Chapter Eleven: The Summer No One Knew About Part I
It was summertime, like, actual summer. Girls in short skirts, guys shirtless, people leaving for a bit, others just hiding in the rooms and playing X-Box.
But not Rachel.
No, not Rachel. She was constantly trying to see what song she could sing, when Kurt and/or Finn were not available or not in Lima, what she and Blaine could do for fun while the Hummel-Hudson's go on vacation, wondering if Santana and Brittany would ever answer their phones or where Quinn was. . .etc. etc. etc.
All these thoughts for a 12-week vacation. Too many thoughts and wonders, too little time.
Her phone rang at 5:30 in the morning in middle of July. It was Kurt and Finn. They were leaving. For a week.
She called Blaine immediately.
"Wassup?" Blaine's voice came through her phone and it sounded like he was half asleep.
"Wake up Blaine. I have news for you." Rachel sang.
"Rach, I love you, but you need to be quiet. I am half asleep. What. Do. You. Want?" Blaine asked, sitting up in his bed.
"Kurt and Finn have left Lima." Rachel said simply, pulling her hair out of her face and in a headband.
"Seriously?" Blaine stood up, pulling on a pair of shorts one-handedly.
"They just called on their way out of Lima. Gone for a whole week."
"That much I know, but I thought they were leaving tomorrow." Blaine said, slightly confused.
"No, today. But the point is, is that they are gone. Blaine, do you understand what this means?"
"I'll be there in ten minutes." Blaine said quickly, hanging up.
Rachel smiled and set her phone down, being as quiet as possible while getting dressed so her dads didn't wake up.
Nine minutes later, Blaine was standing outside her window, dressed in shorts and a polo shirt. Rachel smiled seeing him and left quietly, leaving a note to her dads that she went to Quinn's for the day.
"It's so nice seeing you not in your Warbler uniform." Rachel said as she smiled up at him.
"Oh really?" Blaine raised an eyebrow, leaning down slightly to kiss her lips softly.
Rachel giggled. "Come on. I already sent texts to Santana, Brittany, Quinn, Noah, Sam and Mercedes."
"Good. Might as well invite Tina and Mike."
"But they don't know about us."
"Neither do Mercedes and Sam." Blaine pointed out, taking her hand and leading her to his car.
"Then we tell them, I guess." Rachel said, shrugging and stepped into his car.
"You sure, Rach?"
"Positive. As long as Kurt and Finn don't know, we'll be okay."
"So, we'll invite Artie too, then?" Blaine asked, sitting down in the driver's seat.
"Sure. The more the merrier." Rachel said, grinning and taking out her phone to text Tina, Mike and Artie.
Blaine laughed and grabbed his sunglasses. His famous pink sunglasses. Rachel laughed at the sight of them. "Oh Blaine."
"But you love me." Blaine said, exaggerating the word 'love' and looking over at her.
"Of course I do." Rachel said, mimicking him by exaggerating the word 'course' and looking at him.
They stared at each other for a minute at the stop sign. Rachel laughed first. Then Blaine laughed too.
"Drive, Blaine, drive!" Rachel said, laughing and bouncing in her seat excitedly.
"Alright, alright. Where to first, Rach?"
Rachel's phone bleeped several times.
From: Quinn
Ready. Let's go, now.
From: Santana
Let's get this party bus rolling!
From: Noah
Let's do this.
From: Artie
Sure. Sounds like fun.
From: Mercedes
I was dying to try my new swimsuit anyway.
From: Sam
Great idea Rach. I'm in.
From: Tina
This is gonna be fun. Mike's says he'll go too.
From: Brittany
If Santana's in, I'm in.
Rachel looked at Blaine. "They all want to go."
"Great. One question, how are we going to fit everyone, plus Artie's wheelchair, in my car?"
"We don't. We'll use Noah's truck and maybe Mercedes' SUV. I don't know yet. But first, Quinn, Brittany, Santana and Noah so they know the plan."
"Alright, how do I get there?"
Rachel groaned.
After a very long ten minutes, they were in front of Quinn's place. She hurried out the door and into the backseat.
"Thank you Rachel. This is going to be fun. I'm actually looking forward to this." Quinn said, smiling. Blaine started driving to Santana's house, where she and Brittany were.
"Hey, we all need a break. And I was thinking that -"
"You would tell Sam, Mercedes, Artie, Tina and Mike?" Quinn finished for her.
"Yes. . ." Rachel said slowly.
Quinn shrugged. "Anyway."
"You're birthday's coming up. Any plans, Q?" Blaine asked, looking through the rearview mirror to her.
Quinn started giggling at the sight of his sunglasses. "Nice glasses Blaine."
"Why thank you Quinn."
Blaine pulled up in front of Santana's house in Lima Heights Adjacent.
"Santana, hurry up. I don't like it here." Rachel said.
As if on cue, Santana pulled Brittany out of her house and into Blaine's car quickly.
"Let's get this show on the road!" Santana said, looking up over at Rachel.
"To Puckerman's house we go." Blaine sang, pulling away from Santana's driveway and out of the neighborhood.
"Weee!" Brittany said.
"So, what's the occasion?" Santana asked, looking slyly between Rachel and Blaine.
"Kurt and Finn have left Lima."
"Forever?" Brittany asked.
Quinn almost snorted.
"No, for a week. But we decided to have a little get-away ourselves." Blaine said.
Brittany and Santana took one look at Blaine and burst into fits of giggles, leaning against the seat.
"I think you are going to get that reaction every time someone sees you, Blaine." Rachel said, looking over at him amused.
He sighed. "I know."
Noah was closing his front door when they pulled up and knocked on the car window, eyebrows raised.
Blaine rolled down the window. "Hello good sir."
Noah smirked. "Nice sunglasses dude."
"Why thank you. Now, we have no room in the car."
Noah shrugged, patting the end of his truck. "I've got room in my truck."
"Great, but we need someone to take Artie -"
"He can sit in the back and we can put his wheelchair in the back of my truck. Problem solved."
"Alright. And you can also take Tina and Mike."
"Fine with me. Tell me, are you two planning on. . .telling people, or just to let them figure it out?"
Rachel shrugged. "Either way, I really don't know yet."
Noah shrugged. "Okay. I'll follow you."
"Alright. You know where Mike lives?"
"Yeah. Over in the next neighborhood."
"Then go get him and Tina, and we'll get Sam and Mercedes. They can take their own car. And then we'll all go get Artie and be on our way."
"Alright. Works for me. See you soon." Noah nodded, got in his truck and drove off.
"To Mercedes'! She can pick up Sam." Rachel said, looking at Blaine, who was nodding.
"Let's go."
Five minutes later, thanks to Rachel's helpful shortcut, Mercedes was nodding to her and Blaine's idea. She didn't think twice about them being in the same car, without Finn and Kurt, and sitting next to each other.
The three cars meet at the gas station next to the highway.
"Wait, where are we going?"
"I thought we should go to Lake Erie for our last summer together before senior year. Well, for most of us." Rachel added, nodding to Artie and Tina.
"Lake Erie? I haven't been there since I was little." Quinn said, speaking for the first time since all of them had met up.
"Me too." Noah nodded. "It was so long ago."
"Well, we're going there, and we are all going to enjoy it." Rachel said, eyebrows raised.
"Yes ma'am!" Artie saluted.
"Alright. Sam, your with Mercedes. Artie, Tina and Mike are with Noah. And Quinn, Santana, Brittany, and Rachel are with me." Blaine said.
"Yes sir!" Sam saluted, mimicking Artie.
"Then let's go, go, go!" Blaine yelled and everyone cheered, getting in their respective cars and following Blaine's to the 75 freeway.
"And then take the next exit." Rachel ordered. Santana and Brittany were passed out next to Quinn, who was gazing out the window absently.
"This exit, Blaine!" Rachel yelled, startling Santana and Brittany, not fazing Quinn and causing Blaine to move over in the lanes quickly, the two other cars following him.
"Waz goin' on?" Santana mumbled.
"We're almost there. Just a few more minutes." Rachel said, smiling at the passengers in the backseat.
"Good. I really have to pee." Brittany said.
"Good to know." Blaine said.
"You're welcome." Brittany smiled.
Ten minutes later, all three cars pulled up into the parking area for Lake Erie. It wasn't overly crowded but it was definitely crowded. All the teenagers jumped out (except for Artie and Quinn) and cheered and grabbed their stuff to stake out a spot on the sand.
"Come on Quinn. Let's go find a spot." Rachel said.
Quinn shrugged. "Sure." She said quietly.
Rachel smiled and walked with her to a spot, laying down her and Blaine's blankets and pulled out Quinn's, laying it down as well. Noah and Sam were already in the water, splashing around and laughing. Tina and Mike went to join them, along with Mercedes.
"You don't want to swim, Q?" Blaine asked, laying down, shirtless I might add, on his towel, shades on his the tip of his nose.
"Maybe. I don't know." Quinn said softly, playing with the edge of her towel.
Blaine shrugged, rubbing sun-tan lotion on his arms. "Alright." Rachel pulled off her cover-up, revealing her pink and blue bikini which fit her quite too well.
Blaine stared. And stared. And stared.
"My eyes are up here, Blaine." Rachel said, rubbing the sun-tan lotion into her arms and shoulders.
"Want me to help you there, Rach?" Blaine asked.
"Do my back?" Rachel asked with an innocent face that deceived no one.
"Sure." Blaine took the lotion and started rubbing it into her back, almost massaging it.
"I didn't ask for a massage Blaine." Rachel said, her eyes closed. Quinn's lips twitched.
"Sorry." He didn't sound sorry at all.
"My turn." Rachel said, once he had rubbed it all in.
Blaine rose an eyebrow and turned around, letting Rachel's small hands rub his back with the lotion. Blaine bit his lip.
Rachel let out a little giggle and Quinn rolled her eyes. "You two are so damn cute. Why can't someone love me like that?" She muttered and stood up.
Sam, Tina, Mike, Artie and Mercedes watched as all this went down.
"You don't think. . ." Artie trailed off, but everyone knew what he was thinking.
"No." Mercedes said. "I mean, she wouldn't do that to Kurt." Mercedes said.
"Blaine wouldn't do that to Kurt either." Sam said.
"But they seem so. . .couple-y right now." Tina said slowly.
"And you know, they look good together." Mike pointed out.
"Kind of like you and Sam that last week of school. . ." Artie said, turning to Sam and Mercedes.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Mercedes snapped, avoiding all eyes.
Sam's cheeks were red and he went back to the water.
"We need music!" Brittany announced, turning on her portable music device, also known as a radio.
Ke$ha's Your Love is My Drug came blaring through the speakers and Brittany started singing along.
"Maybe I need some rehab or maybe just need some sleep. I got a sick obsession; I'm seeing it in my dreams. I'm looking down every alley, I'm makin' those desperate calls. I'm staying up all night hoping, hittin' my head against the wall." Brittany sang, her voice melding with Ke$ha's.
"What you got, boy, is hard to find, I think about it all the time. I'm all strung out, my heart is fried. I just can't get you off my mind." The girls sang.
"Because your love, your love, your love is my drug. Your love, your love, your love. . .I said your love, your love, your love is my drug. Your love, your love, your love. . ." Everyone joined in, singing their heart out and laughing.
"Won't listen to any advice, Momma's telling me I should think twice, better left to my own devices. I'm addicted, it's a crisis. My friends think I've gone crazy. My judgment's getting kinda hazy. My esteem is gonna be affected if I keep it up like a love sick crackhead." Santana laughed.
"What you got, boy, is hard to find. I think about it all the time. I'm all strung out, my heart is fried, I just can't get you off my mind." The girls sang again and Mike and Brittany started dancing to the beat, everyone else joining in as well.
"Because your love, your love, your love is my drug. Your love, your love, your love. . .I said your love, your love, your love is my drug. Your love, your love, your loveā¦"
"I don't care what people say. The rush is worth the price I pay. I get so high when you're with me, but crash and crave you when you leave." Brittany sang, doing her own dance to it.
"Hey, so I gotta question. Do you wanna have a slumber party in my basement? Do I make your heart beat like an 808 drum? Is my love with your drug? Your drug, your drug? Your drug, is my love your drug?" Santana sang and everyone paused, then everyone started singing and dancing again.
"Because your love, your love, your love is my drug, Your love, your love, your love. . .I said your love, your love, your love is my drug. Your love, your love, your love. . .because your love, your love, your love is my drug. Your love, your love, your love. . ..I said your love, your love, your love is my drug. Your love, your love, your love. . ."
"Hey!" Santana yelled.
"Hey." Brittany said all flirtatiously.
Santana laughed. "So. . ."Brittany laughed then whisper sang to her. "Your love, your love, your love, your love. . .is my drug." She nodded. "Oh, and I like your beard." She said, pointed to a random man, but he had a super cool beard.
Everyone laughed, even Quinn, though she did so weakly.
Blaine pulled Rachel to him and she smiled up at him.
"Your love is my drug. Keeps me going day and night." Blaine whispered.
"You are the best secret boyfriend ever." Rachel whispered and kissed him softly.
"Let's swim!" Brittany yelled.
Most joined in on the cheering for swimming, except Blaine and Rachel who were a bit busy and Quinn, who was sitting and watching the lake move.
Everyone jumped in the water off the little cliff it had, even Mercedes, who had been a bit reluctant to swim. But Quinn and Blaine and Rachel were still off in their own worlds.
Even Brittany jumped into the water.
Santana didn't think twice about it. No one did.
Until they couldn't find her.
"BRITTANY!" Santana's ear shattering scream pierced through the air, causing everyone on the sand and in the water to look at her, startled.
"San?" Rachel yelled back, the only one daring to speak.
"Brittany can't swim."
