Author's note: I attempted to use a ballet term. Hopefully, I used it correctly. "Chaine" turn, (It is also not appearing correctly in print. In my word processor, there should be a carrot over the "i" and an apostrophe over the "e") sounded out, is "sheh-NAY".

Music Suggestions: "Everything has changed" by Taylor Swift feat. Ed Sheeran, "Meant to be" by Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line.

Disclaimer: Don't own Glee.

Holiday Interlude

Falling back a step, Rachel sputtered with indignity at the snowball that had just exploded against her shoulder. She almost dropped the snowball she'd just created, but habit kept her hand tight around the ball of snow.

"You'll regret that, Puckerman!" Rachel shouted at Puck's back, as he ran away from her, to the opposite end of the Berry's back yard.

Puck cast a grin over his shoulder.

"Bring it, Berry!" Puck shouted back, turning around and holding out his arms in challenge.

Growling indistinctively, Rachel cocked back her arm, and threw.

The snowball missed Puck by about two feet. Stomping her foot, Rachel quickly dipped down and gathered another handful of snow.

Watching it fly past his right shoulder, Puck focused back on Rachel with a smirk.

"Missed, babe!" Puck called back.

The second snowball smacked him in the face about three seconds later, hard.

"Holy crap!" Puck exclaimed loudly, his tone full of surprise and shock. Reaching up, he brushed the snow out of his eyes, and off of his face.

"That's what you get, Puckerman!" Rachel shouted without regret, after she forced down the similar look of surprise that had appeared on her face.

She honestly hadn't been aiming for his face. She'd just wanted to properly retaliate, and hit him on the shoulder, or the chest. However, she wasn't sorry. In fact, she was rather pleased with the final result. If it had been two years ago, or she'd have dropped him with the impact, and knocked him out, she might have felt a morsel of regret...but he was still standing. And she'd picked up a lot from him in the way of attitude, and actions.

Therefore, no apologies.

To further antagonize him, Rachel stuck her tongue out, and crouched down to prepare another snowball.

This time, she gathered snow with her eyes focused on him, knowing he would strike back at any moment. Rachel stood quickly and shrieked playfully when Puck began to run towards her, with the intent of knocking her into the snow.

Years of ballet training helped Rachel dodge his attempt, as she pivoted and executed a basic chaine turn just as he reached out for her. Dancing on the balls of her feet as she backed away, she gave him a mocking expression before taking off across the yard, her hair flying in the wind behind her as she edged around the covered in-ground pool.

"I think you're beginning to lose your touch, Noah!" Rachel taunted, once she'd reached the other side. Cradling the snowball in her hand, she waited for his next move.

"Why don't you come back over here, and I'll show you how much touch I've lost!" Puck called back, also juggling a new snowball from one hand to the other.

Smiling with all of her teeth, Rachel executed a mock curtsy, holding her arms out wide, and remained where she was.

"My daddies didn't raise no fool." Rachel countered with attitude, setting her feet apart in a bracing stance. "I think I'll stay where I am, thank you."

"Can't stay out here all night!" Puck tossed out in an assessing tone, letting his arms settle against his sides.

"Watch me!" Rachel shouted back, eyes narrowing in challenge.

As Puck began to counter once again, well prepared for the mocking repartee to bounce back and forth for at least another ten minutes, the back door opened, shifting his concentration.

"Curfew's in twenty..." Hiram called through the opening in the door, cutting off abruptly when a snowball pelted against Puck's head.

"Ha!" Rachel crowed in an exalted tone, pumping both fists in the air.

"Perhaps you two should come inside now." Hiram suggested to Puck in a kind tone, after Puck began to recover from the second direct head shot that night.

"I think that's probably a good idea." Puck admitted in a begrudging tone a couple of seconds later, making eye contact with Hiram as he brushed snow out of his mohawk.

Apparently teaching Rachel how to throw a punch had corrected her throwing abilities, as well.

oooowoooo*ooosoooo*

After Noah departed, and Rachel had changed into dry clothes, she decided to call Quinn, to discuss a few ideas that she had been deliberating over inside her head for the duration of their vacation.

Waiting as the phone rang, Rachel shut her bedroom door firmly, and sat down on her bed.

After the fourth ring, Quinn picked up.

"I've been thinking about what to do with Santana and Mack." Rachel stated to Quinn over the phone, laying back on her bed, with her feet tucked to one side. "I have two ideas, actually."

"And good evening to you, too, Rachel." Quinn greeted with amusement, cradling her cordless phone as she crossed the carpet towards her closet. "Where's Puck?" Quinn asked, rifling through her selection of skirts and sweaters, for her brunch date with Rachel the next morning.

"He just went home a few minutes ago." Rachel supplied, a mild frown pulling at her forehead at the thought of not sharing her ideas with him again. However, she really thought that the situation required further discussion with another female, considering with whom they were dealing, before opening up the discussion with her possibly biased boyfriend.

"I think we should have an all-girls' sleepover the Friday after Christmas vacation ends." Rachel suggested exuberantly, after Quinn hummed an acknowledgement of Rachel's comment. "And invite all of the glee girls...both the Troubletones and original New Directions."

"What?" Quinn uttered, pausing in her perusal, a pale green cashmere sweater dangling from her fingers.

"Think about it." Rachel said, sitting up and folding her legs under her in the lotus position, eagerness permeating her tone as she grasped the receiver with both hands. "It would be a wonderful opportunity for all of us to bond outside of school, and the usual dress code that is expected of our gender. We can lounge around in pajamas, paint each other's nails, style everyone's hair, watch movies, and stay up all night eating junk food and gossiping, while conversely getting to know each other a little better."

"That's not a completely horrible idea." Quinn admitted reluctantly after a moment, after carefully considering what Rachel had said.

"You don't like it." Rachel stated in a disappointed tone, her posture deflating with her optimism.

"I think it would be okay for most of the members." Quinn hedged, hanging the sweater on the hook attached to her closet door, freeing up her hand as she moved to sit down at her makeup vanity, so she could focus solely on her conversation with Rachel.

"But not Santana." Rachel gathered, her tone glum.

"Actually, I was thinking about Mack." Quinn corrected, holding her cordless phone pressed against her shoulder as she thought. "First, I'll talk to Mack, and maybe invite her over for a one-on-one sleepover, to see how she might react to that kind of thing. She never talks about it, but she has a rough home life, and I want to ease her into all of this. How about waiting a couple of weeks, at least?"

"Okay." Rachel said in a morose tone, rolling onto her stomach and propping her chin on her free hand.

Smiling into the phone, Quinn turned in her vanity chair, and reached for her primer, even though it was eight-thirty on a Thursday night. And rather than prompt Rachel for her second idea, Quinn decided to switched gears.

"I'm looking forward to brunch tomorrow." Quinn said, dabbing primer on her face and gently rubbing it into her skin. "I was picking out my outfit when you called."

"I hope it doesn't snow again." Rachel commented in a grousing tone, her frown coming across in her tone. "My daddy said that we're supposed to get another five to ten inches, starting early tomorrow morning. I haven't been out of the house since Monday, and I'm going a little stir-crazy. Noah and I have plans tomorrow night, and I'd be really disappointed if the weather forces us to delay, again."

"I really hope that it doesn't." Quinn agreed, frowning at her selection of liquid foundations, and which one she wanted to play with for the night. Reaching out, she selected a newer one that she hadn't yet had a chance to experiment with, and shut the drawer. "Shelby's flying back, and having breakfast with my mom and me, Saturday morning. Sam's coming back Sunday morning, and should be back around the time church lets out. We're going to have lunch, and spend some time together before school starts back up on Tuesday."

"After brunch, can I come over? I'd really appreciate it if you would do my makeup for me again, for my date with Noah." Rachel asked hopefully, perking up when she heard the familiar sounds of drawers opening and closing as Quinn gathered the brushes and tools needed from her makeup vanity. "You always do such a wonderful job, and I still can't quite get the contouring and eye liner right."

"Of course." Quinn said, laughter in her voice as as she finished lining everything up in front of her.

ooozoo*ooxooo*

Everything was coming together so nicely, if not exactly how she'd originally seen her life mapped out years before, but perhaps in a more balanced, perfect way.

Opening the door after Noah had rung the doorbell, Rachel stood back from the door as he entered, and waited silently.

She couldn't explain when she had felt the shift, perhaps it was after she'd sent off her NYADA application, or when they'd all agreed to volunteer at the homeless shelter, but she felt...calm, as if everything was going to be alright. It was a feeling that perhaps her mindset was shifting, and she was less concerned with how things happened, because she finally realized that no matter what, she had her daddies, she had her friends, and she had Noah. New York called to her, and she would get there, somehow, but for now, she was happy, and was content with letting the chips fall where they may. The sense of urgency that had plagued her for the past few months was gone, as if the weather conditions had forced her to slow down, and reanalyze everything around her.

She was really glad that Noah was there for her, both in the literal and the figurative sense.

Looking up, Puck met Rachel's eyes after a moment, and startled slightly at the intensity of her expression.

"What's up, babe?" Puck asked curiously.

"Nothing." Rachel said in reply, with a small smile. "Nothing at all."

oooeooo*oooooaoooo*

Yeah, so this is not the end end, as my closing scene seems to imply. Just been feeling serious, and up in my head lately. As usual, sorry for the sporadic updating.