Chapter 8

A/N: Once again thank you for all the reviews and alerts! You guys make my day!

A/N 2: Sorry this one took a while. I was reading all the awesome Puckleberry fics out there.

A/N 3: Don't own Glee. Eli (dad) and Daniel (daddy) Berry are mine though.

A/N 4: Got some Puckleberry and some interaction with her dads in this one. It's a long chapter. Hope you like.

Rachel hugged the pillow closer to her chest as she stared at her bedroom ceiling. Being grounded was a totally new and tedious experience for her. Her dad and daddy had argued about the length of her punishment but had finally settled on grounding her for a week, no television, cell phone, car, or internet connection.

She glanced pitifully at her computer in the corner of her room. No internet connection meant no MySpace video, which meant that her devoted fans would be deprived of their daily musical joy. The television, cell phone and car should live without…the cutting off her internet connection had been like a knife through her heart.

She sighed and slowly sat up on her bed. There was pile of clean laundry sitting on her bed, waiting to be folded. Sunday was laundry dry and normally she took to the task of folding her clothes and putting them a way right away. Tonight, however, she was doing all she could to prolong the day. She didn't want to face tomorrow.

It wasn't so much the humiliation she was going to experience tomorrow at school that she was worried about (and there was no doubt she was going to experience some humiliation). What she was mostly worried about was facing Noah. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to act around him now. Did they go back to being casual acquaintances or had that unexpected night changed things between them? If she said hello to him in the hallways would he ignore her or acknowledge her presence? Were they still not friends…just friends…or more than friends?

Tap.

Rachel frowned and looked around her room, trying to pin point were the sound had come from. The room grew quiet again and she shook her head, slightly unnerved.

Tap.

Rachel nearly jumped out of skin. That tap had been much louder. She glanced apprehensively at her closed closet door. It would be just her luck that a crazed serial killer was hiding behind the door.

Bang!

Rachel let out a small shriek. The noise was coming from outside, specifically outside her window. She got up slowly and tip-toed to the window. The curtains were closed, blocking out the glare of the street lamp from down below. She took a deep breath and pulled back the curtains with a flourish.

"Noah?" she said in disbelief.

Puck was balancing unsteadily on a tree branch outside her window, one arm outstretched as if to knock on the window again.

Rachel quickly unlocked the window and pushed it up, cursing under her breath when the cold wind blew in.

"What on earth do you think you're doing?" she asked at him.

"Wind surfing," he replied sarcastically through chattering teeth. "Mind letting me in?"

She moved aside and watched as he climbed through her window stealthily.

"Done this before?" she asked with amused smile.

Puck closed the window and turned to grin at her. "Yeah, but usually I'm climbing out of the window as fast as possible."

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help the laugh that escaped.

Puck glanced around her room, remembering the last time he had been in there. His gaze went to her bed and he felt the blood in his body boil as images of her straddling him as they made out flashed in his mind.

"Noah," her voice called out quietly.

"Yeah," Puck squeaked. "Shit man…you sound like a fucking chipmunk! Get a grip." He cleared his throat."Yeah Berry."

"As pleased as I am to see you I must inquire as to why you are here," Rachel said, leaning against her dresser.

"I was just driving by and thought I'd see what you were up to," Puck replied casually with a shrug.

It was a lie. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about her since yesterday. As he drove home from her house he could smell her intoxicating perfume in his truck. While his mother yelled at him for staying out all night he remembered how angry (and hot) Rachel had looked when she had slapped him. When he went to sleep that night his arms ached to hold her and pull her close to his body. Rachel Berry had gotten under his skin and he needed to see her again.

"You could have rang the doorbell instead of climbing my tree," Rachel informed him.

"I figured you'd be grounded and wouldn't be allowed to see me," he paused and added in a serious tone, "Plus I was a little worried your dad would answer the door and start hitting on me again."

Rachel burst out laughing. She watched as he sat down on her bed, a scowl upon his face. She took a couple of steady breaths and walked over to the bed, sitting next to him.

"Daddy hasn't been able to stop talking about you," she teased. "You really charmed him."

"Cute Berry," Puck replied with a playful shove.

Silence filled the room, leaving them both to their thoughts. Rachel began to wonder yet again what their relationship to one another was now. She didn't want to start believing one thing only to get hurt later on.

"Noah," she began to say slowly. "I would be remiss in my duty to protect my pride and my heart if I didn't ask you what our connection is now. I don't want you to feel that I distrust you or that I am questioning your motives." She stood up and faced him, feeling the words pour out of her. "However, given our history, and my experience with Finn, you can't fault me for wanting to know the status of our relationship. Are we just classmates and Glee club members or are we friends…or are we more than friends. I'm not too familiar with normal teenage behavior so I'm not sure if sleeping with someone elevates your status of friend to something else, even if sex wasn't involved."

Puck started at her completely dumbfounded. She was red in the face, and he wasn't sure if that was because she was blushing or because she hadn't taken a breath during that entire speech.

"Berry… I didn't understand anything you just said," he told her.

Rachel let out an exasperated sigh. "What's going on between us?" she replied simply.

Puck groaned. "Do we really need to talk about this?"

Rachel bit her bottom lip and nodded her head. "I just want to make sure that we're on the same page. After what happened with Finn, I'd hate to think one thing only to be hurt later on," she told him quietly, looking down at her feet.

Puck stood up and placed his hand underneath her chin. "Ber…Rachel look at me." He waited until she lifted her head and looked into his eyes. "I know in the past I've been kind of a douche bag to you." Her right eyebrow rose slowly and he grinned. "Okay, I've been a major douche bag to you. But I'm not going to hurt or humiliate you."

"And…" Rachel prompted him slowly.

Puck exhaled loudly and rolled his eyes. "What more do you want me to say?"

"Well, what are your feelings towards me?"

Puck looked down and mumbled something.

"I didn't catch that," Rachel told him.

"I said I like you!" he said in exasperation. He let out a slow breath and looked up. "Maybe… maybe we could start off slow, be friends, and see where it leads."

"You want to start off slow," Rachel asked skeptically.

Puck smirked at her and placed his hands on her hips. "It's my resolution for 2010…get to know a girl a little more before I get into her pants…or in your case those insanely short skirts," he replied playfully.

"Rachel Barbara Berry, come down here please!" her dad suddenly called out from down stairs.

Puck and Rachel turned their heads towards her closed bedroom door.

"You don't think he saw me climb up the tree, do you," Puck asked worriedly.

"I don't think so," Rachel replied. "I better go and see what he wants."

"You…want me to leave?" Puck asked, brushing a strand of her hair off her shoulder. Rachel shivered at his touch.

"No," she said softly. "I want you to stay." She walked to the door, opened it, and closed it quietly.

Puck kicked his shoes off and sat back down on the bed. He looked around the room again and his eyes landed on the pile of laundry sitting on the foot of her bed…specifically the black lace thong sitting on top of the pile.

"Well, if it isn't my good old friend Victoria Secret," he said with a smile.

Eli handed Daniel a glass of scotch, hoping it would calm his partner's nerves. He frowned when he heard Rachel's delicate footsteps on the stair case.

"Let me do all the talking," he told Daniel.

Daniel waved his hand and made a noncommittal sound in the back of his throat.

"You wanted to see me dad," Rachel's hesitant voice called from the entryway of the family room.

"Come sit Rachel," Eli said firmly. He picked up a piece of paper from the coffee table and waited until she had situated herself on the couch. He saw her glance at her daddy with a quizzical look.

"What's wrong with daddy," Rachel asked, watching Daniel throw a wet cloth over his face.

"He's had somewhat of a shock…we both have."

"Oh, no! They know Noah is upstairs!"she thought wildly.

"Really?" she said quietly.

"I was checking our American Express balance online when I noticed an odd transaction…a charge for a hotel room at the Marriot Hotel for Friday night," Eli told her, watching her pale slightly.

"Damn it! How could I've forgotten I paid for the room with dad's credit card?"

"I was confused to say the least. After all your daddy and I were at home and you supposedly were staying at your friend's house. So I called over and they were more than happy to fax me a copy of the itemized bill." He handed her the piece of paper. "That is a copy of your signature, isn't."

Rachel nodded her head slowly, feeling sick to her stomach.

"Could you please read the bill Rachel?" Eli asked in his best lawyer voice.

Rachel swallowed hard and began to read. "One room with a king sized bed…$250. Room service, steak with baked potato and grilled chicken with steamed vegetables, $68.40. Pay per view movie, The Hangover, $14.99. Pay per view movie, Horney Housewives 2, $20.99." Rachel paused and re-read the last charge, her eyes growing wide. "Wait! I didn't order that movie!" she cried out in shock. She glanced up at the ceiling, fuming at Puck's libido.

"My daughter's a porn addict!" Daniel wailed dramatically from the couch.

"I didn't order it daddy! Noah must have." She gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth in horror.

"Noah," Eli said in a cold, low voice. "Who is Noah?"

"Noah Puckerman," Rachel answered slowly. "Also known as…Puck."

"As in the boy who drove you home yesterday morning?" Eli asked.

Rachel exhaled sharply and nodded her head.

"My daughter's a porn addict and a nymphomaniac!" Daniel cried out again.

"Daddy I assure you that my hymen is quite intact," Rachel replied.

"Rachel, your daddy is very close to having a stroke. Using words like `hymen` will push him over the edge," Eli told her as he sat down next to Daniel.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

Eli sighed and picked up the glass of scotch he had handed Daniel. "Rachel go upstairs. I need to talk your daddy. I'll come up in a few minutes."

Rachel all but ran out of the room and up the stairs. She opened her door and closed it firmly behind her. She walked into the room, a range of emotions coursing through her body.

"All these years I wondered what you had on under those skirts," Puck said lewdly from her bed, twirling her black thong around his finger. "Now I know."

Rachel's mouth dropped open, her eyes blazing with anger. "Horney Housewives 2," she hissed through clenched teeth.

Puck stopped twirling her underwear and gave her a puzzled smile. "What?"

"The pornographic movie you ordered in the hotel room…while I was sleeping!"

"Oh, that," Puck said nonchalantly. "I couldn't sleep."

"You could have watched the news!" Rachel replied furiously.

"Rachel, if it comes down between watching two hot chicks eating each other out and an old Jewish guy wearing suspenders and talking about the Middle East…I'm going pick the two chicks," Puck said with a grin.

"Well, thanks to you my dads now know that not only did I get a hotel room Friday night but that you were there too."

"What?" Puck said.

"Well, I had to tell them. My daddy started to think I was some porn addict," Rachel replied defensively. "My dad is going to be up here any second so you need to leave."

Puck stood up quickly and shoved his feet back into his shoes. He really didn't want to deal with Rachel's dad tonight.

Rachel opened the window and stood aside as he started to climb out. He paused, one foot on the sill.

"I'm sorry Rachel. Last thing I wanted was for you to get into more trouble with your dads," he said sincerely. He leaned over and gently kissed her cheek. Rachel closed her eyes, savoring the sensation of his lips on her skin.

"Ahem!"

Her eyes popped open and she heard Puck mutter an expletive under his breath. Slowly they turned their heads towards her bedroom door…and her dad.

"Rachel…Puck."