It's coming quick because when in Nicaragua, I had some time to write. And now I have time to type and update. Hope you guys enjoy. This is a long one. :)

Chapter Twenty: Serenading and Rule Breaking

"Do you know what you're going to wear?" Kurt said as he sat on Rachel's bed, sipping at the hot chocolate she's just made. "I mean, this is you first major date. You two going out to BreadstiX doesn't count. Everyone goes to BreadstiX. This outfit has to represent."

Rachel giggled. "I don't know. I'm going over to his house early to help his little sister get ready for her date that she's going on. I'm sure she'll help me."

Kurt made a sad face. "Oh, I see. I wanted to help you get ready. You're my new Barbie now,, since you've got a boyfriend and all. It creates perfect opportunities for me to work my magic, since you're kind of a train wreck."

"I am not a train wreck!" she said, hitting him lightly. "I'll have you know that I'm quite fashionable."

"For someone from the seventies. I'm telling you, Rachel. You better just let me and Mercedes dress you from now on. It'll be way easier for you. Maybe you won't get as many Slushee facials."

Rachel snorted. "Yeah, maybe." Kurt took her hand in his. "But, I suppose I can mace a few wardrobe adjustments. If it'll make you and Mercedes happy."

He nodded defiantly. "It will indeed, my beautiful diva." Rachel smiled at him warmly. "So, how does it feel to be the girlfriend of the school stud?"

Rachel leaned back in her mountain of pillows, putting her mug on her nightstand. "It feels different," she said with uncertainty. "Of course I like it—anyone would—and I do have feelings that are more than a 'little school girl crush'-" Rachel bent her fingers in the air like quotations "-but, who knows how long this will last? We are talking and dealing with Noah Puckerman, after all. He could decide that he's all of a sudden bored and doesn't want to be involved anymore."

"I understand, but you do have to remember that he's taking you out to dinner at one of the fanciest places in town, he's being a sweetheart—something he never does to anyone—and you know it's true, not to mention the fact that he kissed you in front of the entire school with no complaint, just because he wanted to." Rachel nodded slowly. "Now, I'm not saying that he's become an angel, because he probably hasn't, but I'm more than one hundred percent positive that he has feelings for you that are much more than 'I want to have sex with you' emotions."

"Well, I definitely know that." She fiddled with the ends of her hair. "I just don't want it to be something that It's not. I don't want to rush into it or make it something it isn't."

There was a silence between the two of them and it was unsaid but known that that was the end of their conversation. Then suddenly, Kurt said up, his eyes wide. "What do you mean you're quite fashionable?"

Rachel looked at him for a moment, a shocked look on her face, but then, she began to laugh.

"...What is it?"

Abbegail let her arms drop. "It's called a tie, Puck. You wear them with suits." He made a face. "You were wearing one yesterday. You know what these are."

"Yeah, but yesterday it was all suave and stuff because the colors were opposite of what they were supposed to be. This is just weird."

They were silent and the siblings stared at each other before Abbegail threw the tie at him. "Just put it on, you crap. If Rachel is anything like you described her, she should be here in approximately three minutes and I want you to be out of my room and our way. But, I don't trust you to dress yourself, so, the tie goes on."

With a reluctant face, Puck turned up his collar and slipped the already done tie over his neck, adjusting it before flipping his collar back down. "You know, being a bossy cow is quite unflattering in a woman."

"Well, you're not the one who has to dress her seventeen year old brother everyday."

He made a face at her. "My tie is blue."

"So?"

"Well, my shirt's blue. Shouldn't the tie be a different color?"

Abbegail looked at her brother as she leaned against the wall next to her mirror. "No, because your shirt is a faint blue while the tie is a medium color and you shouldn't be worrying about it, since you're a guy and those things don't matter to you, so, just wear it and don't say anything."

For the thousandth time that day, he made a face. "Fine," he snapped and she smiled at him, satisfied. "You're really annoying."

"I know. But you live me anyway, so it doesn't matter." The clock on Puck's night table turned from 4:59 to 5:00 and right when it did, the front door bell rang. "Right on time," she said in a bright tone. "Don't get in our way. Think of this like a wedding and you're not allowed to look at your bride until she's beautiful and ready, understood?" He saluted her. "Don't sass me. I can take you to the carpet and you know I'm not afraid to. Stay here until I come get you, then you have permission to move freely around the house except my room."

He was about to respond, but she skipped out of his room, singing Come What May as she bounced down the stairs.

From the other side of the door, Rachel could hear the young teen singing a song from one of her favorite musical moves. So, she decided to join in.

Suddenly the word seems such a perfect place.

Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace.

They began singing loudly to each other through the door, their voices harmonizing as Abbegail took the male part and Rachel belted out the female.

Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste.

Quietly, Rachel sang-

It all revolves around you.

Abbegail then flung open the door, her arms held out dramatically to Rachel, who was doing the same.

And there's no mountain too high, no river too wide

Sing out this song and I'll be there By your side

Storm clouds may gather and stars may collide

But I love you, until the end of time

Falling into a fit of giggles, the girls hugged, holding onto each other for support. "And this is why you're amazing," Abbey said with a grin on her face as they walked up the stairs to her room. "Puck would never randomly break into song with me."

"That's a lie, Abbegail, and you know it!" he called form his room, poking his head out. "You're such a mean person." He looked at Rachel. "Hey."

She smiled. "Hello, Noah."

"C'mere," he said, nodding his head towards himself. Rachel did as told, receiving a soft kiss from him. "Okay, now you can go. That's really all I wanted from you."

Rachel looked at him with one raised eyebrow. "Oh, is that so?" Puck nodded his head slowly. "Fine, Noah. If that's all you really wanted." She then flounced over to Abbegail, linking their arms together. "Come, Abbey. That's all Noah wanted."

They marched into Abbegail's room, slamming the door defiantly. Abbey turned to Rachel. "Music?"

"Please."

The young teen went over to her computer and opened iTunes, selecting her playlist of musicals and pressing the space bar, a random song beginning to play. They began to laugh when it was Come What May and Rachel looked at her newly found friend. "You and Noah are so different. He seems to hate musicals and musical movies."

Abbey sat down on her bed. "He's lying." She ran a hand through her light brown hair. "His top twenty five listened to songs are more than half from musicals. And he's obsessed with Wicked. We've seen it, like, twenty times."

"Oh, really?"

"Yep! We even had to drive about sixteen hours to Boston so we could get to Boston just so we could see these two actors that he really, really likes." Rachel's mouth cured up into a slight smirk. "He's kind of a little bit feminine." They giggled. "But, you don't need to worry. These are just more things you have in common."

"Surprisingly. I never thought that he and I would never have anything in common. Seems to not be the case."

Abbegail blew a bubble with the gum she was chewing. "Mm. He also really like Chicago."

"Well, that one's not really a surprise to me. It's all about murder, sex and lingerie. The three things a teenage boy is engrossed by. The only think that it's missing is candy." Abbey nodded. "But, Wicked, really? I remember when I first started having to deal with him, I offered to sing As Long As You're Mine for our duet and he said no."

"He would. Puck's favorite song is For Good. Then Dancing Through Life and Defying Gravity."

Rachel Grinned. "Not Popular?"

Abbey snapped her fingers and pointed at Rachel. "That too!" There was more giggling. "We should start to get ready. With matching things, make-up and hair, it's going to take a long time to get this all straightened out."

A half hour later, both girls were showered and clad in their undergarments, shuffling through Abbegail's small closet that must have contained about fifty dresses, in search of something to wear.

They had dress upon dress that they could choose from, making it much more difficult to find one you wanted.

"Just close your eyes and grab one," she said to Rachel, covering her eyes and reaching her hand out, grasping onto a dress that had a white skirt and a black top, both of them covered in black lace. "Cute." She looked to Rachel. "Your turn."

Rachel did the same, grabbing one that was blue with a black belt attached to it. "I was thinking about this one."

"Your hand made a good choice. I've never worn that one, so you can have it if you want."

She looked down at it. "Are you serious?" Abbey nodded. "Wow... Thank you. That's very sweet."

There was a knock on the door. Without a second though, Rachel went over and opened it. Puck was standing there in a sweatshirt over his normal shirt and tie, his hands comfortably resting on the frost pockets. He did a weird double take when he saw Rachel standing in the door way in just er undergarments, a towel wrapped around her hair.

"Oh, uh, sorry," he said, looking away as she suddenly realized what she was wearing, and what she wasn't, and grabbed an extra towel to wrap around her body. "Can I look now?"

She tucked in a corner. "Yes, you can look." She felt her ears get hot as he looked back, giving her a soft smile. "Is there something you wanted?"

"My sister, please." Abbey popped next to Rachel, not in a strapless bra, since her dress didn't have straps. "Not that I was listening to your conversation—I just happened to over hear as I was going down stairs—but you know that Mom is going to kill you for whatever dress you're letting my girlfriend keep."

Abbey shifted her weight to her other foot. "It's the one Gammie bought for me. The one that was too small but Mom didn't want to get rid of it, since it was so nice."

He nodded slowly. "Oh. Well, then never mind."

Then he turned on his heel and marched away, down the hallway and to his bedroom where his TV was showing a football game.

"Weirdo," Abbey said, shutting the door as Rachel tossed the towel aside and slipped on the dress. "Hey, you need help." Rachel turned and Abbey zipped it up, hitting Rachel's shoulders a few times. "I hate you; you're a smaller size than me."

"Sorry." There's nothing I can do about that." Abbey smiled. "It's all the ballet my dear."

"I do ballet, too." When Rachel didn't respond, Abbey waved it off. "You're still a smaller size." She stepped into her dress. "Can you zip this, since I was so nice to do up your dress for you?"

Rachel rolled her eyes but did zip up the dress, surprised when she saw the red rash she's so easily forgotten about. It was a dark redish-blue color, like a bruise that liked her spine, right where her bones were growing and it scared Rachel. She'd never seen anything like it before, but she didn't want to ask about it. She was afraid of the answer.

"What are you going to do with your hair?" Abbey suddenly said, turning around to face Rachel. "I think you should wear it up. Like, a curled ponytail."

"I'm sorry?" Rachel asked, confused.

Abbegail grabbed her hand. "Come with me." The two girls headed out of her bedroom and to the bathroom that Abbey and Puck shared. "Give me a second." She disappeared for a moment then came back with a chair that she set in the middle of the floor. "Sit," she said as she began to rummage around in the cabinet below the sink.

Rachel did so, crossing her legs at the knees as she waited for Abbey to finish her rummaging. She stood back up with a curling iron, which she proceeded to plug in. "You're going to curl my hair? But, it's already curly."

"Not curly enough. Take your hair out of the towel." Without waiting, Abbegail pulled the towel off Rachel's head and instantly started running a brush through it. "I'm just going to add a little more bounce to it." Rachel nodded softly so she wouldn't pull her hair and then she felt Abbegail start to gather it in her hands, making a high ponytail hear the top of her head.

Within twenty minutes, Abbey had it in tight but big curls that bounced whenever Rachel moved her head.

"Then a touch of hairspray... And you're done. With the hair anyway."

"The make-up I can do myself, thank you. I'm just going to need your make-up collection of eyeshadow and mascara."

Abbey nodded. "It can be come." They left the bathroom and marched the short distance back to her room, closing the door again quickly.

"Why is it again that you don't want Noah to see me?" Rachel asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Because, I'm working my magic. Plus, I want him to be blown away when he sees you." Rachel nodded slowly. "You know what you need?" she said, leaning against her desk. Rachel twiddled her fingers. "Shoes. My mom has this great pair of shoes that would go perfect with that dress. But I think she's at work."

Right at that moment, there was the sound of the front door opening and closing then someone called out, "Hello?"

"Hi!" Puck and Abbey called back at the same time, Abbegail leaving her bedroom to stand at the top of the stairs.

"Hey, sweetie," Mrs. Puckerman said, walking up to her and kissing Abbey's temple. "Oh, Rachel! What a wonderful surprise! Nice to see you."

Rachel smiled. "Nice to see you, too, Mrs. Puckerman."

"Sarah, please." She let out her ponytail, taking off her scrub shirt from the hospital and adjusting her tank top. "You both look lovely. What are you up to?"

Abbegail pushed her long hair over her shoulder. "We have dates."

"Ooh, how exciting." The two girls grinned. "Anything I can help with? I see that Rachel is without shoes."

"That's exactly what we were going to ask... You know your shoes with half a gold heel? Could she borrow those? And I was wondering if you could do my hair like you did at my bat mitzvah."

Sarah nodded, going to her room. "Absolutely. Follow me girls. I know exactly which shoes Ms. Berry needs."

They all filed into her bedroom, Sarah crossing it to her closet and coming back with a pair of high heels that went up to your ankle, like ankle boots, but had open toes and straps that were all connected together and crisscrossing every which way.

"For you," she said, handing them to Rachel. "And as for you, my girl, you need to sit. Why don't you get me that chair you left in the middle of the bathroom and place it right in front of my mirror here, where it's supposed to be?"

With a laugh, Abbey got the chair and sat down in it as her mother began to pull and twist her hair. Rachel plopped herself down on the edge of the bed, slipping her feet into the shoes, wondering how it was that she was exactly the same size as both Sarah and Abbegail Puckerman.

"How do they fit, Rach?" Abbey asked, looking at her though the mirror.

Rachel stood up. "Perfectly." The Puckerman women nodded. "I'm going to go do my make-up. Abbey, where do you keep your stuff?"

"On top of my dresser, next to the little blue bottle of perfume. You can use some of that too, if you want."

Rachel nodded, walking out of the room and to Abbegail's for the tenth time that night. She slipped into a bathrobe before discreetly scuttling down the hallway and to Puck's room. He was sprawled out on his bed, his eyes glued to the TV on the wall opposite him.

"Hey," she said quietly, walking over to him and sitting on the edge of the bed.

He looked at her, grinning. "Hi." He patted the spot next to him, allowing her to snuggle close, his arm wrapped around her shoulder blades. Rachel hugged him close to her, an arm laid across his stomach as she rested her head on his chest.

"Aren't you supposed to not be seen by me or Abbegail will gouge my eyes out with a spoon?" he said, looking down at her as he fiddled with her fingers.

Rachel looked up at him. "Is that what she said?" He brought his head down, mumbling a 'Mm-hm' against her lips. "Well, I guess that is what she said, maybe not to that extent, but she did say that she didn't want you to see me, but it kind of went out the window. Plus, all you're seeing are my shoes and hair."

"Well, I sort of know what you're dress looks like, but not really. I don't memorize my sister's dresses, but the one she's talking about is a little more well known than the others." He smiled at her, taking a deep breath in. "You smell like hairspray."

"Yeah, that's what happens when someone's little sister sprays half the can onto your head." Puck grinned. "But, at least is has some other scent to it."

He nodded. "True facts." The two of them were silent for a moment, then Puck tilted his head awkwardly to look at her. "Do you want me to change the channel or something. I'm sure you don't want to watch football."

She shook her head. "No, this is fine. I've recently had a thing for football..."

After a moment of looking at her, Puck grinned. The smile didn't last long though, because Abbegail suddenly popped up in the doorway, her hair pulled up elaborately. "Rachel! What on Earth are you doing in here! You guys know the rules!"

Instantly, Rachel shot from the bed, straightening the bathrobe she was wearing. "Sorry, Abbegail," she said, pretending to avoid eye contact as she brushed past the thirteen year old and to her bedroom.

Abbey glared at her brother for a moment, then pointed to her eyes with her pointer and middle finger, then to him with the same fingers. "You broke the rules... I'm watching you, dude."

He waved her off, then noticed the dress she was wearing. "Are you going to wear something to cover your shoulders?" Puck asked quietly, as if he wasn't trying to make sure she would wear something over, but he wanted her to.

Abbegail looked down at herself, holding the skirt out at her sides. "Yeah. I have something that I can wear. Don't worry."

Puck held up his hands in a surrender. "I'm not doing anything."

She gave him a small smile then walked away, her high heels clicking on the wood in both Puck's and her bedrooms. She shut her door, instantly going to her closet and getting a small lace jacket that only covered the exposed skin on her back as well as a little bit of the dress, her shoulders covered as well. Rachel didn't say anything to her as she swept the blue eye shadow over her eyelids. The look on the young girl's face said she didn't want to talk about the little jacket she'd just put on.

There was a silence in the room, a word hushed that hung in the small room. They both stood still in their spots, looking at each other as an unspoken dialogue was passed between them. Abbey didn't want to tell her why she was sad. Rachel didn't want to know, because she wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

So, after a moment, Abbegail smiled broadly at Rachel, even though it was fake, and then went over to her, adding a slight yellow green color to her eyes, along with the blue. "Mascara?" she said, handing it to Rachel.

"Why, yes, thank you." Rachel put on the mascara then applied lip gloss, smiling to herself in the little mirror on the bureau when she was finished. "What do you think?"

Abbegail looked at her for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip. "It's good. You look really pretty."

"Thanks." Abbey gave her a nod that said, 'You're welcome,' then went into her jewelry box, producing a pair of black and gold earrings and bracelets, handing them to Rachel. "These are gorgeous," she said, her tone at a slight loss for air as she looked at the beautiful jewelry Abbegail had given her.

As she slipped on the earrings, Abbey began doing her make-up, dabbing on black eye shadow with her finger, smoothing it out when she finished. She left her lips bare, since they were already naturally a dark color, then put on the mascara just as Puck called, "Abbey! There's a car in the driveway and Justin is coming up the walkway!"

"Jeremy!" she screamed back, opening her door and walking out, with Rachel in toe.

Puck was standing at the bottom of the stairs, opening the door just as Abbey started to descend the steps. Jeremy was wearing a suit, casual-ish, but still a suit, and he smiled when he saw her. "Hey," he said, kissing her lightly on the lips when she reached him.

"Hi." Rachel watched from the top of the stairs as Abbey, Jeremy and Puck talked, Puck giving his sister a hug and kiss on the cheek before saying, 'Be careful,' and letting her leave the house, her boyfriend leading her to the car. She could hear Abbey saying "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Barton!" in a really loud voice when they reached the Volvo that was parked in the driveway.

She giggled a little bit at her enthusiasm and when Puck heard her, he turned around and looked up. Rachel started to slowly descend the stairs, her hand gliding down the railing as she let it rest there softly. His mouth opened slightly in awe when he saw her, like it had when she entered the ballroom of the Emerald Gardens only the night before.

She stepped onto the floor and looked up at him, smiling lightly and he took her hand in his. "You look really... Pretty."

Rachel smiled wider. "Thank you." She fixed his tie quickly. "You look dashing your self. I like the blue on blue combination."

"We have Abbey to thank for that one." He put his hand on her waist. "Ready to go?" She nodded. "It's unnaturally warm out, so you don't need a coat or anything."

"Good, because I don't have one. I came here wearing a sweatshirt, and I don't think that's appropriate to wear to a gray sweatshirt with Harvard written across it to a restaurant." Puck laughed once, looking over his shoulder at his mom, who was sitting in the TV room watching a movie.

"A'ight, Mom, we're going to leave, okay?"

She looked at them over the back of the couch. "Yeah, have fun, you two. Don't do anything stupid."

Puck smirked. "Don't worry, we won't."

Um... So... Yeah. Review, please? Because pancakes with raspberries are deliciously adorable?