"Hi Kurt its Noah... Ok so I need your help"

...

The night before Rachel's audition, when she was out buying Chinese food for dinner; Noah made his secret phone call to Rachel's best friend, Kurt. He only had a time limit of 30 minutes max before Rachel came back into the apartment but that was all he needed. He and Kurt planned to meet in the afternoon whilst Rachel was at the audition in secret and they would go on from there.

The next morning came around all too quickly, and even though Noah had never been great at keeping secrets; Rachel was far too busy running around getting ready for her audition to notice something was going on. Honestly he liked watching her get stressed over these things, it was only then that her real determination came out. It was only then that he saw the Rachel he fell in love with back in Ohio; The Rachel Berry that would stop at nothing to get her dream. Grabbing a fresh bottle of water from the refrigerator she quickly kissed Noah on the cheek before leaving the apartment, she had to be on time. There was no such thing as being fashionably late when it came to auditions.

Finally she was gone and Noah was in and out of the shower within the next fifteen minutes. In the next ten minutes after that he was fully clothes and ready to leave the apartment. His heart was racing like never before and he couldn't believe that he was really going through with this. The instinct in his head was telling him to look for reasons not to go through with it, but his heart was over powering him this time. All the reasons that his head were throwing at him, his heart was batting away like a courageous game of baseball, this feeling was incredible. Half an hour in the cab was a small price to pay for what he was about to spend his day doing. The minute he saw Kurt standing by the sidewalk with two hot cups of coffee in his hand he paid the cab driver the money he needed and jumped out onto the busy streets.

"I can't believe you're doing this Noah! I'm so proud of you, but you know that if you do this and then change your mind she will never forgive you and neither will I so you better get sure Puckerman."

Kurt was always fierce when it came to the one's he loved and for years Rachel had been one of those lucky special people. Noah couldn't and wouldn't blame him for taking the time out of their busy day's schedule to give a little Hummel speech.

"I've never been so sure about anything in my life Kurt."

They both smiled together. It was a touching moment that the never really had experienced before. Kurt tilted his head to one side with teary eyes as he placed his hand lovingly on Noah's shoulder. Everything was about to change and in all honesty; Noah couldn't have picked a better person to do this with.

They headed off into some of the most expensive parts of Manhattan. Passing some of the most classy and elegant stores Noah had ever seen. He thought back to what he was like in high school, a Lima loser with a stupid pool cleaning business and a kid at the age of seventeen. Now he was a music teacher in one of the best schools in New York. He was walking around Manhattan in a shirt and he felt the part next to Kurt who was wearing a suit and an all too familiar hippo broach. Kurt wasn't doing too badly for himself these days either; not only was he working at vogue but he had just finished a spread with Anna Wintour herself. He was at the top of his game right now and with the rekindling of the relationship with Blaine he was happier than he ever had been. Everything was perfect for both of them, perfect jobs and perfect relationships.

"So tell me Noah... when did you decide on this?"

"Well it's been in the back of my mind for a while but I fully decided last Saturday night. I took her on a date to..."

"Club 38... Yes I know she mentioned on the phone. VERY romantic if I don't say so myself."

"Well thanks... but I decided then. She told me that she was in love with me and it was probably the best feeling I've ever had. I realised that it was the right time."

"I agree, I think it's the right time for you too."

Suddenly they stopped in front of a large store with big glass windows. The people who worked in the store were all inside with perfectly ironed suits on and giant smiles; they knew how to sell a product. Both Noah and Kurt stood in front of the window for a while. Kurt's eyes shone as he instantly picked out several things that he wanted from inside whilst Noah stared in shock; 7 years ago he would never be able to afford anything like this.

"Are you ready for this Puckerman?" Kurt asked as he stared down his school friend.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

The two of them ditched the coffee cups in the litter bin outside and calmly walked in together. Kurt's hand clasped around Noah's left arm to give him the vote of confidence. He was a fantastic friend when the mood hit him. They were immediately met by a sales woman with a nametag pinned to her black suit. She was gorgeous. Long ginger hair that was placed nicely into a bun on the top of her head. With perfect make-up and a smile on her face she greeted the men like a good saleswoman should.

"Hi, I'm Louise... can I help you gentlemen out today?"

They spoke for a while about their interests, what kind of things they did for a living and why there were in the store today. From that subject they moved onto the conversation of Rachel Berry... a topic that Noah just loved to talk about. There were three girls that he could talk about forever; Quinn Fabray, Beth Fabray and Rachel Berry.

"Well, not to sound cliché but she's perfect. She's tall, elegant, and absolutely gorgeous. She has the biggest, most round brown eyes that make you fall into them completely. Her smile is ridiculous; she's a girl that's been religiously going to the dentist and flossing since she was 3 years old. Her smile is killer, 100 watt. She's got gorgeous, long legs... she's um... well she's thi..." Noah didn't want to use the word thin when it came to describing his girlfriend, he never liked to mention a girls weight but Kurt knew exactly where he was going.

"Rachel is thin. She's high on exercise and she keeps herself in great shape. She's a steady size eight, Louise." Kurt interrupted.

"Yeah... she has these cute little cheeks and well. I don't know what more I can tell you. She's beautiful, she really is the most perfect thing that's ever been mine... accept my daughter, but that's a different kind of beautiful... she's an angel."

Noah started babbling as he got nervous and Louise noticed, she saw men come and go every day. Some of them never made it into the shop, some of them never made it out with a purchase; but she had never seen a man with more determination and love in his eyes for another person. She knew exactly what he needed. Leading the two over to exactly where she thought they needed to be she nodded her head in suggestion to what was in front of her.

"And what relation are you to the lady?" Louise asked Kurt who was admiring the material in front of him. He smiled and thought about it for a while to find the appropriate answer.

"Um, gay best friend from high school; once sworn enemies now best of friends. Couldn't live without her yadda yadda yadda."

Louise giggled once more, she liked the two of them and she was glad that she was the person who got to help them out that day. She loved her job, she loved working with people like Noah who were so worried about getting everything right that they could babble for hours about somebody who was nowhere near. She loved helping and she was praying that she could help him make the right choice.

That was the moment when Noah saw EXACTLY what he was looking for. He didn't know exactly what he wanted until he saw it placed in front of his eyes. It was beautiful, something worthy of being owned by a woman like Rachel Berry. And when he pointed it out to Kurt, the look in his eyes was priceless. They knew then that they had found the perfect item. Just the thought of giving the gift to Rachel made his heart flutter, this was the moment he had been waiting for his entire life. The moment that he didn't even realise he had been waiting for until that very moment. He automatically thought of Rachel, his amazing girlfriend. The woman he had been secretly in love with for years and the woman he now got to opportunity to spend every day with.

She was perfect, she was incredible and everything he had ever been looking for. A mental montage of her face was flowing through his mind, in his ears he could hear her laugh. He could hear her singing, not singing on stage or in front of an audience, the cute way that she sang in the shower or the jingles she made up when she was feeding her cat. He thought of the way her hands felt, the soft touch of her fingers as they pulled through his hair. Her lips, her small pink lips that he was lucky enough to kiss every single night before they went to sleep and every morning that he woke up next to her.

Louise knew from the minute he saw the gift that it was the right one for him. It didn't take her long to sell it to him at all and she knew that when he left the shop he was happy with his purchase. She was a proud sales woman that day and the woman, Rachel; that Mr Puckerman kept mentioning, she was a very lucky woman and this was a perfect Christmas present.

"I'm so proud of you Noah."

"Thank you Kurt, wow this is serious right?"

"Very. Right I have to shoot off, I'm meeting Blaine for Lunch"

"Ok no problem well thanks a lot Kurt... it really means so much to me."

They weren't the hugging type of friends so a handshake before Kurt hopped into the cab seemed fitting. Walking down the sidewalk Noah pulled out his phone so that he could text the girl of his dreams.

* Hey baby, just checking in. I hope you have a great audition. Knock em' dead and I'll see you tonight. I love you Rachel Berry, more than you'll ever know *