I have a thing for boybands at the moment. Between fangirling over One Direction and What About Tonight I really have no time for anything. Okay, I'm kidding. I have too much time. But seriously, I've warned you. This is a boyband related fic. It's also a oneshot only. I own nothing but the plot line and Claire and Karlyia. Enjoy friends.
She's staying in a little town north of Sydney. She knows that there's some other city closer to the town but the name always escapes her. Even the name of the town tends to leave her mind sometimes. There are three other people living in the house. Annie Samuels is a single mother living with her two daughters Karlyia and Claire. Claire was adopted when she was five. Both girls are sixteen, as old as Rachel. Both girls are exceptional singers. Rachel's a singer too. They sing together all the time. Rachel will miss these girls when she goes home to America. To Lima.
It's while she's in Australia that she first hears them. The band that sweeps her off her feet. They're American, of course. But she relates them a lot to the bands that she's heard in Australia. She plays them all of the time, driving the other two mad. She can't help it. She's been surrounded with Australian music for months. It's good she'll admit. But it feels nice to be into something that she can culturally relate to. Summer Burns Red she thinks they're called. She's in love with them she decides.
Her flight home feels like forever. She wants to be texting the girls back in Australia but she knows that it'll cost her a fortune, and she's on a plane. So instead she settles for Summer Burns Red. She isn't particularly worried about that fact really. It's fantastic music. So she settles into her flight and closes her eyes, falling asleep to the beautiful voices of Summer Burns Red.
"Rach!" Kurt, Rachel's best friend bounds into her arms when she gets into the airport. Rach laughs happily back and wraps her arms around her stylish friend. She pulls away and greets her Dads who are waiting for her patiently. Her smile grows wide when she sees that Tina, Rachel's other – and only female – friend comes up behind them.
"Rachey," Tina smiles, "it's so good to see you." She squeezes Rachel. "I missed you."
"I missed you too Katina," Rachel jokes. She and Tina have a running joke. Rachel is adamant that Tina's real name is actually Katina and so the nickname for the bright-eyed Asian has always stayed.
"So, what's been happening?"
"Well!" Kurt beams. "I know this band..."
Finn Hudson is her ultimate favourite she decides. She loves them all, but Finn is her favourite. He's the cutest and so sweet and adorable. She wishes she could meet him and hug him and tell him how much he changed her life. How much he saved her life. That's her dream. But she's just a stupid fan caught up in hysteria that has followed her around the world. It could never hurt to try though. Right?
She's out late. Much too late. It's almost midnight and she's still walking the streets of Lima. She's messaging Karlyia and Claire on Facebook. Somehow that's a good enough excuse. She really misses those two. They're obsessing over Summer Burns Red all the time these days. Tina isn't really into them at all and Kurt's too loved up with his current boyfriend to care about them. Karlyia and Claire are really the only people she can obsess with.
She isn't paying attention to the road in front of her when she bumps into someone heading in her direction. She drops her handbag and her phone, the screen cracking into many pieces. She frowns at the sight of her iPhone's screen. Her Dads are going to kill her. She mumbles an apology and bends down to gather her things back up. The person bends down too and that's when she takes her first good look at his face. Her heart stops.
"You're..."she trails off. He smiles and she tries again. "You're... you're Finn Hudson."
"I sure am." He smiles back at her and laughs at a little at her shocked expression. "Let me guess. Fan?" She nods. "Thought so. Come on, I'll take you back to where I'm going."
He leads her to his car and she sits down numbly, still taken aback at this situation. He climbs into the driver's side and drives slowly to his destination. He pulls up in front of a very familiar house. Rachel frowns and turns to look at the superstar singer.
"This is Kurt's place."
"You know Kurt?" Finn asks, clearly puzzled.
"He's my best friend."
They make their way to the front door and Finn Hudson puts a key in the lock, unlocking with ease and entering. Rachel is beyond confused. Why would Finn Hudson be in Lima? Why would he be at Kurt's place? She hears Kurt come bounding down the stairs. There's muffled talking and more voices can be heard. Rachel rounds the corner to the living room and nearly passes out at the sight.
"Oh dear lord."
"Rach? What are you doing here?" Kurt asks. She snaps her attention to her best friend.
"I brought her here," Finn jumps in before Rachel can make a scene in front of everyone. Rachel evil eyes Finn but stomps over and sits on the lounge. Kurt comes to sit beside her while Finn joins the other people in the room. Rachel turns to Kurt and frown.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"That I knew them?" He nods towards Finn. "Because I know what you would've done. Rachel, I'm not stupid. You would've freaked out."
"As opposed to now?" Rachel asks incredulously. "Finn Hudson, Sam Evans, Noah Puckerman, Mike Chang and Rory Flanagan are standing in your living room and I'm meant to be calm?"
"Okay, so you would've freaked out either way. But I swear, before you went away I didn't know these guys."
"What happened when I went away?"
"Dad married a very lovely lady who just happens to be Finn Hudson's mother. He met her in Washington. Rachel, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I really am, but I couldn't." Kurt looks at Rachel, pleading to her to forgive him.
"Oh fine! How am I meant to resist that look?" Rachel says. She throws her arms around her best friend and they laugh it off.
She thinks herself lucky. So, so lucky. Kurt is clearly the best friend ever. She's spent all summer hanging out with Summer Burns Red and as her seventeenth birthday approaches she's feeling more confident about herself. She has a friendship with Summer Burns Red that girls her age can only dream of. She knows that no matter what happens at school that she's got something no one but Tina and Kurt have. And it feels fantastic.
He comes to her door at exactly eleven am, just like he promised. She runs down the stairs, giving her fathers quick kisses on the cheeks. She opens the door and is enveloped in Finn's giant hug. He whispers in her ear something that makes her giggle like a little girl and then leads her to his car.
They have a picnic. It's sweet of him to do. They've been chatting away for hours and hours. It's been the best birthday ever. Finn looks at his watch and frowns. He needs to finish up the picnic pretty soon. Without warning he leans over and plants his lips on hers. Rachel is shocked. Her eyes get wide and she tries to fight it briefly but she relaxes into his kiss pretty quickly. When they pull away he smiles at her.
"Happy birthday Rach," he says.
"You don't say..." she trails off. He kisses her again and then takes her hand to pull her up.
"Come on, we'll be late!"
"Where're we going?" She laughs as he rushes to pack up the picnic and then pulls her to his car.
"You'll see,"
"SURPRISE!"
"Aaaaaaaah!" Rachel screams as her friends and family jump out from behind different living room objects. Rachel's hand flies to her heart and she laughs nervously at the people surrounding her. She turns back to Finn and evil eyes him for the lack of warning and then she looks back at the people. Kurt comes bounding up to her with a grin spread wide across his face.
"Hey gorgeous," he says, knocking her on the shoulder with his. She smiles back at him, wide eyed.
"Did you do this?"
"Who? Me? No. It was Finn's idea."
"Really?"
"Yeah... Did something happen today?" Kurt asks suspiciously. He looks at Rachel's gaze and smirks. "It did! It did, didn't it?! Oh my god! I knew it!"
"Kurt!" Rachel hisses. She clamps her hand over Kurt's mouth to stop him from yelling anything she might be embarrassed about across the room. "Anyway, can we talk about something different please?"
"Sure," a very Australian voice sings out from behind Rachel. Rachel spins around and throws her arms around the blonde girl. She squeals into her hair. "Hey, hey I missed you too Rach."
"Claire!" Rachel sees another girl standing beside her and throws her arms around that girl as well. "Karlyia! Oh my god. What are you doing here?"
"Your friend Finn called us," Karlyia says.
"And why didn't you tell us you actually knew Summer Burns Red. I mean, like come on mate. Summer Burns Red is in your house right now. All of them. This is crazy!" Clair gushes. Rachel just laughs at her Australian friends and moves to socialise with everyone else.
By the end of the night Finn and Rachel are seen making out profusely in a corner of the room as are Tina and Mike, who had a romance blossoming all of the summer. Claire's figure can be seen chatting up Noah Puckerman, as Rachel had expected. All Claire wanted was a chance to talk to the superstar and Rachel knows that she wouldn't pass up this opportunity. Karlyia, however, has taken a more subtle approach but has still managed to muster up the courage to talk to one Sam Evans.
..::..
"I love you."
He says the day he tells her that they're starting their world tour. She's shocked into silence but kisses him instead. When they finally pull away she's smiling like a crazy person. A cute crazy person.
"I love you too."
It's ridiculously hard. Rachel didn't think it would be this hard for her to maintain a relationship with a superstar. The media are in her face or on about her relationship all of the time. And Finn is fiercely private. It's worse for Claire and Karlyia. Rachel often sees tabloids about their "long distance relationships" with Noah and Sam. When they went public in the fall of September (or spring as her Australian friends would say) the press followed their every move for months and months.
Kurt comes screeching halt into her bedroom with the latest gossip magazine held firmly in his grasp. He comes to a standstill in front of her and holds out the magazine. "Now," he says, "before you read this just remember he loves you and that you trust him. You trust him very much." Rachel snatches the magazine from Kurt's grasp and gasps.
"What is this? I don't understand." Rachel takes in the headline on the magazine cover. HUDSON ON THE PROWL. IS MR NICE GUY LOOKING FOR A NEW LADY LOVE? Rachel throws the magazine at the table and turns away. "I don't want to read it Kurt. Can you read it to me? Please?"
"Rach, are you sure you want to hear this?" Rachel nods her head.
"Please Kurt." Kurt nods his head and picks the magazine up from the table, turning to page 34. He takes a deep breath to prepare himself.
"Okay, here goes. 'Amidst rumours that Finn Hudson and his own American sweetheart Rachel Berry, 18, are heading in different directions, Finn was caught chatting up 20-year-old actress and TV personality Quinn Fabray. Fabray has an interesting past with Hudson as the pair have been previously linked in what was one of the most serious relationships we've ever encounted in all our journalism careers.' Rach," Kurt pauses, "we don't have to keep going if you don't want to. You know he loves you."
Rachel shakes her head. "No, I need to hear the rest."
"Alright... 'After reports that Hudson and lady love Rachel were heading for the rocks, we wonder if Quinn has jumped in to save the day. We all know Miss Fabray has a colourful history with a string of men, Finn being no exception to that rule. Is the Queen Bitch about to swoop in and steal Rachel's man? We certainly hope not. Those two are beyond the perfect, cute couple we all desperately need. Oh, keep the dream alive guys. You're too perfect!' There. Finished. That's all it says."
Rachel wipes her teary eyes and smiles at Kurt. "That's a load of bullshit," she says. "Besides, this is the first bad tabloid in months. Claire and Karlyia are copping it so much worse at the moment anyway. I need to be supportive of my girls."
"Why? What's happened?" Kurt's concern spikes when he hears the serious tone mentioning the Australians. He pushes Rachel over on the bed and sits beside her.
"Oh, you know their group right? Butterflies Fly I think it's called. Well, the girls are copping so much flack. According to Australian press the group has only had success because of their connections to Sam and Noah. Considering they haven't broken the States yet, their success is only nationwide. And those girls can sing. Really sing. It just sucks, and it hurts them. They haven't become bulletproof to bad press yet."
"Oh man," Kurt exhales. He knows all about the bad press the girls have been receiving. It seems that Tina is really the only one who can fly under the radar. The press seem to have nothing bad to write about Tina and Mike. But Claire and Karlyia get it the worst. From American and Australian press apparently.
Just a few months before press had been saying that the Australian duo were out to "steal" away the boys. One headline even read CLAIRE AND KARLYIA. THE PLAN TO SNATCH AWAY OUR BOYS. No matter how many times they tell press how completely and utterly ridiculous it is that they would want to steal Noah and Sam they just keep hitting back with something bad to say. But Kurt knows the girls know better than to expect the press to cut them some slack. Journalist thrive on gossip.
"I really hope they're okay," Rachel says.
"Yeah, me too."
They celebrate her nineteenth birthday in true fashion. An "up yours" letter to every magazine they can think of. It's to let the bastards know that they're in it for the long haul. After the issue with Finn "looking for new love" the year before the couple are more determined than ever to prove to the world how committed they are. So they write their own press story.
"We're going to get in so much trouble for this!" Rachel laughs. Finn just smirks at her and continues writing in nearly illegible handwriting. Rachel laughs louder. "I can't believe we're actually doing this."
"Hey," Finn stops writing and cups her chin in his hand. Rachel turns serious as well and stares back at him with her big brown eyes. "I love you Rach. No matter what, I'll always want to be with you. And this is our way of telling those jerks at the news offices so."
"Totally." Rachel leans in for a kiss. Finn meshes his lips with hers and Rachel wraps her hands in Finn's hair, clasping it tight. She crawls into his lap and their kissing heats up. But before they can go any further Sam and Karlyia walk in. Karlyia laughs and covers her face while Sam throws the paper he's holding at Finn's head.
"Geez guys. Get a room. No one wants to see that!"
Yep, Rachel decides, she's definitely in it for the long haul.
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