Part 2
As Sam leads me through the hall I feel someone coming up on my other side and I glance over to see Quinn. I also notice Britney and Artie behind us. I can't seem to stop shaking and both Sam and Quinn link their arms through mine to steady me. As we turn a corner I see Noah talking to Coach Beiste. The relief I feel when I see him overwhelms me and I sag against Sam.
"Puck!" Sam calls to get his attention as he struggles to keep me standing.
As soon as Noah sees me I am in his arms in seconds. As soon as my head meets his shoulder I start crying.
"What is going on?" Coach Beiste asks.
"Can we take this into your office, Coach?" Artie asks.
"Sure kids," Coach Beiste nods and motions for us to enter.
Noah all but carries me into the office and everyone else follows. Once everyone is inside and the door is closed Coach Beiste speaks again.
"What happened?"
"What did that little fucker do?" Noah growls as he sits, pulling me onto his lap.
"Who?" Coach Beiste asks.
"Dave Karofsky," Sam answers, his voice still tight with anger.
"I'm going to need more then that," Coach Beiste prodded.
"It started on Tuesday," Puck snarled. "Karofsky came up to Berry in the hall and grabbed her ass and propositioned her. So Chang and I have been walking her to classes. I was supposed to meet her after her English class, but you needed to talk to me. I am so sorry, Rach. I tried to be quick…"
"Not your fault, Noah," I stutter, the shaking finally starting to subside.
"What just happened?" Coach Beiste asked the other four people in the room.
"Britney and I saw Karofsky come up to Rachel at her locker," Artie explained. "We couldn't hear what they were saying, but Rachel tried to walk away from him and he grabbed her and slammed her into her locker. She seemed to hit her head pretty hard. I knew I couldn't stop him, but I saw Sam and Quinn down the hall and Britney went to get them to help. Before Sam could get to them Karofsky, um…"
"He grabbed her breast," Quinn continued. "Then he put his hand up her skirt."
"I pulled him off her," Sam goes on. "He left when I wouldn't back down. Rachel had kind of collapsed so I helped her up and all she would say was that she wanted to be safe. I figured finding Puck was our best bet."
The whole time they are talking I feel Noah's arms tighten around me and he starts to shake. However, I don't think he is shaking in fear, but in anger. I try and take deep breathes to calm myself down. I know I am safe here in this room. I am safe with these people. I am safe with Noah. Before anyone else speaks, Mike and Tina burst into the room.
"Are you alright, Rachel?" Tina asks as she moves to the floor in front of me and puts a hand on my leg. "Mike and I were waiting for you guys and then we heard some kids talking…"
"I'm…I'll be okay," I respond, my voice sounding a bit shaky.
"We need to contact Principle Figgins," Coach Beiste said, her voice sounding very hard. "The police should also be contacted."
"What we should do," Noah growled, "is let me go find Karofsky and kick his ass so hard it ends up in his throat."
"Calm down, Puckerman," Coach Beiste responded. "You beating him up will only get you in trouble. I don't think it would do Rachel any good for you to be in jail."
The thought of Noah leaving causes me to grip him tighter.
"You can't solve violence with violence," I say with as much conviction as I can muster.
"Sure you can," Noah mutters sullenly. "If I break every fucking bone in his body he can't hurt you or anyone else. I should have taken him out when he was bothering Kurt, but since I'm on probation…"
"That kind of talk is getting us nowhere, Puck," Quinn broke in.
"Let me call Figgins and have him come down here," Coach Beiste suggested as she picked up her phone.
It turns out that Principle Figgins is out of the building for the rest of the day so an appointment is made for us all to meet with him the following morning. To try and make everything as official as possible, Coach Beiste has us all write up incident reports about what has happened. After we are done, it is the end of the day and I just want to go home. I thank Sam, Quinn, Britney and Artie for their help and everyone hugs me. We all part in the parking lot with the understanding we will meet there in the morning to go to Principle Figgins' office.
I let Noah lead me to his truck and drive me home. As soon as I am safe in my house I collapse on the sofa.
"I'm sorry, Noah," I apologize. There is a part of me that feels bad for dragging him and everyone else into this.
"What the hell are you apologizing for?" Noah asks incredulously as he takes a seat next to me.
"Because you are friends with me you were dragged into this ugliness," I shrug.
"That's fucked up, Berry," Noah replies while slinging his arm around my shoulder. "Even if we weren't friends or this was happening to some other girl, no guy has a right to do that shit. I am the first to admit I am an asshole, but doing shit like that? So not kosher."
"That's very chivalrous of you, Noah," I respond. "And you aren't nearly as much of an asshole as you used to be."
"Did I just hear Rachel Berry swear?" Noah asks with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"You did" I giggle slightly. "But no one will believe you if you tell them."
"We'll just have to hang out even more," he replies. "Obviously, I am having a great influence on you. Give me another week and I'll have you cursing like a sailor."
I smile because I know he is trying to lighten the mood and make me feel better. I sigh and lay my head on his shoulder. I want to ask him something, but I'm a little nervous. He has already done so much for me and I don't want to come off as some defenseless woman or something, but…
"Whatcha thinking about, Berry?" he asks. "I can almost hear the wheels in your little head turning."
"I, um, well, you see," I stutter as I try to force what I want to say out, "I was wondering if you could stay tonight? I mean, I know I am safe in the house, but I don't know if I can handle being alone. If you can't I am sure I could maybe call Tina or something…"
"Its okay, Rach," Noah interrupts. "I would love to stay. In fact, I can't wait to see what cute little pajamas you sleep in."
"Pervert," I admonish as I feel my cheeks heat up.
"Let me just call my mom," Noah chuckled in reply. "I'll just tell her I'm crashing at Mike's tonight."
"I want you to know how grateful I am to you," I again say to Puck as we eat our dinner. "If it wasn't for you, Mike and Tina…"
"I already told you, Berry," Noah replied. "You're my friend and no one treats my friends like that."
"I thought I was Finn's friend," I reply, not meeting Noah's eyes as my voice quivers slightly. "I know he is mad at me, but he just stood there and watched what happened to me today."
"That's 'cause Finn is a douche," Noah growled. "A douche that is going to having a serious conversation with my fists soon."
"No more violence, please Noah," I respond. "I am grateful for the thought, but if you just go around hurting people who have hurt me you will violate your probation and have to go back to juvenile hall."
"So what you're saying is," Noah smirked, "that I can't beat up Finn because if I did you would miss me too much? C'mon Berry, if you want to spend more time with me all you have to do is ask."
"While I do enjoy your company," I blush, "it is a bit more then that. To be honest, I think you could beat up Finn and he still wouldn't entirely understand what he did wrong. He is so wrapped up in popular opinion I believe that he rationalizes it in his mind that since no one else did anything then he was in the right. Maybe he has convinced himself, like so many others, that I deserved it." I notice Noah about to interrupt and I quickly continue, "I know I didn't deserve it, but so much of the social culture of high school is a group mentality. Very few people seem to have the ability to be an individual. Going with the crowd means you are safe. The minute you stand up for yourself or others you become a target. Look what happened at the height of what was going on with Kurt. I tried to get Finn to stand up for Kurt, his soon to be step-brother, and his response was that he didn't want to upset David because of something to do with football. You beat him up, you get in trouble and he continues the same behavior."
"Fine," Noah grumbled as he began to help me clear the dinner dishes. "Get all logical on me. And just for the record, just because Finn wouldn't learn a lesson from a good beat down, it doesn't mean he doesn't deserve one."
I wake up Friday morning after a very pleasant night sleep. I tense slightly when I realize my pillow is moving. As my sleep induced mind clears a bit more I realize that I'm not laying on my pillow, but rather Noah's chest. I try to recall how this happened. After dinner last night we worked on homework, well, I worked on homework and Noah teased me about it. Then we decided to watch a movie in my room. Since I don't recall the end of the movie, I must have fallen asleep. There is a large part of me that wishes I could just spend all day here in Noah's arms, but my responsible side rears its ugly head and reminds me we have school. I try to disentangle myself from Noah so that he can get a bit more sleep while I shower and start breakfast.
"Too early," Noah mutters and pulls me closer as I try and move from under his arm.
"Just let me up, Noah," I try to cajole, "then you can go back to sleep."
"Like you here," Noah mutters sleepily and buries his head in my neck.
I am sure my face is blazing at his admission. There is a part of me that wonders if he even realizes that it is me he is in bed with. While I know we are friends, why in the world would Noah Puckerman want to cuddle in a bed with me? He has his choice of dozens of girls at school. Girls who are more popular, better looking, more experienced…The list goes on and on.
"I need to start getting ready for school, Noah," I try again.
"Just a few more minutes," Noah complains, but sounds a bit more awake.
I can feel his breathe on my neck and have a bite back a moan.
"You can have a few more minutes," I try to say as sternly as possible. "You need to let me up, though. I need to do a quick routine on the elliptical, shower and get breakfast ready."
"Screw the elliptical," Noah replies as he lifts his head and looks at me. "You have a hot little body and missing one morning working out isn't going to ruin that."
"That's, um, very nice of you to say," I stammer as I feel my cheeks heating up again.
"S'true," Noah smirks at me. His eyes lock with mine and I think I might forget to breathe because his eyes are so intense. I unconsciously lick my lips as my eyes flit to his mouth. "Jesus, Berry," he groans. "You can't look at me like that."
"Why not?" I ask softly.
"Because when you do all I want to do is kiss you," he answered.
"Oh," is all I can think of to say as my eyes yet again stray to his lips.
Noah lets out a strangled groan and I feel his hand behind my head lightly urging me towards his. My eyes flutter close as he brushes his lips lightly over mine. I'm not sure what comes over me, but I press my lips more firmly against his when I feel him start to pull away. This feels the same yet so different from when we had kissed last year, even last week. Noah was then and still is an amazing kisser, but this time there is something else I can't quite put my finger on that makes it a millions times better. Just as our tongues brush he pulls away and rests his forehead against mine.
"You should get up, Rach," he sighs.
"Oh," I respond again, though this time it is tinged in disappointment. My mind goes into overdrive thinking that maybe he hadn't really meant to kiss me. He was still mostly asleep. I move to pull away, but Noah suddenly grips me tighter and I look back up at him.
"Don't think I actually want you to get up, Rach," Noah says earnestly as if he had read my thoughts. "I would love to spend all day lying here doing that and so many other things." I blush terribly at that idea. "But we need to get to school. God, I can't believe those words left my mouth."
"You're right, Noah," I giggle, feeling a bit better. "And you wanting to go to school must mean that I am rubbing off on you."
"I could give two shits about school, babe," Noah smirked as he sat up and pulled me with him. "I know you care about school and I am going to be where you are. Plus we have that damn meeting. Now get your hot ass out of bed and in the shower before I change my mind."
As I move to get off the bed Noah leans in and gives me one more quick kiss.
"And don't go in there and over think this either," he advises me. "I didn't do it just because you are a warm body. I didn't do it because I have some hero complex or some shit. I did it because I like you and you're smoking hot."
"I, um, like you too," I blush yet again as I dash into the bathroom.
When I exit the bathroom Noah is no longer in my room. I grab what I need for the day and head downstairs. I walk into the kitchen to find him in clean clothes and making some frozen waffles.
"Where did the clothes come from?" I ask curiously.
"I always keep an extra set of clothes in the truck," he explains as he sets two plates of waffles on the breakfast bar. "You know the Boy Scout motto, 'Always be prepared'."
"There is no way you were ever a Boy Scout," I giggle at the image in my head.
"I actually was," Noah retorts smugly then adds with a smirk, "for all of two weeks. My mom thought I needed some male role model time and signed me up. When my troop leader confiscated the Playboys I brought on his lame ass camp out I kicked him in the nuts and that got me thrown out."
"Your mother must have been mortified," I laugh.
"I was grounded for the rest of the summer," Noah agreed, "but when the school year started all the guys who had been in the troop started treating me like a God or something."
"And so it began," I nod as I picture this as the turning point in Noah becoming Puck.
"Probably," Noah shrugged a little stiffly, obviously a little uncomfortable with my assessment. "You know that I am sorry for all the crap I put you through, right?"
"I know, Noah," I smile at him as I reach for his hand and squeeze it gently. "You were a product of your environment, like so many people are. I remember you from when we were little at Temple. You were quite sweet then, but then things happen and everything changes."
"Yeah," Noah sullenly replies. "My asshole of a father decides to bail and everything goes to hell. I used to be so angry with him and since he wasn't around to direct it at…"
"What changed?" I ask curiously.
"I guess there were two things," Noah explained. "You and Beth."
"Me?" I ask, very surprised. I get how Beth changed him. I watched how Beth changed him, but what in the world had I done?
"I guess it started with how you dealt with the whole Shelby situation," Puck explained. "She dumped you twice, but you didn't let it get to you. You still showed up and smiled and worked hard. Then I started to look at everything else. How shitty everyone treated you, but you just kept showing up and smiling and working hard."
"It did, it does upset me," I reply. "I've cried myself to sleep over it. I've sung angry song after angry song about it. But it is my problem, my business. To do what I want to do with my life, it is going to be filled with hurt and rejection. The odds of making it on Broadway are astronomical. I will hear no far more then I will hear yes. I can't throw a fit every time it happens. I just focus all that energy on working harder."
"Sounds exhausting," Noah points out and he is right.
"Therapy also helps," I add wryly. "My dads were very concerned about my mental health when the bullying started and made me go to a therapist. I was taught about a billion coping mechanisms and all."
"I had to go to therapy once," Noah scowls. "Hit a few too many kids and suddenly you have anger management issues. That shit sucked. Like some 40 year old douche can relate to what I'm going through. I went to the mandatory five sessions then I was done. What I learned was to make sure the kid you hit has the fear of God in him so he doesn't tell anyone who did it."
"Therapy isn't for everyone," I giggle at the totally 'Puck' response to it. "We should get going. We're supposed to meet everyone in about 20 minutes."
I was a little nervous as Noah pulled his truck into a parking space. We hadn't talked about the kiss and I'm not sure what is going to happen now. I decide to push it to the back of my mind because I need to concentrate on the meeting with Principle Figgins. Noah comes around to help me out of the truck and once I have my bag slung over my shoulder he laces his fingers through mine and starts to pull me towards the school. I look up at him in surprise and he just smirks at me.
"What?" Noah chuckles. "You over thought it, didn't you?"
"Um, well, I tried not to," I shrug as my cheeks pink slightly.
"C'mon Berry," Noah smiles as he pulls me along. "Got to get my girl to her meeting."
"Your girl?" I squeak.
"Damn straight!" Noah grins. "Unless of course you don't want to be…"
"Oh no!" I assure him. "I've, um, actually been thinking about that for a while. I was just sure you couldn't possibly like me like that…"
"What's not to like?" he asks as he stops up right in front of the doors into the school. "You're smart, talented, hot and fucking crazy!"
"I am not crazy!" I gasp in outrage.
"You are a hundred kinds of crazy, Berry," Noah laughs, "but luckily I seem to dig them all. Well, maybe not that pre-competition crazy that you get because that shit is scary, but the rest of them are kinda entertaining."
Before I can respond to his assessment of my 'crazy' he leans in, gives me a quick kiss then pulls me through the doors and into school.
"What the fuck do you mean you aren't going to suspend him?" Noah demanded
"Please calm down, Mr. Puckerman," Principle Figgins admonished. "Until all parties involved in the conflict are talked to and the situation is investigated no disciplinary action can be taken. I have read the statements that Coach Beiste took and heard what you all have to say, but now I need to speak to Mr. Karofsky and others who have witnessed these incidents."
"That's why I stepped down as Principle," Coach Sylvester grumbled from her spot. She had heard about the incident and had demanded she be involved in the meeting since she had been the one to deal with Kurt's bullying at the hands of David. Mr. Shuester was also there after hearing about the incident from Coach Beiste. "The red tape and utter bullshit that goes into being a principle makes you no more powerful then Queen Elizabeth, nothing but a figurehead in an ugly hat. If I had been allowed to run this school the way I had intended none of this would have happened."
"You also would have filled the school with ineffectual teachers solely because they would cow to what you wanted," Mr. Shuester pointed out. "Wishing the system is different isn't going to help this situation; we have to work with it to the best of our ability."
I had not said much throughout the meeting except for my account of what happened to me. I can't say I am surprised at the current outcome. I hold Noah's hand because I am afraid if I let go he will leave this room, find David and then do things I don't even want to imagine. I find it terribly ironic how indignant the people who don't experience the bullying act when things aren't immediately changed. I can see Noah, Mike, Britney, Sam and Quinn are all very angry while Artie and Tina seem resigned to it like I am.
"Mr. Karofsky will be informed to stay away from Ms. Berry," Principle Figgins continued. "After a full investigation a decision will be made."
"You really think he will stay away from her?" Noah demanded. "Just because you ask nicely? Mike, Sam and I have all asked him not so nicely and it hasn't stopped him. People always seem to wonder why I don't follow the rules and shit and this is the exact reason."
"Noah," I look pleadingly at him. "They are doing the best they can. They didn't make the rules, but if they don't get followed it will only make everything worse."
"She's right," Tina agreed. "We get your indignation, but this decision doesn't really surprise us."
"It surprises me," Mike states.
"I think she meant Rachel, herself and me," Artie replied. "This isn't the first time we have been through a meeting like this. Nothing quite this severe before, but we've all been bullied for years. It is very hard to prove because there need to be witnesses who are willing to tell the truth or it becomes a 'he said, she said' type of thing."
"As I said," Principle Figgins interrupted, "I will talk to Mr. Karofsky and other people you have said were in the hallway. I will also tell Mr. Karofsky to stay away from Ms. Berry. Now you all should get to your classes."
We all get up and exit the office.
"If you need anything, come find me," Mr. Shuester tells me before turning and heading to his class.
"Or me," Coach Beiste added before heading in the direction of her office.
"So we're back to bodyguard duty," Noah states, looking at the others. "I don't want Rachel alone."
TBC...