A/N: I am completely overwhelmed by the love for this already. Seriously, you guys are amazing. It means so much to me, and please keep reading and leaving reviews. I'd like nothing more. Also, I don't really have a definite plan in my mind where this is going, so if you have ideas or suggestions I'm happy to hear them and might take them on board. I started writing this with no thought as to what would happen as it developed, but I'm interested to hear what you guys would like to see. So if you have a suggestion, just leave it in a review! Thank you so much guys!
Somewhere across town, in the depths of the perfect Prada satchel, Kurt Hummel's phone rang. He sat up with a start, gently pushing Blaine off him as he did so and ignoring Blaine's pout in protest to the sudden lack of Kurt's presence. Kurt pulled his satchel up onto his lap as Blaine readjusted his tie and he rummaged around quickly in his bag, sitting up properly on the sofa in order to answer it. He glanced down at the number in confusion, perfect eyebrows quirking as he mouthed the name to Blaine, who shrugged. Kurt slid the receiver to his ear, running his hand through his now-messy hair in a futile attempt to fix it back into its perfect state.
"Rachel?"
"Hello, Kurt," Rachel said warmly.
"And if it isn't the winning diva; I guess you beat me again," greeted Kurt; but Rachel could hear the smile behind his words, and his thumb was gently tracing circles on the back of Blaine's hand as it lay absently on Kurt's lap. It was clear to each of them that they had won today, just in different ways. "And why are you calling me, today of all days? Shouldn't you be out celebrating, or are you already rehearsing for Nationals?"
"Well," Rachel began, "actually, we're going to have a party, but I was going to ask you about that. You've been with us for so long. It wouldn't be a proper party without you." Then, she paused. "Will you join us to celebrate? Please?"
Kurt was a little taken aback. Of all the people to ring and invite him to a party, Rachel was certainly not on that list (in fact, it was a very small and select list). Silently, he gestured to Blaine, trying to tell him what was going on without alerting Rachel to the fact that he was there too. Blaine shrugged at him, and Kurt rolled his eyes.
"Just a sec, Rachel," he said, before removing the phone from his ear proper, resting it against his shoulder and explaining what she had said to Blaine.
"I have my car," Blaine suggested, "But it's up to you. And I don't know if I'm invited..."
"Kurt? Kurt?" Rachel's voice emanated from out of the receiver on Kurt's ear. He lifted it again to his ear. "Blaine can join us too, if he likes."
Kurt flushed a little. For someone so oblivious at times (usually when it concerned herself), other times Rachel Berry could be one of the most observant people he knew.
"Blaine, you can come too. You in?"
Blaine nodded, and Kurt spoke into his phone again. "We're in. Your place?"
"Noah's." Rachel explained, before giving him the directions to the house as best she could. She certainly hoped the boys weren't going to get lost on the way; she was terrible at giving directions. They said their goodbyes and Kurt hung up, slipping his phone back into his satchel.
"Well, we should probably change..." Kurt said, blushing a little at the innuendo behind that statement. "Or rather, I should. Showing up in uniform is probably not the best idea."
"Okay," Blaine said, already removing his Dalton jumper – his blazer was already neatly hung on the arm of the sofa. As he began to remove his tie, Kurt swallowed visibly, trying not to stare, and moved towards the door.
"I'll be back in a bit – think you can manage yourself down here?"
"I'll be right here, waiting. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."
Rachel slid the phone back into the pocket of her skirt, moving back through Noah's house to where the rest of New Directions were. They were already drinking, and most of it was alcohol; it was very quickly becoming reminiscent of the party Rachel had hosted at her own house only a few weeks earlier. She grimaced, thinking of that night with mixed emotions. It had been enlightening, but ultimately not a good night and she had similar hang-ups about this particular party. Trying to shrug them aside, she moved over to the table where all the drinks were, grabbing the one which happened to be the closest to her hand and giving it a sniff. She had no idea what it was, but it was green, and tasted sweet, so she took a long gulp before taking a little look around, already beginning to move to the music; So What by Pink had come on and was blasting out of the speakers.
Over in the corner were Sam and Artie, who looked like they were attempting to have a conversation, despite the noise – Santana and Brittany (who were already almost at the end of their second drinks already) were dancing with Quinn, Mercedes and Lauren in the middle of Noah's garden, spinning and twirling and dancing with each other. Rachel pulled a face, seeing Tina and Mike, making out in the corner seemingly without abandon – she steered clear of them, and probably wisely so. Puck and Finn were seated on the edge of the hot tub watching the girls dancing (the lid was on the tub, thankfully), and Rachel took another sip of her drink, refilling it before bouncing over to the girls. She took care to glance at Finn as she passed him, smirking in his direction before greeting all the girls with a large grin and beginning to dance along with them.
The rest of the night passed by in a kind of blur – not a drunken one (at least not for Rachel, who was the most sober person for the night), but a happy, tiring but ultimately satisfying blur. At some point between all the dancing and fetching new drinks and glancing over at Finn to check if he was paying attention to her (which he mostly wasn't - he had been joined at some point by Quinn, who remained by his side for most of the night, talking quietly into his ear and holding hands or rubbing his leg, although Rachel had caught his eye more than a few times), Kurt and Blaine arrived, and were greeted jubilantly by the New Directions. The two boys remained close for the whole night, getting drinks at the same time, dancing next to each other, and even disappearing at one point, coming back what felt like a long while later with flushed faces and less-than-perfect hair, but barely anyone noticed except Rachel, who happened to glance over at Kurt, and smiled to herself. The girls danced and danced until they couldn't any more, and then they talked until they couldn't hear anything, and even once the music was turned off, their ears were still ringing, and they talked in loud voices, almost as if they were fighting off the night.
Eventually, most of the couples drifted together, holding hands, talking to each other. Rachel stayed with Mercedes (as they were almost the only member of the Glee Club who weren't dating anyone), Rachel mostly listening to the other girl gossiping about people at McKinley. It wasn't that she wasn't interesting (truth be told, she wasn't really, but she didn't tell Mercedes that), it was just becoming later and later, and then it was earlier - it was almost beginning to become light, and almost everyone else was already asleep. At some point Noah had, unbeknownst to most of the others, put out a pile of blankets, pillows and sleeping bags, some of which had already been used, but most of the New Directions were simply asleep where they had been sitting – Brittany on Artie's lap, Sam and Santana on the floor next to them, and the others scattered around the yard and living room. Rachel glanced over, seeing Finn and Quinn sleeping leant up against the edge of the hot tub, Quinn's head resting on her boyfriend's shoulder, with their hands entwined, and pulled a face. She walked carefully into the living room again, making sure to not step on any stray limbs, and picked up two blankets from the pile, wrapping one around her shoulders and carrying the other over to the hot tub. She gently laid it on top of them both (although it was mostly over Finn, really); as she did so, he stirred, releasing Quinn's hand to wrap his hand around the edge of the blanket and pull it up to his chin. Rachel couldn't help but smile, before returning into the living room, finding a corner of one of the couches to curl up on, and wrapping her blanket around her whole body before she drifted off to sleep like the others.
