Chapter 6

A/N: Happy 2010 everyone! Here is the next chapter. Reviews feed my muse, and she is hungry!

A/N 2: Once again this chapter has a little bit of everything, including Mercedes and Kurt.

A/N 3: I'm a little unsure about the emotional scene between Puck and Rachel but I wanted to update the story for you guys. I hope it doesn't seem too out of character.

Mercedes groaned into her pillow when she heard her cell phone ring. Her sleep addled mind recognized the ringtone, Single Ladies, and she let out a louder groan. Her hand shot out under the covers and blindly she reached for her cell phone on the night table, knocking over a water bottle in the process.

"You had better be dyin," she said in annoyance.

"She's not picking up her phone!" Kurt's panicked voice came through the other end.

"Who's not picking up their phone?"

"Rachel! Rachel is not picking up her phone. I've called her 5 times and each time it went right to her voicemail."

"Can't you wait until Monday to get all the nasty details about her night with Puck?" she asked in exasperation.

"That's not why I was calling her…although I do want the details no matter how nasty." He paused and exhaled loudly. "I was calling to warn her."

"Warn her about what?"

She could hear Kurt take a deep breath before saying in a rush, "Finnisonhisway."

"Say what?"

"I said, Finn is on his way," he said slowly.

Mercedes bolted up. "What do you mean he's on his way?"

"He's on his way to her hotel room," Kurt explained quietly.

"And just how does he know where Rachel is?" Mercedes asked.

"I… may have told him," he told her meekly.

"May have?" she repeated through clenched teeth.

"Okay, I told him!" he cried out in despair.

"You have got to be kidding me! After that guilt trip you laid on me last night you ended up telling him anyways."

"I'm weak when it comes to that man!" Kurt wailed dramatically.

Mercedes closed her eyes and shook her head. "Tell me what happened."

Kurt placed the exfoliating cream back down on the bathroom counter and took one last look in the mirror.

"You look gorgeous darling," he told his reflection happily. He headed back into his room in time to hear his cell phone's ringtone, Let's Hear It For The Boy, go off. He sighed and picked it up.

"Well, good morning Finn," Kurt said briskly into the phone.

"Hey Kurt," Finn's tired voice replied. "Look, I know you guys said you didn't know where Rachel was but I've spent the entire night looking for her. Please, if you have idea where she is you have to tell me."

Kurt bit his bottom lip. He couldn't tell Finn the truth, especially not after that speech he gave to Artie, Tina, and Mercedes at the dance. Plus, Rachel didn't need that kind of drama this early in the morning.

He was all set to tell Finn that he couldn't help him, when Finn said five words that proved to be his undoing.

"Please Kurt. I need you."

"So I told him," Kurt finished saying in an apologetic tone.

Mercedes sighed and flopped back into the pillows. "So, Finn knows Rachel and Puck got a room together."

"Well…no. I was only able to tell him that Rachel got a room at the hotel before he hung up on me. He has no idea about Puck."

Mercedes drew in a breath before slowly exhaling. "Okay…maybe Rachel won't even be there anymore. She and Puck could have already left the room. She could be home."

"Yeah," Kurt started to say slowly. "I thought that too… so before I called you I called her home. One of her dads answered the phone and when I asked for Rachel he started to cry and said Rachel was missing. I hung up when he asked me who I was." Kurt waited for her response "Mercedes? You still there?"

"It is way too early for this shit."

Finn and Puck stared at each other, both wearing matching expressions of confusion. Puck realized with a start that Finn was still wearing his tux from the night before, the suit now slightly wrinkled and the tie loose.

"`Sup dude," Puck finally said.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Finn asked harshly.

"What the hell are you doing here? Puck shot back.

"I'm looking for Rachel. Kurt told me she got a hotel room last night. The guy at the front desk told me she was in this r…" Finn stopped. His sleep deprived eyes focused on what Puck was wearing…or not wearing.

Puck cringed when he saw Finn's eyes widen at his appearance. "Should have put my pants on before I opened the door," he thought. He watched as Finn's eyes traveled south, nearly popping out when he saw the huge bulge hidden under the cloth of his briefs.

"Dude, could you stop staring at my junk," Puck said.

He saw the flash of anger in Finn's eyes before he was pushed aside roughly. Finn marched into the room and stopped when he saw Rachel standing by the bed, pulling nervously at the sleeves of Puck's shirt.

Rachel's breath caught in her throat as her eyes locked with Finn's. She saw him glance at the rumpled sheets on the bed before turning back to look at her.

"You're kidding me, right?" he said in a low voice.

"Finn," she started to say in a quiet voice.

"You spread your legs for Puck!" he shouted furiously. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Hey! Don't talk to her like that," Puck shot back, walking back into the room and standing in front of Rachel.

"What are you going to do Puck? Hit me?" Finn said sarcastically, taking a menacing step towards them.

"Back the hell up bro," Puck said in a dangerously low voice. He could feel Rachel's tiny frame pressed against his back. His hand reached out behind him and grasped her hand.

Finn took a deep breath and took a step back. When he spoke again his voice was softer.

"Rachel, I know I hurt you. I'm sorry…I'm so sorry." Finn looked at her pleadingly. "Let me take you home and we can talk."

Rachel stepped around Puck slowly, feeling her heart break all over again. "Hurt me?" she said. "Finn, you devastated me. You humiliated me in front of all those people. You think saying sorry is just going to erase all that…that I'm going to forgive you. I'm not going anywhere with you."

"I'm not going leave you here with him," Finn told her angrily, pointing an accusing finger at Puck.

"Hey, I'm not the guy who hurt her," Puck snapped.

"No, but you will Puck!" Finn shouted back. "That's what you do…you use girls and you hurt them. You did it with Quinn and you'll do it to Rachel." He let out a harsh laugh before saying, "You're just like your dad."

Puck tried to lunge forward but was stopped by Rachel. She turned to face him and placed her hand on his arm tenderly. "Violence is not the answer Noah."

"Maybe not but it will make me feel a hell of a lot better," Puck said through his teeth, staring directly into Finn's eyes.

Rachel ignored his comment and turned back towards Finn. "Leave," she said simply.

"Rachel!"

She walked over to the door and opened it with so much force it surprised both Finn and Puck.

"I don't need nor want you here Finn. Leave now!"

Finn glanced back at Puck, a look of pure disgust in his eyes. Rachel and Puck heard him mumble "prick" before walking out of the room.

The door closed slowly and silence filled the room. She turned back to Puck, watching him shove his legs into his pants, his body shaking with rage.

"Noah," she began to say timidly.

"Don't Berry!" he snapped. She flinched and took a step back. "Way to go asshole!" He slowly inhaled, trying to calm himself down. "Sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you."

Rachel took his apology as an invitation to move closer. She sat on the bed and looked up at him.

"He was angry Noah, and people often say things they don't mean when they're angry."

Puck frowned and looked out the window. "Doesn't change the fact that what he said was true. My dad used to sleep around and use women. He hurt my mom every chance he got. I'm no different." He turned to look at her, hating the sympathy he saw in her eyes. "I had sex with my best friend's girlfriend because I was pissed at him and ended up getting her pregnant. And if Finn hadn't shown up, I'd be fucking you senseless right now, even though I told you last night I wouldn't take advantage of you. I'm a loser…just like my dad."

"You're not a loser," Rachel said. He shook his head angrily, refusing to listen. "Noah," she continued, "you are not a loser. You made a mistake when you slept with Quinn, but you are doing everything you can to take care of her and the baby. I've seen you…offering her rides to her doctor's appointments and wanting to pay for her bills. Most seventeen year old boys wouldn't even acknowledge that they had gotten a girl pregnant, much less offer their help. And last night, you could have chosen to ignore me and allow me to continue with my reckless plan. The old Noah would have." She stood up and stepped closer to him, taking his hands in hers and squeezing lightly. "You're a good person."

"Shit…she thinks I am a good person," he thought in disbelief.Puck was about to remind her of all the hell he had put her through; the slushie facials, pushing her into the lockers, the insults; when he saw something in her eyes that made him stop. Her gaze was powerful, as though she was looking right into his soul. He had never seen a girl look at him that way before…like he was more than just some sex machine. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her at that moment but Finn's words were ringing in his ears: "That's what you do…you use girls and you hurt them. You did it with Quinn and you'll do it to Rachel." No matter what Rachel said, he was still the douche bag who got a girl pregnant.

He dropped her hands and forced a smile at her look of confusion. "Well, a nice as this Oprah moment has been we should probably check out so I can take you home."

Something clicked in Rachel's brain. "Home!" Rachel suddenly screeched. She ran to the dresser and picked up her purse. Pulling her cell phone out she panicked when she saw that it had been turned off.

"Oh, please let there be no messages…please let there be no messages," she said under her breath as she turned on the phone.

Her cell phone screen flashed a message: 35 Missed Calls.

"Berry, mind explaining to me what's going on?" Puck asked.

Rachel looked up from her screen, her eyes wide with fear. "I'm dead."

Puck shook his head at her stupidity as he took the turn onto her block.

"I can't believe you didn't tell your dads you wouldn't be home last night."

"When exactly was I supposed to tell them Noah," she shot back. "Was I supposed to call them before I tried to proposition some stranger in a bar or after we ordered the room service?"

Puck sighed in frustration. He took a quick glance at her and had to bite the inside of cheek from laughing. She was practically bouncing in the passenger seat with nervous energy.

"Chill Berry," he said. He took his hand off the steering wheel and reached for hers. "It won't be that bad."

The both found out just how wrong that statement was when they pulled up closer to house and saw the two police cruisers parked on the side. Puck parked behind one of the cruisers and turned off the ignition. They both looked out the window and saw Rachel's dads talking to the two officers on the front porch.

"Shit," Puck said.

Rachel gulped loudly. "I'm so dead."