Disclaimer: I do not own the Glee world.
A/N So this was a later update than I was hoping for but at least it's here now, right?
The Glee concert was incredible for those who asked and I had a fab time, thank you. I have to say that I majorly teared up when they started to play!
Thank you lots and lots for your reviews and alerts and favourites!
Let's get on with it shall we?
Chapter 17: Friend or Foe?
There were fifteen minutes until the competition was due to start and the organisers had gathered all the contestants in a room. It had been a whirlwind few hours since Puck and Rachel had been told they'd made it through to the main event. They'd had photos taken of them for the event programme and balloting papers, they'd met a couple of the organisers so they could find out a little about them and they'd been given ten minutes to run through their first two songs on the stage. This was, of course, no guarantee that they'd make it through to the 90s round but it was such a quick turnaround between rounds one and two that there was no chance they'd be able to prepare should they indeed be successful. Puck was pretty happy with how their rehearsals had gone; there'd been no real problems, it was just a matter of getting used to the stage area but their frequent performances in McKinley's auditorium had ensured that wasn't an issue.
He and Berry were to be the fifteenth couple to perform and she told him that this was a pretty good slot as they would be relatively fresh in the audience's memory when they came to vote. He hoped she was right – they needed all the fucking votes they could get! During the rehearsal times they'd managed to hear some of the other couples and crap, shit and fuck were some of them good! Possibly not as good as he and Berry but there was a chance he was slightly biased. He was also kinda worried about the audience's opinion of them as a couple when you counted Evie into the situation. Would they turn their stuck up noses at them? Fucking snobs.
Looking and acting the way that he did he knew that most adults thought of him as some no-good, screw up delinquent (some old lady had called him that in the 7-11 once, he didn't really know what it meant but he was pretty sure he'd used it in the right context). He wasn't ashamed of Evie in the slightest – she was the best thing that had ever happened to him, but they needed this money so godammed bad and the audience's opinion of them meant everything in this contest. But Rachel and he had agreed that it would be best to be as honest as possible in this thing and that included admitted that he was a teenage father (by another girl). They were just going to have to be as fucking charming as possible so that the audience would adore them and remember what it was like to be young and in love. He was going to have to leave that more to Rachel really because yes, he could charm the panties off of a cougar, but in front of big crowds he was less effective (especially if he wasn't allowed to appear sexually available, 'cause, y'know, he was with Berry now. Sorta.).
Speaking of the 'love of his life', she seemed to notice that he was worrying about something because she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and kissed his arm, just where his t-shirt ended and his skin showed. He gave her a half smile, the nerves in his stomach unable to let him produce anything more confident. She kissed his arm again and he wrapped his arm around her as they continued to wait for whatever reason the organisers had gathered them all here.
They had only been putting on their pretence of a relationship for a day and Puck found that he had a slight problem…he was enjoying it just a little too much.
He knew that he and Rachel were only pretending but he'd been so starved of any contact with hot girls the last few months! Like, he seriously couldn't remember the last chick he'd kissed (apart from Berry, of course) but it would've been before Evie was born and that was well over two months ago! He hadn't had such a dry spell since he was thirteen. He was sure that his liking of the false relationship thing had nothing to do with Berry in particular; Suzy Pepper could be kissing and cuddling up to him and he was sure he'd feel exactly the same way.
Puck wasn't sure whether to indulge his enjoyment at being with a girl again or to try and stop himself from feeling anything. On the one hand he and Berry needed to make their relationship as realistic as possible for the contest but Rachel was, like, his best friend and he didn't want to ruin their friendship by taking advantage of her because she happened to be a girl…
His thoughts were interrupted as an old couple entered the room and some of the entrants burst into spontaneous applause. Puck looked around in bewilderment until Rachel grabbed his t-shirt to bring him down closer to her level. "I think it's them," she whispered.
"Er, who?"
"Rita and Gerald Barker – the couple who started all of this." She elaborated.
"Ohhh. Damn, they're old!"
She jabbed her elbow into his chest.
They did look old though as they motioned for the people to stop in their applause, probably because they were, like, one hundred years old. He couldn't believe they'd been together since way before his mom was even born!
"Gerald and I would just like to say a few words before you take to the stage," Rita explained, holding tight to her husband's hand.
"As some of you may be aware, this competition takes place on the anniversary of when I proposed to my love, my Rita." He smiled affectionately at his wife and she smiled back, teary-eyed. "The first competition took place on our wedding day and has been happening for fifty years. So this year is particularly special for us because it is the fiftieth anniversary of both this event and our marriage."
The competitors burst into spontaneous applause again and Puck joined in so that he didn't look like a douche and y'know, if you live 'til you're a hundred (or however old they really were) with your other half then you deserved some sort of award.
"We wish you all the very best of luck over the next few days," Rita said as the noise died down, "and hopefully the rest of your lives together. We know that you all want to win but love is what this event is all about and we hope you are as blessed as we have been."
Puck cast a slightly guilty glance at Rachel and she was biting her lip. He could tell that she, like he, wished that they didn't have to lie to be a part of this competition but they had little choice if they wanted to pay that money to Principal Figgins.
The founders gave them all a parting wave and then they walked out of the room. Puck checked his watch. There were now only ten minutes until the start of the competition. However, being the fifteenth couple to perform meant that he and Rachel wouldn't be singing until well over an hour from now.
The man who had taken them to their audition stepped forward. His name was Malcolm and he was, like, the boss backstage. He instructed the first three couples to make their way to the stage and then informed the rest of them that it would make his and his colleagues' lives a lot easier if the contenders remained in this room when it was nearly their time to perform. And then, he too, was gone.
"Do you want to watch the first half with Kurt or just hang back here?" Puck whispered at Rachel, as the buzz of other conversations filled the room.
"We should scout out the competition," she replied without taking much time to think about it. "Come on, if we hurry we won't miss the start."
He allowed himself to be pulled along by her as they gently made their way through the other people and then they walked quickly so that they could find Kurt and Evie before the first acts started.
They found Kurt right at the back, a seat he'd chosen so that he could make an easy getaway if Evie started to cry. "We decided to watch the first half with you," Berry whispered in answer to Kurt's quizzical expression at their arrival. There were still a few empty seats right at the back but the rest of the theatre seemed completely full.
Puck swallowed his nerves, took Evie from Kurt and then settled down to see if any of these mother-fuckers were going to stop him and Berry from winning.
"You're the couple with the little baby, aren't you?"
Puck turned at the voice, immediately feeling defensive whenever Evie was mentioned. It was a man and a woman, only a few years older than he and Rachel. He didn't recognise them so they must be one of the couples in the second half.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to ask that so bluntly," the woman carried on, laughing slightly. She was blonde and absolutely hot as fuck. He glanced at the guy and Puck could recognise without sounding like a homo, thanks, that he was good looking too.
"S'alright," Puck shrugged. "Yeah, that's my daughter."
"Oh, she's so cute! Hardly surprising considering who her parents are," the blonde said, motioning to himself and Berry. Puck smirked and he saw Rachel turn slightly pink.
"Actually she's not mine," she explained.
"See, I told you that," the guy spoke for the first time. "Oh, God, we must sound like the rudest people on the planet talking about you behind your backs. I was only saying to Miranda that I didn't think she could be your child because there's no way that body of yours could have given birth a couple of months ago. I mean, it's perfect."
Rachel went scarlet this time and Puck laughed as she managed a strangled, "Thank you."
"I'm Gary, by the way, and this is my fiancée Miranda."
They all shook hands and muttered 'nice to meet you's.
"So what did you think of the first half?" Miranda asked. "I take it you watched from somewhere."
Rachel nodded. "We sat with our friend Kurt and I have to say that we were all quite impressed with the standard so far. The ones that sang Beyoncé were incredible and I loved the version of Bleeding Love that the second pair did."
Gary nodded. "They were probably the best ones. I wasn't so keen on the Miley song but that's just more my taste in music."
"And it probably didn't help that the couple singing it were about fifty," Miranda said. "What position are you guys going on?"
"Fifteenth," Puck said, figuring that he might as well contribute to this conversation instead of staring at Miranda…
"Oh, you're two after us; we're thirteenth," Gary said and Miranda grimaced.
"Superstitious?" Rachel enquired. Puck frowned and then he remembered about the number thirteen being unlucky.
Gary laughed at the look on his fiancée's face and kissed her cheek. "Honey, I told you, we don't need luck, good or bad, to get through."
Their open affection shocked Puck into remembering that he was supposed to be in love with Rachel and he tried to nonchalantly take her hand, threading his fingers through hers. She looked at him suspiciously, as though she knew exactly what (or rather who) he'd been thinking about a few seconds ago.
"Well, we're going to go and warm up our voices." Rachel said. "Good luck with your song, I hope you get through."
Miranda and Gary wished them luck in return before Rachel had pulled him off somewhere else.
"Er, so do you want to warm up?" Puck asked, avoiding her gaze. He felt guilty about the staring at Miranda thing because it wasn't good for their cover and it also felt like he'd upset her…like he'd been unfaithful or something completely insane like that. Looking wasn't cheating, he should know, he'd done plenty of cheating and yet none of it had given him the uneasy feeling it did now. He mentally shook himself for thinking like a fucking crazy person and made himself look up.
Rachel was smiling at him. "You know what they were doing, don't you?"
"Uh, what?" He screwed up his face in confusion.
"Gary and Miranda. They were playing mind games, Noah." Rachel explained. "Trying to be all nice and flattering so that we'd trust them but secretly they were seeing what we were like and if there's any way they can psych us out."
Puck blinked.
"This competition might be about love, like the Barkers said, but it is still a competition and a performing one at that. And I've been part of enough of these things to know that you can't trust any of your fellow competitors because they all want to win as badly as you do and they'll do almost anything to make that happen." Her eyes were all lit up and there was a steely determination in her voice. She looked like she could conquer the world and Puck wasn't about to stand in her way.
Fuck, she looked beautiful like that. Maybe beautiful wasn't the right word. She looked ass-kicking fantastic, and before he could stop himself he imagined her pushing him down to the floor and transferring that passion she had about winning over to rocking his fucking world.
He physically shook himself this time.
This was his best friend he was fantasising about. Get a fucking grip Puckerman, he told himself. Man, he needed to get laid as soon as this was over. Maybe Santana…
Rachel softened her features and gave him a sheepish grin. "Sorry, I get a bit stressed about competitions and well, this one is really quite important. Why don't you grab your guitar and we'll warm up."
"Sure," he mumbled, slightly relieved to step away from her for a few seconds. He was horny, that was all this was about. First that Miranda chick took him by surprise and Rachel wasn't exactly an uggo… He was just being a guy.
The first two couples of the second half were called to the stage as Puck retrieved his guitar and his nerves came back in full force after temporarily being overshadowed by those, uh, other, feelings. Time to focus on the competition and their song.
He grinned as the melody came floating through his head.
Rachel looked at him curiously as he came to stand back next to her. "What's up?"
"I just wish I had the internet on my phone that's all."
"Why?"
"So I could watch that kid sing our song again."
Rachel laughed. "You've already watched that YouTube clip a hundred times, Noah. Besides I find it hard enough to not think of that version of the song while we sing it anyway. A fresh viewing would do us absolutely no good so close to our performance."
Puck chuckled. "Yeah, I know." Then before Berry could stop him he plucked the strings of his guitar and made noises that sounded vaguely like he was singing lyrics before he finished with a slightly more intelligible, "I'm yours."
She looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh. "You're an idiot," she said between stifled giggles.
"You love it," he retorted.
She shrugged, and after a half glance across the room, leaned up on her toes so she could wrap her arms around his neck. "Maybe," she breathed softly. He felt his blood heat up slightly as he felt her body press against his. We're acting he told himself, just acting. He was both glad and annoyed that having his guitar in his hand stopped him from putting his arms around her in return and placing his hands just above her ass.
Her eyes fluttered closed and suddenly her lips were on his, all softness and light pressure. We're acting, he reminded himself again, so that he didn't get caught up in how fucking good it felt.
"Couple twelve to the stage!" A voice shouted across the room and Puck felt Rachel jump away from him in surprise. She smiled somewhat shyly up at him.
"Um, so warming up," she stated quietly. "It sounds like we haven't got that much longer to get ready."
It felt like they'd only been getting their voices prepared for a couple of minutes before their number was being called. Rachel gripped his hand and he tried to stop himself feeling like he was going to puke all over the floor. He'd done this sorta thing before with the glee club so he should be fine. Okay, so there were normally ten other people on that stage but he had the best one from New Directions with him and they'd been fucking awesome in their audition that morning. As long as he was with Rachel he'd be fine.
They arrived backstage just as Miranda and Gary finished off their song – Hero by that Spanish singer, Enrico Inglayfish, or something. They were pretty good; right up there with the best from the first half and Rachel sent him a worried glance. "We're gonna kick their asses, Rach." He whispered in her ear so that she'd hear him over the noise of the audience's applause. She squeezed his hand and sent him a grateful smile.
The couple before them were now on the stage singing something that Puck didn't recognise.
"It's Can't Fight the Moonlight by LeAnn Rimes," Berry informed him and he thought she was telling him so that she had something to say. He shrugged because he really didn't care. This couple weren't as good as his 'friends' Miranda and Gary but they were still okay.
The backstage guy, Malcolm, came over to get Puck all set up with his microphone. They'd requested one that slipped over his ear so that he was free to move around during the performance while he played his guitar. During the first two days of competition the music had to be provided by the competitors either by playing live themselves or with a CD backing. Then on the last day for the final two rounds there would be musicians there to play to give it more of a grand finale.
Malcolm seemed happy that everything was in order and he motioned them to move further forward and closer to the wing of the stage. "You exit off the other side," he told them and Puck nodded. "Be ready to go on as soon as these two have finished." Puck nodded again, a little more stiffly this time because he could recognize, even if he didn't know the song, that it was drawing to a close and soon it would only be him, Berry and his guitar against the world…sorta.
"Good luck, Noah," Rachel whispered, quickly dropping a kiss on his cheek. He pulled her into a one arm hug and kissed the top of her head. "You too, B."
The song ended and the lights stayed on for a few seconds allowing the other couple to wave goodbye and then they dimmed into near darkness as he and Berry took their places on the stage.
"Please welcome couple number fifteen, from Lima, Ohio, Rachel Berry and Noah Puckerman!" Someone announced and the audience clapped politely. Puck got his fingers in the right position for the opening chord and glanced at Rachel. She smiled and nodded as the lights brightened. He took a deep breath and began to play.
As the first few familiar notes were played out across the theatre Puck felt himself relax and he smiled at Rachel. This competition was so fucking on. She was swaying slightly next to him and he thought they probably looked like they were mad because they were just grinning at each other but hopefully they looked madly in love instead.
Rachel opened her mouth and began to sing.
"Well you done done me and you bet I felt it
I tried to be chill but you're so hot that I melted
I fell right through the cracks
And now I'm trying to get back"
Her voice sounded fucking fantastic as she looked so cute, yes damn it, cute as she acted along to the words pretending to fan herself because he was 'so hot' and then melting. Time for him to take over.
"Before the cool done run out
I'll be giving it my bestest
Nothing's going to stop me but divine intervention
I reckon it's again my turn to win some or learn some"
Once he'd started singing the tension was completely gone and he was struck like he had been at their audition by how right it felt to sing with Rachel like this. They started walking towards each other as they began to sing together, her voice lifting to bring a harmony.
"But I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait, I'm yours"
They turned away from each other towards the audience and sang, still in harmony to the few hundred people there.
"Well open up your mind and see like me
Open up your plans and damn you're free
Look into your heart and you'll find love love love love
Listen to the music of the moment people dance and sing
We're just one big family
And it's our God-forsaken right to be loved loved loved loved loved"
It was hard to make out many faces in the audience because the light was shining so brightly in his eyes and the people, of course, were in darkness but from what he could see they seemed to be enjoying their song. A thrill went through him as he turned back to Rachel to sing the chorus with her.
"So I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait I'm sure
There's no need to complicate
Our time is short
This is our fate, I'm yours"
Rachel gave him an innocent smile and sang;
"D-d-do do you, but do you, d-d-do
But do you want to come on
Smooch on over closer dear
And I will nibble your ear"
She'd skipped towards him and beckoned him towards her and he'd seriously thought that she was going to bite his ear. He was amazed at how in-character she was for this song compared to how they'd done it a couple of days ago for the glee club. Everything seemed to be going perfectly and he made himself concentrate so that he didn't screw this all up.
He carried on playing the music as she ad-libbed a few notes as they performed a little dance-y step-y sequence that Matt had taught to them so that they weren't just standing around singing. He caught Rachel's eye and made sure that she kept it because this next part was where they'd had a little bit of trouble in their practices; the guitar dropped away quite a lot and they had to keep their singing in time with each other because Puck always wanted to slow down and Rachel didn't.
"But I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait I'm yours"
He relaxed again, relieved that they'd got through it. The guitar picked up once more but their voices split; Puck carried on with the normal chorus slightly quieter than Rachel who took on the newer part.
"Open up your mind and see like me (I won't hesitate)
Open up your plans and damn you're free (No more, no more)
Look into your heart and you'll find the sky is yours (It cannot wait, I'm sure)
So please don't, please don't, please don't (There's no need to complicate)
There's no need to complicate (Our time is short)
'Cause our time is short (This is our fate)
This is, this is, this is our fate,
I'm yours."
They sang the last two words facing each other and neither of them could contain their broad smiles as the audience erupted into loud applause. They waved a little bit before Rachel grabbed his hand and practically pulled him off the stage.
"Hey! They were loving us out there." He protested and she shook her head slightly.
"Always leave them wanting more, Noah." Her eyes were alight with passion again but this was a kinda different passion. Before she'd looked like she was gonna kick someone's ass but this time it was more like she was alive, which was a stupid description because of course she was alive, but she seemed properly alive, like, extra alive. He shook his head slightly in annoyance at being unable to find the right words to describe her. Whatever, she looked amazing, and he had absolutely no hesitation in pulling her towards him. She squeaked in surprise but he cut her off by kissing her firmly on the lips.
It took her only a couple of seconds to respond and he had just managed to part her lips with his tongue when someone cleared their throat next to him. Puck was tempted to ignore them but he could feel Rachel pulling away from him so he looked round.
"I need to get the mic off you," one of the backstage people said. She looked quite embarrassed to have interrupted them.
"Uh, sure." Puck agreed, letting the woman come forward.
"You two might as well just wait back here seeing as there are only a couple of acts left. Everyone walks across stage one more time so the audience remember who you are." She said, successfully removing the microphone.
They moved to stand in the wings so they could watch the last couple of acts.
"You were fucking awesome by the way," Puck whispered in Rachel's ear. She beamed at him.
"Thank you, Noah, you were most excellent yourself. And I think our acting has really come along too – I think we more than convinced that stagehand of our relationship."
Puck nodded. Yeah, acting.
Before the final act was over they were herded to be back with the other contestants so they were in their performance order.
"You just walk across the stage and wave," Malcolm called in a loud whisper.
The line of couples gradually diminished and next it was Puck and Rachel's turn.
"Couple number fifteen from Lima, Ohio, Rachel Berry and Noah Puckerman who sang 'I'm Yours' by Jason Mraz." The announcer called and Puck and Rachel smiled and waved as they walked across the front of the stage. The audience clapped appreciatively and Puck couldn't help but feel that they had a good chance of getting through to the next round.
"Okay folks, you have ten minutes to vote for your three favourite couples on your ballot paper and get them to one of our voting boxes. It should then take us about half an hour to establish a result." Those were the last words Puck heard the announcer make before he and Rachel were away from the stage and following the couple in front of them back to the room where they had waited to be called.
So they had about forty minutes until they would know if they were through or not. What the hell were they supposed to do in that time? They'd already been told that they had to stay in the few rooms available to the contestants while the voting and counting were going on so he and Rachel couldn't even go and see Evie and Kurt to while away the time.
The main room was rather busy by the time they got there and they could only find one seat for them both.
"Sit on my lap," Puck suggested, not even bothering to hide a yawn. He supposed he should've done the nice-boyfriend thing and offered her the seat but he didn't fancy sitting on the floor.
"Okay," she agreed and Puck smiled as she politely hid her yawn.
Now that they'd done their first song the adrenaline had completely gone and he wanted to just get into a bed and sleep for about a month. He and Berry had been on the go pretty much since Evie was born and doubly so since they'd been preparing for Chicago. He loved Evie and all but she didn't make looking after her very easy for him.
He sank down into the chair with a groan, sounding like an eighty year old and then his groan changed somewhat as Rachel settled onto his lap. She wasn't heavy or anything, it was just that her weight was kinda...nice.
Rachel leant her cheek against the top of his chest and he felt her give a large sigh.
"You okay there, B?" he asked, trying to resist the pull of his eyes to close.
"Yes, I'm wonderful," she said, her breath tickling under his chin.
"Good," he said – or rather, mumbled, he couldn't be bothered to form words properly right now.
"Hey! Wake up sleepy-heads, they want us back on stage."
Puck's eyes snapped open and he blinked rapidly as his eyes got used to the level of light.
A man and woman were standing over him and Rachel, smirking at them.
"You're lucky my wife keeps a tight leash on me," the man said, "I desperately wanted to draw on your faces with pen."
Still sleep-muddled, Puck wasn't sure what to make of that.
"Well, thank you for not doing so," Rachel replied also sounding sleepy. "The result is in?"
"Yep," the woman replied, reaching out a hand to help Rachel off Puck's lap. "We guessed you didn't want to miss the announcement."
Puck drew the back of his hand across his eyes. "Yeah, we'd rather not." Now that he was a little more awake he recognised the couple as being from the first half – they'd sung the Leona Lewis song and been very good.
"Thanks for waking us," Rachel said and the couple smiled at each other.
"No problem, honey," the man said. "We remember when our first one was born. There was never enough time in the day for sleep."
"Uh, yeah, things are a bit crazy at the moment," Puck admitted.
"Come on, we don't want to be late." The woman said as she started to walk out of the room and her husband followed her.
Puck raised an eyebrow at Rachel. "Friend or foe?" he whispered to her.
Rachel shook her head slightly. "I told you, Noah, they're all foes."
They made their way quickly to the stage and the organisers ordered them to their designated spot on stage just before the curtains rose. Puck could finally see the man who did all the announcements because he was standing in front of all the couples.
"Welcome back everyone. We have the results of your votes and I will now read out the names of the three couples who will sadly not be continuing through to the next round."
Rachel gripped his hand tightly.
"The first couple to be leaving us are...Maria and Joseph Walker."
There was polite applause as the couple glumly left the stage.
Puck swallowed nervously.
"The next unlucky couple are...Steve Wright and Annabel Milowska."
He took a deep breath. Only one couple left to go. Fuck, don't let it be us.
"And our final unsuccessful couple are...Tammy and Tony Fisher."
They were through.
A/N As stated above the song that Puck and Rachel sing is 'I'm Yours' by Jason Mraz. I did have another song in mind for the 00s round but I hadn't realised that it wasn't really a hit in the US so I had to find something else and it took me FOREVER to think of I'm Yours. There is a YouTube video of a young boy singing that song whilst playing the ukulele (although I use the term 'singing' very lightly) and it's both utterly hilarious and cute so go check it out! And the song 'Hero' is by Enrique Iglesias and very early on I had considered using that song for Puck and Rachel in this round but I decided against it in the end.
The names of Gary and Miranda are taken from a British comedy show that I LOVE at the moment so please just ignore that little indulgence from me.
I do have a COLOSSAL thank you to say to whoever nominated my stories for the Puckleberry Fanfiction awards. This story is up for best WIP, Aviophobia is up for best one-shot and I Dare You for best humour. I was utterly gobsmacked that some of you put my stories forward. I am so grateful. If you want to vote for your favourite Puckleberry stories (not just mine of course :-D ) I think today (26th Aug) is the last day for you to do so, so google it to find out more!
I'd love to hear your feedback.
Lots of love,
Lil Drop of Magic
xXx
PS Sorry I didn't reply to your reviews this time round – I need to go and cook a three course meal for my Mum and sister. We're doing our own version of Come Dine With Me (if you know what that is!).