On this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for all the fans of this story who have stuck with it since the beginning. I had no idea it would have such a response and am still mindblown. 20 reviews for this chapter alone? You guys are amazing. I'm just sorry that I'm a lazybutt who has school and then theatre until ungodly hours of the night practically every day of the week. I'll try to be better. Now for a little refresher:
LAST TIME WE TALKED:
"You're supposed to be driving me to the airport, remember?" she snaps.
"I know! Rach, calm down. I'm going to be back before nighttime. You're flight's at 11!"
"11 AM, Finn! My flight leaves in three and a half hours. We need to be at the airport in at least an hour! I told you this."
"You told me 11. Excuse me for assuming it was the night flight. Why would you even book a day flight? The night time ones are always cheaper!"
They arrive at the security line, and it's overflowing. The guard informs them it'll take about an hour and a half to get through. She'll miss her flight. Rachel pleads with the guard, looking for some way to make it through in time. The security guard, a crabby old woman, won't budge, though. The only helpful information she gives is that there's a second flight to New York tomorrow leaving at 4 AM.
"You purposely made me late. You wanted me to miss my flight," she says quietly, studying Finn's face. He pauses momentarily, flicking his eyes toward her.
"How could you say that?" he asks, matching her tone.
"You'd hope that if I missed my flight, I'd forget the whole idea."
Finn shakes his head slowly. "Of course not. I mean, technically it is my fault, because my driving skills are so effed up. But I'm sorry. We'll just come back tomorrow morning. I promise I'll let you drive this time." He continues eating a corn dog.
"I'm going to stay here overnight," she whispers, not looking at him. "You have to work tomorrow; I wouldn't want to wake you up early." The truth is that she really can't bare to spend another minute with him.
Finn smiles at her. "You're the best."
"Hello?" she says, confused.
"Rachel?" a male voice breathes.
"Uhm, depends…who is this?"
"Jesse. Jesse St. James. We dated for a little while in high school. Do you remember me?"
Oh God.
"I saw your Facebook status," he continues without waiting for her confirmation. "Don't you find it funny that we still use that site, even after all these years?"
The confident tone of his voice makes Rachel squeamish. Memories of years past flood her mind, and she curses him for doing this to her. Those were memories she'd wanted to forget- the way her hand fit perfectly in his, their Broadway Movie Saturdays, and the softness of his lips on hers…
And they had only been speaking for two minutes.
Annoyance floods through her body, and Rachel grips the phone tightly in her hand. He shouldn't be able to do this to her; he wasn't allowed to do this to her. Jesse St. James abandoned her. "What do you want?" she grinds out.
A light laugh comes from the other end. "You're pissed. I can tell. That's okay, though. I'm a little pissed off, too. How the hell could you have married Finn Hudson? Your standards certainly dropped after we broke up."
Rachel knows she should hang up. It wasn't worth it. Jesse didn't deserve to be talking to her in the first place. Her self-confidence had left her for some time, but now with Finn gone (momentarily), she was seeing clearly. Yet, instead of pressing the END button, Rachel can't help herself from responding.
"Oh, so you would call that little charade of you completely cutting me off after Nationals "breaking up"?" she asks tightly, glaring at innocent travelers that pass by the terminal.
"Well, a few things. One: We weren't really dating in the first place-"
"But we could've been," she blurts out, and then mentally smacks herself for doing such a thing. Why wasn't her mind ever this cloudy when she talked to Finn?
"Okay," he agrees. "You kissed Finn, though. So any assumptions I had that we were dating were thrown out the door that very second."
"Wait," she stammers, confused. "You truly thought we were dating?"
"Possibly," he says dismissively. "Doesn't matter now, does it? I didn't talk to you for eight years, you married the jolly giant, and I've gone through six girls in the past two months. Happily ever after, huh?"
"You disgust me," she mutters and slams down the END button. Smiling in triumph, Rachel repeatedly presses IGNORE as Jesse continues to call back. Then, changing tactics, texts begin to swarm in from him, and Rachel's curiosity piques. What could he want so bad as to harass her? Besides, even if she did read the messages…Jesse didn't have to know that. Tapping the "11 New Messages" icon, Rachel begins to read:
I didnt even get 2 tell u what I called for!
Like she cared…
...and to think I was just trying to be nice
Oh sure…
Babe I'll meet u at canavali's tomo nite Xoxo
What?
Oh srry, that was for the girlfriend… #7! ;D
Ugh. Predictable as always.
If u hadn't kissed the oaf, I mighta been saying tht 2 u O_o
...
I bet ur reading these msgs with ur faced all scrunched up like u do when ur confused.
Curse him to hell.
And now you're even more pissed at me 4 knowing u so well
Curse him to the darkest bowels of hell.
can u plz just call me back?
That would never happen…
I'll stop acting like an asshole
Pfft.
Jk, thatll never happen
Predictable again.
RACH. PICK UP UR DAMN PHONE
"INCOMING CALL FROM UNKNOWN NUMBER" flashes again, and the ANSWER button glows temptingly. Why couldn't this man just stay out of her life? More so, why did he have to enter at the most inopportune times? She scrunched the fabric of her red-checkered dress as her phone continued to play "Don't Rain on My Parade" in the background. Why the hell would he even call her in the first place? They hadn't spoken in eight years. Did it have something to do with Broadway? Oh God, what if he had called to discuss arrangements for a huge party all the current Broadway actors were going to throw for her arrival? Rachel inwardly groaned. There was no way she could ignore the call now. Jabbing the ANSWER button, she brings the phone to her ear.
"Pick up, pick up, pick upppppp, pick- Rachel? Hello? Are you there? Shoot, did you ignore me again?"
"Make it quick," she says irritably.
"Woah! Shocker! You answered."
"And I'll hang up just as fast."
He seems to understand she's not joking. "I called because I want to see you when you get to New York."
Rachel sighs and bites her lip. She stares blankly down at her fingers as she tries to come up with an answer. "I don't know if that's a good idea," she says finally.
"I think it is," Jesse responds simply. The temptation inside Rachel grows; it would be so nice to see him again. Maybe find closure…find something else…shit. Finn's image swarms into her mind and Rachel feels more guilty than ever.
"No," she says. "It wouldn't be right."
"What? Two old acquaintances meeting for a cup of coffee? Or even better, two Broadway stars meeting to discuss the joys of fame? Rachel, you're married. I have a girlfriend. It wouldn't mean anything," he says softly. Rachel blushes because romantic thoughts shouldn't even be in her mind in the first place. But Jesse is right. It wouldn't mean anything. They would just talk, catch-up, maybe he could even fill her in on what it's like to work on Broadway.
"Fine," she consents. "My plane is supposed to get in tomorrow around 6:30. Puck and Quinn are going to pick me up."
"Oh, I could do that. It would just be easier anyway. I'll call Puck and-"
"You still talk to Puck?"
"We met at a bar here and started talking again. It's all good. So I'll pick you up at the airport and then we'll go grab some breakfast?"
"Okay," she breathes, her conscience telling her she's doing something wrong. The people at the airport swarm around her, one person towering over the others. A head of short brown hair bumps up and down as he walks. Oh God. His face becomes clearer as he approaches. The small eyes, boneless cheeks…Rachel throws her phone into her bag and jumps up.
"Finn!" she shouts, running over to him. "What are you doing here?"
He smiles and holds up a plane ticket. "I felt bad about what happened so I came back. It turns out they had a last minute cancellation for a 12:00 flight. You can still make it!"
Rachel is at a loss for words. "Thank you!" she shouts, thinking of how she won't have to sleep in an uncomfortable cot for the night.
Finn awkwardly picks her up and wraps her in a hug. As he sets her down, Rachel catches sight of the clock.
"Oh my god," she gasps in horror. "The flight leaves in ten minutes. The terminal is on the other side of the airport."
"Oh…" he says slowly, "Then you better run."
Rachel gapes at him and lets out a whimper as she swivels around and gathers up her things. "I'm never going to make it," she mutters as she runs past him, grabbing the ticket as she goes. Finn stands in his place and waves as he watches Rachel struggle with her bags down the way.
"Good luck, babe!"
Rachel runs faster than she ever has in her life. It's only when she's seated on the plane that she tries to process what had happened. Finn had done something nice for her. He hadn't done something nice for her since they got married. Marriage. Somehow the word makes her think of Jesse, and Rachel frantically grabs her bag and looks for where she had thrown her phone. It's screen is blank. He must've hung up. Well, all the better. The whole thing with Finn made her feel guilty about talking to Jesse. She couldn't meet up with him now. But then again, she didn't have it in her to tell him no. "Well," she thinks, "maybe it won't work out because I'm on this earlier flight." She writes out a text to him:
I got onto an earlier flight. Guess this changes our breakfast plans.
And hits send, praying that his schedule is somehow filled for the day. Seconds later, she gets a text back:
No prob we can meet for dinner 2nite. Pick u up when u get in.
Great.
A/N: Did I also mention that I'm thankful for the fact that JGroff is coming back this season? Maybe he can save it. Anyway, you're all wonderful and I'd appreciate any reviews you can give. I know this chapter wasn't the best, but hey, at least not I've got everything set up for a little bit. Thanks again, and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
