Rachel's head was swimming with curiosity. Obediently following his orders, Rachel grabbed her things and bounded down the steps of the bleachers and made her way outside to the parking lot. There was a part of Rachel that still kept her guard up. After all, Puck had thrown a slushie in Rachel's face almost every day since freshman year. What if he was gaining her trust to pull the mother of all slushie attacks?
Rachel turned in a circle in the middle of the parking lot, trying to stay on her toes in case the whole football team emerged from behind the stationed vehicles that remained in the lot. Out of paranoia, she inspected the whole area and poked her head around the cars to make sure no one was there.
"Rachel," Puck suppressed a belly laugh after watching her for a good three minutes, startling her completely when he called her out. She jumped and let out a girlish scream. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Nothing!" She quickly replied, a blush of embarrassment creeping up onto her cheeks. "I just. I heard a noise and it troubled me was all." Rachel realized how silly she may have seemed just then and felt nothing but mortification. Of course, she couldn't come out and say she was scoping out the lot to see if she could foil his sneak attack. Now all she felt was guilty for thinking such things.
Puck was unconvinced, but there were more important matters at hand. "Okay, crazy ass, let's go," he directed her to follow his lead, tossing his backpack into the bed of the truck. Rachel followed behind, but still awaited the answer to her question from earlier.
"You still haven't told me where we're going. I can't get into your truck until I know you're not going to go kill me and throw me in a ditch somewhere." Her arms were crossed as she refused to get into the passenger seat when he opened the car door for her.
"Oh, you. Stop putting ideas into my head," he joked, his hand settling on the small of her back and pushing her gently toward the seat. "After such a magical week we've had, you still don't trust me? That hurts, Rachel."
More guilt washed over her and he was aware of this. If his mother taught him anything, it was how to guilt people into things.
"We're going to my house. My mom left for work and my little sister is by herself, so I need to get home. She freaks out when she's home alone." That was the actual truth, but he was going to work it to his advantage.
"Oh, well, that's actually admirable. Looking out for your little sister like that. I didn't even know you had a sister." There were lots of things she didn't know about him. Take, for example, where he lived or what kind of family life he had. Today would be a good day to finally find out. He helped her into the truck and shut the door, and then he set her things in the bed of his truck along with his backpack before getting into the driver's seat. The engine clunked and clamored, but it turned on and that's what counted.
"So," Rachel was going to attempt to have a conversation with him that didn't involve Glee or school, "how old is your sister and what's her name?"
"She's eight and her name is Emily. Do you mind if I put some music on?" Puck didn't really wait for Rachel to answer, immediately leaning forward to turn the knob on. His truck wasn't modern enough to play CDs. In fact, it still had its original tape deck. Thankfully, technology didn't completely forget about such an obsolete device and they had those tape adapters that hooked up to iPods. At one of the stop lights, Puck pulled out his iPod from his pocket and hooked it up, the automatic shuffle setting selecting a song at random. No surprise, it was a classic rock tune.
Rachel got the feeling that he wasn't in the mood to talk more than he had to. That he didn't want to share too much. She pursed her lips together, cocking her head to one side as she tried to figure him out in her head. She was guilty of putting up a front, but mostly because music was all she knew and wasn't afraid to be who she was. The front was to protect her from getting hurt. Maybe he had been hurt in the past and started to put up a front of his own.
Her eyes burned into him, causing him to glance sideways at her. "What? Do I have something stuck to my face or something?" He left one hand on the steering wheel while the other patted his right cheek.
Letting out a soft giggle, she shook her head, giving a shrug with her shoulders. "No, you don't. I've just been thinking how… odd this week has been. Sorry, odd is the only word I could find to describe it."
"At least it's a word I know," he mused, turning the corner onto a residential street. Rachel laughed again, causing him to break out into a smile. Why was it that her laugh was just one of those laughs that made you feel warm inside? It seemed to slap a grin on your face when you didn't want it to.
"I hope I'm not being overly bold here by saying that it's nice to see you smile. You know, instead of seeing a perma-scowl on your face. You even seem approachable and friendly." Rachel didn't mean to offend him in any way, shape, or form. It was an honest observation she was making. Puck shifted uncomfortably and guided the car into his driveway.
"Yeah, well, let's keep that just between us. I have a rep to protect, you know?"
Rachel made a crisscross motion over her heart to show him she'd keep it to herself. "Cross my heart. Though I don't see why it'd be a horrible thing to let people in and show them you're human. That's just me though."
Shutting the engine off, Puck paused for a moment and took it all in. Maybe his need to get back at Finn was clouding his judgment, but Rachel was an innocent bystander. Well, not completely innocent, she did, after all, kiss a guy who not only had a girlfriend, but a pregnant girlfriend at that. Regardless, maybe it wasn't too late to back out of his plan.
"Something wrong, Noah?" She put a soft hand on his shoulder out of concern, snapping him away from his thoughts.
"Nah, I'm good," he coughed, clearing his throat as he shrugged her hand off of his shoulder. "Come on, let's go inside." They both slid out of the truck, Puck helping gather her things before he led her to his doorstep. Rachel noticed the outside of his home seemed orderly and inviting. The lawn was immaculate and she took note of the rosebushes that adorned the front of the two-story home. Stepping inside, the interior matched its exterior, warm and cozy. There was a slight hint of white linen in the air that infiltrated her nostrils and she inhaled deeply, letting out a soft sigh.
"You have a lovely home," she complimented, taking the first few tentative steps further into his house. Puck dropped his belongings onto the floor of the foyer before he opened the coat closet and set his letterman jacket on a clothes hanger to put it away.
"Thanks. My mom's kind of a neat freak. Emily!" He called out, waving Rachel over to follow him. His little sister came running down the steps, hiding behind the banister as she caught a glimpse of the unfamiliar girl that stood beside him.
"Mom said to order food tonight; she's working 'til late. Who's that?" She pointed to Rachel, her other hand still gripping onto one of the wooden balusters.
Rachel waved politely with her fingers before she brought her hands behind her back. "Hi, Emily, I'm Rachel. I'm a schoolmate of Noah's."
The little girl stayed silent for a minute, Rachel glancing up at Puck. She felt awkward when his sister eyed her carefully. Puck just shrugged. "Are you a cheerleader? That Santana girl was mean. You're not mean, right?"
It took Rachel by surprise; Puck narrowed his eyes at Emily and took a few steps forward, Emily dashing up the stairs.
"Don't mind her, she's just nosy," he turned to Rachel as he held onto the railing. "Do you want some water or something before we go upstairs?"
She shook her head no and retrieved the music sheet from her case before following him up the stairs to his room. The wall that led up the staircase held various picture frames. Family gatherings, she could make one out of Puck with Mickey Mouse ears in front of the Magic Kingdom. It was so adorable; she tried not to coo out an 'awww'. He opened the door to his room, allowing Rachel to enter first.
"I'll be right back; I'm going to order dinner before we get started. Make yourself at home."
He disappeared, leaving Rachel to her own devices. Her fingertips slid over the surface of his computer desk on the other side of the room, her eyes dancing from frame to frame. Standing on her tippy toes, she grabbed onto the backing of the computer chair for balance and smiled at some of the pictures. He actually did smile more than he let on.
Puck leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, watching her nose around his desk for a moment. His eyes trailed up the back of her legs; taking into account how much longer they were than he thought. They were tan and her skin just looked so soft… oh, what was he doing? He snapped out of his own daze and cleared his throat, Rachel turning quickly to face the doorway.
"Sorry, I was just… anyway, let's work on that song." She felt like she got caught doing something wrong, but she couldn't help snoop around. She hadn't been in a boy's room, well, ever. Puck was someone that piqued her curiosity. How could he look so sweet in those photographs yet act like a total jerk at school?
For the next half hour, Puck fiddled on his guitar and Rachel sang to her heart's content, forgetting that the whole purpose was to help him with his own skills. He didn't really care for Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" since it was played to death on the local radio station that seemed to play the same songs every hour, but somehow, he didn't mind playing it with Rachel. She sat beside him on his bed while he strummed the tune on his guitar, taking over the scatting portion of the song, causing Rachel to laugh. It wasn't that he did it poorly, it simply sounded… perfect. She fell back onto the bed, laughing to herself. Puck stopped his playing and set it down, looking back at her.
"What? Was I that bad?" He furrowed his brow and watched her until she was done with her little laughing fit.
"No, you weren't," she assured him, turning onto her side, Puck joining her and propping his head up with his hand. "I had no idea you could scat like that. It was good. You know, you're really talented, Noah. You should showcase your abilities more."
What was going on here? Was he really having a jam session with Rachel Berry in his room? Was she really lying there on her side atop of his bed? He was looking at her with this intensity, one that made her feel self-conscious. "It was fun," she commented softly, willing herself to sit up, but she couldn't move.-
Puck leaned in, his face only a few centimeters away from her. Everything else became silent; all he could hear was her breathing. Rachel's eyes slowly closed shut, instinctively inching closer, it was like she was welcoming whatever was about to happen next. Although he had second thoughts about following through with his true motives, a little make-out session couldn't hurt, could it? His lips barely grazed hers before Emily came barging into the room. Rachel shot up, looking flushed and flustered, tucking her hair behind her ears in nervous fashion.
"Emily!" Puck yelled at the younger girl, his nostrils flaring in anger. "What'd I tell you about knocking?"
"Sorry!" She scurried out of the room, hiding behind the wall on the other side and just poking her head in. "The delivery guy's here, you need to go answer."
Groaning, Puck gave Rachel and apologetic look and got up to go tend to the door, leaving Rachel alone in his room once more.
"I'm telling mom." Rachel heard Emily taunt Puck as they disappeared down the hall. Chewing on her lower lip, she rubbed the pendant of her necklace between her fingers as she replayed the last few minutes in her head. She was about to lock lips with Puck. What scared her more was the fact that Finn hadn't crossed her mind during that moment at all. What was happening to her?