I'M BACK. Ok, So I haven't been on fanfiction in about a year so I'm kind of excited with this story. I've really got some great ideas for where I want this to go, but feedback is always appreciated!
A/N: Unfortunately I don't own any of the characters. Just the story line is mine:)
Enjoy!
"Rachel!"
Rachel laid perfectly still and squeezed her eyes shut in hopes that maybe if she didn't move or open her eyes the noise would disappear and she could drift back off to dream world.
"RACHEL!"
"Coming" Rachel sighed as she hoisted herself off of her bed. She had off from rehearsal today, which would be a good thing, except Finn had off from work too. Normally when things like this happen she would find some sort of errand to run or friend to catch up with. Hopefully that would be the case today. Before she exited her room, Rachel glanced at her self in the mirror and noticed a big finger shaped bruise on her shoulder.
"Oh no. I swear it didn't hurt as bad this time!" She whispered to herself as she pulled the elastic out of her hair and shook her long brown locks out to cover the ugly, purple mark.
"Rachel! Where are you? I'm kind of getting hungry!" Finn yelled from his place on the living room couch.
"I'm coming!" Rachel shouted.
"Excuse me? Don't yell at me!"
"Sorry." Rachel said as she walked into the kitchen which was adjacent to the living room.
"Don't apologize, just don't do it again." Finn said over his shoulder.
"What do you want me to make for you?" Rachel leaned up against the counter.
"I don't care. Just whatever. But make it good." Rachel opened the fridge and realized that they were running low on eggs and milk. Thank God.
"Um Finn, we're almost out of milk and eggs. I'm gonna run to the store to get some more stuff."
"Rachel, we talked about this last weekend. Make sure you keep the fridge stocked so we don't have to go through this. Now I have to wait until you come back." Finn scolded still firmly planted to the couch.
"Well you could go every once in a while." Rachel mumbled.
"What was that?"
"Do you want anything special?" Rachel smiled sweetly as she went to stand next to the TV.
"Not that I can think of at the moment. But I'll be sure to call you if I need anything." Finn smiled.
"I'm sure you will" Rachel muttered as she grabbed her purse and her coat and practically ran out of the building.
Rachel stepped onto the sidewalk and took a deep breath. She looked to the left, which was the direction of the little corner drugstore that would make her trip last around 15 minutes and opted to go to her right, which the nearest drugstore was about 8 miles out. The walking would do her good and so would the time away from Finn. It wasn't that she didn't love Finn, because she did. She'd been in love with him for 12 years, ever since she was 14 and a freshman in high-school. He had supported her dreams and encouraged her to move to New York after high-school and study while he suffered at Lima Community College. He was the one who held her when she cried over her dad's horrible accident and eventual death 5 years ago. He was the one who moved out to their first home together, a little shoebox apartment in the Lower East Side after she graduated from NYADA with only a job offer to be in the chorus of some little off off-broadway show. He was there front and center on opening night when she starred in the off-broadway revival of West Side Storyand when it opened on Broadway and when she accepted her Tony award for it 2 years ago. He was the only one stuck by her through everything. So maybe for the past few months he's been a little demanding, yet distant, and gets upset about every little thing and blames her. It's her fault, right? Rachel trudged forward through the cold and mulled over all of this.
Puck stood up and slammed the door of the taxi. The cab driver glared at him through his rolled down window as Puck threw the fee through the opening and kindly waved goodbye with his third finger.
"Fucking douchebag" Puck muttered. Ok, maybe that was harsh, but it was a Saturday morning and Puck's day off and all he wanted to do was watch those dumbass cartoons that he grew up with. But no, fucking Crosby had to call an "urgent meeting with the team" to discuss losses last week. Puck sauntered into the building and noticed a new, sexy face at the secretary desk.
"Well, you're not old, boring Ingrid. What's a pretty little thing like you doing here with all of us?
"I'm Ingrid's replacement, well only for a little while. Ingrid is on maternity leave." hot-stuff responded with a blush.
"She was preggers? Crosby never mentioned that. I just thought she just ate too many of the god-awful hotdogs they sell outside and always came to work bloated." Puck said, wondering why Crosby didn't tell him that Ingrid was pregnant. After all, she is Crosby's wife and he is Crosby's best officer. Puck shrugged as he hoped up to sit on the counter.
"No, no hotdogs. But I hope you're not too upset?" She leaned back in her chair.
"I did have the hots for Ingrid, but you're not too bad." Puck smirked.
"PUCKERMAN! Get your ass into this office boy!" Officer Crosby yelled from his place at the conference room door.
"Alright, alright. I was just trying to welcome the new girl." Puck smiled at the newbie.
"Your welcome is very much appreciated." She smiled at him. Puck began to walk away.
"Oh hey, I didn't catch your name!"
"Quinn. Quinn Fabray."
Rachel jogged up into the grocery store. In just a short amount of time the temperature had dropped significantly. "Guess I'm taking a taxi on the way home" Rachel thought to herself. She wanted to stall as long as possible, so she lingered down the isles just looking. She walked by the eggs and the dairy products about five times before she actually picked some up. Then she wandered around some more, just for good measure. After about an hour in the store she walked up to the counter.
"Good morning Rachel! I see you've finally decided on something!" The cashier Mike greeted her at cash register 27. She met Mike a few years ago at an audition. He was the assistant choreographer and had instantly seen talent in Rachel. The two became fast friends, and they, along with Mike's wife Tina , spend countless hours together. They were the first to know about how awful Finn could be to Rachel. Last month, they even let Rachel stay with them for a few days when things got really bad. Mike lost his job the day after Rachel temporarily moved in, though, so they had to sell their apartment and send Rachel back to hers. Mike recently got a job at the grocery store and Rachel liked to see him whenever she could. He was a god-send, and Rachel really appreciated him.
"Yes I did. I guess my head is in the clouds again." That was code for "Finn is being awful again and I just needed some time away"
"Well, I'm always here to bring you back down to reality" (I'm always here if you need anything) Mike smiled at her sympathetically as he bagged her items.
"I know. And I love you for it." Rachel gave him her 100-watt smile and grabbed her bags.
"Oh hey, tonight is open mic night at the Rave. I'm bringing Tina and Blaine, and Blaine's bringing Kurt and some friends from the station. You should come!"
"I don't know Mike. Finn's off today and he might not want me out tonight."
"Rach, it's Saturday. This thing doesn't start until around 11:00 and it lasts way into the morning. Just come out whenever Finn falls asleep."
"But what if he wakes up and I'm not there? What if he finds out that I was gone? He'll be angry." Rachel bit her lip and stared at the ground.
"Hey, then just ask him. If he says no than we'll just hang out another time. It'll be ok." Mike laid a reassuring arm on her shoulder and didn't notice Rachel wince.
"Alright. I'll ask him. The worst he can do is say no"
"That's the spirit!" Rachel planted a kiss on his cheek and turned to exit the store.
"Oh hey Rachel?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you run by the station and give this to Blaine for me? It's a present for Kurt's birthday. Tina and I will be out of town next week, so I wanted to make sure Blaine had it early."
Mike handed her a package. He wanted her out of her apartment as much as possible, so he usually asked her to run errands for him whenever she stopped by.
"Well, I really should get home. Finn's probably wondering where I am. He was hungry and we needed eggs and I've been gone for almost two hours" Rachel glanced at the door picturing Finn busting through at any moment red in the face and fuming.
"Has he called you yet?"
"No. Oddly enough." Finn always calls and leaves angry voicemails when Rachel does something to upset him.
"Then he's probably asleep. Look, I understand if you don't want to, but you can't live your life afraid." Mike offered a half smile.
"You know what? You're right. I'll take it to the station. Besides, I haven't seen Blaine since Halloween. It'll be good for me.' Rachel smiled up at Mike and took the package.
"Good for you kid. And I'll hopefully see you later."
Puck had been sitting listening to Crosby give updates on NYPD and office changes and all that boring shit that no body fucking cares about, and he was about to flip his lid. He had checked out about half an hour ago when Crosby started discussing the after affects of the riot at the AA meeting last week.
"Puckerman! Wake the fuck up son!" Puck lifted his head off of the desk. "Can you tell me anything I just said?"
"Something about how some batshit crazy alcoholic woman threw a chair at another batshit crazy alcoholic woman and started a bitch fight that went really bad. Look boss, I have more important things to do than listen to stories about drunk women and port-i-potty overflows that cause traffic jams at construction sites."
"Yeah, Crosby can you please get to the real reason why we're here?" Blaine Anderson spoke up from the corner. Puck liked Blaine; he was cool 'cause he didn't hit on him like his boyfriend does whenever they hang out.
"Alright, so listen up. I got the crime report for last month and it's raised a lot. Like we can all loose our job if we don't stop the fights and start busting up the drug deals. And please, no more forgetting to read the Miranda Rights" Crosby shot a pointed look at Sam Evans, the newbie, who had forgotten to read the Miranda Rights a couple of weeks ago and let 4 hardcore dealers get away. He was in a lot of heat from NYPD for it, to say the least.
"So you boys be on the look out. Anything that seems suspicious needs to be reported. Even if it's some old lady reaching into her purse when she's about to walk across the street. Grandma might have a gun"
"Excuse me, Officer Crosby?" Quinn Fabray knocked on the open door.
"Yes Miss Fabray?"
"There's someone here to see Officer Anderson." Blaine looked up from the corner.
"Anderson were you expecting someone?" Crosby glared at him.
"No sir, I'm wasn't. Excuse me a minute" Blaine walked out of the office and into the lobby. Puck felt a heated gaze in his direction and caught Quinn's eye as she winked at him. Oh, yeah. She wanted him.
"Ok, boys, sorry for the disruption. Anyway, if you see anything suspicious..."
Rachel sat on the bench in the lobby of the station. She'd never actually been here before, even though she's known Blaine since he and Kurt started dating back at NYU a few years ago. It always scared her to be in a place where criminals were concentrated.
"Rachel? What an unexpected surprise!" Blaine approached Rachel on the bench.
"Hi! Oh, I haven't seen you in what seems like forever! How have you been?" Rachel hugged Blaine.
"I've been great! Can I ask why you're here? I thought you hated the station?"
"Oh I do, but I saw Mike this morning and he asked me to bring you this." Rachel handed over the package. "It's Kurt's birthday present."
"Oh right! Mike told me he was gonna do this. Thanks for bringing it to me. I'm so bummed that Kurt and I haven't had a chance to see you and Finn lately. How are you guys? Is Finn still working his way up in the corporate world?"
"Oh, um, we're good. Yeah, Finn's been doing really great at his job and what not. He actually has the day off." Rachel looked around nervously, hoping Blaine wouldn't suspect anything.
"Well we'll need to get together sometime. Hey! Are you coming out with tonight? Mike must've told you."
"Oh yeah, I think so, possibly. If I can get away." Rachel glanced at the time on her phone screen. 10:20. Crap. By the time she got home it'd be after 11:00. Three hours since she left Finn. That meant nothing but trouble. "Look, Blaine I have to get going. I'll see you later." Rachel gave Blaine a quick hug and practically flew from the station leaving a very confused and frazzled Blaine.
Puck yawned as he looked out into the hallway and saw Blaine with some short little girl with long, legs, and a fantastic looking ass.
"Yo, Evans. Check out that piece of ass Blaine's talking to." Sam looked over to get a look.
"Damn. Why do all the gay guys get the hot chicks?"
" I don't know but I'm gonna go find out." Puck stood and began to leave.
"Puck, sit your ass down in that chair."Crosby shouted.
"Just going to take a piss sir." Puck stopped at the door
"Oh. Well hurry up." Puck turned to leave just as hot girl with the legs hugged Blaine and sprinted out of the building. Well fuck.
"Hey, yo Blaine! Who was that babe?"
"Oh, hey Puck. That was Rachel. She's a friend of mine."
"You got yourself one hot friend."
"Yeah. Hey look, me, Kurt, Sam, and Rory are meeting up with Mike and a couple of his friends tonight at Rave. You in? You can bring whoever you'd like." Blaine said as he headed back toward the conference room.
"Is Rachel gonna be there?" Puck smirked.
"Very funny. And probably not. I mean, she said maybe but that almost always means no. She's a busy girl."
"I'm sure she is."
Rachel gently turned the key in the apartment lock and slowly turned the knob. She'd been gone for almost 3 1/2 hours (curse that goddamn traffic) and she knew Finn would be upset. As she stepped into the apartment she was met with the sound of ESPN and Finn snoring. A sigh of relief escaped her lips because she knew she was safe this time. Not wanting to take her chances when he wakes up, she slipped off her coat and shoes and headed to the kitchen to make Finn his long-awaited breakfast. Maybe if he saw it there when he got up, he'd think she'd made it for him but he fell asleep before she was through. Rachel fired up the stove-top and prepared to make Finn his eggs. After she'd cracked, scrambled, served, and then placed the eggs in the stove to show Finn later she made her way to the living room to check on him. She walked in and saw him laying there with the most peaceful look on his face. His snores had gotten softer and he looked like the angel of the boy that he was when Rachel first met him. Sweet, kind, loving, gentle Finn. Her Finn. The one who loves her unconditionally no matter how many times she messes up. She planted a light kiss on his forehead and curled up against his side. She lulled off to sleep to his warmth and his snores.
