Part 4 is up. might get a little slower with updating as I'm picking up more shifts at my work. money is good :)
If I owned Glee, I'd make the writers use fanfiction and tumblr for their material.
It's been a while since she had spoke to you
And she passed some words, but then you passed a fire
Memories flooding back into that part that you want to forget
And you wanna kill, oh, and you wanna kill
Rachel stared wide eyed at her phone in utter disbelief.
Quinn Fabray went out of her way to answer one of her texts.
What's even more astounding is that she noticed her absence, and actually cared enough to ask why. Well, not in those words exactly, but it was close enough for Rachel, and she was too excited with the progress to care. Any response from her at this stage was gold and would be treated as such.
She had to respond to this. It was only polite after all. No, she was not being hypocritical choosing to answer Quinn and not answer everyone else's. Nope, not at all.
Hello Quinn! What a pleasant surprise to receive a message from you!
Rachel quickly erased this. It really seemed a bit too enthused. Not that she wasn't, mind you, but she figured that Quinn wouldn't appreciate it. Indifference is key.
Oh, is that you Quinn. How are you? Not that I care or anything, just wondering.
Err, no. Too obvious.
Good evening Quinn. I didn't foresee you texting me. How is your evening treating you?
No, too formal.
Sup?
Oh for David's sake. This really shouldn't be hard, she has known her since middle school, how difficult is to write a response to a friend?
Maybe that was it.
As far back as she could tell, Rachel didn't really remember a time when Quinn and she were civil towards one another, and they never really shared a conversation with her that didn't involve her boyfriend somehow.
But this was a new year, and Quinn was looking and behaving differently. Maybe this was a sign for better things to come.
Which immediately got her thinking, and she had her answer.
How did you acquire this number Quinn?
Exactly how did she? She didn't remember Quinn ever accepting her offers of friendship and with that, usually meant the exchanging of phone numbers. Quinn did go out of her way to text someone like her; did she search for her phone number just to check on her? The thought alone had her mouth going dry and her heart imprinting its tattoo into her chest.
Rachel nearly had a heart attack when the device in her hands came to life. Quinn wouldn't have answered that quickly. Otherwise she would appear enthused, and an enthused Quinn Fabray? Impossible. But the idea got Rachel scrambling to answer it.
"Rachel?"
Oh...why did she hold her breath? She could help but feel a little disappointed. The one person on her mind all week had finally given her a sign of hope, granted, yes, it was very small, a flicker, but hope nether less. Rachel subconsciously reached for the little sweater on the bed but stopped herself in remembrance of who was addressing her.
Finn was being lovely, truly. He was attentive all summer, taking Rachel out on dates once a week and spending time with him at any other moment. But as the end of summer was approaching, Rachel noticed a change, like a small itch that couldn't be ignored. It was small at first, but began to increase as school drew closer. When the first day of school arrived the itch turned into a rash and Rachel finally went by instinct and questioned him about it. Finn was a little cautious, but briefly explained about his concerns concerning his future after high school. Which immediately got Rachel thinking about their combined future. Was it realistic? Would Finn willingly follow her to New York? Would Rachel allow that to happen? Rachel had always made it clear about her intentions concerning her dreams, no matter what Finn chose to do with his future. But was Finn clear about his?
"Oh! Finn, sorry, I thought you were someone else." And guiltily, she wished it had been.
"Are you alright? You didn't answer my texts. And I've been calling you all day." Rachel could sense the boy's puzzlement through the phone. His brow must be getting lines from all this confusion.
Kurt wouldn't stand for that.
"Err, sorry Finn."
"It's not like you to miss school. Is something wrong?"
Should she tell him? It's not like it would stay secret for long, if Raymond was going to be attending McKinley anyway.
"Uh, yeah," Rachel began, sighing. "It looks like the Berry residence is acquiring a new member."
"Oh really, who, is he better looking than me?" Finn laughed, but his breathing seized, as if he was considering this to be a plausible situation. This was understandable; if the last two years weren't evidence of this. Rachel shuddered.
"One, I have no idea, two, he's like fifteen, and three, eww, He's my cousin." Rachel huffed.
"Oh, that's good."
She willed herself to calm down before she replied "He's coming to school tomorrow so you can meet him then."
"Wait, that doesn't explain why you didn't turn up to school yesterday,"
"It-It's complicated, Finn. Let's just say it took a day of absence to adjust." Rachel said, hoping the boy would drop it.
It wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a lie either. The means of how he got here she decided to keep to herself.
For now at least.
"Okay then but you are coming in tomorrow though, right?"
"Yes Finn, I'll need to, to keep an eye on Raymond when he attends."
"Wait, his name is Raymond?"
"...Yeah, I know."
And out of all the things that has happened so far in the past week, the subject of Raymond confused her to no end. If he was just fifteen, then Maria fell pregnant soon after her disappearance. the thought made her very sick, and she felt the sting of of tears well up again.
Was his conception the reason for her absence?
"Damn. That's, uh, that might get a little confusing."
Rachel snapped back to attention to the boy on the phone.
"It really shouldn't be an issue Finn."
"Rachel...Raymond. Rachel Raymond. Raymond Rachel." He mumbled, testing the names aloud. Testing their length and sound, letting them roll around his tongue as he repeated them. Rachel was not amused.
"I wonder if you tell the difference if you repeated it like, ten times in a row really fast-"
"Perhaps another time, Finn," Rachel Quickly insisted. Her head was still heavy with grief and unshed tears and she really didn't need a headache on top of that.
"Wait one sec," he began. How many times is he going to ask me to wait? "In what way is he your cousin? Aren't you adopted?"
"He's from Dads side, and no, I'm not adopted." She sighed in annoyance"Dad is my biological father, and Shelby was the surrogate."
"Which ones your Dad?"
"Hiram." After a beat of silence, Rachel rolled her eyes and followed with, "The short, Jewish one."
"Ah, well that makes sense." Finn uttered.
Just before Rachel could utter a retort, she heard the faint click of the front door opening, informing her that her fathers had just returned from the police station to pick up their new guest. Rachel felt numb.
"U-Uh, Um, Uh F-Finn," she's stuttering. Rachel NEVER stutters "I-I've got to go. I'll be at school tomorrow, so I'll see you then?"
"Oh, yeah, sure thing Rach," He replied, sounding almost dejected. "I'll let you go then. Love you."
Rachel almost missed that last part, feeling the bundle of nervous twist painfully in her stomach when she heard her fathers' faint announcements of arrival "Oh, yes, you too."
She didn't wait to hear his reply as she hit end call. Tossing the phone carelessly on the bed she brought herself to her vanity mirror and inspected her reflection. Her hair had grown longer since this time last year, flowing mid back, past her shoulder blades. And it seemed to have gotten significantly thicker and darker resembling the colour of her eyes; a dark chocolate. Her skin was a little tanner too, even though she spent most of her summer indoors at the theatre (having said that, the theatre lights were known to give cancerous burns if proper sun screen wasn't applied). She sometimes wondered what it would be like to have wavy, blonde hair, fair skin and hazel eyes.
Maybe then people wouldn't think she's so repulsive.
Giving the sweater a final squeeze, she made her way slowly downstairs.
"Daddy?" she asked warily, her eyes and ears honing in on anything irregular. She noticed the tall and bony figure hidden behind her father, his back turned as he observed the Berry household with curiosity. Rachel felt her throat constrict.
"Hey sweetheart," Hiram smiled sadly, "Did you sleep alright?"
"I slept fine." She mumbled, all of her focus on the boy.
Hiram saw right through the weak lie, and frowned in sympathy. He gestured lightly to the boy behind Leroy. "We have a guest. Rachel, this is Raymond."
The boy in question turned around and locked gazes with the brunette.
His eyes were an olive brown.
And at that moment, she realised the reason for their names similarity.
Maria named her son after her.
And she felt her insides twist once more.
Reviews are always nice :)
Song is 'Serenade'
cheers
-Qwerty
