Here you have chapter 4! It's been a while but I hope you enjoy it. There is a time jump but only to speed things up a bit.
Chapter 4 Tell Me To Stop
The next morning she woke up later than she had ever slept before. Groaning at how she felt she checked her phone and smiled at a text from Noah. Look at you listening to me. See you tonight. Shaking her head she got out of bed and got in the shower determined to make use of her day off of school.
It was weird to not be in school, Rachel wasn't sure she had ever missed a day of school not even when she was sick. Noah had asked her to do this and if he wanted her to experience skipping one day she figured she could do that for him. Though the fact that she had gave in so easily was not something she was okay with. Closing her eyes she turned the hot water up needing the thoughts to go away. Finn was the dream and she had him, she couldn't be pining over his best friend. No matter how much better Puck was to her. Maybe Finn just needed to know what she liked and what she needed, maybe she could talk to him. Deciding she would do that she got out of the shower and changed into sweats and grabbed her books before heading downstairs to get ahead of her schoolwork.
Around lunch she got up the nerve to text Finn and request him to come over after school. He didn't seem concerned that she wasn't at school but just brushed it off as she spent the rest of the day relaxing and just enjoying having an entire day to herself. By the time she was expecting her boyfriend she had realized that she had actually liked the day off of McKinley and that frightened her.
Finn's truck pulling into the driveway had her stomach rolling and she sighed as she stood at the door and forced a smile as he walked up to her. His cute half smile that had always drove her crazy made her forced smile more genuine as she kissed him hello. "I missed you today." She said softly as she kissed him again before moving to lead him inside and to the couch.
"When I got your text saying you weren't there it was weird but everyone deserves a day off right?" He asked and she nodded though she was disappointed he hadn't even noticed she was gone. Of course he was busy and so was she but knowing that he didn't even seek her out when she hadn't sought him made her stomach twist again.
She sat up straight and took his hand. "I've been thinking, Finn, and I think we need to broaden our relationship." The look in his eyes immediately told her he was thinking about sex and she sighed before shaking her head. "That's not what I meant. What I meant was that as a couple I feel like we should do more, that we should go out and socialize. We could go to a party and be around other people that isn't the glee club."
He seemed confused and she waited for him to say something. "We don't hang out with other people though, I mean you don't. I mean you would get slushied and I don't know what you would want to do that." A part of her wanted to interject and tell him about the night she had with Noah and how there were people out there that didn't fall under the high school maturity. She refrained though, not wanting him to know. It would raise more questions and their talk wasn't about her friendship with Noah but their relationship.
"I see your point but I don't see why we couldn't try, we don't have to go to a high school party but a college one." She said with a shrug before moving her hand to his arm. "I just want to do more than focusing on our musical chemistry, watching musicals, or watching you play video games. Sure we hang out with our friends but don't you ever want to do more? To just lay in bed and talk?" Rachel asked and by his confused look she knew he had lost him and just smiled before kissing his cheek. "Never mind, things are good the way they are." She murmured before kissing him. Things with Finn were safe and maybe Noah was getting in her head too much but deep down she knew that safe was good. Safe made sure she wouldn't get hurt.
She and Noah's meet ups continued as she kept it a secret from Finn. On what she was considering their 3 month anniversary of being closer friends than they ever had been he took her to her 3rd party. Over the course of time she had mastered sneaking out of her house and back in and the first taste of alcohol no longer made her cringe. It was fun letting loose and learning more about herself that she ever had before. She now knew that she could be more than the freak everyone at school saw her as, she was passionate and strong willed and that was okay. Rachel had never been insecure about who she was but being around people who didn't seem to care and seemed to genuinely like her made her more confident than ever. When she did feel insecure all she had to do was look at Noah and his smile would push it all away. Though she still had no idea what the meaning of him crawling through her window was, she had never been so happy that he had done so.
A couple nights later she had just gotten out of the shower when she found him on her bed. "I would really appreciate a warning before you come over, Noah. I'm not exactly presentable." Rachel stated and of course he just eyed her and smirked causing her damp skin to turn red under her towel.
"I think you look hot." He said with a shrug and she ducked her head as she smiled before quickly recovering and shooting him a glare to at least move so that she could navigate her room and find clothes. Noah got up and stood at her window as she quickly got what she wanted and retreated to the bathroom.
"Are we continuing our movie marathon tonight?" She asked when she came back out minutes later. He had been forcing her to watch every movie that he deemed "the best" and she was happily letting him since they had already watched most of her favorites.
He shrugged and sat in her chair and kicked his feet up against her wall. "Dunno, not sure what I'm in the mood for." He murmured and she nodded and moved to sit on the bed facing him.
"Is everything okay?" She asked his presence seeming less fun and light. "I know you refuse to talk about feelings or anything but as always you know that you can talk to me, or sing about it. Though my dads are home so maybe that's not the best idea." When he shot her a glare she stopped talked and looked at her hands. She had been fighting her feelings for him for months now and right when she though they were nothing but platonic things changed and she hated it. Things with Finn were still the same, they were happy and she enjoyed being with him. The nagging feeling that their relationship was missing something wouldn't go away though. She never felt like something was missing with Noah, and that made it even more confusing.
After a long few minutes she knew her friend wanted to clear his head with her company and she got up to organize her things for the next school day.
"Do you ever ask yourself, what if?" He asked finally and she looked over at him and nodded. "Doesn't everyone? I mean I know that thinking about the past isn't going to change anything and I know that I can't dwell on it but pondering the possibility doesn't hurt." Such as asking what if they hadn't broke up after one week of their short lived romance, Rachel thought to herself as she sat down on the arm of the chair and wrapped and arm around his neck. "What's on your mind?" She asked softly.
He shrugged at first and then sighed before shaking his head. "It was just a question, sometimes I just think you know?" She had to smile and lightly kissed his head before giggling wanting to lighten the mood. "You think? I had no idea you were capable of that." Rachel teased and thankfully that worked because the mischievous grin he gave her soon had her on the bed with him on top of her as he ticked her lightly causing her to laugh before he finally stopped when she put her hands on his to stop him. "You're going to get caught in her one day and while my dads don't own any weapons I don't think they are against it." She warned and he rolled his eyes and moved beside of her leaving an arm around her waist.
She turned onto her side and looked at him with a soft smile. All she wanted to do was kiss him, to remember what if felt like to have his lips against hers. It had been so long, over a year since they had kissed and she felt so sad about it. He moved closer to her like they were gravitating towards each other in slow motion before finally stopping just an inch away from each other.
"Noah.." She breathed as he reached out and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. His lips were right there and it was taking all of her willpower to not give in.
"Tell me to stop." He pleaded his voice tell her that he wanted the same things and was holding back just as much as she was. That the moment they were in was too powerful for either of them to hold back.