A/N: Howdy folkes!
I promise I'm not going to babble on too much this time, mainly because it's ten past one in the morning right now and I'm super tired haha :D
I've literally been working on this chapter all day, it's uber long...and it's probably a pile of crap.
Disclaimer: I don't own glee. Bleh.
Alrighty, please let me know what you think! Leave me a review or a PM if you'd rather. I really appreciate every single comment, follow, favourite and view. So thank you to everyone! I love you all!
Ok, I'm going to stop now haha.
Lots of love and virtual cookies...
xoloveJBox
The night air was cool and crisp as Puck walked briskly down the street. He pulled his jacket a little tighter around himself, and shook his head slightly in disbelief of his own actions.
What the hell am I doing? He thought, but he still didn't turn back. His feet knew where he was going, and they didn't need his head to take him there.
He had tried to sleep. He had really, really tried, but much like the night before, Puck had had no luck. He'd tossed and turned until he couldn't take it any longer. But unlike the night before, Puck got up, got dressed and snuck out the house.
As he approached his destination, Puck slipped out his cell phone and dialled a familiar number. He wasn't sure he'd get an answer; it was almost one in the morning. However, he was surprised when the dialling tone ended after only a few rings.
"Hello?" Nikki mumbled sleepily.
"Hey Nikki." Puck replied, a little sheepishly, embarrassed now.
"Noah, what's going on?" Nikki asked, her voice low as she stifled a yawn.
"I, err, I know it's a little late, but do you think I could come over. I can't sleep."
While Puck listened to silence on the other end of the line, waiting for Nikki to answer, he was close enough now to see the glow from Nikki's bedroom window. He guessed that she had put her bedside lamp on, and could remember putting it there himself that weekend they had all spent decorating her house to keep Nikki's mother from moving them all to Alabama. That day seemed like years ago, and Puck smiled when he thought about it. That was the first time he realised just what he felt for Nikki. It was the first time he'd really considered that he could feel more than an itch in his pants when he was near a pretty girl. Nikki was the first girl he had ever wanted to be friends with, it that was all she wanted and she was the first, and only, girl he had waited to have, just in-case she didn't feel the same way back. He'd bothered to spend time to get to know her, and it had paid off for him, because not only had Nikki felt the same way towards him, she had shown him a new world of emotions that he hadn't known was possible.
That was how Noah Puckerman had known that he was in love.
"Errm, yeah," Nikki finally answered in a whisper "Ok then. Text me when you get here."
"Actually," Puck replied "I'm already here."
Through the phone, Puck heard the slight squeak of mattress springs as Nikki got off her bed and crossed to the window. He curtains snapped back, and Puck saw her face peering out. He smiled when she spotted him, and Nikki used her free hand to open her window.
"There's a ladder at the side of the house." She told him quietly. Nikki's bedroom was above the garage, so Puck hung up his phone, retrieved the ladder and leant it against the wall. He clambered carefully up the steps and trod softly over to her bedroom window. He took Nikki's outstretched hand and let her help him in through the window.
"Hi pretty girl." Puck greeted when his feet were planted firmly on solid ground.
He could see her properly now. Her eyes were still a little puffy with sleep, and she was wearing a thin-strapped vest top and plain black shorts that exposed slender thighs, knobbly knees and toned calves. Her fingers were warm as she tangled them with his, planting a kiss on his lips.
"Why can't you sleep?" She whispered when she pulled away.
"I don't know." Puck lied. He knew exactly why he couldn't sleep. He felt guilty for keeping things from Nikki. Important things like the fact that he had an infant daughter.
"Well then, come and lie with me," Nikki said, plonking herself back onto the bed. "I'll change my alarm so that we wake up before my dad does."
While Nikki tampered with her clock, Puck slipped out of his jacket and shoes, though he left his t-shirt and jeans on. He didn't want Nikki to think he had any other ideas, because he knew she wasn't ready for that.
Puck climbed into the bed next to Nikki. She wrapped his arm around her waist before pulling the cover over the two of them. Puck could smell the fruity scent of her shampoo and the feel of her almost bare shoulder blades against his chest as she nestled close to him.
Lulled by her proximity and naive sense of innocence about the way they found themselves, Puck quickly feel into a deep, comforting sleep.
"Noah!" Nikki hissed, shaking him awake. "Noah, wake up. My dad's going to be up soon."
Suddenly wide awake, Puck jumped nimbly from Nikki's bed and shoved his shoes back onto his feet. Nikki quickly neatened the sheets on her bed and grabbed clothes of her own while Puck threw his arms back into his jacket. Nikki crushed another kiss to his mouth as she all but pushed him back out the window, an excited grin on her face.
"I'll come back in a little while to drive you to school." He told her quietly when he stepped back on the garage roof. Nikki nodded enthusiastically as she watched Puck descended the ladder before she closed the window.
Puck almost ran home. He wasn't so bothered about hiding the fact that he had been out all night from his mother, but he needed time to shower and change before facing Nikki's father. He didn't want Mr Winters to suspect anything at all.
It didn't take him long to get ready and drive back over to Nikki's. He walked up the long pathway and raised his fist to knock on the front door, but Nikki pulled it open before he had the chance.
"Good morning handsome." She greeted with a wry smile "I missed you."
"You missed me since an hour ago?" Puck whispered as he wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her close to him.
"Shhhhh." Nikki giggled; looking back over her shoulder to make sure her dad wasn't near them. "Come in, I just need to grab my things."
Nikki and Puck walked hand-in-hand into the kitchen, where Mr Winters was handing Kyle his breakfast.
"Oh look at that Kyle," the older man said to the small boy next to him "your sister's friend managed to find the front door again."
Nikki and Puck both froze. Then they looked at each other, wide eyed and terrified.
"Daddy I...We..." Nikki stammered, her face suddenly devoid of colour.
"Sit down," her father shrugged, a playful grin on his face. "Don't worry, you'd both be dead already if I thought you'd done anything other than sleep. And you might want to put the ladder back next time."
"Oh dear god." Nikki muttered as she slumped into a chair at the kitchen table, clearly mortified.
"Nikki, I was wondering if you could walk your brother to school this morning. I have a crazy meeting in like...now, so please?" Nikki's dad asked, blustering around the room, gathering paper and keys, and a lot of other things he could grab.
"Actually Dad, Noah was going to drive me this morning." Nikki replied, looking a little guilty.
"Oh, it's ok." Puck quickly interjected, eager to make sure he was definitely still in Mr Winters' good books "We can take him in the car if you want."
"Cool." Kyle exclaimed, getting up and running off to get his shoes. "I call shot-gun."
"No you don't midget." Nikki called running after him, leaving Puck with Nikki's father and baby sister.
They sat in a slightly awkward silence for a minute until Nikki's father finally turned to Puck with a stern expression.
"It was nice of you to offer Noah, but you're going to have two of my babies in that car, so I hope I don't have to remind you to stop at red lights, don't drive too fast, don't ignore stop signs, all that stuff?"
"Don't worry Sir," Puck replied "I'll protect them with my life."
"Good." Mr Winters answered, though Puck could tell that the man wasn't finished. "I know I said that Nikki was my baby, but she isn't a baby. She's a young woman, and as much as I'd like to; I can't actually stop her from doing anything. But if I ever hear that you've tried to force her into anything she doesn't want to do, there will be trouble, and you will answer to me. Do you understand?"
Nikki's father was looking directly into Puck's face, and when he answered, Puck made sure to hold the man's gaze to make sure he knew that he was serious.
"Sir, I would never try to make Nikki do anything she didn't want to do." He promised "I've been a jerk to a lot of girls, but I would never do that to any of them, and especially not Nikki. She's different to the other girls. I would do anything to make her happy, and I would never do anything to hurt her."
For a minute, Nikki's father didn't say anything, but then he gave a small nod.
"Alright." He said simply, holding out his hand, which Puck took gratefully. Before either of them had chance to say anything else, Nikki and Kyle had returned, and were ready to leave. They each bade their father goodbye, kissed their sister and walked happily to Puck's car. The journey to Kyle's school was short, and Puck made sure to take extra care with his driving, just as he had promised. When they arrived, Nikki walked Kyle up to the door, and when she got back in the car, she leaned over and kissed Puck gently on the cheek. They drove with casual chatter towards their own school, but Puck knew it was just the calm before the storm. He had to tell her soon. He couldn't keep his promises to her father without telling her, so he had to do, no matter the consequences to him.
The problem was that he still didn't know how he was going to tell his girlfriend, who he was completely crazy about, that he already had a daughter.
"Noah, would you tell me if something was bothering you?" Nikki asked as they walked down the corridor together shortly after they arrived at school that morning. The halls were still pretty empty. Not many people arrived as early as Nikki liked to, and Puck had quickly fallen into her routine.
"Of course I would babe." He lied, feeling guilty for it. He thought he'd been convincing, but Nikki stopped, sighed, and pushed him through the choir room door. She flicked the lights on and turned to him, her hands on her hips and a stern expression on her face that mirrored the one he had received from her father less than an hour before.
"Alright, spit it out." She demanded seriously.
"I...I don't know what you're talking about." He lied again, though he already knew that Nikki could see right through him.
"No, something is bothering you, and it has done for days, so come on, let me have it."
Puck gulped nervously. He was suddenly sweating in the otherwise chilly choir room. The time had finally come for Puck to come clean, and he had no clue what he was going to say.
It was now or never, he thought to himself, taking a deep breath.
"Nikki, I have to tell you something." He started anxiously.
"Ok..." She replied, waiting patiently for him to finish. Puck took a last, long look at her, because he was certain that she would never want to see him again after he told her.
"Nikki, I have a daughter."