"Alright, Berry, you get one day."
Rachel looked up from where she was sitting in Noah's bedroom. He was splayed out on his bed, Playstation controller in hand, not even bothering to look her way as he talked to her. She was trying in vain to do her Spanish homework at his desk, a routine they had fallen into easily enough about two weeks after her big stand in Glee. It hadn't really gotten any less awkward among the group of singers, though Brittany had firmly planted herself on Team Puckleberry. Santana seemed to fall in Finn's camp along with a lot of the others. Tina, Sam and Blaine were the only ones who seemed to float somewhere inbetween.
"One day for what?"
He smiled easily at her innocent question. Rachel had no idea what she was in for when it came to his little plan. He had spent the better part of the past couple weeks letting her just do her thing, feel her emotions or whatever healthy bullshit she started to spout whenever he even slightly suggested that maybe it was time to think about moving forward. For all her grand declarations in front of Finn that day, it was an entirely different story when she was alone with Puck. However, now that what he believed was more than enough time had passed, it was time to get going on the Jedi stuff.
"One day to really dwell in the sadness, that depressing shit that you've been going on and on about forever. I'm going to let you cry and watch all those stupid movies that you're always talking about and eat whatever you feel like eating. I'll listen to you or get people to listen to you, whatever it takes. And then you are going to stop."
"Just like that?" she asked rhetorically, not even bothering to hide the horror in her voice. The thought of having the ability to flip the switch on her emotions seemed unfathomable. She liked to pretend that she had perfect control over her feelings, but it wasn't really as easy as she wanted to believe. At least not when it came to Finn, it had never been simple when it came to their love. "Noah, I can't just get over it in a day. I've spent the majority of the last three years in love with Finn Hudson."
"And he treated you like crap," he reminded her. He was getting a little tired of listening to her expel the virtues of his former best friend. "If we're going to do this, we need to agree that you're going to do this my way. I want you to get over him, Rach, but I can't watch you put yourself through this again. I can get him out of your system if you'll let me, but it you're going to fight me at every turn, it's just not going to work."
Rachel looked down at her textbook and then up at him. "Okay," she allowed in the quietest voice he had ever heard her use. "I trust you, Noah, I hope you know that. And I really appreciate everything you're doing to help me."
He threw his controller on the bed and came over to perch on the edge of his desk. He reached up and tugged on a dark tendril playfully. "You know I got your back, Berry," he reminded her. "If you think it's too fast, you tell me, and I promise I will listen. I know this isn't going to work unless you're really ready for it. I'm gonna get you through this, it's gonna be so good for you, babe."
It almost sounded like he was talking about something a lot different, but she knew the terms of their reignited friendship. Even if he made a lot of insinuations, Noah actually was in this purely to help her. She had been sure about that from the very first night, and her confidence in their relationship hadn't wavered in the slightest. He was as true to her as he had ever been anyone in his life, even Finn, and Rachel took the responsibility of that commitment very seriously.
Rachel showed up at his house early the next morning per his instructions before she had left his house that night. It was Saturday, which meant no school and no extra classes or lessons. The house smelled amazing when she let herself through the front door, figuring the odds of Puck actually being up and around were pretty slim. She was surprised to find him in a messy apron behind the stove, spatula in hand and Zeppelin blaring on the small radio on the counter.
"Honey, I cooked!" he teased her as he turned around to greet her. She looked at the table at the impressive spread. There were pancakes and French toast. There was a basket with cinnamon rolls and pastries. He'd set out a small buffet of different cereals. There was a ton of sugar there, and Rachel didn't even want to think about how many extra minutes she would spend on the elliptical to burn off those calories. "We're eating junk this morning, Rach. Quit thinkin' with that pretty head of yours and just have some fun. I mean, I did go through all this trouble."
Nothing worked on a girl like Rachel like guilt. She offered her assistance knowing that he'd refuse and then tucked herself into an empty chair to watch him work. Within a few minutes, he had everything laid out in front of her and they enjoyed a solid hour of eating all the sugar she could manage. He revealed that he'd even managed to make the entire meal vegan, much to her pleasure. When the dishes had been cleared away and he had replaced her plate with a cup of freshly brewed tea, Puck thought that her rosy cheeks made her the happiest he had seen her in awhile.
"Now what, Noah?"
"Eager, babe?"
"Just curious," she replied happily. She kicked her foot against his before letting it rest leisurely on his shin. He raised his eyebrow in her direction, causing a pretty little scarlet to rise up her throat. She fingered her silver Star of David absently. "This isn't much of a wallowing pity party yet, is it?"
"We're getting to that," he chuckled. "Today, Rachel Berry, for one day only, I am going to agree to watch any three musicals of your choosing. After I have endured that awfulness, you will be swept away by Brittany for a slumber party with a few of your friends of a more female persuasion. I thought about proposing something at my house, but I don't think your fathers would go for something like that."
"Or your mom," she added. "Or me for matter."
He was glad to see her giggling rather than crying. He had expected the worst and hoped for the best. So far, he had been pleasantly surprised, and he held out hope that it would stay that way. "Alright, grab your tea and head to the living room. We have some Broadway shit to watch."
"Really, Noah, still with the language?"
Puck wasn't really surprised when she had started out with the original Broadway cast recording of Les Mis, a perennial favorite that he had heard her wax poetic about on more than one occasion. He even recognized a few of the songs from Rachel's many Glee performances She seemed particularly drawn to "On My Own," humming along under her breath with tears falling freely from her chocolate eyes. There were those tears that he had been waiting for, but he was okay with them coming now. They felt appropriate here and not at all about Finn. This was about Rachel and beautiful music and the way it spoke to her heart.
He had never really heard much about the second selection, but Rachel seemed just as swept up in "Carousel." Puck already knew way more about musical theater than he was really comfortable with, but he still loved watching her watch it. She was particularly emotive during "If I Love You," and this time, he knew that she had to be thinking at least a little about Finn as she unabashedly sang along. Still, he didn't mind it so much because it was his hand she was hold and he that got to wipe her tears away.
"Alright, one more, Berry," he allowed as the final credits started to roll. She smiled up at him behind her dark lashes before reaching discreetly toward the pile of DVDs he'd stashed in the corner. She didn't let him see what she had picked as she slipped the disc into the player. Rachel just folded her legs beneath her little body. When the opening number filled the dark room, he could only look over at her in surprise. "Fiddler?"
This was the one Broadway classic his mom had put him through when he was a kid. She saw it as her Jewish duty or something to expose him to as much of their people's culture as possible, and this one was sort of a staple among his fellow Hebrews. Even if it was about a Russian milkman, some part of him could kind of relate. Besides, it followed in his tradition of respecting his fellow Jews' music.
"I thought you would appreciate the beauty of it," she said softly before sighing happily. He knew that she had probably seen it at least twice as many times as he had. It was this whole thing with the girls at the synagogue and was one of the few movies their old rabbi had let them watch during Youth Night at temple. "Oh, Noah, don't you just love it?"
Two hours later, he decided that he did love it, but mostly just because of how happy it made Rachel. She danced around the living room as he put the movies away. Rachel tried in vain to pull him into her impromptu waltz, but he simply grasped her wrists and chuckled until she stopped moving. "Don't you want to dance with me, Noah?" she begged, not at all ashamed to flash him those big doe eyes and bat her eyelashes.
"I don't dance outside of practice and competition, Berry, you know that," he reminded her before flipping off the television. "Besides, you should probably grab your stuff. You got places to be."
"You're kicking me out?" she asked with a crestfallen face.
"Hardly, babe, but glad to know that hanging out with me isn't torture," he teased her before mussing her hair playfully. "This last thing is chick territory, and as you well know, I'm no chick."
"What do I need a girl for?"
"Slumber party, Rach," he answered. "And the Puckerone doesn't do slumber parties."
She looked a little scared, and given her history, Puck couldn't really blame her. Rachel had never really been invited to too many parties when they were kids, at least not when she was the target of their pranks or the butt of their jokes. There had been one or two of them since she had gotten involved in Glee, but that mostly consisted of Kurt, Mercedes and maybe Tina watching stupid teen comedies while Rachel tried to convince them they should watch some Streisand musical no one under the age of fifty really cared about anymore.
"You...you didn't invite Quinn, did you?"
"Give me a little credit, Rach," he answered. "You know that I wouldn't put you through any of Q's drama. "It was actually Britt's idea. She invited Tina and Blaine. I know that there are usually more girls at these things, but I told her that I thought you'd appreciate the smaller crowd. Oh, and Lord Tubbington is going to be there."
"Well, of course he is," she replied, and Puck loved her a little for not even saying in sarcastically. Everyone knew about Brittany's love for the oversized cat and no one really had the heart to make fun of it too much. After that whole Santa thing last year, they all sort of admired her ability to believe in magic. "I just hope she doesn't try to get me to do that webshow of hers again. Do you know that she feeds that cat cheese, Noah? That can't be healthy."
"It's not the worst thing that cat has done, trust me," he said, visibly shivering as he remembered the time the cat had come in with a pocket knife in its teeth when he was making out with Britt in her room during sophomore year. He didn't want to know how the bloody paw prints had ended up on his floorboard. He just took it as a warning and decided that some things were best left undiscovered. "Besides, I think this will be really good for you, Berry. You can talk about that touchy-feely crap with Cohen-Chang. She's all goth still, right?"
"Actually, I think she has a more 60s retro vibe now, Noah."
"Whatever, she still can have a black heart or whatever," he brushed her off. "And Brittany is really killer at cheering people up. She's like a walking Disney cartoon or something. She'll totally get you laughing. The Hobbit likes that same Broadway stuff you do and kind of knows what it's like to be a dude. Maybe he can give you some insight that I can't because he's still sensitive or some shit like that. Plus, it's better than Beyonce, right?"
Even if the words were all wrong, the intentions were right. "That sounds lovely, Noah," she replied. "If I haven't said it enough, thank you for today. It's been really helpful. I've had a really great time."
Puck reached out to squeeze her hand before he let go. "Get your stuff, I'll drop you at Britt's."
"I have my car, Noah."
"Yeah, but this way I get to pick you up in the morning and see you in your satin nighty," he said dreamily. "You know, after the pillow fight and kissing contest."
"I had no idea you thought of Blaine that way."
"You slay me," he laughed before grabbing his keys to take her over to Brittany's.
Puck drove around Lima alone after he dropped her off, enjoying the peace of a typical suburban evening in Ohio. Rachel had a lot going on, and he knew that there was still a lot of work to do before she would be totally okay. She needed her time to mourn, to be young and not so caught up in this relationship that she thought of as so adult (even though he knew it was so high school). He was willing to give her that because more than anything, he just wanted his friend to be okay.
That was the biggest different between him now and him two years ago - he actually did care about the girl more than he cared about himself. And even if he was doubting it, a text message that came somewhere around 2 a.m. reminded him exactly why he was doing this in the first place: Keep your hands off my girl, Puckerman. If Finn wasn't such an idiot, Puck probably would have been pissed. Instead, he just chuckled into the dark, rolled back over and fell asleep with his alarm set for 8 a.m. and dreams of Rachel singing and dancing in his head.