A/N: I've taken some artistic liberties with this one. For starters, Rachel isn't an uber loser, she was a complete greyman. Secondly, I've made her tall, and Santana slightly shorter. Also this is most likely going to be G!P
"Noah please?" Rachel did her best puppy dog eyes at her best friend. "You're the only person I know that could help with this. Plus you already know how good I am, and how well we work together on the field!"
"Rach, you've managed to fly under the radar for this long, why do you all of a sudden want in everything?" Puck huffed at the slightly smaller girl, she was trying to convince him to help her get a tryout for the Mckinley high titans, the worst football team in the state.
"Noah, you know just as well as I do that if we show Coach the talent that's lying right under her nose, she would have a championship team." The girl hurled the football they were playing catch with back at Puck. "Plus Sam is moving back here and the three of us together have always been unstoppable."
The fact caused Puck to pause, he hadn't known that the blonde boy was moving to Lima, it made him wonder if maybe the high school could actually win for once. They would have an amazing quarterback if Sam played, plus Rachel as a running back, and himself as a receiver. Raising an eyebrow at the girl across the yard he smirked.
"You're sure you're okay with giving up your grey man status?" At the girl's eager nod, Puck smiled grimly. "The guys aren't going to take this well, you'll most likely get trucked, and have no blockage for a while."
"That's fine Noah, once we win them some games, they should stop." The boy nodded quickly.
"I'll talk to Coach tomorrow then and let you know." He lobbed the ball, causing the brunette to dive to catch it.
"Sweet! I'll text Sam and let him know we're playing!"
"When does Evans get here anyways?" Puck huffed as a bullet pass landed sharply against his gut.
"They should be here by tomorrow, I know his parents were in to pick up the house keys from your mom today so."
Puck hummed softly. "You have a deal bro, just be careful. The guys around here are crazy."
Rachel beamed at the boy. "Sweet!"
"Now are you going to tell me the real reason you suddenly want to play for the worst team in the state?"
Rachel gaped at Puck, mouth opening and closing quietly while she tried to work out something to say. "Well I-uh… Um-you see."
"Kids, dinner! Come wash up." Leroy Berry called out the window, causing Rachel to snap her mouth closed, teeth clicking together softly, and run inside to wash her hands. Laughing at her ridiculous behaviour, Puck tossed the football back onto the rack, and headed inside as well.
After dinner, as Puck was helping Hiram with the dishes the older man sighed. "Noah, I want you to be completely honest with me. Does Rachel wanting to join the Titans have anything to do with the grin she's had since yesterday morning's run?"
"To be honest, I have no idea. I thought Friday was her rest day?"
"It is, however, recently she has begun running every Friday morning, then sleeping in on Saturdays."
Puck hummed and handed Hiram the last dish. "I don't know jew dad... "
"Keep an eye on her Noah, I don't think this year is going to be kind to any of us." He eyed his daughter across the room.
"Of course, I'll keep her safe."
"I know you will." Hiram clapped Puck on the shoulder. "Now you best be heading home, before your moms start to worry."
Puck paled when he saw the time. "God, how late it is? Tell Rach I said I'll pick her up tomorrow!"
Hiram laughed at the mohawked boy, watching him flee the house. He sighed, putting the last dishes away, mentally preparing for the storm he was sure to come.
Saturday morning saw Puck and Rachel sitting on the porch of the Evans' currently empty home. Puck was slowly chewing a bagel, while Rachel scrolled through her phone.
"So did you message Coach?"
Puck nodded at the slightly smaller girl "She said she'd give the two of you tryouts, but you have to prove yourself like everyone else."
"Sweet! That means we better start working on some drills!" Puck and Rachel both looked up sharply at the voice, there standing in front of them was Sam Evans. "Well, what are you waiting for?" His arms were spread wide, and Rachel and Puck threw themselves into his body, clinging tightly to the boy.
"Dude, we have so much to tell you, the high school here is insane." Rachel stated.
"Oh yeah! But the ladies, bro, the ladies!" Puck grinned at the blonde boy.
"This year is our year." Sam grinned at his best friends, frowning when he realized who was missing. "Where's duckie?"
"Ugh, Coach Sue has monopolized her since we started high school, she was roped into Cheerios. Now we only really ever see her during advanced classes, or every second weekend at our away games." Puck grumbled, mad at the fact that he never gets to see his best friend.
"It is a bit ridiculous, the amount of practice that woman makes them do. Absolutely insane!"
"Well superstar, sometimes you just have to play the long game, she'll come back to us and we'll accept her with open arms." Sam smiled at the shorter girl. "No matter what. Now let's go help unpack!" He started dragging them inside, laughing at the grumbling.
"Ah! Honey! The twin terrors are here!" Sam's mom, Ashley, called out to her husband, pulling the twins into a hug. "It's nice to see you sweetheart." She kissed Rachel on the head, while Sam's dad Peter, ruffled Puck's mohawk.
"All of your boxes are upstairs Sam, lunch is at 12:30. Please do not destroy the house." She gave Puck a look and laughed, sending them on their way.
Sam led the group upstairs and into his room, his bed was set up, but aside from that the room was full of boxes.
"Alright, so, spill, why all of a sudden, after 16 years of being a greyman, do you suddenly want to be in the spotlight superstar?" Sam stared Rachel down, the brunette stubbornly staying quiet.
"Well, I want to be able to get into a good school, and everyone knows you need extracurriculars to even be considered for any of the high end ones. Plus I think heading three nationally acclaimed teams, will get us into any school we want."
Puck snorted at her flustered answer. "Alright, that's it, I'm putting my foot down Rach, either you tell us the truth, the whole truth, or we don't follow through with your plan. Plus, three teams? I'm not sure we can swing that, especially not knowing what the other two are!"
Rachel sighed deeply, sitting on the edge of Sam's bed. "Alright I'll tell you, but you can't interrupt me, or make fun of me!"
"Deal." The boys repeated at the same time.
It started the first Friday of summer. Rachel had gone out for a run, taking her usual route that took her out of the high class neighborhood, down through the city, looping through the park and back to her house.
She was cresting a hill on her way through the park when she collided with a solid body. Twisting herself quickly, she landed on her back, smacking her head off a rock on the trail, while catching the other person and saving them from a harsh collision with the ground.
"Watch where you're going, you blind idiot!" The voice was raspy, and harsh, but the face was beautiful. Thick, long eyelashes led to stunning chocolate eyes, and ruby red lips, pulled back to reveal the most beautiful glare Rachel had ever seen.
"I-I'm sorry." The girl on top of her huffed and stood up. Short shorts exposed long, tan legs, muscular thighs, while the tight cheerios tee left nothing to the imagination. "Are you okay?" Rachel questioned, rubbing the back of her head gently.
"I'm fine, thank you." The girl smiled sheepishly, brushing dirt off her clothes. Rachel stood up, a good six inches taller than the girl, yet she still felt cowed by the dirty look the latina sent her. "Ugh, Spartan football? How'd you get one of their competition shirts?"
Rachel blushed under the stare of the latina in front of her. "Well, I-um I'm Rachel Berry. The running back for the team."
"Well Rachel Berry, I'm Santana Lopez." Santana was standing close to the taller girl, close enough that Rachel had to look down to see her face properly. "Can I assume you'll be joining the Titans? As much as I hate the Spartans, I do have to admit they play a good game."
"The Titans? I don't know, they're not exactly on my level."
Santana laughed at that, brushing hair behind her ear and leaning in closer to Rachel. "Well I don't know how you expect me to believe you play for the Spartans, if you can't play with the Titans. You probably stole that shirt from one of the guys." Santana glanced at her watch and back to Rachel. "Well Rachel, this was… Fun… I'll see you around." She finger waved at Rachel and took off down the trail. Leaving the girl standing there, dumbfounded.
Eventually, Rachel continued her run, already brainstorming ways to prove to Santana that she was in fact a star football player.
"Bro… You trampled Santana Lopez in the park, and she didn't kill you?"
"How are you still so awkward?" Puck and Sam started talking at the exact same time.
"Guys, are you in or not?"
"Well superstar, I'm always in, and once I get a hold of duckie, she'll be in too."
"I'm not sure about the other two teams, whatever those may be, however. Football. I'm in"
"Sweet! The other two teams are either hockey or basketball, and the glee club."
"Dude? Glee? You expect us to join those mouthbreathers? What the hell Rach?" Puck exploded at the girl.
"Glee will round out my extracurriculars perfectly Noah, plus Mr. Schue, the spanish teacher, is taking it over. I've been told, he's very promising."
"Fine. I'm in."
Rachel grinned at the taller boy. "Good. Now, I'll take the closet, you guys do the rest." She started unpacking the nearest box, happy at finally being reunited with her boys. The school won't know what hit them this year.