My Guardian Angel
A Glee Fan Fiction
Chapter 4

Puck had always been one to believe that children should not have to deal with their parents or concern the adult figures in their lives with their decisions. He typically never told his mom about any of his stupid choices in life-she didn't know about the cougars, for instance. And he would never go and rat out a fellow student-yet alone a friend-to their parents. That just wasn't his thing. Being a tattle tale was not bad ass. Nope, not at all-not one little bit. And that was why it was killing him to sit there in his parked truck outside of the Berry residence. He knew Rachel wasn't home-she was eating dinner at the Hudson-Hummel residence that night, to announce to Finn's parents their engagement-before Kurt snapped the gossip out.

He sighed as he opened the door to his truck and slid out onto the concrete of the driveway below him. He shook his head, muttering a few choice curse words about Finn and the entire situation that he'd been put into, and then started towards the house he knew so well, knocking on the door and waiting patiently for an answer. The whole time, he thought about how her fathers would react. LeRoy and Hiram absolutely hated Finn, and they didn't hide that fact from Rachel. Sure, they'd put on a nice-guy face whenever Finn was over, but it was no secret that they hated him. But, they wanted their daughter to be happy, which made it a little difficult for Puck to gauge just how they would react towards the news. But he did know that Rachel would kill him when she found out.

"Noah Puckerman!" Hiram Berry grinned happily as he opened the door. Typically, the tall and slim grey haired man hugged Puck whenever he came over. But, as Puck had gotten older and become colder and harder to reach, Hiram had learned that Puck didn't do hugs, just as nobody was allowed to call him Noah. The only exceptions to these rules were his mother, who he loved with all of his, his sister, who he'd do absolutely anything for, and Rachel, his girl. That was another thing LeRoy and Hiram had easily figured out about the boy. So, rather than hug him, Hiram stuck his hand out for a shake, looking quite shocked when Puck shook his head, laughing a little, and allowed a quick hug with the closest thing to a father he'd ever had.

"Hey, Mr. Berry-I hope you don't mind me just coming over like this and barging in. Especially at this time," Puck said sincerely. He was always polite at the Berry residence. He was always sweet and a perfect gentleman. Unlike Finn, who acted like his typical nervous and goofy self. He acted like some sort of jerk. "I know Rachel's not here, but I actually was hoping I could talk to you and Mr. Berry," He said. Despite the fact that Rachel's dads always told him to call them by their first names, he'd always make his greetings with mister, because that was just what he figured was the polite thing to do. Puck had never been one that was good with manners, but he tried, for Rachel's sake. He grinned as Hiram took a step back and allowed him into the house, closing the door behind him.

"Puck!" LeRoy announced, walking further into the room. LeRoy was the diva of the family, matched only by Rachel's own diva-like personality. It was funny, when the two of them were together and in a disagreement. "What brings you here tonight?" He asked, bringing Puck towards the living room where the three men sat down on the couches in the large room. Puck grinned, lowering his head. He always felt embarrassed when he came over to Rachel's house, because her dads fawned all over him and gave him attention for no reason. Just because they actually liked him. And Puck wasn't used to this attention from guys-his father had walked out on him, to raise another son, just as Rachel's mother had done to her-and he especially wasn't used to it from people outside of his own family.

"Well, I can't say it's good news. It's about Rachel and Finn, actually-don't get all pale LeRoy!" Puck laughed, watching as LeRoy's face contorted and his face started to grow pale. "She's not pregnant or anything like that," Puck promised and waited for LeRoy to relax before he continued, taking a deep breath before he started back up again. "They've decided that they want to get married at the end of the year. They're telling Finn's parents tonight and they already told the Glee Club..."Puck blurted out and instantly hated himself. That had not been his initial plan for telling them about it. "I wanted you guys to know, because I knew what you'd think of their-"He stopped when the front door opened and two shadows walked inside-one very short one, and another very tall one.

"Noah?" Rachel frowned, standing in the doorway to the living room. "Daddy, dad-what's Noah doing here? Noah, did we have plans or something?" Rachel asked, looking back and forth between her parents and Puck as Finn stood there like an idiot, his arm wrapped tightly around Rachel's waist. That was where Puck's eyes zoned right in on, glaring at the way his large hand cupped her hip as he pulled her closer to him. And that wasn't right, because it was supposed to be him standing there with Rachel. Not Finn. "You told them? Noah Puckerman I hate you!" Rachel snapped as she took in the angry and shocked looks on her fathers faces. "You promised not to tell anybody!" She said, pushing away from Finn and starting towards Puck.

"Rachel...what's going on here?" Hiram asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he frowned at his daughter. Rachel lowered her head. "Rachel Barbra Berry! Answer me right now-are you and Finn planning on getting married or did Puck misunderstand something?" He asked sternly, frowning at his daughter. Rachel gulped. She absolutely hated to disappoint her fathers. Puck actually felt a little guilty for ratting her out, but he needed to do something to stop her from ruining her life because of one stupid mistake. He refused to let Rachel throw her life away, and his first plan had failed. This was the only other option he had on what to do, and while it pained him to do, he knew that it was his last hope.

"He's right. Finn and I are engaged," Rachel said, noticing how her fathers cringed at the word, but not quite seeing how Puck flinched a little but at hearing her speak those fatale, deal sealing words for the second time in his life. For the second time that week. The second time that day. "And I don't care what you say," She said boldly. "Carol and Burt are on board with this entire arrangement, because they understand that I love Finn and that he loves me. If you and daddy can't be happy for me, then...well, I guess you won't be a part of my wedding. And as for you, Noah," Rachel frowned, turning towards the sheepish looking boy, who was silently cursing the fact that his second plan had always failed. "What did you have to gain by doing this?"

"I don't want you to throw your whole life away," Puck said honestly, deciding that that was really the only choice he had anymore. Rachel frowned, her eyebrows furrowing for a second before she grew angry. Before she could protest, he went on. "Rachel, my parents got married right outside of high school. They had me and he cheated on her. Then they had Ziska. But, when he cheated on her, he had another kid. Come on, you know this story, Rachie," He said, using his old nickname for her, trying to soften her up a little bit. "Rachie, please just...think about this. I don't want you to end up like my mom. I know, Finn's not like my dad, but...high school marriages? They end up that way most of the time," He whispered softly.

"Noah..."Rachel softened, taking a small step forward. "Noah...I..."She whispered, lowering her head as she realized how familiar this situation must be for him. She did know his parents' story, and she'd always sworn she'd never make any mistakes like that. She'd promised that she and Noah would never end up making those fatale mistakes-they'd take time for their relationships to mature before rushing into something like marriage. Yet, here she was. "Oh, No," She sighed, and everybody in that room knew that she wasn't saying it as in oh no. She was saying No-her old nickname for her best friend, because even though Noah was a name only a few could call him, it wasn't as meaningful as her own nickname for him.

"Rachel, what's going on right now? Are you actually listening to his bull shit?" Finn asked, speaking for the first time since arriving in the house. "Don't tell me you think Puck actually cares about you. He's an idiot and all he cares about is himself-I thought you knew that? Since when did he ever care about somebody who wasn't him?" Finn asked.

But Rachel knew that Finn was wrong. He was being a jerk. He was being an ass. And he was wrong. Puck had always been looking out for her. He'd been the one to help Kurt come up with that Barbra-Intervention to make her change her mind about her nose job. Puck had been the one to finally stop the slushy attacks. Puck had given her rides whenever she'd needed one. Puck had come to her defense against Jesse and Santana. Puck had gone to the anti-prom she'd wanted to have, and he wasn't going for silly reasons. He was going because he wanted to be with her. He was going because he agreed with her. Puck had never put anybody before her, but Finn? He'd put everybody before her, and she wasn't sure he would ever stop that.

"I...Finn, I don't think we should do this. I think...I think we both just need to think about it, alright? We shouldn't rush into this. If we love each other and we're meant to be, we can wait," She said softly.

"What the hell, Rach? You're listening to Puck? Since when does he-"

"Shut up!" Puck glared, turning around and glaring at Finn. "Stop saying that I don't care about her and that I put myself first. Name one time I've ever done that to Rachel? I let her break up with me because she wanted you! I stopped it when we were making out because I knew how she'd feel about hurting you! I sang that duet with her because she wanted to make you jealous. I stayed away from her because you wanted me to. The only time anybody's ever put themselves over Rachel was with you! God, you even have her putting herself behind you in her own life! Why don't you tell your dads where you were going after high school, Rachel? If you and Finn got married?" Puck asked, whirling back towards Rachel.

"Ohio State," Rachel whispered softly.

"She wasn't even going to worry about NYADA anymore. She was going to give up Broadway-her dream from when she was five to be with you, because you're too afraid to not be the big star-the big man on campus-anymore to leave Lima! She deserved better than that! She can do better than you!" Puck snapped.

"Like who? You?" Finn scoffed.

And that was all it took for PUck to snap, lunging forward and tackling Finn to the ground, ready to punch him before Rachel put a hand on his shoulder. Rachel had always been able to calm him with a simple touch.

"No," She responded, using that childhood nickname once again. "Remember, you still have another week before probation. You have to wait until a month after your eighteenth birthday, remember? One more week," She whispered softly.

"What the hell? Rachel-he's about to pound my face in and you're worried about him going to jail?" Finn asked as Puck stood up and walked away, trying to put as much space as possible between him and Finn. "You know what-figure out what you want, alright? And then let me know, because I'm not dealing with this," He snapped before turning around and storming out of the house.

Puck sighed, hating Rachel's sad face, but loving that his plan worked.

"Come on, Rachie," He sighed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Let's get you upstairs, alright? I'll pick you up for school tomorrow, if you want. And...do you think on Friday we could go to the overpass? We haven't been in a while, and I think we need to talk," He whispered. He could feel Rachel's nod and he smiled. "Alright, Legs," He said, their pre-teen nickname coming out now as she giggled and socked him playfully in the arm.