Hello everyone! Enjoy!

Chapter 12

Rachel shook her head in confusion as she let Marley in. "I don't understand, how?"

"I told you Mom hired private investigator. The best one money could buy. Turns out they've been tracing my phone calls with you and once they realized you were in Ohio, Mom knew you'd be here. I made sure to change the date to next week on her plane ticket so I could come out here and warn you."

"I can't believe this is happening," she sighed. When she remembered everyone else was there, she froze. "Right, Marley you remember Noah. And these are his friends, Finn, Mike, Tina, Santana, Brittany, and his daughter Beth. Everyone this is my sister, Marley."

Puck walked over to Marley. "Wow Marley you grew old on me."

She rolled her eyes and hugged him. "Yeah but you'll always be older than me."

"So both of you knew Puck when he was a kid?" Finn asked.

"Okay I have to hear some embarrassing stories about him ASAP," Santana smirked. "We've seen the pictures but he's always forced his mom not to tell us anything about him during that time."

Puck shook his head but when he noticed Rachel's face, he remembered what Marley just told them and walked over to her. "Rachel?"

She looked at him. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?"

"I have to leave. I'm ruining your birthday but I have to get out of here," she said before running upstairs.

Puck went after her and found her grabbing her suitcase and throwing clothes into it. "Rachel can you stop and talk to me for a minute?"

"My mother is coming, Puck. She's changed from the woman you knew when we were kids, when she finds out I'm with you she'll tear you apart."

"If I can deal with Quinn I'm sure I can deal with her." When he saw that Rachel still wasn't listening, he grabbed her hands to get her to stop and look at him. "Look I know you're scared. But don't you think it's time to stand up to your mom once and for all? I mean this is your life not hers. You don't have to do everything she says. You used to sneak out and sing at clubs without her permission and when she found out, what did you always tell her?"

"I love music too much to follow the rules," she said, smiling a little at the memory before frowning. "I don't even remember that girl anymore. My career has always been about making everyone else happy and doing what they want me to do. It never really felt like it was my dream I was living."

"Don't you think it's time you start living that dream? You've got one shot, babe. Do it the way you want." Rachel thought for a moment before pulling Puck in for a deep kiss. When they pulled away, he stared at her. "Was that a goodbye kiss?"

She shook her head. "No. It was my way of saying thank you for talking some sense into me. I think I've been hiding out here for long enough. I think it's time for me to go back instead of having my mother force me back."

He nodded. "Good, I think you're right."

Remembering Santana and Puck's conversation from the bowling alley, she looked at him. "Come with me."

"What?" he asked, shocked.

"You and Beth come to New York with me. I mean it's almost the summer anyway so it's not like you have to worry about school."

"Rachel I-"

"Rachel," Beth said, running in and hugging her. "Please don't leave. We're having so much fun together."

Rachel looked up at Puck who didn't seem to know what to say. Before she could figure out what to say, Puck spoke up.

"Beth it's time for Rachel to go home," he said, making Beth and Rachel frown. "And we're going with her."

Both of them snapped their heads up to look at Puck. "Seriously?"

Rachel walked over to him. "Are you sure?"

"Hey someone has to go and make sure you don't turn back into something you're not. You're too amazing for that."

She jumped up and hugged him. "Thank you so much."

"I want Beth to finish the schoolyear though."

"Of course and since Marley changed my mom's flight we have time. I guess we should let everyone know."

They went downstairs and announced the decision to everyone. Marley was ecstatic that her sister was finally coming home and Beth couldn't contain her excitement about going to New York. While everyone was trying to get to know Marley, Puck pulled Santana to the side.

"Do you think you can watch Beth tonight?" he asked.

She smirked. "Need to have some birthday sex with the superstar?"

"No," he said quickly before thinking about it. "Actually hopefully yes but that's not why. I can tell Rachel is still not fully confident in herself when it comes to finally standing up to her mother so I need to do something to help boost her confidence. And I think I have a pretty good idea. Plus, Beth has been asking when she can spend the night with you and Brittany again ever since you guys gave her all that candy that Quinn yelled at me about."

She laughed. "Hey that's what godparents are for. But sure I'll take her. Only because I'm glad you finally got some balls and said yes to going with her. This will be good for both you and Beth."

Puck looked back at Beth who was talking to Marley and sighed. "I sure hope so."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That night after everyone left, Rachel was talking to Marley in her room.

"I can't believe Puck is actually coming back to New York with us," Marley said. "He must really love you."

Rachel shrugged. "Well we haven't reached that milestone of our relationship yet."

"Rach a guy doesn't move across the country to be with his girlfriend unless there's some kind of love there. Trust me, he's in love. And Beth loves you so that's a plus."

"She's the greatest little girl I've ever met. She actually reminds me a lot of me when I was her age."

"I guess that means Puck is going to have his hands full when she gets older," she smirked as Rachel threw a pillow at her.

As they laughed, Puck knocked on the door. "Am I interrupting?"

Rachel shook her head. "Not at all."

"Puck thanks again for letting me stay while we wait to go to New York," Marley said. "I really appreciate it."

He waved her off. "No problem. Besides, Rachel stays in my bedroom now anyway so it's not like the guest room isn't open."

"Well in that case I will be wearing headphones when I go to sleep at night."

"Hey don't forget who taught you all these comebacks," he joked before turning to Rachel. "I have a surprise for you."

She raised an eyebrow. "For me? Isn't today your birthday?"

"Yes but I expect my gift later on tonight. Now come on before we're late."

Without another word, he walked out leaving Rachel confused. She looked at Marley. "Do you know anything?"

Marley shook her head. "Nope. But it sounds like something good so go. Have fun."

Rachel went and followed Puck out to his truck. She questioned him the whole ride but he wouldn't budge. When he finally pulled up to a building, she looked at him confused.

"Where are we?"

"Come inside and find out," he replied.

"Wait but I don't have my disguise."

He shrugged. "Your mom already knows where you are. No need to hide you anymore."

Realizing he had a point, she followed him inside. When she saw that there was a stage and a microphone at the front, she quickly turned to Puck.

"What are we doing here?" she asked.

"You're going to get up there and sing. Already signed you up."

Her eyes widened. "What? Why? I haven't done anything like this in years."

"Exactly. You wanted to get back to your roots, these are your roots. You used to sneak out to sing at any place you could get into which was pretty hard for a twelve-year-old but you managed to do it."

She laughed. "Yeah and then I would eventually get busted."

"Either way, being onstage is where you're most alive. Go up there and get that feeling back. Be that girl who just wanted to perform no matter what it cost her."

The DJ spoke into the microphone to get everyone's attention. "Next on the mic we have musical royalty with us tonight who's come to visit her hometown. Everyone give it up for Rachel Berry."

Everyone applauded as she walked to the stage and went to the DJ to whisper something to him. As she took the microphone she tried to shake out the last bit of nerves she had. "Hello everyone. It's been a long, long time since I've done anything like this so go easy on me."

As the music started, Rachel felt herself getting nervous but when she found Puck in the crowd, she smiled before singing.

Loving you
Isn't the right thing to do
How can I ever change things
That I feel

If I could
Maybe I'd give you my world
How can I
When you won't take it from me

As she began to get comfortable, Rachel remembered the feeling of being onstage and not needing to impress anyone but the people she was performing for. She didn't need to worry about her mother or the label or anyone else who wanted to mold her into something she wasn't.

You can go your own way
Go your own way
You can call it
Another lonely day
You can go your own way
Go your own way

Puck smiled as Rachel got into the song and went off stage into the crowd. Everyone was enjoying the performance and she definitely knew how to work the crowd. Just like she could when they were kids.

Tell me why
Everything turned around
Packing up,
Shacking up's all you wanna do

If I could
Baby I'd give you my world
Open up
Everything's waiting for you

You can go your own way
Go your own way
You can call it
Another lonely day
You can go your own way
Go your own way

During the instrumental break, Rachel could feel herself letting loose and moving to the music. She had never felt so happy and free and she loved it.

Hey

You can go your own way
Go your own way
You can call it
Another lonely day
You can go your own way
Go your own way
You can call it
Another lonely day

Hooo oh oh oh

Hooo oh oh oh

Hooo oh oh oh

You can go your own way (You can go, you can go)
Oh Oh
You can call it
Another lonely day (Call it another lonely day)
You can go your own way
Go your own way

The room burst into applause as Rachel smiled. It felt just like old times. The applause was always important to her because it let her know how people felt about her performance and clearly they loved it. After she took her final bows, she ran into Puck's arms.

"Thank you so much," she said. "I forgot how much I missed stuff like this."

"Enough to stand up to your mom?"

"Absolutely. I want this back and I'm not going to let anyone take it away from me again."

"That's my girl," he smiled before hugging her again. "So does this mean I get a proper happy birthday before the day is officially over?"

She smirked. "How fast can you get us home?"

Instead of responding, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder before running out of the bar. Tonight assured Rachel that she was ready for anything that was going to come her way when she went home. Especially if Puck was by her side.

Song used is Go Your Own Way Glee version. Let me know your thoughts. Bye for now :)