Chapter Text
Do you wake up every day wondering what life around you would be like if you didn't? If one day all your worst nightmares came true, and you didn't wake up. All the bullying would stop. No one could hurt you anymore. Joe might miss you, but that's just because he doesn't have anyone else. He stayed closed off to be close to his best friend. You fucked up another person's life, Rach. Can you do anything right?
"Rach, sweetie, come down for breakfast. We made your favorite!" Hiram shouted to his daughter from the bottom of stairs. He and his husband were starting to worry about their angel. She used to not care what people thought. Hell, she didn't learn to straighten her hair until freshman year, but that didn't change the fact that she brought three changes of clothes to school every day in case of slushy attacks. They were hoping to try and get Rae to transfer, but they know she wouldn't leave Joe.
"Yes, daddy. Let me get dressed." She said as she walked into her closet. Huh. Closeted lesbian walking into the closet. Well isn't that ironic. She decided to dress in a variation of her out of school clothes. A pair of black men's skinny jeans, a red studded belt, white V-neck, a nice low-buttoned vest, and a skinny black tie to tie it all together. Seems fitting.
Rachel wasn't what everyone thought she was. Most people saw her as the loser outcast targeted by the HBIC, Quinn Fabray. Rachel never did anything wrong of her knowing, but that didn't stop Quinn. The HBIC ordered slushy attacks every day of freshmen year. She also came up with some pretty "clever" nicknames that made Rae question everything she thought about herself.
The sound of Michael Jackson startled Rae, but she soon realized it was just a text from Joe. "Are we dressing up today, or playing our safe card?"
Every day since they started high school, Joe and Rachel coordinated their outfits to insure that they always had something going for them. Rachel hadn't worn "regular" clothes since the first day, but this was a new year. Junior year to be exact, and she wasn't going to let anything stop her from truly becoming herself.
She decided to text Joe back. "I guess they would say this is dressed up, but you know I have more class than to show off my ass ;)" Since they had been friends for so many years, they knew each other in and out. Like the fact that Rachel had the most style in all of Ohio closely followed by Joe and Kurt. No one else knew that. No one knew anything about her other than the fact that she usually dressed like a blind toddler and loved to sing.
Joe fired a text back. "Let me guess. Vest and skinny tie? You're so predictable. So, are we taking my piece of shit vehicle or your bad ass bike that you have yet to have driven to school and only use for practice?" Damn it, Joe. She doesn't want her bike to draw all that attention to her, but she doesn't crave the spotlight. It's how she hides her true self. She adapted to taking on the diva of Broadway. Honestly, yea she wanted to be on Broadway. It was a dream, but her real passion was playing and writing her own music. Also, sports. She had a natural talent for sports. Her older brother, Noah, who insists on being called, Puck, knows about a few of her activities, but he doesn't pay much attention to anything other than banging as many chicks as he can. Quinn Fabray off limits because he may be older by 15 minutes, but his sister has a knack for being able to kick his ass.
Rachel lets Joe know that they will take her bike if he gets to her house in time to have breakfast with them. He would be there soon. Knowing his schedule, he just finished soccer practice and was already in his way.
"Good morning Daddy, Dad." They looked up and were shocked by her outfit. They knew how she dressed and most of her extracurricular activities. Kinda have to when you pay for everything. They had just never seen her dress like that for school.
"Well don't you look nice. Deciding to stop hiding already? Is Joe matching? I'd hope so. You guys are so cute when you match. It's a shame that you don't like men. He'd be great for you." Leroy told his baby girl as he kissed her forehead and straightened her tie. "If anything goes wrong, you text us and let us know. We may be gay, but we know our way around." As he finished his sentence, his oldest walked in.
"Woah little sis, when did you get the cool clothes?" Noah took in his twin's appearance as he grabbed him a hand full of bacon and began snacking before school. Noah loved his twin, but she had always had terrible taste in clothing. Well, that's what he thought. Maybe he didn't know her as well as he thought. Damn. He felt like a bad brother.
"Noah, I've had these clothes for years. I've worn them several times out of school. Do you actually know anything about me?" Rachel was starting to get angry. You would think that her own brother would notice that she wasn't what everyone thought. She grew up doing everything he did. He played football and guitar. He could also sing a little bit. She on the other hand played soccer, basketball, softball, tennis, football, guitar, drums, bass, and she had a powerhouse voice. He knew nothing!
"What the hell is your problem? How was I supposed to know when we haven't had a serious conversation since middle school? You pushed me away. Not the other way around. I've tried to get close to you, so don't pull this shit." He was shouting now. He didn't understand why she was doing this. He wanted his best friend back just as much as she wanted him to know who she really was.
As soon as she went to respond the doorbell rang. "Joe come in. We need to have a quick chat." Joe walked into the house in red skinny jeans, a white V-neck, a dress vest, black studded belt, and a skinny black tie. It was kinda crazy how much their fashion sense was alike.
Noah just looked back and forth between them. His head was ready to explode. This boy was his sister's best friend and had been since they met. They knew everything about each other, and he knew nothing. Since when did Joe have style? What else doesn't he know about? "Okay. Please tell me when he started learning how to dress as well." Noah needed answers and he wanted them now.
"One second, Noah." Rachel said as she walked up to Joe and fixed his tie. "Looking good, bro." Noah started to fume at that. He knew that's how people talked, hell that was how he talked. So, why was he so angry? Oh that's right. That's her sister and Joe knew more about her. Rachel turned back to Noah after whispering to Joe for a few minutes. "Okay. You want to know more about me and Joe?" Noah just nodded his head. Rachel wrote an address on a piece of paper and handed it to him. "Be there after football practice. We should be done with basketball practice by then."
Noah was shocked. Basketball practice? They weren't on the team at school so where did they play? He didn't have time to think it over because Rachel came up and gave him a hug. "I know you want to know more, but trust me when I say, patience is a virtue." She whispered in his ear before announcing to their fathers they her and Joe would be taking the bike to school today. "Noah. Be there and we will answer your questions. Now, we have to head out. I love you."
Okay. That was so weird. 16 years and he had never seen a brother and sister act like that. How did Noah know so little about his own twin? He was taken back by that. In the end, it only made him smile because he didn't have to worry about losing his best friend to anyone.
"So Rae, how do I look?" He put on his cocky smirk as he grabbed his helmet from the garage. They had done everything together for the past 5 years, and now Noah has the address to their band practice today. It was strange. More than strange. Peculiar even, but he knew when to change the subject.
"Like me so I guess that means smoking hot." She said with a smirk of her own. He was so glad they moved here when they were in middle school. He didn't know what he would do without her. He put his helmet on over his dreads and made sure it was comfortable. Rae put her hair over her shoulder and put the helmet on before jumping on her Kawasaki Ninja. It was her baby. He knew that. To this day he still hasn't driven it. That was okay. Free rides while looking good. This was looking up to be a good day.
He jumped on behind her and held on to the back of the bike so they could head to school. When they got there, he asked her the plan. "Look. I know we are starting to come out of our shells, but this is going to draw a lot of attention, and Azimio isn't going to stop the attacks. So, are we going to put up with it, or put up a fight? Either way, I'll always have your back." Joe watched as she took off helmet then slowly looked around. Everyone was staring at them, including the unholy trinity. He knew since he first met Rachel that she loved Quinn Fabray. It was strange. Her tormenter for three years was the love of her life, and there was no one for him.
Rae slowly took off her helmet and flipped her hair. She wasn't going to let anything get in their way of what they wanted. She turned to Joe and smirked, "3 years of taking what they dished out. 3 years of wanting to end it all. I've had enough. We put up a fight. We can take on the entire football team and you know it. We won't let anyone tear us down anymore."
She went to put her helmet on her bike when she caught their stares. One stare caught her eyes in particular. Quinn Fabray. She was stunning as always, but she had this look in her eyes that Rachel couldn't quite decipher. "God, I wonder what she looks like under that uniform." She thought to herself, but of course Joe read her mind.
"Damn, livewire, keep it in your pants." He laughed and smacked her arm. That was the first time he called her that at school. No one knew that they did MMA at a gym nearby and were both undefeated in their classes. He put his own helmet down and decided that it was time to face the school, but then Noah pulled up beside them.
"Rae! Wait up for a minute. Can I talk to you and Joe?" Noah asked. His demeanor had changed since they talked this morning, and since they still had 10 minutes before glee, they figured why not. So, Rachel and Joe nodded as they walked with Noah to a private class room in the abandoned side of school.
"Alright. We're here. What's up?" Rachel and Joe asked in unison before laughing at each other. Noah smirked internally because he was happy to see his sister finally being herself.
"Okay. I love you both. And yes, by both I mean Joe too. He has always been there for you when I should've been, and I can't thank him enough, but I want to know more about what you guys are up to. I've been left out of the loop for so long, and now I want in." Noah stated calmly. He wanted his sister back, and Joe was like the brother he always wanted. He wanted to get closer to them. He just had to.
Rachel look at Joe then back to Noah. She didn't know where to start, and they didn't have much time left. "Noah, we have to get to glee, but if you go to that address after football practice, we will answer all your questions. I promise." Noah nodded. He would do whatever it took.
With that, they started walking to glee together when Puck saw Azimio and his gang with slushies. Rachel and Joe both just kept walking and Noah followed. They stopped in front of Azimio and his 2 guys. Rachel was standing in the middle while Joe and Noah stood in front of the other guys. By now the entire school was watching. She could see the Unholy Trinity standing there staring with great intent.
"Hello, Azimio, and boys. How are you today?" Rachel asked calmly. She was going to try to avoid a fight, but knew it was the easiest thing. Joe took a stand against the other boy while Noah tried to figure out what the fuck was about to happen.
"Look, man-hands. I don't care if you changed your style, or rode a bike into school today, you're still a loser, and we came to put you back in your place." Azimio smirked. He thought he had this in the bag. He would slushy them, they would run off to get clean, and he would win once again. Unexpectedly, Noah looked like he was about to lunge at Azimio. He didn't stand up for Joe and Rae before, but he was going to now.
Rachel put a hand on Noah's chest to calm him down. Noah didn't have the fighting experience that she and Joe did, and she didn't want him jumping in first. "Look Azimio, I suggest you turn your Lima loser ass around before you regret it." Everyone started to "ooh" and Azimio looked pissed.
"What the fuck did you just say to me, you little bitch?" Azimio was pissed. In fact, so were both of his boys. Rachel didn't want to do this but, she realized she didn't have another option. She leaned over to Noah and Joe and told them that on her mark they knock the slushies back into the football teams faces, and then drop them to the ground. Noah looked worriedly at his sister.
"Rae, are you sure?" He was scared for her. He didn't want her getting hurt. Maybe she was just lying. Instead she just looked at him and nodded. "Noah. If you want to learn more about me, I suggest you pay attention." With that she nodded and they knocked the slushies' back into the player's faces. Noah then went to kick his guy's knees in when he saw Joe and Rachel do something strange. Joe dropped and swiped his feet under his guy while Rachel decided to show off. With Joe's help, he pushed Azimio forward so that he was close enough for Rachel move. She ran back towards the lockers, ran up and turned to kick Azimio across the face. Her kick was so powerful that he fell down, and she landed in a fighting stance.
Every stared in shocked at Rachel and Joe. Noah's mouth hung open. He had no idea what just happened, but he couldn't be more proud. Rachel turned to Joe and laughed. "Well, that could've gone better. Should we at least carry them to the nurses?" Rae asked Joe. I looked at her like she was crazy. Joe just shook his head and laughed.
"How about instead we just do a cool jump and spin over them and get to class? I have no doubt that someone is going to come get us for that." Rachel nodded and with that she and Joe both ran towards the lockers and did a backflip of them landing right over the boys laying on the ground. They then did a quick spin in opposite directions, grabbed each other's hands and dropped before starting to laugh.
Rachel turned around and looked at Noah. "You coming or what?" Then she smirked. She fixed her tie and started to walk off to glee. Noah ran and caught up to them. Everyone else just stared. Suddenly the silence broke, and everyone started to talk about what just happened. They didn't pay much attention, but when they passed the unholy trinity, Rachel heard something new.
"That was hot." Brittany said before Quinn and Santana covered her mouth and looked at the 3 people walking by. Joe and Rachel started laughing while Noah finally realized that his sister wasn't the little girl he knew before.