Author's Note: It's that time of the year where my beloved friend Ash (gleek06216) asks and I deliver! I'll explain: Every year since we've met (close to three years now, whoa), Ash gives me a prompt for her Christmas gift and I write it for her. Ash's an amazing fic writer and an even more amazing friend. I'm glad to have met her and I hope the New Year brings plenty of blessings for her. Merry (way late) Christmas, babe!

Disclaimer: 'Glee' and the characters you know belong to Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk and FOX. Title is from Rocky Horror's 'There's A Light (Over At The Frankenstein Place)'. Song is Lucy Hale's 'You Sound Good To Me'.

tales of hot, talented Jews

#25: there's a light (in the darkness of everybody's life)

She had done it.

Her name was in billboards and posters all over New York, bits and pieces of raving reviews advertising her new play. They had opened a little over a month ago, to full rooms and deafening applause. Her level of success was increasing, and she was getting more and more recognition from fans when she left the safety of her home to run daily errands.

She had done it, achieved something she had dreamed since she was a little girl, and still there was a growing, widening hole of emptiness inside her that she knew only one person could fulfill. However, said person was unreachable for her, untouchable, because of something that several other people went through, sadly every day.

Don't get her wrong, she was thankful she had her friends. Dani and Santana lived in the same building she did, same with Kurt and Blaine. Jesse and his fiancée lived nearby, and he was her costar. Quinn had settled for life in Connecticut with a husband that worshipped the ground she walked on, happily expecting the birth of their first baby. Sam had made the city his home base, his safe haven to where he ran whenever his busy modeling career allowed him some free time. Artie was making waves in Boston, and they had been talking about her having a role in his new movie when her contract with the play was up.

Even friends that she had lost touch a long time ago had found their surprising way back to her life. Matt was the choreographer to her play and had hugged her tightly when she had come in for her audition. When news of his return to her life first broke, gleeks from all around the country converged to New York City, eager to reconnect with the friend they had sadly seen off when they were younger.

She had felt his absence the strongest that day, seeing her glee jocks gathered, joking, laughing, singing, dancing. Sure, Finn was also gone, but they had been over for a long time when that had happened, and Finn's death had been a heartbreaking accident. It had been sad to say goodbye to Finn, watching as her mother despaired over having to plug her only child out of life support. But even then she had had his support, his strong arms around her, clinging to her as tightly as she to him.

Truth was, Noah was a part of her life for so long now that it hurt going through her first month as the lead of a groundbreaking new musical and not having him there, on the front row, applauding her and whistling the hardest when she took her bows at the end.

For weeks now, Rachel's closest friends had been keeping a secret from her.

It had been started by Santana, of course (it was always Santana that kicked off those sorts of things). She had been the one to gather Jesse (without his gold-digging fiancée that hated Rachel), Kurt, Blaine, Artie (who was visiting) and Elliott in the apartment she and Dani shared. Kurt called Quinn, Blaine did the same to Jake, and both put them on speaker. Dani had Sam on Skype.

"Hanukkah is in six weeks, and I don't know you guys, but I wanna give Berry a kickass gift this year to celebrate her Broadway breakthrough," Santana said as she stretched on a couch, her head on Dani's lap and Dani's hands gently running through her thick locks.

Blaine looked confused at her for a moment. "Hum, Satan, you know Hanukkah lasts a week, right? You'd have to give Rachel eight gifts."

The former Cheerio rolled her eyes. "Or we'll just give her one hell of a gift instead of eight lousy little trinkets," she waved his comment off.

Kurt gasped, outraged, but before he could say anything (something like how the eight for-Rachel-only clothes he had put together were not lousy little trinkets!), Quinn's voice came, sounding static-like from the tinny speaker. "What do you suggest we give Rachel, San?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The Latina nearly purred as her girlfriend kept massaging his scalp.

"Santana, we don't have the power to give Rachel a Tony," Quinn said, gently.

"Or an Oscar," added Elliott.

"Or an Emmy or a Grammy," Blaine added.

Jesse, who had been quiet until that moment, had a sudden insight, and smirked slowly. "We can't give Rach those things, true," he said, leaning back against the plush armchair, "but there is something we can give her and make her one happy Broadway diva."

Jake, surprisingly, was the first to pick up. "You think you guys can pull that off?" He asked, his voice slightly doubtful.

With Jake's input, Blaine immediately knew what Santana wanted to do. "It'll be kind of hard-", he admitted, and Jake cut him.

"Hard?" He barked a humorless laugh. "That's an understatement, to say the least. It'll be near damn impossible."

"But if there's anyone who can pull impossible, other than Rachel, that is," Artie's voice sounded quiet, "that's Santana. I'm in. I don't know how I can be of any help, but I'm definitely in."

"Me too," Blaine added.

Elliott looked at them for a moment and then shrugged. "Oh, what the hell? So am I."

Jesse nodded, and Kurt looked confused around, hating to be the only one who was in the dark. "What the hell are you guys talking about?" He grouched, eyes flaring with annoyance.

Blaine shot his fiancé a tiny glance. "It's kind of obvious, isn't it?" When Kurt turned the full power of his blue glare on him, he sighed and then gave a tiny smile. "Santana wants to bring Puck back to the country."

"It's not only a want," the Latina corrected, smirking. "I will bring the cabrón back to our little diva."

When Rachel woke up that morning, her psychic senses were tingling so intensely that for a second she grew concerned. For a very long time now they had been lying dormant, leaving her alone to handle life as a young adult. Now, all of a sudden, they kicked back on, in overdrive. Adding that to the fact that she had dreamed of Noah that night, it was enough to leave her an anxious mess.

Thankfully, it was the last night of Hanukkah and she had planned a small party to celebrate it. Santana and Kurt would come in while she was in the theater to decorate, Dani would work a little of her kitchen magic and whip up some latkes (apparently her grandfather from her father's side was Jewish and a mage with the pots and pans), and Blaine would be in charge of drinks. Sam was arriving at noon from his last tour for the European fashion weeks, while Quinn and Artie were taking the train as soon as her classes were over. Matt would accompany Rachel from the theater, and they'd be in charge of music.

She wasn't surprised to find her best friend by her counter, nearly bouncing in excitement. When it came to parties, Kurt was like a little boy, and it only increased when she allowed him to let loose with decoration (which was the reason for her rarely doing such a thing). With a hastily made pile of magazines in front of him, he waved distractedly over his shoulder at her as she went to the fridge, picking up a bottle of ice cold water to take with her to the theater. Seeing him busy with his phone and his magazines and his planning, Rachel let out a quiet chuckle and went to the door, picking up her bag and purse on the way. "See you later, Kurt," she called, smiling fondly. "Try not to turn my small party into this big bash, okay?"

"I make no promises," he airily shot back, and Rachel laughed, leaving right after.

As soon as the door slammed behind her, he turned to his iPhone and made a call. "Titania has left the kingdom. I repeat, Titania has left the kingdom. Is Oberon already on his way?"

At the other side of the line, Dani looked puzzled at Santana, who rolled her eyes. "You know he won't touch down until late in the afternoon. Can you stop with the code names?"

"No," Kurt replied, primly, grinning like a madman. "I can't wait to see her reaction!"

The Latina laughed. "I hope you're prepared to see them all but fuck themselves to oblivion in the middle of the room," she teased, and Dani giggled.

Kurt took a moment to consider this. And then, "Oh, what the Gucci. It's for a good cause."

Jesse had to bite back a knowing grin every time he saw Rachel. She was so dear to him, so precious, probably the one person in his life that he would do anything for. She was a tiny ball of anxious energy that evening, giving all she had in her performance, and the look in her eyes was something he had seen before. "Hey, Rach," he said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, during intermission. "what's up with all the emotion tonight?"

Rachel flashed him an embarrassed but impish grin. "You know I'm psychic, right?" At his nod, she went on, "Well, my senses are all tingling today. I've been feeling this… this presence, I think, that has been making me give my best, 110%, all the time." She frowned, and looked up at him with concern in his eyes. "Does that make any sense?"

He nodded silently, and then seemed to hesitate for a moment. Truth was, he still loved Rachel. She was his one that got away and would always be. Sure, she was single when they had run into each other again after three years, but it didn't take long for Jesse to figure out she was in love with Puck. And Jesse honestly didn't have the heart to try and win over her love when it already belonged to someone else. He only felt relief that it was Puck that she loved now and not Finn. Since their attempt at dating during New Directions' first year, Puck had always treated Rachel with the care and the respect that she deserved.

After a long beat, during which they simply stood there watching the others run around them, Jesse finally made up his mind. He was engaged to Bailey, and he knew she hated Rachel. Bailey knew he loved Rachel in a way that he didn't love her, and because of that she hated his costar. Quickly looking around, he assured they were alone before pulling her to a slightly quieter corner.

"Jesse?" Rachel asked, stunned and confused, as he framed her face with his hands and looked intensely into her eyes. His whole behavior was starting to scare and worry her. "What's it?"

Jesse smiled and fought back the urge to cry. He had made his decision long ago, and now he had to really live with it. Puck was coming back, and Rachel would finally – finally – be happy. And in his eyes no one deserved happiness more than Rachel. "It's nothing, Rach," he whispered, and brushed softly his lips against her, a whisper of a kiss. "I love you, okay? Forever. You'll always be my one that got away."

"Oh, Jesse." Rachel's eyes burned with tears. She wasn't stupid. She knew Jesse loved her, and she knew he had kept himself from trying to date her again for the sake of his own heart. Now he was engaged to that… that awful Bailey, who clearly was only after his family's money. "I love you too," she whispered. "Just not… Not like that."

Jesse nodded and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I know, baby. It's fine. I promise." He heard someone distantly calling the five minute mark to their return, and hastily wiped his eyes before taking her slim hand on his. "C'mon, let's just go back and have makeup fix us, okay?"

Rachel silently nodded, squeezing his hand in comfort and apology. He flashed a small smile, and together they made their way to where their makeup artist was dusting some face powder over one of their castmates. She spent the rest of intermission watching him, fully relaxing as she realized there was no pain in his eyes, just a calm, friendly acceptance. Maybe in another life they would have been together.

In this one, both were happy to just be friends.

After they were done with that evening's performance, Jesse and Matt waited for Rachel to clean herself up from all her theater makeup and change before backstage door. They could hear the commotion from the fans outside, anxiously waiting for their star to appear. Matt was in on the plan and every now and then he'd check his phone, clearly ready to put that show on the road. Jesse chuckled at his nervousness. "Relax, dude," he told his friend, who seemed embarrassed.

"I just want this over with," he explained. "Rachel has been hurting for far too long. I just want her to be happy."

"Don't we all?" Jesse replied quietly. "That's why we've come up with this. But you're being way too anxious over it. Rach's going to notice, and she'll ask, and I don't plan on being more untruthful to her than I've been so far."

"You're not being untruthful," Matt replied as he fixed his dancer bag on his shoulder. "You're not outright lying to her. You're just… Omitting facts from her."

"In other words, lying," Jesse replied, sighing.

"It's not lying!" Matt insisted, making a pause to gather his thoughts. His phone was vibrating on his pocket and he just knew it was Kurt having his latest fit. They had put together a Whatsapp group when the 'Puckleberry-Hanukkah-reunion' plan had begun, and in the last week Kurt had had more meltdowns in the group than he had had when they were at school. "It's just making sure her surprise isn't ruined."

Jesse watched Matt for a long moment. "You sure you're not a law graduate?" He joked, chuckling. "Because that argument sounded a lot like something a lawyer would say."

The choreographer grinned back. "My pop's a lawyer," he explained. "I spent weeks studying on his office back when I was at school, so I picked up a few things."

Before Jesse could reply, Rachel joined them. She was wearing a red knee-length dress in chiffon, with a v cut on the front, and a darker red leather belt on her waist. Over her dress she wore a thick, woolly burgundy coat, paired with a scarf in the same color. She had nude pumps on her feet, and her hair fell in sleek and soft waves down her back. She had scrubbed her face clean of the heavy theater makeup, but had applied a light coat of foundation, some concealer, a mocha brown eyeshadow, black mascara and eyeliner. Her face was naturally rosy from all the exertion, and her lips shimmered with the slight layer of sheer pink lipgloss she had applied.

All in all, she looked breathtaking, and both Jesse and Matt whistled appreciatively at her, to which she grinned at her. "Thank you, boys," she replied, smoothly sliding her arms to both Jesse's and Matt's offered ones. "Shall we?"

Grinning at their obviously happy friend, the two guys led them to the backstage door, and she gave them a brilliant grin as the muffled screams of the crowd for Rachel grew clearer and clearer.

"I think I'll never tire of listening to this," she told them, as the techie nodded at them and unlocked the door, allowing them to pass. "People screaming my name, wanting a moment of my time and attention… I'll never be big enough of a star that I'll forget this feeling."

Matt and Jesse grinned at her, and together the three of them left the theater. Polite, well-mannered gentlemen that they were, the guys allowed Rachel to have her moment to bask in the adoration of her fans, discretely signing photos and taking pictures. After half an hour of tending to the crowd (and several messages from Kurt, who was almost hyperventilating at their so-called lateness), they gently led her away, and Rachel linked her arms with theirs as they walked to the nearest subway stop that would take them to Rachel's neighborhood.

When Jesse and Matt didn't arrive with Rachel when they said they would, Kurt had a nervous breakdown and loudly threatened to tear apart Rachel's entire collection of Broadway memorabilia. Having shared an apartment with Rachel for his entire college life and aware of just how precious and rare some of her mementos were, Blaine promptly dragged his fiancé to their apartment, to ensure he would recompose himself. Sam, Artie, Quinn and her husband were talking quietly to each other by the stage ("it isn't a Rachel Berry party," Kurt had said as he and the others set the roof up for the party, "if there isn't a stage available!"). Dani and Santana were cuddling on a large couch while talking to Elliott, the Latina's legs draped over her girlfriend's lap.

And Puck?

Well, he was a nervous wreck.

(Fuck you.)

Having spent the last four years in Afghanistan fighting, he had completely lost his inspiration to write, a clear consequence of leading a life filled of sand, blood, pain and death. The one light in his day was when he had free time to think of the hot little Jewish-American princess he had left behind, someone he knew since they were both practically babies. Rachel was his only comfort, his only light, his only solace. They didn't write to each other much, but she was in his thoughts and he was sure he was in hers.

However, on a Wednesday six days ago, he had been skyping with Blaine when Santana promptly took over their conversation and sent him a video file. It was of Rachel in one of her rehearsals, clearly going over one of the songs in her musical for probably the thousandth time. She was sweaty, wearing pink ballet pants and a loose white tee. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail and her face was devoid of any makeup.

To him, she had never looked more beautiful. She hadn't ever sounded better either, and that video kicked his muse back alive.

For the last six months he had been going through his memories of her and writing a song. A country love song, different from anything he had ever written and/or sung before – and it was a happy country love song, something more fitting of a female singer than of a badass such as himself. No matter how hard he tried to write something else, something more fitting of his rep, his mind only managed to came up with line after line for his happy country love song.

Eventually he gave up on writing anything else and spent what little free time he had fine-tuning and editing his song. Once he deemed it perfect, he started working on the arrangement in a ukulele one of the boys in his division had managed to bring with him. Working in the ukulele wasn't the same as working with his old and beloved guitar, but it did the trick well enough.

Now he was back in the States, ready to sing his song to his Jewish-American princess, and hoping against all hope that she wouldn't find it unbearably corny.

Yes, he knew Rachel loved being serenaded and appreciated every and all kinds of music, but there was something awfully private about serenading her with a song he had personally written with her as his muse. He privately would have preferred to do it when alone with her, but there was no way in hell all the gleeks located in NYC would miss the moment he and Rachel reunited.

He was fiddling with Sam's guitar (his was safely guarded at his mother's house in Ohio, and he hadn't found the time to make the trip down there. Satan and her new Hell Princess Consort had stressed how important it was that no one that could tell Rachel he was back actually was made aware he was back, even his scared-and-worried-as-hell mother) when a nearly-vibrating-with-anticipation Kurt bolted in at the roof of their building, where they were having their party. "They're here!" He announced loudly. The conspirators grinned at each other, and, from behind his improvised curtain, Puck took a deep breath.

Showtime.

She was surrounded by her friends, a flute of champagne in her hand and a smile on her face, when her psychic senses kicked in full gear, so intense it left her dizzy and slightly breathless for a moment. She discretely looked around, but nothing seemed out of place. There were no surprise guests, no last minute arrivals. Her roof seemed perfectly groomed for her party, and everyone was grinning at her with a euphoric kind of joy for her.

She decided to ignore her senses and focus at the present, when the soft and perky sound of a guitar being strummed came from the stage, and she turned to that direction, curiosity lighting up in her eyes as she shot a questioning glance at her friends.

Quinn grinned at her and made a zipping motion over her lips, silently signaling her to look at the stage. Her interest piqued, she obediently did what her friend said…

… and felt her heart race as a soft, familiar and missed voice began to ring clearly from behind the curtain.

The full moon is shining like a spotlight

I could just sit and listen to you talking all night

When you whisper

Yeah, baby, when you lean in

I get a crazy, crazy good kind of feeling

With more confidence than he actually felt, Puck appeared from behind the curtain, and his heart both raced and lurched inside his chest at his first look at Rachel in person after more than four years. Her hair was shorter and a little lighter, but she still looked like herself. And her eyes were looking at him with a sort of stunned and incredulous disbelief, as if she couldn't actually believe he was really there, in front of her, close enough for her to touch.

It's like an amen from the back of the choir

The sweet hum of freedom underneath the tires

Kicked back sitting by a crackling fire

Strumming them guitar strings

Like an old song on the radio that you grew up to and everybody knows

Pushing through the water when the river rose, winding wild and free

She blinked, and blinked, and then blinked again. Then, breaking free of her safe circle of friends, completely unaware to the way they all had their breaths held in, she slowly began to make the short way to the tiny stage where Noah, looking more handsome than ever in a simple white shirt, black jeans and a black leather jacket, was giving her his trademark cocky grin and singing a happy-go-lucky love song that she had never heard before.

Baby, you sound good to me

Baby, you sound so good to me

Mmm-m-mmm, like a melody, baby, you sound good to me

By the time he was done with the chorus of his song, Rachel had already made her way to his tiny stage, her eyes wide and disbelieving like a child on Christmas morning, and held out a clearly shaky hand to touch his face, as if fearing he would vanish the minute her fingers came in contact with his shaven cheek.

But he didn't vanish. No, instead of vanishing, he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. The warmth and firmness of his skin was enough to tear a sob out of Rachel's throat, and her eyes were brimming with tears when they locked with his. "Oh, Noah!" She breathed out, throwing herself in his arms.

Allowing Sam's guitar to gently slide to his back, he wrapped his arms firmly and tightly around her, and squeezed her body against his with all his might. She clung to him desperately, her tears drenching the soft cotton of his shirt. Closing his eyes, he buried his nose in the sleek fall of her hair, breathing in the sweet smell of her shampoo. "Happy Hanukkah, Rach," he whispered against her ear, pressing a gentle kiss to the tender spot behind her ear that he knew she loved to have kissed.

Rachel let out a watery chuckle and looked up at him, her cheeks wet with tears but a brilliant smile curling her tinted lips. "Happy Hanukkah, Noah," she whispered back, closing her eyes and breathing in his scent as he also closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against hers.

the end

Author's Note: So, here it is. Ash's Christmas gift, way late, but hey, I did deliver! I'm not sure about the ending and I couldn't help adding a teeny, tiny bit of St. Berry angst, mostly because I love them and I believe Jesse and Rachel will always be each other's one that got away. Please review!