Final chapter title based on Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap. Story title also based on the song as well :D
Chapter 7: A Moment of Love.
Puck woke up to the light coming through his window. He looked over at his alarm clock – it was 7:15am. His mom wasn't home; she had gone to a conference for work, and his little sister had gone to a sleepover last night, so he had had the house to himself. Well, himself and Rachel. They were lying together in bed, spooning.
The secret had come out about five months ago. When the story hit the rest of the school population, Puck had become a social outcast. Hardly anyone had wanted to be friends with the jerk who had knocked up his best friend's girlfriend, and then let said best friend believe that he was the father. In fact, the Glee kids were the only ones who had stayed friends with him. Finn didn't talk to him for a while, which actually sucked: as jealous as he had been of his best friend, Puck really missed him. After the news broke, and her parents found out, Quinn hadn't shown up for school for two weeks. Mr Schue had gone to her house with Ms. Pillsbury, and talked to her parents, who had insisted that Quinn was to be sent away to have the baby, that would then be adopted out. Quinn had begged Mr Schuester and Ms Pillsbury to take her with them, and she had packed a bag and gone to stay with Mr Schuester and his wife. Finn had been angry at first, but he and Quinn had talked, and decided that they wanted to stay together and raise the baby. Quinn had moved in with Finn and his mom, and had not talked to her parents since. She was getting really big now, too.
After Finn and Quinn were back together, Puck and Finn slowly began talking again. They would never be at the level of friendship that they were at before all of the baby drama, but they were at least talking again. Puck and Finn fighting had made Glee extremely uncomfortable, but neither of them left the club because if they did, the team wouldn't go to regionals. But success at sectionals and regionals had somehow brought them closer together, and had somehow healed a bit of the rift between them. Puck never blamed Finn for being angry at him, not once – he couldn't really; Puck had slept with Quinn and then lied about being the baby's father.
Through all of the highs of regionals and the lows of the baby drama, Rachel had been there for Puck. Most of the time he didn't understand why she was with him, he chalked their relationship up to him being lucky enough (and a big enough stud, he thought with an internal smirk) to be with her. He…well, there was no other word for it: he loved Rachel. She was completely nuts, talented, amazingly hot, kind, lovable. He knew that she would be the first and only person that he would ever love.
Just as he thought that (it was as if she could read his thoughts!) Rachel snuggled deeper into him.
"I love you", she muttered. Puck smiled.
"Of course you do, I'm a stud!"
She swung a hand back in a feeble attempt to hit him. He laughed.
"Nice try, Berry!"
This time she turned around and smacked him in the back of the head, Gibbs style.
"Ouch! Fine, fine, I love you too!"
Rachel smiled, victorious.
"That's better."
She snaked her arm around his waist. He smiled at her, and she smiled at him. Everything was right.
"What time is it?" Rachel asked with a yawn.
"Quarter past seven"
"So we can lie here for a while then. We don't have to leave until 8:30, right?"
"Yep. That means that we have plenty of time…"
"Time for what?" Rachel asked, although she already knew the answer.
"For this…"
Puck rolled them over so that he was on top of Rachel. He hesitated for a second, looking at her. God, she's hot…no…she's beautiful. He kissed her, softly, lovingly, and she responded. Their kisses became more passionate, more urgent and intense. Puck tore his mouth away from Rachel's and began kissing her neck.
"Yeah" breathed Rachel. "We definitely have time for this."
Rachel lay in Noah's bed while he took a shower. She was in a post-coital stage of bliss. She had been surprised at her awakened sexual appetite: she and Noah had sex a lot. Not that she was complaining, of course.
She had stood by him the best that she could during all of the drama. It was hard, no doubt; Finn had been furious with her for siding with Noah, but he had soon calmed down when he and Quinn began their relationship again. She had also been surprised at the Glee club's response to it all. She had fully expected for them all to turn against Noah like the rest of the student body, but they had been surprisingly supportive. Santana, Mercedes and Kurt had been cold at first (well, Santana had always been cold), but they became civil soon enough. Even Mr Schue was nice to him. Rachel had expected him to give Noah the cold shoulder, as everyone knew that Finn was Mr Schue's favourite student. But he had been nothing but nice to Noah.
She had realised two weeks after the secret broke that she was in love with him. He had kept his anger under control, which impressed her, and had had been the perfect boyfriend. Finn had once said that this was 'fake Puck', a guy who was only being this way to get into her pants. But Rachel realised that this was the real Noah – sure, he was a little rough around the edges: a bit egotistical, and tended to use his fists to express himself, but he was loving, gentle and a bit self-conscious like her. But surprisingly, he had said 'I love you' first. They had been in the middle of having sex, and he had just said it. She had been so stunned that she just stopped what she was doing and looked at him like an idiot. He looked so hurt (he had obviously not meant to say it, and when she didn't respond he thought it meant that she didn't love him), and she had nearly yelled it back at him, causing him to laugh hysterically for ages. Perhaps the moment hadn't played out exactly as she had imagined it in her head, but it had been said nevertheless.
Noah walked out of the bathroom in a towel, and it took all of Rachel's self control to stop herself from pulling him back into bed. She grabbed her clothes and jumped in the shower. When she had finished, she walked out of the bathroom to the smell of pancakes cooking from downstairs. She skipped downstairs and found him setting the table with maple syrup, strawberries and whipped cream.
"Hey, you took your time!"
Rachel stuck her tongue out at him.
"Is there anything I can do to help?
"No, just sit down and enjoy your boyfriend cooking for you, it won't happen often!"
She sat in the nearest chair and he kissed her on top of her head. He dished up the pancakes, and Rachel smothered hers with strawberries and maple syrup.
"We better leave soon. We need to be at school at nine."
"It's only quarter past eight now, don't worry, we will be fine."
They ate quickly and packed up, grabbed their bags and headed out the door to go to McKinley.
When Puck and Rachel had arrived at McKinley, all of the other Glee members were in the dressing room, getting ready for their performance. Kurt rounded on them as soon as they got inside.
"Why are you so late? Come on, it's going to take me ages to do your hair and make-up!"
Rachel gave a little groan as Kurt pulled her away. He shoved her into a chair and began brushing her hair. He smiled a little.
"So, you guys had some early morning delight, huh?"
Rachel choked and spluttered on the water she had been drinking.
"Oh, sweetie, please. Your skin is absolutely glowing. You can tell from a mile away!"
He turned the chair around so that she was facing him.
"So no foundation for you then, we wouldn't want to ruin it!"
The Glee club was lined up near the wing of the stage, as Mr Schue introduced them to the filled auditorium.
"Thank-you for coming everyone, it's great to see so many people here to support New Directions! As you know, we had some success at regionals, which allows us to go to the national competitions in a few months."
Rachel squeezed Puck's hand in the darkness. She knew he got nervous before a performance.
"So please donate to the club, we need your help to ensure that we can go and rock nationals! So sit back and enjoy McKinley High School's New Directions!"
The crowd applauded and the club filed onto the stage. The opening guitar began to play. Rachel stepped forward.
I'm not saying it was your fault, although you could have done more.
Oh you're so naïve yet so –
How could this be done?
By such a smiling sweetheart
Oh and your sweet and pretty face
In such an ugly way
Something so beautiful
That every time I look inside
The rest of the club stepped forward.
I know that she knows
That I'm not fond of asking
True or false it may be
But she's still out to get me
I know that she knows
That I'm not fond of asking
True or false it may be
But she's still out to get me
Finn stepped forward and sang to the crowd.
I may say that it was your fault
Because I know you could have done more
Oh you're so naïve yet so –
How could this be done?
By such a smiling sweetheart
Oh and your sweet and pretty face
In such an ugly way
Something so beautiful
Every time I look inside
I know that she knows
That I'm not fond of asking
True or false it may be
But she's still out to get me
The group knew they were kicking ass – the crowd was clapping and singing along with them.
I know that she knows
That I'm not fond of asking
True or false it may be
But she's still out to get me
Rachel and Finn began singing in a duet.
So how could this be done?
By such a smiling sweetheart
Oh you're so naïve yet so –
Such an ugly thing
For someone so beautiful
And every time you're on his side
I know that she knows
That I'm not fond of asking
True or false it may be
But she's still out to get me
Puck and Rachel looked at each other, both smiling, high on the adrenalin rush of the performance.
I know that she knows
That I'm not fond of asking
True or false it may be
But she's still out to get me
The group joined hands as they sang the conclusion.
Just don't let me down
Just don't let me down
Hold on to your kite
Just don't let me down
The group began weaving around each other, Puck and Rachel grinning at each other when they brushed passed each other.
Just don't let me down
Hold onto your kite
Just don't let me down
Just don't let me down
Hold onto this kite
Just don't let me
Down
No, no
Just don't let me down.
The audience rose to their feet after the last note, applauding and cheering for the performance. The glee club bowed and waved to the audience and ran off stage, in a feeling of post-performance euphoria. Finn and Rachel hugged.
"Great job Rach! We killed out there!"
"We did, didn't we?"
Finn flashed Rachel a smile, and ran off to Quinn. Rachel turned around and saw Noah coming towards her. She smiled and ran into his arms.
"You were great out there, Berry!"
She smiled and kissed him lightly.
"So were you, Puckerman. I love you, you know that?"
Noah smiled and hugged her tightly.
"I love you too, my little star."
A.N. - Well, that's it. I couldn't really think of a better way to end a Glee fic than with a performance, and I had to make it of my favourite song! Thanks to all for reviews, story alerts, author alerts etc. You guys have been a-freaking-mazing. Don't ever change ^____^ but please do review the last chapter :D
Some last minute disclaimers:
I don't own Naïve by The Kooks, or Sweet Disposition by the Temper Trap. Nor any of the other songs that I have mentioned throughout these chapters.
I don't own NCIS (did you see my Gibbs reference? I couldn't resist ^____^)
And, unfortunately, I don't own Glee, or Mark Salling :( Oh well, a girl can dream, can't she?! ^____^
I'll be writing more stuff soon, so please keep an eye out and (hopefully) enjoy!
Laters!
IHeartTennant.