So, as you can see… I'M BACK! Lately, I've been typing up ALL THE STUFF I WROTE AT CAMP! It's a lot. But, I hope you like it…

Chapter Eleven: Not a Date

For the past hour and a half, Rachel had been checking her cell phone every other minute. Ever since second period, when she didn't see Puck in Spanish class, she'd been wondering where he was.

School was over now and she was sitting in her room, kicking her feet back and forth. Rachel couldn't stand it. She hadn't contacted him, of course, hadn't left a message saying 'Call me' or 'Text me' or something, but she still wanted him to call and say why he hadn't been in school all day.

Not that I care, she thought to herself, as if saying that would make her worrying cease…

It didn't.

So finally, Rachel picked up her phone one last time, going to her contacts and selecting Puck's number.

Noah, call me when you can. –Rachel Berry

Just as Puck was stepping out the front door to wash his car, he heard a beep coming from his pocket as he got a text. He pulled it out, smirking at the name on the front screen, Berry. Puck flipped up the screen and read the text, smirking again. He dialed her number, not that he knew it by heart on purpose, and waited for her to pick up.

He didn't have to wait long though, for Rachel answered it on the second ring. "Noah?" she said in a desperate voice that made him chuckle.

"S'up, Berry?" he asked in an amused voice.

She was silent for a minute. "Where… Where were you today?" Her voice was quiet, almost embarrassed and concerned.

His amusement turned into seriousness. "Were you worried?" He bit his lip.

Rachel sighed. "…Well, yeah, a little…" He raised his eyebrows in surprise and it was almost like she knew this because she quickly backed that up with a "It's just because I know you and your sister kind of live without your parents around, and I thought something happened to you."

Lies, Puck thought to himself, switching his cell phone to the other ear. "I see…"

Rachel 'Mm-hmm'ed. "And not only that, but I realized today that the glee duets were supposed to be finished today and we haven't practiced at all. Three groups have already gone and even though they weren't perfect or even close to well rehearsed, they were still done and it was awful. I felt so out of place and, Noah!" she whined.

Puck swore he heard her stomp her foot over the phone. "Chillax, Rach. It's not a big deal… Who went?"

"Um, Matt and Mercedes sang The Time of My Life, from the original Dirty Dancing. It was cute. Then Finn and Mike sang She's a Lady and you could totally see them singing to Quinn and Brittney and afterwards, Brittney and Santana sang Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."

Puck nodded. "Not bad." She sighed. "Don't worry, Berry. We'll practice. Tonight if it's so important to you…"

"Really?" she said curiously.

Puck stepped back into his house and shut the door. "Yeah, why not. I don't have anything to do tonight since I missed school. Plus they probably didn't give homework anyway since they're doing a long weekend for Halloween and shit…" Rachel was silent. "So… Would you like to do that?"

Rachel let out a small giggle; an actual giggle, one that you would place as flirty, possibly seductive if you made it a few notes lower. "Sure," she said, delighted. "Why don't you come over at seven thirty. You can stay for dinner."

He smiled. "Alright." He tried to hide his excitement. "See you then."

"Right. Bye, Noah."

Then the line went dead. Puck turned around and jumped a foot in the air when he saw his sister standing behind him with her arms crossed over her chest. "Who was that?" she said in a smug voice, clearly knowing it was Rachel. "Was it Rachel?"

His narrowed his eyes at her. "…Yes…" His voice was unsure for some reason, like he couldn't trust her.

She smiled. "Excellent. You're going over there for dinner?" He nodded dumbly. "I see… Come with me," she said, grabbing the sleeve to his shirt and pulling him up the stairs.

"Where are we going…?"

She stopped halfway up the stairs. "To your room dumb ass…"

Abbegail continued up the stairs and to his room, where she placed him in front of the mirror before searching through his closet. "So, I don't wanna go to her house dressed like this…" He heard her squeal from the closet. "…What the hell is your problem?" his said in a sarcastic tone.

She stuck her head out from the closet. "You're so, like, into this."

"Excuse me?"

"Look, Noah, I understand that you like this girl, but you've never acted like this before! When you were dating Santana, you never worried about what you wore or what you looked like because you always thought you would always look studly, but now, when Rachel Berry the very high maintenance girl, comes along, you're all of a sudden freaking out about your clothes!" she said, tossing him a pair of dark wash jeans. "Put those on…"

He did. "Well, I'm not freaking out about my clothes, I just feel like I should be more presentable around her…"

"Do you feel like you need to live up to her standards for her to like you?"

Puck didn't answer right away and after a few minutes, Abbegail walked out of the closet carrying multiple button down shirts on hangers. "Well, I wouldn't call it living up to standards…" He thought for a minute. "Maybe just stepping over the stud line a little bit and advancing up to meeting presentable expectations."

His little sister smiled, then got a serious look on her face. "Why aren't you like this at school?" she asked, sitting down on the bed and crossing her legs at the knees.

Puck's brow furrowed in confusion. "What exactly do you mean?"

He sat down next to her as she sighed. "Well, I mean… I've seen how you are with your friends and girlfriends. You care more about what they think of you and you act all, well, asshole-y. But then, when I compare it to the way you act around me, and now Rachel too, you seem more down to earth and it's like you care more." He let out a long sigh. "Why is that?"

"I guess… I mean, I can see what you're saying, but people are always different around their friends then they are around their family."

Abbey looked at him with wide eyes. "No, I don't mean like that, I mean it's like, really different. One minute, you'll be drinking a beer with some of your friends and the next, you'll be singing into a vacuum wand and rocking out to Beck with me while we clean the house… When you were with Santana, you literally used her for just sex. Now you're around Rachel and are treating her like she's an angel or something… Do you get what I'm saying?"

Puck nodded. "Yeah, Abbs, I get it." She sat back, waiting for him to go on. "It's just, like, you have to protect yourself at school and around friends. Home is where it counts. If I were acting the way I do at home while in school, I'd be with Fro Boy and his Jew Crew being tossed in the Dumpsters three times a day." She nodded slowly. "I'm not saying I don't like being the loveable brother I am, cause honestly, it kicks ass, but I think it's awesome to have a different personality, one I would probably have all the time if I didn't have a little sister to take care of."

Abbegail's eyes fell and she looked at her feet sadly. "Oh, shit, Abbey. I didn't mean it like that. You know I didn't."

She laughed once then flashed him a crooked smile. "Yeah…" She kissed his cheek. "I know." Abbey quickly shook it off and stood up, leading him back to the mirror. She handed him the same black button down shirt he wore at brunch. "Here, put this on," she said, quickly shaking off his comment. "We need you to look… presentable."

Puck smirked at her but she smiled, going to his closet to grab a pair of sneakers. "And these… These are perfect."

He held them up to his face. "Abbey, these are Vans skateboarding sneakers," he said in a bland voice. She nodded excitedly. "Are you sure?" Again, she nodded. "Alright, you know what you're talking about."

She planted her hands on her hips. "Yes, I do know what I'm talking about, Noah Puckerman. Unlike you, I have fashions sense, even when it comes to dressing a guy." He looked up at her through his eyelashes. "I do. Now put them on."

He did, slipping his feet into them easily. "Okay," he said, standing up and holding his arms out so she could survey how he looks. "What do you think?"

Abbey cracked a smile. "I think you look presentable."

Rachel once again had the home phone clenched between her ear and shoulder while she bustled around, setting up for dinner. "No, I'm telling you, he literally offered to come over and practice for the duet…"

The girl on the other end of the line gasped. "No way, girl, he did not!" she shouted in a completely astonished voice.

Rachel nodded, standing up straight. "He did; not kidding. It was so amazing 'Cedes."

There was some rustling on the line before she responded. "What are you wearing?"

"Oh, gosh… I didn't really think about it. It's not like we're going on a date." She heard Mercedes scoff. "We're not!"

Silence on the other line. Then… "Look, Rachel, we all know that for a million years you're had a massive crush on Finn. Anyone could see that, but things are different now. Noah 'The Stud' Puckerman is coming to your house for dinner." Rachel smiled, feeling her cheeks get hot even though there was no one around. "Big changes, girl. You've practically got him in the palm of your hand."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "He's not in the palm of my hand. Maybe on the tips of my fingers."

Mercedes 'Mm-hmm'ed. "So… You know that little red dress in your closet? Wear it. And wear a pair of strappy sandals, they'll work with it… Leave your hair down, but maybe curl it with an iron. Make-up, leave it as natural as possible without wearing no makeup at all…"

Rachel nodded, placing forks next to the plates. She looked at the clock on the wall. "'Cedes, you know I love you, but it's almost six forty-five. I have to get ready."

Mercedes laughed. "Alright, I'll let you go, but call me and tell me what happens after he leaves, okay?" Rachel 'Mm'ed, her mind wandering slightly. "Rachel?" Mercedes said in a warning tone.

"Okay!" Rachel said, laughing. "I'll call you, I promise. But I have to go… Bye."

She sighed. "Alright, bye."

When Puck arrived at Rachel's house—with his guitar and flowers that his pain-in-the-ass sister made him bring, well sort of made—he noticed multiple things wrong with what he was looking at from his view on Rachel's walkway.

Number one… The only car in the drive was Rachel teeny little Yaris.

Number two… The only lights that were on were the dining room and living room lights. He may have only been to her house once before in eighth grade for a project, but he remembered that house forwards and backwards. Only the living room and dining room and even then they were pretty dim.

Number three… When Puck walked up to her door and rang the bell, there wasn't shouting about opening the door or scrambling and squealing. Only the sound of footsteps.

But everything that Puck noticed seemed to be completely wonderful when Rachel opened the door and he saw what she was wearing. She had on a red dress; halter top with a tight middle and a flowing skirt. Her hair was down like it normally was, but had been curled to make tight ringlets that stopped at her shoulders instead of ending right below her bust; something in which Puck totally accidentally noticed. When he stepped in, he thought she was wearing no make-up at all, but as he took a closer look, he saw mascara and faint lip gloss.

I bet it tastes like watermelon, he thought to himself, smirking. Note to self: Find out Rachel's lip gloss flavor.

"Hey," she said quietly, shutting the door behind him.

"Hi," he said back in a gruff voice, adjusting the strap of his guitar over his shoulder. "Um, these are for you."

He held out the bouquet of white calla lilies and light pink roses. "Oh, Noah, thank you," she said, surprised as she took it in both hands, the plastic wrap crinkling under her fingers.

Puck shrugged. "They're stupid. And cheesy."

Rachel smiled into the flowers as she took in their gorgeous smell. "Mm. No, they're beautiful." Puck's cheeks felt like they lit up in flames. "That was very sweet of you." He shrugged again, giving her a soft smile. "Thank you, again."

"I do my best."

She laughed. "Well, I love your best." Out of nowhere, she stepped forward, embracing him in a hug. Rachel made a mental note that he smelled like Old Spice Swagger. Puck made a mental note that she smelled like orchid body spray. After a moment, she pulled away, mumbling a quiet 'Sorry.'

They both smiled. "So…" he said awkwardly, putting his guitar against the piano bench. "Are the parentals here?"

She shook her head. "Nope. They're in Dayton for the weekend. My aunt's birthday is tomorrow."

"Ah." He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. "So, do you, like, wanna practice now, or are you going to feed me first?"

Her eyes dropped as he said this but she smiled. "I didn't get a chance to finish cooking, so unless you don't want to eat at all, we could practice in the kitchen." He nodded surely, picking up his guitar. "So, I was making stir fry, minus the meat since I'm a vegetarian… I hope that's okay…"

Be smooth, Puckerman, be smooth. "Yeah, that's good. My mom makes stir fry all the time. She says it helps you get centered." He put his hands in prayer position and did a karate bow.

Rachel raised an eyebrow at him? "Um… 'Helps you get centered'?"

Puck nodded enthusiastically. "Yes ma'am. Even though we're a very meat oriented family—we're very Jewish—" Rachel smiled "—We do tend to have vegetarian meals every once and a while, to help us connect with our inner zen."

Her mouth fell open. "You must be joking," she said, pushing the vegetables around the pan with a wooden spoon.

He pointed to his face. "Does it look like I'm joking?" He flashed her a giant grin that made her laugh. "Okay, okay, okay… So maybe it doesn't help us get centered, but we do have vegetarian meals, like, once a week. We've already had our vegetarian meal, but I suppose I can sacrifice another. Just for you Rachel, just for you." Her cheeks flushed a brilliant shade of red and it made him smile.

Just for you, he thought before watching her turn back to the stove as he sat down on a kitchen chair, strumming on his guitar. Just… For… You…

That's all for now, I'll update… Later. Byeee!

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And for those who were confused about who Mr. Richards was in chapter ten, I fixed it. Go look!