CHAPTER 15
When it comes to love, the best relationships are the ones that just come naturally. Finn took a batch of cupcakes out of the oven, triumphantly.
"There it is! My first solo batch!" He exclaimed triumphantly to Rachel. She raised an eyebrow.
"Um, I think those need to stay in the oven a while longer. Here's a professional trip. If it's still runny, it's not a cupcake. It's a beverage." She remarked. Finn stuck a straw in one of the cupcakes and she giggled.
"Here, now it's good." Finn replied. "Try them!"
"No!" She exclaimed. Things with Rachel were fun and easy and uncomplicated. It was pretty great.
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The next morning, Puck walked into the apartment to see Sam holding a black sharpie and coloring in his white boxers in some holes in his trousers.
"Um… are you coloring in your butt?" Puck asked. Sam blushed.
"I have a big interview coming up and my suit has holes in it. I can't sew, I don't own Navy boxers, so yeah, I'm coloring in my butt."
"So wear another one." Puck remarked.
"I don't have another one. I'm flat broke. My only other suit options are track or birthday."
"Dude, you show up to an interview in that, even the hippie lawyers from Granola Mountain Earth Pals will hackey sack you straight out the door."
Sam wanted to be an environmental lawyer and he was struggling to find work given that he hadn't yet completed law school.
"Okay, it's the National Resource Defense Council, and it's my dream job. Except it's only an internship and I won't be getting paid. Mostly, it'll just be getting people coffee. But the people I'm getting coffee for… their bosses are going to save the world."
Puck sighed.
"Ok, tomorrow I'm taking you to my personal tailor." Puck declared.
"A tailor? Puck, I make negative 300 dollars a week and I need every negative penny of that for my wedding." Sam replied.
"Relax, my guy does everything for one third the cost. And there is no way you're getting married in that 'suit'. Tomorrow, noon, my tailor."
"No thanks, dude." Sam replied. Puck then grabbed the side of Sam's pant leg and ripped it, creating a large gash in it. Puck smirked at him. "So noon?" Sam asked.
"Yup. See you then."
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"Hey, girls." Rachel said, walking into the bar and over to Santana and Quinn.
"Hey!" Quinn exclaimed cheerfully. Santana didn't say anything though. She hated Rachel with every fiber of her being, despite how kind and sweet the girl was.
I'm just on my way to meet Finn. it's our three month anniversary so we're going out to dinner."
"Great! Well, that answers all the questions I didn't ask." Santana muttered.
"Santana!" Quinn exclaimed.
"What? Oh, come on. We bust on each other. We're just at that place in our strong friendship." Santana lied. Rachel bought it though. She smiled widely.
"Really? Oh, that's awesome!" Rachel exclaimed. "So, what are you guys up to? Oh, dress shopping!" She said, looking at the brochures that were strewn across the table and picking one of them up. "You know, I make wedding cakes for a lot of fancy bridal shops. If you want, I could take you shopping, maybe get you a discount."
"Really? That'd be great!" Quinn exclaimed. Suddenly, Rachel's phone rang and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Huh. I should take this." She said, lifting the phone to her ear, standing up and walking away from the booth. "Hello."
Once she was gone, Santana turned to Quinn.
"Hey. I thought it was going to be just us tomorrow. What's with inviting Punky Brewster." She snapped. Quinn sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Santana, you have got to get over this Finn and Rachel thing. You had your chance, and now he's moved on. Can't you just be happy for them?"
"The best I can give you is a fake smile and dead eyes." Santana replied.
"Sold!" Quinn exclaimed. Moments later, Rachel walked back to the booth, her face written in astonishment. "Rachel, what's wrong?"
"I've just been offered a fellowship at a culinary institute… in Germany."
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"Wait. Germany, Europe?" Finn asked when Rachel told him the news later that day.
"It's for two years." She murmured. "I figured I didn't have much of a chance cause they don't let many Americans in, but… I'm in."
"So, this is the Europe Germany?" Finn asked again. Rachel giggled.
"What other Germany would it be?"
"The one in Epcot?" Finn suggested.
"Finn." She laughed.
"Sorry. Congratulations!" He exclaimed. She smiled.
"Thank you. I don't know if I'm going to go." She stammered.
"And if-if you do, what does that mean for us?" He asked.
"I don't know. I just… I don't think that long distance really works for anyone." She murmured.
"Oh, God, no. Long distance is a lie teenagers tell each other to get laid the summer before college." He remarked. She nodded and realised something.
"So, that leaves us with…"
"Either you stay here, or we break up." Finn stated. "Wow, um… let's just see how things progress and if by September, we still feel…"
"I have to leave on Monday." She said.
"Monday, September the…?"
"Finn." She muttered. Finn trailed into silence. "Do you have any thoughts?"
"Maybe we should each take some time to think about what we want. We'll meet tomorrow to discuss it."
"It's a date." She smiled. And that's when things got complicated…
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The next morning, Sam, Puck and Finn were at the tuxedo place as Sam got his suit fitting and Quinn, Rachel and Santana were Quinn's wedding dress fitting. Sam called Quinn as he got his measurements taken.
"Hey baby. How's the dress fitting?" He asked.
"Everything's so fluffy and white. It's like shopping in a marshmallow." She stated. "How's Puck's tailor?"
"Um… everything here is dark and sketchy and seems illegal. It's like shopping in Puck's mind."
"Well, good luck, baby." She laughed.
"Love you, bye." Sam replied, hanging up the phone. He then turned to Puck.
"Dude, I'm not sure about this." Sam stated. "A tailor in the back room of a pet store?"
"Look, do you want a quality suit and a free rabbit or not?" Puck snapped. Suddenly, the tailor said something to Puck in Ukrainian and Puck nodded and turned to Finn. "Oh, and Finn, Sergei says stop moping around. You're distracting him from his process!"
"You speak Ukrainian?" Sam asked.
"Little bit." Puck replied. Finn stood up.
"Guys, I'm kind of screwed here. I don't want to lose Rachel, but I can't ask her to stay just for me. And long distance definitely isn't an option."
"No. No, no, no, no. No way." Sam laughed. "You know who likes long distance? Girls. It's all talking and no sex. Kill me now."
"Don't knock long distnace relationships." Puck snapped. "I really think they can work."
"Really? You?" Finn asked, surprised.
"Yup. I'm juggling four right now. There's Lisa in Madrid, there's Erica in Tokyo, there's Laura in Denmark and Kelly on the Upper East Side."
Sam and Finn raised an eyebrow.
"What? I can't be bothered to go to the East Side!" Puck exclaimed.
"Finn, don't do it." Sam said again. "Look, in college, Quinn did an art program in Paris. Well, she kept talking about this cheesy French guy, Gabriel. So I went out to visit, and there was this party. And who shows up but Gabriel. And he's got this weak-ass, thin French mustache. I'm not much of a fighter but I knew I could take this weird little dude. So I took him aside, and I got all creepy quiet, I got the crazy eyes going and I said, you stay away from Quinn, or I swear to God I'll eat that mustache right off of your ugly French face! Yeah. No, he literally ran away. I think he was crying. I never told Quinn about it. To be honest, I'm not very proud of it. To be even more honest, I am."
"Um, other than confirming a lot of European stereotypes about Americans, did that little story have a point?" Finn asked.
"Yeah, the point is that even though Quinn is my soul mate, long distance still almost killed us. If you think that there's any chance that Rachel's your soul mate, you should ask her to stay."
"Well, I don't know if she is. It's still too early, but yeah, she could be."
"Oh, please. You barely know this girl." Puck remarked. "What's her favourite color? Is she a cat person or a dog person? Is she open to a three-way? Finn, I do more research than this before buying a cell phone. And FYI, yes, I have three way calling."
"Look, she can't be a cat person. I'm a dog person, I'm attracted to other dog people."
"Are you sure?" Puck asked. Finn took out his phone and called Rachel.
"Hello." She answered.
"Hey, random question. How do you feel about cats?" He asked.
"Cats… hated the musical, love the animal."
"Good to know." Finn replied. "Um… okay, bye."
He put the phone down and turned to Sam and Puck.
"She's a cat person." Finn murmured. "I don't know this girl at all."
Suddenly, the tailor walked back into the room and Puck walked over to him. The tailor showed Puck various suits and Puck pointed to one.
"He'll take that one." He replied.
"Whoa. Hey, hey, it's my suit. Shouldn't I be the one to choose?" Sam asked. Puck laughed.
"Here. Play with this pin cushion. The gentlemen are working." He replied. Sam rolled his eyes. Moments later, a suit jacket was placed on Sam's upper body and he looked at himself in the mirror.
"God. I'm going to look hot." Sam remarked.
"Sam, I can't let you waste a suit this nice fighting a losing battle for our planet's survival. This is a suit for winners. I am getting you an interview at my office. We need good men like you in our legal department. We get sued a lot."
"No way." Sam shook his head furiously. "The Kid does not sell out."
"Oh, come on, dude! Three months working with me and you'll make more than Quinn makes in a year."
"No. I've made my decision." Sam said.
"So have I." Finn chimed in, standing up. "If I ask this girl to give up her dreams for me, and two weeks later, it's not working out, I'm, like, the biggest jerk of all time. It's just too much pressure on a new relationship. I'm gonna tell her to go."
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And so that night, Finn met Rachel to tell her his decision.
"All right, I've been thinking a lot about this…" Finn started but Rachel raised a hand, beaming at him.
"Okay, before you say anything, I wanted to give you… this." She said, taking out a divine looking cupcake from her bag. "This is what happens when you, you know, let them finish baking." She laughed. Finn held it in his hand and looked at her.
"I want you to stay." He blurted out.
"I need to go…"