"Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity."

-Henry Van Dyke

Puck had his eye fixed on Rachel's sleeping form ever since he got off the phone with Kurt, her unmoving form betrayed by the way her body would shudder involuntarily every so often, and the way her face would twitch up several times while her eyebrows were frozen in a tight knot throughout out her restless nap. His hands would clasp around her ears whenever one of the waiting room occupants were given news of losing a loved one.

It got to the point where he was contemplating whether or not he should just carry her out of there, but he knew she wouldn't like the idea, but he also didn't want her to wake up, and with nothing to offer her if she did, he was beginning to feel the hot nerves of desperation. The fact that yet another couple of hours had passed with no updates on her father's condition or any sign of Hiram or even his mother was quite unsettling. He found himself willing Rachel to not wake up, because the thought of not being able to answer any of her questions was too awful to even consider.

A woman starts screaming across the hall, a blood-curling scream that he was sure Rachel would hear through his hands, so without hesitation, he stands up and lifts her effortlessly into his hands as he makes his way to the parking lot outside and away from the tragic cries. Thankfully, the rain had stopped and the sun was still floating gracefully above them, he briefly wondered what time it was before walking over to his truck.

He hears a woman call out to him just as he was exiting the doors. She was young, not older than twenty six, his presence catching her off guard, "Puck?"

"Stacey." He answers, recognizing her as one of the on-call scrub nurses from the occasional visits to his mother on those idle days.

"What are you doing here?" She asks, and upon reaching him and noticing the girl in his arms, she asks, "Is that Rachel?"

"Yeah, she got tired-"

"Oh my god, was she in the accident?" She asks, quickly taking her hand to check on her.

"No, no, no. I'm not that stupid." Puck reassures her, "She was just there for her dad, it got too noisy. I thought some fresh air would be, I dunno, better."

"Oh well, that's good. It's been chaos all afternoon." She sighs, tucking her hair behind her ear, "Has Dr. Berry updated you on anything yet?"

"We haven't seen him at all." He tells her, "I mean, she was gonna go crazy there for a second." He motions to Rachel. "She eventually tired herself out, I guess."

"Poor thing." She sighs again, "Anyway, I just got out of surgery with her dad, I'll go check and see if I can get anything for you, okay?"

"Thanks, Stace." He smiles, "That'd be kind of awesome of you."

"Sure thing." She says, patting his arm, "Stay close, keep your phone handy."

"I will." He says, "Thanks again." He adds, and with a wave he sees her goes back inside the building.

Rachel starts stirring as soon as the fresh air hits the side of her face not against his chest, her eyes refusing to open as she clutches the fabric of his shirt tighter in her hands. She felt safe inside his arms and opening her eyes meant having to deal with the pain that was ripping at her insides, but instead, she found herself clinging to unconsciousness with every fiber of her being. But as her mind clears the blurry vision of heartache, she jerks awake, her body moving on her own as her feet desperately search for ground. Her hands flail in the air, not knowing where she was, and ultimately obscuring Puck's view.

Luckily, he was already by the car, "Rach, calm down! It's just me!" He tries not to drop her as she moves frantically, but knowing that her stubbornness wouldn't allow him that, he opens the bed of his truck with his foot as he leans on the car next to his. He puts her down carefully, "Baby, it's okay. Relax."

"Noah?" She asks, her voice thick with the threat of tears and sleep. She stops moving as she sees him nodding, "I'm sorry." She tells him, not meeting his eyes as she runs a hand through her hair, "I was having a bad dream." She says distractedly as she notices the fading blood stains on her hands. She lifts her head, locking her eyes with his with the most forlorn expression on her face, as if telling him please tell me it was a dream, "It was real?" She asks, her voice barely above a whisper, scratched by the lump in her throat, and the streams of tears falling down her cheek.

"Rachel, shh, come on." He tries to calm her down as he notices her eyeing her hands and blood stained shirt in horror.

"Is this dad's blood?" She asks, her voice completely not her own. "Oh my god, it is." She croaks, her hands ghosting over the tracks of blood.

"Rach-"

"Get it off." She whispers, "Get it off!" She yells as she starts viciously scratching at her arms in a useless effort to remove the stains from her skin. "Please, make it go away." She rasps.

"Rachel, come on, stop it." He says, grabbing her hands, only to be met with eyes so foreign to him that he moves his hand away without so much as another word.

An overwhelming sense of frustration drowns him, whether it's the not knowing what to do or the fact that she's behaving so out of character while refusing his help, he doesn't know, but what he does know is that Kurt better get his ass down here now before she starts ripping off her clothes in the middle of the street.

Five minutes later, and after Rachel has managed to mangle her arms, making them look as if she had recently purchased an obnoxious and somewhat sinister Persian cat, Kurt's car makes an appearance. Kurt parks the car a few meters away, and both Santana and Quinn get out of the backseat while the rest follow a few seconds later, quickly making their way towards the hospital doors. They stop in their tracks as they hear the familiar but somewhat unrecognizable voice of a certain brunette on their right.

They turn to see Rachel, sitting on the bed of Puck's truck while he tries to pin her hands to her side, screaming, "Rachel, calm the fuck down! You're acting crazy."

"What the hell is going on here?" Santana asks, crossing the street instantly. "Get your hands off her."

Puck turns to look at her briefly, "Back off." He tells her before turning back to Rachel, "Baby, please."

"What's happening?" Brittany asks, tugging at Santana's sleeve.

"I think she's having a panic attack or something." Mike suggests, "Shouldn't we do something?"

"Puckerman, what the hell did you do?" Santana asks again.

"Get it off!" Rachel screams, "I can't-" She stops abruptly, her hands tugging at the hem of her shirt before completely lifting it off and throwing it to the ground. She takes a few deep breathes, a few sobs escaping as she does, before looking up to see eight pairs of eyes looking back at her. It momentarily dawns on her that she's in nothing but her bra from the waist up but the relief in having that shirt off her outweighs every single one of her insecurities.

"Rachel, are you okay?" Kurt asks.

"Y-yes, I'm fine, it's better now." She sighs, shuddering as she looks down at her discarded shirt.

"You should put something on, it's cold out, you'll freeze." Quinn says calmly.

"I-I don't care, I'm not putting that thing back on." She says, lifting her knees in an effort to cover herself.

"It's okay, I brought some clothes for you." Kurt says, lifting the bag to show her.

"Don't you wanna get cleaned up first, like in the bathroom or something?" Sam says unsurely.

"It's too crowded in there." Puck says, his eyes locked on Rachel, "Did you get the stuff I told you?" He asks Kurt.

"Yeah." He answers, "But um, shouldn't we, I mean Rachel, wouldn't you prefer changing back at your house or-"

"She's not going anywhere." Puck cuts him off, "Just get it done." He feels her hand wrap around his and squeeze lightly and it's when that happens that his heart stops pounding and his shoulders relax just a little as the relief that she's not suffering some panic attack washes over him. He's also grateful for her subtlety, not that his friends weren't wondering why he was the one with her, but for all intents and purposes, he likes that she didn't make it into a show.

Santana watches this little exchange with a somewhat pensive look on her face. Shaking her head, and grabbing Puck's hand, "Come on then, I bet Berry here doesn't want you staring at her boobs, let the girls take care of her." She says, giving Rachel a wink as she sees the girl blush before dragging Puck away from the crowd.

"What's your deal?" Puck asks, and if it were anyone else, you'd say he was almost whining.

"Nuh-uh, question is, what's your deal with Berry over there?" She asks, crossing her arms against her chest.

"Nothing."

"Bullshit." She scoffs, "Why are you the one with her and not lady-pants or any of those other gleeks?"

"Because, I don't know, we're friends and shit. Whatever." He says, shrugging it off.

"Yeah, right." She says, kicking him in the shin, "Tell me and I'll make it worth your while." She says suggestively.

"Ow!" He says, rubbing his leg, "Why the fuck-"

"I knew it. You like her." She says, rolling her eyes, "When did this happen anyway, did she like seduce you with her grandma clothes? You're into older women I hear."

"Shut it, San." He glares.

"Did she give you a little something something?" She wiggles her eyebrows, "She's got a big mouth, I bet she did."

"Geez, why are you doing this? Just shut up about it." He says seriously,

"Because I don't like being lied to." She tells him, "How'd this whole mess happen anyway?"

"I don't know, I was at home, and then she called me crying and whatever." He shrugs, "I didn't ask questions."

"So you weren't with her when she found out?" She asks sympathetically.

"Ummm, no." He drawls out, tilting his head thoughtfully. "Leave it to Berry to cock block her own Puckerone action." He mutters in what he thought was an inaudible voice.

"Wait, you and Berry had sex?" She gasps, "That's gross."

"Well, not technically." He smirks, his mind wallowing in the distant memory, "Theoretically?"

"Jesus! Are you telling me you had a sex dream about toddler tights over there?" She asks, pointing with her thumb behind her. "Why the hell are you telling me that?"

"An awesome sex dream, babe." He says, licking his lips as his eyes drift off to the brunette in question.

"That's disgusting." She says, her face contorted in a look of distaste.

"Why?" He asks, almost offended, "She's hot."

"And you're a pedophile!" Santana says, looking back to stare at Rachel, "She wears knee socks, Puck, knee fucking socks. Not to mention, she looks no older than twelve. I mean, Kurt's not that big and he wears tight clothes and yet look at his shorts, they're practically eating her up."

"I'd like to eat her up." He says, leering at Rachel in the background.

"That is an assault on my imagination." She says, lifting her hands in front of her.

"You wouldn't say that if you saw what was underneath, she's a fucking goddess." He says, his eyes still on Rachel.

"Why are you saying it when you haven't?" She asks in frustration.

"Dude, I was fucking her." He says matter of factly, "Duh."

"In your head, you pervert." She says, knocking her hand on his head.

"Whatever." He says, "Can I go now?"

"Wait, one more question." She says, blocking his way.

"I'm listening." He sighs.

She tilts her head, eyeing him curiously, "How long have you been having these Berry sex dreams?"

"What kind of question is that?" He asks, confused.

"Well, they must have been going on for a while for you to have said no to some action." She laughs, "She's got you pussy whipped, from a fucking dream!"

"What, I didn't-"

"Yeah, sure." She laughs again, patting his chest, "Just hope that the real thing is as good as the dream." She winks as she turns around and walks back to the truck.

He shakes his head, fully intent on ignoring what she had just said as he watches her walk away with, if possible, a slight spring in her step.

When he goes back to the truck, he sees Rachel sitting Indian style in the corner of the bed while Kurt sits next to her, with Quinn and Sam sitting on the edge and Mercedes and Mike sitting on the ledge beside Rachel. Brittany was sitting across from Rachel, mirroring her position as she held both her hands, resting them on her knees, "Close your eyes." She ordered her.

"Brittany, what am I doing?" Rachel asks, looking at their jointed hands with confusion.

Kurt nudges her side, "Just go with it. It'll make her feel better." He shrugs.

Rachel gives him a look of understanding before quickly doing what she's told, "Okay, they're closed."

"Take a deep breath." She says, "You're in a meadow, can you see it?"

"Um, y-yes." She stutters, "It's pretty?" The group looks at the two girls with amused smiles on their faces, all quite happy for Brittany's antics to lighten the mood.

"It's wonderful." She corrects her, "Take a walk around, what do you see?"

"I don't- Brittany, I can't see anything."

"Try harder." She says, squeezing her hand.

"Grass? Some flowers, a butterfly?" Rachel answers, brow up and head tilted to the side.

"There's a unicorn, find it." She tells her.

"Okay, I see the unicorn, now what?" She plays along unenthusiastically.

"That's it." Brittany claps happily, "That was fast Rachel! It's hard for some people to see the unicorn because they think it doesn't exist, but you did. Yay!"

Mike places a hand on Rachel's shoulder, "You did good." He chuckles.

"Thanks." She mumbles, running a hand through her hair as she lifts a hand to check the time. She takes a deep breath, realizing that maybe this won't be over anytime soon, and if she is to maintain her sanity, she should at least know that there is some hope left. She looks around, her eyes searching for Puck, "Where's Noah?" She asks.

"Right here." He says, coming up behind Santana. "What's up?"

"Is there any news from daddy yet? It's been five hours." She says sadly.

Fortunately, his phone rings, and he's sure he's never been more grateful for that contraption- considering how he was so rudely interrupted by it that afternoon. He looks up at her, giving her an apologetic smile before he answers the phone, "Hello." He answers, turning away from her.

"Noah? Thank god, how is she?" Hiram Berry asks from the other side of the phone, "Stacey just told me, I feel terrible but it's been so hectic, I couldn't get to her."

"I'll put her on for you-"

"No, no, no, don't." He pleads, "I-I can't, I have to focus right now, and I can't go in that emergency room- Her voice will only make me feel worse about me not being there for her, I have to focus."

"I get it, it's fine. She's okay, I mean- as okay as she can be." He says, looking back to see Rachel watching him.

"Look, I have another surgery, Noah." He sighs, "But please, keep an eye on her. Take her away from here, it'll be awhile until everything clears up and I really don't want her to be in this kind of atmosphere."

"She's not going to listen to me." He tells him, "Not unless you give me something to tell her, and please, I need it to be something good." He says desperately.

"They're finishing him up, that's all I know." He says, "No complications so far, but he'll be in the ICU after so she won't be able to see him till later this evening."

"That's good, right?"

"Considering the circumstances, it's great." Hiram answers, "But please, just get her out of here, get her to eat something, get her mind off things."

"I'll try my best." He smiles, "Good luck."

"Thanks, I have to get going, Noah." Hiram says with a sigh, "I owe you one."

"I'll keep that in mind." He laughs lightly, "And don't worry, she's in good hands."

"Thanks son, bye now." He says before hanging up reluctantly.

Puck puts his phone back in his pocket, taking a deep breath before turning to see everyone talking about something or other in an effort to make Rachel smile or feel better, but he noticed how their eyes trailed to him expectantly, Rachel more so because she wasn't even trying to hide it. Her eyes asked the question her voice couldn't.

"He's good." He tells her, his smile slowly slicing his face open as he sees some light come back in her eyes, "They're finishing him up, you should-" He gets cut off by her flinging herself on him, standing up swiftly and jumping off the truck and into his arms.

He can't help the loud laugh that rumbles in his chest or how his arms hold her closer to him as he feels the wetness on his neck. She gives him a subtle peck on the junction between his neck and shoulder, just where her head was buried before pulling away to look at him, "Can we see him?" She asks hopefully, her feet finding the ground as she makes a move to walk toward the hospital doors.

"No no no." He says, his hand wrapping around her wrist, tugging her back.

"But you said-"

"I said they were finishing him up, Rach." He says, his tone pleading as he sees those sad eyes again, his heart dropping to the floor, "Don't worry, he's fine, they're just-"

"Doctors do shit like this, Berry. The damage is fixed, all they have to do is clean him up and close the incisions. Kindergarden stuff. Relax." Santana says, coming to Puck's rescue.

Everyone looks at her like she just sprouted wings and sprayed fairy powder in the air. She rolls her eyes at them, "What? My dad's a doctor too, I know this stuff." She shrugs, "Like you should too." She says to Rachel, "Stop worrying already."

"I'm sorry, it's just- I know I'm being horrible but- it's a lot to process." She sighs, looking up at Santana almost shyly. "Thanks."

"Tone down the water works, Berry." She says, motioning to Rachel's face.

"I'll try." She laughs, "So what now?" She asks, directing her question to Puck, her eyes straying to Santana too.

"How about we hit the diner?" He says, wrapping an arm around her shoulder in a side hug, "I'm so hungry, I could eat an entire house."

"How on earth is that in any way an analogy for hunger, I mean seriously-" Kurt starts.

"Shut it, lady-pants." Santana says, shoving Kurt sideways as she drags Rachel hands, walking over to Puck's passenger door, and smirking at the frown on Puck's face as she takes Rachel away from him.

"I'd be down for a burger." Mike says dreamily.

"Ohhh, milkshakes!" Mercedes says excitedly.

"Are you guys aware what dairy does to your vocal chords? With sectionals just around the corner-"

"And she's back…"

"Oh my god, shut up." Santana quips, "I motion for lady-pants and toddler tights be force fed five gallons of milk for killing our buzz."

"But they're right, the calories-" Sam interjects.

"Frog lips, too." She says, motioning to Sam.

They all laugh as they see Sam rubbing his belly with a pout, while Rachel and Kurt have their arms crossed, both with matching scowls.

"Get in." Santana says, all but shoving Rachel into the car, "I'm riding with these two." She says to Kurt, before going in after Rachel.

"We'll meet you there, then." Kurt says with an amused smile, walking back to his car, followed by the rest of the gang.

"Santana." Puck says, his voice not masking the warning tone etched to it.

"What? I come in peace, I swear." She says, buckling her seat belt, "Honest." She adds, with a smile for good measure, "So, Rachel?"

"Yes." She drawls out uncertainly.

"I swear to god-" Puck tells her.

"Dude, chill out. You sound like an over protective lioness, Berry is not your cub or whatever, shoo!" She says, motioning for Rachel to ignore him, "Besides, I don't know how I never realized this but we totally have shit in common!"

"Yeah, right" Puck scoffs, "Rachel's not some easy-"

"Noah, don't you even think about finishing that sentence, it's highly offensive and frankly, demeaning to more than just Santana." She says, punching his shoulder, "Continue." She gestures to Santana to speak.

"As I was saying before the douche so rudely interrupted-"

"Santana, you're doing the same thing he did." Rachel scolds.

"What? He is a douche. It's a fact."

"And it's a fact that she's a-"

"NOAH!" She warns, "Be quiet, the both of you. Why do I feel like I'm talking to children?"

"Because you're a granny pants." Santana answers seriously.

"I thought I looked twelve?" She challenges, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Yeah, how do you do that?" Santana asks thoughtfully.

Rachel takes a deep breath as she rolls her eyes when she feels Puck burst into laughter beside her, "Nice." He chuckles.

"Anyways, as I was saying, all our parents work in that hospital!" She says, "Doesn't it make us like, bound by some greater power or something. We have a common interest, well not interest, but parents."

"We're all humans, we live in a small town, eventually we'll all find common ground somewhere, Santana, that doesn't necessarily mean anything."

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why toddler tights will now be referred to as buzz kill." She says, narrowing her eyes at Rachel, "Congratulations." She says mockingly, sticking out her tongue.

"Yeah, Rach." Puck laughs, "Santana's being civil to you, embrace it! Don't make her go back to her evil ways."

"Whatever," Santana says, "Rachel, have you ever kissed a girl?" She asks nonchalantly, unable to suppress the smirk that follows as she sees Puck's eyes bulge out.

"While I'm completely comfortable with my sexuality and considering my upbringing, I have no plight with homosexuality, I have to say that no, I haven't." She answers, tilting her head thoughtfully, "Come to think of it, I've only ever kissed three people and that's Finn, Noah, and Jesse. In that order."

To say he was surprised that she even thought about answered it was an epic understatement, if anything, he thought she'd berate Santana for the rest of the drive over to the diner. But after hearing the next part, with the passion and anger of his ego, he asks, "Finn was your first kiss?"

"Well, yes." She answers hesitantly, "It was-"

"But you were my girlfriend first." He says as they finally arrive at the diner, placing the car in park, turning the ignition off, and turning to look at her.

"Um yeah, that's complicated." She says self-consciously, her eyes downcast, not daring to look at him.

"What does that mean, Berry?" Santana says, "Tell us." She grins, far too amused by Rachel's discomfort and Puck's obvious jealousy.

"Noah, can we not talk about this? It's irrelevant." She pleads, "Really, it didn't even mean anything at time."

"I think you're digging yourself in a deeper whole there, toddler tights." Santana chuckles.

"Santana, why don't you just go inside with the others." Puck suggests.

"How about, no?" She says, "This is too good, and plus, we're bound together now, forever." She says dramatically, "Speaking of, we need a name, and perhaps maybe a theme song. Got any ideas, buzz kill?" She asks Rachel.

Providentially, to Puck's dismay, Kurt knocks at Santana's window and they're forced to acknowledge him as he motions for them to get out of the car. Rachel relishes in the lucky escape and quickly nudges Santana to get out of the car before Puck corners her in it, not that she felt guilty or anything, she didn't. It was just, a somewhat veiled attempt at protecting herself from the embarrassment of revealing the truth about that unfortunate incident so long ago.

The diner was fairly empty, given the circumstances, and due to the fact that this was usually where the hospital staff usually hung out, and seeing as their hands were full at the moment, it was a light crowd. They pushed one of the tables next to a booth, with the permission from one of the waiters to do so of course. Puck spots Rachel standing next to Kurt, walking over quickly, he surreptitiously grabs her hand as he slides into the booth, forcing her to sit next to him. He looks around, yet again grateful that no one had noticed, but just before he can take that relaxed breath, he sees Kurt grinning over him like a Cheshire cat. He ignores him before looking down at Rachel with a smirk on his face as he feels her tense up without saying anything.

"I want a burger." Santana pipes up.

"I want three." Mike adds.

"I'll have a salad." Sam says, looking over the menu.

"I don't even-" Quinn sighs, shaking her head at her boyfriend's obsession with weight.

"Seriously, dude?" Puck asks, "Girl food?"

"That's-" Rachel starts.

"If you say offensive or start lecturing me about woman right's crap, I'm going to scream." Puck tells her as he stretches an arm behind her.

"I wasn't going to." She defends weakly, "You know what, I'm just going to stop talking to you." She says, turning to Kurt.

The group starts talking again, about everything and nothing, Santana's eyes drifting back to the two every so often, while Kurt keeps one eye on them the entire time.

Puck waits until the conversation rolls across the table before letting his hand sneak around his waist, "So, that kiss?" He leans forward as if to grab a napkin, lingering by her ear for just a little while longer.

"Not now." She tells him, her hand falling over his as it rests on her hip.

"Baby, come on…." He breathes against her ear, making sure no one is watching him or her.

He feels her relax under his arm, but she makes no move to answer his question. She waits until Mike has the table's complete and utter attention in an impressive impersonation of Mr. Schuester and Miss. Pillsbury before turning to look at him, an inquisitive look on her face, "Why are you calling me that?" She whispers.

"What do you mean?" He asks, confused.

"You keep calling me baby." She tells him, genuinely curious as to why he would do such a thing.

"So?" He drawls out.

"Never mind." She waves him off, thinking it was a silly question to ask in the first place. She decides that the transition from babe to baby and Berry to Rach/Rachel was due to their growing friendship and nothing else, it made perfect sense, right? Right.

"Rach-"

"Fine, but not here." She hisses, "Later." She tells him pointedly.

"Promise?" He asks, smiling sheepishly as he holds out his pinky, "Pinky it, baby, then I'll believe it."

She can't help the smile on her face as she lifts her pinky and intertwines it with his, "There, happy?"

"Nope." He says, wiggling his eyebrows, his hand moving from her hip to dip under her shirt, loving the blush that starts at her neck and slowly reaches her cheeks.

"Noah, what are you doing?" She says, grabbing his hand to stop him, "Stop it."

"Stop what?" He asks, his hand ghosting over the drawstrings of Kurt's borrowed sweatpants, "This?" He says, tugging gently, grinning widely as he reaps the benefits of the teasing and what it's doing to her color.

"Why don't you two get a room?" Santana asks, her arms crossed as she leans back on her chair, obviously having been watching them for a while.

"Oh dear." Kurt gasps, looking down at where Puck's hands were inappropriately placed, "Yes, I think she's right. This is not the time or place." He says, making a motion to cover them jokingly.

"Sounds awesome, but we need to get some food in this one." He motions to Rachel, "She's gonna need her energy." He says with a smirk that quickly transforms into a laugh as he sees Rachel gaping at him before high-fiving Santana.

"NOAH!" She yells, "You're disgusting." She says, punching him in the shoulder, "And you," She looks to Santana, "Stop encouraging him."

"I didn't say anything, don't get your panties in a bunch." She says, coming down from her laugh.

"Yeah, we'll work on that later." He laughs again, affording him a menacing glare from the brunette next to him, "Relax, Rach! I'm just playing you."

"Yeah, well, it's not fun." She pouts, "And I thought you were my friend." She asks, turning to Kurt.

"I am darling, but I can't pass a good joke." He says, placing his hand on her forearm comfortingly, "And you're such an easy target."

"Berry, you're going to have a burger!" Santana declares, "It'll loosen you up."

"I'll loosen her up-"

"I swear to god, Puckerman, if you finish that sentence, I will kill you." She says, both her hands reaching to cover his mouth. "And anyways, I'm a vegetarian. I don't eat animals."

"They have veggie burgers, darling." Kurt says, patting her shoulder, "Now let go of Puck before he starts making out with your hand."

"Noah!" She yells, "You licked me!" She swats his chest painfully before wiping her hand on his shirt. "Gross."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." He chuckles, "You fucking loved every inch of my tongue, babe." He whispers in her ear seductively.

"Noah." She groans.

"I love it when you say my name like that, baby." He says, watching as both Santana and Kurt are lost in an unhealthy fit of laughter while the rest of the group is oblivious, completely enthralled by Sam's reenactment of the "Luke, I am your father" Star Wars scene.

Just then, Puck gets a text from Hiram, he picks his phone, angling it so Rachel doesn't see before opening it up, How is she?

He replies quickly with a, She's distracted.

He waits a few seconds before getting another reply from Hiram, Keep her that way.

He gets an overwhelming feel of dread before sending another text, Is everything okay?

No and yes. Just keep her distracted for as long as possible, I don't want her to worry more than she needs to. Lie if you have to.

He doesn't like how that last one sounded, but he swallows whatever he was feeling, and sends a quick, Okay.

He's thankful that Rachel is slightly turned away from him, because he's pretty sure the look on his face isn't what she needs right now. He sees Santana watching him with a look of concern on her face, asking the question with her eyes.

He shakes his head and shrugs, Santana's mouth parting slightly, both in shock and sympathy as her eyes turn to look at Rachel. He picks out his best show face, the one he perfected over the years, and let's out a laugh as Mercedes tells a funny story about Sue's overheard diabolical glee destruction plans. Rachel 's head falls back on his shoulder as she laughs, and he locks eyes with her for a second before going back to talking with the rest of the guys. He's calm, he is collected. Everything will be all right, he tells himself.

Author's note: These notes look better down here, less crampy, right? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'd say it was fast update but I wouldn't know, I tried my best to get it up as fast as I could and so here it is. Hope it lived up to your expectations :)

And as always, I apologize for any grammatical or spelling mistakes. I only went through it twice with the editing, so I'm pretty sure there's a few mistakes up there.

Oh, and if you're just tuning in, I hope you're having fun so far. It's a little hectic now, but I promise, hope is in the air.

Review, please, it'll save fairies! Again, that's a lie, but it's for a good cause, I swear.

Cheers!