Chapter 6 – Welcome Back

Sam had driven Rachel back to her place in an uncomfortable silence at first, then she spoke: "Sam, I am sorry I said what I said about Finn, I know he is a sensitive topic at the moment, but I know better than to jump in another relationship right away after a breakup. Although I am not getting back with him. Ever. Please, give me time? I like having you around, I need you around, as my friend. I don't have too many of those. But, for the record, I do like you, Sam Evans." He couldn't resist to that, how could he possibly? At heart, Rachel was just like him, sensitive, emotional and wearing her heart on her sleeve, very transparent on what she felt. He smiled at her, before nodding.

"I understand where you come from. I'll be around, Rachel. And for the record, that kiss meant something, and it was… wow." As he made the last turn to her house, he saw a familiar truck in the driveway. What the hell was Puck doing her? Then he remembered their conversation, how Puck had told him he might still have lingering feelings for Rachel, how her fathers knew him and loved him despite all, how they used to be best friends and how they knew each other. He was probably there to talk to her, to win her back. This thought alone made Sam's heart sink and his blood boil in anger. It had been just a kiss but he knew, the moment it happened, that he would cling to Rachel for as long as she'd let him. It wasn't the kiss only or her looks only – granted she was gorgeous – but it was the way she saw the best in people, the way she had trust in him and pushed him to improve and even assisted him, selflessly. He couldn't say it enough, but the Glee Club was so wrong about her.

He saw her shifting uncomfortably in the passenger seat, she had recognized the truck too. How could she not? "Do you want me to come with you, Rachel? I saw how distraught you were when you left the café the other day, you don't have to face him if you don't want to." She shook her head, exhaling in defeat: "Not to worry, knowing Noah, he's already inside, crawling on the ground for my fathers to forgive him, and it took them maximum thirty seconds to take him back, too content to rekindle with their long-lost son." She laughed at how dramatic she sounded, and Sam couldn't help but follow suits. Her laugh was contagious, this girl was really something else. And he would fight for her. She kissed him on the cheek before hopping off the car, and it took him at least a minute to recover from the feeling this had caused in him. It must have been the sweetness of it all.

As she entered, she could hear Noah and her fathers talking about football, they always had that in common. "Oh, Sweetie you're home! We were getting worried," Leeroy told her, hugging her tightly. "Hi Daddy, sorry, I should've called. I was with a friend, Samuel, he was not feeling well today and I went to cheer him up." Puck looked at her questioningly, since when have Trouty and Rachel become friends and why the hell did it bother him so much? He decided to brush it off, he didn't come here for that. "Look, honey, we have visit. Noah has come over. Isn't a nice surprise? We missed him so much," gushed Hiram, her Dad.

"Well, I do see him every day at school. But, hello Noah, it's good to see you," she said, politely. Puck smiled and waved at her, still feeling the distance between them. It was all his fault, and his was here to fix this. "Hiram, Leeroy, I actually came for a reason, and I was waiting for Rachel to come, because I needed her to hear that as well."

Hiram's hand went to his heart. "Is something wrong with you, Bekah or Deborah, Noah?" Puck put his hand in front of him in a reassuring gesture. "Nothing to worry about Hiram, we're good", thanks to you, partly he wanted to add but Rachel had confided in him and now was not the right time to betray her. "No, I came here because there are a few things I need to tell you, that I should've told you a while ago. Hell, that I should not have even done or said to begin with." Rachel was looking at her with narrowed eyes, no he was not about to… "Noah, could we talk in private, please?" she asked him. He didn't need to do that. She cursed herself for caring, after all those years. "Later, if you're still willing Rachel, but I have to do this. I have to take responsibility." A small silence filled the living-room of the Berry's before Puck began.

"Leeroy, Hiram, the reason why I haven't come around in so long is not because of school, or schedule. It's because, well, of me. Of what I have become. See, Rachel and I aren't exactly friends. That is an understatement. And I don't blame her, how could I? It's all my doing. After we moved from the neighborhood, I became outright mean to Rachel. No, it was more than that. I became cruel, for no reason. Just because I wanted to take my anger out on someone. For years, I berated her, I called her names, I threw slushies at her – literally, it's not a figure of speech, unfortunately, Leeroy" Noah said, his eyes on the floor, unable to cope with the hurt and disappointment in her fathers eyes. Rachel, on her part, was legit spellbound. She expected Noah to come and talk to her parents, but never did she expect him to do it in such a raw, straightforward manner, and in her presence. He was really trying.

"I even took part in some humiliating pranks during middle school and high school. We stole her clothes, trashed her car – yes, that was me. But you have to know that Rachel here didn't do anything to me. She all took it in strides. She showed me, at best, indifference and I did not even deserve that from her. I was pretending I despised her because she was unpopular and a so-called freak, but the reality is that I wanted to block out everything that had to do with our former life. And that's no excuse. I have no excuse. I'm just a lousy person. But when I saw her the other day still close to Ma and Bekah, while I had no idea, I couldn't pretend anymore. She had treated me with nothing but kindness and care even when I had no idea, and I came her to apologize to her – I did already, but I'll spend my life doing it if I need to…"

"Noah, it's fine, you don't need to apologize. As I said, I forgive you" Rachel has said, deeply moved by what he was telling her parents. "I need to Rachel. And it's not just forgiveness that I want. I want my best friend back. No, I need my best friend back. But I also came to apologize profusely to you Hiram and Leeroy. For what I did to Rachel, but also what I said about you. The words I used – I knew you heard, and all those, afterwards while you've always been so good to me. I know, about the help to Ma. Don't blame Rachel. She had no intention to tell me, but you know me, I have my ways," he said with a soft smile. He could see the same smile plastered on Leeroy's face, he could see Hiram had a bit more trouble coming to terms with all of this. He was the first to speak.

"Noah, first, I condone your bravery for coming to us and telling us everything the way you did. To tell you the truth, I was the one who overheard you when you said what you said on the porch with Rachel. I had to be strong for our little girl back in the day, but I was heartbroken, not because of what you said as such, but because we considered you a son, truly." He remained quiet for a while, as Puck was beating himself up internally for being a major idiot. Then Hiram smiled fondly. "But here's the thing, we still do. You're our son, Noah. I actually held you in my arms when you were born, even before your lame excuse of a father did. You certainly didn't have that mohawk back then," they all chuckled lightly. Then it was Leeroy's turn to speak.

"What we are saying, Noah, is that if you're willing, we welcome you back with open arms." Rachel rolled her eyes and had a big smile on her face. "What is up to you Rachel?" Leeroy asked her. "I just knew you'd say those exact same words to Noah, the second I set my foot home. Actually, I thought you had already. I figured Noah would have told you already." Leeroy shot her a fake exasperated look before he went on: "So, as I was saying before the smartass in the room interrupted me, you're family, Noah – you, your mother and your sister – and you'll always be. We know you were hurting so bad after Aron left, and how could you not? He was your rock. We're willing to leave the past behind. But please, don't trash our star's car anymore?" Leeroy added to ease a bit the tension in the room. Rachel and Hiram had laughed wholeheartedly.

Noah however didn't. He couldn't even move. He didn't know how to react to the Berry's kindness. He was about to cry, again, so much for being a badass, he thought when Rachel came to him and put her arms around his waist. He automatically wrapped his arms around her shoulders and brought her as close to him as possible, holding her tight. He could smell the vanilla in her hair. He missed that scent. He murmured in her ear: "I am incredibly sorry Rachel, please forgive me," his voice was barely a whisper and yet the trembling in it was clear. "You were right, I don't fucking deserve you, but…" She interrupted him, got out of his hold, put her forehead against his, just like they used to when they were kids and were about tell each other a secret: "Now, yes, you do deserve me." Noah's heart swelled at those words. Maybe – just maybe – could he start to get his friend back. Then, he'd also need to think about all those buried feelings.

"Rachel, if that's okay with Leeroy and Hiram, I have one more thing to do. Ma wanted you over for dinner, and you know how she can be," he said with a bit of a faux annoyance in his voice. The two fathers looked at them and agreed. "Sure, you can go, say hi to Deborah for us, and Noah, please bring her home for 11.30." Five minutes later, they were in Noah's truck, sited in a comfortable silence, her hand in his, just like they used to do when they were kids. They were falling back into their routine quite quickly, and that warmed both their hearts.

As she stepped in the Puckerman house, Deborah welcomed her with a motherly hug and Bekah ran to her so that she could take her in her arms, which she did gladly. "Rachel, would you sing with Noah? I mean, you do sing better than him, but I never heard you sing together." Puck glared at his sister and Deborah who heard it all from the kitchen, laughed. "You did hear them sing honey, you were just too young to remember."

Rachel and Noah fell in their old routines, it is as if they never ceased to be around one another. A smile and a nod later, she was on a stool, beginning to sing Saving All My Love For You, they had discovered that song in one of her Daddy's old CDs, and even if they didn't understand the meaning of the lyrics fully back then, they still enjoyed the song. They even had an arrangement of their own and had turned it into a duo. When they were done, Deborah was smiling fondly and Rebekah was in awe. "Rachel, you really are better than the Disney Princesses, and you both sound so good together. Noah, you should always sing with Rachel, she makes you sound so much better." Bekah had meant that as a compliment, but her brother was grumbling something that Rachel caught: "She would make anyone sound better than they sound, she's a star."

"Rachel, it is so good to see you, once again. We missed you so much. Thanks for coming, with all that went on and our busy schedules, we struggle to find time. God, it's been years," had said Deborah, happy that the nice Jewish Girl came back around, she secretly hoped her son and her spiritual daughter would end up together. "Ma, before dinner, there is something Rachel and I need to talk to you about, alone – and don't even start gushing, no we're not together." Rachel understood what he was about to do. She was frantic, she didn't need him to do that, she was just happy they had reconnected. As they walked towards the kitchen with Deborah leaving Bekah in the living-room, Rachel had murmured to Noah: "you don't have to do this." Deborah had caught it, though. "Do what Noah?"

"Ma – please sit." He waited for both of them to be around the table and he began. He didn't miss any detail, all the things he did to Rachel, said about her, about her fathers, the slushies, the names, the car trashing, the insults. Even he couldn't believe what he was saying. When he was done, his mother was in tears – and not even trying to hide them. Last time he saw his mother cry was when she saw his father in town and their eyes locked with each other. If someone could kill him now, he wouldn't object. "Noah, how could you? Rachel is your best friend," she said in a low voice. "I am so disappointed in you." Then she turned to Rachel, looking at her in total astonishment. "And you, all those years, why didn't you say anything?"

"Because of what you just said, Deborah. I didn't want you to be disappointed in Noah – it would've killed me, and I know it kills him you said that. I could stand anything except you being disappointed in Noah, and him being miserable in turn. I couldn't do that to either of you. And secretly, I was hoping that Noah – my friend Noah – would eventually come back to his senses," Rachel said, patting Deborah's hand. "Debby, all of this is in the past. What matters now is that Noah came to make amends, he owned up to his mistakes, has spoken to you, spoke to my fathers while…"

Deborah shot back a look at both teenagers. "Leeroy and Hiram know?" Rachel was quick to answer. "They have known for barely an hour now. Noah just told them, and I hadn't before." Deborah put her hand through her hair, "I must call them and apologize for your despicable behavior Noah. Did they kick you out? Did they kick you, period? They should've. I might, actually," Deborah said angrily.

"Deborah, it is all good. We all spoke, and my fathers welcomed back Noah, contently must I add. They don't hold a grudge, and you have absolutely nothing to apologize for. Let's just have dinner, have a good laugh like old times, and forget about all of this. Shall we?"

Puck had remained silent, his head down, unable to look at his mother into the eyes. He was also impressed at how Rachel handled the situation and found common ground. It melted his heart to see how much she cared about his mother, about him too – and that after all these years, she hadn't given hope on him. "Noah and I will put the table while you go freshen up and regroup a bit, Deborah? It'll be our pleasure."

The Puckerman mother took Rachel into her arms, apologizing for her son's behavior, pinched said son's arm for good measure and flew off the stairs to get ready. "Rachel, thank you. For everything. You didn't have to do that, help me with my mom. The way you handled the situation, I mean, you're something else, Berry," he told her, smiling at her.

Dinner went well, and Rachel felt right in place with her friend and his family – well, her family, really. The Puckermans and the Berries dated a while ago, and they would last. Puck had driven back Rachel, for curfew and she kissed him goodbye on the cheek. That did something to his insides. He was brought back to the days where he was a kid and it seemed evident that Rachel would be his wife, one day – granted they had no idea what it entailed back in the day, and his thoughts got dirtier as he watched her walking to her door, her short skirt slightly brought up by the wind.

The next day, Noah had surprised Rachel and offered to drive her to school. As they arrived together, people began to stare at them weirdly. The Glee club diva and the sex shark, together, laughing? She probably fell for him – they all do, Puck was a ladies' man.

Among the assistance was one Sam Evans, who couldn't believe his eyes. He saw the complicity between the two of them, the small smiles, Puck's hand on Rachel's back. Then, something happened, a scene that made Sam snapped. Literally. He just heard them say at the same time: "leave the coyote alone" before they burst into hysterical laughter. "You know the traditions, Berry," Noah said sweetly. "Noah, we're sixteen. Actually, you're seventeen." Puck wouldn't have it though. "Traditions are traditions," he said before taking her hand and twirling her as she kept laughing. How can I compete with that? Sam thought sadly, his head hanging low.

Later that day, Rachel ran into Sam but she did not expect him to be exploring Santana Lopez's throat with his tongue, in the hallways. He kissed me yesterday, but that didn't mean anything, Rachel thought, anger mixing up with sadness, jealousy and resignation. Of course, Samuel Evans would go to Santana Lopez, they were match made in heaven, both popular, beautiful. Unlike me, Rachel thought, bitterly.

As she was about to turn, Sam caught a glimpse of that chestnut hair his hand had traveled through the day before. She had seen them.