DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. . . nor the actors who portray the characters. The characters are property of Ryan Murphy, and the actors are real people who have the best job in the world. This is purely for fun. Enjoy! :)

A/N: Just as Rachel and Finn start to get comfy together, life gets in the way. . . **CITRUS ALERT**

Casting Call

Chapter Seven: Party Down

After their first dance rehearsal, time started to move very fast for Finn and Rachel. They had started filming the pilot right away, and they'd been bouncing between the lot, the dance studio, and the recording studio at a break-neck pace. Sometimes they spent twelve to fourteen hour days together; other days they barely saw the other person.

But their nights always belonged to them. Finn would drive to Rachel's hotel and meet up with her to spend the night. In the mornings they made it seem like they carpooled together. At work they were all business, so no one had a reason to suspect anything.

The filming was going smoothly, for the most part. Rachel was still having problems with her diva behavior, and Finn had to remind her to keep her cool sometimes. They had filmed about half of the episode, when Finn found himself an apartment in LA. He decided to share it with Puck, in order to lower the cost of rent and utilities. He had finally cashed his stipend check, and used half of it for rent, and the other half for new clothes, furniture, and Anti-Inflammatory meds for his knee. It had been feeling much better after he got the pills, and he had been improving at dance rehearsals.

Living with Puck was a bit of a challenge, seeing as his bedroom served as a revolving door for women. But Finn wasn't around much at night, so he barely had to deal with it. The apartment was small, and it wasn't in the best part of LA, but it was all they could afford. He wished he could bring Rachel over for a date. They didn't have a dining room; hell, they barely had pots and pans, but he wanted to do something special for her. It would probably have to wait until filming was done. Maybe he would splurge and take her out to a restaurant.

One evening, after a long day of filming and recording in the studio, Rachel and Finn were collapsed on her hotel bed together, a tangle of limbs and a flurry of kisses. He pulled back from her and stroked her hair away of her face so he could look into her eyes.

"How come you haven't found a place in LA, yet? Shooting ends this Friday." Her eyes widened, and he could tell that he'd caught her off guard with the question. She looked away from him, and bit her lip in worry.

"Finn. . ." She took a deep breath and his heart started to pound ferociously. He didn't like the way she was avoiding looking at him. "My life is in New York." He froze with his hands on her face, his fingers resting on her silky skin.

"What?"

"I have an apartment in New York, and a career. If the pilot doesn't get picked up, I'm going to have to move back there. I haven't found a permanent place because I don't know if I'm going to stay."

He had to remind himself to breathe in that moment; the reality of their situation had crashed around him and his heart ached to think that she would leave to go back to New York with him in LA.

"But what about us?" I sound pathetic, he thought to himself. He was practically whimpering and he felt like a kicked puppy. She cuddled closer to him and kissed him deeply. It barely assuaged his fears.

"I don't know, but we can't think of that now." He nodded his head and tried to block out the idea that he'd be stuck in LA without her. "There's something else I have to tell you about New York."

Uh-oh. He had a bad feeling about this.

"When the filming ends on Friday, I have to go back. I'd been asked to fill in for a role for three weeks in this play, and I'd said yes before even coming here. I can't get out of it now. If the pilot gets picked up, I'll come back. But If it doesn't, I'll be staying in New York for good."

He pulled away from her in shock and sat up in bed, rubbing his hands over his face in disbelief. "You're leaving in two days and you might not come back?"

"I'm so sorry Finn!"

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

"I didn't know how to tell you without hurting you. I don't want to go, but I have to." She crawled over to him and he tried in vain to avoid looking at her face. Unfortunately for him, her beauty always had the power to disarm him, and he lost himself in the depths of her chocolate brown eyes. "And if the show gets picked up, someone has to clean out all my stuff and pack away all my clothes and shoes. . ." She left the sentence in the air, and his spirits had almost been lifted.

"You'll move to LA if the show gets picked up?" He hated sounding so vulnerable. She had him wrapped around her finger in the worst way. Placing a soft kiss on her lips, he couldn't stop himself from grabbing her into his arms and holding her for dear life. "You promise?"

Placing her lips over his in a soft caress, she whispered into his mouth, "I promise."

He groaned as their lips mashed together in a passionate kiss that left him blazing with need. He lifted her up into his arms and laid her back down onto the sheets; softly, delicately, as if she could break. Hungrily, he explored her mouth, parting her lips and slipping his tongue inside to taste every part of her. She mewled in pleasure when he dipped his hands under her blouse and removed her bra, caressing the satiny smooth skin of her breasts. He fondled her while she reached over to free him from his boxers, and he pulsed and throbbed with need while she stroked him into a frenzy.

His breathing was shallow while her hands caressed him. Removing her hands from him, he pushed her down onto the bed, trapping her under his large frame. She looked up at him with lust blazing in her eyes, and he marveled at the vision of her underneath him. He would never get tired of seeing her like this. He put on a condom while she laid underneath him, shaking with want. As he slipped into her, feeling her tightness around him, he knew in his heart that never wanted their affair to stop. While pounding into her, it was easy to forget that she had her own life in New York. A life that had nothing to do with small-town boys from Ohio. But, while he was inside of her and she was surrounding him, it was easier to believe the world revolved around Finn and Rachel, and no one else.

Looking down at her from his position, he felt his heart seize in his chest when he thought about a life in LA without her. How could he live knowing what it was like to touch her, to feel her? What would happen to him in this vicious town without her guidance and advice?

She cried out his name and he saw a look of pure adoration cross over her features. She looked up at him with hooded eyes as she continued to moan and writhe underneath him. She was so beautiful it made his heart hurt. In that very moment, he knew he was in love with her.

And he had to say goodbye to her in two days. Maybe for forever.

She screamed his name once more, and he felt her clench around him in an action that pushed him over the edge as well. He spilled into the condom, but didn't want to pull out of her. He didn't want to lose the connection he felt with her at that very moment. He wanted to stay a part of her forever and never let her go.

But he pulled out of her anyway, and went straight to the bathroom to hide the fact that he was pretty much crying like a pussy. Sex had never made him cry before, ever, but this time it had been different.

He'd never been in love with someone who was going to leave him in 48 hours.

Rachel watched in confusion as Finn pulled out of her and went straight for the bathroom. He normally wasn't like that; he was an affectionate cuddler after sex, something she loved more than anything. She sat up and wrapped her robe around her, waiting for him to return. She sighed. She could tell he was upset about her leaving. She knew she was going to wind up hurting this poor boy.

It's not like she wanted to leave! She had made the deal to understudy this role right before she had left for LA. How was she supposed to have known that she would meet the most adorable, vulnerable, genuine guy she'd ever laid eyes on. Things like that just didn't happen to her.

No matter what, she had to leave. Whether or not she was coming back was up to the network heads who decided on the pilots. If Glee was picked up, she'd be gone for three weeks.

If it didn't get picked up, their affair would have to end for good.

She felt her heart clenching in her chest at the thought of breaking it off with Finn. She had become quite attached to him over the past few weeks, and she could feel herself falling deeper and deeper for him with every day that passed.

He was upset. But she was hurting, too.

He came back to bed after a little while. His eyes were red, and they looked puffy. Realizing that he'd been crying, she pulled him towards her in a tight embrace. He buried his face in her naked chest and cried. She kissed him on the forehead and cried even harder.

The next two days passed by so fast she could barely remember what had happened. She needed to end their time together on a positive note, no matter what happened to them in the future.

So she decided to have a cast party in her hotel room on the final night of shooting. She had hired the hotel staff to accommodate the room with food and drinks, and she asked the whole cast and crew to attend. She rented a karaoke machine, and had a party crew come in and make her posh hotel suite look like a dance club.

To say that Finn was shocked was an understatement.

"You turned your hotel room into a dance club? Rachel, you said you hated clubs! And dance music. And glow-sticks."

She shook her head with a smile. "I never said I hated clubs, I said I have never been out to a club. This time, I brought the club to me. If I come back," She couldn't ignore the wince on Finn's face when she'd said 'if', "you can bring me to my first real club."

He shook his head in disbelief, "Rachel, why are you doing this?"

She shrugged and continued to set up her room for the party. "I wanted our last night together to be something we'd remember. And I wanted the cast to be here, so I'll always remember the time when I had everything. Friends, a good job," she hesitated and tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear, "someone who loved me." She let the words hang in the air. They hadn't ever said the 'l' word before. Hell, they had never even referred to the other as a boyfriend/girlfriend before tonight. But there was no tomorrow for them. She had nothing to lose. She felt him come up behind her, and he wrapped an arm tightly around her waist, holding her close to him.

"You know it's true, right?" He never said the word, but she knew what he'd meant. She nodded. "I do, Rachel, I l-" She turned around quickly and covered his mouth with her hand, not allowing him to say the word she so desperately wanted to hear. She couldn't bear to hear him say it, not before she was leaving.

"I know, Finn, I know." She took deep breaths to try and calm her racing heart. He looked down at her with questions burning behind his eyes.

"Do you feel it, too?"

"Yes." Was all she said, and it felt like the air had grown thick around them. She could barely breathe as he stared at her, and she was about to meet his lips in a blazing kiss when she got a knock on her hotel door. She answered it, and hotel associates came in and stocked the room full of alcohol and food. Finn was distracted by the preparation for the party, and Rachel readied herself to become the best hostess any cast party would ever have.

"Drink!" Rachel screamed as the little ball landed into the half-filled cup of beer. Finn lifted the ball out of the cup and raised it to his lips, downing the bitter liquid in one huge gulp. He could have sworn she was cheating somehow. He had been the Lima Beer Pong Champion of his high school class, and he was losing to a 100-pound girl who had never played before in her life! How could she be so good at everything?

The glowing smile on her face warmed his heart to no end. The party was wonderful. Everyone in the cast had shown up, even though they'd been surprised it'd been Rachel who'd decided to throw the party. But they had all made it, and he knew that Rachel was feeling pretty good about herself.

He wished he could say the same thing.

Finn felt terrible, and the fact that this was the last time he might ever see Rachel was the reason he hadn't drunk himself into a coma already. But he would not allow himself to get wasted and miss a second with her. She had thrown this party with him in mind, and he wanted to make this night just as memorable for her as it was for him.

He placed the empty cup down on the table, and readied the ping-pong ball for an offensive attack. Rachel squeaked in delight when the ball bounced off of the rim of the cup, and he laughed when she chased after it. He sighed. They had basically confessed their love for each other, not even three hours ago, and she would be on a plane in about six more. He'd spent the last two days asking Ryan questions about the pilot-screening process and their chances for getting picked up. Ryan had said it was a difficult process, and mentioned that he'd been through three other pilots before Glee since Nip/Tuck. That made him more than a little nervous. He was starting to lose hope he'd ever see her again after tonight.

He wanted to say the words to her, though. I love you. She hadn't allowed him to say it before, and now that she knew how he felt, all he wanted to do was scream it from the mountaintops. But what good would it serve now? It's not like she would stay.

The party continued on into the early hours of the morning, and Rachel had to catch her flight at 6AM. He wasn't staying the night. He would have to say goodbye now, once the other guests left.

Luckily for him, Puck had left the party with some girls from the crew, and he didn't have to worry about bringing him home. He waited until every guest had left, and Rachel had basically collapsed into his arms in exhaustion.

"You want me to bring you to bed? You might be able to get a two hour nap in before your car picks you up."

"Nah, I have to pack anyway. I have a lot of stuff."

"Yeah." An awkward silence filled the air, and he held her body tighter to his, not wanting to let her go.

"I'll call you, you know?" He looked down at her and her eyes were filled with hope.

"Rachel, I-" He wanted to tell her he loved her. He hoped that if he said it, she would give up on New York and live in his crappy apartment with him and Puck, playing guitar hero and drinking beer. Then he remembered that, Glee or no Glee, he was still a small town Ohio boy. And she was still a Broadway star. "I'm going to miss you, so much."

She nodded her head and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "Me too."

He gathered his things and she walked him to the door. He embraced her in a final crushing hug, and took a good long look at her, soaking in all of her beauty so he could burn it into his brain.

"Goodbye, Ohio." He felt like his heart was being crushed in his chest, but he forced a smile onto his face for her benefit, and choked out the only goodbye he could think of.

"See you, Broadway."

Salut mes amis!

Rachel has gone back to New York! Will Glee get picked up? What will happen if the lovers are reunited?

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

Merci Mille Fois

The Minsk