A/N - : ) YAY! You guys made me feel pretty awesome. Consensus….YOU'RE LIKING THIS STORY! Good, because I have another chapter for y'all. But two things before we get going –

EXPLANATIONS: I know I said Ghosts in the Graveyard, but I kind of decided to change the rules up a little. If you've ever played "Romans and Christians" it's like that. The rules: Two people, the people who are "it", take a flashlight and hide it somewhere. This game is usually played in the dark, and players usually hide the flashlight behind something or under something, basically just so contestants can see a glow. Anyway, everybody that isn't it has to search for the light while also avoiding the two people who hid it. These people, if they touch you, can take you back to jail, where you have to wait a few minutes to go back out and search. The last two people to find the light are the next to be it.

Also, I had a picture in my mind of Lima's Lion's Park jungle gym, and I tried my best to explain it. Basically what I want you to take home is that there's a circular hub that's a few feet off the ground in the center of the park, large enough for people to fit in and hang out in.

Anyway, hope you can follow this! If you can, it'll be a really good chapter!

Chapter 10: Rachel

"No, it was my idea! I'm not going to be it first!" Blaine didn't like sounding whiney, but hey, he didn't want to be it first.

"Well I'm for sure not!"

"Neither am I!"

"Nose goes!"

"Oh my god you people are pathetic. Why Britts and I hang with you I'll never know. All right," Santana sneered, glaring at each one of them. It really did have a nice, intimidating effect. "Here's how this is going to go down. It'll be the two of us catchers verse the five of you."

"Santana," Finn interjected. Everybody held in an eye roll. They all knew what he was going to ask, and they all knew the answer. "I think you mean the two of you verse the four of us. There are four of us."

"Well, sugartits, when Noah gets here there'll be five. Now go get into the tubes, we need to hide the flashlight."

Finn did what he was told. He was too concentrated on trying to figure out if being called 'sugartits' was a good thing or a bad thing to defend himself.

So Finn, Rachel, Tina, and Blaine headed over to the jungle gym.

What's cool about the massive jungle gym at Lima's Lion's park was the huge tube tunnels and hut in the middle. There were basically two 'jungle gym' esque platforms on both sides of the woodchips. These platforms had the usual multiple floors, slides, pole's to slide down, and ladder's to climb up, the usual. What separated these two sides, well that was the cool part.

There were three tubular tunnels, big enough that probably even a small high schooler could squeeze through, that connected both sides. The tunnels wound up and around each other, and connected in a central hub in the middle. This hub was like a little circular hut or like a classic spaceship, with an opening to climb out of and for air at the top. It was large enough for 3 or 4 people to comfortably hang out in.

When the four of them climbed inside, they all sat down (cross legged) and rested their backs on the walls.

"Somebody should text Noah and tell him to just jump into the game when he gets here. No use in stopping."

"I will," Rachel beat Blaine to the punch, pulling out here phone and sending him a text. Blaine raised an eyebrow. He thought he noticed Rachel acting…differently. He's not going to go out there and claim he knows Rachel like the back of his hand…but she seemed different. At least where Noah was concerned.

That didn't settle right with him.

Rachel's phone binged and they all looked to her. She looked at her phone and laughed.

"Alright he's good." She said, not including them on whatever was funny.

This, also, didn't settle right with Blaine.

"I'm pretty sure I can out run Brittany," Finn murmured. "But I don't know if I could take Santana."

"I bet they hid it somewhere real obvious." Tina pondered. "To trick us, you know."

"Yeah, like right under the prison!" Finn exclaimed.

"No, there's not enough cover…"

Blaine felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and then glanced up at Rachel. She gave him a little shush and joined the conversation. Blaine opened and read the text.

Hide with me? There's some stuff I'd like to go over with you. Don't text back tho! Too shady… : ) - Rachel

Blaine flipped his phone and nodded to nobody, knowing Rachel would pick up on it. He was intrigued.

After about a five minute wait, Santana and Brittany could be heard from under them.

"You have a minute to clear out. Find it if you can!"

They scrambled. Finn went right over the top and took the jump (Blaine was fairly sure he heard the taller boy moan in pain shortly afterwards) and Tina took off through one of the tubes. Blaine followed Rachel out of the adjacent tube and off the jungle gym, heading straight for the woods.

"If they took that long than it's probably somewhere in the tree's, come on!"

Blaine nodded, keeping perfect pace with her. When they were in the protective cover of the woods, Rachel slowed to walking.

"You wanted to talk?" Blaine mused.

"Yes but eyes peeled for any light. Talk, walk and search Blaine, concentration is the key to winning. And you know I like to win."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Yes Rachel, we all know. One day you're going to be a star and live happily ever after and all that good stuff."

"Well yes but we're not really talking about my inevitable future right now, we're talking about you."

"Me?"

"Well, we're not talking about you yet," she clarified again, "We're talking about No– uh, never mind, now we're talking about you."

They both laughed and Blaine draped his arm over her shoulder. Nothing romantic, just like something siblings would do.

"What's going on between you and Noah?" She asked.

Blaine's laughter quickly subsided. He kept his arm where it was though. He knew it would be too much of a giveaway if he removed it.

"Nothing. We're just really good friends." When he looked over at Rachel he sighed. He could tell she absolutely didn't believe him. This was going to need some more effort on his side.

"I mean yes I think he's smoking and he's an awesome guy and who wouldn't want him, but I'm not dumb. Straight crushes are for grade school kids, not me."

Blaine couldn't help but listen to him talking. It sort of hurt saying those things. But there was something there, he kept telling himself. Rachel doesn't have to know that.

"But you guys have been spending so much time together?" She asked, confused.

Blaine could sense the change in her voice. She had stepped on the path of falling for his story; he just needed to keep pushing her farther through it.

"Well that's because he's probably the best guy friend I've ever had. It's…nice. Five years of just hanging with girls and you kind of miss being one of the guys..."

Oh my god, who was he trying to convince? Himself? There was no way Rachel wasn't falling for this, he was practically falling for this.

"Come on Blaine, you've had other guy friends."

"I have. Just none I could call a best friend. I can do that with Noah."

Now Blaine was just confused. His head hurt and he didn't like talking about this anymore. He couldn't tell which things he was saying were truths, and which were lies.

"All right I believe you. I felt like there was more going on but I'll settle with a 'best friendship'."

Blaine grinned. He tugged her closer with the arm that was around her shoulders and half hugged her. She did the same, wrapping both her arms around his torso and pulling tightly.

"But he's still not as awesome of a friend as you are."

"Well no, that's a given….Wait, what's that?" Before Blaine could really look at what Rachel was pointing at, the girl was flying away. Blaine looked around, wondering if anybody else was close. Deciding to follow Rachel, he cursed at his hesitation.

She had found the flashlight (it was buried under a mound of fallen leaves) and the people who had already found it. When he walked up to it, he saw that Rachel, Finn, and Noah had already made it there.

Tina came running soon after, along with a huffing Brittany and Santana.

"When did you get here, Puckerman?"

"This is on the way to my house. I was actually the first here." He smiled at Santana, winking at Blaine.

"So I'm guessing the last two here were Tina and Blaine? Good, whatever, me and Brits are so not it again."

They all stood up and made their way back to the hub/prison. While everybody was chatting, Blaine positioned himself next to Noah and whispered.

"Everything okay at your house?"

"Yeah," Noah whispered back, "don't worry about it. Worry about how quickly I'm going to find your flashlight." Blaine's face lit up. Who didn't like a bit of old school rivalry?

"We shall see. I'll probably be catching you and throwing you in jail at least five times."

Noah smirked. "I'll give you two times, tops. Good luck, Mr. Master of Ghost's in the Graveyard."

"You better believe I am." Blaine and Tina left to hide the flashlight while everybody else made their way into the circular hub.

"Wow I haven't been in here for so long," Noah realized, looking up at the stars.

"This is where we were when we had our first-" Brittany started, before Santana jabbed her in the side.

"Double date? Yes it is," Santana sounded panic. Noah smiled and rolled his eyes.

While they waited, Noah noticed Rachel had scooted closer to him.

"Thanks for the note Rach." He murmured, when she rested her head against his shoulder. He liked the contact, his heart picked up a bit.

"Will you search with me?" She questioned, turning her head and looking up at him. Her soft eyes had Noah wondering what this was leading to. Because of that, he couldn't say no.

"Sure, of – of course."

"Your dad's not all that great of a dad, is he?"

Noah turned to her, wide eyed. "What, of course he is!"

They were just looping back around the forest, preparing to investigate the other side. She had been pretty quiet so far, but he had figured that was because she was out of breath. They had a nasty run in with Tina and they barely escaped.

"Does he hurt you?"

A "no" was on the tip of his lips, practically pushing to come out. But he couldn't say it. There was something wrong about lying to Rachel. Especially this new quiet, vulnerable, and impossibly adoarable Rachel.

"Nothing I can't handle."

Rachel sucked in a breath and sighed.

"One of my dad's tried to have a third beer the other night. I told him he couldn't have it. I made up a rule, see, that they can only drink so much. They thought it was weird that an eighth grader would even be bothered by what they were drinking…"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I don't know, obviously it's not the same. Noah, you're just…wow. What you have to deal with and somehow you're still an amazing guy!"

Noah stepped back slightly. This would be the conversation of his life…if it was happening a week ago.

"You didn't think I was an amazing guy a week ago. Or a month ago. I've been chasing you for awhile now."

"That's it. You were chasing me. Putting on your bad boy act. And a part of me didn't even think you really wanted me. I'm very aware of my social standing at this school. I thought you were just playing some kind of joke, or - or maybe a dare. You had to get with that loud and annoying jewish…freak – or somehow you'd be less cool. I don't know how boys work," she shrugged.

"Rachel, never call yourself a freak." Noah walked toward her, hands going to her arm. He felt like he just needed to touch a part of her.

"I'm not the prettiest girl Noah, and I'm not the nicest or quietest or anything, I'm just not. And I'm okay with that. But I still think I'm a good person. I never wanted you before because I thought you weren't."

"Wanted me before? What does that mean you want now?"

"You stopped chasing me about a week ago. When Blaine came. And you took him under your wing and reintroduced him to his friends. When you weren't trying to impress, when I was with the real you… yeah." She suddenly stuttered, looking around anxiously. Why she had tears in her eyes Noah never knew.

Then again, Noah's heart did sort of hurt from her speech.

"I don't know why I'm here," she spoke fast and avoided his eye. "You obviously like somebody else and I don't want to interfere with-"

Noah wasn't having it. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. He shushed her, rubbing his hands over her cheek.

"Just…calm down okay? And who could I possibly like right n-"

He stopped talking and pulled her closer. She was talking about Blaine. Blaine, who was quickly becoming his best friend. Blaine, who was very clearly a guy, and Blaine, who made his heart beat faster whenever he thought about him.

But in the end, Blaine wasn't a girl. Noah couldn't possibly want anything more than a strong friendship with him.

He loosened his grip on her and touched her chin with his hand. He pulled it up so she was looking at him. Her wide eyes stared into his, and he gave her the smallest of smiles.

He leaned down and put his mouth on hers. It was a simple kiss. Probably one of the more innocent one's Noah's ever had. But it was nice. Her lips were buttery smooth, and she tasted like raspberries.

He lifted his mouth away for air. She did the same. Her hands wrapped into his shirt as she pulled him closer, practically flush against her body. Her lips connected with his again.

As hard as he tried, this still didn't feel completely right. Rachel was smoking of course, and she was a really amazing person and Noah should totally be dating somebody like her. On paper she was perfect, at least he thought so.

So why did he feel so damn guilty kissing her? And why, when the thought of going further or even going out with her crossed his mind, did something inside him scream no.

She let go of his shirt. She fell from her tippy toes and separated from him. She smiled weakly, but Noah could still see the tears in her eyes.

Noah stared. He stared in silence waiting for either her to kiss him again or talk.

She chose the latter.

"I've tried so hard, Noah. Not to get any crushes or think about having…a boyfriend. I'm obsessive; everyone knows that, so I always told myself no when it came to boys. Because I knew that when I finally said yes, that boy…wouldn't. None of them would."

"Rachel," Noah whispered.

"You'll come and find me though, right? If it doesn't work out between you and…this mystery person. I'll be your second choice. I'd take that buddy; I don't take second in anything else."

"Rachel." He was sad. He had way too many emotions and thoughts running through him.

"I'm going to go home now. Kiss me one last time?"

He did as she asked. His lips felt cold when he pulled away.

"I don't… I don't know why. You're amazing, and nice, and hot, and why can't I be with you!?" He asked himself more than Rachel. He was afraid for her to answer.

"My best guess," Rachel sighed, "is that we're dealing with love."

Noah winkled his eyebrows and looked at her like she was crazy.

"Who could I possibly be in love with? I'm not close enough to any girl to actually feel that way."

He swore he could see sympathy in her eyes.

"Maybe I'll be waiting longer than I thought," he wasn't expecting the laughing undertone in her voice. "God you don't even know what you're feeling, do you?"

Noah shook his head.

"You are illegally adorable. I need to go home and write," she suddenly gasped. "I need to capture these emotions and this moment. Thanks for the…inspiration."

She turned to leave and stopped herself. She looked back and Noah saw a tear already falling down her face.

"And thanks for the kiss, of course. It was my first…"

She left him in the woods. He stared at her back as she made her way home. He stayed there even after her back had disappeared… he felt like one of the trees around him. He was rooted to the spot.

Rachel Berry pretty much just asked him out. Even though Noah never said it, he's fairly sure he turned her down.

He heard somebody coming from behind him. He turned around just in time to be tagged by a grinning Blaine.

"Gotcha!"

Blaine practically stumbled into Noah. Noah caught him, helping him back up. He watched the boy carefully. He didn't smile when Blaine smiled at him. What the hell was he feeling?

"Jeez thanks, I'm sorry I thought you would have run or something. Didn't slow down haha…hey, you okay?"

Blaine's smile wavered when he realized something wasn't right. Noah's eyes were way too intense.

"What are we doing?"

Blaine stiffened. "What, what are you talking about?"

"Why can't I date Rachel? Why am I thinking about you when I'm kissing her?"

"You're thinking about me? What? I'm- I'm confused! You seem mad?" Blaine was taking a step back when Noah grabbed his hand. He pulled him foreword. They were centimeters apart now. Noah was looking at Blaine, trying to figure out what he felt for the boy.

Blaine looked back, confused, apprehensive, and a little scared.

"I'm not mad," he murmured.

And then he did it. He tried it. He wanted to anyway so screw it. Noah leaned down and pressed his lips against Blaine's.

Immediately he felt right. Blaine's lips weren't as soft as Rachel's; but they were a thousand times better.

He could practically feel Blaine's heart racing. When Blaine finally reached up and grabbed Noah's neck, he deepened the kiss. He walked Blaine backwards until the younger boys back hit a tree.

"Holy shit Blaine," Noah's mouth left Blaine's he bit down on Blaine's neck. Blaine groaned.

"Noah, are you okay?" He sounded slightly panicked.

"Yeah babe, now I am," he nodded

"Noah, what's wrong. Hello!?" Blaine's voice was way too panicked for the situation at hand. Noah removed the suction he was putting on Blaine's neck and looked up at him.

"Noah, snap out of it!" His head rolled to the side as he focused on Blaine again. They weren't up against the tree anymore. They were back where Blaine first ran into him.

"I'm sorry I ran into you, wow. You looked totally out of it for awhile there."

Noah gaped. He stared at Blaine as if he was seeing him for the first time.

"Sorry, I just, just realized I have to go home."

Blaine's face fell. "Why what's up?"

"I have to make sure my mom's okay. I shouldn't have come." He started walking away, repeating "I shouldn't have come. My mom…"

"Where's Rachel?" Blaine called, looking around.

"She went home too. Sorry Blaine, but you understand. I'll text you later!"

Noah's jog turned into a run, which turned into a sprint. He passed Finn ("No the flashlight's over here!") and then ran past Tina. He was out of the park and halfway to his house before he knew it.

Noah hated swearing. His father had engrained that in his head. But right now, it was the only word he could think of.

"What the fuck was that?" He gasped, clutching the stitch in his side.

A/N -so did you follow the game and my explanation of the jungle gym? Please review! They keep me going! Till next time, thanks for reading ;)