A/N: This story is a collaboration with fellow writer henriettaline (please read her stuff!), and takes place after my story "The Wine Dark Sea". Both of us wanted to write a reunited Finchel story, but also one that involved many of our favorite OC's from our different stories. So, in a sense, it is a gift to our faithful readers, without whose support we probably wouldn't bother, and, hopefully for new readers, an exposure to characters we love as much as the canon characters. Although not necessary, it will help to first read "The Wine Dark Sea" and henriettaline's awesome "Pause, Rewind, Replay" and "Don't Give Yourself Away". As always, reviews are welcome!
Note: We do not own any Glee characters, but do own our own creations. Title is from the song "All Tomorrow's Parties", by Lou Reed.
It stopped raining a half-hour before midnight. The walk from the Canal Street station to The Arabica diner was only a few blocks, and Finn and Rachel took advantage of the late-March, 45-degree weather to enjoy a stroll on the wet, almost-empty streets. Arm-in-arm, each leaned into the other, as much to celebrate their reunion as to ward off the early-spring chill. The wet pavement gleamed orange under the streetlights.
All of their work was caught up, and they decided to head into Manhattan to pay their waitress friend Marge a visit at the diner.
Rachel felt content. Being with Finn again had turned out even better than when they had been so ridiculously in love in high school. Back then, other things in their lives were still hanging, unresolved. They had to part almost every night. Now, she and Finn had direction and stability, with the added bonus of ending each day in their warm bed together. Finally. All the drama and heartbreak of the last three years was somehow beginning to fade. Their life together was a reality. And it was better than she had ever dared hope.
Compared to living with Kurt, Finn was definitely low-maintenance. He had no extensive moisturizing routine, and almost all of his toiletries fit into the compact leather shaving kit that once belonged to his father. All he needed was time in the morning to shower, shave, and brush his teeth. During the week he was usually up before Rachel and Kurt, since his job at the garage began early so he could leave to attend his classes at Queens College, all of which he managed to schedule in the afternoon. So they usually awoke to fresh coffee and breakfast fixings, and could argue over bathroom toiletry space to their heart's content. In turn, since Finn was usually the last to get home, dinner was always waiting when he walked in the door.
Finn sometimes had to work Saturday shifts to make enough money. This was primarily due to the fact he always took Wednesdays off from the garage. Rachel smiled to herself, remembering how, after putting together his class schedule, he noticed that Rachel's schedule for Wednesdays consisted of all morning classes, while his were all in the afternoon. The first Wednesday, Rachel was surprised when he accompanied her to NYADA on the train, and tried sitting in on her classes. One instructor objected, so he spent his time that hour sitting on a bench in the hall.
"Carmen Tibideaux saw me sitting on the bench," he told her later, excitedly. "She asked me what I was doing at the school, since I wasn't a student (how did she even freaking know that?), and I told her I was waiting for someone, and when she asked who, I said Rachel Berry. She looked at me for a long time, then said, 'You were her male lead at the National Show Choir Championship in Chicago. You were rough, but I liked what I saw, and you had excellent chemistry with Ms. Berry.' I thanked her, then she asked if I was getting musical training. I said I was at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, and she patted my shoulder. 'Good, good…' she said, and left."
Rachel jumped in his lap and hugged him fiercely. "You see? I always knew you had it in you." He was joyfully surprised when she accompanied him back across the river to sit in on his classes. Wednesdays became their way of cheering each other on. He did put his foot down, however, when she asked if she could wear her old "Team Finn" t-shirt to his classes.
She loved sleeping with Finn every night. They slept entwined, so close not even a sheet of paper could slip between them. Kurt once tried waking them up one Sunday morning, and remarked that it was difficult to distinguish where Rachel ended and Finn began.
Late at night, in each others arms, they talked. They talked about what drove them apart, the insecurity, the doubt, and what brought them back together, the resolve, the self-confidence, and the love that simply could not, would not, be denied. They honestly talked about Callie, Brody, and Patrick. Each conversation left them hurting a little bit less; each time they made love the scars faded further. The pain became, more and more, just a part of their story, a gauge against which the joy of their reunion could be measured and appreciated.
She squeezed Finn's arm tightly as she thought about the best thing of all: the music. In high school she fantasized about living with Finn and bursting into spontaneous duets as they washed dishes or, in her naughtier fantasies, took showers together. Reality turned out to be less dramatic, but far more satisfying. One day she came home from a class and found Finn under the sink, removing the trap for cleaning. He sang as he worked:
Put a candle in the window, but I feel I've got to move.
Though I'm going, going, I'll be coming home soon,
'Long as I can see the light.
Pack my bag and let's get movin', 'cause I'm bound to drift a while.
Well I'm gone, gone, you don't have to worry, no
'Long as I can see the light.
Guess I've got that old trav'lin' bone,
'cause this feelin' won't leave me alone.
But I won't, won't be losin' my way, no, no
'Long as I can see the light.*
Rachel applauded when he finished, and he smiled.
"I sang that a lot when we were apart." She dropped to her hands and knees, pulling him out from under the sink for a tearful kiss.
They sang duets in the shower. She sang Rogers and Hammerstein to Finn at random moments, just for the joy of it, and Sondheim when she wanted to make love to him. They sang songs with Kurt at dinner and became the force to be reckoned with at Callbacks. Music, much to their delight, took back its rightful place as the mortar of their relationship.
The lights of the diner flooded the sidewalk, washing out the orange from the streetlamps. They could see Geoff Fielding inside, talking to Marge, along with a few other NYU Friday night regulars.
Marge Bailey welcomed them with warm hugs. She was tall, almost lanky, with thick, wavy red hair, and a deep, yet feminine voice. She called everyone "hun". The consensus was that she was in her mid-fifties, but nobody knew for sure. Finn, who had stayed at her place for a few days when he first came to New York, said she looked and acted differently at home than at the diner. He privately told an intrigued Rachel that she looked glamorous and downright beautiful at home, and dressed fashionably- very New York chic- when she came out to Ohio to meet him.
Rachel met Marge the first couple of weeks she was in New York. She couldn't sleep and wanted a place to study with decent coffee. The Arabica was only a few blocks from the NYADA dorms, and Marge worked the graveyard shift. The two of them started talking, and Marge became her first real New York friend. Rachel soon learned there was more to Marge than met the eye. She was a Tisch-trained stage actress, who cut short a thriving career ten years ago when her beloved husband Nigel, an NYU drama professor, fell ill and died of cancer. "He was my muse," she said. She took the job as a waitress because her grief wouldn't let her sleep, even though she apparently didn't actually need to work.
Marge became Rachel's confidant. She listened sympathetically when Rachel discussed the singing contest, and was the one who secretly went to Lima when Finn was there, and convinced him to write the song that reunited them. They loved her dearly for that, and because Marge was, well, just awesome.
Finn and Rachel caught her up on their progress since they had talked last.
"And how are your Wednesdays working out? Is that one instructor still not letting you sit in?"
"Yeah", Finn said, "But it's kind of cool because whenever Carmen goes by she always asks how I'm doing now."
"That's because she has the same feeling about you as I have." Marge filled Finn's cup. Rachel told her about an upcoming musical for which she was going to audition.
Geoff broke away from his NYU friends and joined them, looking both exhausted and excited. "Our families are paying for Elena to come out for my birthday on the 31st!" he exclaimed. That was great news for him. Elena was at UC Berkeley, and being apart played hell with their sleep. Both were aspiring writers, avid surfers, and as hopelessly in love as Finn and Rachel, having met on an LA beach when they were only thirteen. He and Rachel met at the diner one sleepless night, and became friends when they realized they had insomnia and epic romances in common.
"No surfing, though, dude," said Finn. Geoff gave him a sad shrug.
"Sleep will be on the agenda, right?" Rachel asked, also grinning, though she did worry about his health. He just blushed.
"Yes, ma'am". She playfully punched his arm. Then something occurred to her. "When's your birthday, Marge?"
Marge didn't answer right away. Instead, she stared into the counter she had just polished. Then she spoke, softly, almost reluctantly.
"The day after Geoff's, actually."
"April Fool's Day?" Finn asked out loud, and everyone laughed. That brought a wistful smile to her face.
"Yeah. April Fool's Day."
"We should throw a party for you both!" Rachel exclaimed, clapping her hands.
Geoff seemed amenable, but Marge immediately shook her head, re-polishing the counter furiously.
"I don't celebrate my birthdays with parties, hun," she said finally. Seeing Rachel's look of disappointment, she patted her arm. "Just a personal preference, dear." Something in the way she said it felt false and unconvincing.
Later, Rachel told Finn they still needed to do something for Marge's birthday.
"We can't just ignore it, Finn! I bet she just doesn't want to be fussed over, but if we do it right she could have a ball!" He could almost hear the wheels turning in Rachel's head.
"We're not going to throw her a party if she doesn't want one," Finn replied firmly.
The silence following her pout told him he hadn't heard the end of this.
* Lyrics are from "Long As I Can See The Light", by John Fogerty