Title: Wonderful Life

Spoilers: 1x22

Warnings: Mature, mentions of sex, language

Summary: "Don't leave, please…" "I won't if you promise me something in return…" he whispered back, pulling her even closer. "What's that?" "Don't send me away."

Word count: 7,043 words

A/N: Hi, this was hugely inspired by the song Wonderful Life by Hurts, especially the beginning, but it somehow got a mind of its own. Let me know what you think. Thanks

Wonderful Life

The first week of the summer holidays in Lima had just passed, though one could not really tell that it was summer by the way it was raining. It was as if the heavens had opened up and all the rain that normally came down over the course of one month came down on this single day and night.

Rachel was on her way home after the most ridiculous fight with Finn one could ever imagine. His confession of love right before they went on stage at Regionals had been everything she had ever dreamed about. But it was just that, a dream. In her fantasy, she and Finn were perfect for each other. In reality, there was no way they could ever work. She was too driven and he was too concerned with his popularity.

Honestly, she could understand that he was worried about Quinn. She had been a big part of his life and he had thought that she had been pregnant with his child. But one would think that he would stop the worrying after she was released from the hospital with nothing but the recommendation to take it easy for a few days and considering the fact that he did not even talk to Quinn anymore aside from asking her how she was when they had visited her in the hospital. The blonde cheerleader had not returned for the last week of school after she had given birth to Beth and since Regionals ninety percent of the questions Finn was asking Rachel were revolving around Quinn Fabray. If she thought, Quinn was in pain because it seems that he had read somewhere that that sometimes was the case. Rachel's only thought was yes, she thought Quinn was in a bit of pain or at least discomfort, she had just given birth.

The second question he kept asking her was if she missed Beth. To be frank, Rachel did not care about that. Or not that much. Of course, she was concerned for Quinn, she was her teammate after all, but apparently everyone seemed to forget that that little girl also had a father who was their teammate as well. No one asked if Noah was alright. Obviously, she could understand Finn's reluctance to inquire how his ex-best friend was doing, but on the other hand he had sung Beth with him, so they must have reached at least some kind of level of civility.

And do not get her started on herself. Not once did Finn ask how she was doing. She was not sure if he just had forgotten that Shelby was her mother or if he just was not interested and she could not tell you which one felt worse. The fact remained that her own mother had gotten a substitute for Rachel, a cuter and younger version of the girl that tormented her biological daughter, a baby with perfect blonde hair and the Puckerman charm.

It was not like Rachel's world was ending because her mother had left. It stung, yes, that she had been replaced so easily. And she wondered why Shelby would go to such lengths to get to meet her just to walk out again. But it would have been nice, if her boyfriend who claimed to love her had asked how she was handling the situation.

It was a good thing, then, that Finn was not her boyfriend anymore.

He was clearly still in love with Quinn. That was what Rachel told him half an hour ago. He could fool himself and their friends but he could not fool her. She would always take second place to Quinn Fabray where Finn Hudson was concerned.

"What do you mean, I still love her?" Finn yelled at her. "I don't love Quinn.", "Yes, you do. You're hurt and feel betrayed because of what she did to you, but you still love her." she sighed, "I believe you when you say you like me but you don't love me and I refuse to be in a relationship that's built on a fantasy."

Funny, how two of the three relationships she had had were built on a fantasy. And both times the boys wanted Quinn Fabray more than Rachel Berry. She felt used by all three boys, whether they did what they did intentionally or not. "The good thing is I don't love you either, Finn. I'm sure I could have, one day, but I don't. We should end this before one of us gets their heart broken. (Before I get my heart broken)."

The truth was that Finn was just convenient. He was nice to her and she genuinely liked him. That did not mean that he was the man of her dreams. No, that would be Noah Puckerman's role in the play called Rachel Berry's Life. The first time she dreamed of Noah Puckerman was when he still threw slushies in her face on a daily basis. It is enough to say that she was disturbed. Not only had she just woken up from her first of what one would call a wet dream, but it also starred her biggest tormenter. He really was handsome.

She now knew that that dream was pretty harmless to the ones she had during and after her brief relationship with Noah. The heavy sexual attraction could not be denied, although she still thought Finn was the one for her. Now, when she finally had Finn and it was nothing like she imagined it would be, she could no longer refute that, at least in her dreams, he took a backseat to Noah.

Maybe she could visit Noah, see how he was doing. He could probably need a friend right now. Finn could not object to that anymore. "Why would you wanna see how he's doing, Rach? This whole thing is his fault!" "He's my friend even if he denies it and it's not like he forced her or anything." It was the first time since before Glee that Finn Hudson had looked at her as if she was crazy. It had hurt. She was not crazy, she was realistic. Quinn could play the victim all she wanted, but Noah had not raped her. He may have given her wine coolers but she surely had not been wasted. "We're done, Finn…"

She passed the Old Creek Bridge when she saw a lone figure sitting on the ground, their feet dangling over the edge of the bridge between the bars of the railing. Rachel knew immediately that it was him even without his ridiculous haircut. He visited her seven nights out of ten in her dreams, she could recognize his figure. She missed the mohawk.

She drove past him in her car and looked for a spot where she could park. Slowly getting out of the car, she was glad that it was relatively warm and that she would not freeze to death. She had only gone ten feet from her car towards Noah when she was completely soaked through.

She looked up and down the road. There was no car in sight as far as she could tell in this rain, so she crossed to the other side of the bridge where Noah was sitting on the ground. The closer she got to him the more she could see that he hardly looked like the boy she knew from school and temple.

Yes, she had known Noah for almost her whole life even though most of the time he would try to tell you otherwise. To say that the Jewish community of Lima, Ohio was small was the understatement of the century. There were currently only three Jewish teenagers in this town, namely herself, Noah and Jacob Ben-Israel. When they had been younger Rachel and Noah had been friends. Jacob had always been the odd one out, but she and Noah had been almost inseparable through most of their childhood. They had had each other's back. When people made fun of her dads he would give them a wedgie or beat them up as good as an eight-year-old could. Everything was great up until the day his dad left and he became Puck.

He had just turned thirteen and hit puberty and his dad had left him to deal with his mom and little sister. Essentially, his dad had left him to become the man of the house. The parents pitied him and the kids were asking stupid questions and all he had wanted was to be left alone. Rachel had made him 'I'm sorry your dad left' cookies and then left to give him some space like she knew he wanted and needed. That space turned into almost four years. Four long years in which he had thrown slushies in her face because people like Karofsky had told him she deserved it for being a loser with two gay dads. She had figured out pretty soon that Noah had not slushied her because she was a loser but because she had two dads and he had not been able to keep even one.

Now though, he just looked defeated. The way his shoulders were hunched over and his head was hanging lowly was horrible to look at. He had never seemed weak in her eyes. When he still had been Noah he was always the strong one. When she fell and scraped her knee, he would brush away the tears on her face and tell her that it would soon be forgotten and that scars were badass. And when he became Puck he was still strong. He had built a wall around his heart that no one seemed to be able to tear down. Apart from a small girl that would never be his, apparently.

Cautiously, she stepped closer to him. She did not dare touch him without making her presence known beforehand. Who knew what he would do? Lash out and push her over the railing into the river? Strangle her?

She really needed to work on those dramatic tendencies everyone kept pointing out to her…

"Noah?"

"What do you want, Berry?" He had not even looked up. She had no idea how he knew that it was her. His eyes were still trained downward towards the water and he had not in any way reacted physically to her presence.

"I was on my way home when I saw you sitting here. And let me tell you, it is not very productive to your health sitting in this kind of rain and I was actually just considering going to your place and see if you wanted some company." Rachel answered him. Looking around again, she saw no means of transportation that could have gotten him here. "How did you even get here?"

"Walked."

"Where were you going? I mean, does your mother –"

"Enough with the 20 questions already!" Puck raised his voice at Rachel.

Rachel flinched and took a step back. The look in his eyes as he screamed at her made her feel immensely uncomfortable. There was so much anger and hurt and frustration in them that made her chest constrict because it was close to the look he had given her after his dad had left. He kept looking at her and she was acutely aware of the way the rain had plastered her hair to her face and the way her wet clothes clung to her body. She could not stop the shiver from going through her body.

"I'm sorry." Rachel was sure she had never had heard Puck apologize to her before, Noah yes, Puck no. And the way he deflated before her filled her with worry. "I didn't mean to scare you." He told her as she watched his head dropped down again. "I'd really rather be alone right now, if you don't mind, Berry."

In true Rachel Berry fashion she ignored him and sat down beside him, telling him that, no, he did not really want to be alone at this moment. She knew that later she would regret spending so much time in the rain. But what was one cold compared to the vast pain her friend was in. And yes she still considered him her friend even after every time he had told her they were in fact not friends.

She watched the rain drops dripping from the tip of his nose and the way his jaw clenched. Tentatively, she reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. He felt cold from the rain and he was shaking, although she was not sure whether that actually came from the chill or the feelings he could hardly begin to understand. Her hand slid down his arm towards his hand until her fingers were interlocked with his. It was then that Rachel noticed it. The cold really had nothing to do with his shaking. Sobs were wracking his body and getting more violent with every passing second.

Rachel felt like it was not enough anymore to just hold his hand. Obviously, Noah needed her, needed someone to be there for him. She launched herself at him and threw her arms around his shoulders, pulling him close, resulting in him completely breaking down.

"Shhh… I'm here. It's going to be okay." She could feel the cold seep into her bones and was reminded that they were out in the rain, in the dark, sitting on a bridge. The wind around her was cold and she had goose bumps. They needed to get somewhere dry. So much for, it was warm outside and she would not freeze to death. "Noah, can you get up?" she whispered into his ear as she got an idea.

Puck turned his bloodshot eyes towards her not really understanding what she was asking of him. "We need to get out of this rain… I figured we could go to my place… My dads are gone for the week. You could stay there, if you don't want to go home. I mean, I understand, if you don't want to stay at the school freak's house. That's perfectly understandable with your reputation…" Rachel was cut off when Puck put his arms around her again and pulled her close. "Thank you." He said it so quietly that she almost did not hear him over the rain. As soon as his grip around her loosened and she was able to get up she reached a hand out to him offering her help in getting up. It was a small gesture that surely was not needed but all the more appreciated because of it by Noah.

The two of them slowly made their way towards her car and Noah only let go of her hand so that they could get into the car, but once inside he grabbed her hand again. The drive to the Berry household took a little over fifteen minutes and all the while she gently rubbed her thumb over his knuckles, trying to soothe him.

It took Rachel a few minutes to get the keys out of her bag and unlock the door because her fingers were shaking a little. It really was colder than she had anticipated and with the way her shirt clung to her skin and she could feel every gust of wind, small shivers were sent up and down her spine. Noah provided a small bit of warmth as he stood closely behind her with his hands on her hips.

"Let me get you some of Daddy's clothes." Rachel told him awkwardly as soon as they had entered the house. How, exactly, were you supposed to behave standing just inside your house, soaking wet with your ex-boyfriend (did that even count?) who was also your ex-best friend and who just gave up his daughter… to your biological mother? Making her way upstairs into her parents' bedroom she searched for a pair of sweats and a t-shirt that would fit Noah. On her return, she saw that he was still standing in the entrance, looking a little uncomfortable and Rachel felt bad because she had taken him with her to make him feel a little bit better and not worse.

"Here. I hope that's alright. The bathroom's the third door on the left if you don't remember. I'll be upstairs for a minute." She told him while handing him the pile of clothes and pointing down the hall towards the bathroom.

"Thanks."

Rachel quickly changed into a pair of yoga pants and a sweater she normally just wore to practice dance in her basement but which was just so comfortable that she could not muster the energy to find something else to wear right now. It was somehow weird to have Noah in her house again. She had not thought it possible, but he was even more quiet than usual and it made her worry.

"Noah? Are you still in there?" Rachel asked through the closed bathroom door. She had already prepared two cups of tea and taken out some of her homemade cookies, but Noah was still in the bathroom. When she got no answer she tried the handle and was surprised that it gave way. What surprised her even more was Noah sitting in front of the bathtub already changed into her Daddy's sweats but without a shirt. There was no doubt that he was attractive and that she was very much attracted to him, scenes from her dreams flashing before her eyes only confirmed that. At the opening of the door he looked up at her and she could see his red-rimmed eyes with a few tears still running down his cheeks. "Oh Noah…" It was heartbreaking to see him like this. She wondered how none of their 'friends' could see that he was so much more than the badass they all perceived him as.

"She just gave her away…" he whispered. "She gave her away as if she was just an old sweater that she didn't want anymore. How could she do that?" he asked her with an edge of desperation in his voice. Settling beside him on the cold tiled floor she took his hand in hers and massaged his palm softly with her much smaller hand.

Rachel was sure he would not like her answer. "I don't know what Quinn was thinking, Noah, but I think, and don't get mad at me, I think she did the right the thing." She told him as his fingers tightened around her hand and a deep scowl formed on his face. "The fuck that's supposed to mean? She gave my daughter away, to your mom!" Noah told her harshly.

"She's not my mom!" She did not know why that was the first thing that came to her mind after his statement. She just knew that it was important to point out that Shelby was definitely not her mom. It was probably a reflex to protect herself. "And I'm not saying that Beth's not your daughter and I don't doubt that you love her, but what would you have done if you'd kept her? Hm? Dropped out of school? Worked full time? Wouldn't you want to be more to your daughter than the high school dropout?" She could not tell you why she was suddenly so defensive, but she felt as if he was lashing out at her and she could not tolerate that, could not put that on top of the pile that were her emotions right now. She had nothing to do with the current situation. Well, nothing except that her birth mother had adopted his daughter.

Rachel got up and left him sitting there by himself. If he wanted to get angry, he could do that somewhere else. She understood that he was in so much pain that he could not even begin to comprehend everything that had happened in the last few weeks, but she would not take him treating her like this. The slushies she could take, the boy she had considered her oldest friend treating her like this mess was in some way her fault, though, she would not take. Getting comfortable on the couch in the living room with her cup of tea and one of the cookies, she waited for him to calm down and come out to sit with her.

"I'm mad at Quinn…" Noah started while sitting down next to her.

"I know."

"And I know that we did the right thing by giving Beth up. She deserves more than teenage parents who can't even get their own lives on track. That little girl deserves the world." There was so much sincerity there when he said that Beth deserved the world that her heart swelled a little. "I'm just scared out of my fucking mind…" He played with a loose thread of the shirt she had given him and refused to meet her eyes. She was glad he had put it on it had been a tad bit distracting earlier in the bathroom to see him without a shirt. She really liked those dreams and his naked chest right in front of her made her only everything in more detail.

"What are you scared of?" It was nothing more than a whisper but she was sure that he had heard her clearly. Rachel observed him from the corner of her eyes and saw him swallowing hard a couple of times and blinking rapidly as if trying to force himself not to shed another tear, keeping himself from showing another weakness. That was a bit ridiculous in her eyes because not even a minute ago he had admitted that he was scared, half an hour ago he had cried in her arms. Moreover, she did not mind him showing his feelings and would never think him weak for that.

"That someday she'll think of me the same way that you think of Shelby."

Oh. Rachel did not want that either, not for Noah and not for Beth. But Noah was a good person he would never do to Beth what Shelby did to Rachel. He would always put his daughter and her needs first and not think about what he so desperately wanted. The adoption was the best proof of that. It was also the reason why she thought that he did the right thing by giving up his daughter. Deep down, he knew that as well, she was sure of it. He was just frustrated with his life right now.

"She won't."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"I never thought badly of Shelby before I met her. I'd admired her for what she had done for my dads. For letting me have this wonderful family. But then she wormed her way into my life, used Jesse to get close to me. She told me I wasn't what she wanted and then Jesse went on and broke my heart, so I'll always think of heartbreak when I think of her now, whereas before I only felt gratitude towards Shelby." Rachel told him sincerely.

It felt good to be able to say all that to someone who could understand what she meant. She had tried with Finn once, but he had no idea what she wanted to tell him. He could not understand the full extent of why it had hurt so much what Shelby had done.

"Are you mad at her for adopting Beth?" She felt Noah pull her closer. When had he put his arm around her? Not that she minded, of course. He was warm and cosy and she did not really want to fight the urge to snuggle up to him. It made her feel safe just the way it had during that week that they had dated. Rachel could not explain it, but it was a sensation she had never experienced with Finn or Jesse. With them she never thought that this was enough, she had needed to prove herself and them to prove themselves as well. She and Noah always just were except for those four years they had not talked.

"No, I'm not. She wanted a baby. She got one. Beth will have a good life with Shelby, Noah." The answer was uttered softly her head leaning against his shoulder. "I know."

His fingers started to play with her hair a little which was still damp from the rain. It was soothing and she loved it even though she did not know that she needed to be soothed. He soon went from playing with the ends of her hair to gently comb through it. "Finn and I broke up."

Talk about random.

There was no reason for her to tell him that. One moment they were talking about this complicated mess they were both a part of and the next she was telling him that she was single again.

"I'm sorry." She had never heard someone utter these words with so little sincerity and let out a soft laugh at that. She could not fault him for that though, Finn was not his favourite person right now and she thought that Noah was mad at him for getting everything. Getting the girl Noah wanted, said girl choosing Finn over himself as the daddy, Finn getting the other girl, being the good guy, it really was no wonder Noah was jealous of Finn.

His lips brushed against her temple softly and his arm tightened around her and with her heartbeat speeding up and breath hitching Rachel breathlessly asked him what he was doing. "Comforting you… You're heartbroken." Which roughly translated into him getting comforted by her as well. That was also the incentive that she needed to not tell him that she was not heartbroken. She should have known that something like this would happen when she had invited him into her home. He was a very physical being, words were never enough for him, Beth was living proof of that (He had wanted Quinn and he had thought that she would know that he wanted more than just sex after the fact. Clearly, she did not know.), as was the fact that his lips had skimmed down to her jaw-line.

There was a slight desperation in the way his arm wound around her and his other hand had a tight grip on her thigh while he was nipping at her skin. "Rachel…" As she turned her face towards his, she knew that she could never deny him what he needed the most right now. He needed to feel wanted and needed. Everybody just left him which is why he always left the girls he slept with. If he left them first, they could not leave him. See, she did not think only about herself. She had been his best friend and she was a really good observer.

The kiss was completely different from the ones they had shared during their week together. Rachel had never thought him capable of being this gentle when the pain had become too much and he had turned into Puck.

His lips were so soft and when he wanted to deepen the kiss she could do nothing but open her lips for him. With a simple kiss he evoked feelings inside her that Finn had never even had a chance to touch upon. With Finn there was always this feeling that she had finally gotten what she wanted but at the same time disappointment because it could not live up to her imagination. This right here was the exact opposite. Her dreams had not prepared her for this; they did not even get close. Noah was turning her whole world upside down.

The way they were sitting was kind of uncomfortable and since Rachel Berry could take charge of any situation, even the ones that hit her unprepared, she ended their kiss, albeit reluctantly, and got up from the couch and held her hand out towards him once she saw the confused look in his eyes which, she noticed, had turned considerably darker during their make out session on the couch.

As soon as his warm fingers were curled around her own and he was standing next to her she led the way towards the stairs and her bedroom. Neither of them said a word and she did not feel the urge to fill the silence that she usually felt. Rachel had no plan and she had absolutely no idea where this would go, but she did not care even the slightest bit.

The next thing she knew, he was sitting on the edge of her bed and she was straddling his hips and they were back to making out again. Only this time she had a bit more control over the situation. Or less. That depended on the way you were looking at it because most of the things she did were involuntary. Her body was just reacting to his and she could not help it when, after she nipped at his lower lip, he let out a small groan and she had to grind against to him to ease the ache that was slowly building deep in her body. She probably had no control whatsoever.

His fingers were dancing along her spine giving her goose bumps and making her gasp into the kiss. When he tugged at her sweater and tried to pull it over her head she was only too happy to oblige.

Noah let the sweater drop to the floor and just looked at the girl sitting on his lap. Rachel knew she was blushing under his intense gaze and she could literally feel his eyes travel up from her stomach over her breasts where they lingered a bit up to her lips and then settle on her own eyes. He made her feel self-conscious and she desperately wanted to cover herself. She was just doing that when he lightly grabbed her hands and tangled his fingers with hers. "Don't… You're beautiful…" There was the Noah she knew. Sliding his hands around to grab her ass, he got up from her bed, which made her wrap her legs around him, and turned around so that he could lay her down on the bed.

She never thought it could feel like this. He was so gentle when he settled her on her bed and softly ran his hands over the skin of her stomach. She softly whispered his name as his lips touched her neck which turned into a moan when his hand found one of her breasts and palmed it through the cotton of her bra.

"That okay, baby?" That right there was probably the reason why Quinn had given in to him nine months ago. Everybody said he was a jerk and Quinn hated him with a passion but now he was not above comforting Rachel while he needed comfort as well. He was a nice guy that could be really sweet and Rachel was finally able to see that again. She had always suspected that the Noah she had known as a kid was not completely gone. And she was mad at everyone else for ignoring this side of him or calling him a pussy when he dared to show it.

Rachel nodded at him unable to formulate any words. At his question whether he could take off her bra he got another nod. He felt amazing against her. As soon as the bra joined her sweater on the floor he was kissing her again settling his weight on her a little more and her hips jerked slightly when she felt him hard through his sweats. She ran her hands over his shaved head and lightly scraped her nails over the skin at the nape of his neck making him grind his hips into her again and let out a groan.

The moment his lips left hers she mewled in protest and gripped his biceps tightly. The only response she got was a chuckle and his lips attaching themselves to her neck. He was intent on leaving a hickey and she honestly had no objection to that. She arched her back when his fingers started to pluck and pull at her nipples. She had never before felt this amazing and she never wanted it to stop. She should have let him do this during their week together.

Soon enough his lips trailed down the front of her body until he reached one of her nipples and started to suck lightly on it. His mouth was so much better than his fingers, a fact she had not even thought possible. Looking at him she saw that he was still fully clothed and it occurred to her that that was really not fair. She wanted to see his body again and yanked on his shirt a little until he got the hint and took it off himself. Rachel was yet again stunned by his incredible physique and sat up to run her hands over his torso and to tug softly at his nipple ring. With a growl Noah tackled her back to the back eliciting a giggle from her.

"Tease," he murmured against her lips with a small smirk on his face. He started running his hands up and down her sides again but Rachel wanted, no needed more. "Take off my pants." He looked into her eyes to see if she was serious. "Noah, please… I want you to take off my pants." Of course, she was serious she would not have said anything otherwise. How could he doubt her in this situation?

Nodding, he pulled her yoga pants down her legs and looked at her lying on her bed in just her cotton panties, her chest heaving and a flush spread all over her body. His hands found their way to the drawstrings of his own sweat pants and pulled. He let the pants fall to the floor with the rest of their clothes.

Rachel felt her cheeks grow hot when he stood before her completely naked. Of course, she had thought he was attractive before but nothing could prepare her for the burst of desire that ran through her at seeing him naked in front of her and her legs fell open a bit wider of their own accord so that Noah could see the damp spot on her panties. She could feel his gaze lingering there. Climbing back onto the bed, he started to trace small patterns on her abdomen going down further and further with every minute. Soon his lips started to follow the trail his fingers had left on her skin and Rachel was writhing on the bed with the tension building inside of her.

"'m gonna make you feel so fucking good, baby." He whispered hotly against her skin before he pressed a finger against the front of her panties and rubbed gently drawing a whimper from her that turned into a whine when his fingers left her and hooked into her panties to pull them off her body and he could not suppress the groan that left his lips as he saw her fully naked for the first time.

"You sure, Rachel? You want me to leave, ask me now." Her only answer was to reach into the drawer of her bedside table and take out one of the condoms her dads had insisted she keep in there when she told them she was dating Finn and handing it to Noah. He took the condom and put it onto the bed beside them.

"Later. 'm gonna make you scream my name first." He told her and hovered over her to kiss her again. She could not get enough of him, he tasted fantastic and she could not even begin to describe it, it was just purely Noah. His hand returned to the apex of her thighs, running his fingers through her folds. The moan that his touch tore from her was like music. But she started to tense when one of his fingers entered her.

"Shhh, relax. I got you, Rachel. Tell me when you want me to stop."

And this reassurance was all she needed to enjoy the feeling his finger was creating inside of her. "D-don't stop, please." The rhythm to which he moved his finger in and out of her was slow but steady and she had to hold on tightly to his arms while moaning his name lowly. After a few minutes Rachel started to move her hips in sync with his finger and Noah added another finger making her gasp and moan louder.

"You're so tight, baby."

Suddenly, his lips were on her body again and leaving kisses everywhere he could reach on his way downwards. Finally, when his lips were on her, Rachel bowed completely off the bed crying out his name. His mouth was wet and warm on her and her hands found their way to his head holding him in place and scraping her nails over his scalp. Noah's fingers were starting to move faster and faster and Rachel felt herself getting closer and closer to the edge. It was a delicious feeling that she never wanted to let go. Her moans were getting louder with every stroke of his fingers and every touch of his tongue until she fell right over that edge and screamed his name. He kept kissing her lightly and lapping at her while she came down from her high.

"You okay?" he asked her, settling beside her. Rachel was still breathing heavily and turned her head slightly to look at him. A small grin was on his lips that she could only mirror. "Yes." She answered him as she leaned over to press her lips against his in a chaste kiss. She had never felt better. Of course, she had touched herself before but that was nothing compared to what she was feeling now. Kissing him, she did not even think about the fact that his lips were still glistening with her wetness, but that only made him groan loudly and grab the condom from beside, quickly rolling it on. Rachel watched him, fascinated by the way he looked touching himself.

Noah settled himself back over her and locked his gaze with hers. "You ready, Rachel?" She bit her lip and nodded slowly. "Tell me when it hurts and I'll stop." That was the only thing he said to her, before entering her gradually. At first, it was slightly uncomfortable and then there was a sharp pain and Rachel could not for the life of her stop the couple of tears that leaked out. She did not tell him to stop though. She wanted this. "'m sorry, baby." Noah told her when he was fully inside and started to brush away her tears. The sweet gesture made Rachel's heart beat a little faster and she remembered how he had used to do that when they had been kids as she turned her head a little into his hand.

"It's okay. I'm okay."

And then he was moving. The pain she had been experiencing was fading quickly and being replaced by something much more pleasant. Grabbing her legs he made her wrap them around his waist so that he could get deeper. Rachel could not think about anything but him, the feeling of him inside her, his lips moving languidly against hers and his fingers running softly over her skin. She was out of her mind and he was not in a much better place, judging by the way his movements started to get a bit frantic.

"You close, baby?"

"Yes. Don't stop!" She warned him, desperation in her voice.

"Never…" he chuckled lowly at her plea. His fingers moved between them and rubbed her clit softly. "Noah…" she did not know that her voice could get so low. Her last orgasm could not even begin to compare to what she was feeling now. It was even better, feeling him inside of her and knowing that her orgasm triggered his and feeling him pulsing in her and seeing the look of pure bliss on his face.

Noah sagged against her and he was slightly heavy, she would not complain though, it was kind of comfortable. Her fingers were running up and down his back lightly while he pressed kisses all over her face. He drew a small whimper from her as he pulled out to get up and dispose of the condom before returning to the bed and pulling down the covers so that they could both get under them. He lay on his back and put his arm around her to pull her close, making her lay her head on his chest and leaving their legs tangled together, both of them trying to calm their heartbeats.

"Noah?" Rachel whispered to him not daring to look up but rather watching her fingers trace idle patterns on his chest.

"Yeah, Rach?" The hand that was not wrapped around her came up to hold her hand close to his chest, tangling their fingers.

"Don't leave, please…"

"I won't if you promise me something in return…" he whispered back, pulling her even closer.

"What's that?"

"Don't send me away."

She could practically feel the vulnerability in his voice. Propping herself up a bit she looked at him and held his gaze. "I won't." was her answer, followed by a soft kiss. Snuggling up to him again, she told him to sleep for a bit and closed her eyes and let his heartbeat lull her to sleep. The dream she had that night did not do him justice, but it was nice. She now had experienced the real thing and possibly gotten back her best friend. Maybe something more.