A/N: This was supposed to be a short happy little ficlet for a Yule present for my Pretty Whitty, but I kept having ideas. No clue how long this will get, but enjoy the ride! Reviews are love, but really I just want you to read it.
"Honestly Rachel, I just can't stand it in the apartment with her. She never goes out. She studies ALL the TIME. She's up before me, taking pictures as the sun rises, she's at class all day, she's up studying when I come home from the parties; I mean, what does she think this is, coll- oh. Well, never mind that, she's seriously lame and that's why I'm sitting here in your living room waiting on YOUR late ass so we can go drink half of New York City dry." The ramble coming from the other room continued, but the girl in her bedroom just smiled into her vanity mirror and tuned her friend Karen out.
The three years since high school graduation had led to a lot of changes in one Rachel Barbra Berry, Glee club co-captain extraordinaire. Once she no longer had to fear slushies to the face, her wardrobe had matured into one with first more cleavage, then even more leg, and finally had softened to one with more class. An incident at a party her freshman year had left her with barely chin-length hair (never again would she drink tequila around aspiring hairdressers), and despite having had years now to grow back, she'd kept it to just above her shoulders, discovering a slight natural wave that the weight of her sable locks had prevented her from seeing as a teenager.
As she expertly began lining her eyes, Rachel spared a glance at the picture that was stuck up in the right hand corner of her mirror. Automatically, her fingers dropped from her eye, to her lips, to the picture. "Love you, babe," she whispered. It'd been too long since she'd seen the shining eyes face to face, but Lima was a long way from New York City, and she just didn't get home as often as she'd like. But tonight was supposed to be fun, and moping about their separation wasn't going to help. Giving a slight shake to her head, she hurried through the last of her preparations.
"So I said, Lucy, if you're going to stay in your room all the time, at least have the decency to make some kind of mark on the rest of the apartment so when I bring a guy home, I'll know that you're there and not fuck him in the living room! I mean, honestly, who DOES that?" Karen had apparently not stopped talking the entire time Rachel had been doing her makeup, but really, that didn't surprise her. The younger girl had all the energy of a sixteen year old Rachel Berry.
"Wait, you're mad because you screwed what's-his-name in the living room of your apartment, your roommate didn't come out and bust you, and you only found out later that she was home? Woman, you're crazy." Grabbing her now-signature handful of hoop earrings as she walked back into the living room. "Admit it, K, you're an exhibitionist with a sadistic humiliation streak thrown in for bonus. Leave the poor girl alone! And more vital to the current situation, tell me how I look!"
Dark green eyes flicked up to the doorway and sparkled. "Girl you're gonna break about a thousand hearts tonight, just you wait. That top... by the way, I'm going to be stealing that, just so you know - that top is amazing. Where the hell did you get it?" A laugh and a grin were the response as the girls grabbed their purses and headed out the door, previous topic forgotten. They were young, they were beautiful, and New York City was full of life for them to explore.
333
The locks clicked in succession at three that morning, as two very intoxicated women slipped into Karen's apartment. Rachel hung on the redhead's arm, giggling as she attempted to remove one of her heels without falling over. This might have worked, had Karen not tried the same thing simultaneously, causing them to bump heads and crumple to the floor, their laughter only increasing. "Shhhhhh, no, like, seriously. I don' wanna deal with Lu.. Lu... with my roommate. HA! That's what I should call her, Lulu. Yup, that's her new name. Lulu Harrington. That'll do." Attempts were being made to right themselves as Karen babbled on, mostly resulting in only more noise and continued failure.
At last, Rachel stopped giggling (and snorting, though she'd never admit to it) long enough to roll onto her stomach and push to her knees. "Hoooookay, I think I'm gonna just crash here on your couch, mmkay? Kay," she finished, not waiting for a response before faceplanting into the brown suede thrift store find, mumbling about, "The poor cowses!" as she pulled the soft green afgan from over the back of the couch and onto her body. By the time Karen was on her feet, soft snores could be heard.
"Yeah, 's cool. I'm... I'ma be over here," she said to no one in particular, stumbling towards her bedroom. The lack of a shoe hampered her balance even more, and she stumbled, losing her sense of direction and opening the door across from her own. Two steps in, her brain caught up with what her blurry eyes were seeing. Namely, her roommate sprawled, facedown across her bed. "Oops! Wrong room! Sorry Lulu." She turned to leave, repeating to herself, "Yup, Lulu, I like it. Little Lulu Harrington." The rambling continued as she shut the door, made her way into her own room, and climbed into bed. The last words out of her mouth were, "I still wish you'd tell me what the Q stands for."