AN: All right, so I've wanted to write a fic where Rachel becomes part of the football team for a long time. And I've finally started one. I know that it's not the most original idea and I know that there's a bunch of fics like this but this it my take on it. I hope you like it.

"Please."

"No."

"Please."

"I said no."

Rachel pouted. Usually she would have gotten what she wanted by now but Noah was being very reluctant. She couldn't really understand why. What she was asking for wasn't very difficult. It wasn't as though she wanted him to get her on the team. Rachel just wanted an audition… er, that is to say a tryout. Yes, a tryout not an audition. Rachel had to remember that. She scrambled up to him and put on the saddest face that she could muster. That particular face, if Rachel said so herself, was pretty damn sad. "Pretty please," she pleaded.

She watched Noah groan and shift his gaze away. He ran a hand through his mohawk and rubbed the back of his neck. Rachel could hear him muttering curses under his breath. He glanced in her direction before quickly looking away once more. "Why do you even want to join?" he asked without looking at her.

"Because I want to be popular." Her practiced response came out quickly. Being as prepared as she was, Rachel had anticipated this question and had rehearsed in the mirror to find the best answer. That, combined with her superb acting skills, surely would have given a convincing performance. But as Rachel quickly learned, that was not the case. Noah was looking at her with a contemplative expression on his face. Normally Rachel would have been ecstatic as Noah hardly ever did any thinking with his head, but not this time. She wondered if maybe waiting a second or two before answering would have made any difference. Of course that was a moot point now.

"What's the real reason?"

"That is the real reason," Rachel insisted. She should have been able to fool him as she had enough talent to fool just about anyone, but her minor mistake had already convinced Noah that she was lying. He glanced at her before shaking his head in disappointment.

"If you don't want to tell me, fine." He spun on heel and began walking away. "I didn't want to piss off your dads' anyway. See ya!"

"Wait!" Rachel screamed as she chased after him. She slipped past him and extended her arms out to block his path. "Don't go, please don't go," she begged. "I'll tell you, okay. I'll tell you." Noah groaned as he dropped his head. He started to massage his forehead, as though he had a headache, and then made a gesture for her to elaborate. Rachel took a moment to think her words over but she realized that the direct approach was probably the best. "I want to try to impress Quinn Fabray." The moment the words left her lips Rachel closed her eyes tightly.

She waited for whatever reaction he would have, but she heard nothing. Rachel reopened her eyes and found that Noah was still processing what she had told him. After a moment he spoke. "Quinn Fabray?" Rachel nodded. "As in, the Quinn Fabray? As in Head Cheerleader, President of the Celibacy Club Quinn Fabray?" Rachel nodded once more. Noah resumed thinking. "Damn, that'd be hot." Rachel punched him on the arm. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Don't be a pig Noah, I'm being serious."

"So am I," Noah pointed out. Rachel scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest as she dramatically spun on her heel. "What? I am being serious. The two of you would be hot together." And the thing was that Rachel knew that he wasn't lying. Of course Noah being Noah, he would instantly think that the idea of two girls together would be hot. But ignoring that Rachel would have to admit that she and Quinn would make quite the couple. She let her shoulders slacken and turned back to her friend.

"So are you going to help me or not?"

"If this is about you getting in Quinn Fabray's pants, then fuck yeah I am!" Rachel punched him again. "Ow!" He rubbed his arm shot Rachel a look. "You need to stop doing that. You should actually be thanking me."

"Sorry," she apologized. "And thank you." Noah seemed quite pleased with himself and Rachel was tempted to hit him once more. Instead she hugged him and let him have free choice over which movie the two of them would watch. Noah was very much the polar opposite of Rachel but they were the best of friends and he was always there for her when she needed him. He ended up picking an action movie that had little to no plot. Normally Rachel would have been annoyed but she was otherwise preoccupied with her thoughts.

She was anxious. Her big personality didn't always help her during auditions and she really hoped that her attempt at joining the football team wouldn't end in a similar fashion. After Noah left, Rachel decided to practice her game face in her bathroom mirror. She had spent weeks preparing for this opportunity. She had watched movies, shows, and documentaries that related to football. There was a lot to learn, but thankfully Rachel was an excellent student.

It didn't take long for her to catch on to the rules and to memorize the positions and their respective roles. And it was with that knowledge that she concluded that she would be best suited to be a running back. People wouldn't guess it but Rachel was pretty fast, and she knew that her petite stature would help her avoid the opposing team. Rachel had been able to figure out that much, but she was having a bit more trouble with her game face.

Rachel snarled at her mirror and tried to look mean, but it was hard. Rachel wasn't mean. Sure, she knew that she could be bossy sometimes, but that wasn't the same thing as being mean. She decided to go for a different approach and thought of something that would make her mad. She imagined being rejected after auditioning for the role of Fannie Brice. Her nostrils flared and growled. She looked at herself in the mirror. She looked silly. She sounded even sillier. At that moment Rachel was very glad that her room was soundproof. She would have been so embarrassed if either of her dads had heard her.

She went back into her room and checked the time. It was just about to hit nine so she decided to get ready for bed. She had managed to talk Noah into speaking with Coach Beiste the following day, and as long as she agreed then Rachel would have her tryout right then and there. A good night's rest was just what Rachel needed. She performed her nightly ritual which took a precisely a half hour and curled up under her covers.

The following day at school seemed to go on forever. Early on in the day Noah had managed to talk with Coach Beiste. He was able to convince her to give his friend a shot, but he happened to leave out the little detail about his friend being tiny, little Rachel Berry. Rachel was upset about that, but he assured her that Coach Beiste wouldn't care. There was little that Rachel could do but believe him. She at least had a chance and that was better than she could have hoped for.

As the day went on, she started to get excited and her school work suffered. Rachel was always so attentive in class, but all she could think about was scoring that touchdown and having her cheerleader girlfriend jump into her arms. And all the times that she saw Quinn throughout the day didn't help. Rachel couldn't keep her eyes off her. Everything about her, from her golden blond hair to her hazel eyes and firm ass, was perfect. The fact that she was somehow still single always amazed Rachel. Not that she minded of course. In fact, Rachel liked to think that Quinn was waiting for her to make a move.

Regardless of whether or not she was though, Rachel was determined to sweep Quinn off her feet. As the day came to a close, she headed off for the football field. Noah was waiting for her near the locker rooms. He was carrying a set of football equipment and a practice jersey. Much to Rachel's delight, it had the number one on it. She took the gear from him and was surprised to find that is was slightly heavier than she had anticipated. Rachel buckled forward a few inches but quickly regained her balance. Noah groaned and shook his head.

"I'm fine," Rachel told him, but he simply continued to shake his head before jogging to the field.

"Just get changed," he called out to her. "I'll introduce you to Coach after."

Rachel did as she was told and brought the gear into the girls' locker room. It was mostly empty, but there were a few Cheerios grabbing their pompoms. They looked at her strangely as they left, whispering among themselves. Rachel ignored them and checked to see if Quinn was around. She wasn't. She shouldn't have been though as she was Captain and thus expected to the first one out. And that was probably for the best because Rachel was very comfortable with the idea of Quinn seeing her while she changed. Maybe once they got a few months into their relationship she'd be okay with it, but at the moment she was feeling self-conscious.

She waited until she was sure that everyone was gone before getting undressed. Rachel put on the equipment that Noah had gotten her and double checked everything to make sure everything was secure. She then went to the restroom to give herself a once over in the mirror. If she had to be honest, she would say that she looked pretty weird but she looked good. The gear fit quite nicely and with her pads and her helmet, Rachel felt invincible. She felt confident that everything would work out just as planned.

Rachel exited the locker room with her head held high. She marched out to the football field where the team was already assembled. A few of the players saw her coming and looked her way. They turned to each other and started talking, with confusion etched on their faces. Noah looked skeptical as he watched her approach, but true to his word he walked Coach Beiste over to introduce the two of them. "So Coach, this is my friend, Rachel Berry." Rachel smiled widely and extended her hand out in front of her.

Coach Beiste looked Rachel over from top to bottom, sizing her up. She looked unsure, but she reached out for Rachel's hand and gave it a nice, firm shake. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too Coach," Rachel greeted in turn, as she fought the urge to shake the pain out of her hand. Coach Beiste had one strong of a grip.

"Puck here tells me that you want to try out for the team," she said as she gave Noah a hard pat on the back.

"Yes I do." Rachel nodded eagerly. "I'd like to audition for running back," she quickly said before she could correct herself. Noah made a pained sound while some of his teammates chuckled. "I mean try out. I'd like to try out for running back." Not even a minute in and she had already embarrassed herself. Rachel expected to get turned down. She wouldn't have blamed Coach Beiste, but all Coach Beiste did was glare at her team. They shut up quickly.

Once she had put them in their place, Coach Beiste brought her attention back to Rachel. "All right, let's see what you can do." Rachel's eyes lit up and she almost jumped up and hugged Coach Beiste, but she was able to stop herself. Coach got practice started and told Rachel to get with the offence.

"Yes ma'am!"

"It's Coach not ma'am."

"Yes ma'am- er, I mean Coach."

Rachel and Noah went over to get in the huddle with the offence. As they strode over, Noah gave Rachel a pat on the back. When they got close they heard the quarterback, Finn Hudson going over the play. Finn got them caught up and once everyone was set they broke the huddle.

"A girl playing football, huh?" Finn pondered aloud before taking his spot. "Cool."

Rachel laughed. "Cool," she agreed.

She got into place and focused on her goal. She was going to prove to everyone what she was capable of. And she was going to make Quinn Fabray her girlfriend. The ball was snapped and Rachel ran to her right. Finn handed her the ball and she took it. Rachel continued to run but found two defenders right in front of her. Her heart started to race. They were both three times her size. She was going to get crushed. But she kept her cool. She juked to the left and one of the defenders zoomed right past her.

The other one was still coming though. Rachel halted her movements and spun to the right, confusing the other defender enough to give her a chance to run ahead of him. She used her speed to keep her distance. Not once did she look back for fear of finding that the defense was right on her tail. Rachel kept running, with only one thought on her mind. Well, actually two thoughts. The first was Quinn. And the second was to not get killed. She just kept going and going and going. And then she realized it. She had gotten to the end zone.

Rachel turned around to find the entire team staring at her in disbelief. She felt good. No, she felt great. She leapt up and spiked the ball before performing a little victory dance. Once she was done, she saw Coach Beiste approach. Rachel immediately told herself to calm down. She smiled up at her and nervously asked, "So, what do you think?"

"What do I think? What do I think?" She let the words hang and then looked as though she were thinking things over. She then gave a strong pat on the back that nearly knocked her over. "I think we have a new running back!"

"I'm on the team?!"

"You're on the team. Congratulations."

"Thank you!" Unable to stop herself, Rachel leapt up and hugged her Coach. A second later she pulled back. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Don't worry about it, Rachel. Just get back on the field."

"Yes, Coach."