Watching – Chapter 9

(Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of the characters.)

Rachel's first night in her New York apartment was a fretful one. After she had seen the shadow of someone standing outside her door the night before she'd been shaken. She tired to sleep, but she heard every noise that the old building made. Every foot step, every rattling pipe, every slamming door. She'd spent many nights home alone back in Lima, but this was the first time that she'd felt afraid.

Unable to sleep, she'd gotten up in the middle of the night and set up her computer. Finn would be so proud.

Dawn was approaching and she had dozed off. As the sun was coming up, she was roused from her sleep by her cell phone vibrating on her night stand. Reaching for it she smiled when she saw that it was Finn calling.

"Finn why are you calling me so early, I'm in a different time zone and at least an hour ahead of you. You've another hour to sleep," Rachel said hesitantly.

"I just wanted to see how your first night in New York was. I've been watching the clock waiting to call you."

She wanted to tell Finn about the figure standing outside her door the night before, but she didn't want to give him anything else to worry about so she tried to sound cheerful.

"My night was fine in fact I have my computer all set up and running," she said proudly.

"Couldn't sleep either could you?" Finn said shrewdly.

"I'm just excited to be here," Rachel said. "Turn your computer on and let me see if I have the camera hooked up properly. If I do, we can have a live chat."

"My computer's already on, let me get the camera adjusted," Finn said as he fiddled with his computer. Suddenly Rachel's image appeared on his screen. "I can see you Rachel, can you see me? Ahhhh! You are wearing my jacket. It looks better on you than it ever did on me."

"Yes, Finn I can see you, and thank you for the jacket. It makes me feel safe and secure. You look so good too!"

"Well I haven't had a chance to shave," Finn said running his fingers over his chin.

"I like you with a little stubble, it makes you look rugged," Rachel smiled.

"Turn your camera around; I want to see what your loft looks like. I want to see how pink it is," Finn teased.

Rachel turned the camera around so Finn had a 360 view of her loft.

"It sure is small, are you sure that it's safe?" Finn asked.

"It's safe; did you see the deadbolt on my door? I also have a fire escape right out side my window. I know that it's small, but the best that we could find this close to Juilliard."

"I still wish that you'd shared an apartment with Kurt, Mercedes and Tina, but I know that you wanted your independence," Finn remarked.

"NYU is over four miles away," Rachel began before Finn cut her off.

"I know" said Finn, "Kurt's told me more than once that four miles in New York City is like four hundred miles in Ohio."

"Except for missing you, I'll be fine," Rachel said. "Please don't worry about me so much. You've enough to do with classes and football. Now, I could sit here and talk to you all day, but I need to get up and start my day. I have orientation and then I have to meet with my counselors after that," Rachel said blowing a kiss to him.

"I'm going to have a long day too," Finn said grabbing her blown kiss and placing it on his lips. More of the upperclassmen on the team are showing up, and the dorm's filling up. We have our first practice in full pads today. So send me your schedule as soon as you get it so we can coordinate our live chats."

He blew her a kiss as they both said their goodbyes.

Rachel cut the computer off and headed for the shower. After drying her hair, she made her protein shake, and then gathered her things for the day.

She opened the door, and found a fresh pink rose waiting on the hall floor in front of her door. Beside the rose was a neatly folded note. "Welcome to New York" was all that the note said. It was unsigned and type written.

"Who could've left the pink rose?" she thought to herself. "Who knew she was here? Who knew where she lived? Maybe it was just her building superintendent or a neighbor trying to be nice and she was being paranoid.

She picked up the rose and went back into the kitchen. Finding a drinking glass, she placed the pink rose in water and left for her first day.