Notice Me: Ch 6: Moving Forward

AN: So, I'm back guys! Sorry it's been so long. My life has been...well, to say the least, it's been stressful the last 6 months. I'm hoping to get back into updating every few weeks at least though. I like this chapter fairly well even though it's me just getting back into writing so I'm sure it's not my best. I hope you enjoy it. :)

And, as always, I do not own Glee...except in my own little twisted fantasies. lol

It took Rachel a few hours to finally move from the bathroom floor. Her fathers had been home for a while, she knew, as she could hear them moving around downstairs. One of them had knocked on her door earlier, but when she hadn't answered, he had gone away, apparently assuming she was busy. Moving carefully so as not to make the wounds on her ribs start bleeding again, she stood and reached into the shower, turning the hot water on full blast. Pausing to grab a towel from under her sink, she stepped into the tub and turned her face up to the cleansing blast, letting the water wash away everything from that day, the dried blood and dirt as well as all the pain, all the guilt, and all the misplaced hope she had placed in one Noah Puckerman.

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"Ughhh." Puck groaned as sunlight from the open window penetrated his brain through the alcohol induced haze he had drunk himself to last night. Throwing an arm over his eyes, he attempted to roll over but was halted by a small foot on his hip.

"Oh no, Noah Puckerman. There is no way you're sleeping in today after the stunts you and my son pulled last night." Mrs. Hummel leaned over him, pulling his arm away from his face. "Get up. You and Finn are shoveling the sidewalks for us – with no sunglasses," she added with a little bit too much relish. She moved away from Puck, stalking over to her son's prone form on his bed, muttering about "teaching the two of them a nice, firm lesson about underage drinking."

Puck groaned but rolled to his feet, pulling his tee on from where it had ended up thrown on Finn's floor sometime last night. Knowing he wasn't going to get out of the work, Puck attempted to grin charmingly at Mrs. Hummel, though it came out as more of a grimace as rays of sunlight continued their assault on his oversensitive eyes. "Can we at least get some coffee, please?"

Rolling her eyes at his antics, the woman who was like a second mother to him stalked to the door. "Fine, but only if you both are downstairs within ten minutes," she said, glancing pointedly at her still snoring son. "Have fun getting him up."

Puck got his coffee.

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Rachel rolled out of bed the next morning and went down to breakfast with her fathers as per usual, ignoring the fleeting stab of pain across her torso when she was working out on her elliptical after her fathers left for work. She spent the morning going through the motions as she followed her crazily organized schedule, taking elderly citizens cookies, teaching children how to play the piano, and all together being her typical goody-two-shoes self. It wasn't until lunch that she allowed herself to check her phone to see if she'd missed any text messages. There were ten, but none from the one person she had most wanted to hear from.

With a sigh, she silently berated herself for thinking about him when he so obviously wasn't doing the same and returned the texts from her fathers, Kurt, and Mercedes, but deleting the one from Finn without even opening it, unknowing that it would have saved her a lot of heartache just to read it.

Returning to her house to make herself a completely vegan lunch, she was surprised to see Puck's truck in her driveway as well as the man himself slaving away shoveling snow off the front walkway.

Ignoring him, she parked her car and made her way carefully around him and up to the front door.

"Seriously, Berry? You're just going to ignore me?" His low baritone voice cut the silence, and she turned towards him slowly, not sure how to respond.

"What do you want me to say, Noah?" she asked quietly, keeping her eyes determinedly focused somewhere above his left shoulder.

He sighed, thrusting a hand through his Mohawk in frustration. "I don't know. I just – yell at me or something!" Thrusting his hands into his jean pockets, he went on in a much lower voice. "I'm sorry I didn't come over yesterday. Some things came up, and I just-" he trailed off, looking at her imploringly.

Rachel hadn't planned on becoming angry. When he first got there, she was hurt and trying to stay away from him to keep from showing him exactly how hurt she was, but now? Now, she was absolutely furious. "You just what, Noah? Just couldn't text me or call me? Just were completely inconsiderate to me? Just hurt me?" She gasped and threw a hand to her mouth as if that could recall the last words from her lips. Her bright brown eyes beginning to fill with tears, she quickly turned, trying to retreat up the stairs and into her house, but Puck wasn't about to let her run away from him.

"Oh no you don't," he growled, sprinting across the frozen lawn and intercepting her just as she turned the key in the lock. Grabbing her hand, he spun her back around to face him, feeling a twinge of regret at the lone tear streaking down her face.

"Look, Rachel. I'm sorry. There's not much else I can say other than that, but it is the truth." Rachel had her eyes scrunched tightly closed and her lips were clenched tightly together, but the corner of her mouth was trembling, evidence of how hard she was trying to not break down completely. Groaning with frustration, Puck threaded his fingers through hers and pinned both of her hands next to her head. Leaning to press his forehead against hers, he murmured softly, "Rachel, look at me – please?"

Rachel shook her head, almost imperceptibly as she struggled to keep her composure, but when he repeated the request even more plaintively, her eyes opened of their own accord, a few tears leaking from the corners.

The pained look on Rachel's face made Puck almost flinch away from her, but her tear-filled gaze drew him towards her in the same instance. "Why?"

The one word drew Puck's gaze to her full mouth, and suddenly his own went dry. "I – shit, Rach. I don't have an excuse. I just couldn't come yesterday."

"I see." She looked away from him, attempting to put some distance between them, if not physically – since he had her pinned against the door and obviously wasn't moving – then at least emotionally.

"No you don't," he murmured, releasing one of her hands so that he could pick her chin up with one finger. "It wasn't anything you did, Rachel. This one was all me. I messed up."

Arching one perfectly sculpted eyebrow, Rachel let one tearful laugh escape before she could choke out a reply. "That's a new one."

Puck still refused to release her face as he gazed at her intently, his gold-green eyes intense. "I swear, Rachel. You did absolutely nothing wrong."

He saw a spark of hope flair in her eyes as she sniffled tearfully. "You promise?"

"I promise."

Such relief shone in her gaze that Puck could literally feel the weight lift from his own shoulders as well as hers. "Okay," she agreed simply.

"Okay," he agreed quietly before moving forward to embrace her gently, pressing his lips to her forehead in a gentle kiss. After relishing the unique feeling of holding her petite form in his arms for a long moment, he released her and opened the door for her, pushing her gently inside. "Go warm up. I'll finish shoveling the sidewalk and be in in a moment."

Nodding her acceptance, Rachel wandered inside then proceeded to watch him as he strode away and went back to the chore, one small hand brushing aside her bangs where she had felt his lips press against her forehead in a chaste kiss.

AN: Thanks as always for your love and support everybody! Please press the shiny button and leave a review now. :D