AN
Hi there! So while this is mainly Finchel oneshots, there will also be a few real-life Monchele moments here and there.
Disclaimer-I seriously don't own a thing.
Fragments Of Us
Chapter 1-Clean Up Can Be Fun
"You might laugh because everytime I sign my name I put a gold star after it, but it's a metaphor. And metaphors are important. My gold stars are a metaphor for ME being a star." Right on cue, Lea Michele was covered in colored icy slush.
"AND CUT!" Ryan Murphy called out.
Lea was glad he'd stopped when he did. Although she'd been warned in advance about the slushy attack, the freezing cold liquid now seeping into her clothes and running into her hair and eyes was still a great shock. She didn't think she'd be able to stay in character for much longer. It had been hard enough to surpress a scream of pure shock.
"Oh my God!" Chris Colfer exclaimed. He, along with the rest of the main cast sat in the wings offstage watching her performance. "Is that going to happen to us, too?"
Ryan nodded his head, mirth clearly shining in his eyes. "Yup. It's going to happen to all of you at one point or another."
The guys groaned while the girls exchanged disbelieving looks. "What have we gotten ourselves in to?" Dianna Agron questioned.
"Is it too late to back out?" Naya Rivvera added sarcastically.
"Um, guys," Lea piped up. "Sorry to interrupt your riveting discussion on the pros and cons of future slushy attacks, but can I maybe get some help here. This stuff is starting to burn my eyes."
Suddenly, a pile of towels was thrust into her arms. From behind them she could see her leading man, Cory Monteith. He gave her a goofy smile. "I thought you might have needed those."
She smiled shyly back at him. "Thanks, Cory." Lea dropped one towel onto the quickly spreading puddle on the floor. She began wringing out her hair with another towel, while she used yet another one to scrub furiously at her face and neck. Finally, she used the last one to begin squeezing the liquid from her skirt.
Ryan turned to Cory. "Well, that was nice of you. Good, you two are starting to warm up to each other."
Cory shrugged his shoulders. "I guess so. It just seemed like the right thing to do, you know."
Ryan nodded in satisfaction before turning to face the cast. "Alright, Lea, you go change into something clean. I want Amber, Chris and Jenna up here for their Glee audition scenes. And, oh someone come clean up this slush!"
As a maintenance man scurried onto the stage with a mop, everyone else scattered. Lea made her way off the stage, thoughts of a nice hot shower making her steps quicker.
"Hey there."
Cory's sudden appearance in front of her made her jump. "Jeez! Don't do that, Cory!"
"Sorry," he apologized with a sheepish grin. "Anyway, I thought we could maybe go over the new script for next week's episode together. What do you say?"
Lea raised an eyebrow. "Right now. While I change. Can't it wait?"
Cory gave her puppy dog eyes. "Aww c'mon, don't be like that. I promise I won't watch you change."
Lea snorted. "Your darn right you won't." When Cory continued to pout, a smile broke out on Lea's face. "Alright, you big baby. Let's go."
Cory whooped in delight and pumped his fists in the air. "Score one for Monteith!"
"Cut it out."
"The crowd goes wild!"
"There's no one here, doofus."
"What amazing task will he perform next?"
Lea couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of her. "He better follow Lea Michele before she changes her mind."
"Right. Got it." Cory shut his mouth and followed Lea to her dressing room. It was spacious and decorated with photos of Lea and various other people. A large number of them consisted of her and her Broadway co-stars.
"You stay right here," Lea told Cory, pointing to the leather couch that sat in the dressing area. "We clear?"
"Crystal, sir," Cory answered with a wide grin.
"Funny." Lea marched off into the attached bathroom and a moment later the sound of running water from the shower could be heard. Cory plopped down on the couch, letting his eyes wander around the room. They landed on a bound stack of papers sitting on a low table across the room. As he crossed over and picked them up, he saw that they were entitled Showmance. That must be the name of our next episode he thought to himself as he returned to the couch with the papers clutched in his hand.
Cory began flipping through the script absentmindedly, lost in thought about a certain tiny brunette bombshell. When Lea Michele had first been introduced to him as his Rachel Berry, he'd immediately felt a connection. He didn't know what it was about her, but something made him wonder if they could ever be more than just "Finn and Rachel." He'd only known her for a week, but he liked what he saw. He wanted to get to know Lea more personally.
Suddenly, Cory's eyes snapped back to the script he was reading. Two lines of bold print stared back at him, demanding his attention. 'You can kiss me if you want to.' 'I want to.'
The lines didn't register in Cory's mind at first but when they did, they shocked him in a very pleasant way. From day one, Ryan Murphy had made it very clear that he and Lea would be the show's most serious couple, but Cory had expected a little more character development before they jumped right to making out. For starters "Finn" already had a girlfriend. He'd been told there would also be drama but man this was insane.
As Lea came back into the room Cory was hit with inspiration that made him giddy. One thing he'd learned in the week since knowing Lea other than his attraction to her and the fact that he loved her melodious laugh was the knowledge that he liked to ruffle her feathers. This was a perfect oppurtunity. "Hey, Lea! Come look at this."
Her posture stiffened at the obvious glee in his voice as she turned to look at him. She was freshly scrubbed and dressed in another one of Rachel Berry's get-ups in preparation for another coming scene. "What's up?" she asked suspiciously as she sat down next to him on the couch.
"Look at next week's script." Cory thrust the papers into her arms.
Lea looked down at the words scrolled on the page. Her eyes shot wide as she spotted the kissing scene, but sensing Cory's obvious happiness at messing with her, she tried to remain calm. "Yeah, what about it?"
Cory smirked at her. "We have to kiss. I was thinking, maybe we should practice."
"Practice!" Lea's outward cool shattered as she gawked at Cory.
His grin widened. "Yeah. Right here, right now."
"Right now!" Lea felt stupid parroting his words back to him, and after a moment she was able to clear her head enough to form a question. "Why?"
"Well, as you know I'm kinda new at this acting thing so I've never kissed anyone on camera before. So I'm thinking, why not practice. Don't wanna look stupid. Plus, we're probably gonna start doing this a lot more so we should get used to each other," Cory explained mater-of-factly.
"Oh really!" Lea was still caught in a tail-spin at his bold words. She didn't know what to say, how to feel. She couldn't even tell if Cory was serious, although a secret part of her brain told her that she hoped he was.
Lea was startled from her reverie when Cory took her hands in his. His joking expression, which to Lea seemed like a permanent part of Cory's personality, had been replaced by a rarely seen serious expression. "Hey, look at me."
Lea obeyed numbly, lost in his eyes.
"I like you. I like your irresistible laugh, your big brown eyes, your smokin body and your killer pipes. Your a really cool person, Lea Michele." A look of pure mirth quickly returned to Cory's eyes. "And when we have our first kiss, it'd be cool if it was just us and not some camera people gawking at us and Ryan going "Cory, tilt your head to the left a little bit more and Lea, up on your tiptoes."
Lea burst out laughing. When she got her breath back she smiled at Cory. "Okay."
"Okay?" Cory asked puzzled.
"Okay, let's, as you said "practice."
"Really?"
"Really. Go for it, Monteith."
Without further urging, Cory leaned over and claimed Lea's lips. They were soft and sweet and everything Cory thought they would be and more.
Lea pulled away. When Cory looked at her questioningly, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "For the record, I like you too, Cory Monteith."
"Good to hear it." He resumed kissing her and pulled her onto his lap. After a long moment they broke apart again smiling at each other. "We're going to kick ass as a couple."
"Yeah we are." Lea snuggled into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her more securely, unable to think of a time where she was happier.
AN
So, there you go. Sorry if you expected Finchel right off instead of Monchele, but I love them equally. This is kind of random but I hope you liked it. Stay tuned for the next chapter. Review please!
