Title: The Crow Flies Straight
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Rachel/Puck
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3,453
Summary: Rachel loves the show Sons of Anarchy. At Santana's Halloween party a certain bad boy shows up dressed like he could be part of the show.
Author's Notes: Written for
this prompt at the
puckrachel drabble meme.
Rachel isn’t sure how she ended up watching Sons of Anarchy. She never would have thought that was her type of a show. She had never been into the idea of watching shows about outlaw bikers but she somehow got into the show, found herself going out and buying all the seasons on DVD and watching them late at night when she was home after work. She would sit there and drink her vegan hot chocolate and found herself enamored by the lives of those people. She would never be able to explain why she enjoyed the show so much.
She tried to get her friends that moved to New York as well into the show but they didn’t seem interested. At least not the ones that she was close to. Kurt couldn’t get beyond the clothing, fashion conscious as he is. And Blaine thought it was well written and well-acted but not his type of a show. Santana just couldn’t get into it because, as she put it, bad boys weren’t her thing. Sleeping with Puck for a couple of years meant nothing because she had been in denial about who she really was. And Brittany? Well, she was sweet enough to watch it with her but she didn’t really get the show and Rachel spent most of her time trying to explain it to her. And that wasn’t exactly annoying but it definitely made the show less enjoyable.
She had mentioned the show to Puck one time and he didn’t quite get why she of all people liked it. They never hung out so they never watched it together but he knew of the show, knew what it was about. He just found it pretty damn amusing that she actually liked the show. She eventually explained to him that she found it sort of fascinating but also that she liked the guys. She admitted that she was ironically turned on by the bad boy image just like she had admitted to being ironically turned on by his bad boy image in high school. And Puck? Puck just laughed.
Halloween in Manhattan was definitely an interesting thing to see. She found herself enjoying it more and more. Seeing everyone wandering around in the streets in their costumes was always hysterical. It was one of the most fun experiences she ever had in her life. And she’s been looking forward to seeing the costumes in Manhattan again this year. But it’s two weeks before Halloween and she gets a phone call from Santana. The Latina is throwing a big Halloween party in her loft and she really, really wants Rachel there. They’ve become friends since they got to Manhattan. The only problem is that she would have to dress up to be at the party.
Rachel sighs heavily and complains that she doesn’t know what to do, what to dress up as. And on the other end of the phone call Santana just laughs, loud and with all of herself. It’s a laugh Rachel knows very, very well. “Halloween is a night to dress up as a slut even when you’re not one,” she tells her. “Come with me tomorrow. We’ll go and pick out a good costume for you. Trust me. I’ll have every guy at the party drooling over you.”
“I thought guys aren’t your thing anymore.”
“They're not. But I spent all of high school knowing how to get them, knowing what they want. Trust me when I say I can get you a bunch of numbers if you just listen to what I say.”
Rachel’s dubious at best but she agrees in the end. That’s how she ends up at New York Costumes on 4th Avenue, right next to the gothic boutique. She ends up there with Santana, trying on a bunch of different costumes, none of which are really Rachel’s style. They're more something that Santana would wear. She doesn’t like showing that much skin even now. She’s not as prude or reserved as she used to be but she’s definitely not accustomed to wearing things that show too much skin. But Santana keeps on insisting that Halloween is a day to dress as a slut even when you’re not one. It’s the one day of the year you can get away with it without having people tell you that you’re a slut. And she’s just going to be in the Latina’s loft instead of walking around the city that way so not to worry.
She’s there for about two hours before they finally find a costume that Rachel is alright with but Santana still thinks is definitely fitting for the whole ‘dress like a slut’ idea of Halloween. It’s weird but she’s just going to have to deal with it. And it’s one night after all. She can handle dressing sort of slutty for one night, right? And besides, it doesn’t make her a slut. It’s not like she sleeps around or anything. She doesn’t so she’s not really a slut. She’s just dressing as one.
So that’s how Rachel ends up at Santana’s loft dressed in a devil costume that barely goes half way down her thighs and pushes up the limited breasts she has so much that it seems like she actually has cleavage and the tops of her breasts are showing. It’s definitely not her thing but when Santana takes her coat she gives her this smile that is almost evil, sort of scares the hell out of Rachel and would make her feel like Santana is totally checking her out if she didn’t know she wasn’t really Santana’s type. And, well, if Santana didn’t, of course, have Brittany there with her. Still, it sort of makes her a tiny bit uncomfortable to be wearing that outfit. It’s just not her and it’ll never be her. But she just keeps on reminding herself that it’s for one night. Just one night and then she can go back to dressing like herself. She can survive it.
Halfway through the night her eyes start to bother her from the red, glittery makeup that Kurt insisted on putting on her but she somehow manages to find a way to keep herself from letting her eyes water so much that she’s crying. She blinks the tears back and even manages to discretely dab at her eyes with a napkin. And Santana was sort of right because she keeps on having guys come up too her and talk to her. It’s sort of nice to get attention from guys because she’s not used to it, not by a longshot. She has never been used to guys giving her that much attention.
Santana comes up to her at one point, loops one arm through hers and leads her away from this guy who is dressed up as Michael Meyers- or at least Rachel thinks it’s Michael Meyers. She’s never been into slashers so she’s not really sure. But the Latina has this smile on her face that says ‘I told you so’ without actually saying the words. “So,” she drawls in a cocky tone. “Didn’t I tell you that this costume would get you a whole lot of attention?”
“You did,” Rachel admits. Why deny that little fact? It’s not some big secret that she’s been getting a lot of guys talking to her in that costume.
“So, you’ve been so wrapped up with Mr. Horror Movies over there that you didn’t notice what walked in half an hour ago?”
“What walked in? Don’t you mean who?”
“Same difference.”
Rachel rolled her eyes but she can’t say that she’s really surprised that Santana is associating people as objects. When she and Brittany breakup and she wants to hookup people aren’t people, they’re objects and the brunette diva knows that. Only Brittany seems to be a person for her. And she guesses that’s sort of sweet. It just goes to show how much Santana really cares about Brittany. She cares about her more than anyone else in the world.
“You have a point, Santana?”
Santana smiles in that basically evil way again and then unloops her arm from around Rachel’s, puts both hands on the diva’s shoulders and turns her towards the other side of the room. And for a moment Rachel has no idea why Santana did that. But then she realizes it. She notices what Santana wanted her to see. It would have been pretty hard not to notice.
At first all she sees is the back of some guy standing there with a faux leather jacket on- it’s so easy to tell it’s not real. But it’s not the fact that he’s wearing a faux leather jacket that gets her attention. It’s the fact that on the back of that jacket is a patch, an exact copy of the patches they wear on their jackets in Sons of Anarchy. Someone is there dressed as a guy from the show.
It’s not until the man turns around that she really gets surprised. She actually takes in a sharp breath because she knows that profile, she knows that strong jaw and the slope of his nose. It’s a face she has seen thousands of times in her life. Noah Puckerman is dressed as a character from her current favorite show.
Almost all at once Rachel feels this warm clenching in her stomach and she just knows what it means. It means that she’s completely and totally turned on by seeing Noah Puckerman dressed like that. And it should be embarrassing but she can’t bring herself to be. She had always found Noah attractive. She had always been a little turned on by his bad boy image but this was different. Seeing him like that turned her on in a way she never had been by Puck before.
Santana’s chin comes down to rest on Rachel’s shoulder and the diva doesn’t have to turn around to know that her friend is smirking. “Someone likes what she sees,” the Latina teases but Rachel can’t even bring herself to deny it. She really, really can’t. But she also doesn’t want to admit it out loud. It would just embarrass her. A whole lot. So she keeps that knowledge to herself and just moves away from Santana and has another drink.
As the night is winding down Rachel knows she’s tipsy. Not drunk but tipsy. People are already leaving and she knows she’s going to have to leave soon, too. But she hasn’t actually spoken to Puck the whole night. So she makes her way through the few people left and goes right over to him, plays with the collar of the jacket. “Didn’t know you liked this show.”
Puck just smiles at her, shrugs his shoulders casually as he watches her. “Well, you never asked. You just said you liked it and asked if I knew it.” And that’s true. She has never actually asked him if he likes the show, if he has even watched it. He has a very good point there. But she can’t say anything because she feels his eyes going over her, taking her in and she sort of likes having him look over her that way. It just doesn’t help her any with the fact that she was turned on by the way he’s dressed. It isn’t helping at all. If anything it turns her on even more.
“Someone’s been drinking tonight,” he teases and she shrugs a little bit. He’s right so why would she deny it? “You have anyone to make sure you get home safe?”
“Don’t need it.”
“You dressed like that after drinking? Yeah, you totally do.” He looks her over again and then nods slightly to the side. “I’m gonna go get your jacket. I’ll make sure you get into your apartment safe, Berry.”
“Since when are you chivalrous?”
“Happens sometimes. Don’t look this gift horse in the mouth.” He smiles at her a little and then he vanishes into Santana’s room, comes back a little later and gives her coat to her. It’s nice of him but she’s fine. But if he wants to play hero she’s going to let him, of course. So she sort of leans on him in her heels as she makes her way to the subway and she sits against him on the ride back towards her place. She doesn’t even balk when he puts his hand on her knee.
He walks her up to her apartment and she considers what to do for a couple of seconds. And then once the apartment door is open she turns around and wraps her hand around his wrist. “Come inside? I’ll make coffee.”
“All you have is that vegan dairy substitute. Doesn’t taste good, Berry.”
“Shut up.” She tugs on his arm and drags him into the apartment with her. It’s still dark and as she closes the door behind them it just gets darker without the hall light. He’s pressed close to her and she can smell him and the beer he had been drinking. It’s sort of erotic. And she has never been the type to ask a guy into her apartment that way but this is different. It was Puck. She has known Puck for most of her life. Or, well, most of the years she’s been in double digits. He’s not this random guy that Rachel met on the street or in a bar or something.
She breathed against his neck, the breath sort of shuddering but she couldn’t help it. Looking up at him she tried to find his face the best she could in the dark but she could barely see him. “Why’d you wear that costume?” she asked him.
“I like the show.”
“You know I like the show.”
“That’s true.” At least he didn’t try to deny it or else she would have probably slapped him. Because she would know he was denying it just to be a brat. She had told him about a dozen or so times that she liked the show. But at least he isn’t enough of a dick to tell her that he didn’t remember. She knows he remembers. She knows because Puck has always had a good memory for things like that. And besides, it wasn’t like she told him that years ago. It was actually pretty recently that she told him that she liked the show.
She tugs on the color of his jacket again, smiles a little. “I like your costume.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She smiles a little wider. “You like mine?”
She feels Puck trying to look her over a little more in the dark but she knows it’ll be hard for him to see her. “Well, your legs are totally hot. The short skirt totally works.” Almost as if trying to prove his point he reaches down, runs the tips of two of his fingers across her leg. “Santana’s idea.”
“Of course.” No use in denying that either. It would just be a lie anyway.
“Nice work, Lopez.”
Rachel has to stop herself from laughing in the dark. Her mouth suddenly feels dry for a reason she can’t quite explain and she licks her bottom lip. “Noah? Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
“Have you ever….thought about…you know…sleeping with me?”
“I assume by ‘sleep’ you mean ‘fucking you’.”
“Crude.”
“Well, come on. Let’s be honest. In any scenario where I’m in bed with you there would be no sleeping involved.” Rachel forces herself not to blush. She really, really does. But she really wants to blush because him saying that just turns her on even more than she already was and she can’t quite understand it. “Why? You ever get turned on by me, Berry?” He’s teasing her. She knows he is but for some reason that just makes her feel bold.
True, she’s not the reserved little prude she was in high school. She’s had boyfriends since Finn. She’s had sex. She’s not all that sexually reserved but she hasn’t ever really done the whole hooking up thing. She just has never been that person. But she seems to think it’s a good idea right then. Maybe because she’s known him for so long. Maybe because she’s always been attracted to him in a way. She’s not sure. But that and everything he just said, as little as it was, made her feel bold. It made her feel so much bolder than she thought she could ever be.
Reaching out she closes her hand around his wrist again and without so much as a second thought- if she thought about it she’d totally chicken out- she moves his hand so its underneath her skirt and presses his hand between her legs so he can feel how wet she is, how much he has turned her on. It’s sort of weird to be doing that with Puck but at the same time it’s also sort of awesome. “That answer your question?”
For a couple of seconds nothing happens. They just stand there and then he lets out a sort of groan and leans down, presses his mouth against hers. The kiss is firm, intense. She isn’t sure at first how to respond but after a brief lapse in brain power she kisses him back, her hand tightening on his wrist. She isn’t sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing but when he kisses her more firmly she’s sure he doesn’t mind. And she’s even more sure when he presses his hand more firmly against her and actually sort of strokes her through the thin cotton of her underwear. And it just makes her moan into his mouth.
She pulls her mouth away from him after a moment though and just looks up at him. “Wanna prove to me that there will be no sleep involved?”
“Depends. You serious, Rachel?”
“Extremely. One stipulation though.”
“You’re totally lucky that I actually know what that means.”
She squeezes on his wrist in a way that shows she doesn’t appreciate the joke and he just laughs a little. “The jacket?” she says in a slightly breathy voice. “Keep it on.”
“Keep it on?”
“The whole time.”
He sort of laughs and groans at the same time before he kisses her again and takes his wrist out of her hand. Then he wraps his hands around her thighs and he lifts her up off of the floor. Her legs go around his waist instantly and he breaks away from her just long enough to ask her where the bedroom is. He’s been there a couple of times but he’s never ventured far enough into her apartment to find out where it is.
But once he knows where it is it doesn’t take long for them to get to it. The door doesn’t even get closed behind them. They just tumble onto the bed and he practically rips her costume to get it off. It sort of feels like they get naked in record time and he’s inside of her just as quickly. And then there is just thrusting and heavy breathing and sweating. She’s moaning under her breath and he’s groaning loudly against her skin, in her ear. And she has to admit that it’s probably the most amazing sex she’s ever had though she’s not quite sure if it’s him or if it’s the fact that it’s basically a one-night stand that they hadn’t planned on or anything but either way it’s the best sex she’s had.
But he turns out to be wrong. There is sleeping to be done but not until the wee hours of the morning. She’s not even sure which round they’re finishing by the time she falls asleep but they’re definitely both exhausted. She isn’t even sure how they stayed awake that long but she falls asleep half on top of him, her arm thrown over his waist and his arm around her, her cheek resting against the pleather jacket that he kept on the entire time like she asked him to.
And in the morning when she wakes up she’s not quite sure what to say to Puck. So she just slips out of bed and goes to take a shower. But when he slips into the shower with her, pulls her back against him, one hand running down her stomach until its slipping between her legs she figures there isn’t all that much to say. At least not then. And they can always figure it out later if there is something that needs to be said. But at that moment she would rather just go with the flow, wherever that lead her.