AN: I feel like I'm apologizing a lot lately, but I really am SO sorry about the long wait on this chapter! I was fully planning on having this up by last Friday, but I was maid of honor in my best friend's wedding. So I was in the North Georgia Mountains all last weekend! Hence, not having time to get the chapter up for you guys! Again, I apologize for slacking!
Oh! I got to (and beyond) my goal of 200 reviews! You guys rock my socks off! Seriously! Thanks so much! Please R&R this chapter! It would totally make my day! ;o)
Chapter 14: No One Else
"Nina, come on!" Puck called from Rachel's front porch.
He was trying to keep the irritation out of his voice, but it was not working. He was frustrated at the talk he had with Finn, and now his sister would not get away from the tree in Rachel's front yard.
"Did you see it, Noah?" Nina cried excitedly. She bounded up the steps to stand by her big brother.
"Yes, I saw it, Squirt," Puck said gently, rolling his eyes at her.
She scrunched her nose and stuck out her tongue at him. He chuckled as he rang the doorbell. They heard a loud voice yelling inside, "Coming!"
"Hi!" Rachel said cheerfully, simultaneously flinging open the door and catching Nina who launched herself into Rachel's arms.
"Well, hello, Nina!" she giggled.
"Rachel! I've missed you!" Nina said, hugging Rachel around the waist.
Rachel's heart melted a little at the love Nina showed her even though they only met just recently. Rachel's eyes conveyed just that to Puck, and he smiled in return. He made it a point to push away any thoughts about his upsetting afternoon. Rachel knew him too well, and if she suspected anything, he wouldn't know how to answer. He studied her as she and Nina talked quietly in the front hall of the Berry home. If she noticed anything was off with his attitude, she didn't mention it.
"Oh! Rachel!" Nina gasped suddenly. "We saw a cya…a cyano…what's it officially called again, Noah?" she questioned, bouncing up and down in place.
"Cyanocitta cristata," he answered, carefully pronouncing each syllable.
"Excuse me? A what?" Rachel asked.
"A blue jay!" answered Ethan, as he came around the corner from the kitchen.
"Yes!" Nina exclaimed. "How did you know?" she asked, eyes wide with admiration at Rachel's father.
"Yes, Daddy, how did you know?" Rachel asked unbelieving that she was the one out of the loop.
"What can I say? I'm kind of a bird guy," Ethan said smugly, adjusting his glasses for show.
Rachel giggled at his silly behavior. Puck chuckled as he reached out to shake Ethan's hand.
"Noah loves birds too!" Nina chirped.
Puck inwardly groaned at the amount of personal information his sister was intent on giving out to the Berry family.
"Oh really?" Rachel echoed, smirking at Puck's embarrassed face.
"Yeah!" Nina said excitedly, tugging on Puck's arm. "He knows all about birds, especially the corvideos."
"Corvids, Nina Bean," Puck whispered.
"That's what I said," Nina replied exasperatedly.
Rachel and Ethan stifled a giggle as Raymond came to greet the guests.
"Well, who do we have here?" Raymond bellowed.
"Hi! I'm Nina! Noah's sister," Nina wasted no time in introducing herself.
She looked up at the tall African American man with a smile. He smiled at her and shook her hand graciously.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Nina," he said with a fond smile. "So, what's this I hear about two bird lovers in one room?"
Noah laughed nervously as he reached to shake the taller man's hand. "Yes sir, um, I enjoy studying about birds," he explained quietly.
Rachel mentally shook her head at the little known fact about Noah. He always seemed to have such a tough exterior. One would never expect to learn that he enjoyed watching and identifying birds. She decided to keep this nugget of information in her memory bank for the future.
As Ethan, Noah, and Nina wandered into the living room chattering on about magpies and crows, Rachel and Raymond finished the spaghetti in the kitchen. Raymond watched as his little girl kept sneaking glances at the rugged boy with the Mohawk sitting in the next room.
"Is he good to you, Rachel?" he asked gently.
Rachel flushed at being caught staring at her boyfriend. "Yes sir, he's the perfect gentleman," she sighed.
Raymond knew about Noah Puckerman. Not many fathers in Lima were oblivious to the rumors about his reputation. Still, if his star said Noah was a gentleman, then he was a gentleman.
"Just guard your heart, Pumpkin," Raymond advised.
He smiled at his beautiful daughter. Seeing her happy made him happy; he just wanted her to be careful. She hugged him tightly and went to find the others.
"Dinner is ready!" Rachel announced.
"Yay!" Nina cheered.
Once they were all settled around the table—Nina and Ethan on one side, Rachel and Noah on the other, and Raymond at the head—they began passing the bread and salad around.
"Thank you so much for having us for dinner," Puck spoke up between bites.
"It's not a problem at all," Ethan assured him. "Anytime your mother is working late and you would like to join us, you both are more than welcome."
"Your cooking is much better than Noah's, Mr. Berry," Nina said glancing between the two, unsure of which one to thank.
"Thank you, Nina," Raymond said. "Why don't you call us Mr. Ethan and Mr. Ray so it doesn't get too confusing?" he suggested with a smile.
"Okay, Mr. Ray!" Nina agreed. "That rhymed," she giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.
Puck glanced to the sky as if asking the ceiling for some help. Rachel poked him for being mean. He winked at her, and she blushed. The interaction did not go unnoticed by her fathers, but they smiled and resumed eating.
While he was eating, Puck used his left hand to draw lazy circles on Rachel's leg under the table, teasing the hem of her skirt. He wasn't even intending to flirt; in fact, neither of them realized he was doing it. However, after he noticed a few nervous glances from one father to the other to his hand under the table, he understood what he had been doing. So, Puck casually moved his hand and placed it on the back of Rachel's chair, absently playing with her hair. She smiled at him, still unaware of the whole situation; it was just a natural thing for him to be near her and in slight contact.
Later that evening, Rachel, Puck, and Nina got out some of Rachel's old board games and decided to play Clue. Raymond and Ethan cleared the table and did the dishes, not minding that Rachel wanted to entertain her guests. They watched the new couple and the cute little girl play the game; the kids were sitting on the floor, and Rachel leaned close into Puck's side.
"They're a cute couple," Ethan noted absently.
"Yes, I was thinking how relaxed the two are with each other for only having dated a short time," Ray commented.
"They remind me of us when we were that age," Ethan teased.
Raymond nodded, thinking back to what seemed like so long ago. "Me too, dear."
Ethan patted his hand on Ray's shoulder, knowing he was the more worrisome of the two. "She's a smart girl, Raymond."
Ray smiled widely at how well his partner knew him.
After they finished the dishes, Nina convinced Ethan and Ray to join them for a rousing game of Crazy Eights. Of course, Nina won. Pretty soon, it was time for the two Puckermans to leave. Rachel walked them to Puck's truck. Nina climbed in and got settled quickly, and Puck enveloped Rachel in a gentle hug. She rested her head on his chest while he laid his chin on her head.
"I had so much fun tonight," Rachel said.
"Me too. I know Nina did too," Puck replied. "Your dads are cool. You know me and dads don't normally mix," he stated sheepishly.
"They liked you too," Rachel stated.
Lifting her head gently, Rachel met her lips to Noah's in a loving kiss. It didn't matter that they weren't "making out" or anything, Rachel's heart still fluttered. It amazed her how much one person could affect her so much.
"Oh, before I forget, the big game is Friday. Will my girl be there to cheer me on?" Puck asked with a wink.
"Well, I will have to study about the game of American football on Wikipedia to make sure I understand the rules and terminology, but I would be delighted to give you and the team my moral support," Rachel responded diplomatically.
Puck snorted in laughter. "A yes was all I needed to hear, silly girl," he whispered, his hot breath tickling her ear.
A faint blush painted Rachel's cheeks. "Oh. Of course," she giggled at herself. She was learning to cut down her words, but old habits die hard.
"I'll see you tomorrow. At lunch, we can have a crash course on football," he suggested, tickling her sides.
"Sounds perfect," she replied.
With one more quick kiss, Noah hopped in his truck and drove off with Rachel smiling to herself at how much life had changed for the better.
Later that week, Rachel and Puck headed into Glee rehearsal hand in hand to find some unusual groupings. The Cheerios were teaching Mercedes and Tina some kind of step routine, while Kurt played with Quinn's hair as they talked excitedly in the corner. Artie had busted out his guitar and Finn was on the drums as Matt and Mike practiced their dance moves. Rachel smiled at Mr. Schuester's astonished look at the bonding that was happening.
"Okay, guys, we're going to spend part of this rehearsal finding the perfect duet for Rachel and Puck to perform at Sectionals," Mr. Schue explained. He handed a stack of music to the two.
"I can't believe Sectionals is in three weeks!" Mercedes exclaimed.
"I'll barely be able to finish the costumes," Kurt worried. "Everyone has to look fierce!"
Rachel glanced at Puck who was looking at the music Mr. Schue had given them. As the group chatted about the other songs for the set list, she asked Puck which ones he wanted to try out.
"Definitely not 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight?' or 'A Whole New World,'" he said.
Rachel pouted playfully, but Puck stood his ground.
"Sorry, babe, no Disney for me. I do have a rep to keep," he teased.
"Okay, fine," she relented.
"We can try these two," he handed her the music to "Written in the Stars" from Aida and "Hungry Eyes" by Eric Carmen, which technically wasn't a duet, but it worked.
"You would pick the most seductive song from Dirty Dancing and the song about two lovers being kept apart by fate," Rachel said flippantly.
"What can I say? I do know how to pick 'em," Puck winked.
"Well, I like these two," Rachel said, trading the papers with Puck.
He looked at her choices: "Two Is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls and Taylor Swift and "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole and his daughter Natalie.
"These are okay, I guess," he sighed.
"We'll just let the group and Mr. Schuester decide then," Rachel challenged.
Puck was about to tease her with another snarky comment when Mr. Schue called them both up front to see the songs they'd chosen.
They sang each option for the group, but for songs that weren't that steamy, Rachel and Puck filled them with an extreme amount of passion.
Kurt was fanning himself by the end of "Hungry Eyes."
"Geez you two," he retorted. "You have so much chemistry you could make "Islands in the Stream" simmer with passionate heat."
The group laughed at his comment. Puck smirked at Rachel. Hey, he was a stud; it wasn't his fault his body screamed sex appeal. And Rachel? Well, she was a little hottie with the voice of an angel, so that won her points overall. But, she was his little hottie, so it made it a million times better. It was just so easy to sing with her.
Rachel blushed at Kurt's comment, because she too had noticed the extreme chemistry she had with Noah. She thought Finn had been made to be her male lead, but the more she sang with Noah, the more she realized their voices melded better together. Of course, the underlying sexual tension was evident so that did help as well. She saw Puck smirking at her, and she could only imagine the dirty things he was probably thinking.
"Okay, while I wouldn't have quite worded it like that, Kurt is right," Mr. Schue said, readjusting his collar. "However, I like the idea of having the rest of the Glee club singing the choir part on 'Written in the Stars.' Are you guys comfortable with that one?" he asked.
"Absolutely, Mr. Schuester," Rachel responded.
"Yeah, that's cool," Puck shrugged.
"All right! Now that we have that settled, let's talk other songs," Mr. Schue said, rubbing his hands together as if conspiring a plot.
"What about 'Don't Stop Believing'?" Finn offered, smiling hesitantly at Rachel.
Rachel smiled back, knowing this was one of the group's favorite songs to do, so of course Mr. Schuester would OK it.
"Excellent choice, Finn. Since you have a song already, Rachel, how about we try it with Brittany on lead?" Mr. Schuester suggested.
Rachel was holding Puck's hand, and he felt her stiffen beside him. Brittany searched Rachel's eyes to see how she took the news. Rachel swallowed hard.
"I think Brittany will do great," she said carefully. "Brittany, if you want some help on the notes in your upper register, you know you can always ask," Rachel offered graciously.
"Thanks, but I won't be buying anything," Brittany replied happily.
Everyone rolled their eyes at the dumb blonde's remark. Puck squeezed Rachel's hand, and she smiled helplessly at him.
"Good girl," he whispered.
"I try to be," Rachel giggled quietly.
"Oh, well, if you want to change that, we can arrange that too," he said smoothly. "I make them good girls go bad," he kidded, waggling his eyebrows.
"Gee, thank you, Gabe Saporta," she said dryly. "But no thanks just the same," she said with a wink.
Puck just grinned, surprised she came up with a comeback to his comment and a quick one at that. He really didn't mind that she was a good girl. But it sure was fun to see her blush when he teased her about it.
The rest of rehearsal flew by, and they nailed down their final set list: Rachel and Puck's duet, "Don't Stop Believing" with Finn and Brittany, and "Proud Mary" in wheelchairs. Overall, everyone was quite pleased with the outcome. Even Rachel was pleasantly surprised at how well Brittany and Finn sounded together. She was trying so hard to tone down her diva-like tendencies, but like her vocabulary, it was easier said than done. Thankfully, she had Puck there to encourage her to be a normal teenager instead of an abrasive go-getter.
Coach Tanaka had ridden the guys hard again today in practice. Puck was worn out but when he opened his bag to get some clean clothes, he found a note. He smiled, knowing it had to be from Rachel. They had this unspoken game when it came to notes. They would always try to find song lyrics to describe how they were feeling. For Puck, it was good because he was not used to expressing his feelings through words. He enjoyed the tiny rush of excitement he felt whenever he read Rachel's notes; it made him feel twelve feet tall to have someone who cared for him as much as Rachel did.
This note was no different. Puck smiled as he read what she wrote.
There's simply no one else
In the world I could ever find
Likes me when I'm low
And still tolerates me when I'm high
You, you got me down
You kept comin' round
There's simply no one else
I could lean on a thousand times,
Still be there again and again
Never lose his mind,
You know me so well,
You can't even tell,
That you're like no one else
She ended it with a star. Puck shook his head and laughed a little to himself. He was pretty sure she had it all wrong. There was no one else like Rachel Berry.
AN2: Song Lyrics – "No One Else" (Allison Iraheta) … amazing song BTW! You should actually check out her whole CD! It pretty much rocks! :o) In case you don't know who that is, Allison Iraheta got 4th place on American Idol last year (the redheaded rocker chick).
Remember, R&R = Love! :o)