Chapter 11: Schue to the Rescue

The last few weeks had been torturous for Rachel Berry. If it wasn't for Invitationals, the girl would have gone crazy. She was like those horses in Central Park she had once rode when she was seven, her blinders were perfectly placed. Not her biological mother, her dads or even the fact that her relationship with Finn had been a let- down could break her stride. With her boyfriend however, Rachel was playing the best role of her life.

The brunette felt like one of those Stepford wives. When Finn upset her, she would focus on something good. Lately, it had been her stolen moments with Puck. As wrong as it was, they were her happy thoughts. Will had decided on new solos and duets, three weeks before the competition. Rachel was excited to be paired with Puck for once. Her dads had argued the last election year over President Obama. Since then, they always teased her with "change is good baby girl" and maybe they were right.

Glee Club was Rachel's sanctuary. If Finn minded his girlfriend singing a solo with another guy, he didn't show it. The boy was too focused on basketball and his own music to even notice. As far as the other Gleekers, Quinn was in a dark state since giving birth. She came back to school a week after giving up Hannah, but things were still not right. The blond leaned on Puck and he gave her everything she needed. It was hard to watch sometimes. You could see the boy struggle with being Noah Puckerman. He was so good at being Puck that this softer side was wearing him down.

Girls at school noticed that Puck was trying to change. It was hard to avoid the teasing. That was the worst part of it all. As soon as the girls of McKinley High heard Puck was dating Quinn, it was a free for all. He found panties in his locker daily, girls in bikini s hiding under his bed. His cell phone was vibrating off the hook with sexts and pictures of scantily clad girls. When he was single, hardly anything, now that he had finally settled down, everyone wanted a piece of him. He packed his suitcase frustrated, finding notes in his boxers smelling like perfume.

Rachel was meticulous when it came to packing. Packing was a ritual. All her clothes had to be washed, even if they were previously clean. Some may call this obsessive compulsive, but Rachel considered it thorough. She did the same for Finn. Despite his belly aching, Finn watched as Rachel spilled the contents of his sloppily packed suitcase. It was the night before the Indiana trip and now his girlfriend was reorganizing the contents.

If the trip would go his way Finn thought, maybe he could make his relationship with Rachel work. He had been acting like a jerk lately. Finn hated feeling like an ass. In fact, that is just how he was acting. His mother had cornered him coming out of the bathroom last week. She told him to stop acting like a jackass and wake up. Finn thought about his mother's words as Glee club loaded their belongings onto the bus.

Everything was going the way Rachel had planned. She sat with Finn on the bus; they had some topics planned so when the conversation felt strained they listened to their respective iPods. It wasn't exactly exciting or thrilling, but it was what they had become. When they finally pulled into the parking of the Hyatt everyone was tired and ready for some sleep. Rachel hated sleeping on a bus so she was also ready for a nice shower and some R&R time before their curfew.

"I am so ready for some pay per view," Puck announced stretching in the aisle of the bus.

"Yeah!" Mike agreed, to which Brittany giggled in response.

The two boys high fived, the rest of the bus laughed in appreciation.

"There will be no pay per view, I have already asked the hotel to block any and all stations that are not appropriate." Ms. Pillsbury announced sending groans throughout the vehicle.

"That's okay, man. I brought my laptop and skin DVD collection," Mike whispered to his friends. They nodded happily, as the teens walked off the bus slowly.

"Okay I have asked that the hotel bring up your baggage separately and so here are the room assignments," Mr. Schuester announced. "Sue, Mary and Emma are in room 203 and…"

"Uh excuse me but I am not sharing a room with the Scarecrow and Dorothy," Mary announced. "I'll just get my own room, unless of course you want to bunk with me?" she smiled at Will who looked around at the audience that was forming.

"No, I'm bunking with Artie."

"Fine," the blond woman spat, quickly turning in her blue fur coat and dragging her carry-on Dolce and Gabanna bags towards the hotel lobby.

The kids waited in front of the elevators as they seemed to take forever to get to the main floor. "Hey there's a service elevator in the back," Puck whispered to Matt and Mike who shrugged. "Seriously dudes?" he shook his head exasperated.

Rachel smiled turning from the group and walking quickly towards the back of the hotel, she took a quick left when she heard her name being called.

"Hey Rach!" it was Puck's voice and the girl just turned slowly.

"Looking for the service elevator?" he inquired, laughing as he walked past the girl. "I used to hook up in a Hyatt back at home. Consuela was a hot maid and boy she…" Rachel winced.

"Look can we just skip your memory lane montage and get to the part where I'm taking a nice hot shower and going to bed?" she asked as they reached a mauve elevator.

"Well, if you need any help with that shower, Berry," he smiled a wide cheesy smile that made Rachel's palms sweat.

The girl tried to ignore the Mohawked boy, walked into the elevator, and pressed the button for their floor. As the elevator ascended, the lights flickered and died, sending them into darkness. Rachel grabbed for Puck and held onto him tightly, until the emergency lights went on. She finally let him go when she saw that shit eating grin on his face.

"I knew something like this would happen, Noah," Rachel spat, leaning against the elevator wall annoyed.

"It could be worse, Rachel. Just relax they'll come and get us soon." He sneezed as soon as he finished trying to calm the little girl down.

"Are you sick?" the brunette questioned her hand on Puck's forehead felt cold.

He stared at her for a moment, first in her eyes and then at her lips. She was very attractive, beautiful even if he ever called a girl that. Usually it was bangable, hot, spicy but, never beautiful. Those words meant something different to a girl. If you just wanted to get in her pants and not have her calling you 24/7, you stayed away from beautiful. Puck couldn't help thinking it though. At the moment she was amazing.

"I think so," Puck finally answered.

Rachel tore her gaze from his, combing through her bag.

"This is not good. If you get sick two days before competition, we might as well consider the entire team sick. I have Echinacea, Airborne and Tylenol. Take all three and I will take all three," she demanded pulling out an extra bottle of water.

"What else do you have in there?" Puck asked smirking at the brunette. She blushed slightly shoving the pills towards the boy.

"Just take these quickly, the last thing we need is for either of us to get sick. While they may be able to cover you, I think my solo will be greatly missed."

Puck rolled his eyes taking the pills while watching the tiny brunette nervously wait. She was shaking slightly as the service elevator was not built for comfort.

"Look, are you cold?" the boy asked.

"Why, you have an extra sweatshirt hidden somewhere?" she asked reddening at her own words.

"No, I'm missing my extra one. Look, but you can have this one," Puck offered pulling the sweatshirt that was identical to the one in her bedroom, over his head. He was wearing a thin white t-shirt that lifted, exposing his sculpted abs. Rachel blushed at the sight, unable to turn as he handed her the warm hoodie.

"Thanks," she pulled it over her head, smelling Pucks scent. He smelled the same as before, like soap and boy. She took a deep breath before revealing her head. Noah was staring at her with a devious smirk.

"It suits you, Rachel," he laughed, rubbing his cold arms.

"Now you're freezing," she worried sliding down onto the floor.

"I'll be fine. I shovel driveways in the winter. You should see how big my tips are when I take off my jacket."

"That's disgusting, Noah!"

"That's business, Rachel. Puckerman understands the mind of a lonely housewife. I watch Bravo. I get it."

The brunette stared at the boy who was leaning opposite from her on the floor.

She cleared her throat before asking the obvious question. "Do you think they know we're here Noah? What if no one knows? What if they think we've run off together? They'll never find us. We could be stuck here for days,"

Puck stared at the girl as she riled herself up. He was too entertained to interrupt her right away. "Seriously, Rachel, I think Finn might miss you. And you know Quinn would want to know where I am."

"This is entirely your fault, Puck!" she cried, tucking her knees under her."

"Of course it is. I made you come with me into the elevator. From what I remember, Rach, you wanted to avoid waiting for the regular elevator. I never forced you into following me."

"You're right. I'm sorry. It's just small spaces make me nervous. You make me nervous," she admitted, regretting it instantly.

"I make you nervous? Why?" the boy asked, enjoying the affect he was having on the girl.

"This incident can destroy both of our reputations. Well, my reputation at least."

"Like I can't control myself, Rachel? You think I'm going to go tell everyone something happened here? Please I don't have to make this stuff up."

"Right, your reputation precedes you. I know."

It was silent for a moment before Puck laughed at Rachel's expressions. The girl was inhaling deeply, holding her breath and then exhaling slowly. She continued for a moment before he had to interrupt her.

"What are you doing?" he asked fighting back the laughter.

Rachel held up a finger continuing her breathing exercises. When she finally was done, she answered Puck's question. "It calms me,"

"Yeah well it freaks me out. What else calms you?" Noah asked quirking an eyebrow. He couldn't help it, being in close proximity with a girl immediately made him think of sex.

"Stories, my dads use to tell me a story when I got this way," she answered.

"Well, last summer Santana and I were…"

"Wait! Is this a story that ends with debauchery and raunchy details?" the brunette interrupted.

Puck laughed at the memory as Rachel rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry I don't have many stories that don't end that way."

"Fine. What about you and Quinn? How are you two doing at least?"

Puck took a deep breath shrugging, "What about you and Finn?"

The small girl shifted uncomfortably, "We're fine, you know."

Puck laughed sarcastically, "He's not getting any either?"

Rachel blinked astonished. "I don't think that's any of your business Noah Puckerman!"

"Yeah well at least you're not doing that breathing thing anymore," the boy chuckled studying Rachel carefully. She was blushing profusely and he could feel the medicine taking affect. The cold was starting to get to Puck, he moved quickly making Rachel jump as he started doing pushups.

"W-what are you doing?" the girl asked intrigued.

"It's f'ing freezing in here, Rachel. I'm doing pushups to stay warm. Why? Enjoying the view?" he teased, continuing the exercise.

"No! You are just very strange, Noah."

Noah stopped in mid pushup, his biceps were bulging but his arms barely quaked. "Are you checking me out, Rach?"

"No, I'm just hoping they get the power back up soon," the brunette responded, turning from the boy as he continued to exercise.

This was like how one of those pornographic movies started, Rachel thought. Not that she had ever seen a pornographic movie. She had only certain ideas. Usually her repertoire in movies was in the G to PG-13 rating. She thought though, that this would be how one started. The idea was frightening yet, also kind of thrilling.

Normally for Puck, having a girl locked in a dark elevator with him was like taking candy from a baby. He would have the girl's bra on the floor in sixty seconds. But this was Rachel Freaking Berry. She was humming while looking at the buttons of the elevator. She was the girl that actually made him feel shit and that freaked him out.

"What do you think they're doing out there?" Rachel asked after Puck was done moving about.

"Well I bet Finn's trying to figure out what happened to the TV and Quinn's probably pissed off that I haven't called yet."

The brunette laughed lost in thought. The reality was the entire Glee Club was having a little melt down. It took them about thirty minutes to realize that Puck and Rachel were missing. At first Santana thought Rachel was in the bathroom and Mike could have sworn he saw Puck flirting with a maid outside their room. It wasn't until they told Mr. Schuester that the two were missing that reality set in.

You don't think they're like together, do you? Mercedes asked, voicing everyone's question.

Quinn rolled her eyes annoyed, "I doubt it. Rachel's probably found a sound proof room to warm up and Puck, who knows?"

"In a black out? What if they're stuck somewhere?" Tina asked, worriedly looking at her cell phone.

"We barely have reception in here Mr. S.," Santana announced, annoyed that her cell phone was acting up.

"Well, it seems to me you've lost some children, William," Sue spat, Mary Avery was close behind her. She enjoyed Will's physique and thought his curly hair was catching.

"Shut up, old woman. Can't you see Will is thinking?" The tall blond coach responded while mooning over the Glee coach.

Santana rolled her eyes at the two women. They had both insisted on being chaperones. Sue, because she wanted to catch Will doing something stupid and Ms. Avery because she wanted in Will's pants. Ms. Pillsbury was quiet in the corner as everyone looked to her for input.

I'm going downstairs to tell the lobby they're missing. The power should be back up soon. At least we can see if maybe they were in an elevator when the power went down.

The kids began to scramble thinking of Puck and Rachel stuck in an elevator together.

"Great, now Rachel will be knocked up," Kurt whispered to Mercedes. The two best friends silently giggled. Finn was not amused.

"I'll come with you Ms. P," the tall boy offered as Quinn stood up with him.

"Me too," the former Cheerio announced.

The Gleeks watched the ex-couple trail after Ms. Pillsbury before talking quietly amongst themselves.

"I say Finn breaks up with Rachel by the end of the night," Kurt laughed excitedly.

"No way! He'll believe anything she says," Santana argued.

"Well, I'll take that bet," Artie replied, happy to be amused with no electronics working in the room.

"Fine! Ten bucks," Santana quirked an eyebrow, eager to sucker the others into gambling.

"Well, Will, seems you have your hands full here. Maybe I should take my Cheerios into a well lit area, before the others corrupt them. "

Mr. Schuester frowned at the woman. "My kids? Corrupting your Cheerios? Come on, Sue. They're just having fun," Will chided.

"Having fun is one thing, Sweet Cheeks. But I don't want to lose another precious Cheerio because your Mohawked heathen can't keep his willy away!"

Matt's jaw dropped as he eyed the younger coach, perplexed. She was fierce and also kept winking at him at the oddest times. From her loose hands, to the boxes of chocolates he found on his car every morning, the woman was a conundrum.

Did Ms. Avery just call him Sweet Cheeks? Brittany asked tilting her head to see Will's rear accurately.

The glee kids all looked over at their teacher and checked him out while Artie watched them, horrified. "She has a point," Santana finally replied, breaking the silence.

"I am sure that is not what's going on here," Will argued as the kids watched the trio in silence.

"Oh, really? Then what is going on here exactly because it looks like you lost two of your students. I'm calling Figgins," Sue threatened, searching for reception.

"Will you guys chill?" The Latina interrupted the adults. "Rachel wouldn't do anything to jeopardize Invitationals or the Cheerios. I'm sure they're just locked somewhere because of the power being out. Come on let's go help Ms. P.," she ordered as the rest of the kids followed her.

Will turned to the two Cheerio coaches with a smirk. "Well, look at that, Sue! One of your own disagrees with you." Sue grimaced as Will turned and began to leave. Mary eagerly chased after the man.

"Wait, Sweet Cheeks! I can help!"

While the Glee club was looking for them, Rachel watched as Puck fell asleep leaning against the metal bar in the elevator. He looked peaceful but also uncomfortable. She had been trying to get reception for the last hour and was hesitant to call for help since it would strain her vocal chords. The buttons on her phone beeped feverishly as she tried to send texts, emails, anything to the outside world.

"Will you stop with the beeping, Rachel?" Puck begged, his eyes opening slowly.

"Sorry, how are you feeling?" the brunette asked closing her phone.

"Like shit, my nose is stuffy, and all I want to do is sleep.

Rachel frowned and moved closer to the boy. "Here, let's just lean against each other for warmth. There s no sense in us both getting sick, right?

Puck shrugged moving closer to Rachel. She was very warm and smelled good. Her scent cleared his nasal passages, amusing him. "What is that Vic s vapor rub?"

The girl blushed and shook her head, "No, eucalyptus oil. It's to keep me healthy. "

"Well it s clearing my sinus so it must be working," he chuckled and turned slightly to catch a glimpse of the girl.

After a few minutes, Puck fell asleep leaning against the brunette. He was heavy and outweighed her by at least eighty pounds. After five minutes, Rachel couldn't hold his weight any longer and shifted his head to her lap. He looked so different sleeping, almost like a little boy. She couldn't imagine what people would think now if they found the two. It was quite a scene, Rachel about to fall asleep and Noah Puckerman using her lap as a pillow. She worriedly felt his forehead; it started heating up. After shaking the boy awake, she made him drink some more water before he fell asleep again.

Will Schuester was arguing with the woman at the front desk as his kids sat on the couches in the hotel lobby, playing games on their cell phones. It had been two hours since they had last seen Rachel or Puck. The power, the woman kept saying, would be back on any minute. He had enough with their excuses.

"Sir, as I've said already a dozen times, the power will be up shortly and then we can check the security cameras to see where they are.

"When? Will asked with displeasure just as the lights flickered and power was restored. The woman gave him a satisfied look as she quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Now give me just a minute as I contact security. We will check the tapes."

Will looked over towards the kids who seemed unfazed by the light. They were still laughing and playing happily. Still stuck in the service elevator, Rachel's eyes flew open as the emergency lights gave way to the bright florescent. At first, she thought she was dreaming, until she slapped Puck lightly on the face.

"Noah! The power is back!" Rachel cried, awaking the boy from his stupor.

"Huh?" he asked, realizing he had been sleeping on the girl's lap for hours. "Oh, shit! Yeah, let's..." he paused, taking his time to stand up. His fever had broken a half hour ago; however, the boy still felt woozy.

"Are you okay, Noah?" Rachel asked, putting her small hand out to catch the boy. He laughed at the idea of this small girl keeping him from falling.

"Yeah, let's try to buttons or something," he replied focusing on the call button.

"Damn it! It's busted," he turned, exasperated, as Rachel's eyes widened in sheer panic.

"That can't be," she began, pressing all the buttons furiously.

After a minute, the brunette started to cry. Puck hated when girls cried, watching Rachel do it was even worse. "Hey, look! You can do that breathing thing or whatever. I won't get annoyed," the boy bargained. His words made Rachel laugh, slightly falling to the ground, defeated.

"Thanks, Puck. I just really want to get the hell out of here," she gasped at her own words.

Puck chuckled dryly, sitting down next to Rachel, hoping to cheer her up. "Tell me about it! I was hoping to get laid tonight."

The girl rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Really, I thought you said Quinn was... you know."

"Yeah…," Puck shrugged, perking an eyebrow.

"You're gross, Noah Puckerman!"

"No, I m a guy. I have needs, Rach. I thought I could fight them, but there's no way," Puck finished, staring at the girl next to him. She smelled good, her lips were soft, and he really wanted to remember what she tasted like. Rachel wasn't any girl, but she was stuck in this elevator with him and that had to mean something.

"Why did we break up again, Noah? Rachel asked turning from the boy before she made a mistake. He backed away slightly, sighing annoyed.

"Because, you had the hots for Finn... and I was still stupid over Quinn," he spat, perplexed.

"Yeah, but was there another reason?" she wondered more to herself than to him.

Puck turned towards the brunette. She was lost inside the memory, as if she had actually given this some thought. His heart started to speed up, it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. He took a deep breath before he dared to talk.

"What do you mean?" he wondered, making the girl jump at the sound of his voice.

"N-nothing, I was just, it's weird right? I mean, we didn't really fight. We had fun. It was nice. The only thing was..."

"It wasn't what we wanted," Puck finished, staring at Rachel. She nodded slowly, her cheeks red hot.

They stared at one another for a moment lost. Rachel was thinking about dying here with Puck and how it was somewhat poetic. She wanted him to lean in and kiss her. Her heart sped up to a rumba rhythm when he did lean forward. His eyes focused on her lips. That s when the elevator shook and they split apart staring at the doors. When they opened, Mr. Schue stood there with grease on his face but smiling.

"Thank God I found you guys," he cried out, happy and exhausted.

Puck and Rachel exchanged a quick look before standing up to leave the service elevator and that moment behind. The glee club welcomed them back as Rachel and Puck separated into their rooms. Tina and Mercedes were the first to ask Rachel all the details. Santana, Brittany, and Kurt were also waiting to hear what happened.

"How did you end up stuck in the service elevator with Puck?" Mercedes inquired.

"Are you pregnant?" Brittany asked, genuinely concerned. The blond girl was a bit confused as to what happened between Quinn and Puck.

"Nothing, I thought we would get to our rooms faster and I guess Puck had the same idea," Rachel answered as her friends stared down at her.

"Well did you talk to Finn yet?" Tina inquired sitting down next to the girl on the bed.

"No, he was in his room when we came up with Will. I'll text him in a minute. It's not like anything happened."

"Please you were stuck with Puck in an elevator for over three hours. I know what happens in elevators with him after five minutes," Santana replied, annoyed that Rachel was holding out on them.

"I should call Finn," the small brunette finally deflected, jumping up and heading to the bathroom with her cell phone.

"I think she's pregnant," Brittany announced when Rachel closed the door.

Rachel opened her cell phone ignoring the voices outside the bathroom door. Her friends were busy contemplating the last three hours of her life. She was about to call Finn but, hesitated. What would she say? What could she possibly tell Finn? That she almost kissed Noah? And that, if they were stuck there for another hour she probably would have done more? Rachel couldn't talk to Finn, not until she sorted out her thoughts and feelings and processed everything. She started the shower and grabbed a towel. The brunette then texted Finn goodnight and let the hot water melt her problems away.

After an extra long shower, Rachel sneaked out into the dark room and slipped into bed with Tina. She thought she had avoided all discussion until Mercedes cleared her throat. "We're totally talking about this more in the morning, Rachel." the girl announced before turning over and falling back asleep.

Rachel closed her eyes and started to think about what would have happened if Will Schuester didn't interrupt the kiss. Everything had been ruined, she thought. If he were just five minutes earlier or later, nothing would be the same. As it was now, there was this almost kiss, looming. It was something that kept Rachel up for two hours before she finally succumbed to sleep. In the morning the Spanish Inquisition would start, for both her and Puck.