AN:Yes, it has been a year since I wrote this. That fact alone is daunting. I decided it was time for one final chapter, however, since, if you haven't heard the news, Puck and Rachel are singing Need You Now on Glee! In the wise words of Rachel, "I'm a little bit psychic." If you haven't heard the preview yet, take a moment and go find it. I was so excited that I opened a Word file and started typing immediately.
This is a major throwback to season 1, since I wrote the original story then, so to remind any old or new readers (who I still love dearly), this is post-Sectionals the first time around. I can't wait to re-read this story in a few weeks while playing the Glee version of Need You Now! Enjoy!
It had been one week since Rachel had come over to Puck's house drunk. True to her word, she had forgotten the events of the night, because, in Puck's words, "she was a freakin' lightweight." Rachel continued on under the impression that she had simply shown up at Noah's house, taken a shower, and passed out.
Puck knew the truth, though. And now, he had the daunting (damn those Rachel Berry words) task of letting her know that he had feelings for her, too. She had insisted that he simply kiss her, but Puck knew that Rachel deserved more than that. She was the type of girl who wanted to be wooed and all that shit.
So, this past week had been just that, a Week of Woo. Each day at school, he had joined her in the choir room or the auditorium for lunch. When Schue had asked for a volunteer for the next lead male part, Puck had shocked the club by stepping up. He walked her to classes when he could, and he even stole a slushie from Karofsky's locker so that he couldn't get Rachel.
Rachel was entirely baffled at this recent development in Noah Puckerman's behavior. She knew that they had become somewhat friends after Noah's drunken incident, but what had changed after her visit to his house? He seemed to be a completely different person. Nothing had changed regarding Quinn and Finn, their reconciliation had been inevitable after Quinn's first attempts to re-connect with Finn. There seemed to be no clues to inform Rachel.
While Noah had seemed to follow her around every moment that week at school, he was nowhere to be found when Rachel headed for her locker to collect her books at the end of the day. It seemed that his bizarre behavior had no bounds. As she opened her locker, Rachel was stunned to find a red rose and a note beside her belongings. She opened the note to find it contained only a time. 1:15 a.m. What was that supposed to mean? Was he intending to arrive at her house inebriated again?
Rachel was unable to focus for the whole of the evening. Her multiple calls and text messages to Noah had gone unanswered, giving her no further information on whatever he seemed to have planned tonight… tomorrow morning, technically. Her fathers had noticed her distracted behavior and had asked her multiple times if she was feeling well, if she was overwhelmed with school and Glee, and if they needed to call her therapist. She had assured them that she was fine, of course, and that perhaps they could watch a movie as a family. To her credit, Rachel knew that once Liza Minnelli was onscreen, her fathers would no longer notice her agitation.
Caberet came to a close, and still Rachel had two hours and twelve minutes to fill. She bid her fathers goodnight, and settled in with her iPod to listen through the new London concert recording of Chess, which would occupy her for approximately 126 minutes.
The clock read 1:09 and the last strains of Anthem (Reprise) played through Rachel's earbuds. In six minutes, she would finally have the answer to what had been controlling her mind. Was this simply going to be another moment in their pattern? Was he even going to show up or was there something else that was happening? Had she missed some vital information in her quest to understand the note? Why wasn't it 1:15 yet? And in the midst of all this, there was the slightest feeling of butterflies flapping away in her stomach. She wouldn't deny that her feelings for Noah had developed and grown since their first dating attempt. Their subsequent meetings and friendship had been quite educational to how he had changed, and yet how he was the same boy he had ever been. Would tonight possibly lead to a change in their relationship? Did he mean to…
Rachel's phone buzzed, and she almost panicked at the fact that it was, finally, 1:15 and she had a text message from Noah. A text. Was that what this lead-up had been? Had she possibly overthought what his note had meant? With mild trepidation, Rachel opened her phone.
I've decided which song I should sing lead on in Glee. Want to hear?
In a rather uncharacteristic moment, Rachel's response was only one word. Yes.
I'm on your front porch. She took off down the hallway, making sure to tread lightly near her fathers' door. They slept like rocks, but this didn't seem to be the moment to test that fact. As she opened the door, she heard the gentle chords of a song beginning. There was Noah, leaning against her porch rail with his guitar.
Another shot of whiskey And I wonder if I ever cross your mind It's a quarter after one And I don't know how I can do without
Can't stop looking at the door
Wishing you'd come sweeping
In the way you did before
For me it happens all the time
I'm a little drunk
And I need you now
Said I wouldn't call
But I've lost all control
And I need you now
I just need you now
Puck let the last chord linger, taking a moment to check out the smile on Rachel's face.
"You're a wonderful singer, Noah. I have no doubt that this song will fit your vocal range accordingly, and Mr. Schue would be a fool not to use this in a performance setting."
"Thanks, Rachel, but that's not really what I'm thinking about right now." He eased his guitar onto the porch and in two quick strides was face to face with her. "I'm thinking about that smile and slight blush you get every time I sing to you. I'm thinking about how you never judge me, even after all the shit I've done." He slowly wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her even closer to him. "I'm thinking about how, even when I was drunk, I knew that I needed you." Their foreheads were touching now, and he could hear her breath catch as his lips moved to only a hair's breath away from hers. "I'm thinking about singing with you, eating lunch with you, laughing with you, and following your drunk commands."
"Commands?" She whispered, not wanting to ruin the moment. Instead of answering, he closed the last distance between them, kissing her as intensely as he had wanted to last week. When he finally drew back from her, she pulled him lightly to the porch swing, where she then curled up against his side. "Commands?" She asked again.
"You may be a nervous drunk, but you also had, as you put it, overwhelming confidence to share some information." She buried her face in his shoulder.
"Never again."
"You seemed to like the results a second ago." She had to cede that point, but instead of letting him inflate his ego, she quieted him in the best way she knew how.
They spent a few more minutes together before admitting that sleep was necessary. Puck left Rachel with a breath stealing kiss and a promise to see her later that day. Rachel tiptoed back to her room, and as she settled in under her covers, she gently sang herself to sleep.
And I don't know how
I can do without
I just need you now.
AN: Hope you enjoyed it. For those of you that have read my other works, I promise that I intend to finish Next to Normal, furnished with the greatest apologizes about computer crashes and college classes. For now, I'm glad to have written this final chapter, and I'm psyched for the true Glee version of Need You Now. Thank you for reading!