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: 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 everyone reading this ~ thank you so much for your continued feedback. It means so much to me! I never thought I would be able to continue, but all the wonderful feedback is keeping me writing, so keep it coming, luv you all!
...
Artie, Tina, Rachel, Brittany, Mercedes and Kurt sat on stools on stage, singing 'True Colors.' Rachel's eyes were fixed on the red, white and blue United States of America flag hanging on the wall on one side of the room, but her attention quickly turned to more voices behind them. Glancing to her left, she saw Matt, Mike and Santana, and to her right, Quinn and Finn were seated; only one person missing, symbolized by the empty seat between Mike and Finn.
As Tina's final words ended the song, kids just off the side of the stage clapped for them and and Mr. Schuester walked onto the stage, "oh, it's so good to see the original members all together again," he smiled.
"But we're missing -" Rachel's words were cut off when someone's hands slipped over her eyes. The hands seemed familiar, but they were rougher than the last time she'd felt them. Lifting her own hands to them, she took them away from her eyes and turned around, staring at her boyfriends smiling face, "Noah," she grinned brightly, now seeing he was not only there, but dressed in a black Navy uniform with the white hat sitting on his head.
Rachel's eyes flew open and she lifted her head up, allowing her eyes to scan the room, trying to figure out where she was. As they adjusted to the darkness, she recognized the guest room of her house that had turned into Noah's and she saw her sweater and skirt from the night before piled on the floor by the bed. Glancing under the covers, she noticed she was only dressed in her underclothes and Noah's arms were wrapped around her waist, her body pressed against his chest and she could feel the heat radiating off him.
"You sing in your sleep," he murmured from behind her.
"Sorry, Noah, I didn't mean to wake you," she whispered.
"It's okay," he shrugged, his eyes drifting open, "you okay?"
"Yes, I was just having a dream that we were singing it," she replied softly, allowing her body to turn slightly so she could look at him.
"Why?" He asked, now curious.
"You'll think it's stupid," she blushed.
"Funny maybe, stupid no."
"Um, some of us were singing it... I think I was a senior and you and those who had graduated the year before came back and were singing it with us. I didn't see you right away, but once the song was over I did and you were dressed in one of the uniforms from the movie," she explained.
"Too much movie," he smirked, "and talk after," he admitted.
"I think so, too," she ducked her head, trying to hide the embarrassed look on her face.
He tugged her closer, his lips finding her bare shoulder and nipped at it gently, "that's not stupid," he whispered.
Though his breath was hot against her skin, she couldn't help the shiver run through her body as she felt his lips connect with her shoulder. Her hand reached up and brushed against his neck, "Noah," she groaned, not wanting to stop, but it was the middle of the night.
"Yes?" He grinned, leaning forward slightly to press a kiss to her lips.
"We should be sleeping," she whispered as he pulled away.
"I was, but singing woke me up; so if I give you something else to think about when you go to sleep, maybe you'll be moaning my name instead," he smirked, but his logic was valid.
She felt her face flush, the heat rushing to her cheeks as she ducked her head, "Noah!"
"See, it's already working," he teased, pressing a kiss on her cheek and trailing kisses down her neck to her shoulder, "sleep," he whispered.
Letting her eyes drift closed, she snuggled up next to him, tugging the blankets up further before allowing her body to relax into sleep once more.
Watching her drift off, Puck smiled and pressed another kiss to her shoulder before giving into his need for sleep, falling into his dreams moments later.
Hearing the seven am alarm going off, Rachel opened her eyes and reached over to press the snooze button on the clock, "Noah, time to get up," she murmured.
"No," he shook his head; he'd been awake for fifteen minutes, but chose to ignore the time, "comfortable," he added tightening his arms around her body.
She gasped at his arms, "Noah, it's Christmas," she whispered, "our first Christmas together."
"All the more reason to stay right here. I told you I only wanted one thing for Christmas and Santa came early this year," he admitted with a grin.
Facing him, Rachel brushed a hand gently over his cheek and leaned forward pressing a kiss to his lips, "you can have the rest of your present tonight," she promised.
Opening his eyes, he looked at her curiously, "the rest? But I just asked for you."
Letting him wonder, she shifted from his arms and slid towards edge of the bed. Glancing over her shoulder at him, she grinned, "I know," she replied picking up her sweater from the day before and slipped it on before picking up her skirt, socks and shoes and heading towards the door. She glanced back to see him with a smile on his face and she knew he figured it out, so she stepped carefully into her room.
Puck rolled onto his back as she left the room, "did she mean what I think she does? Tonight? In this house?" Puck groaned, "it's going to be a long day," he thought sliding from the bed and heading for the bathroom as the events of the night flooded back to him.
...Flashback...
Puck was done talking; in two days, not only had he spoken to his father, found out his mom had been in contact with him, poured his heart out to all his friends and their family about his feelings towards the man who left him years ago, but he had also admitted to his family, including Rachel and her dads, that there was a chance that he would join the military after high school and though they said they were okay with that, he wasn't in the mood with any more talking, "that's it," he commented standing up; startling her.
"Noah, what's wrong?" She asked quickly.
He grinned, "nothing. I'm just done talking," he admitted slipping one arm under her knees and his other around her back, lifting her up without strain.
"Noah!" She exclaimed wrapping her arms around his neck, "a little warning would be nice."
"I like to be spontaneous," he grinned kissing her on the lips before heading to the stairs.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"Carrying you to bed," he told her, climbing the stairs, but walked into his room, not hers.
"Um, shouldn't I get my pajamas?" She asked softly as he laid her down on the bed.
He shrugged, "I hate sleeping clothes," he replied tugging his hoodie off and tossing it to the floor before kicking his shoes off and dropping his jeans.
Her eyes landed on the shiny metal against his chest that she hadn't noticed before, but then again, she rarely saw him with his shirt off. "Noah, what are those?"
Puck glanced down to where she was staring and he laughed a little, "it's a long story," he admitted sliding under the blankets in only his boxers; she was still on top of the covers, "but yes, they're nipple rings."
Her eyes widened and she unconsciously reached out to see just how real they were when her head snapped back to reality and she paused. "Um, I should... I should go get my pajamas."
"Rach," Puck reached out and took her hand, pressing it against his chest, "it's okay. You don't have to go."
The feeling of his warm chest under her fingertips was enough to draw herself to him, pressing a kiss to his lips, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt," she whispered.
"No, it wouldn't," he replied, his voice soft. Shifting his hand, he carefully reached for the buttons of her sweater, but paused a moment, looking at her.
She smiled; now her turn to assure him, "it's alright," she nodded, "it feels rights," she admitted.
Hearing what he needed to, his hand carefully unbuttoned each one until her sweater was open, revealing a black bra. Leaning forward he pressed a kiss to her chest, "black, eh?"
"I like colors," she replied, trying to hold back a gasp from the feelings she was having.
Puck's free hand slid under her sweater, gently working her arm from the sleeve as he kissed along her now bare shoulder, "me too," he whispered, taking her hand in his and lacing their fingers together.
She squeezed his hand gently, sitting up to remove her sweater the rest of the way and then slid out of bed, reluctantly breaking contact with him long enough to remove her skirt, revealing a matching pair of black panties. She pulled the blankets back and slid under them, sliding towards him, "so, Noah, just what do you intend to do with me now that you've got me almost naked in your bed?" She asked curiously.
Their chests were pressed together and his hand found her hip, "have my wicked way with you?" He grinned leaning forward, silencing the gasp from her lips with a kiss. "What I want to do and what I'm going to do are two different things," he admitted pulling away slightly.
"What do you want to do?" She questioned.
Puck noticed the spark in her eyes as she asked and he leaned forward, "I want to make love to my girlfriend," he whispered in her ear. Pulling away to watch her, he was surprised that she didn't flinch away or tense up, "but I'm going to sleep with her, just sleep, holding her in my arms all night and wake up to her beside me in the morning," he added, slipping his arms around her body and holding her close to him.
The tears in Rachel's eyes fell before she could stop them and she reached up gently wiping them away, but as she went to say something, the words caught in her throat and she was unable to speak.
"Rachel Berry speechless, this is a first," Puck murmured looking down towards her.
She just nodded at him and rested her head against his chest. She had a plan; a very thought out plan and wasn't going to change it. "Maybe we should sleep, Noah, if we don't... I'm..."
Puck silenced her with a kiss, "we could do something we're not ready for," he whispered, "good night Rachel," he added.
"Good night, Noah," she smiled up at him.
...End flashback...
Puck was the first one downstairs, setting a large box in the back of the tree, just as Rachel came down. They had been the first up and Puck promised he'd do the holiday meal again, but this time Rachel agreed to help out; since she accidentally over slept for Thanksgiving. They had a little over two hours before Quinn, Finn and Carole would be over and chose to use the time to get started on some of the things that would take the longest to cook and work on brunch.
"Thank you, Noah," Rachel said leaning against the counter.
"For what?" He glanced at her between something he was doing at the sink and the stove.
"For Thanksgiving dinner and today. This shouldn't be your job, but yet you're doing it," she whispered.
Puck shrugged, "I still would be making dinner at home, if I wasn't here, so either way I'd be cooking, but here I'm spending it with the people I love; my extended family, I guess, so it's worth it," he grinned pressing a kiss to her lips.
Deborah and David entered the kitchen, laughing at something David had said. "Good morning, you two," David said going over to Rachel and hugging her.
"Morning, daddy. Merry Christmas," she said hugging him.
"Good morning, sweetheart."
Puck set the spatula down in his hand and wrapped his arms around his mom, "Merry Christmas, mom," he whispered, "and we get all day together," he told her.
"Merry Christmas, Noah," she replied with a grin. "Seems my boss got a very demanding request from an unknown caller about me having this Christmas off," she commented looking at him curiously.
"Oh really? If you ever find out who, let me know. I want to thank them," he smiled.
"If I ever meet them, Noah," she laughed, slapping his chest playfully.
"What? It wasn't me," he tried to defend himself, but he couldn't hold in the laugh, "alright, it was me," he gave in laughing, "dude, I'm seventeen and you've worked almost every Christmas since I've been around."
"I know, Noah, and I'm sorry about that," she admitted.
"I know you are," he nodded kissing her forehead.
Alan entered the kitchen and greet Rachel, "Arin's checking out under the tree," he laughed.
"Who's present is the big box behind the tree?" Arin asked entering the kitchen, "I know that wasn't there when I went to bed last night," she said.
"Maybe Santa came during the night," Puck commented.
"Uh, Santa isn't real. So who is it for, Noah."
He shrugged, "did you look for a name?" He asked.
"No, but you seem to know who its for, so who is it for?"
"It's for Rachel," he laughed at his sisters persistence.
"What did you get?" Rachel's eyes widened at the conversation.
He shrugged again, "I guess you'll find out when you open it later," he grinned turning back to what he was doing.
Rachel never liked surprises, but she gave that up most of the time at Christmas, but the knowledge of a large box under the tree for her that he had been hiding was a shock to her. During her thoughts, she didn't notice the glances exchanged between the adults in the room.
Close to ten in the morning, Quinn, Carole and Finn arrived placing their presents under the three. Breakfast went off without a hitch, everyone enjoying themselves and chatting lightly. As dishes were cleaned up, they all found seats around the living room. Finn and Puck sat on the floor against the couch with their girlfriends sitting on the couch next to them, Arin passed out presents, while the adults took seats on the other couches. Arin picked up the last gift, the large box she had been curious about earlier, "wow, this is light. What is it?" She asked shaking it.
Puck reached forward and sat it next to him, "you'll find out when Rachel opens it," he glanced up at his girlfriend who had her eyes on the box, "last."
Rachel's mouth curled into a pout, "Noah, please."
He laughed, "last, Rachel, but I promise it's worth the wait."
With a sigh, she settled into unwrapping the other gifts, her eyes continuing to glance at the box as if it was going to disappear.
Finn and Puck kept with their tradition of exchanging CDs since they both knew their taste in music and also had a good idea what the other had already. Puck laughed at the two he saw when he opened them. "Hey, it was easy this year," Finn commented with a grin.
In Puck's hands were Neil Diamond's 'The Neil Diamond Collection' and the soundtrack to 'Deadliest Catch.' Puck turned the Neil Diamond CD over and sure enough one of the songs listed was 'Sweet Caroline.' "Nice, now I've got a CD of it. I've always just had my iPod version," he smiled, "and mom's ancient records."
"I heard that! They are collectors items now," Deborah called, opening up the DVD of an 'An Officer and a Gentleman.'
Puck smirked, "can we retire the VCR now?" He asked hopeful.
Deborah blushed, "yes, I guess we can," she agreed.
"What's that?" Finn asked.
"It's one of her favorite movies, that until yesterday, I didn't know was out on DVD. Needless to say I went and got it. She has it on tape and I can't get her to part with the VCR, but now, I just got permission," he laughed.
"What movie is it?" Quinn asked.
"It's 'An Officer and a Gentleman,' we watched it last night; David and Alan's copy at least," Deborah said holding up the cover.
As the ripping subsided and everyone had finished opening their gifts, Puck smiled, "now you can open it," he said handing it off to Rachel.
Grabbing it from him, she realized it was awfully light for the size, but tore away the paper revealing a plain brown box. Opening the top, she found packing popcorn that she pushed aside, coming up with another box, this one also wrapped. She handed off the large box and tore back the paper on the other one, finding another box, this time white. Lifting the lid, she found two small velvet boxes, one blue, one white.
"Open the blue one first," Puck told her, turning towards her.
Rachel picked up the blue box and opened it, finding a pair of gold star earrings with a sapphire in the middle of each one; her birthstone. "Oh Noah, they're beautiful," she murmured smiling at him, "thank you."
"What are they?" Deborah asked from across the room, pretending she didn't know.
Rachel turned the box around and showed them all the earrings before closing the small box and setting it next to her, picking up the white box next. Lifting the lid, she found another box similar to the other one and took it out, looking at it.
Puck removed the other boxes from her lap as she pulled the last box out and he smiled at her, "go on, open it."
Glancing at him, she pried the top open and gasped at what flashed back at her. Two white gold rings, one slightly larger than the other, but they were identical in design. Three stones sat embedded into the band; each in a rectangle shape. There was a lighter green one, a deeper green one and a bright blue one; she immediately recognized the blue one as her birthstone; September's sapphire, but the other two currently puzzled her. She looked up to see Noah staring at her, "what's..." She held up the box, unable to ask any more.
Puck smiled, "the light green one is mine, a peridot, my birthstone and the middle one," he smiled, "is our daughters; emerald for May, though it can be changed if she's born in April," he admitted. "Take them out and look at what's engraved inside," he added calmly.
Unaware that there had been engraving, she took both rings out and with the smaller one, she lifted it up slightly and read the two words that were etched inside the band, "Abigail Marie," she said turning to look at him, "is that going to be her name?"
With a bright smile on his face, he nodded, "yeah, our daughter, Abigail Marie. Abigail means 'joy of the father' in Hebrew and 'Marie' for my mom, my sister and you," he paused, "I already knew your middle name when we talked about it the other night," he added taking the small ring from her and picked up her left hand. He studied the ring for a moment before sliding it onto her ring finger, smiling as it fit perfectly, "this is my promise, that we will always be a family and someday we will get married and be husband and wife; but until then, I promise that I will be faithful to you and be there with you for everything; the good and the bad, no matter what, and that you, and only you, will have my heart," finishing his speech, he lifted her hand and pressed a kiss right by the ring before looking up into her eyes.
She sat frozen as he spoke, the words falling off his lips as if he'd practiced them before and she couldn't help the tears streaming from her eyes. She watched him slide the ring onto her finger; the cool metal mixed with the feeling of his warm fingers against her skin stirred her senses, but as he kissed her hand, she felt her whole body shiver in response. Biting her lip to keep from sobbing, she looked at the ring still in her hand, now realizing that it was for him, and she calmly picked up his left hand and slid his it on, "I promise you, Noah, that I will always be with you and Abigail," she whispered, unable to say anything else before her emotions got the best of her and she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his neck, crying happily.
He wrapped his arms around her small frame and smiled, resting his chin on her shoulder as his own tears fell onto her sweater, but for the moment it was all from happiness. All the things they'd talked about in the last few weeks led up to this moment; the moment he'd promise himself to her. Though he already knew her answer from what she'd told him previously, clarity came as she slid his ring on and promised she'd always be with him and Abigail.
...
A/N4: Wow! I've been dying to get this written and I finally got it done the other night. Hope you all like it! This may be my last post before New Years so if it is, best wishes to all for a great holiday and a happy 2010!