A/N: I'm in need of some cuter, happy Rachel/Finn interaction. So I got to wondering how their parents would really react to them dating. Given the disaster of 'meet the parents' that was Finn/Quinn, I wondered how it would go for Finn this next time around. I'm not assuming they had never actually met, just assuming everyone was looking for it to change once the dating started. This will most likely be two, maybe three parts. Enjoy! Oh, also—don't look shocked. I'm writing it without major swear words.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. But if Finn or Puck are ever for sale…well, I'd probably even take Jesse.
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Finn cast a bemused smirk at his girlfriend. It was the last day of school today, and had been an absolutely rockin' sort of day. They had gotten final news that glee club wouldn't be cancelled and it was followed up with Mr. Schue's wish that they have a good summer off. The three months stretched before Finn like some perfect, magical time and it had everything to do with the girl who was laying next to him on the blanket at the municipal park. After school had officially let out, last bell rung and yearbooks signed, they had come here for lunch and decided to stay a while. They had laid back on the blanket, watching the clouds drift by. Stretched out on that blanket in the fresh air with sunshine all around, it seemed like nothing could go wrong.
He just wished she would shut up and enjoy it.
But no; she was the girl who planned everything out, in great detail and as far ahead as possible. Finn didn't exactly care, but he was reasonably sure she had already figured out what they were doing each and every day of the summer. For now he was glad to be along for the ride, but she was talking about so many details he had long ago stopped listening because he couldn't keep up.
He refocused his ears on the sound of her voice and smiled.
"—and I think if we want a strong showing at Sectionals we're really going to have to focus on our mashups because we do so well with those but we can make them even better and I think if we were to pair your classic rock recommendations with my showtunes we could make something truly spectacular—"
He sighed. His sophomore year of high school had been so hard. If someone would've asked him a few short months ago where he imagined himself at this moment, he would've been at a total loss. He had been scrambling to get his grades up, even though they were already decent, because he wanted a football scholarship so badly. He had always wanted one, but once his girlfriend had squeaked out one heart-stopping word, the want had turned into a desire so intense he couldn't do anything but keep his eye on the target.
Kind of the way he'd ended up feeling about the chatterbox laying next to him. Not the same girlfriend, by the way.
But then it had been ripped away from him, and it had taken him a while to actually feel grateful for the second chance. It was a new beginning for him and this summer felt like the great big breath before the fresh start. He looked over at Rachel. She was still talking, totally unaware that he'd stopped listening about an hour ago. She was the breath of fresh air for him. He would never forget how special she was to him, even if she was a little bit high-strung. Maybe he could try to get her drunk this summer. That would loosen her up a little bit and it felt good for him to have some kind of a goal.
"—and then they said you can't come over at all until they've met you."
Oh, crap. Back the bus up. He'd missed something. He pulled an arm out from under his head and flipped it over to tickle the forearm she had long ago stretched out. She'd been idly pinching the material of his shirt the whole time she was talking. Now he chose to make contact as he came back down from daydreaming in the clouds and his finger traced a random shape. He was aiming for a football, but he was sure she wouldn't guess what it was. Anyway, he'd missed something.
"Wait. What?"
"My dads invited you over for Shabbat dinner on Friday night after Daddy finishes at temple," she said brightly.
He rolled his head over to look at her with wide-eyed horror. "No way!"
She gave a patient little sigh and looked over at him. "It won't be so bad. And then you'll have...mostly...unlimited visiting privileges for the rest of the summer."
"It won't be so bad," he repeated in a dry, ominous voice before continuing on. "Did you hear the awesome story about the last time I met my girlfriend's parents? It ended with her getting kicked out and coming to live with me and my mom."
Rachel laughed at the look his face. "Well, this will be totally different. I promise." She turned her head back up to look at the sky again. "Because I'm pretty sure you won't be bursting out in song to reveal my pregnancy."
He groaned. "Not cool," he said in a low growl.
"Well, it's still true," she sighed. "I have no doubt everything will go well. They have no reason not to love you, Finn. I love you. So I'm sure they will love you."
He dropped his head again and looked at her, no longer able to resist kissing her. They were still figuring all this stuff out, so there was always that awkward moment right before they kissed when they both knew it was going to happen but their hearts weren't beating and they were holding their breath. It was even weirder when they were laying down. But it was still kissing so it still felt good, and he was still brushing his fingertips over her arm and she was sighing about it.
He pulled away and looked at her thoughtfully. "You should come to dinner Friday night with my family, too. We usually eat earlier than you."
He saw her throat move as she gulped. "Now that is not such a good idea."
Finn wrapped her hand up in his hand, his hand like a burrito around hers because she was so little. He dragged her hand up to his mouth and placed a whisper-light kiss on the bottom of her thumb. "And why not?"
"I make a terrible first impression," she sighed. "And won't Kurt be there? Kurt hates me."
"I don't think Kurt really hates you that much. He and his dad are too busy wishing they could kill me with their eyes to hate you. You'll be a welcome distraction," he concluded. He hoped he was being enticing.
"How about this?" She said, sitting up beside him and propping her head up on her elbow. "How about you come to dinner at my house and then we make an excuse and come right back here to make out for a while?"
"No," he said quickly. His eyes darted off to the side and then back to her. "How about we go to my stupid family dinner, then go to your stupid family dinner, then I take you out on a date."
She looked away. "My curfew is early on Fridays."
"Okay, then I will take you out Saturday. All day. We'll go to that drive in over in Dayton and then we can make out during a double feature in the back of my truck."
She collapsed back onto her back and sighed dramatically. "Okay, so double dinner Friday, double movie Saturday…" she rolled her head back toward him.
"Mmm-hmm…" he murmured in agreement. He flopped back down onto the blanket, sucking up some more of the warm sunshine. He kept her hand clasped in his and closed his eyes. It was safe to say—life was good. Finn Hudson loved summer almost as much as he loved Christmas.
Loving the girl a little more than Christmas or even summer was the main reason he was pacing around his room nervously two days later. What in the hell did you wear to meet two gay dads of the girl you sometimes pictured naked while you were in the shower? He groaned to himself. Let's not go there just yet.
"Finn?" His mom asked, knocking lightly on the door. He didn't even know she was here. Things had been really awkward since his falling out with Kurt. Even though the two boys had somewhat figured things out at school , it hadn't crossed over to home life. Carole was disappointed in her son, but hadn't resigned herself to the fact that he was a total idiot. She had moved in with Burt Hummel anyway and, as far as Finn knew, was having the time of her life. While he was sleeping in his totally barren room, all furniture moved and then his invitation to use it denied, on a worn-out navy blue sleeping bag on the floor. At least they'd let him stay at the empty house that was still for sale, he guessed, and he was still allowed to drive the small, old pickup truck. And apparently his mom was coming to check on him. Yeah, that did a lot to help with the sting of abandonment.
"Yeah?" He asked, turning around. "Oh, hi."
"Oh, hi," she said. She offered a brief smile. "What are you doing?"
The corner of his mouth twitched and he put his hands on his hips. "Trying to figure out what to wear to dinner."
Carole's eyebrows scrunched together. "Do you need to wear something special this time?"
"Well, not just our dinner. I'm going to dinner with Rachel and her dads after our dinner."
"Oh." Carole said, her voice heavy and her eyes hesitant.
"What?" He asked; he was already annoyed with the whole damn unfair situation every time he came home. It felt wrong to hope their house wouldn't sell quickly so he could have somewhere to sleep. It felt wrong that his mom didn't live here anymore and the house looked like a ghost town. It felt wrong that he had been blamed for the entire frickin' thing and Kurt had gotten off like he was totally innocent when he wasn't. And it annoyed him that everything around him was changing so fast he couldn't keep up and no one cared and things just kept changing. The only thing going right or well in his life right now was everything with Rachel and he didn't want that to come crashing down around him because he didn't find the right tie.
Could ties really change your life?
"Well…it's just…I thought we had talked about you taking the summer off from everything," she started slowly. "You have some bridges to rebuild."
"Okay, first of all, we haven't talked about anything because you don't even live here anymore," he started. Pacing resumed. "Second of all, I didn't exactly plan all this out with Rachel, but she's awesome and I love her and that's the end of that. So yeah, I'm going to be with her." He dropped his head and his voice, sounding more hurt than angry on the last part. "And third of all, who says I want to rebuild anything?"
"Can you honestly tell me that you like the way things are with our family?" She asked slowly.
"What family?" He asked angrily. "You know, I thought it was all going to be okay and I thought I could get along with Burt and with Kurt and…" he shook his head. "But I'm not and it's not and no."
"Finn…" she protested, her voice soft and full of concern and motherly worry.
"Look, I'm playing along like the good son, okay? I know you want to be happy and you want this whole other family. You like to go shopping with Kurt and you like living with Burt because you love him." He blew out a long breath. "But I don't like it. I'll do what you ask, but I'm not doing any more."
"Well that's a fantastic attitude," she said. Her voice was unsteady and she was looking at him like he was a total stranger.
"Mom…"
"You know, I think maybe we'll skip the family dinner tonight. Or at least, we'll just have the people that are invested in having a family," she said calmly, and then she turned to leave. "By the way, there are two bids on the house. I'm guessing it will be sold by the end of the month so you need to figure out what you're going to do."
Then she was gone and he was alone and he was mad and he kicked the wall. Hard enough to leave a hole. He wondered if that would help the house sell any faster. Finally, he sighed and grabbed his keys and his phone, Rachel's number already ringing through against his ear as he walked out of the house.
Rachel frowned as she hung up the phone. She had just barely gotten home from her 2:30 dance class, wasn't even completely through the door when he called. He sounded really mad. He sounded really sad and just all around upset. Half of what he had rambled hadn't even made total sense to her, but she'd heard the last part, the begging part, loud and clear—could he come over?
He was already on his way. He did live on the other side of town, but even in a town like Lima that was no more than 15 minutes. She looked down at herself and sighed before she slogged off for a quick shower. They had only been together for about two weeks, but this felt important and she desperately hoped she could be ready and could fulfill an important obligation as a girlfriend. Not that providing friendship, support, and comfort was an obligation, exactly. She wanted to do it. She was honored he had called her.
She was out of the shower and at least dressed, having reserved a polo shirt dress for Shabbat dinner. While she rarely went to the services, she attempted to dress extra-conservatively. At the same time it was summer and it was hot.
She sighed and tugged her hair off her neck. Her Daddy would be home soon, as Friday was the day he left early so he could prepare for Shabbat. Maybe she should at least let him know Finn was coming. It seemed only responsible and in the spirit of compromise. She picked up her phone with her free hand and dialed.
"Hello," his voice sang out as he enabled the Bluetooth device. Her Daddy's voice had always been soothing to her despite its thicker-than-average nasality. She smiled a little. It wasn't that he was overly strict with her, but it was helpful that he was in a good mood.
"Hi, Daddy," she said breezily. "How was your day?"
"Hi, Angel," he said. "So far, so good. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call? I'll be home in about ten minutes."
She heard the soft knock at the door and moved down the stairs.
"Well, I had a special request," she said. "Finn called me a little bit ago and he sounded really upset. He has some issues going on with his family and… I know you're not home just yet but would it be permissible for him to come over?"
"Sweetie, we talked about this. Me and your dad really need to get know him better before he's allowed to be alone in the house with you."
"I absolutely understand and he is, as far as I know, planning to stay for dinner," she corrected. She pulled the door open and then held up her index finger for Finn before she pressed it into her ear and turned away from him.
"Okay, well…I suppose if he needs a friend, I will allow it this once," he agreed. "You're a good friend, sweetheart."
"I'm not sure about that but I do try," she said weakly. She looked up at Finn. He was standing in the entryway, having only been to her house about three times previously, obviously feeling awkward now.
"That's all you can do," he said agreeably. "I will see you shortly."
"Okay, I love you," she said and bit her lip. She could feel her cheeks flush a little, standing there in front of Finn, saying the words in an entirely different context.
"I love you, too," Hiram added before he hung up. Rachel pulled the phone away from her ear and dropped her wet hair before she looked up at Finn. He looked so sad it threatened to break her heart. She hadn't seen him for a couple of days, since they hung out at the park after school, and it looked like the time hadn't been good to him. He wasn't smiling and his eyes were missing their usual glint.
"Hi," she said, letting her eyes look over him worriedly.
"Hi," he breathed. He really wanted to pull her against him. Her hair was still wet and he wondered what it smelled like before she did all that crap girls do. He wondered if it smelled like normal or if it smelled stronger. She had refused to tell him exactly what she used or what it smelled like, so he had lumped it into the vague "her" that made up everything he loved.
But he wasn't sure if he should hug her. He only knew that he wanted to. So he stood there and just stared for a long minute.
She finally reached out and took his hand. Her hand was cool as she pressed it into his, and it helped him calm down a little. He took a deep breath and let her lead him up to her bedroom. He noticed she left the door open, but didn't question her about it. He was kind of surprised she had agreed to see him almost three hours early.
He sat down on her bed and groaned as he sank in. Beds were so comfortable. He missed having a bed.
She frowned as she watched him. Something was most definitely wrong but he hadn't said more than one word. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror on her vanity and frowned. Her hair was starting to go all wavy and she needed to do something with it if she were to have any hope of controlling it. Given that they were supposed to meet his family tonight, she didn't want to look any less than perfectly groomed.
"So what's up?" She finally asked as she poked at her eye. He was laying on her bed with his eyes closed.
"I think I want to break up with my mom," he said simply. "Isn't that something you can actually do? Like you get a lawyer and just…"
She turned toward him, hands grasping the edge of the vanity and leaned against it. "Well, yes. It's called emancipation. But why would you want to do that? Your mom is wonderful and I know that because you've said so yourself."
Finn sighed. He hadn't admitted any of what went down to her. He didn't want her to know. It made him sound like such a douchebag. "It's a long story. My bigger problem is with Burt and Kurt and I think my mom is going to marry his dad and everything is just messed up."
She nodded as she moved to the bed to take his hand as she watched him closely. "I'm afraid I don't understand. Start at the beginning."
His eyes fluttered closed. "Okay, well…I guess it all started when Kurt set my mom and his dad up at Parent Teacher Conferences. The next thing I knew, my mom started changing everything. She was giving away furniture and cutting her hair and…it made me really mad, but she just got mad back and she told me she was sick of just getting by and she wanted a partner. So I tried really hard to get along with Burt, and it was okay. He took me to a couple of pro games and we like the same sports and stuff so we at least had something in common.
But Kurt was being really, really pushy. He kept saying all this weird stuff and finally I got it after me and you broke up—he was coming on to me."
Rachel's eyes widened. "But you're straight."
"Yeah, and I told him to back off," he confirmed. "But you know how Kurt is. Backing off isn't his style. So when Burt asked my mom and me to move in with him, Kurt was totally stoked about it and redecorated the whole bedroom, the one that we would have to share, like it was from a catalogue or something."
Rachel looked around her room a little. It was kind of hard to imagine Finn living somewhere like that.
"And I kinda lost it. And Burt heard, but he only heard the part where I told Kurt all the stuff he'd put up was 'faggy.'" Rachel winced. "So he kicked me out because he said it wasn't okay for me to talk to his son that and way and he thought I was different but that I was just another idiot."
"Finn,I –I…" She never struggled for words, but she had no idea what to say. She had considered him her friend, someone she was supposed to be close to and part of a small group at that; but she'd had no idea any of that had happened to him. She wondered how much of it had happened while she was so confused and messed up with Jesse St. James. And she knew she hadn't mentioned much of anything about Shelby and she definitely understood how he'd felt and why he hadn't said anything. Then again, if he was using demeaning slurs like that when he spoke without thought, maybe it was better he hadn't mentioned anything sooner.
"I didn't want to tell you," he said. "You never say the wrong words. You always say what you mean and I don't and…" he gave a sigh. "But now I'm just so mad."
"So what happened?" she asked slowly, squeezing his hand and hoping it gave him a little bit of reassurance that he wasn't alone. There was someone in the world who knew him and who understood and who cared about him. He squeezed back so it seemed like he knew.
"So my mom moved in with him as planned and I'm still sleeping at our old house until it sells. And then I don't know."
"But I thought you and Kurt were getting along better."
"We are a little, I guess. I don't think it's going to change any over the summer because we're just avoiding each other," he admitted. She watched his Adam's apple bob in his throat. "But my mom has all these plans and she wants me to fix the bridges or whatever, and I don't want to."
"What?" Rachel asked, reaching out her other hand to smooth over the arm she was clutching at the end of. As she shifted, it left her leg dangling over the edge of the bed. She heard the mechanical start to the garage door that was right below her room. She knew she should move so her dad didn't get the wrong impression, but at this moment comforting him seemed more important. He was trying really hard not to fall apart. She could just tell.
The image of 'being there' for someone flashed through her head. This is what it looked like. She couldn't change that, even if her dad would think she was sitting too close to Finn.
"My mom wants me to tell them it was all my fault so maybe Burt will stop thinking I'm poison and let me move into his house."
She frowned. "He called you poison? How is that any better than what you said?"
His voice grew unsteady. "I don't know. I didn't call Kurt anything. I was just frustrated because he keeps looking at me like I'm naked and it really freaked me out and then he…"
Rachel nodded in understanding. "He seems to sometimes try using his differences to his advantage. He likes to play the victim."
"Yes," Finn said, his voice stronger and glad someone understood.
"So did he just stand there while Burt was yelling at you?"
"He stood there and cried," Finn summed up.
"Well, I can certainly understand why you're so angry. I'm sorry this happened to you," she said simply. She squeezed his hand again and he squeezed back, their shared grip so tight now that a couple of her fingers were starting to go numb. But it felt okay.
"Rachel?" Her dad interrupted, standing in the doorway and looking hesitant.
"Hi, Daddy," she said. Her voice was less chipper than it had been during her greeting on the phone, but she immediately released Finn's hand, hopped off the bed and approached him to place a kiss on his cheek with a hand on his arm to help her balance.
"Hi." His glance diverted to her bed and back, barely taking in the tall boy that was sitting up and watching them. "I wasn't aware you would be sitting on your bed."
She sighed and looked up at him. "Do you trust me?"
"Of course."
She smiled. "Good. I'm very trustworthy," she said, earning a chuckle. "I swear I will leave the door open the whole time we're in here." She looked over her shoulder at Finn and lowered her voice.
"He's having some problems with his family. He's been sleeping on a sleeping bag in an empty house. I think he might need a nap."
Hiram fixed a stern glance on her. "That's fine and well, but we have a fully furnished guest room downstairs for that. Let me talk it over with your dad and we'll see if he can spend the night down there. And you can sleep with your door locked. Okay?"
She laughed a little and shook her head. "Well, that would be a compromise."
He kissed her forehead and then looked to the boy who was still watching them and looking a little like a deer in headlights. "And Finn, I presume?"
Finn just nodded, not trusting his voice not to crack or his palms not to be sweating. It seemed safer to sit still and stick with wordless answers. Words always got him in trouble anyway.
"I'm Hiram Berry. Welcome to our home. We'll take care of the more formal interrogation at dinner."
Rachel gave him an annoyed look as Finn's eyes got impossibly large. He didn't say anything, and the combined reaction made Hiram laugh as he turned to go.
"I'm going to go start our preparations."
"Oh!" Rachel said, her voice perking up as if she had forgotten. "I already prepared the bread. I started dinner in the Crock Pot this morning, and I did most of the house cleaning before my dance class. I think all we need to do is set the appliances and the table."
He nodded. "Thank you, sweetheart."
"You're welcome, Daddy."
Finn was looking at her curiously when she turned back to him.
"Okay, I didn't understand anything except for I think your dad was trying to kill me with his eyes."
"My Daddy is not scary," she insisted. "He's very gentle, I promise."
"Your boyfriend has a different point of view."
She laughed and rested her hand on his leg. "As for the rest of it, I just help him follow Shabbat customs. My dad won't be home from work until after Daddy is gone to services, and we'll eat dinner as soon as he gets home. The compromise for my not going to the service is that I usually clean the house and prepare the dinner. Oh, and I have to be here when they light the candles."
"What candles?"
"You'll see," she promised. She squeezed his thigh and he put his hand on top of hers. "Back to you."
His eyes drifted over her upturned face. He knew her well enough to know she wasn't going to let it go. Once she had something on her mind, it was fact. "I think I told you everything."
"Okay," she said. She turned her head a little and composed her thoughts before she plowed straight ahead, the only way she knew how. "Here's what I think." His mouth quirked up in a smile, and she matched it with her own. "I think you're denying yourself some important opportunities here."
"Like what?"
"Well, has your mom ever said you could just have everything your way? Any way you want it?" She said, using the words from the Journey song on purpose.
"No."
"And has life ever taught you that? Or is it more of a 'can't always get what you want' sort of lesson?"
"Rachel, this isn't glee club," he said firmly. He could see what she was doing and it was a little annoying.
"Fine. I think you need to sit down and force them to hear you out. You aren't totally innocent in the situation, and it isn't fair for you to be held responsible for any more than your own words. You should agree to try avoiding demeaning speech in the future if they will agree to try and address your concerns instead of ignoring them and plowing ahead with everything."
The entire solution was handed to him in less than fifteen seconds of her speaking and his jaw dropped a little bit. First off, how could one tiny person possibly say all that in one breath? And second of all, how was she so smart she could figure out a fair, if not totally comfortable, solution?
"Will you go tell them that?"
She shook her head. "No. But I'll go sit by you while you do."
He sighed and looked down at his lap, at their hands twisted together on his leg. "I'm not really invited to their 'family' dinner. I'm not part of them."
"Give me your phone," she said simply. She held her free hand out.
"Rachel, I don't want to be part of them," he admitted. His eyes fell closed again.
"Why? Because your feelings are hurt? Because your pride took a hit?"
"Yes!" He said strongly. "That's exactly why."
"Think about your mom," she said softly. "You told me your mom is awesome. Why is she awesome?"
He was quiet for a long time and when he spoke his voice was small. "Because she's my mom. She does everything for me. She's given up everything for me."
Rachel nodded. "So maybe it's time you give something in return. It won't be easy, but maybe that's what you need to do to save a relationship that's important to you. Do you want to hurt your mom?"
He swallowed, surprised at how sharply her gentle words stabbed him in the stomach. He shook his head.
"I'm sure that's what you're doing," she said softly. "So give me your phone and I'll see if I can help you fix it." She held her hand out again. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out, still gripping her hand tightly with his other hand. He pulled his hand back.
"What if I can't do what they want? What if I screw up again? What if they screw up again?"
She looked at him, her wide-eyed, gentle gaze enough to break his heart if it weren't already broken. "Then we start over. You apologize, you ask them to apologize, and go back to the start."
"It's just not that simple."
She tilted her head. "Isn't that kind of what we did?" He smiled a little in response and she continued. "It seems to be going well, don't you think?"
He leaned down and gave her a soft kiss, all of his hesitance gone from when he first walked in the door. It wasn't awkward and it wasn't hard and sometimes it felt like they were off to a really good start.
Rachel just put her hand in the middle of his chest and pushed him back on the bed with a smile before she took his phone and went into her bathroom. "Get some rest!" She said over her shoulder.
Once inside, she turned to her phone. She had met Finn's mother a few times but it was never one-on-one and even though this was a phone call, it still held all the importance of their first meeting. She kind of already knew she was probably going to embarrass herself.
She found the contact labeled simply "Mom" and selected the mobile number before she pressed the phone to her ear even as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. It wasn't that she was nervous, exactly. She usually cared very little for the opinions of others, but she knew this was important to Finn and she only hoped she could broker some sort of an agreement.
"Finn?" His mom answered, her voice nothing more than a hopeful squeak.
"I'm sorry, no Mrs. Hudson. This is Rachel Berry."
There was a sniffle and something obviously brushed against the phone. "But you have his phone?"
"Yes," Rachel confirmed. "He's here at my house and he's very upset."
"He isn't the only one," Mrs. Hudson said defensively.
"I'm sure he's not," Rachel began. "I was hoping that Finn and I could both join your family for dinner tonight to try working things out."
"Finn doesn't want to work things out."
"He does," Rachel said, looking down at the countertop and running her fingernail along the thin groove of grout between two of the cream-colored tiles. "At least with you. I'm not sure he's interested in the others, and I'm know he isn't certain how to proceed. But he'd like to try, so I told him I would call you and ask."
There was a long pause. "I need to talk to Burt. Can I call you back?"
Rachel's heart fell. She had imagined it would go much more smoothly than that. "That would be fine."
"Okay, bye," Mrs. Hudson offered. Rachel hung up and then turned his phone uncertainly. She clicked the volume button the side until the volume on his ringer was turned all the way up, half afraid of what she would hear over her blow dryer when his mother called back.
She quickly turned to start getting herself ready. Her hair had halfway dried and was such a disaster she ended up styling it more curled than her normal silky straight style. As she ran her fingers over the waves, she thought maybe she could use her first change of hairstyle since the age of eight. She just about jumped out of her skin when the OSU fight song blared from his phone while she was applying her eyeliner.
She rolled her eyes. She should've known. She wondered briefly what ringtone he had set for her. If she was his girlfriend, she automatically earned the right to set her own ringtone. The possibilities were endless. She would have to at least consider it.
She picked up the phone and flipped it open. "Hello?"
"Rachel?" Mrs. Hudson asked. Her voice sounded much more composed.
"Hi, Mrs. Hudson."
"Please call me Carole," she said. "Burt said dinner would be okay. Kurt isn't coming with us tonight anyway so that might be better."
Rachel frowned. "I think Finn and Kurt are doing as well as could be expected," she said slowly.
"I don't," Carole said flatly. "Finn is going to have to do a lot better."
Her tone made Rachel scowl against the sense of injustice she could feel flaring in her chest. "Have you even listened to Finn's side of the story? Kurt made numerous advances toward him that persisted despite rejection."
"Oh, he did not," Carole said. "Finn just reads too much into things."
"No, Carole, I can confirm what Finn says is true. I witnessed more than one occasion, and Kurt was quite upset with me when Finn and I started dating because he had some mixed up sense of proprietorship."
There was a long silence on the end of the line. Rachel had no idea how this was going to go, so after a moment, she decided to proceed.
"Look, I know this is a complicated issue and it's your family I'm messing with here. I'm just asking you to please give Finn a chance to speak. Just listen to him and see what he has to say."
"What he had to say was a big part of the problem."
Rachel sighed. "Yes. He and I have discussed his own responsibility here. I think he's prepared to accept that responsibility as long as someone will hear him out." She lowered her voice. "And for the record, Finn is also meeting my two gay dads tonight so I think we've found some resolution on the whole gay versus straight issue. Even if Finn doesn't always sound that way, he is open-minded at least." She waited a beat. "I mean, he's taking on me and I'm admittedly not the easiest person in the world to deal with. I just think someone with that big of a heart and that much patience deserves every opportunity to get those same things in return."
"Okay," Carole said eventually, her voice tight. "Tell Finn it will be the same time and place."
"I will. Thank you," Rachel said. She lingered to make sure there was no more conversation and then hit end.
She turned to sort out the mess of eyeliner that had happened when she was startled by the phone ringing. Within a few minutes she was totally finished with her makeup and she walked out of the bathroom. A quick glance to the alarm clock on her nightstand revealed it was nearly 4:30. Finn was curled up on his side, facing away from her on the bed, but she guessed the soft sound that matched time with his breathing was snoring. She smiled because he snored and she knew that. She headed for her closet to get her shoes and a belt (otherwise she just felt like she was wearing a knee-length shirt), but stopped on the way to pull the purple blanket from the end of her bed over him. It had been made for her two years ago by her Nana James, so it wasn't nearly long enough. His stocking feet stuck out the end and she had to fight the urge to laugh at the image.
Rachel had spent most of yesterday reorganizing her closet and so she easily found the extremely thin white belt she was looking for and her light blue flip-flops. The casual shoes were a little bit of a guilty pleasure and she only indulged during the summer.
She smiled to herself. It was summer. The months until the baggage of high school experience started again seemed endless and wonderful. Summertime was easily her favorite time of the year.