I'm not ready for a Mike chapter yet, but I'm pretty sure you'll forgive me for changing my plans.
"Puck, are you staying the night?" Daddy asked.
Noah froze in the middle of kissing me. His eyes got all wide, like he'd been caught doing something wrong.
"Is this a trick?" he whispered to me, and I giggled.
Then Dad said, "Honey, don't you think we should ask Rachel if that's what she wants before inviting him to stay over?"
This was new territory, but I wasn't too surprised. My fathers have a rather liberal attitude toward sex. They taught me to wait until I was both physically and emotionally ready, to always use protection, and to understand that sex with the right person is natural, beautiful and fun. When I started puberty, my dads gave me a sex talk, a box of condoms and a gift certificate to Toys in Babeland, a sex toy shop their friend Sharon recommended. Sharon also offered to give me advice on picking out my first vibrator, but I found Internet research to be sufficient.
"I'd love it if you stayed, Noah, but we'd have to get your mother's permission," I said.
"Seriously?" he asked
"We should invite Finn, too," Daddy mused.
"WHAT?" Noah asked, turning purple. Dad and Daddy both looked at him like he was crazy.
"Well, he and Quinn are making out on the front porch. It would be rude to invite you and not him," Daddy said.
"Are you being territorial over our Quinn?" Dad asked. "You can't have both girls, Puckerman. They deserve better than that."
"Oh, no, sir! I'm glad Quinn and Finn made up. I just…misunderstood what you were proposing at first."
For a second my dads looked confused, but then they caught on. I've never seen them laugh so hard. Daddy was doubled over, and Dad had to wipe away tears.
"We're pretty liberal, kid, but we're not going to arrange a threesome for our 16-year-old daughter!" Dad managed to get out between bouts of laughter.
By then, I was laughing, too, and Noah was blushing—a rare sight, indeed. Once we got our laughter under control, I was nominated to issue the invitation to Quinn and Finn. First, I knocked on the front door. Then I peeked outside.
"Hey, guys. Sorry to interrupt," I said. Finn stood behind Quinn, quite flushed, while Quinn tried (but failed) to look unaffected by their make-out session. "Quinn, can I speak to you for one second?" She gave me a funny look, but grabbed her tea off the porch railing and stepped inside.
"Rachel, I thought you were okay with this!"
"I am, honestly! Dad and Daddy want to know if Finn is spending the night." She dropped the tea. Luckily, the mug didn't break, but the tea spilled.
"Why would he be spending the night?" Quinn whispered. She looked scandalized, hopeful and scared all at once.
"Because Dad and Daddy don't mind. As long as we make healthy, responsible choices, we can have our boyfriends sleep over. Well, on weekends. On school nights, we have to get plenty of rest."
Her jaw dropped.
"What if we all slept in the living room? Then you could have some bonding time with Finn, but there wouldn't be as much…pressure," I proposed.
A smile stretched across her face, and she gave me an impetuous kiss on the cheek. "I love you, Berry!"
I tried to reply as casually, even though my heart felt like it was going to explode from happiness: "I love you, too, Fabray."
As Finn and Quinn walked in, I was cleaning up the spilled tea.
"Hey, Puck," Finn said.
"Hey, Finn" responded Noah, who had been standing right behind me, watching me scrub the floor on my hands and knees.
"Noah!" I said, scandalized, realizing that my short skirt was probably giving Noah quite the view.
"Sorry, Rach. I came to see if you needed help, but somehow I got…distracted."
"So," Finn asked, "this is an actual thing that, like, is happening?"
"Yeah, man. It was their dads' idea."
I liked the way Noah said "their dads' idea," not "her dads' idea." It was like Quinn had gone from enemy to friend to sister.
"Yes. We're all going to sleep in the living room tonight. We'll watch movies and eat popcorn. What do you think?"
"I guess I'll tell my Mom I'm at Mike's," Finn said.
"Good call," Noah agreed.
"What? Why should you lie? Finn, not to be crass, but Quinn is already pregnant. What harm could possibly come of sharing a bed with her? And Noah, your mother must be aware of your reputation around town. Surely spending the night with me would be a step up in her opinion."
"Too big of a step up, Berry. She'll start reserving synagogues and carving a chuppah with her own two hands."
"Call your mother. I'll talk to her," I said.
He raised an eyebrow, but did as I asked.
"Ma, Rachel wants to talk to you. Nothing. I swear, Mom, I didn't do anything. Here! Talk to Berry."
"Mrs. Puckerman, how are you today? Mm-hmm. Oh, I'm so glad to hear that. Mrs. Puckerman, I had a distressing day, and Noah was kind enough to help me through it. I was wondering if he could stay the night? We're having a mini glee-club sleepover. It's an opportunity for some of us to reconnect and mend fences. My dads will be here. Oh, I'm sure he'll be a perfect gentleman." Noah was smirking at me, so I winked at him. He must have been expecting me to scold him, because his eyes widened in surprise, and his lips shifted from a teasing smirk to an actual smile. Mrs. Puckerman agreed to let Noah stay if I would promise to come to Shabbat dinner the following week. When I informed Noah of the caveat, he groaned.
"Berry, we don't do Shabbat dinner at my house. We do TV dinners or takeout. If it's a high holy day, we throw in a viewing of Sophie's Choice or Schindler's List. That's about as far as it goes in my family. But now I'm dating a Jewish girl, so mom's polishing the Kiddush cup?"
"Poor baby," I said, giving him a quick smooch before making a similar phone call to Finn's mother. Soon enough, we had inflated two air mattresses and covered them with blankets and pillows, making one big bed on the floor. The four of us stretched out: Noah, then me, then Quinn, then Finn. We watched Die Hard and The Princess Bride, but fell asleep before the second movie was over. I woke up in the middle of the night spooning with Noah. One of his hands had made its way to cup my breast as we slept. I rolled my eyes, but it actually felt nice. Quinn was curled up on her side facing me. She and Finn were spooning, too. The surprising part was that Quinn's hand was holding mine. I didn't want to let go, but I knew I had to.
As quietly as possible, I wiggled out of our nest and quietly slipped upstairs to use my bathroom. While I was at it, I washed my face and brushed my teeth. "Berry?" I heard Noah whisper outside the door.
"Noah?" I opened the door, and he took my face into his hands, kissing me deeply. He stepped into the bathroom and closed and locked the door behind us. Then Noah lifted me onto the bathroom counter. I wrapped my legs around his waist to pull him closer.
We kissed and kissed, his hands in my hair, my hands bunched in his t-shirt. Somehow, my hands worked their way under the hem of his shirt to his taut stomach. As I eased his shirt up and off, Noah's hands reached out to do the same for me. Once we were both topless, I suddenly felt really shy and crossed my arms over my chest. Noah turned off the overhead light so that we were only illuminated by the nightlight in the corner.
"Is that better?" he whispered.
"I know it's stupid. I mean, I'm the one who told the whole abstinence club that girls want sex as much as boys, but…I'm scared."
"It's okay, babe. How about this: for tonight, I'll only do to you what you do to me first, and any time you want to stop, we stop."
I bit my lip but nodded. This was an excellent plan. Noah was extremely seductive; if he'd led the way, I probably would have ended up going faster than I was emotionally prepared for. And as much as I'm usually good an verbal communication, I suddenly found it difficult to say what I wanted.
I reached up to run my hands over his chest. Noah's hands mirrored mine. I liked how that felt, so I ran my hands over his pecs, leading Noah to cup my breasts. He was so attuned to my motions that he echoed them just a second later: fingers, then tongues circling and flicking. It felt so good that I rubbed against him until our breathing was fast and shallow. I grew frustrated, missing the friction we'd accomplished making out in the past, when he'd been wearing jeans.
"Babe, do you want me to…help you out?" he asked, glancing down significantly.
I could feel my face flush. Yes! "No. I'm sorry, it's just…"
"Don't be sorry. It's cool. Actually, it's awesome. I made it further in one day as your boyfriend than in a whole week last time," he said, smirking, and I gave him a playful shove, but then he kissed me sweetly. "Um, babe, I do need you to give me a minute."
I looked down, and his boxers did little to hide Noah's current state. I gulped and nodded, leaving him in the bathroom as I slipped into my bedroom to take care of my own tension. Sated and cleaned up, Noah and I eventually tiptoed downstairs.
We crawled back into our makeshift bed in the living room, and I slipped my hand back into Quinn's. She kept her eyes shut, but whispered, "Slut! I can't believe you left me alone here!"
"With your sweet, handsome boyfriend? I am so sorry," I replied with a giggle.
"She's just jealous because he didn't wake up and try to put the moves on her," Noah grumbled.
Quinn opened her eyes, pushed herself to a sitting position, then whacked Noah with her pillow.
"Whasgoinon?" Finn mumbled, half-asleep.
"Nothing, Finn," Quinn said, as she put her pillow back where it belonged.
Finn just nodded, and pulled Quinn into his arms, kissing her and snuggling her close. His nose nuzzled behind her ear, and Quinn shivered.
"You're welcome, Fabray," Noah whispered.
"Shut up, Puck," Quinn replied, but she was smiling.
Review, please! I really appreciate every single one.