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: Wow! Sectionals was amazing! I loved it! This story is mostly AU after Mash-up, but with some of the topics discussed in the later episodes, I may sneak in a conversation or cover the same topic, but I will put my own twist on it.
A/N3: To all my readers, you guys rock! Thank you so much for enjoying this and giving me great feedback! It keeps me writing.
...
With their second place finish at Sectionals, the kids had only a week left of school before Winter break began. Burt had cut back the shop's hours, closing on the weekends so he and Kurt could spend time together and it gave his guys, Puck included, extra time with family.
Snow had fallen a few days prior to the end of school, and though it was still covering the grass, no new snow had come through yet, so Finn, Puck, Rachel and Quinn were outside decorating the Berry's house.
"Okay, this is not what I planned on doing on my first day off," Puck commented holding what looked like a mile of Christmas lights balled up in his hands.
"Noah, come on, get in the Christmas Spirit," Rachel replied.
"I'm Jewish," he retorted, knowing he was just as in the Christmas Spirit as anyone else, but he liked to point out it wasn't for his religion.
"Noah!"
Puck sighed, "what? Rachel, with all the lights you've got enough to light the whole neighborhood!"
Rachel crossed her arms over her chest, "Noah, this is the one time a year that my dads let me decorate. This year Quinn is helping. Now please, stop arguing and help."
Puck glared at his girlfriend, but reluctantly grabbed the staple gun and climbed up the ladder in front of her garage, taking the end of one strand of lights, "now where?"
"The corner... No up more... No, now over to the left..."
"Damn it, Rachel! Make up your fucking mind!" Puck hissed, his arms stretched as far as he could to the corner of the garage.
Ignoring his outburst, Rachel continued to direct him until he had the right spot and let him staple down the end of the lights, "perfect," she smiled.
Rachel had a very detailed plan of what she wanted the house to look like; practically every inch of the house to be covered. She had icicle lights, straight strands, snowflake shaped lights, white, blue, multi-colored lights, wire shaped animals with lights attached, "Rachel, your house is going to look like someone threw up Christmas lights," Puck finally said getting down from the ladder after the first strand was up.
"I second that!" Finn called from the yard where he and Quinn were putting together a light-up reindeer.
"Thank you," Puck commented glancing at his friend.
Rachel crossed her arms over her chest, "you know what, forget it! I'll do it myself! I thought it might be nice if the four of us did something together for the holidays, but I guess not!" She exclaimed, heading towards the porch and going inside, slamming the front door loudly.
"Smooth move, lover boy!" Quinn snapped at Puck and glared at her own boyfriend, "you're not much help either!"
The two boys exchanged glances and sighed, realizing their bickering was turning the festive decorating into a hassle. Puck hated admitting he was wrong, but took Rachel's path into the house and looked around. Alan and David were sitting on the couch in the living room; both engrossed in reading something. David looked up and smirked, pointing to the stairs. Puck took the silent hint and trudged up to her room. Putting his hand on the doorknob he turned it, finding it frozen in place, so he knocked on the door, "Rachel, come on, open your door," he leaned against the wall.
"Go away, Noah, I want to be alone," she called from inside.
Puck closed his eyes and shook his head, "not until you talk to me," he waited a moment until adding, "fine, if you want me to talk through the door, I will," he paused, hoping that would make her open the door, but with it still locked, he rested his forehead on the door, his hands on the door frame as he continued, "look, Christmas isn't about who's got the best decorations or who has the most successful party; it's about spending time with the people you love. I'm all for decorating, but you're going overboard. A few decorations and lights are one thing, but babe, you've got enough lights that a plane flying over the house will see it," he said with a smirk. "I know I... We pissed you off and I'm sorry, but you've got to compromise a little, too," he said softly. He lingered against the door for a few moments and figured she was either ignoring him or was still pissed at him, so he shifted away, heading for the stairs when he heard her door's lock click, but it didn't open. Seeing that as a step, he headed for the door and opened it, stepping inside to see her sitting on her bed, her head hung low. She was upset, and he knew that. He took a few steps further and then went right to the bed next to her and sat down, pulling her against his chest.
Just as her head hit his chest, she began crying again, "I just wanted things to be perfect this year. Last year's party was only my dads' coworkers and their families and now with Quinn and everyone that can from Glee coming I wanted to make sure everyone has a good time and everyone always loves decorations, and -"
Puck pressed a kiss to her lips that quieted her, "it's okay, and things will be fine. I know you want to make this a great time for everyone, especially Quinn since she won't be celebrating with her family, but she'll be with us and I'm sure she'll cry a few times, but she's going to be okay."
She sighed against him, "this is the first year I'll have real friends over or a boyfriend to spend the holidays with," she whispered.
He closed his eyes, everything clicking. He squeezed her tighter against him, "Rachel, listen to me," he looked at her and when she finally looked back, he pressed a kiss to her lips, "I know, but you've got to move past that and realize things have changed for the better and no matter what decorations are outside, or what the house looks like inside; all of that is nothing compared to spending time with those friends and family members, okay? Besides, I think you've got a pretty hot boyfriend to show off at the party," he wiggled his eye brows a little, hoping to get some reaction from her.
Hearing what he said and with his last words, she couldn't help the light smile tug at her lips, "Noah," she giggled.
"There's the smile I was looking for," he grinned.
She smiled a little brighter and wiped her eyes, looking out her window, calmer now than she had been.
"Why don't you and Quinn go shopping and Finn and I will take care of the decorations outside," he told her, rubbing her back gently.
Turning her head to him, she nodded slowly, "um, sure, I think that would be a good idea. I still have presents to get," she admitted.
"Perfect," Puck smiled, "I'll go tell Quinn you two are going, while you clean up."
Rachel hugged him tightly, "thanks, Noah."
He returned her hug and kissed her lips gently, "no problem," he smiled, standing up, "everything's going to be great," he promised. Getting a smile in response, he left her room and headed downstairs, nodding at her dads before going back outside, "Quinn, you and Rachel are going shopping. Finn and I got the lights," he said.
"We are?" Quinn asked.
Puck nodded, "Rachel's cleaning up, she's got some presents to buy, so I told her we'd get the lights and you two can go out."
"Um, alright," Quinn was curious, but kissed Finn briefly before going inside to get ready.
"Uh, dude, with all these lights we're going to need more people to help if it's going to get done like Rachel wants."
Puck laughed, "I told her we'd take care of them, just let them get out of the house and I got a plan."
"You do?"
With a nod, Puck pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Burt's number. With a quick conversation between them, Burt and Kurt were on their way over with a taller ladder to help them get the lights up higher.
"You want us to go up on her roof?" Finn asked.
"Kind of, the only way to get up high enough in the front is with a ladder, so Burt is letting us use his," Puck explained.
"Oh," Finn nodded, looking at the large pile of lights, "now what do we do?"
The two boys started to unravel the mass of lights, figuring out just what matched; most of the lights were icicle lights, but different colors; white sets, blue sets and some multi-colored, so they had to sort out the colors, "great; there should be enough for the house," Puck admitted.
"We're not following Rachel's plan?"
"Not a chance," Puck shook his head, "close, but not as many lights."
As the two sorted out strings of lights, the girls finally emerged from the house, the same time as Burt and Kurt arrived in Burt's pick-up.
Rachel looked at her boyfriend, then at Burt and the ladder he and Kurt were unloading. "What's going on?" She raised an eyebrow at Puck.
"I told you we'd take care of the lights. Just needed a ladder and Burt had one tall enough," he said with a grin, moving to greet Burt. "Hey guys, thanks for bringing this over."
"No problem," Burt said, setting it down in the snowy grass. "Looks like guys could use a hand," he added.
"Yeah, we could," Finn agreed.
"You don't mind?" Puck asked.
Burt shook his head, "nah."
"Kurt, Quinn and I are going shopping, care to join us?" Rachel asked.
"Would love to! Manual labor and I do not mix," he admitted dashing to his dads truck and getting his coat.
The two girls said goodbye to their boyfriends and with Kurt, headed to the mall. Rachel's dads came out after they had left, also offering to help. Between the five men, they set to work. David and Alan took the blue icicle lights and started stapling them down around the porch and stair railings, while Burt and Finn started hanging the multi-colored icicles just above the garage and on the lower levels of the house. Puck took some of the single strand lights and attached them together, waving them around the bushes in the front yard, and then used some stakes to hold down the rope lights as he lined both sides of the cement path way that led from the curb all the way to the stairs of the porch.
"So far, looking pretty good," Finn commented stepping back to see what they'd accomplished.
"Yeah, only the hard part is getting the icicles up higher," Puck admitted, "both levels."
"Well, if someone can get up on the roof to staple them down, we can be feeding them the lights and moving the ladder every few feet," Burt commented.
"Alan and I have put lights up on the second level with the smaller ladder before, so we can do that if you guys want to work on the roof," David said.
Their duties divided, the men set to work. Alan and David took part of the lights to the area they would be working on and the rest went to Puck, Finn and Burt who would be taking care of the roof. Puck climbed all the way up on the roof and laid down on his stomach, starting in one corner and stapling the lights in. Finn was about half way up the ladder, but climbed the rest of the way up so Burt could move the ladder down some.
It didn't take more than another half an hour to finish with the lights. Now with the roof, second floor, garage, lower level and porch all draped with lights, the guys stood back to admire their work, "I think it looks great," Alan admitted.
"Me too," Puck smiled.
"Um, this might be a stupid question, but do we know if all the lights work?" Finn asked.
The four other men groaned, realizing that in all the shuffling they hadn't even checked any of the lights to see if they worked. "Crap," Puck hissed, going over to where they had all the lights plugged in. He flipped the strip on and stood back with the rest of them, studying each set of lights. "Oh thank God," Puck muttered seeing that all the lights were working.
Setting up the two figurines that Quin and Finn had put together on either side of the pathway; a reindeer and a snowman, they plugged them in and then turned off all the lights until later. Cleaning up their mess, they put the ladder back in Burt's truck before all of them went in the house, sitting down in the kitchen.
"Thanks for the help," Finn commented looking at Burt and Rachel's dads.
"No problem," Burt laughed, "I take it Rachel was trying to go overboard?"
"We learned early on to either not decorate at all or let Rachel go all out, so congrats on the compromise," Alan commented patting Puck on the shoulder.
The men in the room started laughing and chatted over sodas before hearing the front door open. They expected the shoppers, but Arin came running into the kitchen. "Noah it's-" She froze, seeing Finn sitting next to her brother.
"It's okay, Arin," Puck saw his sister's hesitation, "it's what?" He asked seeing his mom come into the kitchen behind her.
"Snowing," Arin said motioning out the kitchen window to the backyard.
Everyone turned their attention to the window, seeing the white flakes coming down. It hadn't been snowing when they finished the lights, so it must have started after they came in; now knowing why it had been so cold out.
"We better call Rachel; she doesn't know how to drive in the snow," David commented.
Puck groaned and tugged out his cell phone.
"Kurt knows how to," Burt said, "so if she's scared to, he can drive her car back if you're okay with that," he added glancing at her dads.
When Puck saw her dads nodding in approval, he hit the speed dial for her number and waited until she picked up, "hey babe, what are ya doing?"
"Shopping at the mall, are you finished with the lights yet?" She asked.
"Oh yeah, we are, um," he paused glancing around, "well-"
"Is everything alright? Did anyone fall? Who's hurt? Is someone at the hospital?" She questioned nervously, remembering Burt and Kurt had brought over the taller ladder.
He narrowed his eyes in confusion at her questions, but then laughed, "no, Rachel, we're all fine. No one fell; I'll just leave the part about Finn and I hanging over the edge of the roof stapling lights up," he smirked, "but that's not why I'm calling."
"Noah!" Rachel exclaimed, "what is going on?"
Puck rolled his eyes at her reaction, "calm down, babe. I was calling because we just noticed that it's snowing and I'm told you don't know how to drive in it."
"It's snowing?" She asked, "oh my God!" She exclaimed, glancing at Kurt and Quinn. "I have never driven in the snow before. Is it bad? How long is it going to snow?"
"Well, it's been snowing for at least ten minutes and doesn't look like it's going to let up, so you should probably get out of there soon. Burt says that Kurt knows how to drive in the snow, so if you're worried about that, let him drive back."
He could hear muffled talking, unable to hear the whole conversation, but could tell that she was passing on what he was telling her and then he heard, "alright, we'll be home soon," she said softly, but he could tell from her voice that she was nervous.
"Rach, it's going to be fine. If it's too much for Kurt to drive in, Finn and I will come get you guys, okay?" He said glancing at his friend who just nodded.
"Um, okay. I'll let you know when we leave the mall," she said, "see you, Noah," she added.
"Yeah, see ya later," he replied, hanging up the phone.
"Is she nervous?" Alan asked.
Puck nodded, "yeah, as soon as I said it was snowing she kind of freaked. Is it that she just hasn't had a chance to drive in the snow since she hasn't been driving long?"
"We had an accident a few years back in the snow. No one was hurt, but it freaked her out, and since then she's refused to go out in any car when it has snowed. She also just got her license back in September," David explained.
Rachel, Quinn and Kurt had just finished making a few purchases in a shop, when Puck called. They found an empty bench nearby and sat while they spoke. When she hung up her phone, Rachel looked at them nervously, "I think we should go," she said quickly.
"It's just a little snow. Dad taught me how to drive in it, we'll be fine. Come on," Kurt stood up, "one more shop and we can go."
"Kurt, are you sure? I mean, don't you think we should go now?" Rachel was doing her best not to have a panic attack, but at Kurt insisting they wait to leave made it worse.
Quinn looked at Rachel, seeing the state she was in and realized she wasn't okay, "what's wrong?"
Rachel had picked a square of tile on the floor to focus on, trying to ignore the news of snow, but when Quinn asked what was wrong, she couldn't hide it any longer, "um, a few years ago my fathers and I were in a car crash when it was snowing and since then I've been terrified to be in a car when it's snowing or drive in it," she admitted softly.
Kurt put his arm around her shoulders, "Rachel, it's okay. I know what I'm doing and I don't like driving it in either, but I know how to, so we'll have no problem."
"Are you sure?" She asked looking at him.
"I'm sure."
Quinn stood up, "I trust your judgment, Kurt, if you think it's alright to continue, then I'm up for it, but we still should keep an eye on the snow."
Kurt nodded and with his arm still around Rachel's shoulders, he guided the two girls in the direction of their next stop; Barnes & Noble, the only bookstore in the mall; "besides, we came in through this store, so we're parked just outside and they have windows, so if it starts getting bad, we can leave," he commented calmly as they entered the store.
It wasn't too late in the day, only about four, but it had been an hour since Puck had called Rachel and she had yet to contact him. With the snow continuing to fall, it would get darker earlier than the normal five o'clock sunset and having a good two inches of snow on the ground, he started to get worried that something had happened, but he tried to pass it off as they just lost track of time.
Finn was sitting at the island playing a game on his phone, Puck was moving around the kitchen making dinner when his phone beeped. He moved over to it quickly and saw the message from Rachel, "thank God, they're on their way back," he said replying to her text with, "thank God, Rach, was starting to worry! Who's driving?"
Her only response came as 'Kurt' and nothing else, so Puck knew she was really upset. He pushed aside his worry to think of how long it would take them to get back. The mall is only about fifteen minutes away on a normal day, but with snow coming down and covering the roads and drivers caught in it who didn't know how to drive; it could take a lot longer, so he went back to making dinner, getting it finished and into the oven.
"Dude, you're pacing," Finn commented glancing up at his friend.
Puck stopped where he was admittedly pacing, "Rachel's upset, I know she is. I can tell; her messages are distant and that's not like her. I don't have any clue what state she'll be in and it's not so much Kurt driving back that's the problem; it's all the idiots out there who don't know how to drive in the snow that's bothering me."
Finn nodded in agreement, "I know, I feel the same way, but they'll be fine."
Puck gave in and took a seat across from Finn, but he couldn't just sit there, so he headed upstairs and dug out the deck of cards he had in his bag and returned to Finn. Just as he set the cards on the island, he heard a car door and hopped up.
"Dude, chill out," Finn called, following his friend to the front door and out onto the porch.
Rachel's car was parked in the driveway, Kurt was walking towards his dad's truck to put his bags inside and Quinn was coaxing Rachel out of the front seat. Quinn looked up hearing the crunch of the snow under the boys' feet on the porch, and then glanced back at Rachel, "come on Rachel, we're back."
Puck moved quickly to the car, taking Quinn's place next to it. Rachel was sitting in the passenger seat, staring ahead of her. He knelt down and rested a hand on her knee, "hey babe," he said softly, trying to break her focus from the dashboard.
"About half way back she just froze up. Kurt did great driving; didn't slide once, so I don't know why she's freaked out," Quinn explained as she hugged Finn and Kurt appeared next to them.
Rachel turned her head to him, her face cold and pale from fear, but she reached out her hand to rest against his cheek, "Noah," she whispered.
Puck took his other hand and rested it on hers against his cheek, "you're home," he whispered, his heart breaking to see her in this state.
She blinked her eyes, slowly looking around, "it's snowing."
"I know," he nodded, keeping his voice low.
This wasn't his Rachel and he knew he had to do something to break her fear before it got worse and he only knew one way to do it. Seeing her keys were still in the ignition, he looked at Rachel, "do you trust me?" He asked softly.
She leaned her head to the side a little, but nodded, "yes."
Hearing her answer, he squeezed her hand gently before standing up, "well be back," he told them and looked at Finn. "You know what I'm going to do."
Finn nodded, "yeah. I'll tell her dads," he added.
Puck nodded his thanks and shut her door, moving around the car as Quinn and Kurt looked on curiously, "what's going on?" Kurt asked Finn as Puck slid into the driver's seat.
"Noah, what are you doing?" Rachel was waking from her frozen state enough to realize he was getting into her car and adjusting her seat to fit his taller form.
"We're going out for a drive," he said.
"No, I- I can't!" She exclaimed.
Puck turned to her, pressed his cool hands against her cheeks and looked her in the eyes, "yes you can, Rachel. I'm not going to let anything happen to you and the only way for you to get over this is to face your fear," he said calmly.
"I know I need to get over this, but... I can't," her hands were wrapped around his wrists, but she wasn't fighting the contact; she needed as much as she could get.
He brushed his thumbs against her cheeks and smiled, "for someone who wants to live in New York, you can't do this every time you're around snow or you'll never do anything in the winter," he admitted.
Her eyes blinked and she looked down, as if in thought about what he told her and she slowly nodded, "just don't do anything stupid," she said softly.
He nodded, "I promise you we will be back here in an hour in one piece." He started her car and backed out of the driveway, slowly heading down the street to the stop sign. He took a moment to decide where to go and then turned left, going in the direction of the school. He noticed her hands were wrapped around the door handle with white knuckles, so he reached over and rested his hand on her knee, "take my hand," he whispered.
She sat frozen for a moment before wrapping both her hands around his, "you should have two hands on the wheel," she said softly.
He smirked; his Rachel was in there somewhere, but the fear of getting hurt in the snow was clouding everything. "I've got it," he replied.
It had been snowing for at least two hours and there was a good two to three inches on the ground, covering the empty parking lot of WMHS when they arrived. He drove right into the lot and quickly made a sharp turn, spinning the car in a circle; sliding just slightly until it came to a stop.
"NOAH!" She screamed, grabbing the door handle again and pressing back against the seat as the car spun. As it stopped she turned to him, "what are you doing?" She questioned, her voice shaky from fear.
He knew that had scared her, but that's what he wanted to do. "I'm proving that what happened a few years ago was an accident," he told her softly.
"I know it was, but every time I'm in snow, all I can think about is what could have happened," she whispered.
He nodded, but kept silent, driving around again before slamming on the breaks and letting the rear of the car fish-tail.
The high-pitched scream from next to him told him what she was scared of the most; loosing control and getting into an accident. He quickly recovered; he wasn't going that fast anyway, so it didn't take more than a few seconds to get the car under control. He stopped in the middle of the lot, putting the parking break on and turned to her. She was pressed against the seat, frozen and pale, so he reached out to her and pulled her against his chest. She immediately lost it, crying and grabbing onto his t-shirt as if it was all she had to cling to. "Shhh," he rubbed her back and kissed her forehead, "you're safe, you're alright. I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he whispered, partially feeling like a broken record for saying that several times already, but he needed her to know he was serious.
Most of her words were garbled so he couldn't understand them, but the few he managed to catch were his name, scared, and what if. "Rachel, baby," he pressed a kiss to her forehead again and looked at her, "what if nothing. You can't think that way or you'll never do anything," he said softly, "what's happened is in the past and you need to see that it was an accident. You say you know it is, but you're acting like it was more than that."
Her sobbing had subsided a little, and she was listening to what he was saying, his solid chest and evenly beating heart helping calm her down just slightly. She wanted to reply, but didn't know what to say. Everything he told her was true. For some reason, this was the only thing that she couldn't get past; she wanted to, but never knew how. "I don't know how to get over it!" She exclaimed, pulling away from him slightly, causing her to sob again, "I've tried, but nothing works."
His free hand reached up and he brushed away the tears that were falling from her eyes, "make good memories to cover up the bad ones," he whispered.
She looked at him, as if contemplating his words and was about to ask him to explain when his lips pressed against hers in a warm kiss, both his hands against her cheeks, as if drawing her in. She sunk against him, the words now making sense as she deepened the kiss, letting her arms wrap around his body.
He smiled against her lips before gently pulling away, "let me save you," he whispered.
Rachel blinked her eyes a few times, but nodded, slowly trying to change her thoughts.
He brushed her hair from her eyes and shifted back so he could drive again. While the car had been idle, the snow had built up, so he used the wipers to clear the windshield. Once he could see again, he removed the brake and drove forward, down towards the sidewalk and then spun around again like he had done earlier.
She jumped as the car spun, but she didn't immediately think 'danger.' She thought of the kiss they'd shared, and he was right; replacing her fears with good memories seemed to help push away the bad thoughts. She smiled in her seat, but as he spun around another time, her thoughts went back to being negative and she grabbed at the door handle.
Seeing that she was starting to snap out of it, he had tried to spin the car again, but as he did, she slipped back and he mentally kicked himself, but he leaned to her, tugging her close to him for another kiss, letting his tongue brush against her lower lip before pulling away, "remember this," he whispered, brushing his hand over her cheek as he sat back, seeing a smile tug at her lips.
Smiling lightly at him, she nodded and as he spun again she found she wasn't even thinking about it anymore.
"You're doing great, babe," he whispered, taking one last spin before heading towards the exit, "we should get back home."
"Okay," she replied softly, closing her eyes and relaxing. "Thank you, Noah."
He shrugged, "it's no problem. It's the least I could do," he admitted glancing at her before pulling out on the main road, slipping slightly as he turned, but quickly corrected and started driving straight again.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"You've helped me out a lot, Rachel, it's the least I could do for you," he told her, reaching out to take her hand in his.
She laced their fingers together and squeezed his hand, realizing that once they'd gotten together, he had changed his life around and was a better person now. It didn't take long before he was parking her car in her driveway and as soon as she unbuckled her belt she lunged forward, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, "I love you, Noah," she murmured.
"I love you, too, Rachel," he replied, holding her close for a moment before allowing her to pull away.
The couple slid out of her car and Puck flipped the trunk release before shutting the door and going to the back of the car, picking up her and Quinn's bags from their shipping trip. Rachel picked up the rest he didn't grab and took her keys, locking her car and shutting the trunk before walking up to the house and pushing the front door open, seeing everyone was sitting at the dinning room table eating, including Kurt and Burt.
David jumped up quickly and went right to Rachel, putting his hands on her shoulders, "Rachel, honey, are you alright?" He asked, checking her over as if looking for broken bones.
"Yes, daddy, I'm fine," she assured him, setting her keys by the door, "Noah was right. I had to face my fear to get over it," she commented, "you of all people should know that; and don't be mad at Noah."
"Oh trust me, I do know that and as soon as Finn explained what he was doing I knew it was the right thing to do, but as fathers, it still made us worry," he told her, glancing at Puck.
"I swore I'd never hurt her and I didn't," Puck admitted setting the bags in his hands down by the stairs and then shut the door, "and it was a spur of the moment thing that had to get taken care of," he added.
David was silent for a moment, but nodded, "we never doubted that," he admitted.
"Good," Puck headed into the kitchen to get a soda before going around to the dinning room, David still talking to Rachel.
"Did you go out without a jacket?" Deborah asked, seeing him in only a t-shirt.
"Uh," Puck glanced down at his shirt, seeing the wet spots from the snow that had melted, "yeah, I guess I did," he shrugged, "oh well."
"You could get sick."
Puck froze because it wasn't just his mom to say that; it was Burt, too, "oh no, seriously, don't even start that you two," he groaned.
"Puck, did you know that your mom was in Glee Club at McKinley?" Kurt asked glancing at him to change the subject.
"Yes," he nodded, "I did know that, though I only found out back in early November. Why?"
"You were there, too," Kurt said, "when they took second at Nationals."
"I hate to break it to you, but I wasn't," he paused, but then realized what they meant and smirked, "oh yeah, well mom was still pregnant with me," he agreed looking at her.
Deborah nodded, "yeah, I was telling Quinn I understood what she meant about the dancing getting harder now that she's further along, because I was about five or six months along with you when we took second," she admitted.
Rachel had joined them, slipping her arm around Puck's waist, "so if we take second at Nationals, than it's history repeating itself, in a way," Rachel commented with a smile.
Puck glanced at her and laughed, "I hate to break it to you, but if we manage to somehow place to go to Nationals, it'd be a miracle."
"See, I told you," Finn commented.
At Finn's words, Arin froze up, and Puck noticed, "Arin, come here," Puck said calmly.
"What? Why?" She asked.
Rolling his eyes he moved from Rachel's grasp and stepped towards the kitchen, "come on."
Arin got up and followed him, the two siblings walking towards the den as Rachel and Kurt began to scold Finn for his negative thinking about placing. Getting into the den, Puck motioned to one of the couches and she sat down. "What?" She asked.
Kneeling down in front of her, "what's wrong?" He questioned.
"Nothing," she shook her head.
He eyed her, "something's wrong. You froze up when you first saw Finn today and now you did the same thing when he was talking. Are you still mad at him?"
Arin sighed, "I'm scared he'll get mad and hit you again. I will never forget what he did."
Puck's mind immediately bounced back in time to when she had seen him the day after Finn had punched him.
...
After school, the day Ms. Pillsbury called the four Glee Club members into her office, Quinn, Puck and Rachel were sitting at the island of the Berry's when Deborah and Arin came in.
"Hey Noah," Arin said walking towards him.
He turned his head away, "hey sis," he commented, trying to hide his face from her, but it didn't work because she moved around to his other side and she gasped. "It's nothing," he told her calmly.
"Oh my God, Noah Aaron, what happened?" Deborah exclaimed seeing his bruised face.
Arin looked as if she was going to cry, but couldn't pull her eyes away from the bruises.
Glancing at his mom, he motioned towards Quinn, "he found out."
Deborah slid into the seat by Rachel and nodded, "I see," she said softly.
Puck turned to his sister, really not wanting to tell her everything, but now he wouldn't have a choice; she'd find out sooner or later, so he pulled her against him in a hug, "we need to talk, kiddo," he said softly.
When Arin pulled away, she looked at him, "Noah, you're scaring me."
Hearing her words, Puck sighed, "don't be scared," he whispered softly, "but you need to know what's going on," he paused, "Finn did this. He got mad at me and punched me."
At Finn's name, Quinn started crying and took off up to her room to get away from their explanations, leaving Rachel, Puck and Deborah to talk to Arin.
"Finn did this?" She asked motioning to his face, "but... he's... He's always so nice! He's like another brother, WHY?" She exclaimed as the tears fell in confusion.
Finn and Puck had known each other since Kindergarten, which was before Arin was born, so she had grown up always knowing Finn, and though Puck knew she'd been around, he didn't expect her to admit to seeing Finn as another brother. Pulling her against him again, he let her cry, "I know," he whispered, "we've known him a long time, but he got mad," he told her.
"Hitting isn't an answer," she replied, looking up at him, "that's what mom says."
Puck smirked, "yeah, I know, but it happened. He was mad at me so he hit me. It wasn't right, but I deserved it. He is my brother and I hurt him."
"What did you do? How did you hurt him?" She asked staring at him in confusion.
Taking a deep breath, "you know that Quinn is pregnant, right?" He started. Arin nodded, glancing at her mom and Rachel before looking back at him, so he continued, "well, I'm the baby's father," he told her softly.
"What?" She exclaimed, "but I thought... But... She's dating Finn!"
"You're right, she is dating Finn," he agreed, "we both made big mistake. She knew I was the father, but wanted Finn to be, so she let him think he was. Last night he found out the truth and that's why he punched me."
Arin's eyes narrowed in thought, contemplating the news, "you're going to be a dad?"
"Yeah, sometime in May," he whispered.
At this, Arin looked up at him, "what about Quinn? She will be the mom?"
"No," Puck shook his head, "she doesn't want to be, so she is giving me custody," he explained.
"Why?"
"Quinn isn't ready to be a mom, and I want to keep her, so I will and Quinn will be like an Aunt to her."
"Her?"
"The baby is a girl," he replied, a smile tugging at his lips. "You're going to be an aunt."
Arin cocked her head to the side, "wow." She was silent a long moment and then looked across at Rachel, concerned for what that meant for the first girlfriend he ever had that she liked being around. "You're not breaking up with Noah, are you?"
Rachel got up and moved towards the siblings, "no, I'm not going to break up with Noah," she said, slipping an arm around his shoulders, "not a chance."
Arin wrapped her arms around Rachel's waist, hugging her tightly, "good, because I like you a lot," she said.
Rachel grinned, "I like you, too, Arin."
Puck sighed in relief; glad that Arin was taking the news alright, but only time would tell just how she took it and with her knowing what Finn had done, he didn't know what would happen the next time she saw Finn. He knew with Quinn living at the Berry's and as Finn and Quinn got closer again, Finn may be around more, which would make for an awkward situation for both of them.
...
"Arin," Puck said softly, "he won't. He's the same Finn he always was, but when he found out that I was the baby's father he got mad and hit me. Brothers fight, but this time it went to far."
"I just can't stop thinking about what he did. He hit you."
Hearing footsteps, he looked up to see Finn in the doorway, "good, you got the hint," he said, looking at his sister, "we've all talked about this, but you're the only one still having problems with him, so you two should talk."
Arin watched Finn take a seat on the same couch she was sitting on, "you hurt Noah," she told him softly.
"I know," Finn nodded, "but he hurt me and I was mad at him. Arin, you've got to know that I'll never do that again or ever hurt you," he promised.
"Really? Because you did it once, you might do it again," she replied; she wasn't stupid.
"I won't give him a reason to," Puck added, glancing at his friend.
"Trust me, Arin, I won't do that again," Finn said calmly, but meant it.
Arin studied Finn, and then nodded, "alright, I believe you."
Finn exhaled, "good, I'm glad," he admitted pulling the small girl into a hug.
Smiling, Puck stood up, watching the two hug before Arin pulled away and headed back to the dinning room, leaving the two teen boys in the den. "Thank you," Puck said.
Nodding, Finn stood up, "you're welcome. I figured when she found out I did that to you, that she might not like me and I didn't want that hanging between us. Aside from Thanksgiving, I haven't really seen her since and I didn't want her to be scared of me," he admitted, extending his hand to shake, "we all are working on things and she's part of this too."
Puck nodded, shaking his friends hand, "yeah, she is," he agreed.
...
A/N4: Wow, I had a hard time writing this. I knew what I wanted to happen, but to get it written out took more than I thought it would. I've been unfocused a lot lately, but I'm trying to work through it all.
A/N5: A few chapters back (the Thanksgiving one) someone asked me if Arin knew that Puck was the father, and though I didn't focus on that at the time, I knew sometime this flashback and discussion Puck, Arin and Finn had above would happen, I just didn't know when; until I was writing it. So for those of you who were curious, yes, Arin, at Thanksgiving, did know Puck was going to be a father. The 'meeting' in Emma's office and Arin finding out happened a week or so prior to Thanksgiving.
A/N6: Been listening to a lot of music, and aside from the songs that I've come up with already in the story, I've got a lot of other ones. I didn't realize how many songs were out there, that I had in my library, that pertained to Rachel and Puck, LOL.
A/N7: Yes, in this, Puck's middle name is Aaron. In honor of my friend Aaron from Kindergarten who was Jewish. Arin and Aaron are both Hebrew names.