DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy. :)

A/N: Oh the joys of A/U and parallel universes! The Minsk is in heaven! And the two stars-to-be are about to meet!

Casting Call

Chapter Two: Ohio Meets Broadway

It took Finn almost five whole days to drive from Ohio to Los Angeles. He barely slept the entire trip, and he probably broke every traffic law ever written; but he'd made it to the hotel in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, exhausted and filthy. Motels had been out of the question, seeing as he'd had about 75 bucks in his pocket, tops.

Pulling up in front of the most expensive and luxurious place he'd probably ever sleep, he dug through the scattered maps and papers on his passenger seat to pull out his hotel reservation. The secretary had e-mailed him the reservation along with the script excerpts and layout for the audition process. He barely had the time to memorize the dialogue, but what he had memorized had stuck in his head like glue. He had been sent the excerpts for two characters; the wheelchair kid, and the star quarterback. As much as he would like to daydream about playing the starring role, he knew from the character description that he would be the male lead of the glee club; a part that relied very heavily on singing and dancing chops.

And he had neither.

But a kid in a wheelchair? That he could do. If you can't walk, you can't dance. He would memorize the dialogue for both, just in case. A guy could dream.

A man knocked on his window, and asked for his keys so he could valet his car. Finn, being the small-town boy where the cow to person ratio was 2:1, had to ask the guy twice why he couldn't park his own car. The look he gave Finn made him question his own sanity. He got out of his car and pulled out the stuff he'd need for the audition the next day. Awkwardly juggling the paperwork and luggage, he walked into the posh lobby and lurched towards the front desk.

The woman at the desk, who was more tan and more blonde than any girl he'd ever seen, looked at him like he was a fly in her soup. "Can I help you?"

"Um, yeah. I have a reservation. Under Finn Hudson." The woman raised her eyebrow in disbelief and searched through the computer for the name. "Ah, yes, part of the FOX parade. Here's your key. Your room is 415." He cringed internally at her attitude. He definitely was not in Ohio anymore. And what had she meant by "the FOX parade?"

He'd realized what the nasty lady had meant when he walked by the lounge on his way to the elevator. It was filled with young people; all chatting and mingling, excited to have received a call back. He blanched at the number of people he saw. It was probably about a hundred people. For five or six roles.

Maybe he hadn't been so special after all.

No! Don't think that, Hudson! He screamed at himself, trying to be optimistic. There had to be something that had separated him from all the rest of these people. He hadn't driven across an entire country just to get intimidated the day before the audition! He needed to get back to memorizing the script. He avoided the fray and headed straight towards his room, where he was expecting a hot shower, and a long read-through of the material.

What he hadn't expected, was a room-mate.

He walked into the room and immediately saw a shirtless guy with a mohawk, lifting weights on the bed the closest to the window. Finn should have realized that with this many people, FOX would have had to double up the rooms. Dropping his luggage next to the free bed, the other guy turned around and gave Finn a good once-over. He stood up and reached out a hand.

"Hey. I'm Noah. The guys in my frat called me Puck in college, though. I like that better."

"I'm Finn, nice to meet you."

"So what part of the nation did they pull your tall ass out of?"

Finn laughed for the first time in five days. "Lima, Ohio. Loserville, USA."

"Nice. I'm from right outside Dallas. Why do I have a feeling we've both tipped cows before?"

"My record in high school was 35."

"Mine was 50."

"Impressive. Right now I smell like a cow. I drove all the way from Lima to LA without a shower."

"Get on that, dude. You reek like a mo-fo."

Finn laughed on his way to the shower. At least this Puck dude didn't seem half bad.

That night he'd spent the evening running lines with Puck. He was auditioning for almost the same roles as Finn was, except Puck was more ambitious. He had brought his guitar with him, and the guy could sing and play. Finn had felt a little intimidated, until it had come to the acting. Finn definitely had Puck on the acting skills. Acting just seemed to come naturally to him.

In the morning, the prospective candidates had to meet in the grand hall and take shuttle buses to the lot depending on the scheduled time of their audition. Puck's audition wasn't until 2, so Finn went on the bus alone. He'd overheard many people gossiping over the celebrities that were auditioning for some of the roles. They had bounced around names of people he knew, and others he didn't. He tried not to let it get to him.

The shuttle bus pulled onto a lot and Finn followed the people into the building where he would have to give the performance of his life. He had picked out the perfect song he could sing for the musical part of the audition, and repeated the dialogue he'd memorized in his head like a prayer. He was given a number, and told to wait in the little lobby. He went into the back corner, away from all the other people, in order to clear his head.

He was here, in Los Angeles, preparing to audition for a television show. Him, Finn Hudson, from Bumblefuck, Nowhere.

He took a deep breath. He was ready.

Rachel Berry pulled her sunglasses onto her face while fixing her hair in the tinted windows of the car Herman had reserved for her. She had been quite happy with the hotel he'd gotten them too. It wasn't the Chateau Marmont or anything, but it had made her feel like a star.

And she would be a real star soon, if she landed this role.

Her car pulled into the lot and she went over the dialogue in her head over, and over again. She had memorized the entire script, preparing for any role they could ask her to read for. She was hoping to secure the lead as the sassy diva. She had he most singing roles, and the romantic interest in whoever they casted as the male lead. But she wouldn't think about boys now. Today was her big chance, her big moment.

She walked into the small building, and blanched when she saw that she would have to wait along with the random people that had been given the opportunity to be cast in the role that had practically been written for her. She kept her sunglasses on, even inside, to keep up her celebrity appearance. She marched right up to the receptionist and said a little louder than necessary, "Good Morning, I'm Rachel Berry." Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw some of the people turn in her direction, pointing and whispering. A-ha! Validation of her own stardom!

The receptionist gave her a pleasant smile. "Please wait in the lobby Ms. Berry. Ryan and Brad will want to see you soon." Rachel nodded and walked towards the back of the lobby, trying to avoid the gawking people. She found an area where the only person around was a tall guy with his head in his hands. She sat down and crossed her legs. He barely spared a glance at her and she hadn't seen his face. She frowned. He hadn't recognized her.

She sighed. She had to drop the diva act for today. She was probably the only person in the Broadway community who didn't go out to parties and events for social networking. Rachel Berry might have had the skills to belt a high F, but she had enough social prowess to fill a thimble. She needed to make friends in Hollywood if she wanted to get anywhere. She would practice with this guy, who looked a bit old to play a high school kid. Maybe he was auditioning to be one of the teachers?

"Hey." The guy looked at her, and she removed her glasses so she could see him clearly. She almost had to do a double-take. She hadn't expected him to be so handsome. She'd thought that because he was so tall he must've been old, but she'd been wrong. His face had a boyish, youthful charm to it that made her heart flutter in her chest like a 16-year-old with a crush. His eyes were deep brown, and filled with worry. He sat up straight, and stretched his long limbs forward. He had to be over six feet tall! She composed herself and shook away the fluttery feelings in her chest. "You nervous?"

He laughed, a throaty chuckle that eased the nervousness out of his face. "Can you tell? I'm about to lose it."

She smiled, and was surprised at how easy it was to talk to him. It was never this easy to talk to people who were in the business. Which meant he probably wasn't in the business. "Is this your first time at the rodeo, cowboy?"

He turned his body towards her and she felt his eyes sweeping over her body to take in her full appearance. He smiled warmly at her and rubbed the back of his head with his hand. "Am I that easy to read?"

"Where are you from?"

"Lima, Ohio." Wow, they sure plucked these people out of nowhere! "You?"

She puffed out her chest, forgetting that she was trying to be modest. "New York City. I'm a Broadway actress. Auditioning is a part of life for me." She noticed the slight frown on his handsome face, and back-tracked. "But I still sometimes get nervous. I'm nervous today." Actually, she had been more confident than nervous, but talking with this adorably cute guy, minutes before the audition of her life, was making her anxious.

"Really? But you have nothing to worry about! You can dance, sing, and act. I can barely do two out of three. I'm starting to wonder why they chose me at all." She felt a rush of indignation that this cute guy was one of the people who was under-qualified for a role, but after years of being in the business she knew one thing: You can never pass up a pretty face. And this guy had the face of a real star. She could feel it just by looking at him; he had something about him that was different. But she didn't say anything, not knowing anything about his talent. He could be an amazing singer and not just a pretty face. A girl could dream.

"So what's your name, Ohio?"

He grinned brilliantly and she felt her stomach drop into her knees. What the hell was wrong with her? She'd been in shows with some of the most beautiful people she'd ever seen and had never reverted to a silly girl like this before! "Finn. Finn Hudson. And you, Broadway?"

"Rachel Berry. Remember it now, because one day you'll be telling your grandchildren about the day you met me. Of course, I'll have more platinum albums and awards then, so it will be a much bigger deal." Rachel was not stupid. She knew how abrasive and egotistical she could be; It was just a part of who she was. Most of the time people would find a reason to run away screaming from her after she'd said something like that.

Finn, though. . . Finn Hudson from Lima, Ohio, just smiled and nodded. "You bet I will."

Her heart seized in her chest and then restarted with an erratic rhythm that left her dumbstruck. The receptionist peeked her head back ito the secluded space and smiled pleasantly at Finn.

"Finn Hudson? Mr. Murphy will see you now." Finn's eyes looked like they were about to bug out of his face, and he looked at her like a deer in the headlights. She realized then that she hadn't been nervous for her own audition, she'd been nervous for his. She wanted him to nail it, she wanted him to go on to the next set of call-backs.

She wanted the opportunity to know this Finn Hudson from Lima, Ohio. She may not ever see him again.

She couldn't resist placing a small hand onto his large, clenched fist. She looked at him calmly, and she could feel the tension easing out of him. "Good luck, Ohio." She must have said that line a million times throughout her life in the theatre, but she had never meant it more than in that very moment.

He took a deep breath and gave her a shaky smile. "Thanks, Broadway."

He got up and followed the receptionist into the audition room. She crossed her fingers for him, and hoped she would get the chance to see him again after today.

After a few minutes of thinking about the cute boy she'd had an actual normal conversation with, she focused on breathing exercises to calm herself before her audition.

Finn might have been in doubt of his own talents, but Rachel was not. She was a star; always had been, always will be.

And she was ready.

Finn exited the audition room, shaking like a leaf and sweating like a pig. His vision was blurry, and he thought he might cry.

He'd been asked to stay.

He was heading for a special green room. Most of the people he saw coming into the building had been escorted out of the lot by security guards and loaded right back onto the bus. Not Finn. He'd been directed through a different door, and now had to wait through the rest of the day's auditions to have the read-through with the other actors.

To say he was ecstatic would be an understatement. He was pretty sure words didn't exist to describe what he was feeling.

The second he'd walked into the room, he knew he was going to nail the audition. He didn't know why, he'd just felt it. It was a crazy mix of confidence and adrenaline, and he subsequently nailed his song, and the read through of the parts. In fact, the producers had him read more lines for the quarterback than the wheelchair kid, but he assumed that was because the footballer had more dialogue.

So he walked into the green room and slumped into one of the vacant seats. There were only a handful of people here, and only a few others trickled into the room as the time passed.

One person he didn't see, though, was Broadway. Uh, Rachel. Rachel Berry the Broadway star. He couldn't believe he had talked to a real celebrity. He hadn't known she was a celebrity, and Broadway definitely wasn't his thing, but she was different than the other people he'd met so far in LA. Well, she had the same fancy clothes and a bit of an attitude, but there had been something else. She had kind of inspired him a little bit before his audition. Being in her presence, he wanted to prove to her he had what it took to be an actor. He wanted to see her again, to show her he was actually talented and not a cow-tipping loser. It had feuled his adrenaline during his audition.

He relaxed into his chair and thought about the brunette actress. She was pretty, but in an unconventional way. She was petite, with olive skin and dark hair. Her eyes were a deep, chestnut brown, and they'd mesmerized him once she'd taken off her sunglasses. The most prominent feature on her face, though, was her nose; a bit too large for standard beauty, but endearing nonetheless. And she'd actually been nice. He could sense a bit of an ego trip, but that's to be expected from people in the business, right? If he became a celebrity, would he ever get a big ego? He shook his head furiously at the thought of him ever being full of himself or having an attitude with fans. He promised himself at that moment if he was ever lucky enough to have fans, he would never let them down. He would be the nicest guy in Hollywood if it killed him!

Rachel Berry, though, was an actual star already. She was pretty and professional and probably had an agent and a publicist and all the things he could only ever hope to have. He wanted to hear her sing, so he could see what kind of talents a Broadway actress actually had. He'd never even been to New York. He sighed.

Well, at least he'd made it this far. He sat in the little green room and noticed when another person would come in and make themselves comfortable. He had a feeling he would be here for a while. He rested his head back against the wall and let the exhaustion of the morning consume him. While he was nodding off, he pictured himself and Rachel singing together on a Broadway stage, and let the image drift him off into a peaceful nap.

Salut mes amis!

The next round of auditions commences! The cast will soon be assembled!

Until Next Time. . . *sings* Don't Stop. . .Reviewing!

Merci Mille Fois

The Minsk