puckerman express

1x1 based on smc_27's fanfic "The City"

[npuckermanexpress]

When Puck wakes up he sees Rachel coming into the room with coffee. “Thanks.” He’d thought about going back to sleep but pulls himself into a sitting position as he sips his coffee and replies to a text from Finn.

“Aren’t you tired? That bus like killed my back.” He rolls his shoulder and slumps further into the pillow, covers pulled up to his waist.

[delucaxaria]

Rachel takes a seat cross-legged on her own bed, dropping the newspaper next to her.

“I am in excellent physical health, Noah. There are very few things that will mess that up.”

She smiles mischievously at him before taking a sip from her own cup.

“I brought us apartment listings. We should probably try and find a place as soon as possible. We can’t live out of a shared hotel room forever.”

[npuckermanexpress]

He mumbles something incoherent and sits up to face her. “I’m gonna need a job.” After silently taking a sip of his coffee he turns to say to her, “It’ll be cheaper for us to live together. Easier to share the cost of rent.” A trace of a smirk turns his lip but then he smiles casually. 

He sets his coffee down and walks into the hotel bathroom to brush his teeth. Might as well get started touring apartments as soon as possible. “Did you see any you like?”

[delucaxaria]

Noah is still asleep when she wakes up, bright and early, the next morning. It doesn’t surprise her, really, and she smiles softly at his sleeping body before hopping in the shower. Rachel lets the warm water wash away the travel and the doubts.

Fifteen minutes later, she’s toweling dry her hair, and Noah is still asleep. So Rachel grabs her purse and heads out to the coffee shop she saw on the corner when the two of them checked in. She picks up a soy latte for herself, a coffee for Noah, and the morning’s newspaper before returning to their hotel room.

[npuckermanexpress]

When Puck wakes up he sees Rachel coming into the room with coffee. “Thanks.” He’d thought about going back to sleep but pulls himself into a sitting position as he sips his coffee and replies to a text from Finn.

“Aren’t you tired? That bus like killed my back.” He rolls his shoulder and slumps further into the pillow, covers pulled up to his waist.

[npuckermanexpress]

As they get closer to New York, he begins thinking about what he’s actually gonna do when he gets there. He’s got enough money for a hotel tonight from a few jobs he did over the past few months so he’s not worried about that. But tomorrow? He has no idea what he’s doing then. He guesses he’ll look for an apartment too. 

They pass the rest of the trip in silence and he looks out the window as the bus is pulling to a stop in New York City. He grabs his bag, pulls his guitar over his shoulder, and climbs off the bus. It’s definitely not Lima, that’s for sure. He pushes that thought that he doesn’t know what he’s gonna do to the back of his head and all he can think is, he’s made it out. Right now he’s not really scared at all. 

[delucaxaria]

As she climbs off the bus, Rachel takes in a deep breath of New York City air. It’s just the way she remembered it, and the way she’d spent years dreaming it would be. The only difference- No, Rachel doesn’t let her think about her dads. Not right now. And besides, she has Noah with her.

Rachel takes a moment to smile up at the boy standing next to her. Guitar slung over his shoulder, he looks… something she also won’t let her mind wander to. He looks in his element.

“Come on,” Rachel says, hitching her bag over her shoulder and gripping the handle of her suitcase. “We need a hotel room. We can’t very well stay on the street our first night here.”

[npuckermanexpress]

Puck watched Rachel walking away and followed her with a grin. “So I guess we’re sharing a bed then.”  

And from the moment she said ‘we’ they were wandering the streets and grabbing a taxi to a hotel. He dropped his stuff down on the floor when he walked in and as the night settled in, so did that fear.

He knew he’d figure it out, but right now he didn’t know what to do and it sucked to be this way, stuck in the middle of a city with no history, no income. Only as the darkness covered New York did the anxiety hit him again, but he pushed it down. In the morning, he squinted as the amber glow of the sunset filtered in through the window.  

[sexuardoarchive-deactivated2013]

[delucaxaria]

She couldn’t sleep on the bus, too many emotions battling for her attention inside her. But she’s glad Noah was able to. Rachel’s been alternating between looking out the window at her old life rushing by and reading the magazine she’d picked up at the bus station. It’s not her typical reading choice by a long shot, but there’s an interesting article in there about the rise of the color mint’s popularity. It’s actually really well written, and Rachel wonders briefly about the path that lead the author to penning it. 

When Noah wakes beside her, she smiles back at him and answers his non question with yet another shrug. Rachel is fairly certain she’s never shrugged as much in her whole life as she’s managed to in the past few hours. 

“I have a plan: get to New York, find an apartment, I guess.”

[npuckermanexpress]

As they get closer to New York, he begins thinking about what he’s actually gonna do when he gets there. He’s got enough money for a hotel tonight from a few jobs he did over the past few months so he’s not worried about that. But tomorrow? He has no idea what he’s doing then. He guesses he’ll look for an apartment too.

They pass the rest of the trip in silence and he looks out the window as the bus is pulling to a stop in New York City. He grabs his bag, pulls his guitar over his shoulder, and climbs off the bus. It’s definitely not Lima, that’s for sure. He pushes that thought that he doesn’t know what he’s gonna do to the back of his head and all he can think is, he’s made it out. Right now he’s not really scared at all. 

[delucaxaria]

She shrugs. “Everything?” It’s the simplest of answers but it’s the truth. New York City is the city of lights, the city of dreams, and the city for Rachel Berry. She thinks, maybe, that it’s the city for him, too. So while everything might be a broad suggestion, it’s more specific than it seems. Opportunity is waiting in New York, and Rachel won’t let anyone or anything stop her from getting there. And if she had some company, she wouldn’t be opposed to it being Noah.

[npuckermanexpress]

Puck nods his head, just once. Something’s up with her, he always knows because she gets really quiet and it makes him nervous because what the fuck? it practically radiates from her. 

He knows she’s got big dreams and all that but he kind of doesn’t so he figures New York’s as good as any other place. Maybe it’s better. Once he’s got his ticket and their bus is ready he sits next to her, thinks she could use the company and if he’s being honest, so could he. Two hours go by, maybe more, and he’s just nodded off when the bus hits a bump and he comes slowly out of sleep, stretches, and turns toward her. It takes him a second to remember where he is. He’s on a bus going to New York City and Rachel Berry is sitting beside him, quiet, and it kind of freaks him out.

“I'm kinda shocked you haven’t got this whole thing planned out...” he offers her a small half smile. 

[delucaxaria]

She feels a presence suddenly standing beside her, but something about it is more comforting than concerning. With a quick glance to the side Rachel can see that it’s Noah. That explains why he was curious as to her travel plans. Well, partially explains it. She’s not sure what he’s doing here, but she doesn’t ask, simply takes his guitar as an explanation. Rachel offers him a small smile and a nod of recognition, but doesn’t say anything. She isn’t much in the mood to talk just now.

[npuckermanexpress]

“So what’s in New York?” He thinks she looks worried or sad, or both, and he gets that part, the worried part. Though why she of all people hasn’t made concrete plans, he doesn’t know. He would’ve thought her dads would be here cheering her on or would've at least made sure she had plans before she went anywhere. 

[delucaxaria]

I’ve got a bus ticket for this evening. And believe it or not that’s about as far as I’ve planned. It’s a bit terrifying, Noah.

[npuckermanexpress]

Puck sees Rachel’s already there at the bus station when he gets there. He’s been ready to get out of this town since graduation and he’s wasting no time in doing just that. Heading over to stand beside her, he’s got his guitar slung over his shoulder, some cash in his wallet, and he doesn’t know where he’s going but it doesn’t matter that much. 

[delucaxaria]

Ms. Rachel Barbra Berry is off to the greatest city in the world. Get ready for me New York!!

[npuckermanexpress]

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