Rachel sat at her vanity looking desolate. She had nothing to wear – she thought – she didn't know what people did wear to these parties. She had nobody to go with and no idea of how to behave, but she couldn't bail out after the silent deal she'd made with Puck that evening. She had nobody to call and ask for advice and she only had an hour to get ready and get there.
Well, she could call Puck. She discarded that idea as soon as it came to mind. Sure, he'd lightened up, but she could only see two outcomes of asking him what to wear, and both of them involved expletives and negative comparisons to Kurt.
Taking a deep breath, she opened the door of her closet and closed her eyes as she tried to remember the more constructive of the insults she'd had thrown at her over the years.
Animal jumpers. Yeah, she could see that, actually. They were cute – maybe one to keep for when she was at home on her own. No more animal clothes then.
An armful of clothes hit the ground and she turned back to the closet, setting her jaw.
Knee socks? Oh, she loved them. They emphasised her undeniably long and slender legs. Did anyone else in the school wear them? No. Out they went.
She looked at her watch and gasped, turning back. No time for this now. She'd go for the underdressed side of the line and take it as it came.
The jeans she'd worn for 'Somebody to Love' were the only pair she had but she figured they'd do for tonight. She tugged on a white vest, not caring that the black straps of her bra showed through, clasped a silver chain around her neck, slipped on a pair of flip flops and sat down.
She looked…different. Her hair was longer and straighter than usual after she'd straightened it for the performance and the remnants of eyeliner hung around her lids, giving them a smoky look. She looked older. She looked average. She looked…
She could get used to this.
She could.
It wasn't the coolest party Puck had ever been to. Not even close. There was next to no booze for a start, because Finn wouldn't let anyone give Kurt a sniff of alcohol in case he jumped him, Artie's dad would be picking him up so he couldn't drink, Tina and Mercedes wouldn't drink if their boys couldn't and…well, it was no fun for only half the group to be drinking. On the other hand, he had a strong suspicion that when the Glee kids (the original ones, that is) went home, it might lighten up a bit.
The doorbell went again and Mike, who was nearest the door, hauled himself to his feet to get it. Puck heard a whoop and then a few moments of silence and was just about to investigate when Mike came through, a crate of beer in one hand and a seriously hot midget in the other.
Damn, but she cleaned up good. She was wearing fitted jeans and a tight vest which showed off her dancers body and tan, minimal make up and…well, carrying a crate of beer. It didn't get much hotter than that if you had a dick and a pulse.
"Hey guys" she said shyly, "I know some of you won't be drinking," her eyes subconsciously flitted to Quinn, who was leaning against Finn's knees with her hand over her swollen stomach, "but I thought maybe some of you would."
"Hell yeah!" yelled Matt, holding out his hand for a high-five. To her credit she only hesitated for a split second before returning it with a wide grin. Puck shifted over on the sofa for her to sit down and nudged her with his elbow as she tucked in.
"You made it then?"
She smiled up at him, her eyes all smoky and seductive.
"Yeah" she said, calmly, and he wasn't sure he'd ever heard her use a slang word in his life, but fair play.
"Beer?"
"Are you offering me one or asking me to bring you one?" she asked deadpan, and Kurt turned to stare at her with wide eyes.
"Both" he said with a shrug and she stuck her tongue out at him as she got up. When she came back with two open beers? He wasn't going to lie, he was pretty stunned. They clinked bottles, took a gulp, and she let out a shriek, gagging.
"Oh my goodness…that is vile!"
The guys laughed good naturedly and to his surprise it was Brittany who handed her a glass of juice.
"I hate beer too" she said, "but it's the only thing to drink at these parties"
"Britt, we have wine coolers" said Mike with a grin, and she frowned.
"I thought wine coolers were those things you put wine in to chill?"
There was a moment of silence as Artie opened his mouth to make a retort, caught Santana's baleful eye and closed his mouth with an audible click.
Several hours later it was just Santana, Brittant, Matt, Mike and Puck left. And Rachel. Damn, it felt weird to include her in that sentence, but here she was, sat upright on the sofa admittedly, and refusing to touch the beer, but doing a surprisingly decent job of kicking their asses at Mario Karts. And don't think he hadn't noticed the way Mike was eyeing her. Not like he cared or anything.
She laughed delightedly as she won the final lap, and did an astonishingly accurate impression of Yoshi before stretching out, ignoring the way the guys' eyes gravitated towards her.
"I should probably head" she said, "I had a great evening. Thanks for inviting me."
Brittany smiled at her
"It was great that you could come, Rach. See you tomorrow?"
"Um…it's the weekend tomorrow…"
"Yeah. We were going to go to the mall, get some food, get our nails done" interjected Santana "You should come with us."
Rachel wasn't quite quick enough to hide the look of uncertainty that flickered across her face and Puck knew what she was thinking. Would they tease her, criticise her? Would they even turn up? Sure, he knew it'd be fine, but he'd heard about Santana's motivational speech from Finn. No wonder Berry looked freaked.
Credit to her though, she went with it.
"That sounds great. What sort of time?"
"Ooh, give me your number" said Brittany, "I'll give you a ring when we're leaving in the morning"
Rachel visibly relaxed and keyed her number into the blonde's phone as Santana looked on, her expression unreadable.
Puck tried not to notice as Mike walked Rachel out, feeling suddenly as though this was happening too fast. A twist of unease pulled at his gut, but he couldn't figure it out. Frowning, he took another pull of his beer and reset the game, deciding to mull it over more the next day.
