Disclaimer: I am just borrowing them for the fun of writing, BUT I do own the plot, ideas and original characters.
A/N: Not beta'd; all mistakes are mine. Please mention them if you find any.
A/N2: Alright, I had planned to make this completely AU after Mash-up, but now that I've seen Wheels, I've decided that depending on what comes up in the episodes, I may sneak in a conversation or cover the same topic, just put my own twist on it. I'll mention spoilers above if there are any.
A/N3: Thanks for all the amazing feedback; keep it coming! :D
...
"Noah... No-ah... NOAH!" Arin screamed.
Puck's eyes shot open and he jumped up, "oh my God! What the hell!" He exclaimed glaring at her.
"I'm hungry," she said crossing her arms over her chest.
"You know where the cereal is," he commented leaning back on his pillows. "And there is a better way to wake me up than to scream at me!" He yelled back.
"Mom said you need to get up if I'm up," she told him. "I don't want cereal."
"Fine," he sighed, sitting up again and rubbing his forehead.
His eyes landed on the clock next to his bed and found it was after nine. Standing up he motioned towards his door and she left, him following right behind her, "next time, don't scream at me," he commented.
"It got you up, didn't it?" She asked taking a seat at the kitchen table.
'Leave it to a ten year old to be logical,' he thought digging through the fridge for something to make for breakfast. He pulled together scrambled eggs and toast and set two plates down on the table, one in front of her and one where he was going to sit. "Happy?" he asked sliding into the seat by his plate.
"Thanks, Noah," she smiled at him sweetly.
Puck laughed a little, but dug into his food, half asleep from his wake up, but glanced across the table, "Arin," he started.
She looked up, "yeah?"
"You know Quinn's pregnant right?"
She nodded, "yeah, Rachel showed you pictures last night, why?"
"Just asking, I was thinking we could go over to Rachel's and she might be there and we might talk about it."
Arin looked at him curiously, "who's the daddy?" She asked, "is it Finn?"
Puck sighed, 'okay, maybe this isn't a good idea,' he thought, taking another bite of food.
"Who the dad is, isn't important right now," he told her, "I'm asking because Quinn might be moving in with Rachel while she's pregnant."
"Why?"
"Her mom and dad will probably kick her out when they find out she's pregnant," he said, "and Rachel and her dad's invited Quinn to stay with them if that happens."
"Oh," Arin looked at her food and shrugged, "okay. Why would her parents kick her out?"
"Some parents have an idea of how their children should grow up and the things they should and shouldn't do. Her parents thought she would go a different way in life and when they find out she didn't, they wouldn't be able to accept it. Normally a girl doesn't have a baby when she's still in high school," he told her, hoping that was all he needed to explain to her; he wasn't ready to have the 'birds and bees' conversation with his ten year old sister yet.
"So because she's going to have a baby in high school, her parents don't like it and won't let her live at home anymore?"
He nodded, "yes. So if we're over at Rachel's and Quinn is there, you might not want to ask much about it, okay?"
"Okay," she shrugged again and finished her breakfast; putting the dirty dishes in dishwasher. "When can we go to Rachel's?" She asked.
"Let me shower first," he told her finishing off his own plate and putting it in the dishwasher.
Arin went off to watch Saturday morning cartoons, while he went upstairs and headed for the shower. He slid past that conversation easily enough and though she made it sound like she understood, only time would tell just how much she really got.
After his shower, he changed the dressing on his incision and got dressed. Arin was still watching TV, thankful that she was already dressed for the day. He grabbed his phone and looked through the messages and found one from Rachel. "Quinn is coming over at noon. Thought we could have lunch when she's here. Up for it?"
"Define up for it? Am I making lunch?" He sent back with a laugh.
"If you want to, or I can go get pizza or something. I have to go out and get some things anyway," she replied.
Puck hit the send button and called her. As soon as she answered the phone, he started with, "before you go out can you do me a favor?" he asked.
"It depends on what that favor is, Noah," she commented, but he could hear the slight laugh in her voice.
"In my criminology books is lab that I've gotta do this weekend. I need to get the supplies, so can you tell me what is listed so I can go get them before I come over?" He asked.
"Sure, let me look," she said. He heard rustling and a few moments later she said, "oh alright, um, the fingerprint lab?" She asked.
"Yeah," he got up and found a piece of paper and pen.
"Supplies: One soft-bristled brush, black powder or crushed up pencil lead, tape at least 2-inches wide, gloves, black ink pad and cardstock," she read over the phone.
Puck wrote down the items; having read it before he knew the details of what he needed, but couldn't remember the exact items. "Thanks," he replied. "I'm going to go get this stuff and I can be over there by like 11:30, if you want me to make something, tell me and I'll let you know if you need to get anything," he replied.
Rachel was silent for a long moment, "I don't know what's here."
"I'll figure something out," he commented.
"Thank you," she replied.
Saying their goodbyes, he hung up his phone, "alright Arin, lets go. Got to make a pit-stop at the store before we go to Rachel's," he said.
Arin turned off the TV and got up, silently getting her jacket, "can I take a few movies over to watch? All Rachel has are weird movies I've never even heard of," she said.
Puck laughed at that, "yeah, you can."
She went to her room and got a few movies and returned to him at the door.
Thinking over the things he needed, he figured he could get everything at Wal-Mart, so he drove over there and the two went in the store. Puck collected what he needed, most of it was found in the school supplies or craft section, but had to go to the band-aid's to get the gloves. While he was there he picked up some extra gauze and medical tape for his side before heading to check out.
Getting back into his jeep, he drove over to Rachel's, seeing her car was still gone. Going up to the house, he pushed the door open, not even knocking and stepped inside, Arin right behind him.
"Hey Noah, Arin," David commented from the living room.
"Hey, Rachel's not here yet?" He asked.
"No, she said she wanted to get something, but didn't say what," he told him. "What do you have there?"
"I have a fingerprint lab to do before I go back to school, so I had to get supplies," he replied.
"Oh yes, Rachel mentioned you were taking a criminology class at school," he said.
Puck nodded, "yeah. Any idea for lunch?" He asked.
"No, and you don't have to keep cooking," he laughed.
"I told Rachel I'd come up with something since Quinn would be here at noon."
David nodded, getting up and heading for the kitchen, while Arin took over the TV with the movies she had brought over.
Puck set his bags on the island and dug through the fridge, "I don't mind cooking. No offense, but I can't live off of take-out. Mom tried, that's the reason why I started cooking in the first place," he told him.
"I just don't want you to feel like you have to," he told him before heading to the den.
Though it was almost noon, Puck started throwing together quesadillas with nacho chips and salsa that he found in the cupboard. Hearing a knock on the door, he figured Rachel had her hands full, so he headed for the door, "Rachel, you don't have to knock-" he stopped mid-sentence seeing Quinn standing on the porch, "Quinn."
"Puck, I, uh, didn't expect you to be here, but now that I say that, I remember Rachel mentioning you might be here," she stumbled over her words as she spoke.
Nodding, he stepped aside, "come in. I've got something on the stove that can't burn," he said leaving the door and heading into the kitchen quickly to remove the quesadilla he'd left in the pan.
Quinn had followed him in, standing in the middle of the kitchen nervously. "Uh, this is weird," she admitted.
Puck had half an ear on her as he continued working, but turned, "what is?"
"You, cooking," she motioned towards the stove, "not the Puck I know."
He shrugged and motioned towards one of the seats at the island, "there's a lot about me that you don't know," he told her.
She slid onto the stool and nodded, looking down at her hands.
"I thought I heard a different voice, you must be Quinn," David said entering the kitchen, with Alan right behind him..
Puck turned from the stove, "Quinn meet Rachel's dads, David and Alan Berry. David, Alan, Quinn Fabray," he motioned between them before moving back to his cooking.
Quinn blushed, but stood up, "it's nice to finally meet you both," she said.
"You can call us Alan and David," David commented stepping forward to shake her hand before sitting down at the island. Alan did as well, "it's nice to meet you, too Quinn," Alan added sitting by David.
Quinn nodded, "alright," she sat back down, unsure what to say or do.
The kitchen filled with an eerie silence, but it was broken by the front door opening and closing, then footsteps up the stairs, "I'll be down in a few minutes," Rachel called as she retreated.
"Puck, do you need any help?" Quinn asked moving towards him.
"Uh yeah," he motioned towards the plate of half-circle shaped tortillas, "can you cut them in like four pieces?" he asked sliding a cutting board and knife towards her on the counter.
He tried to keep his distance from Quinn. He didn't want Rachel or her dads to get the impression he had feelings for Quinn, but with her eventually going to be living with them it would be hard to stay too far away. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize Rachel had come into the kitchen until her arms were wrapping around his waist.
He jumped about a foot in the air, "oh shit, Rach, don't do that," he groaned turning around to greet her.
She laughed, but stood up to press a kiss to his lips before turning to Quinn, "hey Quinn, come on, let me show you your room," she said.
"It's okay," Puck shrugged, getting back to the last few tortilla's he had in the pan.
The men watched the two girls disappear and as soon as Puck heard them go upstairs, Puck turned around and looked at them, "I don't know if I'll be able to do this," he muttered.
"Do what?" David asked.
"Be around here with Quinn here, too," he said.
"Why? She's carrying," Alan paused motioning to him, "so it's not like you're strangers."
"Because I don't want either of you or Rachel to get the idea that I have feelings for her; because I don't," he replied shaking his head.
"You love our daughter, right? At least that's what you gave us the impression of last night, right?" David asked getting up to move closer to him.
"Yes, I do love her. More than I thought I could love someone."
David smiled, but continued, "and Rachel knows that. In the next few weeks, when Quinn's parents find out, she's going to need all the friends she can get, male or female. You are allowed to have friends that are the opposite gender," he told him.
Puck nodded, turning off the stove and dumping the last two quesadillas on the cutting board, "I just don't want her to get jealous."
"That's inevitable. She's female; I swear that's in their genes," Alan commented moving towards them.
Puck smiled at that, "and one of those girls is going to be extremely hormonal and I'm not sure just which one will be worse."
The fathers laughed at Puck's comment, helping him move things to the table. "I'll go get them," Puck said, heading for the stairs. Reaching the top, he saw the door open and the two girls were changing the sheets, "what, didn't like what I did last night?" He asked, now seeing the new sheets and comforter they were making the bed with.
"Not that, I just figured Quinn might want something less boring," Rachel laughed, "and I knew her favorite color was yellow; what do you think?" She asked.
Puck glanced at the pale yellow sheets and the bright yellow comforter, "it's yellow," he admitted, "cool, I guess, if you like that color."
Quinn laughed, "guys just don't understand."
"No they don't," Rachel said turning to look at him, "is lunch ready yet?"
Puck narrowed his eyes to her, "I don't know. Is that an attitude? I've been making you dinner all damn week and attitude is what I get in return?" He asked putting his hands on his hips.
Rachel ducked her head, moving towards him, slipping her arms around his waist, "sorry," she looked up at him, "you're right. I'm very grateful for the dinners you've prepared," she admitted.
Puck smirked, "good to know," he pressed a kiss to her lips, "and yes lunch is ready."
Quinn was the first to move, sliding past the two with a laugh, "don't take too long; we might not be able to explain that one to your dads," Quinn smirked before heading down the stairs.
His shoulders fell and he sighed, "I don't know if this is going to work," he whispered.
"Sure it will," Rachel smiled, "you've just got to have a little faith," she replied kissing him again before slipping out the door.
Puck followed her down the stairs and into the dinning room; both taking their seats at the table. Once they were seated, David and Alan started passing around the chip bowl and the plate with the quesadillas on it and once everyone had food, they started eating, chatting lightly over the meal.
Between the six of them, they'd emptied the entire bowl of chips, which had been a whole bag and there were only two pieces of quesadilla left. Puck was the first one to get up, taking his and his sisters dirty dishes and heading for the kitchen.
Quinn had talked over lunch, but she was still kind of nervous about being there. Once Puck had left the table, Arin disappeared, so Alan suggested they head into the den to talk.
Passing through they dropped their empty dishes off and Rachel hung back to help Noah before they, too, went into the den, sitting down on one of the couches. "Alright," Rachel started, "Quinn, you don't have to be nervous around us. I know we've had our differences in the past and I know you and Noah don't always see eye-to-eye, but we, along with my dads, and Noah's mom, are here to help you any way we can," she explained.
"Um, thanks," Quinn nodded, "I know they are going to kick me out and I almost want to just move out and then tell them, but I don't know how to explain this to Finn. I haven't even told him that you offered to let me stay here," she admitted.
"Finn will be happy that you and Rachel are getting along," Puck commented.
Quinn thought on what he said and nodded again, "yeah, I guess I haven't quite been the most positive about being friends with you," Quinn looked at Rachel, "you've been nothing but nice to me and it wasn't until just a few days ago that I was civil to you, so for that, I'm sorry."
Rachel smiled, "it's alright. You're forgiven and that's in the past," she replied.
Quinn's lips turned into a light smile and then looked at Puck, "um, I think I owe you an apology, too."
"Me?" Puck asked.
"Ever since you found out I was pregnant, you've tried to tell me that you'd help me out, but I pushed you away and I shouldn't have, but are you sure you want to do this? Be a fa-"
Puck held up his hand, stopping her words, "my sister knows your pregnant, but not who the father is," he told her, "and yes I'm sure. You pushed me away and honestly, if you hadn't, we probably wouldn't be here right now. I finally let my heart control myself and I found the best thing that has ever happened to me," he squeezed Rachel's hand, "but like she said, that's in the past."
"You two are like polar opposites and I don't understand how you two have stayed together, but it's obvious to see that you two love each other. I love Finn, but as soon as he finds out, I know he'll be gone and never want to speak to me again," Quinn sighed.
"Finn will be mad, but he'll come around after a while," David commented.
"If you two love each other, like you say you do, then he'll see what he's missing," Alan told Quinn.
Quinn seemed to relax around them, and mentioned she had a few bags in the car that she wanted to leave there, so Rachel helped her bring them in. The girls unpacked her things a little so Quinn could take her bags back and refill them.
"So what exactly are you doing?" Rachel asked as she and Quinn came into the kitchen to see him crushing up pencil lead.
"Grinding up pencil lead to use as fingerprint powder," he commented, "while you're here," he slid a piece of cardstock to each of them, "I need your finger prints," he said picking up the ink pad.
"Oh I get it," Rachel smiled and took the ink pad from him.
"Lets just hope this is the only time you'll ever get fingerprinted," Puck commented.
"I still don't get it," Quinn was watching Rachel put the black ink on her finger tips and then rolling her finger in a specific box he'd marked for that finger, "what the heck kind of class is this for?"
"Criminology and forensics," he said, "just humor me," he replied going back to grinding.
Quinn waited until Rachel was finished and did the same thing as she had, pressing her fingertips to the paper, pulling them back after a second leaving a visible print behind. She followed Rachel to the sink and washed the ink off once she was done and returned to see Puck setting aside the papers so they could dry. He had finished with the powder and filled up a small jar he had beside him with it before sliding on a pair of blue medical gloves and heading for the cupboard. He returned holding two exact glasses by the rims. He got them to touch both glasses with their hand and then he sat down at the island again and set to work. "Now I use that powder and brush to see if I can get it to pick up your prints and then compare them to the ones you gave me to figure out what fingers I was able to pick up," he commented picking up a pencil and writing a few things down on a piece of paper.
Rachel and Quinn both watched him as he carefully brushed the powder over each glass, quickly revealing several prints on each one. Setting the glasses aside, he pulled over some paper and then picked up the tape and cut several pieces. Taking piece of tape, he picked up one glass and laid the tape across a print, rubbing his still gloved thumb over it to make sure it stuck and then tugged at the tape, pulling it away from the glass with the ground lead lead attached in the shape of a fingerprint. He laid that piece of tape on a piece of cardstock and wrote glass one on that one and he continued the same process until he finished with the first glass, repeating the process for the second glass. As he finished with the last print, he sat back with a smile on his face.
"That is so fascinating," Rachel admitted; the two girls had been silent during his work.
"This looks like something right out of one of those crime shows," Quinn said.
Puck nodded, "and I think I just figured out what I'm doing to do with my life," he glanced at Rachel.
She smiled at him, "then go for it, Noah."
A ringing startled them and Quinn quickly answered her phone, "hey Finn... It is? Alright, yeah I can come get you... I'm, um, at Rachel's... Yes, Rachel Berry... I'll tell you later... I'll be over there in a few minutes..." She hung up her phone, "Finn's car is ready, so I'm gonna go," she motioned towards the door.
Quinn said goodbye to Alan, David, Arin and Puck and Rachel walked her out to her car. "So, is this like a normal weekend for you?" She asked.
"What do you mean?" Rachel questioned.
"Well, Puck and his sister are over and he's acting like he lives here," she told her.
Rachel smirked, "well, he's spent a lot of time at my place the past few weeks while he's been recovering. Usually he's at home on the weekends watching his sister, but they came over today. It's nice. We don't get a chance to go out much during the week, with school and Glee, since his mom works late usually and he has to pick up his sister by like five or six from the sitter," she explained, "so this way we can at least see each other. As for living here, well, he does have a key and my dad's don't mind him around. The food's better when he's here," she laughed.
Quinn shook her head, "I never thought I'd see the day when Puck would be a homebody."
Rachel shrugged, "I'm sure there are a lot of things you'll see differently now, which is a good thing."
"It is," Quinn agreed opening her door, "thanks again, Rachel. I don't know how I deserve you being nice to me after everything, but I appreciate it."
Rachel nodded with a smile on her face, "see you Monday," she replied.
Quinn slid into her car, "see ya," she said, starting her car and pulling away from the curb.
Rachel headed inside to find him where he had been, this time, a magnifying glass in hand. She debated quickly if she should bother him, but moved towards him, slipping an arm around his shoulders.
He silently glanced at her before going back to what he had been doing, "you sure about all this?" He asked.
"Yes, I am, Noah," she replied softly.
He nodded, "alright. Look, I'm not going to turn into her best friend, but I'll be civil. 'I'm sorry' isn't just going to make up for the way she treated me since I've known her, especially since all this came about."
"I understand that. I'm not expecting you to become her best friend, but if you're here and she is, then I hope you can at least talk to her."
Puck nodded, "I will be. But don't go getting all jealous if we do talk. There will never be anything between Quinn and I," he added.
Rachel pressed a kiss to his cheek and nodded, "I know," she whispered moving away to let him continue his work.
Puck was quiet; focused on his lab work. He thought he was alone in the kitchen when he heard his sister's movie; another Disney musical. He'd heard it enough to know one of the songs, and he couldn't help singing the male part, "you're the voice I hear inside my head, the reason that I'm singing, I need to find you, I gotta find you. You're the missing piece I need, the song inside of me, I need find you, I gotta find you." He stopped, thinking of the words, 'why do Disney movies have to be so metaphorical?' He thought, leaning forward to glance at something. Hearing footsteps, he looked up to see Rachel standing in the kitchen, a smile on her face. "What?" He asked.
"Were you just singing?" She asked.
"Maybe," he shrugged, ducking his head towards his papers.
Rachel moved towards him and pressed a kiss to his lips, "you sounded great, just like when you sang 'Sweet Caroline' to us at school."
"To you," he corrected her, "I sang it to you. Everyone else was just there." He turned slightly on his stool so he could pull her between his legs and wrapped his arms around her.
Rachel sunk against his chest, slipping her arms around his neck, "I loved it. I don't think I ever told you that," she whispered.
"I figured I did something right," he admitted with a smile, "even if you never did tell me."
Rachel pressed her lips against his, "I'm sorry I never did, but I got -"
He cut her words off with another kiss, this time his arms tightening around her body lightly in a hug, "it's okay," he replied, his lips brushing against hers before pulling away completely.
Her eyes drifted shut as his words and she nodded, leaning her head against his shoulder, "I'll let you get back to work," she whispered softly, pressing a kiss to his lips before pulling away.
Puck wanted her to stick around, but knew he'd have time later to be with her, so he let her walk back into the living room. Turning back to his work, he started writing again.
It got closer to dinner time and he was still focused on his lab assignment, so Rachel ordered pizza that arrived about twenty minutes later. Puck broke from his work long enough to sit down to eat with everyone, but went back to work quickly; wanting to finish his lap write ups that night.
He finally finished the work and stuffed everything into one of his bags. It was after eight and Arin and Rachel were watching a movie in the living room, so he slid into the couch next to Rachel, silently putting his arm around her shoulders.
Rachel settled against him and he turned his head to the TV, seeing they were watching another Disney movie. He didn't pay too much attention to what it was, but when it was over her said he should get Arin home to go to bed. Rachel didn't want them to leave, but understood.
Arin gathered up her movies and Puck made sure he had all his books and things from his room in his bag, "I better get these home so I can get ready for school Monday," he told Rachel, but left briefly to say goodbye to her dads before returning to Rachel and picking up his bags, "so, if I don't see you tomorrow, I'll see you at school."
"Yes, you will," she grinned, "and we have a lot to do if Mr. Schuester isn't going to be there. I'm going to ask if we can rehearse all week in auditorium," she said.
He groaned, "all week? What?"
"Noah, we have sectionals coming up and we have to be on top of our game. With you out of dancing and Mr. Schuester gone all week, we have to re-choreograph all of our dances and you need to learn the music," she told him.
Puck sighed, "you do realize that the rest of the club won't like this. They do have lives, but I'll come over tomorrow to work on them," he sighed, tugging out his music folder and handing it off to her.
Rachel smiled, taking the folder and setting on the table by the door. The two siblings left Rachel's and she waved goodbye as Puck drove away, hoping they'd have a successful day of music the next day.
Sunday started early and Arin and Puck were at the Berry's by ten am. He had avoided the sheet music Mr. Schuester had given him all week, but Rachel was right. While he played through the music they were talking about using for competition, Rachel danced and sang along to help him keep them going.
Over take-out for lunch and dinner, they worked hard. Puck had picked up most of the music without much problem and by eight that night, he gave up, needing to get home for some decent sleep before school the next day.
Sitting in his jeep in the parking lot Monday morning, Puck was gathering up the nerve to walk in. "Just one week of peace; please," he muttered to the empty jeep before climbing out, throwing his bag over his shoulder and walking towards the school. Getting inside the doors, he noticed that all eyes were on him. He pushed off the odd feeling and kept walking down the hallway.
People parted to let him pass, but instead of them jumping out of the way, everyone started clapping, cheering and calling out his last name. He paused to glance around, waving at some and nodding his head to others, walking towards his locker. He stopped short, seeing the entire Glee club standing by his locker and hanging above was a big sign with the words 'Welcome Back, Puckerman' on it. He ducked his head and continued his walk, reaching the group. Rachel was the first to step forward, a smile on her face as she wrapped her arms around him. Puck returned her hug, "this is a nice surprise," he admitted, looking around at everyone.
"My dad said he was letting you come back; so what do you think?" Brittany asked motioning towards the sign.
"It's great, thanks," he smiled again, shaking hands with the guys before giving each of the girls a hug, "honestly, Brit, I didn't know your dad was Dr. Stevens until Friday," Puck admitted looking at her as they hugged.
She laughed, "I doubt many would believe it, anyway," she shrugged and stepped back.
Puck picked up his bag and stuffed his books into his locker before getting the ones he needed for his first class, "it's good to be back," he commented, turning around to lean against the lockers as he closed his, "I can't believe I just admitted that," he added.
"We're glad to have you back, bro," Finn commented patting him on the shoulder.
"With Mr. Schuester out, we all need to work hard this week," Rachel chimed in, "so I asked Ms. Pillsbury if we could use the auditorium and she said we can after school to six every day and I think we should take the opportunity."
"Dude, have you lost it!" Mercedes exclaimed, "we do have lives you know."
"Ewe, if I work that much, I could break a sweat," Kurt commented.
Puck started laughing, even if his side hurt, while Santana and Brittany told her they had Cheerios practice after school they couldn't miss.
"What's so funny, dude?" Finn asked.
Puck paused and shook his head, "I knew you guys would say that. She told this weekend and I tried to talk her out of it, but it didn't work."
Rachel crossed her arms over her chest, "with Noah unable to dance we have to re-work the choreography and we can not wait another week for Mr. Schuester to return, so we have to do this on our own. If we want a chance to place at sectionals to go on to regionals then we have to work on this without him!" Rachel huffed. "Look, football season is over, so there's no more after school practice, so if Santana and Brittany need to miss a day or two for Cheerio's, that's fine, we can work on our singing, but we've got to be a team here."
Even though everyone wanted to argue about it, they knew she was right, so they gave in. Santana and Brittany only had practice after school on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so they agreed to meet the other days.
"Does anyone know why Schuester is out?" Matt asked looking around.
Puck ducked his head and looked down at Rachel. "We were the last ones out of the choir room on Thursday and he seemed fine," Rachel explained.
"It's just weird that he just up and left without saying anything," Tina commented.
"I sure hope his reason is a damn good one for ditching us like he did; Rachel's right, we got to be a team and he's part of it, too," Mercedes looked around at them.
Silent nods agreed with her, as everyone started to part to go to their classes for the day, Puck taking up his routine of walking Rachel to her class, "saved by Rachel," he commented softly, pausing outside her classroom to press a kiss to her lips.
She nodded and smiled, "I'm glad to have my boyfriend back at school," she replied hugging him tightly before pulling away.
He smiled at her and nodded, stepping away as she walked into her class and headed to his class room.
His teachers were glad to see him back and even more surprised to see he'd completed all the homework they'd given him. With Mr. Schuester out of his Spanish class, he kept his work to give to him when he returned and as he reached Rachel's locker for lunch, he was half asleep, "okay, so I didn't realize how tiring school was," he commented leaning against a couple lockers.
"It's your first day back," she commented slipping her arm around his waist and guiding him towards the cafeteria. "Maybe you should have a couple sodas with some caffeine," she added.
"I think I might just need food," he told her, "but caffeine sounds good," he added.
Puck got in line with the guys to get food and returned to the table, taking his usual spot next to Rachel. Finn sat down on Puck's other side and before too long the entire table was filled with Glee club members.
As it got closer to the end of lunch, Rachel looked at everyone, "so be in the auditorium as soon as school is out so we can get going on rehearsal," she said before getting up.
The group began to get up, all having different directions to go, most of them muttering something about, "yeah, whatever," and heading off.
Puck shook his head, but followed her back to her lockers, Kurt and Mercedes right behind them. He stopped at his locker on the way, getting his history book and extra homework and followed the three towards their lockers, coming around the corner to find Rachel waiting for him. He walked her to class and went to his own.
He got the same 'welcome back' from his next few teachers and spoke slightly longer with his forensics teacher before the class started. The lab he'd been given wasn't due for two more days; the kids getting it last week and having a week to complete, so he was actually ahead of everyone. As the class ended, he headed to his locker, grabbed his sheet music and then over heard Finn and Quinn talking. They were at Quinn's locker, across the hall and down far enough that they didn't see him.
"What do you mean you're moving? That doesn't even make sense!" Finn exclaimed.
"Get it through your pea brain, Finn! The second my parents find out that I'm with child they will kick me out!"
"So you're moving? Where are you moving, too? Because I can't even find a job and I don't know how I'm going to be able to afford a hotel."
"Rachel's dads are letting me stay there."
"Rachel, Glee club Rachel?"
"Yes, that Rachel; how many Rachel's do you know?" She asked looking at him.
Puck smirked; his friend really was oblivious about everything going on. Shaking his thoughts he filled his backpack with the books he needed for homework and then threw it over his shoulder, walking past them, "don't forget Glee, Rachel will be on the warpath if you're late," he called.
He headed up past the cafeteria and found the doors to the auditorium. Stepping in, he saw that Rachel, Tina, Artie, Mercedes and Kurt were already there, "what do you guys do? Skip the last few minutes of class to get here early?" He asked dropping his bag next to Rachel's and climbing up the stairs to the stage.
"Well who let the gorilla's out of their cage?" Kurt asked in return.
Puck rolled his eyes, "hate to break it to you, Hummel, but you're a football player now; you're one of us gorilla's," he told him, wrapping his arms around Rachel, missing the deadpanned look on Kurt's face when he realized Puck was right.
"Rachel," Finn's voice interrupted the couple's embrace and Rachel turned towards him.
"Yes, Finn?" She asked.
He silently walked right up to her and wrapped his arms around her, "thank you," he murmured.
Puck glared at his best friend when he watched him hug his girlfriend, and then he glanced up to see Quinn rolling her eyes, "I told him that I'm moving to Rachel's when my parents kick me out," she said. Puck nodded, but still didn't like the visual he was getting so he cleared his throat.
"Someone want to share with the rest of us what's going on?" Mercedes asked.
Finn pulled away from Rachel and looked around, moving back to where Quinn was standing. Puck put a protective arm around Rachel's shoulders and saw Matt, Mike, Brit and Santana walk in.
Quinn stepped forward, "once my parents find out that I'm pregnant I know they are going to kick me out," she explained, "and Rachel offered to let me stay with her, so when my parents do kick me out, I'll be living at Rachel's," Quinn explained.
Several people gasped and then looked at Rachel; some were just plain confused, but others were surprised.
Rachel nodded, "yes, I spoke with my dads and they said it would be alright. Quinn would be welcome at my house, just like Noah and his family," she told them.
"Wait a second, you're there, too?" Finn asked looking at his friend.
"Not all the time," Puck shrugged, "I spent a good deal of my two weeks off there and now have a key, so I'm welcome anytime, but I'm sure that's how it'll end up."
Finn's eyes widened and he looked at Quinn, almost jealous of what was going on, but Rachel calmed the situation down, "look," she took a deep breath, "from now forward, we're a team. We're going to stick by our friends no matter what. I'm aware that Quinn and I have never gotten along, but I'm willing to put that in the past, to help her out. This baby is special and she's going to have a lot of aunts and uncles around to help out, I'm just taking the first step in doing that, by offering Quinn a place to stay."
"I thought you were putting the baby up for adoption," Santana commented.
Everyone looked towards Quinn and it looked like Finn was about to fall over, "Quinn?"
Quinn was glaring at Rachel, "well, I haven't decided anything for sure," she admitted, "I don't know."
Rachel felt Puck's hand on her side, his grip getting tighter, "if she chooses to let someone adopt her, then we'll be there for her, if not, we're here, right?" Rachel asked.
"Well, yeah, of course. We got your backs," Mercedes said.
Quinn smiled and nodded, "um, thanks."
Puck's hand released on Rachel's side; crisis averted for the time being. "Okay, now that the sappy shit is out of the way, can we do what we are here to do?" Puck asked, "because it's past my nap time," he commented sitting down at the piano.
Some laughed, but everyone took their places after dropping their things off.
Practice started well, but once they got through two songs and had fixed it enough to know what to do, they moved onto a song that had some partner dancing. Rachel at first was confused and couldn't figure out how to fix things right away, which started to frustrate her. She was mad, and Puck noticed that everyone was getting annoyed with her, so he got up and put his hands on her shoulders, "calm down. We've gone through some songs already, and we can wait on this one. You're going to blow a gasket."
Rachel leaned back against his chest and sighed, "fine."
Puck looked up at everyone as he wrapped his arms around her from behind, "guess that's it for today, see you tomorrow," he told them.
Everyone relaxed; all a little stressed now at just how screwed they were. Some were quick to leave; Brittany, Santana, Matt and Mike, then Quinn and Finn left, not long after.
Artie called his dad to have him come get him. While they waited, Tina and Mercedes moved the piano backstage after Puck got his music. Gathering up their things, the rest of them filed out and Puck sighed, "damn, I gotta start looking for a job," he muttered glancing at Rachel, "I promised your dads I would."
"You just got back to school, Noah, I'm sure they would be alright if you took a few days to get back to a routine," Rachel said looking at him.
"A job? What are you looking for?" Kurt asked glancing at him.
Puck raised an eyebrow at him, "a job that pays money," he commented.
"No, I mean what kind of work? My dad is looking for someone to work in his garage; part-time and all. If you're interested I'll put in a good word for you," he told him.
"Yeah right, after all the shit I've done to you in the past, you'd put a good word in for me with your dad? I doubt that," Puck admitted.
Kurt huffed a little, "you're right, but considering that you fixed a little issue in Glee club last week, consider it a thank you." Kurt dug out a business card out of his bag and handed it over to him. "I'm going there now, so I'll talk to him and call you. You do know how to work on cars, right?"
Puck rolled his eyes, "yes, I do," he glanced at the card, reading some of the things listed that his garage did, "I do all these to my jeep," he admitted.
"Good, then I'll call you," he waved at them and continued walking to his Navigator, leaving the others waiting at the front of the school.
"Did that just... Kurt..." Puck closed his mouth and shook his head.
"I guess if Rachel can look past all the shit between her and Quinn, so can Kurt," Mercedes said.
Puck nodded and glanced at his watch, "I gotta go get Arin, so I'll see you tomorrow, Rach," he whispered, pressing a kiss to Rachel's lips.
"Alright, call me and let me know what you get home. Don't go falling asleep driving," she told him as she hugged him.
He laughed a little, but nodded, waving at the other three before heading off to his jeep. Throwing his bag inside, he started the engine and left the school; his mind focused on one thing; just how close they were to finding out the truth.
...
A/N4: The song Puck sang along to is 'This Is Me' sung by Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas in Camp Rock. I just saw the movie and I love this song. Figured it was a Disney movie that might be in Arin's collection of favorites.
A/N5: Have had this done for a few days, but was busy writing, so I got away from editing. My dad has been in the hospital since Friday and they're still not really sure what is all wrong, so I've been dealing with it all by keeping my mind occupied in writing. I finished Chapter 14 last night, so now I have to edit it and hopefully get it posted soon; maybe tomorrow.