Glee: Heart and Soul [4/?] (Puck, Rachel, Finn, Santana)
Title: Heart and Soul [Chapter 3]
Author: diamondinsanity
Pairing,Character(s): Puck, Rachel, Finn, Santana
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 4000
Spoilers: Absolutely none. It's completely AU
Summary: Seventeen year old Rachel Berry was on her way to becoming a Broadway star when she died at the exact same time Noah Puckerman was born. And so instead of moving on, she's stuck haunting the boy she died trying to help.
Disclaimers: I don't own Glee, Heart and Souls, Ghost, Drop Dead Fred, Rent, The Four Seasons or any of the other mediums I got inspiration from and/or borrowed tidbits from.
Notes: I am so terribly sorry that it has taken me months to update this story. Real life took over and sabotaged this story, but now I'm an unemployed recent college grad with all the time in the world to work on this story in between job interviews. So here's your update! :) Oh, and this chapter wound up being super long so I split it up into two parts. I'll probably post the second half on Monday or Tuesday. It depends on how many reviews I get in all honesty. It'll inspire me to post it sooner. Happy reading! Oh, and I apologize for the jumpiness. For some reason this story wants to read like an episode of the show, so there's a lot of scene jumping. I apologize in advance if you're not into that.
Previous chapters: Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
1997
It was three in the morning and Noah's had been crying for hours to the point where Ruth wasn't even looking in on him anymore. And, God, Rachel wished she had the same option to walk away from the four year old because right now she honestly felt like killing him. He was sick, and had thrown up multiple times. So Rachel completely understood that he was in pain, and that his stomach still hurt and that he didn't know what else to do other than cry, but that didn't mean she liked the fact that he had been crying for so long she could have sworn her ears were bleeding. And once Ruth left the room, she had started trying to figure out her own ways of getting the toddler to stop crying.
"Without you," She sang to him, in the softest gentlest voice that she could manage, like it was a lullaby and not a song from a show that she was supposed to be in that won a Tony even though she should have been the one playing Maureen. "The ground thaws, the rain falls, the grass grows. Without you, the seeds root, the flowers bloom, the children play. The stars gleam, the poets dream-"
But a loud wail from Noah cut her off. She sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. What was she supposed to do with him? She honestly didn't know. Hell, she'd never even really known a child until she was thrown into Noah's life, until she died. How ironic was that? She'd never even known a kid until she was dead.
She racked her brain for a song, any song to sing that would get Noah to quiet and fall back asleep. Without even thinking, she started singing, "Walk like a man, talk like a man, walk like a man, my son." She had absolutely no idea where that song was coming from; she hadn't listened to the Four Seasons in years, but apparently it was one of those catchy oldies songs that you couldn't help but remember the lyrics to. Whatever it was, it was calming Noah down. And Rachel decided right then and there that it must be a magic song if it could soothe Noah. "No woman's worth crawling on the earth. Just walk like a man my son."
He looked up at her sleepily for a moment before giving her a huge yawn. "Love you, Berry." For some reason "Rachel" was still a word Noah had problems with and it always came out all jumbled when he tried to say it. So most of the time he just called her by her last name; it was easier. And with that, he rolled over, put his thumb in his mouth and fell asleep, only whimpering slightly due to the pain in his stomach.
She just kept singing along as he drifted off to sleep. "Oo wee oo wee oo. Walk. Oo wee oo wee oo. Walk. I'm gonna walk like a man, fast as I can. Walk like a man from you. I'll tell the world to forget about it girl and walk like a man from you."
And as he slept, she couldn't help but to think again that this was a magic song.
*
Present
How dare he forget about her? It wasn't allowed! It wasn't acceptable. The fates had decided she needed to take care of him for his entire life, and how could she take care of him if he was purposely ignoring her with those drugs of his? It was absolutely unacceptable, and she was done supporting him (or rather brooding over being alone) and she was doing something about it. The only problem was that she didn't really know how. Sure, she had some plans and they were all really good plans and ideas. The only problem was that she didn't know how to see them through. She couldn't actually touch anything, and all of her plans involved her actually being able to move things, which of course had made her think about the radio.
She could move his radio. Or at least turn it on, which meant in theory that she was capable of moving things with her mind. She just had to figure out a way to make things move when she wanted them to and not just when she was furious with Noah.
Rachel stood in the basement, staring blankly at the old TV and radio covered in dust sitting on the floor. There had to be some way to get them to move. It wasn't like she was constitutionally incapable. Sure, she was dead, but that didn't make her useless. She knew she could move things; she just had to figure out how.
Her fingers hovered above the old radio, as though testing that the radio was real. Then she touched it. Immediately her hand went through it and she winced. Going through an object was just about one of the most uncomfortable feelings one could suffer through. It was like that sensation that happens when someone draws their nails across a chalkboard: that grating, chilling sensation that runs through your body. Going through an object made her feel all that, except she was the chalkboard that the sound was coming from. The sensation reverberated through her ghostly body and she absolutely detested that sensation.
Immediately she removed her hand, and shook it out, like that would make it any different. "Stupid solid objects…" God, couldn't fate see that she needed to get revenge on Noah, which she needed to be able to touch things to do. With those medications polluting his otherwise healthy body, he couldn't see her, but if she could move things… Well, then he couldn't ignore her, could he?
Rachel paced the length of the basement since her first attempt didn't exactly go according to plan. "Stupid Noah…" She whined out childishly. "Insensitive jerk. He's incredibly careless. He doesn't' care about the fortune of others. The only person who matters to him is his own self. It's absolutely unhealthy, and he should know this. It isn't like he hasn't seen countless therapists over the years. They've done exercises to try to correct this about him. And does he care? No! His capacity for caring about others shouldn't be as low as it currently is, and-"
That was when she realized that both the radio and the television were turned on. Her eyes widened and she glanced behind them both to see if maybe they'd been turned on this entire time and in her rage she just hadn't noticed.
They weren't plugged in. She'd made them turn on! That was her! That was her! She'd done it! She'd figured it out. But how… Anger!
All she needed to do was channel her anger, and she'd be able to touch things. The possibilities were endless.
A smile slid onto her face. Noah Puckerman was going to suffer for abandoning her.
*
Puck did not want to get up for school. Hell, most days he didn't want to go to school, but today it was different. He hadn't gotten home from Santana's until three in the morning-not that he'd meant to stay that late. They'd fallen asleep, and Mrs. Lopez had found him and her daughter naked, in bed, when she'd gotten home from her shift at the bar. The crazy Mexican bitch had chased him around the house with a baseball bat while Santana had occasionally (and lazily) screamed at her to stop. Needless to say, Puck knew he wasn't going to be getting a lot of sleep, and his plan was to convince his mother that he was sick to at least skip his morning classes and sleep in.
So when his alarm clock went off, and it felt like he hadn't even gotten any sleep, he didn't think much of it at first. He just slapped at the snooze button, expecting the music coming from the clock to stop. Nothing happened. The music just continued playing.
Frowning, Puck sat up, and looked at the clock. It was only four-thirty. "The hell…" He muttered under his breath as he turned his alarm off. It didn't strike him as weird at first; he figured he must have accidentally hit the wrong time or Sarah fucked with the time or something as a joke. It wouldn't be the first time… So he just rolled over and went back to sleep, figuring his mom would just have to wake him up if she really wanted him to go to school today.
"like a man. Talk like a man. Walk like a man, my son!"
Puck shot awake and stared in horror at his alarm clock. Four forty-five. He blinked. What the fuck was wrong with his radio today? "Shit…" He muttered under his breath, glaring daggers at the thing that was keeping him from sleeping for a good two hours still, maybe longer if he could work his magic with his mom. For a moment, he just stared at it before deciding, "Fuck it." And with that he yanked the plug out of the wall. Then he went back to sleep.
"Take me for what I am. Who I was meant to be. And if you give a damn. Take me baby, or leave me!"
He bolted upright. What the fuck? He'd unplugged the radio! He'd unplugged the radio. Did his mom put batteries in it? Shit, he didn't know anything about alarm clocks. What did he know? It must have been short-circuiting or something, which must mean it's a sign for him to not get any sleep today. Sighing, he rolled out of bed and changed into his running clothes. He might as well do something productive.
And as he left his room, he could have sworn the door opened for him, but he blamed the lack of sleep for that one because the pills were totally working. He wasn't stuck listening to Berry's insane rambling for once in his life. Besides, it wasn't like she could move shit before; it couldn't be her. He was just running on lack of sleep, which was also his excuse as to why the radio kept changing channels when he drove to school: lack of sleep.
*
"Puck?" A frown was on Finn's face as she stared at his best friend, who was currently leaning against the lockers, face buried into the metal. "What are you doing?"
There was a groan. "Baking a cake."
Finn frowned. "What? No you're not…" He sounded very confused.
Groaning again, Puck pulled his face away from the locker and righted himself to look at Finn. "Remind me why we're friends again?" He deadpanned.
"Oh, because of daycare." He responded with, not even missing a beat.
Puck stared at him incredulously, wondering yet again how in the hell they were friends… How did he find a friend who completely missed his sarcasm? That made no sense to him, but he didn't have much time to think about it because-
"Finn. Go away." Santana announced upon arrival, her hands planted firmly on her hips as she glared at Puck, not even giving Finn a glance in his direction.
The taller boy didn't move at first. "Oh, well, me and Puck have class together next period. We were going to walk to class together, and-"
"Then go wait over there." She snapped, still only looking at Puck.
Finn hovered near the couple for a moment longer before shuffling off over towards the trashcan at the end of the hall to wait for Puck.
Santana waited until Finn was out of earshot before rounding on Puck. "You didn't pick me up this morning." She accused.
"Are you kidding me?" Puck stared at his girlfriend in total bewilderment. "Your mom tried to play bash the Puckerone last night, and you thought I'd be stupid enough to go anywhere near your house? Jesus, San!"
She smirked at him. "Oh, is the big bad Puck afraid of a five foot Mexican woman?" She taunted. "And here I thought you were a stud."
He glared at her. "I am a stud, baby, but I'm not suicidal." He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Your mom is a crazy bitch."
"I should have known you wouldn't be able to man up and handle a relationship with me." She commented idly.
Puck snorted and pinned her against the lockers. "Oh, babe, I'm more than man enough to deal with your crazy ass. I just don't want your mom's ass." He murmured before kissing her.
The warning bell rang, and Santana grinned before pulling away and practically dancing out of his grasp. "You're taking me to dinner tomorrow night." And with that she was gone.
He stared after her for a moment before shaking his head, wondering idly for a moment why again he'd thought it was a good idea to have a serious relationship with Santana Lopez. But then he caught a nice view of her ass, and remembered quite well why this was a good idea again. Laughing to himself, he opened his locker and actually grabbed the book for his and Finn's next class.
"Are you really not cheating on Santana?" Finn asked with a frown as he leaned next to Puck's locker, trying to piece together the strangeness that was Puck and Santana's relationship. "Because I really don't understand why you're dating her. You don't even like her, do you?"
Shrugging, Puck threw his book into his backpack and slung the bag over his shoulder. "What can I say? I'll do anything to get laid on a regular basis, bro."
Finn grinned and shook his head. "I wish I had your nerve sometimes."
Suddenly Puck's locker slammed shut. The boys stared at the locker, neither saying a word. "Uh, Puck?"
"I didn't do that."
"Are you sure?" Finn asked rubbing his hand over his eyes as though to make sure he'd really just seen what he'd seen. "Because I really think your locker closed on its own." Suddenly a thought flashed across Finn's face. "Do you think it's your-" He lowered his voice to a whisper.
"Don't even go there." Puck snapped as he stormed away from both his locker and from Finn, heading towards class.
The final bell rang, marking them tardy.
Finn followed after him. "But you're the one who used to try so hard to convince me that she was real."
Immediately Puck came to a dead stop in the mostly empty hallway. "I made her up, okay?" He lied, looking everywhere but at Finn. "I was bored so I started making up stories about a wannabe Broadway star, okay? Rachel Berry is nothing but a loser. I don't need her anymore. I never needed her."
The speakers crackled through the hallway, a cue for the morning announcements to begin. Immediately Puck and Finn started moving towards their classroom again. "Walk like a man. Talk like a man. Walk like a man, my son!"
Puck stopped in the middle of the hallway again. Finn crashed into him.
"Hey. Isn't that the song you used to sing to yourself when you thought no one was listening?" Finn pointed out cheerfully.
All Puck could do was stare at the speakers in complete and utter horror. There was no way… But then again it was Rachel and she could really do anything she wanted to when she put her mind to it… She'd gotten him to give up meat for nearly six months (it helped that he was trying to get into this Vegan girl's pants, but he was never going to tell Berry that part. Ever), and that had been nearly impossible. But he still couldn't believe it. "Yeah…"
"Isn't that a ghost song?"
A couple of classroom doors opened as first period teachers sent students to see why "Walk Like a Man" was playing instead of morning announcements.
"Yeah." Puck finally looked at Finn. "But I mean, it can't be Berry. I sent her away. She's gone. She's at the place."
Finn frowned. "The place?"
"The place where the ghosts go. It can't be her."
And that's when the fire alarm went off. Suddenly the hallways were filled with people. But the music still managed to be heard over the fire alarm. "Ooo-ooo-ooo-woo-woo-woo. Walk! Walk!"
"Um, Puck?"
"Yeah, Finn?"
"I don't think she's gone."
Puck blinked as he and Finn just stood in the hallway as people rushed towards the exits but he and Finn stayed in the hallway. "Dude, it can't be her. She's not a cool ghost. Just an annoying one."
That's when the sprinklers went off. The boys still didn't move as the water poured down on them.
"Hey, Puck?"
There was a grunt in response.
"I think your ghost is really mad at you."
"No shit."
*
"Noah, what were you and Finn thinking setting off the school fire alarm? Detention for a month? Both suspended for three basketball games this season? What am I supposed to tell your grandmother?"
He sighed at his mother, knowing better than to try and tell her that his ghost did it. Hell, he still wasn't even sure he believed it. It's not like this was common behavior for his ghost. And shit, maybe it was all just a coincidence. Hell, a part of him was convinced that all of this could have been Coach Sylvester. After all, she never did forgive him for that pregnancy scare with one of her cheerios last year, and she was crazy enough to pull this bullshit. Not that his mom would ever believe that one either.
"Sorry, ma." And with that he abandoned his TV tray and left the room. He went into the bathroom to take his pills. The bottle wasn't in there. Frowning, he went into his bedroom. Nothing. "Ma? You seen my meds?"
"The bottle was empty. They can't fill your prescription until Friday."
Two days. He could go two days without his meds. Except after the hallway fiasco and the three hours in Principal Figgins' office, he wasn't completely sure if it was true. Especially when he realized he didn't know the last time he'd taken his meds.
Shit.
*
"Noah, it's already six am. Are you really planning on sleeping your day away?"
Puck immediately jerked awake, and glanced around the room wildly. He could have sworn that he heard Rachel, but she was nowhere in sight. Weird. "Rach?" He whispered out, hoping she wouldn't really respond to him. God, he liked these past couple of months when he'd been sane, when he'd been normal, and he didn't exactly want her back in his life.
When there was no response, he sighed in relief, but he didn't want to chance another repeat of yesterday. He looked wearily at his alarm clock before forcing himself out of bed and onto his morning run. Already he could tell that today was going to be a very long day.
In all honesty, Puck was surprised to not see Rachel. He was waiting for her to jump out at him from every corner, but she didn't. Hell, he even sang in the shower, expecting Rachel to tell him he was flat or sharp, but she didn't correct him. So by the time that he was in his truck, he was convinced that he'd just imagined the events of yesterday. Which was why he figured it would be an okay idea to pick up Santana for school, and risk her crazy mother.
He was just turning the corner onto her street when it happened.
"Noah? Are you even listening to me?"
He glanced over, and there, sitting in the passenger seat, legs crossed, hovering in the air was Rachel. Shocked, he took the corner too fast, the car went flying over the curb, and went flying into the Hummel's front yard.
"Oh my God! Noah?"
The world went black.
*
"Oh, Noah. I'm so sorry. If I'd known that you would freak out like that I would have waited until you were at a stoplight. I honestly didn't think that you would-"
The light filtered into the room and Puck blinked against it as Rachel rambled on and on about… Wait. What was she going on about? Oh, right. His car. Crazy ghost bitch had made him crash his car.
"Rachel, shut the fuck up." He muttered out as he decided it was nicer to keep his eyes closed opposed to open.
"She's in here right now?" Finn sounded panicked at the thought at being alone with a ghost.
Puck's eyes flew open at the sound of his best friend's voice. He glanced around and sure enough there was Finn, sitting at the edge of his bed, his PSP in his hands. Next to him, Rachel was fluttering around, and that was the only way Puck could think of to describe it since she was floating a good foot off the ground. Holy shit. She'd must have taken a super ghost class or two when he'd been busy being normal. Thankfully they were the only ones in the room.
He groaned and leaned against the pillows that smelled suspiciously like bleach. Great. The hospital. He really hated hospitals, but on the bright side he wasn't in the psych ward… "Yeah, dude." What else could he do now? It wasn't like Finn didn't believe him. After the events of yesterday, Puck was very much aware of how 'the truth was out there' Finn suddenly was. He'd texted him this morning to ask if he'd ever met other ghosts. God he'd been a lot less annoying when he didn't completely believe him. "She's actually right behind you. Hey, Berry? Stop hovering long enough to give me what's in his hands."
Rachel paused for a moment and shot Puck a confused look before picking the PSP out of Finn's hands and moving next to Puck. She handed it to him before frowning. "Now really, Puck, what was the point in that? Are you trying to scare-" And that was when it clicked in Rachel's head that Puck had asked her to do that because that was the only way Finn could actually see that she was there. She blinked for a moment before snatching the PSP back from Puck and returning it to Finn. "Stop being mean."
Finn stared down at his PSP in complete horror. "Dude." He breathed. "She really is real."
Puck rolled his eyes at Finn before turning his attentions back to Rachel. "You gonna tell me how you became a superghost?" His eyes lit up excitedly. "Did you meet some dude in the subway who taught you how to break beer bottles?"
She blinked at him. "Noah, is that supposed to mean something to me?"
"Ghost?" He tried, and when she didn't react to the movie title he continued on. "You've seen the movie. What do you do when we watch movies?"
Her hands went to her hips as she studied him, annoyance playing across her features. "I recite lines from my shows." She replied pompously.
Finn stared at Puck for a moment. "I'm pretty sure you're not talking to me, but you should probably stop talking because your mom is going to be here to check you out soon. She was here earlier, but after the doctor said you were fine, she left. Oh, and Santana was here, too."
"And did she stick around? No. Cheerleading practice is more important than you. What kind of relationship is that, Noah?"
Not realizing Rachel was talking as well, Finn continued on. "She's still expecting you to take her out tonight and apparently I'm loaning you my car? Or at least Santana told me you were driving my car… But don't let the ghost drive it, okay? I mean, look what she did to your car."
Puck sighed and leaned back against the pillows. Why couldn't he be normal again?
Author: diamondinsanity
Pairing,Character(s): Puck, Rachel, Finn, Santana
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 4000
Spoilers: Absolutely none. It's completely AU
Summary: Seventeen year old Rachel Berry was on her way to becoming a Broadway star when she died at the exact same time Noah Puckerman was born. And so instead of moving on, she's stuck haunting the boy she died trying to help.
Disclaimers: I don't own Glee, Heart and Souls, Ghost, Drop Dead Fred, Rent, The Four Seasons or any of the other mediums I got inspiration from and/or borrowed tidbits from.
Notes: I am so terribly sorry that it has taken me months to update this story. Real life took over and sabotaged this story, but now I'm an unemployed recent college grad with all the time in the world to work on this story in between job interviews. So here's your update! :) Oh, and this chapter wound up being super long so I split it up into two parts. I'll probably post the second half on Monday or Tuesday. It depends on how many reviews I get in all honesty. It'll inspire me to post it sooner. Happy reading! Oh, and I apologize for the jumpiness. For some reason this story wants to read like an episode of the show, so there's a lot of scene jumping. I apologize in advance if you're not into that.
Previous chapters: Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
1997
It was three in the morning and Noah's had been crying for hours to the point where Ruth wasn't even looking in on him anymore. And, God, Rachel wished she had the same option to walk away from the four year old because right now she honestly felt like killing him. He was sick, and had thrown up multiple times. So Rachel completely understood that he was in pain, and that his stomach still hurt and that he didn't know what else to do other than cry, but that didn't mean she liked the fact that he had been crying for so long she could have sworn her ears were bleeding. And once Ruth left the room, she had started trying to figure out her own ways of getting the toddler to stop crying.
"Without you," She sang to him, in the softest gentlest voice that she could manage, like it was a lullaby and not a song from a show that she was supposed to be in that won a Tony even though she should have been the one playing Maureen. "The ground thaws, the rain falls, the grass grows. Without you, the seeds root, the flowers bloom, the children play. The stars gleam, the poets dream-"
But a loud wail from Noah cut her off. She sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. What was she supposed to do with him? She honestly didn't know. Hell, she'd never even really known a child until she was thrown into Noah's life, until she died. How ironic was that? She'd never even known a kid until she was dead.
She racked her brain for a song, any song to sing that would get Noah to quiet and fall back asleep. Without even thinking, she started singing, "Walk like a man, talk like a man, walk like a man, my son." She had absolutely no idea where that song was coming from; she hadn't listened to the Four Seasons in years, but apparently it was one of those catchy oldies songs that you couldn't help but remember the lyrics to. Whatever it was, it was calming Noah down. And Rachel decided right then and there that it must be a magic song if it could soothe Noah. "No woman's worth crawling on the earth. Just walk like a man my son."
He looked up at her sleepily for a moment before giving her a huge yawn. "Love you, Berry." For some reason "Rachel" was still a word Noah had problems with and it always came out all jumbled when he tried to say it. So most of the time he just called her by her last name; it was easier. And with that, he rolled over, put his thumb in his mouth and fell asleep, only whimpering slightly due to the pain in his stomach.
She just kept singing along as he drifted off to sleep. "Oo wee oo wee oo. Walk. Oo wee oo wee oo. Walk. I'm gonna walk like a man, fast as I can. Walk like a man from you. I'll tell the world to forget about it girl and walk like a man from you."
And as he slept, she couldn't help but to think again that this was a magic song.
*
Present
How dare he forget about her? It wasn't allowed! It wasn't acceptable. The fates had decided she needed to take care of him for his entire life, and how could she take care of him if he was purposely ignoring her with those drugs of his? It was absolutely unacceptable, and she was done supporting him (or rather brooding over being alone) and she was doing something about it. The only problem was that she didn't really know how. Sure, she had some plans and they were all really good plans and ideas. The only problem was that she didn't know how to see them through. She couldn't actually touch anything, and all of her plans involved her actually being able to move things, which of course had made her think about the radio.
She could move his radio. Or at least turn it on, which meant in theory that she was capable of moving things with her mind. She just had to figure out a way to make things move when she wanted them to and not just when she was furious with Noah.
Rachel stood in the basement, staring blankly at the old TV and radio covered in dust sitting on the floor. There had to be some way to get them to move. It wasn't like she was constitutionally incapable. Sure, she was dead, but that didn't make her useless. She knew she could move things; she just had to figure out how.
Her fingers hovered above the old radio, as though testing that the radio was real. Then she touched it. Immediately her hand went through it and she winced. Going through an object was just about one of the most uncomfortable feelings one could suffer through. It was like that sensation that happens when someone draws their nails across a chalkboard: that grating, chilling sensation that runs through your body. Going through an object made her feel all that, except she was the chalkboard that the sound was coming from. The sensation reverberated through her ghostly body and she absolutely detested that sensation.
Immediately she removed her hand, and shook it out, like that would make it any different. "Stupid solid objects…" God, couldn't fate see that she needed to get revenge on Noah, which she needed to be able to touch things to do. With those medications polluting his otherwise healthy body, he couldn't see her, but if she could move things… Well, then he couldn't ignore her, could he?
Rachel paced the length of the basement since her first attempt didn't exactly go according to plan. "Stupid Noah…" She whined out childishly. "Insensitive jerk. He's incredibly careless. He doesn't' care about the fortune of others. The only person who matters to him is his own self. It's absolutely unhealthy, and he should know this. It isn't like he hasn't seen countless therapists over the years. They've done exercises to try to correct this about him. And does he care? No! His capacity for caring about others shouldn't be as low as it currently is, and-"
That was when she realized that both the radio and the television were turned on. Her eyes widened and she glanced behind them both to see if maybe they'd been turned on this entire time and in her rage she just hadn't noticed.
They weren't plugged in. She'd made them turn on! That was her! That was her! She'd done it! She'd figured it out. But how… Anger!
All she needed to do was channel her anger, and she'd be able to touch things. The possibilities were endless.
A smile slid onto her face. Noah Puckerman was going to suffer for abandoning her.
*
Puck did not want to get up for school. Hell, most days he didn't want to go to school, but today it was different. He hadn't gotten home from Santana's until three in the morning-not that he'd meant to stay that late. They'd fallen asleep, and Mrs. Lopez had found him and her daughter naked, in bed, when she'd gotten home from her shift at the bar. The crazy Mexican bitch had chased him around the house with a baseball bat while Santana had occasionally (and lazily) screamed at her to stop. Needless to say, Puck knew he wasn't going to be getting a lot of sleep, and his plan was to convince his mother that he was sick to at least skip his morning classes and sleep in.
So when his alarm clock went off, and it felt like he hadn't even gotten any sleep, he didn't think much of it at first. He just slapped at the snooze button, expecting the music coming from the clock to stop. Nothing happened. The music just continued playing.
Frowning, Puck sat up, and looked at the clock. It was only four-thirty. "The hell…" He muttered under his breath as he turned his alarm off. It didn't strike him as weird at first; he figured he must have accidentally hit the wrong time or Sarah fucked with the time or something as a joke. It wouldn't be the first time… So he just rolled over and went back to sleep, figuring his mom would just have to wake him up if she really wanted him to go to school today.
"like a man. Talk like a man. Walk like a man, my son!"
Puck shot awake and stared in horror at his alarm clock. Four forty-five. He blinked. What the fuck was wrong with his radio today? "Shit…" He muttered under his breath, glaring daggers at the thing that was keeping him from sleeping for a good two hours still, maybe longer if he could work his magic with his mom. For a moment, he just stared at it before deciding, "Fuck it." And with that he yanked the plug out of the wall. Then he went back to sleep.
"Take me for what I am. Who I was meant to be. And if you give a damn. Take me baby, or leave me!"
He bolted upright. What the fuck? He'd unplugged the radio! He'd unplugged the radio. Did his mom put batteries in it? Shit, he didn't know anything about alarm clocks. What did he know? It must have been short-circuiting or something, which must mean it's a sign for him to not get any sleep today. Sighing, he rolled out of bed and changed into his running clothes. He might as well do something productive.
And as he left his room, he could have sworn the door opened for him, but he blamed the lack of sleep for that one because the pills were totally working. He wasn't stuck listening to Berry's insane rambling for once in his life. Besides, it wasn't like she could move shit before; it couldn't be her. He was just running on lack of sleep, which was also his excuse as to why the radio kept changing channels when he drove to school: lack of sleep.
*
"Puck?" A frown was on Finn's face as she stared at his best friend, who was currently leaning against the lockers, face buried into the metal. "What are you doing?"
There was a groan. "Baking a cake."
Finn frowned. "What? No you're not…" He sounded very confused.
Groaning again, Puck pulled his face away from the locker and righted himself to look at Finn. "Remind me why we're friends again?" He deadpanned.
"Oh, because of daycare." He responded with, not even missing a beat.
Puck stared at him incredulously, wondering yet again how in the hell they were friends… How did he find a friend who completely missed his sarcasm? That made no sense to him, but he didn't have much time to think about it because-
"Finn. Go away." Santana announced upon arrival, her hands planted firmly on her hips as she glared at Puck, not even giving Finn a glance in his direction.
The taller boy didn't move at first. "Oh, well, me and Puck have class together next period. We were going to walk to class together, and-"
"Then go wait over there." She snapped, still only looking at Puck.
Finn hovered near the couple for a moment longer before shuffling off over towards the trashcan at the end of the hall to wait for Puck.
Santana waited until Finn was out of earshot before rounding on Puck. "You didn't pick me up this morning." She accused.
"Are you kidding me?" Puck stared at his girlfriend in total bewilderment. "Your mom tried to play bash the Puckerone last night, and you thought I'd be stupid enough to go anywhere near your house? Jesus, San!"
She smirked at him. "Oh, is the big bad Puck afraid of a five foot Mexican woman?" She taunted. "And here I thought you were a stud."
He glared at her. "I am a stud, baby, but I'm not suicidal." He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Your mom is a crazy bitch."
"I should have known you wouldn't be able to man up and handle a relationship with me." She commented idly.
Puck snorted and pinned her against the lockers. "Oh, babe, I'm more than man enough to deal with your crazy ass. I just don't want your mom's ass." He murmured before kissing her.
The warning bell rang, and Santana grinned before pulling away and practically dancing out of his grasp. "You're taking me to dinner tomorrow night." And with that she was gone.
He stared after her for a moment before shaking his head, wondering idly for a moment why again he'd thought it was a good idea to have a serious relationship with Santana Lopez. But then he caught a nice view of her ass, and remembered quite well why this was a good idea again. Laughing to himself, he opened his locker and actually grabbed the book for his and Finn's next class.
"Are you really not cheating on Santana?" Finn asked with a frown as he leaned next to Puck's locker, trying to piece together the strangeness that was Puck and Santana's relationship. "Because I really don't understand why you're dating her. You don't even like her, do you?"
Shrugging, Puck threw his book into his backpack and slung the bag over his shoulder. "What can I say? I'll do anything to get laid on a regular basis, bro."
Finn grinned and shook his head. "I wish I had your nerve sometimes."
Suddenly Puck's locker slammed shut. The boys stared at the locker, neither saying a word. "Uh, Puck?"
"I didn't do that."
"Are you sure?" Finn asked rubbing his hand over his eyes as though to make sure he'd really just seen what he'd seen. "Because I really think your locker closed on its own." Suddenly a thought flashed across Finn's face. "Do you think it's your-" He lowered his voice to a whisper.
"Don't even go there." Puck snapped as he stormed away from both his locker and from Finn, heading towards class.
The final bell rang, marking them tardy.
Finn followed after him. "But you're the one who used to try so hard to convince me that she was real."
Immediately Puck came to a dead stop in the mostly empty hallway. "I made her up, okay?" He lied, looking everywhere but at Finn. "I was bored so I started making up stories about a wannabe Broadway star, okay? Rachel Berry is nothing but a loser. I don't need her anymore. I never needed her."
The speakers crackled through the hallway, a cue for the morning announcements to begin. Immediately Puck and Finn started moving towards their classroom again. "Walk like a man. Talk like a man. Walk like a man, my son!"
Puck stopped in the middle of the hallway again. Finn crashed into him.
"Hey. Isn't that the song you used to sing to yourself when you thought no one was listening?" Finn pointed out cheerfully.
All Puck could do was stare at the speakers in complete and utter horror. There was no way… But then again it was Rachel and she could really do anything she wanted to when she put her mind to it… She'd gotten him to give up meat for nearly six months (it helped that he was trying to get into this Vegan girl's pants, but he was never going to tell Berry that part. Ever), and that had been nearly impossible. But he still couldn't believe it. "Yeah…"
"Isn't that a ghost song?"
A couple of classroom doors opened as first period teachers sent students to see why "Walk Like a Man" was playing instead of morning announcements.
"Yeah." Puck finally looked at Finn. "But I mean, it can't be Berry. I sent her away. She's gone. She's at the place."
Finn frowned. "The place?"
"The place where the ghosts go. It can't be her."
And that's when the fire alarm went off. Suddenly the hallways were filled with people. But the music still managed to be heard over the fire alarm. "Ooo-ooo-ooo-woo-woo-woo. Walk! Walk!"
"Um, Puck?"
"Yeah, Finn?"
"I don't think she's gone."
Puck blinked as he and Finn just stood in the hallway as people rushed towards the exits but he and Finn stayed in the hallway. "Dude, it can't be her. She's not a cool ghost. Just an annoying one."
That's when the sprinklers went off. The boys still didn't move as the water poured down on them.
"Hey, Puck?"
There was a grunt in response.
"I think your ghost is really mad at you."
"No shit."
*
"Noah, what were you and Finn thinking setting off the school fire alarm? Detention for a month? Both suspended for three basketball games this season? What am I supposed to tell your grandmother?"
He sighed at his mother, knowing better than to try and tell her that his ghost did it. Hell, he still wasn't even sure he believed it. It's not like this was common behavior for his ghost. And shit, maybe it was all just a coincidence. Hell, a part of him was convinced that all of this could have been Coach Sylvester. After all, she never did forgive him for that pregnancy scare with one of her cheerios last year, and she was crazy enough to pull this bullshit. Not that his mom would ever believe that one either.
"Sorry, ma." And with that he abandoned his TV tray and left the room. He went into the bathroom to take his pills. The bottle wasn't in there. Frowning, he went into his bedroom. Nothing. "Ma? You seen my meds?"
"The bottle was empty. They can't fill your prescription until Friday."
Two days. He could go two days without his meds. Except after the hallway fiasco and the three hours in Principal Figgins' office, he wasn't completely sure if it was true. Especially when he realized he didn't know the last time he'd taken his meds.
Shit.
*
"Noah, it's already six am. Are you really planning on sleeping your day away?"
Puck immediately jerked awake, and glanced around the room wildly. He could have sworn that he heard Rachel, but she was nowhere in sight. Weird. "Rach?" He whispered out, hoping she wouldn't really respond to him. God, he liked these past couple of months when he'd been sane, when he'd been normal, and he didn't exactly want her back in his life.
When there was no response, he sighed in relief, but he didn't want to chance another repeat of yesterday. He looked wearily at his alarm clock before forcing himself out of bed and onto his morning run. Already he could tell that today was going to be a very long day.
In all honesty, Puck was surprised to not see Rachel. He was waiting for her to jump out at him from every corner, but she didn't. Hell, he even sang in the shower, expecting Rachel to tell him he was flat or sharp, but she didn't correct him. So by the time that he was in his truck, he was convinced that he'd just imagined the events of yesterday. Which was why he figured it would be an okay idea to pick up Santana for school, and risk her crazy mother.
He was just turning the corner onto her street when it happened.
"Noah? Are you even listening to me?"
He glanced over, and there, sitting in the passenger seat, legs crossed, hovering in the air was Rachel. Shocked, he took the corner too fast, the car went flying over the curb, and went flying into the Hummel's front yard.
"Oh my God! Noah?"
The world went black.
*
"Oh, Noah. I'm so sorry. If I'd known that you would freak out like that I would have waited until you were at a stoplight. I honestly didn't think that you would-"
The light filtered into the room and Puck blinked against it as Rachel rambled on and on about… Wait. What was she going on about? Oh, right. His car. Crazy ghost bitch had made him crash his car.
"Rachel, shut the fuck up." He muttered out as he decided it was nicer to keep his eyes closed opposed to open.
"She's in here right now?" Finn sounded panicked at the thought at being alone with a ghost.
Puck's eyes flew open at the sound of his best friend's voice. He glanced around and sure enough there was Finn, sitting at the edge of his bed, his PSP in his hands. Next to him, Rachel was fluttering around, and that was the only way Puck could think of to describe it since she was floating a good foot off the ground. Holy shit. She'd must have taken a super ghost class or two when he'd been busy being normal. Thankfully they were the only ones in the room.
He groaned and leaned against the pillows that smelled suspiciously like bleach. Great. The hospital. He really hated hospitals, but on the bright side he wasn't in the psych ward… "Yeah, dude." What else could he do now? It wasn't like Finn didn't believe him. After the events of yesterday, Puck was very much aware of how 'the truth was out there' Finn suddenly was. He'd texted him this morning to ask if he'd ever met other ghosts. God he'd been a lot less annoying when he didn't completely believe him. "She's actually right behind you. Hey, Berry? Stop hovering long enough to give me what's in his hands."
Rachel paused for a moment and shot Puck a confused look before picking the PSP out of Finn's hands and moving next to Puck. She handed it to him before frowning. "Now really, Puck, what was the point in that? Are you trying to scare-" And that was when it clicked in Rachel's head that Puck had asked her to do that because that was the only way Finn could actually see that she was there. She blinked for a moment before snatching the PSP back from Puck and returning it to Finn. "Stop being mean."
Finn stared down at his PSP in complete horror. "Dude." He breathed. "She really is real."
Puck rolled his eyes at Finn before turning his attentions back to Rachel. "You gonna tell me how you became a superghost?" His eyes lit up excitedly. "Did you meet some dude in the subway who taught you how to break beer bottles?"
She blinked at him. "Noah, is that supposed to mean something to me?"
"Ghost?" He tried, and when she didn't react to the movie title he continued on. "You've seen the movie. What do you do when we watch movies?"
Her hands went to her hips as she studied him, annoyance playing across her features. "I recite lines from my shows." She replied pompously.
Finn stared at Puck for a moment. "I'm pretty sure you're not talking to me, but you should probably stop talking because your mom is going to be here to check you out soon. She was here earlier, but after the doctor said you were fine, she left. Oh, and Santana was here, too."
"And did she stick around? No. Cheerleading practice is more important than you. What kind of relationship is that, Noah?"
Not realizing Rachel was talking as well, Finn continued on. "She's still expecting you to take her out tonight and apparently I'm loaning you my car? Or at least Santana told me you were driving my car… But don't let the ghost drive it, okay? I mean, look what she did to your car."
Puck sighed and leaned back against the pillows. Why couldn't he be normal again?