Football Babe
Title: Football Babe
Author: snuffybaby
Disclaimer: RM and Co. own the Glee Universe
Rating: PG
Pairing: Puckleberry
Word Count: 5,157
Spoilers: AU, set during 211
Summary: Set during 211 “The Sue Sylvester Bowl Shuffle”; based on some drabble prompts at puckrachel drabblememe. Rachel plays football.
Author’s Note: Something fun after watching the super bowl episode. Oh, and I forgot to mention in my last post - I know pretty much nothing about football... just what some quick Wikipedia searches and football movies have been able to tell me...
Neimans:
Beiste doesn't have to hold Puck back for too long because he's more concerned with the fact that Chang was holding Berry off the ground as she kicked and screamed. He knew that girl was a biter when she was fired up (in more ways than one) so he ends up taking Rachel, throwing her over his shoulder, and getting her the fuck out of there before they both have juvie records.
Vanessaray:
AU in which Rachel gets the ball instead of Tina. When she gets tackled she actually gets injured (but not too seriously, like a broken arm or shoulder)
When she is laying in the end zone looking up at the field doctor Puck realizes that he can't live without her.
--
“The girl with the Mohawk had a really nice voice.”
“Funny,” Puck said calmly, smile on his face, lifting the guitar strap over his head. “Funny,” he repeated, before he grabbed the neck of the instrument and swung it back in an attempt to bash Azimio in the face.
That action spurred everyone to their feet.
Beiste and Schuester stepped in between the two clubs, trying to hold them back. Beiste stood in the way of Puckerman, while Schuester tried to hold Adams back.
Puck struggled to get around Beiste until he saw a familiar stocking clad foot fly very close to Azimio’s face. He turned his head to see Sam struggling to hold Rachel back from the fight. He muttered, “Shit,” before setting his guitar down. His eyes widened when he saw Sam’s arm waving close to her mouth as he tried to grab hold of her flailing arms. “Evans, watch her teeth.” Puck slid close enough to close a hand over Rachel’s mouth, his other arm wrapping around her waist, dragging her out of Sam’s hold and away from the rumbling.
Sam shook his arm in pain from the tiny sharp teeth. “A little more warning next time.”
“Yo, douche bags!” Puck shouted, getting everyone’s attention. “Get the fuck out of here before I let go of Killer here.”
They all looked at the struggling Rachel in disbelief.
Pleased at their idiot expressions, Puck accidentally relaxed his hold enough for Rachel to pull free.
All the guys in the room winced as they watched her launch herself at Azimio and land a well aimed foot in his groin. The thud at the football player hitting the ground was followed by a shocked silence.
Before Rachel could land another kick, Puck grabbed hold of her again. This time he lifted her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold, clamping her legs firmly down, even as she squirmed and beat at his back. A threat glinting in his eyes, he said, “Fair warning.”
The football team ran, two guys grabbing Azimio on their way out of the room.
Beiste followed after them, berating them the entire way.
The Glee Club continued to look at Rachel in wonder.
Santana broke the silence first, staring incredulously at Rachel. “What are you?”
“Let me go.” Rachel wiggled in Puck’s grip. “Let me at them.”
“Relax, Berry,” his grip tightened, “you already scared the big bad football players away.”
“Oh,” she blew an exasperated breath. She stopped struggling against his hold, exhausted. “Well… good.”
Sure that she was calm, Puck set her back on her feet. For safety reasons, he kept an arm around her waist, in case she decided to chase after the Titans.
Mercedes whispered to Tina. “Remind me never to fight with Rachel over a solo again.”
The Goth nodded in agreement; her eyes still wide in shock.
“She’s like a rabid animal,” Quinn whispered to Sam, who took a seat beside her. She glanced at the bite mark on his arm. “You might need a rabies shot.”
“Be nice.” He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, the skin didn’t even break.”
Schuester looked at Rachel. “What got into you?”
Still leaning back against Puck, her arms crossed as she answered primly, “Like I would stand for such criticism from uncouth, bigoted, close minded Neanderthals.”
“Yeah, but did you have to go for his junk?” Finn was still grimacing.
Artie sat with his hands crossed protectively in his lap. “The thud of your foot…” he shuddered, unable to finish the sentence.
“Given my petite stature, what other attack would have made an impact?” She tilted her head, eyeing the boys.
Puck smirked, “You’ve got dancer’s legs. I’m pretty sure Adams won’t ever be forgetting.”
Understanding the implication of strength that dancers developed in their legs, Mike cringed further.
She harrumphed, “Maybe that will teach him not to mess with Glee Club.”
“Message received, babe.”
Rachel happened to look down and noticed a run in her stocking. With a pout, she said, “He ruined my stockings.”
--
Finn and Puck were awkwardly standing together in front of the trophy case.
“Why’d you do that duet with Rachel?”
Puck shrugged, “She wanted to make you jealous. Surprise. It worked.”
“So you’re not like… into her or anything?”
He looked at him thinking the answer was obvious. “She’s a smoking hot Jew. Of course I’m into her.”
“What the hell?” Finn shoved him from the side.
“What? You dropped her. She’s fair game.”
“Dude, what happened to bros before hoes?”
“Exactly. It didn’t bother me that you dated Berry. She was mine first, after all.”
The quarterback gapped in disbelief.
“You didn’t think Berry would stay single for long, did you? That’s delusional.”
--
The work that New Directions and the Titans put into performing and perfecting their halftime show was all for nothing. After a slushie altercation between the Titans and the hockey team, the Titans had given up and quit Glee Club, forcing Beiste to kick them off the football team.
The remaining Titan members (also New Direction members) were left a few men short a football team.
It came to the female members of New Directions to save the day. The girls requested membership status to the Titans, which was granted after promising to stay down during the game, so that they wouldn’t get hurt.
On the night of the game, the girls strutted out on to the field in their new Titan uniforms. They were excited to show off how well they looked in their football gear.
Puck grabbed the grills of Rachel’s helmet. “Are you ready for this?”
“Let’s kick some ass!” she yelled in excitement.
The Titans lined up for the kickoff, the girls spinning around in confusion until the boys advised them where to crouch. Rachel gracefully lowered herself down with one leg to her left like the Halle Berry Catwoman stance. As soon as the ball snapped, she dropped to the ground and waited for the play to finished. She heard groans and boos come from the audience. She asked, “What happened? Is it over?” She glanced up at the score board and pouted. The other team had managed to intercept the play and score a touchdown.
Rachel’s competitive nature was not pleased.
--
By the end of the first quarter, Rachel was not impressed. The Titans were down by eleven. Finn had been sacked more times than not. The times that he was able to make a pass, it was intercepted.
The plan for her to lie down for each play was not to her liking any longer. And if Lauren could have so much fun sacking the QB from the other team, why couldn’t Rachel have fun playing football as well? Nodding to herself, she decided to act during the next play.
“Berry, what’s going on in that crazy head of yours?” Puck stopped in front of her.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She blew her bangs out of her eyes, before frowning at her helmet.
“I know that face. You’re up to something.”
“Hardly.”
There was no time for further discussion. The second quarter was starting and the huddle was called. Rachel listened carefully to the play that Finn was calling. Predicting that Finn would likely get sacked again, she crouched low at the kick off. As soon as he called, “Hike!” Lauren plowed the player opposite her, but two others sacked Finn before he could snap the ball toward Sam. The football dropped to the ground near Rachel. She grabbed the ball and went running.
Puck spotted her movement first and swore, “What the fuck is she doing?” before he mad dashed after her, clobbering anyone that got near her.
Years of ballet training kept Rachel light on her feet as she ran across the field twirling to dodge the approaching linebackers. Years of being targeted by slushie-carrying jocks had honed her senses, allowing her to duck as a defense back flew over her.
In front of her, Rachel saw the cornerback slammed by Sam. Path clear, she crossed into the end zone for the touchdown. Hearing the loud cheers and the whistle, she did a little twirl before she was lifted off her feet by number twenty in celebration.
“Shit, babe, you’re fucking fast,” Puck complimented her.
Sam high-fived her. “Daintiest running I’ve ever seen. Looked like you were dancing down the field.”
“I am a ballet dancer,” she harrumphed, tossing the football to Sam.
“Come on then, Prima Donna. Since you’re finally off your ass, we’ve got a game to win.”
--
After Rachel joined in and played, Tina decided that she wanted to play too. She crouched beside Rachel and asked softly, “I’m tired of lying down. I want to play too. What can I do?”
Rachel studied the Asian. “Can you run?”
Tina nodded.
“Catch?”
“No idea.”
“How about this? When the other team hikes the ball, their QB is going to probably try to throw it to the guy heading toward the left side of the field. We’ll chase after that guy. Catch the ball if you can, but just make sure no one’s close enough to hit you.”
“I can do that.”
“Run fast.” As soon as Rachel said that, the ball was in play. She went charging towards her target, as the rest of their opponents went to hold the boys back. She knew Tina was right behind her, so she took a minute to glance back at the other team’s QB. He threw the football in their direction. Picking up speed, she used her momentum to plow into the wide receiver, aiming low for his knees. She shouted to Tina, “Catch the ball!” even as she tipped the guy to the ground, landing over his legs.
Wide eyed, Tina stuck her arms out and caught the ball. She fumbled dangerously before it was safety in her grip.
“Run back the other way!” Rachel called, gesturing down toward the other end. She regained her feet and started a slow jog back, as she watched Tina’s progress. “Woo!” she cheered when Tina made the touchdown. “Go, Tina!”
Mike broke out his break dancing skills in celebration.
Everyone else was still staring at number one in dismay; though the crowd was still going wild at the sudden lead the Titans had achieved (even with two players short and almost half the team girls).
“Shit, Berry,” Puck shock his head, grin on his face, “you just clipped a guy twice your size.”
“High-five!” She bubbly clapped her hand against his.
Sam teased, squeezing her bicep. “You must be eating lots of spinach.”
“Spinach is a regular staple in my vegan diet.”
“You’re not an old pipe-smoking sailor in disguise, are you?”
She gave him a blank stare.
“You know,” he said weakly, “Popeye?”
“That chicken place?” Puck said dumbly.
Sam shook his head. “Never mind.”
“Let’s go, midget. The other team probably has their eye on you now.”
--
Three minutes to the end of the second half, the score was 17-14 Titans.
“How’s everybody doing?” Finn looked around at his team in the huddle.
“Kill me now. I’m gonna die,” Mercedes said, panting in exhaustion.
Rachel looked at her sympathetically. Although her body was fully trained for maximum endurance, the constant running at break neck paces was starting to get to her. She glanced at Tina who nodded her agreement.
“Just hold out a little longer. We’ve only got three minutes to the end of this quarter.”
“And then we have the halftime show,” Artie reminded.
“We can do this,” Finn said confidently. “We’re beating the other team with two guys short and half a team of girls-”
Rachel gave him a dirty look. “What’s the supposed to mean?”
“Yeah,” Tina added. “It’s the girls that have been scoring all the goals here.”
His eyes widened in surprise. “Nothing. Nothing. I didn’t mean anything. Just that you’re smaller and not trained for this.”
The girls harrumphed.
Puck rolled his eyes. “Hudson, just call the play before you piss anyone else off.”
“Punch and Judy on one. Ready? Break!”
Rachel raised her eyebrow as she headed to her spot in the lineup. She glanced at Lauren, “You’ll take those three, right?”
Lauren grinned and sneered at the three players in front of her. “Prepare to die.”
The brunette gave the player in front of her a polite smile and blew him a kiss when she heard, “Hike!” As she expected, he was distracted long enough to be clobbered by Zizes. She took off at a steady jog toward the end zone when she saw Finn hail Mary the football toward Sam.
The throw went wide.
She pumped her legs, watching as the corner back pushed Sam out of the way.
Just as it seems as if the opposing team would intercept the ball, Rachel leapt in front of the receiver and plucked the ball out of the air. Ball safely in hand, she fell into the cornerback, knocking them both to the ground, where she rolled to a stop inside the end zone.
“Rachel!”
Puck and Sam reached her first, taking a knee at either side. Finn and Mike stood over them to check on their teammate.
Beiste waved to the medic to follow her onto the field. “How is she?”
The medic completed a series of checks before gently taking off her helmet.
Puck’s heart stopped when he saw her collide against the other player; her momentum forcing them both to the ground; only slowing to a stop after a few quick rolls. He stared at her unconscious face, for once wishing that she was awake and talking. Seeing her eyes flutter, Puck leaned forward, “Rachel?”
Her eyes opened. “Did I get it?”
He grinned widely. “Hell yeah! Though that was a batshit crazy move.”
“It’s that stupid helmet. I’m not adept at tumbling with a heavy helmet disrupting my balance.”
“Pretty sure that helmet just saved your ass, babe.”
“Can you stand?” the medic asked.
Rachel took account of her limbs and nodded her head. “Although I believe I may have strained my shoulder.”
“Shit, Berry,” Puck wrapped an arm around her waist to help her up. “Which arm hurts?”
She winced as she moved. “Left.”
Beiste nodded to the medic. “Let’s get Rachel to the locker room and get her checked.”
Puck ignored the roars of the celebration as he guided Rachel back to the sidelines. “Go get checked out, Berry. I’ll take care of these losers.”
--
Mr. Schuester joined Coach Beiste and the medic in the locker room with Rachel. “Rachel, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Mr. Schuester.” She winced again when her arm was jarred when it was carefully lift to remove her jersey and shoulder pads. “I believe it is only a light strain. I’ll be fine for the halftime performance.”
“Are you sure? We can rework the piece again.”
“We’ve already had to tweak it since Santana is not here to sing the female lead and the football players aren’t participating. I’m fine. We’re supposed to be zombies. No one will find it odd if I move awkwardly. I’ll just need a sling that will go with my outfit.”
“Rachel,” Beiste interrupted, “it would be best if we got you to the hospital to make sure no muscles were torn.”
The brunette nodded. “Of course, I will have someone take me… after the halftime show.”
“Rachel-”
“No, Mr. Schue. We worked too hard to have this ruined.”
Conceding, Beiste nodded to the medic to go ahead and set her arm in the sling. “I’ll make sure the girls join you in the locker room to help you change.”
--
Puck managed to damage their opponent pretty badly in the last two minutes of the second half - one badly sprained ankle from being “accidentally” stepped on and one was carried off the field on a stretcher from being slammed forcefully in the solar plexus. No fouls were called against Puck, the ref deeming them accidents. Of course, if the ref had known anything about Puck, he would have known that no acts of aggression were accidents on Puck’s part.
Having rid himself of his most urgent need to cause pain, Puck stomped into the locker room to get an update on Rachel’s status and then potentially kicking some ass. He found Rachel easily. She was still sitting on the exam table with her arm braced to her chest. He stopped in front of her. “You good?”
“I’m excellent. If you would help me off this table, I need to go get ready for the show.”
His eyebrow arched. “You’re still doing the show?”
“Of course.” She held her good hand out for him to take.
Careful not to jar her, his hands went around her waist and he lifted her down. “Take care of yourself, okay? I had to take out two of those douches to keep myself from wailing on them all.”
“I really wish you would learn to control your violent impulses.”
“Look who’s talking, babe.”
Her mouth opened in shock. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Berry, you kicked Azimio in the junk; you tackled a football player two times bigger than you and landed on another one.”
“The latter two do not count. Physical contact is due course in football. The former…” she simply trailed off and shrugged. “Now, if you’ll let me go, I have to get ready for our show.”
Puck squeezed her waist gently, stepping closer to her. “But I like having my hands on you.”
She fluttered her eyes up at him and whispered huskily, “Later.” She slowly took a step closer to him, but then said in her normal voice, “When you take me to the hospital to have my arm checked after the game.”
“Tease,” he returned, his eyes intensely dark.
“If you win, maybe we can make out at my place.”
“You’re shitting.”
“Language.” Rachel frowned up at him. “But no, I’m not teasing you.”
“I shouldn’t do this to Finn.”
She looked up at him, flat lipped. “Does Finn think he can dictate who I date?”
“Hell if I know, but he’s my boy and I’ve already stepped in it twice,” he shrugged.
“This is one of those ‘bros before hoes’ scenarios?” she asked, air quotations and all.
“Babe, you’re no hoe.”
She placed her good hand on her hip and stared up at him. “So?”
“You’re sure you’re done with Hudson?”
“I don’t see him running to check on my wellbeing. He was unforgiving and I’ve decided to move on.”
He studied her for a moment. “Serious?”
She played with the hem of his jersey. “I can’t deny that there’s always been a certain attraction that I’ve had for your… ‘badassness’.”
He smirked, “No one can resist the guns.”
“Now go get ready for the halftime show.” She headed for the girls’ locker room, stopping at the door. “And don’t forget, no making out unless you win your championship. You can’t very well let my hard work go to waste.”
Puck watched her go before swearing angrily, “Fuck.” He stomped into the guys’ locker room to find his cowardly teammates packing up their lockers.
They all looked up at him, but none could think of anything to say. The Titans were clearly doing well without them.
“Listen up, you fuckers! You will all get into your zombie costumes and perform in the halftime show if I have to tie you all down and slapped the makeup on your faces. You’ll beg and pled for Beiste to let you back onto the team or so help me, I’m going to be pounding each and every one of your asses into the ground.”
Everyone was too intimidated to reply, so they all just grabbed their stuff and ran to do his bidding.
Karofsky sneered at the guys that abandoned him. “I’m no loser.”
Puck glared at him. “You’re the only one that I see standing in front of me. My Glee girls whooped ass out there with a team that was two men down. You think we really need you losers to win this game?”
“Then why make us come back?”
“Because my girls have done your jobs for long enough… And with a full team,” his eyes darkened with rage, “I can go about maiming the other team more discretely.”
--
Mercedes and Tina helped Rachel get ready for the performance, her fellow diva calling her crazy through the entire makeup process.
“Mercedes, this is show biz. You know the saying, the show must go on.” Rachel checked her brace and then her headset before leading the girls out on to the field.
They were met halfway by Quinn, Santana and Brittany.
Rachel pursed her lips. “I see you decided to return for the halftime show.”
Santana eyed the petite brunette before shrugging. “I didn’t like being at the bottom of the pyramid anyway.”
“Besides,” Quinn interjected, “we figured the winning team should have proper cheerleaders.”
Brittany simply waved ‘hi’.
Lauren scoffed, “You really think we’ve been cheering. We’ve been playing.”
Santana’s eyebrow lifted.
“You know how to play football?” Brittany said excitedly. “I never understand the rules.”
Quinn’s mouth dropped incredulously. “Really?” She glanced at the other three, “Even you?”
“Rachel scored two touchdowns,” Tina explained, “I scored one too.”
Mercedes crossed her arms. “If you had been around, you would’ve heard that most of the football players quit. We,” she gestured to her girls, “helped out our boys and joined the team so they could still play.” She narrowed her eyes at them. “We don’t abandon our friends.”
The girls’ face-off was interrupted when Sam and Puck found them.
“You girls coming?” Sam eyed them all nervously. “The guys are all ready.”
Puck saw the situation for what it was. “You can save your bitch showdown for after the game. For now, let’s move.” He wrapped his arm around Rachel’s waist. “You sure you can still do the solo?”
Rachel glanced at the other girls. “Since we seem to have a full cast again, I believe we should revert back to the original arrangement.” She carefully pulled off her headset and handed it to Santana.
It was a peace offering, which the Latina accepted graciously.
--
They killed it during the halftime show. Beiste allowed all the guys back on to the team, but threatened that if they messed up the lead the girls had managed to gain and maintain, she’d let Puck hang them all up by their underwear on the flag polls. Number twenty’s feral grin helped to drive the threat across.
Beiste grabbed Puck’s shoulder has he was about to saunter by. “I know you want to take your rage out on those boys for what happened to Rachel, but if I see any blatant roughhousing, I’m gonna bench you.”
He smirked. “I’ll keep it clean, Coach. Promise.”
As she watched him leave, she muttered to herself, “I highly doubt that.”
--
By the end of the game, the Titans had won the championship game and everyone in the stands were on their feet cheering.
Puck had restrained himself and had only injured three more players. He was off the field as soon as he high-fived Sam and Mike, and headed to the sidelines to get Rachel. “You ready?”
“Don’t you want to stay a bit to celebrate with your team?”
“Berry, half of the points on the board are yours. You are my team.” His hand went to the small of her back. “Come on, let me get rid of my gear and we can go.”
Rachel waved to the girls and left with Puck.
Santana frowned. “What was that?”
“Puck’s got the hots for Rachel,” Mercedes said bluntly.
Brittany clapped in excitement. “Puckleberry is on again! Whoo! Puckleberry! Puckleberry!” she bounced with joy into Artie’s lap. “How’s my man?”
The Glee guys had joined them and were looking at Brittany in various states of confusion.
“Puckleberry?” Sam asked.
“Puck and Rachel,” Tina explained, while wrapping her arm around her boyfriend.
Mike nodded in approval. “He finally fessed up.”
“What?” Finn said in disbelief.
Mercedes eyed him, a smug smirk on her lips. “You didn’t think she’d wait around for you, did you?”
“Rachel deserves better than you,” Tina added, giving him the evil eye.
“My diva!” Kurt called as he came down from the stands to join his old team. “That was some excellent lying down, you did!” He exchanged air kisses with Mercedes. He waved at the others before looking at Tina, “You and Rachel, by the way, are insane.” He glanced around. “Where is my other diva?”
“Puck’s taking her to have her arm checked,” Mercedes grinned.
“Oh, do I sense some Puckleberry rekindling?”
Finn looked at his stepbrother. “You knew?”
“Please, Finn. You were clear at Christmas time that you broke up with Rachel. It’s only right for her to move on.” He turned to Mercedes and Tina and gushed, “And with Puck. He’s the hottest guy in school.”
Blaine and the Hummels joined them.
“Finn,” Burt chucked him in the shoulder, “excellent game.” He waved at the girls. “You girls were great.”
Blaine nodded. “I didn’t know Rachel knew how to play.”
Kurt introduced the newcomer. “Guys, this is Blaine. Blaine, this is New Directions. And as far as I know, Rachel doesn’t know a thing about football. She’s just really peppy.”
“Girl’s a natural,” Burt praised. “When she tackled that guy, I couldn’t believe it.”
“And when she leapt for that intercept,” Blaine grinned, shaking his head in disbelief.
The guys all nodded and shared grins.
“It’s a shame she got hurt,” Carole reminded them all.
The guys all sobered and quickly agreed.
“Puck’s taking her to get her arm checked,” Mercedes reassured Mrs. Hummel.
Blaine smiled, “Not surprised that he volunteered. He was watching her back the entire game.”
“Definitely a capable guard. Had his work cut out for him.” Burt nodded to Sam, “You and Puckerman made a good team covering Rachel.”
“Not to mention all the suspicious injuries that started happening to the other team...” Sam trailed off.
Carole shook her head. “I kept expecting Puck to get benched for excessive force.”
“Carole, it was a football game. People get hurt.”
--
Puck spent his weekend with Rachel. He’d gone over to her place to look after her, but spent most of his time making out with her… and maybe a little homework.
Monday morning, McKinley was treated to the sight of Puck helping Rachel out of his truck. His arm slung over her good shoulder, he walked with her down the halls. They were met by the sight of all the football guys approaching them with slushies in their hands. They both tensed, but faced the guys down.
Puck glared at them. “What do you want, Karofsky?”
The linebacker glanced back at the rest of the guys before holding out the slushie in his hand to Rachel. “Peace offering.”
Rachel looked at all the red slushies that the guys were offering her. She studied their faces for a moment before nodding. “Thank you. I accept your apologies.” She glanced up at Puck, before looking back at them. A wide grin spread across her lips. “Please give the hockey team my best wishes.”
Karofsky frowned a bit, before he caught on to her meaning. “Seriously?”
“It’s only fair.”
“You’re still a freak… but you’re not bad, Berry.” He called back to his teammates. “Let’s go, guys.”
Puck watched them go before looking down at Rachel. “Seriously?”
“They weren’t going to stop the slushie facials. Since everyone is in the mood to keep their distance from me, I thought it would the best time to find them new targets.” She shrugged her one good shoulder. “Besides, you know my favorite flavor is grape.”
He smirked, before leaning down and kissing her. “Badass, babe. Badass.”
“I can be a manipulative bitch when it’s required.”
Their path to Rachel’s locker was stopped again when Santana stopped in front of them.
Puck glowered at her. “What do you want?”
“I just wanted to warn Rachel here that you had a wandering eye and that you’d be done with her by the end of the week.” Santana smirked with false helpfulness before walking away.
Rachel lifted her eyebrow.
“Ignore her, Rach. She’s cracked.”
She patted his hand. “I’m not worried. She didn’t warn me away from you, Noah. I’m pretty sure that’s Santana’s way of offering her consent to our relationship.”
“Whatever you say, babe. I don’t speak chick.”
When Rachel saw the next person approaching, she sighed, “I think I’m going to be late for the first time in my life.”
“Babe, just play the injured card. I do it all the time.” His arm tightened possessively around her shoulders, holding her closer to him. “Hudson.”
“What the hell, Puck?”
Puck’s thumb rubbed gently circles against her shoulder to keep her calm, so he could handle Finn. “Dude, do we have to go over this again? I told you before Rachel’s not your girlfriend anymore. She’s fair game.” He added, “She was my girlfriend first. You didn’t see me in your face when you poached.”
Finn couldn’t defend that, so he looked down at her. “Rachel-”
“Finn, we’re over. You said so yourself,” she touched the hand on her shoulder, “and I’ve moved on.”
“Come on, babe. Let’s get you to class.” Puck nodded to his boy. “Later.”
Rachel glanced up at Puck. “Noah, I’m not sure I like the entire ‘my girlfriend first’ part of your argument. I decide who I’m going to date.”
“Not arguing with you. You have to understand that Finn’s an idiot. You have to explain things to him in terms he’ll understand and accept.”
--
Mercedes and Tina kidnapped Rachel before Glee to gossip.
“So?” Mercedes looked at her fellow diva expectantly.
“Yes, Noah asked me to be his girl and I agreed.”
The girls squealed.
“‘Just friends,’” Mercedes mocked, remembering Rachel’s earlier protests, “as if we’d believe that.”
“We knew it!”
Rachel sighed, “He takes care of me; stands up for me… He treats me like Finn never did. And I feel more for him… different.”
“So did you…” Tina wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Red blossomed on her cheeks. “No. But we did spend all weekend making out.”
“Wandering hands?” Mercedes waved her fingers teasingly.
“Maybe some wandering… on both our parts,” Rachel grinned, before giggling.
“Come on, football stars, we’re gonna be late for Glee.”
The girls walked in, wide smiles on their faces. Tina went to sit with Mike and Rachel beside Puck; Mercedes taking a seat in front of them.
Puck kissed his girl in greeting. “How’re you doing?”
“Good,” she sighed, leaning back against him. “You?”
“Never better.”
--
The End
Author: snuffybaby
Disclaimer: RM and Co. own the Glee Universe
Rating: PG
Pairing: Puckleberry
Word Count: 5,157
Spoilers: AU, set during 211
Summary: Set during 211 “The Sue Sylvester Bowl Shuffle”; based on some drabble prompts at puckrachel drabblememe. Rachel plays football.
Author’s Note: Something fun after watching the super bowl episode. Oh, and I forgot to mention in my last post - I know pretty much nothing about football... just what some quick Wikipedia searches and football movies have been able to tell me...
Neimans:
Beiste doesn't have to hold Puck back for too long because he's more concerned with the fact that Chang was holding Berry off the ground as she kicked and screamed. He knew that girl was a biter when she was fired up (in more ways than one) so he ends up taking Rachel, throwing her over his shoulder, and getting her the fuck out of there before they both have juvie records.
Vanessaray:
AU in which Rachel gets the ball instead of Tina. When she gets tackled she actually gets injured (but not too seriously, like a broken arm or shoulder)
When she is laying in the end zone looking up at the field doctor Puck realizes that he can't live without her.
--
“The girl with the Mohawk had a really nice voice.”
“Funny,” Puck said calmly, smile on his face, lifting the guitar strap over his head. “Funny,” he repeated, before he grabbed the neck of the instrument and swung it back in an attempt to bash Azimio in the face.
That action spurred everyone to their feet.
Beiste and Schuester stepped in between the two clubs, trying to hold them back. Beiste stood in the way of Puckerman, while Schuester tried to hold Adams back.
Puck struggled to get around Beiste until he saw a familiar stocking clad foot fly very close to Azimio’s face. He turned his head to see Sam struggling to hold Rachel back from the fight. He muttered, “Shit,” before setting his guitar down. His eyes widened when he saw Sam’s arm waving close to her mouth as he tried to grab hold of her flailing arms. “Evans, watch her teeth.” Puck slid close enough to close a hand over Rachel’s mouth, his other arm wrapping around her waist, dragging her out of Sam’s hold and away from the rumbling.
Sam shook his arm in pain from the tiny sharp teeth. “A little more warning next time.”
“Yo, douche bags!” Puck shouted, getting everyone’s attention. “Get the fuck out of here before I let go of Killer here.”
They all looked at the struggling Rachel in disbelief.
Pleased at their idiot expressions, Puck accidentally relaxed his hold enough for Rachel to pull free.
All the guys in the room winced as they watched her launch herself at Azimio and land a well aimed foot in his groin. The thud at the football player hitting the ground was followed by a shocked silence.
Before Rachel could land another kick, Puck grabbed hold of her again. This time he lifted her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold, clamping her legs firmly down, even as she squirmed and beat at his back. A threat glinting in his eyes, he said, “Fair warning.”
The football team ran, two guys grabbing Azimio on their way out of the room.
Beiste followed after them, berating them the entire way.
The Glee Club continued to look at Rachel in wonder.
Santana broke the silence first, staring incredulously at Rachel. “What are you?”
“Let me go.” Rachel wiggled in Puck’s grip. “Let me at them.”
“Relax, Berry,” his grip tightened, “you already scared the big bad football players away.”
“Oh,” she blew an exasperated breath. She stopped struggling against his hold, exhausted. “Well… good.”
Sure that she was calm, Puck set her back on her feet. For safety reasons, he kept an arm around her waist, in case she decided to chase after the Titans.
Mercedes whispered to Tina. “Remind me never to fight with Rachel over a solo again.”
The Goth nodded in agreement; her eyes still wide in shock.
“She’s like a rabid animal,” Quinn whispered to Sam, who took a seat beside her. She glanced at the bite mark on his arm. “You might need a rabies shot.”
“Be nice.” He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, the skin didn’t even break.”
Schuester looked at Rachel. “What got into you?”
Still leaning back against Puck, her arms crossed as she answered primly, “Like I would stand for such criticism from uncouth, bigoted, close minded Neanderthals.”
“Yeah, but did you have to go for his junk?” Finn was still grimacing.
Artie sat with his hands crossed protectively in his lap. “The thud of your foot…” he shuddered, unable to finish the sentence.
“Given my petite stature, what other attack would have made an impact?” She tilted her head, eyeing the boys.
Puck smirked, “You’ve got dancer’s legs. I’m pretty sure Adams won’t ever be forgetting.”
Understanding the implication of strength that dancers developed in their legs, Mike cringed further.
She harrumphed, “Maybe that will teach him not to mess with Glee Club.”
“Message received, babe.”
Rachel happened to look down and noticed a run in her stocking. With a pout, she said, “He ruined my stockings.”
--
Finn and Puck were awkwardly standing together in front of the trophy case.
“Why’d you do that duet with Rachel?”
Puck shrugged, “She wanted to make you jealous. Surprise. It worked.”
“So you’re not like… into her or anything?”
He looked at him thinking the answer was obvious. “She’s a smoking hot Jew. Of course I’m into her.”
“What the hell?” Finn shoved him from the side.
“What? You dropped her. She’s fair game.”
“Dude, what happened to bros before hoes?”
“Exactly. It didn’t bother me that you dated Berry. She was mine first, after all.”
The quarterback gapped in disbelief.
“You didn’t think Berry would stay single for long, did you? That’s delusional.”
--
The work that New Directions and the Titans put into performing and perfecting their halftime show was all for nothing. After a slushie altercation between the Titans and the hockey team, the Titans had given up and quit Glee Club, forcing Beiste to kick them off the football team.
The remaining Titan members (also New Direction members) were left a few men short a football team.
It came to the female members of New Directions to save the day. The girls requested membership status to the Titans, which was granted after promising to stay down during the game, so that they wouldn’t get hurt.
On the night of the game, the girls strutted out on to the field in their new Titan uniforms. They were excited to show off how well they looked in their football gear.
Puck grabbed the grills of Rachel’s helmet. “Are you ready for this?”
“Let’s kick some ass!” she yelled in excitement.
The Titans lined up for the kickoff, the girls spinning around in confusion until the boys advised them where to crouch. Rachel gracefully lowered herself down with one leg to her left like the Halle Berry Catwoman stance. As soon as the ball snapped, she dropped to the ground and waited for the play to finished. She heard groans and boos come from the audience. She asked, “What happened? Is it over?” She glanced up at the score board and pouted. The other team had managed to intercept the play and score a touchdown.
Rachel’s competitive nature was not pleased.
--
By the end of the first quarter, Rachel was not impressed. The Titans were down by eleven. Finn had been sacked more times than not. The times that he was able to make a pass, it was intercepted.
The plan for her to lie down for each play was not to her liking any longer. And if Lauren could have so much fun sacking the QB from the other team, why couldn’t Rachel have fun playing football as well? Nodding to herself, she decided to act during the next play.
“Berry, what’s going on in that crazy head of yours?” Puck stopped in front of her.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She blew her bangs out of her eyes, before frowning at her helmet.
“I know that face. You’re up to something.”
“Hardly.”
There was no time for further discussion. The second quarter was starting and the huddle was called. Rachel listened carefully to the play that Finn was calling. Predicting that Finn would likely get sacked again, she crouched low at the kick off. As soon as he called, “Hike!” Lauren plowed the player opposite her, but two others sacked Finn before he could snap the ball toward Sam. The football dropped to the ground near Rachel. She grabbed the ball and went running.
Puck spotted her movement first and swore, “What the fuck is she doing?” before he mad dashed after her, clobbering anyone that got near her.
Years of ballet training kept Rachel light on her feet as she ran across the field twirling to dodge the approaching linebackers. Years of being targeted by slushie-carrying jocks had honed her senses, allowing her to duck as a defense back flew over her.
In front of her, Rachel saw the cornerback slammed by Sam. Path clear, she crossed into the end zone for the touchdown. Hearing the loud cheers and the whistle, she did a little twirl before she was lifted off her feet by number twenty in celebration.
“Shit, babe, you’re fucking fast,” Puck complimented her.
Sam high-fived her. “Daintiest running I’ve ever seen. Looked like you were dancing down the field.”
“I am a ballet dancer,” she harrumphed, tossing the football to Sam.
“Come on then, Prima Donna. Since you’re finally off your ass, we’ve got a game to win.”
--
After Rachel joined in and played, Tina decided that she wanted to play too. She crouched beside Rachel and asked softly, “I’m tired of lying down. I want to play too. What can I do?”
Rachel studied the Asian. “Can you run?”
Tina nodded.
“Catch?”
“No idea.”
“How about this? When the other team hikes the ball, their QB is going to probably try to throw it to the guy heading toward the left side of the field. We’ll chase after that guy. Catch the ball if you can, but just make sure no one’s close enough to hit you.”
“I can do that.”
“Run fast.” As soon as Rachel said that, the ball was in play. She went charging towards her target, as the rest of their opponents went to hold the boys back. She knew Tina was right behind her, so she took a minute to glance back at the other team’s QB. He threw the football in their direction. Picking up speed, she used her momentum to plow into the wide receiver, aiming low for his knees. She shouted to Tina, “Catch the ball!” even as she tipped the guy to the ground, landing over his legs.
Wide eyed, Tina stuck her arms out and caught the ball. She fumbled dangerously before it was safety in her grip.
“Run back the other way!” Rachel called, gesturing down toward the other end. She regained her feet and started a slow jog back, as she watched Tina’s progress. “Woo!” she cheered when Tina made the touchdown. “Go, Tina!”
Mike broke out his break dancing skills in celebration.
Everyone else was still staring at number one in dismay; though the crowd was still going wild at the sudden lead the Titans had achieved (even with two players short and almost half the team girls).
“Shit, Berry,” Puck shock his head, grin on his face, “you just clipped a guy twice your size.”
“High-five!” She bubbly clapped her hand against his.
Sam teased, squeezing her bicep. “You must be eating lots of spinach.”
“Spinach is a regular staple in my vegan diet.”
“You’re not an old pipe-smoking sailor in disguise, are you?”
She gave him a blank stare.
“You know,” he said weakly, “Popeye?”
“That chicken place?” Puck said dumbly.
Sam shook his head. “Never mind.”
“Let’s go, midget. The other team probably has their eye on you now.”
--
Three minutes to the end of the second half, the score was 17-14 Titans.
“How’s everybody doing?” Finn looked around at his team in the huddle.
“Kill me now. I’m gonna die,” Mercedes said, panting in exhaustion.
Rachel looked at her sympathetically. Although her body was fully trained for maximum endurance, the constant running at break neck paces was starting to get to her. She glanced at Tina who nodded her agreement.
“Just hold out a little longer. We’ve only got three minutes to the end of this quarter.”
“And then we have the halftime show,” Artie reminded.
“We can do this,” Finn said confidently. “We’re beating the other team with two guys short and half a team of girls-”
Rachel gave him a dirty look. “What’s the supposed to mean?”
“Yeah,” Tina added. “It’s the girls that have been scoring all the goals here.”
His eyes widened in surprise. “Nothing. Nothing. I didn’t mean anything. Just that you’re smaller and not trained for this.”
The girls harrumphed.
Puck rolled his eyes. “Hudson, just call the play before you piss anyone else off.”
“Punch and Judy on one. Ready? Break!”
Rachel raised her eyebrow as she headed to her spot in the lineup. She glanced at Lauren, “You’ll take those three, right?”
Lauren grinned and sneered at the three players in front of her. “Prepare to die.”
The brunette gave the player in front of her a polite smile and blew him a kiss when she heard, “Hike!” As she expected, he was distracted long enough to be clobbered by Zizes. She took off at a steady jog toward the end zone when she saw Finn hail Mary the football toward Sam.
The throw went wide.
She pumped her legs, watching as the corner back pushed Sam out of the way.
Just as it seems as if the opposing team would intercept the ball, Rachel leapt in front of the receiver and plucked the ball out of the air. Ball safely in hand, she fell into the cornerback, knocking them both to the ground, where she rolled to a stop inside the end zone.
“Rachel!”
Puck and Sam reached her first, taking a knee at either side. Finn and Mike stood over them to check on their teammate.
Beiste waved to the medic to follow her onto the field. “How is she?”
The medic completed a series of checks before gently taking off her helmet.
Puck’s heart stopped when he saw her collide against the other player; her momentum forcing them both to the ground; only slowing to a stop after a few quick rolls. He stared at her unconscious face, for once wishing that she was awake and talking. Seeing her eyes flutter, Puck leaned forward, “Rachel?”
Her eyes opened. “Did I get it?”
He grinned widely. “Hell yeah! Though that was a batshit crazy move.”
“It’s that stupid helmet. I’m not adept at tumbling with a heavy helmet disrupting my balance.”
“Pretty sure that helmet just saved your ass, babe.”
“Can you stand?” the medic asked.
Rachel took account of her limbs and nodded her head. “Although I believe I may have strained my shoulder.”
“Shit, Berry,” Puck wrapped an arm around her waist to help her up. “Which arm hurts?”
She winced as she moved. “Left.”
Beiste nodded to the medic. “Let’s get Rachel to the locker room and get her checked.”
Puck ignored the roars of the celebration as he guided Rachel back to the sidelines. “Go get checked out, Berry. I’ll take care of these losers.”
--
Mr. Schuester joined Coach Beiste and the medic in the locker room with Rachel. “Rachel, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Mr. Schuester.” She winced again when her arm was jarred when it was carefully lift to remove her jersey and shoulder pads. “I believe it is only a light strain. I’ll be fine for the halftime performance.”
“Are you sure? We can rework the piece again.”
“We’ve already had to tweak it since Santana is not here to sing the female lead and the football players aren’t participating. I’m fine. We’re supposed to be zombies. No one will find it odd if I move awkwardly. I’ll just need a sling that will go with my outfit.”
“Rachel,” Beiste interrupted, “it would be best if we got you to the hospital to make sure no muscles were torn.”
The brunette nodded. “Of course, I will have someone take me… after the halftime show.”
“Rachel-”
“No, Mr. Schue. We worked too hard to have this ruined.”
Conceding, Beiste nodded to the medic to go ahead and set her arm in the sling. “I’ll make sure the girls join you in the locker room to help you change.”
--
Puck managed to damage their opponent pretty badly in the last two minutes of the second half - one badly sprained ankle from being “accidentally” stepped on and one was carried off the field on a stretcher from being slammed forcefully in the solar plexus. No fouls were called against Puck, the ref deeming them accidents. Of course, if the ref had known anything about Puck, he would have known that no acts of aggression were accidents on Puck’s part.
Having rid himself of his most urgent need to cause pain, Puck stomped into the locker room to get an update on Rachel’s status and then potentially kicking some ass. He found Rachel easily. She was still sitting on the exam table with her arm braced to her chest. He stopped in front of her. “You good?”
“I’m excellent. If you would help me off this table, I need to go get ready for the show.”
His eyebrow arched. “You’re still doing the show?”
“Of course.” She held her good hand out for him to take.
Careful not to jar her, his hands went around her waist and he lifted her down. “Take care of yourself, okay? I had to take out two of those douches to keep myself from wailing on them all.”
“I really wish you would learn to control your violent impulses.”
“Look who’s talking, babe.”
Her mouth opened in shock. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Berry, you kicked Azimio in the junk; you tackled a football player two times bigger than you and landed on another one.”
“The latter two do not count. Physical contact is due course in football. The former…” she simply trailed off and shrugged. “Now, if you’ll let me go, I have to get ready for our show.”
Puck squeezed her waist gently, stepping closer to her. “But I like having my hands on you.”
She fluttered her eyes up at him and whispered huskily, “Later.” She slowly took a step closer to him, but then said in her normal voice, “When you take me to the hospital to have my arm checked after the game.”
“Tease,” he returned, his eyes intensely dark.
“If you win, maybe we can make out at my place.”
“You’re shitting.”
“Language.” Rachel frowned up at him. “But no, I’m not teasing you.”
“I shouldn’t do this to Finn.”
She looked up at him, flat lipped. “Does Finn think he can dictate who I date?”
“Hell if I know, but he’s my boy and I’ve already stepped in it twice,” he shrugged.
“This is one of those ‘bros before hoes’ scenarios?” she asked, air quotations and all.
“Babe, you’re no hoe.”
She placed her good hand on her hip and stared up at him. “So?”
“You’re sure you’re done with Hudson?”
“I don’t see him running to check on my wellbeing. He was unforgiving and I’ve decided to move on.”
He studied her for a moment. “Serious?”
She played with the hem of his jersey. “I can’t deny that there’s always been a certain attraction that I’ve had for your… ‘badassness’.”
He smirked, “No one can resist the guns.”
“Now go get ready for the halftime show.” She headed for the girls’ locker room, stopping at the door. “And don’t forget, no making out unless you win your championship. You can’t very well let my hard work go to waste.”
Puck watched her go before swearing angrily, “Fuck.” He stomped into the guys’ locker room to find his cowardly teammates packing up their lockers.
They all looked up at him, but none could think of anything to say. The Titans were clearly doing well without them.
“Listen up, you fuckers! You will all get into your zombie costumes and perform in the halftime show if I have to tie you all down and slapped the makeup on your faces. You’ll beg and pled for Beiste to let you back onto the team or so help me, I’m going to be pounding each and every one of your asses into the ground.”
Everyone was too intimidated to reply, so they all just grabbed their stuff and ran to do his bidding.
Karofsky sneered at the guys that abandoned him. “I’m no loser.”
Puck glared at him. “You’re the only one that I see standing in front of me. My Glee girls whooped ass out there with a team that was two men down. You think we really need you losers to win this game?”
“Then why make us come back?”
“Because my girls have done your jobs for long enough… And with a full team,” his eyes darkened with rage, “I can go about maiming the other team more discretely.”
--
Mercedes and Tina helped Rachel get ready for the performance, her fellow diva calling her crazy through the entire makeup process.
“Mercedes, this is show biz. You know the saying, the show must go on.” Rachel checked her brace and then her headset before leading the girls out on to the field.
They were met halfway by Quinn, Santana and Brittany.
Rachel pursed her lips. “I see you decided to return for the halftime show.”
Santana eyed the petite brunette before shrugging. “I didn’t like being at the bottom of the pyramid anyway.”
“Besides,” Quinn interjected, “we figured the winning team should have proper cheerleaders.”
Brittany simply waved ‘hi’.
Lauren scoffed, “You really think we’ve been cheering. We’ve been playing.”
Santana’s eyebrow lifted.
“You know how to play football?” Brittany said excitedly. “I never understand the rules.”
Quinn’s mouth dropped incredulously. “Really?” She glanced at the other three, “Even you?”
“Rachel scored two touchdowns,” Tina explained, “I scored one too.”
Mercedes crossed her arms. “If you had been around, you would’ve heard that most of the football players quit. We,” she gestured to her girls, “helped out our boys and joined the team so they could still play.” She narrowed her eyes at them. “We don’t abandon our friends.”
The girls’ face-off was interrupted when Sam and Puck found them.
“You girls coming?” Sam eyed them all nervously. “The guys are all ready.”
Puck saw the situation for what it was. “You can save your bitch showdown for after the game. For now, let’s move.” He wrapped his arm around Rachel’s waist. “You sure you can still do the solo?”
Rachel glanced at the other girls. “Since we seem to have a full cast again, I believe we should revert back to the original arrangement.” She carefully pulled off her headset and handed it to Santana.
It was a peace offering, which the Latina accepted graciously.
--
They killed it during the halftime show. Beiste allowed all the guys back on to the team, but threatened that if they messed up the lead the girls had managed to gain and maintain, she’d let Puck hang them all up by their underwear on the flag polls. Number twenty’s feral grin helped to drive the threat across.
Beiste grabbed Puck’s shoulder has he was about to saunter by. “I know you want to take your rage out on those boys for what happened to Rachel, but if I see any blatant roughhousing, I’m gonna bench you.”
He smirked. “I’ll keep it clean, Coach. Promise.”
As she watched him leave, she muttered to herself, “I highly doubt that.”
--
By the end of the game, the Titans had won the championship game and everyone in the stands were on their feet cheering.
Puck had restrained himself and had only injured three more players. He was off the field as soon as he high-fived Sam and Mike, and headed to the sidelines to get Rachel. “You ready?”
“Don’t you want to stay a bit to celebrate with your team?”
“Berry, half of the points on the board are yours. You are my team.” His hand went to the small of her back. “Come on, let me get rid of my gear and we can go.”
Rachel waved to the girls and left with Puck.
Santana frowned. “What was that?”
“Puck’s got the hots for Rachel,” Mercedes said bluntly.
Brittany clapped in excitement. “Puckleberry is on again! Whoo! Puckleberry! Puckleberry!” she bounced with joy into Artie’s lap. “How’s my man?”
The Glee guys had joined them and were looking at Brittany in various states of confusion.
“Puckleberry?” Sam asked.
“Puck and Rachel,” Tina explained, while wrapping her arm around her boyfriend.
Mike nodded in approval. “He finally fessed up.”
“What?” Finn said in disbelief.
Mercedes eyed him, a smug smirk on her lips. “You didn’t think she’d wait around for you, did you?”
“Rachel deserves better than you,” Tina added, giving him the evil eye.
“My diva!” Kurt called as he came down from the stands to join his old team. “That was some excellent lying down, you did!” He exchanged air kisses with Mercedes. He waved at the others before looking at Tina, “You and Rachel, by the way, are insane.” He glanced around. “Where is my other diva?”
“Puck’s taking her to have her arm checked,” Mercedes grinned.
“Oh, do I sense some Puckleberry rekindling?”
Finn looked at his stepbrother. “You knew?”
“Please, Finn. You were clear at Christmas time that you broke up with Rachel. It’s only right for her to move on.” He turned to Mercedes and Tina and gushed, “And with Puck. He’s the hottest guy in school.”
Blaine and the Hummels joined them.
“Finn,” Burt chucked him in the shoulder, “excellent game.” He waved at the girls. “You girls were great.”
Blaine nodded. “I didn’t know Rachel knew how to play.”
Kurt introduced the newcomer. “Guys, this is Blaine. Blaine, this is New Directions. And as far as I know, Rachel doesn’t know a thing about football. She’s just really peppy.”
“Girl’s a natural,” Burt praised. “When she tackled that guy, I couldn’t believe it.”
“And when she leapt for that intercept,” Blaine grinned, shaking his head in disbelief.
The guys all nodded and shared grins.
“It’s a shame she got hurt,” Carole reminded them all.
The guys all sobered and quickly agreed.
“Puck’s taking her to get her arm checked,” Mercedes reassured Mrs. Hummel.
Blaine smiled, “Not surprised that he volunteered. He was watching her back the entire game.”
“Definitely a capable guard. Had his work cut out for him.” Burt nodded to Sam, “You and Puckerman made a good team covering Rachel.”
“Not to mention all the suspicious injuries that started happening to the other team...” Sam trailed off.
Carole shook her head. “I kept expecting Puck to get benched for excessive force.”
“Carole, it was a football game. People get hurt.”
--
Puck spent his weekend with Rachel. He’d gone over to her place to look after her, but spent most of his time making out with her… and maybe a little homework.
Monday morning, McKinley was treated to the sight of Puck helping Rachel out of his truck. His arm slung over her good shoulder, he walked with her down the halls. They were met by the sight of all the football guys approaching them with slushies in their hands. They both tensed, but faced the guys down.
Puck glared at them. “What do you want, Karofsky?”
The linebacker glanced back at the rest of the guys before holding out the slushie in his hand to Rachel. “Peace offering.”
Rachel looked at all the red slushies that the guys were offering her. She studied their faces for a moment before nodding. “Thank you. I accept your apologies.” She glanced up at Puck, before looking back at them. A wide grin spread across her lips. “Please give the hockey team my best wishes.”
Karofsky frowned a bit, before he caught on to her meaning. “Seriously?”
“It’s only fair.”
“You’re still a freak… but you’re not bad, Berry.” He called back to his teammates. “Let’s go, guys.”
Puck watched them go before looking down at Rachel. “Seriously?”
“They weren’t going to stop the slushie facials. Since everyone is in the mood to keep their distance from me, I thought it would the best time to find them new targets.” She shrugged her one good shoulder. “Besides, you know my favorite flavor is grape.”
He smirked, before leaning down and kissing her. “Badass, babe. Badass.”
“I can be a manipulative bitch when it’s required.”
Their path to Rachel’s locker was stopped again when Santana stopped in front of them.
Puck glowered at her. “What do you want?”
“I just wanted to warn Rachel here that you had a wandering eye and that you’d be done with her by the end of the week.” Santana smirked with false helpfulness before walking away.
Rachel lifted her eyebrow.
“Ignore her, Rach. She’s cracked.”
She patted his hand. “I’m not worried. She didn’t warn me away from you, Noah. I’m pretty sure that’s Santana’s way of offering her consent to our relationship.”
“Whatever you say, babe. I don’t speak chick.”
When Rachel saw the next person approaching, she sighed, “I think I’m going to be late for the first time in my life.”
“Babe, just play the injured card. I do it all the time.” His arm tightened possessively around her shoulders, holding her closer to him. “Hudson.”
“What the hell, Puck?”
Puck’s thumb rubbed gently circles against her shoulder to keep her calm, so he could handle Finn. “Dude, do we have to go over this again? I told you before Rachel’s not your girlfriend anymore. She’s fair game.” He added, “She was my girlfriend first. You didn’t see me in your face when you poached.”
Finn couldn’t defend that, so he looked down at her. “Rachel-”
“Finn, we’re over. You said so yourself,” she touched the hand on her shoulder, “and I’ve moved on.”
“Come on, babe. Let’s get you to class.” Puck nodded to his boy. “Later.”
Rachel glanced up at Puck. “Noah, I’m not sure I like the entire ‘my girlfriend first’ part of your argument. I decide who I’m going to date.”
“Not arguing with you. You have to understand that Finn’s an idiot. You have to explain things to him in terms he’ll understand and accept.”
--
Mercedes and Tina kidnapped Rachel before Glee to gossip.
“So?” Mercedes looked at her fellow diva expectantly.
“Yes, Noah asked me to be his girl and I agreed.”
The girls squealed.
“‘Just friends,’” Mercedes mocked, remembering Rachel’s earlier protests, “as if we’d believe that.”
“We knew it!”
Rachel sighed, “He takes care of me; stands up for me… He treats me like Finn never did. And I feel more for him… different.”
“So did you…” Tina wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Red blossomed on her cheeks. “No. But we did spend all weekend making out.”
“Wandering hands?” Mercedes waved her fingers teasingly.
“Maybe some wandering… on both our parts,” Rachel grinned, before giggling.
“Come on, football stars, we’re gonna be late for Glee.”
The girls walked in, wide smiles on their faces. Tina went to sit with Mike and Rachel beside Puck; Mercedes taking a seat in front of them.
Puck kissed his girl in greeting. “How’re you doing?”
“Good,” she sighed, leaning back against him. “You?”
“Never better.”
--
The End