"So first course of action, I would like to wave a white flag to my curly haired colleague Mr William Shuester, I hope that over the course of this truce we can come up with a hair do that won't make me vomit in my mouth every time I look at you." Mr Shuester smiled and stuck out his hand for Sue to shake. He knew that was as close to an apology he was going to get.
" Secondly I have picked the most agile and stealth kids I could find to be in our recon team to spy on the bunch of leather pant wearing SUV driving steroid taking performers and their equally as drug enhanced coach. The list goes as follows; Berry, Lopez, Fabray, Other Asian, Mohawk and Frankenteen. Come and talk to me after your practice and we will set a plan in place. Has anyone got any questions or comments?" Britt put up her hand and Sue shook her head bracing herself for the stupidity about to fall out of her mouth.
"Did we get a new kid? Because if we did and he is taking Puck's old style I think someone should let Puck know." Britt looked around the room for a hairstyle that looked like Puck's old one. All she saw however were confused faces.
"Britt, sweetie she meant Noah, but she said Mohawk as a nickname. Just like we call you Britt instead of Brittany got it?" Rachel said slowly watching as everything slowly clicked into place in the blondes head. She smiled and nodded and everyone turned back to the two teachers at the front of the room.
"Ok guys, so your assignment stays but we are going to have an extra meeting tomorrow with Miss Sylvester to discuss what we think some good song ideas are. Alright everyone get to work on your assignment except the six of you that Miss Sylvester pointed out. You guys come over here." Mr Shuester sat on the piano stool while Sue pulled herself up on top of the piano.
"Alright so even though I used to disagree with cheating I want to beat Vocal Adrenaline just as bad a Sue does but for my own reasons that you don't need to worry about. Now I say this afternoon the six of you sneak into Vocal Adrenalines practice. Remember to be quiet and I suggest wearing black."
"Shuester although I feel that plan is good it isn't fully functioning yet. I say we get an amazing number prepared and invite their club over here for one of those fruity invitational things and make them wish we never crossed their paths." Mr Shuester nodded and the six 'spies' stood waiting to be dismissed.
"Alright guys report back to me tomorrow morning and we will see how your afternoon went. Go and work on your assignments." Mr Shuester dismissed them. Sue grabbed her clipboard and stood up to leave.
"I want those Cheerio's in correct uniform tomorrow without a crease. If I so much as smell a loose hair I will bring my wrath down on the four of you. Do you understand that girl's?" The four girls nodded before turning back to their groups to work on their assignment.
That night at 5:30 Rachel, Quinn and Santana stood outside the front of the Fabray home waiting for the boys. Rachel was wearing a pair of black leggings, a black tank top and a leather jacket, she had canvas shoes on her feet and her hair was hanging around her shoulders. Santana was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and a black William McKinley sweat shirt that Rachel guessed belonged to Mike judging by the number 16 on the back. She had her hair pulled back into a messy bun and was wearing a pair of black converse high tops. Quinn was wearing a black high skirt that fell to her knees with a pair of black stockings underneath. She wore a black off the shoulder shirt with white stripes through it and a black cardigan. Her long blonde hair was out but pulled back with a black headband and she had a pair of ballet flats on.
Rachel looked at her watch. Vocal adrenaline started practice in five minutes. Rachel went to pull out her phone but Mikes black SUV pulled up right on time. The girls jumped in and they sped off to Carmel High School. They parked in the back of the lot and snuck forward through the shadows until they reached the auditorium. Noah grabbed Rachel's hand and pulled her back before she snuck through the door.
He smiled at her and looked like he was about to say something but she kissed him instead. He was momentarily startled but he started kissing her back and his fingers tangled in her hair. She pushed him back a second later.
"Umm what was that for?" Noah asked her still holding her close to him. Rachel shrugged her shoulders and blushed. Noah kissed her cheek again before leaning over to her ear. "You look hot in your spy clothes." Rachel giggled and pulled him in the auditorium to hide.
They crouched behind the seats and listened as the new coach went psycho at the team. He stalked back to his seat and the room filled with music. Rachel and Santana gasped, Quinn shook her head and the boys groaned. "They are doing an Usher mash-up. Why have we never done an Usher mash-up? It would have been great." DJ's got us falling in love again filled the room and the kids glared at Jesse St James as he took the lead.
When the song ended the coach stormed up the stairs and the kids sunk lower to the floor. They waited for the club to leave the room before they made their way back to Mike's car. "They aren't as good as they used to be." Mike said.
"Yeah, I think that kid that used to go to our school and then transferred here finally quit so they don't have him doing the triple back flip thing anymore. It doesn't look finished now. It looks like a bunch of talented kids dancing around in a circle. Back flip kid used to tie that shit together." Noah said. Rachel hit his arm.
"Don't swear. We have to get home guys, we need an early night's sleep we have practice tomorrow morning." Rachel said hurrying everyone to the car. "S are you staying at Quinn's place tonight?" Santana nodded and Mike drove out of the car park in the direction of the Fabray home.
Two hours later the girls sat sweating in the Fabray gym. Their hair was stuck to their heads however they were positive they had lost a few grams. They slowly made their way across the basement to the dance studio.
"Ok so we have to work on Cheerio's routines and learn the choreography for my glee performance which I will be doing tomorrow. I think two days is long enough to wait." Rachel said as she stretched.
"What song are you doing?" Santana asked her. Rachel stood up and lifted her leg above her head. The other girls looked shocked. They were flexible, but not that flexible.
"I was thinking of doing California girls. By the way, we should go on a glee holiday. My daddies have holiday houses like everywhere." Santana and Quinn nodded and they set to work on their Cheerio's routines. Three hours later they had finished Rachel's choreography and it was ready to perform.
"I am starving; you do not understand how hungry I am." Santana said as they walked upstairs. The house was dark as Isabella had a date and wasn't home yet. The girls walked past the lounge room and screamed when they saw three dark shapes sitting on the lounge.
"See you are a douche bag Finn I told you they would be scared." Noah said as he tried to make his way to Rachel.
"Yeah way to fucking go Finnessa." Mike said as he switched on the light. The boys gasped when they saw how little clothing the girls had on. Just a sports bra and a pair of dance shorts. Noah gave Rachel a hug but she was still a little bit scared. Santana went to sit with Mike.
"I'm sorry baby, it was Finn's idea. He thought it would be really funny. I didn't mean to scare you." Rachel nodded then yawned. "We can go if you are tired." Noah said. Rachel shook her head and walked into the kitchen where she was joined by Noah a minute later.
"I am just going to get some food and then go up to my room. Are you spending the night?" Rachel asked him as she pulled a fruit salad and a tub of yoghurt out of the fridge. Noah nodded and grabbed a spoon and a fork. They said goodnight to their friends before they went upstairs.
Rachel flicked her television on before sitting down on her bed. Noah sat down next to her and flicked through the channels on the TV. "Hey do you think this whole Miss Sylvester thing is a little bit suspicious?" Rachel asked Noah. He shook his head before muting the television.
"Nope, I think she is a pissed of woman who will use us to achieve her spot on the six o'clock news back before setting out to ruin our glee club yet again. I think you need to be careful but, I don't need you tiring yourself out with glee, captaining Cheerio's, dance and vocal lessons and hanging out with me. You need to look after yourself." Rachel nodded giving him a quick kiss.
"I need a shower; I will just be a minute." Rachel got her shower stuff together and Noah sat watching a rerun of the Simpsons. When the ads came on he looked on the nightstand and saw a scrapbook. It was purple with yellow stars and it Rachel embroidered on the bottom.
He opened it to the first page and saw Rachel and her father's at her first singing competition; it went along through different competitions, plays, family holidays and school photos. Finally about ten pages from the end were the New Directions photos. It seemed Rachel had done the scrapbook to ensure Noah would be on every page. There he was doing I Wanna Sex You Up, in his cowboy costume, singing Sweet Caroline, sectionals, in his kiss outfit, singing Beth and all suited up for Regional's. He smiled looking at all the hard work she had gone to.
He braced himself for the photos that were going to come next. The first two pages were Rachel with her California friends, wearing a blue and yellow cheerleading uniform. He noticed in the photos as she got skinnier and skinnier, obviously conforming to what her friends wanted. He turned the page again and was met with the smiling face of his daughter.
She was pulling Rachel's hair with a badass smirk on her face. Rachel was smiling but trying not to cry. There were a few photos of Rachel and Shelby, Noah was shocked at the resemblance between the two and didn't know how he hadn't noticed it. He looked to the last page and saw the only photo of Quinn, Beth and himself in existence. He felt tears burn his eyes.
Rachel stood at her bathroom door. She had been watching him for a little while. She saw him smile through the glee club photos, frown at the worryingly skinny photos of herself in California, beam proudly at the pictures of Rachel and Beth and finally he was looking at the final photo. She walked over to her desk as he started to cry. She picked up a black and white photo and sat down next to him on the bed.
The sobs wracked through him, it hurt more than anything to think he had given his baby girl up. He felt Rachel pull the scrapbook out his hands and she sat next to him. Not saying anything, allowing him to have a moment to himself. He wiped his eyes and sighed. She put a photo in his hands, but he didn't look at it.
"It's ok to cry Noah. What you did was the right thing for Beth. You know Shelby will be a good mother to her no matter what.' She watched as a single tear rolled down his cheek. She wiped it away with her thumb. He opened his eyes and smiled weakly. Rachel didn't buy his smile and threw her arms around his neck as he started to cry again. Rachel started to sing to him and she waited until his breathing had evened out until she pulled back.
"Baby you know that in ten years from now, Beth is going to want to know you, and she won't hold anything against you or Quinn. You know that Beth will be thankful that you let her have a stable lifestyle with Shelby. You are the bravest man I have ever met and when the time is right you are going to be the greatest father to any children you have and Beth. You need to talk to someone about this, it isn't good to bottle it up." Noah nodded his head and for the first time looked at the photo that had been placed in his hand.
It was a photo that Shelby must have taken. Beth was asleep on the lounge and Rachel was kissing her on the fore head. Noah traced his finger over every line in the photo. "You're amazing." He said to Rachel. She shrugged and he smiled. "Really Rachel, you take on sharing your mother with your tormentor's baby, it must have been hard and you just took it in your stride. Then you lose your mum and come back here confident, as if you have had the greatest life in the world. You are seriously the best girlfriend anyone in the history of all time has ever had." He went to give her the photo.
"I made that copy for you, I have heaps more and I thought you might want one, for your room or whatever." Noah smiled again and Rachel laid back on her pillows. He looked at the photos again before looking back to Rachel smiling when he saw her fast asleep. He ran his fingers over the photo again. "My girls" he whispered before turning off the light and walking through to his bedroom.