Hi, my dear!
4 days had passed so it's time for another chapter! This is the first one of the 'holidays' chapter! I want to thank The O.C., but mosty importantly my teenage dream Seth Cohen, for introducing me to the awesomeness that is Chrismukkah! I really hope you'll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing them!
Another thank you goes to all of you who faved, followed and REVIEWED my story! You are a miracle to me!
Disclaimer: I don't owe Glee, Magic Mike and The O.C. *sniff*
Puck was eating breakfast when Sam came in the kitchen, his phone in hand. "Did Rachel write to you too this morning?". Puck straightened up and stiffed immediately before, almost angry, said "What the hell does it mean 'write to you too'? Since when do you write to each other?".
Ok that the dude was his friend and all, but it didn't suit well with the mohawked man that they were writing to each other: Rachel was his and Sam knew that! Well… actually he had never said that to him directly but the blonde was the most perceptive of them two so he knew that Trouty Mouth knew that Rachel was his, somehow at least.
Sam looked at his friend with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile and replied "Does it bother you that much, uh? Am I that threatening? I mean, I know I'm handsome and polite and it would be totally normal if she decides to upgrade her interest from you to me". The scary growl that escaped from Noah's lips made Sam decide to cut the crap. He wanted to have children someday. "But worry not, my friend, this is the first text she has ever sent me. And, if you had checked your phone first thing this morning, you would have seen that probably she sent the same message to you too" said the blonde before making a strange face and adding "Which is kind of weird 'cause now you live with the thing glued to your side…".
He barely finished to talk that Puck bolted to his bedroom and took his phone in his hands, acknowledging that he actually had a message from Rachel.
From: Rachel* "The pleasure of your company is requested for dinner in celebration of Chrismukkah Saturday, December 22nd, Berry&Hudson mansion. R.s.v.p. by Dec. 19th."
Noah laughed out loud at the message. The chick was crazy and he totally dig it!
He didn't hear Sam coming in his bedroom and sitting on his bed. "So, how does she knows that I'm not going to Tennessee for Christmas this year? I've only decided it yesterday". The blonde looked pointedly at Puck, who just shrugged and said nonchalantly "I told her. We were talking about my plans for the holidays and I said that I was going to stay and have to Sam-proof the kitchen before you decide to destroy it again cooking the Christmas' Eve dinner. We all remember the Christmas disaster of 2009, don't we?". With the mouth agape, Sam defended himself "It wasn't my fault if the oven took fire! And I totally got better since then! You can't hold it against me!". "Dude, did you just quote Britney Spears?" laughed Puck loudly, making Sam huff and cross his arms in front of his chest annoyed.
As soon as Puck calmed down a bit, he asked "So what do you want to do, Samantha? Because I'm going", at which Sam muttered in a feminine voice and with a knowing smile "Of course he's going. His Rachel invited him". Puck narrowed his eyes and the blonde gulped and said quickly "Yes, I'm in". Noah started to key a text to Rachel while Sam got up and went out of the bedroom.
To: Rachel* "Babe, me and Trouty Mouth r game. C u soon"
He sent her the message and got ready for the gym. After a while, the phone went off, signalling a new message.
From: Rachel* "Noah, you and Santana should refrain yourselves from calling Sam like that. He already told you that he doesn't like it. However, I'm really happy to know that the two of you will take part of our Chrismukkah extravaganza. You won't regret it! See you soon and take care of yourself"
He already explain to her how to write with fewer words but she didn't seem to understand the whole concept of it.
He smiled thinking about the brunette and went to the living room ready to leave. They have to meet Finn at the gym in half an hour.
"Can I talk to you one second?" Finn asked to Puck, after they were done with the weight-lifting and since they were about to take a break. Puck glanced at his friend, nodded and said "Sure. About what?". The tall one seemed very serious and he was wondering what he wanted to know. Finn answered just saying "Rachel".
Sam looked at the two and fake-coughed before saying "You two go ahead. I have to go somewhere…You know… do things, see people… but I'll see you two at the bar in awhile, ok?". And with that, the blonde left the other two talk about serious things.
Puck frowned at Finn and asked "What's with Rachel? Is anything wrong? Is she okay?". The tone his friend used made him worry and think that something happened to the petite woman. But Finn patted his shoulder and told him not to worry, that she was fine.
They seated at the gym bar, drinking Gatorade, when Finn started to talk "Listen, this is weirder for me than for you so let's just make it quick. What are your intentions with her?". Puck raised an eyebrow amused and, leaning on the chair back, replied "Didn't know you were one of your fathers".
Finn frowned at him and stated "I might not be one of them but I'm her brother and I don't want to see her suffer because of you". It was Puck's time to frowned at Finn's words but, before he could utter anything, Rachel's brother started to talk again. "Listen, I'm not saying that you will hurt her or something. I see how you act around her, how you're all protective when she's with us. I'm not the brightest crayon in the box but I see that you care about her. And this is confusing the crap out of me because you bragged about your sex shark reputation and the fact that you don't do relationships since the first day I met you and I let you know that you can't play that game with her. She doesn't deserve to be played, she deserves to find someone she can trust. So don't give me smartass answers or hidden insults. I want an honest-to-God answer. What are your intentions with her?".
Puck passed her hands through his Mohawk and sighed heavily. He looked the tall and answered "You want the truth… I like her, a fucking lot; she makes me want to be a better person, for me and for her because she says all this things about me being so much better that what I think I am and stuff like that. Since I met her, I'm changed: I do not fuck around with the clients and I keep the flirt at minimum because it just feels wrong now. But I can't promise you that I won't hurt her because I'm a fucked-up and this is a totally new territory for me: the last girlfriend I had was back in high school and it just lasted for a couple of months. The only thing I can tell you is that I'll try my hardest not to ball this up. I don't want to fuck this up".
Telling Finn this stuff was a huge deal for Puck but he felt like he owned an explanation to the tall man. After all, Rachel was his sister and he was just looking out for her. He would have done the same thing for her sister Becca.
Finn nodded thoughtfully and finally added "I trust you, Puck. But if you and Rachel start dating for real, I'm gonna keep an eye on you. Only one wrong move and I won't hesitate to tell her: I've never lied to her and I'm not going to start because of you. As I told you in the text, if you hurt her, Santana and I will make your life a living hell". The only thing that Noah could do was nodding in agreement; all the things Finn said were quite fair so Puck didn't feel the necessity to object. The last thing Finn said before Sam joined the two at the table was "You and Rach make a cute couple", making Puck mumble under his breath "We ain't no cute. We're fucking hot", which made Finn laugh out loud.
Sam sat down next to his friends and glanced at the two. They seemed quite relaxed now so he took the conversation about Rachel went well: he did a mental not to ask Finn what they said to each other when Puck wouldn't be around (Excuse him but he was curious as a cat; it wasn't an everyday event that Puck would talk about his feelings so his curiosity was totally justified!).
The blonde looked at the tallest one and said "So, today Rachel sent us the invitation for the Chrismukkah's dinner. Who are we going to be there?". At the word 'Chrismukkah', Finn's eyes shone with excitement and answered wit a big smile "Yes, I know she sent the texts this morning! For now there will be the four of us, Santana, Brittany and Rachel's co-worker Quinn. Usually there would be our fathers too but this time they won't be there because they are on the Rosie O'Donnell's cruise. I know she sent the invitation to another friend of hers and his father, Blaine, Mike, Artie and Mercedes too but I don't know if they will come yet. Since Schue decided to close the club from the Christmas' week to the second week of January, I don't know if they want to visit their families". It was unheard that Schue had decided to close the strip-club for such a long period so they were all pretty happy about it.
Puck looked at Finn and, with a smirk, asked "Man, why do you celebrate Chrismukkah? I thought that you celebrate only Hanukkah, since your fathers are Jewish". But the tall man shook his head lightly and said "My dads are Jewish but my parents were Christians. So, once I decided to stay with them, they decided to celebrate Christmas too, in their memory. And Rachel adores the Christmas' atmosphere, which makes me remember…" he eyed both of his friends with a knowing grin "Are you free tomorrow afternoon?"
Santana was lying on her back on the couch, sucking a candy cane and inspecting her manicure.
She was not going to be dragged in all this Christmas' fever that every year would transformed Rachel in a small Jewish Santa's helper: she already has Quinn as an ally in all this craziness and she was more that enough.
In that moment the two were almost done with sticking some sort of snowflake-shaped stickers on the windows and the Latina was confident that, by the end of the day, that place would appear as if a north-pole elf had puked in it. The two woman had already moved the coffee table in its appointed spot and cleaned it clear: on it, they want to put it the 4'2" plastic artificial Christmas tree that was gathering dust in their little basement. But the thing was too heavy for them to bring to the apartment so they were waiting for Finn to do it.
Santana rolled on her stomach and looked at Rachel, who was now putting the menorah at the centre of a shelf, in between two poinsettias, and sighed heavily. Rachel rolled her eyes, sensing her best friend's glare, and said "What's wrong, Santana?".
"I'm bored out of my mind, Rach!" the Latina whined and kept going "I came here today because I thought that we would have fun, not transform your place in Santa Claus' fucking home!". The petite diva laughed and looked at her best friend in amusement "Tana, I told you that we were going to decorate the house today. I did not lie to you" but black-haired woman replied "Yep, you told me that but I thought it was like a secret code for 'We're gonna start decorate but after 2 minutes we will start to drink egg nog laced with vodka until we pass out and forget about all this holiday bullshit'".
Quinn laughed from a chair but kept taping red glass Christmas balls on the ceiling. On the other hand, Rachel went next to Santana and, after making her sit up, took the place next to her, hugging her sideways. With a soft voice, she said "I know that you don't like Christmas time because it makes you think about your parents but I just want to create for you new memories that will ease your pain". At that the Latina hugged the petite woman completely and put her face in the crook of Rachel's neck, mumbling "I know, Rach. Thank you" and sighing. The moment was broken when a deep voice said from the door "Well, I had a dream that started just like that".
Rachel turned around without breaking the embrace and smiled brightly when she saw Noah, who returned it just as bright. "Hello Noah! What are you doing here?" she asked gingerly while Santana separated herself from the other one, letting her get up. Puck looked quickly at the door and said "Finnocence asked me and Trouty Mouth to help him bring the Christmas things up", moving towards the table to put down the box he had in his hands.
He had just put down the box when he heard a light slap on his back. He turned around with amusement in his eyes and, standing there, there was a murderous-looking Rachel, who said with a strict voice "What did I tell you about using this kind of nicknames, Noah? It's very disrespectful towards your friends". Santana decided it was her turn to speak and make fun of the newly-arrived man. "Yes, Noah" the Latina said in a sugary voice and emphasising his given name "You should really stop it!" but Puck's replied arrived quickly "Shut it, Satan! Like you're the one who can talk!". Rachel slapped Noah's chest as soon as he uttered her best friend's nickname and that drew a laugh out of Quinn, Santana and Puck, who grabbed her wrists and, still chuckling, said "Stop the violence, woman!". Rachel huffed and looked away from him; however, she felt her wrists being dragged behind his back so she was hugging him and, in mere instants, he was hugging her too. She leaned her head on his chest and sighed feeling his thumbs caressing the back of her neck. "Hi, babe" he whispered against her head and kissed it.
Santana huffed and said "God, they're too sickeningly cute. I don't know how much of it I can handle sober. Why they can't just fuck already and put us all out of our misery is beyond me. Rach, where's the vodka we started the last time we saw Titanic?". "In the kitchen cupboard where we keep the candies" said Rachel, glaring at her friend. After a couple of seconds, Quinn cleared her throat, catching Rachel's attention. The brown-eyed woman broke the hug and said "Noah, do you remember Quinn, right?"; the blond waved at him while he answered "Of course. How are you?". Like that, the two started to exchange pleasantries until they heard a commotion at the door.
"No, wait! It won't pass if we put it like that. Let's try… Ouch!" Finn's voice said and, right after, Santana's laugh trilled in the house. She was watching the scene from the kitchen door and she couldn't help but laugh. "Guys!" she finally said "It's not a fucking Baobab tree! The thing is smaller than Rachel, for fuck's sake! How can you two have problems in making it pass through the door? It doesn't take a freaking genius!". Finn glared at the Latina, who just stood there, leaning on the kitchen door with a shit eating grin on her face. "Why don't you help us if it is that easy?" asked the tall man, looking at her, but her answer was "And why would I do that? It's like the funniest thing I saw today, as sad and depressing as it sounds".
5 minutes (and many, many laughter from Santana), the two man managed to take the small tree in the living room, next to the coffee table.
Sam was so busy thinking about the tree that didn't even notice the blonde beauty who was eating him with her eyes but Rachel did so, as soon as the tree was settled, she put her hand on his shoulder and, indicating Quinn, she said "Sam, let me introduce you my colleague and very good friend of mine, Quinn Fabray. Quinn, this is Sam Evans; he's one of Finn's co-workers". The two blondes shook hands and looked into each other's eyes: she had a flirty smile and bat her lashes for good measures while he was looking at her with a dopey smile.
Rachel decided to leave the two alone to get to know each other a little better and walked towards the box that Noah brought in, grabbing the lights that she would put on the Chrismukkah tree. She was untangling the lights when Noah's voice caught her attention. "You're a really bad Jew, B" he said with a playful tone. Rachel laughed without diverting her attention from the tangled lights and asked amused "Why is that?". He sat on a chair and looked at her with a raised eyebrow "A Christmas tree, Rach. Really?".
Rachel stared at him like he was talking nonsense. "The Christmas tree is hardly a Christian symbol nowadays. It's more like a symbol of the consumerism of this festivity and ours is going to be a Christmas tree and a Hanukkah bush at the same time. It's only fair that we celebrate Finn's religion and roots as well, since he's part of the family". After that, her smile grew wider and asked "And do we have to talk about the cheeseburger with double bacon you ate at the Williams' diner?". He got up with a wicked smile and whispered in her ear "Never said I was a saint, babe". Mirroring his smirk, she looked at him through her eyelashes and said "Neither did I". He licked his lips and stared at hers; he wanted to kiss her so badly! But still with the smirk on her face, she turned and resumed her previous work.
He walked towards the couch and sat next to Santana, who extended to him the carton of egg nog, without saying a word. He accepted it and took a swing on it, almost spitting it out because it was basically vodka with just a splash of egg nog.
Santana laughed out loud when he told her, coughing "You fucking crazy, Lopez? A notice would have been nice!". Wiping a tear, she uttered "Puckerman, stop being a pussy! There are already too much estrogens in this room thanks to the two Malibu Barbies, Finnessa and Berry…". "And who the hell do you think you are?" he said laughing and gaining a glare by the Latina, who said back "Bitch, please! My balls are bigger than yours, that's for sure!", pointing at her boobs. He looked at the Latina's goodies and tilted the carton at her before taking a new sip at it.
He turned his head just in time to see Rachel stretch to reach the top of the tree: her ass was in perfect sight. He roared and passed his hands on his Mohawk, closing his eyes in frustration. Santana looked at him with a grin and then stated "Yes, her ass and her legs are her best features. I don't know how you didn't die of blue balls yet. How long is that you have a boner for Berry? Three months? I thought that you would already tap that sexy ass by now. Thank God I didn't put my money on it or I would be broke!". Puck couldn't take his eyes off of Rachel but he answered the Latina with a soft smile "I'm working on it". Santana sized her new friend and nodded with a knowing smile "Good. Must we repeat the whole 'you hurt her, you'll have to change your name to Noemi' speech or we're good?". The two badasses looked at each other and Puck said seriously "Don't worry". Santana smirked and clapped her hand on his shoulder before getting up and helping her best friend with the decorations.
Puck got up as well: he realised that it was quite late and that it was better for him and Sam to leave, if they wanted to get home and grab their things before going to work. "Evans, we have to go" he said to his friend, whose eyes became sad at the realisation that he wouldn't see Quinn until the Chrismukkah dinner (she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen… and she seemed so sweet!).
Rachel looked at Noah with a small pout (that he wanted to kiss away) and said with a sad voice "Don't you want to stay for dinner? It's only fair after your help". He sighed and looked at her chocolate eyes "B, I'd love to but we have all the things we need at home and, if we want to be on time, we have to go".
They said goodbye to the girls and, when Puck hugged Rachel, he asked her "See you Monday, right?". She smiled and answered "Of course, Noah". She led them to the door and waved them goodbye before closing it.
If you asked Puck, that day just sucked ass.
For the first time that winter, it was snowing. He liked snow per se, but today he had things to do and people to see (especially people to see) and the snow made everything more complicated. He almost fell a couple of times on the icy sidewalk and he had to slalom his way to the JCC, while trying to avoid the pointy umbrellas, held by hurried pedestrians.
Once he arrived at the JCC, he was kind of frozen and all he wanted was a cup of steaming coffee for warming up a bit but he found out that the coffee machine was broken. He dragged himself to the large room where the children were waiting for him but, that day, they were kind of hyper because of the snow and it was hell to control them all. When they quieted down a bit, he started his lesson but, seated next to him, there was a boy with the flu and couldn't stop sneezing on his hand; Noah just breathed in and out very deeply and tried to go through the lesson, remembering to himself that his day would definitely get better.
When the class was over, he leaned his guitar in his case with extreme delicacy and got ready to go to the diner to see Rachel. Only thinking about it put a smile on his face. He opened the door of the centre and froze on the spot when he saw a familiar face.
"The fuck are you doing here, Trouty Mouth?" he said dryly. Sam smiled widely at him and said "I coming with you at the diner" but Puck shook his head, replying "The hell you're coming! Listen, today was the shittiest day of the month and you're this close to make it become the worse of the year. So now you're going to drag your ass back home or to the gym or wherever the fuck you want and leave me the fuck alone". But the blonde just clapped his hands on his best friend's shoulders and said "Dude, you told me that after your lesson here, you always go to the diner where Rachel works. So, if I come with you, I can see Quinn again, since they work together!".
Since Sam met the blonde beauty, he couldn't stop talking about her, at the point that Puck wanted to punch him in the face every time he opened his mouth. Ok, he got that she's stunning and his friend is stupid for her but he didn't have to know that she smelled like violets and sunny days and her eyes were green on the outside and brown around the pupils. He got it the first 3 times… He didn't need a daily reminder.
So, as the good friend he his, he gave Sam a death glare and started walking. It was the longest walk in the history of ever, during the which Sam wouldn't shut is large trap for a fucking second. He had to clench his fists in order not to punch his face. As soon as he walked in the diner, he was a bundle of nerves.
Rachel heard the bell over the door ring and she knew that Noah was arrived. She went out the kitchen and was surprised when she saw Noah with a pissed face and, behind him, a very happy Sam.
"Hello to the two of you" she said with a tentative voice, eyeing at the two men in front of her. Sam happily replied and hugged her tight, watching the counter to see if there was any blond head in sight. His eyes shone when he saw the kitchen door open but they stopped when he saw a woman with red hair, a bucket in one hand and a mop in the other. She started to clean the floor frantically and Rachel told her friends "Why don't you go sit? I'll be there in a couple of minutes, ok?". Sam nodded and walked to a free booth, leaving Noah standing there. He glared furiously at the blond man before he started to walk in that direction too but, as soon as he made the first step, Rachel's tiny hand grabbed him by the arm and stopped him. "Noah, are you okay?" she said with concern but he just smiled and nodded unconvincingly. She raised on her tip toes and kissed his cheek before going in the kitchen.
The petite woman arrived a couple of minute later with a tray with three cup of coffee and an equal number of pieces of cake and sat in front of the two men. Sam was like a child high on sugar: he talked non stop for the majority of Rachel's break and the more he talked, the more Puck got angrier. The woman knew about the blonde's crush on her friend and she wanted to have time alone with Noah so, when she noticed Quinn at the counter, she told Sam "Sam, could you kindly do me a favour and ask Quinn if she could bring us more coffee? I would greatly appreciate it!". Sam ran out of his seat, leaving the two good-looking Jews alone, at last.
"What's wrong, Noah? And don't tell me that everything is fine because I won't believe you" she said with a soft voice. He looked at her in the eyes and, after a big sigh, started to tell her all about his tremendous day. "And at the top of it" Puck continued "Malibu Ken arrives and ruin the best part of the day by being here". Rachel smiled and asked "Really? Is this the part of your day?" and Noah nodded smiling before adding "Babe, this is our thing and I don't want that to be ruin by anyone, let alone him", indicating his best friend, who was making Quinn laugh. "I just want to be with you".
Rachel's heart had never beaten so fast in her entire life; she knew he was talking about their Monday meetings but she couldn't help herself from hoping that he was talking more in general, about having a real relationship with her.
She grabbed his hand in hers and said "Me too. But I'm confident of the fact that, if you talk to him about that, he will understand and leave Mondays just for ourselves". He was staring at his hand entrapped between her soft ones. Talking to her… no, just being with her was all it took to transform the worst day ever to a beautiful day.
He nodded and smiled at her. She flashed him a huge smile and said "You see? It's much better when you stop sulking. You're stunning when you smile". That made him smirk and say "You think I'm stunning, Berry? You so have the hots for me!". As response, Rachel rolled her eyes with a playful smile on her face and got up saying "My break is over and I have to go back to work!". She was walking towards the counter when she felt Noah's arm around her shoulder and, a couple of instants later, he whispered in her ear "If it's of any help, I have the hots for you too". That made Rachel blush furiously and smile of relief. She looked at him through her eyelashes: his hazel eyes were looking at her intensely and a goofy smirk featured his beautiful face.
When they arrived next to the counter, she hugged him tight and nuzzled her nose against his chest, making him laugh. "See you guys Saturday at dinner, then?" she said after she broke the hug grudgingly. The two men nodded, said goodbye to the two women and stepped into the slippery new york streets.
Sam talked all the way home about Quinn but Puck didn't give a damn about it this time: he was too elated by the fact that he finally knew for sure that Rachel liked liked him and that he told her that he felt the same way.
The day that Rachel Berry would become officially his had never been so close and he couldn't wait for it to finally happen!
Sooooo... what do you guys think? I'm very curious to know that so, please, review it! :D
Hope you enjoyed your reading and see you soon!
Up next: The Chrismukkah dinner and New Year's Eve!