Rachel is running on her elliptical. She cannot stop smiling and thinking about last night. She probably has had the best dreams in a very long time, and each of them was heavily featuring a tall, muscled, handsome man.
'Hey doll, you're buying kids' time now?' Blaine says as a joke. Blaine is her lawyer-slash-friend-slash confidante.
'What are you talking about?' Rachel jumps off of the machine to hug him. Then, she takes the smartphone Blaine is showing her.
'The Magnificent Kurt has struck again', he says quoting the name of the gossiper with his fingers. 'This time he has even outdone himself'. He chuckles thinking about the stupid name the blogger has given himself. Rachel gives him his phone back and goes straight to her sofa. She is petite (he made the mistake once to say she was small and he can still remember her rant saying her height is average), but when she is upset, she looks like she is shrinking into herself.
'Why are you reacting this way? It is not the first time Kurt Hummel is writing awful stuff about you. Moreover this is so over the top that nobody will even start to believe this shit'.
'I don't care what he's writing about me'. She is fidgeting her fingers and biting her lips.
'So what's the matter doll?' He sits next to her and takes her hand. He can see her eyes getting misty. He honestly hates seeing her like that. Of course, rumors are a part of the 'getting famous' package deal and more the person is talented, more jealous some people are getting; but what only a few persons know (her closest circle) is that Rachel is really the further thing from what can be described as a diva. Some people are taking her devotion to her craft as a diva-like attitude but she is really a perfectionist in her job. In private though, she is really insecure and not demanding enough.
'Beth'. He looks as she lets a sob out and her breathing is getting shaky. 'The little girl in the picture. Oh gosh I cannot believe that idiot decided to publish pictures of her. And what he wrote about Noah, it is so awful. Noah is the best father a girl can have and he is doing everything possible for his daughter.'
'Doll, you're rambling again. Breathe.' He lifts her chin and lock eyes with her. 'And tell me who this Noah is. I feel like a lot has happened during my vacations'.
Puck is counting the bottles in the back-room and trying to focus on the numbers before his team arrives but the digits are never right with what is written on the inventory. Sam is the nicest barmaid but letting him do the inventory last week was not his best move. Looks like Sam's dyslexia is coming back to full force or the man was drinking what he was supposed to count, he thinks. He is interrupted by the ring of his phone, he recognizes the ringtone immediately (it is maybe not badass to have a dedicated ringtone but he loves Rachel's voice).
'Hey babe, just what I needed…'. If he smiles any wider, he could split his face.
'Noah… I'm...' Wait… what? Is she crying?
'Rach, what are you talking about ?' He is totally confused.
'I cannot destroy your life, I'm sorry for everything'. He can hear her crying before she hangs up. Puck is stuck; he is watching his phone, wishing it to start ringing again.
'Noah Puckerman? Hello. I'm Blaine Anderson, lawyer…'.
'I stop you directly, man. The club is not responsible for any teenage brat getting drunk. We always card anyone so if you are here to represent some assholes of rich Manhattan clients, get the fuck out of my club.' Puck snaps. He needs this guy to leave as soon as possible; he needs to talk to Rachel to find what is wrong, what has happened between yesterday and now. And the most important, how he can fix it.
'Blaine Anderson, lawyer and friend of Rachel Berry'. Blaine tries again. All anger leaves Puck.
'Is she alright? She just called me saying that she was sorry and I heard her sobbing before she hung up'. Blaine notes that Puck looks genuinely worried about Rachel.
'I take it you're not a reader of gossip blogs?' Blaine says with an amused look. He shows Puck the article and explains that Rachel sent him there to see if he wants to take any legal action against the blog and Kurt, that Rachel will pay for any proceeding. Unfortunately, he also tells him that there's almost no chance for any action to succeed because the pictures were taken in a public place.
'Am I happy that my seven-year-old daughter's picture is on this kind of website? No. But the story is ridiculous, her name is nowhere to be seen and the pictures look like they were taken with an old cheap phone. So I don't think that suing this clown will do any good.'
'Sadly, you're right.' Blaine nods.
'What about Rachel?'
'That is the tricky part. I've never seen her react the way she did this morning. You have to remember that she is famous and that this kind of dirt is written about her constantly. She has learnt to deal with it, we all have in a way. She is the nicest person I know. She hired me as her lawyer, even though she knew I had dated Kurt.' At Puck's perplexed look, Blaine decided to explain how he met Rachel.
Blaine was fresh out of law school and working crazy hours for a public relation agency as a junior associate. He was hoping he could be noticed and settle his career at this firm. After grabbing some lunch at a deli, he was eating his sandwich while reading some notes before a meeting with a client, and he literally walk into someone in the street. The guy accepted his apologies only after getting Blaine's number. Two days later they got their first date: Kurt and Blaine were officially together. Kurt didn't mind the fact that Blaine was overly busy with his job. Actually, even though Kurt did not have a real job at the time, he was even less available that Blaine. The lawyer soon understood why Kurt seemed absent during their dates: Kurt was taking Blaine on some lookout to spy on Rachel. At first, Blaine didn't really mind, he thought it was weird but he didn't see anything malicious in those actions… at least until Kurt showed him the first blog entries he had written about the brunette. That first blog was really confidential but Blaine told Kurt he could not be with someone so bitter and they broke up. A few weeks later, Blaine went to see Rachel show on Broadway. He was mesmerized by her performance and waited for her at the stage door. After getting her sign his playbill (the one that is still hung up in his office right now), he told her everything about the blog. They started to go for coffee, they talked about their jobs: he was given her advice about PR agencies as she was unhappy with her current management (they wanted her to do plastic surgery) and she was helping him to understand Broadway and some aspects of the business law school has not prepared him for. After a few weeks, they realized that what they needed was to work together because they trusted each other.
'You see, when Rachel cares about someone, she will do anything to help and protect them. I guess she thinks that it would hurt you and your daughter to be seen with her. I'm not going to lie to you: her life can get really crazy because of the paparazzi, the rumors and sometimes even the fans.' Blaine needs him to understand what is at stake there and he wants to be sure he is really serious about Rachel. Rachel seems already smitten by Puck and Beth but if this is too much for them, it is better to end things now.
'She doesn't even realize how amazing she is, isn't she?' Puck's eyes seem lost in his own thoughts. Blaine is smiling. It makes him think that, for once, Rachel has maybe find someone good for her. After a few minutes, Puck comes back to reality and asks Blaine how he could fix this.
Next: Noah visits Rachel
AN – So sorry about this author's note but some things cannot stay without response. First of all, this concerns only the guest reviewer who thought that internet in general (and my story in particular) is the right place to rant against Lea's love life. How to say that in a nice way… her dating life is her choice and I personally think it is a good thing she is moving on (not that it is any of my or your business by the way). I'm sorry you all had to read that but as it was a guest review (which I had to moderate because it was not only inappropriate but mean, hurtful and awfully judgmental towards Lea and her bf), I had not the possibility to write directly to that person. I just find some human beings really insensitive (just look at some of the things that are directly sent to her and her friends on Twitter for example).
I would hate to have to disable guest reviews but I would not hesitate to do so if those messages keep arriving. I am a Leanatic and I'm proud of the way Lea has managed everything that happened to her. Also, her happiness is the only thing that matters.