!
Rachel got ready early Saturday feeling like she was walking on air. She danced around her room to her iPod, stupid smile glued to her face, as she pulled out her outfit for the day.
Downstairs at breakfast Daddy was the only one up, sitting at the table, sipping coffee and reading the paper. "Morning, sweetheart," he said.
She pecked him on the cheek. "Good morning, Daddy."
He suppressed a smile behind the rim of his coffee mug. "Did you have a good date last night? You didn't say much when you came in."
"It was good," she said and her Daddy laughed. He'd know that look anywhere. It was the look of one in love.
"What time is Noah picking you up?"
"Another half an hour," she said. "I have time for breakfast."
He handed her the Lifestyles section as she sat down with her grapefruit and they read together in silence. Her phone beeped some time later and she stood up. "Noah's on his way," she said, cheeks tinged pink. "I'm going to meet him outside."
"Have fun, sweetheart," Daddy said.
She kissed his cheek again. "I will."
She had just stepped out the front door when Noah pulled up to the curb. He reached across the seat to open to door for her. "Morning," he said.
"Good morning."
He waited until she was in the truck and had the door closed before he flung something at her. "Here," he said.
"What is it?" She picked it up, discovering it was a McKinley High football t-shirt. "Noah?"
"You should wear it," he said. "You know, something to support our school and all that."
"Ok." She looked down at the item in her hands. "Is it yours?"
"Well, yeah. I wouldn't give my girl someone else's shirt, would I?"
She looked over at him. "Your girl?"
He stiffened. "Well, unless you wanna be someone else's girl."
She shook her head. "Oh, no, no. I'm just surprised, I wasn't expecting to you to refer to me like that."
"Well, aren't you?"
"Your girl?" she asked. He nodded. "Well, yes, I…yes. If you want me to be."
He smirked at her. "Berry, I don't give my shirts to just anybody. You're my girl."
"Ok," she said happily. "I'm your girl."
He nodded to the shirt. "We're almost there. You should put it on."
She glanced out the windows, but it was early and most of the town appeared to be still sleeping. "Ok," she said. "But don't look."
He winked at her. "No promises."
She rolled her eyes and slipped her arms out of her sweater and into the arms of his t-shirt. Careful to keep herself covered, mostly because he was totally looking, she slipped her sweater over her head and slipped her head through his t-shirt.
He was gaping at her with an open mouth. "How do girls do that? I didn't see anything."
She sent him a wink of her own. "Our little secret," she said.
He was still speechless by the time they pulled into the school parking lot. The school was crowded, full of people waiting to see the competition, and it took a while to find a parking space. When he did finally find one, it was far from the school. He parked the car, slipping the keys into his pocket and turning to Rachel.
"Hey," he said, reaching across the seat for her.
"Hey," she said, leaning over to him. His lips on hers sent fireworks through her stomach and she couldn't help thinking that she would never get tired of this, kissing this boy. She pulled away first. "We should get in there," she said. "We need to find the others."
He nodded. "You're right. Brittany will kill me if you miss anything."
They got out of the truck and after he locked it, he took her hand in his, pulling her close as they walked toward the building. The building was crowded, with a line of people trying to get into the gym. Rachel texted Kurt to tell him they had arrived and soon they saw Mercedes weaving through the crowd toward them.
"Hey," she greeted. Rachel saw her eyes pass over their joined hands.
"Hey. Where are you sitting? Do you have room for us?"
"Yeah, we saved you seats. Come on, we're this way."
They followed her up into the bleachers and saw the rest of the group was already there. Finn and Quinn were sitting on the end, beside Matt and Mike. In the row below them Kurt and Tina were sitting, surrounded by piles of stuff.
Mercedes gestured to Kurt and Tina's row. "This is us. Hey, guys, they're here, take your stuff back now."
Rachel watched as Quinn took her purse back and jackets were passed down to Matt, Mike and Finn, revealing a bench underneath. She felt Puck's hand on her elbow as she navigated the row to take her seat next to Kurt.
Puck took a seat beside her. "Hey, guys, what's up?"
Rachel could tell from the looks they were getting that everyone knew something was up. Matt and Mike were grinning and nudging each other. Quinn smiled sweetly at them and Finn just looked confused. Turning, she saw that Tina looked satisfied and one look at Kurt and Mercedes told her they were just itching to get the story.
"Nothing, man," Mike said with a grin. "We're just hanging out. What about you? What have you been up to?"
"Can it, Chang," Puck warned.
Rachel giggled when Mike visibly pouted and turned his attention back to the floor. "Are they nervous?" she asked the boys. "Has anyone seen them?"
"I talked to Santana this morning, she was the same as she always is," Matt said. "I don't think they get nervous anymore." Finn said something Rachel couldn't hear and the three football players struck up a side conversation.
Puck leaned over, placing his hand on her knee. "I think my shirt looks better on you than it does on me," he said. "Even if it makes you look like a shrimp."
She stood up, noticing that the shirt was quite large on her. She rolled the hem line, stopping at the waist of her jeans. She looked at Puck for approval. "Better?"
He smiled at her. "Perfect." She sat back down and he linked his fingers with her, placing their joint hands on her knee. She felt a sharp jab to her left side. She turned to see Kurt and Mercedes looking at her expectantly.
"What?" she whispered.
"You know the deal," Kurt whispered back. "Details, Diva!"
Rachel widened her eyes, then rolled them toward Puck. "Not now."
Kurt pouted. "At least tell us if it went well."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "We're here, aren't we?"
Kurt and Mercedes exchanged giddy looks and Rachel turned her attention back to Puck. From the small smirk on his face, she could tell he'd heard every word.
"Shut up," she muttered under her breath. He chuckled and put his arm around her, drawing her close. She heard Kurt squeal on her other side. She sighed and leaned her head against Puck's shoulder.
Their attention was drawn to the floor when a man in a suit holding a microphone. He announced that the competition would be starting shortly.
Rachel had never really been into cheerleading. She wasn't stupid, she knew it was more than just dancing around at football games. She knew there was a competitive cheerleading circuit and that Kentucky, a neighboring state, was pretty much considered one of the top teams in the nation in the sport. She had just never really gotten into it. She was always more interested in dance classes and voice lessons.
But when the cheerleaders took the floor and she saw their routines, she gained a new respect for the sport and those who participated. There is no way she'd ever let someone throw her up that high in the air, let alone depend on just three girls to catch her.
By the time McKinley High's Cheerios took the floor, she was getting pretty into it. She stood and cheered for the home team with all her friends. Puck stood with them but she noticed he didn't scream like the rest of them did. He just looked amused at the whole thing. He met her eyes and smiled and she nudged him with her shoulder as she screamed for her teammates again.
The routine would be complicated, Rachel knew that, it was a Sue Sylvester routine, complicated was probably an understatement. But she wasn't expecting them to be so good. They danced, flipped, twirled, flew in perfect unison with each other. Girls were launched in the air to astonishing heights, only to be caught and thrown back up again. She watched Santana fly through the air gracefully and Brittany dance with a big smile on her face. She leapt to her feet next to Kurt when they were finished, cheering as loud as she could.
"They were awesome!" she exclaimed to Kurt as they sat back down.
"That's my choreography," he said, trying to conceal his excitement. "They used some of my dance moves."
"You're brilliant," Rachel told him. She turned to Puck. "Noah, weren't they fabulous?"
"They were ok," he said, trademark smirk on his face.
She gaped at him. "Ok? Ok? They were better than ok! They were the best squad out there!"
He tugged her closer to him. "Who would have thought, Rachel Berry, cheerleading fanatic?" He pressed his lips to her quickly, so quick she didn't have a chance to return the kiss.
"No fair," she pouted.
"Uh," they heard Finn say. They both turned to him. "Are you guys, like, dating or something?"
Puck nodded, putting his arm around Rachel again. "Yeah. Got something to say about it?"
Finn shrugged. "Not really."
Puck nodded. "Good."
Quinn rolled her eyes. "About time," she said with a grin.
They all turned back to the floor as the announcer came back out. He announced the teams and they all waited with bated breath. When he announced the first place team, he announced it was the Cheerios from WMHS. The stands erupted into a frenzy of applause and cheers as they watched their cheerleaders celebrate down on the floor. Amid the cheering fans, Noah pulled her to him and kissed her again. This time she got a chance to respond.
!
The rest of the weekend went by in a blur for Rachel. She had hung out with the rest of the glee club Saturday, celebrating Brittany and Santana's victory. They'd ordered pizza and the boys played video games while the girls chatted. She was made to spill the gossip about her and Noah and she'd done her best to keep as many details private as she could.
Sunday was spent at her house, curled up on the couch with Noah, watching some movies he'd brought over. He'd declared he was officially sick of chick flicks and he had some movies she just had to see. It was a day of cuddling, secret smiles and stolen kisses when her fathers weren't around. It was perfect.
She couldn't remember ever being happier than she was right now. She had everything she could possibly want. She had real friends now, and while things weren't always smooth, they liked her for who she was and they were truly there for her if she needed it. She had two fathers who loved and adored her. She had a bright, promising future to look forward to.
And she had Noah. She counted herself so lucky to have him in her life, even when he was just a friend. He was constantly surprising her, with his soft touches and gentle looks. This, she realized, was the boyfriend she had always wanted.
Of course, that kind of happiness couldn't last. Clare Scott called Sunday night. She told them William H. Ford had pleaded guilty to the charges of aggravated assault and two counts of kidnapping. Rachel's Dad had been outraged they hadn't gone for a murder charge but Clare said Ford would not plead guilty to that and she was confident he would not be convicted by a jury. Rachel agreed. While he had injured her, she never felt as though he were going to kill her, not even once. She had been afraid, of course, but she had never seen the intent in the man.
Which brought up all of her questions again. Why had he taken them in the first place? What had been his plan? She knew when men kidnapped young girls, the plan was usually rape, then murder, but none of those things had happened and she was confused, though very grateful. Clare informed them that he still hadn't given a reason and they might never know. His sentencing hearing was scheduled for the upcoming Wednesday.
It was sooner than Rachel expected and she was a little terrified of the idea of being in an open room with the man who had stabbed her and terrorized her. But another part of her, like she'd told Noah, was anxious to put the whole thing behind her and not sit around waiting for a date to be determined.
When she texted Noah and told him of the sentencing, he called her immediately.
"So, Wednesday, huh?"
"Yeah."
"Are you ok?"
Rachel sighed. "Yes."
"But?"
"I just didn't expect it to be so soon."
His voice soothed her frazzled nerves when he said, "You know I'll be right there with you, babe."
She smiled. "I know," she said softly.
"Do you know what you have to do?"
"No," Rachel said. "Clare wants to meet with me and Tina after school tomorrow to discuss things. We'll have to miss glee."
"Schue'll understand," he said.
"I know. I'm just ready for this to be over." She sighed again.
"You sound exhausted," he said quietly.
She smiled, curling up on her bed. "Kind of," she admitted.
"We did too much this weekend," he said regrettably. "We shouldn't have done so much, we should have just relaxed."
"Noah, did you see how happy Brittany was that we were all at her competition?" Rachel asked. "And I don't think she'd admit it, but I think it made Santana happy too. At least a little. No way would I have stayed home."
"Still, you've gotta take it easy, babe," he told her seriously. "You're still recovering."
She laughed. "You're worse than my fathers," she teased. "Anyway, Daddy's taking me to the doctor on Friday to have my shoulder checked out. I think it's healing pretty well, maybe enough so I don't have to wear that stupid sling anymore."
"The sling helps you," he pointed out.
"Yes, helps me heal, which I have," she said, rolling her eyes. "It almost doesn't even hurt anymore."
"Liar," he said.
"Well, sometimes it hurts," she amended.
"Are your dads taking you downtown tomorrow to meet with Clare?" he asked.
"No, Tina and I are driving down together. Cell phones charged," she said jokingly.
"Call me when you get home?" he asked.
A warm feeling spread through her body. "Absolutely."