A/N: Sorry for being so late with this. I know lots of you have left reviews and sent PMs asking for an update but I just haven't had the time to write.
So, this story was nominated for a Finchel Fanfiction Award and even though it didn't win I was honored just to be included with those great stories and authors because all I could think was "one of these stories doesn't belong and I'm pretty sure it's the one I'm pecking away at." Thank you to all those who nominated and voted for this story.
Oh, in case you didn't believe Finn last chapter when he said "Jessie's Girl" is one of, if not the greatest, song ever, I present you with this evidence: penny-arcade dot com/comic/2008/10/24/
As always, thanks for reading and reviewing.
There are moments in life which are so profound and poignant that they affect how a person lives the rest of his or her life. There are moments like the Newton seeing the apple falling from a tree or the birth of a child, or the perfect bite of food.
This was not one of those moments. This moment was one of shock and awe.
Finn's jaw dropped as he tried to discretely stare at Rachel who was doing the most amazing thing Finn had ever seen with a piece of candy. He couldn't help but stare as he saw her do things that he thought only existed on the internet. It looked as though she hadn't noticed him staring at her, so he slowly turned his head to look at her as he tried to get a better view of her. As he began to blatantly stare at her, he once again thought that Rachel Berry would be the end of him but for a different reason this time.
About an hour earlier.
"I don't see the point in having to wake up this early on our day off," Rachel said in-between sips of her large iced coffee.
Sitting next to her in a matching beach chair and holding a matching iced coffee, Finn replied, "We had to grab these awesome spots for the parade. I never sit anywhere else."
"What does it matter where we sit for the parade?"
Quinn, also with a large cup of iced coffee, replied from Rachel's other side before Finn could. "It's a tradition we have. Plus, Finn loves the parade."
"But it's soooooooooooooo early!" said Rachel.
This time it was Artie, also with a cup of iced coffee, who responded from the other side of Finn. "Hey! We're celebrating the birth of America! The signing of the Declaration of Independence! The day we Americans decided the throw off the chains of colonialism! You can wake up early one day to do that."
Rachel stuck her drink into the cup holder on her seat and threw her arms up. "I can celebrate those things just fine from the comfort of my bed!"
Artie just shook his head before he turned to Sam so they could continue a conversation about Star Wars or Trek or something with the word Star in it.
Finn nudged Rachel with his elbow. "Come on, when was the last time you saw a parade?"
Rachel sipped at her coffee as she tried to remember when the last time she saw a parade. "It's probably been a few years." And it was. The last parade she'd been to was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade nearly a decade ago where she pitched a fit at her dads for bringing her to such a commercial and boring event. And even though it had been a yearly tradition ever since they had moved to New York that was the last time Rachel had gone with them. Not that the people around her needed to know.
"See? This is perfect then," Finn replied.
"Is not." Rachel crossed her arms and pouted. "And it's still too early."
Finn glanced over at Rachel and shook his head slightly. An idea came to him just as he was turning around to speak to Quinn. He looked over at Rachel again and saw that she was still pouting with her arms crossed. Perfect, he thought as he picked up his ice cold drink and pressed it up against Rachel's cheek. He grinned as she let out a shriek and flailed her arms about in his general direction, trying to get his drink away from her face.
Rachel glared at Finn. "If this is a tradition for you all, where are the rest of you?"
"Mike and Brittany are in the parade so they're off getting ready. Puck and Santana are probably sleeping," said Finn.
"Why do they get to sleep in?"
"Well, Puck gets to sleep in cause he was working 'til 3AM and Santana gets to sleep in because—"
"Because I'm Santana Lopez and what I want, I get," the Latina said as she strolled past the group and took the empty seat next to Quinn. "And Santana Lopez gets to sleep in."
"10:55 isn't really sleeping in," Rachel shot back after she checked her phone.
Santana rolled her eyes. "B's in the parade; I have to be here. I just didn't have to be here as early as you."
Rachel let out a huff before Finn said, "Come on, it's not that bad is it? I mean it's better than waking up to go to work."
"It's still too early," Rachel muttered.
"God, do you ever shut up?" Quinn said.
"No, I usually find that my conversation style allows me to accomplish my goals much faster. I'm assuming it has something to do with my superior arguments and thought processes."
"Yea, I'm sure that's it," Santana said.
"Your sarcasm is not appreciated," said Rachel while Santana and Quinn snickered at each other.
Santana opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by Finn when he said, "Hey, the parade's starting."
As cheers went up among the crowd up the street; Rachel felt as if she was living in a bad movie for what had to be the hundredth time. Small children and their parents peppered the sidewalks as everyone watched the mayor walk by with the parade marshal, signaling the start of the parade. Cliché after cliché of small-town America made their way past Rachel: boy scouts, fire engines, the high school marching band, etcetera, etcetera.
One of the few things that was different were the small paper bags being handed out at the start of the parade by the boy scouts. When she shot Finn a curious look he grinned back at her and said, "Just wait." She didn't have to wait long to find out what the bags were for when the girl scout troop walking by started to throw candy towards the crowds gathered on the sidewalks.
She looked at Finn. "Please tell me the reason you love this parade so much isn't because they give away candy."
He glanced at her and said, "Uh… okay; I won't," before facing forward and snatching a Snickers bar out of the air.
"Finn Hudson, you are the most juvenile—"
"What?" he said. "It's free candy. There's no way you don't like candy."
"I may be known to eat a piece or two, here and there, but that's still no—"
He looked at her. "Come on, it's like Halloween in July; what's not to love?"
"I can give you a list of things—"
"There's got to be something you like…" Finn said as he began digging around inside his bag of candy. "Milky Way? Reese's? Ooh, you gotta love Kit Kats right?"
"Have you already forgotten that I'm a vegan?" Rachel said.
"Uh, what's that have to do with anything?"
"Well, most of the candy being produced today contains ingredients that a vegan cannot eat such as: milk chocolate, gelatin, carmine, confectioner's glaze—"
"So wait, what candy can you eat?"
"Sour Patch Kids, Dum-Dums, and Twizzlers are a few of the candies on the vegan approved list," Rachel said.
"What about Jolly Ranchers?" Finn said as he held up an apple flavored one.
Rachel wrinkled her nose when she saw the green-colored candy. "No thank you."
Finn rifled through his bag some more. "Twizzler?"
Rachel rolled her eyes and was about to turn him down when an idea popped into her head. "If I take this, will you stop annoying me with questions?"
When he said, "Yea, I guess," Rachel snatched the Twizzler from his hand and looked at the piece of candy for a moment. The fact that Finn was no longer asking her about what kind of candy she liked was only a bonus effect from her actual plan. Her actual plan was to continue the game that she decided to play when she first arrived in Lima: tease Finn mercilessly for her own entertainment. The single serving Twizzler was unwrapped and held lightly between Rachel's fingers for a long moment as she pondered how she wanted to approach this. She decided that her usual method of being quick and direct wouldn't suffice; something a little more subtle would be best for this and given the size and shape of the piece of candy, there was really only one choice for Rachel.
They say that men are visual creatures, but in her experience Rachel knew that audio cues would greatly aid her in this game. She let a small moan escape from her lips as she wrapped them around the Twizzler, and when she saw no reaction from Finn from the corner of her eye she moaned a little louder. Second time was the charm for Rachel when she saw Finn peek at her, and his jaw dropped slightly. The urge to grin was pushed aside as she moved the Twizzler in and out of her mouth, all the while keeping a tight seal around it with her lips.
When Finn's jaw stopped dropping, Rachel decided to turn up the heat. As with a few other things in her personal life, Rachel's lack of a gag reflex allowed her to push more and more of the candy down her throat without any trouble. His eyes flew open as she pushed almost all of the long candy down her throat and there was no fighting the grin that began to form this time.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Quinn hissed, surprising Rachel and causing her to jump and choke on the Twizzler.
After Rachel recovered, she said, "I was eating a Twizzler until you rudely interrupted me."
"Well if that's what you call eating, you can do that at home, in private," Quinn said.
"Stop being so harsh. I kinda enjoyed watching it," Santana said as she waggled her eyebrows. "It was kinda hot."
Quinn rolled her eyes. "Missing certain things now that you're playing for the other team?"
Santana smirked. "Nah. Me and B are switch hitters. We don't miss much."
Rachel heard Finn cough and sputter from behind her which caused Quinn and Santana to smirk and snicker.
"Aww Frankenteen, it always feels good to know that anyone and everyone can embarrass you," Santana said.
"Frankenteen?" Rachel asked.
This brought a smile to Quinn's face. "Nickname we gave Finn in junior high since he was already a giant then."
"Why are you guys still using that? I'm not a teenager anymore," Finn said.
"Cause it annoys you duh," Santana said as she rolled her eyes.
"Finn was a bit embarrassed about his size way back then," Quinn said.
"That's nothing to be ashamed of. I happen to like larger than average men," Rachel said.
Quinn and Santana stared at Rachel's straight face for a long moment until Rachel could no longer keep her lips from twitching, causing all three of them to burst into laughter.
Finn groaned. "Did you have to bring that up?"
Santana smirked. "Oh now that you mention it, there are plenty more where that came from," she said as she began to count them out on her fingers. "Finnessa, Finnocence, Finny—"
"Okay, okay. I think she gets it," said Finn.
Santana shrugged. "Sure, whatever you say Finnderella."
Finn groaned again as everyone laughed.
The rest of the parade went by quickly as everyone quickly dissolved into commenting about the parade and the people in it. They all cheered when Mike and Brittany came around, leading a dance troop through a complicated routine before the entire troop went off on their own random dances. While Rachel wouldn't say that she had fun watching the parade, she understood why almost everyone showed up. There was a sense of belonging to a community that Rachel could feel as people from the town came by to speak with Finn, Quinn, and everyone else for no reason other than to catch up with them because the people had watched them grow up.
Rachel, of course, had no experience with this since she'd been raised in a big city where you were lucky if your neighbor grunted a hello at you. She could see the appeal of growing up in a small community where almost everyone knew your name, but there was no way she would ever trade the experience of living out all her dreams for one where she would be trapped in such a small town. It was, however, different to see what it was like away from the hustle and bustle of New York and to her surprise she found that it wasn't that bad, much like the just-finishing parade in front of her.
"Now what?" said Rachel as she stood up and stretched.
"Now we go home," said Finn.
"That parade is all you guys do for July 4th?"
Santana scoffed. "Oh please, we've got plenty planned for today."
Quinn arched an eyebrow. "Since when did you ever plan anything?"
Santana arched an eyebrow back at her. "Since when did that ever stop me from taking credit?"
The two stared at each other for a moment before grins appeared and Quinn said, "Point taken."
Burt drove by in Finn's truck a few moments later and the guys threw the beach chairs in the bed of the truck before he drove off. As they slowly walked back to Finn's house, Rachel saw that the street had begun a transformation into a block party: there were people setting up all sorts of food and game stands on front yards and sidewalks, kids ran up and down the block chasing each other and pestering the people around them, and right in the middle of it all were Burt and Carole who were organizing everyone else.
Finn's parents waved at them as they walked by and into in the house where everyone immediately dropped into whatever seat they could find in the living room, except for Finn who went into the kitchen to grab drinks for everyone. The group bantered back and forth while watching a movie and after a while Noah, Mike, and Brittany joined them. Just as the movie ended Carole came in and told them that things were just about ready if they wanted to come out.
Finn gathered some of the used glasses, dropped them off in the kitchen, and as he turned around, almost ran over Rachel who was following with more used glasses.
"Thanks," he said as he grabbed the glasses from Rachel and began to wash them. "Didn't think you'd be behind me."
"No problem. And, annoyingly, I guess it's become a habit to help you clear the table," she said as she picked up a towel.
A half-grin. "Since when is it annoying to be helpful?"
She grinned back. "If you like helping so much then why aren't you outside helping your parents?"
"Uh, I usually do but my mom said I really didn't have to this year. Something about..." Rachel didn't hear the rest of the sentence as Finn turned away and mumbled it.
"What was that?"
He mumbled it again but this time Rachel could pick out the words: Mom, you, and company.
"I still didn't hear you."
He turned to look at her. "I said, 'My mom wanted me to keep you company.'"
"Now was that so— Wait. What?"
Finn brought his hand up to rub his face before he remembered it was wet then groaned and said, "She said that you needed the company because you didn't know too many people here and she didn't want you running around by yourself."
"Does she think I'm 12 or something?"
"That's what I told her and she told me that it was either show you around or porta potty duty. So yea, easy choice."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Glad to know that I'm being picked before portable toilets."
"Yea, well you know," he said as he shrugged. "Guy's gotta have some standards."
She glared at him. "You—"
"Ahem." Finn and Rachel turned around to find Quinn leaning against the door frame with an amused smirk on her face. "You two finished being domestic in there? Because Santana's complaining about being hungry and you know how she gets when she's hungry."
Finn winced. "Yea, we're almost done."
"We?" Rachel threw the towel in Finn's face as she walked out of the kitchen. "You mean you're almost done."
"I think I've figured out why you like today so much."
"Oh yea? Why's that?" Finn said around bites of a topping filled hot dog.
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Because you get to eat candy in the morning, then pick and choose between endless food stands, — What's that? Your fifth plate of food? — and play a bunch of juvenile games in between your eating."
Finn shrugged as he finished swallowing the remains of his hot dog. "What can I say? I like to eat and play games."
Rachel rolled her eyes again and sighed.
He nudged her with an elbow, drawing an annoyed look from her. "I saw at the dunk tank trying to drop Puck. It even looked like you were having fun when you weren't yelling at him for being crude and disgusting."
"Okay," She pursed her lips. "I may have found a few things to do that are entertaining."
Before Finn could say anything, Santana pushed her way in between them and said, "You planning on doing something completely stupid to Finn again? Cause I'm gonna—"
Finn groaned and interrupted her. "Are you drunk? Cause I thought I told you not to worry about this anymore."
"Do I look like I'm all sad and weepy? And I'm telling her that if she tries to pull some shit like that again I'm gonna go all Lima Heights on her ass." Santana threw her arm around Rachel's shoulders and glared. "Comprende?"
Rachel's mouth flopped open for a moment before she said, "You don't have anything to worry about. I won't be doing anything like that again."
"You sure?" Santana grinned at Rachel. "Cause it's been a while since I destroyed someone and I kinda miss it."
"Just ignore her," said Quinn who had walked up with Santana.
"You know, you've been way less fun ever since we got outta high school," said Santana.
"What can I say?" Quinn shrugged. "Things are just different now."
"Ugh, whatever," said Santana as she rolled her eyes then looked to her left as Brittany ran up to the group, looking very excited.
"San! San!" said Brittany as she jumped up and down in front of Santana, bringing the entire group to a stop.
"Yes B?"
Brittany grabbed Santana's hand. "You gotta come with me!"
Santana looked down at their intertwined hands for a moment. "And where are we going?"
"The Johnsons set up a moon bounce this year!"
Santana's eyes widened and a small grin appeared on her face.
Brittany started tugging on Santana's hand and began jumping again. "Come on! Come on!"
Santana looked over at Quinn and rolled her eyes before she turned back to Brittany and grinned even wider. "Okay. Let's go."
Rachel had to grin at the way Brittany had Santana wrapped around her finger as she watched the blonde pull the Latina away from the group. "They're cute together."
Finn and Quinn gave each other a look, which Rachel missed, before Quinn said, "They went through a lot. Our town and high school aren't exactly the friendliest place for lesbians."
Finn muttered something unintelligible which caused Rachel to look up, only to find him and Quinn giving each other sad expressions. "What'd you say?"
"Nothing. Don't worry about it," he said after he thought for a moment and his face hardened. "Come on; let's go see what other games there are."
Finn marched off down the street pausing ever so often to check out a booth as Rachel and Quinn trailed behind him. He even stopped at another food booth and when Rachel asked, Quinn confirmed that Finn had always been a bottomless pit ever since she had known him. Finally, Finn decided to try his hand at a ring toss booth.
"So, do I have to worry about Santana?" Rachel asked as she and Quinn watched Finn screw his face up in concentration while he played the game.
Quinn laughed. "No, she's not harmless but she won't do anything to you if you don't do anything to Finn."
"Good because I have no idea what 'Lima Heights' is and I'd like to keep it that way."
"Don't worry about that either. I have no idea where she gets that from. Her dad's a dentist and her mom's a receptionist and they live up the street, a few houses away, from Finn."
Finn let out a victorious shout which brought their attention back to him and the game where they saw that he had managed to put a ring around the bottle all the way in the back. He turned back to them and asked, "Did you see that? I was awesome."
"Nope," Quinn said.
"Sure didn't," followed Rachel, much to the amusement of the two women and the annoyance of Finn. But as the words left Rachel's mouth, she was already scanning the prizes that were available in the booth. Granted, the booth was being run by a random family in the small town, so there weren't that many prizes to choose from.
Finn turned to look over the prizes as well. "What'd you think I should get." Rachel's response was about to be the stuffed monkey eerily similar to hers, except for a reversed color scheme, until he said, "Quinn?"
A twinge of annoyance shot through Rachel as Quinn thought it over for a moment. "I think you've given me enough stuffed animals over the years to last a lifetime. Why don't you let Rachel pick?"
As soon as the word "Sure" was out of Finn's mouth, Rachel stated her desire for the monkey.
The prize was handed over by the operator and given to her who looked it over and discovered that it also had Velcro pads on its hands just like hers. Earlier in her life, she had entertained herself endlessly by using her body as a tree and hanging her monkey using the pair of Velcro hands. This behavior faded away as Rachel grew up and her theatre career began since it just wouldn't do to be seen out in public with a stuffed animal hanging off her. She wanted to show the people that she was a mature Broadway actor who, aside from constantly arriving late to practice and rehearsals, took her job seriously. Granted, her personal life and troubles were plastered all over Page Six but at least that showed the world that she had the same problems as plenty of other celebrities. What she couldn't show was immaturity which is exactly what a stuffed animal hanging from her arm or neck would display.
"Quick response there," said Quinn as Rachel fiddled with the monkey paws.
Rachel shrugged. "It caught my eye."
"Are you going to stop sticking and unsticking his paws?" said Quinn.
Rachel rolled her eyes then threw her new stuffed animal onto her back, looped the arms around her neck, and stuck the paws together. "Happy?" Of course, there were no paparazzi in this little town to take pictures of her so she was fine with this behavior here.
Quinn gave the monkey a tiny yank causing Rachel to stumble backwards and produce an unflattering squeal. "Very."
After Rachel recovered and shot Quinn a glare, she noticed that two females, one teenager and one college-aged, had begun a conversation with Finn. The younger one was Emily, who Rachel had helped in Glee Club just a few days earlier, and the other was someone familiar looking but Rachel couldn't quite remember where she had seen her. The older one had similar features as Emily so Rachel assumed that they were sisters. One major difference between the two was their mannerisms around Finn: where Emily was shy and reserved, her sister was chatting animatedly with him.
"Hey, your name's Rachel right?" said the elder sibling after she noticed Rachel and Quinn approaching.
"Ah, yes… Do I know you?"
"Cesar salad, hold the eggs and croutons?"
Understanding washed over Rachel as she realized that this was the girl at the deli who prepared their lunches every work day. "Sorry, I didn't recognize you—" Rachel racked her brain for the name. "—Erin."
Erin laughed. "It's okay. Everyone says I look a bit different when I let my hair down. Plus, you always seem too busy bickering with Finn here and arguing with Puck to be paying much attention to your surroundings at the deli."
"Yes, those two are very annoying to deal with every day," said Rachel as she ignored an indignant "Hey!" from Finn.
"I bet they are. Anyway," said Erin as she prodded Emily forward. "I wanna thank you for helping Emily in Glee because I'm betting that she didn't."
This time it was Emily who let out the indignant "Hey!" before she continued, "I did thank Rachel for all her help."
Erin patted her sister's head until her hand was swatted away. "Well, I stand corrected then."
The group moved away from the booth and spent a few minutes chatting with each other before Erin asked if she and her sister could join Finn, Quinn, and Rachel so the siblings could get away from their parents for a while. Finn, being the nice guy he was, said they could tag along which sent another twinge of annoyance through Rachel since he was supposed to be showing her around, supposed to be keeping her company, supposed to be entertaining her. He was not supposed to be making her think like this. Those thoughts were quickly shoved aside because the last thing she wanted was to want Finn to spend time with her.
Her internal struggle was interrupted by an amused looking Quinn. "Like mother, like daughter; but I guess I should say: like big sister, like little sister."
"What?"
Quinn tilted her head in the direction of Finn, Erin, and Emily who had put enough distance on the other two that their conversation could no longer be heard. "I think it's obvious with the way little Emily can barely look or speak with Finn that she has a crush on him."
"And what does that have to do with her sister?"
"Well, with the way that Erin hasn't let go of Finn's arm since they walked off, it's pretty obvious that she hasn't gotten over the crush she had on him way back in high school." Quinn tapped her lips with an index finger for a few moments. "Although, I suppose she might just want to jump his bones. Can't really tell anymore now that I'm out of practice."
"You practiced…spotting who had a crush on Finn?"
Quinn looked at Rachel as if that was the craziest thing she had ever heard. "Of course I practiced that. He was the most popular guy in high school then he one of the most popular guys on campus and, even though he was pretty oblivious and would never cheat on me, I still had to constantly mark my territory." She let out a breath. "It did get a bit annoying after a while."
"Is that why you guys broke up?"
"What has Finn told you?"
"He hasn't said much, just that you two fell apart in college."
Quinn narrowed her eyes. "Why so curious?"
Rachel grinned. "No reason, I just like the gossip."
Quinn's eyes narrowed even more which Rachel didn't think was even possible. "I suppose you would like gossip."
"What'd you mean by that?"
"Nothing. And it wasn't the reason we broke up." She let out a sigh. "But if I had to be honest, I was kind of relieved I didn't have to watch out for those harpies anymore."
"They couldn't have been that bad." But even as these words left Rachel's mouth, she could easily imagine how tiresome it would have been to see multiple copies of Emily and Erin hang around Finn. It did help her imagination that she could see the original versions laughing with Finn right in front of her.
"Oh, some of them were fine." Quinn waved her hand towards Emily. "I'd never worry about girls like Emily and their little crushes because they would never try anything." The hand was waved at the other sister. "Erin used to be the same way back when were all in high school but now she might just be the type who wants to sleep with him. She would've been one of the ones I watched because there's no telling what she'd do." She looked over at Rachel and grinned. "Sometimes I do miss taking one of those sluts aside and describing in great detail what would happen to them if they tried anything."
"You still seem to have a connection," said Rachel. "Are you two going to get back together?"
"No," said Quinn as she shook her head. When it became clear that she wasn't going to continue, Rachel turned to look at her which drew an eye roll. "Not that it's any of your business, but even though something will always be there, we're well past that part in our lives where we want to be together."
"Why is that?"
"You just don't quit do you?"
Rachel shrugged and said, "I find I usually get what I want if I keep pressing for it."
"Well, you keep pressing and I'll keep saying no."
Rachel shrugged again and looked forward only to find that the trio in front of them had disappeared. "Where'd they go?"
"Dunno,"Quinn said as she looked around. "Probably in someone's backyard playing a game or something, but they're probably at a food booth knowing Finn."
"How could he disappear like that?" said Rachel as she kept looking around, trying to find Finn. She found it strangely disconcerting that she could've lost sight of someone as large as Finn.
"I think you mean 'they'."
"They?"
"You said he— You know what? Never mind."
"Wait, what are you talking about?"
"Nothing." Quinn shook her head. "Don't worry about it."
Rachel made a face at Quinn then exhaled loudly. "Now what?"
"Now, it looks like you're stuck with me for a while."
Rachel stared at the two pieces of fabric lying on her bed and pondered over her options. Normally, she wouldn't have hesitated to choose the more revealing dress back in New York. In fact there this wouldn't have even been a choice had she been in any major city, but she'd noticed that no one in Lima wore revealing haute couture dresses during their everyday activities. Of course, she didn't believe that people in Lima wore haute couture anything at any point of their lives so she stuck to wearing the less flashy, plainer clothing she had brought as to not stand out so much.
After the first day of this trip, she thought she'd never have the opportunity to wear the nicer things she had packed when she thought she would be going to a nicer destination where things such as parties and clubs existed. However, when Rachel and Quinn finally found Finn again, the two Lima natives explained to her that after the fireworks the town's younger crowd headed to a party by the lake. She figured that this may be the one and only time she'd have the chance to wear one of her nicer dresses. So, the black dress with a plunging neckline that stopped well above her knees was snatched from the bed and thrown on.
"Holy shit. You can dunk me any time if you're wearing that," Noah said as she stepped out of the house.
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Could you be anymore disgusting?"
Noah waggled his eyebrows and stepped closer. "I can be anything you want me to be."
"Ugh," she said as she took a few steps away. "Do your lines work on anything with half a brain?"
Finn stopped Noah's response when he weaved towards them with his head down, trying to balance two plastic cups along with two more hot dogs and said, "I can't believe she had to change—" He pulled up short when he looked up and saw her.
"Thank god, I could use a drink," Rachel said as she grabbed one of the cups from Finn.
"Uh, that's beer," said Finn, who seemed to have a problem with looking away from her.
"And it's mine," Noah added, who had no problem staring at her as he lunged for his beer.
Rachel easily dodged Noah then chugged the entire thing before tossing the empty cup at him. "Not anymore." Then she made a face then smacked her lips a few times and said, "Now I need a real drink for the fireworks. Speaking of which, where are we watching them?"
Finn managed to stop staring at her long enough to turn around and point at the tree house in the front lawn.
"From the tree house." Rachel said. "Seriously?"
"Hey, at least we don't have to fight for seats," Finn said.
Rachel looked up at the tree house for a moment. "And we don't have to go too far for them either."
"See, you can look on the bright side of things." Rachel punched Finn's arm, almost causing him to spill his drink and drop the hot dogs. "Okay, me and Puck are gonna grab some more drinks."
"What about me?"
"You can go hang out with Quinn and the others?" Finn said as he handed a hot dog to Puck and they began to walk away. "You two seemed to be playing nice with each other."
Rachel groaned and made her way towards the tree house where she found Santana, Brittany, and Mike running up and down the street, in what looked to be an impromptu game of tag, with Quinn, Artie, and Sam cheering them on from the sidewalk. A twinge of envy flashed through her as she watched the trio's fluid movements in the street. There was no question in her mind that those three people were made to move their bodies in a way most people, Rachel included, could never copy. While her time in musical theatre required her to memorize and perform intricate choreography for song and dance numbers, it was something that she forced her body into through repeated practices.
Rachel walked up next to Quinn and asked, "Who's winning?"
Artie looked over. "Damn girl! Look at you!"
"Who'd you get all dressed for?" Quinn asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh," Rachel said as she watched Brittany dodge Mike. "You never know who I might find at the party."
"Trust me when I say: You won't find much," Quinn said which drew indignant shouts of "Hey!" from both Artie and Sam.
"Rachel! Quinn!" Brittany said as she ran down the street by them, chasing Mike. She ran back up the street a few moments later, this time with Santana chasing her. "Artie! Sam!" The second time she ran down the street she was chasing both Mike and Santana before she stopped and said, "Come play with us!"
"No thanks Brittany," Quinn said.
Brittany pouted for a moment before tapping Quinn on the forehead and said, "You're it!" as she ran away.
Sam and Artie glanced at Quinn for a moment before bolting down the street after Brittany.
"Is that how Brittany always is?"
"Happiest person I know," Quinn said.
"We're not going to really play tag are we?"
Quinn scoffed. "Of course not."
"Good," Rachel said as she nodded. "It is an extremely juvenile game."
"It is." Quinn waited for a moment before she slapped Rachel's arm. "You're it," she said before she laughed and sped off up the street.
Rachel let out a groan then spotted the closest person, Mike, and joined the game with a laugh and a scream.
This was how Finn and Puck found them, laughing and screaming as they ran around, when they returned with a small cooler of drinks. The cooler was set down at the base of the tree and then the two guys watched the game unfold. It was easy to see that, if score was being kept, Mike and Brittany would've been dominating the game with their quick steps and fluid motions. Santana was right behind them, just not quite as smooth and fluid as the pair in front of her. Rachel and Quinn kept up with the top three through what seemed to be force of will, not willing to lose out of sheer competitiveness. Sam and Artie appeared to have teamed up, with Sam pushing Artie around.
Eventually, Rachel noticed them standing there and stuttered to a stop in front of them. "You two going to join us?" she asked with a smile on her lips and a slight sheen of sweat on her forehead while breathing slightly harder than usual.
Out of all his options, Finn figured that looking straight into her eyes was his safest choice as he said, "Never thought you'd be running up and down the street playing tag."
"Never thought that either, but when in Rome…"
They stood there looking at each other for a moment before Artie and Sam came speeding behind her, tagging her on the arm, and then speeding off.
Rachel grinned wickedly and stepped towards Finn. "I guess I'm it."
"Uh…" He took a drink from his cup. "I think you lose since the fireworks are about to start."
"What? That's not fair!"
"No one told you to stop in the middle of the game." He waved the rest of the group over. "That just makes you an easy target. Anyway, we have drinks in the cooler by the tree and beach chairs if you don't feel like climbing up but the view is way better up there."
"Might as well grab the best seats in the house," Rachel said as she opened the cooler and picked through the cold beer trying to find something she might actually enjoy drinking. "Didn't you bring anything that's not beer?"
"There's some Mike's Lemonade in there," Finn said as Brittany launched herself at the ladder with Santana close behind her.
Rachel made a face before she said, "I guess that'll work," and resumed picking through the cooler.
"You should probably wait 'til we get up there and um…" Finn cleared his throat and looked slightly away from her. "You should probably climb up last."
Rachel looked towards the tree and saw Noah begin to climb up. "And why is that?"
Finn took a long drink. "You probably don't want anyone underneath you when you're wearing…" He waved his hand at her. "That."
"Why Finn Hudson, don't you want to see what I'm wearing." Rachel looked down at herself for moment then smirked. "Or not wearing, underneath this?"
Finn began coughing mid-drink before Mike smacked him on the back a few times and said, "Hey, watch the teasing. Finn could never take too much of it." Mike smacked Finn a few more times while Quinn laughed. "Made for a great locker room target though."
Finn grumbled a bit before Rachel said, "Well, he has a good point. You guys should probably climb up before me."
Mike shook his head. "Nah, I'm staying down here with Artie and Sam. We got lots of Call of Duty talk to get through during the fireworks."
Rachel motioned towards the tree and said, "After you Finn," before he grumbled a bit more, picked up the cooler, and started to climb up. Quinn went up after him and Rachel followed her where, from a few steps below, she noticed Noah pulling Quinn into the tree house. As she reached the top of the ladder, Finn offered his hand, which she took, to help her up the final steps. His other hand offered her a bottle of Mike's Lemonade, which she also took after she brushed her dress off.
Looking around, she saw that Santana and Brittany had paired off and were sitting with their legs dangling through a door-sized opening at the front of the house as they chattered away. Noah and Quinn had their heads and shoulders sticking out of one of the windows with one of them bumping shoulders with the other ever so often. This left only one other window facing the fireworks where Rachel and Finn copied the other pair's poses.
Soon enough the fireworks started and while they weren't quite as nice as the ones she saw in New York and nowhere near as spectacular as the ones she saw during her summer theatre run in Washington, DC. Yet, she couldn't shake the feeling that she might have been enjoying these fireworks much more because of the company around her. Happy ramblings coming from the easily amused Brittany, bubbly laughter from Quinn mixed with Noah's deeper voice, Santana's biting laughter, and Finn going on and on about his favorite fireworks were the soundtrack that easily bested the classical marches that were usually played during these events.
No, she was definitely enjoying these fireworks much more than any others.
Rachel stared at the so called dance floor with amusement. It was literally a few dozen sheets of plywood set down on the flattest part of the grassy area surrounding the lake and an extension cord running from someone's car powered the DJ table and speakers. She had danced a few songs with a few random guys who had asked her to, but she didn't find it all that enjoyable. Considering that this is what passed for a dance club in this small town, she thought she would be happier to be here with plenty of alcohol, loud music, and cute boys. Instead, those things only reminded her that, while she appreciated them as time wasters, she didn't really love them.
"I hope you weren't expecting too much," Finn said as he walked up beside her and they watched as Brittany dragged Santana back onto the dance floor.
"I don't really know what I was expecting," she said as she waved her arm in front of her. "But, it certainly wasn't this."
Finn laughed. "Well, it's either here or the school parking lot."
"Between those two choices, I can see why the lake was picked."
They watched as Brittany left the dance floor only to come back a moment later with Mike in tow. He was immediately placed between her and Santana and they began to grind on him, much to his apparent discomfort and their amusement.
Rachel broke the silence. "Not going to dance?"
"Hmm? Nah. I'm okay."
"I've seen plenty of women eying you, if you're worried about finding a partner."
"I know that. I'm just a terrible dancer, so I don't bother doing it."
"Oh." She looked down and kicked at the grass. "It's not your leg is it?"
"Nah, I was terrible before the injury." Finn chuckled before he said, "Quinn said that the injury might've even helped my dancing a bit since I had to pay more attention to my footwork and all."
Mike finally freed himself from the pair and threw Sam to them as a replacement who seemed to enjoy their attention much more.
"What about you? Why aren't you out there more often? I've seen a few guys ask you."
"I think I'm too sober to be dancing right now."
"C'mon then, let's get you another drink."
"Why Finn, are you trying to get me drunk?"
He scoffed. "With the way you put away drinks, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't need to try to get you drunk." Her jaw fell as he tried to backtrack. "Wait, wait. That didn't come out right. What I meant to say was—"
Rachel pulled her jaw back up and glared at him which made him say, "I'll just go get you a drink." She kept glaring at him as he made his way to a table with drinks set up on it.
"Finn word vomit all over you?" Quinn asked as she walked up.
"What?"
"He say something that he probably shouldn't have said?"
"Yes, he did."
"He does that when he's flustered."
"Why would he be flustered around me?"
"Hmm… I have no idea why he'd be flustered around a pretty girl wearing a skimpy dress."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "He hates being around me."
"Right. Because guys go out of their way to talk to and bring drinks to girls they hate."
"Well, I dislike being around him."
It was Quinn's turn to roll her eyes. "Yea, you sure didn't mind when Erin and Emily disappeared with Finn earlier in the day."
Rachel narrowed her eyes. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
"You're a smart girl. I think you'll figure it out." Quinn looked up and smirked. "Speaking of Erin…"
Rachel followed the blonde's gaze and found Finn being pulled tight up against Erin, who was smiling at him, on the dance floor.
"I guess that answers that question," Quinn said. "Wonder what took her so long to make a move."
The two women watched as Finn tried to escape as a song ended, but Erin succeeded in pulling him back just in time for a slower song to begin. Once again, that twinge of unwanted annoyance hit Rachel as she watched them rock back and forth while slowly turning round and round. She ignored it and tried to look away from the dance floor, but found her eyes kept coming back to Finn and Erin. This, she explained to herself, was only because there was nothing else around to look at except for the dance floor.
About the fourth time they turned so that Finn was facing them, Rachel and Quinn saw Finn's face pleading with them to come and help him.
Rachel and Quinn glanced at each other and Quinn said, "Rock, paper, scissors?"
"Sure. On three." Rachel raised her fist as did Quinn. "One. Two. Three." She always hated to lose and couldn't stop the feeling of disappointment that shot through her when she saw that Quinn's paper had beaten her rock.
"Well, go help him," Quinn said.
"But you won."
"And that means I get to choose who has to go help him and I choose you." Quinn made shooing motions at Rachel. "Off you go."
Rachel made a face before walking over to the dancing couple, tapping Erin on the shoulder, and said, "Can I cut in?"
Erin's smile vanished. "Of course." She turned to Finn, kissed him on the cheek, and said, "Thanks for the dance."
"Thought you weren't drunk enough to dance?" Finn said after Erin left.
Rachel shrugged. "There are always exceptions to the rule."
Rachel took Erin's place as a new, faster paced song started. Losing herself in the music, she began to dance the only way she knew how to after she'd had a few drinks: wildly and sensuously. While no one would ever confuse her dancing abilities with Brittany's or Mike's, she knew from experience that men appreciated the way she danced and was disappointed to find Finn looking at anything but her. This only made her want his attention even more, so she stepped closer to him which only brought his eyes to her for a few moments before he looked away again. Becoming even more frustrated, she started to run her hands up and down his body which was more toned than she imagined. This brought his eyes back to her just before the song ended and he looked completely relieved.
Finn exhaled loudly and stepped away before Rachel said, "You aren't that bad of a dancer."
"Trust me, I'm terrible."
"Maybe you should move a bit more instead of just standing there. You are dancing with another person after all."
Finn groaned. "Any more advice?"
A slower song started.
"I'll probably have more after this song."
Finn groaned again. "Do we really have to?"
"Yes," Rachel said as she wrapped her arms around his neck, glad that she had decided to wear heels to this party."
Finn groaned yet again and gingerly put his hands on her back.
The two of them gently swayed to the music and Rachel was annoyed to see that Finn still wasn't looking at her. "You know it's rude to not even look at the girl you're dancing with."
"Yea, I know. I just uh… um… can't really look at you."
"Am I that ugly to look at?"
"What?" He looked nervously down at her for a moment before looking away again. "No, definitely not."
Rachel tugged at Finn's neck, forcing him to look at her. "Then why can't you look at me?"
"I'm too tall."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Your dress is cut way too low and I'm like way taller than you so you know…" His eyes glanced down away from her face. "I can kinda see a lot."
Rachel threw her head back and roared with laughter for a few moments, not noticing that she was causing even more distress in Finn. "Well, you know that's kind of the point when a woman wears a dress like this. They want guys to notice them."
Finn's face furrowed with confusion. "So… you wanted me to notice you?"
"What? No! I meant guys in a general sense, not you specifically."
"So… you didn't want me to notice you?"
"No! You're a guy aren't you? I meant that…" she trailed off as she noticed a shit-eating grin form on Finn's face. "I hate you."
"This still doesn't solve my problem."
She rolled her eyes. "While I'm absolutely thrilled that you're so intent on protecting my honor, I believe I'll be okay for this one dance."
Finn mumbled something unintelligible.
"But if you insist on being so difficult about this," Rachel said before she pressed herself up against Finn and trying to ignore how nice he smelled. "Is that better?"
He coughed and said, "Yea, kinda."
Of course, their conversation had taken so long that the song ended about half a minute after they had settled into their new positions. They pulled apart, looked at each other, and began to speak at the same time.
"You're a fine dancer—"
"Thanks for—"
Finn gestured for her to go first as they started to walk off the floor.
"I was just going to say that you're a perfectly fine at dancing and you shouldn't be self-conscious about it."
"Oh, uh thanks for that." He ran a hand through his hair. "And for cutting in with Erin cause she was pretty drunk and got all grabby with me."
"Well, I'm glad I was able to protect your honor tonight Finn. Now, I believe you owe me a drink."
"Yea, I guess I do," he said before he walked off.
Quinn appeared by her side with an amused smirk on her face.
"You know, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were watching me," Rachel said.
"Who says I'm not?"
"Why would you be watching me?"
"Amusement. But enough about me, how was the dancing?"
"It was… fine. I don't understand why you had me do it. Finn would've been much more comfortable if you cut in and danced with him."
"Who said you had to dance with him?"
Rachel jabbed a finger at Quinn "You did."
Quinn shrugged. "I just said to go help him."
"And?"
"You were the one who chose to dance."
I need to say thanks to mida212 for giving me the idea for the setting for this chapter because I'm dumb. Summer. July 4th. I see no connection there!
Also, thanks to CarmenMauri for answering a few minor questions, knowing this story better than me, and, even though she definitely doesn't mean to, shaming me into writing.