Fic: Starlight, Chapter 34 by Sapphire (PG-13)

[sapphireej]

Title: Starlight, Chapter 34
Author: Sapphire (sapphiresfic)
Fandom: Glee
Pairing/Characters: Rachel, Puck, Rachel/Puck, the Glee clubbers
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 6,386
Spoilers: Up to 1x22 ~ Journey; just to be safe
Series: 'Starlight' (List of all the parts on my LJ)
Summary1: He's the star who just wants to be a high school student; she's the loser, who dreams of her name in lights on Broadway... When they meet at WMHS on the first day of a new school year; how will they take each other? ~ AU from the eps.
Summary2: Noah helps Rachel get some sleep and she starts to recover.
Disclaimer: I am just borrowing them for the fun of writing, BUT I do own the plot, ideas and original characters.
A/N: I edited this chapter, so all mistakes are mine.
A/N2: Feedback keeps me writing, so please comment or review. :D 



~*~

A/N3: Keep in mind, within this AU... There is no Puck/Quinn, no Finn/Rachel, Quinn is NOT pregnant at all, Puck's dad never left when he was a kid and Puck will be OOC so yes, totally AU, though you'll see similarities to the episodes.

~*~

Rachel was hoping that her first night home would give her a chance to get a full night's sleep, but just a few hours after she drifted off in her boyfriend's arms, she woke crying when her mind flooded with the fears she had over the time she was being held by Crystal.

Noah, who hadn't even been to sleep yet, immediately pulled her closer to him and let her cry, not forcing her to speak right away and giving her a chance to calm down. He knew she just needed to relax, so he began whispering soft, loving words to her, which helped her calm down enough to get her back to sleep in his arms, and this time he followed her to sleep.

The two got a few more hours of sleep before Rachel woke again, this time she had a flashback of when Crystal first abducted her and at Noah's concerned look, she explained. "I had a flashback of when she first took me. It just happened so quick. One second I'm getting out of my car and the next she's got her arms around me. She was holding me down and I was screaming for help," her hand unconsciously went to the spot on her neck where she'd been stabbed with the needle, "and she drugged me. I kept screaming and trying to fight and nothing was working and no one was around and then everything went black," she murmured.

"The drugs kicked in?" Noah asked softly, resisting the urge to drive down to where Crystal is being held and give her a piece of his mind.

"Yeah. Next thing I remember, I'm waking up and my hands are cuffed in front of me and I can't really move from the blanket I'm laying on," she said with a sob, her fingers tracing over the bruise around her good wrist.

Noah took her good hand in his and lifted it to his lips, pressing a long, loving kiss to the warm skin of her wrist, "you're home now," he whispered, looking into her eyes.

At just that small gesture, Rachel felt sparks igniting all over her body, giving her a more intimate feeling with him, than she ever had before, "I am," she nodded, "all I wanted when she had me was to wake up and be home and now I am," she explained, taking a deep breath and then turned her hand around so she could lace their fingers together, "to feel your arms around me, to hear your voice, to see my dads, your family, our friends... So many things I wanted when she had me," she felt her jaw quiver as she spoke.

"You have them all now," he promised, letting go of her hand so he could wrap his arms around her again, "and so much more," he added.

She choked back a sob at his words and nodded, "I know, but I wish I didn't keep having these dreams and flashbacks," she told him.

Noah tugged the blankets back over them as he laid them down and kissed her lips, "they'll go away soon," he swore.

"How do you know? What if I always have them?" She shuddered at the thought.

"I know because I'm going to go home and get one of my dreamcatchers. I should have thought it before, but when I was packing, I didn't," he explained, "we'll hang it up above your bed and hopefully it'll help mellow out your dreams."

"What's a dreamcatcher?" Rachel asked curiously.

"It does what it's name says. It has a Native American origin. It's a round loop with twine-like rope woven into the center to make like a spider web and then it has tassels hanging down, usually with feathers hanging from them. The most common story I've heard is moms would make one to hang over their baby's crib so when the baby slept, if it had dreams, the bad ones would get tangled in the web and the good dreams would flow down to the baby by the feathers."

"Really?" She thought about it, "I've never heard of them before," she admitted, "do they work?"

He smirked a little, "yeah they do, but that's because I believe they do. When I have one hanging up I don't dream and if I do, they're usually okay or good ones. I don't have super gory or upsetting ones anymore. I had a lot when I was a kid; dad being a cop and all."

"I'm willing to try anything," she murmured, clinging to him. "I can't seem to close my eyes without having problems, so I don't know how I'm going to be able to sleep anymore."

"I understand, babe, I really do, but would you try?" He asked hopeful, "if you can't, it's okay, but I really think you can. You've been through a lot and need sleep to recharge," he told her and when she opened her mouth to say something, he kissed her, "I'm not going anywhere," he told her.

She smiled and blushed, nodding, "I'll try," she whispered.

~*~

When Rachel closed her eyes, she told herself that she was safe, home and in the comfort of her boyfriend, who loved her and he wasn't going anywhere. Willing herself to sleep, she drifted off. This time, she was able to sleep soundly for a while, until she heard a knock on her door, just before eight the next morning. Glancing at the door, she saw David peek inside, "I hate to wake up guys up, but Noah's parents and the guys are coming over in a little bit," he said softly, moving inside when he saw Rachel stirring, "sweetheart, how did you sleep?"

Rachel sat up a little, rubbing her eyes with her good hand, "I got sleep, but I had some issues. Two bad dreams really woke me up," she admitted, glancing at her boyfriend, who was also waking up.

David kissed her cheek, "did you talk to Noah about it?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I felt bad for waking him up, though," she added.

"Don't," Noah murmured, "it's what I'm here for," he told her truthfully.

Rachel was going to say something, but she stopped, blushing, "alright."

"We all are here for that," David told her, "so don't think it bothers us," he added, "why don't you guys get up soon, so when everyone gets here you're downstairs."

"Okay, daddy," Rachel nodded, "we'll be up in a bit."

~*~

Though the young couple didn't want to get up, they knew they needed to, so reluctantly they crawled out of bed and got ready for the day, making it downstairs to eat breakfast before Noah's family and friends got there. Once breakfast was over and everyone was at the house, David, Deborah and Noah went with Rachel to the hospital, while everyone else hung out at the house, since they wouldn't be gone too long.

Arriving at the hospital, they waited about twenty minutes for Brad to finish up with another patient and then he took them back to an exam room. While he checked out her wrist, they talked about how she was doing and he told her he was not surprised she had a hard time sleeping, but he promised it'd get better.

Now that the swelling was down in her wrist, there was no choice, but to get a cast on it, so she gave in, knowing for the next six to eight weeks she'd be wearing the baby blue colored cast.

It didn't take long to get the cast on and soon, Brad and David were discussing Rachel's release for school. Brad wrote up the release, saying she was physically ready to return to school, since she didn't have any classes that required heavy lifting on her wrist, but was leaving the time to return up to her fathers, who would be able to tell when she was mentally ready to go back.

Thanking Brad for what he'd done, they finished up at the hospital and headed back to the Berry's. During the trip, Rachel was snuggled against her boyfriend and when they got back in the house, Noah tugged out his Sharpie, one he carried with him everywhere, and made sure he was the first person to sign her cast. Taylor got in line to be the second one and Rachel smiled and thanked both of them, already feeling better about being stuck with the cast for a long time.

While they were gone, Ethan had found out when Mike and Allison were coming over, so before they arrived, everyone had lunch and once the officers got there, they sat down in the living room to get started, everyone promising to keep quiet to let Rachel be the one to speak, but were there if she needed them.

Rachel really didn't want to talk about everything that happened, but she knew she didn't have a choice, so while she held her boyfriends hand and knew everyone was there for support, she started out by talking about the text messaged she first received and moved onto what happened, all the way up to her being found in the woods. Having to go into details, Rachel got emotional, but with her boyfriend right next to her, holding her hand and trying not to blow a gasket at what Crystal had done and said to her, she remained calm enough to get through it.

When she told the officers her side of the story, they thanked her and turned off their voice recorder, using that to make sure they didn't forget anything when they wrote up her statement.

Since they were on the topic, Rachel asked how they found her and they explained that the phone used to text her was untraceable and there was no evidence left at the scene, except the needle used to give her the sedative, which was a generic syringe, so there was no real connection to Crystal from it. Rachel learned they had been running into walls until Carly saw Rachel's necklace drop out of Crystal's bag and went to find Noah. She learned that Crystal was questioned at school and then was taken to the police station where she was interrogated. They only got information from her when Noah was brought into the conversation, so they allowed him to talk to Crystal, which is when she finally gave up a vague location of where she'd left Rachel, and they immediately put together a search and rescue team and allowed Noah to be a part of team.

As the officers were leaving, they promised Rachel that Crystal was in jail and she would never be hurt by her again, which gave Rachel some relief and once they were gone, she crawled into her boyfriend's lap to snuggle closer to him. Noah could easily tell she was upset, so he wrapped his arms around her, "you're okay, baby. I've got you," he promised, rubbing her back gently.

"I know you do," she said, taking deep breaths to keep from crying. "You can do this, Rachel. You're alright, just relax," she told herself.
David sat down next to them and rested his hand on Rachel's back, "we're all here for you, sweetheart," he told her honestly.

Rachel smiled, turning to look at him, "I know you are," she said, looking over at Alan, and the others, "it means a lot."

Taylor moved over to them and sat on the arm of the couch, next to Noah,, "I'm here for both of you, even if I have to leave tomorrow," he said softly.

"You do?" Rachel looked at him, "why?"

"I have to get back. I don't want to leave, but it'll give you and Noah some time alone," he told them.

"I really appreciate you coming, Taylor, it means a lot," Noah replied, "and I understand, but we don't need alone time. We want to be around our friends, so don't leave because you think we need that."

Taylor smiled, "alright, and I'm not. Tim and Alex are heading back to New York tomorrow, so they're going to take me to the airport and get me on my way back to Cali before they fly out," he explained, "we'll still talk and I'll field all our 'celebrity' friends so you don't get bombarded by a ton of people wanting to know how you're doing, but it's just time. I'm really glad you're home safe, Rachel, and I wish I could stay, but I have to get back."

"I understand," Rachel nodded, "come back, soon," she added.

"I will," he promised.

~*~

Before it got too late, Deborah suggested they all go back to the Puckerman's for dinner, giving Taylor, Tim and Alex time to pack before leaving the next day and so Noah and Rachel could still hang out with Taylor.

Leaving the Berry's, Noah, Rachel and Taylor went in Noah's SUV, Tim and Alex went with Alan and David in their car and Deborah and Ethan took Ethan's SUV, going to get Arin and to stop at the store.

"This sucks," Noah commented, reaching over to take her hand, but with her cast on she couldn't hold his hand.

"Yes it does," Rachel agreed, wrapping her fingers around his as best she could, but it really didn't work.

Taylor smirked from the back, "I'm sure you guys will figure something out," he said, leaning forward a little.

Rachel blushed, shifting a little and reaching her right hand over, taking Noah's hand, "we just like being close," she said softly.

"You don't have to explain," Taylor told her, "I get it, but I can still give you guys a hard time."

She giggled lightly and then leaned back with a smile, "I don't mind and it's nice to laugh again," she admitted.

"It's nice to see you smile again," Noah added, glancing at her when he came to a stop outside their gate, heading up the driveway once the gate opened, with Rachel's dads' SUV right behind them, "I missed that a lot. I just missed everything about you."

Her blush grew even more, "I missed you a lot, too."

Coming to a stop in front of the house, the three teens got out of Noah's SUV and along with her dads, Tim and Alex, they headed into the house. When Rachel took her jacket off and handed it to Noah to hang in the closet, the safe feeling she'd had at home continued there and she took a deep breath, "home, number two," she smiled.

Noah wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her neck, "I'm glad you feel that way, babe."

Rachel sunk back into his arms, relaxing contently against his chest, "me too."

~*~

The teens hung out in the living room until Noah's parents and sister got home. The boys helped put the groceries away, while Arin went to see Rachel and she was extremely happy to see that she was back, but felt bad that she had a broken wrist.

It didn't take long for dinner to get put together and afterward, Taylor, Noah and Rachel went up to Taylor's room while he packed and Rachel used her phone for the first time. She responded to the Gleeks, assuring them she was alright, but had a broken wrist and just needed some time to relax, which they all understood.

"Too bad you're not leaving Sunday," Rachel commented to Taylor.

"Why's that?" Taylor asked curiously.

"I was thinking that maybe tomorrow we could invite the Glee members over to celebrate my return home, so I can see them," she explained.

"Yeah, that is too bad, but I'll be back," he promised.

"That is true," she agreed, "but still. I'm sure everyone would love to see you."

Noah and Rachel were sitting on one of the beds in the room Taylor was using, normally Finn's room, and Taylor moved to sit down next to Rachel, "no offense to the club, because I really do like them all, but this trip wasn't about seeing everyone. It was to support my best friend while his girlfriend was missing and to make sure she was alright when she was rescued. We can hang out the next time I visit," he told her.

Rachel smiled, turning and wrapping her arms around him in a hug, "I get what you're saying and I really appreciate you being here. No offense taken," she replied.

Taylor returned her hug, "maybe when you guys go to Regionals, I'll come to cheer you on," he grinned.

"That would be great," she smiled and then her eyes widened, "Regionals!" She exclaimed, jumping up and beginning to pace back and forth, "what are we going to do? I have a cast on!" She held up her left hand, "it's not going to go with any of the costumes we've planned and I don't know how I'm going to be able to dance!"

The guys exchanged glances and Noah groaned, rubbing his forehead while Taylor began laughing at Rachel; he'd never seen one of her outbursts before and was getting a kick out of it, "babe, we'll figure it out."

"How?" She stopped, looking at them, "Taylor, it's not funny! This is serious! We've worked so hard on these songs and I've missed a week of practice and we only have a month left!"

Noah stood up and moved towards her, resting his hands on her shoulders, "babe, it's going to be alright. Your cast won't stop you from dancing. We may have to fix a few of our dance moves, but we've got plenty of time," he assured her.

"Are you... are you sure?" She asked, looking at him.

"I'm sure," he replied, kissing her forehead and wrapping his arms around her in a loving hug.

~*~

The evening continued quietly as the Puckerman's guests continued to pack and when Taylor was done, they moved into Noah's room while he threw some things into a bag, and then they all joined the adults in the living room. Since it was getting late, Noah suggested they get back to the Berry's to get ready for bed, so they said 'goodnight' to Arin, Deborah and Ethan, and 'goodbye' to Taylor, Tim and Alex. The three guys were leaving Lima at eight in the morning, so they probably wouldn't be up and over at the house before they left.

Getting back to the Berry's house, Noah and Rachel went up to her room and the first thing he did was to take the dreamcatcher out of his bag that he'd brought over from his room. "May I see it?" Rachel asked, stepping over to him.

"Sure," he handed it off to her, "it's one of several."

Rachel nodded, "yes, I noticed them, now that I knew what I was looking for," she admitted, looking over the large black leather covered ring and the web inside it, seeing the black leather strands hanging down, holding red beads that black feathers hung from, "it's beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you," he said, kissing her lovingly, "you want me to put it up?"

"Yes, please," Rachel smiled, handing it back to him.

Noah moved towards her desk and got a push-pin from the drawer, kicked his shoes off and stepped up on her bed, hanging it on the wall above her pillows, "it doesn't have to be right over your heard, but it doesn't hurt," he commented, climbing down and moving towards her, "what do you think?"

Rachel studied the item, "it looks great," she said, leaning against him, "now I just hope it works."

"It will if you believe it will," he told her, kissing her forehead.

"I am willing to try anything to keep the nightmares like I had last night from repeating," she admitted, "I hated that and I also felt horrible that I woke you up."

"Seriously? You felt bad because of that? Don't," he commented honestly, moving his hands up to rest on her cheeks, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you and that means I want to be here for everything; the good and the bad. I want you to wake me up in the middle of the night when you have a bad dream; you don't have to tell me about it if you don't want to, but I want to be able to hold you and tell you it's going to be alright, okay?" He looked at her, his hand brushing through her hair.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around him and nodded, taking a deep breath, "okay," she choked out, before burying her head in his chest, "but what about when we're not in the same bed?" She looked up at him, hoping he would get what she meant.

Noah kissed her forehead, "I'm only a phone call away, day or night. I'll have my cell with me as much as I can. Leaving and being apart is going to be tough, but we'll make it work."

"Should we... Do you think maybe... I don't really want to, but do you think that maybe in a few days we should sleep apart?" She asked softly, "I mean, I need to be close to you right now, but if we slept apart for a few nights before you leave, it would be preparing ourselves for when you do go."

"We could do that; spending the days together," he told her, realizing she was right.

"Yeah, after you get out of school," she replied.

"I'm not going to school, babe, I want to spend time with you," he said honestly.

"I want the same, but you've already missed a few days, right?" She asked softly and at his nod, she continued, "I'm not sure how long I'll be out and you shouldn't miss more school just because of me. I'm home, safe and sound and will be here when you get out of school. You're missing Thursday, Friday and Monday, so that's another three days you're missing, too."

"And Tuesday, possibly Wednesday," he added.

"What? Why?" She gasped.

He took a deep breath, "let's get comfortable, first, then I'll explain," he said.

She eyed him for a moment, but her bed was looking very inviting, so she agreed, stepping from him and after some time of them changing and trading spots in the bathroom, soon they were cuddling up under her blankets, "okay, explain."

Noah smirked, knowing she wouldn't let him wait too long to explain why he'd miss more school, "remember that really bad earthquake they had in Haiti not too long ago?"

"Yes, I do. It was horrible," she replied.

"Well, this year is also the twenty-fifth anniversary of Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie recording 'We Are The World', so Lionel has rearranged it and they're inviting a ton of artists from all different generas of music to come together to record the song. It's going to be released right before the airing of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC, Canada, in the middle of February and all the proceeds for the purchase of it will be donated to the relief efforts in Haiti. The day after the awards, is the day we're all getting together to record the song and they're expecting it to take all day, so we won't be able to leave that day. Dad is making arrangements for us to leave Tuesday, but depending on the time of day, because it's such a long flight, we might not get back until early Wednesday, so I could miss school on Wednesday, too."

"Wow, that's an amazing honor, Noah," she admitted, "when did this come up?"

He bit his lip, "while you were gone. They called and gave me a day to think on it and at first I wasn't going to, but like you said, it's an amazing honor and it doesn't happen that often, so I agreed to do it," he told her.

"I'm glad you did," she said, "do you know of anyone else who is going to be there?"

"Miley, Nick, Joe and Kevin," he commented, "I'm not sure of anyone else off the top of my head."

"It's okay," she replied, kissing his lips, "we'll find out soon."

Noah sunk into her bed a little more and pulled her into his arms, "we will," he agreed, kissing her again, "would you like to try out the dreamcatcher?"

She nodded, fighting back a yawn, "yes, I would," she replied.

"Okay," he reached and turned off the light next to her bed and then protectively wrapped his arms around her waist, "goodnight, baby, I love you."

"I love you, too, sweetheart," she kissed him on the lips and as she pulled from the kiss, she relaxed even more, "goodnight," she whispered, letting her eyes drift closed, hoping the dreamcatcher would do it's job.

Noah pulled the blankets up the rest of the way and rubbed her back gently for a moment as he felt the need for sleep draw him in and soon he was also drifting off to sleep.

~*~

When Rachel got to sleep, she didn't know what to expect, and after just a few hours, she began to dream of her experience, but this time her mind was allowing her to fight back, which was much better than the experience she had before. After some time in that dream, it felt as if someone changed the channel to romance, because she was curled up with her boyfriend on a blanket, on the beach, much like they had been when they filmed his video.

Noah woke around two in the morning to Rachel talking in her sleep, but it wasn't bad; she was saying 'I love you, Noah', which he didn't mind hearing at all. He was curious what her mind was playing for her, but also didn't want to wake her, so he kissed her forehead, whispered, "I love you, too, babe," to her and settled back in to get a few more hours of sleep.

~*~

Rolling onto her back, Rachel let her eyes drift open and saw the light shining through her window, realizing that she slept through the night. Turning her head, she saw that it was just after nine in the morning, "wow! I slept through the night," she said out loud, looking up to see the feathers of Noah's dreamcatcher. "Thank you," she smiled, reaching over to her boyfriend, but found he wasn't there. "Noah?" She sat up a little and looked around, hearing water running in her bathroom and realized he was in her shower, but just as she heard it, the sound disappeared and he came out of the bathroom moments later, a single towel wrapped around his waist, "good morning, Noah," she smiled, sitting up on her elbow.

Noah smiled and turned towards her, "morning, Rach. How did you sleep?" He asked, reaching out for his boxers and jeans.

"Great!" She replied, watching him, "no bad dreams. This time I was fighting back," she admitted.

"That's great," he replied, taking a seat on the bed, looking at her, "you were talking in her sleep," he added with a grin.

"Really?" She blushed, "what did I say?"

"You were telling some dude you loved him," he commented, crossing his arms over his chest, trying to tease her for a moment.

Her eyes widened, "oh no! Noah, I'm so sorry, I... I didn't mean it, you know I only love you," she said, moving towards him.

He leaned forward and met her halfway, kissing her lips, "you did mean it, so don't be sorry," he whispered and at her confused expression, he grinned, "you said you loved me."

"Noah!" She gasped, nudging him in the shoulder with her good hand, "that's not nice! Don't do that!" She held her hand against her chest, "you scared me."

"Oh, baby, I'm sorry," he kissed her once more, "but your facial expressions were hilarious."

She pouted and crossed her arms, glaring at him, but couldn't help the smile that tugged on her lips, "we were on the beach," she murmured.

He ran a hand through her hair and smiled, "really? I'd love to take you to the beach again."

"Me too," she admitted, leaning into his hand, "thank you for helping me sleep through the night," she told him softly.

"I didn't do much, unless you mean getting the dreamcatcher," he replied, "you were the one sleeping."

"I mean for finding the dreamcatcher. I know I slept, but you were the one to figure out a way to help keep some of the bad dreams away," she smiled.

"Then you're welcome," he said, standing up, "I'm going to get dressed. Do you want to shower and I'll go downstairs and make breakfast?"

"You make breakfast?" She raised a curious eyebrow, "you don't have to."

"I want to," he assured her.

"Alright," she nodded and shifted to sit on the edge of the bed, "it may take me a while. I have to wrap my cast," she said.

"Take as long as you need," he kissed her cheek, "let us know if you need help," he added.

"Thanks, I will," she replied, hoping she'd be able to manage alone, but was glad to have the offer of help.

Noah nodded and after getting dressed, he moved out of the bedroom and headed downstairs, finding her dads in the kitchen, "morning guys," he said.

"Good morning, Noah. Is Rachel still asleep?" Alan asked curiously.

He motioned upstairs, "she's taking a shower," he replied.

"How did you both sleep last night?" David wondered.

"Not bad. She slept through the night and I woke up once to hear her saying 'I love you, Noah' in her sleep, so the dreamcatcher I brought over worked wonders," he admitted.

"That's great to hear," David smiled, "I'm glad she was able to. Nights will be hard, but if that helps keep her from having bad dreams, then that's wonderful. She needs to be able to relax without worrying about closing her eyes and having flashbacks."

"Exactly. I know 'forgetting' about something isn't good, but if she can't sleep because of bad dreams, that's different," he commented.

"It is," Alan agreed, "are you two going to do anything today?" He asked.

Noah shrugged and began moving around the kitchen collecting things to start breakfast for him and Rachel, "we had talked about maybe having some of the Glee Club members over. Have you guys eaten?"

"Yes, we have. Just fix breakfast for you two," David replied, glancing at Alan with a grin.

Alan laughed lightly, but calmed down to respond to him, "having the kids over wouldn't be a problem."

"Really? Are you sure? I don't want to take over all of Rachel's time. You guys, I'm sure, want some alone time with her, too," he commented.

"We don't need 'alone time' with her, to see that she's home safe and to tell her we love her. Seeing her happy is what is important to us and she's happy with you. We'll be home this week, so we'll have all the time in the world to spend with her. Right now, she needs to be around her friends and family, who will be helping her through this whole ordeal," David explained.

Noah nodded, "yeah, you're right. I'll invite everyone over later," he commented.

"We can order pizza or something so no one has to cook, too," Alan replied.

"I don't want to see another pizza again," Rachel groaned, coming into the kitchen at the tail end of the conversation.

David and Alan exchanged confused looks, then turned to her, "why is that, sweetheart?" David asked.

"Because that's all Crystal brought me to eat," she said softly, moving to the coffee pot.

"Oh, Rachel," Alan got up and moved towards her, wrapping his arms around her, "I'm sorry. I forgot you mentioned that yesterday when you were talking to Mike and Allison."

Rachel nodded, returning his hug, "it's alright, but the last thing I even want to think about eating is pizza."

"I totally understand," Alan assured her.

"How about this?" Noah held out a plate with a nice looking vegetable omelet sitting on it.

"Noah! This looks wonderful," she smiled, taking the plate from him, "thank you."

"You're welcome, babe," Noah kissed her forehead.

She moved over to the island and took a seat across from David and Alan returned to his seat next to his husband, "Noah, you're beginning to know your way around our kitchen better than we do," he commented with a grin.

Noah smirked, plating his own omelet and after setting the pan aside to cool, he joined them at the island, sitting next to Rachel, "I hope that's alright. I'm usually not that forward, but I just feel at home here."

"It's quite alright," David assured him, "you're part of this family, too."

"Thanks," Noah smiled.

"You're welcome," Alan replied.

"So, Rachel, Noah mentioned you guys inviting the club members over today," David said to Rachel.

"Oh," Rachel glanced at Noah and then back to her dads, "yes. I did mention it. Is that alright?"

"Yes it is," David nodded.

"That's what we were talking about when you came downstairs. To save from someone having to cook we can get take out or grill burgers or something," Alan explained.

"That would be great," Rachel smiled.

"After breakfast I'll call everyone to see who can come over," Noah told her.

Rachel nodded, "alright, thanks."

~*~

Noah plopped down on the couch next to Rachel after he made his final call and kissed her, "how are you feeling?"

She laughed lightly, "I have a broken wrist. I'm not sick, sweetheart."

"Right, but you've been through a lot; you could be pissed at the world," he explained.

"I'm not pissed at anyone except Crystal," Rachel assured him, "did you get in touch with everyone?"

"Well, my parents and sister are coming over and it looks like it's Finn, Quinn, Matt, Mercedes, Kurt, Ryan, Artie, Tina and Mike, will be too. Quinn said she'd call Brittany and Santana, so I don't know if either of them are going to be over. I said about three. I was also going to invite Carly, but I wasn't sure if you'd be okay with that," he admitted.

"She practically saved my life, why wouldn't I be okay with her being here?" She asked curiously.

"Because at one time she was best friends with Crystal," he replied.

"Like I just told you a few moments ago, the only person I'm pissed at is Crystal. In fact, I'd really like to see her and thank her for what she did," Rachel told him honestly.

"Alright, I'll call and invite her," he said, pulling out his phone and looking up her number. "Why don't you talk to her?" he suggested, handing his phone over.

Rachel looked at him confused, but took his phone and hit the send button, listening to the rings and after the third one, she heard a female voice say 'hello', "hi! Is this Carly?" She asked.

"Yes, who's this?" Carly replied.

"Hey, Carly, it's Rachel, on Noah's phone," she admitted.

"Oh my God! Rachel! Are you okay? How are you doing? What's going on? Is everything alright?" Carly exclaimed, rattling off several questions.

Rachel blushed lightly, "I'm doing okay," she replied, "given what's gone on."

"That's great to hear! I'm so glad you're home. God, that must have been scary!"

"Yes, it was," Rachel agreed, "hey, Noah and I have a question for you."

"Really? What is it?"

"Some of our friends are coming over in a few hours and we were wondering if you'd like to join us. I haven't seen anyone other than Noah and our families since I got back and I'd really like to see everyone, since I don't think I'm going back to school this week," Rachel explained.

"Really? You want me to come over?"

"Yes, I do," Rachel replied, "please."

Carly was silent for a moment, "alright, sure, I'll come over. I'll have to get directions somehow, though."

"I can do that," Rachel said, "and in case your parents wonder, both my dads will be here," she added.

Rachel gave her directions and her cell phone number and when Carly assured her she had a good idea about where she lived, and promised to be over around three, she hung up the phone and handed it back to Noah, "she'll be here."

"Cool," Noah smiled, slipping his phone back into his pocket. He thought for a moment and then took her hand in his, "you know she's just a friend, right?"

"Yes," Rachel felt her stomach flip when he said that, "why are you bringing it up?"

"I never want you to doubt who I love. It's you and only you and I'd never do anything to be unfaithful to you," he swore, "it sounds like Crystal was trying to get you to think I'd just fall for anyone, once you were gone and that's not true. You were gone and we got to be friends, that's it. I don't want you to think for a second that anything else happened," he told her honestly, staring at her as he explained his thoughts.

Rachel let go of his hand and then pressed her palm against his cheek, "I believe you, Noah. I know you would never cheat on me, but I do appreciate you telling me. I trust you and I also have no problem with you being friends with a girl. I love you and I admit that the thought of you being close to another girl does make me jealous, but like I said, I trust you."

Noah pulled her into his arms, "I will never do anything to make you lose that trust in me," he promised, "I may get jealous and overprotective if you're friends with other guys, but I do trust you, too."

"Thank you," Rachel shifted, kissing him, "I'll always be faithful to you," she promised.

"Very good to know," he replied, kissing her again as her arms wrapped around her protectively.

~*~

The dreamcatcher:

You can see it and many others here:
http://jbnativeamerican.com/Drea,catchertNew7.htm

~*~

A/N4: Yay! An update! I hope you guys enjoyed it. I promise it won't be as long before the next update. I'm still jobless and have been working on about six different stories, my four WIPs and two new ones, that will be posted after 'Returning Home' and 'Broken Road' have been completed. I do apologize for the lack of updates. I'm trying to get a chapter ahead, so this doesn't happen again, and I'm getting there, so please bare with me. Updates to 'Broken Road' and 'Returning Home' are coming soon, too. I've also been dealing with some personal issues. I get kind of out of focus sometimes, so I think that's also why it's taken me so long to update, but I'm trying. Thanks for sticking with me in all this! Love you all!
A/N5: I didn't realize when I updated last, on 3/1/2011, that it was Starlight's first birthday, so happy belated birthday!
A/N6: My mom just had her first three month check-up and things look great! She's healing well and cancer free! Mom, my friend and I are going to CatchCon this weekend (the Deadliest Catch convention in Seattle), so I'm super excited for that.

Next up: Rachel continues to heal and Noah gets ready to go to California, and the couple get some alone time together.

~*~