-1AUTHOR'S NOTE: SO LAST CHAPTER ENDED WITH QUITE THE CLIFFHANGER AND WE JUMP RIGHT INTO THE HEAT OF THINGS AS THE BEGINNING OF THIS CHAPTER. ONE REVIEWER SAID YOU THINK OF SUE WHEN YOU THINK OF SYLVIE. I HAD THE BEST FRIEND FROM NICK AND NORAH'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE IN MIND WHEN I CREATED THE CHARACTER OF SYLVIE. SHE'S A BIT OF A HOT MESS, BUT BOY IS SHE FUN. ALSO I REALY LOVE WRITING MATT. I'M THINKING HE'LL SHOW UP MORE THROUGHOUT THIS STORY. THANKS SO MUCH FOR TUNING IN AGAIN. I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS. - KRISTINE.
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN ANYONE IN THIS CHAPTER BUT SYLVIE
CHAPTER SEVEN: THE MORNING AFTER
- - -
Rachel nearly fell out of the bed at the sound of Finn's booming voice. She probably would have it if weren't for the fact that Noah had trapped her to him with his arm. She couldn't remember him yelling like that even once in their close to four year relationship. Once Noah moved his arm from around her waist she slowly sat up. Her head was pounding. She'd definitely had way too much to drink the night before. The four sips of water she'd had before crashing last night had done nothing to keep her hangover at bay. Once she could really focus she found a red-faced Finn standing in the middle of her bedroom with his jeans unbuttoned and his shirt in his right hand. "Finn?"
Noah frowned and slowly sat up. This wasn't the first time he'd been in a situation like this. Many a boyfriend had found him in bed with their girlfriend. This was the first time though where all of this unadulterated rage was for nothing. The most he and Rachel had done last night was spoon and while that may not have looked kosher it wasn't anything to write home about. "Dude simmer down." He urged Finn who looked so red-faced you would have guessed he just ran a marathon without a drop of water in 100+ degree weather.
"Don't you say a fucking word to me," he roared at Noah. "I knew I couldn't trust you with him." He looked at Rachel with disgust.
"Finn you've got it all wrong. Nothing happened last night." Rachel tried to explain. She felt like she was a character in a soap opera. How had such a fun night turned into such an impossible morning?
"I've got it all wrong? What do I have wrong? I see you and this asshole snuggled up in your bed and I've got it wrong?" Finn shook his head in disbelief. He just knew this would happen. He hated the girl Rachel was when she was touring with Noah. Nothing about his disgusting behavior ever used to faze her. He often like Noah could have made a sex tape with her in the same room and if she'd had something else to work on she wouldn't have even acknowledged it. When Finn first met her she used to stay out late partying. More than once he'd seen her dancing on top of a table or bar. More than once Noah had carried her out of his bars and into the backs of cabs.
"Listen dude nothing happened last night. We went out, got a bit too drunk, and came back here. I was too drunk to walk home so I crashed. I was sleeping on the couch and it was uncomfortable so I came back here and climbed into bed with Rach. She didn't even know what was going on." Noah lied. He knew it was the only way to get Finn to shut the fuck up. The guy already hated him enough as it was. It wasn't like he was trying to be his friend or anything.
"Finn that's not true. He didn't just climb into bed with me. I told him to crash here. It's at least a fifteen block walk back to his place and we were smashed last night. I said he could share my bed with me because Matt and Sylvie were in the guest bedroom and I didn't want him sleeping on that uncomfortable couch. The last thing we need is for his back to be messed up this close to the special." While Rachel fully appreciated Noah's willingness to lie for her she wasn't going to let him do it. There was no reason to lie. Nothing had happened.
"Who the fuck is Matt? I thought Sylvie's husband was named Harry."
"Her husband's name is Henry. Matt is an old friend of ours. He used to live in the penthouse upstairs from Noah and I when we first moved to the city. I've told you about him before, the lawyer that went to Georgetown." She wasn't the least bit surprised when Finn's face remained blank. She knew she had talked about Matt on at least two dozen occasions. For some reason she was always reminded of stories concerning Matt by the most random conversations.
Noah wanted desperately to get out of bed and put his clothes on. He felt awkward just sitting in the bed with her like this with Finn watching them so closely.
"So you're telling me not only are you in here shacking up with Noah, but you're allowing your married best friend to shack up with a guy in the other room?" He stared at her for a moment before shaking his head, "And you flipped out on me because I invited Quinn to Hawaii with us. Imagine how you would have reacted if you found Quinn and I just cuddling on a couch."
Noah watched Rachel closely. Finn was pushing luck. Any moment Rachel was going to flip her shit. She didn't like being scolded. She might have seemed like a goody two shoes, but she wasn't one to talk a good old fashioned chiding. "Dude you might want to back off the Quinn talk." Noah advised him. When Rachel flipped her shit it was flat out scary.
"Dude why don't you mind your own fucking business," Finn shot back. He turned and looked at Rachel. "Who are you? Your slut best friend Sylvie? I mean how am I supposed to trust you again? How am I supposed to be able to look at you again?"
"Get out," Rachel replied through gritted teeth.
"Didn't you hear she said get out," Finn said to Noah who was sitting there wearing an expression that he couldn't quite read.
Noah started to clarify that she wasn't talking to him but decided to just watch this scene play out. He'd already tried to help the guy once.
"I'm talking to you." She replied as she got out of bed. She crossed the room quickly and despite being much smaller than him managed to somehow make Finn seem small. "I apologized for the awkwardness of this situation, but I am not going to sit her and let you call me a slut. The difference between Noah and Quinn is that Noah doesn't spend his days hoping and praying to get into my pants like some sort of pathetic groupie." She sneered. "Noah is actually talented. He doesn't rely on AutoTune like some inferior musicians I know."
Finn froze. He'd only seen Rachel this mad one other time. It had been the night she quit Ezra and Aliza.
"You don't know how you could ever look at me again?" She asked incredulously. "Newsflash Finn I made you." She emphasized the word made so that the notoriously stupid Finn wouldn't miss her point. "I took you on tour and I made you famous."
"My talent made me famous," Finn countered.
"Your talent got you a regular gig in a coffee shop."
"I told you this would happened. What is it about being around him that makes you so hard to understand?"
"What the fuck do you mean hard to understand? I'm the one who actually makes sense. I'm the one whose reading level is about that of a 9th grader." She knew he was regretting his choice words. She knew he was seeing that he should have taken Noah's advice when he had the chance. "And admit what you really hate is that when I'm around Noah I seem to grow a pair. I don't let you boss me around and follow you like a puppy dog. I can't believe I fought so hard for you. I told EVERYONE that they were wrong about you."
"Rachel," Finn thought that he'd been able to guilt her into quitting this bullshit with Ezra and Aliza. He didn't want to lose her to the fame. He didn't think it'd go this way. He'd thought she would fight for him, for their love. "I'm sorry I didn't…" he paused trying to organize his thoughts. "I believe you. I was just caught off guard."
"Go," Rachel ordered him quietly. "I'll call you later."
"Rachel I'm sorry. You know that right? I didn't mean any of those horrible things I said." Finn backtracked as quickly as he possibly could. He knew full well what would happen if this story got out. Ezra and Aliza fans already hated him enough as it is.
"She said get out," Noah finally spoke up reminding the couple that he was still very much in the room.
Finn started to say something to him, but knew it wouldn't help his case so he reached out to give her a soft kiss and let out a relieved sigh when she allowed him. "You'll call?"
"I'll call." She assured him. She ran a hand over her face and shook her head before disappearing into her closet and grabbing a robe. When she came back out she realized that Noah was staring at her in disbelief. "What?"
"Please tell me you aren't just going to him like that. He called you and Sylvie a slut. He has no recollection of who Matt is despite the fact that he's actually met Matt before. He doesn't know Henry's name. He's an asshole Rachel who basically said he was disgusted with you." Noah had forgotten how spineless she could become when it came to Finn. This was one of the things that had broken Ezra and Aliza up. Noah hated the way she let Finn boss her around as though she were riding his coattails and not the other way around.
Rachel sighed. "You've got to admit it was a pretty shocking situation to walk in on. And we both know that you aren't exactly his favorite person."
"We both had our fucking underwear on. All we were doing is spooning. What the fuck was there to get so upset with you about?"
"Spooning is a pretty intimate act."
"Do you hear yourself right now? Do you hear the excuses you're making for his irrational behavior?" Noah wanted to shake her. "What happened to the girl who was giving it back to him? What could he have said to change your mind so quickly?"
"He apologized Noah." She said it as though it were the most obvious answer in the world.
He threw the covers off of himself and quickly put his pants and shirt back on.
"Where are you going?"
"Home."
"I thought I'd make some breakfast."
"I'm not that hungry."
"Of you are. You were always hungry after you drank," Rachel reminded him.
Noah buttoned his shirt and sat down to quickly slip on his shoes. "Were being the keyword."
"Noah what's wrong?"
"Listen Rachel I need to get the fuck out of here before I say a bunch of things that'll make you call Mo and cancel the holiday special. Last night was a lot of fun. It was like a trip back to the past, but that's just it. It was the past. We're different people now. Tell Sylvie that I'm still in love with her rack. You've got a nice place Rach and your rack isn't too shabby either. I'll see you later at Isaac's." And then Noah left before his mouth could keep him into any trouble. There were a million questions right on the tip of his tongue but none of them were worth losing her. He'd go and cool off and by the time they rejoined each other at Isaac's office it would be like this morning had never happened.
- - -
"Can I ask you a question?" Mercedes asked Kurt before taking a sip of the gourmet coffee he had brewed for her. They'd spent the last two hours agreeing on what they thought would be the best looks for the special. It seemed he was just as up and coming as she was. Though she never would have guessed that by how amazing his loft was. Apparently he had a very generous Wall Street stockbroker boyfriend who didn't mind spoiling him one bit.
"Ask away."
"Are they really that big of a deal?"
"Who? Noah and Rachel?"
Mercedes nodded.
"My god they're more than a big deal," he paused trying to find the right words, "They're a bit like the Beatles or Bon Jovi. Their music was the soundtrack to the big moments of a certain segment of our generation."
"For real?"
"I swear. They were easy to fall in love with. They were talented enough to maintain that love. And then they broke up with you so quickly you weren't sure you really enjoyed them when you had them." Kurt could reminder being devastated when he got the news about their break up. He'd been watching one of the Real Worlds and it was a breaking news story. "It probably helped that you weren't sure whether they were together or not."
"You mean they aren't together?" She'd just assumed that they were. They seemed so comfortable in each others presence and the chemistry was obvious.
"Honestly I think there had to be a time when they were together, but on the record they never were. Actually a lot of people think it was Rachel's relationship with Finn Hudson that broke their duo up."
"She's with that goofy ass white boy?" Mercedes had a co-worker who was in love with Finn Hudson. She had a picture of him on her mirror and was constantly talking about how great his music was. Mercedes had listened to one of his songs and was less than impressed.
"I know," Kurt didn't understand it either. If he ever got the chance to get with Noah Puckerman he'd never pick someone as goofy as Finn. Plus the guy looked as though he couldn't get a tan if he spent a week in a tanning bed. "Did you not know who they were when you interviewed for the job?"
"I knew they were famous when I interviewed, but I didn't know how famous. I actually used to like a couple of their songs. Still they weren't really that popular where I grew up. I may seem like a Will Smith, but I was born a 50 Cent if you know what I mean." It took a lot of work for Mercedes to get where she was. There was a time in her life when she was even what a rapper would call a ride or die girl. And then her boyfriend at the time went to jail and she realized that she wasn't going to be one of those pathetic bitches who waited for their man to get out and was fine being his official baby mama.
"Go ahead girl," Kurt joked. "You're like Whitney. You seem like you should be with Denzel, but you pick Bobby Brown."
"Except I started with a Bobby and am now with an Adam Brody," Mercedes was smart enough to realize that a nerdy man was a good man. Her boyfriend might not have been the hottest guy on the block and might have liked Star Trek a little too much, but he was sweet and worshipped her. Much like Kurt's boyfriend spoiled him Marshall spoiled her. He even had those rare kind of upper class white parents that weren't completely freaked out when their son brought home a head dresser that grew up in the hood.
"Smart girl," Kurt hadn't seen that coming. "No wonder they hired you. You know our special is going to be so fabulous people are going to beat down our doors. We'll get our own show and will put the Rachel Zoe project to shame."
"I hope so," Mercedes wanted to do more than style hair. She wanted to create a look like "the Rachel". "As long as I don't have to be Taylor. She's so moody."
"See if we had started with a conversation like this I would have pegged you as the girlfriend of a white guy. You fooled me in the beginning." He teased. "Believe me if two people can launch our career it's Noah and Rachel. This special has created such a frenzy it's mind-blowing. Everyone in the entertainment industry is talking about."
- - -
Sylvie emerged from the guest bedroom at a quarter to one looking like a character from the Hangover. She ran a hand through her thick, unruly, curly hair and frowned when she found Rachel sitting on the couch eating ice cream and watching Lifetime. "Where are Matt and Noah?"
"Noah left like three hours ago and Matt left like an hour ago," Rachel replied without looking away from the television. "You look like shit."
"I feel like shit," Sylvie admitted. She flopped down on the couch with a sigh. "Why do you look so damn pathetic?"
"Are you telling me you didn't hear Finn's blow up either?" Matt had emerged from the guest bedroom claiming to have never heard her and Finn's argument. She wasn't sure if they were deaf, the walls were that thick, or they were that drunk.
"The jolly green giant was here?"
"Please refrain from calling him that."
"Oh excuse me the talented Finn Hudson was here?"
"He walked in on me and Noah spooning."
Sylvie snorted. "Ooh he must have thrown quite the temper tantrum at that. We all know how jealous he is of Noah."
"He flipped his shit is more I like it." Rachel corrected. "And then I flipped my shit."
"And then you broke up?" Sylvie asked hopefully. Rachel was such a pushover when it came to Finn. You would have thought he was hung like a horse or was particularly skilled at sex, but the truth was he was neither of those things. Hell he couldn't even sing half as well as Noah. It just didn't make sense.
Rachel sighed noisily.
"I'm guessing he accused you of cheating on him and didn't exactly believe you right away until you got angry right back."
"Basically," Rachel admitted.
"I don't understand you sometimes Rach." Sylvie stole Rachel's spoon and took a bite of her ice cream. "That explains why Noah left so early."
"What do you mean?"
"If anyone even kind of criticizes Finn you defend him like he is the best thing you have. You act like he's a Saint or something. Noah probably left before he shoved his foot in his mouth. He's obviously glad to have you back and doesn't want to jeopardize it. Even if everything he would have said would have been right."
"How do you know he would have been right?"
"I just know." Sylvie replied with a shrug. "Just like I know that last night can't be an one time thing."
Rachel had forgotten just how much of a fan of Noah Sylvie was. In fact if she were being honest she was kind of surprise that Sylvie had picked her over Noah when Ezra and Aliza broke up. "You guys don't understand it. Finn's a good guy. He loves me. He showed up here this morning to surprise me. Imagine how it must have looked."
"I know how it looked, but I also know you. You wouldn't have cheated on him. You'd never do that. That's not you. He should understand you well enough to get that." Sylvie pointed out.
Rachel chewed the inside of her cheek. She knew Sylvie had a point.
"The worst part is you would have gotten really mad at Noah even though all he would be doing is defending you."
"I hate you sometimes."
"I know."
"Do you even know why?"
"It's not because I'm the hottest Jew in the room?"
"Well that and because you're always fucking right."
"Ooh I really did hit a nerve if you're dropping f bombs. Side note my husband's really lucky I was too dunk to do more than sleep in the same bed with Matt. He flashed me his dick last night and boy does he uphold certain stereotypes." Sylvie jokingly fanned herself.
- - -
"Dude you should have heard the way he talked to Rachel." Noah fumed. "He called her a slut to her face and then she got mad, but all it took was him apologizing and she was like putty in his hands."
Matt had been surprised to wake up and find that Noah was long gone. When he found out that Noah was gone he completely understood why Rachel was pouting on the couch. "It's her life Noah. You can't lecture her."
"He called Sylvie a slut."
"I'll kill him." Matt feigned anger. "Sylvie isn't exactly a nun."
"I hate him."
"And you love her."
"Well of course I love her."
"Not that kind of love Noah."
"Don't start that shit again." Matt always used to spout off that Noah was in love with Rachel and that was why he got so angry when she started dating Finn. It wasn't that Finn was a total talentless jackass, but that he was a talentless jackass that Rachel was willing to call her boyfriend.
"It's true." Matt countered. He pulled the phone away when he heard the familiar beep of call-waiting. It was Sylvie. "Hey I've got another call. I'll hit you up later. Remember don't lecture her or ruin this second chance."
Noah started to say something back, but stopped when he heard Matt click over. He started to put his phone down, but decided to call Tia instead. He figured maybe he'd be able to at least get some good phone sex in to turn his mood around before the meeting with Isaac.
- - -
Finn wasn't the least bit surprised when he walked into his agent's office and found her running on a treadmill and talking on the phone through a headset. He sat down in the chair and waited for her to acknowledge his presence. He couldn't stop thinking about Rachel. He just hoped that she called soon so he could clear this all up. He hated that all it took was Noah being back in her life for four days before they started having problems again.
"I told you if you were going to fucking get shit-faced at least make sure you did it with other famous people so you didn't seem like a complete B-list loser." Sue bellowed into the phone. "Now I've got an actual real celebrity who values my advice waiting for me. Call me back when you get a fucking clue that you're lucky to have my representation." She pressed the end button on her headset. "Let me just do my two-minute cool down Finny."
Finn had waited Mo to be his agent, but no matter how many hints he dropped that he wanted her to fill that role she'd never bite. Finally he hired Sue and while she was totally scary and crazy he found she did a good enough job.
"So that little former popstar girlfriend of yours has decided to crawl back to that miscreant?"
"If that's your way of saying that Rachel and him are doing a holiday special then yes."
"She has that little respect for you?" Sue shook her head with disgust. "I don't understand why you keep her around when we all know Quinn is better for your career. Quinn is relevant. Berry is yesterdays news unless she's playing with that douche Puckerman."
Finn didn't bother to challenge what Sue was saying. He knew it would be a pointless argument. Nobody argued with Sue and won.
"Anyway Finny I called you in today because Quinn's manager called me about you two doing a holiday duet. You could give your girlfriend a little competition on the holiday charts."
"I don't know Sue."
"Finn do you want to stay relevant? Do you think Berry's worried about your career?" Sue didn't wait for him to answer before continuing. "All is fair in love and music. We're going to crush them Finn."
- - -
AUTHOR'S NOTE: WHOO! THAT WAS A LONG CHAPTER. OY. I HOPE YOU LIKED IT. A LOT JUST HAPPENED. WHAT DID YA'LL THINK? IT WAS SUE NOT ARTIE WHICH I'M GUESSING IS GOING TO DISAPPOINT A LOT OF YA'LL. ARTIE WILL SHOW UP AND HOPEFULLY SO WILL THE OTHERS. DID YOU LIKE MERCEDES AND KURT'S PART? I JUST WANTED A LITTLE SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO BREAK UP ALL OF THE DRAMA THAT WAS THIS CHAPTER. THANKS FOR TUNING IN. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THOUGHT. - KRISTINE.