Disclaimer: I am just borrowing them for the fun of writing, BUT I do own the plot, ideas and original characters.
A/N: I edited this chapter, so all mistakes are mine.
A/N2: This story is mostly AU after Mash-up (1x08), but with some of the topics discussed in the later episodes and music used, I may sneak in a conversation, cover the same topic, or use the same song, but I will put my own twist on it and may use some of the music.
A/N3: Feedback keeps me writing, so please comment or review. :D
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A/N4: Voting is full swing for the Glee Awards until Saturday, June 26th. Please head on over and cast your votes for 'Out of the Blue' and 'Starlight' in the 'Best Work-in-Progress' and 'Favorite Puck/Rachel' categories. The voting entry is here: ( community . livejournal . com/ gleeawards/ 4156 . html ) (remove spaces) You don't have to be an LJ user to vote; you can use email or post to their voting entry. All the instructions on how to vote and where to send your emails are on the link I listed.
...
As the weekend came to an end, the reality of how close it was to school starting set in, as Monday morning rolled around and Puck, Finn, Quinn and Deborah had to be at school at ten for football and Cheerios practice.
Deborah wanted to leave by nine and Quinn caught a ride with her, so Arin came over to Rachel and Puck's around then; she was going to be hanging out with Rachel while they were at practices.
Puck dropped his football bag on the floor by the door and was dressed in his workout clothes, planning to put clean clothes on after practice. "Finn should be over around nine-thirty," he said to Rachel, who was in the living room with Abby and Arin.
"Okay, do you have everything you need?" She asked looking at his bag.
"Yeah," he plopped down on the couch, "got everything I need," he assured her.
Arin, Puck, Rachel and Abby sat around the living room for a bit, Puck playing with Abby before Finn came over, knocking on the door.
Rachel got up and moved to answer it, "good morning, Finn," she greeted.
"Hey Rachel," he nodded at her as he walked in with a similarly large duffel bag, noticing the others, "hey guys."
"Hey man," Puck replied holding Abby up above him in the air, causing her to giggle.
With Finn there, he chatted with them for a few minutes before it was time to leave, so Puck said goodbye to his daughter and laid her in her bouncer by the couch and then hugged his sister before he, Rachel and Finn walked out onto the porch, "so we should be back about two-thirty," Puck said to Rachel.
Rachel nodded and wrapped her arms around him, "have fun, drink lots of water and," she pulled back a little, but her hand rested on his left side, over the area that had been hurt, "be careful. Don't push yourself too hard just because you want to show off to your uncle," she murmured.
He laughed lightly, but nodded, "I'll be careful," he promised, kissing her on the lips, "and Brit's dad wouldn't have signed off on my school physical paperwork if he didn't feel I was okay enough to be doing this," he added hugging her again.
"I know, but I still worry," she murmured resting her head against his chest for a moment, but knew he had to leave, so she pulled back and kissed him on the lips again, "I love you."
"I love you, too. See you this afternoon," he stepped from her arms and moved down the stairs of the porch and towards his jeep, where Finn was waiting by the passenger door.
Rachel watched the two guys throw their bags into the backseat and climb in and she waved at them as the small SUV pulled away from the curb and disappeared down the street. Moving back inside, she smiled at Arin, both had been looking forward to some time to spend together and the next few weeks while she watched Arin would be that time.
...
Puck and Finn pulled into the school parking lot and parked near Kurt's SUV and Mike's car and Matt pulled in next to Puck as he and Finn were getting their bags.
"Hey guys," Matt greeted them.
"Hey Matt, what's up?" Puck replied locking his jeep and closing the door.
"Not much," Matt replied, "so first day with the new coach," he said, unsure if he should mention just who the new coach was.
"Yeah, about that," Finn said locking and closing his door before meeting them around the SUV, "are we supposed to-"
"Just keep it on the down-low for now. I actually kind of forgot to talk to him about it over the summer, so I'll let him be the one to say something or not," Puck explained as the three moved towards the school.
Once in the locker room, the three teens met up with Kurt and Mike and after stuffing their gear into the lockers with their names already on them, they got a chance to look around at the others in the room, recognizing most of the guys, but the unfamiliar faces belonged to mostly Freshmen or a few transfers, most of them staring at the larger guys in fear; Puck and Finn mostly. Finn was over six-feet tall and Puck with his muscular body and well-toned arms visible, since he was wearing a sleeveless t-shirt, both were seen as guys to fear, but respect and they didn't even know them yet.
A lot of the guys were asking questions about the new coach, but no one had any answers. Puck told Mike and Kurt the same thing that he had told Matt and Finn moments earlier; keep his and Ben's relationship on the down-low until Ben mentioned it. As far as Puck knew, no one knew Ben's last name was Puckerman yet, because over the summer, when they got the letter letting them know when football started, there was also a note from him, but he'd only signed it with his first name.
The five Glee guys made their way outside, using the locker room's outside exit and headed towards the field. No one knew what to expect with the new football coach, not even Puck and he was Ben's nephew.
"Remind me again why I'm doing this?" Kurt asked as they walked onto the football field.
"Well, if it isn't the Glee Club freaks and their princess mascot," Azimio, the heavyset African-American football player, said as he saw the five guys come out onto the field.
Puck laughed, "is that the best you could come up with?" He asked curiously.
"Oh, I'm just getting started. Who ya gonna knock up this year, Puckerman? Maybe work on another Cheerio? I mean that's what you do, knock them up and get rid of the kid when it gets here, right?" Azimio replied with a laugh, his normal sidekick missing, his best friend Dave Karofsky, since he was a hockey player.
It wasn't like the whole school knew Puck kept Abby, most assumed since Quinn didn't have her that they gave her up for adoption and only those close to the Glee Club really knew the truth; some others in school did, but not everyone.
The guys kept walking, ignoring Azimio, so he took the time to comment to the guys around him, "maybe he'll knock up Fabray again or add the freak, Berry, to the list, or maybe he kicked her to the curb," he laughed, still looking at Puck.
Puck held up his hand, the promise ring still on his finger, "though you assholes don't deserve a response, for your your information, I kept my daughter and the only person I'll ever be with is my girlfriend, Rachel," he replied noticing his uncle at the top of the bleachers, kicked back, sunglasses on and watching the guys on the filed.
"Yeah right, Puck doesn't do relationships. You fuck 'em, leave 'em and then Finn gets your sloppy seconds," Azimio teased.
Finn rushed forward, "don't you dare talk about Quinn like that!" He exclaimed, his arm pulling back to take a swing.
Puck saw Finn and rushed forward, grabbing his brother by the waist and using his momentum to swing him around, "he's not worth it," Puck snapped pushing him towards Matt, Mike and Kurt.
Ben had gotten to school early to go over some plays he'd already come up with and to talk with the assistant coach before he made his way out to the field and climbed up to the top of the bleachers, sat down and leaned back, soaking in the early morning Ohio sun with sunglasses on, soon watching guys from Freshmen to Seniors appear on the field, standing with their friends and talking.
When he saw his nephew and his four friends walk out onto the field, he couldn't hear what they were saying, but realized that one of the guys was obviously giving the five Glee members a hard time, causing Finn to rush forward, like he was going hit the guy, but his nephew stopped him. Ben realized that whoever that kid was would be a handful.
At ten-am on the dot, he walked down the bleachers and out onto the field, dressed in black Adidas track pants and a red t-shirt. He could tell he was being looked at and mentally laughed, thinking they were looking at his hair; short and spiky, but no matter what he did it always looked like he'd slept on it because no gel or hairspray could keep it from spiking out every-which-way.
"Locker room is all clear and I think everyone's here," Greg Wilson, the assistant coach and other gym teacher, said.
Ben nodded, "alright then," he pulled his glasses off and hung them on the collar of his t-shirt, "welcome to the twenty-ten to twenty-eleven school year football season, guys. I'm your new coach and for now you can call me 'coach'."
"What's your name? You some secret spy or something?" Azimio asked with a laugh.
Ben, having seen the altercation earlier and now this, walked over to Azimio, "do you want to play football this year?"
"Yeah, I wouldn't be here if I didn't," he smirked.
"Then I suggest you keep your mouth shut or you won't be," he snapped.
Azimio wasn't used to their coach standing up to them, so when he said that, Azimio kind of pulled back in shock and didn't reply.
"The same goes for the rest of you, too. I don't put up with bull shit from anyone. I've got a 'three strikes and your out' policy. You fuck up, you get a warning, fuck up again you get another, but if it happens one more time, you're gone, period. I am your coach, like it or not. Seniors, you only get me for this year, but those of you who are here longer, take it or leave it." When no one said anything, he continued, "my name is Ben. I went to McKinley over twenty years ago and graduated before any of you were even thought of. For the past twelve years I've been living in Dayton, coaching football at Dayton High School."
"Didn't they go to State last year?" Someone asked.
"Yes we did, we won for Western Ohio and went to state, but lost by a field goal."
...
In the gym, at the same time, Deborah was greeting the Cheerios, but since she knew them, they got down to business. "Where's Santana?" Quinn asked Deborah, Brittany and Mandy who were standing closest, but her question was heard by everyone else, too.
Deborah looked through the group of girls and noticed the Latina was not there, so she moved over to where she had left her roster, an updated list printed out that morning and skimmed over it once, twice, and then on a third time through, she looked at Quinn, "her name is not even on my roster," she admitted, "are you sure she was coming back?"
"Yes I'm sure," Quinn nodded, "she told me at the end of school last year and I've talked to her a few times this summer on the phone and she never said anything to me," she looked at some of the other girls, "has anyone else talked to Santana this summer?"
"I have," Brittany said.
"She's not listed on my roster," Deborah held up the clipboard with the names on it, "did she mention anything to you about not coming back?"
"She told me she was still in California at her grandma's, but nothing else," Brittany explained.
Quinn had been voted captain again and Santana and Brittany as her co-assistant-captains, so Deborah thought it was odd that Santana would back out without saying something to her friends, "there might be a mistake. I'm gonna go see what I can find out. Quinn, Brittany, why don't you get them to stretch and then show the new ones some of the routines," Deborah told her.
With a nod from Quinn, Deborah headed for her office where her computer has access to all student records, since as a nurse, she needed to document why a student came to her and also in case they had medications to take, were allergic to something, or had a medical condition she needed to know about.
Typing in Santana's name, a picture of her popped up with her information and Deborah read over it, looking for anything out of the ordinary and on the main page, she read the last note from the final day of school in June, "Guidance counselor, Emma Pillsbury, removed her June 18, 2010; her parents requested transfer of records sent to a school in California (see transfer details)."
"I bet she moved over the summer and didn't tell anyone," Deborah said to her empty office as she closed everything and got up, heading for Emma's office, knowing she was there. Seeing her organizing her pamphlets, she knocked and then pushed the door open enough to poke her head in, "hey, Emma, got a second?"
"Of course, Deborah, how are you?" She asked.
Deborah moved into her office the rest of the way, standing a few feet from her, "personally wonderful, but at the moment I'm a bit confused. I need to ask you about a student."
"You know I can't discuss anything they tell me-"
Deborah shook her head, "no, nothing like that. At practice we noticed Santana was missing and according to my roster, she's not on it, so I just checked her records and said you removed her as a student and transferred her records to a school in California."
"Oh yes, Ms. Lopez," Emma nodded, "her parents came to school on the last day and met her and the three told me they were moving to California and asked me to transfer her records to the school she would be attending there," she explained.
"Wow," Deborah muttered, "she didn't tell anyone. Brittany talked to her on Saturday and Santana told her she was still in California at her grandma's."
"That is odd. She told me she didn't want me to say anything to anyone because she was going to say goodbye to everyone personally," Emma told her.
"She didn't," Deborah said with a sigh, "and now I have to break the news to the girls and we're going to have to tell the Glee Club, too," she added.
"Would you like me to call Will and tell him?" Emma asked.
"Yes, I think you should," Deborah told her with a nod, "and I'll call Rachel, so she can pass the word on to the rest of the club."
Emma nodded and Deborah waved at her, leaving and returning to the gym to find the girls working on a few cheers, but they all stopped as soon as they saw her, Quinn jogging over to her with Brittany right on her heels, "did you find out?"
"Yes, I did," Deborah replied softly, "let me tell everyone," she told her. The two girls returned to the group with Deborah, "as you know Santana is not here. Apparently on the last day of school she and her parents removed her from school and transferred her records to a school in California. She moved and from what Ms. Pillsbury said, Santana wanted to say goodbye to everyone personally so she asked her to not say anything."
"What?" "Oh my God!" "Why?" "She didn't even say goodbye!"
Everyone was shocked, but Quinn and Brittany were the most hurt, Quinn had known Santana since sixth grade and Brittany had known them since she was in sixth and they were in seventh, "she... I can't believe she just left," Quinn murmured.
"Same here," Deborah agreed, "I figured we could tell the guys when we see them today and we need to let Rachel know, so maybe we can call her now and she can pass it on to the rest of the Glee Club. Emma is contacting Will."
Quinn nodded, "yes, I think we should call and tell her," she said.
...
Rachel stared at her phone for a long moment as she closed it, having just finished a short conversation with Deborah, who told her what they had learned about Santana moving away.
"Are you okay, Rachel?" Arin asked.
"Yes," Rachel shook from her daze and sat back down on the couch, "I'm alright, though I am a little bit shocked about the news I just got," she explained.
"Is Noah okay? His side isn't hurting him again, is it?" She asked concerned.
Rachel slung her arm around Arin's shoulders, "Noah is fine, but mom called to tell me that she and the Cheerios just found out Santana moved away over the summer and never said anything to anyone."
"Oh. I didn't like her. When she and Noah dated, she was mean to me," Arin explained softly, "but I'm sorry she left your club."
"Thanks, Arin," Rachel said, "she never has been very friendly to me, I think she just tolerated me because I was dating Noah and for the club," she replied, "I need to call the rest of the club, so why don't we hold off on the movie until after I finish, okay?"
"Okay," Arin nodded.
Rachel got up and moved into the kitchen, keeping close in case Abby needed her and called Mercedes and when she answered, she greeted her and asked her to hold a moment so she could get Tina on the line. Once the two girls were on the phone with Rachel, Rachel asked Mercedes to call Travis, Mandy's boyfriend and the newest member of Glee and Tina called Artie and as soon as all five of them were on the line, Rachel went on to explain what Deborah told her.
"What?" "She moved?" "Wow!"
"Oh that girl has some explaining to do!" Mercedes exclaimed.
Rachel sighed, "yes she does. Would you all be able to come over around two?" She asked. "Deborah suggested we not all call her at different times, because it might be seen as ganging up on her, so she suggested that we, as a club, get together and call her once the guys are home from football practice and the girls are done at Cheerios," Rachel added.
"Deborah does make a valid point. If we all call her at different times and confront her, she would feel that way, but she does need to explain herself to us as a club and to her friends and the Cheerios," Artie admitted. "I have a doctor's appointment today, so I wouldn't able to come over, but you guys can tell me about it," he finished.
"I will tell you everything," Tina assured him, "I wonder what Mr. Schuester is thinking about this."
"I don't know," Rachel replied, "but I am going to call him as soon as we finish our call."
"Isn't Santana supposed to be, like, Quinn's best friend?" Travis piped in.
Rachel nodded, "that is what I thought, too, Travis," she admitted.
"Some friend she is," Travis admitted, "but I'll be over. Um, where is your place?"
Rachel rattled off their address and after he had it and they had said their goodbyes, Rachel hung up her phone, knowing Tina, Mercedes, and Travis would be over at two. She wasted no time and called Will, hoping he'd answer, "Mr. Schuester, it's Rachel Berry," she said.
Will laughed, "I knew it was you Rachel, and I'm assuming you heard about Santana."
"Yes, I did. How could she do this to Quinn? To us? To the Cheerios?"
"I know," Will sighed, wondering the same thing, "and I wish I had the answers, but she must have had her reasons."
"I'm calling an emergency Glee meeting at mine and Noah's house at two today. We all plan to call her," she explained, "as Mercedes said, 'that girl has some explaining to do' and she's right. What about Glee? Can we still work with thirteen members?" She asked. "Once Travis and Mandy said they'd come back, we had fourteen, but now that she's gone we only have thirteen."
"For numbers we're alright. I'm hoping by the first few meetings we will have a few more students join, so we should be able to even out the numbers. If not, we'll have to figure something out," he replied.
Rachel sighed, "alright. Would you be coming over this afternoon?" She asked.
"If you want me to," he told her.
"Yes please. It would also be a great time for us to discuss Sectionals, I mean it isn't too early to start planning and I'm already thinking of songs we could use-"
"Rachel," Will laughed, cutting her off, "we have plenty of time. Now that we have seen what we need to do and who we're competing against, yes, we do have to work a little harder, but I have faith."
"I do, too, but at least if some of the members could come up with some songs they'd like to try when we first meet we can already have a large selection of music to pick from," Rachel explained.
Will realized she was right, "I do see your point there. As president, once we figure out what is going on with Santana, you're welcome to bring it up, but don't expect everyone to be ready to start talking Sectionals before school even starts."
Content with his answer, he said he'd come over that afternoon and after their goodbyes, she hung up and created a text message and added all the Glee member's numbers to it, minus Artie's, because she knew he couldn't come over, and typed in, "emergency Glee meeting - Puck & Rachel's house - Monday 2pm," before hitting send and closing her phone.
...
Ben needed to know how in-shape or out-of-shape the team was, so after introductions, the Seniors got first pick at their jersey numbers, then the Juniors, Sophomores and the Freshmen got final pick. Once the numbers were handed out, the guys put their game uniforms away and put on their practice ones and returned to the field to have Ben start them out on a two mile run on the track, his eyes watching the team, but they kept drifting to his nephew in concern. Ben knew everything that happened to Puck, from the initial injury; he'd dug up the game footage, to the aftermath, including Ethan spending the weekend at the hospital, so during practice, Deborah's words to him echoed in his mind, "Ben, keep an eye on Noah. Don't make him push himself too much. You know he's too stubborn to admit when he needs a break and even if his doctor cleared him, less than a year ago he was hurt during a football game and it can take time to completely heal."
On the last lap around the track, he blew his whistle and called out to them to take a break, "Puckerman, come here," he added.
"Puck's already getting in trouble with the coach," Azimio laughed.
"Fuck off, Azimio," Puck snapped jogging over to his uncle.
As Puck reached him, Ben pushed his sunglasses off his eyes and looked at him seriously, "you doing alright?"
Puck laughed and rolled his eyes, "dude, did mom tell you to keep an eye on me?"
Ben laughed, "considering the injury you suffered ten months ago, as your coach, I need to be concerned anyway, but yes, the entire morning I've had her voice echoing in my head to keep an eye on you and I'm concerned, too."
"I'm fine," Puck assured him. "I tried to go running three to four times a week over the summer and I haven't had any problems for a while. I know I'm stubborn, but I know this is serious, so if I have a problem, I'll let you know."
"Good," Ben shifted so his back was to everyone else, "what's up with this kid?"
"Azimio?" At Ben's nod, he explained, "Finn and I used to be the top jocks in school, and all the team would follow us, but now that we joined Glee, some of them don't look at us as the top anymore, but the school does. Azimio and his best friend Dave Karofsky, who is the captain of the hockey team, have kind of taken over the top spots and are jerks to everyone. They think they're hot shit, but they're not."
Ben nodded in understanding, "alright. I figured as much, but if he fucks up much more I will kick him off the team."
Puck shrugged, "do what you gotta do," he said. "Hey, um, about the name thing," he started.
"I'll tell them if they ask. They'll find out eventually, anyway, but it's up to you," he admitted, "blood is thicker than water, but if they know I'm your uncle then you're gonna get crap about it."
"I don't care," Puck told him, "so tell them when they ask."
"Okay," Ben nodded.
At Ben's nod, Puck jogged back to his friends and as he reached them, Ben called them back to start exercises, pushing the guys as hard as he could, keeping an eye on the obviously stronger ones and when they started giving up or lagging, he'd give them a short break to cool off before moving onto the next exercise.
After a batch of sit-ups, Azimio groaned, "who the fuck is this dude? A drill sergeant?"
"He's the guy who's gonna help us win," Puck said taking a drink from his bottle of water.
It was close to one-thirty by now and Ben was satisfied with what he'd seen, having made notes on a few players; it would be a long few weeks, but he definitely saw potential in the team.
"Alright, guys, great job today. I think we can call it a day," Ben called out.
"Thank God!" "I'm exhausted!" "I'm tired." "I need ice."
Ben laughed, expecting the response.
"Um, coach, no offense, because I know you told us your first time, but we usually call our coach by their last name, so what's yours?" One of the guys asked.
Ben looked around, "well, I figured it'd get confused with one of your teammates, and a school employee, so I didn't figure I'd mention it, but my last name is Puckerman," Ben replied.
"What?" "No way!" "Seriously?" "Are you Puck's dad?"
Puck laughed at the last question, "no, he's not my dad. He's my uncle. My mom's brother."
Most of the guys thought it was cool, but of course Azimio had to make a stupid comment, "oh great, I guess we know who's gonna get spoiled around here."
"Alright Azimio," Ben slammed the plastic clipboard down on the hard track, an echoing snap silencing the small chatter of the guys, as they watched him stalk towards Azimio, pausing just feet away to glare at him, "it's the first day of practice and you're already on my shit list. You think you're hot shit, well let me tell you, you're not! None of you have earned that title yet," he paused, glancing around and looking at the guys, "I'm here to train you to play football, not coddle you. What I do expect is that each one of you respects me and your teammates and I will respect you back, but you have shown none to me or any of the guys today! The way I see it you'll be kicked off the team tomorrow, so if you are going to keep mouthing off, you might as well turn in your jersey and leave, because if you can't respect the people here, I don't want you on my team! The same goes for the rest if you, too," he yelled.
Puck looked around the large group of guys, some were looking at the ground and some had fear written all over their faces, including Azimio, who had wide eyes and just stared at Ben, unsure if he should say or do something.
Ben is usually pretty laid back, but he hated when guys acted like they were better than everyone else or said whatever they wanted without getting reprimanded for it, and from what he knew of the former football coach, he didn't do the best job at it, so it was time for a change; this was also something he changed quickly with his former team; there were guys just like Azimio and he quickly knocked them down a peg or two. Moving towards his clipboard, Ben picked it up and turned to the guys still standing there, "go on! Hit the showers!"
No one needed to be told twice, all of them began walking towards the locker room, leaving Ben and Greg, the assistant coach on the field, but Puck hung back.
"Great call, Ben," Greg smiled at him, "no teacher has stood up to Azimio before. About damn time someone did," he said, patting Ben on the shoulder, following the team into the locker room.
Puck walked towards his uncle, "um, so, that was interesting."
Ben rubbed his forehead as the two began walking towards the locker room, "I don't put up with shit, Noah, I hate it. He seems like an asshole and needed to get put in his place because it seems no one else has ever bothered to."
"You're just what we needed," Puck smiled, "no one has stood up to him. Finn and the guys and I... We just ignore him now, but sometimes we do try and snap back, but it doesn't have the same effect as it does coming from an adult."
"Hopefully my screaming at him will work," Ben patted his nephew on the shoulder as they stepped into the locker room and he moved towards his office while Puck moved to his locker.
Finn was staring at his phone strangely, "what emergency Glee meeting?" He asked Puck, "did you guys not say something to me when I was over this morning?"
"What do you mean?" Puck picked up his own phone laying inside his locker once he opened it and found a message from his girlfriend, "I don't know anything about it," he said honestly, hitting the send button and calling her. When she answered he smiled, "hey babe."
"Hello, Noah," she replied, "did you get my message?"
"Yes, what's going on? Everything okay?"
She sighed, "Santana moved over the summer without saying anything, so as president, I'm calling a meeting and we're all going to call her and find out what the hell she was thinking. Mr. Schuester, Tina, Travis and Mercedes are coming over, Artie has an appointment, so he won't be here, mom, Quinn, Brittany and Mandy will be over and I knew you and Finn would be back around then, so if you could just make sure that Matt, Mike and Kurt come, that'd be great," she said.
"Wait a second," Puck set his towel back down in his locker, Finn, Matt, Mike and Kurt standing around him, all having gotten the message, "so you're saying that Santana just up and moved over the summer without saying anything?"
"Yes, that would be correct."
"Wow, that is major," he admitted, holding back a whole lot of other things he could say, "um, alright, I'll make sure the guys can come over. I need to go shower, so see you when I get home. Love you."
"Love you, too, Noah," she replied.
As soon as Puck hung up his phone, all four guys were on him for more details, but he didn't have any more than what he had said, so they all gave in and agreed to come over to his and Rachel's house after they got showered and changed.
...
Pulling his jeep onto his street, he noticed some familiar cars parked along the road and he pulled into his driveway, right behind Rachel's car and he and Finn got out of the SUV. Matt, Mike and Kurt parked their cars along the street and followed him and Finn into the house, finding Rachel, Jessica, Arin, Will, Mercedes, Tina and Travis in the living room.
"Honey, I'm home," Puck said with a grin, tossing his keys onto the table by the door.
Mercedes had been holding Abby, while Tina was playing peek-a-boo with her, but once Puck came home, Abby stopped her giggling and turned her head towards her dad's familiar voice and her little hand reached for him, causing a chorus of 'awws' to echo through the room.
Puck blushed lightly, but smiled and moved across the room towards where Mercedes, Tina and Abby were, remembering the conversation he had a few weeks prior with his mom about not being used to showing the dad side of him, but he realized that he was a dad now, so he was going to show it.
"I think she wants daddy," Mercedes said with a smile.
"Yeah, that's usually what she does," he agreed, a grin still on his face as he carefully took her from Mercedes. Pressing a kiss to his daughter's cheek, he settled her against his chest, "how's daddy's little girl?" He asked rubbing her back gently and moving to sit next to Rachel on the couch. "Hey beautiful," he murmured, turning to kiss her.
Rachel returned his kiss, letting one arm slip around his back, "hey, how was practice?"
He smirked, "Ben snapped at Azimio, like big time."
"Really?" Her eyes widened.
"Oh it was good, you should have been there," Finn smirked.
"Let's just hope that Azimio takes what he says seriously or it's only going to get worse," Kurt replied, "and your uncle is kind of like a drill sergeant, no offense Jessica, since he's your dad and all."
"None taken," Jessica replied with a laugh, "dad's only serious when it comes to coaching. He's usually pretty laid back at home."
The guys told the story of what happened at practice, which lead up to Deborah, Quinn, Mandy and Brittany's arrival, about two-twenty. The girls went right to their boyfriends, while Arin greeted Deborah.
Ethan was also invited, but he didn't get off until three, so he told Rachel to just fill him in later, so with everyone there that could attend, Rachel stood up and moved to the edge of the room, "thank you all for coming today on such short notice. I officially call to order the first Glee Club meeting of the twenty-ten to twenty-eleven school year to order."
Puck rolled his eyes at his girlfriend's official sounding statement and looked at Abby, who had her eyes closed, "you've got the right idea, sweetie," he thought with a grin.
Tina, being their secretary for the year, had come prepared with something to write on, and began taking notes as Rachel spoke.
"First off, after spending all summer trying to talk Jessica into joining, Saturday, I finally got her to agree to join, so let's officially welcome Jessica to the club," she motioned to Puck's cousin.
As the group clapped and some said 'welcome Jessica', she blushed, "thanks guys. I like to sing, I'm not the best at it, but I figure if my cousin can sing and dance, then so I can I," she laughed lightly.
"This is our last year to perform together," Rachel started sadly, "so I think we need to make the most out of the time we have left and as soon as school starts, we should get going on songs for the Invitational, if we choose to do one, and Sectionals in December. With that being said, so everyone has a voice about the songs we do, I think we should all come to school on the first day with a few song suggestions that we could discuss, at Glee, as options for our competitions. Obviously our directors will have final say in the songs, depending on what is available for sheet music, but it's only fair that we agree on the songs we choose and pick ones we'll enjoy working on for the next few months," she explained.
"I'm sure the last thing you guys want to be doing is thinking Glee on your last few weeks of summer, but Rachel's right, it is the last year and we will want to enjoy all of us together, because next year, Puck, Finn, Quinn, Matt and Mike won't be here anymore," Will added.
"Where has time gone?" Mercedes asked, "it feels like just yesterday Finn was joining and now look at us," she admitted, leaning against her boyfriend.
"I think suggesting songs on the first day is a good idea," Kurt replied, "and it's also fair. It seemed to work well when we voted last time for Regionals and Nationals."
With a chorus of agreements, Rachel took a deep breath, "what do you guys think about having lockers near each other?" She asked, "all of us are Juniors or Seniors, so Thursday we'll be able to pick up our schedules and get our lockers, along with getting our yearbook pictures taken, so I was going to suggest we try and get our lockers near each other. I know Noah and I are going to get them side-by-side, but what about everyone else?"
"I'll get one by you guys," Jessica said.
"It'd be easier to find everyone," Finn agreed, "instead of having to cross halls and other areas to meet up."
Rachel smiled and was glad to get those suggestions off her chest, but now she had to bring up the main topic of why everyone was there, "onto the touchy subject," she started, "Santana. Please tell me Noah filled you in before you guys got here," Rachel looked at the other guys in the room.
"Yeah, we heard when you talked to him on the phone," Mike nodded, "it sucks."
"She just up and left without saying goodbye, it really hurts," Quinn commented, leaning against Finn, trying to keep from crying.
Rachel asked Deborah to explain what happened, so she did and added what she found out from Emma and then some of them talked about how much it 'sucked' that she left without saying goodbye, or how they'll miss her and Puck was getting annoyed, "am I seriously the only one who is glad she's gone?" He asked honestly.
"Noah!" Deborah and Rachel exclaimed at the same time.
"What?" He looked at his girlfriend and then his mom, before looking around the room, "we dated for like two weeks at the beginning of school last year and she broke up with me because I didn't have a good credit score; I don't have credit yet! She gave me and Rachel the dirtiest look when I sang 'Sweet Caroline' to Rachel and since then, she kept her distance, but I saw the disgusted looks she gave us, so I know she's jealous of Rachel and pissed at me because I moved on and found someone who I love with all my heart and who loves me back," he told them, "so I'm sorry that your friend is gone, but I won't miss her one bit," he said truthfully, not caring if anyone agreed or got mad at him for saying that.
"I broke up with her before because of the looks she kept giving you guys," Matt agreed, "so I kind of feel the way you do, man."
A couple others agreed with Puck and Matt, admitting that she had been nothing but rude to them, but they all still felt bad that Santana had just up and left, not even offering her supposed friends a goodbye.
"I think we should call her," Rachel said honestly, a few moments later, "while we're all here, put her on speakerphone and ask her why."
Quinn pulled her phone out and flipped it open, "I'll do it. She'd probably only answer if me or Brittany called her, anyway," she admitted, pulling up her name, hitting the send button and turning the speakerphone on, so the ringing could be heard in the room.
On the third ring, Santana picked up, "hey Quinn," she greeted.
"Hey Santana, when were you planning to tell us that you moved?" Quinn said, getting right to the point.
Santana sighed, "I didn't know how to tell you, but what do you mean 'us'?"
"You're on speakerphone with the club, minus Artie and Ethan," she said, "we want to know."
"Today was the first day of Cheerios practice," she stated.
"Yes it was," Brittany said.
"Look, I don't really think you guys want to hear my reasoning. All my family lives here, in California, my brother is going to school here and my sister and her family are here. My parents and I wanted to be closer to them. Dad was going to wait until I graduated to find a job, but when he got the job offer to start in July, I told him to take it and I had nothing there anymore, so I had no problems with moving."
"Nothing here?" Quinn snapped, "what about me? I thought we were best friends!"
"I was replaced a long time ago," Santana said harshly.
"By who?" Quinn replied confused.
Santana scoffed, "Rachel."
Rachel's eyes widened, but she kept her mouth shut, looking at Puck and then Quinn, who was looking at her.
"Look, do you guys really want to get into the details? Because I'd gladly tell you, but the truth is going to hurt."
"Tell us, Santana, we want to know," Mercedes chimed in.
"Fine... Let's see, where do I begin?" She paused and then continued, "okay, it disgusts me to see the first guy I ever had real feelings for and wanted to be with, move on and find happiness with someone else, especially when it was with Rachel. I felt bad when you got pregnant, Quinn, and before you got kicked out, I knew you would and my parents were totally willing to let you live with us, but you already had plans with Rachel and you wouldn't even listen to me when I suggested it. I lost all sympathy for you, too, when I found out the kid was Puck's, because just weeks prior to him and I dating, even for the two weeks we did, you slept with him and he got you pregnant, so you took my man from me, so it was no different than Finn loosing you to him, too, but that obviously didn't last long because it was just a few weeks and Puck and Finn were back to being best friends and you and Finn were back together and Puck and Rachel were sickeningly happy and you guys were like this big dysfunctional family. Once you moved in with Rachel, every time I would ask you to hang out or do something, you had to check with her or let her dads know where you were, or you had plans with her, so soon all you were doing was hanging out with Rachel and hardly hung out with the people who you said were your friends... I felt bad for Matt when we tried to date in November, because I know he broke up with me because he was annoyed with my attitude towards you guys and when Ms. Sylvester kicked you off the Cheerios, Brittany and I got a chance to be captain, but as soon as Mrs. Puckerman came in, it was cool, she helped us out when Ms. Sylvester left, but she let you back on the team, Quinn, and everyone wanted you to continue to be captain, so Brit and I had to step back, and you took something else from me, so when my parents were talking about moving, I encouraged it because I had nothing there that was important to me anymore."
The room was silent, Quinn, Rachel and Brittany all had tears in their eyes, Finn, Puck, Matt and Mike were pissed, anger flaring, while the rest of the room was just stunned, exchanging glances, unsure what to say.
"So you... so you just left without even a goodbye? You had to know we would figure it out at practice," Quinn said wiping her eyes.
"Yeah, well, like I care. It sucks because we moved away from where I've been living since I was in sixth grade, but I got over you guys real quick once I got to Cali, forgetting about the guy I wanted to be with, my ex-best friend, being back-up to you, Quinn, and trying to forget the disgusting images of Puck and Rachel together," she added.
"Shut the fuck up about Rachel, Santana," Puck snapped, "you fucked up our relationship when you broke up with me because of my credit score that I didn't even have," he retorted, "and by the way, Rachel and I, we're happy, something I never was with you. So, just to let you know, I don't miss you one bit, in fact, I'm celebrating the fact that you're gone. Good riddance," he hissed.
"Whatever you say, Puckerman. One day when Rachel realizes you're holding her back from her dreams, she'll leave you and Abby and when that day comes, you'll think of me and what you could have had, but I'll have moved on by then," she explained.
"I'd never do that!" Rachel exclaimed, sitting forward on the couch, "Santana, you are nothing but a spoiled bitch!" She snapped, "you expect to get everything you want and it should all go your way, but wake up to the real word! It doesn't revolve around you! I know you've never liked me and I don't give a shit what you say about me, but don't you dare insinuate you know anything about me! The only reason you say that is to get over your jealousy that Noah moved onto someone who really cares about him and isn't just in it for his amazing sexual talents! And don't try and say that I replaced you, I did nothing of the sort! Would you really have wanted Quinn staying at your house once you found out that she was pregnant by the one boy you wanted to be with? No, you wouldn't have, so you would have come up with some excuse that she couldn't stay there any longer and then would have kicked your best friend to the curb, just because you were jealous that Quinn was pregnant by him. Don't lie and say you wouldn't have done that, because you already admitted that you lost all sympathy for her when you found out Abby was Noah's!" Rachel took a deep breath, "Quinn needs real friends and you're not one of them and furthermore, you never cared about anyone but yourself. You wanted to be Quinn's 'back-up' on Cheerios, because that way you could be the next in line in case something happened to her, you wanted Puck because he's the badass of the school and best friends with the football captain, but when the Cheerios picked Quinn to be captain again, you realized that they liked Quinn over you, no matter what you did, so you fucked up your own reputation, Santana, so the only person to blame is yourself, and for that, I agree with Noah, good riddance!" Rachel exclaimed storming upstairs and moments later her and Puck's bedroom door slammed with a loud crack.
"Goodbye," Santana's voice was soft, but she hung up before anyone could respond to Rachel's words.
Quinn closed her phone and broke down in tears against Finn, and Puck stood up, kissing Abby, "go to grandma, daddy's gonna go check on mommy," he said handing her off to Deborah before jogging upstairs and pausing outside their bedroom door, before knocking lightly and opening it to find Rachel curled up on their bed, her shoulder's shaking, so he knew she was crying, "Rach," he said softly, taking a seat on the edge of the bed by her.
"I swear, Noah, I'll never leave you like she said I might," she sobbed, looking at him.
He looked at her, "babe, I know you won't," he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips, his hand gently rubbing her back, "she only said it to piss us off, and she succeeded, but she doesn't know anything about either of us to be making comments like that."
She sat up and curled against him, "I knew she never liked me and hated us being together, but for her to say the things she did about Quinn, it wasn't right."
Puck kissed her forehead and held her against him, letting her calm down, "I know and you're right, Quinn needs real friends and Santana obviously wasn't one," he murmured, "and Santana is gone so we don't have to deal with her anymore," he added.
"She was right about one thing, the truth hurt," Rachel whispered.
"Yeah, well, we knew it would," he replied, then grinned, "do you realize you called her a 'bitch', said 'shit', 'badass' and 'fucked' during your speech?" He asked curiously.
Rachel blushed, wiping her eyes, "I think you've rubbed off on me," she replied, "I used to never think of using those words, but now when I get upset and mad, I sometimes slip."
He laughed and kissed her, "nothing wrong with that," he told her, "and you also said I had 'amazing sexual talents' in front of all our friends and my mom."
The red color on her face got deeper and she ducked her head, "I can't believe that just came out, but I couldn't stop, I was just so pissed she'd suggest that I'd leave you and Abby," she sniffled.
"I don't believe for a second that you would," he assured her, shifting so he could stand up, "we have friends downstairs and if we stay up here much longer, they might think I'm showing off some of those talents, so let's save that for tonight," he wiggled his eyebrows, taking her hands and pulling her up. "You okay?" He asked.
She stood up and nodded, "yes, I am now, thank you for coming to check on me. I just needed a moment to gather my thoughts," she said slipping her arms around his waist.
"You're welcome," he replied, his arms wrapping around her and holding her close to him.
"I love you, Noah," Rachel whispered, turning her head to look up at him.
"I love you, too, Rachel, always will," he leaned down, pressing a loving kiss to her lips.
...
A/N5: *Hides* I'm gonna be behind the rock until you guys let me know what you think about this little twist. It came to me when I was writing the last chapter and wanted to go with it. Honestly, I realized that in my fic, Santana hasn't been involved much with any of the characters (because I don't like her on the show and I really don't like Naya, either), and I just have no clear picture of where I see her going, so I chose to twist things up and remove her. It's high school, anything can happen. One of my good friends my Junior year moved our Senior year, so it's possible. Hope you guys still liked the chapter. Review and let me know what you think, please.
A/N6: Finished this chapter this afternoon (my only day off) and figured I'd get it posted before I work for the next six days without a break. The last two days were HELL and I needed today to recharge and will hopefully be doing a lot of writing this week in my free time so I can unwind. The next chapter: Puck's 18th birthday and the rest of the week, leading up to Puck and Rachel's weekend away.
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