Fic: So Let's Cause a Scene [Matt/Rachel]
Title: So Let's Cause a Scene [1/1]
Author: Unequivocally
Characters/Pairings: Matt/Rachel, mention of Puck/Rachel; Appearances by various Glee members
Rating: Pure, unadulterated fluff. PG
Word Count: 2,545
Spoilers: None
Summary: The Rumor Mill is quite efficient at McKinley High.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. No money is made, no infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Attempting a new format with this one, swapping between past events and current events. I don't often write in past tense and I certainly never swap between the two, but I tried it here. Please let me know how it worked out. =)
Written for Kitiara1304. I promised her Matt/Rachel fic back in December and I'm finally finishing it. My apologies for taking so long. Thank you to une_fille, of_hearts, and becca_radcgg for allowing me to whine, bitch, moan, bounce ideas off of them and every other annoying thing I've done over the course of our friendships. I know the list is daunting.
I've been waiting all this time to be
Something I can't define so let's
Cause a scene
Clap our hands and stomp our feet or something
-----
It started like this:
Matt Rutherford found Rachel Berry crying in the music room on a Tuesday during second period.
(Actually, it started like this: during Homeroom, he remembered that he had a presentation due in second period. He spent all of first trying to look like he was actually working while he attempted to throw together some half-assed paper up until five minutes before the bell rang, at which point he decided that there was just no way this was happening and instead chose to skip second period altogether and bring it in tomorrow. )
So. Yeah. That's how he ended up in the music room during second period with Rachel Berry hunched over in a plastic chair, her face in her hands. He had a few simultaneous thoughts when he saw her. Including, "Uhh..." followed closely by, "Well, shit."
He assumed it has something to do with one of the hockey players, and when he noticed that she was neither covered in Slushie nor smelling like garbage, he briefly wondered what cruel new plan they'd thought up for her. Then he thought that they must be getting pretty ballsy, because the last time a hockey player messed with Rachel, Puck and Finn beat him so badly he had to sit out at that night's hockey game.
At first, he considered not saying anything, but then he thought back to one of her many we're a team/family/club/social allies speeches and figured, hell, maybe he should say something.
He hadn't mastered the art of handling Rachel Berry, and he definitely wasn't qualified to handle an upset Rachel Berry, so he sort of shuffled his feet, cleared his throat and said, "Uh, are you ok?" and hoped that she would just dismiss him so she could cry in private.
She snapped her head up in surprise, sucking in a deep breath of air to steady her sobs.
"Matt," she said shakily, wiping away her tears shamefully with the back of her hand, "I didn't hear you come in."
He shifted uneasily, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Well, are uh... are you ok?" He repeated and when she nodded slowly, he assumed that his duty as teammate was done. And when she tossed him a shy half-smile, he breathed a sigh of relief and started backpedaling towards the door, muttering, "Ok, well, I'll just leave--"
"It's just, Noah Puckerman is such an ass!" She finally fumed, and she actually stomped one of her ballet flats in emphasis.
Oh. Puck.
He should've known.
-
"I didn't even know you liked Rachel," Brittany says in her breathless tone when he tells her between periods. Then she cocks her head to the side slightly, deep in thought. "Though, I could see why you would like her. She is pretty and smart and she has very nice legs. Her butt is quite nice, too..."
There is a silence and he can't quite tell if it's awkward. Brittany continues.
"Sometimes she smells like apples."
He wonders how she always sounds so airy all the time, and he nods as he puts his books into his locker.
"I like apples," he says and Brittany fingers the padlock on the neighboring locker delicately.
"Yes," she says brightly, "I do, too."
-
He really should have known that whatever it was that was bothering Rachel, it'd have to do with Puck.
Puck and Rachel were no secret.
(Not after that practice a few months ago when they both stumbled into the choir room late; Rachel's skirt was on backwards and Puck's belt was suddenly missing and the both of them were breathless. Add in the giant love bite below Rachel's ear, and even Brittany understood what was going on.)
Even though everyone was fully aware of their situation, Puck still refused to acknowledge the entire thing. He'd heard him say more than once that "Berry is absolutely not my girlfriend, fuckers," even though Rachel would be standing right next to him, and then they'd start fighting again until he was calling her uptight and she was calling him a troglodyte--whatever the hell that is--and then they'd go two or three days without talking.
So, yeah.
He wasn't really that surprised to find her crying into her hands over Puck. But he was surprised when she held his gaze fiercely and said with vehemence, "Noah Puckerman is an incorrigible louse and I am sorry to have ever met him."
"Right," he said and he started to wonder if maybe he should have just gone to class. Or at the very least, gone to the weight room, which was blessedly drama-free.
"He is an abhorrent, contemptible, foul excuse for a human being who has absolutely no redeeming qualities, save for an exceptional singing voice. He is vulgar and rude and his mohawk is ridiculous, if we're being perfectly candid. And let's not even mention..."
She started using words he didn't really understand and his stomach was kinda of growling, so he said what he thought would end the conversation quickly: "Yeah, he can be kind of an ass, huh?"
Oh.
Wrong thing to say.
-
Santana corners him against his locker before lunch period, scowling as she adjusts the book bag on her back.
"Another one bites the fuckin' dust," she murmurs, shaking her head in disgust, "So what, is Berry like, our new team mascot? Do you guys take turns drawing straws after football practice?"
"It's just a date, San." He shrugs and shifts away from her, putting some distance between himself and her glare. "Going to a movie. And don't... talk about her that way," he finishes lamely, his voice faltering when she narrows her eyes.
"Whatever, Rutherford," she says, throwing her ponytail over her shoulder, "I don't care who you fuck. You just better hope Puck doesn't find out."
Oh, yeah.
Puck.
Shit.
-
Apparently, when Rachel Berry is on a verbal rampage, the last thing you want to do is enable it. If only he knew better at the time.
One rookie mistake of calling Puck an asshole, and she was off. He'd never heard so many words in his life and he was pretty sure she stopped breathing somewhere between repulsive abomination and loathsome creep; she halted her tirade only when her lips began to turn blue.
"He is positively infuriating, who does he think he is, treating people the way he does?" And just like that, she went from screaming to crying, and she buried her face in her hands as she began to sob once more. "I just don't understand him."
"Um..."
"Is that a masculine thing, to be so horribly cruel?"
"I don't--"
"Because if that's a male thing, please inform me immediately so that I can plan accordingly."
There was an awkward moment between them as his thoughts raced towards Plan accordingly? and Lesbianism? and when he noticed her staring at him, he fidgeted slightly and scratched the back of his neck.
"Not all of us," he finally mumbled, embarrassed, "I don't think so, anyways."
Her eyes started to water again--good God, did she have a range of emotions--and she gripped the edge of her seat tightly. "I suppose you're right. Making a blanket statement about the opposite sex like that is unfair of me."
"Especially since Puck's been your sample for the male population," he blurted, "We don't really have fair representation."
She laughed, a tiny chuckle in the back of her throat, but it was enough to make him smile and take a few steps towards her.
"Look," he said as he closed the gap between them hesitantly, "You just gotta forget about him, then. Puck's Puck, the dude doesn't change."
She left out a defeated sigh and kicked the linoleum with her shoe. "No, I suppose he won't."
-
When Kurt stops him in the hall with Two Snaps and a Circle, Matt immediately assumes that he's heard about Rachel.
That, or he's here to tell him that Finn Hudson is spoken for, which means they're going to have another one of their awkward, I Don't Want Him Kurt No Really I'm Not Gay Yes I Know I Can Dance But Really Kurt Really, conversations.
He sincerely hopes it's about Rachel.
"I hear you'll be escorting our female lead to the movies this Saturday?" He says, feigning indifference, "I assume that she's finally over tall, dark and lecherous?"
"Mmm," Matt mutters noncommittally, "What she said."
"Hmm," Kurt hums, flicking an invisible piece of lint off of his sleeve, "I wish you the best then, Matthew."
"Uh, thanks."
Mercedes takes that moment to saunter up to them, linking her arm in Kurt's. "Boy, you need all the luck you can get your little hands on," she says and Matt feels his eyes roll.
"Let me guess, 'cause Puck is going to be oh-so-mad at me?" He's getting kind of tired of being told he's the second fiddle, and he hasn't even gone on the first date.
"What? No," She scoffs, pushing her hair through her fingers as Kurt pulls her towards their class, "I meant because Rachel is damn crazy."
-
The words left his mouth before he could even stop them, really.
He doesn't know what it was; maybe it was the depressed look on her face or the way she blinked super-fast to try and keep back tears.
Or maybe it was that her skirt had bunched up her thighs just a little bit, giving him a peek at her killer legs. He could definitely understand Puck's obsession with the chick if he got to look at those legs daily.
Whatever the reason, he barely had time to register the thought before he opened his mouth to blurt out, "Wanna go out with me this Saturday?"
She leveled him with a gaze and pursed her lips. "I don't find your jokes very amusing, Matt."
"What? No! No joke!" Oh. It was not going as well as he had hoped, which... well he wasn't sure what it was he had been hoping for, really. Not this.
Rachel eyed him suspiciously before standing from her chair and crossing her arms over her chest defensively. "I do suppose that staying cooped inside the house all weekend will do me no good at all."
"Exactly! And it'll teach Puck a lesson, right?"
The words softened her and she dropped her arms to her side when she asked, "Do you really think he'd even care?"
-
He tells Mike during lunch over a game of paper football.
"Dude, Rachel Berry is so hot," Mike says, flicking the folded triangle across the table.
"Yeah," Matt agrees.
"Think she'll let you get to second?"
"Dunno."
"I wonder what kind of panties she wears under those skirts."
The game goes into intermission as they contemplate this.
-
Matt didn't know Rachel very well, but he did know this: she was definitely in the upper tier in terms of hotness, and though Puck complained--frequently--about her sanity, Matt had yet to see her act out in a manner that warranted such claims.
So when she dropped her arms to her side and asked if he thought a date would gather Puck's attentions, he answered honestly.
"I don't really care."
She raised her eyebrows and looked at him quizzically before he clarified.
"I asked you out because I wanna go out with you, not because I think it'll help Puck see what a giant asshat he is."
This made her smile and she cocked her head at him slightly when she replied, "Well, he is a giant asshat, isn't he?"
-
Finn stops him on the way to 5th period with a hand on his shoulder and a hurried, "Hey. Dude."
Matt slows his stride, but does not stop, and Finn catches up with him and matches his pace easily. Which, of course, is no giant surprise since the guy is about eight feet tall with the legs to match.
"Heard about you and Rach," he says, and Matt wonders if that's a bit of annoyance in his voice.
"Yeah, so what."
They dodge the flow of students effortlessly, and when they can't, he shoves a freshman out of his way despite the soft sigh of disappointment it elicits from Finn.
"Yeah, about that," Hudson continues, "Puck."
"I am so sick of listening to people talk about that douche," Matt mutters. He's pretty much on his last nerve about this whole thing and he's about to open his mouth to tell him to go blow Puckerman if he cares that much about him, but his friend cuts him off by pulling him out of the flow of students and against the lockers.
"Listen, I'm just giving you a heads up, man. Puck knows."
-
He wasn't a moron.
He knew that Puck and Rachel had whatever it was that they had, and it ran much deeper than some random proposal during second period. But when Rachel smiled brightly at him and said, "Matt, I'd love to go out with you this weekend," he sorta didn't care.
It was like that Spanish proverb, Carpe diem, or whatever, right?
-
Puck corners him against a locker after 6th period and he would be intimidated if not for the fact that he's known the guy since seventh grade and he's got a decent enough handle on the dude to know his fighting style; and whatever, he didn't make right tackle because he was a pushover, anyways.
"Heard you gotta date with Berry," Puck says casually, leaning against the lockers with his arms folded across his chest.
"Yeah, maybe I do," Matt snipes back, already bored with this pissing contest over a girl Puck acts like he doesn't even want, anyways.
This makes Puck chuckle, and he claps Matt hard on the back before sauntering off. "Whatever, dude," he rumbles as he crosses the hall, "she'll be back. She always is."
-
On his way to the choir room after school, Matt is stopped by a small hand on his bicep and the sound of Rachel's voice calling his name.
"I wanted to talk to you about our date this weekend," she says and by the way she drops her eyes to the ground, Matt knows what's coming. Wouldn't it figure that the one time Puck was right, it'd be about this.
"Yeah, hey," he shrugs and though he didn't expect it, the disappointment tastes like bile in his throat, "It's cool."
"Well, I was just wondering if instead of the movies, we could do the museum?" She looks up at him hopefully and then continues without breathing, "I realize that we'd said the movies and as a young man, you're probably much more interested in an action flick rather than something quite as boring as a museum, but it's the last weekend of this exhi--"
"Hey, Rachel," Matt cuts her off as gently as possible, "I'd love to go to the museum with you."
She smiles brightly at him before linking her arm within his and he tries not to feel too much of a cliche when he escorts her to Glee practice.
"I'm quite looking forward to this, Matthew."
(The look on everybody's face when they enter together was well worth all the trouble.)
-----
So lets make a list of who we need
And its not much, if anything
Lets make a list of who we need
And we'll throw it away cause we dont need anyone
No we dont need anyone
-----
Author: Unequivocally
Characters/Pairings: Matt/Rachel, mention of Puck/Rachel; Appearances by various Glee members
Rating: Pure, unadulterated fluff. PG
Word Count: 2,545
Spoilers: None
Summary: The Rumor Mill is quite efficient at McKinley High.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. No money is made, no infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Attempting a new format with this one, swapping between past events and current events. I don't often write in past tense and I certainly never swap between the two, but I tried it here. Please let me know how it worked out. =)
Written for Kitiara1304. I promised her Matt/Rachel fic back in December and I'm finally finishing it. My apologies for taking so long. Thank you to une_fille, of_hearts, and becca_radcgg for allowing me to whine, bitch, moan, bounce ideas off of them and every other annoying thing I've done over the course of our friendships. I know the list is daunting.
I've been waiting all this time to be
Something I can't define so let's
Cause a scene
Clap our hands and stomp our feet or something
-----
It started like this:
Matt Rutherford found Rachel Berry crying in the music room on a Tuesday during second period.
(Actually, it started like this: during Homeroom, he remembered that he had a presentation due in second period. He spent all of first trying to look like he was actually working while he attempted to throw together some half-assed paper up until five minutes before the bell rang, at which point he decided that there was just no way this was happening and instead chose to skip second period altogether and bring it in tomorrow. )
So. Yeah. That's how he ended up in the music room during second period with Rachel Berry hunched over in a plastic chair, her face in her hands. He had a few simultaneous thoughts when he saw her. Including, "Uhh..." followed closely by, "Well, shit."
He assumed it has something to do with one of the hockey players, and when he noticed that she was neither covered in Slushie nor smelling like garbage, he briefly wondered what cruel new plan they'd thought up for her. Then he thought that they must be getting pretty ballsy, because the last time a hockey player messed with Rachel, Puck and Finn beat him so badly he had to sit out at that night's hockey game.
At first, he considered not saying anything, but then he thought back to one of her many we're a team/family/club/social allies speeches and figured, hell, maybe he should say something.
He hadn't mastered the art of handling Rachel Berry, and he definitely wasn't qualified to handle an upset Rachel Berry, so he sort of shuffled his feet, cleared his throat and said, "Uh, are you ok?" and hoped that she would just dismiss him so she could cry in private.
She snapped her head up in surprise, sucking in a deep breath of air to steady her sobs.
"Matt," she said shakily, wiping away her tears shamefully with the back of her hand, "I didn't hear you come in."
He shifted uneasily, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Well, are uh... are you ok?" He repeated and when she nodded slowly, he assumed that his duty as teammate was done. And when she tossed him a shy half-smile, he breathed a sigh of relief and started backpedaling towards the door, muttering, "Ok, well, I'll just leave--"
"It's just, Noah Puckerman is such an ass!" She finally fumed, and she actually stomped one of her ballet flats in emphasis.
Oh. Puck.
He should've known.
-
"I didn't even know you liked Rachel," Brittany says in her breathless tone when he tells her between periods. Then she cocks her head to the side slightly, deep in thought. "Though, I could see why you would like her. She is pretty and smart and she has very nice legs. Her butt is quite nice, too..."
There is a silence and he can't quite tell if it's awkward. Brittany continues.
"Sometimes she smells like apples."
He wonders how she always sounds so airy all the time, and he nods as he puts his books into his locker.
"I like apples," he says and Brittany fingers the padlock on the neighboring locker delicately.
"Yes," she says brightly, "I do, too."
-
He really should have known that whatever it was that was bothering Rachel, it'd have to do with Puck.
Puck and Rachel were no secret.
(Not after that practice a few months ago when they both stumbled into the choir room late; Rachel's skirt was on backwards and Puck's belt was suddenly missing and the both of them were breathless. Add in the giant love bite below Rachel's ear, and even Brittany understood what was going on.)
Even though everyone was fully aware of their situation, Puck still refused to acknowledge the entire thing. He'd heard him say more than once that "Berry is absolutely not my girlfriend, fuckers," even though Rachel would be standing right next to him, and then they'd start fighting again until he was calling her uptight and she was calling him a troglodyte--whatever the hell that is--and then they'd go two or three days without talking.
So, yeah.
He wasn't really that surprised to find her crying into her hands over Puck. But he was surprised when she held his gaze fiercely and said with vehemence, "Noah Puckerman is an incorrigible louse and I am sorry to have ever met him."
"Right," he said and he started to wonder if maybe he should have just gone to class. Or at the very least, gone to the weight room, which was blessedly drama-free.
"He is an abhorrent, contemptible, foul excuse for a human being who has absolutely no redeeming qualities, save for an exceptional singing voice. He is vulgar and rude and his mohawk is ridiculous, if we're being perfectly candid. And let's not even mention..."
She started using words he didn't really understand and his stomach was kinda of growling, so he said what he thought would end the conversation quickly: "Yeah, he can be kind of an ass, huh?"
Oh.
Wrong thing to say.
-
Santana corners him against his locker before lunch period, scowling as she adjusts the book bag on her back.
"Another one bites the fuckin' dust," she murmurs, shaking her head in disgust, "So what, is Berry like, our new team mascot? Do you guys take turns drawing straws after football practice?"
"It's just a date, San." He shrugs and shifts away from her, putting some distance between himself and her glare. "Going to a movie. And don't... talk about her that way," he finishes lamely, his voice faltering when she narrows her eyes.
"Whatever, Rutherford," she says, throwing her ponytail over her shoulder, "I don't care who you fuck. You just better hope Puck doesn't find out."
Oh, yeah.
Puck.
Shit.
-
Apparently, when Rachel Berry is on a verbal rampage, the last thing you want to do is enable it. If only he knew better at the time.
One rookie mistake of calling Puck an asshole, and she was off. He'd never heard so many words in his life and he was pretty sure she stopped breathing somewhere between repulsive abomination and loathsome creep; she halted her tirade only when her lips began to turn blue.
"He is positively infuriating, who does he think he is, treating people the way he does?" And just like that, she went from screaming to crying, and she buried her face in her hands as she began to sob once more. "I just don't understand him."
"Um..."
"Is that a masculine thing, to be so horribly cruel?"
"I don't--"
"Because if that's a male thing, please inform me immediately so that I can plan accordingly."
There was an awkward moment between them as his thoughts raced towards Plan accordingly? and Lesbianism? and when he noticed her staring at him, he fidgeted slightly and scratched the back of his neck.
"Not all of us," he finally mumbled, embarrassed, "I don't think so, anyways."
Her eyes started to water again--good God, did she have a range of emotions--and she gripped the edge of her seat tightly. "I suppose you're right. Making a blanket statement about the opposite sex like that is unfair of me."
"Especially since Puck's been your sample for the male population," he blurted, "We don't really have fair representation."
She laughed, a tiny chuckle in the back of her throat, but it was enough to make him smile and take a few steps towards her.
"Look," he said as he closed the gap between them hesitantly, "You just gotta forget about him, then. Puck's Puck, the dude doesn't change."
She left out a defeated sigh and kicked the linoleum with her shoe. "No, I suppose he won't."
-
When Kurt stops him in the hall with Two Snaps and a Circle, Matt immediately assumes that he's heard about Rachel.
That, or he's here to tell him that Finn Hudson is spoken for, which means they're going to have another one of their awkward, I Don't Want Him Kurt No Really I'm Not Gay Yes I Know I Can Dance But Really Kurt Really, conversations.
He sincerely hopes it's about Rachel.
"I hear you'll be escorting our female lead to the movies this Saturday?" He says, feigning indifference, "I assume that she's finally over tall, dark and lecherous?"
"Mmm," Matt mutters noncommittally, "What she said."
"Hmm," Kurt hums, flicking an invisible piece of lint off of his sleeve, "I wish you the best then, Matthew."
"Uh, thanks."
Mercedes takes that moment to saunter up to them, linking her arm in Kurt's. "Boy, you need all the luck you can get your little hands on," she says and Matt feels his eyes roll.
"Let me guess, 'cause Puck is going to be oh-so-mad at me?" He's getting kind of tired of being told he's the second fiddle, and he hasn't even gone on the first date.
"What? No," She scoffs, pushing her hair through her fingers as Kurt pulls her towards their class, "I meant because Rachel is damn crazy."
-
The words left his mouth before he could even stop them, really.
He doesn't know what it was; maybe it was the depressed look on her face or the way she blinked super-fast to try and keep back tears.
Or maybe it was that her skirt had bunched up her thighs just a little bit, giving him a peek at her killer legs. He could definitely understand Puck's obsession with the chick if he got to look at those legs daily.
Whatever the reason, he barely had time to register the thought before he opened his mouth to blurt out, "Wanna go out with me this Saturday?"
She leveled him with a gaze and pursed her lips. "I don't find your jokes very amusing, Matt."
"What? No! No joke!" Oh. It was not going as well as he had hoped, which... well he wasn't sure what it was he had been hoping for, really. Not this.
Rachel eyed him suspiciously before standing from her chair and crossing her arms over her chest defensively. "I do suppose that staying cooped inside the house all weekend will do me no good at all."
"Exactly! And it'll teach Puck a lesson, right?"
The words softened her and she dropped her arms to her side when she asked, "Do you really think he'd even care?"
-
He tells Mike during lunch over a game of paper football.
"Dude, Rachel Berry is so hot," Mike says, flicking the folded triangle across the table.
"Yeah," Matt agrees.
"Think she'll let you get to second?"
"Dunno."
"I wonder what kind of panties she wears under those skirts."
The game goes into intermission as they contemplate this.
-
Matt didn't know Rachel very well, but he did know this: she was definitely in the upper tier in terms of hotness, and though Puck complained--frequently--about her sanity, Matt had yet to see her act out in a manner that warranted such claims.
So when she dropped her arms to her side and asked if he thought a date would gather Puck's attentions, he answered honestly.
"I don't really care."
She raised her eyebrows and looked at him quizzically before he clarified.
"I asked you out because I wanna go out with you, not because I think it'll help Puck see what a giant asshat he is."
This made her smile and she cocked her head at him slightly when she replied, "Well, he is a giant asshat, isn't he?"
-
Finn stops him on the way to 5th period with a hand on his shoulder and a hurried, "Hey. Dude."
Matt slows his stride, but does not stop, and Finn catches up with him and matches his pace easily. Which, of course, is no giant surprise since the guy is about eight feet tall with the legs to match.
"Heard about you and Rach," he says, and Matt wonders if that's a bit of annoyance in his voice.
"Yeah, so what."
They dodge the flow of students effortlessly, and when they can't, he shoves a freshman out of his way despite the soft sigh of disappointment it elicits from Finn.
"Yeah, about that," Hudson continues, "Puck."
"I am so sick of listening to people talk about that douche," Matt mutters. He's pretty much on his last nerve about this whole thing and he's about to open his mouth to tell him to go blow Puckerman if he cares that much about him, but his friend cuts him off by pulling him out of the flow of students and against the lockers.
"Listen, I'm just giving you a heads up, man. Puck knows."
-
He wasn't a moron.
He knew that Puck and Rachel had whatever it was that they had, and it ran much deeper than some random proposal during second period. But when Rachel smiled brightly at him and said, "Matt, I'd love to go out with you this weekend," he sorta didn't care.
It was like that Spanish proverb, Carpe diem, or whatever, right?
-
Puck corners him against a locker after 6th period and he would be intimidated if not for the fact that he's known the guy since seventh grade and he's got a decent enough handle on the dude to know his fighting style; and whatever, he didn't make right tackle because he was a pushover, anyways.
"Heard you gotta date with Berry," Puck says casually, leaning against the lockers with his arms folded across his chest.
"Yeah, maybe I do," Matt snipes back, already bored with this pissing contest over a girl Puck acts like he doesn't even want, anyways.
This makes Puck chuckle, and he claps Matt hard on the back before sauntering off. "Whatever, dude," he rumbles as he crosses the hall, "she'll be back. She always is."
-
On his way to the choir room after school, Matt is stopped by a small hand on his bicep and the sound of Rachel's voice calling his name.
"I wanted to talk to you about our date this weekend," she says and by the way she drops her eyes to the ground, Matt knows what's coming. Wouldn't it figure that the one time Puck was right, it'd be about this.
"Yeah, hey," he shrugs and though he didn't expect it, the disappointment tastes like bile in his throat, "It's cool."
"Well, I was just wondering if instead of the movies, we could do the museum?" She looks up at him hopefully and then continues without breathing, "I realize that we'd said the movies and as a young man, you're probably much more interested in an action flick rather than something quite as boring as a museum, but it's the last weekend of this exhi--"
"Hey, Rachel," Matt cuts her off as gently as possible, "I'd love to go to the museum with you."
She smiles brightly at him before linking her arm within his and he tries not to feel too much of a cliche when he escorts her to Glee practice.
"I'm quite looking forward to this, Matthew."
(The look on everybody's face when they enter together was well worth all the trouble.)
-----
So lets make a list of who we need
And its not much, if anything
Lets make a list of who we need
And we'll throw it away cause we dont need anyone
No we dont need anyone
-----