A/N: To all my lovely reviewers, thank you, thank you, thank you. It's been a rough week but because of you I'm still very inspired to continue Rachel and Noah's story.
To my guest reviewers, Puckleberry's relationship is probably going to be a gradual thing, as in there isn't one specific moment where it happens but suddenly they realize that it's just there. At least that's how I see it playing out as of now.
Shakey22 - I haven't thought yet about how anyone at McKinley is going to react so you'll have to stick around to discover that with me for sure. While I haven't the slightest idea what the baby will be yet, I do know that Noah wants Rachel and the baby for exactly who they are, regardless of what has happened in the past.
Alexa - now that they are in contact that's probably not going to stop anytime soon, we're stuck with them both from here on out.
Ms. Allea - Thank you for loving it, it means a lot. They certainly aren't going to jump into things blind, that's not in Rachel's character at all and she's going to make sure that Noah is well aware of what he's signing up for before anything happens between them.
Gwennie49 - Hopefully you continue to enjoy the pace I set. I don't want it to be too unrealistic but at the same time, part of all of this is Rachel being somewhat spontaneous because of the challenges thrown her way.
And with that, on with the next chapter. Hopefully, you all enjoy.
For the next week, Rachel went about her daily routine as normally as she could. Vocal lessons were a way for her to escape emotionally and while she couldn't put the same effort into dance as she normally did it was also a way of focusing on something other than her looming problem and a decision that needed to be made. While her actions were normal, at the same time, Rachel blocked everyone in her life out. She only spoke to her dads when she absolutely had to, trying to put off sharing the latest test results with them. There weren't really any friends in her life, that was except for the boy who seemed to understand how she was feeling by the messages he sent.
Their conversations were never anything more than idle talk but for some reason just knowing that he was there and willing to listen comforted Rachel.
His latest texts had suggested that she meet him at the local pool, and while Rachel was more self-conscious of her body than ever, agreed and slipped her suit on under a tank and shorts before walking across town to where the pool was located next to the community center. Surprisingly it was mostly dead, only a few families taking refuge from the heat. This made it easy to find the tall teen lounging on a chair in the far corner.
As she approached, Noah took in the sight of the slim brunette and how while her clothes were simple she was fucking hot in them. He couldn't wait to see what she looked like when they came off. Nodding in her direction as she set her bag next to the chair beside his, Noah sat up.
"Took you long enough…" He teased causing her to smile weakly. The reaction wasn't the one he anticipated and he let a look of concern grace his face.
"Sorry, the doctor called asking if I had made a decision yet…" She replied before deciding that she didn't want to talk about that right now. Stripping her shirt off from over her head, Rachel then moved to shimmy out of her shorts before reaching for the bottle of sunscreen that was in her bag. "I got most of me before I left home but could you do my back for me?" She requested also reaching for a hair tie to pull her hair up and off of her shoulders.
Like he could say no to that….Puck mused as he reached out to take the bottle from her hand before squirting a dollop of the sunblock onto his palm so that he could rub the lotion into her skin. Just standing behind her like this had Puck's body starting to react and he cleared his throat as he finished up before wiping the remaining lotion into his trunks.
"Are you going to go in or are you one of those girls that just sits on the side of the pool sunbathing….because if it's the latter, I'm throwing you in, not sorry." He smirked causing Rachel to shake her head.
"No, I was planning on going in." She declared, fixing her hair one more time before sliding her sandals off and heading over to the stairs at the shallower end. She was going in, but that didn't mean that she was going to jump in. Thankfully the water was warm and Rachel soon was standing in the four-foot section just creating small waves with her hands. While Puck wasn't one to usually find a woman beautiful, sexy was more his thing, even he had to admit that there was just something about her that was drawing him in more and more. When she looked back over her shoulder at him, Puck immediately remembered that he should probably join her in the water and so he quickly jumped in before swimming lazily to her side.
For the next two hours, the pair just played around, splashing each other, challenging each other with jumps from the side of the pool and Puck reveled in the squeal he received every time he dunked Rachel and she came back up. As they toweled off and settled back onto their chairs Puck finally mentioned the thought that had been in the back of his mind for the past few days but had grown steadily as he actually spent time with Rachel.
"If you want to do it, I'll help you know." There really wasn't enough detail there to give away what he was talking about right away and Rachel looked at him for a moment not even close to understanding.
"If I want to do what?" She questioned reaching into her bag again for water and pain pills since their fun had only heightened the pain that her cramps were providing her.
"If you want to get knocked up I'm your man. I mean it's been proven my boys can swim…" The way Noah said it was just so calm and collected that it hardly seemed like something that would come out of a teenage boy's mouth despite the vernacular. Not once had Rachel even considered that possibility, after all she had only met Noah earlier that week, and he'd already had a kid so it seemed unlikely that he would want to go through the same thing again. As the moment sunk into her brain, her jaw dropped in shock, and she nearly choked on her pills as she processed the gravity of his words.
"I...um…" Speechless was not something that Rachel Berry did often, usually you couldn't get her to shut up, but right now there weren't any words that would come to mind. Clearly he was serious, but she wondered if he knew just what it was that he was actually offering her.
"You don't have to take me up on it if you don't want to. Just thought I'd throw it out there." He commented, tugging his shirt back over his head. "I've got to get home before my Nana has my ass, but just so you know, I have thought about it, it wasn't a spur of the moment offer so let me wasn't the first time the idea crossed my mind, I've been considering it all week. Just not something you say over text. It's whatever, just let me know." With that he was walking out of the pool and Rachel just sat stunned. Her doctor had been pushing to know what she was going to do because if she was having the surgery the sooner the better. Now there was finally that glimmer of hope in the back of her mind, the one she'd been waiting for since she left the doctor's office. Now she just needed to convince her head to listen to her heart.