Chapter 29

Noah picked Rachel up the next morning for Saturday services, while Kurt and Quinn were still sleeping (or, at least, pretending to do so). Upon their return, the apartment had changed from serene to almost manic as Kurt was running around, planning the final detail of their Halloween regalia.

"There you are, Missy," he almost barked at Rachel, grabbing her hand. "Bye, Puck, see ya' la-ter…" Kurt said in a sing-songy voice as he grabbed Rachel's hand and pulled her away. She gave Noah a helpless look and shrugged her shoulders, to which he responded with a smirk and sly laughter as he removed himself from the semi-chaos that was swirling about, returning home to get some homework done before returning with dinner, Mike, and his own (un-)costume.

"Rachel, get undressed, we have work to do," Kurt instructed in a demanding tone.

She went into her bedroom, finding Quinn sitting on her bed laughing.

"Thanks for getting home, Berry," she uttered sardonically. Better you than me; that's all I can say."

Rachel removed the clothes she had worn to services, replacing them with yoga pants and a t-shirt, and exited her room. Kurt took one look at her and scolded, "Oh, no, Diva, nothing that you have to pull over your head. Please change pronto."

Rachel removed the t-shirt, changing into an old plaid shirt of Noah's that she liked to wear when she was studying. It was soft from multiple washings over the years, so it was comfortable…and Noah loved to see her wearing it (preferably with nothing on underneath, but that's a story for another day).

Apparently, her choice of attire now met with Kurt's approval. The first thing he did was sat her down in the bathroom (on the closed toilet seat) and misted her hair with a spray bottle of water until it was quite damp. To emulate 'Magenta's' hairdo, they decided to braid Rachel's damp hair in multiple small braids; when taken out later, her hair would be full and wavy without having to tease it. While Rachel braided the front, Kurt busied himself with the back, until they were both finished. Rachel emerged from the bathroom to the sound of Quinn's laughter; "Wow, Rachel, now there's a look!" she commented.

Rachel grabbed a yogurt for lunch and rejoined Quinn in her bedroom. "So, who all's coming tonight?" Quinn asked.

"Well, you, I, and Kurt are 'Columbia', 'Magenta', and 'Riff-Raff'. "Mike's 'Frank N. Furter'…" Quinn gasped and began laughing again, then Rachel continued, "Noah's 'Eddie', and Ben and Candy…you met them last night…decided to go as two of the 'Transylvanians'. They'll be meeting us at Callbacks, as will Jesse and his boyfriend," Rachel said, pausing for a moment. "Jesse's dressing as 'Brad' and his boyfriend will be 'Janet'…pre bra and slip, I trust."

"Kurt, did you ever dress in drag?" Quinn asked playfully.

"Well…since you asked, yes, once," he replied cautiously, entering the room and leaning against the doorpost.

"Care to elaborate?" she teased.

"Sure, if you insist," he agreed, looking at her curiously as she nodded her head and tried not to laugh. "Last year, Blaine and I went to a Halloween party that one of the guys from Dalton threw. I dressed up as 'Snooki' and Blaine was 'The Situation'." Both Rachel and Quinn were laughing at the thought of Kurt in a fake tan and long black wig. "Scoff all you want, ladies, we both looked fabulous," he proudly declared, "but I learned that drag's not for me. I may 'like boys'," he paused for effect, "but I don't enjoy wearing women's clothes. I guess every man has his limits." Kurt thought for a moment, then spoke again; "I respect Puck's choice to not be 'Frank N. Furter'; I wouldn't do it, either, not for a million dollars…well, maybe for a million dollars, but not a penny less," he concluded.

"Since we're on the subject, have I told you what Santana said?" Rachel asked.

Quinn shook her head and Kurt replied, "If it's about Halloween, then no."

"Brittany and Tina are driving down for the weekend. They're all dressing up as singers, and she convinced Dave Karofsky to join them…dressed as Adele."

Quinn was flabbergasted; she couldn't imagine the burly ex-football player dressed like a female impersonator.

Kurt, on the other hand, was more accepting. "I'm glad to see he's finally embracing who he is," he avowed before thoughtfully concluding, "Hopefully he won't get hit on by a bunch of drunken straight guys."

Rachel and Quinn organized their costumes on Rachel's bed for a final review by Kurt. Rachel's had been relatively easy to coordinate, being a maid's uniform; Quinn, on the other hand, had selected a more difficult character to portray. Through a combination of luck, determination, and flirting outrageously with a boy in the Yale Drama School (who just happened to have access to the costume collection), she was able to put together a pretty good representation of "Columbia".

Noah returned at 5:00 with Chinese takeout in hand and Mike in tow, carrying their costumes. Kurt had already applied his wig, because he knew he would be busy helping the others get made up and doubted he would have the time later on. Between his "hair" and Rachel's braids, the other two boys had a hard time keeping a straight face. Mike dropped the costumes off in Kurt's bedroom and Noah put the bags food on the table. He suddenly noticed what Rachel was wearing and gravitated toward her, where he playfully tweaked one of her braids and then ran his hands up and down her arms.

In a quiet voice he proclaimed, "Have I told you how good you look in this shirt?"

Rachel looked up at him adoringly, as if they were the only two people in the room and softly replied, "You may have mentioned that once or twice."

"Excuse me, Kurt," Quinn announced with a sly grin and a wink to Mike, "do you happen to have a garden hose handy? Santana told me that if those two," and she nodded her head to Rachel and Noah, now staring at her, "start to get too 'touchy-feely', I should turn a hose on them and break it up before it gets out of control."

"Quinn Fabray," Kurt responded in a dramatically horrified voice, "how dare you suggest that we start a flood in my apartment?" Kurt stifled a laugh and continued, "All we have to do is put dinner out, and Puckerman will come running." By now, all of the teens were laughing.

"What can I say?" Noah explained, flexing his right bicep, "I'm a growing boy."

As Rachel and Kurt set the table, Quinn and Mike had a brief conference. "Listen, you guys," Mike began, "Quinn and I would like to pay for dinner."

Rachel, Noah, and Kurt immediately chimed in with their dismissals of the offer, and Quinn countered "No, we insist. You've been so generous letting us stay here, we'd like to thank you." She looked around the room, and continued, "Please let us do this."

"Well, then," Kurt replied, "thank you both for dinner." Rachel and Noah added their appreciation, and the five friends sat down to their evening meal.

Once dinner was over and the table cleared, it was finally time to get ready. While Kurt began the task of transforming Quinn and Mike into their respective "roles", Rachel began to unbraid her hair.

"Here, Baby, let me help you," Noah offered from the armchair, patting his lap for her to sit down.

He sat back in the chair as far as he could and spread his legs apart for Rachel to sit between them. As she began unbraiding the sides, he started working on the back. Once they had finished, Rachel's hair was transformed into a mass of crimped waves. Noah's hands, now free, held Rachel closely.

"Ya' know, Baby, we can let everybody go off and have our own fun here," he whispered in her ear.

Rachel smiled, and whispered back, "Thanks for the offer, but, no, we're going." She kissed him on the cheek, stood up, walked over to her bedroom and knocked on the door. Quinn's "Come in" allowed her to open the door slightly, enter the room, and shut the door behind her.

The girls got dressed in a fit of giggles as they admired each others' costumes. Rachel's outfit was more figure forming (although not tight) than the original, and she had opted for black tights to compensate for the late October weather. Quinn's, although not identical, either, was a reasonable facsimile with boy shorts, a bedazzled tail coat, and top hat. Before Rachel began dressing, she bent down to pick up the maid's cap, which had fallen to the floor. The motion caused Quinn turned her head and she gasped at what she saw.

"O. M. G. Rachel Berry, do you have a tattoo?"

Rachel grinned and nodded her head, and Quinn came over for a closer inspection. "When did you do this? Did it hurt? Do your dads know? What does Puck think?" she asked in a rapid-fire manner.

"For my 18th birthday; yes, a little; I certainly hope not; he loves it," she answered back.

"Rachel Berry takes a 'walk on the wild side'," Quinn teased. "I never thought I'd live to see the day."

When they finally emerged from the bedroom, they broke into laughter as they saw Mike sitting on the sofa in his bustier, garter belt, fishnets (also over nude dance tights), platform pumps, pearls, and full-on drag makeup. He was going to wear a lab coat and feather boa as part of the costume, but had not added it as yet. Noah was next to leave Kurt's room, and he had been convinced to let Kurt apply a large scar to his forehead. "No zombie makeup, Noah?" Rachel questioned. Noah gave her an evil grin and held up his right hand with four fingers showing, which effectively stopped her from saying more. Kurt, who had also completed his "look" in the meantime, had poked is head out, gesturing for Quinn to come in and witnessing the interaction in the process.

"What was that all about?" she asked Kurt as she entered his room.

"You'd never believe me…" he replied, and began altering Quinn's appearance as befitting her character. Rachel was the last to be transformed, and after her makeup was completed, she bent over and shook out her hair, resulting in fullness without teasing or too many products.

Under Kurt's masterful touch, the five Ohioans had been temporarily morphed into three "Transylvanians", one groupie, and one murdered, reanimated delivery boy. Rachel insisted on taking pictures, which she planned to post on Facebook. Coats on, they left the apartment, locking the door and heading toward their ultimate goal: Callbacks' annual Halloween Party.