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: Sorry it took me so long to update, it's been a busy weekend! Only a few more chapters to go!
Casting Call
Chapter Twelve: Ultimatum
His vision was blurry as he stumbled down the streets lined with houses he would never be able to afford; no matter how many seasons Glee aired. He shouldn't have chugged that last beer he'd had at the bar; he wasn't drunk but he wasn't exactly sober either. His mind was a haze of emotions he couldn't sort out in his drunken state. He was angry, and pissed off, and fed up with the secrecy of their relationship. He needed to talk to Rachel and settle this once and for all.
He recognized her apartment in the dim lighting of the street, and marched up to her front door, pounding loudly. He didn't care that it was after 10 PM at night. And he really didn't care that he was making a ruckus in one of the most quietest and affluent areas he'd ever been to. All that mattered was Rachel.
"Rachel!" His fists beat up against the door loudly, and he could feel his anger boiling over the longer it took her to answer the door. He was starting to get desperate. "Rachel, it's Finn, let me in!"
He was screaming at the top of his lungs, and he continued to pound on her door like his life depended on it. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she opened the door.
"Finn? What are you doing here?" She looked around nervously, and he pushed right past her and let himself into her apartment without an invitation. Feeling frustrated, he started to pace around her spacious living room, and she looked on in shock.
"Finn, what's going on?" He scoffed at how nonchalant she sounded.
"What's going on? Have you heard the gossip, yet, Rachel? Hmm?" His voice was laced thick with sarcasm and she was taken aback by his attitude.
"Yes, I might have heard something about that today." She looked away from him, avoiding eye contact.
"Well? What are we going to do about it?" He stopped pacing and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "All of America thinks that you are dating Puck. Puck, of all people! We need to fix this."
She shrugged. "I don't really see what the big deal is."
"What do you mean, Rachel?"
"I mean, maybe we should just let this play out for itself. You have to admit, it serves as a pretty good cover for us. No one will suspect we're dating if they think I'm dating Puck. It kind of works out." Her eyes were pleading him to understand, but he couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. He felt like he'd been punched in the gut. She still wanted to hide their relationship. After all this time, and everything they'd been through, she still wanted to keep their relationship a secret.
"Are you serious?" His voice raised up an octave in incredulity. "You said you didn't want us to end up in the tabloids and you already are! You would rather have people think you're dating Puck, than admit that we've been having this affair for as long as we've known each other? This is unbelievable!"
"I don't see why you're so upset about this!"
He wanted to shake her. Could she really not see what this was doing to him? "Well let me break it down for you, Rachel!" He was flat-out screaming now, his throat burning under the strain of his vocal chords. "I am done with this shit! Finished." He could see her flinch at his screaming, but he ignored her and continued on with his rant. "Since day one, I have given you everything I could. I knew that you were out of my league, but I didn't care. I thought that you were the most amazingly stunning woman I had ever laid eyes on, and I was willing to sacrifice everything for you. All you had to do was say the words. Even when you screwed me over, I forgave you instantly, without question. When I pushed to tell people the truth about us, and all you wanted to do was keep us quiet, I gave in and played along. But not anymore."
He could see the tears falling down her gorgeous face. He wanted to sweep her up in his arms and kiss away her tears. But at the same time, he wanted her to feel the pain that he'd been through since they'd started hiding their affair. "W-What are you saying?" He could barely hear her through her sobs.
"I'm saying I can't be with you if you're not willing to admit that our love is real. I want this Puckleberry shit gone from the headlines. If we had taken the opportunity to come clean about our relationship when the cast had found out, then we wouldn't be in this mess, Rachel. People would have found a cool name for us, and screamed it on the streets. Like, Finchel, or something, I don't know. All I know is that the word Puckleberry makes my ears bleed. And if you don't clear up these rumors that you and him are together, I can't be with you anymore."
"But Finn. . ." She was bawling now, but he had to stand his ground. He always caved in for her. This time, he had to prove to her that he was serious. He cut her off rudely and turned to leave.
"I'm sorry, Rachel. But you were the one who wanted us to stay a secret. Now, you have to admit the truth."
He turned his back on her, ready to leave. He felt her small hand wrap around his clenched fist. Her voice was small, and she gasped in-between hiccups. "But, Finn, I love you." Her voice was so desperate he almost cracked. But he took a deep breath and hardened himself. Refusing to turn around, he said his peace.
"And I love you, too, Rachel. But you have before the next charity event to admit to the press that we've been dating, or else we are done." Without waiting to hear her response, he walked out her door into the dark night.
Rachel stood in her foyer, staring at the back of the man she loved more than anything.
The man who was giving her an ultimatum she couldn't handle.
She felt foolish for breaking down into hysterics in front of him, but she never would have imagined that he would take the Puckleberry debacle so hard. It was just a picture. And it was practically his fault the picture was set up the way it was. If it had been him in the towel, then the gossip mongers would be talking about Finchel on the news instead of Puckleberry.
But she knew that it was her fault that this had been dragged out for so long. He'd been right. If they had come clean months ago when the cast had found out, then they wouldn't be having these problems. In trying to protect them and their privacy from outside forces, she failed to see the damages being done to their relationship from the inside.
She watched as Finn walked out of her apartment into the breezy night. She wanted him to stay here, and wrap his arms around her to protect her from her pain. But he had given her a choice. And now she had a week to figure out how she would come clean about their affair.
She closed the door behind her, and was about to head for a relaxing shower when she heard a commotion in her front yard. She could hear people yelling, all men's voices, and she ran to her window to see what was going on. She almost screamed when she saw Finn, surrounded by paparazzi on all sides, snapping pictures of him leaving her house in the middle of the night.
"Get the hell away from me!" She could hear him yelling and trying to push through the cameras. Without thinking of the repercussions, she ran to the front door and pulled it open, startling the men with cameras and giving Finn the chance to escape.
"Leave him alone!" All of a sudden, flashes of light blinded her vision, and the men with cameras all moved forward to her front door.
"Rachel! Rachel! Is it really true? Are you seeing both co-stars?"
"Having a lover's quarrel? The neighbors said they'd heard fighting!"
"Which one do you prefer? Finn or Puck?"
The disorientating lights of the cameras made her mind go blank, and she screamed "NO COMMENT," before slamming the door in the faces of the paparazzi. She turned her back to the door and leaned against it, letting her butt slide unceremoniously to the ground. She let her head fall back against the door with a thud. That did not turn out as brilliantly as she thought it would.
Great. Perfect. Now the paps had pictures of her with Puck, and pictures of Finn leaving her apartment. There was no way of getting around this now. The truth had to come out one way or another. She should have just told the paps that she and Finn were actually dating. That would have saved her a lot of trouble.
Over the next few days, she thought of nothing but Finn and how she was going to tell people the truth about their relationship. Every time she turned on the TV or opened a magazine, she saw her face with a picture of either Puck or Finn. She'd seen headlines that read "Life Imitates Art on the Set of Glee," "Finn and Puck at Odds Over Rachel," "Finchel or Puckleberry? Vote on our Online Poll!" The whole thing was being blown way too out of proportion. She didn't know what to do. Should she hire a publicist? Make Herman tell the press?
No. She had to find a way to do it that would show Finn that she was serious about their relationship. She needed to prove that she cared about him just as much as he cared about her. He deserved a grand gesture, something that will show him and the whole world that she loved Finn Hudson and not Noah Puckerman.
And she had about three days to do so. Friday was the date of their next big charity event, and Finn had mentioned that the gala would be her deadline. She hadn't talked to Finn since then, but she was pretty sure he was still serious about this aspect of his ultimatum. Her heart clenched in her chest when she thought about losing Finn over her own cowardice. She would be damned if she let the best relationship of her life slip through her fingers because she didn't want to be tabloid fodder. It was too late for that anyway.
Suddenly, she was struck with a genius idea. She knew how she was going to tell the world about her and Finn.
But she needed Puck's help.
"Dude, I have told you for the millionth time, none of this was my fault!" Puck was screaming at Finn from the hallway and Finn placed a pillow over his head to block out his voice. He knew it wasn't his fault the picture got taken. Hell, if it was anyone's fault, it was Finn's for not going outside himself. But he could still blame him for being the one everyone was going crazy over. "You're on the news now, too, bro. I think this is hilarious; seeing as Rachel is probably the one chick in LA I haven't slept with, and everyone thinks we're picking out curtains together." Why couldn't he just go away?
"Are you still winning the online poll?" The sarcasm was dripping from his voice and Puck's silence was enough of an answer for him. Why did people think she was better off with Puck and not him? "This is bullshit, Puck. Why does it have to be you? I'm the one who's actually dating her!"
"Dude, have you even talked to her since last week? She's super upset about all this and she said you haven't been answering her calls. This is happening to her, too." Finn shot up out of bed and opened the door, to find an amused Puck running his hands through his mohawk.
"How the hell do you know that we haven't spoken since last week?"
Puck raised an eyebrow and fought back a smug look. "Oh, you'll find out. Tonight at the charity event."
Running his hands over his face, he couldn't stay mad at Puck anymore. None of this was his fault. "Why haven't I heard anything, yet? I thought she would have said something to the press by now. Maybe she really does want us to break up. End the affair." Overwhelming sadness crashed over him at the idea of breaking up with Rachel. How would he be able to work with her, knowing how much he loved her and longed for her touch. He would have to quit the show or something. . .it would be impossible to stay.
"Dude, you sound like such a woman. Don't underestimate Berry. She knows what she's doing. Now get dressed for the event. The car will be here in a half an hour."
Finn dejectedly went into his room to change for the event. The last thing he wanted was to be exposed to the press and the paparazzi tonight. All he wanted to do was to hide away from the people who had made his life a living hell. But he had to perform for charity, and cancer research was important. He would suffer through tonight; he had to. He had to know if Rachel was really serious about admitting their affair.
The car pulled up to the apartment at 7pm sharp. Finn and Puck hopped in to find it filled with all the cast members who would be performing tonight. The group was performing one number, then both Rachel and Will got their own performance slots. Each performer was being auctioned off to raise money, so whomever "bought" the cast for the highest amount would be able to hear the song of their choice. He prayed that whoever paid for the cast of Glee would request "Somebody to Love" instead of "Don't Stop Believin.'" It would be torture to sing that song with Rachel tonight.
He didn't make eye contact with her throughout the entire ride. It was already difficult enough trying to restrain himself from leaning across the car and ripping her stunningly beautiful, and terribly expensive, dress off of her. She really knew how to dress for these events. She looked like she just hopped out of the pages of Vogue magazine.
When the car pulled up, the cast had to do their standard walk down the red carpet. Finn tried to avoid being interviewed, and instead signed pictures for the fans who had gathered outside of the event. He noticed Rachel being interviewed out of the corner of his eye. What was she saying? Was she telling the reporters the truth about them? He shook his head when he saw her walk away after a few moments. He doubted it.
When the cast entered the venue, they went backstage to change into their costumes for the performance. They sat on stage while the rich people in the audience offered to pay thousands of dollars to hear them sing. Finn's mouth dropped open in shock when an oil tycoon's daughter bought them for a whopping $20,000 dollars. She'd requested "Somebody To Love," and Finn secretly rejoiced as he went through the motions of the choreography. He was more than happy to be off the stage when the song was over. He changed and went right back to his seat, throwing back drink after drink. Now that he didn't have to sing anymore, he was going to get trashed.
His eyes were glued to the stage when they announced that "Broadway actress and Glee star, Rachel Berry" would be performing next. She sat on a stool on the stage while the bidding began. People called out figures by the thousands, and Finn was impressed when the last bid was almost 9500 dollars. The auctioneer was about to sell her performance to the Prime Minister of Canada when Rachel herself stood up and called out, "10,000 dollars!"
The venue erupted in gasps as Rachel bought her own performance for $10,000 dollars. Finn sat in the audience, dumbstruck and drunk, as Rachel walked forward and took the microphone from the auctioneer.
"Good evening, everyone. My name is Rachel Berry, from the FOX show Glee. I have a really good reason for buying my own performance, and I would like to share it with you." She dragged the stool over to center stage and made herself comfortable. "But first, I need to ask for help from a friend. Noah?"
Finn was seeing red as Puck came out on stage with his guitar. He pulled another stool up next to Rachel, and tuned the strings while Rachel continued with her speech. Finn wanted to run on stage and beat him to a bloody pulp. So much for clearing up all the Puckleberry rumors! "For those of you who don't know, this is Noah Puckerman, from the show as well. He offered to be my back up for this special performance." Rachel cleared her throat as Puck continued to tune the instrument. "I bought this performance because I wanted to sing a special song tonight for a special person. A song that no one would have let me sing. So, I'm sorry to the Prime Minister, but I owe you one. This song is for Finn Hudson." With this, Finn felt every eye in the room turn in his direction. His heart swelled with hope. "My co-star, my best-friend, and the love of my life."
From that moment on, Finn was completely detached from his surroundings. It felt like he was having an out-of-body-experience. The opening chords of Puck's intro filled the large venue, and Rachel's voice pierced his heart with the love he heard in her tone. He couldn't deny the tears welling in his eyes when the lyrics crashed over him.
Daydreamer, sitting on the sea
Soaking up the sun
He is a real lover, Making up the past
And feeling up his girl like he's never felt a figure before
A jaw dropper
Looks good when he walks,
He's the subject of their talk
He would be hard to chase, But good to catch
And he could change the world with his hands behind his back,
Oh
You can find him sitting on your doorstep
Waiting for a surprise
It will feel like he's been there for hours
And you can tell that he'll be there for life
Daydreamer, with eyes that make you melt
He lends his coat for shelter because he's there for you
When he shouldn't be
But he stays all the same, waits for you, then sees you through
There's no way I could describe him
All I say is, just what I'm hoping for
But I will find him sitting on my doorstep
Waiting for a surprise
It will feel like he's been there for hours
And I can tell that he'll be there for life
You can tell he'll be there for life
Before Rachel could even finish the last note of the song, Finn ran onto the stage and kissed her in front of an entire crowd of celebrities, politicians and rich people. Their haughty gasps were the last thing he heard, before sweeping Rachel off the stage, and escaping the venue like a bat out of hell with her in his arms.
Salut mes amis!
The song I chose is called "Daydreamer" by Adele. If you haven't heard the song before, please YouTube it. It is a gorgeous song, and it gives me the chills imagining Rachel's voice on the vocals.
Final chapter up next time! Until Then. . .*sings* Don't Stop. . .Reviewing!
Merci Mille Fois
The Minsk