Chapter 13
The two of them managed to drag themselves away from their make out session in Noah's back garden after spending more than a half hour as just the two of them away from all the other people who were at the party. Rachel straightened his shirt, which she had kept firm hold of as she kissed him before the two of them headed back inside to find the rest of her friends. Smiling, with the faint blush on her cheeks that was there every time she made out with James, she walked hand in hand with him, pulling him through the hallway back into the living room. Rachel waved as they walked over, finding the glee club kids in the exact same position they had been a good forty minutes earlier; only this time the entire club were there now.
As they walked over, James let go of her hand and collapsed onto the couch next to Kurt, nudging him that made Rachel giggle at as Kurt rolled his eyes and turned away from her boyfriend. Heading over to the kitchen, she picked James up another beer and poured herself some more wine into a cup and walked back in, seeing that he was laughing at something Kurt had something to him. Smiling, she handed him the beer before turning and walking to go and sit by Mercedes when she felt a hand grab hers and pulled her around to him.
"Come here" He said applying a little bit of pressure, but not enough to force her comply with him, and with a smirk Rachel allowed him to pull her over and she sat willingly in his lap, leaning against his chest as he kissed her just beneath her ear. Instinctively she closed her eyes enjoying the contact of his lips on her skin. When she opened her eyes again she saw Finn looking at her with a sad smile, which she returned before pulling away from James touch on her. Turning her head she noticed him looking at her with a confused expression. Smiling at him, she leaned forward and kissed him softly on his lip, before pulling back slightly so that she left her lips lingering an inch away from his skin before she spoke softly.
"I don't want to make Finn feel uncomfortable" She said, pulling back and leaning her forehead on his, gazing into his eyes she saw them flick to the left and then back to hers.
"Is that him?" He asked, and she nodded knowing who he was talking about. She was glad when he didn't push the matter, simply moving his head away and turning back to talking to Kurt. Over the next hour she sat there on James' lap, because even though she didn't want to make Finn feel uncomfortable by watching her and James' PDA, he was her boyfriend and she couldn't not show him any affection at all that would be equally as wrong as rubbing it in her ex's face.
They talked to Blaine and Kurt for a while, before he started talking to Tina and Mercedes who were asking him, thanks to the benefits of the alcohol they had been drinking, more personal questions that they would have done normally, including if he had an equally handsome brother for them. Rachel was thankful she had known about his ex girlfriend before hand, as she felt awkward for him when he was attempting to explain it to two girls who were simply interested in seeing his abs.
Rachel had blushed furiously when Santana joined in on the conversation asking if the two of them had, in her normal crude way of speaking, "done the nasty" which James had laughed off telling her no all the while rubbing her back softly attempting to quell her nervousness. She enjoyed spending the time with him around her friends, and by the end of the night he had spoken to everyone but Finn, which she knew neither he nor Finn was particularly interested in doing right away. As it approached 1am, James had asked her if she wanted to head home as he pressed a kissed to her lips as Finn went into the kitchen to get a drink. Pulling away she nodded at him, asking if that was alright; knowing he was having a good time.
"Yeah" He replied, kissing her again, before moving his lips to her ear and whispering softly. "I want to get you on your own for a little while"
Giggling, she let out a short breath as he kissed her ear again, biting her lip as he pulled back and winked at her. Saying their goodbyes to all her friends, including hugging Finn, she left hand in hand with James as they walked to her house talking about the night. As they headed out of Noah's street, she felt his eyes on her.
"Did you talk to Finn tonight at all?" He asked, and she glanced at him seeing his face curved with a small smile
"Yes" She replied. She knew he was touchy on the issue after what he had said to her a week ago, but she wasn't going to lie and pretend that she hadn't. Part of her still wanted Finn to be her friend again. "He apologized for what he said about you, and asked if we could be friends again"
"You want to be" He commented softly, and Rachel nodded against his shoulder.
"I do" She said smiling, thankful in the knowledge that he was so understanding. "But not yet, I can't just forget what he said"
"He was upset when he said those things" He remarked, and she smiled. "You'd just told him that you had me. I can tell you, you're amazing; it would be hard for anybody to hear you didn't want them anymore"
"Thank you for understanding" She replied, leaning up to kiss him softly on the lips. As she pulled back, he murmured don't worry about it. "So did you like meeting my friends?"
She listened happily as he told her that he liked all of her friends, in particular liking Santana's feisty side and Noah's no nonsense approach. Leaning into his side as they walked, his hand rubbing up and down her arm as it lay around her shoulders, she was incredibly happy about the fact that he had a good time. The one thing she had wanted to happen was for her friends to enjoy her new boyfriends company and the same for him and them.
As she had listened to them talking tonight and over the past few days she saw how he had worked to try and integrate himself into her circle of friends, he really wanted to make her happy. They turned into the driveway of her house, and as she reached into her bag to get her keys out she turned and kissed him before pulling him into her house.
Smiling against his lips, as he pulled her closer to him; wrapping his arms around her waist as her hands linked behind his neck, she backed herself up against the wall of her hallway, pulling him with her. Feeling particularly daring, both due to the couple of glasses of wine she had drank but also how much she enjoyed the feeling of his hands and lips on her body, Rachel opened her mouth and forced her tongue passed his lips and started duelling with him as he rubbed the sides of her body with his hands, all the while pressing closer to her. Rachel felt moans rising softly from her throat as he nipped at her lip with his teeth and sucked on her tongue, causing her to buck her hips gently. After a few minutes, she felt an urge to feel him closer against her body so she moved her leg up to wrap around his. She felt him smile against her lips, before he moved his lips to her neck; sucking on the skin softly which caused her to moan against his lips, as she did she felt her knee buckle causing her hand to jerk out and find something to grip onto. A second later, there was a crash and they separated before the two of them started laughing at the picture frames that had fallen off the table in the hallway. Pulling her back to him, Rachel giggled as he pressed another kiss to her lips before she felt him smirk against her lips as he rested his forehead against hers.
"Do you think your Dad's heard that?" He asked, pecking her softly once more as his hand came to stroke her cheek.
"I hope not" Rachel replied softly. Honestly, she didn't want them to leave the position they were in. as they stood pressed flush up against one another, in such an intimate position, with her leg wrapped around his. She felt comfortable, completely at ease while being turned on at the same time; feeling his arousal against her thigh made her feel incredible, knowing what affect her kisses had on his body; but also at knowing that while he had been kissing her neck he wouldn't pressure her into doing anything more than what they had been doing.
She felt his mouth on her neck again, and her eyes rolled as she bit her lip to control a moan, as they left a trail of wet kisses working their way to her lips again as he pressed a single one to them. Opening her eyes again she saw him looking at her with a smile, as he unwrapped her leg from around his and placed it back on the ground as he rubbed the outside of her thigh gently. She groaned at the loss of contact
"You okay?" He asked, leaning his forehead against hers as he let her stand away from the wall; something she was thankful for as she leaned into his arms.
"Yeah" She nodded "That just felt…really nice being so close to you"
"You are so beautiful" He said softly, staring into her eyes. Feeling her heart skip a beat at the intensity of his gaze as well as the words he had spoken, Rachel pulled his head down for another kiss; this time not daring to deepen it due to the heat she felt in her groin. She wasn't ready to do anything beyond what they had already done, but that didn't mean she wasn't incredibly turned on by his actions.
He must have followed a similar thought process as she refused to open her mouth as his tongue ran along her bottom lip. As they pulled away from their kiss, she saw him smirk at her, and she slapped his shoulder playfully as he spoke; "You turn me on as well, although you could probably feel it"
Giggling, she nodded and moved to place a kiss on his cheek before stepping out of his arms, moving to take one of his hands in hers. Glancing at the clock she saw how late it was, and guided him up the stairs.
"Goodnight" He whispered kissing her on the lips, which ended up last a few minutes longer than it should have done before he pulled away and waved at her before disappearing into her guest room.
Letting out a breath, she smiled as she turned around and walked down the hallway to her bedroom, careful to tiptoe past her dad's room as not to wake them up. Closing the door behind her, she sighed happily as she leaned against her door. Licking her lips, smiling that she could still taste him, Rachel made her way over to her bathroom to prepare herself for bed. A little while, she was climbing into bed pulling the covers up her chin and snuggling herself down as she drifted off. As she fell asleep, her thoughts were lingering on watching her boyfriend interact with her friends and how much happiness she felt that he had been accepted by them, a smile on her lips.
….
The sound of an alarm rung through her room as Rachel groaned rolling over in the comfort of her large double bed. As she pushed back the covers from over her heard, raising her hand to her face and wiped the sleep from her eyes, blinking a few times as they adjusted to the sunlight that was peeking through the curtains in her room. It was just past nine o'clock, and Rachel smiled as the memories of the night before came into her mind. Flashes of people talking around a couch and living room table; she was sat on her boyfriend's lap as he got to know her friends. She bit her lip as she remembered kissing James as they arrived home.
She was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of two male voices singing downstairs in her house. Smiling as she rolled out of bed, grabbing her silk robe from the chair near her desk pulling it on as she opened her door and headed downstairs to find out what was going on. She recognized her Dad LeRoy singing but the other voice didn't sound like her Daddy. As she headed into the kitchen she saw a sight that made her face split into a huge grin; her dad was stood singing with James as her boyfriend was cooking something in a pan.
Rachel stood there for a few minutes as they finished singing, neither of them having realised that she was watching. As the song came to an end, she smiled as James raised his hand and LeRoy gave him a high five. Giggling at the sight, the two of them turned around; James was looking at her with a huge smile on his face.
"Morning beautiful" He muttered, pointing to the pan he was cooking something in. Her dad was stood leaning against the counter smiling. "I thought that I would make you some breakfast"
"It smells really, really good sweetie" Leroy said, pointing at her boyfriend. "Where did you say you got the recipe again James?"
"My mom" He said smirking as he shrugged his shoulder.
"I didn't know you could cook" She said walking over and kissing her Dad's cheek before hugging James, leaning into his side as she smelled what he was cooking. It did smell delicious and once again Rachel thanked his mom's Italian side of the family for his genes. "But it smells amazing"
"Oh, I can cook alright" He replied kissing her once on the lips, Rachel licking her bottom lip as he pulled away and touched his nose to hers. "It's an omelette, with all the toppings perfect for a growing young diva"
"Thank you baby" Rachel giggled, tilting her head to kiss his cheek. "Where's Daddy?"
"He's headed to work for a few hours" Leroy said, kissing her forehead before stepping away. "Speaking of which, I have to do a bit of work in my office. I'll leave you two to it. Thank you for breakfast this morning, Son, it was delicious"
"No worries Mr Berry" James replied, smiling as her dad winked at her heading out the kitchen and upstairs.
"You made my Dad's breakfast?" Rachel asked, biting her lip. He really was amazing with how he treated her Dad's, they loved him completely. She couldn't help but proud of James for working so hard to integrate himself into her friendship group as well as with her dads.
"They've been so great letting me stay here these past few days" James said, as he reached out and tipped the omelette he had made onto a plate and she followed him over to the breakfast counter; settling down to eat her breakfast. "I wanted to do something nice for them, not just for that but also for extending your curfew. Last night was amazing"
"I Know" She smiled, taking a forkful of her breakfast into her mouth as James sat across from her with a smirk on her face. As she swallowed, her eyes widened and she looked down from the plate to James and back again. "Oh my god this is amazing"
James shrugged a small smile on his face as he sat gazing at her, and she rolled her eyes. While he was trying to pretend to be modest she knew he was eating up the fact she enjoyed his cooking. Shaking her head as she took another mouthful she spoke; "So you had fun last night?"
"You bet, babe" He replied leaning on his hand as he rested his elbow on the table gazing at her. Winking at her, he continued; "Particularly the bits where we were alone"
Feeling her cheeks blush, Rachel bowed her head for a moment, glad that her Dad had left them alone; while her dads knew about the two of them kissing, they didn't know explicit it could get when the two of them were alone. Raising her eyes to meet his gaze, she bit her lip; "Me too"
"So, what do you want to do today?" He asked a few minutes later as she had finished eating and was drinking a glass of orange juice.
Licking her lips, she observed him for a moment; while he was smiling at her widely, there was a slight amount of sadness in his eyes. Rachel frowned for a moment thinking what could make him seem upset, when it to her; this was his last full day in Lima. On Sunday afternoon he was flying home to Oregon. The last couple of days had been amazing spending time with him in her home, it was comfortable and felt completely right to be around him so much.
"I want to spend the day with you" She replied softly, moving her hands to link her fingers with his on the table top. That was honestly what she wanted to happen; just the two of them cuddled up together on the couch or in her bed watching a musical marathon. "We could watch some movies and eat popcorn…unless you want to do anything, I mean we haven't been everywhere in Lima yet and its your last full day here…"
"Movies and you, well mainly just spending time with you sounds perfect" He said as she started to trail off. Smiling, she saw him staring at her with a sparkle in his eyes. "I came to Ohio to see you, and that's exactly how we should spend the day; unless your Dads want to join us but I'd rather we just cuddle up"
"I like that" Rachel grinned, leaning forward and kissing him on the lips. As she jumped up, he laughed at her, and she wore a wide smile as she started to walk out of the kitchen "I'll run to the shop and get some popcorn"
"Wait…you might want to get dressed first" James replied, chuckling as he walked over to her, he pulled her robe fully open as it had begun to unravel at her quick movements placing his hands on her waist and pulled him close to her. Linking her hands behind his head, she watched him as he eyed her pyjamas. In summer, she wore a pink tank top and white shorts. She smirked as his eyes darted up to her lips, and he subconsciously licked his own, before meeting her gaze.
"Like what you see?" She said softly, a small seductive voice rising from her throat that made a shiver run down her spine as he gulped.
"I've told you before…"He said before his voice broke. He gazed at her with such intensity she felt heat rising in her body and her breathing quicken. "You are so beautiful, it's hard to believe how it's possible"
As the words left his mouth, Rachel felt herself instinctively move to meet his lips. He made her feel incredible, she had always struggled with her self-confidence but not when she was around James. Instead of that normal self-conscious worrying about no-one would ever make her feel special, every moment she spent with him she felt as though there was no other girl in the world. They stood there kissing for several minutes, before she heard movement upstairs in her Dad's office causing her to pull away.
"Go get dressed. I'll go and find a store to get some popcorn" He said, pecking her on the lips once before leading her to the stairs.
"Okay" She replied nodding as she started walking up the stairs, only to turn around and stop him as he opened the door. "Take my car…I trust you not to crash it"
"Thanks" He chuckled, as she pointed to the keys placed on the table they had knocked the picture of the night before. "Now I just have to think of a good excuse why I'm driving a pink car"
"Shut up" She muttered laughing as she waved and sprinted up the stairs.
….
Forty minutes later, and after she had showered and gotten dressed in pair of shorts and a t-shirt with a puppy on, wanting to be comfortable so she could cuddle up against James on her bed. As she made her way out of her room Rachel heard the door close and James singing softly as he walked into the house, giggling she skipped down the stairs, pulling her hair into a ponytail as she headed into the kitchen.
"Hey, I have two different types of popcorn and some of those little chocolate covered candy that you said you loved" He said smiling at her, as she made her way to his side.
"What took you so long?" She asked, tilting her head to observe him as he opened his shopping bag.
"Oh, I ran into Noah at the store. He was refilling his moms liquor cabinet or something….I didn't ask why he has a fake ID" He smirked at her.
"Yeah…probably best not to" She smiled, getting a couple of dishes out of the cupboard as he opened the packets of popcorn. "This is going to be so great"
"Yeah" He replied, kissing her cheek. "Have you picked the films you want to watch?"
"Well, as you can probably guess since you've seen my extensive musical collection, we're going to watch quite a few of them" Rachel spoke grinning, as they carried the bowls up to her room. "But, considering you my guest…and that you did make me the best omelette I've ever had for my breakfast, I'll let you pick a couple of films from my Dad's collection"
"You serious?" He asked as he held her bedroom door open for her. " 'cus he let me have a look at them yesterday when you were in the bath. He's got some I haven't seen in years"
"Of course I mean it" She said nudging his shoulder. "Go and get them, we'll set them out and decide the order"
Over the rest of the morning, and through most of the afternoon the two of them lay on her bed cuddling together as they sang along to the musicals they watched. Rachel leaned into his side with her arm wrapped around his chest as she rested her head on his shoulder. James had stretched out his legs on her bed, and she placed one of them over the top of his making sure she could be as close as possible to him for the last day they had together.
Through the day, after Hiram came home from work, her Dad's popped in to check on them at different parts asking them if they needed anything. If she hadn't been so caught up in enjoying the time with her boyfriend, Rachel might have been embarrassed at the smile each of her Dad's wore at seeing the couple sitting together in the manner they were. They ran through all of her favourite musicals, as well as watching a couple of sci-fi films he had borrowed from her Dad.
Her thoughts couldn't help but dwell on the fact he was leaving the day after, and she tightened her hold on him a little bit before smiling as she felt a kiss press against her forehead. Sighing lightly, she tried to push them back out of her head simply enjoying the sensation of his hand gently caressing her thigh as it rested on top of his legs.
Later that day, by the time the last film was finishing, they had forgotten that's what they were supposed to be doing as she had moved to straddling him as their lips moved against each other's. She moaned at the feeling of his hands resting gently on her lower back just above her bum, his fingers rubbing small circles on the skin where her shirt had ridden up slightly.
A few minutes later and she had moved to kissing and sucking on the skin at his pulse point as he moaned softly, his hands having made that final journey to lying on her bum, which caused something in her to want to see more of him. As her hands started to snake under his shirt; there was a knock on her bedroom door. Suddenly aware of her surroundings and who was in the house with them, the realisation that it was one of her dads caused her to spring off him, tucking her face into his shoulder to hide the signs they had been making out. She heard James laughed softly as a blush flourished across her cheeks.
"Sweetie, James." Leroy voice came from the doorway as it opened. Rachel was peaking from her boyfriend's shoulder trying to hide her swollen lips and blushing cheeks "your daddy has finished dinner if you two are hungry"
"We'll be right down, sir" James answered rubbing her back softly.
As the door closed, Rachel shifted so she was straddling him again and hid her head against his chest.
"That was close" she murmured embarrassedly. She heard him laugh as his chest vibrated up and down, and sat up again to stare at him smiling at the smirk on his face. "Why did you have to be such a good kisser?"
"You say it like its a bad thing" he replied moving to kiss her again, she allowed a few short chaste ones before she pulled back, raising her hands to stroke either side of his neck.
"It is when my dads are in the house" She teased, caressing his neck tenderly and she giggled as her fingers ran over the mark she had made on his neck "That's a little harder to explain"
"What?" He replied confused moving a hand to his neck to feel where she had been kissing before. "You gave me a hickey! Rachel, your dads are going to kill me when they see it. They're going to know we were making out on your bed"
"Drama Queen much?" She teased kissing the hickey on his neck. "Besides I'm pretty sure they think that's what we do when were alone anyway"
"I don't want them to know for sure" James said smiling at her. She could see in his eyes that he wasn't at all upset she had marked him. There was a flash in his eyes as they darted to her neck, and she saw him smirk as he moved to kiss her neck. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if you had one too"
"No!" Rachel giggled jumping off him "as much as I love the feel of your lips on my neck, if you start now were going to miss dinner"
James smirked at her climbing off her bed and walking to the mirror where she watched him look at her mark on his neck. After a few seconds he turned and grinned at her mischievously, "That's super-hot babe"
"You have a delicious neck" she said leaning up to kiss him
"What am I supposed to do to cover it?" He said as she turned away to reapply her lip gloss.
"Go put your hoodie on" She said, still smirking as she watched him straighten his shirt in her mirror. Turning he nodded at her before he disappeared across to his room. Taking a final look at her appearance in the mirror, Rachel let out a breath and headed downstairs and into the kitchen. Smiling at her dads who were setting the table, Rachel sat herself down as they waited for James. A couple of minutes later he came jogging down the stairs, and she had to bite her lip to prevent the laugh escaping as she saw his hooded jacket zipped up all the way to his chin hiding the mark she had left on him from their makeout session.
The four of them sat down to dinner, her Dads asking James about his time in Ohio and if he had enjoyed spending time in Akron and both Lima. She listened happily as he told them that he had loved it, and apart from his time spent in New York it had been his favourite vacation that he'd taken in his life. They reminded him that he was more than welcome to come and visit them throughout the year, and that it had been their pleasure to have him; Hiram asked her what they had been doing while he had been at work. Rachel told him about the movie marathon, leaving out the part about the two of them kissing as she saw James blushing. Luckily her Dads as always were interested in listening to their daughter talk, so they didn't catch the two of them looking at each other with smirks and embarrassed looks.
"Would you wait here please, I've got a surprise for you" James had said after he insisted on taking their plates away for them, before he disappeared upstairs. She watched her Dad's look at each other with confused expressions before glancing at her.
"Do you know anything about this sweetheart?" Leroy asked, and she shook her head in response.
"No, he hasn't mentioned anything" She replied, biting her bottom lip. She wondered to herself what his surprise was going to be; or when he even had the chance to buy something for her Dad's when she wasn't around. The only time he had been to the Lima Mall she had been with him.
A few minutes later, they heard footsteps coming back down the stairs and three of them turned to see him carrying two bouquet of flowers and a bag for a bottle of wine. She watched as he winked at her, before settling the bottle of wine down on the table. A smile crossed her face as she watched him hand her Dad's a bouquet of flowers each.
"I just wanted to thank you for letting me stay with you; and for being so fantastic about making me feel so welcome…it was honestly like I've been part of the family and that really means a lot to me" James said, smiling embarrassedly as her Dad's had looks of surprise on their faces.
"Come here James" Hiram exclaimed, placing the flowers down on the table and Rachel giggled as she saw him pull her boyfriend into a huge hug. After a few seconds they separated and Leroy gave him a smaller one; muttering his thanks.
"You're a charming young man, and anytime you want to come visit you're more than welcome" Leroy said, grinning as he clasped the younger man's shoulder tightly.
"Thank you" James replied, and he gazed at her and winked. Rachel gave him two thumbs up, part of her not able to believe how sweet he was. If he couldn't get any deeper into her fathers hearts then surprising them like this was sure to make him their favourite. "There's a bottle of wine there as well for you two, I noticed the other day at dinner what you like to drink…and well its probably best you don't know how I got it but yeah…enjoy"
"That's incredibly sweet of you" Leroy said, as Hiram picked it up and inspected it with a smile. "And your right, its probably best we don't ask"
The four of them laughed, and when he moved his eyes to meet hers they showed a knowing smile as she mouthed; "Noah?". Rachel giggled again when he nodded and smirked at her.
…
After dinner, the four of them settled down to watch TV for a couple of hours with her dads. Rachel sat cuddled up against James on his lap as they settled down on the armchair. Smiling contentedly, she relaxed with her head in the crook of his neck as one of his hands ran through her hair, while his other lay in her lap fingers intertwined in hers. As she sat there with her boyfriend who she cared so much for, it occurred to her that she had never felt happier. The summer had been the greatest experience of her life for a number of reasons, the boy whose lap she sat on was simply one of which. She had spent a month in New York and in a few days she would be starting her senior year surrounded by a group of friends who she loved and who all loved her.
Time seemed to pass too quickly as she sat there surrounded by the three people she cared most about. As it got later, and her Dad's disappeared upstairs to get an early night, Rachel was thankful that she had a bit more alone time with him that night. After they moved to the couch, once again she sat cuddling up close to him, James flicked through the channels trying to find something that they could watch her thoughts were drawn to the fact he was going home to Oregon tomorrow. It had been painful to say goodbye to him in New York, but after spending a couple of weeks apart and three fantastic days together she knew it was going to be harder this time around. Her feelings had certainly gotten stronger during the time he had been in Ohio and it had been the greatest feeling to wake up in the morning and see him sitting across from her at the breakfast counter. She dreaded when she would have to say goodbye again.
"You okay Rachel?" He asked as he settled on Meet the Fockers, looking down at her with a worried look in his eyes.
"I'm okay, just really glad you're here with me" She answered simply, tilting her head to kiss him to silence any questions he might follow up. At this moment she wanted to just enjoy his presence and his arms around her rather than explaining what she was thinking. Thankfully, he was more than willing to participate rather than ask questions and when they pulled apart a few minutes later she settled back into his chest as they watched the film.
Around midnight, she was upstairs towards her room with James and after kissing him goodnight, she closed her bedroom door and sighed deeply. She was distracted by the fact that he would be leaving tomorrow as she ran through her nightly routine. They had talked about it in New York, and she would be going to visit him in Oregon towards the end of September when sectionals would be held for teams in his district. Her birthday was a couple of weeks after that and she knew he would definitely come to visit her for her 18th. After that things got more complicated with it being a further few weeks before the New Directions would compete at sectionals and even longer before she would see him after that. Settling into her bed, she wondered if she would even see him during the last month and first couple of months of the New Year. He had mentioned thanksgiving as a potential visit point, but that seemed to far after the visit before that she didn't know what to think.
Rachel lay in bed wide awake for a good hour, unable to drift off to the sleep that normally came to her so easily. The more she thought about the distance that would be between them, Finn's words came to her about how the distance would be too much and he would find someone closer to home who would give him what he couldn't get from his girlfriend. Shaking her head angrily, she berated herself for thinking about that; just as she had told Finn at the time, James wasn't like that; he cared about her too much for that. Turning over in bed, she lay on her side and focused on the picture she had framed of them in New York. Feeling a smile cross her face, she decided she wanted to be close to him, and for the first time in her life she was going to do something that she didn't care if her Dads were angry at her; she just wanted to be close to James on the last night he was in Ohio for a few months. Throwing back her covers, she tiptoed her way out into the hallway and down past her Dads room to the guest room. Letting out a breath, she opened and closed the door as quietly as possible and made her way into the room. There was a small light shining from under the bathroom door, where he had left the light on and closed the door and she saw him sleeping facing away from it in bed as his chest rose and fell silently. Standing there for a moment she watched him look so peaceful as he slept, a small smile on his lips.
Stepping forward, she nudged his shoulder with a gentle force to try and wake him up. After a few seconds, she heard him groan softly and his eyes opened slowly. Blinking a few times before he sat up in bed turning the lamp on his bedside cabinet on, he looked at her with a confused sleepy expression
"Rachel?" His voice as raspy and rough as the time she had called him early in the morning. "Whats wrong?"
"Hey, nothings wrong" She said, settling down on the edge of the bed. Biting her lip, suddenly feeling nervous, she took a breath and spoke again softly. "I was wondering if I could sleep in here with you"
She saw his eyes widen slightly before he opened his mouth; "Your Dads…"
"We're not going to do anything we shouldn't…I can't sleep and want to be close to you" She explained softly, and she saw him watching her with a thoughtful expression before he nodded.
"Yeah…alright" He replied gently, and threw back the covers as he shifted over in bed and settled back on his side. Smiling, Rachel climbed into bed and turned the lamp off before she pushed herself against his body as his arm pulled the covers back over them as he wrapped it around her body.
A small giggle left her lips, as she felt his head next to hers as he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. Turning her head she kissed him on the lips once before biting her lip.
"What's funny?" He asked, and she sat the outline of a smile on his face.
"I've never…spooned with someone before" She replied, moving her hand to pull his closer around her waist. "Well…not under the covers"
"Well…lets hope you Dads don't come in otherwise it'll be the last time we ever get to do this" He replied, nuzzled the side of her neck with his nose as he shifted in bed.
"Does it make you uncomfortable? I can go if…" She said trailing off as he kissed her neck softly. It hadn't occurred to her that he might not want to her…but then again why had he let her get into bed with him.
"Don't even think about moving" He replied, and she giggled again softly.
"Okay" Rachel said, closing her eyes. She felt herself completely at ease as she lay in his bed with his arms wrapped protectively around her body. Sighing, Rachel knew she would always remember this feeling and it would help her get through the months without him; she could just recall how it felt to be held by him in this bed. After a few minutes, as she felt the sleep that had been avoiding her before start to settle over her body, she whispered; "I'm going to miss you"
"Me too" He replied, before he placed a kiss on her cheek and held her closer. Together the two of them fell asleep in each other's arms, and neither of them had ever been as comfortable nor as happy and content.
…