Author's notes: The Rachel Berry in my Rachel-Will stories is not the same person as depicted in Glee (at least as of 1/1/11). She's not a virgin, having had a long sexual affair with Finn and/or sex at summer theater camps (referred to in one story as a "cesspool of sexual depravity" but probably no worse than many Baptist church camps). As a result, she's confident, self-possessed, not in the least insecure, and well aware of her talent, looks, and brains. She has a higher IQ and more talent than Will, and is his psychological equal. She is always the aggressor, and he is the more vulnerable in the relationship.
This story was inspired by a short piece written by FanFiction member Greys has become my life.
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When Rachel Berry and Will Schuester walked side-by-side down the steps outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, it was around 4:30 on a Saturday afternoon in early May, and the surrounding spring air was suffused with romance and possibility . If a complete stranger had stepped in front of them and said, "I've been watching you two all day, and as prospective lovers I think you should at least be holding hands by now," and then taken Rachel's hand and placed it in Will's, neither of the couple would have let go. However, absent outside intervention, mortal or divine, such a connection remained a bridge too far for both of them.
They were at the end of a near-perfect week. The entire glee club, led by Will and chaperoned by Emma Pillsbury, had gone to New York to compete in Show Choir Nationals, placing second behind a Southern California horde of 50 singers supported by a $300,000 budget, professional choreographers and costume designers provided by Hollywood-connected parents, and a 20-piece school orchestra. Rachel was chosen unanimously as the outstanding soloist and talent scouts associated with major Broadway producers invited her to stay over to audition the following week. The kids all had a great time, with the night Puck, Finn and the other boys invaded the girls-only hotel-room pajama party being particularly memorable. Hotel security had to be summoned, but Santana and Brittany found a peaceable means to resolve the conflict.
Will decided to stay an extra day after Rachel told him she would be going on Saturday to a special exhibition at the Museum of costumes from old Broadway musicals. She asked if he might be interested in accompanying her. Will considered it, mulled it over, weighed the pros and cons, performed a risk/reward analysis, then after almost five seconds said that he would "love to go." He said he had an abiding interest in old costumes. He said he might copy them for a glee number next year. He said he had always wanted to go to the Museum. He said lots of things that served as plausible reasons for going. What he did not say is why he wanted to go. Rachel suggested it would be prudent if Will did not mention this particular trip to anyone, as she had already told some kids that she would be going. Will agreed that discretion, combined with complete secrecy and outright lies, if necessary, should be the order of the day. An hour later, after dancing around her hotel room while singing all of Maria's and Anita's songs from West Side Story, with reprises of a determined Tonight, a hopeful I Feel Pretty, and a killer America, Rachel returned to Will. She said that it "suddenly occurred" to her that as the Museum closed at 5:00, there would be time to "get a bite to eat" and, who knows, if he felt like it, maybe, perhaps, they could see a Broadway show. If he wanted to. He didn't have to. She'd understand. And oh, she just happened to have a folded clipping from the Times listing all the shows playing that week, so he could just look them over when he was alone and she'd be glad to see anything he chose, if it had gotten great reviews and she wanted to see it too. And she knew a great Italian restaurant in the West 60's.
"If it's 'great,' won't it be hard to get a table on a Saturday night?"
"My dads know the owner. I made a reservation. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I brought a date. Not a 'date' date, of course, it wouldn't be a 'date,' but a guest, a very special guest."
Will had accepted the Museum trip presuming everything that Rachel subsequently proposed, but was amused and charmed at how she had gone about it. So was Rachel.
Will helped Emma shepherd the kids onto their chartered bus on Saturday morning, and told her he was staying to see some old friends. With Rachel also in New York, Emma suspected something might be up, but lacking any hard evidence to nail the two sluts, and having been asleep at the chaperone wheel during the pajama party, she was at the moment in no position to make a fuss. But not wishing to rely on Emma's long-term mental stability, Rachel and Will were careful to keep secret their agreement/plan/arrangement (but definitely NOT a "date") to meet at the Museum, have dinner and take in a show as an outing/adventure/field trip/cultural excursion, with the added diversionary ploy of Rachel's not-so-subtle flirting with every male in her entourage except Mr. Schue, whom she treated in the manner groups of teenagers normally employ with people over thirty, that is, as invisible. Thus, it came to pass that everything was set for Will to innocently accompany Rachel to the Museum, and nothing that might possibly be construed as inappropriate by the School District or law enforcement was going to happen unless, of course, it couldn't be helped, in which case it would still be innocent in some metaphysical sense.
As the bus headed for Lima turned out of sight around the corner, Rachel relaxed her waving arm and exclaimed, "Thank god. I thought they'd never leave. Are you ready for our big adventure, Will?"
"Yes, I'm looking forward to it. It should be fun." he replied, accepting Rachel's first instance of addressing him by his Christian name as being appropriate in the egalitarianism of that day. It helped that its use gave him a slight chill.
"I want to put your mind at rest about last night. Finn and I had a meeting with the all the kids this morning and got them to agree to a vow of silence to keep the alcohol and near-orgy at the pajama party an absolute secret, if they didn't want glee shut down or at least all future trips eliminated. And Puck threatening to beat people up also helped some potential blabbermouths to see our point of view. I think we can contain it."
"Thanks. What happened with you?"
"I drank some, maybe too much, but I didn't put out. Finn protected me. We still care about each other."
"I'm glad to hear it. Well, let's go see us some theater costumes."
Rachel looked at him quizzically, tilting her head and smiling to emphasize the point. "I'm going mostly to see me some Rembrandts and the like. The theater costumes exhibit is real, but I used it mainly a pretext. A bribe to our consciences, as it were. I thought it was our little joke."
"I see we are going to have some fun, aren't we?"
"Yes, Will, we definitely are. I don't always not put out, you know, and Finn isn't here to protect me, is he?" Rachel was on a roll.
Will laughed, but realized anew that dangerous currents lay just beneath the surface where Rachel Berry was concerned. But then again, that's why he wasn't on the bus back to Lima at that moment. Rachel offered to treat him to a cab ride to the Museum with some "walking around money" she had gotten from the producers' agents, and Will stepped out into the street and manfully hailed a taxi. On the ride up Madison Ave., Rachel promised they would indeed go see the costume exhibit, and asked Will about art that he might want to look at, especially as it related to Spanish studies courses he took in college. She'd been to Big Apple culture before with her dads, and she was clearly the leader of this two-person field trip.
It was a beautiful spring day in New York City with the promise of a wonderful day and night ahead with someone he genuinely liked and maybe more, and he was still basking in the justifiable pride he'd earned with New Directions' extraordinary accomplishments, yet a bit of gloom hung over Will Schuester. Ever since he'd heard of Rachel's upcoming auditions, he knew there was a real chance she would be gone for good by the fall. Looking over at the vibrant beauty next to him in the back seat, Will realized that he might be losing much more than a great soloist. It added a special intensity to whatever the feelings were that he had for her and gave this particular excursion a significance he found simultaneously unsettling and exciting. He had no idea how it might end or even how he wanted it to end, but he was grateful for the chance to have a front row seat as the force of nature he knew as Rachel Berry performed her magic show.