The Running Back

Chapter 26

"I would never." For a moment Santana's eyes turned fiery and Rachel worried that she had just made a big mistake but the anger in her eyes disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Her expression softened and she gave Rachel a look that Rachel was unfamiliar with. For her it seemed to be one of... respect. She gave Rachel an approving smirk and then spun around quickly, her hair whipping behind her and nearly slapping Rachel across the face. Rachel stood shocked and watched as Santana walked off towards their usual table.

She was okay and everything had gone fine, surprisingly. Nonetheless, Rachel gave herself a once over just to check and see if Santana had done something to her while she had otherwise been preoccupied but didn't appear to be the case. Her lips curled upward into a smile. She had stood her ground and everything went great. Rachel felt so proud of herself. She quickly scanned the immediate area to see if anyone had noticed her achievement. As luck would have it, none did.

But perhaps Gabby had. Rachel turned back in her direction but found that she was long gone. Her shoulders slumped somewhat. She had been in the middle of the cafeteria and had done something that few others would even attempt, and yet no one but her had witnessed it. It was a bit disheartened for Rachel but moved passed her annoyance and went to grab some food. As she walked someone came up from behind her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey there Jew Babe, what's up?" Noah said before he noted her expression. "You okay? Did something happen? Who do I gotta beat up?" Rachel chuckled at the last bit, but she stopped him before he got to ahead of himself. Noah would end up far too disappointed otherwise. Since she knew he'd understand, Rachel calmly told him about what had just happened. He chuckled lightly in amusement. "That must have been something," he mused aloud.

"It was!" Rachel gushed, causing Noah to laugh once more. But he understood how important this achievement was to Rachel and so he quickly stopped before moving on to a different topic.

"Bet it was, anyways I got a surprise for you later."

Rachel's eyes lit up, and she completely forgot about her earlier disappointment. "A surprise? Ooh, what is it?"

"A surprise?" he laughed with a shrug. "No hints either, you'll just have to wait until later." Reactively, Rachel put on her trademark pout. Noah knew the look well and knew, just as Quinn had come to learn, that said pout had strong persuasive powers. He left swiftly before Rachel could use it against him, but before he left Noah decided to ruffle Rachel's hair up a bit. Rachel shot his retreating form a nasty glare and straightened herself out.

She grabbed a tray of food and then went to meet Quinn at the table. Rachel was greeted with a kiss on the cheek and a gagging sound from Santana. She couldn't make up her mind on whether or not to appreciate the fact that Santana's reaction to their displays of affection would likely never change. But it was enough to know that Quinn's best friend approved of their relationship, even if she was entirely disgusted by it.

But as things were, their displays of affection were a bit limited, particularly when Gabrielle came by and took a seat not too far away from them. She looked a bit nervous at her placement at the table and its proximity to Quinn, but there weren't many available spots left. Rachel waved at her warmly, in an attempt to calm her. Rachel could feel Santana's eyes on her as she did so but the feeling didn't last long, and when she turned towards her she found that Santana was otherwise preoccupied.

Rachel turned back in time to catch Gabrielle give a small wave back. She immediately turned her attention to her food and chatted a bit with those who were directly next to her. After that, the rest of lunch seemed to pass by quite uneventfully. And after a few more hours Rachel was once more heading out to the field with her girlfriend. She gave Quinn a quick kiss on the cheek before her girlfriend got started for Cheerios practice.