FALLING IN LOVE AT A COFFEE SHOP - LANDON PIGG
I think that possibly
Maybe I'm falling for you
Yes There's a chance that I've fallen quite hard over you
I've seen the paths that your eyes wander down
I want to come too
I think that possibly
Maybe I'm falling for you
No one understands me quite like you do
Through all of the shadowy corners of me
I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop I love so much
All of the while I never knew
I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop I love so much
All of the while I never knew
I think that possibly
Maybe I'm falling for you
Yes there's a chance that I've fallen quite hard over you
I've seen the waters that make your eyes shine
Now I'm shining too
Because
Oh
Because I've fallen quite hard over you
If I didn't know you I'd rather not know
If I couldn't have you I'd rather be alone
I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop I love so much
All of the while I never knew
I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop I love so much
All of the while I never knew
All of the while
All of the while
All of the while it was you, you
CHAPTER EIGHT
Unsure of her steps and with nervousness in her eyes, Rachel scanned the almost deserted floor of her gym as if looking for someone… Peeking out carefully from the door of the womens changing room and not finding what she came here for, Rachel slowly makes her way towards the main fitness area and scans the row of treadmills that right now are occupied by only four people…
With a glint of recognition in her eyes and letting off a sigh of relief, Rachel steps up to a treadmill next to the person that brought her to her otherwise seldom visited gym …
Schooling her face to have what can only be described as a downcast expression… Rachel pressed her treadmill and put the speed at one, as she began gliding on its conveyor belt before turning her face towards the person she came here to find…
"Kurt…"
She said in the humblest of voices…
Whipping his head around as if he was just aware of her presence, Kurt looked at Rachel in shock and throws what could only be called as a killer stare at her before running once again and now at a faster speed… With puppy dog eyes and a pitiful expression on her face, Rachel takes hold of Kurt's ipod earphones and takes it away from him as she whispered once again in his ear…
"My bestest, best friend…"
Without a word, Kurt slams on the stop button of his treadmill with much force, making the handful of people in the gym look their way as he gave out a shout which caused Rachel to clutch her heart in surprise at his loud voice and thunderous expression that also caused her to accidentally press on the stop button of her treadmill making it grind to a halt…
"WHATTTTTTTT!"
"What the hell, Kurt!That scared me…"
Rachel leaned back against her treadmill in fright as she whispered the words under her breath…
Rachel saw Kurt stop himself from laughing but even before she can call him out for that, he is once again staring her down with his arms crossed across his chest and with an incredulous expression on his face…
"Friend? Best Friend? Am i mistaken or have i really just heard you call me that?"
Kurt pointed to himself in an exaggerated motion making no secret of the fact that he is irritated with Rachel as he addressed her in a voice dripping with sarcasm which Rachel counteracted with a sacharrine sweet voice…
"Kurtttttttttttttttt…"
Rachel said in a whiny tone before she gave Kurt a warm kiss on his cheek…
Softening a little, Kurt averted his eyes away from Rachel to prevent himself from caving in to her tactics knowing that she had already perfected the art of knowing him exactly that he can just easily give in to her…
"But you are… My bestest, bestest friend…"
He scoffed…
"Diva! How dare you call me your friend when I have only learnt about your affair with Noah Puckerman over the newspapers? It's been four days! Four days and you have not even gotten in touch with me! I went a lot of times to your apartment and I know you're there but your doorman keeps on insisting that you went away on holiday while I was just learning about this development in your life just as the same time that the citizens of New York did… "
Kurt looks at Rachel again and Rachel looks away guiltily…
"Holiday, my ass…"
Kurt continued with his tirade…
"I'm sorry, okay? it's just that I wanted the news to die down and I would not want to speak to anyone about it because Noah also advised me not to and …"
"What did you say?"
Kurt looks at Rachel with his mouth wide open…
"I wanted the news to die do—"
"No… no… no… the one after that…"
"That Noah also advised me… AWWW! AWWW!"
Rachel cringed in pain as Kurt has already clapped his hand on her arms repeatedly even before she finished her sentence…Rachel stomped her feet as she looked on at Kurt with a wounded expression…
"WHAT THE HELL?"
"You evil, evil woman…"
Kurt mumbled… his face like that of a nagging mom who just found out that her only daughter is pregnant…
"So it means that it's true? That you're really dating Puckerman?"
Rachel chewed on her lip apprehensively before giving a slow nod… Rachel totally hates the fact that she's lying to her best friend but as Noah mentioned to her when they talked about this scheme further, the lesser people who know of the condition of their arrangement, the cleaner it would be to make a break once it's over…
Kurt squealed and threw his arms around Rachel as he jumped up and down in celebration before looking at her with an elated expression…
"Dammit Rachel! I would really hate you for a long time if not for the fact that I'm longing to hear the details… Spill…"
Kurt said excitedly… a totally interested expression on his face as Rachel tried to make up a plausible story in her head…
"Just - ummm… during the launch…"
"You got drunk didn't you?"
Rachel looks at Kurt and nods slowly…
"I knew it.. and that photo of you at his house in the papers… "
Kurt was lost in his own world… piecing together his own story in his head that Rachel used to her full advantage as she neither denied nor admitted anything…
"You went to bed with him because once again you went crazy with the alcohol and it started from there didn't it? DANGGGGGGGG… I knew something was up when the paparazzis also caught him coming from your apartment"
Kurt's eyes were as big as saucers as he gasped in what seems to be his own version of a romance movie starring Rachel and Puck…
Rachel shrugs uncomfortably as Kurt waited for her reply but even before she can say anything, Kurt's mood seemed to have changed considerably as he looked at someone over Rachel's shoulder while letting out a loud expletive under his breath…
"Shit! What is that bitch doing here?"
"Huh? Who?"
Unaware of who Kurt was talking about and confused at the sudden direction that their conversation was taking, Rachel turned around and craned her neck as she looked with interest at the newcomer whom Kurt was addressing with much hostility…
As she turned to look at the entrance coming from the locker, Rachel's smile slowly disappears from her face as she saw Quinn make her way towards the aerobics area while patting her neck daintily with a towel…
She is dressed in short cheerleader shorts with the word GLAM spelled in varsity letters across her behind while her washboard abs is exposed sexily in her racerback tank top… She had put her hair haphazardly into a bun and even before she started with her work out, she already had a rosy, natural glow about her that made her look as if she's coming to the gym for a commercial shoot instead rather than to exercise… Rachel had never felt frumpier in her life in her matching and conservative sports tracksuit as girls and guys alike turn with awe as Quinn makes her way nonchalantly across the room…
Rachel pulled down her visor lower to disguise herself as she whispered frantically to Kurt…
"Shit! What is she doing here?"
Kurt looked at her in indignation…
"Damn if I know! You think like you I also go here often? This is the first time I've ever been here in four months and I only went because I have a date next week…"
Rachel rolled her eyes in exasperation… Remembering that like her, Kurt hates exercise the most and that in the whole of New York City the two of them would belong to the list of the most unathletic persons that one can think of…
"Alright… Alright… Never mind… we have to get out of here… Now!"
Rachel crouched down in preparation for fleeing but Kurt remains where he is and does not move a muscle making Rachel look up at him as she is half bent over…
"Why do you have to be the one to avoid her when you did nothing to her?"
Rachel closed her eyes and breathed out in frustration… She had explained her situation to Kurt a number of times but it is terribly hard for her to make him understand the humiliation she feels whenever she sees Quinn…
She does not know what to say or what to do if ever she is confronted by her presence and less she makes an even bigger fool of herself, Rachel would rather put off that instance when they have to meet face to face until the time comes that she's finally ready…
"I just don't want a scene alright? I know that that time would come but not now when…"
Rachel stopped midsentence and looked in confusion as Kurt's face becomes cold and his eyebrows shot up…Aware of a prickling sensation behind her back, Rachel straightens up slowly as it dawned on her that she just can't avoid meeting Quinn any longer because it seems that fate has decided for her that that time would be now as she slowly turned around and sees Quinn's brightly smiling face behind her…
"Rachel Berry…"
She said in a soft, lilting voice while cooly disregarding the fact that Kurt was standing across from her, tapping his foot on the wooden floor like a gangster while throwing dagger looks at her…
Rachel was taken aback but quickly recovers to paste a fake smile on her face too…
Two can play at this game… if she thinks that she can intimidate her with her seemingly good graces then Rachel can march to the same band too…
"Well... well… well… if it isn't Quinn Fabray…"
Quinn gave a small chuckle, the sound permeating the room as she looked at Rachel with fascination…
"I guess there's no need for introductions… I am a fan… "
Rachel gave a polite nod and smile … if she thinks that she'd say that she is a fan too… well, she has another think coming… HA!
Quinn's smile falters, a glimpse of her bratty persona showing through the façade when Rachel didn't' return the compliment but she was all pleasant smiles the next moment once again…
"Your performance during the Tonys for Wicked was simply divine…"
Kurt gasped in indignation as Rachel felt her temper shot up… She knows that Quinn is very much aware that she didn't star at all in Wicked and if she meant to tell her that she was not a big deal in Broadway in the subtlest way possible then she earns this point but Rachel would simply not back down as she gave what she hoped what sounded like amused laughter…
"Oh… I didn't star in Wicked… I'm currently in the LEAD ROLE right now for Evita and if you're not familiar with it, then perhaps you can come to the theater one of these days and who knows, maybe I can sponsor you a couple of front row tickets?"
Take that, bitch!
Quinn's cheeks reddened, the only sign that she was affected by Rachel's underhanded jab about giving her hand me outs… Recovering fast, Quinn goes in for the kill as she once again takes the upperhand…
"It's really a surprise meeting you here… I didn't even know that we go to the same gym… I hardly see you here…"
She laughs once again as she looked Rachel up and down…
"I guess you just don't go as regularly as I do…"
She makes a face then… a sort of cute gesture that Rachel would relish erasing off her face…Quinn continues on… Anyone who's watching would think that the both of them are having a civil conversation but the underhanded barbs and remarks just continues flying furiously…
"Oh, by the way… Finn would be picking me up after class… It's been a long time between you guys… You should say hi… You are in the same yoga class as me right? I saw your name when I signed up so you can totally wait for him… "
She finished in a honeyed voice while Rachel clenched her hands into fists… Kurt takes a sip from his water bottle and coughs out…
"(cough) skank (cough)"
Quinn throws a glare in Kurt's direction as Rachel replied casually and excitedly as if Finn was just a long lost friend and that they never had anything in the past.…
"Oh yeah? That would be great! I WOULD TOTALLY LOVE TO SAY HI!"
Quinn looks at her in surprise… taken aback by her reaction as she thought she would try to avoid the situation once again…
"Oh… oh… okay then… I'd see you in class… I have to do my cardio… it was nice meeting you again…"
She said in a voice dripping with sarcasm as she turned around but quickly turns back as if remembering something…
"Umm… I heard from Noah baby… "
She gave a small chuckle as she exaggeratedly tried to correct herself as if for Rachel's sake…
"I'm sorry… Puck that you're dating… Congratulations… I hope it lasts…"
Her words were full of well wishes but her tone says otherwise… other than that, Rachel was annoyed at the fact that Quinn seems to look at her with a calculating stare as if she knows something she didn't… With one last wave… she turns to walk away as Kurt whispered in a sing song voice…
"So long HOOOOOOO…"
Once Quinn was out of sight, Rachel slumps against the wall as she fans herself vigorously… Kurt makes gagging motions with his finger towards Quinn's direction before sitting down beside Rachel…
"The nerve of that woman… I swear! If we would not just be in the papers tomorrow, I would have pulled her hair until she turns bald… Are you ok?"
Rachel looks up at Kurt, a stricken expression on her face…
"I'm screweddddddddd! I said that I'd say hi to Finn later… I swear I'm dead! Do I really have to see them together?"
Kurt turns Rachel around to face him… a stern expression on his face…
"Listen to me Berry and listen good! You can't let your pride take a beating… Pretend that you're just talking to an old friend or you found your long lost dog or something… You should not let them get the upper hand by making these sad faces that you're now making… understand?"
Rachel pouts as if she's about to cry before giving a slow nod… Kurt pumps his fists as if he's leading an army…
"You can do this... For now we have bigger problems to think of... like that darned yoga class that we have to take even if we were just supposed to sign up for it… Dang that Quinn! C'mon! Stand up and let's make her see what we're made of…"
And as Rachel brushed her pants off and proceeded to yoga class like she's marching to her death… She sends a little prayer that somehow she can make it through this afternoon with her pride intact and without making a complete and utter fool of herself when she finally meets Finn…
P&R
Grimacing as if she's in terrible pain, Rachel throws herself against the waiting room couch of their gym as she waited for Kurt…
They have just finished yoga class and Rachel felt like a fish out of water as she stumbled, fell, and basically just made an ass of herself over her unbalanced movements while Quinn breezed through the program as if she is the daughter herself of the Dalai Lama…
Flicking her wrist to check the time, Rachel bit on her lip nervously as she willed for Kurt to come out of the lockers quickly so that they can go home and make a quick escape even before Finn can arrive…
Truth is she chickened out… While watching Quinn glide and balance her way towards nirvana in class, Rachel had a realization that she does not want her first encounter with Finn in person after the break up to happen in a public place… She'd rather that they have the time alone to be together and to talk things through preferably in one of their favorite coffee shops or over a glass of wine… She also wish that It can hopefully happen at a time when she is fully limber and dolled up and not today when even her pinky finger hurts and when she's all sweaty and flushed…
Damn that Quinn! She must have goaded her to take the Yoga class because she knew exactly that she'd be like an abandoned and overly used rag doll by the time Finn arrived…With an annoyed sigh, Rachel leaned her head back against the couch while covering her face with a white towel…
She was almost nodding off to sleep when she felt someone watching her with amusement… Disoriented and confused with her eyes half closed, Rachel sat up straight as she scanned the premises for a trace of anyone whom she might know and could be looking at her … She pauses midscan as she came face to face with her audience…. Surprise keeping her silent as Finn stood just a few meters away from her…
"Hey…"
He whispered… a slight smile of amusement on his face as Rachel stood up jerkily from the couch where she was almost napping before nodding politely to him and speaking to him formally which made him smile even further…
"Good Afternoon…"
Finn looked at Rachel with amusement… a look of tenderness passing through his eyes for a moment before he masks it once again with a distant smile…
"Such formality… What are you doing here?"
Rachel rolled her eyes sarcastically… Her nervousness about meeting him momentarily dispelled as they fell into the easy banter that just comes naturally to them for the past couple of years that they've been together…
"Doing the laundry… Of course I worked out couldn't you tell?"
And as if that explanation was not enough, Rachel punctuated the remark with a groan as she pounded her aching back
Finn gave out a little chuckle… His eyes roving over her face as he realized how much he missed her now that she's right in front of him…
"It's nice seeing you… really…"
His voice was soft, full of the repressed emotions that somehow he'd not want to burden her with but he can't help himself from expressing…
Rachel's sarcastic expression softens, a moment of awkwardness pass between them as they stare at each other… both of them so familiar with the other and close enough to touch and yet at this moment it feels as if a lifetime separates them…
Quinn watches their exchange from a distance with dismay… Marching up to both of them casually, she hooks her arms around Finn's in a proprietary way that is meant to put Rachel in her place and show her her ownership of him…
"Finnie Bear!"
She shouted cutely… Finn tears his gaze away from Rachel with difficulty… an uneasy expression on his face at Quinn's public display of affection while Rachel averts her gaze away from them feeling totally like an outsider…
"So you've said Hi?"
She looked from one to the other with an innocent expression on her face…She then gave a small chuckle as she pouted cutely before leaning her head on Finn's shoulders…
"I thought you would not want to see him Rachel… you didn't even take a shower and seem to be in a hurry… It's a relief that at least everything's well that you would avoid seeing us together… I mean, stuff like this happens right? We're all adults here?"
Finn expelled his breath and closed his eyes impatiently… aware that Quinn is exaggeratedly being friendly not to be civil with Rachel but to make her uncomfortable…
This is one of the things that Finn just can't understand about Quinn… her need to always have the upper hand that sometimes she will go to great lengths just to prove a point without regard at all for anybody else's emotion…
Rachel flushed beet red as she thought of an excuse that would not make her seem like the coward or the obsessed ex lover that is still so hung up on her former boyfriend that Quinn seem to be making her out to be (even if she was, she has her pride…)
Rachel gave a haughty toss of her head to face Quinn head on but before she can even say anything, something happened that made her jaw drop in surprise…
"BABE!"
"Noah!"
"Puck?"
"Harumph…"
The four of them exclaimed differently as Noah appeared in the doorway dressed casually in a hooded shirt, aviator sunglasses and sneakers…
Rachel was open mouthed and disbelieving that he was even here, Quinn was petulant and whiny while Finn is stiff and disapproving… Only Noah's voice was bright and happy and beside him, Kurt stood with a smug expression like the cat who got the cream…
Noah moves forward and grabs on to Rachel's waist to plant a kiss on her temple with a bright smile on his face… Rachel was like a zombie in a trance as she stood unmoving… uncertain of what's happening as she stared at Noah with a wide eyed expression, her mouth wide open…
"Hey Baby… I'm sorry if I picked you up already… I know I was supposed to wait at the moviehouse but we just might miss the movie since it's getting late…"
"m-m-movie?"
Rachel asked with a dumbfounded expression…
"Yeah… Rachel! THE MOVIE… Remember?"
Kurt looked at her with a threatening expression as Rachel looked at Finn's blazing expression which seem to be locked onto Noah's hands around her waist…
"Ahhhh… Ahhhh… the movie!"
Rachel exclaimed eventhough she does not know what the hell she was talking about…
Suavely, Noah raised his head to address Quinn and Finn who are now standing like idiots in front of them…
"Hey Q!"
Noah said energetically before looking Finn up and down and offering his hands to him…
"Hudson?"
Finn disregards Noah's outstretched hands… his jaw clenching and unclenching as Noah just shrugged nonchalantly before proceeding to address Rachel again while smoothing her hair… his hands never leaving her waist as he held him close to him…
"Did you have a good time, huh? You didn't get too tired?"
He said in an intimate whisper close to her ears which made Rachel squirm… Finn looked as if he would punch Noah at any given moment while Quinn just looked confused and at a loss…
Flicking his wrist to look at his watch, Noah gave a shake of his head before turning to address Finn and Quinn once again…
"It's really nice seeing you all here.. but we have to go somewhere and we're going to be late so I hope you'd excuse us…Kurt?"
He turned to give a nod to Kurt which he repaid with a vigorous wave and a wide grin…
"PUCK!"
Quinn stomped her feet as if wanting to know what's going on but Noah only kissed her cheek lightly in reply before whispering in her ears…
"I'd give you a call okay?"
To Finn he gave a formal nod once again as Rachel felt like a puppet on string as he dragged her along by the hands towards the bank of elevators lining the hallway…
Once they were out of sight Kurt looks at Quinn triumphantly up and down before acting as if he'd hit Finn while looking at him disgustedly…
"Jerk!"
Finn looks at him pointblank… his stare a little icy which made Kurt cower a little so that he only ended up making a face at him…
With an exaggerated toss of his head, Kurt grabs his bags and leaves Quinn and Finn standing in the receiving area… Their expressions downcast and grim as Finn seethes in jealousy while Quinn feels a little threatened how Noah seem to be playing out his role towards Rachel to be too real and that's not how they have talked about it previously…
P&R
With a confused expression on her face, Rachel whipped her head around to look at Noah inside the elevator…
"CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"
Noah stood near the elevator wall… his back pressed against the wooden panel while his hands hold on to the bar that was behind him… there was a nonchalant expression on his face… like what's happening is commonplace and ordinary but the girl beside him seem to think otherwise as she stood beside him, demanding answers…
Noah shrugged…
"Well, Kurt gave me a call… saying I had to pick you up today without explaining why… less we blow our cover, I have to play the role of a dutiful boyfriend and do as he asked… You should have told me you needed rescuing…"
He looked at Rachel teasingly… Affronted, Rachel straightens to her full height as she once again salvaged her pride in front of Noah…
"Who—Who—needed rescuing? I was doing fairly well even without you…"
Noah gave a chuckle before unwittingly ruffling Rachel's hair like she's a little girl…
Taken aback with his action… Noah snatched his hand right away while Rachel turned her back to him giddily before touching the spot where he touched her hair like a dummy as they wait in awkward silence for the elevators to open…
Rachel raises her head to look at the slowly changing lights of the elevator feeling as if they have been stuck there for an eternity when Noah breaks the silence…
"Ummm… about Quinn…"
Rachel looks at Noah's reflection from the elevator door…
"What about her?'
"I hope you won't think too harshly of her… she is just used to being the center of attention of everyone that's why she comes across as a brat… She is quite nice actually if you get to know her…"
Rachel gave a sad laugh as she turned around to face Noah…
"To you maybe … but not to me… "
Rachel looks at Noah's serious expression before speaking again in a sad tone…
"You really care about her don't you?"
Noah looked at Rachel quizically…
"Shouldn't I be? She's my best friend, I told you all about it…We've been through a lot together"
He said firmly… as if that sentence is the answer to everything… With a slow nod of understanding, Rachel acknowledges Noah's statement but it felt as if her heart squeezed just a teeny weeny bit with Noah's stand on the matter…
The elevator doors open and Rachel puts her hands in her pants pocket, her backpack slung over her shoulder making her look years younger than she really is…
"So I guess I'd see you?"
Rachel said… Her eyes having difficulty meeting that of Noah's…
"What do you mean you'd see me?"
He looks at her in confusion…
"Aren't we supposed to see a movie?"
Once again in the course of that day, Rachel found herself at a loss for words as she looked at Noah who was looking at her seriously…
"But- but - I thought that was just to help me… to -"
Noah smiled at her so sexily that Rachel almost gasped aloud at how it made her weak at the knees…
"I thought you needed no rescuing?"
He said flirtatiously… Following his hands with her stare, Noah dove inside his pockets to produce two movie tickets from within…
"Besides Kurt already wasted my day by making me come here… it would be such a waste if I should just go back to the office again… Can't you see I'm dressed for playing hooky?"
Rachel felt a fluttering within her chest… a sensation that is making her breathless and making her incoherent…
"C-car…."
She pointed towards the direction of her car before recognizing that she was in a track suit and still sweaty from her workout since she planned to just take a shower in her home instead…
"Dr-dress-"
Noah laughs at her surprise while Rachel felt miserable for sounding like a bumbling retard…
"You can leave your car here and you're okay… We're just going to a moviehouse anyway… so that's all good…"
Grabbing her hands amidst her protests, Noah laughingly pulls Rachel along with him towards his car as Rachel raised her eyes heavenwards while uttering a silent prayer to God that she wish she'll never fall in love with this man because somehow it feels as if she's already on her way there…
P&R
With trembling hands, Rachel wiped her tears away inside the darkened moviehouse…
Seemingly unaware of Noah's presence beside her, Rachel blew her nose as she cried her eyes out in compassion over the scene unfolding in front of her from the moviescreen while beside her, Noah looked at her in amusement…
Rachel thought that the outing would be in a moviehouse along with dozens of other people but it turned out that Noah rented an entire moviehouse just for the two of them while he screened the movie Notting Hill which is like Rachel's favorite movie of all time…
She doesn't even know if he knows that fact but just the fact that he had gone to great lengths to rent a moviehouse just for her already cheered her up… She can't say she's not impressed…
Rachel folded her tattered and torn tissue which was wet from her tears for the umpteenth time when suddenly Noah's hands shot out from underneath her as he gave her his handkerchief to use instead…
Rachel locked eyes with Noah for a moment… hers wet with tears while his smiling tenderly in gentle bemusement at how emotional she can get over a movie… With hesitation, Rachel nodded softly as she accepted his offer before dabbing at her eyes once again…
Just when Rachel was recovering… the screen shifted towards Rachel's most favorite part which is that of Hugh Grant's confession of his feelings for Julia Roberts during her press conference… With a gasp of excitement, Rachel grabs on to Noah's hands instinctively…
"Oh, its my favorite part!"
She exclaimed while looking straight ahead… Noah looks at her in surprise for a second before fixing his gaze on her hands clasped tightly over his…
Noah felt a wave of tenderness envelop him… a feeling that seems foreign to him but then familiar at the same time as he stared once again at this seemingly crazy girl who is now stirring emotions in him that he has not felt for a long time…
Rachel had her eyes fixed on the screen… An awestruck expression on her face as she watched Hugh Grant bare his heart in front of everyone vulnerably just to get the girl he loves… Her lips slightly moving along with the dialogue as if she had watched this scene a million times…
Noah can't tear his eyes off her… He had never once in his life met anyone like her.. someone who's ruled by her emotions so much that it takes priority over everything else in her life… Just as he thought it is foolish for her to willingly expose herself to so much pain and hurt that others take advantage of her… he also finds it quite admirable that she can live her life so fearlessly….
The movie reaches its climax … Rachel still stares at the screen fascinated while Noah watches her…
When it came to the scene where William finally confesses his feelings for Anna calling himself "a daft prick" and Anna gives out that big smile saying she'd now stay in Britain indefinitely while the first strains of She of Elvis Costello fills the moviehouse, Rachel gives Noah's hands a tight squeeze as she half laughed and half cried once again over the scene…
However, as if suddenly realizing just what she's doing, Rachel looks at Noah awkwardly and snatches her hand away…Her smile changing to an expression of awkwardness as she averted her eyes from Noah…
Noah clenches his fist lightly before rubbing his palms over his jeans… He does not really know what's happening but suddenly he feels empty… Rachel smiles at him uneasily and Noah gives a polite nod…
As the movie finishes and the lights go up, Rachel dabs at her eyes while Noah looks at her dotingly…
"Was the movie that sad?"
He jokingly asks her… Rachel laughs, a far away expression now on her face again…
"Nope… I'm not crying because it's sad… I'm crying because it's beautiful…"
Noah's eyebrows furrowed in confusion…
"You know that feeling when you feel as if love conquers all? When a lot of times you would have given up on the fight but in the end you stuck it out and then you are rewarded with something so sweet and profound that you feel as if all the heartache and pain that you went through was worth it?'
centerimg src=".com/09qblu9/63Vli9tcb/tumblr_"/center
Noah still looked puzzled and Rachel chuckled…
"You should really try falling in love…"
"Maybe I will…"
He murmured under his breath making Rachel whip her head up to stare at him… Noah smiled widely…
"Why? Is that surprising?"
Rachel shrugged as she stood up to pick her bag…
"I just can't imagine you doing it…"
"Me too…"
He said casually as they walked out of the moviehouse and once again Rachel felt that vise grip her heart….
The walk towards the car was punctuated by silence but a comfortable one… Like they've known each other for years and that it is normal for them to spend a day off like this together…
As Noah drove Rachel back to the gym to get her car, Rachel settled in the seat comfortably as she hummed the few bars of She to herself… Noah takes his eyes off momentarily from the road to stare at her, a smile on his face…
"You seem to like that song a lot…"
Rachel looks straight ahead at the dark road as that question reminded her of the very reason why the song had a special meaning to her … of a time when Finn and her were happy and in love and when she feels as if her life could never be more perfect…
It was a song that he sang to her during her 15th birthday… He painstakingly arranged the music to fit in lyrics more suited to her because he knows how much she loves it…
On the eve of her birthday, he invited her for a midnight picnic where he sang the song to her himself and ever since then, it had always been his song for her…
The ringing of Noah's phone brings Rachel out of her reverie… He spoke to the phone tersely, succintly in a matter of seconds the phone call was over and done with…
"You're really a man of few words, aren't you?"
"Huh?"
Noah turned his head to look at Rachel in surprise…
"Nothing…"
She said while shaking her head…
"The way you use your phone…it would be better to text you than to talk to you…"
Noah gave a short chuckle…
"I don't… TEXT…"
He said the word as if it was childish… something that you wouldn't catch him dead doing…
"HA! But everyone in this day and age texts already… "
Noah shook his head…
"Not me… I never found the use for it… if I need to say something, I call… Texting is for sissies…"
"Ahhhh…"
Noah looked at her and grinned…
"You seem disappointed?"
Rachel waved her hands defensively and vigorously…
"Nope… not really… just curious that's all…
Truth be told, Rachel really was disappointed… She doesn't know why but the thought of exchanging text messages with him sounds appealing to her… Rachel found that weird but thought to herself how maybe he does not have anyone that close to him to exchange messages with… the kind that you just send because you just want to say hi or ask each other how you're doing or when you just want to le the other know that you're thinking about them…
Rachel gasped as she realized where her thoughts are going into… It seems that the more she learns about Noah, the more she understands him and she knows it's presumptous of her but somehow now, she can even see herself becoming really friendly with him…
The parking garage was empty when they reached it… Rachel's car the lone occupant of the vast space as she took off her seatbelt and turned to say goodbye to Noah…
"Thanks… I had a great time…"
He nodded…
"Happy to oblige… I'm just doing my job…"
Rachel was taken aback… Pasting on a smile on her face, she nods politely to him as she gives him a gentle wave…
"I guess I'd be seeing you then…"
Noah shrugged… the moment she got out of the car, he sped off leaving Rachel standing by herself…
"JUST DOING MY JOB… JUST DOING MY JOB… PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, BERRY!"
Rachel shouted to the empty parking lot… kicking at the space where Noah's car was at just a few moments ago… She does not know why but Noah's words seem to diminish the joy that she felt over their outing today…
Grudgingly, Rachel hoisted her bag as she walked towards the space where her car was… Fishing out her keys from the pocket of her bag… Rachel heard her cellphone beeping…
Rachel juggles her bag and her keys as she brought out her cellphone too to read her message…
Here goes my 1st text ever… I hope you get home safe… I had a great time… :) - Puck
Against her will Rachel felt a smile form on her face… the kind that goes wider and wider that it feels as if her face would split apart…
Giggling uncontrollably like a schoolgirl, Rachel skips to her car giddily … It's the smiley face that did her in…really it did…
And in that moment for the first time ever in months, Rachel went to bed peacefully with nary a thought, least of all Finn who at that time became the farthest thing ever on her mind…
AUTHORS NOTE:
I firmly believe that the best part of falling in love is that stage when you are yet uncertain about your feelings for a person and yet everything he does makes you giddy...And with how everything started for Rachel and Puck in this FF, i feel as if it was double the fun letting them realize that they're falling for each other...
Don't you agree? :)
I'd love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review please and i'd really, really appreciate it!