Author's Note: First off, I just want to apologize for not posting as regularly. I really want to post with more… ahhh structure I guess, so I'm sorry this is late. I hope you all like this hchapter, sorry if it's a bit rushed. Let me know what you guys think. Like it? Hate it? Anything I could improve on? And thank you all for the favorites/adds/reviews, they make my day. I hope you guys have a wonderful day. ALSO, there's this girl and her name is Kayla and she is amazing. She looks over each chapter and helps me try and catch my grammatical errors and what not. She has an account here; her user name is forever-finchel. Totally give her lots of love because she is legit awesome.
"Best! Party! Ever! WHOOO!" Blaine's voice sounded over the dull hum of the bass as it pumped from the speakers into the hot and stuffy living room. The crowd cheered as the teen fist pumped before he continued his drunken dance. With his shoes lost amongst the party chaos, the pink socks allowed Blaine to slide across the coffee table he was perched upon with ease. Wiggling his arms in what seemed to be an attempt at break dancing Blaine cheered again. As he went to make another dance move, whatever beer he'd had slipped from his cup when he turned on the balls of his feet attempting to pull off a very Michael Jackson –esque pose before he stumbled and toppled down from the table. Blaine laughed lightly he lay on the floor looking up at the two teens looking down at him.
Kurt had a look of concern mixed with annoyance. Being the only sober one, Kurt was easily amazed by the stupidity of his not only drunken boyfriend but previous classmates as well, as they continued to dance around their fallen comrade as if he'd never even existed. If he didn't care so much about his brother's happiness or his lover's well being, he too would have had the same reaction as the girl next to him. Her normally contagious laughter wasn't helping the situation as she giggled wildly, patting his back and pointing to the man on the floor.
"Ohmigod! You fell down! Did you see that!" Removing her hand from Kurt's designer shirt, Rachel clapped her hands as she tilted her head back in laughter, "He like fell of the table and like… he's on the floor!" She calmed herself for a moment and for a split second Kurt thought she was settling herself down and that the rest of the night would go off without a hitch, but when the teen looked back down at Blaine she let out another string of laughs and even a small snort as the she reached down to help her fallen partner up. Whether it was the mass amounts of alcohol in her system, her small frame or what, Rachel struggled as she helped Blaine to his feet, bumping into a few dancers in the process. The first time, he'd gotten halfway up before losing his grip on Rachel and falling back on his butt with a laugh, the second time around though he finally managed to make it all the way up and stood proudly, earning a small cheer and a high-five from Rachel as a reward.
Wrapping his arms around her shoulders Blaine kissed the side of her head, muttering into her hair, "It's like so cool that you're like… here! I mean we're like the best people to have at a party. Like ever! Remember our last party? I don't," The two laughed and Rachel smiled up at his as she toyed with his shirt waiting for him to continue. "But I mean… I hear we did an AMAZING duet! We should like… be cool and do another one! But not here! They won't appreciate our talent!" Looking around and nodding to himself Blaine began to head for the door, Rachel still under his arm and in tow. "I think we should have like a caroling experience, you know like… door to door duets for people…. curiosity of like us. So cool!" Rachel nodded eagerly as Blaine continued on about his plans, and as the two made a path through the crowd and past Finn, as he stood in the line for what seemed to be the only remaining clean bathroom. Turning his head, he lazily watched his girlfriend reach for half empty bottle of Jack Daniels sitting on the table, assuming they were just in search of more cups. A minute later however Finn found out just how wrong his assumption had been.
Just as he was about to walk into the bathroom, Kurt pulled him back roughly by his shirt and towards the door, "How far away did you park?"
-x-
"I honestly don't think either of them would have tried to go home. As drunk as they are I'm sure together the two of them have enough common sense to know that showing up home beyond trashed isn't a good idea in the faintest." Kurt rolled his eyes as he raised his hand up to his temples attempting to rub the stress away. If anything else went wrong tonight there would no doubt be the beginnings of worry lines on his perfectly maintained face and no amount of moisturizing would be able to fix that. "Give them some credit Finn!" He sighed and paused for a moment before muttering a small apology. Kurt hadn't meant to come across as harsh as he had, but this was not the time for such simple minded thoughts. Blaine and Rachel had left a little over an hour ago from Puck's party and there still wasn't any sign or word from the drunken duo. The Hummel-Hudson brother's were starting to lose hope and for a split second Kurt figured he would just have to call his father and ask for help. After all, they'd look everywhere in town from the school to the gas station to the lake and even the old park down by the elementary school. The only other place he knew the two would have gone for sure was the mall, but that had closed at nine on the dot and now, Kurt glanced at the old trucks neon green clock, it was a little after midnight. "I'm just worried Finn. They're both so naive and innocent, what if when we find them they've done more than just finish of the bottle of Jack. What if when we find them they're already heavily coked up and shoving used heroin needles in their arms while they learn how to pool dance properly! Or worse," Kurt reached out and grabbed his brother's forearm, "What if they're applying for community college."
Finn laughed nervously and shrugged, "I really don't think community college is that bad." He laughed again in attempts to take the edge off the situation, if that was even possible. The air in Finn's old truck was heavy and it wasn't just due to the broken AC. Though he'd never tell anyone, Rachel aside, Finn was scared. He never should have taken that drink from Kurt; he should have kept his promise to Rachel, stayed sober and watched after her more carefully. He hadn't even been that drunk; hell he'd only had two drinks, and for someone of Finn's height and weight, all that did was go straight to his bladder and not his head. Flicking on his turn signal and pulling into the empty parking lot of the local ALDI, Finn's eyes wandered from the road, to Kurt and finally settled on his phone resting on the dashboard. If only she would text or call, just something to let him know where she was and that she was okay.
"Ooh Eeh Ooh Ah Aah Ting Tang Walla Walla Bing" Turning to his brother, Finn watched as the smaller boy smile as he fumbled around in his coat pockets in search of his phone. "That's Blaine's ringtone! I would know it anywhere, he set that stupid song for him the day we exchanged numbers." He shrieked with joy, finally pulling the flashing iPhone from his pocket. The phone clicked as Kurt's nimble fingers went to work, eye wide as he read the message. "What is he talking about? I swear sometimes I find myself surrounded by the most dimwitted people on the planet." Kurt looked to Finn, lip curled in annoyance before showing him the text.
FROM: Blaine
Received: 12:23am
im usng or d8 monet fr rller sk8s n pizza
"Roller skates and pizza? Where is there—"
Finn smiled as he reached for the keys, starting up truck. "I know where they are Kurt. They went to Rinky Dinks." Pulling from the parking lot and onto the main road, Finn shook his head as he laughed to himself, "Remember sophomore year when Mr. Schue took us to that lame roller rink to practice? It's the only roller rink in town and it's open twenty four hours. I don't really know how they got there; I mean it's on the other side of town and all but still." He paused, paying attention to the road for a few minutes as he drove the empty streets towards the old strip mall close to school. "It's the only place in town we didn't look and I know it's the only place in town that even still has roller skates. Not that I roller skate or anything, I just... Rachel…" Finn trailed off. Should he really be unloading all his personal relationship baggage and thoughts onto his brother, especially when they still hadn't found the dynamic drunken duo? Licking his lips and setting his jaw, Finn dropped the subject as he finished the last leg of the drive and turned into the small parking lot. Pulling up the front curb the brothers nearly jumped for joy when they saw a flashing '24/7' sign over top the door. They had to be here.
Rushing in through the glass doors the two looked around. A few old soda machines and game stations were aligned up at the front, an empty check in desk and walls of different sized skates behind it, but no-one was around. To the left there were some small tables each with four chairs attached all set up neatly in front of the food station. The signs above the long counter were as old as Finn, if not older, but the lingering smell of microwave pizza was still fresh and that's when they heard it. His voice rang out in time with the music. With a scoff Kurt tugged Finn to the right of the entrance, past a set of bathrooms and another little section of tables and towards the dimly lit roller rink, and there they were.
In the middle of the rink, on the small rounded platform stood Blaine; the microphone in his right hand was held close to his mouth as he recited the lyrics. He swayed for a moment, stumbling over the words but seemed not to care as he continued the song. With his free hand he reached out and pointed at Rachel as she danced before him idly. Making a 'come here' motion with his fingers Blaine spun in a small circle before hoping from the platform and gliding over to Rachel. She laughed and attempted to glide back but the two knocked into each other in the process, both falling to the floor knocking over the now empty bottle of Jack. Neither cared though, they simply laid there on their backs laughing looking up at the broken disco ball above and as the song ended the two belted out in an off key harmony, "Say it isn't so!"
Finn watched as Rachel laughed again before rolling onto her stomach, knees bent, feet swaying back and forth as the next song played. She looked so content, a drunk mess and in desperate need of a bath and a good night's sleep, but content nevertheless. It amazed him how one second he could be in a slight panic over this girl and the next all he wanted to do was kiss her senseless. Her head nodded with the beat, fingers tapping the rink floor, eyes closed as she listened to Blaine as he sang it to her softly. Licking his lips Finn turned and headed over towards the small half wall, opting not to go far from the duo. Arms crossed over his chest the teen leaned back and let out a small sigh as he felt his brother approach from behind.
Resting his elbows next to Finn's side, Kurt laughed, "You know they're like puppies in a way. Fleas and slobber aside of course. Well… no Rachel does droll sometimes in her sleep, but still. They're so full of life." Finn turned to look at his brother, but Kurt didn't look back as his gaze was locked on the two still lying on the floor. "They just want to have fun and be free and run about doing whatever pleases them. At least when they're drunk of course. We both know Rachel runs a tight ship and enjoys her very structured life and while he may not look the type, I know for a fact Blaine owns more than one planner and is an avid user of the sticky-note." Finally lifting his gaze to Finn, Kurt reached out and touched the older teen lightly, "Back in the car… and I know this is prying but, you knew this place was the only place in town that still had roller skates. You started to say something about it but you got quiet and then you just shut up. What's going on? Is the honey moon phase over already?"
"I…" Finn swallowed hard and looked down at Kurt. His face was soft, asking him to go on but at the same time, he knew if he had to stop, that this was a conversation to never bring up again. "When we got back together, you know… after Nationals, I promised myself I wouldn't mess up this time around. I know she's going to New York in the fall and I want to make the time we have now count, like really count." He glanced to his girlfriend, "I just want to be able to do so many exciting and special and romantic things for her this summer 'cause you know she's into that kinda stuff," Kurt nodded and laughed softly, "But damn it I feel like nothing I do will be enough. Jesse already took her everywhere in town. I can take her to Breadstix but he's been-there-done-that with her. We can go to the lake but nope he took her there; the mall, the movies, the museum; even this fucking roller rink! I feel like nothing I do will be able to compete with him and I know its lame." He turned to Kurt in defeat, "I know she picked me over everyone else and I know she loves me but I feel like I can't be enough for her or be her first at anything anymore because I fucked around too much before realizing she was it and now…"
Kurt sighed and stood up. It was obvious how much his brother cared about Rachel and how conflicted he was with all this; wanting to be her perfect knight in shining armor and save her from the castle, even though she'd already been rescued. Rubbing slow circles on his back the younger boy looked from his brother to their drunken loved ones and back as he carefully picked his words. "You might you know, not be the first one to take her out to dinner at a nice restaurant or bring her skating or shopping but I don't think that matters to Rachel. She loves you a lot Finn, regardless of who's done what with her in the past, I know that because you're doing it with her again, it will mean the world to her. Who cares if she's been to Breadstix so many times that she knows the menu by heart, take her anyway! Pick her up and open the door for her, hold her hand across the table, be the sweet boy she loves and I'm sure she'll be happy." Kurt looked over to Rachel, watching her stand up and sway to the newest song. "Oh my!"
Finn's eyes widened as he whipped his head to look at Kurt, searching his face for the reason behind the gasp. But all Kurt did was smile coyly and grab Finn's hand. He tugged the taller boy out onto the rink and towards the dancing girl, "Finn this song, Rachel loves it. Drunk or not I'm sure she will recognize it. Ask her to dance." With a small push, Finn looked back from his brother to the girl slowly approaching him.
"Finny!" Rachel cooed as she smiled at her boyfriend, "Dance with me please." Before he could answer though the small girl had already latched herself to him, arms snaking up around his neck, body pressing to his gently as she slowly moved to The Ronettes. "I love this song, did you know that?" She began mumbling into her chest. "It's so romantic." As the music played around them, Finn pulled her closer, his grip on her waist tightening. His mind traveled back to the flight to New York, when he was first introduced to this song. He and Rachel had sat next to each other on the plane ride and the only movie playing, well the only free movie playing, was some foreign film about who knows what. He remembered looking over at her only to find her staring out the window, ear buds in. While he didn't want to, Finn eventually interrupted her and asked for the right one, just as something to help pass the time. She'd happily agreed on the condition that he didn't make fun of her taste in music. At first some more recent songs played; some Maroon 5, Adel, Lady Antebellum, as expected a few Broadway classics played as well and while Finn only knew a few of them and the occasional lyric or two thanks to commercials, he was positive Rachel knew every word. Then this song played and she began whispering the words to him. He'd asked her about it halfway through, and all he'd gotten was a simple smile and laugh, "Just listen."
"So come on and, please (be my, be my baby)
Be my little baby, (my one and only baby)
Say you'll be my darlin', (be my, be my baby)
Be my baby now, (my one and only baby)
Wha-oh-oh-oh."
Finn was pulled from his thoughts and back to reality when he felt Rachel's lips press against the pulse point on his neck. Running his hands up and down her back Finn turned and kissed the top of her head, "I love you Rachel. I'll always be yours, promise." He muttered into her hair, just loud enough for her and only her to hear. As he did so, she pulled back and looked up at him her arms falling to hang limp at her sides. Tears ran from her eyes as the song ended causing Finn to worry he'd done or said something was wrong. Was he not supposed to say that? Maybe he should have waited till she was sober to make promises like that. He cursed himself, eyes falling to stare blankly at their feet. "Rach, I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you cry. I just… I love you so much and I—" Looking back to her Finn watched her shake her head no.
"You're kind of wonderful, did you know that?" She asked playfully, tears still falling from her eyes. Rachel smiled and reached out for him, hand clutching the front of his shirt and pulling him down to her level for a kiss. Faces grew closer and he felt her warm breath on his, he smelled the alcohol and even though she was heavily under the influence, they both knew she'd heard him loud and clear. Inches apart from each other, eyes closing, Finn waited for her to close the gap but that never happened. Instead Rachel pulled back sharply, her hands coming up to cup her mouth as she doubled over, coughed loudly and finally losing her cookies.
All over Finn's shoes.
-x-
Finn glanced at Rachel as she sat curled up against Blaine, her fingers absent mindedly playing with the hem of her, well technically his, freshman year football shirt. As small as the shirt was on Finn, it fit his girlfriend more like a dress and as they rounded the turn he couldn't help but laugh as he watched her duck her head away from the sun with a groan. This morning had been a rough one but thankfully he could tell the drunken, now hangover, duo were thankfully coming down from their alcohol educed high and falling back into their normal selves.
It had been like a yawn; once you see one person doing it, you yourself can't help but follow suit. Rachel had lost her cookies and not a moment later so had Blaine. Kurt had been luckier then Finn though, as Blaine had had enough common sense to turn his head away from everyone before vomiting, and thanks to that Finn, nor anyone else, would ever have to hear about the divas ruined shoes. They would however have to hear about his ruined pants as Finn had guilted his step-brother into helping him clean the roller rink, or at least the parts they'd been on.
After scrubbing, shinning and Febreze-ing the rink floor, the brothers dragged the now nauseous duo back to Finn's truck and while any other time Finn would have thrown a small fit about not having Rachel pressed to his side, he was more than willing to let the girl sit as far away from him as possible. The ride back to the Hummel-Hudson home – feeling that was the safer bet than the Berry home because honestly, neither Finn nor Kurt wanted to deal with two angry fathers instead of one and a very sympathetic mother – was longer than expected. Rinky Dink's was only a good twenty minutes from the boys' cul-de-sac and cookie cutter home but having to stop every few miles and let their loved ones out only to watch them vomit on the road side had not only doubled but tripled the time from point A to point B.
Once home and a clever lie later, the boys' had managed to get the two up and into bed, well Kurt's bed at least since it was much closer to a bathroom. Rachel had vomited a few more times, ruining her shirt before passing out in the bed next to Blaine, who was long gone and already drooling on Kurt's pillows. Finn had volunteered to sleep in here on the floor with them in case they woke up and needed something and Kurt wasn't going to complain, as he needed to get as much beauty sleep as possible, his normal eight hours already long gone. Nothing had happened of course during the night. Both sleeping peacefully until Rachel's internal clock woke her up at eight am. She'd screamed, not knowing either where she was or who was lying next to her with their arms around her waist loosely. Finn had jolted, Blaine cursed and Kurt had rushed in and Rachel only screamed again. Of course when she realized who all was exactly in the room Rachel only blushed before muttering an apology and that's when it hit her; hung-over and no bloodymary to make it all better.
The rest of the morning had been uneventful to say the least. Kurt had offered the two something to wear that didn't reek of alcohol and while Blaine had accepted the offer, making a joke about finally getting into Kurt's pants, Rachel declined and then proceeded to ask Finn for a shirt. By the time they'd all showered and Kurt had completed his morning face routine, it was a little after ten. Carole and Burt had already left for the day and since two of the four wasn't interested in food, all but Kurt skipped eating before pilling into Finn's truck once again. Kurt had left his SUV at the party last night and because Dalton's doors would shut at five pm sharp for the summer and Blaine had yet to finish getting the last of his belongings, they now headed back to the estate.
Another groan from his girlfriend snapped Finn from his thoughts and as he pulled up at the stop light he looked over at her. "You okay baby?" Removing his hand from the wheel and wrapping it around her slender shoulders, Rachel let go of Blaine and shifted to snuggle up against her boyfriend as he pulled her to him. Her hands mindlessly traced the lines in his jeans and he asked again receiving no real response aside from a small squeeze to his thigh.
"The Motrin should kick in soon Rachel, worry not." Kurt assured from his spot at the other side of the car. "Of course you wouldn't need any Motrin if you hadn't gone buck wild but it does make for some good blackmail." As smile broke across his face as he turned to her. "Now onto more serious business. Now that both of you are awake and sobering up, last night how on earth did you manage to make it from the party to Rinky Dinks? I mean you certainly didn't drive," Blaine shook his head, "And I doubt you took the public bus," Rachel's eyes widened and she made a gagging sound at the thought of Lima's flawed public transportation system. "So how?"
Blaine, who hadn't said a word since this morning, was the first to speak, "We had… Oh, Bret drive us! He's some short little red-headed kid; you might know him actually Kurt. Any who, he was heading out about the same time we were." Blaine looked over to Rachel and laughed, "It was this one actually who convinced him to take us with him. Stared crying her little eyes out saying she needed to sing in honor of her promise to her deceased pet and how she knew if she didn't sing tonight she might never be able to live with herself. Oh I don't know where she came up with such an outright piece of bullcrap, but honestly, I think he was a little too high to realize she was lying out of her ass. So he agreed to take us with him."
"Did I really?" Rachel squeaked out, obviously embarrassed at her own actions. "What else did I do? Finn…" Tugging his arm lightly the small girl looked up at her boyfriend nervously.
"Nothing to horrible… But I think I might have been wrong about what kind of drunk you are. A few more drinks and you might have given even Brittany a run for her money." Pulling his arm away from her and turning into the driveway and up to the black SUV, Finn let out a small frustrated sigh as he looked at what was left over from last night. Cups, clothes, bags, bottles, trash and even people littered the yard and he knew this was the cleanest place they'd see. "Damn it Puck." Pulling the key from the ignition Finn excused himself from the others, muttering a quick goodbye to Kurt and Blaine, promising to see his brother at dinner before leaving the trio and making a bee-line for the house. The door was still unlocked, but thankfully not wide open as it had been last night. Of course, it wasn't easy opening it as someone had fallen asleep against the door, but Finn still managed to get inside without waking anyone up. Stepping over the trash that covered what he thought was carpet; he slowly made his way around the lover level looking for Puck with no anvil. Kicking around some empty cups and bottles and making his way up the stairs Finn hoped he wouldn't find his friend in bed, or naked, or both. While it wouldn't be unusual to find Puck hooked up on some girl from last night, it wasn't what he was hoping to find, but if Puck had hooked up, at least he knew he wouldn't find his friend trashed and hungover. Sure, he'd offer drinks and get wasted himself, but Puck never hooked up drunk, at least not after what happened sophomore year.
"Finn?" A soft voice called from behind him. Turning, Finn watched as Rachel climbed up the stairs looking for him. Extending his hand to her, Rachel hurried her pace until she was close enough to grab him tightly. "Some guy downstairs asked if I slept with him last night." She muttered with a frown, her feet kicking at someone's lost shirt. Finn laughed as he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, she was too cute for her own good. Tugging her gently, he led her down the hall to the only room with the closed door. Pushing it open the two stepped inside the still dark room and Finn's hand fumbled around on the wall for the switch before flicking it on. As he did, the room now fully presented to them was surprisingly clean, a few pieces of clothing here and there but no bottles, no cups, no trash and no passed out partiers. A door on the right wall opened and out walked Puck, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist.
"Sup."