October 17, 2013
Rachel was lying in bed, staring at the clock resting on her bedside table - 11:57pm and she was beyond exhausted. Between her full schedule of classes, her part-time job at the sports club and spending every spare second in the theater getting ready for the Halloween performances of Wicked that her school was putting on over the next couple weeks, every inch of her mind and body felt ripped apart.
She moaned softly as she stretched out in her bed. Yawning, she turned on her side as the clock advanced a minute. She had closed the sports club at 10:30, raced home to take a shower and get settled into bed before Finn called to say goodnight. It seemed odd to her that it was almost midnight and she hadn't heard from him yet. She had texted him when she had gotten out of the shower to let him know she was ready whenever and nearly an hour later she was still waiting. She reached over and checked her phone for the fifth time to make sure that it wasn't on silent or that she hadn't somehow missed a text or a call from her boyfriend.
She yawned again, trying to recount a moment when her eyelids had ever felt as heavy as they did at that moment. She was positive that if she wasn't fighting off sleep with every ounce of energy she had left so she could talk to Finn, she would've been asleep long ago. She let out a large sigh, feeling her bangs float off her forehead. Frustrated, she sat up in her bed and glanced at the clock again. Midnight.
She raked her mind to think if she was missing something. Did Finn mention a party he was planning on attending? She knew his football team wasn't on the road this weekend and he didn't have a game until Monday… maybe practice had run late? Did he simply forget to call her? She shook her head with a little laugh… he called her every night… that couldn't be it.
Scooting toward the edge of her bed and pushing herself off her bed, she shivered when her feet hit the cool wooden floor. She tiptoed over to her window, opened the glass pane, followed by the screen and stuck her head out the window. It had rained for the past three days and even though it had finally stopped around dinnertime, the air was still dank and held the smell of moisture. Sighing, she took a minute to take in her surroundings.
To say that things hadn't turned out the way she thought they would… well that would be an understatement. She always imagined that when she was a sophomore in college, she would be in New York… living it up at NYU or at Julliard. She assumed that when she would look out her window, she would see Central Park or the lights of Broadway or maybe even the Empire State Building in the distance. She thought for sure by this point in her life, she'd be on her way to making it in the big city, and her name would be in lights… and she for sure thought she'd have her boyfriend there next to her to celebrate each milestone in her young and promising career.
The truth of the matter is she didn't even get into the schools of her dreams. After her initial shock and heartbreak, she pushed herself to move on. Rachel Berry was not a quitter. She was lucky enough to get into Berklee in Boston – at least she would be on the same coast as Broadway and she could at least study performing and music. That had to be a good enough start...
So instead of staring Lady Liberty in the face, she was faced with the Prudential Center and a spattering of bars and dive pizza places. And instead of playing small parts or even working backstage on Broadway, she was making minimum wage working the desk and wiping down the machines of the school gym. It's not that she didn't like Boston – she actually liked it a lot. She loved the old buildings and learning the history and culture of the old city. She surprisingly found a love for baseball, for the Red Sox, and loved hanging around Fenway with her small group of friends.
She was shocked that she made friends so easily when she got to school. No help from on campus housing – she had the WORST roommate her freshman year in the WORST dorm. She begged her daddies all year to let her move off campus and finally they caved and allowed her to get a two bedroom apartment off campus for her sophomore year - with the condition that she had a roommate that they approved of. She had to beg and plead, but Kurt finally agreed to relinquish his sweet, on-campus apartment down the street at Northeastern for a much smaller, much less lavish and much more expensive Back Bay apartment. Some would never have imagined that the two of them would be able to co-exist in the same city, let alone the same apartment but they actually had a blast living together and taking Boston by storm.
Her experiences at Berklee had humbled her. She still believed that she was a star and that she was destined for big things… but she had her eyes opened wide when school started and she realized just how many truly talented people there were out there. She hadn't been lucky enough to land a lead role in any productions at school yet but surprising to everyone, especially her, she was content just being involved in any way. She played small bit parts and helped out behind the scenes building sets, helping with advertising, anything she could do to get involved. She was just focusing on soaking up everything in classes and rehearsals and workshops… every little lesson and experience would help her pay her dues and eventually, her time to be a star would come.
The hardest part was that Finn wasn't with her. He was in Ohio still, playing football and attending school with Puck and Sam. He had gotten in to a few colleges on the east coast but he had received a full athletic scholarship at Ohio State… it was an opportunity that Rachel couldn't deny him of…
It had been one of the hardest things to say good bye to him and go to school in a completely different state. The first few months of freshman year had been the hardest. They got by though, counting down the days between holiday breaks and long weekends when they would take turns visiting each other. And they survived with nightly phone calls…
They never missed a single night call – not even when Finn was traveling with the football team or Rachel was studying endlessly for exams – so the fact that Finn hadn't called Rachel yet was weighing heavy on her. She took in a deep breath of cool October air and closed the screen, leaving the window open and letting the wind sweep into her bedroom. She shivered, realizing her hair was still wet and she was dressed a little seasonally inappropriate in short shorts and a tank top. She scurried over to her bed, tossing herself onto the mattress and burying herself under her blankets.
A shiver overtook her tiny body as she reached for her phone. It was 12:21 and she was on the brink of sleep – she had to reach Finn before she gave in to her exhaustion…
She shivered again as she unlocked her phone and dialed Finn. She pulled her phone away from her ear in shock and gasped a little when it went directly to his voicemail. She clicked her phone off and tapped it against her chin once as she wondered what was up with him. Rachel let out a yawn as she dialed Finn again… and once again, reached his voicemail. Groaning, she threw her phone down on the mattress next to her as she closed her eyes…
…she caught herself falling asleep and forced her eyelids to flutter open. She sat up in the dark and felt around until she found her phone. Tossing it back and forth between her hands, she wrestled with feeling sad, mad and worried that she hadn't heard from her boyfriend. Crossing her legs under her and running a hand through her slightly damp waves of hair, she turned on her phone with her other hand and constructed a text to Finn.
"Hey baby… I tried to call you but got your voicemail. Hope everything is okay. I am going to sleep… missed hearing your voice tonight. I love you."
She lay back onto her pillows and placed her phone on her chest so that if Finn did call or text, the noise and vibration would surely wake her up. Pulling her blankets up to her neck and yawning, she allowed her heavy eye lids to close and shortly after, she finally gave into sleep.
"Rachel...Rachel…"
In a sleepy haze, Rachel could swear she heard Finn whispering her name. It reminded her of the times senior year of high school when she would sneak Finn into her house and up to her room for after hour make out sessions and cuddle fests. Careful not to wake her dads, Finn and her would whisper entire conversations for hours…
"Rachel."
This time Finn's voice was a little louder. Her heartbeat started beating a little faster as she lazily felt around to find her phone. Had Finn finally called and had she fallen asleep during their conversation? That happened a couple times during really late night conversations or when neither of them wanted to say goodnight sometimes Finn would stay on the phone until he knew Rachel had fallen asleep.
"Rachel…"
This time Finn's voice seemed closer and if she wasn't sure that it was impossible, she could swear his familiar fingertips brushed a ringlet of hair off her cheek. Either she was having a very vivid dream or the October winds this evening were stronger than she realized.
"Rachel…"
Rachel moaned a little and stirred under her blankets, opening her eyes slightly and closing them again. She felt her mattress shift slightly and she was certain someone was sitting on the edge of her bed. In her half awake/half asleep state, she figured Kurt had gotten home from a party and wanted to gush about his night. She figured if she just fell back asleep, he'd get the hint and give up until morning.
"Rachel, baby… wake up."
When did Kurt's voice become so much like Finn's? And why is he calling her baby? She opened her eyes for a second and in the moonlight, she could've sworn Kurt's normally petite frame was morphed into a much larger, 6 foot plus size version. The shadow of his figure revealed that his normally super styled coif was instead a messy, shaggy bed head kind of style that reminded her of Finn.
"Hey Sleeping Beauty."
Okay, she was definitely hallucinating or dream because that was definitely Finn's voice. Rachel rubbed her eyes and squinted in the dark.
"Finn?" She whispered in uncertainty.
"Yeah baby, I'm here. " Finn stood from his spot on the edge of her mattress and reached over to flip on the lamp on Rachel's bedside table. He leaned down and kissed Rachel's forehead, caressing her cheek gently.
"Ww..what's going on? Am I awake? Why… how'd you get here?" Rachel croaked out, shaking the sleep out of her head and sitting up slowly, still in a state of sleepy surprise.
"Well…" Finn began, pausing to take Rachel's hand in his and planting a kiss to the palm of it. "I got some good news today and I had couldn't wait to tell you but I wanted to tell you in person so I took the first flight after my afternoon classes to get here and good ole Kurt stayed up to let me in."
Rachel glanced at her clock and saw that it was after 3am. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "What? I'm so confused right now."
Finn laughed a little and ran his free hand through Rachel's wild mane of hair. "I know I'm waking you up in the middle of the night but try and focus."
Rachel rubbed her eyes again and tried to wake herself up. She yawned a big yawn and when she opened her eyes, she saw clearly her boyfriend sitting on her bed, lopsided smile and all. Letting out a little yelp, she threw off her blankets, climbed onto her knees and threw herself at him - wrapping her arms around Finn's neck, planting small kisses on his cheek and neck.
Finn laughed as he breathed Rachel's shampoo in. He wrapped his hands around her little body and pulled her down so she was sitting on his lap. "That's better. Hey you."
"What are you doing here?" Rachel asked, a bewildered expression on her face.
"Well, I wanted to surprise you, one, and two, like I said, I have good news." Finn said, rubbing a hand up and down Rachel's back. He kissed the tip of her nose and then leaned his forehead against hers. "I missed you so much."
"I was worried when you didn't call tonight." Rachel whispered. "I guess I can't be mad now."
"Well, I hope not." Finn laughed. "So, do you want to hear my news?"
"Can I kiss you properly first?" Rachel asked. Not waiting for an answer, she leaned in slowly until she felt his lips against hers and they met in a soft, sweet kiss. "I missed you." She murmured against his lips.
Finn pulled back slowly, using his fingertips to brush Rachel's hair away from her face. "You look beautiful."
Rachel let out a little laugh, ducking her head and peering up at Finn from under her long lashes. "Please, I look like a wild woman. Usually I get all dolled up if I know you're coming."
Finn shook his head and tightened his arms around her. "You're amazing Rach. You're so beautiful… and I've really been missing you" he said in a soft voice. Rachel nodded at the last part. "Which is why I need to tell you something."
"What?" Rachel whispered in anticipation.
A slow, lopsided grin worked its way onto Finn's face. "I'm transferring to Boston College next semester."
Rachel's jaw dropped and she let out a gasp. "No! Finn! Your scholarship!"
He let out a little laugh. "My scholarship" he paused "is coming with me. Between my 3.7 GPA last year at OSU and I guess I've been playing well enough… well BC is giving me a chance. It's all worked out. I'll start there in the spring and I'll play football next year!"
A moment passed, Rachel's jaw still dropped.
"We're going to be in the same city finally. And you can come to my games and I can come to your shows. We can go on real dates again and spend the nights together. Rach, this is a great thing. Aren't you happy baby?"
"I think I'm in shock." Rachel whispered. She looked Finn in the eye and took a deep breath. "What about your friends and everything in Ohio. Your mom, Burt. Are you sure you want to leave all that? A-a-and you always dreamed of playing football at Ohio State as a child."
"Rach, dreams change. Being with you is my biggest dream now." Finn whispered, placing a soft kiss to Rachel's lips. "I can't spend another 2 ½ years at a school so far away from you. I can play football anywhere. Hell, I could give up football all together if it meant we were closer. This distance thing has been torture. Besides, BC's great and I'm still getting a scholarship so my Mom's on board. Honestly, it couldn't have worked out better."
A wide smile overtook Rachel's face and she giggled. "So we just have to make it until January… and then we'll be together?"
"Forever Rach." Finn whispered.
"OH MY GOD!" Rachel squealed, jumping off of Finn's lap and hopping up and down in place.
"Rach!" Finn laughed. "Shhhh… Kurt – and your neighbors – are probably trying to sleep."
Rachel hopped up and down, dancing in a small circle. When she turned to face Finn, she clapped her hands twice, a huge smiling overtaking her face. "OH MY GOD" she let out in an exaggerated whisper causing Finn to laugh again.
"Come here." Finn said softly, reaching out and taking Rachel's hand and pulling her to stand between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She draped her arms around his neck and pushed her body flush against his. They stayed like that for a minute until he felt Rachel's shoulders shake in the way that the do when she cries. He pulled back a little to look at Rachel's face just as a few tears raced down her cheeks. "Rach, don't cry."
Rachel shook her head. "No it's okay. I'm just so happy." She took a deep breath. "It's just been so hard without you." She leaned her forehead against his and took another deep breath, steadying her voice. "I just love you… so much… it's just been so hard."
Finn nodded, rubbing small circles on Rachel's lower back. He brushed his lips over Rachel's softly and pulled back to look her in the eye. "For me too. I can't wait until I'm just across the city and can come over whenever I want to kiss you. Or see you. Or hold you. And we can study together." Rachel laughed. "Or not study together," Finn said with a wiggle of his eyebrows causing Rachel to laugh a little louder.
Rachel sniffled, wiping away the last of her tears. "Finn. I'm really, really happy," she whispered.
"Me too."
They sat in silence for a few moments, just holding each other until Finn said, "Let's get you back to bed."
Rachel nodded as Finn stood up and pulled the covers back for Rachel to climb into bed. Finn covered her up and kissed her gently on her forehead. He walked towards the door.
"Ww-wait! You're not going back to Ohio right now are you?" Rachel exclaimed.
Finn laughed. "Rachel! I'm just going to brush my teeth and put on my sweatpants. I'll be right back!"
Rachel smiled to herself as Finn walked out of her room. She turned on her side and glanced out the window at the bright lights of Boston staring back at her. She couldn't help but think that this city was about to get a whole lot better…
More to come :-)
-Lu