A/N- I want you all to know that I have 0 out of 18 pages worth of reports that are due right now. But instead of making sure I don't get fired, I'm here writing flashbacks. Do you think my boss will take your reviews into consideration when my performance review is due?

Speaking of reviews- Parts of this installment flowed really easily, but other parts were a real struggle. Please let me know if you like how this chapter came out. I really value your opinions.

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And like that the tension was gone. It was like the last year and change didn't happen. They were a family. Rachel and Puck. The Fathers Berry and Rachel. And even Puck and the Fathers Berry. The four of them against reality instead of the four of them against each other.

Rachel looked at the three most important men in her life. Once upon a time this had been the norm and not the exception. Once upon a time she'd known she'd spend the rest of her life with Noah. She just hadn't known how long her life would be. Now she knew that, God willing, she'd live as long as any of her peers. She just didn't know if that life would include Noah.

"I… I have a lot to digest." Rachel looked at Noah as she spoke her regret was written on her face and embedded in her voice. "I think… I think maybe it would be best if you went home for now Noah."

If it had been any other girl kicking him out in front of her parents Puck would have lost his shit. But it was Rachel. His Rachel. If she'd done anything else besides kick him out so she could "digest" the day's developments then she wouldn't be Rachel. So instead of making a fuss or cussing out her fathers again he simply nodded and gave her a winsome half smile as he stood up.

He was half way out of the kitchen before he heard her fathers start to laugh again.

"Noah?" Rachel said with a hint of amusement in her own voice. "You probably should go upstairs and get your clothes out of the drier before you head out."

By the time Noah made it home he had 14 text messages on his phone, but only one of them was from Rachel.

The first was from his mother letting him know that he better have a good excuse ready for her when she got home at 8 that night for cutting school today because she didn't like getting phone calls from Figgins regarding her sons less than stellar attendance record.

Texts two through ten were from Matt and Mike. Though the texts themselves seemed like they were the normal bs he'd get from his teammates, Puck knew the guys were just fishing for an explanation as to why he'd asked them to drop his truck off at Rachel Berry's house. And why he'd asked her if she wanted to eat lunch with them.

The eleventh text was from his sister and was just a head's up that their mom was on the warpath because of the call from Figgins.

Text twelve was from Artie of all people. It read, "Saw you in the parking lot with Rachel this morning. She may be a bitch sometimes but you can be a real asshole Puckerman."

Lucky number 13 was from his future in-laws saying that they'd set up an STD screening for him for tomorrow afternoon. Sure that was creepy, inappropriate and controlling of them, but given that they were Rachel's parents he hadn't been too freaked out by the fact they'd over-stepped several boundaries. What did freak him out was the fact that they'd scheduled the screening at the same hospital where his mother worked. He was straight up positive they knew that.

Rachel's text was actually an MMS. She'd used her camera phone to snap a picture of an old photo of the two of them at the lake at Camp Wise the summer before she got sick. He was chasing her into the water and the both of them were laughing like crazy people. He smiled when he saw it.

He remembered dawdling on the way to dinner that evening so that he and Rachel had fallen behind the group. He'd taken her hand and deliberately walked close to one of the cabins. She'd smiled at him and squeezed his hand that night too, but she didn't ask any questions. They were each other's best friends that summer and sometimes it just felt right to hold hands. He'd gently pushed her back into the shadows and against the wall of the empty cabin and kissed her.

They'd already shared a few kisses by then, the first of course being at his bar mitzvah in the spring. But this was the first time he'd traced his tongue across her lips. She'd shivered just a little in his arms and opened her mouth just a little when she'd sighed. He'd gone in for the kill then, sneaking his tongue in and tickling the roof of her mouth. Puck had heard one of the older guys say that chicks really went crazy for that.

Rachel had frozen up for a second then and her fingernails had dug into his shoulders SO HARD that he thought he'd ruined everything. Up until that night she'd always been so… innocent. He knew she liked kissing him, but she never seemed to get worked up the way he did, which is one of the reasons why he hadn't kiss her more often.

He'd opened his eyes expecting her to pull away and ask him why he was being gross. Instead he'd found her staring at him with wide eyes. He'd pulled away in surprise then.

She'd lifted her hand to her lips then. He had watched a look of wonder cross her face, her eyes focused on his mouth as she trailed her fingers over the places his tongue had been just moments before.

"Where'd you… how'd you know how to do that?" she'd marveled.

He'd shrugged. Puck hadn't had any experience with anyone besides Rachel, but even he knew that telling a girl he'd been trying something he'd picked up from locker room banter was a bad idea.

She'd just tilted her head and looked up at him. "Did you kiss someone else?" There was no judgment, no accusation in her gaze, just curiosity.

He'd frowned and shaken his head.

"It's okay if you did you know. I know a lot of girls like you so-"

He'd kissed her again then, just to shut her up so she wouldn't say anything to ruin this. It had been their first REAL kiss and he wanted it to be between just the two of them.

He'd felt her smile against the crush of his lips. And then… and then Rachel was the one running her tongue over his lips.

He'd pulled away again and looked at her in the dim light of the setting sun. "So you liked it?"

She'd nodded and grinned at him goofily. "It was kind of badass." She leaned away from the cabin and stood on her tip-toes to kiss him again.

They'd skipped dinner that night and just kissed. He'd try something and if she liked it she'd copy it. Then she'd try something and he'd copy it if he liked it. He'd been careful not to let her pull him too closely to her or let either of their hands roam so she wouldn't know how much he liked kissing her.

When he'd heard people start coming out of the dining hall he'd pulled away from her again. They were both breathing kind of hard by then. Noah had pushed her hair out of her face and smiled down at the smaller girl. "You're the only girl I've ever kissed."

She'd smiled up at him and blushed. "You're REALLY good at it Noah."

"So are you Rach," he said kissing her forehead.

"Can we do it again? Later?" she asked shyly. "I want to try it again."

"Yeah but… only if… only if you promise that I'm the only one you try stuff with." He'd tried to say it all macho but his voice had cracked and even he could hear the hesitation in his voice.

She had looked at him in puzzlement. "Who else would I kiss Noah?"

He'd felt relief and let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Nobody. You shouldn't kiss anybody else." He'd taken her hands in his again then. "I like kissing you Rachel. You like kissing me too right?"

Rachel had rolled her eyes at him then. "Duh. I already told you that you're super good at it Noah."

"And we're friends right? Like really good friends right?"

Rachel had nodded then, her confusion slowly building.

God she'd been so innocent. He was only a few months older than her but sometimes that had seemed like years. He known he wasn't a stud or anything, but sometimes he couldn't figure out if she was just super trusting or naive or just a little socially retarded.

"So if we're like, you know, really good friend, and you like kissing me and I like kissing you, then I think you should be my girlfriend. You know, if you want to be that is. Cause I'd really like you to be my girlfriend." He'd rushed the words because he was nervous.

She'd frowned a little. "I'm not really supposed to have a boyfriend yet Noah. You know that."

He'd just looked at her as his heart pounded against his ribs. "You kissed me first Rachel."

"But that was like, forever ago! Your bar mitzvah was way over a year ago and things have been fine since then."

He remembered now that she'd rubbed her temples for a little while and then rubbed her neck like she had a headache. He knew that it wasn't the first time he'd seen her do it, but he remembered her doing it that night because this small part of him had been hurt that his asking her to be his girlfriend had given her a headache.

"Can't we just… you know keep being friends? And just kiss sometimes?" She'd asked earnestly. "That's worked till now right?"

"At first maybe, but not after tonight. If you're not my girlfriend then I can't get mad if some other dude tries to kiss you." He'd tried to show her how logical it was for them to take this next step together. "Do you want me to be able to kiss another girl?"

"No but, Noah, I promised my fathers that I wouldn't come home from camp with a boyfriend," Rachel kind of whined. "It was the only way they'd let me come again this year."

"Well have you been kissing anyone but me?" he'd patiently asked.

"No but-" she'd started before he cut her off again.

"And am I the only guy you've ever kissed?" he had asked though he knew the answer before Rachel nodded yes.

"And you already said you liked kissing me and didn't want to kiss anyone else right?"

Rachel'd nodded hesitantly again.

"Well I already said you're the only girl I've ever kissed and I know that I don't want to kiss any other girls besides you." He had rubbed his nose gently against hers and then asked softly, "And it would be a good thing if I didn't kiss other girls besides you right?"

She'd frowned a little but nodded yes.

"So if I'm not kissing anyone but you, and you're not kissing anyone but me, and we're already really good friends, then we should be a couple." He had grinned at her before kissing her soft and slow with just a hint of tongue like he now knew she liked.

He remembered that Rachel had kind of whimpered and pulled him tightly to her so that he was closer to her than he'd ever been while kissing.

When her hand had somehow worked its way under his shirt and onto the bare skin of his back he'd forced himself to step back. "Rachel- please. I'm a guy. It feels too good when you touch me like when we're making out. We need to slow down a little okay?"

He watched her eyes go wide and a blush spread across her cheeks for the umpteenth time that night and she nodded her head shakily. "Sorry Noah."

They'd stood there staring at each other for a few minutes as they both tried to calm their raging hormones. Noah had been surprised at how long it took for the new feelings and urges to recede to controllable levels. But what surprised him more was that instead of regaining her composure Rachel got more fidgety as time went on.

Only… maybe it hadn't really surprise him that much at all. He'd known her well enough to understand that while she really did like him more than she'd admit, she also really didn't want to actively disobey her parents.

He'd taken her hand for what he knew would be the last time that night and lead her toward the campfire where the rest of their friends and counselors were roasting s'mores.

"Rachel…" he'd said softly and stopped in the shadow of the cabin closest to the campfire. "Even if, um, you know, you want to wait till later… you know you're still my best friend right?"

She'd thrown her arms around him then and pulled him in for a hug so tight that he hadn't been sure if the reason he lost his breath was because she'd squeezed it out of him or because she'd squeezed him to her.

"I really do like kissing you Noah," she'd whispered fiercely. "I just don't think I'm ready to really like you this much."

He'd laughed a little then because even though making out with Rachel Berry was fricking awesome a part of him knew exactly how she felt.

Puck looked down at his phone and realized he was still smiling. He'd been kind of freaked out when she'd said that she needed time to think but seeing this picture he knew everything was going to be all right. She hadn't been ready to be his girlfriend when he'd asked her that night over three years ago. She had made it clear tonight she wasn't quite ready to dive back into anything serious. But the picture she'd just sent him was worth a thousand words. So channeling his inner Noah, he manned up and typed the words that the Puckerone would never have had the balls to send: "You're still my best friend too."