A new chapter for you all. I hope you enjoy it. I don't own Glee and all mistakes are my own.
Jake's POV
I left the school that day feeling elated. I had finally met and spoken to Marley. I still didn't know her last name but I knew she had a sister in the same year as Noah so maybe he'd be able to help me. When I got home that afternoon, my mum and sister still out, I instantly went to the phone so I could ring him and try and get the info on this girl. It was only half four in the afternoon but there was only a three hour difference between our two states. Puck had travelled to L.A soon after his graduation with the plan of expanding his pool cleaning business so that was another reason why I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get hold of him. Thankfully, after a couple of rings, Puck answered the phone.
"Hey little bro, what's up?" he asked cheerfully.
"I wanted to ask you a couple of questions about Glee club." I told my brother.
"Well I'll try and answer any questions you have. Fire away."
"I met a girl today." I started, I was about to carry on but he interrupted me.
"Good for you bro, keeping the Puckerman reputation alive I see." Puck laughed at the end.
"No, Puck, it's not like that. She heard me singing." He was silent at the other end of the line. He knew what a big deal this was to me.
"Wow, that's big for you. You didn't run off after you saw her did you?" he asked. It was a legitimate question since that is how I normally behaved.
"No I didn't. She asked me to join the Glee club. She said my voice was too unique not to show everybody."
"Wow." He said again. This girl seems to render his speechless just like she had done to me. "What's this girl's name? She seemed to have done a number on you."
"Her names Marley. When I told her about you and how you had just graduated, she told me that her sister had too and she's gone to NYADA now. I thought you'd be able to figure out who he sister is."
Puck was silent on the other end of the line and I assumed he was taking in all this new information and trying to figure out who it could be. Puck had quite a knowledge all of the girls in his graduating year since he'd made a point of at least making out with every girl in his year, even going so far as to get one of them pregnant. "Are you serious?" he asked finally, lowly.
"Yeah, why? Do you know who I'm talking about?"
"Yes, and I think you should too. I talked about her often enough. I never knew she had a sister though. Then again, we only dated for a week and we weren't really friends other than that."
Then it hit me. "Rachel?" I didn't need to see Puck to know that he was nodding on the other side of the phone. "That's Rachel's sister?"
"It must be. No one else got in to NYADA. No one had the drive, passion or talent to get in like she did. The only other person who tried was Kurt and he didn't get in. And the other fact that he's not a girl means that he can't be who you're talking about. It must be Rachel, it can't be anyone else."
"You still like her don't you?" I asked, referring to Rachel.
"That feeling isn't going to go away little brother, you'll realise that one day. Rachel was different to any other girl I went for. She didn't care about the façade I put up to make myself look tough, she saw past it. I really messed up in getting Quinn pregnant and when everyone hated me for it, Rachel didn't. She saw through all the bullshit I put out daily and just wanted to get to know me. I never should have let her go back to Finn. The week I was with her was one of the best of my life, I'll never forget how she made me feel." I was shocked at Puck's confession, he never usually opened up to anyone.
"You gotta go to New York. Tell her how you feel." I told him, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Nope." He said simply. "I can't do that. She's not long broken up with Finn and he was her fiancé. I am not going to jump right into that mess. Besides, I don't know if she feels the same way." Puck told me.
"So you're going to let her pass you by, possibly forever because you're scared?" I asked my big brother.
"I'm not scared." Puck said furiously. "But I don't want to risk the friendship we have by telling her I have feelings for her and then finding out she doesn't feel the same way."
"The feeling isn't going to go away Puck, you said so yourself, don't punish yourself forever."
"Whatever Jake." He said, brushing my comment off. "Just don't mess up with Marley."
"She's going to take me to Glee with her tomorrow and I think she's going to audition with me."
"That's great little brother. The Berry woman definitely have an effect on the Puckerman men without a doubt. Just don't do anything stupid." He warned before we both said our goodbyes and hung up the phone.
Just as I was about to look for music for my audition song, my mobile interrupted me with a text message. It was Marley telling me that she picked something for us to sing together.
"How does the duet between Pink and Nate Ruess "Just Give Me A Reason" sound for your audition tomorrow? If you want, you can come over to mine later and we can practice to make sure we have it perfect for tomorrow? – Marley x"
I quickly wrote out a reply. "That's sounds great Marley. Thank you so much for helping me. – Jake x" as soon as I'd written and sent the reply, it dawned on me how quickly I had actually done it and I realised that Puck was right, the Berry girls definitely had an effect on us.
"It's not a problem. Come over at about half six. We can practice in my basement, it's soundproof. – Marley x"
I looked at the clock that was hanging on the wall of the living room. It was only five so I still had plenty of time before I needed to leave. I raced upstairs and changed out the clothes I'd been wearing all day for school and printed off the sheet music. I only decided to run through the song so I was aware out the outlay.
Marley's POV
"Daddy, my friend Jake is coming over in a couple of hours to rehearse with me. Is that ok?" I called to my dads who were in the kitchen while I was in the living room.
"That's great sweetie, we're glad that you've made so many friends." They said happily.
I thought about ringing Rachel to let her know but as I looked at the time, I realised it might still be a bit too early. On most days, Rachel didn't finish with NYADA stuff till at least half six in the evening and even then she was sometimes too tired to talk depending on the classes she had for the day. I instead opted for changing out of my clothes in preparation for when Jake arrived. Once that was done, I decided to get on with my homework. I never liked leaving things to the last minute, even as a child and this was no exception.
Even then I realised that I still had a little time left before he was due to arrive so I decided to find out what my parents were doing. I made my way downstairs and my daddies were sitting together, in content, watching something on telly.
One of the things I loved most about my family is that even now, almost twenty years into their marriage, my parents were still madly in love and they didn't need some big, extravagant gestures to prove it to each other. When it came to dates now, they were often happy just sitting in each-other's arms and they'd be happy. The creak of the stairs alerted them to my presence and they turned to face me on the stairs. Both their faces instantly brightened. "Marley, our darling, come and sit with us. When does your friend arrive?" my daddy asked.
"Not for another half an hour daddy." I responded.
"Well come and sit with us while you wait?" he asked. I nodded silently and went and sat in-between them, my daddies instantly putting their arms around me and hugging me into their sides. I loved this time I had with them.
Before I knew it, there was a knock on the door. I rose to my feet.
"I'm going to take Jake down to the basement so we can rehearse without disturbing you both. Is that ok?"
"We trust you my darling." My dad told me. "We'll bring some snacks down in about ten minutes."
"Thank you dad." I said, giving them both a quick kiss on the cheek before running off to answer the door.
We rehearsed for a couple of hours, till nine, before he left to go home. We managed to run through the song more than a dozen times and I had to admit, I thought it was going to sound great and there was no doubt in my mind that he'd get in after he sang this song.
After eating a quick dinner with my daddies before I retired to my room. After going through my night-time routine, something I had picked up from Rachel, I went to bed. I was just closing my eyes when my phone rang. I picked it up frowning, who would be texting me at this hour? I had two text messages. One from Jake and one from Rachel.
"Thank you again for tonight Marley, I owe you one. See you tomorrow - Jake x"
"Hey baby sister, sorry it's so late, I've been so busy all day but I'll ring you tomorrow, I promise. I hope your solo went ok in Glee today, although I know it would have. Love you Marls.- Rachel xxx"
I sent Rachel a quick reply telling her what I sang and that I loved her too but I didn't bother with Jake. I would see him tomorrow, which was enough for me.
Ryder's POV
When I got to school the next day determined to see Marley and make a date for after school. It felt like I hadn't seen her for ages. Ever since joining Glee, it always seemed like we were both always busy and now that she was going to know Kitty, she had even less time. We still saw each other at school of course but I missed seeing her out of school, like it used to be.
I spotted her as soon as I walked through the doors, she was standing at her locker with a boy who was in my History class. Jake I think his name was. What was she doing with him? My fist curled into balls so tightly that my nails dug into my hand. She then then looked over at me and waved and I instantly felt myself relaxing. I walked over to her and the other guy.
"Hey Marls." I said casually, my arm naturally going around her shoulders.
"Hey Ryder." She turned to Jake. "This is Ryder, my best friend."
"We've met." He answered, I saw a look of confusion cross Marley's face. "We're in the same History class. I thought you were dating."
"Oh no, Ryder is my best friend. We've been friends for so long it would be strange if we ever dated." Marley answered automatically. I wanted to punch Jake in the face when a gleam of hope entered his eyes. Marley then turned to me. "Me and Jake are going to sing together in Glee club, he wants to audition so I'm going to help him." She told me.
"She's been a fantastic help. She's got an amazing voice." Jake said easily, he never took his eyes away from Marley. I noticed that Marley blushed bright pink at the compliment.
"It runs in the family." I told him.
Jake's POV
"I'm nervous." I told Marley as we stood outside of the choir room. I could see that everyone had already turned up and then I spotted Kitty sitting in the middle of the top row. I knew that she recognise me instantly because of the connection between Quinn and Puck. Thus far, I had managed to avoid bumping into Kitty, whenever I saw her coming I would walk in the opposite direction. I just wasn't ready for the drama, but now I had no choice but to see her.
"Don't be Jake. You have a wonderful voice and we have rehearsed our song many times. You can do this." She told me positively. "I'll walk in first and let Mr Schue know that you want to audition and then you can come in." I nodded and she walked into the room.
After a couple of moments I saw her motion to me and I went in.
"Puckerman? What the hell are you doing here?" Yep, as I thought, Kitty knew it was me. I ducked my head down as a reflex. Everyone instantly looked at me.
"You're a Puckerman?" a boy with slicked back hair, with a lot of gel in it, asked.
I nodded my head, my head ducking down again.
"His dumb ass brother got my sister pregnant." Kitty's voice rang through the choir room.
Everyone sat there in shocked silence before Mr Schue looked over at me. "It's nice to meet you Jake." He shook my hand. "It's nice to have you joining us." The other New Direction cheered in response. Kitty just sat at the back. I couldn't quite read her expression though. I decided to think about it later. I looked over at Marley for the first time since I'd entered the choir room.
"Your brother is Noah?" she asked.
"Yes." I knew what was coming next.
"Why didn't you tell me yesterday? My sister is Rachel. Did you know when I met you?"
"Not when you heard me singing but when I got home, I called Puck and figured it out."
"So why didn't you tell me when you came to my house?" she asked.
"I don't know." And to be honest, I really didn't know why. She had no reason to be angry at me for it so I couldn't understand why I never said anything."
"It doesn't matter I suppose. I know now. It's going to freak Rachel out when she finds out about you." Marley grinned.
"Shall we get on with the song you're going to sing us?" Mr Schue asked. I nodded.
We stood in front of the other New Directions.
Marley:
Right from the start
You were a thief you stole my heart
And I your willing victim
I let you see the parts of me
That weren't all that pretty
And with every touch you fixed them
Now you've been talking in your sleep
Oh Oh
Things you never say to me
Oh Oh
Tell me that you've had enough
Of our love, our love
[Chorus]
Just give me a reason
Just a little bit's enough
Just a second we're not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again
It's in the stars
It's been written in the scars on our hearts
We're not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again
Jake:
I'm sorry I don't understand where all of this is coming from
I thought that we were fine
Marley:
Oh we had everything
Jake:
Your head is running wild again
My dear we still have everything
And it's all in your mind
Marley:
Yeah but this is happening
Jake:
You've been having real bad dreams
Oh oh
You used to lie so close to me
Oh oh
Both:
There's nothing more than empty sheets
Between our love, our love, oh our love, our love
[Chorus]
Both:
I never stopped
You're still written in the scars on my heart
You're not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again
Oh tears ducts and rust
I'll fix it for us
We're collecting dust but our love's enough
You're holding it in
You're pouring a drink
No nothing is as bad as it seems
We'll come clean
[Chorus]
Just give me a reason
Just a little bit's enough
Just a second we're not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again
It's in the stars
It's been written in the scars on our hearts
We're not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again
[Outro]
Oh we can learn to love again
Oh we can learn to love again
Oh
That we're not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again
"That was fantastic guys." Mr Schue praised once all the clapping had died down.
"Thank you sir." Marley said, going to sit down next to Ryder and leaving me in the middle of the floor. I looked at Mr Schue expectantly.
"I would be a fool to not let you in." he grinned. I smiled and laughed.
"Thank you." I sighed and went to sit down on the other side of Marley.
"Well done." She whispered.
I hoped you liked this chapter everyone. A hint of Puckleberry! R&R