She Walks In The Sun To Me: Puck/Rachel, R
Title: She Walks In The Sun To Me
Author: marliskelsey
Pairing,Character(s): Puck/Rachel
Rating: R, for language
Word Count: 1,481
Spoilers: Through 1x13, Sectionals, just to be safe.
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee. I can only dream.
Summary: Every year, on a certain day, he gets a note in her hand-writing . . .
A/N: Part of my P/R series, told in four parts. Not the typical fanfic in this series, sort-of sad but not really, if that makes sense (it probably doesn't ;D). Spans from pre-series to future!fic. AU. Hope you enjoy!
Previous Chapters:
Part 1: This Reluctant Love
Part 2: Bruce Lee Ain't Got Nothing On Me
Part 3: We Go Together Like Little Girls And Chainsaws
Part 4: We're Going Down, Down
Part 5: How To Deal With Pregnancy (When You're The Man)
one
He’s twelve when his dad leaves.
It’s that day that Noah becomes Puck, that day when he decides that hurting others is better than getting hurt and that life isn’t ever going to be fair.
He walks through the cornfield behind his house for hours, kicking down stalks and cursing his father.
When he returns home in the dark, his mother sends him to his room without a word.
* * *
They’re sitting on his kitchen counter, Rachel swinging her feet.
Puck hasn’t invited Rachel over, but he’s begrudgingly allowing her to hang out with him because her fathers are in the other room with his mom, and Puck knows that she kind of needs the company.
“Noah?”
He looks up from his hands to glare at her, and has to look away because her eyes are all big and brown and sad.
“My name’s Puck,” he mumbles.
Rachel tilts her head, confused. “No, your name is Noah. You can’t just change your name.”
“Yeah, well, my dad just left so I’ll change my name if I want to.”
He’s aware he’s not being very nice. He doesn’t really care.
Rachel sniffles a little beside him, and he worries for a second that he actually made her cry. Puck’s about to grind out an apology when she speaks again.
“I’m sorry, Noah. I’m sorry that your father left, and I’m sorry that you’re so sad that you would take it out on me. I just wanted to be your friend and help you through troubling times, but it’s clear you don’t want that.” With that, she bounds off the counter and walks quickly into the living room.
Puck hears a few hushed good-byes and the door close with a click.
His mother just looks at him with sadness in her eyes when she walks into the kitchen.
“Go get yourself cleaned up, it’s dinner-time.”
* * *
Rachel doesn’t try to talk to him again, until he finds a note taped inside his math textbook.
Noah,
I know that you’re feeling sad right now, and you don’t want my help. But I’m always here for you if you need someone to talk to.
Your friend,
Rachel Berry
“What’s that?” Finn asks, smiling his wide, toothless grin and trying to look over Puck’s shoulder.
“Nothing.” He folds it up and tosses it in the trash.
Later, Puck fishes it out and puts it in his pocket. When he gets home, he slips it in a book and puts it back in his bookshelf, along with the other books he never reads.
two
When Puck wakes up in the morning, there’s no smell of cooking bacon, which means that his mom isn’t up.
His sister’s sitting at the kitchen table when he walks down the stairs.
“Eat something, squirt.”
Ariel looks up at him, her mouth set in a pout. “Mom hasn’t made me any breakfast,” she explains, so Puck rolls his eyes and opens the fridge. “Make your own food then.”
Ariel glares at him. “Noah, I can’t cook. I’m eight. Do you want me to burn the house down?”
He rolls his eyes and tosses her a banana.
Ariel makes a face and puts it back in the fruit bowl, before skipping upstairs.
Puck sits down at the table and catches a glance of the calendar on the fridge.
He knows why his mom isn’t up yet. Puck grimaces, white-hot anger that he had buried rushing fast and quick up to the surface.
It’s been five years to the day since he left.
* * *
There’s a note on his locker when he gets to school.
He rips it off. It tears a little bit, but Puck doesn’t really give a fuck and he opens it with much of the same aggression.
Noah,
The offer still stands.
Rachel Berry
He notes almost grimly that she’s no longer signing her notes with “your friend”.
* * *
He waits until everyone has trickled out of Glee before he corners her.
“Noah.” Her voice is distant, expressionless.
“Why do you keep giving me these notes, Berry?”
She picks up her school things and dusts off her skirt. “Today is the anniversary, Noah. I just wanted to let you know that the offer I made to you when we were children is still up for grabs, despite the fact that you have never accepted it.”
She tries to scoot around him, but Puck blocks her.
“Why would you think I would ever want to talk to you about my asshole dad, Rachel? You weren’t there.”
Rachel’s eyes blaze. “Because, Noah, despite the fact that you seem to be incapable, I actually care about the feelings of others. I care because I don’t know my mother, and while it’s not the same thing, I might actually be able to relate to you. On more levels than just a love of music and someone we can never have.”
Rachel stares pointedly at Quinn’s vacant seat before she stalks out of the choir room.
* * *
Two days later, he finds her at lunch.
“You wanna talk, let’s talk. But we’re not friends and nobody finds out.”
There’s venom in her words. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
* * *
A month later, the shit hits the fan. They don’t talk anymore.
three
Puck stomps into class that morning.
Everyone who sees him can tell he’s in a bad mood, so they avoid him for most of the day. Puck’s glad, because no one here at school has any idea what day it is, and he’s going to keep it that way.
* * *
There’s a park right outside the building of Puck’s second class.
When he walks out, he’s greeted with the sight of a father and his son playing catch in the wide, green field and anger floods his body until he’s clutching his textbook so hard he thinks it might actually break in half.
Puck never got to have these moments with his dad.
By the time he was old enough to really understand what baseball was, or how to wash a car, his father already had a foot out the door and the only thing keeping him there was the birth of Ariel. It was like putting a Band-Aid on the Grand Canyon, temporary relief for a problem that was always going to be there.
Puck watches as the little boy catches the ball, and holds it high above his head in victory while his father twirls him in the air.
He stomps all the way back to the dorms, pausing only to rip the mail from his cubby.
* * *
He calls her from his dorm room at Ohio State, because he needs to hear her voice.
Puck grips the note she sent him in the mail, express so it would arrive on the right day.
He reads it again.
Noah,
Call me, please. We’ll talk, I promise.
Love,
Rachel
She answers on the first ring, because she’s been expecting his call. “Hi, Noah.” Her voice sounds like home.
“Hi, Rach.”
It’s the first anniversary of his leaving since they’ve been together, and Puck’s glad that Rachel’s annoying determination hasn’t ceased since the day in his kitchen because his father left him with a shit-load of insecurities and Rachel’s the only one who persisted enough to see through them.
four
The alarm goes off, punctuated by the scream of his daughter in the next room.
Puck throws an arm over his eyes, nudging Rachel with his other hand. “It’s your turn, Rach.”
There’s a grunt beside him.
“I think not, Noah. Our infant daughter is crying, go tend to her.” Even when she’s half-asleep, Rachel still sounds like a walking dictionary.
He rolls out of bed and stomps to the nursery.
“Hey, baby, be quiet or Daddy’s never going to let you date.”
Hannah gurgles happily at the sight of her father.
That’s when Puck notices the note taped to her crib. He shifts so that Hannah’s balanced in one arm and pulls it off.
Noah,
Look at your daughter. She’s happy, right?
Think about everything you know about what a father is, and then throw that out the window. Because, your dad was not was a father is. You are what a father is, and that’s what I know you’re going to be for our Hannah.
We’ll talk later.
We love you,
Rachel + Hannah
He holds Hannah as he returns to the bedroom. Rachel’s sitting up in the bed and smiling at him, so he lies down beside her and balances the baby on his chest. He feels Rachel’s hand snake into his and she leans over so that her hair spills down around Hannah’s head. Her dark brown eyes widen.
Puck snorts. “She looks like she’s wearing a wig.”
“Shut up and let me kiss you.”
Author: marliskelsey
Pairing,Character(s): Puck/Rachel
Rating: R, for language
Word Count: 1,481
Spoilers: Through 1x13, Sectionals, just to be safe.
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee. I can only dream.
Summary: Every year, on a certain day, he gets a note in her hand-writing . . .
A/N: Part of my P/R series, told in four parts. Not the typical fanfic in this series, sort-of sad but not really, if that makes sense (it probably doesn't ;D). Spans from pre-series to future!fic. AU. Hope you enjoy!
Previous Chapters:
Part 1: This Reluctant Love
Part 2: Bruce Lee Ain't Got Nothing On Me
Part 3: We Go Together Like Little Girls And Chainsaws
Part 4: We're Going Down, Down
Part 5: How To Deal With Pregnancy (When You're The Man)
one
He’s twelve when his dad leaves.
It’s that day that Noah becomes Puck, that day when he decides that hurting others is better than getting hurt and that life isn’t ever going to be fair.
He walks through the cornfield behind his house for hours, kicking down stalks and cursing his father.
When he returns home in the dark, his mother sends him to his room without a word.
* * *
They’re sitting on his kitchen counter, Rachel swinging her feet.
Puck hasn’t invited Rachel over, but he’s begrudgingly allowing her to hang out with him because her fathers are in the other room with his mom, and Puck knows that she kind of needs the company.
“Noah?”
He looks up from his hands to glare at her, and has to look away because her eyes are all big and brown and sad.
“My name’s Puck,” he mumbles.
Rachel tilts her head, confused. “No, your name is Noah. You can’t just change your name.”
“Yeah, well, my dad just left so I’ll change my name if I want to.”
He’s aware he’s not being very nice. He doesn’t really care.
Rachel sniffles a little beside him, and he worries for a second that he actually made her cry. Puck’s about to grind out an apology when she speaks again.
“I’m sorry, Noah. I’m sorry that your father left, and I’m sorry that you’re so sad that you would take it out on me. I just wanted to be your friend and help you through troubling times, but it’s clear you don’t want that.” With that, she bounds off the counter and walks quickly into the living room.
Puck hears a few hushed good-byes and the door close with a click.
His mother just looks at him with sadness in her eyes when she walks into the kitchen.
“Go get yourself cleaned up, it’s dinner-time.”
* * *
Rachel doesn’t try to talk to him again, until he finds a note taped inside his math textbook.
Noah,
I know that you’re feeling sad right now, and you don’t want my help. But I’m always here for you if you need someone to talk to.
Your friend,
Rachel Berry
“What’s that?” Finn asks, smiling his wide, toothless grin and trying to look over Puck’s shoulder.
“Nothing.” He folds it up and tosses it in the trash.
Later, Puck fishes it out and puts it in his pocket. When he gets home, he slips it in a book and puts it back in his bookshelf, along with the other books he never reads.
two
When Puck wakes up in the morning, there’s no smell of cooking bacon, which means that his mom isn’t up.
His sister’s sitting at the kitchen table when he walks down the stairs.
“Eat something, squirt.”
Ariel looks up at him, her mouth set in a pout. “Mom hasn’t made me any breakfast,” she explains, so Puck rolls his eyes and opens the fridge. “Make your own food then.”
Ariel glares at him. “Noah, I can’t cook. I’m eight. Do you want me to burn the house down?”
He rolls his eyes and tosses her a banana.
Ariel makes a face and puts it back in the fruit bowl, before skipping upstairs.
Puck sits down at the table and catches a glance of the calendar on the fridge.
He knows why his mom isn’t up yet. Puck grimaces, white-hot anger that he had buried rushing fast and quick up to the surface.
It’s been five years to the day since he left.
* * *
There’s a note on his locker when he gets to school.
He rips it off. It tears a little bit, but Puck doesn’t really give a fuck and he opens it with much of the same aggression.
Noah,
The offer still stands.
Rachel Berry
He notes almost grimly that she’s no longer signing her notes with “your friend”.
* * *
He waits until everyone has trickled out of Glee before he corners her.
“Noah.” Her voice is distant, expressionless.
“Why do you keep giving me these notes, Berry?”
She picks up her school things and dusts off her skirt. “Today is the anniversary, Noah. I just wanted to let you know that the offer I made to you when we were children is still up for grabs, despite the fact that you have never accepted it.”
She tries to scoot around him, but Puck blocks her.
“Why would you think I would ever want to talk to you about my asshole dad, Rachel? You weren’t there.”
Rachel’s eyes blaze. “Because, Noah, despite the fact that you seem to be incapable, I actually care about the feelings of others. I care because I don’t know my mother, and while it’s not the same thing, I might actually be able to relate to you. On more levels than just a love of music and someone we can never have.”
Rachel stares pointedly at Quinn’s vacant seat before she stalks out of the choir room.
* * *
Two days later, he finds her at lunch.
“You wanna talk, let’s talk. But we’re not friends and nobody finds out.”
There’s venom in her words. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
* * *
A month later, the shit hits the fan. They don’t talk anymore.
three
Puck stomps into class that morning.
Everyone who sees him can tell he’s in a bad mood, so they avoid him for most of the day. Puck’s glad, because no one here at school has any idea what day it is, and he’s going to keep it that way.
* * *
There’s a park right outside the building of Puck’s second class.
When he walks out, he’s greeted with the sight of a father and his son playing catch in the wide, green field and anger floods his body until he’s clutching his textbook so hard he thinks it might actually break in half.
Puck never got to have these moments with his dad.
By the time he was old enough to really understand what baseball was, or how to wash a car, his father already had a foot out the door and the only thing keeping him there was the birth of Ariel. It was like putting a Band-Aid on the Grand Canyon, temporary relief for a problem that was always going to be there.
Puck watches as the little boy catches the ball, and holds it high above his head in victory while his father twirls him in the air.
He stomps all the way back to the dorms, pausing only to rip the mail from his cubby.
* * *
He calls her from his dorm room at Ohio State, because he needs to hear her voice.
Puck grips the note she sent him in the mail, express so it would arrive on the right day.
He reads it again.
Noah,
Call me, please. We’ll talk, I promise.
Love,
Rachel
She answers on the first ring, because she’s been expecting his call. “Hi, Noah.” Her voice sounds like home.
“Hi, Rach.”
It’s the first anniversary of his leaving since they’ve been together, and Puck’s glad that Rachel’s annoying determination hasn’t ceased since the day in his kitchen because his father left him with a shit-load of insecurities and Rachel’s the only one who persisted enough to see through them.
four
The alarm goes off, punctuated by the scream of his daughter in the next room.
Puck throws an arm over his eyes, nudging Rachel with his other hand. “It’s your turn, Rach.”
There’s a grunt beside him.
“I think not, Noah. Our infant daughter is crying, go tend to her.” Even when she’s half-asleep, Rachel still sounds like a walking dictionary.
He rolls out of bed and stomps to the nursery.
“Hey, baby, be quiet or Daddy’s never going to let you date.”
Hannah gurgles happily at the sight of her father.
That’s when Puck notices the note taped to her crib. He shifts so that Hannah’s balanced in one arm and pulls it off.
Noah,
Look at your daughter. She’s happy, right?
Think about everything you know about what a father is, and then throw that out the window. Because, your dad was not was a father is. You are what a father is, and that’s what I know you’re going to be for our Hannah.
We’ll talk later.
We love you,
Rachel + Hannah
He holds Hannah as he returns to the bedroom. Rachel’s sitting up in the bed and smiling at him, so he lies down beside her and balances the baby on his chest. He feels Rachel’s hand snake into his and she leans over so that her hair spills down around Hannah’s head. Her dark brown eyes widen.
Puck snorts. “She looks like she’s wearing a wig.”
“Shut up and let me kiss you.”