a/n: to all 161 one of you who alerted this story. Thank you. Now please review =)
Rachel hums under her breath, dropping the sheets of pasta into the boiling water. The roux is already done and she gives it a brief stir so that it doesn't stick to the pan. Mike and Matt are watching a football game, and she smiles when she hears Mike curse out the referee. It's nice, she thinks, being able to make something with her hands. She'd never particularly liked cooking until she'd had to fend for herself. Rachel wasn't one of those cooks who could make things up on a whim. Jeremy had often laughed out loud when she'd slavishly followed whatever recipe she'd found, joking that she should redirect some of that talent into other skill sets.
(It didn't ever stop him from enjoying the meal)
The doorbell rings and Rachel wipes her hand on the dishtowel, calling over her shoulder for one of the boys to get that. There is the sound of Puck saying something before Matt ambles into the kitchen, depositing a six pack of beer onto what little space she has left clear.
'Hello Noah,' she greets him pleasantly, noticing that he is still wearing the same clothes from earlier today.
'Something smells good,' Puck comments, shrugging out of his suit jacket. It is hard to ignore the way that his body moves under the thin fabric of his shirt and Rachel swallows, remembering the way her hand had sparked when she had taken her duffle.
'Be patient Matthew,' Rachel smacks Matt's hand away as he attempts to pluck one of the mushrooms from a bowl. Matt rubs his hands and rolls his eyes.
'The game's on. Trust me, it's better if you let her rule and not interfere with her reign,' Matt tells Puck seriously while Rachel frowns.
'Be grateful I'm feeding you,' is all she can says before turning her back on both men. A second later and she can feel the heat from Puck's body behind her, his breath tickling the side of her neck as he peers down into the pot.
'Pasta?'
Rachel promptly elbows him in the side, hears him grunt in pain and then move away just like she wants him too. He was standing too close, she realizes as she grips the wooden spoon tighter, poking the lasagna sheets to see if they were done. They seem a bit hard and Rachel bites her lip, deciding there is enough time for her to start assembling the rest of the ingredients.
'No need to fucking assault me Berry,' Puck grumbles and Rachel almost jumps out of her skin. She presses a hand to her chest and flashes him an irritated look.
'Why are you still here?' It comes out curt and Rachel immediately wants to take it back, because Puck is squinting at her suddenly, studying her like some kind of science experiment that he's trying to figure out.
'You know I stopped by to see Quinn just now,' he starts and there is no disguising the fact that Rachel visibly stiffens. She relaxes her shoulders just as quickly though.
'How is she? I've been meaning to stop by and see them. Perhaps I'll do so tomorrow,' Rachel wonders out loud, dumping the mushrooms into the tomato sauce and folding them in along with the minced meat. When Puck doesn't respond Rachel glances up to see him frowning, hands braced against the edge of the counter with his head leaning forward.
'I think its really fucking amazing that you've managed to stick your nose into everyone's business but mine,' Puck tells her softly, attempting to be curious.
'I didn't stick my nose into anything,' Rachel shoots back, lifting a sheet of pasta out and seeing that it was done. Flicking off the gas, she lifts the pot and struggles with it a bit. Out of the corner of her eyes she sees Puck reach for the handle but she quells him with a glare. 'I'm fine thank you.'
'Ah there's the Berry I know,' he chuckles wryly.
'You didn't know me at all Noah,' she gripes back. Puck lifts his shoulders.
'We hooked up didn't we?'
'Yes. Clandestine meetings and you never listening to a word I said.'
'I sang Sweet Caroline,' he points out as if that's important. Rachel feels herself soften at the memory and when she starts layering the meat, roux and pasta into the rectangular pan, she heaves out a sigh.
'Admittedly one of the highlights of my high school career,' she murmurs and Puck is still there, within touching distance. There is a moment of silence as she assembles the lasagna and pops it into the oven, setting the timer.
'What happened?' She can hear the frustration lacing his words and her heart starts to beat harder, faster. It's beating so much that she feels short of breath as he pushes on, running a hand over his shaved head. He had done that during school too, she recalls, whenever he was angry or annoyed at something or someone. Puck shapes his fingers into a circle to demonstrate his next point.
'It's like there's this circle of trust and I'm standing way over here.'
'It isn't-'
'Jesus Berry, what did you not get a part in a play or something? Did it end your Broadway career and by extension your life?' He mocks.
'I'm going to let that slide because you don't know what you're talking about,' Rachel keeps her voice low, not wanting to draw Mike and Matt's attention.
'I thought that Quinn, the mother of my fucking child, would at least show some love for her baby daddy. But fuck no. It's like the freakin' Vagina Monologues. And you've got the Three Musketeers keeping their trap shut as well,' he's raising his voice and Rachel flinches because there is no way that either of her friends have missed that.
'Why is it so important that you know?' She demands and flings her hands up in the air. This gives Puck pause and Rachel watches as his brow knots in the middle, as if the thought had never occurred to him before.
'Hell if I know okay? But I think that if we're going to be working together, you could at least be honest-'
The anger floods through her before she can get a hold of it. Her fingernails dig into the palm of her hands and she meets Puck's stare head on.
How dare he? How dare he?
It is all that is running through her mind and Rachel resists the urge to stomp her feet.
'Errr…' Mike stutters out but Rachel barely acknowledges his presence, instead thinning her eyes and giving Puck a half-baked sneer. It's faintly malicious but she isn't ready to discuss what's happened, least of all to this…hoodlum standing in front of her.
'Yes Puck,' she grinds out, inching a step forward. 'We work together. And while we do have history in the sense that we were casual acquaintances during high school, that doesn't entitle you in the least to have me divulge something I clearly have no wish to discuss.'
'Oh but their worth your time?' Puck flings a finger towards Mike and Matt, who finally seem to realize what is going on.
'Puck, man, drop it,' Matt warns.
'Fuck no. Berry's got something to say,' Puck retorts and folds his arm across his chest.
'Seriously dude,' Mike manages to get in and there must have been something in his tone because Puck raises an eyebrow.
Something inside her was just screaming to wipe that smug look plastered all over his face.
'I'm here,' Rachel breathes out the words and for some reason the air inside the kitchen goes taunt. 'I'm here because the man I loved is dead.'
It doesn't make the world implode, saying the words out loud. But there is something seizing inside her chest. Puck looks shocked though, as if that is the last thing he had been expecting to hear. Mike and Matt are looking at her warily, as if she might collapse into a heap on the floor.
She doesn't bother with a reply. Pushing past the three males rather forcefully, she takes a large measure of satisfaction. It's almost an exact reenactment of the patented storm outs she had perfected during Glee club, right down to the righteous indignation.
But that quickly fades away when she settles into the darkness of her room, pulling the rings out and clenching them tightly.
'The man I love is dead,' she whispers again.
It's final and open-ended, and Rachel just wishes that it had never happened to her.