A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Also, I'm making Lima a bit smaller than it actually is in real life. I've also added something to the first chapter to give this story a time reference. If you're too lazy to go back and read the extra sentence, the first chapter takes place the day after the Tony Awards.
Finn Hudson looked over at his offensive coordinator, read the signs for the next play, and cracked a crooked grin.
The flea-flicker was the perfect call.
They had been pounding the rock a lot and Michigan couldn't stop it at all. Michigan was starting to drop an eighth man into the box trying to stop the run but that left them wide open for a deep pass. This play would put the nail in the coffin for this game and bring THE Ohio State one step closer towards the BCS National Championship game, one step closer out of Lima for Finn Hudson.
He walked over to the huddle, took a knee, and looked up at his teammates.
"Okay, flea-flicker on one, flea-flicker on one."
Finn looked around and saw grins on their faces. They all knew this play would work; they had practiced it all week just for a moment like this. He caught Mike Chang's eyes and nodded, they both knew that Mike would be the first option Finn would look for on this play.
"Ready? Break!"
Finn clapped his hands once along with the rest of his offense and stood up. He let his offensive linemen walk past him as be buttoned his chinstrap before turning around to walk towards the line of scrimmage.
It was loud in the stadium. Too loud.
Finn loved playing in the Shoe cause the fans were awesome and knew football so when he flapped his arms a few times, the crowd nearly went silent. All he heard from the crowd was a low buzz which always reminded him of the awesome times he had singing up on stage. He almost had as much fun playing football as he did up on stage. Too bad they were never really good enough to get anywhere. They were always missing that special something to bring everyone and everything together.
Those thoughts were quickly pushed aside as he stepped behind his center and scanned the defense in front of him. Just like Coach drilled into him, he quickly found the middle linebacker.
He pointed at the linebacker and shouted, "Fifty-six is Mike! Fifty-six is Mike!"
His center in front of him screamed out the protection calls while he put in his mouth guard. Michigan's strong safety had walked down to the right side of the line of scrimmage which was cool cause that meant the play would definitely work now. But, that also meant he needed to adjust the protection in case the safety blitzed.
Finn pointed at the safety and yelled, "Jet 2!"
His center turned his head to the right and agreed with him. "Jet 2! Jet 2!"
Finn scanned the defense one last time to make sure he hadn't missed anything, then crouched down behind his center and stuck his hands out to receive the ball.
"Hut. HUT!"
The football smacked into Finn's hands as he closed them around it and pulled out from behind center. He quickly made sure he had a good grip on the ball with his left hand, turned around, and extended it out to hand it off to his running back. Finn watched the ball until his running back had it safely tucked in his arms just like he was taught then turned around and quickly sneaked a look at the free safety who had dropped down to cover the tight end.
Finn looked back down in time to see the running back turn around and throw the ball back to him. He followed the ball into his hands with his eyes then turned his gaze upfield to find Mike. The well practiced hands he had quickly spun the ball around until his right hand found the laces and he brought his arm up into a textbook throwing position as he scanned the field.
His eyes found Mike as the wide out was streaking up along the left sideline. Mike was the perfect deep threat. All that dancing he did in his room at home and on stage back in high school really paid off on the football field. With his quick hands and feet he was almost always able to get a clean release from the line and that let his long strides take him past any corner who was covering him, just like they were doing on this play.
The clock inside Finn's head screamed at him to get rid of the ball, but he was a big guy, he could take the hit that was coming. He just didn't want to throw the ball too soon or else the corner would have a chance to knock the ball away, so he fearlessly stood tall in the pocket just like his favorite quarterbacks always did. He just needed to wait a few more moments for Mike to get even with his man. If Mike couldn't do it in time, he'd just get rid of the ball by throwing it to his tight end who could beat the pants off the safety trying to cover him.
There, that was it; Mike was even with his man which meant he would be leaving that sucker behind. Finn planted his feet, pulled his arm back to throw the ball, and heard the crowd as it began to roar in excitement. Everyone in the stadium knew what was coming. Finn Hudson to Mike Chang had become legendary at the Shoe in just a year.
He felt someone hit him on the right side of his left leg just before he felt someone else hit him on the left side of his chest and he heard a loud snap.
Crap.
Coach was going to kill him. He had taken too long waiting for the perfect play instead of taking the play that was good enough. Stupid, stupid, stupid Finn. He still had one job to do though; he held onto the ball tightly and tucked it up against his body. Coach really would kill him if he fumbled the ball again, or at least make him carry around a football around everywhere, and Coach really did mean everywhere, for four months like he had to do freshman year.
He closed his eyes and groaned as he hit the ground, not cause it hurt, even if it did hurt like hell to be hit by a dude that weighed around 300 pounds. He groaned because he knew he had messed up the play and there was no one to blame but himself.
Finn heard a scream and opened his eyes. What he saw kinda scared him. One of the guys who sacked him, number 98, had leapt up and was screaming and waving his arms trying to get the attention of the Ohio State sideline. He saw his teammates look down at him and then look away as soon as possible. He swallowed and looked down.
He had no idea what they were called, but he saw the two broken bones of his lower leg sticking out of his skin. He stared at the bits of skin hanging off his leg and bones for a long moment before he took a deep breath. As he stared, a thought quickly ran through his mind: his body was totally cool cause he didn't feel a single bit of pain.
Finn opened his mouth and woke up to his own blood curdling scream.
The basement went quiet except for the usual creaks and groans as the scream died in his throat. He brought his hand up to his face and rubbed away the sleep from his eyes since he knew he could never get back to sleep after having the nightmare. He just hoped that it wasn't too early in the morning; he hated when he woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get any sleep.
A quick glance at his phone told him that it was only half an hour before his alarm was supposed to go off and he breathed a sigh of relief, working on no sleep really sucked. He threw off Kurt's fancy and really expensive comforter and bed sheet, switched on the funky looking lamp next to the bed, and swung his legs to the floor to sit up. He reached down and rubbed his left leg, which was always sore after he had the nightmare. The docs told him that his leg must be tensing during the nightmare or something like that, not that he really paid attention to them anymore.
Kurt called him sadistic - at least he thinks Kurt called him that - for doing this, but he couldn't help himself as he looked down at his left leg as he rubbed it. He saw and felt the two scars where the bones had been sticking out and the lines of scars that ran up and down his leg from the surgeries that were supposed to make everything right again.
Right.
Finn didn't even know what that word meant anymore. Nothing much had ever gone right in his life and it anything that did go right quickly went wrong.
After his moment of self-pity, Finn took a deep breath and let it out before he ran through his morning routine: bathroom, jog, shower, and breakfast. He grabbed the note from his mom on the kitchen table as he made his way back to the basement. It said something about a guest coming over this afternoon, whatever, nothing he needed to care about.
It was a little early to go into work but there was always something that needed to be done, so he opened Kurt's closet and grabbed a uniform he never dreamed of wearing. He pulled on the coveralls with the name "Finn" embroidered on it and a sewn on patch that read "Hummel's Auto and Tire." He laced up his worn work boots and made his way out of the house to his used, late model Ford F-150. As he got in his truck, he tried not to think about the fact that he had been woken up by the nightmare because he always seemed to have a bad day when it happened.
He turned the ignition key and nothing happened.
"Crap."
Finn groaned as his head hit the headrest, today was definitely going to be a bad day.
Today was going to be a great day for Rachel Berry.
Well, it would be great once her hangover disappeared, but a large cup of coffee and a bunch of aspirin would take care of that. Her extremely tinted Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses helped too. At least Jessica had finally stopped droning endlessly on and on about rehab or something as they made their way to the airport. Rachel loved her like a sister but seriously, enough was enough.
It wasn't that Rachel didn't love performing on Broadway; in fact she felt the freest when she was up on stage. But there was just no way she was going to decline a few weeks stay at some cushy rehab center on the west coast or maybe even Hawaii. It would be spectacular to lounge around on a beach all day sipping mimosas and mai tais. Now, if only her pounding headache would go away. All the noise in the airport was definitely not helping.
Of course, Rachel had prepared for this. She reached into her purse, pulled out a pair of earplugs, and pushed them into her ears blocking out all the noise as they walked out of the security checkpoint. Jessica's eyes rolled when Rachel pointed at her ears and shook her head after Jessica tried to figure out if she wanted to eat something before the flight. Even if she was hungry, there weren't many vegan options at the airport.
The earplugs stayed in and the sunglasses were swapped for a sleeping mask when they got on to the plane and they settled into their first class seats. Rachel had seen and heard enough safety speeches on flights that she could do a much better job than the flight attendants ever could. She thought about it for a quick moment before popping two sleeping pills into her mouth. They definitely would make the flight go faster and the headache just wouldn't go away.
The jolt of the plane landing woke Rachel up. She pulled off the mask, cracked an eye open and smiled when she realized she no longer had a pounding headache. She stretched her limbs out and smacked Jessica in the face with her right arm. Rachel returned Jessica's glare with a smile and shrug of her shoulders while she pulled out her earplugs.
"Come on, let's go Jessica! I can't wait to lounge around on a beach!"
Jessica shook her head. "You haven't paid attention to a single word I've said this morning have you?"
Rachel flashed a bright smile. "What's there to pay attention to? I'm going to rehab and I'm going to love it!"
Jessica grinned. "Yes, I think you just might."
Rachel grabbed her purse and carry-on bag, raced off the plane, and skidded to a stop when she didn't see two hula girls with leis waiting for her and endless amounts of tourists wearing Hawaiian shirts.
"This isn't Hawaii."
"No, it isn't." Jessica said as she walked up behind Rachel and threw her arm around Rachel's shoulders, "Let's go get your baggage."
They started walking towards baggage claim and Rachel's eyes darted around trying to find a clue as to their location.
"Where are we? LA? Seattle? DC? Houston? New Orleans?"
Rachel felt Jessica pulling her closer. "See, this is why you should pay attention to your manager slash agent more often. I do say important things every now and then."
Rachel rolled her eyes and smiled. "Maybe once or twice. So, where are we?"
"It's a secret." Rachel let out a huff, "You'll find out soon enough."
They followed the signs above their heads and made their way to carousel #5 where their baggage would turn up after its own trip.
She felt Jessica lean into her. "How's the head?"
"Much better."
"Maybe you shouldn't have been partying until the crack of dawn the night before your flight."
"Where's the fun in that? Plus, it was my going away party! Everyone from the cast I care about was there. I had to make the most of it! You know," She looked up at Jessica and winked, "Before I make the most of rehab."
Jessica looked down at her and rolled her eyes, "You know, rehab isn't a twenty-four seven party where you drink all day long."
She grinned up at her agent. "I know, I know. I'll probably only have 20 hours of the day to drink and party. I do need some sleep after all."
Jessica shook her head. "You see your bags yet?"
"I only see one." Rachel's eyes kept scanning the conveyor belt, "The damn airline better not have lost one of my bags or there will be hell to pay."
One loud fight with the Delta Airlines baggage claim office later over the missing bag, Rachel had finally been calmed down enough by Jessica so they could make their way out of the airport to a waiting car.
"Where are we? It doesn't look like we're near a major city."
The driver looked over after putting Rachel's bag into the truck. "Well ma'am, we're at the Cleveland International Airport. Don't know if Cleveland is major enough for you, but we're pretty close to that."
"Cleveland? Why are we in Cleveland?"
"Rachel, your fathers have decided that you need some time away from New York and I agree with them. So, here we are. Well, here you are. I need to go back inside and catch my connecting flight to LA."
"You're not coming with me to the rehab center?"
"No, I won't be going with you to the," She made quotation marks with her fingers as she spoke the next two words, "Rehab center."
Rachel cocked her head. "Why'd you do that?"
"Because the rehab center you're going to isn't exactly your conventional facility."
Rachel narrowed her eyes. "Then what kind of facility is it?"
Jessica tapped a finger on her chin for a few times before responding.
"Let's just say it's a more intimate facility, where you'll really get to know the people there." Jessica began pushing Rachel towards the car, "Now, into the car, you're already running late. Not that you've ever minded, but it'd be nice if you were close to being on time just this once."
"But, I don't want to go to Cleveland! Who would ever want to go to rehab in Cleveland?"
Jessica cracked a grin. "Who said anything about Cleveland? Off you go."
"But, I don't want to!" Rachel walked over to Jessica and stamped her foot, "I want to go back to New York!"
Jessica arched an eyebrow. "Did you just stamp your foot at me?"
"Err. No?" Rachel took a few steps back and tears began to build in her eyes, "It's just that I miss my daddies already! And Broadway! I even miss you Jess and you're right here! Can I go to LA with you?" Clasped hands were brought up to her chest, "Please?"
She found no sympathy from Jessica.
"Rachel, I've been your manager for over a decade. I know you can cry on cue and I can definitely tell that you're acting right now." Rachel stopped her tears, "Let's just say that's not the best performance you've ever given."
Rachel scrunched up her face. "Fine."
Jessica pointed at the open door. "Now get in the car, it'll take you to where you need to go and nowhere else. And don't even think about trying to get back to New York on your own. We've put a stop on all your credit cards."
Rachel's jaw dropped. "Wha- Why would you do that?"
Her agent's hand found her shoulder. "Because you need this."
"How am I going to pay for things?"
"Oh I don't think you'll need to worry about that."
The hand turned her around and gently guided her towards the car. Rachel got in and the driver closed the door behind her. She pushed the button to lower and window and stuck her head out.
"How long am I going to be there?"
"For as long as you need to be," Jessica leaned over and poked Rachel in the nose. "Oh and I know this'll be hard for you, but could you try and keep a low profile? We put out a story that you're actually in LA taking some time off."
"I'll try, but I can't promise anything."
Rachel watched as Jessica walked back into the airport before putting on her seatbelt. The driver's door opened and slammed shut and she felt the car begin to move.
"I demand to know where you're taking me."
"I'm sorry ma'am. I'm not allowed to tell you."
"Let me guess, I bet you're not allowed to tell me how long the drive is either." Rachel sardonically said.
"No ma'am, I can tell you that the drive will be about three hours."
"Three hours? Are you kidding me?"
"No ma'am. I am not."
Rachel groaned as her head hit the headrest, today was not going according to plan at all.
Considering how his day had started, Finn was having a pretty good day after all.
After getting a ride with Burt, he drove the shop's tow truck back home to bring his pick-up to the shop where, luckily, they had a replacement for the starter. He quickly swapped the broken part for the new one and got started with the day's work. The morning flew by pretty quickly since all the work that needed to be done was pretty simple. He was able to bang out half a dozen work orders before lunch, which was awesome. Then the cute worker at the deli had given him a free pickle and bag of chips with his sandwich, which made his day even better.
"Dude, when are you going to ask the chick who works at the deli to go out with you?"
"What?" Finn said before he popped a couple of chips into his mouth.
"The chick. At the deli. She wants you. That's why she gave you all that extra shit and Puckasaurus got bupkis."
"I think if you stopped calling yourself Puckasaurus in front of her you might get free stuff every once in a while."
Puck took a bite of his sandwich before responding. "Whatever, just ask her out."
"Nah, I'm cool."
"Dude, you haven't gone out with a chick since Lisa dumped you." Finn felt a punch on his shoulder, "It's time to get back in the game."
"What the fuck man? What'd I tell you about saying her name?"
"Yea, yea, you told me never to talk about the bitch again. But it's been months. You need to move the fuck on."
"I have moved on." Finn took a bite out of sandwich, "I just don't want to ask the deli girl out."
Puck looked at him like he was crazy. "Why the hell not? She's cute and she's got a killer body. I've seen you staring at her tits and more importantly, she's seen you staring at her tits and she still gives you free shit."
Another bite. "I'm not asking her out."
"If you don't, I'm going to take her."
Finn shrugged his shoulders and polished off his sandwich. "Whatever man, she's all yours."
There was no way the deli girl would ever go out with either of them and Finn knew it. He was pretty sure she was only back in Lima during her summer break from some college on the west coast. A girl like that just didn't date Lima losers like Finn or Puck, no matter how much free food she gave them.
A sandwich wrapper smacked Finn on the side of his head.
"You want that extra bag of chips?"
"They're mine." He threw his wrapper at Puck and hit the target he had painted between his friend's eyes.
He'd been friends with Puck long enough to know the guy would make a lunge for his chips, so he snatched them away and poured them all into his mouth before Puck's arm had made it halfway across the table outside the auto shop.
"Not fair dude."
Finn was too busy munching on chips to respond.
"Where's your step-brother man? Isn't he usually back from New York by now?"
"Yea, but he got an internship at some fancy clothing place so he won't be back this summer, just me and Burt at the shop now."
Puck nodded and looked around. "Looks like he's gonna make it out of this shithole."
Finn turned his head left and looked off at small stores lining one of the three major streets in town. "Yea, he never looked back once he transferred to Dalton."
"Lucky him."
"He deserves it with all the shit he went through."
"Whatever dude, high school was awesome. We ruled that shit."
Finn turned to look at Puck. "Yea, it was so awesome that you wound up as a bartender and I'm working as a mechanic. Real fucking awesome."
"Fuck you man. I like bartending."
"No, you like the women at the bar. The drinks you make are shit, you suck at bartending."
"So what? Who needs to know how to make drinks and I can talk to all the hot MILFs there?"
Finn shook his head. "I guess you don't." He checked his cheap watch, "I gotta get back to work man. See you later."
They both stood up.
"You coming by the bar tonight?"
"Maybe, we'll see."
"Come on, everyone's gonna be there. This is the last summer they'll be here since you know, they'll all be off doing shit next summer."
"Yea, I know. I'll try to make it."
"If you do come, make sure you aren't being a fucking downer. It's fucking depressing."
"Fuck off."
"You got it." Puck turned around and left Finn standing in front of the auto shop.
The afternoon at the auto shop went just as well as the morning had. He had gotten ahead in his work so he could take his time with the stuff that needed to be done, but he still worked pretty hard since he could probably take care of some stuff that needed to be tomorrow. Plus, it got kinda boring at the shop if he didn't have anything to do.
He grabbed a bottle of water and went outside to take a little break from his current job, that damn solenoid replacement was giving him way too much trouble. He let his eyes wander the street as he drank his water, wondering if he should go see his old high school friends tonight at the bar. On one hand, it would be nice to see them again since it'd almost been a year since he'd seen them. On the other, it would suck to hear them talking about the things they were going to do while he was stuck in Lima. That would only depress him and they'd all notice and it'd be all awkward, just like after his injury.
Those thoughts were momentarily set aside when he saw a strange sight driving down the street. It was a black Lincoln Town Car. He was pretty sure no one in town drove one of those and it had tags that said "For Hire." Finn wondered who could possibly be in that car and why they would ever be driving through a town like Lima.
The vibrating cell phone in his pocket interrupted his thoughts.
"Hey mom. What's up?"
"Are you on your way home yet?"
"What? Why would I be on my way home?"
"Finn, did you read the note I left you this morning?"
"The one about the guest coming over?"
"Yes, I asked you to come home early so you could meet them."
He took a drink of water.
"Uh, I kinda skimmed over it. Didn't sound like something I needed to worry about."
"Just come home right now. Our guest is running a little late anyway, so hopefully you'll get here in time."
"Okay. Let me tell dad and then I'm on my way."
"See you soon honey."
"Bye mom."
Finn found Burt sitting in the office of the shop going over paperwork.
"Hey dad, mom said I needed to be home this afternoon."
Burt looked up. "Yea. I thought you already left. I'll head out soon once I finish these invoices. I swear, they give me more trouble than any real work ever did."
"You know that's what you have to do though."
"Yea, I know." Burt chuckled, "Doesn't mean I can't complain about it right?"
Finn let a smile creep onto his face at Burt's joke. "Right. See you at home."
As Finn walked through the work area of the shop, he look over at all the incomplete work orders and realized that he hadn't finished what he had to do for the day, which meant he'd have to work extra hard tomorrow. This guest had better be worth it. He really didn't want to stay late tomorrow to get everything done.
So, much for a bad day turning out fine.
Rachel's day had become worse and worse.
First, the driver said he was only allowed to make one restroom stop and Rachel hated being cooped up. Second, the battery on her iPhone had died an hour into the trip which meant no music and no contact with the outside world for two hours. Third and finally, without her music she was forced to stare out the window for the rest of the trip and all she saw was her surroundings becoming more and more rural. Jessica and her dads knew she was a big city girl, why the heck did they have to send her out into the country for this?
"Ma'am, we're just about there."
"Really? Thank God. I'm about to die from boredom back here."
In the rear view mirror, she saw the driver roll his eyes. When she turned her head to look back out her window she saw a sign that said, "Welcome to Lima. Population 3,367."
"Lima? We're going to Lima?"
"It's Lie-Ma, not Lee-Ma, ma'am."
"Whatever. We're going to Lie-Ma? What the heck is in Lima?"
"Ah, not much. The town is pretty much based around the factory that builds tanks."
"Tanks? Like fish tanks? Or fuel tanks?"
"No ma'am. Tanks like the tanks you go to war in."
"Oh."
This was perfect, just perfect. A town that built war machines and nothing else. God knows what kind of people Rachel would find there. She would bet that none of them had even heard of Broadway or could appreciate the wonder and genius that musical theatre was.
It looked like they had finally reached the main part of the city, if you could even call it that. It was a six lane road with two lanes reserved for parking. There were plenty of small shops on either side that all looked pretty basic: grocery and clothing stores, a bar, a deli, a post office and whatever else a town would need. There was even a car repair shop with a giant grease monkey of a man outside, guzzling a bottle of water and talking on his cell phone. Well, at least they had cell phones here.
"What is this? Main Street?" She muttered.
"Yes ma'am. This is Main Street. It's the largest street in town."
"You're kidding right?"
"No ma'am. There are two other streets about the same size as this one but this is the biggest and most popular."
Rachel closed her eyes and groaned. She was going to shrivel up and die here. It didn't look like there was anything to do. Her only hope was that where ever she was staying would be able to entertain her. Or kill her quickly. Right now, the latter option seemed to be the more likely one.
The car turned off Main Street and made its way down a few secondary roads. They eventually came to a stop in front of a two story house with an attached garage. There was a well groomed lawn out front with a few random ornaments scattered about and a tree house in the large tree with a tire swing off to the side. A little garden in a corner of the lawn held flowers, herbs, and vegetables. It was an idyllic small town home. Rachel immediately hated everything she saw.
"And here we are ma'am."
"Great. I can't wait to get out." Rachel said without a hint of excitement.
The driver made his way to Rachel's door and opened it for her before removing her bag from the trunk of the car. She reached into her purse, pulled out her wallet, and looked inside, only to immediately put it back in her purse.
"Sorry, I uh, don't have any cash for a tip."
"Don't worry about it ma'am. Your friend took care of it before we left the airport."
"Oh."
A look up and down the street showed Rachel that everyone other house was pretty much a duplicate of the one in front of her with some differences. She heard birds chirping and dogs barking and immediately missed the sights and sounds of New York: the honking horns of cars, people talking on their phones, police sirens, the skyscrapers above, and even the dirt and grime on the street. This town was too small, too quiet, and too clean for her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the driver as he made his way up to the front door of the house and rang the bell. She saw a middle aged woman open the door and they spoke for a few moments before the driver came back down to the car and drove off. Rachel marched up to the house to introduce herself.
"Hi, my name is Rachel Berry." Rachel smiled brightly and stuck out her hand.
"Rachel," The woman shook the offered hand, "It's good to finally meet you. My name is Carole Hudson."
"I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do now, Ms. Hudson."
"Call me Carole."
"I- Okay, Carole. I don't really know why I'm here." She gestured towards the house, "This doesn't look like a rehab center of any kind."
"Rehab center? This is my home and it'll be yours for the next few weeks." A confused look appeared on Carole's face, "Hiram and Leroy said you were going to rehab?"
"No, I just assumed that I'd be going to rehab."
"Honey, they just wanted you to get away from the city for a while and see a different side of life." Carole turned her head to look up the street, "Ah, there's Finn now. He's my son."
Rachel turned to see a blue pick-up truck as it made its way down the street and into the driveway. A boyishly handsome young man in dirty coveralls got out and made his way over to them. Now, Rachel knew she was below average height-wise, but the person in front of her just towered over her. Her head barely made it to his chin and she was wearing five inch heels.
She smiled and stuck out her hand to introduce herself. "Hi, my name is Rachel Berry."
Finn looked over Rachel Berry. She was kinda short, but then again most people were kinda short next to him. But, even though she was short, her toned legs looked awesome long under that short skirt she was wearing. Her tits weren't that large and her nose was kinda big, but it all worked for her since she carried herself with the sort of confidence that reminded Finn of the Cheerios back in high school. Like she knew she was hot and dared people to tell her otherwise.
His calloused hand nearly engulfed hers. "Finn Hudson."
When she pulled her hand away, she found that it was covered in some black substance and shoved her hand at his face.
"What is this?" She demanded to know.
"Oh, I guess I must've missed some grease." He pulled out a handkerchief from his back pocket which looked so dirty it probably couldn't have cleaned off anything, much less her hand.
She gave it a disdainful look. "I think I'll just wash my hands inside."
Carole gestured towards the still open door. "Of course. Let me show you were the bathroom is."
Rachel pointed her things. "Finn, can you grab my luggage?"
"What? Why-" Carole gave him a look, "Yea, of course I can."
Rachel turned to head towards the house and then whipped her head around as she realized that he was about to put his dirty hands all over her things.
"Wait! You need to wash your hands before you-" Too late. There were grease stains all over her luggage that he was now holding.
"Before I what?"
"Get my luggage dirty." She mumbled.
He gave her a look as if he couldn't believe the words that had just come out of her mouth. "It's luggage. It's supposed to get dirty."
"It's not just luggage. It's Louis Vuitton luggage."
Again, he looked at her as if she was crazy. "It's still luggage isn't it?"
"Just don't drop the bags," She straightened her head and made her way towards the house once more, "I have important things inside."
He muttered, "Whatever," before asking his mom where to put her things.
"Put them in Kurt's room honey, she'll be staying there since Kurt can't make it home this summer."
"Okay."
He made his way to his old room and immediately dropped her bags on the floor. He was pretty sure luggage went through worse at an airport so there was no reason for him to treat it gently. He was also pretty sure that Rachel was just like one of the Cheerios with her bossy attitude. She was definitely a bitchy cheerleader in high school.
Rachel definitely thought Finn Hudson was a Neanderthal as she washed her hands in the bathroom for a second time. She was amazed that he could even form a proper sentence with more than three words. He probably beat things with a wrench to fix them and then ate a chunk of raw meat afterwards as he grunted things to his Neanderthal friends. And why wouldn't these grease stains wash out?
After rubbing her hands raw, she had finally washed off the grease and made her way to her new room which looked like a teenage male had lived in it. Movie posters and prints of sports stars were hung up on the walls and a calendar with bikini clad women was tacked on the back of the door. Surprisingly, there were a few fashionable touches that she recognized from haute couture brands here and there.
The Neanderthal had flung her luggage onto the floor which didn't surprise her. She pulled out her iPhone charger and hooked it up to the wall outlet before looking in the closet. Half of the closet was empty, for what she assumed was for her use. The other half was filled with generic male clothing: t-shirts, polos, and a dress shirt here and there. Two things stood out: a high school letterman jacket and a clean football jersey that looked very professional, probably from college.
Kurt must have been the star athlete of the family. That was probably why he wasn't home for the summer and his brother was stuck living at home in this town hitting greasy things with wrenches.
She sent Jessica a quick text saying that she had made it safely and called her daddies to let them know she had arrived before she poked at the bed and then threw herself onto it. She found it to be surprisingly soft. At least she'd be able to sleep well.
Sleep.
Sleep sounded good as her eyelids slowly slid shut and she drifted off.
"Mom, I don't understand why she has to stay here. It's not like we really need the money her dads are giving us."
"It's not all about the money, even though it will help with Kurt's tuition." Finn heard her chopping something, "We're doing a favor for her dads since I knew them before they moved to New York."
Finn looked up from his seat at the kitchen table. "Did they know dad?"
"Yes, they knew your father. We were all friends. They even came back for the funeral."
"Oh." Finn looked back down at the table, "What's she doing here anyway?"
"Her dads just wanted her out of the city for a while." She opened the fridge and found something before closing it, "They think it'll do her some good."
Finn played around with his glass of water for a bit before his mom spoke up again.
"What do you think of her?"
"Uh, she reminds me of the cheerleaders back in high school, kinda has a bossy attitude. I don't think I'll like her very much."
Carole poked her head out of the kitchen. "Didn't you used to date the head cheerleader back in high school?"
"Quinn was different." Finn waved his hands around, "She was nice underneath all that bossiness."
"How do you know Rachel won't be nice underneath all her bossiness?"
"How do you know she will be?"
"Just give her a chance. Maybe you'll be surprised."
"I bet I won't be, but it's not like I'll be spending enough time with her to be surprised."
Finn missed the knowing smile his mom gave him as she pulled her head back into the kitchen.
"Burt will be back any minute now and dinner will be ready soon. Can you go see what Rachel is up to?"
He trudged off to the second floor and knocked on the door. When he got no response he opened the door and found Rachel sleeping on top of his old bed. He really missed his old bed since Kurt's bed was really freaking hard. Kurt's excuse was something about it being better for the spine, but Finn had been sleeping on it for almost a year now and his spine still didn't like it.
His gaze lingered on Rachel's legs because he was a guy and her legs were really sexy, like really sexy: the complexion, the tone, the length, the curves. He shook his head out of those thoughts and kicked the bed a few times, hoping to wake her up. When that failed he moved on to shaking her shoulders.
Her eyes shot open and a look of confusion spread over her face.
"Who are you? Where am I? I have a rape whistle in my purse!"
Finn couldn't help doubling over in laughter before replying.
"A rape whistle? What good would that do if you're locked up in my house?"
She glared at him. "A rape whistle is a very useful item to have in the big city. You never know what may happen."
"Yea, cause I'm sure everyone will come running when they hear it." He stuck his hand out, "I'm Finn Hudson by the way, we met a few hours ago and you're staying in my home, remember?"
She rolled her eyes and he dropped his hand. "Of course I remember. I was slightly disoriented from waking up in an unfamiliar bed."
"Good, because I really don't want to go through that introduction again. Dinner is almost ready. Come down in five minutes." He turned and left the room.
Rachel sat up in bed and washed her face in the bathroom. Not only was he a Neanderthal, but he was rude. She sighed into the towel she used to dry her face. She couldn't believe she was stuck here for weeks. A better performance in front of Jessica and she'd probably be in a fancy LA hotel right now.
She sighed again when a quick check of her partially charged phone showed no new messages, not that she expected any. For all her enthusiasm and bluster, she just wasn't that close to any of her cast mates. She sent off a text to someone she had hoped to hear from but probably wouldn't, before heading down to dinner.
At dinner, she found herself sitting next to Finn and across from Carole and her husband Burt at their oval dining room table. Apparently, Carole had known she was a vegan and prepared a satisfactory vegan dinner. Of course, the Neanderthal had complained about the lack of animal products on his plate.
"Mom, what is this?"
Finn poked at the things on the plate with his fork.
"Those are mushrooms and pine nuts."
Finn looked suspiciously at them. "And we can eat this?"
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Of course we can eat them. They're perfectly safe and nutritious."
He continued poking at his plate. "Where's the chicken? Or fish?"
"Finn honey, Rachel is a vegan. That means she can't have any meat or fish or anything that comes from them either."
"Not only is it a much healthier lifestyle, but think of all the poor animals you're saving by not eating them."
Carole nudged Burt with her elbow. "You hear that Burt? This stuff is good for you."
"Eh, I don't know." Burt pointed his fork at Finn, "I think I'm with Finn on this one. I'd rather be eating a steak or hamburger."
"You know you can't eat those things anymore."
"I know," Burt sighed, "Doesn't mean I can't want to though."
"Well, I do know some vegan dishes that I would be happy to prepare that are very delicious."
"Oh, that's very nice of you Rachel." Carole looked pointedly at Finn, "I bet Finn would be happy to help you."
Before Finn could speak up Rachel did.
"I couldn't impose on him. I'm sure he has more important things to do besides helping me cook."
"Nonsense, Finn would be thrilled to help you." Finn saw the look his mom had on, "Won't you Finn?"
"Yea, sure. I'd be happy to help." Finn said through gritted teeth.
"Perfect. I'm sure Rachel could use the help after spending the day helping at the shop."
Their forks clattered on their plates at almost exactly the same time before they spoke at the same time.
"What does she-"
"Why do I need-"
They looked at each other and spoke over each other again.
"I'm not spending the day with her."
"There is no reason for me to spend the day with him."
They looked back at Carole and saw her grinning with along Burt.
"Rachel, your fathers agreed with me that this would be the best thing for you. Unless of course you'd like to spend yours days sitting in your room without your cell phone."
Rachel pondered her options for a moment. "Helping out at the shop sounds reasonable."
Burt took over the argument. "Finn, I'm sure you can find something for Rachel to do."
"But she'll get in my way!"
"Aren't you always saying that you could use the help?"
"Yea, but help from someone who knows how to fix cars. Not help from," He waved his hand at her, "her."
Rachel glared at him. "I'm sure I can find something to do. Your job cannot be that difficult."
"See, there you go. She can fix cars once you show her what to do."
Finn groaned. "I'm not getting out of this am I?"
Burt and Carole laughed and shook their heads.
Finn looked over at Rachel and saw an annoyed expression that he was also wearing.
They tilted their heads back at the same time and the same thought ran through their heads.
"This has been the worst day ever."
A/N 2: Finn's gonna be pretty OOC too as you can see, but less than Rachel.
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