xiv.
Rachel woke up early on purpose the next morning. It was her desperate attempt to avoid her fathers. She loved them, with all of her heart, but since she moved to New York, things had changed. She had changed. She didn't really tell them much about her life. In fact she noted that the night before had been the first time she called them in months. She had always thought that if they cared, they would have come to see her. And since they couldn't even do that, well maybe she was right to not call.
xv.
She drove into town, her lawyer speaking to her on her blue tooth as she went. She pulled into a spot near the town deli, turning off her blue tooth and going back to hand held. "Now, exactly how long does a divorce take?" She shut off the engine and climbed out of the car. "What? Eighteen months? I don't have eighteen months, Mr. Shuester, I don't even have eighteen days!"
As she was walking down the street, she heard catcalls at her. She smiled to herself and ignored them. She was used to it happening in the city, but not here in Lima, here she was just Rachel Berry. But in New York, she was Rachel Smythe, and that was a name people knew. "That's not going to work, Mr. Shuester!" She argued.
"Hey there baby! I haven't seen anyone like you around this town in the longest time!" The jerk called.
"I don't understand, can't we just rush them?"
"Baby, you look like sex on a stick!" He called again. Rachel sighed with frustration.
"Mr. Shuester, I'm going to have to call you back." She said, quickly hanging up the phone to yell at the pervert who was being extremely rude to her. "Why don't you just kiss my-" She turned to face the asshole and was absolutely delighted in what she saw. "..Ass!" she yelled as she ran towards Blaine Anderson, who quickly hopped out of his car, grabbing Rachel around the waist into a big hug.
"You should be honored, Rachel, I don't do that kind of stuff on the street." He said, putting her back down on the ground. Rachel had only a small group of friends growing up, all of them boys. But Blaine, out of all of them, knew Rachel the best. He was her best friend. Blaine had been her confidant over the years, and she had done the same for him. "What are you doing here?! Have you seen your dad, what about Fi-" He quickly caught himself before he mentioned a name that Rachel was already tired of hearing.
"Yes I saw my daddies, and as for the other one." Rachel glared. "Well let's just say Dad got to do his favorite past time of getting me out of jail last night."
"Oh man, what you do this time?"
"The little shit ratted me out of Mike's dad's car." Rachel pouted.
"He was still on that? I don't even get it, Mike obviously knew that it was one of us. Hell he was the one who bought us the freaking spray paint."
She laughed, gripping Blaine's arm. "Well, you know Finn…" Rachel heard voices behind her and turned see two ladies walking down the street with very concerned looks on their face. "Well I better let you go, I don't want to get you in trouble with your girlfriend." Rachel teased, pointing to the women. A confused expression crossed her face when she saw the look on Blaine's. "There is a girlfriend, isn't there?"
"Oh, c'mon Rachel, I can barely afford myself, I don't need to deal with some high maintenance woman." He stuck his tongue out. She gently hit his shoulder.
"But what about that girl, Brittany, what's her name? You guys were really into each other in high school." She asked, taking in the expression on his face.
"Ohh! She's she's batting for the other team now, Rachel." He laughed.
"Ah, I see. Well that explains some lingering questions I had about a pillow fight we had one night…"
"No way!?" Blaine laughed while Rachel nodded her head.
"Guess we all have out little secrets, don't we Blaine?" she smiled, squeezing his shoulder.
He smiled at her. "Well baby girl, I gotta get going. Are you in town for a while?" He asked, kissing her forehead, before backing up towards his car.
"God, I really hope not, I'm just gonna go and hit the bank."
"Well then, I better scram!" He joked, climbing back into his car.
"Ha Ha!" She said sarcastically as he stuck his head through his open window.
"But seriously, it was great to see you." He smiled.
"You too." She blew him a kiss as he pulled away.
xvi.
"Well look what the cat dragged in!" A voice from behind the counter said as Rachel walked into the bank. Rachel looked up to see her old friend Tina Cohen-Chang sitting behind the counter. Rachel walked over to her, a smile on her face.
"Hello, Tina! How have you been?!"
"Good, good. Not as good as you have been I hear." Rachel looked at her confused. "Oh nothing, I heard from Mike that you and Finn are getting a divorce. One could only assume that you met someone else. But I mean, that's just what he told me at dinner last night."
"Oh! You and Mike are together now?"
"Yup, going on five years." Tina held out her hand to show Rachel her ring. "We're very happy." She smiled. "Mike told me that Finn really doesn't want to sign the papers, you know that right?"
Rachel sighed. "Yeah, I know, that's why I have to either annoy him so much he has to give in and sign them or kill him, whichever of the two comes first." Tina laughed.
"So you here to take money out of your joint checking account then?" Rachel saw the devilish look on Tina's face.
"My what?" Rachel's eyes bugged open at the words.
"Your joint checking account." Tina repeated. "You know, yours and Finn's money?" And the look in Tina's eyes made Rachel realize just what she needed to do.
"Oh, yes." Rachel grinned evilly. "I do think I want to withdraw from that account."
xvii.
Rachel couldn't believe just how much money was in their joint bank account. What the hell was Finn doing with all that money? Her mind flashed to a million different possibilities. He was a drug dealer. Finn Hudson was now a drug dealer. No he couldn't be. She shook her head as she drove to the furniture store, ready to spend all of the money that Finn had made in his unknown legal status ways.
xviii.
She got back to Finn's house and was happy to see that he was still not back from where ever the hell he was now. She quickly went to the hide-a-key rock, and grabbed the key. She smiled to herself. Rachel loved how she always managed to find a way around Finn, no matter what the consequences were.
Slipping into the house, Rachel got to work. She was thankful that all of the new furniture she got had same day delivery as she put moved the new love seat into the place of the old one. Once they were in place, Rachel got to work with the rest of the house. Luckily, her favorite movie "How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days" was on last night, and she did her best at Andy-ing up his house. His bathroom cabinets now had tampons, lotion, and other girly things inside of it. She smirked as she lit a pink candle on the toilet before making her way back into the living room.
Adding throw pillows to the couches, candles on every other hard surface, and a very girly bedspread was just the beginning though. Still on her evil streak, Rachel ran back to her car, grabbing the bags full of all vegan food she bought for the house.
Giggling to herself she quickly replaced all of the disgusting and unhealthy food in his fridge with new and green food. The finishing touch to the house was not only throwing out all of his beer and replacing it with non-alcoholic ones, but putting a knitted sweater on the dog. When her work was done, Rachel sat on the new floral print couch and admired her work. Yes, this will do. She smiled, now all she had to do was wait.
He had the longest day at work and he couldn't wait til he got home so he could have an ice cold beer, and maybe, if he was lucky, catch the last twenty minutes of the game. When he got to the door, he noticed that it was unlocked and silently cursed as he walked inside.
He immediately noticed the difference when he stepped inside. His entire house was now covered in girly shit. New couches, new pillows, candles all over the fucking place. Being angry was just about the understatement of the year. He walked further into the house and as soon as he saw Drizzle wearing a sweater, he lost it. "Rachel, are you fucking kidding me?" he spat, knowing that she was the one behind the new decorations.
"What?" she asked, poking her head out of the kitchen. "I mean, this is what a wife is supposed to do, right Finn? We're supposed to make a house a home," she walked towards him. "And make sure their husbands are well fed." She smirked, patting his stomach. She couldn't help but notice how firm his abs had gotten since the last time she had touched him.
"Cut the shit Rachel. Where's my stuff?" He asked, running his hands through his hair.
"Oh, Finny, this place was a mess. You seemed to really need help maintaining it." She turned and walked back into the kitchen holding back a laugh.
"You don't even live here!" He sighed. "I'm going to ask you one last time, where is the hide-a-key Rachel?" Rachel, completely ignoring his question, started stirring the pot that was on the stove. He followed her in, absolutely mortified at what he saw. "What the hell did you do?!"
"I just cleaned up your house, like I said."
"Rachel, what the fuck is all of this? Why is all of this healthy?" He grew angrier every time that she smiled at him. "Rachel, what the fuck did you do to all my beer?! Why would you get me non alcoholic shit?!" He slammed the fridge shut, a shitty beer in hand.
"I was going to try to get you a new bed too, but all of the ones from Mattress Land were ugly, so I guess I'll order you one from New York instead."
Finn chuckled. "Whatever you want Rach, you can go right a head and spend all of your money on me." He said, cracking open the beer and drinking.
"Oh, but Finny, I thought that you said to think of it as our money." Rachel's words made Finn freeze in place. "Just a guess that the words 'joint checking' are just running through your head right now."
"How. Much. Did. You. Take?" He asked through gritted teeth.
"All of it." She smirked, raising her eyebrow.
"Son of a bitch, Rachel!" Finn crushed the beer can in his hand, beer spilling all over the floor.
"You wanted a wife, Finn, you got a fucking wife." She stomped her foot. "And what are you even doing with all that money? You should invest it. Didn't I give you a whole lecture in high school about how to save money and when to spend it? Don't you know anything, Finn Hudson?"
"I know that if you don't get your tiny five foot three ass out of this house right now-"
"Sign the fucking papers, and I will go home Finn." Rachel yelled, walking over to her bag pulling them out. "Sign the papers, and I will give you all your money back."
"Fine!" Finn spat.
"Fine!"
"Give me the pen." He demanded.
Rachel reached out to give him the pen but then pulled back. "Wait, before you sign. What were you even doing with all of that money, Finn. And since when did you quit the auto shop? You're not doing anything illegal are you?" She asked, trying to answer the questions she was thinking earlier.
"So what? Just give me the goddamned pen." He sat down on the couch. "I don't ask you about your boyfriend, you keep your nose out of my life, deal?" He felt his heart clench when the words left his mouth.
"Who told you…?" She asked. Finn noticed her face soften.
"Rachel, just because I don't understand things, doesn't mean I'm stupid." Finn grabbed the pen from her hand. "It's funny," Finn chuckled. "No one finds their soul mate when they're eleven years old."
"Yeah, I guess." Rachel said quietly.
"I mean, if that were the case, where's the fun in that, right?" Finn smiled at her before turning his attention back to the papers. He looked up and saw Rachel staring at the mantel on the fireplace. He knew that she would be surprised that he kept the statue, but he couldn't help it. Finn smiled as he remembered when he and Rachel figured out that lightening turns sand into weird crystallized structures.
"I can't believe you kept it all these years." She whispered as she ran her hand down it.
"Hmm."
"You know most people don't know that lightening does that to sand…" Finn stood up while she spoke, an evil grin appearing on his face.
"You know what, Rach? I completely forgot! Puck set me up on a date tonight, and I gotta go!"
"Wha-What!?" She asked. Finn walked into the bathroom and pulled off his shirt. He smirked as he saw Rachel's eyes on his chest.
"You don't care if I have my lawyer take a look at those, do you? I mean, you did say that I don't know anything, I might as well have someone tell me what all those big words mean." Rachel shook her head, and he knew she was thinking about those times in high school when she would be the one to tell him what certain big words meant.
Rachel let out a loud angry screech, which Finn ignored.
"Hey, Rachel, how much did this cost you anyway?" He smirked.
"More then you make in a month, Finn. Just sign the damn papers!" She yelled, throwing a pillow at him.
"Hmm, nah." He said, sliding on a new shirt and grabbed the divorce papers off the table. "But thanks for stopping by." He winked, before leaving the house.
"Oh my god!" He heard Rachel yell from outside the house. He knew that he was going to have to sign the papers eventually. He knew she was going to go back to her big life with her big boyfriend and her big career. But to him, she was just Rachel Berry, the girl that he loved more than anything in the world, and he really didn't want to give her up without a fight.
xix.
Rachel pulled up to the bar just as her phone started to ring. She smiled widely when she saw who it was. "Baby!" She squealed, excited to hear her fiancées voice.
"Well hello, my love. How's it going in Ohio?" Rachel sighed.
"It's exhausting."
"Well, I'm glad that you're getting a chance to see your parents. Were they angry that they saw on the news before you got a chance to tell them in person?" Sam asked.
"Honestly, I don't even think that they knew before I even came here." Rachel opened the door of her car and climbed out. A feeling of nostalgia hit her when she started walking towards the door of the bar.
"Well, isn't that a good thing?"
"I guess. It could be going better here though." She said deflated.
"Well, I've got some news to cheer you up!"
"And what is that, Mr. Evans?"
"I just got a copy of 'The New Yorker' sent to me. Guess who has an entire page devoted to them?"
Rachel gasped. "No!"
"Yes!" Rachel heard the excitement in his voice. "And I quote 'Rachel Berry starring as "Fanny Brice" in an off-Broadway production of Funny Girl was the biggest breath of fresh air that this stage has ever seen.'" Rachel could feel tears sting in her eyes. "Our one regret was that we did not go to see this show sooner, which would have given us more opportunities to hear one of the most beautiful voices of Ms. Berry's generation.' There's more, do you want me to keep going?"
"No, no! If you read anymore I'll have a full on breakdown. Oh my god, Sammy, they really said all of that about me?"
"They did baby, I am so proud of you. But, I am going to go have this framed so you can have it when you get back, go have some fun with your folks. I love you."
"I love you too." Rachel said softly, wiping away a stray tear from her cheek.
xx.
As soon as she entered the bar, she was greeted with the warm and loud voice of one Carole Hudson. Carole owned the bar that Rachel was standing in. It was always like a home away from home for her. Somewhere that she came every night, and spent time with her friends. Rachel smiled. Carole was like the mother that she had never had, and Rachel had always loved her for that.
"Batten down the hatches boys!" She yelled, slamming her hands against the bar. "Trouble has just walked right into my bar in the shape of my absolute favorite daughter in law!" She made her way around the bar and pulled Rachel into a hug.
"Hi, Carole!" Rachel said pulling away. "And it's soon to be ex- daughter in law." Holding her left hand so Carole could see her engagement ring.
"Oh my goodness!" Carole exclaimed. "Who's the lucky man that bought this ice rink for you?!" She nudged Rachel with her elbow.
"His name is Sam! He's in politics." She smiled.
"Well, this means he's got my vote." Carole winked. She grabbed Rachel's face in her hand. "It's good to see you, baby girl." Carole turned to the bartender. "Now you give her whatever she wants. I'll see you later, Rachel."
"Thanks Carole." Rachel called as Carole walked away. She turned to the bartender. "I'll have a scotch on the rocks with a twist, please."
"Oh my god!" A voice called from behind her. Rachel turned to see a woman standing behind her, a baby in her arms. "Rachel?"
"Quinn?" Rachel gasped, walking towards her.
"Yes! Look at you." Quinn gestured to Rachel's whole body. "You look so fancy and pretty!"
"Well, look at you! You've got a baby… in a bar." Quinn nodded her head smiling.
"Yes, this is Beth!" She turned adjusted Beth in her arms. "The sitter couldn't babysit tonight, and well, you know how Puck gets, he always wants to come here."
Rachel nodded her head. "Yeah I know very well." She joked. "Are they here? I haven't seen them since I got back."
"Yeah, they're over there playing pool." Quinn smiled. "I'll be over there in a bit, I gotta go change her. But it was nice to see you, Rachel." Quinn leaned and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"You too, Quinn." Rachel said, before making her way over to where she hoped Finn would be.
She spotted him over the crowd. She was able to spot him anywhere really, him being so tall was actually a blessing for her considering how tiny she was. Rachel made her way over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, do you care if I join you?"
Finn took a swig of his beer before he turned around. "Actually we do." He snapped.
Rachel turned to the girl that was sitting in front of Finn, extending her hand. "And you must be Finn's hot date."
"I'm Sugar." She smiled.
"Hi! I'm Rachel, I'm Finn's prissy" Rachel glared at Finn when she said the word. "Bitch of a wife, whom Finn refuses to divorce, even though I'm engaged to another man." Rachel extended her hand to show Sugar her ring.
"Holy shit, Finn. Look at how big the rock on this is!" She gasped.
"Hey Sugar, you wanna go get us another round of drinks?" Finn asked.
"Oh, okay!" Sugar smiled, walking towards the bar.
Finn walked away from her over to the pool table where he and Blaine were playing pool. Before Finn could make his shot, Rachel put her glass in front of his cue. "Finn, why do you want me to be mean to you? Especially in front of all your friends?"
"Oh, c'mon Rachel, you were our friend too." Blaine said, hurt in his voice.
"Well, who do we have here?" Rachel heard a voice say as a set of arms wrapped around her from behind. Rachel screamed loudly thrashing trying to get out of the grasp of whoever it was. "Get off me!" She screamed.
"Whoa, whoa. Fine." Puck said, putting her back down on the ground.
"That was not funny, Noah!" she said, slapping him on the shoulder.
"Oh, Ray, that was just like old times." He pouted, rubbing where she had hit him.
"No, Noah. Times have changed. I'm not that girl anymore, I don't like to be-" Rachel pondered for a second to find the right word. "Manhandled." Puck rolled his eyes.
"Hey, Puck, just come over here and grab a cue." Blaine called. "And if you can't find one, just take the one that's shoved up Rachel's ass."
Rachel glared at her old friend and turned back to Puck. "I see you still have your old Mohawk." She said, reaching to pet his hair.
"Hey, you do not touch the 'hawk." He walked over and grabbed a pool cue from the wall. "Now you sit your boney ass down there and watch me kick Finn in the balls at pool." Puck demanded.
Rachel laughed. "Nah, I'm more of a watch and play kind of girl, aren't I, Finn?" She said, gulping down the rest of her drink.
xxi.
Five scotch on the rocks with a twist later; Rachel was walking around the bar completely plastered, while Finn and Puck watched from the sidelines. He smiled at her, he missed her being like this, so carefree and happy with their friends. He couldn't hold back a laugh as she walked over to the pool table and collapsed on top of it next to Blaine who was taking his shot. "Blaine…" She snorted. "Do. Not. Miss. This. You don't wanna suck."
Blaine burst into laughter at her words, pushing her away. "So are you ever gonna give her a divorce?" Puck asked taking a sip of his own beer.
"Well, she's waited seven years, she can wait a few more days." Finn answered, walking over to the pool table.
"Like it's gonna make a difference." Rachel slurred at him, leaning on her pool cue.
"You never know," Puck interrupted. "You might be surprised to hear that-"
"Hey, let her think what she wants, Puck. She made up her mind about me a long time ago."
"Some things never change." Rachel snapped.
xxii.
"Now, Finn, it's just you and Rachel left in the game. There's only a few seconds left to go. We need that big beautiful fifty-two yard throw!" Puck said, imitating throwing a football. Rachel rolled her eyes, just because they were key players on the football team in high school didn't mean they should use football analogies for every game they played.
"Hey, Rach. You remember that?" Blaine asked, nudging her with his elbow. She knew he was talking about their high school football championship game.
"Of course I do." She glared her eyes at Finn. "That was the night that Finn got me pregnant." She regretted saying it as the words left her mouth and everyone in the room went silent.
"Why don't you just go shout that from the Empire Stare Building, Rach." Finn said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, come on, it's not like anyone can really keep a secret in this town." Rachel said, wobbling around the pool table. "Except for Blaine." She turned to face him.
Blaine's eyes went wide. "What did I ever do to you, Rachel?"
Rachel laughed. "You never did anything to me, Blaine, or any other girl in town." She heard people in the bar laugh, she guessed they were paying attention now because of her outburst.
"Rachel, what are you doing?" Quinn asked from the corner. She had been watching the whole game, Beth in hand.
"What do you mean, Quinn?" Rachel giggled, swinging her pool stick around.
"She's just angry, you know. I would be too if NYADA didn't accept me after three auditions." Rachel stopped dead in her tracks. Anger welled up inside of her.
"Oh, why don't you just go to a gay bar?!" She yelled, throwing her hands over her mouth. Before she knew what was happening Blaine threw his cue on the ground and ran out of the bar, giving Rachel the dirtiest look she had ever seen on his way out.
She tried to run after him, but ran into Carole on the way and due to her very drunken state, took the opritunity to get more liquor. "Hey Carole! Do you think we can get some more scotchhhhhh?" Rachel giggled.
"Rachel honey, I think you've had enough." Rachel took a deep breath.
"You know what, Carole? I think your right. You know, I think everyone here has had enough. I mean, how do you people live like this?" Rachel asked, twirling around in circles. "This place is miserable. Why would you wanna live in Ohio? New York is sssooooo much better!" Rachel slurred.
"That's enough." Finn sighed, grabbing Rachel and throwing her over his shoulder.
"GET OFF OF ME!" Rachel screamed, pounding her fists into his back. "FINN CHRISTOPHER HUDSON YOU PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!"
Finn walked her outside of the bar before placing her down on the ground. "What the fuck is your problem, Rachel?" Finn yelled, throwing his arms in the air.
"Well you asked for it!" She yelled back, feeling very dizzy.
"I asked for it?!" He yelled, as Rachel started looking for her keys. "You show up here, after seven years. You rearrange my house, and yell at me, and are cruel to my friends, who used to be your friends by the way. You're acting like you're better than them!"
"I AM BETTER THAN THEM!"
"You're nothing but fancy clothes, and shoes, and New York and all of these stupid things that don't even matter in the long run, Rachel."
"Oh, like you're going places!" She said, trying to grab her keys from his hand. "So what if you can't play football anymore, get a new dream Finn, I did." She let him guide her into the cab of his truck knowing that she couldn't drive in the state she was in. Before Rachel felt it coming, she turned her head and vomited all over the floor of Finn's truck. She heard him groan and speak to someone before she felt more vomit rise in her throat.
xxiii.
"Finn!" Quinn called from behind him. "Here's her stuff." He sighed and grabbed it from his friend's hands. "I'm sorry she's acting this way towards you."
Finn rubbed his hands through his hair. "Yeah well, I'm signing the papers as soon as I get her back to her house, so then she can go home and leave us all alone." He groaned when he heard Rachel vomit all over his car. "Do you think you can get Puck to drive me here tomorrow so I can get her car back to her dad's house?"
"Sure." Quinn nodded, grabbing his forearm. "I'll see you later."
Finn climbed into his truck, which was now covered in vomit, and a passed out Rachel leaning on the window. He sighed as he drove towards her house, thinking about she had acted in the bar. He knew that she wanted more than anything to be in New York. It was literally all she talked about when they were in high school. And he knew that she would be the one to make it. But he didn't think that she would have left him behind like she did. They had plans to be together for their entire lives. That's what the rings they had meant, they meant forever.
Sure, maybe he wasn't the best husband. And yeah, Puck got him totally plastered on their wedding day. And yeah, he fucked up big time by puking down her dress. But he spent a long time trying to make up for that, and he thought he did a pretty good job. But he knew that none of it mattered anymore. She was marrying another man back in New York. Someone who could give her everything that she deserved and he had to let her go.
When he got to her house, he went around to her door, and picked her up in his arms. He smiled, thinking about how he used to do this whenever she would go a little too hard at the parties they went to when they were younger. He rang her doorbell and her LeRoy answered. Finn noticed how his face fell when he took in the sight of his daughter passed out drunk in his arms. LeRoy opened the door for him to walk in.
"Hey, LeRoy. Hiram." He nodded as he passed Hiram in the hallway.
"Hey, Finn." Hiram smiled, as Finn carried her up the stairs to her bedroom.
He laid her down on her bed, and pulled a cover over her. When she was all tucked in, he went into her bag and pulled out the papers he had tried so hard to avoid. With a sigh, he pulled a pen out of his pocket, signing his name on the line. He frowned as he placed them on her pillow next to her face, and kissed her on the cheek before he left.
xxiv.
Rachel opened her eyes to a shooting pain in her head the next morning, and instantly closed them again. She let out a groan as she adjusted her face on her pillow. When she didn't feel soft cushiony material underneath her face, she opened her eyes slowly to see what it was. Lying in front of her face was a packet of papers. A packet of signed divorce papers. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw them, getting up out of bed, way faster then she should have and stuck them into her bad.
She walked out into the living room, her dads sitting around the television. When they heard her, they turned and smiled at her. "What?" she asked, wincing when it hurt her head.
"Nothing." LeRoy answered, shaking his head.
"So, you had a good time last night?" Hiram laughed, taking in his daughter's full appearance.
"God, Daddy. Don't talk so loud." She said, sitting down gently next to her father.
"You know, Finn carried you in last night after you passed out in his truck."
"What?!" She said, a little too loudly.
"Yeah, he carried you in last night, you should go and thank him or something Rachel. Even though you guys aren't anything or whatever you guys are, you still mean a lot to him."
Rachel nodded. "Alright, I'll go." She said, getting up slowly. "I'm going to go shower, try to get some of the stink of regret off of me."
xxv.
Finn was working on his car as Rachel pulled up. He didn't even bother to turn around, Rachel assumed because he knew who it was. As she walked towards him, Drizzle ran to her, barking. She crouched to the ground, petting him before she walked to Finn.
"Thought you'd be gone by now, Rachel." He called over his shoulder.
"I- I put the money back into your account." She said softly.
Finn laughed. "Thanks, that's gonna save me from bouncing a lot of checks." He leaned against the front of his truck, facing her. "But I like what you did. With the house." He pointed towards it. "It should help it sell quicker."
"What?" She felt a pang in her heart. "You're moving?"
"I've been spending a lot of my time in Cleveland, so I figure I might as well." He shrugged. "Rachel, I signed your papers, why are you still here?" He asked, guiding the dog into the truck.
"Look, Finn, I never meant to hurt you." Rachel said, taking a step towards him. "Or anyone else for that matter. But I just wanted to say thank you."
"You might want to move out of the way, Rach." He smirked at her, climbing into his truck. She felt her heart speed up when she saw his smirk. It was her absolute favorite part of him.
"Finn, you can't just leave!"
"Sure I can!" He smiled her favorite half smile again, starting the engine. "You wanna come?"
"Where you going?" Rachel walked towards him.
"I want to show you something." He said, grabbing her hand.
Rachel felt electricity as soon as their hands touched. She pulled away before she could enjoy it. "I- I ca-can't" she stuttered.
"Can't? Or won't?" He said, closing the door.
"Finn…" She sighed.
"Well, I guess I should be going then." He said, looking at his rearview mirror. Rachel wanted to say something, but words wouldn't leave her mouth. Instead, she watched her past drive away from her. But a part of her, wanted it to stay.
xvi.
After sitting in front of the post office for a good forty minutes, (staring at the banners that were being put up for the street fair that was happening later that night) Rachel left the car, ready to start a new chapter in her life. She took the freshly signed papers out of her bag, and put the necessary amount of stamps at the top. But Rachel, being Rachel, put an extra one on, just for good measure.
As soon as she put the papers in the mailbox, she felt a wave of relief come over her. She, Rachel Berry, was going to be able to marry the love of her life Sam Evans, without any problems. She smiled her thousand watt smile as she walked back to her car. And even though she was smiling, a part, a part of her that should be smaller, felt dead inside.
xvii.
She knew exactly where Blaine was; the same place that he always was when they were kids and he wasn't with the gang. She always had a thing for it, I mean, she faked her last name in New York because of the place. Rachel pulled up the Smythe Manor for the first time since she was a kid. As much as she changed, the place didn't. And just pulling up there sent Rachel into a memory spiral. The first time that she was here was when she found out that Blaine had met another friend named Sebastian in school. Sebastian wasn't really part of their crowd, but Blaine was never a person to leave anyone out.
One day, Blaine asked Rachel to hang out with them and she reluctantly said yes, worried about what Finn and Puck would say. When she got there the day there were supposed to hang out, Rachel noticed how close Blaine and Sebastian were, and they way they interacted with each other. It didn't take a detective to figure out what was going on between them. So ever since that day, Rachel kept his secret, until the night prior, where she messed it all up.
Rachel knocked on the door, thinking about what she was going to say to Blaine when she spoke to him. A maid for the mansion answered. "Hi, I'm Rachel Smyth-" She caught herself before she messed up her names. "I mean Berry, I'm here to see Blaine Anderson." The maid nodded and led her inside.
"Mr. Anderson, you have a visitor." The maid said, and Blaine nodded. When he saw that it was Rachel, he sighed walking to the door where she was.
"Rachel, what are you doing here?" He asked, looking back at Sebastian who was reading a book in the corner.
"I've forgotten how beautiful this place was." Rachel said, looking around the hallway at the chandeliers and paintings.
"I guess it doesn't take much to forget a lot of things, does it?" He whispered.
"Blaine, it's not like that at all!"
"No, I'll tell you what it's like. Finn was not the only one that you ran out on when you left here, Rachel."
Rachel just looked down at her feet, guilt consuming her. "I'm really sorry about the bar, Blaine. I guess I just figured that if I pointed at you then no one see through me."
"Blaine!" Sebastian called from the room. "Are you almost done? I need to talk to you about something." The tone of voice that Sebastian was using made it seem like talking was something they would not be doing when Blaine went back into the room.
"I should go." Blaine sighed.
"Bye." Rachel said as Blaine closed the door behind him. Rachel held back tears as she walked down the stairs to the front door. She was surprised however, when she opened the door and found someone with a camera around their neck.
"Can I help you?" Rachel asked, extremely confused.
"Hi, my name is Rory Flannagin from 'The New York Post'"
Rachel nodded her head and smiled politely. "What are you doing here?" she asked with fake kindness.
"Well, the son of the Mayor of New York City is marrying you so I've been hired to do an expose about you, find out where you grew up, you know all that kinds of stuff."
Rachel gulped. "So you mean, like take pictures, of my house?" She asked slowly.
Rory nodded. "And your family too, do you mind?"
"Yes. Yes, I do. Mind that is. I'm actually just on my way out." Rachel said, desperate for a way out of the situation she had gotten herself into. Just as Rory opened his mouth to speak, the front door opened, and Blaine walked out onto the porch.
"And who is this?" Rory asked, to a very confused looking Blaine.
"This!" Rachel said, grabbing Blaine by the shoulders and pulling him towards her. "Is my cousin, Blaine. Blaine Smythe," Blaine shot her a very weird look. "This is Rory Flannagin. He's from 'The New York Post, he's gonna take pictures of our family" Rachel put emphasis on the word and Blaine nodded. "You know, for the paper about me marrying the mayor's son and all." Rachel prayed that he understood all of the hints that she was dropping and also prayed that he loved her enough to go along with this for her.
"OH! Right, right! Of course, it's very nice to meet you Rory. Welcome to our home. Would you like a tour?" Blaine shot Rachel another look before following the two into the house, loving Blaine a million more times now then she ever did.
xviii.
"Thanks!" Rory called out the window as he drove away. Rachel let out a giant sigh of relief and she turned to Blaine.
"Well aren't you just a big fat liar!" He said, nudging her in the shoulder.
"Blaine!" She squealed, chasing after him.
"Oh, go back to New York!" he joked, running away. Rachel was glad that at least she had one person on her side in Lima, and she was especially glad that that person was Blaine.
I hope this is good. Some of the dialogue is from the movie because the characters that they are based off of say things that are really important to moving the plot of the movie along. I don't own Glee, or Sweet Home Alabama. But I wish I did, cause that is my favorite movie ever. Thank you for reviewing/favoriting/reading. :)
