I own nothing. Hope you enjoy. 8 and 9 are short, so I posted them together.
Rachel took the cool glass gratefully and sipped. Feeling a wave of nausea roll over her, Rachel started to get up. "I need a bathroom, Noah," she said tearfully.
"Okay, Berry, come on, I think there's one down this way," Puck guided her down the hallway. Rachel knelt next to the brown porcelain bowl. "Here, let me help you," Noah offered. He pulled her sweater off and then pulled her hair back with one hand.
Before she could turn around to thank him, she was tossing up a stomach full of alcohol and little else. The plan had been to order pizza and pasta from Breadsticks for dinner. Rachel couldn't help but wish that she'd held off on the drink Noah had suggested until she'd had food to absorb some of the alcohol. But she'd never thought he would suggest an alcoholic beverage to her.
Puck winced as she retched a third time. He leaned over and awkwardly stroked her back as she hung over the toilet trying to regain her composure. "I'm so sorry, Rach."
She smiled up at him weakly. "Not your fault, Noah," Rachel started slowly up to her feet. "I should know better."
Wincing again, Puck didn't like the fact that Rachel so easily accepted that she shouldn't be able to trust him. Quinn refused to trust him which pretty much killed any chance the two of them had had. And now Rachel. Of course, he knew that up until now he hadn't behaved in a matter that would inspire the people around him to give him the benefit of the doubt.
There was just something about Berry that made him want to be better for her. Made him want to be worthy of her belief in him. He wanted her to count on him, not because he was the only person in the room who could stand her...but because he was the first one she thought of when she was in trouble. But Puck didn't know how to be that person. He'd always been the fuckup, it was all he knew how to do.
"Could you help me back to the other room, please?" she asked softly.
Puck swept her up in his arms, he cradled her snugly to his chest. He set her lightly on the couch so that her head was on the arm and she could stretch out. Not that there was much stretching Rachel Berry could do, she was barely over 5 feet tall. Puck rummaged through the closet in the bathroom until he came across an unopened tooth brush which he opened, wetted, and squeezed a dollop of tooth paste on top.
Rachel was where he'd left here, still as death. "Berry, here, this might make you feel a bit better," Puck said as he held out the tooth brush to her. She looked up at him like he had just made her dreams come true. There was a funny clutching feeling in his chest.
When she was finished with her teeth Puck sat down on the couch, scooping Rachel up so that her head was resting on his thighs. "You're going to be okay, Berry," Puck assured her while stroking the slightly sweaty hair at her temples.
"I know, Noah," she agreed quietly. "You're here."
He inhaled sharply as an unknown feeling stabbed at him. No one but his mother and his sister had ever felt better just because he was there. Puck was afraid this feeling might be addictive. Which scared the shit out of him; he had no idea why Berry felt she could trust him, had no idea what he'd done to deserve it...so how could he do it again? What if he fucked this up? Puck gulped, not liking the idea that he might hurt the fragile girl in his arms.
Puck had been so intent on Rachel and making her comfortable that he hadn't noticed that Quinn and Finn had followed them upstairs. Finn looked like he'd been sucker punched. Quinn looked resigned.
"I just wanted to make sure that Rachel was okay. And not, you know, pregnant," Quinn said in her quietly sarcastic way.
"Damn, damn, damn," Finn kept saying under his breath.
Puck was pissed. "I thought I told you to stay away from her, Finnessa. Go back to Santana, jackass." It was much easier to be upset with Finn than it was to decide what he was feeling in regards to Quinn. He'd thought he was in love with her...
"Noah, please make them go away," Rachel whispered brokenly. She had twisted her head into the hard plane of Noah's stomach, not wanting Finn or Quinn to see her looking as wretched as she felt.
"Okay, Rachel, the big, bad, popular people are leaving. Come on, Finn," Quinn tugged on his sleeve to get him to move back towards the basement.
"No," Finn insisted. "I want to stay," it was said quietly, but firmly.
Rachel's shoulders shook in a muted sob. "Please," she begged Noah.
"Damn it, Finn," Puck stormed, "haven't you done enough for one night? She doesn't want you here."
"Oh, and suddenly she does want you here?" Finn raged. "The guy who slushied her daily for over a year? She wants you?"
Rachel looked up, tears sparkling on her lashes. "Yes, I want Noah," she confirmed.
"This is my house! I can go wherever I want," Finn's face was red with hurt and rage. "I love you, Rachel. Please, just give me another chance."
Rachel just looked up at Noah, pleading mutely with him to make Finn go away.
