A/N - This update was written prior to Cory's death. I was in-fact editing this chapter when I heard the news. I immediately closed the document thinking to myself that this was the end of the story as I wouldn't be able to continue. Since Ryan Murphy's interview where he spoke about how they would handle the situation I felt robbed. Robbed of our beloved Finchel. I realised that doesn't have to be the end and that what we do here - what we write is where Finchel will live on the way we envision it. I will continue to write so long as you all want it - I fully understand that it will be too much for some and completely understand if it is too painful for you to read. I want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited and reviewed this fic thus far - your words and support mean more to me then you will ever know.
I was initially so excited to share this update with you all, I'm glad that I've found the strength to do so now - so I want to dedicate this chapter to you - my readers.
"Ouch" Rachel winced when she was stabbed by a rogue bobby pin. Amanda her hairdresser from down the road was too focused on the job at hand to take note of any of the pain she had inflicted on Rachel. A few final touches, a tuck here and there, she cast a critical eye over her Rachel's hair and few more cans of hair spray and she was happy with the final result. Rachel eagerly headed to the bathroom to inspect her hair, it was perfect - exactly what she envisioned. It was a loose tumble of wavy hair with braids woven in on the side which collected into a low messy bun, her fringe swept to one side.
"Oh Amanda, it's amazing. I don't know how I could ever thank you for this." she yelled from the bathroom barely able to tear her eyes away from her reflection. She headed back into her lounge room where Amanda had begun packing up her tools.
"Just get that beautiful head of yours photographed and that will be plenty of a thank you."
Rachel smiled blown away by Amanda's generosity, she had dropped by her saloon yesterday on her way home from work to enquire if she would be able to recommend someone to style her hair for today. Amanda had insisted that for such an occasion she was the one for the job, she had cancelled and re-booked all her appointments and organized for Sophie her friend who was a make-up artist to accompany her.
"You have to thank Sophie for me as well. You've both done an amazing job." Rachel could still hardly believe her transformation, it was amazing how different she could look with a little 'help'.
"We'll both be watching the red carpet show keeping our eyes peeled for you." Amanda grabbed her bags hoisting them over her shoulder, carefully enveloping Rachel in a hug.
"I don't think you'll see me, I'm a nobody as far many there are concerned." Amanda shook her head "Honey when you look as good as you do right now, they are going to want to know who you are." Rachel laughed, more out of nerves than anything else.
"I can't wait to see what dress you'll be wearing." Amanda said waving farewell as she exited. While her small apartment was a hive of activity early this morning, she now found herself alone, the only thing left to do was get dressed. She looked up at the clock, she still had half an hour before Puck would be arriving to pick her up she figured there was no time like the present to start to get dressed, she was not one to be fashionably late for any occasion. Speaking of fashion Rachel was incredibly nervous about her dress; she had maxed out her emergency credit card purchasing the dress and shoes. She had never spent so much money on a dress before in her life and it wasn't as though she was wearing something off the Paris runway either. She had to go a little further off-shore for her dress - it was an Australian Designer Alex Perry she had fallen in love with it the instant she saw it. She carefully removed it from it's hanger and even more cautiously slipped into it, glad it fit as perfectly as it had the first time she tried it on. The dress was fire engine red, the top bodice was beaded with red metallic beads with a flicker of gold that shimmered in the light. It was a tight fit down to her hips where the silk material flared out and draped to the ground. She grabbed her shoe box meticulously removing her brand new champagne glitter Jimmy Choo's sliding them on her feet. She twirled in-front of her bedroom mirror pleased with how her last minute ensemble had come together. She regarded her reflection again noting that all that was missing were some accessories. She reached into her ornate wooden jewelry box pulling out a pair of earrings that had been passed down from her Grandma. They certainly were no Tiffany or Cartier but they small and delicate enough to compliment her dress without being ostentatious. A knock on her front door and a glance up at the wall clock indicated it was Puck at the door and time to leave. She grabbed her clutch throwing her phone in there, pausing in-front of the closed-door taking a deep breath to help calm her nerves.
"Hey Noah." Rachel smiled greeting Puck; he was dressed smartly in a suit, surprised he had shaved off his mo-hawk for the occasion.
"Wow." Puck said simply, Rachel blushing in response to his reaction. "You look stunning." he offered his hand out to help step down the stairs.
"Thanks Noah, that's very kind of you. You're looking pretty fine yourself." she returned the compliment with all sincerity.
"Now I hope you don't mind there has been a slight change of plan." Puck began as they headed towards the awaiting limousine. "Finn insisted that we all go together. There was no talking him out of it, even Quinn couldn't change his mind." Rachel pursed her lips together, wondering what his motivation for this sudden change of plan could have been. Puck reached out opening the door for Rachel to enter.
"Quinn is going to be pissed when she see's how stunning you look." he whispered into her ear as she took her seat, this time she was unable to stop the smile spreading across her face. She shifted her dress beneath her not wanting it to crease on the journey over to the Nokia theatre. Rachel looked up to find both Quinn and Finn seated across from her, Quinn looked beautiful she hadn't really expected otherwise. She unlike Rachel had opted for a more neutral color in her dress choice it was a simple yet striking royal blue dress with a chiffon skirt. Finn had decided to go with the grey suit and black lapels much to Rachel's delight, he looked so stylish and incredibly sexy.
"Rachel." Quinn greeted her tersely. "Quinn." she returned the pleasantries. The journey towards the Nokia theatre had been mildly uncomfortable, Finn and Puck really the only two keeping the conversation flowing. Quinn had no interest in joining their conversations and refusing to even hold a civil conversation with Rachel, none of that really bothering her. However, now and then there would be a lull in conversation and Rachel would catch Finn's eye, she would catch him staring at her and he would hold her stare until either Quinn or Puck drew his attention away. The car came to a stop for the final time which meant that they had finally arrived, the mood in the car instantly lightened.
"Well here we are." Finn announced shifting to the edge of his seat rubbing his hands together, Quinn flipped open her compact touching up her make up.
"Good luck bro." Puck leant forward patting him on the shoulder, giving him the reassurance he needed.
"I guess we'll head out first and work the crowd as your opening act." Rachel said offering her hand to Puck as he opened the door, her heels finding solid ground.
"See you inside." Finn said as she turned to see him one last time before the bright lights and flashes of the cameras temporarily blinded her.
"You ready?" Puck asked grabbing her hand.
"Let's go." she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. The sight before her was slightly overwhelming, the red carpet looked as if it were over a mile long and it reminded her of a gauntlet that needed to be run. This was no time to be Rachel Berry the small town girl from Iowa she chided herself, she was no longer that girl, this is where she belonged now and she needed to start acting like she did belong here. Now more aware of her surroundings she could hear voices yelling out Pucks name, she turned towards them finding a small group of girls waving madly; iPhones out taking photo's, she gave them a small wave. She nudged Puck redirecting his attention to the girls who once they realized Puck had seen them amazingly went up an octave in screams.
"So what do we do now?" Rachel asked leaning over whispering in Puck's ear.
"We walk the carpet, smile for all the people and we might get asked to do an interview if they think we're interesting enough." Rachel nodded "Do you think we'll get asked for an interview?" she asked realising she wasn't ready for if they were.
"I haven't been pulled aside for one yet. They usually just interview the nominee's or presenters of awards. I think we'll be safe." Rachel was slightly relieved. They had barely begun their walk down the carpet when they were flagged down by a man wearing an earpiece and clipboard in hand pointing towards where Ryan Seacrest from Eonline had just finished interviewing someone Rachel recognized from the series Mad Men.
"Noah Puckerman, welcome." Ryan greeted him warmly extending his hand out in a handshake as if they were friends from back in the day.
"It's great to see you here, unfortunately Glee isn't nominated this year but your cast mate Finn Hudson will be presenting." Puck nodded "Yeah it was disappointing not to get a nomination this year, but we will be back bigger and better this season. The category certainly is strong with lots of great shows on air at the moment." this time it was Ryan who nodded along with Puck "Finn is certainly excited to be presenting for Lead Actor in a drama series." Rachel mused that he neglected to mention the nerves he had also been suffering as she remained just off camera.
"Now Puck, who is this with you and where on earth have you been hiding her?" Rachel was caught off guard as Ryan and the camera man approached her.
"This is one of my dear friends - Rachel Berry." despite the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach Rachel forced a smile on her face as it would now be being broadcast not only across America, but goodness knew how many other countries.
"Well Rachel Berry you look sensational in that striking red dress. Who are you wearing today?" she smiled sweetly moving forward to speak into the microphone that Ryan offered. "Thank you Ryan. It's from an Australian designer Alex Perry." she could see from the look on his face, he had never heard of him before.
"Well I'm not sure who he is but that dress is amazing." Rachel blushed at the compliment.
"You need to give us a twirl for the camera's so everyone at home can see the dress." Rachel willingly obliged and managed to not trip on her heels while doing a slow turn for the cameras. They had finished up their interview with Ryan and he had given Rachel a quick kiss on the cheek followed by a thank you, before his next VIP guest was ready to be interviewed. They had taken a few more steps when they were ushered in-front of a promotional board where all the paparazzi were madly taking photo's of A-List celebrities. There were so many photographers talking at once, yelling commands at the stars 'Turn this way." "Give us a smile." that they all spoke over each other just creating unintelligible sounds. Not knowing what anyone was after she gripped Puck's arm, moving closer to him posing for the paparazzi. She began to focus on what the photographers were asking, she tilted her body closer towards him offering the photographers a sly smile. They seemed to love what she was doing and begun to yell for Puck to move away so they could get some of just her. Puck seemed to hesitate before she nodded that she was alright and he moved off to the side while she worked the paparazzi giving them plenty of shots they seemed pleased with. She was about to leave certain they had to have taken at least one decent shot when she looked over and saw Finn was watching her intensely. Quinn was busy talking to someone Rachel didn't recognize while Finn was just standing there watching her, watching her with this strange look in his eyes. Out of nowhere he left Quinn behind unbeknownst to her and walked right up to where Rachel stood, placing his hand around her waist moving her body up-tight against his and almost immediately the flash of the camera's had begun all over again. She had no idea what he was doing but she smiled none the less, secretly hoping that she would be able to get a copy of these photos.
"You look beyond beautiful tonight." he leant backwards and whispered into her ear. She rested her head on his shoulder in response to his compliment, unable to hide the smile on her face. She looked up noticing that Quinn was now making her way towards them, she turned blocking the view of the paparazzi mouthing thank you to Finn as she then left and headed back to where Puck awaited her. She slid her hand through Puck's as they then began their walk together down the rest of the red carpet.
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