AN: So you guys don't know how sorry I am that it's taken me forever to update.

There were unfortunate personal events that went down, and my muse kinda abandoned me.

But, tonight I took the time to go back and make some tweeks to the first 2 chapters, and this was a result. So I'm hoping I'm back for real.

I hope you guys have stuck with me, and if not with me, this story at least.

But enough excuses! ON WITH THE READING!

Disclaimer: I own nothing Glee or Gossip Girl related. All other ideas are mine though.

She had just flopped herself face-down onto her bed when her phone buzzed from its resting spot on her vanity.

Groaning inwardly, she rolled onto her back to stare at her ceiling. She was exhausted.

This last week had to have been one of the longest weeks of her life.

People were oh so nosy, and she was absolutely sick and tired of answering question after question about her summer.

Her phone buzzed again, and so heaving another huge sigh, she pushed herself up and off of the bed and into a standing position so that she could scoop up her phone.

She had 3 texts, one from Gabe and two from Noah.

Smiling to herself, she scrolled down to Noah's name and opened his first message:

Berrryyyyyy. I'm so frickin bored. It's Friday. I shouldn't be bored. There is nothin goin on tonight...fuckin stupid small town.

What you up to?

And then the one below it, sent not two minutes later:

You're not answering. SO...I'm just gonna come over.

Right on cue, the doorbell rang out...and then rang out two more times, causing Rachel to roll her eyes at his impatience.

Wanting to torture him just a little, she took her own sweet time walking down the stairs before making her way to the door.

She finally took pity on him when he laid on the bell.

Adjusting her sweater a bit, she opened the door and smiled at the sight before her.

Noah was standing on her porch, wearing nothing but jeans and a t-shirt, one hand buried in his pocket and the other...still pressing her doorbell.

"Hello Noah. Please stop that."

He smiled down at her and finally released the button.

"Sup, Berry?"

Rachel noticed he was shifting from foot to foot, clearly cold, but too stubborn to say anything, it was after all a crisp September evening in Ohio.

She smiled and leaned against the door, purposely not inviting him in.

"I'm fantastic, Noah. You?"

Giving her the look, he pushed past her and into the warm foyer.

"Fuckin' cold as balls out there. You're mean."

She laughed as she re-locked the door and turned to find that he was making his way towards the kitchen.

The whole familiarity of this action struck her as she followed and watched him rummage through her fridge and come out with a bottle of water in his hand.

She couldn't exactly place when he had become so familiar with her house.

She grabbed a bar stool from the island and watched as he leaned himself against the counter and inspected the family pictures decorating the doors of the fridge.

He leaned forward to examine a picture of her and her fathers from their vacation in Italy a few summers back, and then turned to smile at her.

"So where are Leroy and Hiram this evening?"

She placed her elbows on the counter and then rested her chin in her hand, "Dad had a conference in Connecticut this past week, and Daddy went up yesterday so they could have a mini vacation. They'll be home Sunday."

Noah nodded and then studied her for a second.

"Can we watch a movie?"

She smiled once again, and nodded.

She knew what he was doing. Noah had commented before on how he thought that she spent too much time on her own. This was his way of making sure that she was ok.

She got up from her stool and led him from the kitchen to their large cozy den.

This was her favorite room in the house, apart from her room and the Oscar room downstairs.

She also happened to know that it was Noah's favorite too.

He moved to his favorite leather couch throwing himself down and leaving the movie choice up to her.

Scanning their extensive DVD collection, she grabbed one of her favorites.

"You up for a scary movie?"

And at his noncommittal grunt, she once again rolled her eyes and slid her selection into the system and joined him on the couch.

They sat silent for a few minutes as the opening credits rolled, and when he scoffed at the title she turned to him, eyebrows raised.

"You have the worst taste, Rach. I mean...Sorority Row? This shit ain't even scary."

She shrugged and adjusted the way she was sitting, placing her feet in his lap.

"Then you should have chosen the movie, Noah."

He continued to grumble until the first scantily clad co-ed came across the screen, her boobs basically out for the world to see. That shut him up real quick.

And then when the first tense moment came up, she was amused to see that Noah was rigid, his hands gripping her legs a little more tightly.

And when he jumped, she couldn't help but laugh.

He sheepishly glanced in her direction and loosened his grip on her calves.

It was her turn to tense slightly when she felt one hand absentmindedly begin to massage her leg while his other thumb brushed patterns onto her ankle bone.

She couldn't help the tiny noise that escaped the back of her throat when his hand hit that particular spot behind her knee.

That spot was dangerous. It made her stomach twist in a funny way, and it sent goosebumps racing up and down her spine.

And even worse, he was the only one who had ever found it.

She glanced up from where she had previously been watching his hands, in time to see the glint enter his eye.

He had obviously heard her and realized what he was doing.

So when he paused the movie and then let his hand once again begin it's journey up her leg, she knew what was going to happen.

But even with knowing what was coming, the goosebumps still came when he reached that spot, this time accompanied with a blush.

"Noah."

There was clearly an air of warning when she said his name, but he defiantly looked back and kneaded the spot again.

"Yes, Rach?"

He smiled and she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at him. Again.

"Don't start trouble."

That just caused him to break into an even bigger grin as his hands gripped her a little tighter.

"Mmmm...but trouble is my middle name, Berry."

Her breathing hitched as he inched closer to her and his hand moved closer to the spot once again.

"And as I remember Rach, you like my trouble,"

His hands moved past her knees and up to her hips, tugging her closer.

Her heart began beating over time as she allowed herself to be lifted into the air and then lowered into straddling his lap.

This was quickly spiraling out of control and she knew that if she didn't stop it soon, it was going to go too far.

"Noah." She tried again.

This time it seemed to work, if his reluctant sigh was any indication. "What's wrong?"

She studied his face before plowing on with her worries.

"We're friends." There. Short and simple.

She watched as his eyebrow rose at that statement.

"Yeah. And?"

She shifted uncomfortably, only belatedly realizing exactly what she was doing to him.

"Well. I don't want that to change."

He sighed again, "Who says it's going to change anything?" He let go of her hips and let her slide back into her seat.

She smiled a soft smile before restarting the movie, "It would change everything 'No."

It was nearly two in the morning by the time she woke up. The credits of their fifth 'scary' movie were still rolling, and shifting to try and find the remote, she realized that she had somehow snuggled herself into Noah's side.

Rachel twisted on her side, trying to get out from under Noah's arm. She was almost free when out of nowhere a voice startled her to the point of almost falling off the edge of the couch, "Berry. You wiggle like that one more time and we just might have a problem."

She laughed as he let go and she dropped to floor, finally finding the remote and turning off the TV.

"Sorry Noah, I just wanted to turn off the movie."

She watched as he sat up and stretched. His shirt rode up with his shoulders, and he flashed her a tantalizing strip of abs. He was lovely to look at.

He rose his eyebrow in question when her staring lasted just a beat too long. Realizing that she had been caught in the act, Rachel began picking up the snack mess that had accumulated over the evening.

When she shuffled back into the den from throwing the trash away, Noah was lacing up his boots.

"Are you leaving, 'No?"

He looked up at her and she could tell that he was extremely tired and it was taking most of his concentration just to tie one boot.

"Yeah babe, s'late. Gonna let you go to bed." He stood up and made his way to the front foyer were his keys and wallet were laying on the little table by the door. It took him three tries to get his wallet into his back pocket, and that was all it took for Rachel to make up her mind.

"Noah, you're too tired to drive." He made a sound like he was about to protest, so she slapped her hand over his mouth to keep him quiet. "I would worry."

Noah nodded and took his wallet out of the pocket and plopped the keys back down onto the table.

He started to make his way back towards the den, but she caught him by the wrist.

"I know from experience that the couch is not at all comfortable to sleep on. You can bunk with me."

Noah nodded and followed her up the stairs.

Now, isn't this just curious?

What is Puck's truck doing parked in the Berry driveway?

It's late, and I know our resident diva was supposed to be all alone tonight.

Could this mean Puckleberry is back on?

You know I'll be watching and waiting.

xoxo GG

As always, lemme know what you think! :)