A/N: nope, you're not dreaming, and no, I didn't forget about my stories... I am actually back! :)
ok, so I am not even going to try to give any excuses as of why I've been gone so long... all you need to know is this has been by far the BEST year in my entire life! even if it's been the busiest, I lived the best experiences ever! plus, I graduated from college, so yes there was a lot to do and I decided to take a little break... and then I wanted this to be really good as a comeback so I hope it is we see more of Rachel's past in here... any ideas of what happened? hahaaha... I am not going to extend this thanking every review for this chapter only cause you guys been waiting long enough so I WOULD LIKE TO JUST THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR LIKING/REVIEWING/FOLLOWING MY STORY! thank you so much for understanding and I hope you keep on reading! also, I'm working on my other stories so keep an eye on that! and well... I'm back ;) enjoy - moony!
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, or its characters... even if I'd like to own some of the guys ;)
Rachel woke up when it was still dark. She opened her eyes to find a snoring Puck with his arm still wrapped around her. She turned around to see the time and saw it was 4 a.m. in the morning. She carefully sneaked out of Puck's arm and made her way out of the room. She tried to remember the way to the kitchen and when she was almost there, she hit her foot with a table.
"Shit!" she yelled jumping on one foot and holding her injured one with her hands.
"Who's there?" she heard someone ask from the kitchen. She managed to jump all the way there and turned on the light to see Sam with a broken glass and a bleeding hand.
"What happened to you?" she asked worried walking over to him.
"Careful!" he stopped her. "Broken glass" he pointed at the floor. Rachel turned to look at her bare foots so she hopped on the kitchen island and made her way to Sam. "I dropped the glass and I was picking it up and I cut my hand" he told her.
"Yeah, well, it wasn't such a good idea to do that in the dark, genius" Rachel said taking the glass from him and tossing it on the sink. "Get up here" she told him and Sam did as he was told. "Let me see" she said and he showed her his hand. Rachel took his hand with her hands and examined it carefully. "Come on" she said turning around and hoping off on the other side of the counter. Sam followed her silently. Rachel went to get some paper towel roll and started looking for something.
"What are you looking for?" Sam asked confused holding his hand.
"This" she said smiling when she found the dishwashing soap and she grabbed his hand.
"Are you crazy?! Get that thing away from me!" Sam yelled taking his hand away from her. "That's gonna sting!"
"Oh don't be such a baby Evans! Aren't you on the football team? I bet you have worse injuries than this one" Rachel said rolling her eyes.
"But that's dishwashing soap!" he said childishly.
"Trust me! It works" she told him annoyed. "Give me your hand" she said.
"No" he said stubbornly.
"Sam! It'll tingle just a little. I promise" she said in a motherly tone talking to her five-year-old kid. "I need to clean your hand before it gets infected" she explained. Sam looked at her still unconvinced but he finally gave in. Rachel smiled in victory hopping on the counter, next to the sink. She grabbed Sam's hand and placed it gently under the cool water. She applied the soap and washed his hand softly.
"Ouch!" Sam complained like a little boy.
"Seriously Sam? Is not even that deep!" Rachel said rolling her eyes. "You wanna see a deep cut? Here!" she said lifting her short a little revealing a scar on her right leg. "You're so whiney" she said laughing returning to clean Sam's hand.
"H-how did you get that?" Sam asked scared, still looking at Rachel's leg. But the scar was now covered again. He felt Rachel tense up a little but she shrugged it off quickly.
She cleared her throat. "Um, bar fight."
"Yeah, right" Sam said laughing.
"Hey! Just because I'm short doesn't mean I don't know how to fight! I grew up with Noah, Mike, Matt and Finn!" she complained but Sam only laughed again.
"Hey it didn't hurt that much" he said looking at his clean hand. He instantly got the fact that Rachel wasn't going to talk about her scar and he wasn't going to push it. "How'd you get so good at this?" he asked while Rachel wrapped his hand with a towel.
"Practice" she muttered sadly.
"Practice?" Sam asked confused.
"Um, yeah. You know, when we were little, Finn, Noah, Mike and Matt would get hurt all the time and well, I'd play nurse for them" she said laughing a little. "All done" she said smiling at him.
"Thanks Rach" Sam said smiling sadly at her. He knew she was lying to him.
"Sure. It's the least I could do, I mean, you helped me with the um, slushie thing and last night" Rachel said returning the smile, changing the subject a little. She knew he didn't believe her about their previous conversation. She had always been a terrible liar. They both cleaned up the mess and when they finished they sat on the counter and stayed quiet for a while. "So, what are you doing up?" she asked changing the subject.
"Couldn't sleep" he said sighting.
"Are you ok?"
"I got into a fight with Quinn" he simply said.
"Oh" Rachel said awkwardly. "You… wanna talk about it?"
"I don't know" he said looking away. "She's just so… confusing."
"Confusing how?"
"Well, with me she's this incredibly sweet girl that I fell in love with, but then, with the rest of the people she's this…"
"Bitch?" Rachel asked all of the sudden and Sam turned to glare a little at her. "Sorry" she said blushing a little.
"But not entirely wrong" Sam muttered sadly. "So, what are you doing up? Seem kind of upset yourself."
"You don't wanna know" she answered with a sarcastic chuckle.
"Then I wouldn't have asked" he said smiling sweetly. "Look, I know you don't like Quinn and I don't blame you. I mean, Santana told me what she did yesterday with Tina and Mercedes and I'm sorry."
"Is not really your fault" Rachel told him.
"I know but that's actually why I got into a fight with her" he told her and Rachel looked at him surprised. "And well, you seem like a cool girl and Puck, Finn, Matt and Mike are my friends too and well, there's a chance we might sing together at Sectionals so we could get to know each other a little better" he said smiling sweetly.
"I'd like that" Rachel said returning the smile. "You seem like a really decent guy and I've only met six of them in that school. And that's because Kurt and he's not-yet-boyfriend aren't there" she said laughing a little.
"Ok, so, I'll go first" Sam said smiling. "I'm Sam Evans. I'm seventeen years old and I'm from Tennessee. Um, I have a younger brother, Stevie, and a younger sister, Stacy, who by the way said you were very pretty" he said smiling.
"Thanks" Rachel said giggling a little.
"I like football and I like to play the guitar. I have dyslexia-"
"No way!" Rachel said a little shocked and Sam nodded a little confused. "ADHD" she said smiling.
"Really?"
"Yeah" Rachel said nodding.
"Cool. Something we kind of have in common" Sam told her and they both laughed. "Um, I guess that's it. Oh, I'm addicted to Doritos and I have an obsession with Avatar" he finished and she laughed a little.
"Oh, my turn?" she asked him and Sam nodded. She did like Sam. He was unlike any of the friends she had made. "Let's see, um, well, I'm Rachel Berry" she started. "I'm also seventeen years old, I'm from, well, here but I moved to Philadelphia because my mom married an asshole" she said rolling her eyes. "Um, I don't have any blood-related siblings but well, Finn, Mike and Matt are like my brothers and Britt is my sister. I also have more brothers but they come in later" she told him. "Uh, I like to sing. I hate sports, no offense, and my addiction goes to brownies and my obsession to Harry Potter" she told him smiling. "Anything else you'd like to know?"
"Will you answer if I ask?" he asked a little nervous.
"I'll try" she said tensing up a little.
"Why are you back? I mean, I know you live with Mike but… I'm sorry forget I asked-"
"My mom kicked me out" Rachel simply said looking away.
"What?" Sam asked sadly. "Why? Can she just do that?"
"She did" Rachel said laughing sarcastically. "My parents are not really the nice kind of people" she said sadly.
"What about your dad?" Sam asked immediately regretting it when he saw her shake a little. "I'm sorry, Rach, I just should've kept my mouth shut. I don't know, I just- people tend to stop me when I talk too much! God! I'm such an idiot!"
"Calm down Sam" Rachel said laughing a little at his rambling. "It's just that um, well I haven't even thought of my dad in a long time" she said sadly. "After um, my mom left him I never really heard anything from him again and well… I really have no idea even if he's still alive" she finished.
"I'm sorry" Sam said softly putting his hand on Rachel's shoulder and feeling her flinch away from him.
"Sorry" Rachel said shaking her head. "Look, um, I'm um-"
"Rach?" both Sam and Rachel turned around to see a sleepy Puck on the door.
"Noah!" Rachel said jumping off the counter, running towards him and throwing her arms around him.
"Hey babe" he said kissing her head. As soon as she felt his strong arms around her, she felt safe again. "What happened to you?" Puck asked arching an eyebrow at Sam when he felt her shaking a little.
"Oh, I was thirsty and I came downstairs and Sam was here already and he cut his hand with a glass, so I was helping him" she said smiling up at Puck.
"Uh, yeah" Sam said showing him his hand. "I'm gonna go to bed now" he said hopping off the counter too. "Thanks for um, my hand Rach" he said smiling at her. "Night guys!"
"Night man" Puck said nodding his head before turning to look back at Rachel. "Hey" he said gently lifting her head up. "You sure you're ok?"
"Yeah, it's just that, um, Sam and I were talking to get to know each other and he just asked about my mom and about my d-dad" she said with her voice breaking and feeling Puck's grip tighten around her.
"Baby…" he said softly.
"It's ok" she said smiling at him and he kissed her forehead. "I'm ok now" she whispered hugging him again.
"Dude, you guys so hooked up!" they heard Mike's voice.
"We did not!" and then, they heard Matt's.
"Why are you so against this-? Oh, hey guys" Mike said when he spotted them.
"Dude, what the fuck is all the noise?" Finn asked walking from the living room rubbing his eyes.
"Seriously? Sam even broke a glass and now you're getting up?" Rachel asked laughing a little. Finn just shrugged his shoulders and kissed her head.
"What are you all doing up?" Puck asked laughing at them.
"Well, we could ask you the same thing" Matt said laughing. "Actually, no, wait… we don't wanna know" he said wrinkling his face.
"Fuck you Rutheford!" Puck said wrapping his arms around Rachel's waist and burying his face in her hair.
"What? You thought you'd be the only one getting lucky tonight?" Mike asked smirking.
"What?" Puck, Rachel and Finn asked at the same time.
"Dude, SHUT UP!" Matt warned him.
"Is that a hickey?" Finn asked waking up completely.
"What?" Puck and Rachel asked smirking. Rachel freed herself from Puck and quickly climbed on the kitchen island making her way towards Matt before he could go anywhere. She lifted his face with her hand and examined his neck.
"OH MY GOD! Gentlemen, we have a hickey!" she said bursting out into laugh.
"Dude, you and Santana totally did it!" Puck said laughing while Finn and Mike started laughing too.
"Oh, Santana's got herself a man-bitch" Finn said between laughs.
"HEY! I am no one's bitch!" Matt complained.
"Dude, you are so gonna be Satan's bitch!" Mike said laughing too.
"You guys suck!" Matt said rolling his eyes.
"Oh, don't get upset Matty" Rachel said hugging him. "We still love you!"
"You ok, Rach?" Finn asked her suddenly. Puck walked over to her and hugged her to him again.
"Yeah" she said with a sad smile. "Long night."
"You know we're proud of you… for what you did to Karofsky, right?" Matt said smirking a little.
"Well, I learned from the best" she said leaning back against Puck's chest and he gave her a kiss on the head. "I could kick any of your asses any day" she said with a cocky smirk.
"Yeah, you wish" Mike said rolling his eyes.
"Wanna bet Chang?" Rachel said pretending to be serious.
"Oh bring it doll" Mike said laughing. Rachel threw herself at him but Mike was prepared. He wrapped his arms around her and carried her over his shoulders like a bag of potatoes without any difficulty. The other three were just laughing at the whole scene. "You were saying?"
"Put me down!" Rachel said laughing and kicking her legs. Mike made his way over to the living room and tossed her on the couch and started tickling her. "M-Mikey!" Rachel managed to say between laughs. "St-stop it! Noah!"
"Dude, where'd you get that pizza?" Finn asked Matt, ignoring Rachel and Mike.
"Fridge" Matt said as they sat on the other couch with him and Puck.
"Mikey! Get off me!" Rachel said trying to push him off her.
"But I'm comfortable!"
"Noah!"
"Chang! Get off Rachel" Puck said eating pizza.
"Wow, my real hero" Rachel said rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, you go Puckerman" Matt said laughing.
"Mike, I swear to God! I will go all ninja on your ass!"
"Yeah, I'd like to see that!" Mike said laughing hysterically.
"Seriously! Get off or I'll tell Britt you're in love with her!"
"What?" Mike said pretending to be confused.
"Please dude, even I know that" Finn said with his mouth full.
"Yeah, and Hudson's not the brightest tool on the box!"
"Exactly… hey!"
"Whatever! I am not in love with Britt!"
"Dude, it's been decided since we were six years old!"
"Do I get a say in any of this?"
"No, not really!"
"Well, now that that's been arranged… GET THE FUCK OFF ME!"
"Now, Rachie those aren't nice words coming from the mouth of a lady!" Mike mocked her before…
"Oh my God!"
"Did she just-?"
"Shit Rach!"
"Fuck! That was low Rach" Mike managed to say rolling around the floor in pain.
"I love you Mikey" Rachel said standing up and sitting on Puck's lap.
"That was fucking badass babe" Puck said kissing her cheek.
"Told you I learned from the best" Rachel said smirking. "And that I could kick your asses at any time!"
"How could you want ice cream? It's freezing!"
"But it's ice cream" Rachel pouted.
"Fine" Puck said chuckling and giving her a peck on the lips. They walked through the park and made their way to the ice cream stand. "One chocolate and one strawberry please!" Puck ordered and paid before handing the chocolate ice cream to Rachel. "Here you go babe."
"Thanks Noah" she said kissing his cheek. "So, are you nervous about competing with Sam?" she asked him. "You know, for Sectionals?" she added when she saw the confused look on his eyes.
"Nah, I mean I would love to sing with you" he said smiling at her. "But is not like I would mind Evans singing with you."
"Why are you so sure it's me who's gonna sing. I mean, Mercedes could win" she said while she ate her ice cream.
"Are you kidding? Look, I know Mercedes sings good but, babe, you're amazing" he said as if she was crazy. Rachel couldn't help but smile widely at him and she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the lips.
"You better beat Sam tomorrow" she whispered once they broke apart. "I want to sing with you!"
"Is that a threat?" he asked smirking.
"Mmm… maybe" she said laughing a little and giving him another peck on the lips before pulling away and they started walking holding hands. "So, um, how does this whole Sectionals thing work?" she asked out of curiosity.
"Well, we go there, we sing against two other choir groups, one being Hummel's, and-"
"Wait! We're up against Kurt?" Rachel cut him off.
"Yeah" Puck said with an awkward smile.
"Are they any good?"
"Well, we don't really know" he said looking away from her.
"How can you not know? Kurt was in New Directions? Wasn't he?"
"Yeah, well, I mean…" Puck said as if it wasn't a big deal and Rachel placed the biggest smirk on her face.
"Oh my God!"
"What?"
"You think Kurt is great!" she said still smirking.
"What? No! Hummel sounds like a chick!"
"You like how he sings!" she sang laughing.
"How do you do that?" he asked childishly and she started laughing.
"I know you better than you know yourself Mr. Puckerman" she said smirking.
"Fine! Hummel fucking rocks! Just don't tell him I said that or he'll make us listen to him singing Broadway all the fucking time!" he said rolling his eyes.
"You're so sweet" she said giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"No babe, I'm a badass!"
"A sweet badass" she said smiling brightly at him and he glared a little at her. "Ok, ok, so um, what happens at Sectionals when we're up against Kurt?"
"Well, with your voice, we win. And when we win we go to Regionals."
"What's Regionals?" she asked with her mouth full of ice cream and making him laugh a little.
"Yeah, it's pretty much the same and then if we win that, we go to Nationals! They're in New York this year!" he explained.
"Did you go to Nationals last year?" she asked all of the sudden and she saw him tense up.
"N-no. We didn't place" Puck said looking down.
"How come?" Rachel asked confused. "Did you guys suck at Regionals?" she asked mocking him. "What'd you sing?"
"We sang a Journey medley" he said feeling his heart beating faster by remembering that night. She could feel the change in his voice.
"Journey?" she asked laughing. "What is it with Mr. Schue and that band? Oh, please tell me one of you put on Steve Perry wigs and all!" she stopped laughing when she saw the look on his face. "Noah?" she asked looking confused at him and he turned to look at her. He was hiding something. She knew it. His eyes could tell her. "What's wrong? I was just kidding" she said with a sweet smile.
Puck looked intently into her brown chocolate eyes and that beautiful smile on her face. He had no idea how he was going to wipe that smile off. He couldn't. But he knew he had to.
"Rach?"
"Yeah?"
Before Puck could go on, Rachel's phone started to ring. She took it out and smiled excited at the screen.
"Um, I can call them back" she said looking at Puck. She didn't want to be rude even if she really wanted to get it.
"No. Go ahead babe" he said sighting and smiling sweetly at her.
"Are you sure?" she asked biting her lip and he nodded. She smiled back at him and answered. "Hello?"
"Hey babe!"
"Drew! How are you?" she asked smiling.
"Oh, you know same old… missing you" he said smirking.
"Ow, I miss you too guys."
"Look, I'm just calling to ask you for a tiny favor."
"Sure, what can I do for you?"
"Um, well, could you watch channel 6 tonight at 7:00 p.m.?"
"Sure, why-? Oh my God! Are you gonna be on TV?"
"Maybe" Drew said laughing. "We just have a surprise for you. Kind of a late birthday gift!"
"Oww you guys didn't have to" she said smiling. "What is it?"
"I won't tell you that! It's a surprise. And there's no way you're getting it out of me like you always got it out from Hunter ok? So, just put on the TV channel 6 at 7 o'clock ok?"
"Ok" Rachel said getting excited. "Thanks in advance!"
"You're welcome babe" Drew said sweetly. "Love you!"
"Love you too!" Puck felt his heart clenching a little bit when he heard those words coming out of her mouth. "Bye" Rachel said softly before hanging up.
"So, what did um, Drew want?" Puck asked trying not to sound so jealous.
"Oh, he said they got a surprise for me" Rachel said smiling at him. "I think they're gonna be on TV!"
"Cool" Puck said chuckling at her excitement. "You ok?" he asked her when he saw her smile got a little sad.
"I miss them" she said looking down.
"Yeah?" he said putting some of her hair behind her ear and she turned to look at him.
"I mean, they never compared to you four… but they were the only nice people to me back there" she told him. "Them and Dylan" she said softly.
"Your stepbrother?" he asked and she nodded.
"We kind of did some of the same stupid things I always did with you guys" she said giggling. "You know I told them how you guys would buy insanely amounts of junk food whenever I felt sad and we would watch Disney movies to make me feel better" she said laughing a little. "Well, whenever I felt sad because I missed you guys, they would buy insanely amounts of food too but instead of Disney movies, we would just hang out in Drew and Hunter's garage and they would sing."
"Sounds like they took good care of you" Puck said smiling at her.
"Well, yeah, but I still don't know how I made it without you four for two years" she said resting her head on his shoulder. "I was always wondering what you guys were doing or if you were um, thinking about me" she said blushing a little while she put some of her hair behind her ear.
"Always baby girl" he said getting closer to her and kissing her cheek. They finished their ice cream and just walked around the park in comfortable silence. Well, Rachel was in comfortable silence.
I can't tell her! She's gonna hate me. She'll never forgive me. How can I do this? How can I break her heart like that? Ugh! I have to tell her! What if she finds out some other way? She'll hate me even more. Why did I have to be so stupid? She's going to hate me.
"Noah?"
"Yeah?" he asked getting snapped out of his thoughts.
"Are you ok?" she looked at him with those big beautiful brown eyes. He couldn't keep on lying to her. And he couldn't let her find out any other way.
"Babe, I um, I gotta tell you something" Puck said getting kind of nervous.
"What is it?" Rachel asked confused.
"Well-" before he could go on, his phone started ringing. Shit! "Um, hold on ok?" he said and Rachel nodded. "Hello?"
"Where are you?" he heard Kurt's voice annoyed.
"Um, at the park?"
"Well hurry up! Everyone's here already!" he yelled. Puck put his phone away to look at the time. 5:08 p.m.
"Shit! Um, ok, I'll be right there, mom!" he said holding back a laugh.
"Very funny! Hurry up!" Kurt said before hanging up.
"Is everything ok?" Rachel asked confused.
"Uh, yeah, that was just my mom. She um, needs me to take care of Dani for a little while. Wanna help me?" he asked smirking at her.
"Sure" she said with a small smile. "Um, what were you going to tell me?"
"Uh, we'll talk about it later, we should go" he said letting out a nervous laugh. She simply nodded grabbing his hand and they walked towards his truck riding again in complete silence.
"Um, Noah, why are we at Finn's?" Rachel asked a little confused as they pulled in Finn's driveway.
"Oh, I had to pick up something first" he said smiling and walking out of the car to open her door.
"Thank you" Rachel said sweetly and she kissed his cheek. They walked hand in hand to the door and Puck just opened the door.
"SURPRISE!"
"AHHH!" Rachel yelled jumping and immediately wrapping her arms around Puck and hiding herself in him. He laughed wrapping his arms around her so she wouldn't fall.
"We told you she didn't like surprise parties" Finn said rolling his eyes a little.
"Ugh, whatever Finn! Her birthday was last week and she deserves a party!" Kurt said annoyed.
"W-what?" Rachel asked confused looking around. The Hummel/Hudson living room was decorated with balloons and signs that said 'Happy Birthday!' Finn, Matt, Mike, Artie, Sam, Santana, Brittany, Kurt and Blaine were standing in the living room along with their parents, Dani, Stacey and Stevie.
"RACHEL!" Stacey and Dani ran towards her. "Happy birthday!" they said at the same time as they wrapped their arms around Rachel's legs.
"Wait, is- is this for me?" Rachel asked smiling excited as she kneeled down to hug the two girls.
"Yeah!" the two little girls said excited.
"Of course it is!" Brittany said excited running towards them. "Happy late birthday Rach!"
"Oh! Thanks Britt!" Rachel said standing up and hugging her best friend. "I'm sensing it was your idea?"
"With Kurt!" Brittany said excited.
"Oh, no! I just helped her with everything" Kurt said walking over to Rachel and she hugged him. "You know, picking out colors and everything!"
"Well, duh, it's not like Matty, Finny, Mikey or Noah would've come up with this" she said laughing.
"Hey!" the four of them complained at the same time.
"Get over here you losers" she said opening her arms to Mike, Finn and Matt and the three boys ran over Finn hugging her first, then Matt and then Mike. "I love you guys!"
"We love you too doll!"
"Happy birthday love!"
"You're getting old blueberry" Matt said messing her hair a little and Rachel stuck her tongue at him while the adults laughed at the scene going on in front of them.
"Happy birthday Berry!" Santana said walking over to her. "Um, do I have to hug you?"
"No, not really" Rachel said laughing but before they knew it, Brittany hugged both of them and brought her closer. "Or, well, sure, you know, whatever" Rachel managed to say while being squashed by her friend.
"Britt, we need to breathe babe" Santana said and Brittany let go of them laughing. All of the parents came to give her a hug before the mothers decided to go to the kitchen to get everything ready and the dads went to the dining room.
"Happy birthday Rach" Artie said making his way towards her.
"Thanks Artie" she said giving him a hug.
"Happy late birthday Rach" Blaine said coming after Artie.
"Thank you Blaine" Rachel said hugging him.
"Happy birthday Rachel" Sam said smiling sweetly at her.
"Thanks Sam" she said smiling. "Oh and who's this handsome little Sam?" she asked looking at Stevie who was hiding behind Sam.
"Hi, I'm Stevie" he said smiling at her. "You must be Rachel. Stacey and Dani never stop talking about you" he said laughing. "Happy birthday" he said throwing his arms at Rachel. She couldn't help to smile at him and return the hug.
"Thank you handsome" she said kissing his head and making Stevie blush. She then turned to look at Puck who was smiling at her. She made her way towards him and threw herself at him. "You knew about this all along, didn't you?"
"I may or may not had an idea" he said with an innocent look. She smiled up brightly up at him and stood on her tiptoes to give him a soft kiss on the lips.
"Thank you" she whispered with her smile getting bigger.
"Any time gorgeous" he said leaning down to kiss her again.
"There are children in the room!" Mike said in a motherly tone.
"Mike! Stop it! They're sweet" Brittany told him slapping his arm.
Rachel didn't like surprise parties, specially when she was the center of attention, but she had to admit, she was having a great time. She met Sam, Santana and Blaine's parents. She also met Burt Hummel, who, in her opinion was the third best dad in the world (Mr. Chang and Mr. Rutheford were still first on her list), she played with Dani, Stacy, Stevie and Brittany for a while and she got amazing gifts from everyone (something she wasn't expecting at all). The adults were all having coffee in the kitchen and Rachel was talking to Kurt, Santana and Brittany who had Dani asleep in her arms when she remembered something.
"Oh my God! What time is it?" Rachel said getting up and grabbing Finn's wrist to see the time. "Oh my God!" She started standing everyone up and looked for the remote.
"What's going on?" Kurt asked confused.
"Apparently, Rach's friends from back Philly have a surprise for her" Puck told everyone. Blaine and Kurt remembering Puck glaring at the guys when they went to see them perform.
"What friends from Philly?" Brittany asked confused.
"Some guys from a band" Matt told her.
"Here!" Rachel said excited finding the remote. She turned on the TV and quickly put on channel 6. "OH MY GOD IT'S THEM!" she said jumping excited.
"Wow, Berry's got some hot friends" Santana said smirking.
"Hey!" Matt protested.
"Not hotter than you babe" she said putting her arm around his waist.
"Thanks" Matt said proud.
"Shut up!" Rachel yelled glaring at them returning her full attention to the screen. Everyone thought it was best to shut up so they sat down and watched the show. The four boys were standing there in the middle of a crowd with microphones in their hands.
"Hello everyone, I am John! Welcome to The Hot Hits and I'm here with this new garage band called We The Kings that seem to be the new hot topic all over Houston! What's up guys? Welcome!"
"Thanks! Thank you for having us!" Travis said smiling and the crowd cheered.
"So, first of all, why don't you introduce yourselves for those who are new to this whole We The Kings thing and how did you get started where do you wanna go?" John told them.
"Sure, well, I'm Hunter Thomsen, I play the lead guitar, then he's Travis Clark, the lead singer of the group, Danny Duncan on the drums and my little brother Drew on the bass" Hunter said laughing a little and Rachel laughed too remembering how Drew hated being introduced as Hunter's little brother.
"We started in Drew and Hunter's garage band about um, what? Like a year and a half ago?" Danny said and the rest nodded. "And well, we're traveling all over the country, I guess!"
"That's awesome! I believe the ladies are very thankful for that" John said arching his eyebrow while the girls cheered for them. "Ok, so I gotta ask because I'm sure they wanna know… any girls in your life waiting for you back home or coming on the road with you?" John asked smirking. The girls started screaming like crazy and the four guys laughed. "So?"
"Uh, no" Travis, Drew and Danny answered laughing at the same time.
"No" Hunter said afterwards with a sad smile on his face.
"You sure Hunter? You kind of hesitated there for a moment" John said with a little chuckle and Hunter just started laughing.
"Yeah, I'm sure" he said sadly. Kurt raised his eyebrow at the screen and then turned to look at Rachel.
"So, you guys are from Philadelphia, right?" John continued changing the subject.
"Yeah" the four guys said smiling.
"Anyone seeing you right now back home?" John asked them.
"Nah, we don't think so man. We weren't the cool kids, if you know what I mean" Travis said laughing.
"That's kind of hard to believe considering how all your fans love you!"
"That sounds weird" Drew said laughing. "But it's true we just have our lucky charm watching who also happens to be our #1 fan!"
"That's me! That's me!" Rachel said excited shaking Brittany who was sitting next to her and got as excited as her.
"Really? Who would that be?" John asked curious.
"Well, her name is Rachel Berry. She's in Ohio right now" Drew continued.
"Rachie! They said your name on TV!" Danni said excited and hugging her and Rachel laughed excited putting her hands on her arms.
"Whoa sounds like a lucky girl if she gets to be your lucky charm!" John said laughing.
"Well, she is kind of the reason why we decided to finally go on tour" Travis explained. "She literally told us to get off our butts and do something about it!"
"Great! So I guess we all have to be thankful to Rachel!" John said with a small laugh.
"All her fault man!" Danny said laughing.
"Ok, so right now we are going to watch the first We The Kings' video. Wow, you guys came with a video and all! Fancy!" John said turning to look back at them. Suddenly, Rachel grabbed Puck's hand really tight.
"Babe?" he asked confused looking at her but she didn't say anything. He just noticed her breathing getting a little heavy.
"Yeah, we have a few but we actually promised two of our friends that if we ever made it this would be our first video since one of them directed it" Hunter explained to him.
"Cool! So, um, we're gonna go watch the guys first video and… would you guys like to present it or say something before we roll the clip?" John said turning to look back at them.
"Sure" they all said kind of at the same time.
"Ok, what's up everyone" Travis said looking at the camera. "I'm Travis from We The Kings… um, this is our first video, and it's called The View From Here. And we would like to dedicate someone who always believed in us. Uh, Rach we just wanna say happy birthday to you girl! We miss you like crazy! But we know you're ok and that you're happy!"
"We love you babe!" Drew yelled at the camera making Rachel laugh a little.
"We miss you! And you're cooking!" Danny yelled laughing.
"Love you babe!" Hunter said smiling at the camera too.
"Alright ladies, don't get too jealous about this Rachel girl" John said laughing. "And we leave you now with The View From Here!" he said and everyone cheered before the camera pointed to a TV and the screen changed and the music started.
"Oh my God" Rachel whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. She remembered the video the second it started. They turned to look confused at her but thought it was best not to talk.
"Now? We're on now?" Rachel was standing there in black and white talking to a camera and laughing holding a paper that said 'The View From Here!' The images changed as if they were an old movie showing different scenes from the guys. 'Take one!'
Fade to black the camera's rolling
Open roads where are we going
Unprepared and unaware we steer
Faster every day we're breathing
Faster than a bullet speeding
Photos make our memories stand clear
[The images were changing showing scenes with the guys hanging out at what looked like a garage where the band was playing or they were goofing around and laughing. In one of them Rachel was in front of the camera but she was doing sings to the person behind the camera and then she grabbed it from him revealing a light brown-haired guy that none of the guys knew. He started laughing and after a few seconds just stuck out his tongue before grabbing the camera from Rachel again.]
We're dancing into life like we broke in
Crashing the night
[There were images of Rachel laughing really hard with Drew and Travis. There was one of Travis teaching her to play the guitar. And then they appeared to be climbing a hill. The guys and Rachel were in front of the camera the whole time. Then there was an image of Rachel asleep in the car with the boy from earlier hugging her and asleep on the top of her head. And then another one with just Rachel cleaning the rainy glass with her sleeve and looking out the window.]
Push ahead, push ahead
Past the highest ledge
Tonight is ours with every step
Push ahead, push ahead
Such a beautiful sight
After every hill we climbed
It's never been so clear
And at the top we scream
"I really like the view from here"
[The camera showed Rachel sitting in what looked like a bar. She put her hand on the camera but it didn't move so she just smiled sweetly at it and then pointed ahead. The camera turned to the other side of the bar and there were the guys on stage performing. It returned to Rachel showing that she was mouthing the words of the song while smiling brightly at them.]
Racing for a new beginning
Chasing roads that are never-ending
Here's our chance to drive new history
Best times yet around the corner
Catching dreams without a border
We are here and we are finally free
We're dancing into life like we broke in
Crashing the night
[Countless black and white images of the five boys and Rachel goofing around, playing pranks on each other, running around the city, running around the park, jumping inside of a fountain rolled on the screen.]
Push ahead, push ahead
Past the highest ledge
Tonight is ours with every step
Push ahead, push ahead
Such a beautiful sight
After every hill we climbed
It's never been so clear
And at the top we scream
"I really like the view from here"
[The image where they were climbing a hill came back up, only this time, they were reaching the top and it looked like they were yelling any kind of stuff while laughing and smiling at the sunset in front of them. A beautiful sunset was portrayed in front of them and then the camera went back to the guys admiring it.]
So take my hand, take a chance
Take a bow, take your moment now
'Cause it's a long way down
So take a stand, take a shot
Take a bow, take your moment now
'Cause it's a long way down
[Different black and white scenes from everyone were passed quickly doing goofy things and laughing towards the camera. Images of Rachel taking any of the guys' hand, of the boys taking a bow, of them taking a stand, of them taking a shot went by in a fast blur as the words came. And then Rachel appeared in front of the camera but it looked like she was holding it and she held a finger in front of her lips motioning to be quiet. She then rolled the camera to the scene in front of her that was the five guys asleep. Then, it showed Rachel with a Sharpie on her hand and drawing on the guys' faces. She draw a cat's nose and mustache on Hunter, a Pringles mustache on Travis, glasses and the word 'Loser!' on Danny, red cheeks and a red nose on Drew and little stars, smiley faces and hearts on the other guy. None of the boys even moving when they felt the Sharpie on their faces.]
Push ahead, push ahead
Past the highest ledge
Tonight is ours
Push ahead, push ahead
Past the highest ledge
Tonight is ours
[There was one of Rachel and Hunter hugging. One of her jumping on Travis' back. One of her, Travis and Danny shaking their heads, looking like an 80's rock band, making their hair all messy. One of her and Drew eating brownies with chocolate all over their faces. One of her and Danny making an ice cream eating competition… followed by one of them having a brain freeze but Rachel mocking him for winning. One of the other guy carrying Rachel and spinning her around until they both fell, laughing.]
Push ahead, push ahead
Past the highest ledge
Tonight is ours with every step
Push ahead, push ahead
Such a beautiful sight
After every hill we climbed
It's never been so clear
And at the top we scream
"I really like the view from here"
The last image was moving from the beautiful sunset, to the four guys, to Rachel. She then got closer to the camera and the camera rolled revealing the other guy with his arm wrapped around Rachel's shoulder. They both smiled at the camera and Rachel blew a kiss and waved goodbye before the screen went black.
Rachel was in tears by the end of the video. Everyone was quiet looking between the screen and Rachel. She didn't even move. She just smiled while the tears kept on falling down her cheeks.
"I can't believe they actually did that" Rachel whispered to herself but really everyone heard her.
"Did what?" Finn asked confused. But Rachel didn't answer. Her eyes were glued to the screen while more tears ran freely down her cheeks but nobody really wanted to say anything.
"Wow, awesome video you guys" John said as they returned to the show and the crowd cheered. "Seems like you guys like having fun!"
"Thanks" the guys all said smiling and laughing.
"Well, that's all the time we got! But stay tuned to We The Kings cause this guy are creating quite a buzz around the country right now! Thanks for being here guys! , I am John this was The Hot Hits! See you next week!" John said waving as the crowd cheered before the camera rolled to the guys waving and smiling at the cameras and the credits rolled.
Everyone turned to look at Rachel who was still silent. Nobody really knew what to say.
"Y-your um, your friends seem cool" Blaine said with a sweet smile. But Rachel wasn't even paying attention.
"Baby?" Puck said softly and Rachel turned to look at him. He saw her eyes filled with sadness. "Are you ok?" he asked a little nervous.
"Y-yeah" she said wiping her tears away. "I just um… I need some fresh air" she said getting up and walking out of the room. Puck was about to follow her but Kurt stopped him.
"Oh no. Please, let me" he said smiling up at him. Puck wasn't fully convinced but he nodded and Kurt left after Rachel.
Sparks fly like an electric shock pushing through my veins
When we touch, like I never want to stop, do you feel that way?
[Rachel sang spinning around the Choir Room and she smiled at Sam so he would sing next.]
Her eyes when they meet with mine is she aware
That I wanna hold her tight cause there's something there
[They both stood in the middle of the room smiling at each other while everyone watched the performance.]
It's Gone
It's past
We both know it's never coming back
That's done
That's' over
Does he still love me?
[Rachel couldn't help but to look at Puck when she sang that part. He was smiling at her and she tried her best to smile back. In the last couple of days, she had been having that feeling that something was wrong.]
Do I still love her?
[Unconsciously, Sam looked at Quinn when he sang his part. They had been fighting a lot, starting last Saturday. They noticed what the other one was looking and they shook it off before they sang the chorus.]
One more time can we just give it one more try
To love and be together like the first time
No love, we can't love, no love, we can't love
No backing up
Not this time
We love to love, can we love to love
Can't love you like the first time
Please love me like the first, first time
"Well, what do you guys think?" Mr. Schue asked the rest of them.
"That sucks" Mercedes said rolling her eyes.
"Oh, please Aretha! Stop being a stupid diva and get over the fact that Rachel won to sing at Sectionals! You don't see Puck moping about not singing" Santana snapped at her.
"She's right" Rachel said suddenly to everyone's surprise. "That song sucks."
"Excuse me?" Mr. Schue asked her getting more upset.
"Well, it's a happy bubbly song! I mean, Santana's already singing 'Valerie' it's gonna look like we're high up on sugar. We should sing something more… real. Not everything is just about love and butterflies" Rachel said. "Except in Britt's world" she added smiling and the blonde girl smiled too.
"And I believe you have something better to offer Miss Berry?" Mr. Schue asked trying to sound as polite as he could. Finn, Mike, Matt and Puck were holding the edge of theirs seats, trying not to snap at their teacher. "Well?"
Rachel started thinking for a while and then she leaned over to Brad and he nodded before he started playing. Rachel stood in the middle of the room and took a deep breath before she started singing.
This town is colder now, I think it's sick of us
It's time to make our move, I'm shakin' off the rust
I've got my heart set on anywhere but here
I'm staring down myself, counting up the years
Steady hands, just take the wheel...
And every glance is killing me
Time to make one last appeal... for the life I lead
[Everyone could feel the change in Rachel's voice. She was putting so much emotion in the song. Even Mr. Schuester was astounded by the girl. Rachel turned to look at Puck. He smiled at her and she smiled back at him. But he noticed the sadness behind her smile.]
Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be, oh
Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you're 'here' not there
And you'd give anything to get what's fair
But fair ain't what you really need
Oh, can you see what I see
[Artie noticed Rachel's voice breaking. He also noticed her hands starting to shake. And he noticed, that he was there was only one more person in the room who was noticing all that too. Mike. Everyone else was too much into the performance to even blink.]
They're tryin' to come back, all my senses push
Untie the weight bags, I never thought I could...
Steady feet, don't fail me now
Gonna run till you can't walk
But something pulls my focus out
And I'm standing down...
[Rachel wasn't looking at anyone in the eye. She was looking away. She did her best to keep her voice from breaking, but a tear still managed to slip out from time to time.]
Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be, oh
Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you're here not there
And you'd give anything to get what's fair
But fair ain't what you really need
Oh, you don't need
[She stood in the middle of the room watching everyone's expressions. Brittany had her head resting on Santana's shoulder and they were both smiling at her. Sam, Finn, Matt and Artie were smiling sweetly at her encouraging her to go on. Quinn, Mercedes and Tina looked kind of shocked at her. Mike had this soft look on his face knowing this song meant way more to Rachel than anyone knew. Puck looked at her with the biggest smile on his face. She did her best trying to smile back at him but the tears kept on falling.]
Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be
Oh, do you see what I see...
Her voice sounded beautifully. It sounded so pure. And for the first time, in a really long time, Rachel felt that she was doing something right. Like some of the weight was being lifted from her shoulders. When she finished the song everyone started cheering for her. Even Mercedes and Tina.
"Wow, Rachel that was, um" Mr. Schue said speechless. "That was very beautiful" he said with a soft smile.
"Thank you Mr. Schuester" she said with a little smile.
"Is there, um a particular reason you chose that song?" he asked curious. He was really astounded by the girl's performance.
"Uh, no" Rachel said quickly wiping away a few tears. "Just um, really like OneRepublic" she said with a small laugh.
"Well, I'm not sure if it would be that song for Sectionals but you've certainly given me an idea" Mr. Schue said smiling. "You guys are dismissed" he said before leaving the Choir Room followed by everyone else.
"Hey" Puck said walking Rachel to her locker. "You ok?" Puck asked her. She had been really quiet since they left the Choir Room.
"Um, yeah" she said not really facing him. "Um, I'll be right back" she said walking really quick to the bathroom.
"Do you think she ok?" Sam asked Quinn looking at the whole scene a few lockers away.
"Ugh, why do you even care Sam?" Quinn asked annoyed. "Is not like she's your girlfriend!"
"She's my friend. And she looked kind of upset" he defended himself.
"Since when is that freak your friend?"
"Don't call her that" Sam said rolling his eyes.
"She's a loser! She's a bitch that stole my solo!"
"She didn't steal your solo Quinn. She earned that" Sam said getting upset. "You always do this! You always put people down when you can't get what you want! You did it with Santana last year when she was captain of the cheerios and you're doing it now with Rachel!" he snapped a little. "Ugh, look, I need some time alone. I'll see you later" he said closing his locker and walking away while Quinn saw him leave with a shocked face. And then, her face turned to someone else. Puck.
"Hi Puck" Quinn simpered fluttering her eyelashes in that way usually had any handsome teenager flirting with her already.
"What do you want Fabray?" Puck asked really confused.
"Have you… noticed anything weird going on between Sam and your uh… girlfriend?"
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Oh, come on! You can't tell me you didn't see it when they were singing" she said with an evil smile.
"Is there anything I can do for you, Quinn?" Puck asked her trying really hard not to be rude.
"Look. My mom is going on a Christian wine tasting boat down the Ohio river on Friday-"
"A Jesus booze cruise?"
"So I'm gonna have the house to myself. Wanna come over? Order in. Rent a movie and not watch it?"
"What? Oh my God Fabray, I think it finally happened" he said laughing. "You've finally gone insane!"
"Let me be more clear. If you come over on Friday... you get to have sex with me."
"Sorry, not interested" Puck said turning serious again.
"No, no, it's a good thing. See I'm free, you're free, and I'm sure you've noticed that I'm supermodel thin now that my thyroid is under control-"
"You're with Sam, I'm with Rachel! Plus, you're insane!"
"Look, last year, I didn't appreciate you. But we're perfect together. Admit it!"
"We're not perfect together and you know that. You're just here doing this because you're mad at Sam. Just like you used to do when you were upset with Finn. But I've changed now-"
"Remember in the hospital after Beth was born?" she asked him knowing exactly what was his weak point. "We can get that back!"
"Are you actually hearing yourself right now? You sound crazier than Sue Sylvester! Look, I am with Rachel ok? And even if I wasn't, you are with Sam and he's my friend! You were the one that wanted nothing to do with me remember? You called me a Lima Loser and told me that I was nothing! You gave my daughter away and then acted as if nothing ever happened!"
"Your what?"
A/N: songs: The View From Here - We The Kings (beautiful song!), One More Time - Diego Boneta & Jessica Lowndes (from 90210 :D) and Stop and Stare - OneRepublic (one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite groups!)
ok, so there you have it my BIG comeback! haha I'm not sure if it was as big as I think but, well is a comeback! hahaha and don't worry other stories are under constuction again ;) so... as usual... let me know what you think :)
