Thanks for the awesome reviews guys, though I gotta be honest, I had honestly no clue that Salling's into birds….oh, well, didn't hurt apparently =)
I have kinda gotten hooked on Matt and Tina. . .I know it's probably the most random pairing there is, but I don't know, I think it could actually work, you know?
I figure another 7-8 chapters should be in the cards, not sure about the ending yet, I'm making this along as I go
Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Fox, not me…
Chapter 12
They should have known that their little cocoon will be invaded sooner or later. At least that's what Rachel thinks when all of a sudden two voices, a male and a female one, are calling out their names and waving like crazy on the other side of the street. A quick glance confirms Rachel's suspicions; Matt and Tina are standing there and are on the verge of crossing the street to get to them.
Noah is all for walking along quickly, they are fairly close to the bar and even though he is pretty sure their boss has an idea neither of them is 21 (they get paid in Cash for Christ's sake!), openly acknowledging they are still in High School might just be too much.
Rachel agrees with his logic, albeit reluctantly, so Noah pulls his hood deep into his face and tucks Rachel closer to him, both walking off as quickly as possible without breaking into a full-out run.
In theory, it would have been a good plan. Sadly, neither of them had accounted for the fact that the friggin' Universe might just be against them having an easy day.
Right in front of them, some young kids on a skate-board crash into an old lady, who starts muttering in Yiddish when all her groceries end up on the street, right along with her.
With a sigh and a glance they agree they might as well give in, the alternative being either eternal damnation by their own conscious or in the afterlife.
Noah bends down and helps the woman up, while Rachel quickly collects her groceries.
A heartfelt thanks and an apple for each later, Tina and Matt are two feet away.
"Puck? Rachel?" Tina's voice is colored with incredulity.
With a sheepish smile, both turn around, Noah instinctively standing closer to Rachel. No one knew they were in New York, as far as everybody thought, Noah was cleaning pools and helping his grandma one town over, while Rachel. . .well, the only people who seemed to care about that were either on holiday themselves or standing right on front of them.
"Aaah, hey guys?" Rachel gives an apologetic wave, while Noah rubs a hand down his head.
"What are you doing here?!?!" Matt's deep baritone reflects his confusion.
With a heartfelt sigh, Noah shares a silent conversation with Rachel, both mutually agreeing that these two deserve the truth. Matt knew the whole Quinn-situation, but had no idea Puck had actually taken off or that his dad was back in town. Tina on the other hand was completely oblivious.
"How about we go grab a coffee?" He suggests with a (hopefully) winning smile.
Two minutes later, they are sitting in a generic store of a generic coffee chain, listening to generic music and drinking overpriced coffee, which has so many different things in it, neither of them can pronounce the names anymore.
The silence is deafening and awkward. Noah is sort of counting on Rachel to break it, since she can't seem to stop talking at the most inopportune times (so she's rubbing off on him, he's just lazy, not Finn!).
Oddly enough it's Matt who decides to say the first thing.
"Soooo. . .why are you in New York?"
"We wanted to go to San Francisco and took the wrong exit." He deadpans, earning himself a smack from Rachel.
"No, seriously dude, what are you doing here?" Noah tenses next to Rachel, her hand reflexively coming to rest on his forearm. The move doesn't go unnoticed by Matt or Tina.
"There were circumstances which arose without any prior indication, which prompted us to depart from Lima at a rather hasty pace, due to an unfortunate state of mind resulting directly from aforementioned ---"
"Lima sucked." Noah cuts across her rant. With a rakish grin, he winks at her.
"Noah!"
"Sorry, babe, you took too long!"
"Well, I was trying to ease into it!"
"Well, I eased into AND out of it, and it took me a whole bunch of words less!"
"Well, yes, but that is beside the point!"
"Then, what's the point?"
Rachel huffs and gets that look on her face, the one which usually means a fit of diva-epic proportions. Noah simply slings an arm around her shoulder, pulls her close and drops a kiss on top of her head. With a huff, Rachel seems to calm down. Matt and Tina simply observed the banter with amused smiles.
"How 'bout you go first?" Noah asks Matt, unsure how much Tina knows and how much he wants her to know.
Matt takes a sip from his milkshake, before launching into their story.
"Well, Tina and I bumped into each other during an Art Program in San Francisco."
"I didn't know you were interested in Art?" Rachel asks, while simultaneously pressing down on Noah's arm to stop him from making the usual Puck-style comments.
He shoots her a warm look.
"He's been doing it since Middle School." Noah says calmly, surprising both Rachel and Tina. Neither of them questions it though, because Matt and Noah share a look.
Thing is, many people think Finn is Noah's best friend, and to a large extent that's true. Finn's been there for a lot of things, they can talk about stuff and he knows that Finn has his back (or at least used to). But Matt somehow just gets him (in a totally non-gay way of course!).
The kid's silent, doesn't say much, but somehow Matt's been there too. Matt was the one who suggested learning the guitar after his Dad split. At first, Noah had laughed and called him a pansy (hey, he was eight, cut him some slack!). Matt had just stood there and waited it out, before telling him how his older brother had died in a car crash and some therapist had suggested painting. Since then he usually paints whenever he can, and somehow, it helped. Then he had gotten up and left Noah on his own, mulling over the suggestion. The next day he had learned how to play "Let it be" by the Beatles and hadn't stopped until his fingers started bleeding and the tears had stopped.
So, while Mike and Finn are their best friends, Matt and he are Bros, or at least that's what they called it back when they were 14.
"So, anyway, turns out both of us like Art and we met up in San Francisco a few days after summer began. We got talking and we had a lot in common, so we met up a few times and well. . ." Matt trails of slightly embarrassed, but Tina simply smiles at him and places her hand on his.
"So, when I went up to visit my aunt here in NY, I asked her to come along." He said, shooting her a smile and a warm look. Tina blushes, but returns his gaze.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaw" Rachel just can't help herself. Her grin is so wide, Noah is kinda worried her face is going to split.
Matt blushes and turns to him.
"So, what about you guys?"
Noah heaves a sigh. It's still not easy talking about this shit, but somehow he's kinda glad that there's someone else to talk to. Still, he figures the band-aid approach is the best way to get through that stuff.
"Quinn's baby isn't mine, some douche from Church banged her before me. I found out because I walked into Brit's one day and he was giving her money for bills and signing adoption papers. Same day my Dad pops out of the woods and decides to come back to claim his father-of-the-year awards. Mum let him back in, so I split. Berry here couldn't resist my manliness, so she came with, otherwise she'd have run after my truck all the way to NY." He grins at her.
"That is a preposterous notion, Noah!" Comes her indignant reply.
"I would have stopped in Columbus."
All four laugh at that. Tina and Matt can't help but marvel at the change that has come about both of them. Puck seems less like a douche, and Rachel seems still like herself, but a more relaxed version.
They chat for another cup of coffee, before Noah and Rachel decide to show Matt and Tina around the city.
During their stroll through Central Park, Tina and Rachel have skipped ahead a few paces, chattering happily. Noah and Matt watch them with smiles. Noah clears his throat before broaching the topic. Luckily, Matt speaks Puckish.
"So, you and Tina, huh?" (You guys dating?)
"Yupp."
"You and San?" (You playin' drums instead of Conga?)
"Broke up last day of school."
"Your credit score?" (Your Credit score?)
"Huh? No, she went down to Texas for her Cousin's wedding. Said she knew a guy she used to go out with was comin', kinda like the one that got away."
"You ok?" (You rebounding on Chang?)
"Better than ok. San and I had fun, but we both knew it wasn't anything long-term."
"With Tina?" (You better be serious about her)
"I don't know . . . she's different . . . she gets me you know?" Oh boy does he ever. Matt smiles modestly.
"With San, it was fun. With Tina, it's like . . . honest. It seems . . . serious." Noah nods.
"You know, Tina's nice n shit?" You mess up, I'll put my guns to use.
"Dude, I'm dating her, I kinda figured that out along the way!" I mess up, I'll put my own guns to use Matt chuckles.
"Yeah . . . she's friends with Rachel, someone like that needs to be pretty darn good" You mess up, I'll put my guns to use AND you have to deal with my girlfriend
Matt nods. He kind of figured that Puck had a soft spot for Tina. She told him that her little brother and Puck's kid sister often hang out together, so the two are usually pretty friendly outside of school.
It's time to return the favor.
"So are you dating Rachel now?"
"Hell yeah!" Yes
"How come?"
"She's a hot Jew?" She's pretty awesome
Matt is quiet for a moment.
"Rachel's pretty nice, too, you know?" You mess up, I'll kick your ass
"Duh. . ." same here
"Mike thinks she's pretty awesome" Mike will gladly hold your arms while I break your nose
"Chang got a crush on my girl?" Tell him thanks for looking out for her.
"Nah, he's happy with Brit. . .So, you guys serious?"
"I love her." I love her
Matt just nods. He knows Noah has a lot more going on under the surface than most people assume, still, him openly admitting to actually loving a girl is kinda huge. Noah looks at him.
"So, you seen the game last night?"
And that right there is why Matt is Noah's friend. The guy just knows when to shut up. Chang is always yapping like a Chihuahua, and Finn more often than not has to talk, simply to ask question on what the hell's going on. Noah likes both of them just fine, but with all the shit in his life, Noah likes some peace and quiet more.
Unbeknownst to either of them, a similar conversation is taking place a few meters in front of them.
"So, why d-did you c-come to New Y-York?" From time to time Tina's stutter comes out, especially when she is nervous about something.
Rachel sighs.
"To be honest with you Tina, I was tired. I had spent my entire life single-mindedly pursuing my goals. I realized the night Noah came over that I had not actually experienced anything mildly adventurous; hence when he asked me to accompany with him into a venture with an unknown destination; I decided to be spontaneous for once in my life. So, here I am. . ." she trails of uncertainly.
Tina just smiles.
"I g-get it, Rachel. It was the same with me and S-San Francisco. I j-just had to get out of L-Lima for some time. And Art has always b-been my p-passion." Rachel spontaneously pulls Tina in a half-hug.
"I am incredibly happy for both of us, Tina!" She smiles widely, a gesture Tina reciprocates.
"So, you and Noah are dating a-again?" Rachel ducks her head and blushes.
"Yes. He has become a totally different person. He is nice, warm, friendly, funny, supportive. . ." she trails off with an embarrassed grin.
"So, you and Matt?" it's Tina's turn to blush, but she smiles happily nonetheless.
"He j-just talked to me, you know? He is really very t-talented . . . and he understood . . . did you know h-he was t-too shy to sp-speak up during the whole f-first grade? The other b-boys just thought it was c-c-cool." They share a chuckle.
"What about Artie?" Rachel hates to be the one to bring him up, but Tina is the closest female friend she has, and oddly enough, she knows it's the same way for her.
Tina shrugs.
"He hasn't really sp-spoken to me since I told him the truth. . ." she shrugs a little forlornly. Rachel understands, while she might be more than happy to be with Matt, Artie and Tina had been best friends for years. For him to just stop speaking to her is going to hurt, regardless of the nature of their relationship.
"Well, that's his loss." She states resolutely, nodding. Tina smiles gratefully.
"What about Finn?" Tina asks curiously. Pretty much the entire school knew about Rachel's crush on the quarterback. The words Carrie and Swim fan were used fairly often.
It suddenly dawns on Rachel that since getting into Noah's truck all those weeks ago, the sweet, tall quarterback has not been anywhere near her thoughts. Not that she expected him to be. Since discovering the true Noah, buried underneath layers of Puck, she has fallen in love with him a little more every single day.
When she says as much, Tina suddenly starts laughing.
"You make him sound like an a-a-artichoke!"
Rachel can't help it, she cracks up, too.
Suddenly she feels a pair of strong arms surrounding her midriff.
"What's so funny, babe?" he softly rumbles into her ear
She shares a look and a last chuckle with Tina.
"Nothing, Noah, nothing." She gives him a peck on the mouth, before ducking out of his arms and linking her arm with Tina's. Together they start skipping merrily down the road. Noah wonders if he's dating a girl or a friggin' cartoon character. Then he realizes it doesn't matter, as long as no one with an eraser comes along.
"You are sooo whipped!" Matt says next to him.
Noah smirks. "Dude, for a girl like that, I'll whip my cream into butter!"
A few seconds of awkward silence occur.
"That never happened?" Matt finally asks.
"Nope!" Noah nods decisively. Thank god Rutherford knows when to shut up.
Having Tina and Matt around for the next few days is oddly enough not nearly as weird as they both thought it would be. Out of all the people who could have found them, they are strangely relieved it's the two of them.
Noah and Rachel show them around the city, take them to the cheesecake factory, show them the club and introduce them to Jay, Don, Chris and the others.
Over the last few months they have managed to sort of develop a rag-tag band of low-level service industry workers, and it feels better to them than any of the so-called friendships in Glee, with a few choice exceptions of course.
When it is discovered that Matt and Tina are both in Glee, they cave to the demand of an impromptu jam-session.
Puck grabs his guitar, Rachel the bass (first time he was told she could play bass, he imagined her sitting there wearing nothing but his shirt and the guitar. . .half an hour later he could move again without serious pain).
Matt blushes when borrowing the Saxophone from one guy of the band and Tina slips behind the key-board. They count off the drummer, and before they know it, they are replacing the band for a night.
And though none of them get paid that night, they would never trade it for anything.
After two weeks, Tina and Matt have to go back to Lima. Making them Promise not to tell anybody about their location, Rachel and Noah bid them goodbye at the airport, both missing Lima for the first time since they've arrived in New York.
Noah slings an arm around her shoulder and presses a kiss to the side of her head.
"I love you, you know that?" Ever since his heartfelt confession in the Central Park, he can't stop saying it. Not in public, mind you, but when it's just them together, he showers her with it. Rachel suspects that, while he really truly does love her, he mostly says it to hear her say it back to him. Since she realized that, she tends to say it to him at least twice a day, just to remind him.
So, whaddaya think? I know, I know, it keeps being fluffy, and honestly, I'm trying my hardest to get them down from that cotton-candy-unicorn-lala land I've sent them, but it keeps being fluffy. . .I find it very annoying myself ^^
