§ Hummelberry Ever-after §
By Muirnin CocanDisclaimer: I neither own nor claim any other rights in the characters and other concepts created for Glee. I make no money, nor do I seek any commercial advantage from this work. As such it constitutes "Fair Use" as defined in 17 U.S.C. §107. FAIR USE " Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
Author's Note: Since I started writing nearly two decades ago, I have found that my concepts of relationships is quite strange to say the very least. The majority of my writing has been in the Harry Potter world with the shipping of Harry and Hermione … obviously from canon what some would call delusional … I have since ventured into other avenues of writing with Glee … and I have fallen in love with the characters of Rachel and Kurt … so once again … I venture forth into the world of the delusional and write not about the finest friendship that has graced out screens of late … but of the true and honest love that we have seen blossom over the years …
Chapter 1: AftermathChange was inevitable … especially when it involved a brother … a friend … your best friend's lover …
Life had changed shortly after they returned to New York … so much so since Finn had died. The funeral, the memorial a month later … everything and yet Kurt had felt the change in the dynamics at home … at Home ... their home ... the amazing Hummel-Berry Loft. A place that would be forever changed all starting with the death of an amazing young man.
Santana had been the first to make a change … when she moved out to go live with her new girlfriend Dani ... a relationship that while it seemed strange at first fit perfect for Santana. Her caustic reparte was neutralized by Dani's angelic smile and made them a very wise and attractive pairing.
Both Santana and Dani would see Rachel and Kurt at the Diner and both would give him looks with regard to Rachel since they could see the devistating change to their friend.
Rachel Barbra Berry proved what an exceptional actress she truely was by appearing to the world at large the bright and bubbly woman who was on the top of the world … Happy, confident, and over joyed at being cast as Fanny Brice.
However ... at least to those who didn't know her well they would never even guess ... she was in the midst of a downward spiral that was as self-distructive as it was dire … due to her ever growing depression and grief …
But Kurt knew better ... He vowed to himself to protect Rachel for as long as necessary if for nobody else than for his brother Finn … who loved her more than life itself …
The tell-tale signs of her grief began to show as Rachel had begun to seriously lose weight ... not something that she could afford to lose. She pretend to be doing her normal work outs and then would go to rehersals for 'Funny Girl' … she continued her classes at NYADA and even picked up a shift here and there at the Spotlight Diner ... She buried herself in many of the activities that would excel her craft and while their schedules were vastly different in many ways ... what with Kurt still interning at and the classes he had at NYADA ... he still saw her at the Spotlight Diner and also at the St. James Theater.
Rupert Campion, the director of 'Funny Girl' was also growing concerned. He had contacted Kurt shortly after they had returned back home to New York after leaving Ohio, where the pair had gone to a memorial for as he had been informed was the death of a family member. He had seen Kurt come in to the theater a couple of times … always with Rachel clutching his hand … as she was known to do … and after a few times watching the young actress … he saw her take a deep breath then let go of Kurt's hand plaster a smile on her face and proceed to 'act' the way she was meant to …
Rupert had assumed that they were a couple … he knew they were living together and after seeing what Kurt could do for his ingénue … felt that anything he did to help his young actress would be good so he made him an offer intriguing chance that would change Kurt's life forever ...
First it was to cast him as Eddie Ryan, Fannie's best friend and fellow vaudvillian ... But that wasn't the end of it ... and Kurt couldn't believe what the ramifications would end up being ...
Paolo the broadway actor who was slated to play opposite from Rachel as Nicky Arnstein was away because of other commitments, so Rupert offered Kurt the position of understudy for the lead role …
"I understand Mr. Hummel that you are much younger than the role calls for however, during rehersals and while we are getting ready to take the show on the road for the pre-performances … it will give you a chance to assist Miss Berry as well as giving you a much deserved role to add to your theatrical résumé." Rupert graciously offered.
"Mr Campion, thank you for the offer …" Kurt said shocked, "Is Rachel aware of this addition to the cast?"
"Not yet she does not … there's another reason … besides the fact that you do have talent … the real reason I am adding you to the cast … Kurt … may I call you that?"
"Yes … yes you may … so what is the real reason?"
"I am concerned about Rachel … she's not looking well … at least physically. I was wondering if there is something more going on that I need to be informed about?"
"I understand your concern … I am trying to look after her … She is grieving over the loss of my br-brother … Finn … he um … died a while back and its taken its toll on both of us." Kurt said sadly "… I promised her dad's that I would watch out for her when we came back from Lima … that's where we lived before we moved to Bushwick … She had been engaged to Finn very nearly got married twice but he did the right thing and put her on a train to New York City and shortly there after I came out here as well."
"I can see the closeness between you two … I'm sorry about your brother … Have you looked into grief counselling?"
"No, I hadn't thought about that … I probably should have though … my father long before he was a Congressman actually went to counselling after my mother died … I think Finn's mother was going to go I'm not sure … but Mr. Campion thank you, that's an excellent idea …" Kurt responded very glad that there was an alternative that he could help Rachel with.
Blaine was not as quick to move to New York as what Kurt would have thought after he graduated … Blaine had said that Rachel was in a very fragile state and that Kurt had to focus soley on her … however what Kurt didn't know was that Blaine had been accepted at Stanford Medical School in California ... and so far he had not let his fiance know about this change.
To Blaine, the more time Kurt spent with Rachel the less likely he was to get involved with someother guy …
After talking to Rupert for a few more minutes, Kurt went to the back where Rachel was sitting studying her script. She hadn't warmed up yet but that just gave Kurt a chance to warm up with her.
"Hey Kurt, what did Mr. Campion want with you?" Rachel asked walking over to him and holding his hand again.
Turning he gave her an innocent look "Oh nothing much … He just offered me the Eddie Ryan part …"
The squeal that Rachel let out caused Kurt to smile as it was the first honestly joyous response that she had let out since she had gotten the part of Fanny Brice. She had hugged him so tightly he had forgotten how strong she truly was.
"I am so happy for you Kurt …" Rachel started still holding on tightly to her best friend.
"I'm also going to be Paolo's understudy while he is gone so you will have someone to practice with even when we aren't at the theater …"
"Really? Oh that is amazing … Oh Kurt its all happening for us isn't it … and someday you will definitely be Guylinda to my Elphaba" then the tears began to drip from her chocolate brown eyes. Pulling away she turned from Kurt who had held on to her.
"Hey now, what are the tears for?" Kurt gently wiped the tears off her eyes like he had the year before as they sat in the car after the disasterous NYADA mixer. "Come on honey, no more tears … remember?"
"I-I know Kurt, its just I keep thinking about Finn … I keep hearing his voice at night … its why I'm not sleeping …" Rachel said sobbing softly feeling Kurt's arms holding her.
"I dream about him as well Rach … he meant a lot to both of us … we are always going to miss him. Listen, I'm going to look into grief counselling for both of us … we can work it around classes and rehersals … ok?"
"Do you really think we need that?" Rachel asked slowly wiping her eyes. She had stopped wearing make up several weeks before and had yet to use it again. The natural look on her made her look even younger than she actually was.
"Actually, I do … Rachel, you are losing weight badly … you were tiny to begin with but now you are so emaciated … I love you Rach, I hate to see you looking so bad." Kurt leaned back with his arms still around his best friend, "We will do this together and everything will be alright … I promise … now we have a rehersal that is probably waiting for it's star to show up …"
Rachel nodded, then proceeded to do her prerehersal relaxation and cleansing breath … a visible change came over her face as she put a smile on her face and walking towards the table with other members of the cast.
"Welcome cast … before we get started I just wanted to introduce you to a couple of new players in our production … First we have in the roll as Eddie Ryan … Mr Kurt Hummel … Kurt will also be our understudy for the role of Nicky as Paolo will be away for some of the preliminary dates …
"And secondly, I want to introduce you to our new Rose Brice … Ms Shelby Corcoran" Rupert said has he swept his hand to the side allowing Shelby to make an entrance.
Immediately, Rachel was out of her chair and racing over to her mother who upon seeing her daughter enveloped her into her arms.
"I'm sure there is some type casting going on" Kurt said with a smile … "Who else could you get to play Rachel's mother but Rachel's real mother!" as he said walking over towards where Shelby and Rachel were still embraced.
"Hello to you as well Kurt … lovely to see you." Shelby said with a smile as she released one arm around Rachel to give Kurt a hug … her eyes telling Kurt of her sorrow at his brother's passing.
Kurt mouthed to Shelby "we will talk later" at which point Shelby just nodded.
Rupert smiled and said, "yes this is so true when it was time to cast Rose there was nobody else I wanted in the roll after I found out about their connection. Genius casting I must say. Now then, in the roll of Georgia James we have Patricia Robbins …" a tall blonde stood up giving off an air of arrogance that was thick and totally obvious.
As Rupert finished relaying the other cast additions Patricia's cell phone rang. "Sorry gotta take this …" she said as she got up and walked to the other room.
"One of the rules in here is cell phones off …" Rupert said to the room at large, "Doesn't anyone see the sign on the wall? Its obvious that some people think that rule is not for them … Anyway, for the first couple of months we are going to be having scene rehersals in the evenings … Shelby, I understand you have a young daughter … I have no problem with her being here as long as she behaves."
"Thank you Rupert, I'm sure Beth will love learning about the theater and spending time with her big sister …" Shelby said looking over to where Rachel was seated again next to Kurt with her hand firmly clinched in his.
Several hours passed that they had done several read throughs of scenes … most of which Rachel was already off book on impressing Rupert.
"Alright that will be all for tonight … We will meet back here on Thursday night 7:00 pm where we will do some run throughs of songs … so get your voices ready before hand."
And with that everyone started to pack it in and head for home … Kurt walked over to where Shelby was gathering her belongings while Rachel spoke with the director.
"Shelby, I am really concerned about Rachel … she's losing weight, she's not sleeping well … I promised LeRoy and Hiram that I would watch out for her but now I think there is something else going on." Kurt said making sideways glances at his best friend.
"I can see that she has lost a lot of weight … she's a rather good actress I can see the masque she is wearing for the public … I worried that this role will be too much for her at this time in her career … Do you both want to come over this evening for supper?"
"That's very nice of you Shelby … you can ask Rach … but I can almost guarantee that she will say no … We haven't gone out anywhere except School, Theater and the Spotlight Diner where we work with Santana and her girlfriend Dani. Dani and Santana have invited us over several times and Rachel has always turned them down …" Kurt said then remembering something that Mr Campion had said "You wouldn't happen to have the name of a good grief counselor in the area would you?"
"Actually I do know of one … she's someone I have used quite a lot over the years since giving up Rachel … I even saw her again after I adopted Beth … I sort of had to come to terms with the whole seeing my daughter again but not getting to be a mom thing. Losing my daughter was the hardest thing I have ever had to go through … How are you doing Kurt?"
"I miss my brother … my friend … He's gone and I can't change that … but I am madder than hell at him because of what he has done to Rachel." Kurt said honestly.
"I understand …" Shelby started but then addressed Rachel as she walked up instantly taking Kurts free hand. "Hi honey, do you and Kurt want to come to supper tonight?"
"Thank you but no …" Rachel said as she squeezed Kurt's hand in a signal that said its time to leave.
"Alright Honey, but I do expect to spend more time with you now that we are in the same town as well as in the same show … besides … I meant what I said … Beth really wants to meet her big sister can you believe it … she's almost 5 years old … she's singing and talking …"
Rachel looked like she was listening to Shelby … but Kurt could tell after all these years that she was just being nice.
"Shelby, we'll call you to set up a good time … Thanks for the information you gave me … it will definitely help." Kurt said with a smile and after cursory hugs and goodbyes they made their way out to head back home to Bushwick.
After they had gone to the A line and then switched to the L line train the pair sat being lulled by the rocking of the train. Kurt had put his arm around Rachel's shoulders when he felt her head rest upon his shoulder. After a few minutes Kurt could tell she had fallen asleep … the first time she had truly slept in quite some time. Wrapping his arm around her tighter Kurt was glad that she was the only thing that he needed to deal with tonight. They didn't have their usual assortment of book bags and acutraments that they usually possessed as neither had felt the need to carry too much to the theater.
When the train finally arrived at the Broadway/Aberdeen station in Bushwick, Kurt gently took Rachel up into his arms shocked at how light she had become and carried her out of the station … even the noisy bustling of the station made no difference to the sleeping Rachel …
Outside the station Kurt pondered whether to hail a cab or carry his best friend the three blocks to their apartment. He figured the choice was easy as he didn't see any cabs in the area so he kept walking towards their loft. By the time they made it to the loft Rachel was starting to stir.
"Kurt? Did I get hurt or something? Why are you carrying me?" Rachel asked sleepily looking up at him with her deep brown eyes.
"No Rach, you fell asleep just seconds after we left Penn Station and you were sleeping so soundly I didn't have the heart to wake you … we're home now … are you ok to walk?"
"Yeah, thank you …" Rachel said blushingly, as he had put her down on her own two feet "I'll just say … that was very sweet of you"
"Let's get this door open and then I'll make us some dinner …" Kurt said as he began to unlock the various locks that were in place. Opening the door they went in to the warm interior that had become their home. "Why don't you go get changed and then go watch some televison …"
Rachel just nodded her head and went into her room. After a bit she came out dressed in pajama pants and a spaghetti tee with the oversized tee-shirt Finn had left there several months before … Rachel had been using it as a sleep shirt because it still smelled like Finn … or at least she believed it did.
Kurt was busy at the stove putting together a quick stir-fry of vegetables … he was getting the hang of her vegan dietary needs and found that it was fairly easy to adjust to himself … although he did still insist on bacon and eggs for breakfast once a week as well as whole milk and cheese … rather than the soy milk that Rachel used.
As he was plating their dinner Kurt heard the unmistakable sudden giggle from his roommate and turned to look at her. She was watching something on television that seemed to cause her extreme hilarity.
"Rach what's so funny?" Kurt said bringing their plates and utensil's to the sofa.
"I just turned on this show and it is hysterical … it's a show that's on Ovation … Jon Hamm … Daniel Radcliffe …" Rachel wiped her eyes and reached up and took the plate that was offered. "Thanks Kurt … this looks good."
Turning to look at the screen he could see that the ending credits were beginning to roll and frowned. "Oh it's over … too bad, anything that can get you to such a giggle fit has to be worth watching."
Rachel then began to explain what she knew about 'A Young Doctor's Notebook' that it was about the writings of an older doctor played by John Hamm about when he was a young doctor played by Daniel Radcliffe … set in 1917 Russia.
As they sat and ate they realized that there was a marathon going on so they watched it together grimacing at some of the acting and laughing hysterically at other parts. It was definitely not a show that they would have seen on one of the normal networks.