Author's Note: First, thank you to all who have read, reviewed or put this story on alert. It means the world to me. Second, I just want to mention that I never use a Beta and tend to write very late at night so I apologize for any mistakes my tired eyes may have missed. And third, this chapter contains some interaction between our favorite Glee diva and an original character or two. Personally, I'm not a fan of original characters in fanfiction because normally I just want to read about the characters I know and love, but I felt it was necessary to introduce them here in order to advance the plot. I promise they won't become central to the story so just bare with me.
The boy with the staring problem approaches her after class. "It's Rachel, right?" He cocks his head to one side and smiles.
She bites her lip shyly and nods. The old Rachel would have grinned back at him like a moron and launched into a 10 minute long introduction, but she's no longer that girl.
"I'm Chase. I almost didn't recognize you." He looks her up and down approvingly. "This new look is working for you, babe." Old Rachel would have been appalled by his forwardness, but new Rachel? She's kind of intrigued by him.
He's tall, but not freakishly tall like Finn, and his thick black hair falls in a mess of curls around his dark brown eyes. She decides he's quite attractive and maybe the sun doesn't rise and set with Finn Hudson.
"It's nice to meet you, Chase." She's sure to contain her smile a bit as not to appear too eager. "I see you're on the football team," she adds after a brief pause. He's wearing a letterman jacket but Rachel doesn't remember him from any of her numerous confrontations with the jocks.
Chase glances down at his jacket, realizing why she's asking. "Yeah. I know the guys have given you a hard time but I'm not like them. I've always found that crap pretty stupid." He leans in a bit and invades her personal space before continuing. "Besides, what kind of loser would waste his time throwing slushy on a pretty girl when he could be taking her out on a date?"
Rachel blushes and fingers the hem of her shirt nervously. "It's a relief to discover you're not just another Neanderthal athlete. I was starting to think this school was composed entirely of cliches."
He chuckles lowly. "And what cliche would you fit?"
"I'm your typical ugly duckling," she answers with a sweet but sad smile "Socially retarded, perpetually awkward and up until recently, unfortunately outfitted."
His lips curl a bit and suddenly his hand is reaching towards her. "There's nothing ugly about you," he whispers as he pushes the strands of hair from her eyes. His lips hover over her ear and she can feel his hot breath on her skin. He lets his knuckles trail down her upper arm before pulling back from her. "I'd like to get to know you better, Rachel."
"That would be nice," she chokes out. She's not used to someone coming on to her so strongly. There's a small voice in her head telling her to run, that no good can come from this, that he's probably playing a trick on her. He is after all a good looking football player and probably out of her league, at least socially. But she can't listen to that voice right now because that voice sounds an awful lot like the old Rachel Berry.
They exchange cell phone numbers and he promptly begins to fill her inbox with sweet but somewhat suggestive text messages. When he invites her to a party Friday night after the football game she nervously accepts. She tells herself she needs to move on and expand her social horizons, but she's never been to a house party before and the task seems a bit daunting.
She spends her time during Glee thinking about what she'll wear, how she should act and how she should interpret Chase's flirty text messages. She thinks she'll call Kurt later for some help.
"Earth to Manhands!" Her head snaps up to find the source of the voice piercing through her thoughts. "You missed your cue," Quinn says, her eyes rolling in annoyance.
"Oh, sorry," Rachel mutters.
"Gees Berry, what's the matter with you? You've like totally checked out," Santana adds. "I thought you live for this stuff."
Artie turns his chair towards her. "Now that they mention it, you have been a little quiet lately," he says matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, you haven't been nearly as annoying as you usually are," Mercedes joins in. "You're not still pouting over losing the solo at sectionals, are you?"
"Maybe vampires stole her voice," Brittany suggests happily.
"Vampires suck blood, they don't steal voices," Tina explains.
Rachel glances around nervously. She catches Finn looking at her for the first time in weeks but he quickly turns his eyes away when they meet hers. Finally she straightens up in her seat and composes herself. "I've just been a little distracted, but I can assure you all that I am completely committed to this club. I apologize for my little faux-pa. Now can we please get back to the song?"
There's some muttering and exchanging of nasty looks but eventually the commotion dies down and the club moves on. Rachel notices Mr. Schue giving her one of his patented disappointed looks but can't seem to find her remorse. She's been disappointed by everyone in her life, why should she care if she's the one doing the disappointing for once?
On Thursday morning she arrives at school to find Chase leaning against her locker. She doesn't remember telling him where exactly her locker was, but nonetheless, he's there, staring at her as she approaches with a lecherous smile.
"Good morning, Chase," she greets warmly.
He pushes himself off the locker and doesn't waste any time capturing her in a firm kiss. His hands find their place on her hips and grip possessively as he turns to back her into the locker.
She's completely caught off guard when his lips latch onto hers and his hands grasp her hips. She's only known him for a few days and most of their communication has been limited to text messages. She thinks it's completely inappropriate for him to kiss her so passionately and so publicly this soon, but she can't seem pull herself away. He's all heat and desire, and she likes the roughness of his hands on her body and the intensity of his mouth on hers. She likes feeling alive again.
"What was that?" she asks breathlessly when he finally breaks the kiss.
He leaves a hand on her hip and begins to trace circles on the sliver of exposed skin between her skirt and top with his thumb. He places his other hand on the locker besides her head, effectively trapping her with his body. "I had a dream about you last night," he answers. "And I woke up with this insane need to kiss you. When I want something, I go for it." He finishes with a shrug like attacking her with his lips in the middle of school when they haven't even gone out yet was completely normal.
Rachel ducks her head from his intense gaze. She doesn't typically get bashful but there's something about Chase that makes her squirm a bit. "What was I doing in the dream?" she asks curiously.
He laughs and winks at her. "A lot more than just kissing me, but I think we'd get in trouble if you did that in the hallway." He smirks a bit and raises an eyebrow. "Not that I'd object."
Despite her newly adopted attitude of indifference, she can't avoid looking completely shocked and appalled at the implication. Her mouth falls open in an attempt to compose a response but he doesn't give her the chance.
Chase just grins at her scandalized expression and presses his thumb more firmly into her hip bone, causing her to gasp slightly. "I'm really looking forward to Campbell's party tomorrow. I find that some people are completely different once they're outside these school walls. I think you're one of those people, Rachel." He begins to drag his hand from her hip up to her ribcage. "You like to play the good girl during school hours, but I bet you're a wild one out there. Aren't you?"
Rachel doesn't say anything because she doesn't want to shatter the sexy image Chase somehow formed of her. It's flattering and much more interesting than the truth. Instead she just bites her bottom lip and shrugs coyly. She hears him groan before his lips are on hers again. This time the kiss is rough and a bit sloppy and he uses his hands to explore her upper body expertly.
"I'll catch you later," he says after withdrawing his tongue from her mouth.
She's a little flustered from their interaction and just watches as he disappears down the hall. After a moment she dispels the fog from her head and turns her attention to her locker.
She eats lunch alone that day, like she has every day since returning from winter break. She briefly wonders why Chase has no problem shoving his tongue down her throat in a crowded hallway but won't sit with her in the cafeteria. She decides not to dwell on the matter because it'll only bring her down so she chalks it up to their different social standings. She's halfway through her Caesar salad when she spots a figure looming over the table.
"What are you doing here?" she asks, genuine confusion laced in her voice.
Finn gives her a serious look before taking a seat across from her. "I heard you're going out with Palladino."
Rachel lets out a small sigh. She was hoping Finn was approaching her to have a mature conversation, not to act like a typical jealous ex-boyfriend. "I'm not going out with Chase. We've just been talking a bit."
He narrows his eyes and looks at her accusingly. "So you'll just make out with anyone now? Are you that desperate?"
"I take it you heard about our little kiss in the hallway this morning?" she asks quietly. She's not sure why she feels bad about her kiss with Chase, she obviously has no loyalty to Finn now and it's her right to move on with her life, like he has. But there's something resembling regret swimming around inside her stomach because despite their incredibly mixed up past, she doesn't want to hurt his feelings. She just wants to repair hers.
"Yeah, I heard," he says coldly, his eyes looking down on her with a mix of contempt and pity.
His tone and expression promptly extinguish her feelings of regret and suddenly she finds her indignation. "It's no big deal and really none of your concern," she responds tightly, trying to sound just as cold as he did.
"No big deal? Rachel, what's up with you lately? You're dressing differently, you no longer participate in glee, you hardly even talk and now you're making out with the biggest douche bag in the school. You're not acting like yourself." He gestures animatedly towards her. "This isn't you!"
She's pissed that he thinks he has the right to yell at her for behaving in a manner he doesn't like, but she's also somewhat thrilled that he's noticed."Isn't that a good thing?" she counters. She thought he'd appreciate the new Rachel more since the old one obviously wasn't good enough. "And Chase is not a douche bag."
"Yes he is. He's always running his mouth about all the girls he's banged in the locker room. Where do you think I heard about you and him?"
She startles a bit. "But we didn't!"
"No, but that didn't stop him from telling the guys you let him cop a feel in the middle of the hallway without him even having to take you out."
"He wouldn't say that," she insists, or at least she hopes. She honestly doesn't know what he'd say.
Finn shakes his head in disbelief. "How would you know? You don't even know him." He exhales loudly before refocusing his gaze on his ex-girlfriend. "Look, I know what you're trying to do, but dressing like a slut and using that jerk to make me jealous is a bad idea. It won't work."
"I'm not trying to make you jealous. Not everything I do is about you, Finn," she spits angrily. Maybe it was a little bit about him, but she certainly had more than enough reason to change without the breakup.
He pushes his chair back and stands. "If you need a guy to make you feel better about yourself can you at least pick someone who's not on the football team? That way I won't have to hear about it in the locker room afterward. I get enough crap from the guys as it is, I don't need my ex-girlfriend whoring herself out to the whole team on top of it!"
Her eyes grow three times in size and she feels like someone just smacked her in the face. Anger, hurt and embarrassment wash over her in waves. She knew they were on bad terms, but she never expected him to insult her that way. A couple of minutes pass before she realizes he's gone and she's crying.
When the bell rings to signal the end of the lunch period, she makes no attempt to get up.
"I hate seeing a pretty girl cry." She looks up through her tears to see Chase standing in front of her. "What's the matter, Beautiful?"
She's not at all happy to see him. "You told the guys on the team lewd things about us," she accuses harshly.
Chase frowns and walks around the table to sit beside her. "I said no such thing. I may have let it slip that we shared the hottest kiss ever this morning." He tilts her chin up so that she can see the smile on his face. "I'm just excited about us and wanted everyone to know that you're mine now, I didn't mean to upset you."
Rachel takes a moment to process his words. "If you're so excited, why won't you sit with me at lunch? Too afraid of what your meathead buddies will think?" She looks away, worried that she's showing too much of the old Rachel Berry.
"If I was worried about what they think I wouldn't have invited you to the party tomorrow night. I'm not trying to keep you a secret, Rachel. I just thought you liked your space, but now that I know...I'll be sure to sit with you tomorrow." He squeezes her hand reassuringly and she starts to feel herself thaw out a bit. "Now come on, no more tears." He swipes the moisture from her cheeks with his thumbs and gives her a quick kiss.
Chase walks her to class and offers her a ride home after school. She accepts and starts to feel a little better about the Finn incident. Maybe if things with Chase turn into something more than just making out and flirting she won't be so bothered by Finn's words.
The last bell of the school day sounds and Rachel's thrilled to be leaving. Chase meets her at her locker to take her home like he promised, but he's accompanied by another boy in a letterman jacket.
Chase steps forward to make the introduction. "Rachel, this is Holden. He's gonna ride with us, if that's ok with you." He gives his friend a hearty pat on the back.
"James Holden," the other boy clarifies with a smile. "Chase was right, you are much hotter now."
Rachel blushes at the boy's boldness. "Of course it's ok with me." She recognizes James, although he looks much different now. She had a couple of classes with him freshman year, but back then he wore glasses and weighed about 60 pounds less. Now he's a strapping 200 pound offensive lineman.
The three of them ride together in the cab of Chase's truck, Rachel sandwiched between the two football players.
"So Rach, I hear you're coming to Campbell's party tomorrow night?" James asks as they pull out onto the main road.
Rachel nods. "Yes. Chase was kind enough to invite me." Chase gives her leg a squeeze at the mention of his name.
"Is this your first post-game party?" James continues.
She nods again.
"It's gonna be awesome," he informs her with an excited grin. "We'll be sure to show you a great time."
She notices the two boys exchanging amused looks over her head but chalks it up to typical teenage boy immaturity. The truck rolls to a stop in front of the Berry house and Rachel politely offers her thanks for the ride.
"No problem, babe," Chase says grabbing her face and planting a hungry kiss on her mouth. She feels a little uncomfortable kissing him in the presence James so she starts to pull back, but Chase's hand snakes around to the back of her head and holds her firmly in place as he deepens the kiss.
When Chase finally releases her, she turns to exit through the passenger side, her cheeks still flushed from Chase's public display of affection. She waits patiently but James makes no attempt to get out and let her pass. She turns towards Chase expectantly but he offers no assistance either.
"Excuse me," she finally mutters in James' direction.
James opens the door and leans back, spreading his legs to create a bit more space and motioning for her to go ahead. She eyes him curiously. Surely he wasn't expecting her to crawl over him? When he doesn't budge and just continues to stare at her with that strange smug look on his face, Rachel decides she has no choice but to go for it. There's not enough room in the cab for her to stand so she's forced to scoot towards the door on her backside. She slides over his lap and hops out of the truck, not missing the grunting sound that escapes his mouth when she makes brief contact with his groin.
Finally up in her room, Rachel starts to reconsider Chase's invitation to the party tomorrow. Something about the boy and his friend struck her as off, but she quickly pushes her hesitation aside. Finn's words still linger in her head and she's determined to prove him wrong. Maybe Chase did make her feel a bit better about herself, but that didn't mean there couldn't be more there, if she just put a little effort into it.