AN: Hey, this is my first Glee fic, and second ever fic. I lost inspiration on my other story, but will get back to it, cos I wanna see how that one pans out too. Anyways, I wrote a Michel/Cherry ( I love how both their names just mesh amazingly!) cos I don't see nearly enough of them, and I just love the idea of them two as a couple, although I said the same about Puckleberry (I'm indecisive, I know). My works are unBeta'd, but I'm not averse to having one, so feel free to let me know if you're up for it. An awesome writer on this site once said, "Reviews are love." And I totally agree. Enjoy :D
She walked through the doors with a determined look on her face, but everyone could tell she wasn't there. She strode confidently to her locker, as confident as a person of her standing could, perhaps even more. Everyone supposed she was egotistical, loud, and selfish, but he knew better. Rachel Berry was a star in the making, and he swore he'd be there when the world finally discovered that. She was talented, lively, and generous, but woe betide anyone who could look at her and see her for what she was without belittling the bite sized starlet.
As she gathered her books for the next class, she gritted her teeth in preparation for the hockey player and the purple coloured drink she spotted in his hand. She clamped her eyes shut and waited for the icy cold torture to land, and it did, but as she opened her eyes and saw that it wasn't intended for her after all.
"Way to go, M&Ms. Maybe next time you fairies prance about onstage all faggy, you could maybe win something." She heard Karofsky sneer as the rest of the team sniggered by. She turned and saw the victims of the childish onslaught, her heart breaking when she noticed that it was the dancing duo of her team. She grabbed her supplies and hurried towards them, grabbing their hands and dragging them to the boys washroom without a second thought or a backwards glance.
Both boys were puzzled as to the turn of events, from the slushy attack to Berry cyclone, not noticing that Rachel Berry, supposed diva, drama queen, and super-gleek extraordinaire was leading them to the washroom, after the warning bell sounded.
As she pushed them onto a chair each and told them to take off their shirts while she fumbled in her bag, they realised what she was doing. Mike obediently took his off, over the sink, carefully so as not to let it get anywhere further, whilst Matt stared at her, worriedly.
"Uh, Rachel are you sure you realise what you just did?" He asked hesitantly, unsure that the Queen Gleek was aware of what she was doing.
"Relax Matt, I'm not interested in checking you out, I just want to get the wet off you as quickly as possible, so it doesn't seep through further," she explained as she walked towards Mike with a towel and hairbrush. She stopped to lick a little of the sticky liquid off his cheek, "Mmm, grape. My favourite!" She giggled as Mike grinned at her. She turned on the tap and wiped and washed the dancer as he mock-whined. "Yeah. Too bad they don't get my favourite, Cherry Berry."
Matt watched this with confusion. Mike and Rachel? Since when? How come he heard none of this? Wasn't Rachel with Finn? More questions raced through his mind, but he was brought back to reality by the shock of the coldness seeping down his neck. "Hey, no fair helping the boyfriend first. I'm freezing and clueless here!"
This stopped the couple's flirtatious exchange as Rachel blushed and rushed over to help the shivering jock. "M-m-Mike's not my-" She stuttered, just as Mike sniggered, "Jealous much, Matt?", which caused Rachel to blush further. She fumbled about with Matt then declared that she was done, but since their shirts got soaked they might want to change those, and if they'd like, she could fetch them from their lockers. As soon as Matt told her his combination, she sprinted off, and he wondered why she didn't wait to hear Mike's.
She got back soon, and a little out of breath and handed him two sweatshirts, one which he passed to Mike. He sniffed at the sweatshirt and furrowed his brow. "Uh, this doesn't smell-" He stared as Mike threw the other sweatshirt at his head as he grabbed the sweet-smelling garment and tugged into it. "Thanks for washing it Rach," the other jock all but sighed into the sweatshirt. She blushed and giggled , "It was the least I could do since you lent it to me."
She waited outside the washroom patiently, and flashed them a wide smile when they got out. "You guys feeling better?" She chirped as they caught sight of her.
"Yeah. Thanks Rach. I never thought it would suck so much to get slushied. Now I know why it's kind of a big deal for you that it ends." Matt said. He never thought much of the act, always thinking it was pointless and a waste, but now that he experienced it first hand, he knew it wasn't just humiliating to the victim, it hurt too.
"Thank you Cherry Pop. Sorry you're late for class though, I know how much that bugs you." Mike said, pecking her cheek and hugging her as he steered her to her locker. She blushed further and ducked her head. "it's ok, I don't really do anything in homeroom, I just plan our performances for glee and watch Finn usually, but now both of those are over, I just scribble into my Berry-pad." She ranted as she stopped by her locker and sighed, with a sad look in her eye. Mike winced and hugged her once more then headed back to his locker when she called out. "I'll see you later then! Or not. Um, I'll see you in class for sure I guess, Michael." She grabbed her books then headed down to her AP Math class.
"Dude,since when have you and Rachel Berry been together? And why am I just finding out now?" Matt burst out, unable to rein in his curiosity for much longer.
"Since not really. She just got over her thing with Finn, or she's getting there, and I refuse to step in until she's better. I refuse to be her rebound guy. That girl's kids are going to call me daddy, and my mom's going to come over on the holidays and drive her crazy" He gushed out proudly.
"Woah. The Changster's fallen, and he's fallen hard." Matt teases in a commentator impersonation.
"Yeah, I have, I guess." He sighs. Matt's jaw drops.
"Dude, you're not even going to deny it?"
"What's the point? And why would I? Have you met Rachel Berry? The girl's like sin on legs, and yet a veritable angel! Plus, anyone who can match the Changster on the dancefloor is mos def worthy. You should check out her krumping. SICK!" He slams his locker shut and runs to his class, hoping to catch up with Rachel before the turd-bucket Jacob snagged the seat next to her, leaving a slack-jawed Matt behind.
At lunch time Rachel went into the cafeteria to grab herself an apple, cursing herself for forgetting to grab her packed lunch again. She got in line behind a bunch of Cheerios and smiled at them, noticing Brittany giggling at something one of the dimmer girls said. The girls just rolled their eyes at her and shrugged.
"Hey beautiful!" She heard someone yell in her direction, but she ignored it, or tried to, as her smile faltered at the girls' cold treatment. She grabbed her apple and paid for it, walking towards an empty table in the back corner.
"Hi Rachel!" She turned around to see Brittany beaming at her, with Becky by her side, smiling broadly at her and waving. Becky whispered something in her ear then adjusted her glasses, which Brittany responded to with a giggle. "No, I don't think she'll mind, Becky. Go ahead." And she gently nudged the girl towards Rachel. Becky approached her shyly and hugged her with a whispered, "Hi Ray-ray." To which Rachel could respond with a smile and, "Hello Rebecca. Hello Brittany," before her features contorted once more into a stance of weary confusion.
"Hey Cherry Pop!" "Hey Rachel."
She turned around and noticed Mike, then Matt, sliding into seats on the table she was about to sit on. "Hello Michael! Hello Matthew." She replied, sitting down, a little more cheerful. "Would you girls like to join us?" She asked nervously, knowing they'd never sit near her if the entire cafeteria had cooties.
"Yes, thank you Ray-ray!" Brittany bounced into the seat beside Matt, tugging Becky to follow suit. All Rachel could think to do was stare with her mouth open. "Careful, Diva, you could catch flies with that open like that," Santana smirked, appearing out of nowhere with a banana in one hand, and a bottle of water, mirroring her own lunch. Rachel quickly shut her mouth and sighed, awaiting the verbal lashing the new head cheerio was about to give her. Instead, Santana sat next to her on the bench, nudging her. "Budge over. Just cos I'm a cheerio don't mean I'm a stick, you know." she drawled. "You sure eat like one" Mike sniggered.
"Yea, so does Ray-ray, how come she gets no flak for it?" She retorted hotly. "I just forgot to pack my lunch today, and this caf does not supply nearly enough vegetarian options. Even the salad has bacon in it." She peeled her banana viciously and scowled, taking an angry bite out of it.
Rachel looked at her surprised, and she couldn't help but ask, "You're vegetarian?" but with the way Brittany looked at her worriedly, she instantly wished she hadn't. Santana just shrugged though. "Yes, since I was like 13. I had this pet turkey, like, 5 weeks before Thanksgiving, Marina, and you can guess what happened." she took a swig of her water then turned to Rachel, with apprehension.
"Um, Rachel, I'm sorry for asking you this, especially with our history and all, but I wanted only the best for this, cos she only deserves to have the best if we're going to do this to her. Anyways, coach is being a total bitch to Becky over here, and we all know it's just Sue being Sue, but Becks deserves better. So we figured if we could get a replacement for her for the competitions, while she does her jump rope routine as our front girl, we'd be covered. It's either that, or we coach her to our level, which I don't really know how to do, nor have we the time. And I love Becky too much to subject her to Sue overtime." She rambled quickly then sat there looking at Rachel with a hopeful look, her eyes pleading.
"You're asking me to join the Cheerios?" Rachel asked hesitantly.
"Yes. Please?"
"No." Rachel said firmly. "I'm sorry, but although I do admire your work and dedication, and you girls do enjoy the popularity a girl like me stereotypically crave, I have no desire whatsoever to become a Cheerio. Again I apologize, especially if this offends you, but to borrow from your vernacular, but the Cheerios are kind of bitchy." She shrugged.
Santana laughed. "Yeah, we kind of are. I guess that's another thing I should work on. Well, I'm sor-"
"I would love to help Rebecca though. I am sure that with my help, she'll be on par with the rest of you girls in no time." Rachel beamed at Becky, who was looking at everyone's faces excitedly.
Brittany launched herself across the table to hug Rachel, scattering what little food there was on the table, since Matt and Mike pretty much obliterated their trays. Rachel just giggled at the blonde's actions, and returned the hug.
"Hey Cherry Pop, since you and Santana didn't get much of a lunch here, wanna blow class and jet over to Naturally Joe's? The Matt Pack's ready to go too." Mike said quickly, blushing.
"Thank you Michael, I would love that, although you might wanna ask Santana too."
"Naturally Joe's?" was all the Latina said as she followed them out.
"Who's going with who?" Matt asked as he led them into the car park.
"We're taking Rachel's car, right Cherry Pop?" Mike hugged her, and grinned at her, then pulled on a pleading puppy dog face. She giggled at him, "Yes Mike, we can take my car. And yes, you can drive. But I call Shotgun, sorry Matt." Matt groaned, until he caught sight of her car.
"A Hummer, H1, custom build, paint, and wheels! SICK!" He all but flew to the car. Becky and Santana walked towards the car, laughing at Matt's outburst, but Brittany squealed. "Oh my God, Rachel! Do we really get to ride in an open top car? Can I please sit in the back? I promise not to jump around!" She grabbed hold of Rachel's hand and pleaded fervently, Rachel couldn't help but hug her.
"Sure Brittany, I don't see why not. Just make sure to wear your seat belt, please." She replied as Brittany bounced over to join Matt. Rachel sighed as she buckled up in her seat. This was truly a beautiful day, even if she was expecting to wake up anytime now.
The song for this chapter: Beautiful Day by Gym Class Heroes.