Fireworks
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.
Summary: Spoilers for 2x12: Silly Love Songs. Rachel visits Finn in the nurse's office, hoping to find the closure she needs to move on with her life. As she does, she forms a close and supportive friendship with Noah Puckerman. Sometimes, the best love is the one that was always there. Eventual Puckleberry. Samchel friendship. Mentions of Puck/Lauren and Finn/Quinn.
Chapter 14: Courage
The next week drove Puck to the point of insanity. He had ample opportunity to ask Rachel to prom, but for the first time in his life, he was completely and wholly tense and nervous about asking a girl out. The only upside to the whole situation was that at least Rachel had no idea of his plans, so she didn't know how much of a spineless git he was.
On Wednesday morning, Puck was discussing his dilemma with Sam. Fortunately, Rachel had an early dentist appointment, so she wasn't at school yet and Puck was free to confide in Sam without her suspecting anything.
"You still haven't asked her yet?" Sam raised a surprised eyebrow.
Puck sighed, "I just don't want it to be ordinary, but I also don't want to be cliché."
"True. This is a great opportunity to be creative, Puck." Sam said.
"Yeah, I'm trying to be creative, but it's hard," Puck replied in frustration. "I've never asked a girl out to prom before and Rachel's not like every other girl, so…"
"I understand," Sam smiled considerately. "I'm sure you'll think of something."
"Ugh, I wish I wasn't such an idiot." Puck said, ready to smack his forehead into his locker.
Sam frowned, "You're not, Puck. Whatever you think of, I'm sure Rachel will love it."
Puck sighed, "I hope so. I'm running out of time."
Finn stared quizzically at his chemistry textbook, perplexed as to what he had it in his locker. I thought I was taking biology, he thought. His musings wandered off, however, as he spotted Puck down the hall at his locker.
The two of them weren't exactly friends, but they had been talking civilly these days. To be perfectly honest, Finn missed his companionship with Puck. The two of them grew up together in Lima; Puck was Finn's first friend and Finn had always been certain that they would be best friends even when they were eighty, living next door to each other and watching their grandkids play together. Of course, that fantasy was now complicated by the events that had transpired within the last year, but part of Finn, the naïve, optimistic half, still wanted that dream.
Biting his lip, Finn shut his locker shut, walking purposefully towards Puck. His former best friend was rummaging through his locker, distracted by something. Finn sidled up next to Puck, with a nervous smile.
"Hey man," Finn said, "What's going on?"
Puck stared at Finn, wide-eyed. For a minute, silence split between the two. Puck could hardly believe that Finn was trying to make conversation with him again. He didn't know exactly how to react to such an unexpected turn of events.
"Uh, not much," Puck replied, after another minute's hesitation. "What about you?"
Finn shrugged, "Just school, you know. And I should probably ask Quinn to prom."
Puck raised an eyebrow, surprised. "You haven't asked her to prom yet?"
"Nope," Finn chuckled softly. Seeing Puck's expression, he went on, "I just assumed that we'd be going, you know. I mean, we are going out. Who else would I take to prom?"
"Girls aren't like that, man," Puck said, stunned that he was giving out advice on girls, "Even if you're dating Quinn, she expects you to ask her to prom."
Finn gave him a small smile, "Figures. Why do girls have to be so complicated?"
Puck chuckled, "Beats me, man. At least you have a girlfriend."
Finn shrugged, "You ask anyone to prom yet?"
Puck tensed immediately, thinking of Rachel. While he hadn't asked her yet, she was undoubtedly the only girl he wanted to ask to prom. And here he was, talking about prom with her ex-boyfriend and his ex-best friend. Fuck high school, I hate all this drama, Puck thought irritably.
"Thinking about asking this one girl," Puck said slowly, choosing his words carefully. "But I haven't asked yet. I don't know exactly how to do it."
Finn was astounded. He had never heard Puck being so unsure about asking a girl out. It was Noah Puckerman after all! Growing up, Puck was the one with the string of girlfriends, the one who flirted shamelessly with any girl or woman, and the confident, smug womanizer. It was something Finn had always admired and envied about Puck – his overconfidence and swagger when it came to girls, which Finn always tried to emulate but failed miserably. This was the first time Finn had ever heard Puck be so hesitant and shy over a girl.
"Who are you thinking of asking?" Finn asked, curious as to which girl could turn the womanizing Noah Puckerman he knew into this hesitant, anxious person standing in front of him.
Puck fidgeted on the spot. He didn't want to tell Finn that he was thinking of asking Rachel to prom. Given their history, it was one big complicated mess in general. He also didn't want to provoke Finn's jealously, the green-eyed monster that reared its ugly head whenever Rachel was involved with any other guy beside himself, in spite of whether or not he was actually dating her. Most of all, Puck was just tired of Finn sticking his head into other people's business, and he didn't think he needed Finn's "permission" to ask Rachel to prom.
"A good friend of mine," Puck said, which was nothing but the truth.
Finn nodded, seemingly losing interest in Puck's prom dilemma. "Cool. Well, I hope it goes well for you, man."
"Thanks," Puck said, wondering if Finn would say that if he knew that Rachel was the girl in question. "I better get to class. See you in Glee."
"See you," Finn said, shouldering his backpack and walking off, feeling a bit more cheerful and optimistic about the state of their friendship.
It was the end of the school day, and for the first time since he stepped foot into public school, Puck wished that the day had passed by just a little bit slower. He hadn't thought of any original ideas for asking Rachel out to prom and it was royally pissing him off to no end.
Sam had not been much help, trying to push him towards Rachel's direction whenever they were walking together and Rachel was in plain sight. This usually resulted in Puck awkwardly asking Rachel how her classes were going or asking her what time it was. It also resulted in Sam getting playfully punched by Puck after Rachel left (not that that wasn't fun, but Puck was not getting anywhere with the prom asking).
After school, Sam suggested they drop by the Lima Bean and asking Kurt and Blaine for their opinions on an unforgettable prom asking. Puck was reluctant to bring more people into the dilemma, but relented after Sam insisted Kurt and Blaine were "experts" and knew Rachel quite well enough to make an informed decision on how best to ask her to prom.
Thus, Puck found himself wedged between Kurt and Sam at the smallest possible table, listening to Kurt and Blaine argue over whether it was more socially acceptable to wear short dresses to prom. Puck didn't even know how they wound up on this topic; although he had to admit, it was pretty entertaining watching Kurt and Blaine argue over the length of dresses on girls for prom. Next to him, Sam was watching them as well, with a broad smile on his face.
"Seriously, this is your solution?" Puck muttered, glaring at Sam.
Chuckling softly, Sam whispered, "They are amusing to watch though. Plus, they brought up some good ideas at the beginning."
"You mean Kurt's plan of doing an interpretative dance for Rachel?" Puck shot back, shooting a furtive look at the boy on his left.
Sam grinned, "I'd totally pay to see that."
Puck aimed a playful kick at Sam, but ended up kicking Blaine instead. Shooting an apologetic glance at the Warbler, Puck decided it was the perfect opportunity to stop Kurt and Blaine before they ended up discussing hairdos and other prom-related matters.
"Do you guys have any helpful advice about how to ask Rachel out to prom?" Puck asked, exasperated.
Kurt rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Well, I still think the interpretative dance was a good idea," however, seeing the revolted look on Puck's face, said quickly, "Or how about you bake her cupcakes or something and have the words, 'Prom?' written in icing?"
Puck mulled over the idea. It was certainly the best idea that had been brought forth so far, but Puck just couldn't see himself baking five cupcakes and icing them to ask Rachel. It didn't seem to shout out Puck and Rachel-ness.
"It's a good idea Kurt, but I think I'll pass." Puck said.
Blaine offered his advice, "I say the best route is to just ask her. Ask her if you could have a moment of her time, don't go somewhere too crowded or loud with lots of people staring, and just tell her how you feel and ask her to prom. Sometimes, the simplest method is the best."
Puck sighed. He had been thinking about that. Maybe it would be better just to ask Rachel without all the extra fluff. Besides, he was a simple person and this appeared to be the simplest route to ask Rachel to prom. However, with the words "simplest", he also thought it was the easiest. He wanted to do something special for Rachel, as she was a special girl and a very special person in his life. He knew he had to go beyond what he would normally do in order to show her that he really, truly cared for her and only wanted to go to prom with her.
"It's an idea," Puck said, not volunteering any of his thoughts aloud. He knew what he wanted to do and he had to get started right away. "Thanks for all your help, guys. I got to get going, need to start getting this prom asking in motion."
"No problem," Kurt replied.
Puck waved goodbye to his friends and hurried out the doors to his truck. He had a brilliant and creative idea as to how to ask Rachel. The wheels were in motion and nothing was going to hold him back.
Come Friday afternoon, a week before prom, Rachel was beginning to feel antsy. Prom was the only thing people could talk about these days. Everywhere she went, whether during class or in the bathroom, girls were blathering on and on about what hairstyles matched their looks and dresses, which color nail polish they should have to coordinate with the coloring scheme, which shoes to buy or match, and essentially anything that corresponded with prom and girls in general.
Rachel was still on the fence about whether or not she would be attending prom. She had been asked by Jacob, but declined immediately, knowing that it was better not going at all than to go with him. To be quite honest with herself, she was still hoping against hope that someone she knew would ask her, but with only a week left, she felt that her window of opportunity was closing and the chances rapidly diminishing. Actually, Rachel had purchased an inexpensive prom dress just the other day. She had been shopping with her dads and saw the dress in the store window. It was a long, pink, strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline, ruched bodice, and tulle bottom. Rachel fell in love with it as soon as she saw it and bought it, thinking that even if she couldn't wear it to this year's prom, there was always next year.
Spotting Sam at his locker, Rachel waltzed over to him. She figured it couldn't hurt to know whether Puck was going to prom or not.
"Hi Sam," Rachel smiled as she approached her friend.
Sam smiled back, "Hey Rach, what's up?"
Rachel shrugged effortlessly, "Working on a couple of new songs. They're not quite in my repertoire and I want to perfect them for Nationals."
Sam chuckled, "Sounds good. Are you still thinking about whether or not to go to prom?"
Rachel sighed, "Yes. I got asked by Jacob on Wednesday."
Sam threw her a mixed look of sympathy and disgust. "Sorry to hear that. Well, the offer still stands; you can always come stag and join us."
"I know and I appreciate that, Sam," Rachel said truthfully. "But I really rather go with someone, just so I don't feel… like the seventh wheel."
Sam was about to reassure her that she wouldn't be when Puck came bounding up towards the pair, with a huge smile.
"Hey Sam, Rachel," Puck grinned from ear from ear. Sam had to stifle a laugh; he could tell his friend was eager to get the show on the road.
"Hi Noah," Rachel smiled back warmly. "You look keen. What's going on?"
Puck offered an outstretched arm to the petite brunette, "Actually, I was looking for you. Could you come with me for a few minutes?"
Despite her surprise, Rachel did not hesitate to take his arm. "Sure," turning to Sam, she smiled and waved goodbye. "Have a good weekend!"
"See you kids," Sam said, grinning. Puck threw him a wink and mouthed a 'thank you' and Sam watched as the two walked away. His smile grew bigger, thinking that the next time he'd see Puck and Rachel, they would finally be together.
"Where are we headed?" Rachel asked, clutching at Puck's arm.
Puck offered her a dazzling smile, "That's for me to know and for you to find out." He steered her towards the direction of the auditorium. The walk there felt more protracted than usual.
Without letting go of Rachel, he quickly swung open the doors, his eyes darting toward the stage.
Quietly, Puck led Rachel to center stage, where a stool sat. He guided her towards the stool, where she sat tentatively. Puck gave her a reassuring smile before jogging backstage. He grabbed his guitar in one hand and went to the control box, flipping switches here and there expertly. In an instant, the lights darkened, but strings of colorful lanterns instantaneously illuminated the stage. Puck tugged on a cable, popping open a box filled with multicolored confetti, showering the stage and Rachel. Another tug on a separate cable led to several balloons chuting downwards towards the stage as well. Finally, Puck pulled on the last cable, his heart racing. The stage was instantly glowing with the light of many fluorescent light bulbs, spelling out, 'PROM?'
Hearing the audible gasp from Rachel, Puck took his cue and marched onstage. Strumming his guitar, he began to play the melodious first notes of the song that had won over Rachel the first time around.
Where it began, I can't begin to know when,
But then I know it's growing strong.
Oh, wasn't the spring,
And spring became summer,
Who'd believe you'd come along.
Hands, touching hands, reaching out,
Touching you, touching me.
Oh, sweet Caroline,
Good times never seem so good.
I've been inclined to believe it never would.
He continued to sing, until the last notes of the song lingered in the auditorium like a distant, but audible echo. Rachel sat completely still, her eyes glistening. From the expression on her face, Puck knew that she was not only stunned and impressed by the gesture, but also deeply touched.
Swinging his guitar around his body, Puck stepped forward so that he was only inches away from Rachel. The petite girl did not move, but Puck could feel her breathing grow uneven. He could feel his own breath hitching as he looked into her warm, dark eyes, and saw his own reflection. Looking down, he covered her small hand with his, squeezing it gently.
"Rach?" His voice was low and intimate.
Rachel felt breathless, hearing Puck say her name like that. The one syllable was so familiar and comforting. "Y-yes?"
"Rachel, will you go to prom with me? You're the only one I want to go to prom with; there's no question about that. To be honest, you're the only one I want to talk to at the end of the day, or have vegan, non-dairy ice cream with, or watch Funny Girl over and over with, or basically do anything with. I just want you to be treated right and to be happy and I feel like I could be the one who does that for you. What do you say?"
Puck paused, biting his lip; his heart thumping against his chest so loudly he was certain Rachel could hear it.
Through her tears, Rachel's eyes darted back and forth across Puck's face, finding nothing but sincerity and affection. At that moment, she couldn't see or hear anything except Puck and his kind, honest words. Stupefied by his romantic and heartfelt gesture and her own affection for her friend, Rachel knew the answer. She must have known it before he even asked.
"Of course, Noah. Of course I'll go to prom with you."
Author's Notes: Hi everyone! So, so sorry for updating this slowly. Since the last chapter, I've graduated (yay!) and started a new job, so I've been incredibly busy with that and didn't have as much time as I would have liked to have written this chapter. The story is coming to an end and I'll probably be taking a short break from writing fanfic to concentrate on my career and other things. I just want to thank you all for reading and reviewing; it means so much to me that you are even reading this story, much less enjoying it, and that makes me really, incredibly happy :)
I'm sorry that this chapter is much shorter than the previous chapters. However, I did want to crank out Puck's prom proposal to Rachel before the end of June (and now it's the 6th of July...) and then I'll wrap up the story with prom itself and an epilogue. I had major writer's block concerning how Puck would ask Rachel to prom. I initially had a very tame/lame prom asking, but I hyped it up a bit. Nothing too dramatic or showy, but I think it's still romantic and ties back their history. I didn't have it mentioned in the dialogue, but obviously, Sam, Kurt, Blaine, Artie, and even Lauren helped him out with the stage setting. Naturally, Puck chose the song :)
Again, thank you all for reading and reviewing and just sticking around in general! I really, truly appreciate it.
Next chapter: Prom is here! Finn gets upset after hearing Puck and Rachel are going together. Puck asks Rachel an important question.