Prince Charming
Title: Prince Charming
Pairing, Character(s): Noah Puckerman/Rachel Berry
Rating: PG-13 since Puck swears a little
Word Count: 2359
Spoilers: Through "A Very Glee Christmas"
Written for thecuteberry for the gleesecretsanta gift exchange.
The snowflakes fell softly as Rachel stood in the middle of the Christmas tree lot, ignoring the tears that were falling down her cheeks. It was one thing for Finn to inform her that their relationship was officially over, but it was quite another for him to just leave her in the Christmas tree lot. The lot was on the other side of town from where Rachel lived, and Finn didn’t even look back as he walked away and climbed into his mother’s car. The least he could of done was make sure she had a ride home if he wasn’t going to take her himself, but instead he had started up the car and driven away leaving Rachel surrounded by snow and Christmas trees alone.
That had been thirty minutes ago, and Rachel was finally beginning to realize that Finn was not coming back. She had thought he would at first, that he wouldn’t go very far before turning the car around but that had never happened. As the minutes passed, Rachel had continued to hold on the believe that Finn would not leave her stranded. He would calm down, realize that Rachel had no way to return to her home and he would be back, or at least that is what she had hoped would happen. It never happened.
To make matters worse, her Dads were out of town on a business trip so there was no way they could come and pick her up. She would have called Kurt, ever since sectionals they had become friendly and talked nearly every day, but Kurt wasn’t in town and she could walk home before Kurt could make the trip from Dalton. Rachel sighed as she brushed at her cheeks and thinking about how alone she really was in Lima.
“Did you find one that you like?” A middle aged man with a bad comb over asked startling Rachel out of her thoughts.
Rachel smiled and shook her head, “You have lovely trees here and if I celebrated Christmas I would probably pick the Douglas Fur behind you. But I’m Jewish.”
The man gave Rachel a quizzical look as he brushed his hands over the shoulders of his jacket to get rid of the snow that had fallen there, “If you’re Jewish why are you here?”
“I wish I knew,” Rachel responded sadly as she turned and walked towards the parking lot. Once there she found a stump to sit on and pulled out her phone, scrolling through her contact list. Once she found the name she was looking for she took a deep breath then hit the send button before holding the phone up to her ear.
It rang three times before he answered and Rachel used every acting class she had ever had to keep her voice from trembling, “Noah? Could you do me a favor?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Puck grabbed his truck keys and headed down the stairs shouting at his Ma in the process that he was going out. He didn’t even give her time to remind him that he was still in a shit load of trouble for going to juvie before opening the front door, stepping outside and letting the door close behind him. With a swipe from his hand, Puck knocked the snow that had started to collect on his windshield off then climbed into his truck and started it up. He figured it would normally take about twenty minutes to get across town to the Christmas tree lot, but he planned on making it there in five. The snow was starting to fall faster and he was not going to make Rachel stand in it longer then she needed to.
It was closer to ten minutes when Puck pulled into the parking lot and found Rachel sitting on a stump, huddled into her jacket. He left the truck running and the heater blasting as he slammed his truck into park and quickly jumped out of his truck. Puck could tell that Rachel had seen him since she was now walking towards his truck, but Puck continued to walk towards Rachel anyway. Once he reached her, he pulled her into his arms and gave her a hug.
“Are you okay?” Puck asked as he pulled away from Rachel, noticing her red rimmed eyes and tear stained cheeks.
Rachel shrugged as she looked down at the ground avoiding making eye contact with him, “Finn said we were officially broken up.”
Puck arched an eyebrow, “Haven’t you been broken up for a couple of weeks now?”
Rachel only shrugged again and Puck sighed as he offered Rachel his elbow and led her to his truck. After opening up the passenger side door and helping Rachel inside, Puck walked around to the other side of the truck and climbed inside himself. Rachel by that point was sitting as close to the heater vent as possible, her legs visibly shaking from the cold. Puck reached back behind the seat and felt around before pulling out a WMHS sweatshirt and tossing it to Rachel.
“Use that to cover your legs up,” Puck informed her and Rachel thanked him as she wrapped the sweatshirt around her legs. “You hungry?”
“A little,” Rachel responded causing Puck to shift his truck into reverse before pealing out of the parking lot.
They rode in silence, Rachel finally sitting back in the seat and staring out the window as Puck navigated the truck through the snow storm that seemed to be getting worse. As they started to pass most of the resturants in town Rachel finally turned to Puck.
“Where are we going, Noah?” Rachel asked causing Puck to smirk.
“The best fucking place in town,” Puck responded as he turned into a neighborhood behind Breadsticks, “You do eat latkes right?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Puck sat at his Nana’s table, stuffing another of his Nana’s jelly doughnuts into his mouth. In the kitchen he could hear his Nana humming to herself as she grated potatoes. He licked some jelly off his fingers as he heard the shower down the hall turn off and he couldn’t help but smile as he thought of Rachel in a shower. He grabbed another jelly doughnut, as well as changed chairs in hopes of catching a glimpse of Rachel in a towel as she ran across the hall to the spare bedroom where his Nana had left a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt for Rachel to change into.
“Noah!” His Nana shouted from the kitchen causing him to frown as he turned his attention from the hallway. Puck pushed the chair back and stood up before walking around the corner and into the kitchen.
“What Nana?” Puck asked as he watched his Nana put the grater in the sink having finished grating the last of the potatoes.
“Open the fridge and get me some eggs,” His Nana ordered as she motioned her head towards the fridge and Puck didn’t hesitate as he did as he was told. His Nana might be small, but it was always better to stay on her good side.
Puck sat the carton of eggs next to the bowl that was filled with the potatoes and onions at the same time his Nana pulled a bag of flour out of the cupboard. Before returning to the bowl, Puck watched as his Nana turned on her stove and placed the pan of oil that she kept ready on a back burner up to the front burner so the oil could begin to heat up.
“Is that the girl your Ma is always talking about?” His Nana asked as she cracked a couple of eggs into the bowl, causing Puck to smirk.
“That depends, Ma talks about a lot of girls that I know,” Puck responded, leaning back against the counter. He flinched slightly as his Nana smacked him across the arm and frowned at him.
“You know which girl I’m talking about Noah Elijah Puckerman!” His Nana retorted causing Puck to chuckle, “She never told me it was Rachel Berry.”
“How do you know Rachel?” Puck inquired as he arched an eyebrow.
His Nana smiled as she checked the oil to make sure it was hot enough yet. Once satisfied she began to take the mixture from the bowl and form patties before dropping it into the oil. “From temple of course, and if you ever went more then once every six months you would know that. She is such a good girl, why just last week when I went to visit my friend Ruth, you remember Ruth don’t you?”
Puck rolled his eyes, “Of course I remember Ruth. It’s hard not to when you two are attached to the hip and gossiping like the old ladies that you are.”
He dodge the playful smack this time as his Nana continued, “Anyway Ruth has been having problems moving around lately, and Rachel was over at her house cleaning it for her. Ruth said she’s been coming by once a week to do any chores that Ruth can’t do any more.”
His Nana paused as she looked up Puck, “She’s not still dating that Gentile boy is she?”
Puck laughed, “Nana, you like Finn.”
“That’s beside the point,” His Nana stated as she continued to make the latkes, “Just because I like him doesn’t mean I want him trying to steal all the nice Jewish girls. You know there are not very many in town that is your age.”
Puck rolled his eyes again as he went back to the fridge and grabbed the jar of homemade applesauce off a shelf. After closing the door and setting the jar on the counter he went back to leaning against it, watching his Nana cook.
“Well?” His Nana demanded and Puck sighed.
“Yeah, that’s who Ma is always talking about, but its no use Nana. She’s looking for Prince Charming, not some Lima Loser who’s been in juvie,” Puck retorted causing his Nana to grin.
“My Dad use to tell me that everyone makes mistakes but it is what we learn from those mistakes that really matters. I want you to remember that Noah, just because you’ve made some mistakes it does not make you a bad person and it sure as hell doesn’t mean that you can’t be someone’s Prince Charming,” His Nana lectured as she continued to cook.
Puck remained silent, thinking about what his Nana had said and wondering if he would ever get a real shot at Rachel. He was about to asked his Nana for advice when Rachel walked into the kitchen, her hair pulled back into a pony tail and a smile on her face. Puck smiled at her instead, the whole time thinking that it was a shame that her legs were hidden underneath a pair of jeans.
“Thank you for loaning me the clothes,” Rachel began and Puck chuckled as his Nana cut her off.
“You don’t worry about it, Rachel. After all you have done for Ruth it’s the least I could do,” His Nana stated off handly, “These are almost ready why don’t you and Noah go wait at the table and I’ll bring these out in a few minutes.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I like your Nana,” Rachel stated as Puck pulled his truck into her drive way a couple of hours later.
Puck laughed as he turned his truck off, “She’s hard not to like.”
“Do you want to come in?” Rachel asked and Puck shrugged before reaching for the door handle of his truck, watching as Rachel did the same.
Once inside, Puck waited in the living room, flipping through the channels on Rachel’s TV as Rachel kept herself busy in the kitchen making hot chocalotte for the both of them. When it was ready, Puck smiled as Rachel handed him one of the steaming mugs before settling on the couch next to him.
They watched a couple of old Friends episodes in silence, laughing every now again at one of the characters before Puck hit the mute button on the remote and turned towards Rachel. “Are you going to be okay?”
Rachel only shrugged as she stared at the TV, “Ever since I was little I always believed in fairy tales. I still believed in them, even as I was getting slushy facials and getting pushed into lockers I knew that in the end everything would work out just like in a John Hughes movie. Then Finn came along and started to notice me and I really believed that I would get a John Hughes ending, that my Prince Charming had come to rescue me. After all Finn is popular, athletic, talented and I’m just some geek who can sing. I thought this would be it, but I was wrong.”
Puck listened in silence as he watched Rachel take a deep breath. He wanted to reach out and hold her, tell her everything would work out for her in the end but Rachel continued and he resisted the urge.
“But I realized something tonight when I was standing in the Christmas tree lot,” Rachel added before turning to finally face Puck and smiling, “Finn might appear to be Prince Charming, and if my life were a fairy tale he would be dressed in white and gold, riding a white horse, but he’s not my Prince Charming.”
Rachel paused again and Puck arched an eyebrow as he thought about what Rachel was saying. Again however before he could say anything Rachel started again.
“I realized tonight that not every Prince Charming is dressed in white and gold and rides a white horse; they don’t all say romantic things and bring you flowers. No, tonight I realized that Prince Charming uses inappropriate language, he’s rough around the edges and gets into trouble but when it comes down to it he’s always there for you,” Rachel smiled even brighter, “Noah, thank you.”
Puck smirked as he pulled Rachel into his arms, “I’m not fucking Prince Charming Rachel.”
Rachel leaned closer to Puck so that their foreheads were touching. She placed one hand on his check and grinned, “You are to me Noah.”
Pairing, Character(s): Noah Puckerman/Rachel Berry
Rating: PG-13 since Puck swears a little
Word Count: 2359
Spoilers: Through "A Very Glee Christmas"
Written for thecuteberry for the gleesecretsanta gift exchange.
The snowflakes fell softly as Rachel stood in the middle of the Christmas tree lot, ignoring the tears that were falling down her cheeks. It was one thing for Finn to inform her that their relationship was officially over, but it was quite another for him to just leave her in the Christmas tree lot. The lot was on the other side of town from where Rachel lived, and Finn didn’t even look back as he walked away and climbed into his mother’s car. The least he could of done was make sure she had a ride home if he wasn’t going to take her himself, but instead he had started up the car and driven away leaving Rachel surrounded by snow and Christmas trees alone.
That had been thirty minutes ago, and Rachel was finally beginning to realize that Finn was not coming back. She had thought he would at first, that he wouldn’t go very far before turning the car around but that had never happened. As the minutes passed, Rachel had continued to hold on the believe that Finn would not leave her stranded. He would calm down, realize that Rachel had no way to return to her home and he would be back, or at least that is what she had hoped would happen. It never happened.
To make matters worse, her Dads were out of town on a business trip so there was no way they could come and pick her up. She would have called Kurt, ever since sectionals they had become friendly and talked nearly every day, but Kurt wasn’t in town and she could walk home before Kurt could make the trip from Dalton. Rachel sighed as she brushed at her cheeks and thinking about how alone she really was in Lima.
“Did you find one that you like?” A middle aged man with a bad comb over asked startling Rachel out of her thoughts.
Rachel smiled and shook her head, “You have lovely trees here and if I celebrated Christmas I would probably pick the Douglas Fur behind you. But I’m Jewish.”
The man gave Rachel a quizzical look as he brushed his hands over the shoulders of his jacket to get rid of the snow that had fallen there, “If you’re Jewish why are you here?”
“I wish I knew,” Rachel responded sadly as she turned and walked towards the parking lot. Once there she found a stump to sit on and pulled out her phone, scrolling through her contact list. Once she found the name she was looking for she took a deep breath then hit the send button before holding the phone up to her ear.
It rang three times before he answered and Rachel used every acting class she had ever had to keep her voice from trembling, “Noah? Could you do me a favor?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Puck grabbed his truck keys and headed down the stairs shouting at his Ma in the process that he was going out. He didn’t even give her time to remind him that he was still in a shit load of trouble for going to juvie before opening the front door, stepping outside and letting the door close behind him. With a swipe from his hand, Puck knocked the snow that had started to collect on his windshield off then climbed into his truck and started it up. He figured it would normally take about twenty minutes to get across town to the Christmas tree lot, but he planned on making it there in five. The snow was starting to fall faster and he was not going to make Rachel stand in it longer then she needed to.
It was closer to ten minutes when Puck pulled into the parking lot and found Rachel sitting on a stump, huddled into her jacket. He left the truck running and the heater blasting as he slammed his truck into park and quickly jumped out of his truck. Puck could tell that Rachel had seen him since she was now walking towards his truck, but Puck continued to walk towards Rachel anyway. Once he reached her, he pulled her into his arms and gave her a hug.
“Are you okay?” Puck asked as he pulled away from Rachel, noticing her red rimmed eyes and tear stained cheeks.
Rachel shrugged as she looked down at the ground avoiding making eye contact with him, “Finn said we were officially broken up.”
Puck arched an eyebrow, “Haven’t you been broken up for a couple of weeks now?”
Rachel only shrugged again and Puck sighed as he offered Rachel his elbow and led her to his truck. After opening up the passenger side door and helping Rachel inside, Puck walked around to the other side of the truck and climbed inside himself. Rachel by that point was sitting as close to the heater vent as possible, her legs visibly shaking from the cold. Puck reached back behind the seat and felt around before pulling out a WMHS sweatshirt and tossing it to Rachel.
“Use that to cover your legs up,” Puck informed her and Rachel thanked him as she wrapped the sweatshirt around her legs. “You hungry?”
“A little,” Rachel responded causing Puck to shift his truck into reverse before pealing out of the parking lot.
They rode in silence, Rachel finally sitting back in the seat and staring out the window as Puck navigated the truck through the snow storm that seemed to be getting worse. As they started to pass most of the resturants in town Rachel finally turned to Puck.
“Where are we going, Noah?” Rachel asked causing Puck to smirk.
“The best fucking place in town,” Puck responded as he turned into a neighborhood behind Breadsticks, “You do eat latkes right?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Puck sat at his Nana’s table, stuffing another of his Nana’s jelly doughnuts into his mouth. In the kitchen he could hear his Nana humming to herself as she grated potatoes. He licked some jelly off his fingers as he heard the shower down the hall turn off and he couldn’t help but smile as he thought of Rachel in a shower. He grabbed another jelly doughnut, as well as changed chairs in hopes of catching a glimpse of Rachel in a towel as she ran across the hall to the spare bedroom where his Nana had left a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt for Rachel to change into.
“Noah!” His Nana shouted from the kitchen causing him to frown as he turned his attention from the hallway. Puck pushed the chair back and stood up before walking around the corner and into the kitchen.
“What Nana?” Puck asked as he watched his Nana put the grater in the sink having finished grating the last of the potatoes.
“Open the fridge and get me some eggs,” His Nana ordered as she motioned her head towards the fridge and Puck didn’t hesitate as he did as he was told. His Nana might be small, but it was always better to stay on her good side.
Puck sat the carton of eggs next to the bowl that was filled with the potatoes and onions at the same time his Nana pulled a bag of flour out of the cupboard. Before returning to the bowl, Puck watched as his Nana turned on her stove and placed the pan of oil that she kept ready on a back burner up to the front burner so the oil could begin to heat up.
“Is that the girl your Ma is always talking about?” His Nana asked as she cracked a couple of eggs into the bowl, causing Puck to smirk.
“That depends, Ma talks about a lot of girls that I know,” Puck responded, leaning back against the counter. He flinched slightly as his Nana smacked him across the arm and frowned at him.
“You know which girl I’m talking about Noah Elijah Puckerman!” His Nana retorted causing Puck to chuckle, “She never told me it was Rachel Berry.”
“How do you know Rachel?” Puck inquired as he arched an eyebrow.
His Nana smiled as she checked the oil to make sure it was hot enough yet. Once satisfied she began to take the mixture from the bowl and form patties before dropping it into the oil. “From temple of course, and if you ever went more then once every six months you would know that. She is such a good girl, why just last week when I went to visit my friend Ruth, you remember Ruth don’t you?”
Puck rolled his eyes, “Of course I remember Ruth. It’s hard not to when you two are attached to the hip and gossiping like the old ladies that you are.”
He dodge the playful smack this time as his Nana continued, “Anyway Ruth has been having problems moving around lately, and Rachel was over at her house cleaning it for her. Ruth said she’s been coming by once a week to do any chores that Ruth can’t do any more.”
His Nana paused as she looked up Puck, “She’s not still dating that Gentile boy is she?”
Puck laughed, “Nana, you like Finn.”
“That’s beside the point,” His Nana stated as she continued to make the latkes, “Just because I like him doesn’t mean I want him trying to steal all the nice Jewish girls. You know there are not very many in town that is your age.”
Puck rolled his eyes again as he went back to the fridge and grabbed the jar of homemade applesauce off a shelf. After closing the door and setting the jar on the counter he went back to leaning against it, watching his Nana cook.
“Well?” His Nana demanded and Puck sighed.
“Yeah, that’s who Ma is always talking about, but its no use Nana. She’s looking for Prince Charming, not some Lima Loser who’s been in juvie,” Puck retorted causing his Nana to grin.
“My Dad use to tell me that everyone makes mistakes but it is what we learn from those mistakes that really matters. I want you to remember that Noah, just because you’ve made some mistakes it does not make you a bad person and it sure as hell doesn’t mean that you can’t be someone’s Prince Charming,” His Nana lectured as she continued to cook.
Puck remained silent, thinking about what his Nana had said and wondering if he would ever get a real shot at Rachel. He was about to asked his Nana for advice when Rachel walked into the kitchen, her hair pulled back into a pony tail and a smile on her face. Puck smiled at her instead, the whole time thinking that it was a shame that her legs were hidden underneath a pair of jeans.
“Thank you for loaning me the clothes,” Rachel began and Puck chuckled as his Nana cut her off.
“You don’t worry about it, Rachel. After all you have done for Ruth it’s the least I could do,” His Nana stated off handly, “These are almost ready why don’t you and Noah go wait at the table and I’ll bring these out in a few minutes.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I like your Nana,” Rachel stated as Puck pulled his truck into her drive way a couple of hours later.
Puck laughed as he turned his truck off, “She’s hard not to like.”
“Do you want to come in?” Rachel asked and Puck shrugged before reaching for the door handle of his truck, watching as Rachel did the same.
Once inside, Puck waited in the living room, flipping through the channels on Rachel’s TV as Rachel kept herself busy in the kitchen making hot chocalotte for the both of them. When it was ready, Puck smiled as Rachel handed him one of the steaming mugs before settling on the couch next to him.
They watched a couple of old Friends episodes in silence, laughing every now again at one of the characters before Puck hit the mute button on the remote and turned towards Rachel. “Are you going to be okay?”
Rachel only shrugged as she stared at the TV, “Ever since I was little I always believed in fairy tales. I still believed in them, even as I was getting slushy facials and getting pushed into lockers I knew that in the end everything would work out just like in a John Hughes movie. Then Finn came along and started to notice me and I really believed that I would get a John Hughes ending, that my Prince Charming had come to rescue me. After all Finn is popular, athletic, talented and I’m just some geek who can sing. I thought this would be it, but I was wrong.”
Puck listened in silence as he watched Rachel take a deep breath. He wanted to reach out and hold her, tell her everything would work out for her in the end but Rachel continued and he resisted the urge.
“But I realized something tonight when I was standing in the Christmas tree lot,” Rachel added before turning to finally face Puck and smiling, “Finn might appear to be Prince Charming, and if my life were a fairy tale he would be dressed in white and gold, riding a white horse, but he’s not my Prince Charming.”
Rachel paused again and Puck arched an eyebrow as he thought about what Rachel was saying. Again however before he could say anything Rachel started again.
“I realized tonight that not every Prince Charming is dressed in white and gold and rides a white horse; they don’t all say romantic things and bring you flowers. No, tonight I realized that Prince Charming uses inappropriate language, he’s rough around the edges and gets into trouble but when it comes down to it he’s always there for you,” Rachel smiled even brighter, “Noah, thank you.”
Puck smirked as he pulled Rachel into his arms, “I’m not fucking Prince Charming Rachel.”
Rachel leaned closer to Puck so that their foreheads were touching. She placed one hand on his check and grinned, “You are to me Noah.”