whacked in the stomach by his wife's small but forceful fist.

"Don't be so crass Noah. Just get your Mohawk in here before I have to come get you myself." Puck sighed and set his guitar gently on the floor. He knew Rachel, and if she was being this persistent, there was no way he was about to walk in on anything. Still, he opened the door slowly, giving them every possible second to cover up anything that needed covering. Finn was wearing a pair of flannel pajama pants and lying on his back at the foot of the bed, his knees bent over the edge so that his feet rested on the floor. Rachel, in nothing but an old McKinley High football t-shirt, sat next to him on her knees with her bottom resting on her crossed ankles while Finn's hand ran over her back. They were surrounded by colorful papers, one of which Rachel seemed engrossed in.

"Yeah, what's with the Mohawk anyway? I thought you'd have gotten rid of that thing by now." Finn put his free arm behind his head and propped it up to look at his friend.

"Are you kidding me?" Puck smirked and ran a hand over his trademark hairstyle. "Thing's a chick magnet, I'm keeping it as long as I possibly can."

"Yet I see you're alone now," Rachel smirked back at him. Most times she abhorred Noah's cavalier attitude toward women, but when she was in the right mood it was a lot of fun to play back with him. Finn reached and squeezed her side at the comment, appreciating his wife's feistiness.

"Hey, you should appreciate that! I had plenty of offers," actually, he hadn't paid any attention to any women. He was still preoccupied thinking about Finn and Rachel. "But I wouldn't bring some random chick back to your home."

Finn shot him a warning glare, knowing before she even spoke that Rachel would instantly remember. "Annie! Freshman year!" Rachel shot up onto her knees and pointed an accusing finger in Puck's direction. "I couldn't even come back to my own room and celebrate opening night with my boyfriend because it was OCCUPIED!" Finn's look at Puck had changed from one of warning to one of sympathy on account of his wife's temper, then one of annoyance as he remembered how he did not get to spend that night the way he had planned.

"Hey, that was different," Puck tried to defend himself. "It was …" ok, so maybe he couldn't think of how it was different. "Anyway, I ended up just talking to Kurt and Blaine for a while then they took me to this cool little diner for a late-night snack. Travelling all day made me hungry as Hell," he snorted.

"Kurt and Blaine were there?" Finn looked at Rachel for confirmation as she settled back into her spot beside him. She simply smiled and nodded. He shouldn't have been surprised, it had become one of Kurt's favorite places the first time Rachel took him there.

"Yeah," Puck rolled his eyes. "But you didn't stick around long enough to find out. Anyway, Blaine's kinda cool. And Kurt's not horrible I guess," he conceded. "So, what is all this stuff?" He motioned to the brochures all over the bed.

"Oh!" Rachel bounced on her knees as Finn pushed himself to sit up next to her. "Finn's taking me on a second honeymoon! He says it's just a regular honeymoon, but I say our first one still counted, even if it was only a few days in Cincinnati. There was a big festival going on and we had a lot of fun. And I'm pretty sure we definitely accomplished the goal of a honeymoon." Finn blushed as Rachel squeezed his leg and Puck laughed at his rambling friend.

"I'm taking my girl to Greece," Finn beamed as he pulled Rachel onto his lap and she nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck. "Come look," he tossed Puck a brochure and Puck grabbed the bench from the small upright piano in the corner of the room and pulled it to the foot of the bed to sit across from his friends. 'Wait, how do they have a piano in the bedroom? ´ The apartment was small; he would have been surprised to see a piano in the living room. He looked around; bed, piano in one corner, drum set in the other, only one nightstand. There was no dresser, no vanity table, nothing other than the bed itself to suggest the room was a bedroom. 'Go figure.' He flipped through the first brochure Finn had tossed him while Rachel gathered the rest from the bed, straining because Finn refused to loosen his grip on her waist.

"So," Finn began as Puck was flipping through the third pamphlet and trying to ignore the next one Rachel was thrusting at him. "It seems that you and my wife have been conspiring behind my back." He smirked at his friend with one eyebrow raised, waiting for Puck's response.

"Hey man, little diva over there called me," Puck defended himself to his best friend. Rachel blushed when he pointed at her, "the day after you and I talked, and she was a wreck. She basically told me everything you had told me, but she was just a complete mess. She begged me for help, and you know I can't turn her down when she needs me. Only person loves her more than me is you," he scoffed, trying to get back on track and not let his friends see that side of him. "And besides, you two clearly needed the Puckasaurus to come in and clean up after you, like usual." He scoffed, trying to keep the atmosphere light. "I was just going to try to talk some sense into you both when I visited, but then she found the song …"

"Yeah, how did you find my song? Were you snooping on me?" Finn cut him off. He didn't look mad, but he was staring at Rachel and he certainly looked confused. Puck stood from the piano bench and took a few steps away from the bed, worried that he had messed things up after the pair had just seemed to be back on track to being the couple that made him believe in relationships again.

Rachel only laughed, causing Finn to look even more confused, but still somehow happy in the process. "Sweetie, we live together. As in, we share a home. You can't even hide birthday presents from me. While I was talking to Noah I got in the desk to get my notepad and make a list, you know, of things that I could do help bring you back to me," Puck shot Finn a look that said 'Of course she did,' but Finn didn't seem to notice. He was too busy fawning over Rachel, kissing her jaw and brushing his nose across her cheek as she spoke. "When I pulled out my notepad, there it was, right underneath. I couldn't snoop on you if I tried, you're too easy." She giggled and kissed her husband on the forehead.

"Besides," Puck said dismissively, dropping back onto the bench now that everything seemed to be safe, "her plan was WAY better than yours." Finn's head shot up.

"What are you talking about Noah?" Rachel ran a hand down Finn's chest. "I think Finn's honeymoon plan is an amazing idea!" Finn pulled Rachel into his chest, but kept his eyes glued to Puck, willing him not to say more. Unfortunately, Puck didn't seem to get it. Either than, or he wanted to embarrass Finn. Either option was equally likely.

"Nah Rachel," Puck laughed. "That's not the plan I'm talking about. I didn't actually know about that one." Rachel looked at Finn's now crimson face trying to determine what her friend was talking about. "When you sent me Finn's song, I already had it. He had already sent it to me."

"Liar!" she yelled, causing Finn to jerk his head away from her mouth. "I should have known you wouldn't be that good after only one day!"

"Hey babe, I'm always that good," Rachel rolled her eyes as Puck smirked at her. "Anyway, point of the story is, Finn's big plan was to get the song into the hands of some industry big shots, then get it recorded by some famous artist, then tell you about it. Not that your song's not good enough buddy, but that shit takes way too long. I was all over the missus's plan as soon as she pitched it to me. Anything to get you guys back to being Finchel again."

"Noah," Rachel groaned, "I have begged you not to use that stupid nickname."

"Yeah," Finn added, "and Rach won't let me eat snacks this late." Puck could have sworn Finn was pouting.

"But sweetie," Rachel turned back to Finn and Puck may as well have been gone, "your song was perfect, and I wouldn't have wanted to hear anyone sing it other than you." After a sweet, tender kiss to her husband's lips, Rachel turned back to her best friend. "Ok, we didn't ask you in her to tattle on us," she tried to kick Puck from where she sat, but she was too short, "we asked you to celebrate. Go grab your guitar!"

"Umm, hate to disappoint you babe, but it's two in the morning and this is an apartment building. I don't think your neighbors would appreciate a jam session right now." Puck knew his friends had been occupied for the last few hours, but seriously?

"Nah man, it's cool," Finn reassured his friend.

"We live in what my husband so eloquently calls an 'artsy-fartsy' building"

"Yeah, pretty much everybody in this building is either in some kind of arts profession, a couple of Rachel's cast mates live here, or they're in school to be. It's actually kind of unusual for someone not to be playing music all hours of the night. I remember the night we moved in, the upstairs neighbors were going down the stairs as we were moving our last box up, so they invited us to come up for an end-of-the-school-year celebration. After all the moving we'd done that day, we were thrilled to go party for a while." Finn laughed a little at the memory and squeezed Rachel's thigh. "My girl ended up having a bit too much to drink that night. We were barely back in our own front door before she had rip-."

"Finn!" Rachel interrupted breathlessly. "We have company, you don't need to share that story. It's private," she added in a whisper, her face glowing at the memory of attacking Finn before their door was even closed, tearing his belt from his pants before he could remove his shoes. Suffice it to say, they found the nearest sturdy surface and christened the kitchen their first night in their new home.

"His point is," Rachel continued for Finn, "no one is going to mind if we celebrate with a song. We respect each other, no one makes a peep during finals out of deference to the students living here, but other than that we are all artists at heart, and no one complains. If anything, we might end up with people at the door wanting to join us before it's over. So go! Get your guitar!" Giving in, it was their apartment and their problem if they got in trouble so why should he care, he went to get his guitar from the hall.

When he came back into the room, Rachel had moved the piano bench and was poised to play while Finn sat behind his drums, twirling the sticks between his fingers. "So, what are we going to play?" he asked as he looped the guitar's strap around his neck. Rachel gasped and Finn's jaw dropped. He began to worry that his fly was open or something from the way they were staring at him. "What?" he snapped.

"Do you really need to ask that question?" Rachel scolded.

"Dude!" Finn stared at his friend in amazement.

"Ok, so I guess I'm sposed to know this already," Puck lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck, but dropped his hand and his head at the same time as the realization hit him. "Ok, ok," he rolled his eyes. "Go Rachel." Rachel's fingers tickled across the piano, playing the notes that had always been sung by their New Directions team mates. Finn led in the vocals, as always.

"Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world, she took the midnight train going anywhere."

"Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit, he took the midnight train going anywhere," Rachel sang what was generally acknowledged to be her line just before Puck joined with his guitar, doing a bad ass job, if he did say so himself.

"A singer in a smoky room," Puck turned to smile at Rachel when he felt her hands on his shoulders as she stretched up to place her face next to his and joined him for the next line. "The smell of wine and cheap perfume," they both turned to Finn as they heard the drums and he joined them, "for a smile they could share the night, it goes on and on and on and on."

Puck couldn't erase that stupid, goofy smile from his face as he played and sang with his two best friends. Rachel danced around him, spinning in circles and teasing his Mohawk with her hands before she eventually planted herself on Finn's lap behind his drums. When the song ended Puck collapsed onto Finn and Rachel's bed and watched his friends act so sickeningly sweet on the stool that he should want to throw up. He should, but he didn't. He thought about everything he had experienced with these two, and he felt a peace fall over him as he closed his eyes for a moment, thinking, 'This, this is how it should be.'

So, there it is. Please, please, please review. I really want to know what you think.