Rachel had seen her name on the online news articles before. During her time on Funny Girl she actually got used to seeing her face on her computer monitor and her name in big letters on a daily basis. She would get fan mail, praising her for her portrayal of Fanny Brice and her twitter feed would be on fire. All of that was nothing out of the ordinary in a day in the life of Rachel Berry.
What she wasn't used to was seeing herself in the news for something other than her latest work on Broadway. Suddenly, she was looking at a picture of herself online, locked in a passionate embrace with Finn Hudson outside of her building. The tabloids were absolutely loving their relationship, and her twitter feed was even more on fire than it was during her Funny Girl days.
As she would scroll through her twitter account, she would see edited photos of her and Finn, the caption reading "Finchel Forever" or "New OTP". She figured she'd be getting some new publicity for her newfound relationship with Finn, but she never could have imagined the amount she ended up getting.
She heard the sound of her cell phone ringing, and she glanced over at the caller ID. Her eyes widened as she read "Finn Hudson" across the screen. She picked up the phone and hit the answer button before pressing it up against her ear. "Hello?"
"Hey, Rach," his voice came through the phone, "What are you up to today?"
"Not much," she answered, "Why do you ask?" She knew it was ridiculous to assume he was calling to ask her on a date considering he already had a girlfriend, but a girl could always dream.
"My mom and stepdad are having a barbecue at their house this afternoon," he replied. "They told me to invite you over."
Her heart rate sped up from anxiety. She wasn't sure if she was quite ready to meet his parents, especially if they thought she was the girlfriend. "Oh, Finn, I don't know."
"Relax, Rachel, everyone who will be there already knows that you're just a friend," he said in attempt to sway her opinion. "This invitation is just as friends. It'll be a low key event, no paparazzi, no lying. What do you say? Will you come over?"
Rachel thought about his offer for a moment, thinking that a nice low key barbeque did sound pretty nice. "Okay, I'll come. It sounds like fun."
"Cool," he said. "Both and my brother and my mom have been dying to meet you. They'll be thrilled that you're coming."
Rachel smiled, feeling much better about the event. "When and where?"
Finn quickly gave Rachel the time and the address of his parent's house.
"Okay," Rachel replied, writing down the information he just gave her, "I guess I'll see you later today then!" She hung up the phone and read over the words she had just written down again. Spending an afternoon with Finn? She couldn't wait.
Instead of having her usual driver take her to the barbeque that afternoon, Rachel decided to drive herself. It wasn't that often that she went anywhere just for fun, so she usually had her driver take her. It wasn't that she didn't like to, it was just because she never had much of a reason to drive herself.
Much to Rachel's surprise, the address she was given was not a very far drive from her house at all. It only took her about 20 minutes to drive, minus the traffic time she had to endure to get out of the city.
Finn's mother's house was very nice, in Rachel's opinion. It was a decent size and had two stories and a fenced in backyard. The driveway was full plus some cars lining the street. As Rachel stepped out of her car, she heard a flood of voices coming from the backyard, and she immediately started walking towards the sound.
She walked through the gate and headed towards the patio area of the backyard, where everyone was gathered. She looked for someone she'd recognize, but couldn't find anyone in the crowd. Before she could find the door to go check inside for Finn, a middle aged woman approached her, smiling widely.
"Hello, Rachel!" the woman exclaimed, ushering Rachel to come closer to her. "I'm Carole, Finn's mother, it is so nice to finally meet you. Finn's told us so much about you!"
Rachel smiled in return, shaking Carole's hand. Looking at Carole, she could definitely tell that the two of them were related. Most of their features resembled each other, except for the height. That was probably from Finn's dad.
"Hi, Carole," Rachel replied, "It's nice to meet you too. Thank you for inviting me today."
"Of course! There's really no need to thank us," Carole said. "Finn's been saying how much he enjoys spending time with you, and we just had to meet you! Plus, Kurt's just been itching to meet you. Has Finn mentioned Kurt yet?"
Rachel nodded her head, "Oh, yes. Finn's told me about Kurt. I'm actually really excited to meet Kurt too."
Carole beamed, "How wonderful." Carole looked around the patio area, "Last time I saw the boys they were inside, letting such a wonderful day pass them by. I'll show you the way."
Rachel followed Carole inside, admiring the beautiful house. They maneuvered through the home until they reached the living room. Rachel's eyes immediately found Finn, as he was lounging on the couch, sitting between a couple guys who she assumed where on the team with him. She recognized them from TV as well.
Carole cleared her throat, capturing the attention of the three guys on the couch. "Finn? Rachel's here." Rachel noticed Finn's eyes light up as he saw her, and he stood up from the couch.
"Hey, Rachel," Finn greeted, walking up to her. "I'm glad you made it."
"Of course," she replied happily, her eyes drifting over to the guys on the couch. They were staring at her, one with a friendly smile on his face and the other actually seemed to be checking her out. She did not appreciate the action.
Finn walked her over to the couch, and stood in front of his friends. "Guys, you know Rachel," he said to them, and they nodded their heads. Finn turned to Rachel again, "Rachel, these are a couple of my friends from the team." He motioned to the blonde friendly one, "This is Sam." Next he motioned to the one sporting a Mohawk where his hair was supposed to be, "And this is Puck."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Rachel said to Sam and Puck, shaking each of their hands.
"You too," Sam replied, shaking her hand. "It's really cool that you're helping Finn out like this. He really needed a stronger fan base before the first game, especially with him being the quarterback, and it's actually been working out well since you came along."
"Yeah, there's nothing like running out onto the field and hearing people cheering your name. It's quite the confidence booster," Puck said.
"Well, then it's my pleasure," Rachel replied, sitting down on the couch next to Sam, motioning for Finn to sit next to her. She smiled when he did before turning back to Puck and Sam. "So, did you two know Finn before he joined the team?"
"Yeah," Finn said, causing Rachel to turn to face him again. "Puck and I actually grew up together."
"Oh, really?" Rachel asked him.
"Yep," Puck said, "when I heard we were shopping for a new quarterback, I told coach that I knew just who to call."
"That's nice," Rachel commented. "Did you know them beforehand too?" She asked Sam.
Sam nodded, "I knew them before Finn joined the team, but not that long before. My girlfriend and Finn's girlfriend are friends."
Rachel nodded, recalling Finn's story on how he met Quinn.
"Speaking of my girlfriend," Sam said, looking around him, "where did she and Quinn run off to now?"
"They're upstairs," a voice said.
Rachel turned her head to see where the unknown voice was coming from. She watched as a guy wearing the most unique outfit she had ever seen walked into the room. His hair was styles perfectly and he had his nose stuffed into his phone. He glanced up, and his eyes widened as they made contact with Rachel's.
"Rachel Berry?" he asked, putting his phone in his pocket and quickly approaching Rachel. "You made it!"
Rachel gave Finn a questioning look as she suddenly found herself shaking hands with the mystery man.
"Rachel, this is my stepbrother, Kurt," Finn said.
"Oh," Rachel said, turning back to the man in front of her. "You're Kurt? It's so nice to meet you!"
"No, no," Kurt replied, "The pleasure is all mine." Kurt took a seat on the couch as well. "When Finn said that you were pretending to be his new girlfriend, I just couldn't believe it! I must say, I adore your work on Broadway."
"Thank you," Rachel said with a smile. "But I must say, it's astounding that you're a costume designer on Broadway! That must be incredible. I can't imagine the kind of people you get to meet."
"Well, to put it honestly, the people I meet are just like you," Kurt said. "You are the newest and biggest face of show business."
Before Kurt and Rachel could continue their chat, Carole came into the living room and clapped her hands together. "Okay, everyone, come outside! It's time to eat!"
"Finally!" Puck and Sam both exclaimed at the same time, practically running out the door.
Kurt stood up with Finn and Rachel, "You are just going to love the food here, Rachel. It's to die for."
Rachel smiled, "Before I go out, do you mind pointing me towards the bathroom?"
"Oh, yeah," Finn said, "I think my uncle's in the main floor one so you'll have to go upstairs. You can use the one in my old bedroom. It's the third door on the right."
"Thanks, Finn," Rachel said. "I'll see the two of you outside in a few minutes." She turned around and started to walk up the long staircase, finding herself in a long hallway. She smiled as she saw pictures of both Finn and Kurt when they were younger lining the walls.
As she passed the second door on the right, she stopped, because she heard a new set of voices coming from inside the room. The door was barely cracked open, and Rachel peaked in, looking to see if she knew the people who were occupying the room.
Inside, Rachel saw two girls, sitting side by side on a couch. The girl on the left had long, gorgeous dark colored hair, and the girl on the right was shorter blonde hair. Rachel leaned in closer, allowing her to hear what the two girls were saying.
"You know he's only doing it to help out his career," the darker haired girl said. "Finn would never hurt you intentionally."
"Yes, I know that," the blonde girl replied, "It's just a little unsettling to wake up and see pictures of my boyfriend lip locking with some other girl."
It wasn't hard for Rachel to put two and two together from the little information they had already given her. The two girls in the room were the girlfriends of Finn and Sam. Quinn on the right and Sam's girlfriend, she thought she heard him mention the name Santana, on the left.
"Still, the girl named Santana said, "You shouldn't have done what you did. What do you think Finn's going to do when he finds out?"
"Nothing, because he's not going to find out," Quinn said. "He can't find out. It'll ruin everything. We're just going to go on with our lives like nothing ever even happened."
"You don't have to worry about me spilling anything," Santana said. "But you have to remember that I'm not the only one who knows. How are you going to keep Puckerman quiet?"
"You don't think he'd say anything, do you?" Quinn asked, looking nervous.
"Quinnie, that boy could barely keep Sam's surprise birthday party last year a secret. You really think he'll keep the fact that you slept with him a secret?"
Rachel's eyes widened and she quickly stepped back from the door, processing all this new information.
Quinn cheated on Finn.
Quinn cheated on Finn.
Quinn cheated on… Finn.
Oh crap.
Review :)
For the reader requesting a scene from Finn's point of view, thank you for the suggestion, but I'm not a big fan of writing from a guy's perspective, simply because it's harder for me to get into character. However, soon enough Finn will tell Rachel exactly how he feels, so don't worry, the answers you are requesting are coming up shorty :)