The Running Back

Chapter 10

She held Rachel's hand under the table and talked with her friends as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Of course the topic continued to come up. It was kind of a big deal. Brittany in particular couldn't stop saying how cute she thought Quinn and Rachel were together. And perhaps the best part was that Santana could do nothing but agree with her. Rachel felt great; felt like nothing could bring her down.

Hours later though, Rachel would learn that she could in fact be taken down. It was during practice when Dave Karofsky tackled her. He was one of the bigger guys on the team but deep down Rachel could see that he was a big softie even if no one else could. Regardless, he could hit hard and Rachel knew that if she wanted her bruises to heal then she'd have to avoid getting hit by him.

Luckily they were on the same team. Rachel didn't want to think about how hard he'd tackle her if they weren't. Rachel took a moment to catch her breath and while doing so she looked over to the sidelines. She could see Quinn covering her eyes with her pompoms. The hit must have looked pretty bad. Dave reached out a hand and helped Rachel to her feet. "You okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"Fine," Rachel answered, but she looked anything but with the way she was massaging her side. If Dave was going to argue, Rachel would never know because at that moment Coach Beiste blew her whistle and had them get back into formation. They ran more play, some rushing and others passing. All the while, Rachel did her best to avoid the defense but they weren't making it easy. Their victory seemed to have given them a newfound sense confidence and motivation.

They were determined to make it all the way this season and that was good news for Rachel. Even if she was already on her way to making Quinn her girlfriend she still wanted to help out Noah in winning that championship. Of course, Rachel would have preferred it if her teammates saved their enthusiasm for the real game. It wasn't as easy as it was initially to avoid their hits, but despite that Rachel was still able to gain some good yardage and a couple of times she broke away to the end zone.

Though by the time practice was over Rachel was exhausted. Her body ached. She slipped away into the girl's locker room and decided to take a shower; something that she normally wouldn't do. Despite being confident in most things in her life Rachel was quite self-conscious about her body, but she needed something to soothe the pain away. Besides, she'd finished before the Cheerios were done with their own practice.

Rachel let herself soak and washed the grim away. Playing football could get pretty dirty, something that Rachel didn't like very much. She felt much better after her shower. Rachel would still need some rest though to fully heal. She dried herself off and out of instinct checked to see if she was still alone. She was. Rachel quickly got changed and was able to get her top on right before the Cheerios came in.

In no time, Quinn was by her side. "Hey, you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah," Rachel answered. She actually felt a lot better after her shower so she was being completely honest. But she probably would have said yes either way. Rachel didn't want to make Quinn worry and so she was really glad that Quinn hadn't come in earlier. If she had then she may have been able to see Rachel's bruises. "I'm great Quinn."

For a moment Quinn was quiet as she was deciding whether or not she believed Rachel. Eventually she concluded that she did and she gave Rachel a kiss on the cheek and a hug. Rachel winced in slight discomfort but she did her best to ensure that Quinn didn't notice. As far as Rachel could tell, Quinn didn't but she still looked concerned. "Hey, I was going to try and get even with Santana but if you want I can just forget about that and give you a ride home; make sure that you're okay."

Rachel wanted to take up her offer, but she couldn't. "Um... actually Noah's giving me a ride home." Since Noah was Rachel's best friend it was only natural that she told him about her date, and once he'd found he became determined to get her to give up the goods. He wanted to know every single dirty detail and Rachel had told him nothing because frankly there wasn't a dirty detail to talk about. And even if there was Rachel wasn't the kind of girl to kiss and tell. Of course it was hard for her to make such claims seeing as she had only just had her first kiss at the party.

"Okay. I'll call you later then."

"Sounds good." Rachel received another kiss on the cheek before she left. Noah was already waiting for her outside. He was grinning. "I'm not telling you anything," she informed him. Noah's smile faltered slightly but he wouldn't give up so easily. As they went to the parking lot he continued on with his pestering.

"Oh, come on Jew Babe." He wrapped an around her shoulders as he led her along. "You've always told me everything." Rachel couldn't deny that. "Just give me something; it's not every day that my best friend scores with the hottest girl in school." He paused for a moment and then as an afterthought he added, "Or maybe you are going to score with Quinn every day." Rachel punched him, but she had to admit that she liked that idea. Noah rubbed his arm and laughed. "So I'm right, aren't I?"

Rachel scoffed and turned her head to the side so she wouldn't have to look at his smug expression. "No, Noah you aren't and that is the last thing I am going to say about that." Rachel crossed her arms over her chest just to emphasize her point. It was a battle of wills and as long as she could hold out until she got home Rachel knew that Noah would back down.

Noah sighed. "You know you're going to tell me eventually, might as well just tell me now." Rachel held strong and kept her lips shut. Noah kept trying but he kept things honest. He didn't try putting Rachel on a guilt trip since he did put his neck on the line to get her on the football team in the first place, nor did he take a long route to her house so that he'd have more time to annoy her. Rachel was quite proud of him and in the end she decided to talk.

But not until the very, very end.

Once she was out of the car, Rachel turned to Noah before closing the door and said, "We kissed... a couple of times, and we're going to go out again!" She let out a squeal afterwards.

"That's my girl!" He leaned in close to her and gave her a big one-armed hug. "I'm happy for you Jew Babe, I really am. As crazy as your plan was, I guess it worked."

"Not yet," Rachel corrected, to which Noah raised a confused eyebrow. "The goal of the plan was to get Quinn to be my girlfriend," Rachel clarified, although that didn't seem to make anything clearer to him. If anything, he looked be even more befuddled.

"You're taking her out on a second date," he pointed out. "Doesn't that make her your girlfriend?" he asked. Rachel fought the urge to roll her eyes, but she did so anyway.

"A second date does not guarantee a steady relationship, Noah. But I suppose I shouldn't expect you to know something like that," she playfully teased. Noah placed a hand over his heart in feigned hurt. "I'm close, but I'm not there yet."

"So you're still going to stay on the team?"

"Yes, I am." And in fact Rachel was planning to stay on the team for the rest of the season regardless of her relationship status with Quinn. Preferably, Rachel would like be going steady with Quinn prior to the end of the season but either way Rachel wanted to continue helping Noah. After all, none of this would have been possible without him. She couldn't thank him enough.

"All right. Pick you up tomorrow?" It wasn't really much of a question. "Good bye, Noah."

"See ya. Good luck on your date." 

Hey guys! Hope you liked the update :)

Please comment, follow and share. Don't forget to comment and let me know what you think, also what you want different.

Make sure to check out my other story too! xoxo