Broken A/N: I am sooooooooo fluffing sorry it took so long to get this out! I got engaged, found out my brother is getting divorced and went through like 4 audits at work. It was rough! And to top it all off...I had this chapter halfway written, and it didn't save...so now I must recreate it! Also, a slight warning...this chapter gets a little citrusy...nothing NSFW or graphic, but its there. Chapter 24-
Rachel stood in the living room glancing between her brother and her boyfriend. She knew it was her fault. She didn't think to even check if Finn was home before she let Noah pull her onto the couch in the middle of the day. "Finn, calm down," she pleaded to her brother.
Finn ran his hands over his face, "Rach," he sighed, "I'm not mad about what I walked in on. " He paused at the glare Rachel gave him, "Okay, maybe I'm a little mad. But I'm not mad, mad. I wasn't prepared to walk in on my sister and her boyfriend half-naked on my couch. There are some things that I need to pretend don't happen."
Rachel giggled, "Oh, Finn." She patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry."
Finn groaned, "You didn't do anything wrong, Rachel. Lord knows you walked in on Quinn and me in plenty of compromising situations over the years. It's gonna take me time to remember that you're not a little girl anymore." He pulled Rachel into a tight hug.
Puck smirked, "Sorry, dude. Your sisters hot," he shrugged and walked into the kitchen to give Rachel and Finn a chance to talk.
Rachel looked at her brother and frowned, "I'm sorry, Finn. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable in your own house."
Finn shook his head and pulled Rachel into a hug, "You didn't make me uncomfortable Rachel. I'm not a complete idiot, ya know. I know what you and Puck do behind closed doors," he chuckled at his sister's bright red cheeks, "That's not what I meant, and you know it. I'm happy you're happy. That's all I've wanted for a really long time." He grabbed her hand and guided her to the recliner in the far corner of the room. "Just, maybe warn a guy next time? Or keep it in the bedroom?"
Rachel nodded, "Yeah, Finnie. I can do that." She sat and then looked at her brother. "You do know I'm sorry, right?" she bit her lip and looked down.
"About what, Rach?" Finn knelt in front of her.
Rachel sniffled and brushed a tear away roughly, "Quinn. I didn't mean for you to focus more on my issues than your relationship."
Finn gently pulled Rachel off the recliner and hugged her, "Rachel," he began, "you have nothing to apologize for. I do not blame you at all. You are the most important person in my life. I thought she knew that, but apparently not. Now, what do you say we invite Evans and Santana over?"
...***...***...***
Puck smiled as he looked around the room. Finn was leaning against the couch, laughing at something Santana said while Sam was sitting with Rachel, showing her how to play Call of Duty. "Rach is a natural, Finn," Puck chuckled. "Next time you can't play we'll just tell her to squad up."
"You will do no such thing, Noah Puckerman," she glared at him and then screeched, "What do I do?! How do I make these invites go away?"
Sam, Puck, and Finn all laughed together before Sam answered. "It's just Chang. You can ignore him. He probably thinks Finn is on."
Rachel gasped, "But it's rude to ignore your friends, Sam. Surely you can call him and tell him?"
Sam smiled indulgently at the brunette, "It's fine, Rach. One of us will message him later and let him know we were showing you the ropes."
Rachel nodded, hesitantly. "Okay. If you're sure."
Puck walked over and planted a kiss on her forehead, "We're sure, babe. Don't worry about it." He looked at his phone and then motioned for Finn and Santana to follow him to the kitchen, "Babe, Finn, Santana, and I have to discuss something. You okay in here with Evans for a few minutes?"
Rachel rolled her eyes, "Yes, Noah, I'll be fine. Is it about him?"
Puck nodded, "Yeah. I'll tell you later, okay?"
Rachel nodded and watched the trio walk into the kitchen. "Sam, could I ask you something?"
Sam looked at her "What's up, Rach?"
She bit her lip and looked at him, "Do you think that Finn and Noah will be able to stay friends? Once all this mess is over, I mean. Right now they have a common goal to focus on. But after that? Do you think they'll go back to fighting over me all the time? Because I can't do it again. I won't do it again. I'd move back to Ohio before I came between their friendship."
Sam shook his head and pulled Rachel into a tight hug. "Rachel, I promise you that they'll be able to stay friends. Finn and I talked the other day. I called him out on how much of an ass he's been being. And Puck knows how important your brother is to you. He's felt really bad about your relationship with Finn lately. Everything will work itself out. They both love you, and only want what's best for you, okay?"
Rachel nodded, "Yeah, Sam. Thanks. You're the best friend a girl could ask for."
...***...***...***
After Sam and Santana had left, and Finn had gone to bed, Rachel and Puck were laying on the couch. "Is everything okay, Noah?" Rachel asked.
Puck ran his fingers through her hair gently. "Of course. Why would you ask that?"
Rachel looked up at him timidly, "Well, I mean, obviously something happened involving Jesse, and you went into the kitchen to discuss it. I figured it wasn't good news if you wanted to keep it from me."
Puck sighed, "Rach, we weren't trying to keep it from you. Santana knows everything, and so does Finn obviously, but I didn't know how much Evans knew, or how much you wanted him to know."
Rachel looked at Puck with wide eyes, "You mean, no one told Sam what's going on? Why does he think we moved back in?"
Puck gently sat Rachel up before sitting up himself, "Baby," he began before turning towards her, "It's not my story to tell. It's not Finn's story to tell. It's yours. He knows the basics that we all knew when Finn told us his sister was moving in with him. That something bad had happened to you, and you needed a change of scenery. None of us would tell him anything without your permission. Sam's a smart guy, so I'm sure he's figured out what happened, but he doesn't know any details."
Rachel nodded. "Do you think I should tell him?"
Puck kissed her palm, "That's not something I can answer for you, Rach. You have to decide that for yourself. But to answer your other question, my Pops called me. He told me that he got in touch with your lawyer from Ohio. Jesse is already in violation of his probation. One of the conditions of his release was a 3-year no-contact order. That means phone calls, text messages, letters, showing up at your residence, anything that could constitute him trying to talk to you. Just with the messages, he's sent you, we can get him sent back to prison.
"My Pops also helped me contact a lawyer here in New York. The guy is a shark, but he'll help us. He wants us to keep your phone number the same for the next couple weeks and see if Jesse contacts you again. You have to promise me that you'll tell either Finn or me if he texts you again."
Rachel nodded. "Of course I will. Have you informed my fathers about what's going on? As much as I'm still mad at them, they need to know what's going on."
"Of course Finn and I told your dads, Rachel. They wanted to fly out here as soon as they heard, but Finn convinced them not to." He smiled at his girlfriend. "Now what do you say we continue what we started earlier," Puck whispered in her ear before trailing feather-light kisses up and down her neck. At Rachel's content sigh, he grinned before pulling her in for a kiss.
Rachel fisted Puck's shirt and pulled him on top of her before hitching her leg over his hip, and pulling his shirt over his head. She moaned elatedly as he trailed open-mouthed kisses from her jaw down to her chest. "Noah," she sighed, arching her body impossibly closer to his, "that feels so good." Rachel's breath shuddered when she felt Puck's hands slide under her shirt to gently graze her breasts. She bit her lip when he pushed her shirt up and bent his head to gently flick her left nipple with his tongue. Rachel's hands that had tangled in Puck's hair traveled down his back to his hips, pulling the lower half of his body closer to hers.
Puck moaned and choked out a "fuck baby," before grinding himself against Rachel and switching his attention to the other breast. His right hand skimmed her side before he slipped it under the yoga pants she was wearing. Puck searched her eyes for any signs of hesitation and finding none, he ghosted his fingers along the edge of her panties, smiling against her breast at her sharp intake of breath.
"Noah," she whispered, "touch me please," she pleaded as she unbuttoned his jeans and tried to get them over his hips.
"We should probably move this into the bedroom, Rach."
Rachel groaned in protest before sighing, "You're right. We should."
...***...***...***
"I'm sorry," Rachel whispered the next morning.
Puck pulled Rachel close to him and kissed her shoulder, "Baby, you have nothing to be sorry for. I'm not upset with you." He sighed as he thought back to the previous night. Everything had been fine when they were just making out on the couch, and Rachel had been the one to lead him into the bedroom. Then he shut the door and when he turned back to kiss Rachel, her whole demeanor had changed. She panicked and cried, curling into a ball in front of their bed.
Rachel shook her head, "No, Noah. It's not okay. You were obviously expecting something to happen last night, and I can tell that your frustrated it didn't. I feel like the worlds biggest tease. We already slept together once, so I don't know why my brain decided to turn it into a huge ordeal." She stood from the bed and looked out the window. She had been so embarrassed last night, and looking back on it she was still mortified.
She led Puck into the bedroom and was in the process of slipping her shirt over her head when she heard the door click. Her head shot up as she tensed, and her shirt fell to the ground. "Noah," she gasped before she sank to the floor. She vaguely heard Puck call her name. She thought she heard him yell for Finn, and then all hell broke loose, again. Finn burst into the room and knelt
in front of her, desperate for Rachel to talk to him. She could hear raised voices speaking gibberish around her and clamped her hands over her ears in an attempt to shut all the sound out. Rachel shook her head and her breathing stuttered, "Finn?" she remembered asking, "What's going on?" She didn't know why she was on the floor. Why Noah had tears in his eyes. She couldn't understand why she was half-naked with Finn in the room. "Why is Noah upset?" She could hear Puck clear his throat, "I'm fine, princess." he sounded underwater and too far away from her. "I'm gonna go so you and Finn can talk, okay?" Rachel shook her head, "No. Noah." She tried to reach for him. "Don't leave me. I'm sorry." She thought she heard Finn mumble something like nothing wrong and Noah sigh and say of course I didn't. Rachel just wanted to know what was going on. "Finn," she cried, "Leave Noah alone." she sobbed when she heard more yelling, "Stop fighting over me!" she shrieked before somehow managing to run to her bathroom and slamming the door.
Puck kissed the top of Rachel's head and gave her a sad smile, "Rachel, I love you. Nothing is going to change that. I knew things wouldn't always be easy or perfect. We'll figure it out, I promise. Do you want to go talk to Finn? He's been worried sick all night about you.
Rachel shook her head. "No. I'm too mad at him right now. Did he really think you were going to tell me last night was my fault?" she scoffed, "I mean, it was, but you would never say that to my face."
Puck stood from the bed and walked to the door, "I need to go for a run," he ground out.
"Is everything okay Noah?" Rachel frowned and sniffled. She knew she should have just sucked it up and let him have sex with her last night; it's not like they hadn't already done it before.
Puck felt his head hit the door, "Yeah, Rach. Everything is fine. I just need to think about some things."
...***...***...***
Rachel locked herself in her bedroom for the rest of the day. Pixie curled up right next to her, licking errant tears that ran down Rachel's cheeks. She heard a soft knock at the door and mumbled a response that sounded like "come in".
"Everything okay, Rach?"
Rachel looked up and shook her head when she saw her brother. "No. It's not," her voice cracked. "Noah left this morning to go for a run and he hasn't come back yet. Where is he? Why isn't he here with me?"
Finn sat on the bed and rubbed his sister's back. "I'm so sorry, Rachel. I have no idea why he isn't here with you. Did you guys have a fight," he hedged.
"Not really. I don't think we did." She blushed as she looked at Finn. "We were talking about last night and he said he had to think about some things. What things, Finn? Me? Does he have to think about me? About if he wants to be with me," she sobbed, burying her face in Finn's lap.
Finn looked at his sister and held back tears. "Rachel," he whispered, "Puck loves you. You know that. Do you want me to call Sam or Santana? They might know where he is." He stroked her hair as flashes of the last time they were in this position were pushed to the forefront of his mind.
Rachel rushed into Finn's room, crumpling on his bed. "Finn," she choked out, "Do you know where Jesse is?"
Finn looked at Rachel confused, "No. I thought he was supposed to be with you tonight."
Rachel shook her head, "No. We got into another fight. He hasn't returned any of my calls or texts. Can you call him? I just want to know that he's okay. He was driving."
Finn sat next to his sister and rubbed her back. "Yeah, Rach. I can do that. Do you want to tell me what the fight was about?"
Rachel sniffled, "No, Finn. There are some things you don't need to know."
Rachel shook her head, "No. He's a big boy. He should be allowed to come and go as he pleases."
Finn looked at Rachel with doubt. "If you're sure, Rach. He needs to know it's not okay to do this to you, though."
"I'm sure, Finn," Rachel squeaked out, "I'm going to try and take a nap. Can you please wake me up when Noah gets home?"
Finn nodded, "Yeah, Rachel. I can do that. You get some rest, okay?" He stood and pressed a kiss to her hair before walking out of the room and closing the door.
In the living room, Finn sat on the couch with his head in his hands replaying the events of last night.
Finn had just fallen asleep when he heard Puck yell his name down the hall. He groaned and contemplated pretending he hadn't heard, but when Puck started pounding on his door, he knew he had to respond. "Yeah," he mumbled, "What's up."
Puck cracked open the door and peered in. In the dimly lit room, Finn could see tears in his eyes. "It's Rachel. She just started freaking out when I closed the bedroom door. I didn't want to wake you, but I don't know what to do."
Finn shot out of bed and pushed around Puck. He rushed into Rachel's room and almost saw red. Rachel's face was red and puffy. Her hands were twisted in her hair, creating knots and causing strands to be ripped from her scalp. She was curled up into a ball with her shirt next to her. Puck was shirtless and his jeans were open, sitting low on his hips.
"Rach," he began gently, trying to pry her hands from her hair. "Can you tell me what's going on?" He glared at Puck when Rachel shook her head. "Okay, wanna tell me why you're curled up on the floor without your shirt on?"
Behind him, Puck growled, "Seriously, asshole? Not the time for this."
Finn stood and rounded on Puck, "Really?! It's not the time for this? I think it's the perfect time for this. All I know is my baby sister is bawling, and from where I'm standing it looks like the guy she's in love with caused it. What did you say to her, Puck? How long has this been going on? What did you do to convince her she was ready for this?"
Puck frowned and clenched his fists. "Finn, now is not the time to discuss this," he said darkly. "Right now, we need to focus on Rachel. You can go all big brother on me later."
Finn was shook from his stupor by the front door slamming open and closed. He turned and glared at his roommate. "Glad to know you're alive. Rachel's been worried sick."
Puck grunted. "Don't know why she would be. Told her I was going for a run."
Finn resisted the urge to punch Puck. "But you also fucking told her you had to think about things. She's been crying for hours. She's convinced that you've decided that she's not worth all the hassle and you're going to break up with her." He looked at Puck, "you're not going to dump her over this, right?"
Puck sat and looked at Finn, "No, dude. Of course I'm not breaking up with her. I love Rachel. I knew things wouldn't be easy. I'm in this for the long haul."
Finn nodded, "So what did you have to think about?"
Puck cradled his head in his hands, "You think last night was shitty for you? Try being me. The woman I love more than anyone else was scared when I closed our bedroom door, Finn. I know she's not scared of me, but she's scared of what that closed door represents. It's a lot to take in. Then she was going on about how it was her fault I was," he grimaced at Finn, "frustrated." He stopped Finn with a stern glare. "Dude, of course I told her it wasn't her fucking fault. I thought that was the last of it. Then she didn't realize she was thinking out loud and," Puck swallowed hard, "shit, you're gonna punch me again," he muttered.
Finn tensed, "What did she say, Puck?"
Puck coughed, "She uh, she uhm," he winced at the look Finn gave him, "she said that she should've," he stopped and exhaled, "that she should've just let me have sex with her because we'd already done it before." Puck closed his eyes and tensed. When he realized that Finn didn't hit him, Puck opened his eyes. "Man. I'm sorry. That's not how I wanted to tell you." He ran his hands through his hair. "I mean, really I didn't want to ever tell you. 'Cause, you know, awkward, but yeah..." he trailed off.
Finn looked at Puck, "You're a good guy, you know that?" He laughed at the confusion on Pucks face. "You could've made up some bullshit story. But you didn't. You thought you knew how I would react, but you told me anyways." He stood and clapped Puck on the back, "And thank you, Puck."
"For what, dude?"
"For caring about my sister and her happiness more than your own needs. Now please, go in there and let her know things are okay?" Finn headed to the door. "I'm gonna head out for a bit. Let you guys talk in peace."
A/N: These guys just love the angst, apparently. This chapter was supposed to be light and fluffy, but apparently that's not happening anytime soon for these two. Oops.