We Owned the Night

by msred

Summary:

It's been five years. His friends are worried about him, but he doesn't see the problem. He doesn't need to 'move on.' He's FINE without Rachel Berry.

We Owned the Night – Lady Antebellum ~ {www[dot]youtube[dot]com/watch?v=yIAu-dx21Bs}

"Come on dude. She's nice. And cute. Really cute. And you seemed to get along really well at that barbecue Mercedes had. It can't hurt to give her a try, right? And it might help, you know, with your … problem."

"Give it a rest Hudson. And I'm not telling you again, I don't have a problem."

"Puck, it's been five years. Five years without even so much as a date, as far as I can tell. That's a problem." Puck rolled his eyes and turned his back to his best friend and roommate. He wanted the subject dropped, but Finn either didn't get it or didn't care, because he followed him into the kitchen. Finn continued to talk as Puck dug through the fridge, not knowing what he was looking for, if anything. "In high school you barely went five minutes without a girl. I just … you've changed. And I'm not sayin' it's bad! You're still my best friend and you're an awesome roommate and you're way more responsible now and stuff, seriously, you do more around here than I do. Thanks for that, by the way," Puck waved him off nonchalantly, not wanting to get into all that. "But in some ways, it's like I don't even recognize you. You're not the same guy you used to be."

"So what, you're saying you want me to be that guy again? Bangin' anything in a skirt, including your girlfriend?" Puck slammed the fridge and turned to face Finn, who was now staring at him in wide-eyed horror. Yeah, he may be out of practice when it came to getting a girl in his bed. And no, he would never even think about going after Finn's girl. But neither of those facts did much to make Finn feel better about the prospect. "You want to 'fix my problem?' Fine, where's your phone, I'll call Chelsea right now." Puck smirked mischievously at his friend, sure that he had managed to shut him up, at least for a little while.

Finn surprised Puck when the look on his face changed from one of fear to almost giddy, pure glee. "That's a great idea! I'm going to call her. And then one of us," he shot Puck a pointed look that clearly said 'you,' "will call Maddie. I have to work Saturday, but we'll invite them over for dinner Sunday." Finn headed out of the kitchen and toward his room to call Chelsea and fill her in on the plan.

Puck stood, dumbfounded, in the kitchen as his friend walked away. 'Well shit,' he thought, 'that backfired.' It was hard to hear him from the opposite end of the hall, but Puck could have sworn he heard Finn mutter the words 'perfect' and even 'fool-proof.' It wasn't that Puck didn't appreciate his friend's concern (or that of all the rest of his friends, for that matter), he just didn't think he needed it. So what if he hadn't dated anyone since the summer after he graduated from high school. And so what if he hadn't bothered to make any new friends in that time (or even talk to his old ones for a few months there at first), throwing himself into work and his night classes when that fall rolled around. He was doing something with his life, bettering himself and all that shit. They should be patting him on the back, not riding it.

Tell me have you ever wanted
Someone so much it hurts?
Your lips keep trying to speak
But you just can't find the words
Well I had this dream once;
I held it in my hands

Puck expected his last year of high school to be much like the first three – him being generally badass, terrifying the piss out of any loser who dared to get in his way (a couple of times literally), and hanging out (hooking up) with any girl he deemed worthy. Not so much. Sometime in the middle of October, when it actually sank in that Finn and Rachel were finally, really, over, Puck decided, 'what the hell.' There had obviously been something there, something he had been ignoring and pushing down for, well, he didn't really know how long. If Finn was really out of the picture, and it seemed that he was this time, then he was free to try to figure out exactly what that something was. Turned out that something was the kind of thing that a single kiss would only agitate, making it pop up and scream for more. And it was the kind of thing that one date couldn't even touch. So he kept pushing. He pushed until that first kiss (well, not really their first, but yeah, the first one this go 'round, the first one that really counted), a soft, gentle moment outside her car in the school parking lot, turned into repeated, not-so-gentle make-out sessions on her bed. Then he pushed until one date turned into a standing Saturday arrangement and then into 'Rachel & Noah – The Couple.' The fact that it happened wasn't really the surprising part. Now the fact that it all happened by December, that was a little surprising. And the charm bracelet and seven charms he gave her individually over the eight days of Hanukkah – a music note, a gold star, a tiny 'Broadway' street sign, a capital 'N,' and the words 'I,' 'love,' and 'you' – well, that was just something different altogether. He wasn't even really trying for a grand romantic gesture (although, if she took it that way and repaid him accordingly, well, he certainly didn't complain), he just needed her to see the words that his mouth couldn't seem to find.

So Puck spent the rest of that last year of high school being one half of 'Rachel & Noah,' and it was undoubtedly the best thing he had ever done. And though he never told her, because he knew she had dreams of her own and he wasn't quite sure how, or even if, he would fit into them, she had become the center of all of his dreams. While he knew that her dreams were taking her to New York in the fall and he would never even hint that she should do otherwise (fuck that, his girl was gonna OWN that town), he sometimes forgot about all that and allowed himself to imagine what it would be like if it was just them, just Rachel and Noah. Forever.

~.~

"Hey man, how's the grill coming?" Finn's voice drifted through the house and out to the backyard where Puck was checking the coals one last time.

"Good. I think we can throw the meat on any time now." Puck shut the sliding glass door behind him as he made his way back in to get the supplies he needed to start cooking. He loved the smell of the grill in his backyard, but he didn't exactly want the smoke permeating the fabric of his awesome couch. Everyone had made fun of him and Finn when they went shopping for furniture for their house, calling them 'Mr. and Mrs. Puckerman,' (yeah, even in that fucked-up little joke he got to be the man – just the way it was) but they all stopped laughing the first time they sat on, then sank into, the plush micro-suede couch. Since the two men had agreed that once they both decided they were too mature for roommates (or ya know, found women who put an end to it), Puck got to keep the couch while Finn got the dinette, he was a little protective.

"Awesome. Chelsea just texted from the gas station around the corner. They stopped to get a 12-pack and they should be here in a minute." Finn passed Puck the platter of sausages and marinated chicken breasts then grabbed a tray covered in utensils and spices and followed his friend back outside.

"They?"

"Oh, yeah. Turns out Maddie lives really close to her," Puck scoffed at Finn's words. Of course the girls lived close to one another. This was fucking Lima they were talking about here. Everyone lived close to everyone else. "So she offered to give her a ride." Puck only nodded. He still wasn't sure how he felt about this whole set-up.

Puck had met Maddie at a barbecue Mercedes threw over Memorial Day weekend. (Oh shit, she's not gonna think barbecues are like, our thing, or something, is she? I like barbecues. Don't wanna ruin 'em.) Maddie had just been hired to work at McKinley starting the next fall to replace some old bat that Puck vaguely remembered from his time at the school. Mercedes had taken a quick liking to the girl and wanted to make her feel welcome, especially since she was new in town and all, and invited her to come hang out with the gang.

As was usual at these kinds of things, people started pairing off quickly once the initial 'good to see you again' mingling wound down. So it just kind of happened that Maddie and Puck ended up talking, Maddie still not knowing any of the group well enough to be a third wheel and Puck just not interested enough to try to work his way into any of the conversations. (And maybe he was trying to avoid all their questions about a.) if he had talked to Rachel lately – Brittany, or b.) if he had been on any dates lately – everyone else) And yeah, Finn had been right earlier in the week when he said they got along. But it was just that. He 'got along' with her the same way he did with Mercedes or Tina or even Finn. So ok, maybe, just maybe, he was opening up to the idea of actually kinda gaining a new friend that wasn't a significant other to one of his existing friends, but that was as far as it went. Yet he had apparently grown oblivious to his friends' meddling, because he had ended up seeing Maddie three times since Memorial Day on what felt suspiciously like group or double dates when he thought about them afterward.

And now, because Finn just couldn't mind his own damn business, he was having another barbecue with this girl and trying to let her know, in the clearest way possible without being completely rude, that he wasn't interested in gaining anything more than a buddy. He thought he had been doing a pretty good job, but Finn apparently didn't agree. In the middle of yet another lecture about why he needed to just 'suck it up and give her a try,' the men walked into to the house with the rest of the dishes and the remnants of their dinner to hear the girls loading the dishwasher and talking in the kitchen.

"… Tony." They only caught the one word, and they weren't even sure which girl said it, but it was enough to stop both Finn and Puck in their tracks. Finn stole a glance at his friend, but Puck's expression was completely unreadable. Finn had no idea what was going through his mind.

"Maybe they're talkin' about an actual guy?" Finn didn't mean for it to come out as a question. It just sort of happened. And he knew he failed at his attempt at consolation when Puck looked at him with his 'you gotta be shittin' me' face. Finn knew good and well that the Tonys were that night. And he knew Puck knew, because when he went to record it on the DVR, it was already set. He only shrugged then, as if to say 'Sorry man, I tried.'

"I would love to go see a real show sometime," was followed by a sigh, and Finn knew it came from Chelsea. He knew partly because he recognized her voice, and partly because as different as his current love was from his first real love (Chelsea was a paramedic for Christ's sake, Rachel couldn't even watch herself getting a flu shot), that was one thing the two girls shared. Of course, Chelsea wasn't quite at the level of obsession Rachel was, but she did have a bigger soft spot for the theatre than any other girl Finn knew besides Rachel. He smiled a little and congratulated himself on his idea to ask Rachel to get him those tickets for Chelsea's birthday in the fall. Rachel even offered to show them around to her favorite places and hinted that she might be able to get them backstage. It would be Chelsea's first birthday since they got together, right before their first anniversary to boot, and he was going to score major points.

"I went last month, right after graduation. Gift from my parents." Finn stiffened, not wanting to hear what he knew was going to come next. Murray's Law, or something like that. "I got to see the revival of 'Funny Girl.'" And there it was. Fuck you Murray. (Is that right? It doesn't sound right.)

Puck didn't actually respond at all when he heard the girls talking about Broadway and then about Rachel's show. At least, he didn't outwardly respond. In his mind, he was losing it. He was beating the shit out of Finn for talking him into this. He was screaming at Maddie for being such an evil bitch. (She wasn't. He knew that. Good thing he learned to keep those things in his head somewhere along the way.) But most of all, he was hating Rachel (again, not really, but it helped to tell himself that) for being so damn awesome that he couldn't stop hearing about her. Or thinking about her. Or just generally move on, for that matter. He stayed in his own head until the girls turned the corner from the kitchen and Chelsea was absent-mindedly pulling the dishes from his and Finn's hands, her attention focused on Maddie, who was still apparently talking about the show.

"… could be as good as Barbra, but she was amazing. I've never seen heart or passion like that in my life." Puck flinched a little and raised his hand to scratch at the back of his head to disguise the movement. He knew all about Rachel's heart and passion. He knew better than anyone. "It's only right that she be nominated tonight."

Both men were a little startled when Chelsea jumped and squealed a little. "Finn, sweetie …," Finn's eyes widened. He knew what was coming next. Puck took the dishes back from Chelsea and headed toward the kitchen.

"I got this." He had to let Finn handle that situation. If he had stayed to listen to Chelsea begging his best friend to let them watch the Tonys, one way or another, his reaction would have been bad. If he had taken her side and wanted to watch, he would come across as a pussy. If he argued not to watch the awards, Finn would only have more ammunition to use against him later in one of his many arguments about how he really wasn't over her. He was doomed either way, so he figured it was best to just bow out altogether. After loading the last of the dishes into the dishwasher and starting it, and grabbing four fresh beers from the fridge, he decided he had been gone long enough to let this play out on its own and headed back for the living room.

He entered the room to find Finn in the recliner with Chelsea on his lap and Maddie on one end of the couch, the girls still talking animatedly to one another. He guessed they were still talking about the play, but he tuned them out. He didn't need to hear it. He shot a sideways glance at the tv to see red carpet coverage and a countdown to the show, then looked back at Finn to see that puppy dog, 'I didn't mean to eat your favorite shoe,' look on his face. He just sighed resignedly before distributing the beers and taking a seat on the couch opposite Maddie.

Maddie turned to him, a genuine smile on her face, when he sat at the other end of the couch she was on. "So …" she started a little timidly, "what's she like? I mean, I know you guys knew her. I saw a glee picture in the trophy case at school when I took my tour, and I saw another one at Mercedes' house. It was kind of silly, just a bunch of kids goofing around, but it was cute. And you three were front and center."

All eyes were on Puck. Both girls were smiling at him, waiting patiently for him to no doubt spout off some cliché speech about how talented and motivated and driven she was, all the while knowing exactly what her dreams were, and still being a great friend to all of them. Finn's eyes just begged, pleaded really, for him not to answer the question. It didn't work.

She was the purest beauty
But not the common kind
She had a way about her
That made you feel alive
And for a moment
We made the world stand still

"Are you ready Noah?"

Puck shifted his weight onto his other foot and tried not to sigh so loudly that Rachel could hear him from upstairs. By this point, both of her dads, even the scary one, were shooting him sympathetic glances, and the nice one had already been up to her room twice. "Rach, I been standin' at the bottom of these stairs for 20 minutes. I'd say I'm ready."

"Fine Noah. There's no need to be snippy." He ground his teeth together and only managed to keep from storming up the stairs by reminding himself that he had a Berry father on either side of him. "Daddy, are you ready? Do you have the camera?"

"Ready princess, just get down here before your prince leaves without you and we all turn into pumpkins."

"Daddy," she sounded exasperated, "that didn't even make sense." Puck looked from one father to the other and wondered how Rachel, the tiniest, most feminine, most delicate, person he knew, could somehow manage to take grown-ass men down a peg without even being in the room.

"Rachel," apparently, her dad was getting frustrated with her too. Puck thought he remembered something about a date night for the men, but they refused to leave before seeing the couple off to their senior prom. "Enough theatrics. Your father, Puck, and I have been waiting as patiently as possible, but now it's time for you get down here so you can go enjoy your prom."

"Yes sir."

Puck shook his head at Rachel's response. He still couldn't get over the way her dad could be so stern with her and not get so much as a whimper in return. If anyone else had spoken to her in that tone, she would have immediately gone into either diva mode (if it was Mr. Schue or anyone else in glee) or wounded princess mode (that one was special for her daddy and himself).

"I'm coming now." All three men shifted their eyes from their shoes – seriously, it had been a long wait, they had pretty much run out of things to say to each other – to the top of the stairs when they heard Rachel's bedroom door close.

Puck knew he should say something when he saw her, but there was no way that any words would be good enough. His first thought was that he was so glad he finally convinced her that pink was not actually her best color. (What? He got tired of feeling like he was dating a live-action Strawberry Shortcake.) The midnight blue satin of the dress looked awesome against her just-tan-enough skin and the dark curls that cascaded down her back. His second thought was that for a dress that really didn't show any of the good stuff, the sight of her in it was pretty much the most amazing thing he'd ever seen.

Ignoring, or maybe forgetting, that he was standing between her fathers, Puck took the steps two at a time until he met her somewhere just north of the middle. He let his hands rest on her hips and leaned to speak into her ear, his cheek resting against hers. "Ya know I'm not too good with words, unless someone else writes 'em and they go with a guitar. And I know this isn't close to bein' enough, but baby, you look beautiful."

She lifted her hands to rest them on his shoulders and turned her head just enough to drop a soft kiss just in front of his ear before replying. "Thank you Noah. And you clean up quite nicely yourself."

As far as proms go, it was pretty typical, which he guessed was an improvement over their last one. He didn't even remember all that first dance and last dance (all his dances were with Rachel, so did it really matter?) and King and Queen bs. To be honest, he kind of enjoyed what came after more than the prom itself. He had promised both Rachel and her dads, separately, that he wouldn't leave her house until they got home. He had been surprised the first time they asked him to stay over when they were out of town, but he soon realized how much they worried about Rachel when they weren't around, more on an emotional front than a physical one, and he wasn't about to argue anyway.

"You know, you can leave if you want to. I know there are a lot of parties you could be at," she said quietly as they sat on her couch watching 90s sitcoms on Nick-at-Nite. He had changed into a pair of football sweats and a t-shirt he'd brought along and she had slipped out of her dress and into pajamas (eventually), her face scrubbed of make-up but her hair still curled and (sort of) neatly pulled back.

"I know." He turned the volume down a couple notches as she tilted her head up to look at him, her chin resting on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm a little more tightly around her. "But I don't want to." He kissed the tip of her nose when she smiled so widely it wrinkled a little.

Rachel settled her cheek back onto his shoulder and sighed slowly before speaking again. "Quinn was very pretty tonight. And Santana's dress …"

Puck gently but forcefully pushed her off of him until she was sitting upright. "Rachel – don't." he told her sternly.

"What?"

He shook his head a little before closing his hands over hers in her lap and running his thumbs over her knuckles. "Ya know, if it was anybody else, I'd accuse of you fishin' right now. But I know you only do that about your talent and shit." He tugged on her hands a little to get her to look up at him. "So instead, I'm gonna tell you to stop bein' so damn insecure and ridiculous. You don't look anything like Quinn or Santana." Rachel dropped her head again, but he moved his right hand from her lap to cup her jaw, pulling her face up to his and leaning his forehead against hers. "And baby, that's a good thing. Everybody knows how fake Santana is, in every sense of the word. And Quinn, she's just as fake, in her own way. She's like this, this porcelain doll version of pretty. It just doesn't seem real. But my girl," he moved his left hand around her waist and to the small of her back to pull her closer, "she's as real as it gets. And I dare anyone, even you, to try to find someone more beautiful. Ain't happenin'."

Yeah we owned the night

Seeing that Puck was in fact going to respond to Maddie's innocent question, Finn opened his mouth to beat him to it. Unfortunately, without taking his eyes from his beer bottle, Puck cut him off. "Beautiful." His eyes lifted slightly, scanning the room around him. Finn was kind of glaring at him, shaking his head a little. Puck knew that Finn really didn't want him going down this road, not with Maddie around anyway. But the girls seemed oblivious, thinking of his response only as something nice one friend would say about another. "But not like, beauty queen or movie star or supermodel beautiful." He had turned and was actually talking to Maddie now, partly because she was the one who had asked the question and partly because he didn't want to see the look on Finn's face. It would probably be the same look Finn got every time Puck talked about Rachel, which, to be fair, was not often. Why would he do that to himself? He also didn't want to hear Finn's voice in his head, 'Yeah dude, I know. I lived it, remember? I was there in high school and I've been here ever since she left.' And even Chelsea knew enough of the story just from being around the boys the past eight months. But Maddie, she wanted to know. So he was telling her. "She was like, real beautiful."

Puck's mouth closed and he turned his attention back to his beer, and Finn relaxed a little, thinking Puck was finished. 'That wasn't so bad,' he thought, tightening his grip on Chelsea's waist with one hand and lifting his beer to his lips with the other. The girls shared a small smile, both impressed by this softer side of Puck, a side neither had seen before. Maddie settled back against the arm of the couch and turned back to the television, only to be startled when Puck began speaking again.

"And when you were with her, or just around her, you felt … special. Like, she was so special that she made everything she did special." Maddie swallowed a little harder than she meant to at Puck's words. This was certainly not the kind of response she had expected when she asked about the boys' former classmate. Puck didn't really seem like a 'pour your heart out' kind of guy. She felt like she was being left out of some big private joke or something. She looked to Finn and Chelsea for some kind of support, or even insight. Chelsea was clearly as surprised as Maddie, but Finn just looked pissed, and maybe a little like he was going to be sick. "'Being a part of something special makes you special.'" Puck murmured the last sentence almost too quietly for anyone to hear, but Maddie was on the same couch, and she did hear. A little deflated, more from the way he said it than from the actual words, she sank farther into the couch and took a larger-than-necessary swig of her beer.

After two or three very long minutes of near silence, Finn finally spoke up. "Oh look! It's starting," it was obvious to everyone in the room that he was feigning excitement, but no one called him on it. "I just love Neil Patrick Harris. He's hilarious. Don't you love NPH, babe?" He squeezed Chelsea's hip, willing her to play along.

"Huh? Oh yeah, he's hosted several times. He's very good at it. So charming. His monologues are always so funny." She smiled warmly at the other girl, hoping to ease the tension a little, as her boyfriend shot hateful stares at his best friend. At this rate, it was going to be a very long night.

You had me dim the lights;
You danced just like a child
The wine spilled on your dress
And all you did was smile
Yeah, it was perfect
I hold it in my mind

"There you are B. I been lookin' for ya for like, 30 minutes babe." When Rachel had climbed off his lap with only a chaste kiss in explanation and left the yard, he had assumed she was going to the restroom. When she wasn't back after five minutes, he started to wonder about her. After 10, he went looking. The Hummels' house was nice, but it wasn't that freakin' big. It should not have taken that long to find one little diva. He hadn't even known there was an attic until Finn asked if he'd checked it. That info would've been helpful 20 minutes earlier.

"We graduated Noah!" Rachel beamed at him from the middle of the room, one hand gesturing wildly in front of her and the other holding a champagne flute.

"I know babe. S'why all the rest of us are downstairs at our graduation party. Question is, why are you hiding in the attic?" He chuckled when she rolled her eyes at him, as if, as always, the answer was completely obvious.

"I'm not hiding Noah. I just –," she pointed to the wall next to where he was standing. "Turn out the light." She waved her hand to hurry him along when he hesitated, looking at her like she may have lost her mind. "Come on. Turn out the light and get over here." Knowing there was no point in arguing, or even asking questions, Puck did as he was told. As soon as the lights were out, he understood.

With the overhead lights turned off, Puck could see that Rachel was standing under a skylight. By some stroke of fate or kismet or what-the-fuck-ever, their high school graduation fell on a full moon. The bright light from the moon and the stars that were easily visible in a small town like Lima lit her from above, giving her a sort of halo. Her hair had this soft glow and her blue dress shimmered. He loved the way it hugged her curves so that he could see her chest rising gently with each breath. Most of all he loved that she actually wore clothes like that now. He totally did that, that whole confidence thing that made her comfortable enough to wear those clothes.

Puck let his feet carry him to her, stopping behind her to wrap his arms around her waist. He rested his cheek against the side of her head as she stared up at the sky above them. She sighed dreamily as she leaned back against his chest. "Isn't it beautiful?

"So fucking beautiful." But Puck wasn't looking at the sky. "How'd you know about this?" He felt his chest tighten as a thought hit him and he stiffened his posture behind her. "You … you've never been up here with Finn, have you?"

Puck didn't relax until he felt Rachel's head moving back and forth across his chest. "Only Kurt."

He smirked and considered making a sarcastic joke about how that wasn't any better, but it seemed like Rachel was having some kind of moment or something, and he didn't want to screw with that. For as excited as she seemed to be right now about graduating, she had definitely had moments of extreme nervousness about the "next step." To be honest, he didn't really get it. She had always been more sure about her future than anyone he had ever known. The only reason he never tried to argue with her about how ridiculous she was being was because he had a feeling her apprehension had something to do with them, and he understood that feeling well. He hadn't exactly gotten his shit together in time to be able to go to New York with her in the fall, so the plan was for him to stay around Lima for the first year to work and go to community college, then join her the next year. It was better than nothing, but it was certainly not ideal.

"Dance with me Noah?" Her voice broke his trance and he smiled down at her when she turned in his arms upon hearing the music drifting up to them from the party outside. He nodded and shifted his right hand up to the middle of her back while his left one found hers out to the side of their shoulders. He could feel her glass resting against his shoulder blade as she settled her left arm on his right one and dropped her head to his shoulder, following his lead to spin slowly around the attic. They kept dancing even once the music stopped and they fell back into silence.

After a couple minutes in which there was no sound other than the crickets and the occasional laugh or shout from one of their friends, a much faster beat reached their ears. Rachel squealed and jumped away from Puck, a blinding smile on her face. Apparently someone had suggested karaoke, because it was Blaine's voice that they heard instead of Pink's. She bounced around him, ruffling his mohawk and craning over his shoulder to sing into his ear. The words, 'Where's the rock and roll?' coming out of Rachel Berry's mouth only made him laugh and shake his head at his giddy girlfriend. And when she thrust her glass into the air as if following Blaine's instructions and the champagne sloshed over the side and down the front of her dress, he had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from bellowing out loud. "Umm, ya drunk babe?" His voice rose playfully on the last word.

Still smiling, she shook her head at him. "Hmm-umm. This is only my second glass." Even with the champagne that now rested on her dress instead of in the glass, it was nearly full. Not even Rachel got drunk off one glass of champagne. He was actually really glad that she wasn't drunk; it reminded him of how awesome they were together. No one else got to see Rachel this way, all cool and relaxed. Even with her closest friends she still kept up a shield, not wanting to become vulnerable by opening herself up completely. But with him, she didn't hold anything back. He was her Noah and she was his Rachel, and that chick was pretty much the coolest person on the planet.

Yeah, we owned the night

Few words were spoken for the first 20 minutes of the broadcast. Puck stared blankly at the television, seeming to have forgotten that anyone else was in the room. Chelsea quietly pointed out dresses that she liked, trying to draw Maddie back into a more comfortable place, while Finn silently brooded over his beer, thinking of all the things he would do to pay Puck back for screwing up this thing with Maddie. He was tired of having a lonely, pouting (Puck denied it, and it wasn't overly obvious, but Finn had known him since, well, forever) shell of his best friend for a roommate. Hell, Finn and their other friends had even done all the leg work for him. All Puck had to do was sit here and lay on some of that charm that used to ooze naturally out of him, and he couldn't even do that.

Finn had just started to relax, realizing that Puck hadn't spoken since his little dissertation on Rachel's beauty and that Chelsea seemed to have succeeded in cheering Maddie up, when he saw both girls' expressions change to something resembling horror. He followed their line of sight to the tv just as the point of view shifted from the stage to the back of the theatre. He saw the curtain that was hanging there flutter just a little as the plucky, deliberate music began, and even though he hadn't heard Neil Patrick Harris announce her, he knew that in a matter of seconds Rachel Berry would come out from behind that curtain. And if he had to guess, he would say that Kurt and/or Blaine would be seated strategically along the aisle where she could drop down into his lap "spontaneously." It kind of felt like things had come full circle, really, her singing that song and him pissed at Puck over a girl. But this time, Finn wasn't the heartbroken one. And Puck was the one who looked like he was getting ready to start kicking things.

But he didn't. And he didn't storm out of the room or throw his beer bottle at the wall or even move from the couch. Instead, he leaned forward, forearms resting on his thighs and eyes narrowed at the tv, and he started to talk. Not just talk, talk … to the tv. "Is that what you thought," Puck started as Rachel began to sing the first verse, "that I didn't want you to live? That I was going to rain on your parade?" It wasn't easy to hear Puck's voice over Rachel's very powerful one pouring out of the television speakers, but it wasn't impossible either. Maddie and Chelsea both lowered their eyes to their hands, trying to find anything to alleviate the awkward tension of the situation, but Finn stared unabashedly at his friend. It was the first time that he had really seen inside what was going on with Puck. Sure, he knew that not talking to Rachel since she left for New York almost five years ago had affected his friend, and he knew that he had avoided even the hint of a relationship of any kind in that time, but Finn chalked it up to stubbornness and pride. Apparently, it was so much more than that.

When the summer rolls around
And the sun starts sinking down
I still remember you
Oh, I remember you
And I wonder where you are
Are you looking at those same stars again?

Puck had to stifle his laugh when he saw Rachel fly nearly a foot off the seat beside him. The gravel road he had turned onto just outside of town had long since turned into not much more than a glorified hiking trail, and the tree roots he was driving over (not exactly cautiously) had been sending her tiny body flying all over the seat for almost 10 minutes now.

"Noah," Rachel breathed out, exasperated, "I'm not even going to waste my time asking you, yet again, where we are going. But can you at least, please, tell me if we're almost there? I'm afraid I won't be able to attend my dance class tomorrow at this rate, and I don't even want to think about the unimaginable bruises I am going to have in unmentionable places."

He had been holding back his smiles and his laughter for a while, but he could not control his smirk at her comment. "Don't worry babe. I'll kiss 'em all better." He kept one eye on the path in front of him, but he had to sneak a peek at her, because he wouldn't miss the blush he knew would be overtaking her face. So worth it. "But yeah. We're here."

"Wha – Noah, I don't understand. We're in the middle of the woods."

"No, we were in the middle of the woods. Now we're in a clearing. Come on." Puck turned off the ignition and slid out of the truck, making it to her side before Rachel even had a chance to collect herself and open the door. "Princess," he swung the door open and bowed in front of her, mocking her just a little for all her pouting on the drive.

"Cute." Rachel jumped out of the truck and brushed past him, turning slow circles in the open field, taking in the sights around her. The clearing really was beautiful. Behind the truck was a nearly solid wall of trees. It was actually surprising that he had managed to fit the truck through the woods at all. Opposite the trees, a small but rapidly moving creek separated the clearing from another dense forest. And the clearing itself, it was nearly breathtaking. The grass was thick and lush, with deep blue and purple wildflowers popping up unexpectedly in random places throughout. "Noah, this is beautiful. But why are we here? And … oh God. We're not trespassing are we? I don't want to go to jail!"

Puck laughed at Rachel. Once upon a time, her super-ability to make anything overly dramatic would have made him roll his eyes and hightail it out of there. Now, he just appreciated how truly 'Rachel' it was. "Well, first, we're here because, yeah it's summer, but I'm pool-ed and park-ed and ice cream-ed out. We needed somethin' different. And second, no, you're not going to jail. I'm not sure exactly who owns it, but 'bout this whole forest belongs to some Puckerman or other. My dad was a deadbeat, but he brought me and Sarah here sometimes before he took off." He paused for a moment, staring down at the line his foot was tracing in the tall grass until he felt Rachel's hand rub gently up his bicep. "His family don't really have anything to do with us," he shrugged, "but I'm pretty sure they know I come out here, and they don't ever say anything about it either. And yeah. It's beautiful. S'why I knew you'd like it."

"Did you … I mean, was there anything in particular you had in mind?"

"Nah," he shrugged again, nonchalantly." Just wanted you to see it. And I thought we could, dunno, talk or somethin'. We been really busy since school got out, and I don't want the summer to end without us really takin' advantage of it."

Rachel took the few steps necessary to close the gap between their bodies and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her chin on his chest to look up at him. "Have I told you lately what an amazing boyfriend you are?"

"Yeah." He smirked down at her. "But I don't mind. You can say it again." His smirk shifted to a smile when she squeezed her arms tighter around his middle.

"Well," Rachel lifted onto her tip toes to kiss him softly on the lips, "you are the sexiest, most thoughtful, and yet most badass boyfriend ever." She kissed him again, and he gently worked his tongue into her mouth before she had a chance to pull away. Puck growled into her mouth when he felt her hands slip into his back pockets. "Ok," he moaned as she pulled away. "So, what do you do in the middle of the woods …" she stopped herself when she saw him start to interrupt her, "I'm sorry, a clearing in the middle of the woods, on a lovely day like today?"

Once he finished 'teaching' her to skip rocks in the creek (damn if she wasn't almost better than he was after the first try), Puck and Rachel spent the afternoon in the clearing on a blanket that Puck pulled from behind the passenger seat of the truck. There was no real rhyme or reason to anything that they talked about, the topics jumping from video games to current movies to Rachel's fathers' upcoming Fourth of July barbecue and everything in between. After several hours of laying on that blanket and doing pretty much nothing until the sun disappeared and the stars took its place, Rachel interrupted their silly game of making up their own constellations (often with somewhat inappropriate names, at least on Puck's turns).

"Umm, Noah," she paused until he pulled her tighter and hummed into her ear, "today has been awesome. I mean it. I've really, really enjoyed it. But, I have to know something." He still didn't speak, turning his head and kissing her temple to signal her to continue. "Have you … Well, how many other girls have ever been here with you?"

Puck pushed himself up to a sitting position, looking down at her seriously. "Rachel, the only person I ever brought out here before today is the brat. It's just, well," he paused, waiting while Rachel pushed herself up to sit facing him, "this was the only place I ever had any decent memories with my dad. Then he took off and that went to Hell. I didn't come back out here for a long time after that. Then when the brat" he ignored the way Rachel rolled her eyes as he used the 'offensive' nickname a second time, "started to get in trouble at school, pullin' some of the same shit I pulled, I thought maybe it was time to make some new memories. I know how bad I've screwed up. I didn't want her to make my mistakes. So I thought maybe if I started, ya know, spendin' more time with her, maybe stepped up and took over where my dad left off, it would help. I think it did, she hasn't been in trouble in a long time. Her grades were actually kinda awesome this year." He stopped involuntarily, cut off when Rachel's lips met his own. He must have gotten that stupid, dopey 'I'm-proud-of-my-little-sister-cause-I'm-a-good-big-brother' look again. Rachel always got excited over that look.

"I'm sorry. Continue." She blushed as she pulled away from him, his right hand still sliding through a section of her hair.

He smirked at her before continuing. "Yeah, well, moral of the story, this place kinda holds like, special meaning for me now or whatever. Some of the only good times I ever had with my family happened here. I couldn't let this summer end without gettin' you out here too." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. "Ya know, before you become a big star and everything."

Do you remember when?

The song was almost over. Rachel had made it up onto the stage and was building up to her breathtaking finale (after a brief stop to dote on Kurt – called it), and Puck was still talking. He had taken a break in the middle to just take her in – Rachel had performed the song amazingly at Sectionals all those years before, but that was nothing compared to the way she sounded now with the added experience and the maturity her voice had gained over the years. But then, as if he couldn't control himself, Puck picked up where he had left off.

"Did you really think I wouldn't support you? That I would try to keep you down? You know better than that shit. I've always been your biggest fan."

"He knows she's not here, right?" Finn whispered into Chelsea's ear. "I mean, you don't think he's like, losing his mind or something do you?" Chelsea just closed her eyes and put a finger over her mouth, shaking her head at her confused boyfriend.

"I wanted this for you, ya know. I just hoped not to be watching it on the fuckin' television. I thought I made that shit clear that summer. Ruined summer for me, too, by the way. You're everywhere here in the summer. Can't even drive by a park or a pool without flashbacks. That shit's just not cool."

The three other pairs of eyes in the room grew with surprise at Puck's last admission. It wasn't lost on anyone that it was June. June is summer. Maddie refused to make eye contact with Finn or Chelsea, clearly uncomfortable with the turn the evening had taken. She felt a little like an idiot. She didn't think that things had been moving along all that well with Puck – she certainly wasn't hearing wedding bells or anything – but she didn't realize that she had spent these past few weeks trying to empty the Pacific Ocean with a teaspoon.

Puck moved for the first time since starting his one-sided conversation with the woman inside his television. As the last powerful note of the song drew to a close, he scrubbed a hand down his face then threw himself back against the couch. When the theatre, and therefore his living room, filled with applause, he dropped his head back onto the back of the couch and let out a deep sigh.

We woke under a blanket
All tangled up in skin
Not knowing in that moment
We'd never speak again
But it was perfect;
I never will forget
When we owned the night

Believe it or not, the whole thing was Rachel's idea. Puck's plan for that night, the one before she went to New York (he refused to use the word 'last,' not happening), was dinner at this new Indian restaurant just out of town that apparently had a lot of meatless dishes. He wasn't even sure she knew about the place yet, but the idea of surprising her with something she would never expect from him was pretty exciting. After dinner he was just going to take her home and spend the evening on her couch letting her control the remote. He couldn't think of anything that would make Rachel happier than a free pass at whatever musicals she wanted to watch, but honestly, it was pretty much his dream night too. Even after nine months of dating, Rachel still felt the need to play 'perfect hostess' whenever he was at her house. At first he thought it was kind of amusing, so he drank so much pop when he was there that he was pissing all through the night, just because he found it funny the way she jumped up and ran to the kitchen every time he hinted at being thirsty. But soon into the relationship he put a stop to that because the amusement he got at watching her play waitress had nothing on the way he felt when she was snuggled up with him on the couch. (Shut up. He was not a pussy. His girl was just that good.) And then to top it off, when he let her watch whatever sappy movie she wanted, that, ok, maybe he didn't always hate, she was like a fuckin' cat. Seriously. She curled all up on him in a tiny little ball, gripping at his shirt, and legit purred every time he touched her. Purred! So yeah, no complaints about chillin' on her couch for the night.

But then he got there to pick her up, and she was bounding down the front porch steps and waving to her dads over her shoulder before he even got his door open. As soon as he was on his feet he saw the duffel bag over her left shoulder. It was nearly as big as she was, not easy to miss. "Uh, babe? You're not goin' to New York now. You know that, right?"

"Oh Noah," she tip toed to peck his lips, "don't be silly." (Right. He was the 'silly' one.) She struggled to lift the bag into the truck's bed and he rolled his eyes, grabbing the bag with one hand and flinging it effortlessly over the side of the truck. "Of course I know that. This is for us." She squeezed his bicep in thanks then walked to the passenger side of the truck.

"Ok, so, ya gonna share?" He waited until Rachel was strapped into the seat to question her about the mysterious bag sliding around the bed of his truck.

"Nope," she grinned over at him mischievously. "Just take me to the woods."

"The … You mean the clearing?"

"Right. The clearing in the woods."

Puck didn't say much on the drive, and while Rachel didn't either, he didn't miss the way she kept fidgeting and bouncing in her seat, fiddling with the radio so often they didn't listen to a single song all the way through. His girl was trying to hide something and she was obviously excited about it. She was so not good at being sneaky, and normally he would take advantage of that, teasing and ribbing at her until she (quickly) broke. But tonight, he didn't want to take whatever it was away from her. If she was happy, the last thing he was going to do was ruin that for her.

When they reached the edge of town and turned onto the familiar (to him, she'd still only been there the one time) gravel road, he could feel the seat begin to practically vibrate beneath him. Her fidgeting and bouncing had intensified, and he was getting pretty excited himself just to see what this was all about. When he finally maneuvered the truck through the last cluster of trees and into the open area bordered on the other side by the creek, Rachel was out of the truck before he had even turned off the engine. By the time he had slid out of the truck and closed the door behind him, Rachel was scrambling over the side and up into the bed of the truck. He could've helped her, but this way was much more amusing. He waited until she was on her feet and tugging at the zipper of the duffel bag before he said anything.

"Now you gonna fill me in? I kinda made plans here."

"Well, too bad. I made plans too. And I think once you hear mine, you will be more than happy to set yours aside." The first thing she pulled from the bag was a soft-shelled cooler, the kind barely big enough to fit a 12-pack (although he was nearly positive that was not what was in it). Without a word, she handed the insulated tote to him and, because he didn't know what else to do, he stood beside the truck and held it dumbly. The next items out of the bag, which she paid little to no attention to as she tossed them aside, looked like clothes. More specifically, they looked like pajamas – he saw the bright polka dot pattern that graced the shorts of her summer pjs and a tank top in a matching color, and there was something in there that looked suspiciously like his favorite thread-bare flannel pants that he hadn't been able to find for the past month or so. Finally, she seemed to have gotten her hands on what she was digging for.

"What the Hell? Rach, is that …?" His voice trailed off as he watched her toss the duffel bag out of the truck and spread out a – yep – that was an air mattress.

"You have one of those portable air pump tank things in your truck, right? The kind you plug into your cigarette lighter in case you have a flat tire?"

"Yeah babe. I got an air compressor. Mind if I ask why?"

"Noah! I would think it would be obvious. I'm not about to inflict that kind of strain on my lungs and throat, and I wouldn't think of asking you to either."

Puck stared at his girlfriend in wonder. This girl never ceased to amaze him in one way or another. Right now it was with her ability to believe that she was making perfect sense when really, she was being cryptic as all hell. "Ok. Let's start over. From the beginning this time. Why am I holding a big-ass lunchbox while my tiny, crazy girlfriend fucks around with a deflated air mattress in the back of my truck and asks me for an air compressor?"

Rachel sighed and planted her hands on her hips. "Based on my research, the bed of your truck should be just about the perfect size for a queen-sized mattress, which is highly convenient, since the idea of sleeping on the ground with only a layer of rubber and some air between myself and the dirt is not at all appealing. For either of us to attempt to inflate the mattress using sheer lung-power would be exhausting."

"Yeah, still gonna need you to go back a bit farther." Did she really think he cared about the logistics of making the mattress fit and getting it blown up? Come on, he had bigger things to deal with here. Like, for starters, what exactly she was planning on needing the mattress for in the first place. 'Cause he had a hard time convincing himself that her plan was what he hoped it was.

Rachel exhaled slowly and walked over to the side of the bed, leaning down and placing a hand lightly on her boyfriend's shoulder. She spoke softly and slowly, much the way she would to a small child. Or Brittany. "Noah, sweetheart," he rolled his eyes a little at the sappy nickname, one which she (thankfully) used rarely, "I wanted to spend tonight with you. Just you." She stopped for a moment to watch the understanding, and happiness, settle on his face. "And my dads trust me and understand what an important night this is for us, so they agreed. I even talked to your mom, who was just happy to be getting advanced warning that her son wouldn't be home until morning. Obviously we can't just go into a hotel and get a room for the night, and this place is special, both to you and to us. So I couldn't think of a better way to spend this night than out here, under the stars with my incredible, sexy boyfriend."

Somewhere in the middle of Rachel's monologue, Puck had, without taking his eyes off her, bent to place the bag, which he was now positive was full of food, on the ground. As soon as she stopped talking, he cupped her face in his hands and pulled her lips to his. He kissed her softly, but passionately, for as long as he could before needing to breathe again. "And I came up with fuckin' Indian food." He scoffed, still holding her so that his forehead pressed against hers.

"Indian food?" The curious lilt at the end of the question almost made it sound as if she was having second thoughts about her plan.

"Fuck no baby. We ain't goin' nowhere." After taking over 'bed duty' while Rachel set up the picnic dinner she had brought along, Puck built a fire and didn't even pretend not to watch as Rachel changed into her tiny little pajamas. For the rest of the evening and well into the late-summer dusk, they sat around the fire talking and laughing, having a marshmallow-roasting contest (Puck totally kicked her ass at that one, she couldn't get her marshmallow within a foot of the fire without it bursting into flame), and basically doing anything possible to avoid discussing the thing that was slowly getting closer and closer to eating them both alive.

The next morning, Puck woke long before Rachel did. He lay on the mattress in the back of the truck, the light blanket Rachel had packed pushed down around their waists and Rachel's upper half nearly covering his own while his arms wrapped snugly around her bare shoulders. Under the blanket he could feel her legs rubbing against his own as she shifted to find a more comfortable position. He relaxed his legs and allowed her to slip one of hers between his thighs, her foot landing on the back of his calf. He smiled into her hair when he felt her chest heave with a deep sigh. He was Puck. He wasn't supposed to get that warm feeling in his stomach just because someone else was this happy. But he did. And he was glad. Rachel was basically the best thing that ever happened to him. He forced away the thought that after that day, he would have to rely on phone calls and e-mails and actual words to know how she was feeling. He reminded himself that it was necessary. She had to leave to make all her dreams come true. If that meant he had to put what he wanted on the back burner for a little while until he was good enough to fit into those dreams, so be it.

Not wanting to wake her, but needing to do something, Puck began running one hand softly up and down Rachel's back and using the other to finger chords on her shoulder. Almost without realizing it was happening, he began to sing lowly into her ear, kind of hoping that she would just like, absorb the words in her sleep or some shit without actually waking up (again, not a pussy, just a kick-ass boyfriend). Just before he got to the final verse, Puck was pretty sure that Rachel had been awake for a good minute. It wasn't much, but damn if he wasn't so in tune with her that he felt the way her breathing had changed and he knew she was just laying there, soaking it all up. Since she was awake anyway, there was no harm in leaning a little closer and singing a bit louder. "I said I love you, that's forever."

There was zero room for doubt when he felt her turn her head and press a kiss onto his bare chest. When he felt her hot tears hit his skin, Puck lifted his hand from her shoulder and used it to tip her chin up so that her tear-filled eyes looked back into his own slightly misty ones. "I could not love you any better, I love you just the way you are." He pressed his lips to her forehead and whispered against her skin. "Good morning beautiful." That was all it took to break her, and without warning Puck felt her body begin to shake. He held her for several long minutes as she cried into his shoulder, not saying a word. He told himself that he was just focused on comforting Rachel, but somewhere deep inside, he knew he was afraid that as soon as he opened his mouth, his tears would join hers.

Pretending that the breakdown hadn't happened, the couple rose from their make-shift bed and packed up their campsite in near silence. The quiet continued on the drive back to Rachel's house. Even the radio was kept so low that they could barely hear it. This was one time when they both knew that anything they said would only make the situation more difficult. So they continued saying nothing, even as they stood on her front porch after Puck had deposited the camping gear in the garage. Finally, knowing they couldn't draw it out any longer, partly because Rachel and her dads had to leave in less than an hour to get to the airport and partly because it just hurt too damn much, Puck kissed her long and slow, somehow leisurely and desperately at the same time. "I love you B." He leaned in and whispered the words hoarsely into her ear, because he really couldn't speak any other way at the moment. He might have come up with something more to say if he had realized it would be the last time he said anything to her.

Yeah, we owned the night

For the next hour, no one acknowledged that Puck had experienced something resembling a mental breakdown. A couple times Chelsea reached across the end table to loosely grip Maddie's fingers and silently ask her if she wanted to go home. Maddie only shook her head and the second time went to get another beer. The atmosphere in the room never returned to what any of them would call comfortable, but it was almost as if anyone admitting that that something awkward had happened would only make it that much more uncomfortable. But although everyone was kind of on edge, the tension level grew exponentially when NPH introduced some woman the guys had never heard of and the girls were only vaguely familiar with to announce the nominees for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical.

All eyes went to Puck (subtly of course, well, except for Finn) when Rachel's name was called and the camera panned to her in the audience, flanked by Kurt and Blaine, each squeezing one of her hands tightly and smiling widely at her as she pressed her eyes closed tightly and worked to control her breathing. And then when her name was called again, as the winner this time, they continued to watch as he scooted closer to the edge of the couch and his jaw ticked. So they really weren't surprised when he opened his mouth and the words fell out.

"Knew you'd make it B. Just always kinda hoped I'd be there with ya." Puck got up and left the room before Rachel made it onto the stage, so he didn't see the simple silver bracelet that caught the stage lights when she lifted her hand to grip the microphone, or the tiny gold star that glistened as it hung among the other charms.

Chelsea slid off Finn's lap and onto the couch next to Maddie as soon as she heard Puck's bedroom door close. She had looked at the other girl out of the corner of her eye once Puck had his back to them and it was impossible to miss the tears rolling slowly down her cheeks. Maddie only stood and shook her head at her new friend. "I-I'm just gonna go. Finn, thank you for dinner, but do you have a phonebook so I can call a cab? Nevermind," she continued before he could answer, "I'll just look it up. What are iPhones for, right? Or maybe I'll call Mercedes. I don't know." She spun in a circle in front of the couch, clearly disoriented. "Where … where is my purse, anyway?"

Chelsea stood to put an arm around the other girl's shoulders, but Finn was still glued to his chair, his eyes nervously darting between Maddie's face and the hall Puck had disappeared down. "Oh sweetie," Chelsea spoke in a low, soothing tone that Finn recognized as the one she used when her little sister called, distraught, from college, "don't be silly. Come on, we'll get our stuff out of the hall closet and I'll take you home. Or maybe back to my house. Girl time."

"No no no." Maddie shook her head vehemently. "I'm not going to mess up yours and Finn's night. I can get myself home."

Finn, finally finding his voice, jumped out of the chair quickly and rushed to his girlfriend's side. "It's fine. Really. I have to work early tomorrow, so she would be leaving soon anyway." He looked to Chelsea, a little afraid that he might have hurt her feelings, but she only smiled proudly up at him.

"Besides," Chelsea began, bumping a hip against Finn's, "I don't really wanna listen to the lover's quarrel that I know is going down between Mr. and Mrs. Puckerman later."

Finn threw his arms into the air in exasperation. "Why does he always get to be the man?" Chelsea closed her eyes and shook her head at him, clearly telling him that it wasn't the time. The three made their way toward the front door, Finn stopping to get the girls' purses from the closet along the way.

"Maddie, I'm really sorry. I would never have had Puck invite you over if I had known any of this would happen." Finn held the door open for the girls and looked apologetically at Maddie as she made her way onto the front porch. "I mean," he started again, quickly, "I woulda invited you, but you know, not like, for Puck, and …"

"It's ok," Maddie cut him off before he could go any farther. She may not have known Finn all that long, but it had been long enough to know that he could go on like that for quite a while. He was a very sweet man, but not the best with words. She smiled reassuringly at Finn and rested a hand on his forearm as she turned her gaze to meet Chelsea's eyes. "I mean, I didn't really expect this to be a long-term thing in the first place. Nothing against Puck, he seems like a good guy," Finn scoffed, clearly annoyed with his friend, but she kept talking, "but I never pegged him as a one-woman-man, seemed a little afraid of commitment. Turns out it was the exact opposite problem. He's an only-one-woman-in-the-world-man, and he's been completely committed to her since he was what, 17, 18?"

'Longer than that,' Finn wanted to add, but for once, he got control of his mouth before his foot managed to slip in.

"I could never compete with that. I wouldn't even want to try." Finn finally nodded in resignation and Chelsea slipped her arm back around Maddie's shoulders. "To be honest, I wasn't actually crying over him. I was crying for him. For them." Chelsea led Maddie to the car and Finn closed the door behind them. He sighed and walked slowly back to the living room to try to catch some Reds highlights on SportsCenter before he went to bed. After Maddie's comments he wasn't so sure he wanted to lay into Puck anymore. He didn't think he needed to.

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