Fictable no. 45
It's been ages since I've even looked at my poor little fictable, but I fancied writing something and didn't know what, so here we are.
This isn't really shippy, in either sense, but I've been really enjoying the whole P/R dynamic this year from a general friendship point of view, because a) it's nice for Rachel to have friends, and b) it's believable that they would become the kind of friends that they have, and this is just kind of my take on how that's developed.
Title: And nothing hurts when you're with me
Prompt: Broken
Characters/Pairing: Puck, Rachel, Lauren -friendship with potential
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~ 1,900
Summary: Hanging with Rachel is just this habit he's fallen into, and it doesn't make him feel any better, but it doesn't make him feel worse either, and that's pretty rare these days.
A/N: Title is taken from the song Broken Boy, by Micah, the product of my teenage love of the Dawson's Creek soundtracks.
He's gotten into this habit, one that he's not certain he remembers getting into, of like, hanging out with Rachel whenever he feels really shitty. Which is weird, because she doesn't really ever make him feel any better. Most of the time she kind of ends up making it worse, and she's also very annoying, which does like, nothing for his mood. But after the first three or four times he ends up at her house when his day has sucked an unholy amount, he kind of resigns himself to it.
The day after they hand over Beth to Shelby, which is also actually the day after she's born, he finds himself standing in her front yard in the middle of the afternoon and wondering what the hell he's doing there. The door opens and she's standing in the doorway, just looking at him, sizing him up or something.
He thinks maybe she thinks he's gonna take it out on her, what with Shelby being her mom and all, but that honestly never occurred to him. He actually kind of forgot until he saw her standing there and he noticed how much they look alike. Now he kind of feels sick just looking at her face. He probably shouldn't tell her that. He should probably just go home and get wrecked and call Santana and see if she wants to hook up. He very rarely does the things he should do, so he strolls up to the porch and goes inside when she pushes the door open and backs into the house.
She's just about to watch Rent, she tells him, the Broadway live version, not the movie, and would he care to watch with her? And no, he really fucking wouldn't. But he doesn't want to go home either, and he doesn't really have the energy for sex anyways, so he just kind of shrugs and flops onto the couch while she gets snacks. Organic popcorn; no butter, no salt, no way in hell it's going in his mouth, and some parsnip chips that smell like barf. He's starting to think that going home is probably a way better idea than this, but he doesn't, and he couldn't tell you why.
They watch the broadway version, and then the movie version, so he can compare productions and listen to her blather constantly about the emotional connection forged with people on the stage that can't be replicated on the silver screen (her words) because of something to do with relative space and something else about veneers or some shit. It's a lot of noise and he doesn't really get it, but the show itself doesn't suck completely. Wouldn't have chosen to watch it. Wouldn't have chosen to watch it twice, but, there again it seems like he did, so, whatever.
The whole time he was there watching two versions of the same thing and listening to her talk and talk and keep fucking talking he doesn't think about Beth, or Quinn, or the disappointment in his mom's face, or how much he really wants to get drunk, get laid and punch something in whatever order the opportunities happen to arise. So he figures the day wasn't a total waste.
He has a headache though, and he needs some food that's deep fried, with cheese on top.
Getting out of Juvie should be awesome. And it kind of is, like his bedroom wall isn't freezing cold, and he doesn't have to share with three other guys who seem like generally murderous bastards. Big bastards too, and Puck works out a lot. And that smell has gone, the weird smell that hangs around that place, like disinfectant and Tater-Tots and spunk all in one nasty whiff. Plus, you know, X-box and Chinese take-out, so in some ways it is pretty awesome to be out.
But having to sit there while his mom lectures him for maybe the gazillionth time about how he's an idiot (yeah, it's a fun lecture) and seeing the tears in her eyes as she slams his breakfast down in front of him, and then having her smile at him so Goddamn sadly that it like, hurts to look at her is not cool. Not awesome at all.
So he goes out for a walk and winds up at Rachel's, like he does. It became a thing over the summer and she didn't seem to mind. If Finn was ever there he'd go find something else to do, but mostly he'd get lucky and she be by herself doing whatever crazy stuff she does during the summertime when any normal person would be sleeping or watching tv or sunbathing or something, and she'd let him hang out while she did it.
Today she's organising her sheet music. He wants to shoot himself in the face.
But she smiles at him and it's not pathetically sad and she's not slamming things or telling him what a disappointment he is or anything like that, so he sits cross-legged on the floor with her and puts things in whatever pile she tells him to.
It takes her three hours. Three hours to organise sheet-music which, from what he could tell, was never not organised in the first place. But she's got colour coding and cross referencing and everything's in these special binders and he can tell it means a lot to her. It's retarded, but he doesn't spend too much time complaining about her obvious mental health issues because she's just so damn happy about it.
He figures he should probably go soon, but she just plants herself on her bed, back against the pillows and points the remote at the tv, which, she tells him, she took the liberty of cueing up to play an incredibly rare recording of the original cast of Camelot on Broadway. They had watched the movie at some point over the summer and she had gone on and on about how Vanessa Redgrave was a horrible choice for Guenevere because she couldn't even sing, and obviously she was much more sultry and sexually alluring than Julie Andrews had ever played the role, but really, she couldn't hold a candle to Julie in the vocal department. He doesn't really have anything to do so he drops onto the bed next to her and settles in.
The quality of the recording is awful, and he doesn't really like the guy playing Lancelot, not enough swagger, or something. The guy in the movie was totally into himself, he figures that's how Lancelot should be. But he's sat on Rachel's bed and not in his kitchen having the life talked out of him, and sure, she talks almost constantly but he can kind of tune it out, and when he's with her he doesn't feel like shit all of the time. So he's gonna call that an up-side.
So this thing with Lauren is really starting to get him down. In a serious way. He just doesn't get it, he's a stud, and sure he's chased girls before, but he's always been sure that they're gonna give in, and with Lauren he's starting to think she actually doesn't want him. It sucks. And it makes him want her more, which he's sure is messed up in some kind of headspace way, but he can't help it, he knows he could rock her world if she just gave him the chance, and he's kind of getting sick of running laps while she thinks up more reasons not to get with him.
So he thinks he's gonna give up, he tells Rachel one afternoon in her room while she's dusting her bookshelf and re-alphabetising the things he's messed up. She turns and looks at him like she's disappointed in him and then just says 'ok' all quiet and turns back to her shelves. He shrugs, she doesn't normally give opinions or offer advice when he tells her stuff like this, usually she just lets him talk his shit out and then puts on a movie once he's done. But she's seriously quiet as she finishes dusting and when she sits down next to him and doesn't automatically start banging on about her chosen musical for the day, it prompts him to ask her exactly what in the name of hell her problem is.
She just blinks at him, real slow, and says, “I don't have a problem Noah.” Like Hell she doesn't. But she just leans back against the headboard and points the remote at the tv. She barely says anything all the way through the film, and when he turns to her as the credits roll and tells her he's gotta bounce, she barely even acknowledges him, just chews on her lower lip like she does when she's thinking really hard.
Whatever, he doesn't really care all that much what's wrong with her, except he feels like it's kind of his fault or something, and he doesn't come here so he can go home feeling shitty, that's pretty much the opposite of what he's doing.
She calls his name when he gets to her door, and she's standing in front of the bed, playing with the hem of her shirt. She smiles gently, and tells him she thinks he ought to reconsider his decision about Lauren, and that she's surprised at him for giving up before he's even tried using his most powerful weapon.
He looks to the guns instinctively, trying to think of ways he could deploy them, and when she realises that's what he's doing she laughs at him and rolls her eyes. She walks over and pulls his arms down to his side, and if she thinks he doesn't notice the squeeze she gives his biceps as she does it, she's entirely wrong, that shit's noticeable. But then she's looking up into his face with her big blinking eyes and telling him he's exceptionally talented and that any girl would find him particularly difficult to resist when he puts that talent to good use.
He's pretty sure his face shows complete confusion because she just sighs and squeezes his arms again, that part's kind of interesting, and tells him he'll figure it out. Then she goes back to her bed and grabs a book, so he guesses he's like, dismissed or whatever.
He thinks about what the hell she could have meant the whole way home.
Next day in Glee he totally rocks out to a totally awesome Queen song that everybody loves, and Lauren pretty much tells him to go to hell.
He catches up to Rachel on his way home and tells her that he apparently is resistible, and that he feels like shit. She makes this little noise, like he's a kitten or something, and threads her arm through his, and when they get to her house she lets him pick what movie to watch. She even manages to find him some real chips to eat, with actual cheese-powder on and everything.
They watch Calamity Jane, and she immediately starts explaining how this was Doris Day's seminal piece of work because of something to do with being considered too feminine for the role blah blah blah, and she's just so damn excited, he just kind of has to smile at her. She beams back at him, and he musses the hair at the top of her head, just for good measure.
It's about then that he starts thinking maybe being her friend is actually kind of fun, and the next time he comes over, it's not because he's having a shitty day, or because he wants to get away from his mom and her nagging. It's because he's sitting about his house playing Mario-kart by himself, and he thinks he'd much rather be hanging out with her instead.
This isn't really shippy, in either sense, but I've been really enjoying the whole P/R dynamic this year from a general friendship point of view, because a) it's nice for Rachel to have friends, and b) it's believable that they would become the kind of friends that they have, and this is just kind of my take on how that's developed.
Title: And nothing hurts when you're with me
Prompt: Broken
Characters/Pairing: Puck, Rachel, Lauren -friendship with potential
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~ 1,900
Summary: Hanging with Rachel is just this habit he's fallen into, and it doesn't make him feel any better, but it doesn't make him feel worse either, and that's pretty rare these days.
A/N: Title is taken from the song Broken Boy, by Micah, the product of my teenage love of the Dawson's Creek soundtracks.
He's gotten into this habit, one that he's not certain he remembers getting into, of like, hanging out with Rachel whenever he feels really shitty. Which is weird, because she doesn't really ever make him feel any better. Most of the time she kind of ends up making it worse, and she's also very annoying, which does like, nothing for his mood. But after the first three or four times he ends up at her house when his day has sucked an unholy amount, he kind of resigns himself to it.
The day after they hand over Beth to Shelby, which is also actually the day after she's born, he finds himself standing in her front yard in the middle of the afternoon and wondering what the hell he's doing there. The door opens and she's standing in the doorway, just looking at him, sizing him up or something.
He thinks maybe she thinks he's gonna take it out on her, what with Shelby being her mom and all, but that honestly never occurred to him. He actually kind of forgot until he saw her standing there and he noticed how much they look alike. Now he kind of feels sick just looking at her face. He probably shouldn't tell her that. He should probably just go home and get wrecked and call Santana and see if she wants to hook up. He very rarely does the things he should do, so he strolls up to the porch and goes inside when she pushes the door open and backs into the house.
She's just about to watch Rent, she tells him, the Broadway live version, not the movie, and would he care to watch with her? And no, he really fucking wouldn't. But he doesn't want to go home either, and he doesn't really have the energy for sex anyways, so he just kind of shrugs and flops onto the couch while she gets snacks. Organic popcorn; no butter, no salt, no way in hell it's going in his mouth, and some parsnip chips that smell like barf. He's starting to think that going home is probably a way better idea than this, but he doesn't, and he couldn't tell you why.
They watch the broadway version, and then the movie version, so he can compare productions and listen to her blather constantly about the emotional connection forged with people on the stage that can't be replicated on the silver screen (her words) because of something to do with relative space and something else about veneers or some shit. It's a lot of noise and he doesn't really get it, but the show itself doesn't suck completely. Wouldn't have chosen to watch it. Wouldn't have chosen to watch it twice, but, there again it seems like he did, so, whatever.
The whole time he was there watching two versions of the same thing and listening to her talk and talk and keep fucking talking he doesn't think about Beth, or Quinn, or the disappointment in his mom's face, or how much he really wants to get drunk, get laid and punch something in whatever order the opportunities happen to arise. So he figures the day wasn't a total waste.
He has a headache though, and he needs some food that's deep fried, with cheese on top.
Getting out of Juvie should be awesome. And it kind of is, like his bedroom wall isn't freezing cold, and he doesn't have to share with three other guys who seem like generally murderous bastards. Big bastards too, and Puck works out a lot. And that smell has gone, the weird smell that hangs around that place, like disinfectant and Tater-Tots and spunk all in one nasty whiff. Plus, you know, X-box and Chinese take-out, so in some ways it is pretty awesome to be out.
But having to sit there while his mom lectures him for maybe the gazillionth time about how he's an idiot (yeah, it's a fun lecture) and seeing the tears in her eyes as she slams his breakfast down in front of him, and then having her smile at him so Goddamn sadly that it like, hurts to look at her is not cool. Not awesome at all.
So he goes out for a walk and winds up at Rachel's, like he does. It became a thing over the summer and she didn't seem to mind. If Finn was ever there he'd go find something else to do, but mostly he'd get lucky and she be by herself doing whatever crazy stuff she does during the summertime when any normal person would be sleeping or watching tv or sunbathing or something, and she'd let him hang out while she did it.
Today she's organising her sheet music. He wants to shoot himself in the face.
But she smiles at him and it's not pathetically sad and she's not slamming things or telling him what a disappointment he is or anything like that, so he sits cross-legged on the floor with her and puts things in whatever pile she tells him to.
It takes her three hours. Three hours to organise sheet-music which, from what he could tell, was never not organised in the first place. But she's got colour coding and cross referencing and everything's in these special binders and he can tell it means a lot to her. It's retarded, but he doesn't spend too much time complaining about her obvious mental health issues because she's just so damn happy about it.
He figures he should probably go soon, but she just plants herself on her bed, back against the pillows and points the remote at the tv, which, she tells him, she took the liberty of cueing up to play an incredibly rare recording of the original cast of Camelot on Broadway. They had watched the movie at some point over the summer and she had gone on and on about how Vanessa Redgrave was a horrible choice for Guenevere because she couldn't even sing, and obviously she was much more sultry and sexually alluring than Julie Andrews had ever played the role, but really, she couldn't hold a candle to Julie in the vocal department. He doesn't really have anything to do so he drops onto the bed next to her and settles in.
The quality of the recording is awful, and he doesn't really like the guy playing Lancelot, not enough swagger, or something. The guy in the movie was totally into himself, he figures that's how Lancelot should be. But he's sat on Rachel's bed and not in his kitchen having the life talked out of him, and sure, she talks almost constantly but he can kind of tune it out, and when he's with her he doesn't feel like shit all of the time. So he's gonna call that an up-side.
So this thing with Lauren is really starting to get him down. In a serious way. He just doesn't get it, he's a stud, and sure he's chased girls before, but he's always been sure that they're gonna give in, and with Lauren he's starting to think she actually doesn't want him. It sucks. And it makes him want her more, which he's sure is messed up in some kind of headspace way, but he can't help it, he knows he could rock her world if she just gave him the chance, and he's kind of getting sick of running laps while she thinks up more reasons not to get with him.
So he thinks he's gonna give up, he tells Rachel one afternoon in her room while she's dusting her bookshelf and re-alphabetising the things he's messed up. She turns and looks at him like she's disappointed in him and then just says 'ok' all quiet and turns back to her shelves. He shrugs, she doesn't normally give opinions or offer advice when he tells her stuff like this, usually she just lets him talk his shit out and then puts on a movie once he's done. But she's seriously quiet as she finishes dusting and when she sits down next to him and doesn't automatically start banging on about her chosen musical for the day, it prompts him to ask her exactly what in the name of hell her problem is.
She just blinks at him, real slow, and says, “I don't have a problem Noah.” Like Hell she doesn't. But she just leans back against the headboard and points the remote at the tv. She barely says anything all the way through the film, and when he turns to her as the credits roll and tells her he's gotta bounce, she barely even acknowledges him, just chews on her lower lip like she does when she's thinking really hard.
Whatever, he doesn't really care all that much what's wrong with her, except he feels like it's kind of his fault or something, and he doesn't come here so he can go home feeling shitty, that's pretty much the opposite of what he's doing.
She calls his name when he gets to her door, and she's standing in front of the bed, playing with the hem of her shirt. She smiles gently, and tells him she thinks he ought to reconsider his decision about Lauren, and that she's surprised at him for giving up before he's even tried using his most powerful weapon.
He looks to the guns instinctively, trying to think of ways he could deploy them, and when she realises that's what he's doing she laughs at him and rolls her eyes. She walks over and pulls his arms down to his side, and if she thinks he doesn't notice the squeeze she gives his biceps as she does it, she's entirely wrong, that shit's noticeable. But then she's looking up into his face with her big blinking eyes and telling him he's exceptionally talented and that any girl would find him particularly difficult to resist when he puts that talent to good use.
He's pretty sure his face shows complete confusion because she just sighs and squeezes his arms again, that part's kind of interesting, and tells him he'll figure it out. Then she goes back to her bed and grabs a book, so he guesses he's like, dismissed or whatever.
He thinks about what the hell she could have meant the whole way home.
Next day in Glee he totally rocks out to a totally awesome Queen song that everybody loves, and Lauren pretty much tells him to go to hell.
He catches up to Rachel on his way home and tells her that he apparently is resistible, and that he feels like shit. She makes this little noise, like he's a kitten or something, and threads her arm through his, and when they get to her house she lets him pick what movie to watch. She even manages to find him some real chips to eat, with actual cheese-powder on and everything.
They watch Calamity Jane, and she immediately starts explaining how this was Doris Day's seminal piece of work because of something to do with being considered too feminine for the role blah blah blah, and she's just so damn excited, he just kind of has to smile at her. She beams back at him, and he musses the hair at the top of her head, just for good measure.
It's about then that he starts thinking maybe being her friend is actually kind of fun, and the next time he comes over, it's not because he's having a shitty day, or because he wants to get away from his mom and her nagging. It's because he's sitting about his house playing Mario-kart by himself, and he thinks he'd much rather be hanging out with her instead.