Fic: Starlight, Chapter 42 by Sapphire (PG-13)

[sapphireej]

Title: Starlight, Chapter 42
Author: Sapphire (sapphiresfic)
Fandom: Glee
Pairing/Characters: Rachel, Puck, Rachel/Puck, the Glee clubbers
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 9,137
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: Now that Noah is home, Rachel and Noah can finally spend some time together.
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.

~*~

Staying quiet for a long moment, Rachel soaked in his presence and finally relaxed, relieved that he was home. Even though he'd been gone less than a week, to her, it felt like a lot longer. She'd been doing well while he'd been in LA, but during quiet times, especially when she was doing homework, she'd find her thoughts drifting to him, wondering what he was doing, who he was meeting or what they'd be doing if she had gone with him.

Now that she didn't have to wonder about those things anymore, questions began to swirl around in her mind about the last few days, "Noah, I... I don't get it," she admitted honestly, "how did you get home so early? It's such a long flight and weren't you in the studio until late last night?" She asked curiously.

Noah smirked, "I guess that depends on what you mean by 'late' and what time zone you're talking about," he replied casually.

"You messaged me sometime after two in the morning and made it seem like you'd just left the studio," she commented.

"That was when we were on the way to the airport," he kissed her forehead and with his arms still wrapped around her, guided her back a few feet to where their parents and his sister were standing, "how about we tell you guys over dinner?" He suggested.

Though she was intrigued at how they managed to get home so soon, she nodded, "okay, over dinner sounds good," she agreed, looking at Ethan and Deborah, "welcome home."

"Thank you. We're glad to be home," Deborah nodded, draping an arm around Arin's shoulders, "we definitely missed everyone."

"Being gone is never easy, but coming home is great," Ethan added.

~*~

Talking lightly for a few moments, they all chipped in to help set the table for dinner and soon they were able to sit down to eat.

"Okay, it's dinner, now explain," Rachel said, looking at her boyfriend, really curious about the events that got him home.

Noah laughed lightly, "alright," he took a deep breath, "well, remember when I talked to you Sunday night after the awards?" He asked and when she nodded, he continued, "well, after that, I talked to mom and dad and dad was already looking at flights for us. We'd been told I shouldn't make plans at all on Monday, because they didn't know how long it would take to record and they wanted it all done in one day. That left today to leave, but there were early morning flights or evening and night flights, so it was either get home now or sometime tomorrow, since it's an eight hour flight and a three hour time difference between there and here."

"And you chose early morning?" She asked, "well, obviously you did, but you told me..."

"I know what I told you," Noah smirked, "I wanted to surprise you, so I just didn't tell you the whole truth. I hate lying to you, but I figured you might let it slide this time," he admitted with a grin.

Rachel blushed, ducking her head, "yes, I suppose I can, but just don't make it a habit. I loved this surprise, but I don't like being kept in the dark."

Noah leaned over and pressed a kiss to her lips, "I know, babe, and I'd say it won't happen again, but you never know when I'll have to leave again and can come home to surprise you," he told her truthfully.

"Okay, well, that's fair enough," she replied, the blush still on her cheeks, "so, how did you manage to make an early morning flight when you were in the studio until late?"

"Well, I'd packed up my things before we went to the studio, so when I got back to the hotel last night, I just had to reorganize some things. Mom had come back to pack their stuff up during the day and by the time we were back last night, we finished up in our room, packed our rental up, checked out and went to get a late snack. That's when I messaged you; we were on our way to the airport by then," he explained, "our flight was at two in the morning, so we slept on the flight," he added, figuring she'd ask when they slept.

"Oh, alright. That makes sense now. So then this afternoon when you messaged me and I thought you'd just woken up from sleeping in, you had been in the air?" She wondered.

"No, we were already in Columbus. We hung out with Tim and Alex a little before they had to check-in for their flight to New York, then we stopped to get something to eat and while we were on our way back here, that's when I messaged David," Noah motioned to him, "and he suggested meeting up at the store when he went to get some things for dinner."

"I didn't even realize anything was up," she giggled lightly.

"That's the point, babe," he smiled.

Taking a deep breath, Rachel nodded, "yes, that is true. As much as I'm not a huge fan of surprises, I really loved this one," she told him.

"Good, I'm glad," Noah replied, letting one of his hands rest on her back and rubbed it gently. "Because I have something for you. I'll give it to after we finish eating."

"What is it?" She asked, looking at him, "oh, surprise?"

"Yep," he nodded with a grin.

~*~

Giving in, Rachel settled on waiting for her surprise, even though her mind was coming up with many ideas of what it could be. Finishing up dinner, everyone helped out with cleaning up the table and then they cut the cake and got the ice cream out for dessert and an impromptu party for Noah's Grammy wins. "Congratulations, Noah. If we would have known you guys were coming home, we could have invited your friends over, too," David commented.

Retaking their seats in the dinning room, everyone with cake and ice cream, Noah shrugged, "thanks and it's alright. I'm perfectly happy celebrating with you all and there's plenty of time for more this weekend. I'm really glad I can celebrate with my girlfriend and our families," he admitted, looking at Rachel.

Rachel leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips, "I'm glad you're home so we can celebrate together, too. Maybe this weekend, we could invite over those who were here on Sunday, and have a party for you," she suggested.

"That'd be cool. You don't have to, but if you want, I won't stop you," he replied.

"We'll figure something out," she smile.

~*~

Enjoying the cake and ice cream, soon they cleaned up again and settled into the living room to relax for a while, no one needing to rush anywhere. When Noah had come through the living room to get to the kitchen, he dropped his bag right next to Rachel's school bag and now that he was sitting on the couch, he reached for it. Digging out his camera he handed it to his dad and asked him to record 'this'.

Ethan smirked, but turned on the video mode of the camera and nodded when it was recording.

Rachel eyed the father and son and was definitely confused at what was going on, but tried to wait patiently.

"So, I told you I had something for you," Noah started, pulling out the bag with the CDs and slid the first one out, "Nick, Kevin and Joe got us a copy of the 'Camp Rock 2' soundtrack; before it's released officially," he explained, handing it to her.

Rachel smiled brightly, "awesome! I can't wait to listen to the final products!" She admitted, looking over the regular CD case. It was nothing that would be found to purchase, but the inside was stamped with the track listings and a single sheet of paper was slipped into the cover area with the listings as well, seeing the names of the few songs she remembered from the New York recording session, she, Finn, Quinn and Noah got to witness.

Noah nodded, "me too, actually. We can listen to it later if you'd like," he kept the other ones in the bag for a moment, "remember how we talked before the awards about Barbra Streisand being there and I'd try to get an autograph, but I wasn't making any promises?"

Perking up at the mention of one of her idols, Rachel nodded, turning her attention to the other items in the bag, but she could only tell they were CDs, because the bag was colored and he was purposely holding them so she couldn't see, "yes, I remember," she said simply.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I wasn't able to get her autograph at the awards," he said sadly, trying to prolong telling her.

"Okay... I told you I'd understand if you didn't get it," she admitted.

Taking a deep breath, Noah smiled, "I do remember that, and you see, when I was asked, along with all the other artists to do the 'We Are The World' recording, no one really knew who would be there, expect those who had asked everyone. Most of us knew someone who would be, like I knew Miley, Nick, Kevin and Joe would be, but I didn't know of any others, at least until the awards, when I spoke with LL Cool J," Noah started.

"That makes sense," Rachel nodded.

"Well, when I got there yesterday morning, I was given a schedule and it had the list of soloists for the song and when they'd be in and I'm sorry that I couldn't get Barbra's autograph Sunday, but," he slid out the CDs and with the back of Celine's showing, he smirked, "would you accept Celine Dion's and Barbra Streisand's from yesterday?" He asked, sliding the discs apart and turning them around so she could see the signed covers of each one.

"Oh my goodness!" Rachel exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock. A bright grin grew on her lips as her eyes began to water, "of course I will! This is absolutely amazing!" She admitted, seeing their real autographs, and even though she was dying to grab each one to inspect it, she held back a moment and leaned towards him, "I love you, Noah Puckerman," she pressed a kiss to his lips and then threw her arms around him in a tight hug, "thank you! You are the best boyfriend ever!"

Noah grinned and with the CDs still in his hands, he returned her hug, smiling at her words, "you're welcome, Rach, and I love you, too. That's never going to change," he assured her, "and you can thank me later, because I know you're dying to look through these. They signed more than just the cover, too," he explained, pressing a kiss to her cheek as he pulled back.

"They did? Really?" She gasped, taking a deep breath to calm down a little and reached out, taking Barbra's album first, seeing her name written in the older woman's writing, "I... I always dreamed of getting her autograph, but I never expected I'd see her write my name, too," she admitted "I figured dad, daddy and I would be in New York and we'd see her. I'd go right over to her and ask for her autograph on whatever I could find for her to sign and she'd just write her name... This is so much better, Noah. I can't thank you enough," she admitted, feeling tears falling from her eyes.

Noah reached up and wiped her eyes with his free hand, then pressed a kiss to her forehead and hugged her again, "you're worth it, baby, and so much more," he murmured, holding back from saying anything about the conversation Barbra had with him the night before. "I've got to keep my mouth shut on that. I definitely don't wanna ruin that surprise," he thought, slowly pulling back from Rachel as she turned her attention to both CDs, once she took the other album from him.

Ethan chose that moment to stop recording and handed it back to his son. Noah nodded his thanks and flipped the camera on so he could view the pictures and scrolled back until he reached the ones with the two women, "we had some time, so we got pictures together, too," he added, turning it to show her the first one of just Barbra holding the booklet up, "just scroll right to see the other ones."

Rachel set the albums on her lap and took his camera, staring in amazement at the photo of Barbra, the one of Celine doing the same thing, the two with Noah and the next ones with Deborah and Ethan joining them, "wow, Noah," she blushed, "I'm totally jealous that you guys got to meet them."

Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he smiled, "I'm sure you'll meet at least Barbra one day. I mean, you will be a Broadway star, so when she finds out you idolized her growing up, she'll probably want to meet you," he explained casually.

At his words, Rachel smiled, "I suppose you're right," she agreed, her cheeks getting redder, "I guess that does happen sometimes with young celebrities and their idols," she admitted.

"It does," Noah nodded, "I mean, look at me at Neil," he added, trying to take their discussion away from Barbra, so he didn't accidentally let anything slip.

"True," Rachel nodded, and at his words, questions she'd pushed aside to ask him when he returned popped into the front of her mind, "there are so many things I want to ask you, I don't even know where to start," she told him.

"We've got all the time in the world," he replied, sitting back on the couch.

"So you're staying here tonight?" Ethan asked curiously.

Noah laughed lightly, "you have to ask?"

Ethan smirked, "hey, I'm asking because it's getting late and we should get Arin packed up, so she can get home and get some sleep for school tomorrow."

"Do I have to go to school? I wanna spend time with you," Arin replied looking at them.

Thinking for a moment, Noah came up with an idea, "how about Arin and I stay here tonight and then in the morning, if Rachel's up for it, she can bring us home, or we can take Arin to school if she's gotta go and then we'll come over," he suggested, "because I'm not going to school tomorrow."

Deborah and Ethan thought of their options, and Ethan shrugged, wanting to let Deborah made the decision on that, "if Rachel, David and Alan are okay with you two staying here tonight, then I guess that would be alright. I also suppose it'd be okay if you missed a day of school, since you have gone every day since we've been gone," she looked at Arin.

"Yes!" Arin grinned.

"They're more than welcome to stay over. Arin's been a great house guest and another night would be quite alright, but I'm going to go back to work tomorrow, so you two will have to take care of things around here," David admitted, glancing at Noah and Rachel.

"That will be fine. I like Noah's idea. After we get up in the morning, we can pack up Arin's things and all head over to Puckerman's house. It'll be a good change for me to get out of the house for a while and, if it's alright, I could stay over there tomorrow night," she explained. "I don't think I want to go back to school on Thursday, but maybe just Glee. I haven't been to school since this all started and I don't know how I'm going to feel, so if I just go for a short time, I might not be as nervous about returning... Then maybe return fully on Monday?" She looked around at everyone, landing on her dads.

"You're welcome anytime," Deborah commented.

"I think that's alright," David nodded, "and it does make sense. You have spent all of your time here, except when you take Arin to school and when you went to the mall this past weekend, so you should get out of the house for a while. I also think you're right with Glee and school, but just remember you still need to get your homework done."

"I know," Rachel nodded, "I'm getting there. I know I can't ignore my homework and I will get it done. I'm glad my teachers are being understanding about this and I'm not going to ruin their trust by not having my work done when I get back to class," she assured them.

~*~

With a plan agreed on for the evening and the next morning, Noah got his luggage from his SUV and Ethan and Deborah said 'goodnight' to everyone and headed home. Noah put his bags in Rachel's room and pulled out some clothes to sleep in, that he changed into, while Rachel was helping Arin get ready for bed. Joining them in the Berry's guest room, Noah and Rachel talked to Arin for a little bit before she started getting sleepy. The siblings shared a long hug and she told him she was glad he was home, and he agreed with her, telling her 'goodnight' and promising they'd talk the next day.

Once she was settled into bed, Noah and Rachel went downstairs, finding David and Alan getting ready for the next day, "so you're going back to work tomorrow, daddy?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah," David nodded, "I told you I'd stay home until Noah got home and you've done fine at home, so there's no need for me to sit at home and watch you do homework," he admitted, "and you're right. You can call if you need anything."

Rachel moved over to him and give him a hug, "I really appreciate you staying home, even if you didn't do much or need to. Same goes for you, dad," she said, looking at Alan.

Alan smiled, "I know," he moved over and kissed her on her forehead, "we're glad you're recovering well and I think part of us has a hard time admitting our little girl is growing up and doesn't always need us," he explained.

"I'll always need you, just not as often as I did when I was younger," she replied, hugging him.

"Very true and you know we're always here for you," David added.

"I do," she assured them.

"Good to know," Alan nodded, "and with that, I think we're gonna go to bed, too. I'm sure you two want to catch," he added, looking at Noah, "welcome home."

"Thanks," Noah smiled, "it's really good to be home."

~*~

Saying 'goodnight', the dads made their way upstairs, leaving Rachel and Noah to do whatever they wanted. "So, anything you want to do?" He asked curiously, not sure if she had any ideas.

Rachel moved towards him, wrapping her good arm around his neck and pressed a kiss to his lips, deeper than she'd given him in front of their families, "welcome home," she whispered against his lips as she pulled back and smiled at him. "I don't care what we do as long as it's together," she added.

Noah smiled, "wow! If I get kisses like that when I get home, I may have to leave more often," he commented, then shook his head, "nah. I take that back... I don't like being away from you," he said honestly, slipping his arms around her waist and guiding her out of the kitchen and into the living room.

"I don't like being apart, either," she agreed, picking up the soundtrack he'd gotten from the Jonas Brothers, "want to listen to this?" She asked.

"Sure," he nodded, "it's up to you."

Moving over to the stereo, she put the disc in and turned the volume down so they could hear it, but it wasn't loud enough so it would wake up her dads or Arin and took the remote with her to the couch and joined him, picking up the two signed albums, "I still can't believe you did this."

"I told you I'd try," he commented, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "When I saw their names on the soloists list, I was kinda mad I didn't know, because I didn't have any of their albums to sign, so mom offered to go out and get them, since she was familiar with their music. I only know the songs you have had me listen to and the two you put on my phone," he admitted. "I hope your favorite songs are on those," he added.

"They are and many more I like. I do have these albums, actually, but it's totally okay, because I'll never use these; they're too special and deserve to be honored," she smiled, carefully opening up Barbra's album to find she'd signed both of the CDs and each disc had the track names printed on them and there was a star next on of the songs, "look!" She exclaimed, pointing to it, "she put a star next 'Don't Rain On My Parade'! I love that song! How did she know it was my favorite?"

"I may or may not have mentioned that you did an amazing performance of it at Sectionals and that I knew you'd be a star one day," he commented casually, his chin resting on her shoulder to look down at what she was looking at. "I only dealt with the books, so I didn't even see she had signed the discs or done that," he added.

"You told her I sang it?" She gasped and at his nod, she blushed, eying the star for a moment and then turned her head and pressed a kiss to his lips, "thank you, Noah. I love you so much. You are an amazing boyfriend. How did I get so lucky to have you in my life?"

Noah smiled, "I love you, too, and you're welcome. As for being lucky, I think I'm the lucky one, but maybe we were just in the right place at the right time and our stars aligned," he suggested.

"I think they did," she agreed with a nod, then blushed a little more, "we're not even really listening to the soundtrack."

Noah shrugged, "it's okay. We don't have to give it back, so we can listen to it anytime," he replied, "or we could restart it and then kick back and just relax together."

Rachel closed the CD case and nodded, "as much as I'd love to inspect every inch of those CDs, relaxing with you sounds really good," she replied, setting the albums on the table and nudged him a little so he'd lay back.

Shifting to stretch out, so his so his back was pressed against the back of the couch, Rachel laid down next to him and leaned against his chest. Draping one of his arms over her stomach, he pressed a kiss to her cheek, "how's this?"

"Perfect," she smiled, restarting the soundtrack with the remote, "to be honest, don't mind me if I fall asleep," she added, "I've slept okay since you've been gone, but not the greatest."

"Same here," he nodded, pressing a kiss to her cheek, "I guess if we fall asleep it's not a big deal. I'll do my best to make sure you don't fall and I'm sure we'll only nap a bit."

She giggled lightly at his comment about her falling, but realized where she was laying, it could happen, "thanks and I guess napping is just as good. I'm glad you're home."

"Me too," he nodded, slowly letting his body relax.

~*~

Content and relaxed, Noah and Rachel listened to the album and though they thought they may fall asleep, neither did. There were a few songs Rachel did like, but when a song came on that Noah had written and they'd been present for it's recording, Rachel felt different listening to the final version. She knew it was because it was the first time she had a chance to experience part of the recording process, and because the songs meant something to her, not only because they were written by her boyfriend, but also because a few had been written while thinking of her, "I'm sure I've told you this before, Noah, but you are very talented," Rachel murmured when the last song ended.

"You have, but I don't mind hearing it again," he smiled, "thanks."

Shifting a little so she could lay on her back, she looked at him, biting her lip nervously, "do you think we could ever do a duet for something other than Glee?"

Noah smiled, pressing a kiss to her lips, "I think that could definitely be arranged," he nodded, "it's something I've been thinking of, actually."

"Really?" She asked surprised.

"Yeah," he nodded, "I've got an album to put together and my last one meant something to me because it was about me, in a way. I've been trying to come up with ideas for my next one and I keep coming back to 'love' and realized that I'm different now, because I'm in love and I want my music to show it. I definitely want to do some duets on there with the most important woman in my life, not counting my female relatives," he told her truthfully, "I'm not set on anything, so I hadn't brought it up, but since you mentioned singing together, I thought I would. Would you be interested in that?" He wondered, knowing it was a big decision.

Rachel smiled brightly, "I'm definitely interested, Noah! That would be amazing!" She pressed a kiss to his lips, "that's a lot more than I expected when I asked, but I would never turn down an opportunity to sing with you."

"Neither would I," he replied, kissing her again. Shifting a little, he found the couch wasn't as comfortable as he thought, "I hate to ruin the moment, but you wanna go upstairs and get in bed?"

"Sure," she nodded, "it'll definitely be more comfortable up there," she agreed.

~*~

Standing up and stretching, Rachel put the soundtrack back into it's case so it didn't get mixed up and left it sitting on the table, planning to take it with them the next day. Picking up her autographed albums, she moved around the downstairs, checking to make sure things were ready for the night and then the two headed upstairs to her room, closing the door quietly so they didn't wake anyone.

"I'm gonna use the bathroom for a few minutes, if that's okay," he told her.

"No problem," she motioned to it, "you don't have to ask," she laughed lightly.

"I know, but I didn't know if you were going in there yet," he replied with a grin, moving into her private bathroom to brush his teeth and take care of some personal things, before he went to bed.

Only in there about ten minutes, he stepped out and found she'd changed for bed, dressed in a pair of shorts and a light t-shirt, "did you have that before I left?" He wondered, definitely liking the view.

"I can change if you think you'll be uncomfortable with me dressed this way, but my usual sets of pajamas are in the dirty clothes," she admitted, blushing.

"Uncomfortable is not the word I'd use," he told her honestly, "you look amazing. I definitely like it," he assured her.

"Okay, good," she nodded, moving around the bed towards the bathroom, "I'll be back."

"I'll be here," he nodded, taking a seat on the side of the bed he usually slept on and smirked when the door to the bathroom closed, "turned on is the phrase I'd use," he thought, shifting to lay back on the pillows, "seems like she sleeps in less and less, not that I'm complaining. She looks amazing, but I'm taking more cold showers lately. Maybe it's time to talk about 'it'. We have only been together five months, but I'm not letting her go and I'm pretty sure she feels the same way. I'm definitely not going to pressure her and I don't mind the showers, but I do think we should talk about it and not just 'yeah, we'll wait' and that be it. We should seriously talk about it. We do have our whole lives, so if she'd rather wait longer, then I'm all for it, but it's not uncommon for high school students to go all the way, but most of the time it's just sex and what Rachel and I would be doing is definitely making love," he shifted to his side and tugged the blankets up, waiting for her to get back and began studying the bracelet he wore, that matched hers.

While Noah was deep in thought, Rachel had returned and when she moved around the bed to her side, she saw him looking at their bracelet, "Noah? You okay?" She asked.

"Huh, oh," he nodded, shaking from his thoughts, "sorry, I didn't hear you come back. Yeah, I'm okay, just thinking."

Sliding under the blankets, he tugged them up and rolled to her side to look at him, "what about?"

"Well, I guess this is as good of a time as any to discuss it," he told himself, "I was just thinking about us, and this," he motioned to the bed.

"Sleeping together?" She wondered, "or sleeping together?"

Noah reached out and slid an arm around her waist, pulling her close and kissing her gently, "making love. We've talked about it in the sense that 'we'll wait a while', but we've never said when... and I'm not bringing this up to pressure you into it, I'm just curious what you think about it."

Taking a deep breath, she smiled at him, "I have thought about it. I kind of asked myself the same question and what I'm sure of is that it's going to be with you. As for when? I don't know. A year ago, I would have told you probably sometime in my twenties, because I never figured I'd find someone in high school that I feel this strongly about, but then you came into my life and my thoughts changed. Now I don't want to wait that long and I'd be open for it soon," she paused, blushing a little, "but not until this is gone," she motioned to her cast, "I don't like it and don't want it to ruin that moment."

"That's understandable," he nodded and pressed a kiss to her lips, "I'm ready when you are. I say we think on this some more and have this discussion again, when you get your cast off, and if we both feel we're ready, then we should find some time alone to enjoy each other's company," he suggested honestly.

Rachel smiled, snuggling closer to him, "I think that sounds like a perfect idea."

"Great," he kissed her gently and reached behind him, tapping her lamp until it went out, plunging the room into darkness, aside from a small light near her bathroom. Readjusting the blankets and slipping his arm back around her, he kissed her lips gently, "night babe. Hope you sleep well, love you," he murmured, feeling sleep not far off.

"I'll sleep great, now that you're home," she replied, "love you, too, Noah. Goodnight."

~*~

Rachel had been keeping early mornings to help Arin get ready for school and since Noah had a long day in the studio, a long flight and not a lot of restful sleep on it, even thought it was just after ten, they easily drifted off to sleep in a short time.

The last few nights, Rachel had been able to sleep through the night, but was tossing and turning a lot. She hoped now that her boyfriend was home, she'd be able to get a good night's rest and maybe stay in the same spot and when she woke up to her alarm at seven, she found both of them were in the same place they'd been in the night before. "Finally!" She thought, happy to have been able to relax enough to get some decent sleep.

Seeing that her boyfriend wasn't budging, she figured he was still asleep, so she shifted to reach over him, hitting the snooze button so it'd stop beeping for the moment. When she settled back against the pillows, she laid on her back and relaxed, not ready to get out of bed just yet.

"What time is it?" Noah murmured, not even opening his eyes.

"Seven," she replied, turning to press a kiss to his cheek.

"Wow. Almost nine hours of sleep and I could sleep for another twelve just like this and still not have my batteries recharged," he said softly, opening an eye to look at her.

With her good arm, she reached up and ran her hand over his scalp, for the first time checking out his hair cut, "well, I figured I'd stay at your place tonight, we can sleep another night together. You have had a long trip, so it may take a few days to feel rested," she admitted. "I feel great compared to the last few days, so you were just what I needed."

Noah smiled, "I'm glad. You definitely helped me sleep, too, I just need more of it," he told her, "you can keep doing that. It feels good," he added.

Softly running her fingertips over his scalp, she gently massaged as she did and watched his eyes drift closed in contentment, "are you going back to sleep?"

"If you keep doing that, maybe I will," he replied.

Though she didn't want to just stop, she knew if she continued he would fall asleep and she didn't think that was a good idea, so she reluctantly took her hand away and shifted closer to him, "Noah, stay awake. I'm going to get up here shortly and I'd hate to have to wake you up," she told him, "we need to get your things together, your sister packed up and I need to get some things put together so I can stay over there tonight," she explained.

Frowning at the loss of her hand, Noah opened his eyes again and sighed, "alright, I guess I'll stay up," he told her, shifting to sit up a little, "I tried."

She giggled lightly, "you did. Some other day we can sleep in late together," she promised.

"Okay, fair enough," he replied.

~*~

Reluctantly crawling out of the warm bed, Rachel put on some yoga pants and a light sweater and the two went downstairs to find Arin was already up and eating breakfast and her dads were getting ready to leave for work.

Getting something to eat themselves, they talked to Alan and David until the two men left. Finishing up their breakfast, they all went back upstairs and while Noah showered, Arin and Rachel went into the room Arin had been using to get started on packing after Arin changed into clothes for the day.

By the time Noah finished in the shower, Arin's things were together, so she took them downstairs, leaving them by the door and started watching morning cartoons while she waited for Rachel and Noah to finish up.

Rachel had given Noah her car keys, so as soon as his bags were packed up, he took his and his sister's things out to her car and put them in the trunk, then returned to the house, now waiting on Rachel.

After showering and getting dressed, Rachel packed some clothes into a small bag along with some things she'd need for the morning. Making sure she didn't need anything else in her room, she went downstairs to find her boyfriend and his sister watching cartoons and she quickly started sorting through her books and homework, "do you mind if I bring some homework over?"

"No, not at all," Noah told her, "I figured you would. Are you done with any of it?"

"Yes," she nodded, "I'm just have history and Spanish to finish. I actually could use your help with Spanish," she told him, grabbing everything for that class.

"Okay, sounds good. You know I don't mind helping," he replied.

"Thanks," she smiled, sliding her book and work into her small bag of clothes.

~*~

With one more check around the house, Noah grabbed Rachel's bags and the three of them headed outside and once the front door was locked, they walked over to Rachel's car. Getting into it, once her bags were put away, she started the engine and it wasn't long before they were on their way to the Puckerman's.

Now that Rachel was familiar with the way, the drive didn't seem as long. Between talking and Noah messaging Finn to let him know he was home and would be back to school the next day, and letting his parents know they were on their way over, time passed quickly and about nine-forty-five, they were pulling through the gates at his place and she was parking where she usually did.

Heading into the house, they dropped all of their bags at the bottom of the stairs and then moved into the kitchen to find Deborah and Ethan. After greeting them, the adults mentioned they were writing a grocery list and would be heading to the store soon, so Arin told them she wanted to go and after checking out a few things, Ethan, Deborah and Arin left the house, giving Noah and Rachel some time alone.

Even though they had the house to themselves, Noah knew he had to unpack, so the couple headed upstairs to his room and moved inside, seeing it the same as they'd left it the week before, except on his bed were two of his awards, "wow," Rachel gasped, "where did those come from? Well, I know where you got them, but how did they get here?" She wondered.

"Mom and dad each put one in their luggage to get home. They must have unpacked last night or this morning," he explained, lifting his suitcase up and laying it on the bed, "I have the other two in mine," he added.

Rachel set her bags by his desk and then took a seat on the opposite side of his bed from where he was and picked up one of them, studying the details and his engraved name along the base, "my boyfriend, a Grammy winner," she smiled, "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you," Noah leaned over the bed to press a kiss to her lips, "maybe later you can help me find spots to put them," he suggested.

"You're welcome," she nodded, "and sounds fun," she added.

"Cool," he replied, reluctantly pulling away to focus on unpacking so he didn't have to do it later.

Stretching out on her side, with the awards next to her, Rachel just watched him, happy to just be able to see him in person and not through pictures or a TV screen.

At first, Noah dug out his other two awards and unwrapped them from the t-shirts he'd used to protect them during the trip and set them next to the others, then took a small case into his bathroom to take those things out before returning. "This should be the easy part," he admitted, moving to pull his laundry basket closer to him and began tossing things into it one at a time.

"That's all dirty?" Rachel asked surprised at what he was doing.

"Pretty much," he nodded, setting aside a few still folded up t-shirts, "I packed enough clothes to get me through the trip, with a few extra things, just in case," he explained, "so I've worn it all except a couple shirts," he added.

"Oh," she thought for a moment, "you've definitely got this down to a science, don't you?"

He smirked, looking at his now almost empty suitcase and nodded, "yeah, I do," he admitted, taking a seat on the bed to look at her, "traveling back and forth mostly between here, New York, and sometimes LA, I've learned how I need to pack for each place."

"Each place? Is there a big difference?" She wondered curiously.

"Oh yeah," he nodded, trying to think about how to explain it. "Here and NYC are pretty much interchangeable, because we have homes in both places, so I can leave things here or there and I know they'll be there the next time," he started, shifting to lay on his side to face her. "But traveling to LA is a lot different. Weather wise, Ohio and New York are closer together, so there is a similar weather pattern and sweatshirts work either place. LA doesn't drop as cold as it does here, so when we're going to LA, we pack lighter clothes. We also don't have a 'home' there, so most of the time we have to live out of our suitcases from a hotel suite. With no washer and dryer or big kitchen to really cook in, we need to pack accordingly and expect to live off of room service, fast food or restaurants," he paused. "We usually are only in LA for a week or less, at a time, since I'm based out of NYC, but there are reasons to go to California and if I do end up needing to be there more than a few weeks, the label will get us a private place to stay, like our condo in NYC, to give us a little more comfort, than what we'd get in a hotel suite, but that doesn't happen often. Dad and everyone does pretty good at scheduling things so during a short trip, I can get a whole batch of things done, so I don't have to fly in for a day, then fly out the next, because it is such a long trip. So after the first few trips to LA, dad and I learned to pack enough clothes to get us through the trip and then we'd do laundry when we get back," he finished, "did I bore you?" He asked with a smirk, realizing he'd said a lot.

She giggled lightly at his question and shook her head, "no, you didn't. I was curious and you explained what I wanted to know," she assured him.

"Okay, good," he smiled, shifting closer to her, but when his legs hit the suitcase he sighed, "hold on," he murmured, getting up and moving his mostly empty suitcase to the floor and the set his awards on it, so they didn't get in the way and returned to his bed, laying on his side and sliding closer to her, "there we go, much better."

"It is," she agreed, pressing a kiss to his lips, "but shouldn't we be doing something else besides curling up in bed?"

"Maybe and we will, but my parents and sister are gone and at least for the next little while we're alone and can't be interrupted, so we can just relax and enjoy this," he suggested, "unless you don't want to do this right now," he added.

"I do," she nodded, "I just don't want your parents to get mad for us doing this in the middle of the day; we did wake up just a few hours ago," she reminded him.

"So? They won't care. They know I wanted a relaxing day with you. This is definitely relaxing," he told her.

Letting what he said soak in, she smiled and nodded, "alright, but just for a little while, you said you were going to help me on my Spanish," she reminded him.

Pressing a kiss to her lips, he nodded, "bien, mi amor," he smiled, letting one of his hands rest on her back. ('okay, my love' - Spanish)

"Now that, I understood. You're my love, too," she replied, shifting closer to kiss him again.

Noah returned the kiss, deepening it gently and let his hand move to rest against her cheek, brushing his thumb over her soft skin as he pulled away, "I'm glad," he replied honestly.

~*~

Cuddling together for a little over an hour, talking lightly about his trip, Rachel's arm began to get uncomfortable, so they reluctantly got up to get onto something else, both a little worried they'd fall asleep if they stayed on his bed much longer.

Noah finished cleaning out his luggage and then picking up his awards and collecting her things to do her Spanish homework, they headed down to the basement, so they could organize his shelves of awards and find homes for the new ones. "Just think, someday we could be accepting an award for a duet we did or you could be adding a Tony to this collection," he motioned to all his awards he'd won over the years as he placed the last award in it's new spot.

Rachel smiled brightly, "yeah, we could definitely win one together and I've dreamed of winning a Tony since I was a child... I'd love to win one, or any award for that matter, and knowing I have a special man to share it with, makes the thoughts even more amazing."

Turning to wrap his arms around her, he pressed a kiss to her lips, "it definitely feels awesome to know I've got a girlfriend to celebrate with," he told her truthfully.

"Really? Even if I wasn't there with you?" She wondered.

Noah nodded, "you were there in my heart, watching on TV and only a call or text away, so even if you physically weren't, you still were," he assured her.

"I'm glad," she replied, kissing him gently.

"Me too," he nodded, guiding her towards the stairs, "come on. I know you want to get on your homework."

Nodding, she headed up the stairs and moved into the dinning room where she'd set her work before they went downstairs, "the sooner I can get working on this the sooner I can get finished."

"Very true," he agreed and took a seat next to her, setting his phone on the table, "I help you as much as I can, but I still want you to do the work."

"I know. I would never expect you to do the work for me," she assured him.

~*~

Jumping right into where she'd last been working, Noah looked over her papers and helped her correct some mistakes she had, before she continued on. Rachel did most of the work and Noah helped her when she needed it, but he spent most of the time fiddling around on is phone, playing games or catching up on some of the messages he'd not gotten to over the trip.

Taking a break when Noah's family got home, the young couple chipped in to help put things away and then they all sat down for lunch. Deborah made sure they'd invited her dads over for dinner that night and when Noah assured them they had and the guys would be over, Rachel and Noah returned to her homework.

Continuing on, Rachel finally finished most of the writing portion of her homework around two, but she still had a lot of vocabulary and other things to learn, so she was far from done, but with Noah's help, she was a lot closer.

Changing locations, they got comfortable on the couch and Noah began quizzing her on things she needed to learn, giving her tips on how to remember certain words and she had looked over them enough to be familiar with some of them, but still missed a lot of them.

Rachel was thankful for her boyfriend's help, because she'd gotten more done than she thought she would. Since they'd spent most of their afternoon working on homework, Rachel decided to stop around three-thirty and put it away for the day, so they could spend some time together without having to work, too.

Kicking back on the couch, they relaxed and let Arin use the TV, since they weren't and soon the three of them were watching Disney channel shows, including reruns of Hannah Montana. Normally Noah would give his sister a hard time for watching it, but at the moment, he was happy to be home, with his girlfriend, sister and parents and let the teasing slide for the night, content to just enjoy the family time.

Around five, David and Alan arrived, and Rachel and Noah went to greet them. Dinner was close to being ready, so they all helped set the table and then sat down in the dinning room to talk. They all talked a little about their day and the guys were glad to hear that Rachel had made some more progress on her homework, with Noah's help, and it wasn't long before their conversations continued over dinner. Rachel and Noah were both really thankful that their families got along and they could spend time together, instead of having to constantly choose which house to hang out at, but in the back of their minds, they knew that it wouldn't always be easy; especially when Noah and Rachel moved to New York, but they kept that in the back of their mind, because at the moment, they were in Lima and that wasn't going to change in the near future.

~*~

After dinner, the two families relaxed in the living room for a while. Rachel reminded her dads of her plans to stay the night at the Puckerman's and also about going to Glee the next afternoon and they were okay with. Everyone was glad she was making the attempt to go back; no one wanted to force her back to something that would make her uncomfortable.

Around eight, David and Alan decided to leave; they had a bit of a drive to get back and knew that everyone had to get up early in the morning, so they said 'goodnight' and headed home. Once they left, Deborah went upstairs with Arin to help her get ready for bed and Ethan headed for his office to get some things done.

"What would you like to do?" Noah asked, once they were alone again on the couch.

"I don't know. What time do you want to go to sleep?" Rachel wondered.

"Maybe ten? I gotta get up around six," he admitted.

Rachel nodded and thought for a moment, "we could watch a movie."

"Sure, sounds good. Your choice," he told her, motioning to the rack of movies near the TV.

Smiling at him, Rachel got up and went to look at the movies, scanning over the titles until one caught her eye, and when Noah told her it was a good one from a few years back, she put it in and joined him on the couch.

Curling up together, Noah grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over them to keep warm. Slipping his arm around her shoulders, Noah kissed her forehead and both turned their attention to the movie.

Though expecting to watch the full movie, when his mom and sister came downstairs, Deborah told them they were all going to bed, so Noah and Rachel paused the movie to say 'goodnight' to everyone and once they'd all gone back to their rooms, Noah and Rachel were left alone again, this time with a little more privacy than they had.

Playing the movie again, it didn't take long before their lips joined together and the TV was forgotten, the two focusing on their enjoyment of kissing each other instead.

"Maybe we should go to your room," Rachel whispered, a little while later when their lips broke apart long enough to catch their breath.

Noah smiled, "yeah, that's probably a good idea," he murmured, kissing her again before tugging the blanket off them and standing up, using the remote to turn the TV and DVD player off and then held his hand out to her.

Taking his hand, Rachel stood up and the two turned the lights off and he checked the doors before they headed upstairs and went into his room and closed the door, "how's this?" Noah asked, "more private?"

"It is," she agreed, taking a few steps over to her bag, "maybe we should change for bed," she suggested, "then get comfortable."

Noah nodded, "I like how you think, baby," he said honestly.

Giggling lightly at his response, Rachel smiled and with their backs to each other, both of them changed into their pajamas and then slid under his blankets, joining each other in the middle of the bed, "now, we can pick up where we left off and we're already in bed."

"We are," he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips and slid his arms around her body, holding her close, "we should get to sleep soon, but I definitely know how to pass the time," he added, his lips kissing her cheek and down her neck.

"I agree," she nodded, unable to hold in a light groan when she felt his lips on her skin, "I swear it's like firecrackers going off inside of me every time you do that," she murmured.

Noah smiled and looked at her, "imagine what it'll be like when we make love for the first time," he whispered, "I bet it's gonna feel like we've got an entire Fourth of July show going off. I'm really looking forward to it."

Rachel kissed him, her good arm wrapping around him, "me too," she nodded, "every moment we share is special and I know that time will be, also. You're always such a gentleman to me and I trust you'll be that way then, too."

"I definitely will be," he assured her, "it's my first time, too, remember?"

"Yes, I remember and I feel so lucky we get to share our first time," she told him truthfully.

Looking into her eyes, Noah smiled, "I'm just as lucky. I want us to be able to say we were each other's first and the only one we've ever been with," he said honestly.

Feeling tears in her eyes at his words, Rachel smiled brightly, kissing his lips and holding him close, "I want to say the same thing. Not many can and to hear you say that makes me feel amazing, Noah."

"I'm glad, because it's the truth. I'm not letting you go, Rachel," he assured her, reaching to pull the blankets back up, "I love you."

Unable to hold back the happy tears that fell, she smiled, "I love you, too, Noah."

~*~

A/N4: I love these two! They are so fun to write! I hope you all enjoyed! Let me know what you think.

A/N5: I've decided to try my hand at Lark (Lea/Mark) fics. I know there are a lot of rules about real-person fic on FanFiction dot net, so when I do start writing them, I'll only be posting them on my LiveJournal. I'll share the links on my Tumblr page and mention them in my notes at the bottom of my fic updates on here. You can read and comment on my LJ, even if you don't have an LJ account, because I allow comments anonymously, too.

A/N6: I know it's been a while. The holiday season really threw me for a loop and after the new year, I've had a rough few weeks; I've been pretty sad, but I'm slowly getting better. On January 11th, we had to make the extremely tough decision to put our three and a half year old dog to sleep. She had been sick for a couple days, the vets, after three visits and several tests, couldn't figure out the problem and their only option was exploratory surgery. They couldn't guarantee a positive outcome and she was getting worse, so we felt the best thing for her was to let her go. I know we did the right thing, because she's no longer in pain, but it still hurts like hell!

~*~