Broken

Chapter 21- Maybe I Fell in Love

A/N: See, I told you I was back! This chapter starts a very long series of chapters where things get really good. After this chapter, let's just say "Shiteth Hath Hiteth The Fan...eth" and if you know what that quote is from, you're my hero! Please, let me know what you think.

"I really can't wait to see your mom again." Rachel sighed, looking out the window of the car. Traffic was crawling on I95; they had been in the same spot for almost an hour. "Where are we again?" Rachel still wasn't familiar with having to travel from New York City to Westerly.

"Babe. You sound like a five year old. Trust me when I say my mom is so excited that you're coming. We're in East Lyme; we're going to get off the next exit to eat. You'll love it, I promise." Puck promised. He wasn't enjoying the drive either. It had been stop and go traffic since New Haven, and it was getting a little overwhelming.

"Alright. It's nothing too fancy, right?" Rachel looked down at her sweats and t-shirt she was in. She was in no mood to wear jeans when she planned to be in a car all day. Rachel looked into the back seat. A little jealous that Pixie was just sleeping through this whole thing.

"Not at all. Just a little diner I found on my home one time." Puck trailed off. His mind drifted back to the conversation he and Rachel had four nights ago. He was still a little ticked that Finn was putting all these doubts in Rachel's head. It almost seemed that there was a missing piece in the puzzle that was Finn and Rachel. He didn't dare put too much thought into it though, if Rachel wanted to tell him, she would. His priority right now was making sure Rachel was happy. And let her start making some decisions. "Where did you want to stay this time?" Puck questioned.

Rachel lifted her head from the window, looking a little startled. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm trying to be a little more conscious on making decisions without your input. I don't you want to continue to feel that I'm taking those away from you. So, where do you want to stay?" Puck glanced at her, hoping he wasn't making a mistake.

"I... What are our options?" Rachel was startled. When she spilled some of what happened with Finn she wasn't expecting Noah to take such a proactive step in making her feel more like an equal in their relationship.

Puck let out a small chuckle, reaching for her hand. "Babe, not the point of these questions. Name where you want to stay, and that's where it'll be." He shook his head gently, squeezing her hand.

"I don't know Noah. I'm not too familiar with the area. A part of me would like to stay with your parents again. I don't think you realize how much I love them. But the other part wants to be alone with you." Rachel was unsure; she hadn't thought about it, she assumed he already knew.

"Then let's compromise," his voice brought her back down to earth and out of the small panic attack that was coming on, "we stay a few nights with mom and dad. We can see how it goes, but we can always go spend a few nights at Nana's house too."

Rachel smiled at that, it sounded good to her and it felt amazing to be a part of deciding. "That sounds absolutely perfect. Thank you." It was Rachel's turn to gently squeeze his hand.

"For?" Puck was confused as to what she could be thanking him for.

"Letting me help decide. It means a lot that you took our conversation seriously." Rachel said quietly. A small smile playing on her lips.

Puck just shook his head, smiling down at Rachel, "of course babe. I love you."

"Love you too Noah. Though when will be at this diner because my stomach is not too fond of you at the moment."

Puck could only laugh at her statement, going from a serious conversation to joking. He loved it, "Soon, only two more exits. But at this pace it might be another half hour. Take a nap; I'll wake you when we get there."

~~~***~~~***

"You have to take me back here Noah! Promise me we'll stop on our way back to New York City? Please?" Rachel pleaded as they walked out of the small diner in East Lyme. She loved the feel of such a small, family owned diner with home cooked food, and a laid back decor.

Puck opened the door to help her in, laughing as she rambled about how much she loved the little diner. "Yes, we'll come back. Now get that cute butt in the car. We still have 45 minutes to Westerly."

"Yes sir," Rachel laughed right along with him, not being able to contain the happiness with the thought of seeing Hanna again. She touched the necklace that was given to her, she never took it off.

The rest of the drive to Puck's childhood home was in a comfortable silence. Rachel dozed off here and there and Pixie was getting anxious from being in the car for so long.

Thankfully traffic had broken up around New London, so travel was smooth from then on. It left Puck in his own mind though. He was worried about the reading. He knew he was left most of his Nana's belongings, and he could only pray it wouldn't start some sort of family feud. He was sure his Nana would have taken care of everyone, not just him.

He sighed softly as he turned onto the familiar road that led to his childhood home. Glancing down at the sleeping form that was his girlfriend, he smiled. He debated waking her up or just carrying her into the house. He decided if she woke up then that was that, but if not he'd carry her up stairs.

As Puck parked the car, he saw his little sister Bridget bounding down the stairs. "Noah!" She looked so excited to see him. She ran to the driver side pulling the door open, "Pixie!" Bridget exclaimed again, watching the little dog excitedly jumping over Puck to get to her making Bridget giggle as Pixie final got to lick her hand.

Puck smiled, seeing his parents standing by the door. "Bridge, shh, Rachel's sleeping. Why don't you take Pix here for a walk around the yard while I carry Rachel upstairs?"

Bridget jumped excitedly, quietly clapping her hands. "Yay! Come on Pixie!" Bridget gently took Pixie's leash, helping the small dog down on the ground before slipping away towards the back yard.

Aaron was the first to approach, taking in the sight of a peaceful looking Rachel. "Hey son, we were just wondering when you'd grace us with your presence. Are you going to carry her up?" Looking up at Puck.

"Yeah, planned on it at least. Help me with some bags?" Puck ran a hand over his face, tired from the long drive. "Kinda just want to go lay down with her and take a nap myself."

"Well I'm certainly not stopping you. I'm sure your mother won't either. She's just so excited you've come home again." Aaron chuckled.

Puck lifted himself out of the SUV, heading around the car to get Rachel. "You'll wake us for dinner?"

Aaron shook his head, "Do you only ever think about food? Of course we will your mother would die if you didn't eat." Aaron already had the bags on his shoulders, ready to follow his son into the house.

Hanna was waiting in her son's room; she had put fresh sheets on the bed in anticipation of his and Rachel's arrival. When she went out to greet them, she saw Rachel had already fallen asleep. She went upstairs to turn down the sheets, so Noah could place Rachel down. She watched with a smile on her face as her son carried Rachel into the room. "Hey sweetie! There are fresh sheets and I turned them down for you. Dinner will be done around 7:30, should I wake you then?" She finished by placing a soft kiss on his cheek and one to Rachel's forehead.

"Perfect Ma," Puck sighed as he straightened up, watching Rachel snuggle deeper into his sheets.

"I'll leave you then. See you in a little while." Hanna saw herself out, meeting her husband in the hallway.

Puck stripped out of his jeans, and button down shirt, leaving him in his boxers and a t-shirt. He gently climbed into bed with Rachel, scooting close so he could hold her in his arms. Laying a gentle kiss to her temple, he soon found himself drifting off to sleep.

Puck woke up to Rachel thrashing in her sleep at about 7:00pm. He felt guilty that she was still sleeping so poorly since her big fight with Finn. "Rach, hey, it's okay. Wake up, you're safe." Puck rubbed Rachel's shoulder gently, trying to coax her out of her nightmare. "Babe, you're okay. Nothing you're seeing is real. None of it is real. Just wake up for me, please?" Puck kissed the top of Rachel's head, and pulled her closer to him, "Come on baby, don't do this. Open your pretty brown eyes for me," Puck whispered as he rocked Rachel back and forth.

Just as Rachel was starting to calm down, he heard a soft knock on his door, "Noah," Hanna said quietly as she opened the door, "Is everything okay?"

Puck nodded at his mother, "Yeah mom. Everything's fine. Just trying to wake Rachel up. Hey, if we aren't down for dinner, don't think anything of it, okay?"

Hanna looked at her son questioningly as he continued to run his fingers through Rachel's hair, "Why wouldn't you two come down for dinner?"

"Mom, here's the thing," he sighed, holding Rachel closer to him, "These nightmares take a lot out of Rachel. She usually can't be around too many people for a few hours. I promise we'll eat though, even if I have to bring the food up here."

Hanna nodded and smiled at her son, "Of course, Noah. You do whatever you need to do to help Rachel. You're father and I love you both," she smiled softly at her son and walked out of the room, closing the door.

After Puck was sure Hanna had left the room, he focused his attention back on Rachel, noticing her face was still pinched up in stress. He kissed the top of her head once more and thought of something he could sing to snap her out of this nightmare.

I should ink my skin, with your name.

Take my passport out again,

and just replace it.

See I could do without a tan on my left hand,

where my fourth finger meets my knuckle.

And I should run you a hot bath and fill it up with bubbles.

'Cause maybe you're loveable,

and maybe you're my snowflake,

and your eyes turn from green to grey,

in the winter I'll hold you in a cold place.

And you should never cut your hair,

'cause I love the way you flick it off your shoulder, (mm)

And you will never know, just how beautiful you are to me,

but maybe I'm just in love when you wake me up.

And would you ever feel guilty? If you did the same to me.

Would you make me a cup of tea, to open my eyes in the right way?

And I know you love Shrek, 'cause we've watched it twelve times.

But, maybe you're hoping for a fairy-tale too, and if your DVD breaks today,

You should've got a VCR, 'cause I never owned a blu-ray, true say.

And I've always been shit at computer games, and your brother always beats me,

And if I lost, I'd go across and chuck all the controllers at the TV, and then you'd laugh at me,

and be asking me, if I'm going to be home next week,

and then you'd lie with me, 'till I fall asleep,

and flutter an eyelash on my cheek, between the sheets.

And you will never know, just how beautiful you are to me,

but maybe I'm just in love when you wake me up.

And I think you hate the smell of smoke,

you always try get me to stop,

You drink as much as me, and I get drunk a lot,

So I take you to the beach, and walk along the sand,

And I'll make you a heart pendant, with a pebble held in my hand.

And I'll carve it like a necklace, so the heart falls where your chest is,

And now a piece of me, is a piece of the beach, and it falls just where it needs to be, and rests peacefully.

So you just need to breathe, to feel my heart against yours now, against yours now.

'Cause maybe I'm just in love when you wake me up.

Well maybe I'm just in love when you wake me up,

Maybe I fell in love, when you woke me up.

As Puck finished singing, he felt Rachel fully relax and he let himself breathe a sigh of relief.

"Noah," Rachel whispered, "Thank you. I love you." She kissed him gently. "How did I end up so lucky getting to have you in my life?"

"Well babe, it's because you deserve it." He kissed Rachel's shoulder, and rubbed her back in soft circles. "Do you want to go downstairs and eat, or do you want to bring the food up here?"

"We can go down and eat its fine." Rachel smiled at Puck and stood up, stretching slightly before grabbing his hand and hauling him up with her. She pulled him up with more force than necessary, and fell to the floor with a resounding thud when Puck couldn't stop the momentum and landed on top of her.

"I'm sorry baby," Puck said, laughing a little bit, "I didn't realize you've gotten so strong. Have you been working out with Evans behind my back?"

Rachel giggled and pulled Puck down to kiss him, "Maybe I have, so you better watch it Puckerman. My guns might catch up to yours."

"I knew it! I knew you loved my guns," Puck said to Rachel, "Ready to get off the floor now, babe, or do you want to lay here all night?"

"I'm actually pretty comfy. Let's just lay here," Rachel mumbled, already falling back asleep.

A/N: Well, what did you guys think? I know that not a lot happened in this chapter, but this is mainly filler for next chapter. The song Puck sings is "Wake Me Up" by Ed Sheeran, and I think that song is perfect.