Still don't own Glee or the Hunger Games. Mistakes are all mine.
-I know this has taken FOREVER and a day for me to post. I swear I haven't forgotten it. I just couldn't think of how to write any of it. But now that I'm past this chapter, the next one will be longer. Sorry this is so short. Thank you to everyone who is still reading. It means a ton to me.
Rachel sits on the blanket and leans back against Puck's chest between his legs. His arm wraps around her protectively. "Who do you want to tell baby?"
"Can we wait? Until after the Quarter Quell? I'm just really nervous."
"But you'll be getting bigger Rachel. You're going to need help when I'm gone."
"So I'll tell San. I just don't need Finnick thinking about it if he ends up getting reaped." She turns in his arms. "Do you think we should tell him?"
"I don't know Rachel." He brushes her hair over her shoulder. And gently kisses her neck.
"Your mother said that we'll probably be able to tell the sex of the baby in a few weeks."
"Excited?"
"I think I might wait to find out until you get back."
"I'm fine with that. Hopefully I won't be gone too long."
Rachel leans her head against his chest and breathes in deeply. "I hope not. I'm really scared about the Reaping tomorrow."
"Well stop. It's bad for the baby." He smiles when she giggles.
"We're having a baby."
The morning of the Reaping, Puck wakes up and scrubs his hands over his face. Rachel is already out of bed and he can smell food wafting in from the kitchen. He gets up and moves to the bathroom to get ready. Based on what Finnick has said, he has absolutely nothing to worry about today on his end besides worrying about Sarah. Shaking his head, Puck turns on the water and stares at the reflection in the mirror. The bags under his eyes from his dreams are slowly disappearing. He's been sleeping better since he's been back with Rachel and his family. Puck runs his hand over the scruff on his face but Brittany is just going to take care of it when they get to the Capitol anyways, so he leaves it alone.
"Noah!" Rachel calls up the stairs. "Breakfast is almost ready. Everyone's going to be here soon."
"Yeah." He half yells towards the door, not really caring if she hears him or not.
Standing under the spray of the hot water, he tries not to think about what will be happening in a few hours. Or where he'll be going while his pregnant wife has to stay at home and watch the Games on television. His forehead rests against the cool tile and Puck lets out a sigh then shuts off the water. When he gets back to their room, he sees that Rachel laid out a few choices for him to wear. Grabbing the first things that he sees, Puck moves his way downstairs to see everyone sitting at the kitchen table. No one is talking, just mindlessly nibbling on whatever Rachel made. She bites her bottom lip and looks over to him, trying not to cry.
When they get to the square he moves to the area reserved for victors after kissing Rachel quickly on the lips. Finnick is sitting in his seat, staring at Quinn moving around the stage with Brittany off to the side. Scarlett is sitting next to Emma and Annie, looking down at the ground nervously. All the years before, the victors looked content in this area. Safe. But now each of them are thinking about what the possibilities are that could be happening this year. Which one of them will be thrown back into the arena.
"How are you feeling?"
Puck looks over to Finnick and shrugs. "According to you, I have nothing to worry about. So I'm just fucking dandy."
"You don't." Finnick smirks and looks at the stage where the mayor has moved to, rambling on about the history and what the Quarter Quells stand for.
Moving his ankle so it's resting across his left knee, Puck leans forward and sets his elbow down as Quinn moves to the bowl. Her eyes dart over to all the victors. "Good luck to all the tributes." She smiles brightly at the crowd. Her hand moves around the bowl and when she pulls up a slip of paper, her smile falters. Quinn calls out a name that he doesn't recognize and breathes out a sigh of relief knowing that his sister is safe before his gut clenches.
"And for our male tribute." She pulls over a separate bowl with two slips of paper in it. The crowd looks over at him and Finnick. Puck doesn't have a doubt in his mind that his mother, sister, Rachel and Santana are crying while holding each other. Quinn pulls out a slip and her eyes dart over to them, trying to hold her smile. "Finnick Odair."
A guard comes over to him while Quinn is finishing up her speech and Finnick is moving towards the stage. "Quickly say goodbye to your wife. We're leaving right when she's done."
He looks at the guard before getting up quickly and hugging his family. Closing his eyes, he pulls Rachel in tightly to his chest. "I'll see you in a few weeks baby. I love you."
"I love you too Noah. What's going on?"
"I don't know. Don't stress out." Puck has to practically scream at her before a Peacekeeper is pulling him away towards the train. Quinn is moving down and looking around worriedly while other Peacekeepers are pushing the girl tribute and Finnick towards the train.
"Wait, they're supposed to get goodbyes! What are you doing?" Quinn looks between all the guards then back at the mayor.
"We're under strict orders to get the tributes onto the train and headed towards the Capitol as soon as possible. No goodbyes this year."
They all board the train and Finnick is standing by the window, looking out to where he knows their family is. His head drops down before brushing by Puck towards the room that's always been his as a mentor. Emma watches him before bringing her hand to her face, trying to subtly wipe away her tears. Scarlett escorts the new girl to her room on the train before Puck idly moves towards his. Once he's got the door closed, Puck looks around. It's hard to believe that it's only been a few months since he was on the way to his own Hunger Games.
Puck falls face first onto the bed. It feels exactly like the one in his home and he's surprisingly acquainted with everything on the train because of the Capitol influence inside of his victor's house. He wonders how Santana is feeling right now since they didn't get to say anything to Finnick. He shakes his head and rolls onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. The train isn't moving as fast and at this rate they'll get to the Capitol in the morning. The last thing he remembers before he falls asleep is Brittany crawling onto his bed and crying, curling up against his side.
Rachel walks throughout the house, flicking off lights and making sure the front door is locked. Everything that Puck usually does at night while she's laying in bed or taking a bath. She's about to turn into her room but she hears a sob coming from down the hall. Moving towards the door, she cracks it open and pokes her head inside. The lamp by the bed is the only light in the room and shows a bump under the covers. Santana is in the fetal position, crying silently but a small sob coming out every now and then. She moves towards her best friend, crawling under the quilt and pulling Santana into her lap, stroking her hair.
"I can't believe they just took him. They always get to say goodbye. An hour." She chokes out while trying to control her crying and breathing.
"San, I know. Noah didn't even know what was going on."
Santana rolls onto her back and looks up at Rachel, tears streaming down her face. "I didn't get to tell him I love him again."
"Noah will do everything he can to get Finnick home. You know that. So will Emma and Scarlett. Brittany will probably have something to do with it too." Rachel tries to smile.
"Why does everything have to suck so damn bad?"
They sit there for a little bit until Rachel stills her fingers in Santana's hair. "San?"
"Yeah Rach?"
"I'm pregnant." She barely whispers.
Her best friend sits up and wipes her cheeks before looking down at Rachel's stomach. "Are you serious?" Rachel nods. "That's amazing!" Santana pulls her into a tight hug.
"Only Noah's mom knows. And my parents."
"You haven't told Finnick?" Her eyes search Rachel's.
She shakes her head, a tear falling down her cheek. "We decided it would be too much stress for him. Finnick just needs to worry about getting home."
Santana starts to cry and they hug each other. "Thank you for telling me."
"Of course. Let's get some sleep. We've got a rough few weeks ahead of us."
"I love you Rach."
Rachel murmurs an 'I love you too' before wrapping her arm around Santana then linking their fingers together.
He's back in the arena, trying to find where his and Scarlett's camp is set up. It's down to the final few tributes so Puck has his all of his weapons ready to go at a moment's notice. Plus this part of the arena is safe at this hour so walking through the trees doesn't pose a threat. But then he walks by a tree and hears a scream. Turning around abruptly, he sees Clove laying on the ground laughing.
"What the hell is your problem?" He snaps and looks around, seeing if Cato or anyone else is near.
"She's going to die here." Clove smiles innocently and sits against a tree.
His eyes narrow at her. "Who?"
"Your daughter."
Sitting down across from the young girl, he looks at her questioningly. "How do you know that Rachel is pregnant?"
"Does that really matter? I assumed that you'd be more curious about how I know she's going to die. Here, during the Hunger Games."
"Then why don't you just fucking tell me if you want me to know so bad." Puck narrows his eyes even more at her.
She grins and stands up, pacing in front of his feet. "She'll be beautiful like Rachel you know. But you've already had nightmares that she looks like me. We do both have beautiful eyes." Clove shrugs and stops in front of him. "And believe me, she'll suffer. Just like I did. Just like Cato did. And it'll be all your fault."
Puck wakes up, accidentally shoving Brittany off the bed. "Fuck!"
"What? What's going on? Are we at the Capitol?" The blonde jumps to her feet and runs to the window, only to see that they're still moving and it's dark outside. "I don't want to be there yet." She pouts and looks over at Puck.
"That fucking dream." If he had any hair to pull, he'd be pulling it out right now.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
He nods. Whenever a nightmare would wake him up, Rachel would make him talk about it. It was surprising to him too when it actually helped.
"Clove?"
"Am I that fucking predictable now?" He sighs and sets his head in Brittany's lap. "She kept saying my daughter would die there. And that she will look like Clove."
"What else?" She runs her hand over Puck's shaved head.
"Clove said it'd be my fault." He closes his eyes and rolls onto his side. "I'm sick of all these fucking nightmares. They'll just be worse now."
"We're going to make it through this. Finnick too. He's strong."
"Yeah, but now all the victors and the tributes know what to look for when it comes to him."
"He's been watching tapes from all the others victors years. And the new tributes don't have anything on those who have won before. It's possible Puck, you just have to believe in him."
"Brittany, you're so fucking smart." He chuckles and smiles up at her.
"Plus he has to get back to Santana." Brittany smiles sadly at him.
"Yeah I know." Puck runs his hand down over his face again before sitting up. He holds his hand out to her then move towards the door.
They both move towards the dining room to get some food since everyone just disappeared to their rooms once they were pushed onto the train. But as they move down the hallway, the room with the television is glowing. Puck opens the door and sees Finnick staring at a tape with District 12's victor in it. The last Quarter Quell.
"Why are you two up?" Finnick asks while staring at the screen, never taking his eyes off it for a second.
"Puck had a nightmare then we got hungry."
The bronze haired man grunts and nods his head. Brittany disappears to talk to a Capitol attendant to get all of them some food and drinks while Puck sits down next to his best friend. "We're getting you back home."
"I know Puckerman. Why do you think I'm sitting here watching all this shit?" He smirks.
He rolls his eyes and leans forward on his knees. "So cocky"
"Better watch it. You know you got it from me." Finnick elbows his friend then sighs. "Look, I wrote San a note while I was in my room. If I die, you gotta give it to her." He glances at Puck from the corner of his eye.
"Of course." Puck looks down at the ground and sighs. The next few weeks are going to be rough.