A/N - Hey guys, thanks for the new follows - always appreciated. I'm actually really proud of this chapter - I hope you like the progress for Finn/Rachel. Please, please leave me feedback - it helps in motivating to write faster ;)
Rachel let out a small yawn, she could hear the feint sound of her father snoring as she inwardly cursed herself for falling asleep on the couch again. She reached her hand out searching for the cushion to prop under her head, but couldn't locate it. Why can't I find the bloody pillow she felt herself getting irritated as she was still tired and wanted to remain asleep but found herself awaking in frustration. She opened her eyes, confusion starting settle in - the window was off to the wrong side, that wasn't her coffee table and that was certainly not her dad on the couch beside her. Yesterday came racing back to her all too quickly - the reaping, the farewell with her father, the train and of course last nights rendezvous with Finn.
"Ahem" Rachel sat upright at the sound of someone clearing their throat.
"Good morning" she looked over to find Mr. Schuester on the opposite couch a slight smile playing across his lips "Good to see you out of your room." Rachel shifted on the couch sitting up and lowering the hem of her skirt.
"Morning" she smiled sheepishly, glancing to her left amazed Finn was still sleeping through the commotion. "I got hungry last night and I came out to get some dinner. I ran into Finn, accidentally of course, he said he couldn't sleep and decided to get some food too."
Mr. Schuester chuckled "I'm not surprised he made he way to the food cart, that boy never stops eating."
"I'm sorry Mr. Schuester, we didn't mean to fall asleep out here. It's just that we were watching the reaping ceremony together and fell asleep, we didn't mean to. I hope you're not mad at us." she rambled, she felt guilty getting caught out here and felt the need to explain how they came about to be out here asleep together.
"Call me Will. There is nothing to apologize for Rachel. Now how about you wake up Finn and we all meet back here in half an hour for some breakfast. From there we can start to discuss how we are going approach the opening ceremony and some other details."
Rachel nodded, she didn't ignore the fact he seemed to glide over 'the other details' but instead opted to leave such conversations until they needed to occur. Right now she needed to wake up Finn, she smiled to herself, he still was snoring softly she almost didn't want to wake him.
"Wake up" she whispered in a sing song voice, lightly shaking his shoulder. He roused slowly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, letting out a groan in protest.
"I don't want to go to school today mum" Rachel laughed, it seemed she wasn't the only one who awoke a little groggy.
"Huh? what? where am I?...Ohh" she sympathized with him, she knew exactly how that moment felt - awakening in what was meant to be their normal life instead realizing they were the latest players in the Capitols game meant to punish and control the outer districts.
"Morning. Uh Mr. Shuester was here, he said he'll meet us for breakfast then we'll go over our plans or something."
"For a moment there I thought i was back home, then.." Rachel nodded.
"I know, me too. I thought your snoring was my dad."
"What? I don't snore"
"Ohh yes you do. Lightly, but snoring is snoring" Finn laughed, Rachel still couldn't believe she was sitting beside Finn, having a conversation with him let alone laughing with him especially considering the circumstances.
"Alright you win, i guess i do snore. So how long before breakfast?"
"He said half an hour, i guess that gives us time to go shower and dress."
"Well i guess i'll see you for Breakfast then?" Finn stood reaching his hand out offering it to Rachel, she took ahold of his hand on offer, lifting herself up off the couch "See you at Breakfast."
Breakfast had been a quiet affair, it seems that and weren't very talkative, Rachel had surmised they must have been saving it for after breakfast when the 'serious' talk began. Finn had been eating non-stop he had no time to talk between the mouthfuls of food he had been consuming, Rachel just picked off the fruit on her plate in silence.
"Alright Finn, Rachel are you both ready to head next door?" Let the games begin she thought to herself, she wasn't ready but she knew she would never be ready for what she needed to discuss. She nodded and rose out of her seat leaving the remainder of the fruit on her plate, she wasn't really hungry anyway.
"Our train shall be arriving in the Capitol approximately 5pm tonight. The opening ceremony will be taking place tomorrow night, that will be our first opportunity for you to not only see the other tributes, but most importantly it will be your first chance to create a first impression with the Capitol citizens. The next few days will be full of training - that is not mandatory but i really do insist that you attend, even the survival stations will equip you with some basic knowledge that is invaluable." Rachel wondered how many times she made this exact speech and how many of the people who sat where she did right now actually listened to what she said.
"So enough about the formalities tell me a bit about yourselves." Mr Schuester relaxed back into his seat, she looked over to Finn indicating he should go first.
"Oh okay then. I'm captain of the school's swimming squad, I hold the school record for the fastest 400m & 800m freestyle mens. I know how to tie knots - my dad made sure i knew - for when i took over the fishing supply store. I play most sports, but my favorite was football, my parent's never knew I played. My mum didn't approve."
"Okay Finn, that's great there is plenty there to work with. How about you Rachel?"
She fidgeted with her hands, she paled in comparison to Finn - she didn't play sports, in fact she was horrible and uncoordinated. The other girls always chose her last when it came to team sports, something she didn't blame them for, she was more of a liability than anything else.
"I can sing and play the piano" she knew it wasn't much but it was all she had, all she could think of too offer.
"She's really good. Like incredibly good." she glanced over to Finn, thankful for his interjection of support, she felt so pathetic right now, she was in no way ready to enter The Hunger Games.
"Well this is certainly a first, but i'm sure we can turn that into a weapon. I'm sure no one will be expecting that as a talent. It would certainly be a first, something...unexpected - that is a good thing here, predictability is a weakness." for the first time, she felt her spirits rise, maybe just maybe she wasn't a total lost cause.
"Alright Emma, I mean Ms. Pillsbury and I need to go, we need to join a phone conference with the other mentors - President Sylvester from The Capitol has sent through a mandatory meeting that we have to attend. It should only be a few hours, I think you two kids should spend some time together, get to know each other. You are going to have to rely on each other in the arena you are going to be all that the other will have in there, while everything and everyone else conspires against you. Of course Ms. Pillsbury and I will be doing everything we can to help you, but we can only do so much the rest depends on you both." Rachel didn't know how to respond to his advice, instead she opted to wait until they both left the room and they try to talk to Finn.
"Well that was motivating." Finn broke the silence that filled the air with their departure.
"Can I ask you something?" Rachel asked, Finn nodding.
"Did you mean what you said before, about me singing?"
"Yes, of course i did. You have an amazing voice." Rachel could feel herself blushing at his compliment.
"That's very kind of you to say. You know i've seen you swimming a couple of times, you're really good, like really good."
"You've seen me swim?" Rachel bit her lip, she didn't realize how much she was going to give away by that statement. They didn't share any classes so the only time she would have seen him swimming was at his training after school, which she often attended to watch him.
"Yeah a few times, after school." There was no point hiding it now she thought.
"I've seen you a few times in the bleachers. I always wanted to come and say hello, but I never did. I don't know why."
"I know. Because i'm Rachel Berry a nobody."
"No that's not it" he cut her off "There is something about you, something that seems so perfect - I never felt good enough to speak to you." Rachel scoffed, her perfect, too perfect for the most popular boy at school to speak to.
"As if. You're the most popular guy in school. You don't have to be nice to me now because we are in this together." she could feel herself getting angry.
"I'm not. I'm just being honest with you." he could tell by the look on her face that she was in no mood to debate the fact of the honesty of his intentions right now.
"Look how about we leave this for now. How about you teach me to sing a few notes of that song you were singing in the Justice Building yesterday. After that i'll teach you how to tie some fisherman knots?"
Rachel let out a loud sigh, while she wanted to continue their discussion, getting into an argument right now wasn't a wise idea and decided to take him up on his peace offering. She was in fact looking forward to the opportunity to sing a little, it always helped her feel good no matter how bad the situation, music always made her smile. Getting to sing alongside Finn was something she never imagined possible, but getting to perform was something she could never say no to.
