Okay we have a lot to cover so let's jump into this. (Sorry I know everyone hates long A/Ns but it has to be done)
First this chapter is about two weeks late but it is also really long so that that should more than make up for that.
Second I'm going to be gone for the next few weeks on vacation so I won't be updating soon. That's partly why I made this chapter so long.
Next Red Satin and Black Silk is the best beat in the world and I would have never gotten this far with out her encouragement. Seriously she rocks. She has a new fic up that she started to help give me encouragement on the more difficult scenes to write. Check it out it's called Always Yours. And you can give her a bit of love for all the hard work she does on KIT
Lastly I want to thank everyone for all their support on this story I know you are getting tired of me saying this but it means so much to me. I know I may be taking some turns that not everyone likes but PLEASE stay with me and trust me. This WILL have a happy ending.
Alright enough chit chat let's see what daddy Puck is up to.
Puck woke up promptly at 5:30 am. After he came up with a plan; he decided to get to bed early so he could put his plan into action and so he didn't want to have to deal with whatever shit when Rachel called him back. (She called twice but he pretended not to hear it).He set his alarm the night before so he could make sure that he had enough time to set things ups. Operation: Badass Boot Camp was on and these kids weren't gonna know what hit them.
He got dressed quickly and went downstairs to fix things for them. He then made himself some coffee and sat, slowly sipping until his first cup was done. Then he made his way up stairs and stood in the middle of the hall. He put his whistle in his mouth. Brought the pot and spoon up and waited until the clock on his wrist said 6:00am. Show time.
He blew the whistle as hard as he could and made such a loud sound in the middle of the quiet house. He also started banging the spoon on the pot over and over again. This went on for about a solid two minutes until his two kids emerged from the rooms looking groggy and confused.
"Good morning my two dumb ass kids," He said as he pulled the whistle out of his mouth and gave them a bright smile.
"Dad what the fuck is going on?" Caleb asked with his voice thick full of sleep. He jumped out of bed when he heard the noise and didn't even bother putting a shirt on or pants for that matter. He stood in the middle of the hallway in his boxers.
"Yeah is everything okay," Sarah asked just as sleepy.
"Oh yeah. Everything is fine. Great even" He told them with a smile on his face. "You see something occurred to me. There is a very thin line between being a Badass and being a Dumbass and I realized last night that maybe I haven't done my dutiful job as kickass father by teaching you guys that. So now we're gonna go back to the basics and fill in the holes that are missing in your badass education,"
They both just stared and looked at him like he had completely lost.
"You're both in badass boot camp." He told them simply.
"Are you kidding?" Sarah asked at the same time Caleb asked "You're joking right?"
"Nope," He said making sure to pop his 'p'. "Badass boot camp starts right now. You both got 15 minutes to get dress and meet me down stairs in the living room. And I'd wear sweats if I were you." He blew his whistle and made them both jump.
Sarah got moving and ran back to her room to start getting ready. Caleb stood in the hall in disbelief. "Dad come on…"
"Fourteen minutes and 43 seconds" He told him seriously. Before he started banging the spoon on the pot again. Caleb rolled his eyes and went back to his room. "Chop chop. Badasses get to sleep in. Dumb asses don't." He yell to them through their doors before making his way down stairs.
He was surprised that they both made it within the time limit. Sarah cut it at little close but still made it. They both looked a little disheveled and tired as fuck but they were there. They went to go sit on the couch but Puck stopped them right away. "Oh no you don't. Badasses get to sit. Dumb asses don't. You can both stand there while I tell you what I want you to do."
"I thought we were already grounded," Caleb asked with a big yawn.
"You are grounded. And in addition to serving you sentence you'll also be enrolled in Badass boot camp. As of right now you're both dumb asses. You both don't get your official title of badass back until you graduate boot camp," He said taking a seat right in front of where they were standing. "Look, I meant what I said. There is still a lot of shit you guys don't know about life and it's pretty fucking messed up that you don't see how dumb getting arrested is. I didn't quite understand the difference between badass and dumb ass when I was you're age and I'm not gonna let you guys make the same mistakes I did trying to figure them out. So for the next few weeks I'm gonna be Major Pain-in-the-ass Puckerman, the drill sergeant of bad ass boot camp and your worst night mare. Got it?"
"Yeah," They both mumbled.
Puck blew his whistle loudly and made them jump again. "Next lesson. Badasses know where to respond with respect and know when no to. Dumb asses just mumble yeah to their drill sergeant. So let's try that again. Got it?"
"Yes sir." They mumbled again. Puck again blew the whistle.
"Badasses also know when to speak up."
"Yes Sir," They said louder.
"Good now drop and give me twenty," He told them. They hesitated, trying to see if he was serious and he just blew his whistles again. "Badasses know to listen to even bigger badasses. So now make that thirty." He said.
There was no hesitation this time as they both got down and started doing pushups.
When they got to seventeen Caleb didn't go down all the way on one so Puck blew the whistle and added ten more before making them start all over. By the time they were done (after restarting for a second time because Sarah started to bend her knees) Puck had them switch over to their backs and made them do crunches next. They were both tired and sweaty when they got done.
"Alright back on your feet." He said blowing the whistle. They learned to stop jumping at the sound by now and just stood up like he said. "My watch says its 6:40. That gives you an hour to clean up the kitchen and get ready for school. Van pulls out of the driveway at 7:40 with or without you."
Caleb raised his hand. He was starting to catch on the game his dad way playing. "Um permission to speak…sir?" Puck just nodded at him and told him to continue. "So does this mean my driving privileges are revoked?"
"That's right. I'm glad you caught on to the next lesson. Badasses drive themselves to school. Dumb asses get rides from their parents. Now if I were you I'd get going," He said before blowing the whistle again.
Caleb and Sarah trudged off towards the kitchen. "Don't worry," Sarah told him when they were out of ear shot of their dad. "We'll just load up the dishwasher and wipe down the counters. Then we can shower, go to school and get away from Major Pain-in-the-ass."
They walked into the kitchen and stopped in their tracks. The whole place was a wreck. There were mud foot prints on the floor. Flour on the counters and ceiling. It looked like jelly was all over the kitchen table and there was a sink full of dishes that weren't there last night. To make matters worse there was sign written in their dad's handwriting on top of the dishwashers saying 'Broken: Do Not Use'.
"What the fuck happened in here?" Caleb asked his sister and she just shrugged.
Puck came up behind them and startled them as he walked into the kitchen. "Oh did I forget to mention that I tried making breakfast this morning with the lights off? Yeah I struggled for a bit but I finally got my coffee" They looked back at him with wide eyes. Did he just say coffee? This whole mess was for coffee? Puck went back to the coffee pot and poured himself another cup. He fixed it to his liking then took a big sip. "Have fun cleaning it up," He said before turning around and walking back into the living room to watch the morning news.
Caleb headed to start the dishes while Sarah started on the table. "Your dad is fucking crazy!" He whispered to her afraid of being heard. For all he knew his dad would come in there making them do pushups again and saying some shit like 'bad asses get to cuss and dumb asses don't'.
Sarah looked up offended "My dad! He was your dad first," She whispered back.
"Yeah, well he likes you more," He hissed back.
"He does not!"
"Does too,"
"Does not. Now, just shut up and clean before we get in even more trouble." She whispered to him.
Caleb rolled his eyes and went back to the dishes. "Does too," He mumbled under his breath.
They finished cleaning by 7:15 and had just enough time to take a ten minute shower each and get dressed for school. They came running down stairs with five minutes to spare and found their dad sitting at the kitchen table eating eggs and reading the newspaper.
"Glad, you guys saved yourselves enough time for breakfast," He said causally.
Caleb walked over to the cabinet to grab a pop tart but stopped when he didn't see them. "Where are the pop-tarts?" He asked.
"Oh those are gone." He said and he enjoyed the look of shock on his sons face. "Yeah see badasses get pop tarts. Dumb asses get toast." He said pointing to the plate of plain toast sitting and waiting for them on the counter.
They both fought back their groans and they took the toast and ate it plain. (They were both afraid to ask for jelly knowing that badasses get jelly and dumbasses don't.) When they finished they grabbed their book bags and headed out to the minivan. Caleb had to fight down the bitter embarrassment that he felt at being dropped off at school by his father. This was totally taking down his reputation.
Puck drove them to school with a smile on his face whistling a tune. They were both quiet while he drove. Sarah half expected him to kick them out and make them walk. Caleb just didn't want to say anything to piss him off anymore.
The whole drill sergeant dad thing was creepy. Puck pulled up to the front of the school right where everyone could see them. Caleb tried to sink down a bit and unclick his seat belt fast. Hopefully no one would notice him.
"Wait just a second." He told them before they could rush out. He didn't want this moment of embarrassment to pass by too fast for them. "Now we got Glee this afternoon so we'll all drive home together afterwards," He told them. They both nodded and tried to leave again. "I'm not done yet. If I hear about or even catch a whiff of you two fucking up. Badass boot camp is gonna get a lot harder on you two." He told them seriously. "And I'm only doing this shit cause I love you guys and don't want you screwing your shit up."
They nodded at his words. Sarah gave him an awkward hug from the backseat and Caleb cracked a smile.
"Alright that's all. Get to class. Badasses show up for shit. Dumb asses don't," He told them.
They rolled their eyes and got out of the car. Puck waited till they were a little bit away from the car before he rolled down the window and yelled. "I love you Skid Mark and Booger. Have a great day and learn lots," He waved at them frantically and tried to contain his laughter when they both turned red and walked faster into the school and tried to avoid the looks people were giving them. Bad ass boot camp was gonna be lots of fun.
Rachel called him as soon as she woke up that morning. She had tried twice the night before but each time it went straight to voice mail. She knew he was ignoring her and she couldn't say that it didn't sting a little.
She did however understand why he was so upset. Noah was such a passionate person that when he was thrust into situations like the one last night he tended to feel that if you didn't agree with him than you were against him. She probably should have handled it better but at the time there really was nothing else she could do for him or the kids.
She was in a bathroom and honestly she was just more relieved that no one was injured or dying. She just needed to get through the dinner and then go back to her room so that she could think and handle the situation in the most rational manner.
However after she reevaluated the situation and their conversation she could admit that she did seem a little unconcerned about the problem at hand. As soon as she got home she started to do research about juvenile arrest and started looking up applications for the scared straight program at the local lime jailhouse. She also prepared a speech that she would reach to the children over the phone.
That is if Noah would answer his phone. It rang four times and she was prepared to leave a message and tell him how childish it was to ignore her when he suddenly answered.
"Hello," He answer.
"Oh- Noah. You answered?" She asked confused. She actually wasn't expecting a conversation this soon.
"You called didn't you?" He said back sarcastically. She could hear the bite in his voice. "You know when people call your phone you're supposed to answer"
"Well, that's why I called. We need to talk about last night" She said before asking "Where are you? You sound like you're driving?"
"I'm on my way to work. Shifted some things around since I took over Glee" He told her.
"Oh…" She was quiet for a bit not knowing what to say
"Is that all?" He asked her and made sure she caught the irony of using the same words she did last night.
"I didn't know what to do okay?" She said exasperated "I kept feeling my phone go off and I just thought that there was some sort of medical emergency. So when there wasn't, I was just relieved."
"Okay," He told her quietly
"And I admit my response to the situation make have seemed a little unconcerned but you have to understand. I was in the middle of a bathroom during a very important dinner with big investors of the Broadway show. I barely managed to get away as it was. There wasn't anything I could do at that point. Plus in the wake of my relief I still didn't have time to really process the information and come up with an appropriate plan of attack."
"Okay," He said again
He was really starting to annoy her with his one word answers. "So while I won't apologize for my intentions because honestly I've always had the best of them, I will apologize for how my actions were taken and how things happened between us last night." He was quiet and she would have thought he hung up if she didn't hear his breath on the phone. "Noah?"
"I heard you." He told herand didn't offer anything else.
She sighed in irritation. He obliviously was still mad. "Well in any case I have some things prepared for children. I wrote a speech to give to them and there is a program in town that takes-"
"I handled it," He told her shortly.
"What?"
"You basically told me to handle it. So I fucking handled it."
"Oh-um…how?" She tried to keep the hurt out of her voice.
"Does it matter?" He asked her sarcastically again.
"Well…I just thought that maybe…you know if you needed me to-I could-"
Puck cut her off again "There's not much you can do from Chicago," He told her harshly.
It was a low blow. He knew it. He also knew that he had cut her deep with that one but in the moment he really couldn't find it in himself to give a fuck.
"That's not fair," She said back to him trying to swallow down the hurt his words caused.
"You said it not me," he told her. Now she was the one not knowing what to say. They sat in silence on the phone for a few more minutes until Puck couldn't take it anymore. "Look I'm almost on campus so I'm gonna go."
"Okay." She told him quietly. "I'll…um….I'll call you later I guess," She said in small voice.
"If you have time." He said back to her. It was quiet again as his words hung in the air.
"Right….well….I love you." She told him. Fighting her tears.
"Love you too." He said back. Before hanging up the phone.
Rachel stared down at the phone for a moment before bursting into tears.
"Hey," Sarah said to Chris. She made her way over to his locker before heading to the cafeteria for lunch. "I haven't seen you all day? How'd things go for you last night?"
Chris put his final book away and shut his locker. "Well, I'm not going to Asian Military School but I am grounded for the rest of my life."
"Ouch," Sarah said wincing. "Well, at least your parents aren't putting you through 'Badass Boot Camp' and waking you up at six in the morning." Chris gave her a questioning look. "Don't ask,"
"Right" He said nodding awkwardly.
"So listen, we were grounded too and my dad took away our phones. So here is my new number until I get it back." She handed him the sheet of paper she wrote out with her number on it.
Chris hesitated. "I thought you just said he took your phones?"
"He did but Caleb and I always have a backup plan. We've had Prepaid phones stashed away for years in case something like this happened." She explained with a smile until she noticed that he still didn't take the paper she was offering. "Is something wrong?"
"No it's just…um," He paused and avoided her eyes. "After last night my mom was pretty pissed at me and…um," He shifted awkwardly from one foot to another. "She doesn't really want me to hang out with anybody right now,"
Sarah just stared at him not understanding "Okay? So what does that mean?"
"I means," He sighed before looking at her. "It means that maybe you and I should cool it for a little while. Just until this arrest thing blows over and everyone isn't so pissed"
"Oh," She said completely shocked. Her body reacted before her brain could catch up and it took her a moment to register what the feeling was inside of her chest. Hurt.
Chris rushed to explain himself "It's just. My parents are pissed and your dad is pissed. I just don't want to make things worse by sneaking around behind their backs."
Sarah took a deep breath and tried now to cry. He was breaking up with her. Well not really. Technically in order to break up with someone you have to be dating them in the first place. They were never officially dated. And now they never would. He is stopping anything between them before it even began.
At that moment a Cheerio (who looked dangerously like the one that was in Caleb's room the other night) walked by and gave Chris a flirty smile. Sarah's eyes went down into a glare. She was seeing red.
"You know what you are so full of shit," She said to him before turning to walk away.
Chris followed her and jump in front of her to stop her walking. "Wait. You're taking this the wrong way. I care about you. A lot. I just don't want either of us to get into more trouble."
Sarah shook her head, refusing to believe him. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute and she needed to get out of there before she broke down crying in the middle of the hallway and really embarrassed herself.
She closed her eyes so she didn't have to look at him. "You don't care about me. You care about getting a piece of ass." She finally opened her eyes again to glare at him. "I guess it was taking too long to get into my pants so you just decided to move on huh?"
Chris took in a sharp break at her words and she could see that she clearly hurt him. "Why would you even say shit like that? You know I don't care about that stuff." He let out sigh and pleaded with her to understand. "I'm just trying to do what's best for us,"
Sarah looked him in the eyes and couldn't break her gaze. Her heart broke just a little bit more when she saw what he was saying was true. She swallowed the lump in her throat and willed her tears not to fall for just a few moments longer. "How is this what's best for us? You're ending this relationship before there is even an us,"
"I don't want to have to sneak around anymore. It sucks having to have secret meetings at the movies and stolen hugs in front of your house. I want more for us and you deserve more. So until this shit calms down… I'm willing to wait…because you're worth it,"
He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder and she recoiled. That was the last straw. She needed to get out of her immediately before she had a complete and total melt down. She didn't know what to believe. For all she knew he really was doing this for them or he was just a good liar and would have a girlfriend by the end of next week. Either way she couldn't look at him anymore. She backed away slowing form him before finally tell him "Don't ever talk to me again," She choked out and finally turned to briskly walk into the girl's bathroom.
She was thankful that no one was in there. That would have made things ten times worst. She didn't mind that she didn't have many friends. She didn't mind that she fell into the social median of high school. (Not popular. Not a dork. Stuck in the middle). But she had always survived by showing people that she didn't care. She was above most of the stupid high school dramas. When they looked at her they respected her mind and her strength.
It would have sucked to lose that reputation because that afternoon she spent the whole lunch period crying her eyes out and she skipped her last couple classes. In fact she didn't leave the bathroom until it was time for glee. When she entered the room she didn't look around because she didn't want to see the faces of the people in the room. She just stared at the piano and played the music till it was time to go.
Caleb slammed Chris into the locker with so much force that it shook. He told his dad he had to run back to his locker to grab book he left but really he hunted down his best friend.
"What the fuck did you do?" He asked forcefully.
"I don't know what you're talking about?" Chris said before Caleb pulled him back and slammed him into the lockers again. "Ow, fuck man that's really starting to hurt."
"What the fuck did you do to my sister? She missed like three classes and was like a zombie in Glee today."
"And you think it's because of me?" Caleb pulled him back and was about to slam him into the lockers again. "Okay dude, fuck, just let me go okay?"
Caleb hesitated and released his friend. "Talk"
"I told her that maybe we should take a break for a while." Chris told him. Caleb looked up and gave his friend a hard glare. "It's not like that. It's just…I know she's in a shit load of trouble after yesterday and I am too and I just don't wanna cause more problems for her dude."
"And this isn't about some other chick?"
"What? Fuck no. I'm not playboy like you"
Caleb just glared at his friend. "You know right now I'm tore between hitting you and helping you"
Chris gulped and closed his eyes. "Just make it quick man. I gotta help Grandma plant the rice," He sat for a moment with his eyes closed tightly shut as he waited for the impact of his friends hit. But after a moment he peeked his eye open to see Caleb laughing.
"Plant the rice? Really? Is that what your punishment is?"
"Yeah I'm supposed to be spending more time with grandma and learning how to 'conduct myself with honor' or some shit."
Caleb laughed a little bit more before he realized he was still gripping Chris against the lockers. He let him go and backed away. "So man it's just-"
"I know," Chris cut him off. "She's your sister and I screwed up. It's just…I don't know what else to do."
"Well definitely not that!" Caleb told him. "Look you like Sarah and Sarah likes you. You guys could have figured out all of that other bull shit later. But right now she's like fucking dawn of the dead cause she feels like the only guy that she ever really like doesn't like her back." Chris raised an eyebrow to him and wondered how he got so intuitive. "Hey, shut the fuck up. I got a sister and a mom. I know some shit okay?"
He just nodded and sighed. "So, what do I do oh wise love Gru"
"You man the fuck up, call her and tell her that you're a fucking idiot that cares too much about her. Then you tell her that you're gonna fucking make it work." Chris nodded at his friend advice. Caleb looked him in the eye and glared. He placed his hand on his shoulder and pushed him back into the locker. "But I swear to God if you hurt her again, best friend or not, I'm kicking your ass. Got it?"
Chris just nodded. "Got it"
"Good," Caleb said patting his cheek. "Now I gotta go before Sergeant pain-in-the-ass finds other ways to ruin my life." Chris looked at him confuse. "Don't ask." He said and he backed away from his friend and started to retreat from the hallway. "Call her!" He yelled over his shoulder.
Something dawned on Chris "I don't have her new number!" He yelled back hoping his friend would hear him.
"Yes, you do" He heard before Caleb disappeared out the doors. He looked around confused until he looked down and saw Caleb had dropped a note on the ground by his feet that had not only her number but a message underneath.
'Call her asshole'
He sometimes wondered the pros and cons of being in love with your best friend's sister. Getting slammed into lockers and threated was a con. But this was definitely a pro.
Puck stood in the kitchen making dinner for the night and thinking over shit for the day. The dumbasses in boot camp were upstairs trying to finish up the extra work he convinced their teachers to give them, so all was quiet in the house and he could really think shit over.
While it was pretty funny to get them up in the morning and embarrass them at school, he wondered if this whole badass boot camp thing was too harsh on them. Sarah seemed down that afternoon and Caleb seemed…well Caleb was still pretty normal. It was really Sarah that raised an alarm. She looked sad all Glee practice and barely spoke 3 sentences since they've been home. He tried to ask her what was wrong in the car but she just said that she was tired and stressed from school.
Something was going on. Maybe the pressure of badass boot camp was stressing her out or some shit. That didn't really make sense cause he's seen her put up with a lot worst shit (have you seen who her brother was) and she doesn't even bat an eyelash at the shit. But if it wasn't this then what the fuck else could it be.
Plus shit with Rachel. He didn't want to think about it but he couldn't stop himself all day. He was pissed at her but not just pissed, he like really fucking hurt by her reaction. Who the fuck sits there and acts like that when their fucking kids get arrested? Not Rachel Puckerman that's for damn sure! And maybe that was the problem. Since she's been in Chicago the past two weeks she's been acting less and less like herself.
Now don't get him wrong he wanted her to go after her dreams and reach for the stars and all that other Disney bullshit but he didn't want her to change into someone else to do it. Then again maybe he was just so fucking pissed now a days and he missed her so much that he was channeling his aggression at the situation towards her. Misplaced anger or some shit. Whatever he really needed to stop listening to Dr. Phil on the way home from work.
He finished up the steak, called the kids down for dinner boot camp style (whistle) and sat at the table waiting for their reactions. The first thing he noticed was that Sarah seemed to look a lot better. Maybe she really was just tired.
The teens entered the kitchen not knowing what to expect. It all seemed pretty normal and it smelled good. Maybe their dad was gonna go a little easier on them. They made their way over to the table and sat with their dad who already started eating. Caleb looked at his dad's plate and then looked back at the food on the table confused.
"Um…where the hell's our steak?" Caleb asked.
"Language" Puck told him. Caleb just rolled his eyes and waited as his father took another big bite. "Dumb asses don't get steak," Puck told them playfully. " Bad asses get steak. Dumbasses get grilled cheese," He pointed over to the plate of sandwiches in the middle of the table.
They both groaned but started loading their plates with the sandwiches. After a few bites Puck decided to get some conversation in.
"So how was school today?"
"Okay," They both mumbles.
He sighed and rolled their eyes. "Just cause you're in boot camp doesn't mean you can't fucking talk to me" He daid to both of them but was looking at Sarah. He'd always had an open relationship with his kids. Hell, he was the one that picked Sarah up from camp and took her to the store the summer she got her first period. It was awkward as shit but they survived it.
Sarah caught his hint and just sighed in defeat. "I just had a shitty day okay,"
Puck shrugged. "Fair enough,"
"Um hello!" Caleb said. "She just said shit. Aren't you gonna call her on it?"
"Really?" Sarah said turning to her brother.
"Hey, if I can't say hell you shouldn't be allowed to say shit. Fair is fair"
"Yeah well you don't have to call me out in the middle of dinner with Sergeant Psycho sitting right there,"
"I didn't call you out. I called the langue out"
Puck was about to jump in and stop them before they continued on with their stupid argument but his words were cut off by the sound of a phone ringing and it wasn't his.
Both the teens stopped and stared in horror at the sound of the go-phone going off. This was their worst nightmare. They stared at each other as the phone kept ringing and tried to figure out who's it was. Caleb looked down at his pants excepting to see his pocket ringing before he remembered, he left it upstairs. He looked back at Sarah who realized at the same time that it was hers as well. Thankful the phone stopped ringing and they slowly turned to face their dad.
His face was red, his jaw was set and that little vein, which only ever comes out when Caleb does something really stupid, was making an appearance. In short he was pissed. And glaring. And it was strangely quiet which only made him ten times scarier. He opened his mouth to no doubt tell them how much trouble they were in but fate decided to kick them in the balls and the phone started ringing again.
This time Sarah quickly tried to silence it but Puck just held out his hand for the phone. She gave a nervous glance to her brother before handing it over to her father. Puck hit the receive button and put the phone to his ear.
"Look, don't hang up okay. I wrote this out so I wouldn't mess it up and I just want you to hear all of it before you decide you never want to speak to me again," Chris began pleading into the phone. "I'm a complete and utter dumb ass and I understand if you never want to talk to me again. I didn't mean to hurt you with the shit that I said earlier today. But fuck, Sarah I care about you a lot and I just think all this sneaking around is just going to get us in more trouble. I want to be able to hold your hand or kiss you and not be afraid of your dad catching us. I just want to be with you and I'm sorry if I made you feel like I didn't. That all…." He stopped talking and was growing concerned by silence. That was the most they've ever talked about their relationship and little did he know that she didn't hear a single word of it. "…um Sarah?"
"No Chris. Guess again," Puck said back to the boy with controlled anger. Sarah closed her eyes tight and wished for the floor to open up and swallow her whole. Caleb slapped his hand on his head. At this rate he won't be seeing driving or pop tarts till next year.
"Oh shit!" Chris said on the other line. He had no clue what to say and in his panic he hung up.
Puck sat staring at the cheap prepaid phone. Well, at least that answered his questions. He wasn't going too hard on them he was going too easy. He'd have to rectify that shit immediately.
Rachel stood outside the rehearsal room door trying to prepare herself. So far she has dazzled and dined with the best in this business but now was proving time. It was their first rehearsal; well technically it was a read through. It was the Sunday before their first official rehearsal but it was the first time that she would be meeting her fellow cast mates. There had been a cast dinner the night before that she had been excited about attending but at the last minute Jesse pulled her off to yet another boring dinner with some important officials.
She was worried that her lack of appearance would cause problems but he told her not to think about it and that most of the cast probably wasn't even there. She wondered if that was true or not but pretended it was for her own sanity's sake.
The past few days had been rough for Rachel. Her vocal coach trained her extra hard to make sure she was in top shape for meeting the cast and director. The chorographer was the same way and made sure to drill every step into Rachel's head so she could quite possibly do it in her sleep. But those things were to be expected. She could handle that.
What she couldn't handle was Noah's behavior. He still answered when she called or texted him but he was distant and cold. He was still angry with her and she had no clue how to fix it. She had tried to talk it out with him a few times but it always ended up with her doing the talking and Noah sitting in silence on the other line. What made it worst was when she'd ask a question about home or kids and he'd give her a vague answer and didn't bother to go into the details.
But most of all she missed her husband and her friend. She missed talking to him and laughing with him. She missed him teasing her or him pretending he doesn't care as much as he does. She missed his smile and his eyes. She missed his hands on her body and how he could always do wonder and amazing things to her. She missed him and from the way things have been the past couple of days it didn't sound like he missed her much at all.
Rachel shook her head and tried to shake those thoughts from her mind. Now was not the time to be thinking of home or Noah. Right now she needed to focus. She took a couple of calming breaths and gripped her script a bit tighter.
A hand dropped on her shoulder and she looked up to the face Jesse. "You wouldn't happen to be nervous would you?" he asked her playfully.
Rachel cleared her throat determined not to show any sign of weakness. "Of course not. I was just preparing self to make a dramatic entrance."
"You know you're a great actress but a horrible liar," He shook his head at her.
"Well I can't be too bad if you're convinced that I actually like you," She said playfully and they both took a chance to giggle at her little jib at him.
Jesse ran his hand up and down her arm. "Relax. You're going to be great. You're Rachel Berry and you're a star," He told her.
She gave him an appreciative smile as he reached behind her and opened the door. "Show time." He whispered in her ear.
When Rachel walked into the room all conversations stopped. Everyone turned to look at her and while she didn't see any contempt in their eyes she also didn't see any friendliness either. She took a big breath and put on her best smile.
Jesse walked up behind her and lead her over to the tables that were set up for the read though. He was the perfect gentleman and pulled out her chair for her. She sat down a little frazzled that the conversation in the room still hadn't picked back up. Everyone was still staring at her.
Jesse didn't miss a beat though. He calmly turned to the gentleman sitting next to her and made the first set of introductions.
"Clinton, great to see you again. How was the flight?" He asked.
The man tore his eyes off Rachel and shook Jesse's hand. "Long. As all flights are."
Jesse chuckled with charm and smiled down at the man. "That they are. Well let me introduce you to the fabulously wonderful and amazingly talented Rachel Berry," He placed a hand on her shoulder. "She missed the dinner last night because Lloyd just insisted on meeting her before flying out today but I'm hand delivering her to you."
Rachel put on her dazzling smile and extended her hand. " Hello. It's such an honor to finally meet you," Clinton didn't take her hand or smile back at her. He did give her a questioning look at her comment though. "Well…you're Clinton Tyler. You have 3 Tony awards and have directed the top 6 Broadway shows of the past decade...and I probably sound like an idiot now," Rachel said with her still extended and her cheeks turning slightly red in embarrassment.
Clinton finally took his hand out and shook Rachel's. "I don't hate you," He told her looking in her eyes to make sure she understood him. She didn't. "I don't like you. But I don't hate you,"
"Oh," She said glancing at Jesse in confusion. "Thank…you?"
"With Clinton that's as close as you get" Jesse said to clam her nerves.
Clinton snatched his hand back. "Well now that that's settled let's see if you actually have the talent to play Maria or if you're just wasting my time." He said harshly before turning away from her and clapping his hands to get the attention of the rest of the cast. He honestly didn't need to seeing as they were all pretty much staring in their direction anyway.
Jesse bent down to whisper in her ear. "I have to go run a few errands but I'll be back," She quickly looked up at him in panic. He was leaving her to the wolves? Right now Jesse was her life line! How could he leave her like this? He saw the look of panic on her face and whispered again, "Don't worry. I'll be back soon. In the mean time you can handle this. Just be that girl that I bet back in the music store okay?" He said rubbing the back of his hand across her cheek. She gave him a small smile and nod.
Jesse was right. She could handle this. After all she survived high school, which was really in retrospect four years of torment, jealously and judgment. If could do that, surely she could face this room of professionals and show them her true talent.
If only it were that simple. She managed to get through the read through without any major difficulties. She found the actor that was playing Tony was sitting on the directors other side. He didn't look at her while reading the lines and didn't offer any sort of friendly gesture. When they got to a song in the script the director had them sing with the rehearsal pianist. Rachel sat in awe of the talent that was in the room with her. The males all had such rich voices and the women sang so beautifully.
They finally reached Rachel's first song and she was nervous to say the least but she refused to let them see it. Instead she closed her eyes, thought of Noah and belted out 'Tonight' just like she's done for the past two weeks since being here is Chicago. When Tony joined in with her in perfect harmony he threw her off for a moment but she quickly regained it. She couldn't even focus on how wonderful they sounded together because she was so determined to prove that she deserved to be here. When they finished there was a stunned silence in the room and Rachel hesitated before opening her eyes.
There were mixed reactions from those in the room. Some looked disappointed that she could actually sing while others just looked angry at her for showing off. There were a few that offered her small smiles. Clinton didn't smile but he did give her a quick nod of approval before commenting on the fact that it was her line next. She ducked her head down in embarrassment and picked up her line.
The rest of the read through proceed like that. She'd throw everything she had into all her songs and made sure not to miss a single cue. By the end she felt proud of herself. After all being in a room full of such prestigious professionals and still managing to shine through was no easy task. Clinton gave them notes and told them the schedule for the next few days before dismissing them.
As everyone gathered their things together to leave Clinton turned to her. "You're not bad" He told her. Rachel's face lit up. "You need a lot of work," Her face fell. "But you seem like you got what it takes to make it Ohio"
Rachel cleared her throat. "Um…actually it's Rachel."
He just stared at her blankly. "I'll see you tomorrow Ohio," He said before getting up and turning toward the piano where Jesse sat with the musical director. She didn't even notice him come in.
While he was busy Rachel saw this as a great opportunity to get to meet her fellow cast mates. She'd start with the actor playing Tony naturally because if she wanted to give a convincing portrayal of falling in love with this man; it might help to at least know his name.
She made her way over to him as he gathered his script. "You were really amazing," She said with a friendly smile.
He looked up at her and sneered. "I know."
"Oh," She said taken about a little by his comment but she tried again. "I'm Rachel by the way." She stuck out his hand for him to shake. He didn't shake it. He didn't even acknowledge it. She cleared her throat. "And you are…?"
"Someone far more talented and successful than you." He told her as he finished placing his things in his bag.
"Excuse me," She asked trying not to be rude but she couldn't fathom why this guy was being such a…a…asshole.
He slung his bag over his shoulder before turning to her. "Look I get that your Jesse's new toy and he wants to show you off but some of use actually have careers that are on the line with this show. So stop pretending like you actually deserve to be here cause you don't. As far as I'm concerned we suffer through this workshop with you before the real show goes up and we get a real Maria." With that he brushed past her out the door.
Rachel stood there shocked and hurt by his words. She felt the familiar prickle behind her eyes as they watered but refused to cry. One of the other actresses in the room. The woman playing Rita walked over to her.
"He's just pissed he wasn't Clinton's first choice for Tony." She told her. " I'm Dora by the way."
Rachel nodded and shook her hand. Maybe she could make a new friend here. " I'm Rachel. Rachel Berry."
"Nice to finally meet you Rachel." Dora said pulling her hand back. "Don't let Frank get to you. I mean even though we all agree that what he said is true, he doesn't have to be such a prick about it."
Rachel blinked her eyes several times trying to understand.
"We all know you're fucked Jesse to get the part." She told her bluntly "And while I admit I've done that before myself, This is the biggest revival of West Side Story since 2009 and he just placed all of our fates in the hands of a washed up high school glee coach. So you'll excuse us if we all kind of hate you." Rachel was using every ounce of strength in her not to cry. She would not do it. If she wouldn't cry when someone threw an icy frozen drink in her face every day then she refused to cry in front of these cruel people she would be forced to work with for the next several months. Dora put a hand on her shoulder "My advice to you: try not to screw this up," She gave her one last look before turning away to talk to another cast mate who no doubt hated her as well.
Rachel couldn't take it anymore. She had her fill of meet and greets for the day and now she just really needed to get out of there. She made a bee line for the door and walked out without a backwards glance towards anyone. What had she gotten herself into?
What did we get ourselves into? Caleb thought as he brought the paint brush down in even strokes across the wall. To say his dad reacted badly to the phone thing was putting it lightly. Of course because he caught Sarah with her phone he automatically assumed Caleb had one too and he took them both but not before explaining to them that they just moved from being dumb asses to be really dumb asses. They didn't really know what it meant at the time but they figured it wasn't good.
And right they were. He woke them up the next more at5:30am instead of 6, made them do even more exercises, they cleaned the bathrooms and vacuumed the house all before getting ready for school. When they finally did get ready, he didn't make them toast like he did the previous morning. Instead he just explained that badasses got pop tarts, dumbasses got toast but really dumbasses had to make it themselves. They were barely pulling it from the toaster as they ran out the door afraid he would leave them.
Things should have gotten better from there right? Wrong! Turns out he had somehow managed to bring badass boot camp into every aspect of their lives. Teachers were calling on him more in class and giving him extra homework. Coach was going twice as hard on him in practices then she normally would. Even the parents of the kids he was giving voice lessons too (who he could normally charm into giving him a decent tip) were complaining and being more demanding. In short his dad made sure that their lives sucked.
Saturday morning Puck woke them up at 5:30 am again (because really dumb asses don't get a weekend) and had them detail clean every aspect of the house. He even pulled out a ladder and made them clean out the gutters (you have no clue how nasty that shit is.) Caleb's only hope and the thing that he kept telling himself and his sister was that once their house was clean it was gonna be harder for their dad to find shit for them to do. Boy, he couldn't have been more wrong.
They woke up at 5:30 again on Sunday, cooked breakfast for themselves (which really sucked cause normally on the weekends dad made pancakes and shit) and headed over to the home depot to get some supplies. For a second they feared that he would make them paint the whole house but got more confused when he was driving away from Lima. When they were about 10 minutes from Auntie Satan and Uncle Finns house they realized it was much much worst.
They spent the first half of the day catering to their pregnant aunt's every need. This included running to the store twice for a lemon meringue pie and a chocolate cream pie when she realized that lemons made her nauseous. Then they were put to work cleaning the Hudson house. When he finished his chore list he tried to take a break and sat down on the floor while his dad and Uncle Finn played Call of Duty.
"You still pissed at me," His dad said not taking his eyes off the screen.
His uncle sighed and shook his head. "Naw man. I just…I don't get it."
"You don't have to get it,"
There were a few moments of silence and they continued to kill the people the screen.
"I just don't want you to hurt Rachel, or the kids….or yourself."
"I won't," His dad told him simply. That seemed enough for Uncle Finn cause the conversation dropped off after that. At first he went unnoticed but then he dad caught sight of him and paused the game.
"What are doing?" He asked.
"Taking a break?" He asked hopefully
"No you don't. Badasses get breaks. Dumbasses get breaks. Really Dumbasses keep working until their father tells them to stop."
"Dad Come on! I already finished my list." HE tried to argue.
His dad turned to his Uncle Finn "You got something else for him to do?"
He chuckled, looked down and pretended to think.
"Uncle Finn please," He put all his hopes on his uncle. Surely he would save his favorite nephew from the cruel and unusual punishment his father was putting him through. But after a moment he spoke up that the nursery needed to be primed for painting and that he could get started on that. Traitor.
And that was how he found himself painting in the room on a Sunday afternoon. Granted he'll admit that he'd rather be doing this than be doing what Sarah was doing. She was trying to organize Auntie Satan's closet and create a master list of shit for the baby. This wouldn't be too bad if Satan herself wasn't breathing over her neck and berating her for doing stuff wrong. Then she'd start speaking in Spanish and lecturing her about being a dumbass and not ruining her life (She was bad ass boot camps number one supporter). Still as he continued to paint the room he had no choice but think about what they had done and just what the fuck they got themselves into.
Puck pulled his shirt off and climbed into bed. They'd gotten back from Finn's place about a couple hours ago and the kids had just enough time to finish their homework and make themselves dinner before passing out (they knew he was gonna wake them up early again.) He leaned back on the pillow and sighed in content. All this kick ass parenting was hard work.
His phone rang and he groaned before recognizing the ringtone.
Sweet Caroline good times never seem so good.
"Hello?" He answered not even bothering to open his eyes.
"Hi," Rachel said and he could hear the tears in her voice even over the phone. "So, I know we're kind of mad at each other right now but can we put that on hold and pretend like we're not for the next few minutes or so because I really need someone to talk to. And I really want that person to be you." She said breaking down.
Puck opened his eyes in concern. "Shit Rach, what happened?" He sat up a little in the bed. "Did that douche touch you cause I swear to God Rachel if he did anything I'm coming to Chicago right now and tearing his ass apart limb from fucking limb."
"It's not Jesse," She said swallowing down a few of her tears so she could talk to him clearly. "He's been…wonderful. Really."
"Then what the fuck are you crying for," He asked and ignored the way she just said that Jesse St. jerk-off was wonderful.
"It's just….they hate me. They all hate me," She told him.
"Who the fuck hates you?"
"Everyone! The cast and crew and while the director specifically told me he didn't hate me, he did make a point to tell me that he didn't like me." She told him. "They all think I'm here because I slept with Jesse and are enraged at my mere presence. I've never felt so humiliated or embarrassed in my whole life." She cried to him.
Puck sighed. "I'm sure that's not true," He told her in a comforting voice.
"Yes it is! They told me Noah. They told me they hate," She argued.
"Oh no. That part might be true." He told her. "I mean come on Rachel when have not had people hate you because of how amazingly talented you are. I was referring to the part when you said that was the most humiliating and embarrassing moment of your life. We both know that's now true."
She was quiet on the other line. He was trying to distract her and she knew it. "Noah…" She started to say but he jumped in.
"I mean there was the time Brittany puked on you in front of the whole school. Then there was the time you got your first period at temple and walked around with the huge blood stain on the back of your dress until rabbi Sanburg saw it and told my mother."
Rachel closed her eyes and cringed. The mere thought of those moments still made her cheeks burn red with embarrassment.
"There's the time your dads walked in on us doing it in your dorm room that weekend they came up to surprise you. OR the time my mom walked in on us right after Caleb was born and was looking for more diapers before babysitting him for the night."
She was still quiet as those memories washed over her and she remember she wanted to hide away in a cave somewhere and never face her fathers or his mother again.
"And let's not forget the first time some douche with daddy issues threw a slushy at your face on the first day of school. I'm pretty sure that moment takes the cake of embarrassing moments."
"It does," She said to him quietly before sighing in defeat. "Okay, so maybe today wasn't the most embarrassing moment of my life but it was still pretty traumatic. What am I going to do?"
"Babe, the way I see it you can't be anything but yourself. And if we're talking truth here that's all you need. You've always been driven and outgoing; don't let a bunch of whiney ass wipes punk you into bitching out on something you want"
Rachel giggled a little. "I'm not sure you should be calling professional actors and award winning directors ass wipes."
"It was either ass wipes or cock sucking whores"
They both laughed at that one before Rachel spoke up. "I just haven't felt that small in a really long time. It was a fight to not break down crying in the middle of that rehearsal room."
"I'm glad you didn't. They're not worth your tears babe. Fuck'em. I don't give a shit if they think you deserve to be there or not. You know you deserve to be so fuck'em. Go out there and be the best one on that damn stage." He told her. He was kinda pissed that these theater people were acting like such assholes to Rachel. That shits not cool.
She wiped away a few of her tears that still lingered on her cheeks. "I guess I forgot how much it sucks being the underdog," Puck groaned at her words. "What?"
"Rach do you know how long it's been? You can't say shit like 'suck' and 'under' while I'm laying half naked in bed." Rachel just chuckled at him. God she missed this. "I'm serious. Cause all I'm think about now is you sucking before you're under me," Rachel started laughing more and felt the stress from the day fade into the background. Noah always knew how to make her feel better. "Shit! Now little puck wants to come out and play. You see what you do woman. I hope you're happy"
At that Rachel laughed uncontrollably. She knew he was only half teasing and if she were there he probably would have shut her up by now with a kiss. She finally settled down and took a few deep breaths. "I needed that," she told him
"Yeah, well right now I need a little something too if you know what I mean."
She started to laugh again. "I miss you," She blurted out.
With that all the joking and laughter stopped. It was tense for a few moments. Both of them trying to read the others thoughts which didn't really go over too well over the phone.
"It's hard to believe it's only been three weeks. Seems longer with all the shit that's gone on since then"
"I'm gonna come home," She told him quickly
"What? Rach no. We've been through this-" He tried to protest but she stopped him.
"Not for good. But for a visit. I miss you and the kids so much. I just wanna be around you guys." She paused trying to gauge his reaction. When he didn't protest she continued. "Sarah's birthday is coming up in a few weeks. I can come home that weekend and we can celebrate together as a family."
Puck was trying to keep his cool. He missed Rachel, hell yeah he did but he didn't want to get his or the kids hopes up if she ended up not coming. "Really?" He asked her daring to hope.
"Really," She confirmed. "What do you think?"
"I think that sounds great," He told her. And he couldn't stop himself from feeling the sense of relief and excitement that was going through him as he said it. Soon. He was going to see Rachel soon.
Chris shifted nervously from foot to foot as the choir room started to fill for Glee practice. It had been a week since the whole phone mix-up and it seemed like nothing was going his way. While he was really grateful to the Asian God for his Uncle Puck not flat out punching him in the face. Chris was always nervous and watchful at the glares and stares that the man gave him. He hadn't been able to even talk to Sarah because the second he got close to her it seemed like there was Uncle Puck to interrupt. It also didn't help that Sarah was still avoiding him. She hadn't heard a single word he confessed that night and he seriously doubted his favorite uncle would have passed the message along.
"Dude relax," Caleb came up behind him. "You're gonna fine just follow the plan."
Chris nodded gratefully to his best friend. He'd talked to him two days ago about his Sarah problem and how she was avoiding him and Caleb helped him come up with the perfect plan to not only tell her how he feels but to get her to listen. It was a great plan and Chris was really fucking grateful that Caleb even had the time to help him cause he's seen and heard about the shit Uncle Puck was making them do in badass boot camp. But he's been thinking about backing out of it since this morning. So many things could go wrong. First Sarah could still be pissed and storm out of the room. Second Uncle Puck could go into protective father mode and start beating the shit out of him. Third…well he didn't really get to a third reason because reasons one and two were good enough for him. The bell rang and he knew his time was up.
Puck stood in front of the group of kids. "Okay today we are learning about AC/DC the fucking pioneers of heavy metal."
Chris who was still standing in the back of the room raised his hand. Puck looked and him and nodded for him to speak. "Um… I have something that I've been working on that I'd like to share." He said.
"O….kay?" Puck said confused.
Chris made his way down to the front of the class followed by Caleb who have him a reassuring pat on the back. "You got this man," Caleb told him before making his way over to where the piano was. He looked at his sister who looked just as confused as their dad before telling her. "Beat it"
"Excuse me?" She questioned.
"Go take a seat. I'm playing this one"
She got up even more confused and took a seat in the middle front row. Perfect spot for her Caleb thought.
Chris cleared his throat and looked out at the class. "So last week I did something really fucking stupid and hurt someone that I care about a lot. I didn't mean to but I guess shit just got lost in translation cause I was just trying to say-" Caleb cleared his throat before his friend went on a tangent that ultimately screwed him over. Chris stopped and looked at him. "Right thanks," He said before looking back at the class. "Anyway the point is this song is for that person I hurt. I really hope they like it"
He looked back at Caleb and give him a nod. Caleb started playing the piano and the rest of the band slowly joined in. At first Sarah didn't recognize the song but by the second bar she caught on. It was Crush by David Archuleta.
Chris closed his eyes. too nervous to see the group staring back at him. Usually he didn't get nervous singing but this time he wasn't just singing he was telling someone how he really felt.
I hung up the phone tonight
Something happened for the first time
Deep inside it was a rush, what a rush
He started to feel more confident. So far no has hit him or slapped him. That's good right.
Cause the possibility
That you would ever feel the same way
About me, just too much, just too much
He started peaking his eyes open a little. And saw everyone enjoying him.
Why do I keep running from the truth?
All I ever think about is you
You got me hypnotized, so mesmerized
And I just got to know
He gathered enough confidence to finally look at the one person that mattered. She sat in her chair with her mouth slightly opened in surprise.
Do you ever think when you're all alone
All that we can be, where this thing can go?
Am I crazy or falling in love?
Is it really just another crush?
He gave her a small smile and was grateful when she returned it.
Do you catch a breath when I look at you?
Are you holding back like the way I do?
Cause I've tried and tried to walk away
But I know this crush ain't going away-ay-ay
Going away-ay-ay
He started to get into the song a bit and did a smooth dance step that made her giggle before the start of the second verse.
Has it ever crossed your mind
When we're hanging, spending time girl?
Are we just friends? Is there more? Is there more?
He mustered up his courage and started to slowly walk to her while singing. It felt like they were the only two people in the room.
See it's a chance we've gotta take
Cause I believe that we can make this into
Something that will last, last forever, forever!
Caleb joined him in the harmonies on the chorus. While he sang he walked towards piano to give a grateful smile to his friend.
Do you ever think when you're all alone
All that we could be, where this thing could go?
Am I crazy or falling in love?
Is it really just another crush?
He looked at Sarah from across the room and was happy to see that she only had eyes for him.
Do you catch a breath when I look at you?
Are you holding back like the way I do?
Cause I've tried and tried to walk away
But I know this crush ain't going away-ay-ay
Going away-ay-ay
He started to walk to the center of the room again.
Why do I keep running from the truth?
All I ever think about is you
You got me hypnotized, so mesmerized
And I just got to know
He closed his eyes as he held out the note and threw everything he had into it. When he opened them again he walked to stand in front of Sarah who was grinning at him wide.
Do you ever think when you're all alone
All that we could be, where this thing could go?
Am I crazy or falling in love?
Is it really just another crush?
He reached out, took her hand and put it over his heart while he sang to her.
Do you catch a breath when I look at you?
Are you holding back like the way I do?
Cause I've tried and tried to walk away
But I know this crush ain?t going away-ay-ay
This crush ain't going away-ay-ay
Chris dropped on his knees so that he was at eye level with her to sing the final line.
Going away
Going away-ay-ay
Going away-ay-ay
Caleb played the final notes of the song as the class broke out into scattered applause. Chris really didn't pay attention to any of that. He only paid attention to Sarah.
"I'm a fucking idiot and I'm really sorry." He told her. " I care about you a lot and I don't want to lose you." He told her.
She smiled at him. "You won't." She told him before throwing herself in his arms in a big hug.
It was a picture perfect moment.
Or it was until they looked over and noticed Puck glaring daggers at Chris. Sarah untangled herself from him and took a step way but continued to grin like crazy. The room got quiet as he made his way over to them and everyone was anticipating his next move.
"Everyone out." He said not taking his eyes off Chris.
Courtney of course was the first to protest as the rest of the room started to shuffle out. "But what about-"
"You heard the man King Koopa," Caleb said coming up behind her. "Out,"
She rolled her eyes and glared at Caleb but started heading towards the door.
When the room was virtually empty he looked at Sarah who hadn't bothered to leave. "You too." He told her.
Sarah just held her ground for a moment but decided she was on a losing end of this battle. She gave Chris's shoulder and reassuring squeeze before she walked out the room.
If ever there was time that Chris wanted to piss his pants it was right now. He was left alone in the choir room with his Uncle puck after confessing his undying love to his daughter.
He saw his uncle try to take a calming breath. "I don't know what game you're trying to pull…" He started.
"I'm not trying to pull anything," Chris spoke up surprised by the fact that he could even speak when he was so paralyzed with fear. But he figured if he said that much he might as well go with it. "Look, Mr…Uncle…Puck…Sir…" He was confused about the right way to address him. "I care about your daughter very much and I have nothing but the highest fear and respect for you."
"You respect me so much you've been sneaking around my back with her?"
"No! Yes!" Chris said. "I mean it wasn't like that. We just wanted to see each other more and hang out." He tried to explain.
"Hang out so you can get into her pants." He told him bluntly.
"No!" Chris rushed to say. "No it's not like that with her. We're friends and we talk and shit but I'm not trying to get into her…I mean I don't like her just for...we haven't even-"
Puck cut him off. "Cut the bullshit. I'm a guy and I know what the fuck is running through your head when you look at her okay. It might start as talking but talking turns to fucking real quick when the mood is right."
"You don't understand-"
"No, you don't understand." He said as he walked closer to Chris and threaten him. "Sarah's not like the other fast girls around here okay? She's smart and talented and she's going places with her life. And I'll be damned if I let that get ruined by some horny night with a high school crush. Got it?"
Chris nodded. Too afraid to do anything else. Puck backed away a bit and turned to go let the others in. Chris thought it was over but before he knew it he felt his feet move forward and words flew out of his mouth.
"I'd like to ask you for your approval"
Puck stopped dead in his tracks and turned slowly to face the boy. "What?"
"I'm sorry we were sneaking around. I knew it was wrong and it shouldn't have happen. I'm also sorry about the other night. She was grounded and I should have respected that. But sir, I care a lot about her and I don't think I can just walk away from this relationship I have with her." He took a huge gulp. "So I'd like to formally ask you for permission to date your daughter. I'll treat her with respect and care and won't let us be in situations where we could fall to…temptation," He finished lamely. It didn't look like his Uncle was buying it. "I'm just asking you give me a chance." He pleaded
Puck watched him for several moments and for a second Chris dared to hope that he actually broke through to him. "No," He told him finally. Chris felt his dreams crushed. "You're my nephew and Caleb's best friend. I know you're a good kid and you really believe every fucking thing you're telling me. But I don't want you dating my daughter."
He turned his back and headed to the door again.
"But if you just-" Chris tried to plead
"You asked me the question and I gave you my answer. This conversation is over."
Chris felt a little numb with disappointment as the room filled back up. He knew everyone was looking at him, probably trying to see if Puck beat him up or something.
"Are you okay?" Sarah asked coming up to him.
"Yeah." He told her. "I'm fine" He lied. Truth be told he felt anything but.
Rachel walked into rehearsal that morning with her head held high. She thought about the situation long and hard and decided that Noah was right. It didn't matter if these people thought she was talented or not because she knew she deserved to be there. In addition to that he also reminded her that this wasn't the first time she's faced adversity due to her talent. There were countless times in high school when even her own team mates resented her because she was so extraordinary. If she could survive that she could certainly survive this.
The next few weeks of rehearsal were difficult to say the least but Rachel pushed through them. She was determined to not let the opinions of a few people discourage her from her dreams. In that time she also found that not everyone hated her. After that first read through she proved to some that she talent and (while some still kept their distances) a few people actually started to befriend her.
Those small victories with those that liked her were nothing compared to the ones that were against her. Dora made a point to call Rachel out on her every flaw and often tried to upstage Rachel in the blocking. Frank (much to Rachel's disappointment) was actually a very talented actor. He would sing wonderfully and delivered amazing speeches to Rachel with complete convictions but the second Clinton called scene he was glaring at her and telling her to stay out of his way.
Still through all of the added drama Rachel was enjoying herself. She felt so alive and enjoyed the challenge. She pushed herself harder every day and made sure she never missed a single cue. She was the first person to arrive at rehearsals and the last one to leave. But at night when she had her conversations with Noah, she would feel that familiar pang in her heart from missing him and the kids. She was counting down the days until she would see them again.
"I'm going to be gone this weekend," Rachel told Jesse during dinner the Wednesday before she was supposed to leave. Sarah's birthday was on Saturday and she couldn't wait to start spending time with her family.
Jesse looked up from his salad. She still saw him quite frequently. He popped in rehearsals to check on the cast (mainly her) progress and always insisted on taking her out to dinner or lunch. He swallowed his bite and gave her a shrug "Okay," He told her taking a sip of his water. "Where you going?"
"It's Sarah's 16th birthday. I was going to head home and surprise her," Rachel told him with her head held high. She expected him to give some sort of protest to her leaving. Usually the rule was that she wasn't supposed to mention that she was married or had children. That's partly why she held off so long in telling him about her plans to visit home. She was afraid he was going to tell her no.
He nodded his head. "Tell her I said Happy Birthday" He went back to his salad. Rachel watched him for a moment. Was it really that easy? She expected to have to fight him. She relaxed and bit and started on her own meal. After several moment though Jesse spoke up again. "Did you talk to Clinton?"
She looked at him confused. "No? Was there something he wanted to see me about?"
Jesse chuckled. "You're planning on leaving for the weekend and you haven't informed you director about it?"
Realization hit Rachel like a ton of bricks. She spent so much energy in figuring out how to tell Jesse that was completely oblivious to the fact that her director should have been aware as well. Of course she should have cleared it with Clinton. She felt like such a fool. Jesse could clearly read her facial expression because he suddenly put his hand over hers. "Rachel it's fine. Just talk to him about it tomorrow and I'm sure it won't be a problem."
She gave him a small smile and little nod before returning to her meal. Jesse watched her closely before clearing his throat to get her attention. "I also hate to be the bad guy on this one but I don't think I can give you the whole weekend," Rachel opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off. "There is a promotional lunch on Sunday afternoon that all principal leads are required to attend."
Rachel sighed and closed her eyes at the thought of her perfect weekend with her family being cut short. She swore sometimes it was like these things happened on purpose. "You couldn't have told me about it earlier?"
"I only found out about it today myself." Jesse could see her frustration. "At least you'll get some time with them. You can leave right after rehearsal on Friday and have all Saturday with them before driving back that night"
Rachel shook her head determined something was going to go her way. "Sunday. I'm going to come back Sunday morning."
Jesse gave her a look. "That's cutting it a little close."
"I don't care. I'm going to drive back Sunday morning. I'll make sure I'm here in plenty of time for this lunch but I want as much time with my family as I can get."
Jesse looked at her and for a moment Rachel thought he was going to argue with her but he finally just nodded his head and they continued their meal. The next morning Rachel told Clinton about leaving and while he wasn't exactly thrilled he didn't tell her no either. He did however remind her about the lunch on Sunday and Rachel assured him she would be there on time. With all things set Rachel couldn't wait for tomorrow night when she'd be back home in Noah's arms.
Puck folder his arms and glared over at his son. "Traitor," he muttered under his breath.
Caleb looked over at his dad from the passenger side of the car. It was Sarah's birthday and they were waiting outside in the car while she went in to take her driving test. She didn't want them coming in because she didn't want them to 'embarrass' her.
Whatever the fuck that meant Caleb couldn't care less because he was just happy to be out of badass boot camp. A few days ago their dad sat them down and gave them this epic speech that said something about 'with badass power come badass responsibility' and told them they officially graduated boot camp. He even let them celebrate by cooking dinner that night. Pot Roast never tasted so sweet after nearly 4 weeks without a proper home cooked meal. Don't get him wrong around week 1 they started to pick up on the cooking thing a little more and their food didn't taste like complete shit and on week 2 their dad even started to give them tips on how to do things in the kitchen.
All in all Bad Ass boot camp was a growing experience (that let him see just how much he really didn't know about shit) that he never wants to go through again. Caleb felt like a better person now or like…wise and shit because he knows how good he really has it. He even mentioned this to his dad last night over dinner that he helped him cooked.
So Caleb was confused why his dad was glaring at him now calling him a traitor. "What the fuck did I do?" He asked him.
Puck scoffed "Oh you know what you did," He told him. "You were supposed to be on my side."
"Um…I still am," He said confused.
"We had deal skid! You help me get her through high school with her…" Puck struggled for a word. "…purity intact and I'll worry about college." Caleb now realized what his dad was talking about. "What the fuck happen?"
"Nothing that I know of," Caleb said trying to think back to remember if any fucker at school was messing with his sister. He had made it pretty clear to the male population of WMHS that his sister was off limits. If he didn't like the way you looked at her he'd kick your ass. This was all undercover of course cause he had a deal with his dad and he wasn't supposed to tell Sarah or his mom about it.
"Bull shit. You helped that Asian kid sing and woo her and shit. They've been practically dry humping right under my nose this whole time and you've been helping them" Puck accused.
Caleb blanched ant the thought of his sister and Chris. Gross. "Okay first off can we agree for you to not say shit like that. It makes me nauseous. And second I haven't been helping them sneak around behind your back," He thought about his words and then added "this whole time. Any way why are you just bringing this up now? It happened like a month again."
"You've been in boot camp so we couldn't really talk about this shit."
"You put me in boot camp!"
Puck rolled his eyes "What the fuck ever man you're a traitor." He shook his head. "I thought I raised you better,"
"You did," Caleb said defensively. Puck gave him a look. "Look did you honestly think we could keep this from happening for four years. She was bound to find a guy that she really liked enough to go for and I for one am just thankful that that guy isn't a complete douche. He listens to her and cares about her and give a damn about what she thinks and shit. He never pressures her for anything 'purity' or 'carnal treasure' related and he even backed off when you told him to. He's my best friend which means I know him better than anyone and I know that he knows that if he fucks this up he'll lose his right nut to me, his left nut to you and his dick to her. It's life," He told his father as he gave him a pat on the shoulder. "These things happen,"
Puck just scoffed again and glared at his son. Caleb just chuckled.
"I'm curious to know though. If I had gotten her through high school how were you gonna handle college when she could move away and have all the sex she wanted,"
"Easy, I was gonna make her go to an all-girl school." Puck told him like it was the most oblivious thing.
Caleb stared at his dad with his mouth open. He was about to ask if his dad had planned this once he found out that he was having a girl but he was cut off when the van door opened and said girl climbed into the back seat before slamming the door shut.
"Hey sweet 16" Puck smiled at her. "How'd it go?"
"Fine," She said avoiding his eyes and pulling out her iPod. Caleb and Puck looked at each other. She usually only did that when she was upset.
"Well… don't you want to dive home?" He tried again.
"No. I want to get the fuck out of here," She snapped at him.
"Someone's on the rag" Caleb muttered.
"Fuck off dickhead" She shot at him.
Caleb turned around to reply but Puck stopped him. "Don't," He said as he put the van in drive and headed home. It was a tense ride home, not only was Sarah pissed but Caleb was pissed too. Puck was waiting till they got home so he could grill her properly on what was wrong.
As soon as he pulled into the drive way and cut the engine Sarah stormed out of the van and headed to the front door. Puck and Caleb barely had enough time to take their seat belts off before she opened the front door with key and slammed it shut.
Puck sighed to himself and slowly got out of the van before making his way to the door. When he got inside the house he heard Sarah slam her bed room door. Caleb came in behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Have fun with that," He told him before went into the living room and clicked on the TV.
Puck pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Rachel.
What time you getting here?
He then toed off his shoes and started to climb the stairs to go talk to his daughter. He was surprised to get a response from Rachel by time he reached the top.
Leaving rehearsal at 2. Should be home in time for dinner
Puck smiled down at the phone and couldn't stop himself from typing out his next reply.
And hopefully for dessert too if you catch my drift sexy
He waited for a moment to get Rachel's response and almost choked on his tongue when he read it.
I'll make sure to bring my cookie
He stared to make sure he read it right. Holy shit, she was dirty talking through a text message.
Are you sexting me babe?
I was but now I have to get back to work. I love you wonderful husband of mine and I can't wait to see you tonight.
Me either babe drive safe. And don't forget that cookie
He chuckled to himself before his slipped his phone back in his pocket. He couldn't help the feeling of excitement that was flooding through him today. He'd see Rachel in a couple hours and they be together again (at least for a day or two). No need to worry about shit of trying to call at good times. No texting or late night phone calls and more importantly no one handed stress relief because tonight he was getting the real deal. He couldn't wait.
But for right now until she came he had other shit to deal with. He thought as he looked back up to his daughter's room. He pulled up his fist and knocked.
"Go away." She yelled from the other side
"Fat chance of that happening." He told her as he knocked again louder. He heard her get up and approach the door then he heard the click of the lock. Gosh she was her mother's child. "You know I perfecting the art of picking locks so a locked door isn't gonna stop me." She paused. "Okay we do this the hard way" He said about to pull out his pocket knife he keeps on him but stopped when he heard the door click again. She didn't open it but unlocking was just the opening he needed.
He turned the knob slowly and entered her room. She was stilling on her bed with her arms across her chest. Puck didn't say anything yet he just casually strolled over to her and then sat down quietly beside her.
"So…you wanna talk about it," He finally asked her. He made sure to stare straight ahead just like she did. I was always funny to mimic her when she was mad and point out the silly shit she did to avoid him.
"Nope,"
"Maybe a I should rephrase then," He said before he looked over and her and draped an arm around her shoulder. "Tell me what happen."
She sighed on last time before she gave in. "I'm a failure okay." She mumbled.
"Why the fuck would you say that?" He asked confused.
"Cause I failed! I failed my driver's test. I don't know how it happen. I aced the written test but when I got behind the wheel I choked. I'm a fucking failure!"
Puck sighed and tried to comfort her. "I'm sure it wasn't that bad," He told her.
"Two mail boxes and a parked car all before running into the ice machine that sits outside 7-11!" She told him.
"Oh," He said not really knowing how to respond to that one. To be honest he didn't know how to come back from that one.
Sarah's eyes started to water and Pucks heart clenched. They were like kryptonite to him. The real ones anyway. He learned real quick with his kids when shit was real and when shit was fake. Fake tears were easy to brush off but real tears meant actually hurt and emotion. He hated to see her like this.
"I've never failed anything before. EVER. I'm a Puckerman not a failure. I should be able to do this shit."
"You can do this shit," He told her calmly "You just got a little nervous. It happens. We'll got out practice a bit more and in a few weeks you'll go in there and kick ass,"
"But I'll still be a failure. That girl that didn't pass. That's girl that busted the tail light out of the test car at the DMV. Sarah Puckerman is failure." She told him. "I've never felt so bad in my life. I win. I'm a winner. That what I do. That's what you and mom taught me to do. I go out there and do my shit and I'm the best. But this time I'm not!" She told him getting more emotional.
"And that's okay,"
"No it's not okay. I'm not a failure! I don't fail things."
Puck sighed before he looked down at his daughter. She was really have a Rachel moment with a Puck flare. "Okay I think I'm about to officially play one of my dad cards: You're being stupid,"
Sarah opened her mouth to argue but closed it. "Did you just call me stupid?" She asked confused "You're not allowed to do that" She told him.
"Yeah I am and be thankful I didn't call you a fucking drama queen cause you're that right now too." He told her. "Look despite whatever the fuck you're thinking right now this isn't the end of the world. It's a test. And you can't be the best at everything you do. No one can,"
"Why not?" She mumbled miserably
"Because if you were you'd be Chuck Norris,"
Sarah rolled her eyes and gave a small smile. "I still feel like I fail at life now."
"For fuck sakes it's a test! A fucked up test if you ask me considering that half the people that pass it still can't drive for shit. But failing it doesn't define you or change who you are. It's the shit that happens after you fail that counts"
"You mean like standing there humiliated while the lady stamps the big fail on your sheet or having to tell your father that you're a failure and not as awesome as he assured you were."
"None of that shit. It counts when you say okay I fucking failed but then you deal with. Get a kick ass pep talk from a kick ass dad. Get your awesome Jew butt in gear and make sure you don't fail next time."
She looked at him skeptically but he could tell that he was winning her over. Time to bring it on home.
"This is like Star Wars: Attack of the Clones! Yea, the Clone Wars. Did Anakin say 'I got my ass kicked and lost an arm screw the Clone Wars'? No, He got a robotic arm, got in his ship and blew shit up."
Sarah giggled at the Star Wars reference and Puck could tell he won her over. He kissed her forehead and pulled her in for a hug. "Thank you daddy," She whispered to his chest.
"Just doing my job Boog," He told her before pulling away. "Okay enough with this whole cry and questioning your life purpose and shit, it's your birthday and it's my job to make sure you have fucking kick ass day!"
From then on she did. Puck didn't let her out of his sight for more than 5 minutes and that was only when she went to the bathroom. They went out to the movies and had fun talking back at the screen and throwing popcorn at the horny teenagers trying to make out. They went to the supermarket to pick up some stuff for her birthday dinner and played the mess things up game (you basically walk into a store and mess up the display cases or move things around). It was her favorite when they were younger and she couldn't stop giggling and the manager gave the three of them sour looks and asked them when they were leaving. The whole time they was out, she kept asking if Mom was coming home. Her dad would only get a little smile and claim that he didn't know. He wasn't fooling anyone.
By Five she found herself sitting at the table stealing veggies out of the salad as her dad and Caleb stood by the stove. He was showing Caleb the proper way to gill and slice the chicken for Chicken Cordon Bleu.
"Now, don't cook this shit all the way cause it's gonna finish off in the oven. So, you gotta make sure it has some color but not too much. Like a chick that only tans once every few months not the one that goes every week."
Caleb nodded his head in understanding. He hated chicks with too much tan. They always tasted funny.
"So I have a question," Sarah piped up from the table.
"And what might that be?" Puck asked as he took the first chicken breast out of the pan and made sure Caleb saw how he did it.
"Where's my song?"
Puck stopped for a moment. Shit, he forgot about the song. Every year on their birthday Rachel plans and has this big moment for them and sings them a song to either encourage them for that next year of life. Puck usually helped out and played guitar or sang a duet but choosing the song was always Rachel's job.
He didn't really know if she did it already or not but Sarah just looked and waited for an answer. An idea popped in his head. "You'll get it," He told her.
He pulled the rest of the chicken out and set it aside for the rest of the preparations. He pulled Caleb aside and told him what he needed him to do and after a few moments of comedic arguing, his son agreed.
Caleb ran upstairs and ran back down with his dad's acoustic guitar. He pulled out a stool for him to sit on. Puck took his guitar and fixed it to his liking. He started to pluck the cord into a gentle and familiar melody of "I'll stand by you".
Sarah smiled with tears in her eyes and her father sang out the song to her. When he reached the second chorus she was surprised to hear her brother join in and harmonize with him. She knew they haven't probably practiced this but it sounded so perfect. It meant a lot after the day she had and she couldn't be happier to take this song and message into the next year of her life. They sang out the final notes and played the final chord and she clapped for them. They pretended to do a little bow before her brother came over and gave her a big hug. "Happy Birthday sis," He told her. And she hugged him back.
He dad put the guitar down and gave her a big hug too. "I mean it you know," He told her.
"I know," She told him squeezing him a little bit tighter before letting go.
Sweet Caroline good times never seem so good.
Sarah laughed. "Oh gee I wonder why mom is randomly and not at all suspiciously calling,"
Puck rolled his eyes as he walked out the room answered. "Hey babe,"
"Hi," Rachel said breathless.
"You still on the road?"
"No actually…um I'm not" She told him in a low voice. "Rehearsal went longer than expected and some other things came up,"
"Oh that sucks," He told her. "Well, sounds like you're gonna miss dinner but at least you're gonna make it home in time for dessert" He said seductively. "You hitting the road now?"
There was a long pause before she answered. "No…not yet," She answered quietly again.
"Why not? What the fuck you waiting for?" He asked slumping down on the steps.
"Um… I'm actually still in the middle of things here. Something went terribly wrong with scheduling and it looks like I'm gonna be stuck here for at least another four hours"
"Four hours! Shit can't you just pick up that shit on Monday or something."
"Noah it's not that simple,"
"What are you trying to say?"
She took another long pause before speaking again. "I…I don't think I'm going to make it." She whispered.
And there it was. The shit hitting the fan. That moment when he realized that he was fucked cause he got his hopes up even when he told himself not it. And with that moment comes everything else, anger , betrayal, disappointment. These were all fairly familiar to Puck but he hasn't felt them to this extreme in a long time.
And as much as this hurt sucked for him. He could only imagine how much more worst it suck for Sarah. After the day she had this would fucking kill her.
"Noah…" She said quietly after a few minutes of quiet from him. "Noah talk to me"
"Don't," He finally broke. "Don't do this,"
"Noah I don't really have a choice," Rachel said through the tears
"Yes you do. Just leave. Shit they don't own you."
"I can't," She told him and begged him to understand.
"You won't," He accused.
"I'll…I'll come home next weekend. For the full weekend."
"Next weekend isn't her birthday! It's today. It's now and you're fucking missing it!" He tried to keep his voice down not wanting his kids to hear this. Hell he didn't want to be hearing this.
"Do you think I wanted this to happen? You think I'd rather be here than at home with my family," She was crying again.
Puck ignored her question and posed one of his own. "How the fuck am I supposed to go in there and tell her this shit?"
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," She continued to cry. "I tried everything and I just…I'm sorry"
Puck pulled the phone away from his ear. He didn't want to hear her crying. He didn't want to hear how horrible she felt or how she was gonna make it right. He just needed her to fucking be here. He hit the end button hanging up on her. He'll deal with that shit later. Right now he couldn't think about it.
Right now he had to make it right. He sat on the steps for ten minutes and thought about how to recover from this. Sarah had her hopes up about Rachel coming home if he went in there and told her she wasn't it would crush her and he couldn't stand to do that to her. Especially not on her 16th birthday after failing a driver's test! He mulled over his other options and plans and in the end only one stuck out as being able to salvage this birthday from hell.
He hated it. Hated that he even had to do it. But for his daughter he would have. He was a fucking man and he had to do what he had to do to keep shit together. He sighed and pulled out his phone and dialed an number he rarely used (honestly who uses the house phone when people have cell phones). It rang 3 times before someone answered.
"Hello?"
Puck sighed in relief at least it was the person he wanted to talk to.
"You have twenty minutes to get yourself cleaned up, put something nice on and pick up my daughter for a date." He gritted. He hated the way the words tasted in his mouth.
"Are you serious?"
"I'm giving you your chance. Don't fuck it up or I swear to Jew God I will…"
"I know Uncle Puck. I know." He told him. "…Thanks. You won't regret it." He told him.
Puck didn't bother with a reply and hung up. He already regretted it. He fucking regretted this whole situation. He got and put on his best game face to go into the kitchen. When he came in he found his kids dancing around the kitchen to some old school Billy Joel song. This was how it was supposed to be. Them together as a family laughing and celebrating a birth day. Not this bull shit he was about to do.
He walked over to the iHome and turned the song down. That got their attention and Sarah smiled up at her dad.
"Done with all your secret plans and phone calls. I swear you would be the worst spy ever,"
Puck shook his head and give her a grim smile. "There's been a change of plan. I'm not cooking tonight."
Sarah's face fell and grew concerned. " Why not? Is everything okay? Is it mom?"
Oh if she only knew puck thought to himself. "No she's fine. Everything is fine. But you should probably go change."
Sarah frowned in confusion. "Why?"
"Cause Chris will be here in about 15 minutes to pick you up for your date." He told her and tried not to scowl about it.
Sarah stood shocked and replayed his words in her head a few times to make sure she heard his correctly. When they finally sunk in her face lit up in a huge smile. She threw herself excitedly into her father's arms. "Oh my God! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She said and jumped up and down before pulling away. "Only 15 minutes! That's not enough time to get ready. Why didn't you tell me sooner? It's a good think I plan for this," She babbled on excited. She stopped for a moment. "Oh wait what about mom? I don't want to disappoint her if she came home all this way-"
Puck cut her off. "Don't worry about it. I told her what was going on and we agreed that she'll come down and celebrate some other time." He lied smoothly.
The smile was back in full force and so was the excited 16 year old about to go on her first date. She started to run for the stairs when Puck called after her. " Make sure you put some fucking pants on! No Skirts!" '
"Yeah and No v-necks either. Guys will try to check out your boobs when you bend over in those!" Caleb yelled up too. Puck looked over at his son. "What? Just cause he's my boy doesn't mean I want him perving on my sister.
Puck shook his head and went back into the kitchen to start cleaning up and putting food away. Caleb followed and watched him from the doorway
"So what's up with the change of heart on Chris?" Caleb asked.
Puck just shrugged.
"Did you and mom really plan this?"
Puck ignored him this time and focused on his work. His kid was too fucking smart for his own good.
"Is she not coming at all this weekend?"
"You gonna stand there and ask me questions all night?" Puck finally responded.
Caleb just came into the kitchen and helped his father clean up. When the finished packing up all the food and put in the fridge Caleb turned to him.
"Just one more question"
"What?"
"If you're not cooking and she's going out what are we gonna do for dinner."
At this Puck smirked. This was an easy question and one that he didn't mind answering.
"I thought you would have figured it out by now. We're going out to eat. And we just might to pick the same restaurant as Sarah and Chris. I mean after all Lima is a small town. These things happen," He told his son.
Caleb smiled at his dad. "Oh yeah! Epic stakeout date spying: Puckerman Style."
LET ME EXPLAIN BEFORE YOU START THROWING FRUIT AT ME!
Rachel WILL come home soon it just wasn't in this chapter and before I start getting hate mail about her actions I'll explain her side of the story in the next chapter. So please don't be TOO harsh.
That being said I would really like to know what you thought? I've been getting request for Chris/Sarah so I decided to give them their moment in this chapter. Let me know what you like or don't like or any questions or suggestions you have.
Thanks Again! I'll miss you all! Review!