Thank you to all my faithful readers! I don't own Glee or the characters.
Rachel sipped her water while she waited for Finn to join her for lunch. She wondered what he was so excited about that he insisted she meet him at the little café on the corner for lunch. His phone call was so frantic she barely understood half of what he said. Kurt was supposed to have taken Finn on a small sight-seeing excursion, while she followed up with a few prospective employers, but now here she was waiting to find out just what was so important. She spotted him coming through the door of the café, Kurt tagging along behind him with a broad scowl on his face. Rachel waved them over to the table. Finn planted a kiss on her forehead before taking the seat across from her, while Kurt slumped down in a seat in between them both.
"Hey you." Rachel smiled. "So, why the sudden lunch plans?"
"Maybe I just want to enjoy my girlfriend's company." Finn grinned. Kurt sighed loudly, folding his arms across his chest.
"You might as well tell her now, Finn." Kurt groaned, flipping idly through the menu the waiter handed him.
"Tell me what?" Rachel asked, looking from Finn to Kurt and then back to Finn.
"Well Kurt took me to a few touristy places today. We got to see some cool stuff and frankly some really weird stuff." Finn wrinkled his nose. "We went to some gallery that he said I just had to go to. Do you know they have some naked sculptures in there? I guess I was the only one embarrassed by that, because no one else seemed to mind."
"It was art Finn, exquisite art I might add." Kurt interrupted, closing his menu, satisfied with his choice of fare.
"Anyways." Finn rolled his eyes at Kurt and continued. "We went to Central Park too. It was really crowded though, which I can't understand how that's possible on a weekday…"
"I'm truly growing old waiting for you to tell her the really important part of this. Tell her about the music store." Kurt urged. The waiter returned for their order, interrupting Finn's narrative.
"Ok, where was I?" Finn asked, creasing his forehead in thought, once the waiter disappeared. Rachel stared at him intently, waiting for him to finish, while Kurt simply toyed with the straw in his glass of water.
"Music store." Kurt reminded him.
"Oh yeah, so on the way back to the apartment, we passed this funky looking music store. I wanted to stop and check it out, but Mr. Party Pooper over there said it was resulting."
"Revolting Finn, I said it was revolting." Kurt leaned over towards Rachel, whispering. "It looked quite vile from the outside."
"Well I dragged him in anyways." Finn said proudly. Rachel watched Kurt's face turn back into a scowl.
"I'm pretty sure I should burn these clothes after being in there." Kurt spat.
"So, what is so great about this music store?" Rachel asked, the suspense killing her.
"Not so much the store, but what happened inside." Finn said. "The guy who works in there introduced himself and we got to talking about music and stuff. He plays guitar, so I told him I play drums. Then…get this, he tells me he's in a band with two other guys and they're looking for a drummer. A drummer, Rachel." Finn gave her a smug grin.
"They want you in the band?" Rachel squealed loudly, perched on the edge of her seat. Kurt looked around to see if anyone noticed her shrill. Finn shrugged, taking a small sip of his iced tea.
"Derek…that's the guitarist, he wants me to come by his place this weekend and meet the other guys. I'll play a little for them and see if they like me." Finn explained. "They mostly play local bars and clubs, but it'll get my foot in the door. This is what I've always wanted."
"Oh my gosh Finn, I'm so excited. A real band. But wait, what about when school starts? How will you juggle classes, rehearsals, and performances?" Rachel asked. Kurt raised an eyebrow, waiting for his brother's response. Finn's shoulders slumped, dropping his head slightly.
"I guess I'll see what happens." He said softly, gently nudging Kurt's shin with his foot under the table. Kurt let out a faint howl, leaning down to rub his injured shin. Rachel flashed him a puzzled look. Luckily the waiter returned with their food before Kurt had to further explain his actions.
"Well, I for one am so proud of you, Finn. You've only been here a few short days and you've possibly already lined up work on top of starting school in just mere months." Rachel hoped he wouldn't notice the slight tinge of jealousy in her tone.
"Yes, we're all so proud of you Finn." Kurt mocked. Finn shot Kurt a disapproving look, which Kurt ignored, instead digging into his grilled chicken salad.
"So how did your follow ups go today?" Finn asked, but quickly regretted it when he saw Rachel's face drop.
"I'd rather not talk about it really. I prefer to concentrate on your good news instead." She managed a smile, even though her heart secretly ached at the thought of the failure she had endured that day. She wouldn't ruin Finn's euphoric mood. She had been on countless job interviews and had even poked around a couple of community theaters over the last week, but with no luck. Kurt had gotten the job at the boutique; Finn had scored this band gig, even Blaine had landed a summer internship. It seemed things were working out for everyone, except her, the one person whose heart belonged to New York first.