Summary: "She slowly waved the can between the pair, daring them to follow her, before turning on her heel and sprinting towards the port-a-potties outside." Had Rachel been the one to find Puck. AU from Special Education

More Than

"Isha kwarer afer wah, um arr arronen I nehyou nah."

Rachel was giggling madly.

During Hanukkah week, Puck had gotten her the Lady Antebellum CD so she wouldn't have any more excuses not to listen to it. They listened to it almost every morning he drove her to school, and eventually had memorized the words to every song. It had gotten to the point that they made a game out of it. Could they sing it triple the speed without messing up? Could they recite lyrics backwards? Currently, the challenge was to sing it during a round of chubby bunny. After every sentence, Puck popped another marshmallow into his mouth and, to him, Rachel's little giggles were worth choking on one of his least favorite snacks. She followed suit and tried her hand at it, seemingly more successful than he was. When the amount of marshmallows in his mouth had him on the brink of hurling up the contents of his stomach, he spit them all out and glared at her.

"Seriously, the entire song? How do you do that? Your mouth is like the Mary Poppins bag."

She let out a bark of laughter. "I have my secrets, Puckerman."

"You're cheating. You have to be eating the marshmallows when I'm not looking or something."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "If you must know, I can comfortably hold that many marshmallows in my mouth because I lack a gag reflex-"

Every drop of blood in Noah's body rushed south as he gaped at her casual remark. "What?"

"-so I'd appreciate it if you didn't accuse me of cheating, Noah."

"I… I'm sorry, did you just say you don't have a-"

"Was that singing I heard in here?"

The two of them looked up to see Mr. Schuester peaking into the choir room curiously. Noah nodded weakly, grabbing his backpack and sitting it on his lap.

"What's going on, guys? It's lunch! Don't you two ever take a break?"

He wasn't wrong. The moment Noah proclaimed himself as Rachel's best friend, he was forced to prove himself Berry material by devoting more of his time to New Directions. He was rivaling Rachel in ideas and suggestions for their club.

"Just working on something, Mr. Schue," Puck told him.

"Well, I can't wait for you guys to present it to the team!" They talked over some dance moves and songs they wanted to use for the group number before the warning bell sounded that lunch period was over. "I'll see you guys after school for glee, alright?"

Puck nodded. "We'll see you then, Mr. Schue." He walked Rachel out and towards her class. "Alright, Berry, you know what time it is. Pop quiz!"

She rolled her eyes. In retaliation for her constant, and forced, lessons about all things Broadway, Puck insisted on teaching her the ins and outs of football.

"What's a Hail Mary?"

"A prayer."

"Dude."

She pondered her real answer before responding. "Uhm… a long, desperate pass usually done at the end of a half?" He hummed an approving sound. "How many Tonys did Rent win?"

"Four, nominated for ten. Define fumble."

"Oh!" she clapped her hands. "I remember this. This is an easy one! When the person with the ball drops it!"

"And then?"

"And then both teams can try to take it."

"So what do you do if you recover the ball?"

"Uhm… 'run like hell' to the end zone?"

Puck ruffled her hair proudly, much to her displeasure. "You got it, Berry! And if someone on your team recovers it, defend the shit out of them."

"Alright, your turn. Name three jukebox musicals."

"Rock of Ages, American Idiot and-"

"Puckerman!"

Rachel smirked up at the teen that flinched next to her. She had warned him that he'd be in trouble with Mrs. Hagberg if he skipped History one more time. "I guess I'll see you at glee, little mama. And be careful, alright? The tools on our team are being bigger assholes than before. You see a Big Quench, you run, got it?"

"You don't have to tell me, big poppa," she told him. He grinned at her, a fluttering in his stomach at the nickname. Rachel had started calling him it to prove how ridiculous it was to be called something like "little mama." To her chagrin, he loved it and she could hardly take it away from him when he smiled at her like that.

"See you later, Rach."

Puck was jittery for his last two periods of school. All different scenarios were popping into his head. What if Rachel had been slushied not once, but twice? Or what if one of those assholes decided to make fun of her nose? His hands balled into fists under his desk as he stared at the clock. It had been difficult just being Rachel's friend for the past few weeks. Since she saved him from Port-o-Hell, he could hardly keep her out of his thoughts. The good Lord had sent her to him not once, but twice. Yahweh was pointing a huge, neon pink arrow right at Rachel Berry. Could he possibly deny the big man upstairs when he was giving him all the signs that he wanted the two hottest Jews he'd created to be together? Or at least that was the argument he was going to use when he finally got the balls to ask her out.

Noah tapped his pen against his notepad. Was a month and a half enough time to get over her first love? He definitely didn't want to ask her out if she was still mooning over St. Finn. Besides that being a rough time for him, it would be pretty damn inconsiderate to her. She didn't need shit like that messing with her head. Truth was, he actually cared about this girl, more than any before, certainly more than Quinn. When Rachel Berry had the chance at payback for all the crap he pulled on her, she turned the other cheek and helped him, defended him against two of the biggest asswads in school, even going so far as comforting him like he was some baby stuck in the middle of a hurricane. Although the thought of that bruised his ego big time. Did he really look that bad after only six hours in that john?

The sound of the last bell was more than welcomed and Puck, of course, was the first one out the door. He power-walked down the hallway, trying to look nonchalant, but everyone who saw him could see he was a man on a mission. He skidded to a stop when he got to the choir room. Everyone was there but Mr. Schue, Artie and-

"Where's Berry?" he demanded.

Finn rolled his eyes, as did many others in the room. "Relax, Puck, I saw her in the hall. She's just putting her stuff in her locker."

"Seriously, Puckerman," Santana muttered. "I get that you have a pavlovian response to Treasure Trail, you know, drooling every time her piercing voice grates on your apparently semi-deaf ears, but how about you tone down the desperation?"

Some of them snickered, loving the way he flushed at being called out. "First of all, stop calling her that. And excuse me for worrying about a teammate, Lopez, but the guys are becoming ruthless. I just wanted to make sure-"

"Sorry, I'm late!"

Puck perked up when Rachel walked in behind him, grabbed his forearm and led him to the risers. "There you are! I was worried."

"And you aren't late," Tina laughed. She shared a knowing glance with Mike as they practiced their dance moves. There wasn't much they agreed on with Santana Lopez, but she was right about Puck. He was so smitten they couldn't believe Rachel didn't notice it.

"That's very sweet, Noah, but as you can see I'm perfectly fine. In fact, it looks like we're all fine!"

What had been wishful thinking on her part was demolished when Artie rolled in, shivering and soaked in red ice.

"Oh my god, Artie!" Tina exclaimed. Brittany ran to him, horror clear on her face as she took in his state.

Finn trembled in his seat. "That's it!" he bellowed. He'd had enough. Those assholes ran his brother out of school, and now this? They really thought they were tough shit for ganging up on a kid in a wheelchair? "Screw rehearsal, this ends here and now!" Sam and Mike were quick to follow when Finn stormed towards the door. Though Rachel begged him not to do anything reckless, Puck fell right in step with the quarterback.

"We're gonna go all… thunderdome on those guys!" he shouted.

Rachel nearly had a panic attack when she saw the jocks casually strut into their choir room as if they hadn't just bullied their friend. The cocky grins that were sent their way made her reconsider why she was trying to stop Noah from beating their faces in. She was so caught up in her fury she could barely comprehend what was being said until Mr. Schue and Coach Beiste walked in together, their forms tense and authoritative when they told everyone to sit down. Puck backpedaled slowly, hoping they would do something stupid so he had an excuse to hurt them. She guided him down into his seat and held his Letterman sleeve tightly to keep him from jumping them. What was going on? Was this some sad attempt to make them bond and let bygones be bygones? In that one moment, Rachel named herself a hypocrite. She'd never forgive them for what they'd done to her and her friends. Whatever her glee coach was thinking would be out of the-

"Let's give a warm welcome to the newest members of glee club!"

"WHAT?!"

The explosion of voices yelling at their coaches was the first time the Titans and New Directions were actually in agreement with each other.

Rachel's jaw dropped, and though she could see the smirk threatening to break through Mr. Schue's calm façade, there was no way she could allow this. These animals degraded her and her friends on a daily basis, scared Kurt into leaving, locked her best friend in a port-o-potty for six hours and, just recently, drowned Artie in slush for the sake of humor. There was no forgiveness, no going back anymore.

Finn stood at the top, captain of both teams, ready to shut down and verbally assault Mr. Schuester for his insane idea. "Mr. Schue, are you serious?!" It was the angriest they'd ever heard him with their teacher. "These are the guys that made Kurt transfer!"

She was quick to join her co-captain. "And there's no way that I'm sharing the choir room with a known homophobe!" She elbowed Puck's side and, like a loyal pit bull, he leaned forward with a menacing sneer, daring them to say anything against her.

Their pleas and protestations fell on deaf ears when the two teachers left no room for argument.

"If I have to stay, I'm not singing no show tunes! That is the music of my oppressors," Azimio stated, glaring at the choir kids.

Puck looked to Rachel through the corner of his eye and saw his Broadway diva about to go full Patti LuPone on Azimio's ass, but Finn beat her to it. "Do you even have any idea what we do in here?"

"No. None of them do." Mr. Schuester's tone was hard and his club finally felt they had his support. "We have to show them. Rachel, Puck." The two sat straighter in their seats. "Haven't you guys been working on something? Why don't you give it a whirl?"

She bit the inside of her cheek, wanting to turn down the offer. Puck did know the chords to "Need You Now"but none of those neanderthals deserved to see her talent after making fun of it for so long.

Feeling the need to confer with Finn and the others that it would be okay to go along with Mr. Schuester's request while he was forcing them to get along with their enemies, she glanced around the room for acceptance. Mercedes, Tina and Mike gave her their thumbs up and Finn sent an encouraging nod her way. Giving Artie's cherry red-stained figure a look over she turned back to her teacher. "Fine," she bit out. Puck immediately started stripping his jacket off. "As offended as I am by their presence here, I won't let anything get in the way of a performance."

In near choreographed unison, Noah and Rachel stood from their seats and sent sharp glares towards the football team.

Lauren chuckled behind them, crossing her arms. There was nothing she enjoyed more than seeing tiny Berry lay down a vocal smackdown. The others were grinning smugly as well, knowing Rachel and Puck would show the assholes exactly what they were made of.

Puck grabbed a guitar from the band and nodded to Rachel that he was ready. As the music started, Rachel fell into performance mode, a bright confidence shining through as she eyed every member of the football team. "Picture perfect memories, scattered all around the floor. Reaching for the phone 'cause I can't fight it anymore." She leaned into the piano and craned her neck to find her duet partner. Meeting his gaze, she nearly forgot the words when she saw the look he was giving her.

"And I wonder if I ever cross your mind," they harmonized together.

"For me it happens all the time."

They sung the chorus together, circling each other before turning their attention to the audience. Suddenly, Rachel was having trouble remembering her anger towards the pinheads sitting on the right side of the room. She and Puck had never brought up the kiss they shared, but the subtext of it all was palpable, for her at least. Their gazes always met in furtive little glances and they found any reason to be touching each other, whether it was lacing their arms together or sitting close enough to be touching knees. Now, performing with him for the first time in a very long while, there were no games to hide the lyrics. Her heart beat rapidly, out of sync with the tempo of the song when Noah took over. She noticed that he had no trouble in remembering why they were performing as he approached the jocks and thrust his shoulders at them.

It only took her fingers on the small of his back to reel him back in. He gave her a million-watt smile when they fell back into the chorus. For the rest of the song their attention was solely on each other.

"It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now."

"And I said I wouldn't call, but I'm a little drunk and I need you now."

She bit her lip through a smile and they gently inched closer to each other. "And I don't know how I can do without, I just need you now." Rachel's placed her tiny hand on top of his much larger one, which was still pressing the last chord down on the neck of the guitar.

Puck smirked at her, one brow rising up in question as they soaked up the sound of applause. He saw her stare flicker down to his lips and his throat dried immediately. What was that? Was she finally developing feelings for him? He leaned in an inch more when he heard Azimio's annoying voice bounce around the walls.

"The girl with the mohawk had a really nice voice."

It took him less than three seconds to rip the guitar off his body and hoist it up like a bat. He was just about to swing it into Azimio's obnoxious mouth when Coach Beiste grabbed him from behind and pulled him away.

Everything happened so quickly.

Like an amped up fight on the field, the two teams were on their feet, screaming and clawing at each other. Finn was at the risers, an arm outstretched to physically defend the glee clubbers from the huge athletes trying to push up against them. The Unholy Trinity was screeching their scathing insults, Brittany the loudest of them all as she gripped Artie's hand tightly. Puck saw Sam lunging his way in what he thought was an attempt to back him up, but instead watched him rush pass.

Noah stopped fighting against his coach as he watched Rachel in awe.

Slipping right out of Sam's arms, Rachel Berry dodged past the two coaches and jump-tackled Azimio straight into the rack of sheet music behind him.

It took a few seconds after the initial stunned silence and shock wore off that the school's biggest loser was clawing and punching the living Jesus out of a boy thrice her size for the room to go back into an uproar. Mercedes was laughing and pointing, Santana watching with unadulterated pleasure as the pint-sized girl had Azimio Adams squealing in pain. It took Finn, Puck and Sam to pry the tiny girl off of him, and once she had finally let go of her hold, Noah wrapped his arms around her waist and dragged her away. "Berry!" he guffawed while she struggled in his arms. She ignored him, kicking at the air and reaching out for the footballer once more. "Rach, calm down!"

"That. Was. Wanky!" Santana screamed over the noise. "You just got your ass handed to you by Rachel 'Man Hands' Berry, Azimio! How does that feel?"

Rachel wiped her face with the back of her hand when she realized that her nose was bleeding from the rough impact she took after slamming against Azimio the way she did. "Oh he's getting more than just these man hands, you no good, arrogant, pig-headed, bunch of-!"

"Rachel!" Mr. Schuester cut in, ignoring the way Puck was beaming with pride behind his star singer. "That's enough for the day. Shannon, talk to your guys about attacking my team. I'm not accepting this kind of behavior anymore."

"Are you kidding me? Us? That little Jew-nose better be getting sent to Figgins after what she just did to Azimio," Karofsky demanded as he helped his friend off the floor. The other guys nodded in agreement with him.

Rachel blanched when she realized the magnitude of her impulsive actions. She hadn't meant to lose her control so badly, but she was already angry enough that Azimio's final insult against her Noah had her flying off the handle. Dread settled in the pit of her stomach. As much as she loved her teacher, he always did the right thing for students as a whole. There was no way he wouldn't send her to the principal's office for what she had done. After all, it was no better than what they did to them. "Mr. Schue, no! Please, you can't-"

To her surprise, Mr. Schuester locked his hands on his hips and gave Dave a disbelieving, scoffed laugh. "You expect me to punish her after everyone in this school turns a blind eye to your hate crimes, bullying, and apparent racism? Well, here's a little taste of the flip side, Mr. Karofsky. I didn't see anything."

The right guard's jaw dropped. "W-what?"

Will shrugged, crossing his arms and leaning against the piano. "I didn't see Rachel do anything. Coach?"

Coach Beiste shook her head. "We were a bit too busy to notice what the kids were doing. Don't think I saw anything either, William."

Strando and Azimio could barely believe what they were hearing. "Are you kidding me? She's getting out of attacking me like that, unpunished?"

"Do you see Artie over there?" Mr. Schuester asked. "Do you see the way you treat other kids on a daily basis and you guys never get punished?" They fell silent, unsure of how to defend themselves. "Get out of my choir room until you can act like humans. And don't you ever use derogatory terms like 'Jew-nose' around me again. I don't care who you think you are."

"You heard him, ladies," Shannon barked. "I want you on the field running laps for this mess! Now!"

When the glee clubbers were finally alone, Will turned to them with a sad sigh and froze at the way they were staring at him. "What?"

"Mr. Schue," Rachel murmured softly, her voice trembling with unshed tears.

"That was badass," Puck told him.

"Yeah, Mr. Schue," Finn followed. "…thanks. For not letting them get the upper hand on us this time."

"Hey," he responded just as kindly. Will walked over to Rachel and hugged her tightly. "If the other teachers get to play favorites, then so do I. No one messes with my kids."


"FYI, I don't admit to being wrong frequently, but I was wrong about you, Berry. That was super hot what you did in the choir room today. Puck's had an outstanding influence on you," Santana told her with a smirk.

Rachel was still staring at her in fear. After the glee meeting was done, Santana had all but followed Puck and Rachel to his car and forced them to give her a lift home. From the parking lot to her house in Lima Heights Adjacent, she had been going on about how amazing she was for "brutally beating the crap" out of Azimio, one of her least favorite Titans. It was bordering near homoerotic as she described how "thrilling" it was to watch.

"We're here," Puck snapped in irritation when they pulled up in front of her place. "Now get out of my truck."

"Seriously, Puck, you're with her every day. You'll have time to bump uglies later, so chill." Rachel turned such a dark shade of red it was nearly purple. Santana continued before Puck could yell at her. "So, Berry. B and I are going to the mall tomorrow. You wanna come? You can bring Chocolate Thunder and Asian Number One if you'd like."

"We have plans tomorrow, Lopez. Bye."

"Uhm, excuse me, I understand that your schnoz isn't as big as Berry's, but that doesn't mean you have to overcompensate by being the nosy one in this marriage. I do believe I was talking to your wife?"

"Santana," Rachel interrupted weakly, trying to steer the cheerleader away from talking about whatever relationship was going on between Noah and her. "I do have plans with Noah tomorrow night so-"

"So we'll hang out in the morning," she answered. "See you tomorrow, Berry!"

With that, she finally hopped out of the seat, slammed the door and disappeared into her home. Rachel eyed the empty passenger's seat and wondered if she should slide down the bench to fill it. As she was about to, Noah snaked an arm around her waist and kept her in place next to him. He peeled out of the spot and down the street.

"I can't believe she's trying to be all buddy-buddy with you after the shit she put you through."

She shrugged, just as confused. "Common enemy, I guess."

"Are you seriously gonna hang out with her tomorrow?"

"It doesn't seem like she's giving me a choice. I'm sure she'll find my house and drag me to the mall if I'm not there. Besides," she nudged his knee with hers. "I've been meaning to get that sweater with the carousel horse silhouette on it."

"Don't forget that plaid skirt," Puck reminded her quickly. Too quickly. "The one that makes you look like a naughty Catholic school girl."

"Always the charmer, Noah."

He chuckled and tightened his arm around her. "She was right though."

"About what?"

"What you did today? Hot as fuck. You always gonna rush in and save the day when Azimio and Karofsky try to mess with me?"

"You know it," she told him with a grin.

He wiggled his eyebrows. "Papa like."

Rachel faked a gag and pulled away from him. "Ugh. This mama-papa stuff has to stop. It's not getting less gross like you promised."

"Give it time, little mama. Give it time."

Once they got to her house, he parked the car and followed her in like usual. Puck excitedly recounted what happened to her dads when they ran into them in the kitchen. Though they were less than pleased with their daughter partaking in such a violent occurrence, they couldn't help but smile inwardly. It looked like Rachel was falling in love again. Leroy and Hiram left the kids downstairs to hang out, giving them money to order food should they get hungry.

"I'm gonna be telling that story to everyone, just so you know."

"Apparently," Rachel responded dryly.

"Man, you have no idea how awesome it feels. Out of all the crap they've done, the one thing that made you go bat shit was that they insulted me. Noah Puckerman, the Lima Loser. Rachel Berry tackled a full grown linebacker for me."

Rachel gnawed on her lip, her stomach tightening as she watched him proudly declare who his savior was, as if she was Bon Jovi or something. Taking a chance, she swallowed down her fear and insecurities. "Well, I hope he's learned his lesson. You don't insult the boy a girl likes just as she's about to kiss him."

Noah's eyes widened comically. "Wh-"

Rachel stood on her toes and pecked his lips, pulling away quickly. She linked her hands behind her back and swayed in her spot. "Well?" she asked when he didn't say anything.

Puck gaped at her before groaning childishly. "Come on, Rachel! You were supposed to let me make the first move!"

She rolled her eyes and pinched his bicep. "I'm a modern woman, Noah!" she growled, stomping away from him and up the stairs.

"Yeah, yeah I know. Feminism, rah rah rah." He raced after her. "But come on! You're the first girl I actually like. I was gonna try to be romantic and shit and you took that away from me."

"Well, I deeply apologize, Noah." He laughed at her pure sarcasm. "How about after we break up this time around, you can be the one to start things up again."

"How about you let me touch your boobs this time around and we won't have to break up?"

"Noah Puckerman!"


"We want to join the team."

Finn head dropped into his hands. This had to be some kind of cosmic joke. After finding out that more than half the guys wouldn't be playing their big championship game, Rachel had confidently announced she would be auditioning for a spot on the field. "We who?" he heard Artie ask. All the girls stood as Mercedes announced their intentions. They wanted to play the game with them. None of them were amused, but Mike and Puck were near glaring at Tina and Rachel.

"Come on, guys, stop screwing around," Mike told them, an irritated bite in his voice. "It's not cool."

Lauren rolled her eyes and joined them in the front. "What's not cool is you guys don't respect women enough to realize we're perfectly capable of playing football, and don't forget who the state champ in Greco-Roman wrestling is. I've got offers from three different professional wrestling organizations for after I graduate, so…" She high-fived Rachel, showing Puck who she was siding with this time around.

Mr. Schuester eyed Rachel and, deciding she was probably the ringleader in this, addressed her with his concerns. "Rachel, have you actually seen a tackle-football game? When they tackle you, it hurts."

"Yeah, and not in a good Mellencamp way," Noah drawled.

"We thought about that," she answered but not without giving him a pointed glare. "But the truth is, is that you guys don't really need us to play, you just need enough players out there to field a regulation team! So when they snap the ball," Puck flinched when he watched her make a motion that was clearly not snapping the ball. His almost-girlfriend was going to die on the field. "We're just going to lie down on the ground. We're just gonna lie there."

It wasn't a bad idea… It wasn't like Rachel would get pummeled running plays wrong if she was just lying on the ground…

"Welcome to the football team," Beiste consented.

"YES!" Rachel screeched, clapping in rhythm to her chants of "football team! Football team!"

"Berry, wait!"

Puck looked her over. He took her helmet off and tugged at her braid. A hint of a smile flashed across his face when he trailed his fingers over the star stickers she had placed on the front of her helmet.

"You're sure about this?"

Rachel gave him an excited nod. "Unlike your juvenile teammates, we are standing by you guys no matter what, Noah."

"Don't pull any stupid stunts, got it?" He placed a hand on his hip. "I'm not gonna 'Weekend at Bernie's' you for our date tonight."

If possible, her grin grew even wider. "Will you finally be asking me to become exclusive?"

"How about this, mama? You and I win this thing, and we're already a done deal," he told her with a wink. Rachel laughed and attempted to peck his lips through his facemask. When she couldn't, she settled for kissing the big "20" on his chest.

"For luck."

"You ready for this?"

"Let's kick some ass!" she shouted for all of them to hear. The team followed Puck in his growled war cries.

They were zero and seventeen near the half, and everyone was getting antsy. The girls were exhausted, Finn was fighting to keep calm while trying to figure out how to win their game, and Tina was revving up and insisting she wanted to actually play the game, much to Mike's displeasure. Finn warned her to take it easy, not wanting any of them to get hurt, before breaking their huddle.

Unfortunately, when the ball was fumbled in the next play, Tina was the first to see it. "Get the ball! Get the ball, come on, get it! Get it!" the others heard Coach Beiste bellowing from the sidelines. Rachel and Mercedes watched Tina scramble to her feet, grab the football, and tuck it into her side as she ran down the field as fast as she could.

"You got it, Berry! And if someone on your team recovers it, defend the shit out of them."

Rachel got to her feet and looked around her. Puck and Lauren hadn't noticed Tina's recovery yet, leaving Sam and Mike as her only defenders. "Let's win this thing, Berry," she grumbled through her mouth guard. Pushing off the balls of her feet, she sprinted after her friend. Though she wasn't much for size and brute strength, her dance classes and morning exercises certainly had her in shape. It didn't take her long to catch up with Tina, and when she did, she shoved herself between her and the safety that was chasing her. Rachel's presence startled the opposing player enough to make him slow down for a split second, but on instinct, he rammed his body into her and pushed through to continue his pursuit.

Rachel's eyes widened as she flew back with a squeak. Her legs went over her head and she tumbled a few feet before finally, slowly rolling to a halt. She let out a long moan and lay flat on her back, the pain so intense she thought every bone in her body might have broken. "RACH!" she heard someone shout. "RACHEL!"

Who was Rachel?

The bright lights dimmed as blurred figures clouded her vision.

"Get out of my way, Hudson! Rach! Talk to me, little mama. You in there?"

"Puckerman, let the medic through!"

"Is she alright?"

"I told you from the start that I liked this girl, Puckerman. Don't you worry your pretty little mohawk. I'll start training her in wrestling, get her buffed up so this doesn't happen again next time."

"There won't be a next time! Berry, you promised you wouldn't die!"

Rachel blinked rapidly and gained her bearings. Her sight cleared and she saw her friends circled around her. Mercedes was kneeling down on one side of her, Puck on the other, tightly gripping her hand. "Noah?"

Relief flooded his features but he scowled at her all the same. "Jesus Christ, Rachel! What the fuck were you thinking?!"

She gave him a confused frown. "You told me to defend whoever has the ball. Did I do it wrong? Am I being penalized?"

"No, Rachel," Finn told her softly. "You just got Tina enough time to score a touchdown!"

She looked at them with childlike awe. She propped herself up on her elbows. "Does this mean we won?"

Puck snorted but pulled her up into a hug. "No, but you got us closer to winning, Berry." Rachel turned to Finn for confirmation, and when she received it, she sprung to her feet and searched the field for Tina. The girl was jumping up and down in the end zone when she saw Rachel was okay. "Tina!" she cried, running the few yards out to her. They clasped hands and screeched together in celebration.

"We did it, Rachel! We did it!"

They scurried to the bleachers to take in the deafening cheers there were receiving. In true braggart fashion, they jumped up on the bench at the sidelines and pointedly stuck their tongues out at the protesting footballers sitting in the stands.

Rachel allowed Puck to pull her away and carry her back to the field, leaving Tina to jog back with Mike. Her legs and arms unconsciously wrapped around him, forcefully stopping Noah from setting her down for their next play. She ripped his helmet off and kissed him soundly, happy to let everyone know whom he belonged to.

"You're mine, Puckerman," she told him when she pulled away. "Whether we win this game or not!"

He stood frozen and dazed for less than a second before his lazy grin stretched his lips once more and he leaned in for another quick kiss. "Okay, Berry." Though he drawled her name, there was a look in his eyes so intense that it sent a shiver down her spine. "It's a done deal. I'm yours."