Chapter eight: Another Friend, Part II

Word Count: 3, 066

Mike held his arms around her waist. Every inch of their bodies was touching and despite feeling tired to the brink of exhaustion Rachel felt as if she could dance with him forever. She didn't mind the ache she would undoubtedly lamely complain about in just a few hours. Rachel didn't mind the pain as long as it was the result of dancing with Mike. He spun her around, his hands finding themselves against her lower back as he dipped her closer to the floor. They shared a smile and then Mike pulled her up.

The music ended. For a few seconds, they just stared at each other. One of Mike's hands were resting on her cheek and the other was on her waist, her hands were holding onto his back and his shoulder. Rachel glanced at his lips. In hindsight, she didn't know what made her brave. It would be good to know so that she could have something to blame but nothing came to mind. But for whatever reason Rachel felt brave. One moment they were just standing there. And then she kissed him.

Rachel groaned loudly as the memory hit her with full force.

"What's wrong honey?" her father asked from outside of the bathroom.

"Nothing dad, I was just reminded of this stupid thing I was supposed to do but I forgot about it."

"Anything I can help with?"

Rachel shook her head, momentarily forgetting that he couldn't see her. "No dad, but thanks anyway."

Her dad didn't answer and Rachel let out a much lower groan this time as she closed her eyes and leaned it into her arms. Even though it was two days ago since the kiss Rachel still couldn't get his face out of her mind. Eyes wide open, his entire body stiff as he watched her with something unrecognizable in his eyes. Rachel felt her cheeks go red just by the thought of it and she wanted to hit her head. Not just because she kissed him out of the blue when they were rehearsing but because of what she did afterwards. The teenager let out a third groan. She was supposed to be calm, collected, mature and have the ability to control her emotions and her actions. Despite all those things she was supposed to do Rachel still kissed Mike and then ran out on him. She fled the field, ran as quickly as her legs could carry her, and didn't realize until she was almost at her house how stupid that was.

All of it was stupid.

She kissed her friend. That was stupid. Then she ran away from him. That was even more stupid. The only thing Rachel didn't know what to make of was the fact that she wanted to kiss him again. Was that stupid?

Rachel opened her eyes and looked at herself in the mirror. Her lips tingled when she thought of the kiss. And a warmth spread through her body as she thought of kissing him again. Rachel smiled sadly at her reflection. She really wanted to kiss him again.

GLEE

Quinn stared at her with her eyes wide open. "You kissed him?"

"Yes."

"And then you freaked out and pushed him away?"

Rachel let out a deep sigh and scrunched her face together. "You don't have to remind me of that part. I feel embarrassed enough about that as it is."

"I'm sorry Rachel but you kissed the guy that you have been crushing on for a few weeks now and then you completely freak out on him because of one kiss and you push him away before pretty much running away from the guy."

Rachel glared at her blonde friend. "I have not been crushing on him for a few weeks."

"You can't still be in denial." Quinn said to Rachel.

They were walking down the corridors. Hidden in plain sight as Rachel liked to call it. No one was paying any attention to what they were talking about. Her cheeks turned into a darker shade of red but she didn't answer. The wheels turned violently in her head and still Rachel couldn't pick anything to say out of the many versions of yes that she had. Because truth be told, she couldn't be in denial about it.

It, being the fact that Mike wasn't her friend and a part of her didn't want him to be either. She would never be able to pinpoint the exact moment when everything changed but she knew that all of the sudden she was hit with a brick of emotions that she had never felt with the talented dancer before. She enjoyed being quiet for the sake of listening to him speak. She didn't mind giving him the attention instead of taking it for herself.

"Why is it that I don't get to be in denial but you can deny your feelings for Noah all you want?"

Quinn scoffed. "I am not in denial about my feelings for Noah. Especially not now when he's cleaned himself up and really gotten things in order. Did you know that he's actually passing math? He's a lot more mature now. Sometimes it feels like he's more mature than I am."

"Now that's what I call character development."

Quinn laughed. "You've been watching way too much TV-shows and reading too many books. In the real world we call that maturing. We don't call that character development."

"I'm aware Quinn." Rachel replied with a smile. "But character development sounds much better."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Well, speaking of character development. Puck tells me that Mike's changed a bit since the two of you started dancing together. He's a lot more vocal in Glee-club."

Rachel frowned. "Vocal?"

"Yeah, he actually speaks his mind instead of sitting completely quiet in the corner of the room." Quinn walked with Rachel to her locker. "Sadly, the others aren't as happy about that as I am. Apparently, they preferred it when he was quiet in the corner and didn't have an opinion and just went with what they wanted."

Rachel felt her heart ache, she glanced at her from over her locker. "Are they being mean to him?"

Quinn nodded her head. "Noah told me not to tell you. Apparently, he and Mike didn't want you to know because they didn't think it was a big deal and a little bit because they didn't know what you would do. But I think you should know. They are acting like idiots because he's defending you."

"Now that's just wrong." Rachel said as she slammed her locker shut. "I am not fine with that at all."

She held her books close to her chest and walked down the corridor. Quinn couldn't help but smile as she followed the brunette towards their first class. She had looked Noah straight in the eyes and told him that she wasn't going to tell Rachel what had been lowkey going on in Glee-club. She had even promised him not to tell Rachel. But as soon as she turned her back on him Quinn knew that there was no way that she wasn't going to tell Rachel. This was her friends chance to show people that she wasn't the person they thought she was. She needed to show this side of her. And Mike needed to see it.

Especially now.

GLEE

"So, she kissed you huh?" Puck asked Mike who responded with a yep and then took another bite of his sandwich. "And then ran away. Geez Chang, I didn't think you were that bad of a kisser."

Mike rolled his eyes. "I'm not a bad kisser. And even if the kiss was bad it was just because I was shocked. I wasn't expecting her to kiss me."

"You weren't expecting a girl that you've been touching pretty much everywhere for the past few weeks to kiss you?" Puck looked up from his books and laughed. "Wow, you really are stupid."

Again, Mike rolled his eyes. This time more intensely then the first. "It's dancing Puckerman and it's for a competition. If we'd been dancing like that at a party or something then yeah, I would totally get it but it's not the same thing."

"You totally want her."

Mike laughed out loud. "What?"

"Oh please," Puck looked up from his book once more after writing a short comment in the margins. "You've been defending her in Glee for several weeks now and you had this big cheesy smile on your face when you told me that she had kissed you. Don't even try to act as if you're not happy about it. You two are like me and Quinn only a lot worse and not as hot."

"You like her, don't you?"

Puck nodded and scratched his neck. "Well yeah. She told me that she expected things from me. And when Shelby came back we started talking more about Beth and about what she probably expects from us. Quinn made me realize that I can do better, she made me want to make an effort to be better."

"That's great dude." Mike said and looked at the people passing them.

Rachel was not amongst them and he noticed that several people turned around and looked again. Not at him, that Mike was sure of. But not many had seen Puck wearing glasses and reading a book while writing comments in the margin every now and then. Mike had rarely seen that side of him and they were supposed to be friends. A smile appeared on his face. It was a good change.

Change most of the time was good. If someone would have told Mike a few months earlier that he was going to have feelings for Rachel Berry and that she was going to kiss him then he would have laughed. They would get the same reaction if someone told him that she would be quitting Glee and singing altogether. But that had happened and in hindsight Mike could see that Rachel quitting Glee was good not only for Rachel but for him, for Quinn and Puck.

"Speaking of Quinn…" Puck looked up from his book and pushed his glasses higher on his nose. "I kind of told her that you were getting shit from the others in Glee. But don't worry about it, I told her not to tell Rachel."

Mike laughed. "And you really think that she's going to listen to you?"

They looked straight into each other's eyes and responded at the same time. "No." then they went back to their respective tasks.

GLEE

Many words could be used to describe Rachel Berry. Most of them showcased only one side of her intense personality. The people she went to school used mostly those words. They called her selfish, weird, ugly, argumentative and on occasion cruel even. No one would ever call her protective. That was understandable in a way because no one had ever seen Rachel Berry stand up for another person.

No one had seen her cry for real. No one had seen Rachel get truly angry at some other reason than because she hadn't been given a solo. That rarely happened and thus people rarely saw her angry. No one saw that changing any time soon. No one could foresee that Rachel Berry would be marching the hallways after lunch with determination evident in her face as she searched for the right person.

"Noah, where is Mike?"

"Glee I think." Puck replied without a second thought. He briefly glanced at Rachel and within seconds looked back. "Did Quinn tell you about Glee?"

"Duh," Rachel said with a shrug. "You can't tell me that you're surprised. She's my best friend and Mike is…" her cheeks turned into a shade of red underneath Puck's gaze. "Someone I care about very much and I am not about to let people step all over him because he's been defending me against those moronic baboons."

Puck smiled at her. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I'm glad you asked Noah. If you follow me, you'll see what I am going to do. It's something that I should have done a very, very, long time ago."

There was something powerful about walking through the corridor with a mission at hand. Rachel heard Puck walking alongside of her and if she glanced at him she would see a big smile on his face; before she pushed the door open to the room where she would find all her tormenters Rachel thought she heard him whisper the word badass.

Mr. Schue and Miss. Corcoran stood in front of the Glee-club members appearing to have been deeply involved in a discussion before the door was abruptly opened. Both of them looked at Rachel as did the rest of the room. Rachel felt her courage failing her when the murmuring began and she was once again in the room that had brought her more pain than joy. A pat on the back and a wink from Noah Puckerman was all it took for the courage to come back in full strength.

"Mr. Schue, Miss. Corcoran I would very much appreciate if I may take some time to say something."

"Are you coming back?" Mr. Schue asked.

Miss. Corcoran glared at him, both hands resting on her hips. "No, she's not coming back to you. If what she has to say has anything to do with Glee, then she's coming to tell us that she is auditioning for my Glee-club."

"I am not rejoining New Directions and I am not joining some new club either. In fact, this has nothing to do with me. This has to do with you people being absolute morons to someone that you used to call your friend." Rachel glanced at Mike who sat in the corner of the room with Puck sitting next to him. "I am going to tell you something that I should have told you a long time ago."

Brittany put one hand in the air and spoke when Rachel looked at her. "That you're a transvestite?"

"No Brittany, I am here to tell you that New Directions is a big fraud." Rachel took a deep breath. "Some of you, not all of you, have always talked about being inclusive and accepting of people. Mr. Schue for example always talked about this place being welcoming to anyone who wants to join. We weren't going to be like the rest of the school. We were supposed to support each other and push each other to become better performers; all you people did to me was make me hate singing. We were going to be kind to each other. We were supposed to be friends. But that has never been the case. People have been bullied both inside and outside this room and I've been quiet for a very long time but I can't be quiet about this anymore. You can bully me as much as you want to but leave Michael alone because he has done nothing wrong. He has been kind and nonjudgmental like we were supposed to be. But the rest of you didn't get the memo."

Santana stood up. "Whatever man hands, look if you weren't such a bitch then maybe…"

"If I weren't such a bitch? Have you looked yourself in the mirror lately? If you ever do, then I'll let you know that the person looking back at you is the biggest bitch in this entire school." Rachel clenched her fists. "I know I'm annoying and I know you don't like me. That's okay, you can hate me all you want. But don't hate Mike, don't be mean to him because he doesn't deserve being treated like that, not because of me."

"Why should we listen to you?" Kurt asked with a bored tone.

Rachel smiled at Mike. "Because you may lose an amazing friend if you don't." She glared at the group. "You shouldn't take him for granted. Because one day you'll walk in and he won't be here anymore. That's all I had to say. Mr. Schue, Miss Corcoran you can continue fighting over whatever dramatic thing is going on between you this week."

Rachel heard Puck laugh as she turned her back on the group and walked out of the room. She felt giddy and had to bite her lower lip to stop herself from screaming. She had stood up for herself. She had stood up for someone else. She had looked into the eyes of the people who had done nothing but torment her for the past few years and she told them exactly what was on her mind. Her smile became wider by the second and eventually it felt as if her skin was going to break.

"Rachel wait," A familiar voice called out and made her turn around. Mike crossed the hallways in a few seconds. He panted lightly when he stopped in front of her. "You didn't have to do that you know."

"Of course, I did." Rachel replied. "People were treating you badly and as your friend I needed to stop them. Its what friends do Michael."

"Friends huh?" Mike said with a smile that made it feel as if her insides were filled with butterflies. "Do you kiss all your friends."

Her cheeks turned red. "Well, my only friends are you, Quinn and Noah. So, the answer to that is no."

"But we're friends." Mike stated. Rachel nodded even if it wasn't a question. "Typical friends hang out, they may hug, they may protect each other and they may even love each other one day. Platonically. Is that what you want because if that's what you want then we're friends."

Rachel took one step closer to him. She reached towards his hands and took them in her own. Then she looked at him. "No."

"No?"

"I don't want that." Rachel took a deep breath. It felt as if her mouth was filled with sand. She couldn't look away from his hypnotizing and calming eyes. "I want to hold your hand, I want to hang out, hug you, protect you and one day I might even love you but I don't want to do that as friends. I don't want you to be just another friend."

Mike smiled when he nodded. "Okay, I won't be."

"Won't be what?"

"Another friend."