AN: Another new story, I know shame on me. For those who are reading my MIOBI fic, I currently have the next chapter in the works, it should be up within a few days. Anyways…
This fic takes place in season one, this chapter and the next (which will be in Pucks POV) will catch up to the point where I want to start my story, showing modifications to the story line to make my story make sense. I hope its not too confusing! I already have the next chapter ready to go and the third started. I'm not really happy with how this chapter came out but anyways… Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any songs that might end up being mentioned throughout the story.
When sophomore year started, Rachel Berry joined Glee club with ease. She'd known her whole life that she wanted to be a star, which was why she always signed her name with a gold star of course. What she hadn't planned when she stuck that little sticker next to her name on the signup sheet however, was the confusing rollercoaster of the year that was now facing her as she sealed her future with the single gold star.
She thought that it was fairly complicated having to have Finn, quarterback of the football team, join glee club (although who could dispute his heavenly voice that worked so perfectly with hers?) and then to have his jealous girlfriend join with her two best friends. In return, a few other football players also joined to flank Finn. The numbers of course, were needed for the clubs survival if they were to be serious about competing. With this in mind, Rachel tried to ignore the fact that one of the males, Noah Puckerman, had been the main source behind much of the torture she and her fellow glee clubbers had to survive since high school began.
Much to her surprise, the newcomers were actually fairly talented in comparison to most of the student body. She contented herself with the fact that they could actually help the club win the competitions and move her along on her way to stardom.
Things had gotten complicated quickly for Rachel however. It was nearly impossible to ignore Finn's adoring looks he often gave her while they were singing and, before she knew it, Rachel was swooning over the most popular guy in the school. This didn't last very long as Finn suddenly stopped speaking to Rachel completely after kissing her once in the auditorium.
The first extreme shock that she'd had that year was Quinn cornering her in the bathroom during her brief time away from glee club…
"Hey Berry." Rachel turned on her heel, slightly annoyed by the distraction. The bell for her next class was bound to ring any moment and tardiness really was not acceptable. Her eyes widened at the sight in front of her and she knew she'd be late to her math class no matter how much she hated tardiness.
Purple blocked her vision as the slushie hit her in the face. She licked her lips without thinking about it; at least it was grape today. The relieved moment vanished when she heard Puck laughing with the other footballers who had watched as her fellow glee member slushied her. You mean ex-fellow glee member, you quit the club remember Rachel? She scolded herself as she shook the grape slushie off her binders and walked briskly to the girls bathroom.
She began to brush the rest of the slushie from her face and hair into the sink as she waited for the water to get the desired temperature. Sighing again, she pulled off her sweater, thankfully the only article of clothing to get hit with the offending drink.
"Leaving glee really was a mistake for you wasn't it?" a patronizing voice came from behind Rachel and she looked in the mirror to see the head Cheerio, Quinn, staring at her.
Rachel shrugged her shoulder as she dampened a paper towel to clean the slushie out of her hair. "One has to do what will put them ahead in life. I simply chose the path that I thought would get me to Broadway faster." She briefly saw Quinn roll her eyes before taking another cloth to clean her face.
"Look Ru-Paul, you might get on my last nerves sometimes when you start talking like we're all just a bunch of Lima Losers and tools for you to become big in the world or whatever. But let's get real here."
Rachel lowered the cloth from her face, feeling suspicious. "Quinn, I'm sure whatever you've got planned to say to me has a bit of truth behind it, but I've decided my course. So thank you but I'm not interested in hearing what you have to say right now." She went to grab her books, fully planning on making an excuse to her teacher about why she was so late.
Quinn seemed to have other plans as she locked the girls bathroom and blocked the door, "No Rachel, its time you shut up and listened to someone for once! You might be fooling Finn, Mr. Schue and everyone else in glee that you're okay with quitting and joining this stupid play, but we both know you're not."
Rachel tried to deny this, she really did. But she couldn't come up with anything compelling to say that would back up her actions that she hadn't already said. Quinn smiled at her sadly, "You could always come back you know. As much as I hate to admit it, we need your voice. Just do yourself a favor and when you come back, stop making moon eyes at my boyfriend." Rachel bit her tongue, holding back the retort she so badly wanted to shoot back at the perfect blond.
The head Cheerio turned and unlocked the room and began to turn the handle when she seemed to change her mind. "One last thing Man Hands," she looked back at Rachel. "Pay attention to the people around you from now on. You might just learn something surprising about them and yourself."
Rachel had planned on listening to Quinn's warning, she really had. But later that day Finn asked her out on a date, her first real date. Looking back now, she really shouldn't have gone out with him. They'd kissed again and Rachel felt fireworks go off and butterflies invade her stomach. So she'd decided to go back to glee, because Finn had said he wanted to be with her. It seemed like she would finally get her happily ever after.
But that Monday her short lived fairy tale shattered into a million pieces. Quinn was pregnant, Finn was the father. Part of her wondered if she and Finn would have gotten together anyways if it weren't for Puck stepping into her life at almost the exact time. She often caught Finn staring at her, giving her the same loving look during their duets that he did before Quinn broke her baby gate.
The fact of the matter however was that Puck did invade her life mere days after the news about Quinn's baby came out.
"Yo Berry, wait up!" a voice called from behind Rachel as she was walking to the parking lot after glee practice. She'd bolted the moment Mr. Schue had called the session to an end, wanting to get as far away from Finn's longing looks and Quinn's glares as possible. "Berry seriously, slow the fuck down."
She sighed and spun to glare at Puck, "What is it that you need?" she hadn't forgotten that not even a week ago the boy was throwing frozen beverages at her face. He was close to the bottom of the list of people she'd be willing to speak to right now.
The football player jogged to catch up to her, breathing a bit heavily. "I want you to tutor me."
It took all of Rachel's will power not to laugh in his face. Noah Puckerman, resident badass, wanting tutoring? She decided to be nice about his request, besides he might be requesting singing lessons, which she certainly could help him with. "What do you need help with then? If it's your higher range, I can work on it but I honestly think your voice works better in the lower-"
"What? No not singing. I need tutoring in my classes. Like math and shit."
That short conversation started a very bizarre line of events for Rachel Berry. From that day on she found herself at the Puckerman household after school three nights a week. The duo had been lucky to see that their football and dance practices happened to be on the same days, so they didn't disrupt the schedule they made. They would spend two hours doing homework together, only interrupted if Puck needed help on something or if his little sister needed something.
It was shocking to Rachel how seriously Puck was taking his education now. Every time she attempted to prod him about why it was so important all of a sudden he'd mumble about being a Lima Loser. Whenever she'd try to convince him that he wasn't a Lima Loser he'd growl that it wasn't her he needed to convince. It made absolutely no sense, but who was she to argue it?
Quinn had gone right back to glaring at Rachel daily, not missing the glances Finn always sent her way. Rachel however, slowly started missing most of these glances as most of her attention was taken up by a certain boy with a mohawk.
Their study nights had extended in time, Puck slacking on taking her home until well after his little sister had gone to bed. Rachel had brushed her fathers off on their suspicions saying that Puck could use the extra help with his sister since his mother was working third shift for the next few weeks. She made herself complacent with the fact that she wasn't actually lying to them. She just wasn't informing them of the steamy make out sessions that occurred almost right after Pucks little sister was safe in her own bed.
Both of them had been happy enjoying each other company and hot hook ups for weeks. They'd learned about each other slowly during their days together and Rachel even began to consider Puck as a close friend, even if his friends did still tend to give her slushie facials.
Rachel chastised herself for not realizing the peaceful, somewhat strange pattern her weeks had formed could so easily be shifted by even the smallest requests.
"Hey baby, I was thinking maybe we could make this thing official." Puck whispered to her one night after a rather extensive session in his bed. She had almost even let Puck take her shirt off this time.
Rachel blinked at him, "What do you mean make it official? Like parade down the halls holding hands informing everyone that we are now boyfriend and girlfriend?" she rambled very quickly, nerves setting in. She thought they were under a silent agreement that they'd keep whatever it was that they were, simple and secret, so why was Puck suddenly wanting more than that?
He sat up, propping himself up on his elbows, "Uh, nothing like that. I mean, maybe just being more exclusive you know? You'll be my girl and shit, but we don't have to go flaunting it in everyone's faces." He shrugged dismissively.
So he was asking for them to stop seeing others? Rachel cleared her throat as she sat up next to him, flatting out her skirt, "Well I don't know about that Noah, I need a leading man. Someone who can keep up with me and handle loving a very high maintenance girl."
Puck scoffed loudly, "Are you questioning my bad assnesss?"
"No, I'm merely saying that if you were to…let's say sing a solo I would be more confident in the prospect of a healthy relationship with you."
The next glee session Puck swept her off her feet with his rendition of Sweet Caroline. It had been the sweetest thing Rachel ever heard in her life and from that point on she couldn't deny Puck anything he wanted.
But much to her dismay, the changes in the club didn't stop there. Puck and Finn whom were supposed to be the best of friends, began fighting almost every time they came in close contact with each other. Rachel noticed Santana spending copious amounts of time with Puck between classes, after school, and generally any time she wasn't with him. Puck had promised nothing would ever happen between the two again, but Rachel was skeptical considering Santana's long record of being a boyfriend stealer.
"Stop worrying about Santana." A voice called from behind Rachel and she spun around to see Quinn standing behind her.
"You really need to make your presence known before you end up giving someone a heart attack." She gasped out, holding a hand to her chest. "Wait, why would I be worrying about Santana?"
The blond rolled her eyes, "It's written all over your face every time you see them together. Just ignore it, Pucks absolutely insane about you, you know?" Rachel didn't miss the blonds small gesture of holding her stomach, almost as if she was unsure of something.
"Finn's crazy about you too." She tried to reassure the blond, not knowing why she felt she needed to.
Quinn smiled sadly, "He's crazy about the baby, there's a big difference in that. Thanks for trying anyways…" she seemed to struggle with what she wanted to say next. "I… I wanted to thank you for backing off from Finn too. I know a lot of that has to deal with Puck but, still." The cheerleader shrugged her shoulder before leaving Rachel alone in the choir room, feeling horribly guilty.
From that moment on, Rachel felt as if she and Quinn were almost, kind of, friends. The blond seemed to be much nicer to her now anyways. She'd even stop to talk to Rachel once in awhile. There were usually sideways insults thrown into the conversations, always directed at Rachel but she tried to ignore it for the sake of possibly forming a new friendship.
So when she walked in unnoticed during a glee gossip meeting, she shouldn't have been so surprised that her happy little bubble couldn't last forever. She just didn't think it would have been exploded so horribly.
AN 2: Chapter two should be up within a week or so. Most likely whenever I finish the third chapter so that I don't get too overwhelmed. x