Glee 1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:** Like the summary says, this story is dedicated to one of my reviewers on _Beauty and the Beast and Finn_, Kim-Anadrade32593. She gave me a small prompt, basically saying "smut" and a particular scene from the movie _The Notebook_ and this is what happened. It was meant to be a oneshot, but I am learning that brevity isn't always key (as you might be able to tell from this lengthy note). I'm obsessed with finishing this so I can't imagine it is going to take me long to write the next two parts. But, as always, reviews make me write faster. So, just sayin'. Haha.

**Disclaimer:** Read profile. Don't sue.

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><p>Rachel Berry walked down the busy streets of New York, swinging her purse merrily even as she bumped into random strangers on her way home. She repressed the urge to skip only because she knew it would alarm her fellow commuters, though her 1,000-watt smile wasn't exactly branding her as the sanest person on the sidewalk. Mothers shooed their children away from Rachel's path as she walked, and the homeless guy on the corner actually waved to her as if they were the best of friends. Granted, she'd given him money before and sometimes some food, but they weren't exactly gossiping over their mutual friends by the water cooler or splitting a meal at the latest hot spot.<p>

No, Rachel didn't work with the man with more teeth missing than he had. She worked _on Broadway_. She practically squealed at the thought, an extra bounce in her step when she swung open the apartment building's door and strolled into the stairwell. She'd gotten the call an hour earlier when she'd been at a dance class nearby, and aside from everyone without a two mile radius that likely heard her blood-curdling scream of joy, no one knew the goods news. Not yet, anyway, she thought happily when she reached the eighth floor and walked down the hallway to her and Kurt's apartment.

She pulled out her keys and unlocked all four locks, bounding through the door as best she could after such a trying process. The living room was completely vacant, only the sounds from the street below echoing through the open windows into the small apartment. Her and Kurt had lived together for the past three years, after her two-year housing requirement at Julliard was officially lifted. It wasn't much, and certainly not the dazzling living space she had imagined whenever she dreamed of living in the city, but it had certainly grown on her. It was quaint and pest free, the most amazing café was right downstairs across the street, and living with Kurt was like having the brother she never knew she wanted.

After Kurt had left McKinley in junior year, Rachel and him really started to get close. It took him going away for her to realize how much he meant to her, which was ironic because it turned out the opposite had been true of her and his stepbrother. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but every day after her and Finn's terrible breakup right before Christmas, Rachel felt stronger. Junior year had been tough academically, but Rachel really rose to the occasion and really started to shine not just in the classroom and her extra-curricular activities but socially, as well. Maybe it was the regime change after Karofsky and Santana stopped all the bullying in order to get Kurt back, but the air around the school completely changed. There were still cliques and such, of course, but slowly everyone started to get along with everyone else at least in some capacity.

And then they went to Nationals and … well Rachel saw her future and making nice in Lima didn't really matter anymore. They'd placed twelfth that year after a rather inappropriate kiss shared between her and Finn shocked the audience and the judges enough that she was pretty sure they hadn't heard their second song. It wasn't fair, really, and she still wasn't over it, but at least New Directions had proved _everyone _wrong the next year. Rachel and Kurt sung a duet, so not only was there no kissing but they also spent their entire senior year practicing it. The group number, also an original song, was finally a group effort and it too had been prepared and perfected months prior to the competition in Chicago. All the hard word was worth it the second Mr. Schuester raised the first place trophy over his head, approximately one week before almost the entire original group graduated high school.

Graduation had been the epitome of their high school experience. More than homecoming, more than prom, even more than senior skip day. When each one of them walked across the stage to accept their diploma and Principal Figgins was drowned out by the cheers of the fellow glee clubbers … it really proved just how far the group had come in their three years together. Despite all the heartache and the drama and the ups and downs, they banded together and formed a bond that was still unbreakable for some. Then they went to the huge graduation party afterward and tested those bonds to their utmost degree.

_Dinner later? Text me._

Rachel smiled at the note Kurt left under a fresh glass of purified water. She was against bottled water because of its environmental ramifications and Kurt hated those attachments for the sink, so they settled for one of those Brita pitchers even though Rachel demanded room temperature water after any performance. She wasn't sure when Kurt left the apartment, but the water was the perfect drinking temperature, and she tipped the glass back to take a small drink even as she whipped out her cell phone and sprouted off a quick text.

_You pick the place. I have big news!_

Rachel giggled even as she hit send, knowing he hated it when she used multiple punctuation marks. It was the texting equivalent to skipping, though, and she didn't think twice about it when in the privacy of the digital world. Walking out of the kitchen and down the hall to her room, Rachel pushed the door open and was unsurprised when the familiar bars of _Defying Gravity_ sprang from the phone still nestled in her right hand. She hummed along to the song for a few moments before answering with an equally nonverbal vibration of her voice.

"What do you mean you have big news?"

"I refuse to spoil the secret over the telephone, Kurt. This is important to me and I demand to see your reaction when I reveal my exciting news."

"So it's something good." She rolled her eyes when he ignored her wishes, still trying to figure out what she had to tell. "Can Blaine and Finn come to dinner? I'm over at their place waiting for the cable guy since they're both at work."

"Of course. The more the merrier."

"Mkay. Let's just meet at the usual spot since it's halfway. Eight good?"

Rachel looked to her bedside table at her alarm clock and saw that would give her two hours to get ready and go. She seriously needed to shower thanks to the stifling dance studio and she had to call her fathers and tell them the news, too. She agreed on a hum and they both hung up, Rachel heading to the bathroom first. It was dinnertime for her fathers anyway given their age and the time difference, so the shower thankfully was allowed to come first. She switched her iPhone to her iPod, turning the volume all the way up on her shower playlist and ignoring the itch she had to text Mercedes the news.

Her fathers needed to know first. Then Kurt and obviously Blaine and Finn. After that Rachel would tell Mercedes, and then it would basically spread like a brushfire after that. While some things had most definitely changed since high school, Mercedes being a gossip was _not_ one of them. In fact, Rachel still wasn't sure how the full-figure girl had managed to keep her relationship with Sam back in high school a secret for as long as she did. Rachel was one of the firsts to know and she still hadn't found out until homecoming. She had planned on reviving their prom on a budget idea, approaching them early because Finn had been breathing down her neck about her plans far earlier than she expected. Rachel didn't want to hurt the tall teen's feelings, so she was trying desperately to make other plans. Then Mercedes admitted that her and Sam _were_ going together, but not as friends.

Rachel had settled for going with Kurt and Blaine, which wasn't much of an excuse not to be with Finn on the surface but ended up being a blessing in disguise after Karofosky won homecoming king and in front of everyone asked for a redo from last year's prom and danced with Kurt. To say the school was in shock was an understatement, but none was less pleased with the development as Blaine, who had transferred schools just to be with Kurt. Rachel spent the entire night after that dance with Blaine, and managed to patch things up enough that the couple lasted until right before Christmas. She still thought there was something about that time of the year that just _caused_ bad things to happen.

That was all in the past now, though. Kurt and Dave had become friends and secretly made out during the infamous graduation part, but that was it. Now, Klaine was officially back on and had been for almost two years. Kurt had been back in Lima during the summer between his junior and senior year at NYU and they'd bumped into each other at the same coffee shop they used to always go to. Four specialty drinks and eight hours later, they left the coffee shop and made plans to keep in touch even though Kurt lived in New York and Blaine was in Washington D.C. Keeping in touch was code for dating long distance, and a year later at Kurt's college graduation party back in Lima, Blaine announced that he was moving to New York.

It was the same party where Finn and Rachel ultimately got back together, after five years of carefully keeping each other in the friends zone. Her and Finn had stayed close through phone calls and email, but they spent much of their college years apart. They both needed that time to grow up separately, and she reasoned that the individual growth was vital to bringing them back together. It had nothing to do with the absence of a certain Mohawked boy. By that time, Rachel had given up on him, just like he'd given up on them long before.

Rachel and Finn's reunion was received with mixed reviews. Most of the former glee clubbers sighed in general disinterest or muttered something about third time's a charm or how they'd waited long enough. Mr. and Mrs. Hummel were thrilled, even more so when Finn tacked himself onto Blaine's moving arrangements and the two partnered up as roommates. Kurt and Mercedes were skeptical, and Rachel's fathers were more than a little concerned.

It wasn't that Leroy or Hiram didn't like Finn. They thought he was a good man with a big heart. He'd graduated with an education degree from Ohio University and he landed a job teaching P.E. at an elementary school in Brooklyn almost a month after deciding to move to New York. He wasn't the same scared, unfocused young man he was back in high school, and for that they were thankful. They also knew how much Finn cared for their daughter, as they witnessed plenty of pining during that senior year and then never really seeing it go away during those years apart in college. However, their argument wasn't necessarily that Finn was wrong for their little girl. It was more that he wasn't right.

He wasn't Noah.

Rachel stepped out of the shower, blaming her sudden shortness of breath on the steam locked in the small room. She wrapped a towel around herself and then rested both of her palms flat on the surface of the sink, her head sagging low and her eyes closing in meditation. It was easier said than done when Lady Gaga's _Edge of Glory_ was blaring from her phone. Not only was it a fast, upbeat song that didn't exactly scream relaxing, but it was also basically the anthem of the summer before college – the summer of Puckleberry.

The small device cut the loud song short, replacing it with the theme song to the late 80s sitcom _My Two Dads_. It had started out as a joke in glee club, one day the group daring each other to find the most obscure ringtone they could apply to an individual on their contact list. Artie had Brittany's ringtone set as the Gummi Bears theme song, Santana had a clip of squirrels having sex for Finn, and Puck had almost won with a crazy clipped ringtone he used for Lauren of Shrek demanding the receiver to pick up the phone. The group ruled him to be ineligible after Lauren grabbed the phone and threw it against the choir room wall, effectively ending their relationship and the new record he'd been working on regarding how long it had been since he had to replace his phone or his phone number. After that joke gone terribly wrong, he had to do both.

"I was just about to call you!"

"That's what they all say," Hiram joked softly, taking her immediate protests in stride. "How are you, baby girl?"

"I'm fabulous, Daddy. I have wonderful news!"

"We have news, too." He cleared his throat, his tone lower the second time out. "And, um, you might not think it is wonderful."

"What is it, Daddy? Is everything alright? Is it you? Father? Do I need to come home?"

"No, no, everything's fine, dear. _We're_ fine."

Rachel heard some rustling on the other side of the phone and then somehow understood that Leroy had picked up the other house phone and was now in on the conversation. She quickly calculated how long it would take her to get to the airport and fly into Toledo, wondering how it would look for the new girl to already demand time off. Like she didn't already have a reputation for being a diva. She rushed to her room, scouring the area for her carryon bag before her father's voice penetrating her ears.

"Rachel, honey," Leroy began, "Noah is back."

Her knees instantly gave out, her body landing heavily onto her mattress. She had gasped in response to her fathers' news and it was the last breath she took for a good two minutes. In that two minutes, though - as her fathers spoke in tandem about the circumstances up until their phone call - that entire summer before college flashed through Rachel's mind. She had to shut her eyes just to stop the onslaught of the powerful memories from turning into a full-fledged aneurysm, forcing herself to focus on the present and not the past.

"I-I'm glad he's safe."

"Right, well …" Even in the silence she could hear her fathers debate who should be the one to tell her the next part. Clearly Hiram drew the short straw, a heavy breath escaping as he continued. "The reason we called was not just because he stopped by here, but … he's on his way _there_."

"Excuse me?" She had to have an aneurysm because she just swore she heard her dad say that Noah was coming to New York. "Please tell me _there_ means Afghanistan or … or … wherever Marines end up going these days!"

"Honey, calm down." Leroy was the less emotional of her two fathers – the enforcer, as he became known among Rachel's friends. He cared about Rachel just as much as Hiram and had seen the aftermath of that summer just the same, but he always approached situations from a logical standpoint. If she had to guess, she would assume he was the better lawyer. Hiram knew the value of a pint of ice cream and crying things out, which was probably why he'd grown suddenly quiet. He knew how much pain Rachel would be in, as he'd seen the heartache a bit more closely than his partner. "It might be good for you two to see each other again. It's been five years."

Like she didn't know. It was almost five years to the date, one that she remembered more because of how it had ended and not because two weeks after had been the start of her new beginning. She often wondered, especially now, how things might have been different if she'd just accepted Finn's original offer back at Nationals instead of deciding to continue to focus on herself and her career. Would she and Noah still have become such good friends during senior year? Would they still have ended up alone at that graduation party? Would they have hurt each other so badly that neither of them talked to one another since both left Lima five years ago?

"You need some closure, sweetie," Hiram finally chimed in, his voice soothing. "Especially now that you've decided to commit yourself entirely to Finn, it's time to put the past to bed."

Rachel nodded, inhaling a shaky breath. "You're right, Daddy. Of course, you're right." She pushed aside all her anxiety for approximately thirty seconds, telling her fathers that she would call them tomorrow and tell them all the news but she had plans to meet Kurt for dinner and needed to get in touch with him so they could re-arrange the plans to accommodate Noah's arrival. They seemed hesitant but receptive to the thought that she wouldn't be alone, ending the call by telling her that given Noah's departure time and his lead foot, he'd probably arrive at her doorstep in approximately one hour, give or take.

_Cancel dinner. Come home. Don't tell anyone._

The text was a bit dramatic, but Rachel didn't have time to think about properly wording her request. She needed Kurt, and she needed him not to give away his urgency to Blaine or Finn. She wasn't sure which was more important. Much like the first time, she knew she wouldn't be able to get through this situation without Kurt, and she was just happy to know that even though he was Finn's brother that she was her friend first. He'd told her that once, anyway, and she was pretty sure she was about to test that theory.

_5 minutes_

He was being optimistic given it was a nearly twenty minute walk from Finn and Blaine's apartment and just as long if not longer by cab, but then again Rachel knew better than to doubt him. Kurt was like a superhero when it came to high-drama situations and she wouldn't be surprised if he donned a cape and flew home. She let the towel fall from her body and quickly changed, convincing herself to dress as normally as she ever would and not pay extra attention to the fact that it might be the first outfit Noah has seen on her for five years. She went back into the bathroom and piled her damp hair high on her head, flinching when she heard the apartment door slam shut and Kurt's high-pitched yell echo through the walls.

"Broadway!"

His steps were as loud and urgent as his voice, Kurt walking past the bathroom and almost falling when he tried to stop too quickly after seeing her in his periphery. He squared his shoulders and looked at her up and down, his eyebrows knitting together when she physically looked fine. No broken limbs, no bleeding, no tear stains. This was serious.

"My fathers called. Noah is back, and apparently he is on his way here." She was surprised by how calmly the sentence came out because inside her mind was screaming. It was telling her that it only became a big deal if she made it one, but then her heart butted in and started screaming, too. Pretty soon her entire body was in knots while the two vastly different sides dealt with the turmoil being created, and she felt lightheaded again now without the steam the blame.

"I'm assuming by the 911 text that we don't have a lot of time to weigh the pros and cons?" Rachel shook her head, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth as they moved from the bathroom/hallway to the living room. "Wh-what does he want?"

"I don't know." Her voice was so low, so unsteady that she hated herself. She hated that five years later he could do this to her. "He visited my dad's early this morning and asked about me. They told him I was here and then, I guess, he left."

Kurt sighed dreamily and Rachel groaned in response. "Sorry!" He amended quickly. "Got caught up." He beat his thumbs against his knees nervously and offhandedly she observed that it was something he'd picked up from Finn. "So what's the plan?"

"That's what I need you for, Kurt!" She shouted as she sprung from the couch, her arms flailing out as she did so. Clearly she was past the point of remaining calm. "I'm sorry if this puts you in a terrible position, but I have less than an hour to figure out what I'm going to say or do when he shows up on our doorstep and frankly I don't think I could have been prepared if we'd set up the date and time five years ago before he left."

Kurt bowed his head on a nod, not wanting her to see the pity that she knew filtered into his eyes when her voice turned desperate. They were both back to that first year at college. Kurt was at NYU and Rachel was at Julliard, but they still talked to each other every day and saw each other at least twice a week if not more like four or five times. Junior year of high school they had sang together on the _Wicked_ stage and dreamed of coming back, but less than two years later their dreams had come true and yet hadn't at the same time. Kurt no longer had Blaine, and Rachel no longer had the blind determination she had earlier. In three short months she had changed her dreams from revolving around New York to dreaming of sharing her dreams in New York with the man she loved. And then, the magic carpet was ripped out from under her and it took her a whole year to really get her footing back.

Kurt's ringing phone cut through both of their trips down memory lane, Rachel watching his face and seeing it contort just so that she knew it was Finn. He used the same _We Are Family _ringtone for anyone who fit into that category, which he'd once told her included her but _For Good _was their song for him and he wasn't going to change it. Kurt looked up at her and she nodded for him to answer. She trusted him to handle the situation with care, and definitely knew he could pull it off better than she could.

"Hey, Finn," Kurt answered cheerily. "Yep. Cable's all fixed. You and Blaine have your precious sports package."

She rolled her eyes and continued listening to the one-sided conversation. He left out all the original plans about meeting for dinner as a group and instead changed it to a guy's night of sorts. Kurt had big plans for their parents' anniversary this year, and Finn knew better than to point out the fact that it was still months away and he didn't care in the first place. Plus, since it was all centered on a trip back to Lima for Thanksgiving – Finn's favorite holiday after Christmas - he _did _care.

"No, she's not back yet. I'm sure she'll text you when she has a break. Her dance class usually wraps up a little late, and then I think she said she was going to hang out with a few of the girls tonight." Kurt nodded a few more times to let Rachel know she was in the clear. "Yep. Meet you there in a few."

Rachel frowned deeply as Kurt ended the phone call, slowly dragging his eyes back up to her. "I'm sorry to make you do this, Kurt."

"You're my girl." He shrugged emptily, easing her mind at least in regards to being a terrible friend. The terrible fiancé label was another story. "Even if you _are_ about to ruin what was going to be the easiest transition from boyfriend to roommate _ever_."

"Nothing has changed, Kurt." For the first time since she first talked to him, her voice held some power, some strength. "Blaine and I will still switch apartments at the beginning of the year."

"Then why are you so upset?"

Rachel sagged her head, wishing she had an answer that was acceptable. Maybe if she had the whole night to go over every single reason Noah made her nervous, but she didn't. The ticking of the wall clock indicated she quite possibly only had another half hour. Besides, what she deemed an acceptable answer wouldn't exactly sound favorable out loud. In a word, she was upset because it was Noah.

"Make sure to text Finn. I'm going to head out. I'll stay over there tonight and make sure Finn does, too." Kurt stood from the couch and walked back to his room. He went into the bathroom for a moment and then came back into the living room. He placed his hands over hers that were wringing in front of her and waited until she lifted her eyes to meet his. "And promise me one thing?" She immediately nodded her head and he smiled. "Don't have sex in my room."

"Kurt!" She chastised loudly, ripping her hands out of his grip so she could swat at him. "That's an absolutely appalling thought. I love Finn."

"You love Puck, too."

She inhaled a ragged breath, making sure her eyes stayed true even if she felt them fill up with tears. "That's in the past. I'm focused on the future now."

Kurt nodded solemnly and then vanished, the apartment eerily quiet as she stood in the middle of the living room just waiting. It reminded her exactly of how she felt seconds after the last time her and Noah spoke, the memory surprisingly clear. She had done a lot in an effort to erase all those memories, or at least push them far enough back that she could keep on living her life, but now that _he_ was at the forefront of her mind again, it seemed the memories flashed back, too.

_Puck's tongue slid across Rachel's as they kissed passionately on her bed, half-filled boxes all around them. He'd come over to help her pack and, as per usual, they just ended up making out in her room. His hand was dangerously high on her thigh and hers were hidden underneath his shirt, running up and down his toned chest. Her door was open as required, but the difference between that night and all the others was that her fathers were out of town, so there was no chance at the two teens being caught._

_Her legs spread on their own accord and Puck instantly nestled himself between them, ripping his lips from hers to breathe. She gasped when he started trailing kisses down her jaw and neck, her hands moving to explore the contours of his back. She pulled him closer and he rocked his hips into her in response. Her breath hitched and she lifted her hips up in reflex, her legs lifting and securing themselves around his waist. He rolled into her again and they matched one another thrust for thrust for a minute or so before it became too much._

"_W-we can't, Noah."_

"_Why the fuck not?" He growled, pulling his torso away from her so he could look into her eyes but keeping his lower body pressed against her. He knew she had trouble thinking clearly when they were like this, and she was fairly certain he was keeping contact on purpose._

"_Two weeks, Noah. Two weeks and I'll be in New York and we can be together and …"_

"_I'm not going to New York with you."_

"_I know that, but you can visit and we can communicate long distance until you pick your grades up at the community college and then transfer to a school in New York and …"_

"_I enlisted."_

_His words made no sense to her, nor did the way he detached himself from her. He was all the way on the opposite end of the bed now, Rachel knitting her eyebrows together in confusion as she lifted onto her elbows. Her hands moved to her stomach to move her shirt back in place, her knees closing so he couldn't see under her skirt like she imagined he could from his new spot. _

"_What does that mean?"_

"_It means I ship out Monday." He didn't look at her, just pushed a box off her bed so he could scoot a little further away. "I joined the Marine Corps."_

_She stared blankly, still unsure. "What … I mean … how … where …. When did you do this?"_

"_A few weeks ago." _

_She gasped. _"_How could you do that without telling me?"_

"_I knew if I told you you'd just freak out, like you're doing." _

_She scoffed as she moved off the bed, needing the space to pace around. Why did everyone she knew refuse to understand that an omission of the truth was the same as lying? Rachel had plans for her and Noah, plans that had been unexpected but completely welcome after the summer they had together. She had fallen in love with him, probably during the course of their senior year, and they threw caution to the wind to be together and now … now he was just giving it all up._

"_I can't just follow you to New York, B. And … well I think I could do the military thing. Ma says it will be good for me."_

_His mother knew about this? Who else knew? What she __**again**__ the last to find out? It was all so much like the Finn/Santana thing that she couldn't breathe. Their were a million little images flashing in her mind of their magical summer together and she like they were fading away with each passing second._

"_What about us?" He shrugged helplessly and Rachel felt her resolve break. Tears cascaded down her cheek, and she finally understood what Finn meant last year when he'd told her that he never thought she'd hurt him like she did. "Please leave. Just … leave."_

Rachel flinched, the loud knocking startling her out of the flashback. She whirled around to face the back wall and she saw that she'd wasted all her time thinking about the past that the future had become the present. She took one tentative step and then another, slowly making her way to the door at the exact moment the person on the other side started knocking again, this time louder. Her hands lifted to smooth her hair down and away from her face, and she took a deep breath before unlocking the four locks and turning the doorknob counterclockwise. She used the frame as support when he came into view, looking past the muscles and the modernly vintage T-shirt and focusing on his face. He looked completely the same but strikingly different, his name falling off her lips in a mix between a sigh and a sob.

"Sup, Berry?"


	2. The Middle

**Author's Note:** As much as I love this story, I love you guys more for loving it, too. I think this is the chapter that most represents the prompt given to me (read: Definitely M-rated!), but it's definitely not the end. So, still let me know what you think (I'm begging!), but hang in there because the third and final part is going to be a doozy!

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><p>"You gonna let me in or will the only thing I see in New York be this hallway?"<p>

Rachel tore her eyes off his mouth, flashing with anger as she bore her gaze into his hazel orbs. "Maybe you should have thought about _that_ five years ago!"

"Whoa. Calm the fuck down."

Puck lifted his hands in surrender, Rachel's eyes honing in on the familiar calluses. She wasn't derailed by his charm, but she couldn't help but stop and wonder if he still played guitar. Sometimes late at night she'd picture him in a barracks or wherever, thinking of her and playing a song like he'd done a hundred times since she'd known him. Eventually she gave up those fantasies because that's all they were. That wasn't her reality anymore.

"I didn't come here to fight. I … just wanted to see you."

She blinked helplessly, her jaw slacking open as the anger immediately dissipated. His voice had been as genuine as his expression, and Rachel knew he was telling the truth. She'd always been able to read him better than most and even though she wished that weren't true anymore, she saw the concern in his eyes and couldn't ignore it. Slowly, she pushed the door open wider in invitation, moving away from it and him as he started to enter. He walked to the middle of the living room as she moved back to close the door, locking all four locks and then turning around and leaning against the solid wood.

Rachel was bred to be a better hostess, but she couldn't bring herself to give him the proper tour. There wasn't much to the apartment to begin with, the only rooms out of sight being the bathroom, the linen closet, Kurt's room and then hers. She knew better than to invite him in there, as she was already making sure to keep a distance between them in case he had some uncontrollable urge to pick up where they left off. In case _she_ had said urge.

"You live alone?"

"No." She let the implication hang in the air for a moment, satisfied by the twist of pain she saw when he clenched his jaw tightly. "Kurt lives here, too."

"Shoulda known." He gestured to the impeccably decorated area and she just nodded in response. Rachel had developed pretty good taste, but she was fairly certain it was a product of being best friends with Kurt for so long. After awhile, you pick up a few things, which was also why her wardrobe wasn't mocked daily anymore. "Where is he?"

"Out," she answered simply, her eyes drifting over Puck's clothing. Much like her, his wardrobe was very similar to how it had been in high school, just more put together. Rachel still wore short skirts, she just upgraded to sleeker shoes and more flattering shirts. Puck, likewise, kept the fitting T-shirts and dark wash jeans, but he carried himself differently. For example, his posture had improved, showcasing how his attitude had changed from lackadaisical to disciplined. His haircut told her the same thing, the Mohawk gone in exchange for a cleaner buzzcut. "With Blaine and Finn."

She watched him carefully, Finn's name hanging in the air between them like one of those cartoon clouds of smoke. It was thick and suffocating, Puck coughing in response and shuffling his feet anxiously. She noticed his sideways glance at her left hand, and that was the last straw. Rachel shook her head, pushing off of the door and stepping closer to him. One of her hands moved to her hip while the other lifted so she could point her finger at him accusingly.

"I knew it," she spat. "You didn't drive 10 hours just to see me, to see if I was _OK_."

"It was nine and woulda been closer to eight if I didn't have to stop for gas."

She rolled her eyes, again refusing to lose the upperhand. "You don't care if I'm OK. You care if I'm OK alone or OK with Finn."

"If I cared about that, I wouldn'ta left."

Rachel faltered, her defensive stand wavering entirely. "So why … why did you?"

"Does it matter?" His voice was rough, and it ran over her like sandpaper. "You're happy, right?"

She nodded hesitantly, not allowing herself to consider if she could be happier. Not letting herself remember the months – _years _– she spent getting to this point. Instead, she thought of only the reasons that statement was true. "I got a lead role in a Broadway musical today."

His expression morphed from his standard hard expression to one so rare that it literally stole her breath. His grin lit up the room and she couldn't even find it within herself to care that he was now the first person outside of the director who'd called her who knew she'd finally reached her goal. Kurt would kill her, but it was worth it. It was worth it to have him smile like that and once again be the cause for it. She liked to think that she might still be the only one who could provoke it.

"That's fuckin' awesome."

She nodded her head bashfully in agreement, tilting her gaze to the left as she evaluated him with a small smile. "I've noticed the military did nothing to improve your language."

"Shit, it's worse now if nothin'." He smirked. "There really isn't a better word than 'fuck' when you're overtakin' a ship in international waters."

Her eyes fell, back to staring sadly at the floor. "Well, I'm glad you're safe."

The fact that he hadn't taken the time to assure her of that fact up until just then was ignored. It wouldn't have changed the fact that he never called or wrote, nor would it have changed the fact that she never had either. After all, even though he severed ties with everyone she was close to, Rachel knew better than to assume his mother never had his contact information. But she never asked for it. She figured if he wanted to talk or see her again he would make it happen, and he never did. He left, and he didn't look back.

Until now.

"Yep. Safe _and_ hungry. So let's go celebrate your fuckin' celebrity status and grab some foodage." She made no effort to move, and he must have sensed her reluctance. "Come on, Berry. I didn't stop for lunch and I'm seriously starvin'. I won't keep you out past your bedtime. Fuck, we don't even have to go far; I passed like seven places to eat just from where I parked."

"Where did you park?" She asked slowly, not letting the image of his old truck and all the time they'd spent in it that summer settle in her mind. She didn't want to think about the radio wars they had or the jokes about her almost being violated by the gearshift during one particularly escalated makeout session. She didn't want to remember how it felt to lie in the bed of the truck and stare up at the stars or the way the air felt rushing through her hair when they drove aimlessly with the windows down in search for a location away from prying eyes.

"Some lot across the street."

She couldn't help it, she laughed. "Yea, it's not there anymore."

"What the _fuck_?"

"It's a private lot, Noah!" She combated his immediate frustration with logic. "There's a sign on basically every flat surface in and near it that says you can't park there without a tag. Perhaps you should have used some of that military training of yours and _followed_ the rules."

"I didn't learn how to follow rules. I learned how to not get caught breakin' 'em." He grinned mischievously and it was like going back in time. She saw the eighteen-year-old boy she fell in love with and all his potential. She saw the eighteen-year-old girl who had figured out who she was and where she wanted to go, and had done it all with that boy by her side. "But, whatever. I'm buyin'. And pick somewhere close 'cause apparently we're walkin'."

She considered declining his invitation – if she'd even call it that – but instead figured it was better for them to get out of the apartment. If saying Finn's name made him uneasy, then she'd definitely want the security of many people's watchful eyes for when she explained to him the severity of the situation. Plus, she too had skipped lunch and had no more dinner plans thanks to his arrival, so she was a bit famished herself. She grabbed her purse and gestured to the door, digging out her keys and cell phone as he unlocked all the locks. She locked the apartment back up and then placed her keys inside the purse, letting him go down the stairs of the building first as she trailed behind. She managed to walk toward a restaurant and text Finn and Kurt all at the same time, eventually noticing his stare and turning her head to the left to silently question him about it.

"Sorry." He shrugged, moving his eyes off her and back in front of them for only a few seconds before he was staring at her again. "It's been awhile."

She bobbed her head, ignoring the awe in his voice and instead pointing to a restaurant in question. He didn't seem to care, about her unsubtle segue or the restaurant choice, so they put his name down for a table and then waited inside. They didn't talk for the entire fifteen minutes, Rachel spending much of the time texting back and forth with Finn for a minute or so and then Kurt for the rest of wait. By the time they got to their table and they each ordered a drink, she felt his eyes on her again and looked up at him in exasperation.

"What now?"

"I thought you were never going to drink again?" He asked comically, Rachel's eyes shutting tight as yet another flashback coursed through her mind before she could even stop it.

_Rachel meandered out of the large house and took the stone path to wherever it led. She passed a few classmates who had apparently celebrated their graduation a little too hard as they were already passed out. Considering the ink stains doodled on their faces and the amount of silly string covering their frames, she figured they'd been like that for awhile and she suddenly wondered what time it was. Sometime between arriving at the party and the dramatic reunion of Sam and Quinn, the clock had faded in the background of importance. _

_"So this is where you ended up," she opened lightly, seeing his silhouette propped up by the large tree in the far corner of the property. She reached his side after a few more steps, her eyes lifting up to take in the same view he had been before she interrupted. The moon was nearly full and looked so big and bright that she wanted to climb the tree to see if she could reach out and grab it. _

_"Want some?" He tilted his bottle of beer toward her and she scrunched her nose. "Come on, B. The alcohol ban was lifted the second we won that trophy. 'Sides, it's celebratory."_

_"I said I was never drinking again after Brittany puked on me last year, and I meant it." He chuckled even as she shuddered at the memory, tossing his arm over her shoulders and bringing her closer. Nestled against his side, her head pressed into shoulder, she sighed contently. "I can't believe that was only last year. Feels like a lot longer."_

_"I dunno. I still can't forget that ugly ass green thing you were wearin' at your epic fail of a party. What the fuck was that anyway?"_

_"It was a dress, Noah. A perfectly acceptable party dress when the theme is not teenage debauchery." She rolled her eyes, but her heart fluttered a little that he remembered what she'd been wearing. "What exactly would you have had me wear, hmmm?"_

_He smirked, dipping his head down and speaking lower than usual. "Absolutely nothin'."_

_Her cheeks flushed and she was suddenly thankful for the cloak of darkness. Although, considering she could feel the heat radiating off his body she imagined he could feel the warmth being emitted from her cheeks. He was so close, and all she could do was try to ignore the way his breath wisped across her neck and the feather light touch of his fingers on the bare skin of her arm. And, just like she'd been trying to all year, she also ignored the feelings it elicited._

_"If it didn't work at prom, it's certainly not going to work here, Noah."_

_"Can't blame a guy for tryin'." He pulled back just enough that she was comfortable taking a breath again. "Even if that guy isn't Finn."_

_"What does Finn have to do with anything?" She asked angrily, huffing out a breath and putting a few more inches of space between them. She'd long decided there was no point in wondering how they could go from pleasant conversation to fighting so quickly. It was simply their personalities. "I haven't been with him for a year and a half."_

_"Yea, well, you haven't been with anyone else, either."_

_"Perhaps I'm waiting for someone who is interested in more than __**one**__ thing."_

_"Fuck, B. If I just wanted sex from you I would have gotten it by now." She nearly growled at his audacity. "Sophomore year, the week you found out about Santana and Finn, prom … but I didn't, OK? I care about you a little more than that, shit."_

_"You … you care about me?" Unconsciously, she stepped back to where she'd been before, the hands that had been wringing in front of her pressing against the top of his abdomen and chest as she leaned against him and looked up into his eyes. They were half-closed and obstructed by his furrowed brows, but she could still see the pure absence of color she'd grown so familiar with over the years and for the first time she saw something she'd never seen before. It surprised her and excited her just the same. "Do you … love me?"_

_He turned his head just an inch or so, but considering the lack of space between them, his nose brushed against hers. She faintly recalled how admirably he'd fought to prevent her from getting a nose job, and she'd never been happier that she hadn't gone through with the surgery than at that moment. Why would she want to look like Quinn when she looked like Rachel? Rachel, who was seconds away from sharing the most perfect kiss she'd ever experienced._

_"Yea," he whispered before closing the final distance between them, his lips slanting over hers ever so softly. His arm fell from her shoulders and circled tighter around her waist, pulling her flush against him as the kiss turned from tender to passionate. Their mouths opened, each of them pulling in a bit of air and pushing out their tongues, groaning when they slid together in an intimate dance. Passionate turned to feverish, and then a minute or so later Rachel finally found it within herself to pull away enough to look at him again, really look._

_His breath was ragged and his eyes were far less pure than they'd been before. His grip on the back of her shirt was desperate, and she swore she could feel his heart thundering under her hand where it was still pressed against his chest. He licked his lips and she mimicked the motion, feeling so connected to him at that moment that she wondered how she'd ignored it for so long. _

_"Me too."_

"Rachel?"

She shook her head, shaking herself back to the present and yet still staying so firmly in the past when she focused on his hazel eyes. The restaurant was dimly lit, a candle in the middle of the table setting a mood that Rachel didn't think was appropriate but welcomed nonetheless. In this light - not exactly moonlight but a close second - she could see the subtle lines of his face, the muscles of his arms, the broadness of his chest. She could accept the fact that the Marines had done him good and ignore how terribly wrong it was for her to even think such a thing.

"I said maybe if you weren't doin' anything afterward, you could show me around a bit. The only other time I've been to New York was back in high school."

She lifted her eyebrows up, the corners of her mouth turning up when she considered his words in light of her memories. "You don't honestly expect for me to fall for that, do you?" He started to grin, leaning forward much like her. "Maybe that worked with the locals when it was paired with the fancy uniform, but you aren't fooling anyone here, Mr. Puckerman."

Rachel meant what she said, but like so often when it came to him, she'd eventually changed her mind. Or, rather, he'd changed it for her. He'd played to her hosting obligations and before she knew it they were walking down the busy streets of New York. And, despite her original reluctance, she didn't stop talking for almost a full hour, pointing out every random thing she could like an official tour guide until they had circled back around to her apartment. Somewhere between the second and third lock, he snorted loud enough that she stopped to look back at him.

"You're going to need a nicer place once you become famous."

Rachel rolled her eyes and undid the last lock in an effort to disguise the excitement she still felt course through her at his words. "It isn't so bad. We have a lot of memories here. Plus," she bit her lip, looking up at the ceiling long enough that Puck cocked his head up too in confusion. She bumped his side with her hip, opened the door long enough to throw her purse inside, and then headed back to the stairwell all the way to the roof with him following closely behind. "This was a definite selling feature. It's one of my most favorite spots."

He was quiet for awhile, just staring out toward the cityscape. The city lights were bright and made up for the dark skies and darker clouds moving overhead. "I'm sure you can get a better view for the right price."

"Actually," she began, knowing she meant to bring it up when they weren't alone but not able to stop herself. For better or for worse, he'd always been easy to talk to and she'd never lied to him. "Finn and I are going to move to Brooklyn." She looked away from his shocked expression. "It's closer to his school and the neighborhood is much more ideal for raising a family, plus our money would go further outside of the city so we could get a bigger place that had plenty of space for a music room or even ..."

"I see you still ramble when you're lying."

"I'm not lying!"

"Not about movin', but about being happy about it." She glared at him. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised, though. You've always bent over backward to accommodate him. In all ways now, huh?"

"As if it is _any_ of your business, Finn and I are waiting until we get married." She left out the fact that it wasn't his idea, and the several times they've re-discussed it since first making the decision. At first Finn was OK with going slow. She didn't want to rush into anything and he was just happy she'd finally come around. After they got engaged, though, he seemed to want more. Expect more.

"When's the wedding?"

Her jaw was still set even as she turned to face him. It wasn't like she had to think about when her and Finn had decided to get married, but she did have to push down the minuscule amount of bile that always seemed to come up when she remembered the date. She'd only agreed to the Fourth of July because Finn had been so eager about how cool it would be to get married while fireworks were blasting off all around them. However, no matter how much time had passed or how far they'd both come since then, whenever Rachel thought of fireworks, she either thought about Finn and Quinn kissing, or her and Noah kissing. Neither was particularly comforting when it came to the day she would start her life with Finn.

"Next year," she finally answered, her eyes wandering up to the sky when a rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance. It hadn't rained for at least a week and the city could use the rinse. Plus, it might help with the heat that had overtaken the small island. She wouldn't even consider the irony in the knowledge that a storm was coming.

"So you're sayin' I still got time."

Her eyes narrowed, her head vehemently shaking from the left and right. "No. Absolutely not." Another wave of thunder rolled over them and then another. "You had your chance."

With little warning, it began to rain so forcefully that the drops almost hurt as they pelted her skin. There was so much coming down so quickly that it actually veiled her view of him, breaking whatever spell she might have been under that prevented her from moving in the first place. Sloshing away from the building's edge, Rachel's feet stopped on a stomp with her hand firmly gripping the door handle. She clenched it tightly but couldn't bring herself to swing it open. Whether it was heavy or her thoughts were, she turned and pushed some hair away from where it had matted to her face.

"Why now? _Why_?" Her voice was raised out of passion and necessity as the large drops of water battered the pair, not just soaking their clothes but drowning out her words. Lightning crackled behind him followed by another boom of thunder. "All you had to do was call. Or write! That's it!"

Puck covered the same area that she had earlier in three long strides. He cut through the falling rain like a knife into butter, the stray droplets careening off his slick skin he moved so quickly. She inhaled sharply when he didn't stop until he was directly in front of her, his eyes boring into hers. She refused to wipe her brow even as the rain dripped down her face, refused to appear to be the one to back down.

"I waited for you for four years, and now it's too late!"

"It's _never_ too late."

Before she could get the first syllable of her rebuttal out of her opening mouth, he covered it with his own, crashing his lips against hers. His hand tangled into the soaked strands of her long hair, resting on the back of her neck and holding her to him. He kissed her hungrily and instead of pushing him away, Rachel lifted her arms and encircled his neck, effectively bringing him closer. Each groaned into the contact, Puck securing his other arm across her back and lifting her up off the ground.

Rachel instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, thrusting her tongue deeper into his mouth as her hands moved across the back of his head. She felt him open the large metal door and stumble inside, continuing her passionate assault until her back hit the wall of the elevator. She moved her head out of his vision so he could press the correct button for her floor, dropping kisses all over his neck and throat. She dragged her lips up until she reached his ear, flicking her tongue against the sensitive skin underneath before drawing the lobe between her teeth. He groaned and rocked his hips into her in response, eliciting a low groan from her as well that was overshadowed only by the loud dinging of the elevator when it reached her floor.

He whirled them around and walked expertly across the hall still with her in his arms, still with his lips suctioned to her neck. Her back hit another hard, flat surface and she used the leverage to roll her hips into his. He grunted into the contact and the couple nearly fell into the apartment when he carelessly turned the doorknob and the door flew open. He recovered quickly, though, managing to kick the door shut and follow Rachel's silent directions to her room. They passed through the open door and again her back pressed against the hard wood as he used their weight to shut it closed.

Rachel unlinked her legs from around him and set her feet unsteadily on the floor. His hands immediately went to the hem of her shirt and lifted it up and over. Rachel didn't give him time to admire the newly exposed skin, expertly unfastening his jeans and yanking the wet denim down his legs almost before he could get his wallet out of the back pocket. She took off his shirt on her way up, and in a flash she was in his arms again. She sighed dreamily when her back finally hit the soft surface of her bed, her eyes only opening when she felt him pull away. She watched him carefully, her bottom lip moving between her two rows of teeth as he finished undressing the two of them and rolled a condom over his length.

He kissed his way back up her body, hitting the sensitive spot behind her knee but bypassing her most sensitive area to instead plant kisses on her stomach and chest and then her lips once again. Her hands instantly lifted back up to touch his body, exploring the contours of his back before snaking down and running over his broad chest and taunt abdomen. Eventually they meandered lower, and his head slacked down to her shoulder as a low, gurgling sound escaped from deep within his chest. He nipped at the skin of her shoulder and then attacked her neck, probing her pulse point with his tongue until she whimpered in desire.

She spread her legs wider to accommodate him better and gasped at the first thrust. He remained still for what felt like an eternity, and eventually her nails loosened against his skin as the initial pain was replaced by a different kind of ache. She circled her hips in an effort to alleviate the pressure, calling out when he rolled into her. Each of her arms hooked under his, her hands resting flat against his shoulder blades as he pumped into her. She wasn't sure how he managed to seem so gentle and careful and so inhibited and dominant in the same breath, but it left her lightheaded and panting for more.

Rachel arched her back and then gasped when the new position stirred entirely different feelings, repeating the action and crying out in ecstasy when Puck used the angle to wrap his lips around the nipple of her left breast. Her nails dug into his skin again but he just continued to torture her, moving to her other breast and bathing it with an equal amount of attention. His hands moved slowly across her skin, wrapping around her hips for a few powerful strokes before continuing on their trail. They ended somewhere between her lower back and the curve of her ass, effortlessly lifting her torso up off the bed until he was sitting on the bed and she was settled on top of him.

Again, the change in position added to the experience in surprising but amazing ways. He felt deeper this way, as if he were a part of her. She also appreciated the intimacy that came along with the position, the kissing momentarily nonexistent as they both struggled to catch their breath. Instead, through hooded eyes that were still entirely focused on one another, Rachel took the cue from his gentle movements on how exactly to move her body to bring them both enough pleasure. The friction she created intensified and she found her hips rocking more forcefully just to quench the insatiable thirst she had for release.

Puck must have felt the same way, urgently pushing her back into the bed with little regard. Rachel's eyes were closed tight as she felt the first twinge of relief start to wash over her, her toes curling when the usual orgasm she experienced exploded tenfold. His name fell off her lips over and over again, each instance growing higher and higher in pitch until her voice couldn't even be heard anymore. He moved one of his arms away from where they had been bracing his body up and hooked it under her leg, lifting it up so he could sink even deeper, pounding into her for one more tantalizing minute before he growled low in his throat and collapsed onto her tiny frame.

"Yea," he panted, running his nose over the muscle that connected her shoulder and neck and placing a delicate kiss on the skin before rolling them over so she was instead more on top of him than he was on top of her.

Rachel could barely see straight and her brain was muddled at best, but she knew what he meant and she couldn't help but smile. "Me too."


	3. The End

**Author's Note:** I don't want to say too much because I think this update will pretty much speak for itself. I have to say thank you to everyone who took the time to read and review. Your support and encouragement and kind words are as inspiring as they are unexpected, and I love y'all for them. To Kim, I hope this story fulfilled your request. I'm quite pleased with it even if it did turn out more angsty and a little more like the movie than I intended. Enjoy and review! :)

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><p>Rachel awoke slowly, feeling sore but so utterly happy that the pain didn't really register. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping and even though those were things that naturally happened every day in the summer, everything seemed different now. She'd been walking around in a fog for the past five years, and in one (incredible) night, everything became clear. The reason she'd never gotten back together with Finn senior year. The reason she'd only started dating him again last year. The reason she'd told him she was saving herself for marriage. The reason she'd initially pushed the wedding back from Christmas to Fourth of July.<p>

She'd been waiting.

Waiting for Noah.

Slowly she turned to face him, surprised to see his eyes open. She'd known he'd been awake; the only reason she woken up at all was because he'd been running his fingers up and down the bare skin of her back for the past twenty minutes. She felt like he was playing her like his guitar, and if she had cared enough she might have been able to figure out what song to which she was being an instrument. The only thing she cared to pay attention to, however, was the heat she felt seep into her pores at his touch – the reason she'd turned over in the first place.

Rachel didn't hesitate to capture his lips with hers, pressing herself into him and then completely melting into the embrace. His lips were soft and tender this time, so less demanding then they'd been last night. She could still feel his feather light touch on her back, only now his fingers were slowly making their way up her spine, over her shoulder, across her collar bone, and then down the center of her torso. He broke away from her kiss and took the same trail his fingers had with his lips, making two glorious detours at each of her breasts before continuing down. He dipped his tongue into her bellybutton and she giggled in response, her knees lifting up and her legs tensing together in an effort to relieve some of the pressure she felt building.

Puck moved the hand that had originally started the journey and ended up spanning across the soft curve of the side of her ass, running up her raised thigh and then in between her two locked knees. He used his other arm to hold himself up, planting soft kisses on the opposite thigh his hand was teasing until he reached the sensitive skin behind her knee. His hand filtered down her calf ever so softly and tickled the appendage loose enough that he could dart his tongue into the tight space underneath her knee.

She couldn't have stopped the high-pitched gasp if she'd wanted to, and the only reason she wanted to was because she could have used that oxygen. Rachel was panting like a dog in heat and she imagined she felt like one, too, considering the only thing she could think about other than what he was doing to her was all the other things he could be doing – or _she_ could be doing. Without warning, she lowered her legs flat to the bed, then sat up and swung her right leg over so Puck was trapped underneath her. He looked utterly surprised but not entirely unpleased by the change in position.

Rachel felt his erection standing at attention behind her, and the fact that she'd been able to do that always thrilled her. She'd grown up a lot in the past five years and certainly didn't have a lot of the same self-esteem issues she'd had in high school, but there was always going to be those insecurities. She'd never feel like she fit in or like she couldn't be prettier, but when he reacted to her like that, she didn't want to change a thing – other than the fact that she wanted him inside her and he still needed a condom.

Puck groaned when she slid down his body, purposely sliding her slick heat across his length before she got out of bed. He clasped his hands back behind his head and watched her walk across the room toward his pants, Rachel giggling lightly when he groaned again at the way she bent down to retrieve the last condom from his wallet. She dropped the jeans back to the ground, locking eyes with him while she walked back. She gently tossed the condom down onto his stomach, ready to make this last time count – at least until they got more condoms – but he shook his head and nodded his chin toward her. She gulped and looked down at the foil wrapper, carefully picking it up and tearing it open. She was careful not to handle it too much for fear of breaking it, holding it in one hand while the other meandered up his left leg.

She watched his eyes close and she again felt the wave of pleasurable power wash over her, releasing her lip from between her teeth as she grabbed his hard member. He grunted in response and instead of putting on the condom right away, Rachel bent down and ran her tongue across his tip. She smiled wickedly when his eyes popped open and found hers, both of them no doubt traveling back to a time when that was as far as they would go for a least a split second before they realized where they were _now_. She moaned just thinking about it, innocently sheathing him a moment later.

Once she was in reach, Puck grabbed her hips and used them as a steering wheel, positioning her above him just right. She was already rocking against him, desperate for him, and he'd never been able to deny her for long. He pulled her down onto him and they both called out when she sunk down as far as she could. Rachel's tongue swept across her suddenly dry lips, her hands lifting from her sides up into her hair as Puck used his to move her back and forth across him. She started to pick up the rhythm and added an up and down motion that caused her breasts to bounce slightly.

Puck moved his hands from her hips to fondle her breasts, rolling her nipples between his thumb and index finger as she continued to rock against him. Rachel wasn't sure if she was doing it right, but whatever she was doing felt amazing. Her hands fell down to his chest and she used his solid frame for support, gyrating against him harder and deeper until that feeling that only he'd been able to bring her started to build. It made her breathless and she sat up straighter just to try to open her diaphragm more. The tingling moved from her core to her extremities, and she leaned back to rest all her weight on her hands that moved to his lower thighs. Her eyes slammed shut as she continued her movements, Puck moving one of his hands off her thigh to assault her clit.

That was all it took. The scorching feeling circled back around to her center and then burst into flames, spreading throughout her entire body and out in a strangled cry. Puck rode her orgasm into his own, adding to her cacophony of pleasure with his own deep rumblings of noise. She hinged forward until she was lying against him chest to chest, her breath coming out hard and in just as heavily. He moved them ever so slightly so they were no longer connected, and it took her an entire minute just to feel like she could talk.

"I can't believe I've waited this long for _that_."

Puck chuckled softly, his breath still a little ragged. "Yea, well, it wouldn't have been the same with Finn, trust me."

Rachel immediately recoiled, her eyes wide and growing wider when he just stared at her blankly. No apology, no regret. Nothing.

She shuddered as so many different emotions washed over her, guilt and foolishness front and center. How could she have been so naïve? So reckless? Rachel shook her head, getting out of the bed and taking the bed sheet with her, using it to cover herself entirely and looking away until she was sure Puck was covered up, too.

"I can't believe I did this." Her stomach lurched and she wasn't sure if it was from the shame she felt or from the pissed off look in his eyes. "I thought this … You need to leave. You … you haven't changed at all."

"Apparently neither have you," he said, throwing his feet over the side of her bed and bending down to grab his boxer briefs. His jeans were dry now and he put those on, too, before turning around to face her while retrieving his shirt. "Kickin' me out just like last time."

"Are you kidding me?" Rachel gripped the sheet so tightly that her knuckles turned white, her breath shallow and ragged for a completely different reason than it had been two minutes ago. Her heart was thundering in her chest and it had everything to do with the boy in front of her and nothing to do with the man he'd become. "You _broke_ my heart."

"And now you're going to let Finn pick up the pieces?"

"Finn's a good man," she defended quickly, hating when he always turned their arguments back to Finn. They fought constantly growing up, usually off and on between pleasant conversation, but they only ever _argued_ about Finn. "He loves me." Her voice had been strangled at best, but she made sure the rest of her defense came out clear and firm. "I love him."

"So you love him and fuck me?" He questioned as arrogantly as he'd started this argument.

She huffed out a breath and stepped closer, poking him in the chest. "I hate you right now, you know that?"

"Yea, what's new?" He swiped his shirt from the floor and then walked out of the room, slamming her bedroom door on his way out. Seconds later, the door swung open and he reappeared, the fury out of his eyes and replaced with something else. Something more desperate. "Can you just … can you do me a favor?"

She immediately scoffed, not deterred by his reappearance or what it meant. She didn't care if he sounded more concerned than mad. She owed him nothing. He was the one who had left when they were just really starting. He couldn't just swoop in here and expect them to pick up where they'd left off. Except … she'd said that to herself last night, too, and yet that's exactly what had ended up happening.

"Picture your life ten years from now … shit, maybe just five. Can you legit tell me you'll be happy livin' in Brooklyn as Mrs. Hudson, singing songs to your kids that you were meant to be singin' to a different audience every night on Broadway?"

Rachel let out a sob, answering him and not all in the same breath. She wrapped the sheet around her more tightly, clinging to the security of the small shield. Yesterday she'd been on the top of the world and now her life was a mess. She didn't know what to do, didn't know how to fix it, which wasn't necessarily surprising. If this very moment was any indications, she'd obviously failed miserably the last time she'd tried to fix her life.

"Look," Puck cleared his throat, waiting until she looked up at him. "The Marines have a motto and it's always applied more to you than my career anyway. So," he blew out a breath, then continued, "I'm gonna go get my car before they impound it, but … I'll be back."

Rachel watched numbly as he left, the door closing again and not reopening for the few minutes she stood there waiting. She likely would have stood there all day if her phone hadn't started ringing, whoever was texting being persistent enough that the small device wailed out the same tune over and over again without pause. She walked to the living room and riffled through her purse to grab the phone, unsurprised to see almost all the texts were from Kurt. There was one from her fathers and one from Mercedes. She ignored both of them and opened the first of Kurt's three messages – from just this morning.

_Didn't tell Blaine so he suggested surprising you with breakfast. Be warned._

_ Did my best to stop it, but Finn is on board. We're leaving NOW._

_ I refuse to lie if we catch you, so PLEASE answer your FUCKING phone._

Rachel tossed the phone carelessly back into her purse, shuffling back through the apartment and stopping at the bathroom. She turned on the water and then went to her room for a change of clothes. She avoided both mirrors she passed on her way, refusing to look at the shell of the person she'd become. She just wanted to get into the shower and hope against all hope that the water would be able to wash away some of the regret she felt.

She regretted putting Kurt into this position. She regretted lying to Finn. She regretted agreeing to marry him when she knew she wasn't ready for that step. And, most of all, she regretted the fact that she couldn't regret anything that had happened between her and Noah – last night and otherwise.

_ Rachel wasn't sure how she found herself in these situations, but if she had to guess she would blame the young man who was always by her side during said adventures. They were, after all, always his idea and she'd never think to even get herself into such trouble if he weren't so darn charming. She'd __**never **__think of using another family's pool without their permission, especially not when they weren't even home. _

"_You're missing out, Berry," Puck chided again, standing taller in the low water and running a hand across his Mohawk. Rachel watched tiny beads of water spring from the short strands, landing carelessly back in the pool while he meandered to the side. "Water's perfect."_

"_It's still trespassing, Noah," she responded evenly, refusing to let him see that she was wearing down. It was nearly the end of July and close to a hundred degrees outside. She was wearing short jean shorts and a white tank top, and still basically melting poolside. "These people pay you to clean their pool and you are taking advantage of that trust."_

"_It can't get dirty if no one swims in it," he argued lightly, swiping his hand across the top of the water so it jumped out of the pool and across her frame. She gasped loudly and sprung from the patio seat, glaring down at him. "I can see the strings to your suit, so cut the crap and jump in."_

_She glowered at him deeper, then finally relented. She unsnapped her jeans and lifted the tank top up, exposing a pink bikini top with one black flower on the left breast while the bottoms were black with a pink flower on the right side. He was surrounded in what was somewhere around 40,000 gallons of water, but Rachel still saw Puck turn into a puddle at the sight of her. She grinned at him as she walked to the front of the pool, taking the steps inside the water slowly and wading through the thick liquid until she was right in front of him. He was still as stone until she snaked her hands up his chest, resting each of them on his shoulders._

"_Happy?"_

"_Fuckin' understatement of the year, babe," he growled, moving his hands underneath the water to grip underneath her knees so she could do nothing else but hop up and clasp them around his waist. He suctioned his lips to her neck while moving to deeper water, only moving to her lips after he had her pressed against the smooth wall of the back of the pool. _

"_It's still trespassing," she managed, tilting her head back to give him more room to explore._

"_It ain't breakin' the law if they pay me to be here."_

"_I'm sure that's not all they pay you for," she responded flatly, meeting his eyes when he stopped and pulled back to look at her. "Did you think I had forgotten why you started this business in the first place?"_

"_It's not like that anymore." He shook his head as he spoke, just in case the words weren't enough. "You're my girl."_

"_Am I you're only girl?" She asked quietly, unlinking her legs across him when he pulled back even more. He looked torn and sad and pissed all at the same time, his eyes eventually dragging back up to hers._

"_Semper Fi."_

"_What?"_

"_I know I've done some pretty messed up shit before and whatever, but … I'm not tryin' to get into anyone's pants but yours, B."_

"_Charming." She rolled her eyes, letting her hands roam back up his arms. "And, for the record, you aren't getting into my pants anytime soon, buster. It's not part of my life plan until I'm twenty-five."_

"_Twenty-five?" He asked in half-shock and half-mockery. He settled on the last one, shaking his head and chuckling. "'Sokay. I like a challenge." He moved his hands down her frame, repeating the action from earlier until her legs were once again wrapped around his waist. "I'll break ya eventually."_

_Rachel laughed in spite of herself, inwardly thinking he was probably right. "I have no doubt you'll try, Noah."_

"_You know what they say?" He dipped his head down to her ear, whispering softly, "If at first you don't succeed …"_

"_Skydiving is not for you?"_

_He chuckled at the interruption, the laughter dancing across her neck. "Try." He kissed behind her ear. "Try." He sucked on her earlobe, nipping at the soft flesh so masterfully that she shivered and caught on fire at the same time. "Try again."_

Rachel turned the water off, the flashback hitting her just as hard as all the others had lately. Only this one … this one felt more like a clue. In the background she heard her phone ringing again and knew that she likely only had a few minutes to find her answer. She ran out of the bathroom with the clothes she had brought in with her and went into her room, opening her laptop and turning it on. As it loaded she got dressed, and while she started the Internet and opened up a blank search she also managed to dry her hair enough that it wasn't sopping wet. She navigated to the official web site for the Marines, and there it was in the middle of some rah-rah join our club paragraph. The Marine Corps motto: Semper Fidelis.

Rachel had studied enough Latin root words in high school and had performed enough obscure songs at Julliard to know the two words translated to 'Always Faithful'. It hadn't made sense back then because he had shortened it, but now it made even less sense considering everything that has happened between them.

"RACHEL!" Kurt shouted from what sounded to be the doorway. Faintly she heard him defending himself to Finn and Blaine that it was his apartment and he'd be as loud as he wanted. Then he was sprouting off some fast-paced argument about how if Rachel was dumb enough to get so drunk last night that she got a hangover, then she deserved the vocal intrusion. "Oooh Broadwa—"

Rachel looked over at her doorway, only then noticing that tears were streaming down her face. She couldn't see herself, but she saw all she needed to in his expression. The concern in his voice, however, earned Blaine and Finn's attention, both of them appearing behind Kurt seconds later. Finn quickly pushed into her room, coming to kneel down in front of her, his hands running soothingly over her thigh.

"Babe, what's the matter?"

She looked past Finn at Kurt, whose expression likely matched her own because he looked like his heart had just shattered into a million pieces. Gently, she pushed Finn's hands away, pushing her chair back enough that she could stand without touching him, and then she silently led him out of the apartment and up to the roof. He'd been up there a couple of times, always for Kurt's famous rooftop parties. Never because she invited him. _Never_ because she wanted to share something so special to her with him.

She wrapped her arms around herself to keep him from pulling her into a hug. Her eyes fell to the view and absently she wondered how a space could feel so completely different then when, last night, it had felt utterly magical. "There's something I need to tell you."

Finn flinched. It appeared she wasn't the only one who remembered the past well. "Is this … Is this like the last time there was something you needed to tell me?"

Rachel's eyes filled up with tears again, but she owed it to him to at least look at him. She dragged her eyes to the side and gasped softly when she focused on the warm, chocolate gaze she'd known for so long and loved for the same amount of time. She'd been head over heels in love with Finn at the beginning of high school. She would have done anything to be his, and she _did_ do some crazy things to make it happen. But they weren't ready for each other then. And she'd convinced herself that the five years they spent apart as friends had been just what they needed to finally get it right, but she'd been wrong. It hadn't mattered how much time had passed.

He was never going to be Noah.

"Was he here last night?"

Rachel kept his gaze no matter how much it killed her, no words coming out of her mouth but everything they needed to say passing between them. It was high school all over again except this time she hadn't meant to hurt him. He was visibly angry, every part of his body tense. She wanted to reach out and comfort him, the way she knew deep down he wanted to do the same for her. But she couldn't anymore. She couldn't keep using him to feel better, and she couldn't keep letting him let her. She'd done this to him – to _them _– and she couldn't undo it.

"I'm so, so sorry, Finn." Again, she hated herself, but she wasn't apologizing for last night. She was just sorry about _everything_. "I-I can't explain it. When I'm with you I'm one person and when I'm with Noah I'm someone completely different."

Finn scoffed and shook his head, putting some distance between them but otherwise keeping his cool. His fists were clenched at his sides and he took a long moment to stare out at the horizon before looking back at her. She was momentarily proud of how much he'd grown up during the years, but she knew now wasn't the time to mention it. She hoped eventually she'd get the chance, hoped they'd be able to be friends someday.

"Puck's always been able to bring out a different side of you."

His understanding opened a new floodgate, fresh tears leaving her eyes in rapid fire succession. She had no right to cry in front of him over another man, but she couldn't have stopped if she'd tried. She'd barely been able to slip the engagement ring off her finger and hand it to him she'd been shaking so much. As soon as he took it, she placed the bare hand down on the ledge and watched as he walked away.

"For what it's worth," she began unsteadily, halting his exit for just a moment. "I know I should be with you."

He left without saying anything and Rachel watched the door for at least an hour. It wasn't like this morning when she'd been waiting for Noah to come back, but rather she was just unable to do anything else but stare. She felt empty inside, but not numb. Numb would have been a luxury because then she wouldn't feel the immense amount of pain that hadn't just pitched a tent inside her but was mixing up mortar and laying down bricks for a permanent residence. It took all day, but by the time the sun started to set there was such a good foundation built that she was almost used to the hollow ache already.

"Diva?" Kurt questioned sadly, only letting the metal door shut after Rachel moved her head to acknowledge him. "You haven't eaten all day. And some lady from some theater called. And so did your dads, like, five times."

A random tear fell down her cheek and Rachel frowned. She'd really thought she'd been all cried out. Then again, it wasn't the first time she'd been wrong. _Today_. "How's Finn?"

"He'll be fine." That's not what she asked, but she appreciated the answer nonetheless. "He was pretty upset, but I think in the back of his mind he's always known this could happen."

She didn't cry then, so she _knew_ she was cried out.

"I'll be fine, too, even though I don't get to plan a fabulous wedding anymore." She managed to roll her eyes. "At least not yours and Finn's."

"Kurt …" Rachel shook her head, standing for the first time since she'd originally sat down hours ago, her legs unsteady but her voice strong. Kurt had moved to stand right next to her and she could have whispered the words if she wanted but she couldn't. This was serious. "Don't be ridiculous."

"I happen to be very capable of planning a low-key event, thank you very much. And, sure, I'm not exactly up to speed on all the traditional Jewish customs, but I would think I have at least a month to prepare. Maybe two … assuming you two don't just run off somewhere and …"

"Kurt." Her voice was no longer strong. It wasn't shaky or high-pitched or loud. It was weak – and she hated it. "Please."

"You heard the lady." Both of them whipped around, Rachel much more shocked to see him than Kurt had been. "She said please."

"And here I was under the impression that you didn't know what that word meant."

Kurt's laugh ran over her like the wind he'd created when he moved. The two men shared a look and Kurt tossed one back at her behind his shoulder before he slipped back through the metal door and off the roof. Once again Rachel felt rooted to her spot, watching Puck as he drew closer but stayed quiet. His eyes weren't on the view this time, though. They were focused solely on her.

"You came back." It sounded more like a question than a statement, her surprise not disguised at all.

"I said I would."

She nodded, but her voice broke. "You didn't come back last time."

"Yea, well …"

There was no excuse for how long he'd been gone. He couldn't say anything to make her feel better about how he'd left. It didn't matter if he'd done it with the best intentions or not. And still, as crazy as it was, the only thing that mattered was that he came back.

"Maybe this time I won't ever leave."

Rachel released a sob, only this time it wasn't one of anguish. A smile broke onto her face and she crossed the distance between them in three easy steps before wrapping her arms around him. It was quite possible she was choking him, but she didn't care. She held him tightly, and felt him hold onto her just as strongly.

"I don't think Kurt is going to like that idea," she mumbled happily into the warm, soft skin of his neck. "Especially when he finds out about _you know what_."

Puck chuckled, pulling back just enough that they could see each other's eyes. She wasn't sure what he saw, but in his she saw more than just the love he felt for her. It wasn't lust either, though she saw those black flecks in his eyes, too. No, in his hazel eyes she saw a reflection of herself that wasn't clouded by hopes for the future or by past expectations. This reflection was more real and truer to herself than any other one she'd seen for the past five years.

"I think it's a little late for that, B."

Rachel smiled coyly, knowing he was probably right, and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "It's never too late."


End file.
