Rachel's jaw dropped, because first she couldn't believe Cassandra would actually invite Daria for today and secondly because Daria was beautiful.
Daria wasn't as tall as Cassandra was, had also blond hair and a great body. However, what made Rachel speechless was her age. Rachel thought she would be around Cassandra's age, but she looked like she was rather Rachel's age.
"Hi, how are you?" Daria walked over to Rachel and Rachel was about to stand up.
"No, no, no, no! Stay put." Rachel did and Daria sat next to her. They shook hands.
"I-I'm fine, thank you." Rachel didn't know whether she should glare at Cassandra or smile at Daria, but Cassandra helped her with that decision.
"Hey Daria you know where the kitchen is if you need something okay?"
"Sure." Cassandra smiled a little too nice and Rachel and Daria got the hint. "Oh, you know, I'm thirsty, anybody else?"
"No thank you."
"Nope." When Daria went to the kitchen, Cassandra walked over to Rachel.
"Do you like her?" Cassandra quickly went back to the couch and sat next to Rachel.
"I don't know her."
"I think you will."
"Maybe. Why did you invite her?"
"You wanted to meet her?"
"Not yet." They were whispering, but Rachel struggled to keep her voice down. She definitely did not want to meet Cassandras sister so unprepared.
"Would it make a difference?" Rachel was a bit upset that Cassandra invited her for today, but she also knew Cassandra was right; because it wouldn't have made a difference.
"Probably, yes."
"How?"
"I don't know, it just would." It was quiet for a moment, None of the said anything, Cassandra was just smirking at Rachel and Rachel acted a little stubborn, because both of them knew Cassandra was right.
"Do you mind if I take a quick shower?"
"What?" The question irritated Rachel and she was beginning to wonder where Daria was.
"I'd like to take a shower after I practiced."
"Okay."
"Are you sure? You two would be alone for a few minutes." Cassandra nudged Rachel to show that she was kidding.
"As long as she won't hit on me, I guess, I can manage to spend some time alone with her." Rachel could joke as well, but Cassandra didn't seem amused.
"Funny. Thank you." She gave Rachel a small kiss on the cheek and left, right before Daria returned.
"Wow, this is weird. I didn't mean to-" She was searching for the right words, Daria let herself plumb down on the couch. "I don't know." At least she was honest. "I just wanted to meet my sisters girlfriend, even though I figured you'd be a little older, but it's cool, maybe we get friends and if not that's okay I'm just glad Cassie is happy. By the way, where is she?" It took Rachel a moment to answer the questions, because Daria talked so much in just these few seconds and she was a little startled that Daria was so different from Cassandra.
"In the shower."
"She practiced?"
"Yes."
"By the way, how did that happen?" She pointed to Rachel's plastered foot. Rachel was struggling a bit to keep up with this very fast paced conversation.
"I practiced." It was kind of funny and they both laughed a little. "But I do dance and usually I'm not that bad, I, well, Cassandra interrupted me surprisingly and I fell."
"I see. Yeah, she sneaks up on people sometimes." They were silent for a moment, Rachel wondered how long they'd talked and when Cassandra would come back, until she thought they sat in silence long enough and said something before it would be more awkward than it already was.
"What do you do?"
"I don't know yet, I take a few classes at college, trying to figure out what I'd like to do. What about you?" Rachel wished she hadn't brought it up, but then she remembered that Cassandra invited her and at some point it would come out eventually.
"I go to NYADA."
"So, you want to be on Broadway someday?"
"Yes!"
"That's great for you. Cassandra was on Broadway once."
"I know." In seconds, their mood went from excited and happy to uncomfortable.
"Do you want something to drink now?" Daria held up her empty glass, while standing up.
"I, uh, sure." Daria left to the kitchen and Rachel got frustrated, she hadn't had the feeling that they had much in common. Rachel hasn't seen her coming back, because she stared at the bedroom door.
"Did Cassandra come back yet?"
"No."
"Great." Daria grew a big smile and put two glasses on the table and filled them with wine.
"Do you like wine?"
"Well, uh..." Rachel looked from Daria to the bedroom door and again back to Daria and just shrugged.
"You're gonna like this one, I promise." Rachel only read 2007 and Prüm, she didn't know whether it meant it was a good one or not, but Daria offered her one glass and she took it.
"Thanks." They touched glasses with a smile and Rachel tasted it. Daria was right it was delicious.
"Told you, it's good." She must've seen Rachel's resctiin because she gave her a bright smile.
"Yes, yes it is." Rachel took another sip and they both chuckled.
Meanwhile, Cassandra took a shower, she took some time, but not too much, to give the girls time to warm up and get to know each other.
When she walked out of the shower to get dressed, she heard them talk and laugh, so she figured it was okay of her to leave them alone. She considered for a moment to dress up, in case they would go out tonight, but she wasn't in the mood anyway and so she put on a T-shirt and shorts.
While she got dressed, she heard them laughing and wondered a little what they were talking about, but she didn't want to interrupt them and waited a few more moments before she walked out.
All in all she must've been gone for about 20 minutes.
"-and then she hit on me!"
"No way!" Daria was telling Rachel some story, but Cassandra didn't care much for the story.
"I swear it!" Cassandra was annoyed that they hadn't noticed that she was back and cleared her throat. The important thing she noticed is the two glasses and the bottle of wine.
"Oh hi." They couldn't stop to giggle and Cassandra knew why.
"Neither of you is of legal age to drink wine." Cassandra only glared at Daria, she knew Daria could handle it, but Rachel perhaps not. "How old are you?"
"How old are you?" Daria asked the same question and that was the moment when Cassandra got furious. The girls only looked at each other and laughed. Cassandra walked over to the table and got the bottle of wine, but it wouldn't make a difference, because it was empty already. When they eventually stopped laughing, Cassandra spoke again.
"She is-" she looked at Rachel and pointed to Daria. "20 and she is-" Now she pointed to Rachel and looked at Daria. "18. Would you please explain to me, why did you think it would be okay to drink wine?" Cassandra asked Daria only.
"Why do you think I-"
"Because, I know you. And I know Rachel doesn't know where I keep my wine, I don't think she would just get it and it would be a complicate task with the crutches to carry the bottle and the glasses." Rachel liked how protective Cassandra was about her, but she felt guilty for Daria.
"I'm sorry." To Rachel's surprise, Daria really looked sorry.
"And you. Why did you drink it?" Cassandra stared at Rachel, it was irritating and Rachel couldn't look away, it was like she was trapped.
"I won't justify myself, I know what you think about being sorry." It seemed like that was the correct answer, because Cassandra frowned for a second, before she walked towards the kitchen. "I didn't know you were 20!" Rachel quickly turned to Daria and whispered, she hoped Cassandra wouldn´t hear her.
"I didn't know you were 18!" They whispered. "But actually I don't care, I don't think it is a big difference whether I drink now or next year."
"But she's right; it wasn't fair of us to drink."
"Why not?" Daria looked shocked, probably because they had a good time and she didn't want Rachel to take Cassandras side.
"She's the responsible person here." Daria was about to answer to Rachel's statement, but closed her mouth again when they heard that Cassandra was coming back.
"You're gonna sleep here, because thanks to you, our parents would give me a lecture about how irresponsible I am." Cassandra was pissed and Rachel knew it, she felt guilty, but didn't know how to react. Daria turned to Rachel.
"She needs to get laid..." Obviously, Daria thought she said something funny, because she laughed, but Rachel's eyes almost popped out and Cassandra's eyes were sparkling with anger.
"What did you say?"
"You heard me, oh come on-"
"No... You can go to the guest room, or you can go home now."
"You won't let me go home; you don't wanna ague with mom and dad again."
"And you don't want the consequences if you go home now." Rachel kept quiet, because this wasn't her fight, but she could tell Cassandra had won the argument. "I said now." Daria frowned.
"I'm sorry." And with that she left. Cassandra shook her head and sat on the couch next to Rachel.
"I'm...sorry."
"Me too."
"I… well she's so much younger and my parents let her get away with almost anything... Actually she's knows how to behave, I guess she didn't think I'd made a scene when you're here..."
"No, you're right, were not supposed to drink and even if, we should've ask you."
"You don't need to ask me, if you want to drink a glass wine, or anything else, I don't mind as long as you're with me and I can keep an eye on you." Rachel didn't know how to respond and she was thinking about their fight, so she just kept quiet. "What do your dads think about you drinking?"
"Uh, on occasion, a special dinner or New Year's Eve they allowed me to drink one glass, but when I moved to New York we talked about it."
"Okay." Cassandra grabbed Daria's glass and took a sip. "She has great taste though." Rachel wasn't sure whether she should drink or not, but Cassandra answered that question for her.
"You can drink the rest if you want to, I just can't let her get away with everything, like my parents do." Cassandra gave Rachel her glass, because she saw that she hesitated. They just sat there for a while, in silence, drinking the rest of the wine. "You guys drink fast."
"I, uh-" Actually this was only her second glass and Daria had drunk the most of the bottle, but she didn't want to get Daria into more trouble.
"Well." After another moment of silence, they'd finished their wine and Cassandra stood up.
"Where are you going?" Neither of them knew why, but Rachel sounded somehow timid.
"I'll put the glasses in the sink."
"Oh." Cassandra put both their glasses on the table and sat to Rachel again.
"Rachel, what's up?" Since Rachel avoided eye contact, Cassandra took Rachel chin gently and moved her head, so that Rachel had no choice than to her into the eyes. "What's going on?"
"Nothing." In fact Rachel couldn't stop thinking about what Daria said.
"I can tell when you're lying."
"Nothing's going on."
"Well, I can't make you tell me, but I'd like if you did." She stood up again and walked with the glasses into the kitchen. Cassandra wondered what Rachel was thinking about, when she returned and saw that Rachel hasn't moved, but knew she couldn't push Rachel to tell her. It was frustrating and she hoped it had nothing to do with her outburst earlier. "Hey, you want to watch TV?"
"Uh, no, not really." Cassandra sat back on the couch, cross-legged and watched Rachel, who wasn't even looking at her when she sat down or answered the question.
"Want me to put on some music?" Rachel slightly shook her head. "You wanna tell me why you're mad?"
"I'm not."
"What do you want to do?" Rachel stood up and gave her a smile.
"I think, I'd like to go to bed."
"Okay." Rachel gave her a kiss and left. Whether Cassandra should or shouldn't follow her, she wasn't sure, but eventually Cassandra did. It was only a few minutes after Rachel went to bed and Cassandra was sure she was just pretending, but Rachel looked already asleep. She walked back to the living room, took two pieces of paper, and wrote a note for Rachel and one for Daria. Since she didn't know whether Daria was asleep or not she left it on the table, but took Rachel's to the bedroom and put it on her nightstand.
Cassandra was still convinced that Rachel wasn't asleep yet and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Even if Rachel had been asleep, and she must have been very tired to fall sleep within moments, she wouldn't wake up by such a small kiss. Afterwards she went to bed herself.
The next morning, when Cassandra alarm went off, she walked bitterly and frustrated into the bathroom and got ready, after that she felt a little better. She again put money and the keys to her apartment to Rachel's note. For a moment, she just stood there and noticed and acknowledged Rachel's beauty. She had to give her a kiss on the forehead, forced herself to leave the view and walked to the guest room. Daria was still asleep and obviously fell asleep, while watching TV, because it was still on, turned it off and put her note on the nightstand. She prepared the coffee machine for the girls and went to work. Rachel heard Cassandra leave; she woke up when Cassandra's alarm went off and grabbed her pillow. She inhaled the scent before she got up and walked into the bathroom. Rachel had planned to go to the doctor today. So she got ready in the bathroom, put some casual clothes on and was about to leave the bedroom when she saw Cassandra's note.
-Good morning Precious,
I had to go to work, but I prepared coffee for you. Daria is still there and I told her to behave, so if you two want to spent some time together, I put some cash on the table.
I know I'll miss you today.
I love you. C.
Rachel loved that Cassandra always left a note, when she went to work; it made her smile. She walked into the kitchen and finished the coffee. Evidently, it was a little harder for Rachel to get two coffee mugs out of the wall cupboard, because she struggled a little with keeping the balance.
"May I help?"
"Oh, Daria, good morning."
"You too." She walked over to Rachel and got the mugs. "Listen, I'm sorry for last night-"
"It's okay, I mean it wasn't the nicest evening, but you´re siblings. Aren't you supposed to fight?" They both chuckled a bit and Daria filled the cups with coffee.
"Milk or sugar?"
"No, thanks." Rachel enjoyed her coffee. "I was wondering, what are you doing today?"
"Well, I skip school and I should probably talk to Cassie. Why do you ask?"
"I need to go to the doctor and then I wanted to go shopping a little."
"And you sure you want my company?"
"I wouldn't have asked otherwise." Rachel smiled nicely.
"Okay, let me clean up a little and we can go." They sat there for a few minutes in silence and finished their coffee, before Daria stood up. While she walked back to the guest room, with a big smile on her face, Rachel put their mugs into the sink and walked through the apartment to get her things together. About five minutes later Daria stood next to Rachel and watched her curiously.
"What're you doing?"
"Well-" Rachel was on the floor, right in front of the couch. "I can't find my phone."
"I see." Daria lay next to Rachel and helped her to look for it. "Well, it's not down here." Rachel smiled lightly and sat up, as it happens, just when Daria did and they bumped their heads together. "Ah."
"Ouch." Both rubbed their heads a little. "I'm sorry-"
"No, no, it was my fault."
"I got an idea, I just call you and, yea well, we'll know where your phone is."
"Okay." After a few moments they heard Rachel's phone, it was close and Rachel checked the couch a second time, to find it between the cushions. "Thanks." It looked funny when Rachel tried to get up again, because she really struggled with her crutches, until Daria offered her help. Rachel's phone rang again, she gave Daria a quizzing look.
"It's not me this time."
"No, it's Kurt...a friend." The phone was still ringing when Rachel held it up and gave Daria a questioning look.
"Sure, go ahead."
"Hey Kurt."
"Rachel! How are you?"
"I'm okay, how're you?"
"Me too, listen, I wanted to ask you, do you wanna eat lunch together?"
"Yes! Sure..." One look at Daria made her remember, that she wanted to spend time with her too. "Oh wait, well, I actually wanted to go shopping with a friend. Oh! She can come with us for lunch and afterwards you can come with us shopping." Rachel sounded very excited, Kurt would be happy and Daria gave Rachel a look that said 'are-you-sure?', but Rachel just smiled assuring and Daria shrugged.
"Great. Should I come to... Cassandra's place, or-?"
"Yes. Yes, you can come over, we get ready and then we can go."
"Alright, I'll be there in a few."
"See you!" Obviously, Rachel was very excited.
"So..."
"Well, Kurt asked me out for lunch and I thought we could spend the day together. I'm sure you'll like him."
"Yea, so you said we'll get ready? I thought you were, I am."
"Me too. Almost, I need to check the doctors address, so that I can tell the cabby... No, wait...you can tell him, it's your dad."
"What's my dad?"
"My doctor."
"Really?"
"Yes." Meanwhile, through their conversation, both girls walked around and Daria helped picking up Rachel's stuff.
"Awkward." Daria just shrugged her shoulders.
"What do you mean?"
"... I don't know. Just because." She shrugged at Rachel with a little smirk on her face.
"Anyway, you know the address, so, I don't have to look it up. Kurt should be here in a few minutes, you want another cup of coffee?"
"Sure." They walked into the kitchen and drank their coffee in silent, but it wasn't awkward, because the doorbell rang two minutes later.
"Uh, that must be Kurt!" Rachel almost jumped up and quickly walked to the door. While Daria drank the rest of her coffee, she watched Rachel because it really looked ridiculous. "Kurt!"
"Rachel! Hey, how are you?"
"I'm great, thanks, come in." Daria had come to the living room too and now stood there, just a few steps away. They both saw, that Rachel didn't find the right words to introduce them to each other.
"Hi, I'm Daria. Cassandra's sister." Rachel flushed when Daria offered her hand to Kurt. "Very nice to meet you, Kurt."
"So, I guess we're ready to go. Rachel?"
"Yes. Yes we are." Rachel looked around, for her purse and saw it on the couch, but she didn't need to walk over there, because Daria did and got both of their purses. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Oh, we'll need the keys."
"Well, at least you do." Kurt and Daria laughed a little, Rachel frowned and walked into the bedroom, to get the keys from her nightstand.
"Alright, let's go." They left the apartment and walked outside.
"I have to got the doctor before we can eat lunch okay?"
"Of course." They took a cab that stood in front of the building, instead of Cassandra's car and driver, who waited just a few parking slots further.
He waited outside, leaned next to the car. Rachel saw him and before she got into the cab, she waved at him with a smile and he smiled back. Daria had already told the driver the address, so when Rachel closed the door, he started the engine.
Mostly Kurt and Daria talked while they were driving and Rachel let them, because if she wanted to spent time with both of them, they should get to know each other. By the time they arrived and the cab driver stopped, Rachel thought it would be a good day, because the other two got along pretty good.
When Rachel got out of the car the first thing she saw was Cassandra's car and her driver, this time however, she didn't wave at him, because she felt followed by him and didn't know why.
"I´ll get us some coffee and wait out here for you two." Rachel and Kurt were already at the building and Daria was just a few steps behind.
"What? Why?"
"Well, I'm skipping school and your doctor is my father." Daria raised her eyebrows at the question, but she had a point.
"Oh, yea, I forgot, sorry."
"No problem, I doubt I have to wait long. Cassandra brought you here, so you'll be a priority patient. I'll just wait." She wiggled her eyebrows and smiled. Kurt joined Rachel.
"Okay. And you sure?"
"Yes." They walked inside the building and towards the elevator, Rachel knew Kurt couldn't hold back much longer.
"Your doctor is Cassandra's father?"
"Yes."
"Awkward."
"Why does everybody keep telling me that?"
"Don't you think so?"
"No I don't."
"Okay. What did Daria mean 'priority-patient'? And I like her by the way."
"I think they don't get along very well."
"So he's nice to you to get to his daughter?"
"I don't know." They arrived on the correct floor and walked into the office. There was another receptionist today and they walked over to her.
"Hi, I need to see the Doctor."
"Do you have an appointment?"
"No, but-"
"You have an appointment or do you want to make one?" This receptionist was not nice, she didn't even look up from her computer screen while talking to Rachel, so she decide to play it up a little. "Tell Scott, Rachel Berry is here, I'll wait." The woman looked up in surprise, probably because Rachel used the Doctors first name. Kurt made big eyes as well and followed Rachel to the waiting area, the receptionist frowned, glared at them and left. The office was almost empty, except Rachel and Kurt there was only one other woman.
"Wow, she was rude." Kurt didn´t even bother to lower his voice.
"Right?"
"Why didn't you make an appointment though?"
"I'm sure he wouldn't have given me one."
"Hmm." The receptionist returned to her work, without giving them another look. "So, where do you want to go to lunch?" Kurt looked excited to talk about his plans, but Scott came and interrupted them.
"Rachel! I'm sorry for the confusion." He quickly walked in front of them. "Where is Cassandra?" There was a frown on his face and Rachel thought she saw disappointment on his face when he realized that his daughter was not there.
"She is at school. This is Kurt."
"Hello Kurt, nice to meet you."
"You too." They shook hands and Scott's attention was back on Rachel. "We can go to room one right now."
"But this woman was here before me." The woman wasn't looking up, but Rachel whispered, because she felt rude for talking about her.
"Yes, but you're a private patient."
"But she doesn't look good."
"What do you want me to do?"
"I don't know, doctor stuff? I'm sure she has an appointment, otherwise your lovely receptionist wouldn't have let her stay." At least Rachel noticed the family resemblance. He could be as blunt as his daughter.
"Okay." He walked over to the woman while Rachel and Kurt looked at each other in disbelieve.
"Mrs. Baker? You can follow me now." The woman stood up, followed him and she smiled nicely at them. Rachel looked around while waiting and realized it was a nice office. There were pictures on the walls and Rachel knew some of them were Ajax', also it wasn't as cold as doctor offices usually were, because there was a lot of wood paneling. It was nice.
About five minutes later Scott and the woman came back and said their goodbyes.
"Do you want to come in now?"
"Yes."
"I'll wait here Rach." She looked over to Kurt and followed Scott into the room.
"So, Rachel, why did you come here today?" He gestured with his hand for her to sit down.
"I want it removed." She lifted her leg and pointed at her foot.
"Your foot?"
"What? No! The splint. And the cast." Rachel was confused and she saw that he had the same look on his face.
"Oh, well, I could remove it."
"Do it." He just looked at her for a moment. "Please?"
"Why do you want it removed so badly now?" Rachel couldn't quite tell why, but she had a feeling he didn't want to.
"Not just now. I didn't want it in the first place."
"Yes, I remember. You were pretty upset about the fact, that you wouldn't be able to practice." There it was, now Rachel knew why he didn't want to remove it.
"Yes."
"I will remove it if you want, because it is not necessary."
"Yes. Please." Rachel was surprised that he basically offered her to remove it, she thought that she´d have to beg.
"But you need to rest it."
"I will."
"No, I mean really. You cannot dance."
"Okay." He sighed, because he wasn't sure Rachel would rest her foot, but he would remove it anyway.
"If you don't rest your foot, it could get worse. Serious damage could occur."
"I won't." Immediately he frowned and Rachel knew she said it wrong. "I mean I won't dance, I will rest it, but please, can you remove it today?"
"Okay." It took about five minutes and her foot was free again.
"Thank you."
"Well, it looks better than I thought. I'd like to make an X-ray."
"Okay." Before she could get up, he handed her the crutches again.
"Just until I saw the X-ray okay?" Neither of them said anything, but she took the crutches and followed him to take the X-ray and afterwards they walked back into the exam room. "Yes, it is much better; you should be able to dance again in a week or two."
"Great. Can I go now?"
"Yes. Remember,-"
"Resting, I know." Though Rachel was slightly annoyed, she smiled nicely at him.
"Yes. And I'll give a prescription for bandages to support the resting. You can wear them when you practice, it just protects the joint."
"Okay, thank you." He handed her the prescription and Rachel read it, she was amazed that she actually could read his handwriting. "But I can walk now?"
"Yes, just get them as soon as possible."
"I will." It hurt when she stood up, but she didn't show it, because she was afraid he would put it back in plaster and she figured it probably was because she hasn't used her foot the last few days. Kurt stood up and walked towards them, when he saw them coming back. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Give Cassandra my regards."
"I will, bye."
"Good bye." They smiled at each other and shook hands, then he turned to Kurt which surprised both of them. "It was nice to meet you."
"You too, bye." Outside the office they waited for the elevator Kurt started smirking.
"What?" Kurt gave her a strange look and it bothered her.
"It was awkward." Rachel walked into the elevator with an annoyed sigh. "You think Daria's still outside?"
"I hope so, but I can call her if she isn't."
"Hey, how's your foot? I didn't ask." They walked outside and looked for Daria.
"It's ok, he said that it's much better, I should rest it and I should get bandages, but it hurts a little when I walk."
"Probably because it's still not okay and you didn't use it a few days."
"That's what I thought. I can't see her."
"Me neither."
"She's calling." Rachel answered the phone. "Hey, where are you?" Kurt looked around. "Seriously? … Okay." With that she hung up again and Kurt gave her a confused look. "She´s over there." Kurt didn't know what Rachel meat, but he followed her. "Cassandra told Henry to follow us in case we need a ride."
"Henry?"
"Her driver."
"Great." He sounded enthusiastic, but Rachel frowned.
"I don't like it."
"Why not?"
"Well, it's not what I want. You know, she leaves me money when she goes to school and I stay home-"
"Home?" Kurt sounded amused.
"You know what I mean."
"Obviously she's rich." They walked slowly to the car, because Rachel was a bad walker at the moment and she wanted to finish their conversation before they arrived the car.
"Yes, but I don't like her for her money, I didn't even know she had it, I have my own, maybe not as much, but enough."
"I know."
"I don't want her to get the wrong idea and if I take it I'm afraid she might." Kurt didn't respond and they had arrived the car.
The door opened and they saw Daria inside, Kurt quickly got in and she handed him a cup of coffee, which he gladly took, but Rachel wanted to talk to Henry first. She opened the passenger door and smiled at him. "Hello."
"Hello Miss Berry."
"Oh no, please don't call me that." He smiled at her.
"I'm Rachel." She offered him a hand and he shook it.
"Henry."
"Hi Henry, I was wondering…what did Cassandra tell you to do?"
"I'm supposed to drive you wherever you want."
"I'm just curious, when we took a cab instead of driving with you, why did you follow us?"
"Because, I'm supposed to drive you wherever you want to go and I can't do that if I don't know where you are."
"So Cassandra didn't tell you to follow us?"
"No." Rachel wondered, why he kept smiling and thought the conversation was over, but he said more. "She told me to follow you, not Miss July and your friend, but since they're with you, I've to follow you as a group."
"Okay… I can't make you stop, can I?"
"Well, not really, but you could take it that way, you'll save a lot of money and you're with me than with most cab drivers."
"Great. Thanks. Since I hate being followed, would you drive us to the nearest pharmacy?"
"Of course."
"Thanks." She smiled again, closed the door and got into the back of the car to the other two.
"Rachel, your coffee's almost cold." Daria handed her a coffee.
"Thank you."
"What took you so long?"
"I had a question for Henry."
"You can just pull the window between him and us down, you know?"
"Anyway, where are we going?" Kurt changed the subject, because he was sure Rachel asked Henry privately for a reason.
"Pharmacy."
"What did my dad prescribe you?"
"Bandages, to support my joint. It's not okay yet, but he said if I rest it and wear them it will be, soon."
"And you want to go shopping?" Daria sounded worried.
"Yes."
"No she's right Rachel, maybe we shouldn't, if you're supposed to rest your foot." Rachel had to smile about their concerns.
"It's okay, he said I can walk, I just shouldn't exaggerate it." The car stopped and they all got out. "That's a little overkill, I just get the bandages, you guys don't need to come with me."
"Okay." Rachel smiled lightly and walked into the pharmacy alone, while the other two got back into the car. There were only a few people in the pharmacy and no one on the counter, so Rachel just walked over and talked to the pharmacist.
To Rachel's surprise, he was very young; he asked her what color she would like, which confused her because she didn't know they had them in different colors.
The man was nice, he walked into the back and came back with a pile of, what looked like, socks.
"So, we have black and white, yellow, red, green, blue, purple aaand green."
"Oh, that's a lot." He laughed a little.
"Yes, but many kids wear them, so we have them in colors to make it less bothering."
"I see. I think I take white then."
"Your prescription says two, you can take another color, but we have more white if you want."
"Oh, okay, I guess I take black then."
"Black and white it is." He scanned them, took the prescription and handed Rachel her bandages in a paper bag, in which he put the receipt. He wished her a nice day and walked into the back. Back in the car Kurt told Henry where to now and Rachel realized she was getting hungry and lunch would be a great idea.
"How long until we get there?"
"I'm not sure, but I'd say about twenty minutes."
"Where is it?" Kurt described the way to Daria, because Rachel wasn't paying attention anyway. She was busy with the bandages.
Now she was glad they didn't take a cab, because she could easily take off her shoes and put the bandages on in here. Since she had white socks on, she took the white bandages.
The healthy foot was no problem, but her strained foot was, it hurt. Eventually she managed to put the bandages and her shoes back on. Rachel was sure it was correct, but it felt weird, like someone was holding her feet together.
None of them had realized that they'd arrived, until they stopped driving and Henry parked.
"Oh, we're there! It's a great place, I promise."
"We'll see." Daria smirked and stepped out of the car, followed by Kurt, but Rachel rolled down the window that was between their space and the divers seat.
"Thanks, do you want something too?" He laughed a little.
"No thank you."
"Do you drink coffee?"
"Yes." She didn't ask him if he wanted one or waited for him to reject her offer and left the car as quickly as possible. This moment reminded her how glad she was she didn't have to use the crutches anymore.
"You two get a table and I'll be there in a few okays?"
"Why?"
"Okay." Of course Daria was fine with Rachel leaving for a moment, but Kurt was curious.
"I gotta go to Starbucks."
"Okay." Rachel saw them walking to the restaurant, which was at the end of the block and crossed the street, because there was a Starbucks.
Rachel forgot to ask Henry how he liked his coffee, so she just ordered a black one and took cream and sugar with her.
Henry already stood outside, leaned to the car and shook his head with a smirk on his face, when he saw Rachel heading towards him.
"Got you coffee." She handed it to him.
"Thank you."
"I didn't know how you like it, so here, cream and sugar."
"It's fine thanks."
"You're welcome." She smiled at him and suddenly remembered that Kurt and Daria probably were waiting. "Oh, I gotta go!"
"I'll wait here." He took a sip of his coffee when she left.
Inside the restaurant Rachel had no problem to find the two, because was waving at her when he saw the coming in, so she just walked towards them.
"I already ordered for you."
"Okay." She was fine with it, because Kurt knew what she liked, so she sat down and they talked. Mostly Kurt and Daria talked and that was fine with Rachel, because she thought about Cassandra. A few minutes later their food was brought and they'd all ordered a salad.
"So, Rachel, what do you wanna go buy?"
"I thought we could go looking for some furniture-"
"I bought a couch." It sounded like a confession the way Kurt blurted it out.
"Okay." Rachel just shrugged, she didn´t mind, Kurt usually has good taste.
"Don't be mad at me, but you're going to love it."
"I'm not mad."
"Thank god." He really looked relieved and Daria couldn't hold back anymore and laughed.
"You guys are so... I don't even have a word that would describe you best."
"Whatever that means. Well, I guess I just have to buy something else so we're even." She shook her head at Daria.
"But there's not much else we'd need."
"Oh, yes there is." The other two gave Rachel a questioning look, she had a huge grin on her face.
"I'll surprise you."
"You can tell me, I mean it's not a surprise for me, right?" Daria leaned a little toward Rachel and wiggled with her eyebrows, it made Rachel laugh.
"No. You'll see it when I buy it."
"So that means I'm not going shopping with you?"
"Sure, I wanted to buy new outfits."
"Great." Kurt clapped with his hands and had a huge smile on his face. The rest of the time they talked about where they were going and half an hour later they paid and left the restaurant.
"Kurt, don't you have to work today?" Rachel realized she hadn't asked him and wondered that he wasn't working right now.
"Yes, I do, later today. Some kind of meeting."
"When do you have to leave?" They got into the car, but Rachel smiled at Henry first.
"About four."
"Okay." Rachel rolled down the window between them and Henry.
"Hi Henry, can you drive us to-?" She gave Kurt a questioning look, because he told them about a store where they wanted to go and Kurt told Henry the address. "Please?"
"Sure thing."
"Thank you." Of course the store had great clothes, because by now Kurt knew the good places to buy clothes. Rachel bought some body suits and tights for school and a black pair of jeans and red heels.
"Wow, Rachel, these look amazing."
"What did you get?" Daria had a whole stack of clothes, but Rachel hadn't expected less, because Kurt was with her.
"A lot. Kurt has great taste."
"Yah." She chuckled. "Where is he?"
"Talking to, I don't know, someone he just met and they're having an argument about...clothes."
"That's Kurt." Rachel still had to chuckle and the confused look on Daria's face didn't help. "You already tried it on?"
"Yea, I am going to pay now."
"I'm coming with you and we should probably get Kurt out of there if they're not done when we return."
"Probably." The saleswoman looked jealous when Daria paid for her stuff, Rachel was a bit jealous herself right until Daria offered to pay for her clothes too, which confused her.
"What? No! I mean, no. I can pay for it myself."
"I didn't mean to insinuate you can't afford it."
"Good, because I can."
"I just... I'm sorry." Daria must've realized she had hit a bad spot, although she didn´t quite understand what's the matter. Eventually the saleswoman managed to get all their clothes in bags and handed them to Rachel and Daria. "Looks like Kurt won't need our help anymore." Rachel had almost forgotten about that, she was in thought about the money issue the July's apparently had. "Looks like they'd become friends by now."
"Yea, but it's almost three and I'm done here, I just need to find the next electronic store and I need to get rid of Kurt."
"True friend spoken."
"He brought us a couch and I'll surprise him, but it's not much of a surprise when he sees me buying it, is it?"
"I guess not. You could tell him Henry needs to drop me off and you want to bring the bags to Cassandra's place."
"Great idea thanks and he needs to leave soon anyway."
"Yes. Hey Kurt!"
"Hey guys." Kurt came over to them and brought the man with him he just moments before had a heated argument with.
"This is Michael."
"Hey" Rachel and Michael shook hands and Daria simply smiled at him.
"Hi, Kurt I gotta to home and Rachel wants to get her stuff home too."
"I, well, you guys can leave without me, right?"
"Sure." Kurt didn't pay much attention to them, but Rachel didn't mind, she needed Kurt distracted anyway.
"Okay then, I´ll call you Rachel."
"Okay." They hugged and she left with Daria.
"The next electronic store is just a few blocks away. We should get these into the car and walk down the street."
"Okay."
"So what do you want to buy?"
"Well, we almost have everything...our dads brought us a new TV and I thought I could buy us a new stereo, the one we have is ok, but the acoustic isn´t quite right."
"Okay then, electronic store it is." Daria asked Henry to open the for them and when they'd all the bags inside, Rachel followed Daria's lead. Daria was right; the next electronic store wasn't fare away and the service was very good, Rachel explained what she wanted and the guy told her what she should consider buying.
Eventually, after almost one hour she decided what she wanted and brought it. "You shouldn't rush important things." Daria was slightly annoyed with Rachel for taking so long.
"You need an hour for a new stereo, but several outfits in less than one hour?" She was just teasing Rachel. "So when is the electrician coming to your place?"
"Why would we need an electrician?"
"To install all of this?"
"I can do that."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Don't get an electric shock."
"I won't, but I'd be nice if you'd help me carrying one of the boxes to the car." Rachel actually had three boxes, two smaller ones and one big one and Daria took the two smaller ones. They weren't too heavy, but bulky. "Sure. We might need to get our clothes to the front; so that these will fit in the trunk."
"Yes." That's exactly what they had to do, but Henry saw them trough the rear view mirror and helped them. They drove to Rachel's place and Henry helped them to get the stereo up to her apartment.
"Wow, this place is great!"
"Thanks Henry!" She had to call it after him because, he was already on his way back downstairs. "Oh my god!" Rachel ran over to their new couch.
"You don't like it?"
"I love it! Kurt lied! Look at that! A couch, a table and a carpet! It looks amazing!"
"Yea, it does."
"I have to install the stereo system before Kurt gets home."
"You need my help?"
"Sure, why not." Daria wasn't much of a help, but she was amazed how well Rachel knew what she was doing, in less than half an hour everything was set and looked good. Now wires where they didn't belong.
"Sit right there." Rachel pointed to the middle seat on the couch. "And listen." When she turned the music on, Daria couldn't describe what she heard, it was beyond description. The sound was amazing and if Daria didn't know she was sitting in Rachel's living room she would've sworn she was live in a theater listening to this music.
"Kurt's gonna love it."
"I hope so."
"And you're forgiven."
"For what?"
"Taking so long in the electronic store." Rachel smirked, but rolled her eyes, that reminded her too much of Cassandra. "If you had more space I would move in with you."
"Because of the stereo?" Rachel wasn´t sure how she felt about the idea of living with Daria, she like the girl, but living with her would probably be even more chaotic than with Kurt.
"Yes and because it's a beautiful place."
"Sorry."
"Yah, me too. Anyway, I really gotta get home." Rachel saw the hesitation to stand up and turned the music off.
"I want to go back to Cassandra's place too."
"Okay."
"I'm done in a minute." Rachel walked into the kitchen and wrote a note for Kurt and put a ribbon around the stereo remote and put both of it on the new coffee table.
"Done." They left the apartment and got into the car.
"What did you write?"
"That I love the couch. And the table. And the carpet and that I hope he'll enjoy my surprise too."
"Oh, I'm sure he will. It's amazing, maybe even better than Cassandra's studio stereo."
"It's a different acoustic that's all." Henry stopped in front of Cassandra's building.
"I'm gonna go home, say hi to Cassandra."
"I will and I had a great time. Thanks."
"Me too, looking forward to the next time." They hugged and Rachel got out of the car, got her bags out of the trunk and walked inside. Her heat began to race, because she knew Cassandra must be home by now and a huge grin appeared on her face when she left the elevator on the right floor.
Rachel opened the door with the keys Cassandra gave her and her heart hammered so much, she hasn't realized how much she'd missed Cassandra.
"Cassandra?" Nothing came back, but Rachel walked inside and closed the door.