Summary: Au fic; plays of the show Real World. Story of nine strangers picked to live together for three months. Rachel and Quinn meet and there's an instant connection. How long will they be able to deny it? The story follows their journey together in the house.
Disclamer: I own nothing. This is a complete work of fiction.
A/N: My second attempt at writing fanfiction. I hope you enjoy.
This is the story of nine strangers picked to live in a house. The places are real, the drama is real, can they deal; it's the Real Deal World.
Those were the very words that were echoing through her head at this exact moment. How could she have been so stupid? She detests television shows like this one, yet here she sat on a plane to Phoenix, Arizona preparing to meet her housemates. It was a spur of the moment decision to audition, one she wishes she wouldn't have made. In all honesty, it absolutely was not her fault, no; it was her fathers' fault. Yes fathers plural, as in two gay dads.
Their incessant need to tease started this whole thing. She was perfectly fine until they had to go and run their big mouths. Crossing her arms across her abdomen, she recalled their ridiculous conversation.
"Hey Rach, when's the last time you went out and had some fun?"
Rachel looked up from her movie to find her daddy standing in the entry way.
"And a good morning to you too father." The large African American man just laughed.
"Good morning princess," the man said as he made his way over to his daughter.
Taking a set beside her on the couch, the man engulfed her into a warm embrace.
A loud "aww" was heard from the corner of the room. Looking up they were both met with the smiling face of her other father.
"Well isn't that just the most precious sight I've ever seen, Ben honey where's the camera?"
Rachel stuck her tongue out at the short, balding man she called her dad.
"Rach honey, stop with the tongue thing. Somebody may interpret it the wrong way one of these days."
The room erupted into loud laughter and all Rachel could do was sit there and pout. Pausing her "Funny Girl" dvd, Rachel was about to get up and leave when a hand wrapped around her wrist.
"We're sorry sweetheart. We didn't mean anything by it."
Looking towards the larger man, Rachel sat back with a "hmph" and crossed her arms. Her peace was however, short lived when her daddy opened up his mouth yet again.
"Back to my original question Rach, when's the last time you had some fun?"
Seeing his daughter about to protest, the taller man continued.
"I meant hanging out with people your own age fun. Having crazy girl's nights or whatever you young kids do."
"I do have fun daddy, just last week I went to see the opening of this new musical on Broadway with one of my friends."
"That's not what I mean Rach. You're a twenty-one year old woman who lives in one of the greatest cities in the world, yet you're here spending your weekend with us in Lima of all places.
"Oh come on daddy, I love Lima," her father arched an eyebrow at the statement.
"No really I do. I grew up here, it's my home and I love coming back to it. As far as having fun and hanging out, I do all of that. I just don't feel the need to do it in excess. Plus that's not what I'm in New York for. I'm there to follow my dreams of becoming a Broadway star. Do you think the great Barbara Streisand got where she is by hanging out all the time? I'll answer that for you, no! There will be plenty of opportunities to socialize when I'm a huge star."
Sensing a rather large rant coming, her dad stepped in.
"We know that pumpkin, your daddy and I just don't want you to regret anything. You only live once and we just want you to be happy." Rachel looked over and smiled at the short man.
"I am happy dad, happier than I've ever been."
Truth was Rachel wasn't all that happy. Sure she was living out her dreams, but she was lonely. She wanted to able to do the things that people her age did.
Looking out of the plane window, Rachel cursed herself. One moment of weakness and this is where she ended up. Broadway would never be able to take her seriously. Broken away from her thoughts, the pilot signaled they would be preparing for landing. Buckling her seatbelt Rachel sighed.
"I guess this is it," she thought to herself.
Walking out of the terminal, Rachel made her way over to the luggage carousel. Waiting for her luggage to finally pass by, she felt a light tap on her shoulder.
"Excuse me miss, is your name Rachel Berry?"
Spinning around she came face to face with a scruffy looking middle-aged man.
"Who wants to know," she asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"My name is Jeffrey. I'm a producer with the Real Deal World."
The man extended his hand waiting for Rachel to reciprocate. Upon shaking his hand the man continued talking.
"I'm just here to give you a briefing on everything before the cameras start rolling." Rachel nodded her head in understanding.
"Okay, so you're familiar with the concept of the show I take it?" Rachel nodded again.
"Well just as a refresher I'll give you a rundown. You're going to be in a house for three months with X amount of people. Cameras will be there twenty four/seven filming all the action. Nothing is off limits and I repeat nothing. You will get your privacy in the toilet stall and that's it."
Rachel swallowed hard.
"We do not condone violence of any sort and you will immediately be escorted out if this occurs. We also do not take kindly to the threatening of another's life or welfare. If another housemate feels threatened by any of your actions or vice versa, it is essentially up to the rest of the house to make a decision in regards to the situation. If producers need to step in after that, they will do so if it's justified. Do you understand everything I've explained to you Ms. Berry?"
"Y..Yes sir I do."
"Very good and call me Jeff."
"Okay Jeff."
"After this conversation you will no longer be allowed to interact with any of the crew members. We have a strict policy on interaction between cast and crew. It's pretty much the opposite of the Nike slogan, "just don't do it'."
Rachel let out a giggle.
"Anyway if you need to contact a producer, you will be given the number to do so. Any questions so far?"
Rachel just shook her head. Reaching into his bag Jeffrey pulled out a small stack of papers.
"These are the consent forms you will need to sign before we start. It states that you are aware of the camera use and are okay with them filming you. There's also a disclosure form in there that will gives us the right to broadcast this on national television. Signing these gives us the right to do with the footage as we please as long as it in no way purposely degrades or harms you. However, you will be held solely responsible for your own actions."
Rachel stared at him with wide eyes. Placing a hand on her shoulder, Jeffrey gave her a reassuring smile.
"Listen Ms. Berry, you'll be fine. I know it's a lot to take in right now, but it gets better. I've been doing this for six seasons now and trust me most of the kids are super nervous before this whole thing starts. You just have to relax and have fun, and most importantly keep an open mind."
Rachel knew he was right. She hadn't actually been receptive to the idea until now. She was here whether she liked it or not, and now she just had to make the best of it. Smiling a little surer, she reached for the papers. Hopefully Broadway would still take her seriously after this. Either way she needed to take her daddy's advice and live a little.
Rachel scrunched her brow in concentration as she went through the contract meticulously. She may be more open to this whole idea, but that didn't mean she would just happily sign on the dotted line. She had to make sure this wasn't some secret ploy to destroy her future career.
"I knew I should have bought dad's lawyer with me," Rachel thought in her head.
"Oh well, it's a good thing I'm well versed in the art of contract negotiation."
Finding no hidden clauses, the brunette put pen to paper. Rachel let out a long exhale as she handed them back to the man.
"One of your roommates will be meeting you here momentarily. Once you cross that threshold filming will start. Enjoy your stay Ms. Berry and have fun."
With that the producer turned and walked away. Putting on her best performance face, Rachel advanced towards the seating area. Immediately a camera was on her. She jumped a bit at the unwelcomed intrusion and willed herself to calm down.
"You can do this Rachel just think of it as the ultimate acting exercise. Yeah that's it! This will get you prepared for all the media attention you're going to receive when you become a star."
After psyching herself up mentally, Rachel immediately felt better. That is until she nearly knocked her head off on a mic boom.
"This is going to be a long three months," Rachel thought to herself.
