A shadowy figure stood near the screen door, frantically trying to silence the alarm. Noah approached wordlessly and shouted, "Freeze!" The intruder held up his hands in a gesture of surrender and shakily said, "Don't shoot! Puck it's me!"
Noah, with his gun still raised, groped for the light switch. Finding it, the sight before his eyes shocked the hell out of him. "Finn? What the hell are you doing here?" Noah spat out angrily.
Finn nervously fidgeted with his hands, "Um I thought I'd surprise you and Rach. Didn't think the alarm would be on."
"Of course the alarm would be on at 3 am Finn!" Noah yelled.
Sheepishly Finn responded, "Dude I'm sorry for waking everyone up. Can I just crash on the couch?"
After Noah hadn't come back for 20 minutes Rachel started getting nervous. She put the kids back to sleep and then slowly crept downstairs. She stopped dead in her tracks about halfway down the stairs. 'What is Finn doing here?' she thought.
Finn Hudson was Rachel Berry's ex-boyfriend and Noah Puckerman's ex-best friend. Before dating Noah in sophomore year, she shared a brief romance with Finn Hudson, her male lead in Glee club. When Rachel and Puck got married, Finn showed up drunk to the wedding and professed his love for the bride to be. Rachel was mortified and Noah was furious. Neither had spoken to Finn since and it was almost six years later.
"Finn what are you doing here?" Rachel quietly asked.
"Hey Rach. I missed you guys…" Finn responded just as quietly.
Noah's guarded stance and eyes burning with hatred didn't necessitate a response but he gave one anyway. "Yeah well we didn't miss you so why don't you leave?"
Rachel, always the peacekeeper, interjected, "Noah sweetheart it's nearing 4, where else would he go? Finn you can spend the night… I'll go get some blankets."
"Thanks Rach."
Noah followed Rachel to the hall closet where the Puckermans kept spare blankets and pillows. "You can't be serious Rachel! I don't want him staying here. Who knows if he's still in love with you?" Noah whispered loudly.
"Baby I don't care if he's still in love with me because you're the one I want to be with. I wouldn't trade our family or our life for anything. Especially not a high school fling who treated me poorly." Rachel responded in a matter of fact tone.
With those simple words, Noah was easily soothed. He really did love this woman and knew she loved him too. They were perfect for each other and nothing, especially not Finn Hudson, would get in the way of that.
From the next room Finn listened as Rachel reassured her husband that he was the only one for her. It was sweet to hear her lie like that. 'I know Rach says she's happy but she can't be. This is Puck we're talking about. He's bound to screw up and I'll be there when he does.' Finn thought and smiled to himself.
"What the hell are you smiling about Hudson?" Puck growled.
"Nothing Puck. I'm happy to be here that's all." Finn replied.
"Yeah well we're not…" Puck started but Rachel interrupted.
"We're glad to have you here Finn. Get some sleep and we'll talk in the morning." Rachel ended the conversation with a pointed look at Noah.
Finn responded, "Okay guys. Goodnight." He watched Rachel go with sadness.
The couple made their way back to bed at a quarter to 5. Noah had to be up at 7 and he was pissed. "Rachel how could you let him stay? What are we going to do tomorrow when I have to be at work?" Puck demanded.
Rachel calmly replied, "When you wake up you can go downstairs and hit Finn with a pillow, get your aggression out and then when I wake up with the kids we can eat breakfast with him and then we'll join you for lunch at the station."
The way she said it left little room for argument and Noah knew it, but still he was pissed; he didn't trust Finn. When Finn told Rachel he loved her at the wedding, Noah wanted to beat the crap out of him. That was ancient history. But the wound never fully healed. He lost a best friend that day and he resented Finn for throwing away their friendship. 'Maybe he came for forgiveness' Noah thought as he let his eyelids drift slowly closed.
Rachel lay awake in bed long after her husband had fallen asleep beside her. She couldn't figure out what Finn was doing in her home after almost six years without a word. She sent him a letter after the wedding telling him she wished him the best in life and that she would always care about him, as a friend. He never responded. A million questions ran through her mind 'What do I say to him? Should I pretend that what happened at the wedding never happened? Or should I confront him? What do I tell the kids? Meet Uncle Finn?' It sounded weird in her head; he wasn't their uncle or a part of their lives. He wouldn't be a part of their lives if Noah got his way, and Rachel was happy to oblige him. Finn was unpredictable. Everyone thought Puck was the troublemaker but after proposing to Rachel Berry he matured dramatically. Finn, on the other hand, slowly slipped further into a downward spiral. He didn't go to college and got his girlfriend Quinn pregnant and basically ended up a disaster. She had the baby and he abandoned them both. Rachel didn't trust him anymore. 'But maybe he's changed.' That was her last thought as she fell into a fitful sleep.