Author's Note: First foray into fanfiction. I saw the preview for BIOTA and really dug the idea of Blaine/Rachel even though I just love Faberry, so I wrote this. I've been toying with the idea of writing on here for a while, so I finally did. I don't know if this will be a one shot or if I should keep going, so let me know if you have an opinion on that. Enjoy!
I do not own Glee.
It was definitely not love at first sight. The first time he saw her, the last thing on his mind was romance. It was sectionals, and he had to get Kurt to come backstage so he wouldn't miss the Warblers' pre-performance ritual. He had found him in the lobby area, talking animatedly with a short brunette. He promptly approached them, told Kurt to get a move on, and flashed her a quick, friendly grin accompanied by an equally quick, friendly "Hey".
He saw her on stage during New Directions' performance, but all she did was sway in the back. He decided she wasn't anything particularly special.
And that was it.
The second time he saw her was at the Lima Bean. This time, he was introduced. Rachel, he learned was an ex-classmate of Kurt's. She seemed nice enough, though that day she was a little off. Or, at least, that's what Kurt had told him after Rachel and Mercedes had left the shop. Normally, she was bubbly and crazy and obnoxiously loud, in a suprisingly endearing way.
Blaine had yet to see this mythical side of Rachel Berry, and until he did, she was just a girl. Just another typical teenage girl.
Sighting numer three: McKinley High Football State Championship. Blaine didn't know it was her until Kurt gasped and turned to him with wide eyes and his jaw flapping, frantically pointing out the girls on the field. Blaine stopped listening after he was informed of which one was Rachel. This, at the time, did not strike him as peculiar, and Kurt certainly didn't notice his disinterest in anything else he had to say. Blaine focused in on Rachel as she was strutting down the field and beaming like the sun. So, she could be cheery. When one of the male players- Puck, he remembered- grabbed her helmet and said something unintelligible, Blaine heard her response of "Let's kick some ass!" louc and clear from the stands, though as he looked around, it appeared he was the only one who heard it.
As they all lined up for the first play and Rachel dropped into the most ridiculous stance possible, Blaine thought that okay, maybe she was a little endearing.
The Rachel Berry House Party Trainwreck Extravaganza. When Kurt called him and told him about it, he wasn't big on the idea; the McKinley glee kids didn't seem like his type of crowd. He declined the incitation. "But if you come, all my friends will be there! Cedes, Rach..." Kurt had said before naming all the rest of his buddies, though Blaine had heard enough. So what, Rachel interested him. It was no big deal. She just seemed like an interesting person, almost magnetic in the way he was drawn to observe her. "You had me at Rachel." he had interrupted Kurt's rant to say. At Kurt's befuddled look, Blaine replayed his response in his head, spluttering, "Pretzels! You had me at pretzels! I love pretzels, don't you? They're my favorite snack food. Pretzels." when he realized what he had said. Yeah, it wasn't the greatest cover-up. After all, he was pretty positive Kurt hadn't even said pretzel.
But it was something.
Kurt and Blaine had arrived first. Rachel opened the door for them and she and Kurt began chatting animatedly while Blaine stood to the side, silently observing Rachel and her house, pondering his growing interest in her. It certainly wasn't romantic interest, of course. He was gay. So it must have been the fact that everyone kept describing her in this way, that she had this heavenly voice and an indescribable combination of personality traits. She was a star. Everyone kept saying that's who she was, but he didn't see it. Granted, he'd only seen her three times before, once from a distance, but Blaine wanted to experience this mythical Rachel Berry, wanted to know her. In a purely platonic way, mind you. So when the rest of the club arrived and somehow alchohol got involved and everyone was drunk off their asses and Rachel suggested Spin The Bottle, Blaine should have seen it coming. As if Fate had been reading his mind for the last week, Rachel spun the bottle and it landed on him. He hesitated, but she reached across the circle of rowdy teens and grabbed his collar, wrenching him forward and crushing their lips together.
It was quick. It was tainted with the taste of cheap wine. It was rough, forceful, even. But it was more than he had ever felt in his life.
And though he couldn't for the life of him explain why, Blaine wanted more.