A/N: Alright cheekys?
DISCLAIMER: Don't own Glee, still waiting for that one...
Here we go, the penultimate chapter - it's been a ride. Thanks for sticking with me through this one :) And enjoy this one.
As always, Reviews are Love :)
Puck tweaked the strings on his guitar, tuning it carefully. He sighed, laying a hand on the thick neck of the guitar and wrinkled his nose. A greeting broke his thoughts.
"Hey, Puckerman!" Sam grinned at him from his wheelchair, as his mother pushed him in.
"Evans, what's up man, how're you feeling?" Puck gave him a high five and squeezed his shoulder.
"Not too bad, not too bad. I'm excited to see our winning group perform!" He said with glee.
"It sucks that you weren't around to win with us." Puck sighed, smiling sadly.
"I'm kind of glad I wasn't. In our rehearsal I felt like I was intruding on you and Rachel. I've heard you two singing together before and it's one of the most wonderful things ever. I don't think you two appreciate how well you go together."
He wheeled himself away leaving Puck to ponder his words. He was right; they were brilliant together and he just had to make sure Rachel knew that.
Rod Remington burst in through a door, being pampered by the last touches of make-up.
"Noah Puckerman, lovely to meet you in person." He extended a hand to Puck to shake and pressed on, "Of course I have seen you various show choir competitions, but to have you here in my own little studio is simply marvellous. And of course, your partner Miss Rachel Berry. Phenomenal voice, phenomenal!" He seemed to be talking to himself, looking around the studio as if Rachel was going to pop out from a hidden corner at any moment. "Where… err- where is she? You are due on in less than ten minutes?"
Puck followed his gaze around the studio, hoping now that Rachel would indeed pop out from somewhere. He had not seen her since they had arrived. She had kept silent in the car when he drove her over and had disappeared almost immediately.
"Let me go and look for her." He reassured Rod and walked away from the man who stood there allowing a harassed looking woman to powder his cheeks.
Puck looked around the studio: on the stage, where he expected to find her, in the make-up room, he asked Sam and Santana, who was leaning on the edge of his wheelchair chatting to him amiably. But Rachel was no-where to be found.
He rubbed his face and decided to take a leak before he continued on his hunt. Wandering past the girls toilets he heard a familiar snuffling.
"Rach?" He called out, pushing the door open slightly.
"Noah, you can't be in here." Rachel reprimanded, wiping her nose with a tissue.
"The Puck-man does what he likes, I thought you knew that B?"
"Oh shut up," she said, hitting him playfully on the arm.
"Now come on, what's with the tears?"
xxx
"Hmm?" He looked down at her, and brushed a hand through her hair.
She caught the hand in her own and let his big fingers enclose around her tiny ones.
"I'm nervous." She muttered in the smallest of voices.
"That can't be true." Puck said, slipping himself onto the surface in between two sinks. He drew her into him, holding her between his legs so they were eye-level, more or less. There was no denying that Puck had a few more inches on Rachel, even sat down. He shook his head and said,
"You love performing?"
"It's true, I do love performing, but in front of audiences. Here, the people can't see us… so I can't gauge a reaction from them, I won't know what they're feeling, if they like it or hate it. I can't base my performance around them. It's weird." Rachel finished, playing with Puck's fingers awkwardly.
"So don't think about them." He said simply.
"What do you mean?" Rachel put her head on one side and looked at him blankly.
"I mean, that when we're in there, when we get up on that stage, it's just going to be you and me, in your bedroom on our own, singing to each other. There will be no-one else there, no cameras, no people, no Rod Remington. Just you and me."
He smiled down at her and placed one hand on her back to pull her closer to him. He kissed her forehead softly and murmured into it,
"Alright?"
She nodded, "Alright" and closed her eyes at his touch, taking in the moment just purely for the two of them.
He slid off the surface and drew her into his body holding her close. He breathed in deeply, smelling the scent of her coconut shampoo and enclosing her in his touch.
They stood for a moment, each holding the other in peaceful silence.
Suddenly the door bashed open and Santana stumbled in.
"Whoops," she said, "Hope I'm not interrupting anything…"
Rachel opened her eyes, mortified and stuttered, "Nope, nothing, we were just…"
"Having a pre-show meditation session. It's a ritual of ours before a performance." Puck finished smoothly, winking at Rachel who was trying to keep a straight face.
"Right." Santana said shortly and swept past them into a cubicle. From inside one of the stalls she shouted, "Don't do anything out there whilst I'm in here. I can hear you know?"
Puck snorted and shouted back, "Sure San, don't come out for a while, we're just going to have a sneaky bang…"
"Noah!" Rachel chastised him, slapping him across the chest, open mouthed.
"Ouch!" He said, rubbing his chest, "I was kidding. We'll save it for later."
She gave him a pointed look, not smiling.
"Did I cheer you up? Did I?"
"No." She replied, sniffing and looking away.
He took her chin in his hand and directed her back to him. "Don't be nervous." He kissed her brusquely on the mouth and led her out of the bathroom.
xxx
"And now, some music for you. This is the sound of Rachel Berry and Noah Puckerman, up and coming talent, covering Beyoncé's 'If I were a Boy'"
Rod waved his hand towards Rachel and Puck who were stood on a little stage to the left of him.
"Hi there," said Puck into the microphone, "I'm Puck and this is Rachel, and this song is for Sam Evans." He leaned over to Rachel and murmured into her ear, "Remember just us." He hoped that it would look like some form of 'pre-show' words that they always did. He sat down on a stool behind him and plucked the first strings.
Rachel looked at him nervously, but at his encouraging smile she began her first line. They locked eyes and his words came true to her almost instantly. The studio, the cameras, Sam and Santana; they all disappeared and she was back in her room, singing into her mirror with her hairbrush with Noah. Any minute now he was going to stop playing and say,
"Wanna make out?"
But he didn't put the guitar down, he didn't kiss her, he kept strumming and she kept singing.
She was lifted by his enthusiasm, his playing and his emotions. Watching him sing the second part filled her with pride and joy and all sense of nerves left her completely as she watched how at ease he looked, which in turn gave her the same sense of ease.
She joined him on the chorus and fell entirely into her own, blasting the notes out with her usual power and ability. She sang directly to him; harmonising with him perfectly and feeling a growing lump in her throat.
'I cry every time I sing a solo' She remembered telling Finn, but this, this was different. This was true emotion and desire.
She had never felt this way singing a song, like it was wholly her own, not to impress anyone, or to prove herself, but to be enjoyed and to connect with another person. With Noah.
She reached out to him and never took her eyes off him. They were in their own world, oblivious to everything around them, wrapped up in the music and each other.
"But you're just a boy…" she finished, swallowing and not daring to smile.
Noah gave her a look that completely depicted 'I'm proud of you' and she nodded.
Rapturous applause broke out and Rachel was dragged reluctantly out of her world with Noah and back into reality. She nodded towards the camera and smiled graciously.
"Rachel Berry and Noah Puckerman everyone!" cried Rod Remington, clapping ostentatiously.
Noah took her hand and led her off the stage past the camera. Sam wheeled himself over closely followed by Santana who greeted them enthusiastically and told them how wonderful they had been. Rachel took in the praise politely and chatted to them about how amazing the whole experience had been. She did not tell them of her out of body feeling. Noah put his hand on the small of her back and leaned down to murmur in her ear,
"I told you you could do it."
She glanced up to him and gave him a small smile, whispering back, "Well, you are always right."
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