21 Trouble Now

Puck looked at Rachel as she led he and Bekah into her living room, "Rache, I'm sorry...if I weren't such a...I mean," He shook his head. "Shit, I just feel like if I weren't such a...guy...maybe you wouldn't be so worried right now."

"Noah, I don't regret being with you," Rachel's hand touched his knee gently and waited until Bekah had turned on the tv before she continued speaking in a softer voice. "I'm glad we made love, and I'm glad we fucked too," She blushed a bit. "I could never regret being with you baby. And if you hadn't stopped me it could have been much worse."

"I know what you mean, I just...damn," Puck sighed. "I just wanna...take care of you Rache, and it feels like I didn't."

"Did you want someone to watch us?" Rachel had that 'you're a doofus' look on her face again.

"No of course not," Puck shook his head as he pulled up in front of the babysitter's house. "Don't much like that Finn and Jesse have seen your underwear let alone touched you. I try not to think about that too much," he admitted.

"No one has ever touched me like you," Rachel told him with a shy smile. "No one ever made me feel like you do Noah."

"Yeah, you get to me," Puck admitted. "I've never...Rache you make me feel like nobody else." He pressed a kiss to Rachel's lips before Bekah turned around and looked at them.

"Are we staying for dinner?" Bekah asked hopefully.

"Yeah but we got Glee club coming over so we're all gonna hang with you if that's cool," Puck told her, "I got you a snack too," He pulled an apple out of his bag and handed it to her. "But you gotta do your homework at the kitchen table while we talk. This is important shit Beks, we gotta deal with it."

Rachel looked at Bekah, "Tomorrow's Saturday, Noah has to work." She smiled hopefully, "I could come over and we could study, have a girl day until Noah comes home."

"Yes, that'll be awesome," Bekah bounced excitedly.

Artie, Santana and Brittany got over to Rachel's house pretty fast. The rest of the group trickled in over the next hour and Bekah dutifully, well mostly dutifully, went in the kitchen to do her homework. "All right," Puck began when the Mercedes came in finally. "Me an' Rachel, we..." He looked at Rachel and felt his neck flush. "Fuck me blind," He groaned. "I ain't gonna say." He pushed away from the wall and began to pace. "I ain't sayin' what we were doin'," He snarled. "Ain't anybody's business but me and Rache's but we were in a room with a locked door and Jacob still got a camera in there."

"Noah and I think Jacob put a camera in my room," Rachel said quietly, her cheeks turning pink. "I watched the beginning of the video, and it seems that from the positioning it comes from my laptop."

Artie frowned when she handed him the computer, "Rache we've talked about how your security is pretty rudimentary." He reminded her. "Jacob could have hacked your laptop and used your own camera to spy on you." He opened his own computer and hooked it up to Rachel's. "I'm going to do some in depth scanning, see what I can find. He'd have to use a ghost program or something to turn it on otherwise he wouldn't be able to control what he filmed."

"Son of a bitch," Blaine shook his head. "Puck how old are you?"

"I'm seventeen why?" Puck shrugged his shoulders.

"Rachel?" Blaine looked at her.

"The same as Noah, I'm seventeen," Rachel looked at the boy. "Why is that important?"

"Age of consent in Ohio is sixteen," Mike told her. "But you're both still considered minors; that's why Puck went to Juvie and not jail when he pulled that stunt with the ATM."

"So if you two end up on the internet, through no fault of your own, whoever puts you there is guilty of making and distributing child pornography," Kurt realized. "If that happens we can get whoever does it arrested."

"Yeah but who knows who'd see what before it got taken down," Puck shook his head. "I need to be preemptive." He looked around, "We're sure it was Jacob? He usually stays out of my way. I mean I know he's sorta obsessed with Rachel but..."

"If it was just Rachel I'd say Jacob Ben Israel," Tina shuddered. "He wanted her to take off her clothes so he'd give her a good review for the play."

"He made me give him my underwear so he wouldn't report that Quinn was pregnant," Rachel grimaced. "But I don't remember seeing him backstage."

"He does do some work in the audiovisual room, that's adjacent to the backstage area," Artie reminded her. "He wouldn't have needed to be in the auditorium, you know him, he's the biggest gossip in school. And he sneaks into the auditorium when you're there all the time."

"And he's got a few creepy guys who spy for him," Mercedes told them. "You know those two freaks who have their camera phones constantly on?"

"They're in the chess club and that's meeting in the library all afternoon today," Artie shook his head. "Those two are more insane about chess than Rachel is Broadway." He looked at Rachel with a shrug, "Sorry Rache most accurate analogy I could think of."

Puck went and grabbed his laptop, pulling up Jacob's gossip blog, and began scanning it. "Shit." He said succinctly and handed the laptop to Artie.

"Oh this is not good," Artie shook his head, "Really not good." He looked at Puck, "It's not up yet but it's going up before Monday. He must have to edit it or else he's just building anticipation."

"What is it?" Rachel had moved from her spot on the couch to lean against Puck and he wrapped his arms around her instinctively.

Artie began to read aloud, "A sex scandal is about to rock McKinley High. The Diva of New Directions and its resident Bad Boy have been caught in flagrante delicto. Stay tuned for video proof. All those interested in full viewings must complete the forms following the link below and have their credit cards ready. Stay tuned the wait will be worth it." Artie scanned the blog, "He doesn't say much more, just speculates on when the relationship began, if it started while Rachel was with Finn and if she's been cheating on him the whole time with Puck. The video you saw must have been a teaser Rache, he's got a lot more from the way he's making it sound."

Puck looked down at Rachel, "Damnit angel I'm so sorry." He groaned and shook his head. "I'm so sorry Rache." He took a deep breath, "All right, my first instinct is to kick Jacob's ass." He admitted exhaling slowly. "But that's knee jerk and he'd still have the video." Puck looked down at Rachel, "Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do," She nodded. "What do you need me to do?" Her beautiful eyes narrowed, "I'll do whatever you think we should as long as you'll stop saying you're sorry like you caused this mess. It's not your fault. It's the fault of that miserable little blackmailing pervy worm."

"Okay," Puck nodded, "I'm just so used to sayin' it when shit goes wrong you know? People usually blame me."

"I'm not people Noah. I'm your girlfriend," She poked him in the chest. "And I'm not blaming you."

Damn she was awesome, Puck grinned. "Call your Daddy and get him to meet us at the police station."

"Okay." Rachel nodded and pulled out her cell phone. "Excuse me," She walked into the kitchen. Puck watched from the doorway as she wandered around the room and absently opened the fridge, frowned and then turned on the oven. "Daddy?" She spoke into the phone, "I need a really big favor. I need your help." There was a pause and she shook her head, "No Daddy, I don't think I did anything wrong." She sighed, "It's a long story, but... you remember I went on the pill three months ago right?" There was the briefest pause and she continued, "Well...you could say it was sound thinking on my part, just less sound thinking when I-" Puck could see her cheeks getting red from where he was standing. "Yes Daddy of course it was Noah. Who would you think I'd-" She cut herself off and took a deep breath. "Yes Daddy, I know. I know. Daddy please listen to me."

Rachel took a deep breath and looked up seeing him. She smiled and held out her hand. Puck couldn't do anything but walk into the room and take it, leaning against the counter with her while she explained the situation to her dad. "So because Noah and I are underage, it's technically child porn. No, I think Jacob is underage too. But it's still illegal to put on the internet." She took a deep breath, "Daddy Noah's first instinct was the beat the crap out of Jacob. That he's willing to go to the cops indicates he's more concerned about me than his reputation." There was a lengthy pause and Puck could hear LeRoy's voice but not the content, "Daddy he's going to sell viewing rights to the video." The shout LeRoy gave at that piece of news was something Puck heard loud and clear. "All right Daddy, we'll meet you at the police station. Be there in half an hour."

"So how pissed is he at me," Puck asked glumly. He really liked Rachel's dads, they hadn't treated him like he was scum, they'd been nice. He guessed that would change.

"Actually he considers you just as much a victim of circumstance and predatory behavior as I am," Rachel told him. "Dad's going to meet us there too. Daddy said for you to not worry, he's going to make sure this is shut down PDQ."

"I can't haul mom out of work for this," Puck shook his head. "She's working overtime to pay for the hospital bills."

"Let's tell the rest of the club," Rachel tugged his hand.

"Yeah," Puck nodded and walked with her back into the family room. "So we gotta meet Rachel's dads at the police station." He explained quietly, "Bekah," He hollered his sister. "Can someone stay with her? I really don't want her to see me talking to the cops again. She was scared shitless when I was in Juvie."

"I can stay," Tina offered, "Mike and I are used to kids from camp."

"Thanks," Puck sighed in relief as his sister came bouncing into the room. "Hey squirt," He let go of Rachel's hand and crouched so he could look his sister in the eye. "That important stuff I told you we were meetin' about? Rache an' me, we gotta go meet her dads and deal with that." He took a deep breath. "Tina and Mike are gonna stay and keep you company while Rache an' me are gone. You cool with that?" He watched Bekah look around the glee group until her eyes landed on Tina who was waving shyly.

"You have cool hair," Bekah told her with a grin. She looked back at her brother, "When will you be back?"

"Tonight I hope," Puck said quietly. "I dunno how long it'll take but I'll come back here and get you afterwards okay? If mom calls don't tell her where I'm at, just let her know that I'll call her as soon as Rachel's dads and us are done."

"I'll make sure she does," Tina said quietly. "Bekah an' me'll do our homework and watch movies."

"There's a casserole in the fridge that goes in the oven at four thirty. The oven's warming up," Rachel said quietly. "It needs to cook until," She shook her head, "I don't even know when we'll be back."

"We'll take care of everything," Tina promised. Rachel moved to hug the goth girl tightly.

"Thank you all very much," Rachel looked at the rest of them. "Actually, Noah, would you turn the oven off?" She grabbed her purse and pulled out some bills. "I'd like you all to order pizza, just as a little thank you…you've all been really…supportive and I know I don't make it easy. But I really love all you guys a lot."

"Rache you ain't gotta do that," Artie shook his head, Mike and Blaine quick to second him. "It isn't like you haven't supported us."

"I know but…I…" Rachel looked over at him and Puck smiled slightly. He knew what she meant. It was hard to use words when you felt like they didn't say enough.

"Guys let Rachel do this," He cleared his throat roughly. "Just you know, hang until we get back, it's a Friday so ain't like we got much of a curfew. My laptop is in my bag, and Rache hid the Xbox in the cabinet over there, Artie an' Santana know where everything is."

"Okay," Kurt seemed to get it and smiled. "Soda's on me guys," He pulled out his wallet and Blaine grinned and produced his phone.

"What kinda pizza do you want Bekah?" Tina asked his sister and Puck smiled as he met Rachel at the door.

"God," He groaned, "I fuckin' hate cops an' they hate me right back. This is gonna be fun." Puck followed Rachel out the door and took one last second to hug her tightly. "Don't let them give you shit 'cause you're with me angel," He told her as she hopped up into his truck.

The police station was every bit as uncomfortable as he remembered. LeRoy and Hiram weren't there yet so when he and Rachel walked in the desk sergeant eyed him like he was there to shoot up the place. "Puckerman, what've you done this time?"

"Nothin' illegal," Puck retorted feeling his face pull into an automatic scowl as he wrapped his arm around Rachel's shoulders protectively. "We're meetin' Rachel's dads here. We wanna report somethin'."

"We aren't gonna go out guns blazing on some prank of yours Puckerman," The cop was dismissive. "So just turn your sorry ass around and don't let the door hit you in it on the way out."

Puck sighed and stayed where he was, "Yeah, this is gonna go great." He muttered under his breath. "I'm sorry Rachel."

"You've done nothing to be sorry for," Her voice was crisp and clear and she was glaring at the cop. "We are here to report a crime. And I assure you that Noah has done nothing wrong. As a police officer I would hope you uphold our constitution and laws in both letter and spirit. Innocent until proven guilty?"

"Lady who do you think you are?" The cop was apparently in no mood to be lectured by a soon to be Broadway starring Diva.

"Rachel Barbra Berry, daughter of Hiram Stein and LeRoy Berry," Rachel extended her hand and the cop shook it dazedly. "Noah is my boyfriend."

"And you want him thrown in jail?" The cop guessed half humorously.

Rachel didn't seem to appreciate the joke, "No. I don't. And if you take one step in that direction I will scream police harassment so fast the ACLU will have whiplash getting here."

"Take it easy," The cop spread his hands, "You haven't said what you're here for, an' with Puckerman, well, we tend to go with what we know."

"Your assumptions are erroneous," Rachel lifted her chin, "Noah and I are the victim of a crime."

"Babystar, maybe we could not have this conversation in the front hall of the station?" LeRoy and Hiram entered through the doors behind Puck and Rachel, the lawyer's tone dry as he walked towards Puck and his daughter.

"Baby girl are you and Noah all right?" Hiram was the more flamboyant of the two men, reminding Puck a little of Kurt. LeRoy was speaking to the desk sergeant and asking for a detective who knew about cyber crimes.

Before long they were talking to the detective who took one look at Puck and frowned. Puck sighed, "Hello Detective Lister."

"Puckerman," The cop nodded neutrally and opened the door to the interview room, one of the only spaces big enough for all five of them to talk. "Let's have it."

"I ain't done anything wrong," Puck sighed. He'd be saying that a lot he knew, "I swear to god." He looked at Rachel, "I looked it up in the school rules once. They don't have anything that even covers it. And it can't be public lewdness because we weren't in public. We didn't do anything wrong."

Rachel smiled at him, her lips quirking wryly, "You'd think they would have updated the school rules after you arrived and began to take shameless advantage of the janitor's closet." She commented leaning against his side. "But if you say it's not against the rules I believe you. I mean you'd know."

"Yeah," Puck sighed and began to lay it out for the cops, glossing over the details for the sake of Rachel and her parents. "We went online and checked. Jacob's gossip blog is pretty clear."

"So the video isn't out yet," Detective Lister frowned. "We don't have any proof that he intends to release it."

"He's taking credit card numbers and making people fill out applications," Rachel pointed out. "Here," She pulled out her phone and brought up the site. "See? If we wait until he releases it…" She shuddered.

"How old are you Rachel?" Lister regarded her thoughtfully.

"Same as Noah, I'm seventeen," Rachel said promptly, "Past the age of consent, but not an adult. It's not legal to do what Jacob's trying to do."

"The problem is that we don't have absolute proof that he's going to do it," Lister shook his head. "I understand the problem but he hasn't done anything illegal yet."

"You can't get a warrant or something to seize his phone and computer on the strength of that blog?" Hiram asked worriedly, "Everybody at McKinley will know who he's talking about. And everybody knows Rachel and Noah aren't eighteen yet."

"Some of 'em won't care," Puck said glumly. He looked at Rachel and opened his mouth only to have her cover his lips with her palm.

"Don't you dare tell me you're sorry again," She snapped at him and then shuddered and climbed into his lap. "I'm sorry baby, I'm sorry." Rachel shuddered again and started to cry. "This is all my fault."

Puck glared at the cop and wrapped his arms around her, "Its gonna be okay angel." He sighed, "We'll figure out a way." He frowned, "Artie's really good at tech…He was working on blocking the hack to Rachel's laptop." He looked at Lister, "What if we could prove that Jacob had a history of stalking Rachel? Or if we caught him videoing someone else or us again…would that be enough to get him arrested? Seize his phone? And computer?"

"It'd have to be pretty… obvious." Lister told him reluctantly, "Though from what you've said the guy doesn't seem to think he's going to get in trouble."

"I got an idea…and for once it doesn't involve beating someone up or breaking and entering," Puck said slowly.

Author's Note: So my first instinct was for Puck to find JBI and beat the hell out of him but that wouldn't solve the problem and Puck's smart enough to know that. He's also not stupid enough to do anything to get himself thrown back in Juvie and taken away from Rachel at this point.

Yes ladies and gentleman, our Puck is growing up slowly but surely. I hope you like and that you'll let me know what you think if you don't like.

Sorry for the delay on this, I wrote a couple of new things over the weekend while I was editing this. I get in nit picky moods and that's when I need to edit because the writing part wasn't going well on this. So I edit and write something else and eventually I get my groove back. So look for a couple of new fics and let me know what you think of them and I promise I am still writing this story.