Thank you for my faithful readers. You feed my muse!
Kurt sipped his coffee slowly, the steam rising slowly from the cup. From the small table he could see the pillow and blanket Finn had left haphazardly on the couch. Rachel had left earlier for work, so the running water in the bathroom let Kurt know that Finn hadn't crawled back into bed after she left. He tapped his foot nervously, scrolling through his phone, patiently waiting for Blaine's ritual early morning text.
"She left already." Kurt said without even looking up. He didn't have to; he could feel Finn staring at him from the other side of the table. Finn stood awkwardly, running a towel through his wet head roughly.
"Is she still upset?" Finn asked.
"You slept on the couch didn't you?" Kurt raised an eyebrow, before casting Finn a sideways glance. Finn sighed heavily, throwing the towel over his shoulder.
"For what it's worth, I wasn't flirting with that girl nor am I interested in her." He called out, stalking over to the couch and snatching up the pillow and blanket.
"I believe you." Kurt said, softly.
"Well then why can't Rachel?" Finn yelled out from the bedroom. In frustration, he simply threw the pillow and blanket on the bed and headed back out to the kitchen. He rooted through the cabinets noisily, searching for his favorite coffee cup.
"You know Rachel. She'll come around." Kurt said, smiling as Blaine's text popped up on his screen.
"Correction. I thought I knew Rachel. I've never seen her react like that." Finn said, scooping a generous amount of sugar into his prized OSU mug.
"Just give her some time." Kurt said, taking a quick sip of his coffee.
"You think so?" Finn looked puzzled. He came around the corner, taking a seat across from Kurt. He watched as Kurt's fingers blazed across the keyboard of his phone, a playful smirk plastered across his mouth.
"Look Finn, being here has been a hard transition for us all whether you want to admit it or not." Kurt sighed, laying his phone on the table gently. "More so for Rachel, I'd venture to guess."
"You think this has been harder on Rachel?" Finn asked.
"Well, first off she won't admit to her dads that you two are living together." Kurt held up one finger, followed by a second. "And secondly, it took her longer than any of us to find a job. A job she's not too happy with if you haven't noticed."
"But I thought she liked her job" Finn said, sheepishly.
Kurt shook his head. "It's certainly not her dream job. And she didn't get into her dream school. Sure NYU Steinhardt is a terrific school for music, but it's her second choice. My second choice."
Finn thought back to the day Rachel had received her rejection letter from NYADA. She was too nervous to open the envelope, instead thrusting it into Finn's lap.
"Here." She said. "I'm not sure I can take the suspense."
Finn had carefully torn the seal of the envelope, revealing a crisp piece of paper with some sort of official seal at the top. His eyes scanned over the paper, his smile turning quickly into a frown as he read the words to himself.
"Well?" Rachel seemed hopeful, blissfully unaware of the frown on Finn's face. Finn's throat went dry, he tried swallowing several times to no avail.
"It, uh, it says…" He wasn't even sure how to finish the sentence. He didn't want to be the one to bring all her dreams crumbling down. She snatched the paper from his hands before he could deliver the bad news.
"Dear Miss Berry. We appreciate your interest in the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. Based upon your applications and subsequent letters of recommendation, we feel you would make an ideal asset to our school, however at this time we have reached the limit of offers we can make to fellow outstanding students such as yourself."
She stopped reading, letting the paper slide through her hands onto the floor.
"They don't want me." She whispered. Finn immediately reached for her hand as she continued to stare at the floor. He rubbed his thumb over the top of her hand, somehow hoping it would soothe her.
"They don't want me." Rachel repeated, this time a little louder.
"Well that's not true. They said you were outstanding." Finn hated to see her so disappointed.
"But that there's no room for me there." She sighed heavily. "I bet this is because of my suspension. I knew it!"
Finn shook his head. He watched as her body slid to the floor. She cradled her knees against her chest as she slowly rocked back and forth, several tears running down her face. He sat down next to her, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her close.
"Remember what you told me?" He waited for her to answer, but she didn't. "You told me my dreams weren't dead, I'd just grown out of them."
"It's not the same." Rachel sniffled. Finn cupped her chin in his hand, turning her face towards his.
"It is the same Rachel." Finn furrowed his brows. "Just like you told me, there are other schools. NYADA isn't the only school in New York that offers a major in music education. Trust me, I've looked into them."
His words caught her by surprise. Sure they had discussed what might happen when they graduate, but Finn had never been 100% set on going to New York. Rachel had always gotten the impression that he was just looking for a better offer closer to Ohio.
"You- you've looked into New York schools?" She tried to hide her excitement. Finn had wanted to surprise her with this information later, but somehow it had come tumbling out. There was no hiding it any longer.
"Yeah." He blushed. "A few."
"I always thought you didn't feel you belong in New York."
"You made me realize that just maybe I am good enough." He leaned his head against hers, catching a brief glimpse of the smile that was now replacing the tears.
"You're right Kurt. I just assumed that being in New York would make everything ok for Rachel." Finn shrugged.
"When do you plan to tell her about school?" Kurt asked, finishing off his coffee. He stood up, squeezing past Finn's chair and rounding the corner into the kitchen.
"I don't think now is a good time." Finn answered, swirling his now cold coffee around in his mug.
"No time will be a good time Finn." Kurt threw him a cautionary glance as he grabbed his satchel from the living room. Pausing for a moment, Kurt looked back over his shoulder at Finn sitting at the table.
"She's already upset with me over something I didn't do. Can you imagine how she'll react over something I actually did?" Finn's shoulder sagged as he thought of adding more turmoil to Rachel's already hectic life.
"Well you have to tell her sooner or later." Kurt opened the apartment door. "And she will be disappointed." He shut the door behind him rather loudly.
Finn shoved himself away from the table abruptly. He didn't want to think about disappointing Rachel right now. He only wanted to make things better between the two of them and he had an idea.
Aha, Kurt hinted to this a few chapters ago. Hope you're enjoying the story!