A/N: Sorry this chapter is really short. The next chapter will be longer, I promise. really have the urge to draw fan art for this fic, but I'm going to try to hold off until the story's done, or else I might get distracted with drawing for a long time. Anyway, I hope everyone is still enjoying this :)

I didn't talk to Rachel for the rest of the day. I stole some brief glances towards her in the lunch room, while she was sitting with Mercedes and Kurt, and listened to her answer all the questions in Spanish class, but she never once tried to sit beside me and didn't follow me around like she had done the previous day. I guessed my words had sunk in, that at school we couldn't be friends, but I couldn't help missing her around me.

When the school day finally ended and I got to motocross practice, I expected Rachel to be there waiting, but she was no where in sight. I pulled my bike out of our team leader, Jay's trailer and slipped my helmet over my head as I straddled the bike. I took one last look for her and, coming up empty, I kicked my bike into gear and began to plow through the course.

I tried to focus my mind on what I was doing, the feel of the bike beneath me, the wind whipping at my thighs as I hit a jump and got some good air, but my mind kept falling back to Rachel. Motocross had always been my favourite activity. It was the only time when I could de-stress, clear my mind, and focus on making a perfect run and completing my tricks. Today, I was completely off my game. I had no game.

I had spun out on a corner twice and bailed when landing a jump once, causing me to land awkwardly on my side. It would leave a bruise, but I had managed to avoid any lasting damage.

"What's with you today," Jay asked as I stood my bike up from the dirt, "You're usually my best rider, Brittany."

I opened my mouth to say something, but then realized that I couldn't remember how 'Stupid Brittany' would respond to it. Something about gophers? Nothing came to mind, so I shrugged and hurried back onto my bike, riding away from him.

"Okay, Britt. Focus," I said to myself, taking deep breaths as I stood still at the beginning of the course. That's when I saw her, Rachel, leaning up against her parked car a little ways away. The wind was tossing her hair and her skirt all over the place and she was holding the bottom of it to keep it from flying up. Adrenaline began to pump in my veins and I had the sudden urge to show off and impress her. I could see her eyes on me as I kicked my bike into gear, a little harder than necessary and flew off down the first hill. I picked up as much speed as I could and hit the first jump, hitting crazy air as I shifted the bike so that it was angled horizontally before setting it back into position and landing perfectly.

The next jump that came up I took my feet off the pedals and extended my legs into the splits, lifting my ass high off the seat before setting back down and landing the jump. It appeared that I just needed that extra adrenaline to get myself back into riding mode. I could see I was coming up to Rachel and I took a detour off the course to ride straight towards her. I saw her tense when I was heading right for her head on and not slowing down. She tried to back up more, but she was already against her car and at the last second, I squeezed the breaks and twisted the bike, kicking up a small patch of dust to her ankles and stopping a foot away from her. It was such a guy thing to do, but I couldn't stop myself from doing it.

She sighed in relief when she realized I hadn't hit her and she was still in one piece and I flipped the visor on my helmet open.

"I'm glad you made it," I smiled, watching as she tried to brush off some of the sand from her white knee highs.

"Well you did invite me," she smiled back.

"Get on," I said, scooting forward a bit on the bike to give her some room.

I could see the fear set in on her face as she shook her head and stuttered, "No, I-I-I don't have a helmet."

I pulled my helmet off my head and wiped the mouth piece off, in case I had unintentionally drooled, before slipping it on to Rachel's head. It was a little big, but it wasn't going to fall off and god she looked unbelievably cute. The front piece was covering her mouth and tip of her nose and all I could see was unsure eyes staring back at me.

"There," I smiled, patting the top of the helmet and causing her to teeter slightly, "Now you have a helmet."

She stood awkwardly for a moment and I knew she was trying to think of another excuse so I leaned over and grabbed her arm, pulling her closer to the bike until she finally gave in and hopped on. She put her hands on the tops of her thighs and I quickly grabbed them and wrapped them around my waist, "If you don't hold on you're going to fall off before I even get going."

"Please don't kill me," she announced as her arms tightened even more around me and I could feel her whole body pressed tightly against my back.

"I'd never hurt you, Rachel," I said with certainty, hoping that she knew I wasn't just talking about while she was on my bike.

"Go slow," she warned, her voice muffled by the helmet, but I heard what she said.

I smirked back at her, "No chance in that."

I kicked the bike into gear and sped off, a little faster than I had meant to, eliciting a high squeak from Rachel as her hands locked even tighter around me. I steered through the course, avoiding the higher jumps, but hitting the smaller ones so she could get the feel of the air whipping below us, and after a few minutes, I felt her body relax as she started to enjoy the ride. I'm almost certain that when I hit a few jumps that were a little larger than the previous, she was giggling.

I didn't want the moment to ever end. I couldn't remember ever feeling so calm and happy and like everything in the world was just how it was supposed to be. It was like when we were dancing the night before, like I was right where I was supposed to be.

When practice ended and I stopped my bike in front of the trailer. She hopped off, a little less gracefully than she meant to, and stumbled as she tried to get her legs to stop trembling. I laughed lightly, careful to make it known that I wasn't making fun of her, "Takes a bit to get used to it."

I walked the bike up into the trailer and turned around, seeing Rachel still wearing the helmet as I walked towards her and pulled it off her head, "I'm gonna need this."

Her hair pulled up with it and the static caused some long strands to stand straight up into the air. I couldn't hold back my giggles as she frowned and patted at her head and demanded, "What, what's wrong?"

"You're hair is sticking up," I said in between fits of giggles and within seconds her frown faded and she broke into giggles along with me. After the laughing had subsided I asked, "Did you have fun."

She gave me a hard look for a moment, but it wavered and broke into a wide smile, "I can't remember when I felt so- so alive!"

"I'm glad," I smiled and then she suddenly lunged at me, throwing her arms around my neck as she hugged me. My hands wrapped around her waist and I bent my head down resting my nose against her head, inhaling her scent. There wasn't any fruity smells now, no left over strawberry from the slushie or watermelon gum. She smelled entirely of vanilla and I had to resist the urge to lick her.

"Promise me you will take me again," she whispered into my ear, before turning her head to face towards me as she rested it against my chest. I could feel her nose brush against the side of my neck and I was so confused with what was going on. This wasn't a friendly hug by any means and she had to have known that. So why would she run away scared last night and want to forget all about it today, and yet hug me like this now? Why did she have to be so puzzling?

"Anytime," I sighed into her, ignoring the thoughts swirling around my head and relaxing into her embrace. I could figure it out later, when she wasn't nuzzling my neck with her nose.