A/N: It's been a while since I've updated, I've just been really busy lately so sorry about that. But here's the next chapter, and I'll try to update the next one soon.
Rachel walked into her house and was intent on going to her bedroom. When Shelby saw her from another room, she greeted her with a wave, but Rachel just muttered a "hi" and continued on her way to her bedroom. Once in her room, Rachel closed the door quietly and dived onto her pillow face first. Tears stung her eyes and she closed them, a few strands dropping. Her body was shaking and she willed herself not to cry out loud again, not like last time. Not again.
After five minutes of just trying to control her breathing, the shaking subsided, and soon she was just laying in bed. Her phone started ringing and she jumped, groaning as she went through her things to find it. As soon as she found it, she didn't bother looking at the caller id and just pressed it to her ear.
"Hello?" Her voice croaked, and she winced at the sound of it.
"Open your window, this tree fucking sucks." Rachel eye's went wide and she leaned up with her other arm and turned slightly to her window. Outside, was Puck, grinning like an idiot and waving at her. She looked at her phone and slammed in shut and opened her window. She leaned her upper body outside and glared at him.
"What in the world are you doing, Noah Puckerman?"
"Climbing a tree."
"I can see that." Rachel snapped, and Puck started inching towards her window.
"Help me in." Rachel stared at him as if he had two heads and she crossed her arms.
"Are you crazy?" She hissed in a loud whisper. "No." Puck just shrugged.
"Fine, I'll just go in myself. If I fall I'm suing your ass." Rachel gasped.
"I should be suing you. This is considered trespassing, you know." Puck started making his way in the window, and when she stumbled, she instinctively reached out, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards her. As she did so he grinned, and she let go, realizing what he was doing. Puck though was close enough that he reached out to the window sill and pulled himself up and into her room safely.
"Sorry, bro." He said as soon as he landed lightly on his feet. Rachel just shook her head and opened her mouth to say something, but they heard Shelby's voice in the distance.
"Rachel?" Rachel's eyes widened and she looked around the room wildly, trying to find a place big enough for Puck to hide.
"Can you fit under the bed?" Puck examined it for a few seconds before nodded and silently getting under it. Rachel quickly moved the undersheet around, thankful that it was long enough that it covered all of underneath her mattress. Rachel quickly sat down and looked busy by picking up a random book and looking like she was reading it. Shelby knocked on the door, and opened the door. "Rachel?" Rachel looked up and smiled.
"Yes, mom?" Rachel had to admit that years ago it was hard to call Shelby her mother, she still thought of her as a stranger and thought of her dads as her only parents. Now, it was easy enough to say that no one would even think she didn't spend all her life with the woman. Shelby smiled and sat down next to Rachel, making the old bed creak slightly and Rachel swallowed hard.
"What you reading?" Rachel looked at her book, then looked up at Shelby.
"A book." Shelby frowned at Rachel's generic answer and she let out a long sigh. She brushed her hair back and Rachel sat in quiet panic.
"Rachel, um," Shelby paused again, trying to find the right words. "You know, I wasn't prepared when I first got you." Rachel let out a sigh and closed the book.
"I know, you don't have to tell me again." Especially with Noah here. Rachel wondered what Puck was thinking under the bed, and she hoped he didn't ask to many questions later. Shelby nodded and brushed Rachel long strands of hair behind her ear.
"I know you know, but I just thought I'd let you know," Rachel nodded and Shelby paused again. "I know it was hard to lose your dads like that, and you didn't even know me when I picked you up from the orphanage," Rachel's hands tightened, she really hated being reminded of the past, by anyone. "We've gotten closer since then, right?"
"Yes." Rachel nodded, and as much as she appreciated her mother actually taking the time out of her day and doing this, she wished it wasn't this talk again.
"You can tell me anything, okay?" Rachel nodded and they sat in uncomfortable silence. Shelby finally placed her hand over Rachel's and squeezed it lightly. "Is there anything you want to tell me?" Rachel looked down and bit her lip. She had been wondering if she should tell Shelby about Santana, but she was sure Shelby wouldn't appreciate Santana's taunts, and those happened so often they were hard not to talk about. "Okay." Shelby said with uncertainty after a few moments of staring at Rachel. She got up and kissed Rachel's forhead. "Night" She said as she headed for the door.
"Night." Rachel said back quietly and looked up to see Shelby hovering by the door, in between the frame with her hand on the handle behind her. Rachel gave her a tight smile and that seemed enough to calm Shelby down. Shelby smiled back and left the room, closing the door behind her. Rachel let out a long exhausted sigh and fell backwards on the bed and closed her eyes.
She wasn't sure how long she was there on the bed, but she had completely forgotten about Puck. It wasn't until she felt herself being shaken yet again. She groaned and she opened her eyes to see Puck on the bed. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up. It was then that she noticed she had been laying properly in the bed with the covers over her and the light turned off. She looked at Puck frantically, only to see him looking at his cell, grinning seductively. She looked at her alarm clock and gaped at the time.
"Midnight?" She groaned, her voice cracking, and Puck looked up from his phone.
"Hey, finally awake." He whispered, and she looked at the time again as she rubbed her eyes.
"Don't you have a home to be in?"
"Nah. I kinda put you in bed and snuck out, then snuck back in," Puck shrugged. "No big deal."
"That is a very big deal." Rachel hissed back and Puck just shrugged again. He snapped his phone closed and looked at Rachel seriously.
"C'mon, let's do something." Rachel's eyes widened and she brought the covers over her chest.
"No."
"Not that." Puck said and Rachel lowered her covers again. "I meant something like, I don't know, egging the school or something."
"You mean something…juvenile?" Puck nodded and Rachel shook her head quickly. "No, no I do not encourage that kind of entertainment, who knows what would happen then. We'd go to prison and our futures would go down the toilet." Puck just laughed.
"Dude, you're such a dramaqueen." Rachel huffed and crossed her arms, muttering an "am not" quietly. Puck got off the bed and started walking towards the window. "Your mom won't notice anything. Besides, you were feeling down, so this should cheer you up."
"How'd you know that?" Rachel asked, but Puck was already climbing through the window. He lowered himself so that he was hanging off the windowsill before jumping down onto a branch quietly and safely. Rachel stayed in the bed unsure of what to do, before groaning and getting out of the bed and going near the window. She looked out and saw Puck standing on the branch, holding onto surrounding ones for support, waiting for her.
She looked back toward her room and finally decided to follow Puck. She followed his actions, but found herself kicking her legs in the air. She heard Puck laugh behind her and he inched forward a little bit. When she felt him grab the back of her sweater, she jumped off and landed on the branch, and would have fallen off too if it weren't for his tight grip. Soon, they jumped off the tree and walked to Puck's car. As soon as Rachel closed the door, Puck drove off wordlessly, and after a few minutes of just him driving silently, Rachel got fidgety and began asking him questions.
"Where are we going?" Puck just grinned and glanced at Rachel.
"It's a secret." Rachel just rolled her eyes and huffed as she crossed her arms and leaned against the door.
"So how did you now?"
"Huh?" Puck asked, confused.
"How did you know I wasn't feeling as well as I usually am."
"Oh, I was making out with some Cheerio in the parking lot when I saw you walking. Dude, you were like a zombie." Rachel laughed and looked out her window content with the answer he gave her. It wasn't long after when Puck pulled his car to a stop and he leaned back to grab two backpacks, and a black sweater. Puck gave Rachel the backpack and sweater and she looked at him oddly.
"What is this?"
"Put on the sweater, it'll hide you more." Rachel did as told but still looked wary and watched Puck go through the backpack. "Do you want to egg or toilet paper Karofsky's house?"
"That's what we're doing?" Puck nodded and pulled out eggs.
"Hey, everyone hates him, and didn't he slushy you?" Rachel nodded and Puck opened his door. "Grab the eggs and lets show him." With that, Puck quietly closed the door and Rachel grabbed the eggs, left the backpack, and followed him out. She walked up to him and noticed he had put on a hoodie as well, and they walked a two houses down. They stopped at a relative large house and Puck walked to the backyard, jumping the large stone fence. Once on top of it, he held out his hand and helped Rachel over, and soon they were in the backyard. Puck opened his carton of eggs and grinned down at Rachel.
"See that window?" Puck pointed to a window at the corner of the house and Rachel nodded. "That's his bedroom window. Let's egg it." Rachel couldn't help it, but her face broke into a mischievous grin and with Puck next to her the two looked like a pair to be reckoned with. They began egging Karofsky's window and after they finished one of the cartons, Rachel noticed something.
"Is his window open?" Puck laughed.
"A little bit, but I think some eggs still went in his room." Rachel began laughing and they finished off the two cartons. Rachel dropped the cartons and bent over laughing while Puck went through the backpack he took with him and pulled out two stinkbombs. He showed them to her and he through them through the slightly open window, landing both of them in. The smoke started flowing out of the window and quickly after they heard Karofsky's cursing out loudly. Rachel and Puck quickly ran to the fence and climbed their way over and to Puck's car, laughing all the while. In the middle of Puck driving to Rachel's house their laughing had gone down and they were just snickering lightly. When there was nothing but silence Puck glanced at Rachel and nervously tapped the steering wheel.
"So…" He began, catching Rachel's attention.
"Yes?"
"You said you met Santana before, a long time ago," Rachel stiffed but nodded. "And you said something about leaving a place and her leaving after. Was that place the orphanage you're mom mentioned when I was under the bed?"
"Yes, my father's died when I was around eight, and I had to stay in the orphanage. My first night there was when I met Santana," Rachel couldn't help but smile at the memory. "I didn't talk, and she was forced to watch me or something. But after I had an… accident that led to the bullying I got from the older kids, she protected me. From everyone." Rachel remembered all the times Santana had gotten in trouble for fighting with another kid whenever Rachel would cry. "Even when I didn't talk, she became my friend. But I had to leave when my mom finally got permission to take me home, to New York." Puck had been silent the entire time, and when after a long, uncomfortable silence it was clear Rachel wasn't going to talk again. He thought about what he could say to her but he ended up driving up to Rachel's house before he could. They both got out of the car and to the tree that Rachel had climbed down in.
"Thank you for showing me a good time, Noah. I suppose being a deiequent can be fun." Puck grinned and nodded.
"Damn right, you need help getting to your room?" Rachel looked up the tree and then to her bedroom window and bit her lip before looking at him and nodding. He climbed the tree and began helping her climb up and soon enough they were both back in her room. Rachel muttered a quiet goodbye a quiet goodbye and expected Puck to leave, but frowned when he stayed put looking nervous.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Okay, look," Puck said. "I'm not really good with sappy shit, but I guess I'll make an exception. I'm sorry if what I asked in the car after egging Karofsky's room was uncomfortable to you." Rachel smiled and shook her head.
"It's fine, really. It happened a long time ago, and I haven't been in the orphanage for years. Besides, if I never went, I never would have met Santana." Puck smiled back and nodded, then gave her a quick hug before climbing out her window. Rachel watched him climb down and closed the window as he walked around the corner of the house and of her sight. She sighed and collapsed on the bed, pulling the covers over her and too tired to change. As she drifted off to sleep, she couldn't help but let out a little giggle as she thought back to egging Karofsky's house.