Disclaimer – I do not own Glee, if I did, the puppet master episode would not exist

Thank you for reading/reviewing

Hope you enjoy

Chapter 20

A month later, Brittany had fully settled into life in New York with Santana and Kurt. She helped teach Santana's dance classes as well as having her own job as a singing and dancing waitress. Since moving in, the apartment had gained a considerable number of teddy bears. Most of them lived in Santana and Brittany's shared bedroom but several had ended up finding a home in the living-room. A rather large caramel coloured teddy had also taken up half of Kurt's bed. Brittany had simply smiled telling him that the teddy-bear was to keep him company until Puck moved in.

Santana had been working on an article inspired by the High School Reunion. She hadn't completed it yet, nor had she shown it to anyone.

Kurt had resumed his starring role, much to the relief of his fellow cast members and director. His understudy had only played Kurt's role for a few shows but it was agreed by all that it was a few shows too many. The show was soon coming to its final week and Kurt had already met up with directors to discuss a new role in another musical, one in which he would be starring alongside Jesse St James if the two of them succeeded in getting the two male leads.

"So, when you inevitably get cast in this new musical," Santana asked him as she and Brittany sat at the table waiting for Kurt to serve them unicorn shaped pancakes. "Are you going to be exchanging saliva with Jesse on stage? Because I have to tell you, that will totally gross me out to such an extent that I won't be able to have sex for an entire week."

"It is a musical about a gay romance, Santana," Kurt pointed out. "Not only will there be kissing scenes there will even be simulated sex on stage."

"That's disgusting," Santana commented.

"I think its hot," Brittany said.

"Thank you, Britt," Kurt smiled making a point of serving her the very first pancake.

"So what will daddy Hummel think of his precious baby boy pretending to have sex on stage in front of a sold out audience?" Santana asked.

"Obviously I haven't told him," Kurt answered glaring at her. "Nor do I intend to. And you certainly won't be telling him either. I have dirt on you Santana Lopez. And I haven't got the part yet. But Jesse and I have worked together a number of times now and we do have great chemistry so I think we have a strong chance. And I know this musical is a little more adult and risqué but its still a beautiful love story at the heart of it and the lyrics are amazing."

"I hope you get the part, Kurt," Brittany said. "I know I'm really excited to see you perform on a real Broadway stage."

Kurt smiled in response as he added another unicorn shaped pancake to her plate and handed her the maple syrup.

"Ok, Lady Hummel, stop being a bitch and give me a freaking pancake," Santana demanded holding her plate up expectantly. "I wants to be fed, and I wants to be fed now, so get me a damn pancake before I ends you."

"Here you are, Madame Lopez," Kurt sighed serving her a pancake before dropping low into a mock-bow.

XXX

In addition to his job as a bouncer and his pool-cleaning business, Puck had taken up a shift as a waiter at Breadsticks, an evening slot as a janitor at McKinley and Burt paid him a generous amount to wash cars at the garage in the afternoons. Puck was saving up as much money as he could so that he could get a plane ticket to New York. He also wanted to have a reasonable amount of spare money to keep him going in New York for a while until he could find some form of work there.

As he was so busy with so many jobs, he didn't see Rachel as much as he would like. He only really saw her at Breadsticks if they were working the same shift and on Sundays when they both had dinner with Rachel's dads.

On a Wednesday evening, Puck finished his janitorial duties at the school and headed home. Upon entering, he heard Rachel in the shower. She had a night off from work to go on a date with Finn. This would be their third date together since the weekend of the High School reunion.

Carefully closing the door behind him, Puck smiled fondly to himself as he quietly walked nearer to the bathroom. With a grin on his face, he pressed his ear to the door so that he could listen better. Rachel was singing.

XXX

"I think we should go shopping together so that we can co-ordinate our outfits for our audition," Kurt told Jesse as they sat down to lunch together.

"I agree," Jesse nodded. "If we go in looking like a couple it will give us an edge over everybody else. And I have already taken the liberty of choreographing us a routine for our audition piece. We'll have to start rehearsing almost as soon as we've eaten."

"Hey, how's my favourite unicorn?" Brittany asked striding over to Kurt and Jesse's table, taking the mini notepad and pen out from the pouch in her apron. "Hey, Mr. Schue," she greeted to Jesse who simply quirked his eyebrows at her in amusement. "Are you guys ready to order?"

"Sure, I'll have the salad of the day," Kurt answered her while Jesse requested a ham and cheese omelette.

"I've never seen anyone enjoy being a waitress so much before," Jesse commented as Brittany moved away to place their orders.

"Neither have I," Kurt admitted. "But I'm not surprised. Brittany has such a lovely welcoming personality so people enjoy her presence and she really enjoys being around people, especially children."

"She was such a beautiful dancer," Jesse said. "She would have been an excellent contribution to Vocal Adrenaline. I wonder why she never pursued a career in dance like Mike Chang. I'm sure she could have made it."

"I don't know why she didn't try," Kurt answered honestly.

"Tell me about Rachel," Jesse requested startling Kurt with the sudden change of subject.

"What?" Kurt blinked at him in surprise.

"That High School reunion was over a month ago now," Jesse stated. "And you haven't once mentioned even a syllable about Rachel Berry, let alone a full informative description of what happened to her."

"There's nothing to say," Kurt replied.

"Liar," Jesse scowled at him. "She went to that reunion and you saw her there, I know it. Just tell me how she is, tell me something. I need to know."

"Considering you egged her do you honestly believe you even deserve to know?" Kurt asked.

"That's not fair," Jesse argued. "That was a mistake I made years ago and Rachel knows how deeply I regret that incident. She even had the maturity to forgive me and allow me to escort her to the prom. You and I are friends now, Kurt, the rivalry between Vocal Adrenaline and New Directions doesn't exist anymore. Just tell me how she is, please."

"She's… different," Kurt answered.

"Different how?" Jesse asked.

"Just… different," Kurt shrugged.

"But what happened to her?" Jesse questioned. "Why isn't her name up in lights advertising her as the female lead in a successful Broadway musical?"

"She failed her NYADA audition," Kurt sighed. "Noah told me that she reapplied, multiple times in fact but… she never got in. Eventually she just gave up."

"No," Jesse shook his head in disbelief. "Rachel Berry would not give up, not ever."

"I used to think that," Kurt said sadly. "I also thought Rachel couldn't possibly forget the lyrics to 'Don't Rain on my Parade' and yet I witnessed exactly that happen. She messed up the words in her audition and I guess it haunted her when she tried auditioning again."

"So, what, is she performing in community theatre productions in Lima?" Jesse asked.

"She's waitressing at Breadsticks," Kurt revealed.

"That's impossible," Jesse commented. "Outrageous. That's a waste of talent. A girl like Rachel shouldn't be waiting tables in Lima. A girl like Rachel should be belting out show tunes on a New York stage."

"It just didn't happen for her," Kurt said. "I don't know why. It just didn't work out. Not everyone's dreams come true, Jesse."

"But hers should have," Jesse insisted passionately.

"Hey guys," Brittany smiled as she returned with their lunches, completely oblivious to their conversation about Rachel.

"Thanks, Britt," Kurt smiled up at her.

"You're welcome," she said. "I'm totally the best waitress ever, right?" she asked rhetorically before spinning around and then bursting into song along with some of the other waitresses.

Nibbling at his food, Kurt admired Brittany's flawless dance moves as she weaved through the tables singing for their entertainment.

"Is there any chance Rachel will come to New York with that old boyfriend of yours?" Jesse asked, applauding politely after the waitresses finished their performance.

"I doubt it," Kurt answered. "According to Finn things are going pretty well between them. He's even thinking about asking Rachel to move in with him since Noah's moving out here. I guess that's for the best. She shouldn't be alone."

"You have got to be kidding me," Jesse said. "Not only is Rachel not a well respected Broadway legend but she's also settling for Finn Hudson."

"That's my step-brother, watch what you say," Kurt warned before continuing to munch on his salad.

XXX

"You sound happy," Puck commented with a smile as he caught Rachel singing a classic Taylor Swift song into her hairbrush.

"Noah," Rachel complained whacking him on the arm. "You scared me."

"Sorry, babe," he apologised tickling her waist and making her squeal. "It's really good to hear you singing again. You still sound beautiful."

"Thank you," Rachel replied shyly tucking her hair behind her ears.

"I guess I should send Finn a thank-you basket or something," Puck said thoughtfully.

"What for?" Rachel asked setting her hairbrush down.

"For making you so freaking happy," Puck answered. "He's obviously the reason you're singing again and dancing round the room like you think no-one's watching," he teased playfully.

"As a matter of fact I didn't think anybody was watching," Rachel pointed out. "But you're not wrong. Being around Finn again does make me happy. And singing doesn't hurt anymore. After choking on my first NYADA audition, I just couldn't sing properly again. It made my heart ache, my head pound and my stomach hurt. For the past five years singing has just been too painful but now… now it feels good again."

"I'm glad," Puck told her before gesturing for her to sit on the bed with him. "Rachel, babe, I wanna ask you something."

"No," Rachel replied.

"Huh?" Puck grunted.

"My answer is no, Noah," Rachel told him gently.

"You don't even know the question yet, I didn't ask," Puck said.

"You're going to ask me to move to New York with you," Rachel stated knowingly.

"Well, yeah," Puck shrugged. "How did you know?"

"You're my best friend, Noah, I know you pretty well," Rachel pointed out. "And you know me well enough to know that I was going to say no anyway."

"Yeah," Puck nodded. "I expected no to be your answer. But I gotta admit, I was kinda hoping for a yes. It's gonna feel weird being in a big city without my hot American Jewish Princess."

"Well you'll have Kurt instead," Rachel told him. "And ok, he's not Jewish, but as you have been kind enough to inform me on numerous occasions he is amazing in the bedroom department."

"He really is," Puck nodded enthusiastically. "Um, Rach, is Finn the only reason you won't come to New York?"

"Finn doesn't have an impact on my decision," Rachel answered. "I gave up on New York a long time ago, Noah, you know that."

"But you're singing again," Puck said. "You're happy again. Maybe you could come to New York and give your dreams another try. I know Kurt could pull a few strings and get you an audition. Or Artie will give you a part in one of his movies, no audition needed."

"Noah, you're sweet," Rachel smiled stroking his bicep. "And as I've told you before, your arms are very lovely. And I wish you all the luck in the world with Kurt and I hope you will love your new life in New York. But I won't be going with you. And I don't want Kurt to get me an audition and I don't want a role in Artie's films."

"But… New York, Broadway… those are your dreams," Puck said.

"They were my dreams," Rachel corrected. "But seeing everybody again at the reunion, being confronted with the success Kurt and Quinn have had as well as facing my own failure, it really helped me to move on. Look at Mercedes and Tina, they wanted to be stars too. It didn't happen for them but they dealt with it gracefully, they moved on and they found something else to do and they're happy. I don't want to go to New York anymore and I don't need to sing on a Broadway stage to feel special. For me, it really is enough that I'm able to sing in the shower again and sing into a hairbrush like I'm a teenager again. Now all I want is to be happy and now that I've let go of dreams of New York and Broadway I think I can be."

"So… you're absolutely sure about staying in Lima?" Puck asked.

"I am," Rachel answered with a smile. "Performing isn't everything, Noah. Quinn is proof of that. She didn't set out to become a famous T.V star, it just happened for her and even though she's grateful for it, she isn't really happy. She's lonely. I've spent so many years envying Quinn Fabray and now I actually feel sorry for her. When it comes down to it, I'm just a small town girl, and I'm ok with that."

"What's funny?" Puck asked in confusion as Rachel laughed.

"Don't Stop Believing," Rachel said. "It really was a perfect song for the New Directions. I thought I was going to be a big Broadway star, but I am just a small town girl, like the song says. And Kurt is now a city boy and you're about to become a city boy too. But in the song, the small town girl and the city boy are both lonely. I've been lonely these past five years, just like you and Kurt have. But now you and Kurt are going to be together again and I'm going to be with Finn. No more loneliness."

"I think you're right, babe," Puck wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "I really don't like the idea of leaving you here alone though."

"Don't worry about me," Rachel told him. "I'm a big girl now. You know, if you ignore how short I am. Anyway, I won't be alone. Finn's asked me to move in with him and I've said yes. I'm staying here with you until you go to New York and then I'm starting my new life with Finn. And I'm thinking about maybe taking a class or two at Lima's community college. Broadway isn't an option for me anymore but I don't want to spend the rest of my life as a waitress. I want to find something else to do. Something I enjoy."

"Yeah, what do you have in mind?" Puck asked.

"I'm not sure yet," Rachel mused. "Maybe I'll become a florist."

XXX

Kurt and Jesse's audition had been a total success. They had barely left the building before the director had phoned them to announce they had the parts. To celebrate, Santana and Brittany took Kurt and Jesse out to dinner.

"So when do rehearsals start?" Brittany asked after Jesse had selected a bottle of wine.

"In two weeks," Jesse answered her. "You know, the company is also looking for dancers. Maybe you two should audition."

"Really, I could audition?" Brittany asked excitedly.

"Of course," Jesse told her. "In fact I've even heard rumours that Mike Chang is being hired as the choreographer."

"Where did you here that?" Kurt asked in surprise.

"It is fascinating what you can hear in a public restroom," Jesse replied.

"Well if Mike's doing the choreography then I'd definitely want to audition," Brittany said.

"I guess it would be kinda cool to see Mike again," Santana commented. "And you should definitely audition for a dance part, Britt, you'd be amazing," she claimed leaning in to kiss her girlfriend.

"What about you?" Jesse asked Santana.

"I don't have the time," Santana answered him with a shrug. "I have deadlines to meet for the magazine as well as teaching dance classes to a bunch of kids that I can't stand."

"You love those kids," Kurt and Brittany stated together.

"Ok, they're kind of adorable," Santana admitted. "They'd be a great addition to the musical if there are any child dancing parts needed."

"I think the content of the musical is too adult for children," Kurt said. "But Adam's hoping to do an updated version of Annie. Maybe some of your kids could audition for that."

"Yeah, I guess that'll be cool," Santana nodded. "Remind me to ask English about that next time we see him ok."

The group of four enjoyed their meals together before heading out. Jesse left them to head in a different direction, hitting on an unimpressed Santana and an oblivious Brittany before he left. As the remaining three returned home, Brittany requested a Disney DVD fest.

"You set up the first movie," Kurt instructed Brittany. "And I'll start on the popcorn. Santana, you be chips and dip girl."

"Actually I'm gonna pass," Santana replied. "I have some work I need to do but you guys have fun. I'll be in the computer room, just yell if you need me."

Stepping alone into the computer room, Santana set her laptop up and opened the word document she had been working on since the reunion. She read it over several times but still couldn't think of anything to change or add to it.

XXX

"Excellent rehearsal," Mike congratulated. "Great work guys. Hey Brittany, could you maybe stay a little longer and help me with some of the choreography?"

"Yeah, sure," Brittany smiled.

"Ok, but make sure you get her home safely," Kurt told Mike. "If you don't Santana will be out for your blood and your genitals."

"I'll drive her home personally," Mike promised. "Good work today, Kurt, glad to see you've stopped that annoying shimmy thing."

Kurt frowned a little as he left the rehearsal room with Jesse.

"You seem a little distracted," Jesse noted. "As your co-star this concerns me a great deal. Any chance you'll tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Kurt replied.

"But?" Jesse prompted.

"It's almost been three months since the reunion now," Kurt said. "And Noah still isn't here."

"You're worried he's changed his mind?" Jesse asked.

"A little," Kurt answered. "A lot. I know he had to save up for the plane ticket and he's told me he's trying to save up some more so that he has some money to bring with him when he gets here but… I really thought he'd be here by now. I expected him to move out here after a month, a month and half at most."

"You boys talk on the phone right?" Jesse questioned.

"Nearly every night," Kurt nodded.

"So just ask him about it," Jesse suggested. "I'm sure he's on his way. No-one can resist the charms of Kurt Hummel."

XXX

"Wow, this is it," Puck remarked as he stared down at the ticket in his hand. "I'm really going to New York."

"Have you called Kurt?" Rachel asked.

"Not yet," Puck answered her. "Do you think I should? Maybe I could just show up and surprise him. It'll be romantic."

"Call him first," Rachel insisted. "So, when do you leave?"

"Day after tomorrow," Puck said quietly.

"Wow, that soon," Rachel commented.

"Hey, I'm gonna call you every day," Puck promised taking her in his arms. "And I'll visit as much as I can. I'll come back for every holiday and we'll hang out. You're still gonna be my best friend, babe."

"Oh, Noah, what am gonna do without you?" Rachel asked with a sigh.

"You'll be fine," Puck told her kissing the top of her head.

They clung tight to one another, neither wanting to let go just yet. However, they broke apart when the phone rang.

"That'll be Quinn," Puck said and Rachel moved to answer it.

Since the reunion, Quinn and Rachel spoke on the phone at least once a week. Quinn had even scheduled a visit with Rachel and Finn in two weeks time. Puck had been invited but now he knew he'd be in New York with Kurt instead.

XXX

"New York, here I come," Puck said with a nervous smile as he stood at the airport.

"Relax, kid," Burt told him. "You'll love the city."

"Thanks," Puck smiled shaking his hand.

"Be good," Carole told him hugging him tight and fussing over him. "Make sure you get plenty to eat. And look after Kurt and the girls."

"And call us when you land," Burt added. "We wanna know you got there safely."

"Take care of my little brother, dude," Finn said offering his fist for Puck to bump.

"Take care of my girl," Puck replied.

"I will," Finn promised smiling down at Rachel.

"I'm going to miss you so much," Rachel declared throwing her arms about Puck's neck.

"I'm gonna miss you more," Puck answered her. "Here," he said digging his hand into his jeans pocket and pulling out a set of keys. "My truck's at Burt's garage. It's yours now," he told her handing over the keys.

"You're giving me your truck?" Rachel asked in disbelief. "But you love that thing."

"And I love you," he answered. "And I won't need my truck in New York. So she's yours now, take care of her."

"I love you so much, Noah," Rachel sobbed hugging him tight. "Now, go on, get outta here. Go be with Kurt."

Puck pressed a kiss to her cheek and grabbed his suitcase before walking away. He sent one final look back at them over his shoulder, waving them goodbye before getting on the plane.

Next stop, New York.

To Be Continued

Please Review

Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xox