A/N: An early Turkey Day gift for you all.
A quick summary: Rachel Berry was an out of control diva from Broadway who had been shipped to Lima, Ohio where she wound up living in Finn Hudson's house and was forced to work with him in an auto repair shop. They fought like cats and dogs but as they slowly learned about each other their fighting had taken on a different, more playful, tone. Last night, Rachel played poker with the boys and beaten them all. After a bit of banter, they ended up on the stairs where she kissed him then ran off.
Some of these things, like the Broadway diva part, Finn had no idea about but even if he did, the only thing that was on his mind was that last bit. It was that same part that he ran over and over again in his mind as he sat at the dining room table the next morning. He did it so much that he could feel her hips in his hands, taste her lips on his, and smell her shampoo tickling his nose again and he didn't really mind it at all.
The only problem with repeating this memory in his head was that he also had to see that look of shock on her face after she pulled away from him. At least, he thought it was shock and if he thought about it a little harder, he hoped it was shock because if it wasn't shock, it was either horror or disgust and Finn could feel his stomach drop if he thought that way. So he tried his best to not think about it that way while he waited for Rachel to wake up and make her way down for her morning cups of coffee.
And wait he did.
If he didn't know better, he might have assumed that she was purposely staying up there to avoid seeing him but he did know better, which meant he knew there was no way she was getting up any time close the morning, especially considering when they went to sleep. He went for an extra-long run and took an extra-long shower which did nothing to dent the time that he spent waiting and thinking and thinking and thinking, doing nothing good for his stomach.
Starting up on his third cup of coffee, he finally heard the creaking of the stairs making him sit up straighter in his seat. He watched as she shambled into the dining room, freezing the moment she spotted him sitting there. She looked down and hurried into the kitchen to grab her own cup of coffee. When she came back, she froze again before taking the seat opposite from Finn with eyes only for her drink.
He stared at her staring at her coffee for a minute before he broke the silence. "Morning."
She looked up, startled, and mumbled, "Morning."
Thinking that the ice was broken, Finn assumed that she would start talking with him, maybe not about the events of last night, but one of the endless opinions she had. Instead, she didn't speak another word and looked back down at her coffee. He cracked a half smile as he was reminded of her first morning here and decided that he would wait for her to speak first since her luggage contents weren't quite at the same level as what they had to talk about today.
And wait he did.
It wasn't until he had finished his third cup of coffee and she had finished her second that she finally spoke up.
"I know you don't like me," she said with her head down. "And that all I've done since I've been here is annoy you while you've been more than nice to me for no reason whatsoever. And I don't know what came over me at that moment to cause me to… do what I did last night, but believe me when I say it won't happen again because I have no intention of doing it again."
"You don't?" he asked with an amused grin.
"No, I don't," she said, still looking down. "I think we should keep our interactions to a minimum from now on during the rest of my time here. Obviously, we'll have to talk during work, but we should only talk about work and work related subjects. At home, I'll be spending most of my time in my room from now on and won't be bothering you if you're in the basement... or anywhere else in the house for that matter. If you'll allow me, I'll continue to cook and do the dishes with you when the opportunities arise, but I understand if you're uncomfortable with that.
"I think we can keep doing those things."
"Oh." She finally looked up, shocked, until she recomposed herself. "So, what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry I kissed you."
"I'm not."
"You— you're not?"
"There were and are plenty of things I was and am during and after that kiss, but sorry is and was definitely not one of them." He blinked a few times. "I have no idea what I just said."
A hint of a smile appeared on Rachel's face. "I did and I appreciate the sentiment."
"Oh."
"So… you really didn't mind that I kissed you?"
"No."
"Would you mind if I kissed you again?"
"Yes."
"Wh—"
"Because." He stood up. "I want to kiss you."
"Oh," she squeaked.
He started to walk around the table when the front door was flung open and he heard a familiar voice doing an awful Hispanic accent.
"Lucy! I'm home!"
Finn looked over and was amazed to see Kurt walking towards him.
"Dude," Finn said as he changed directions towards Kurt. "I thought you were doing that internship all summer."
"I am." Finn picked up Kurt in a bear hug. "Watch the hair. Watch the hair." Finn set him down again. "But Fashion Week just finished and Señor Ralph Lauren gave us interns the weekend off before he works us to the bone again."
"That's awesome dude."
"And where are Mr. Hummel and Mrs. Hudson?"
"Day long shopping trip in the city."
Kurt winced. "Dad must've been thrilled with that."
Finn chuckled.
"I see you're taking advantage of their absence," Kurt said as he leaned over to the left to look past Finn.
"What'd you mean?"
"That young lady dressed in one of the fine Thomas Pink shirts I swiped for you, do mom and dad know about her? And who is she?"
"Oh yea, mom and dad know about her." Rachel stood up and walked over. "And this is—"
"Oh-my-God. Oh-my-God. Oh-my-God. Rachel Berry!"
Finn's eyes darted between Rachel and Kurt. "Do you know each other?"
"Yes. Of course we know— Wait. No, I mean I know of her, but she has no idea who I am."
"And just who is this?" Rachel asked.
"Oh." Finn clapped Kurt on his back. "This is Kurt, my stepbrother."
"That's Kurt?" Rachel asked with eyes wide open. "Not quite what I imagined him to be."
"Excuse me?" Kurt asked over Finn's laughter.
"That's a long story," Finn said after his laughter died down.
"Wait just a minute here," Kurt said. "Why exactly is Rachel Berry in this house right now?"
"Well—" Finn started.
"Don't tell me she came out here to elope with you. Wait." He began pacing the living room. "That makes no sense. You two don't know each other, but she's here dressed in one of your shirts. Wait. She's been gone from her show for a month due to a nervous breakdown. Or because her actions were hurting the show's PR. Or she has a drug problem." He came to a stop and glanced at Rachel who was glaring at him. "All rumors of course. But that still doesn't explain why she's here in this house."
"Well—"
"Wait." Kurt held up his hand. "Do you even know who she is?"
"Uh, she's Rachel Berry?"
"I meant do you know what she does."
"No?"
"No?"
"Am I supposed know what she does?"
"Are you freaking kidding me?" Kurt walked behind Rachel and put his hands on her shoulders, who was highly amused at the conversation so far. "This is a Tony Award winning Broadway star!"
"Tony Award…?"
"The Oscars for Broadway."
"Oh… Broadway…?"
"Musical theatre. You know: West Side Story, Wicked, Rent. Wait. Ugh." He made a face. "You're yanking my chain."
Finn smiled and shrugged then looked at Rachel. "Broadway star huh?"
Rachel shrugged then said, "It pays the bills."
"Tony Award huh?"
"I am good at my job."
"Were you gonna tell me about this job you're so good at?"
"You never asked."
"Wait. Wait. Wait," Kurt said. "You still have to explain why she's here."
"Uh," Finn said. "She's gonna have to answer you, cause I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Mom just said she had to get away from the city," Finn said as he shrugged, then joined Kurt in looking at Rachel.
Rachel looked at Kurt then Finn before rolling her eyes. "Well, not to disappoint you Kurt, but none of those reasons you gave have any truth to them."
"Do tell then," Kurt said.
Rachel took a deep breath before letting it out. "As you both now know, I am a Broadway star and with that certain benefits and opportunities have been afforded to me which I eagerly enjoyed, too eagerly, if my fathers and agent/manager are to be believed. They think that I have gotten out of control."
"I can see why they might think that," Finn said.
"Hey!" She smacked Finn on the arm. "Anyway, like I was saying. They believed I had gotten out of control and thought that some time away from New York would be good for me. Apparently, this is my hometown and my fathers are friends with—"
"Wait. Wait. Wait," Kurt said. "You were born here?"
"Yes."
"But, your Wikipedia page says you were born in…" Rachel grinned as Kurt trailed off. "I don't think it says where you were born."
"That's right."
"You were really born in our little town?" Kurt asked, still unbelieving.
"I can't quite believe it either, but apparently," Rachel said, glancing at Finn. "Plenty of important things happened to me when I was here."
A silence fell over the trio.
"So, Rachel," Kurt said. "Can we talk about Spring Awakening? I mean I've only seen it five times when I've been lucky enough to win the rush lottery and three more times when I've sat on stage."
Rachel's eyes lit up. "You've seen me on stage?"
"Of course I have. I make it a point to see all the musicals that get nominated for a Tony. And let me say that you definitely deserved your award."
Finn's eyes glazed over as Rachel found a kindred spirit in Kurt and they chattered away about all the aspects of Broadway and musical theatre. And he meant all of them, since it sounded like they went straight to the beginnings of Broadway after a quick discussion of the current shows. While Finn enjoyed some of the music that came out of that part of New York City, he had never felt the need to go see a show during his visits to see Kurt. Something about the dancing and melodrama rubbed him the wrong way, so he usually did what he did best while Kurt and their parents were at a show; he looked for food to eat. Which was what he did while they happily talked.
After he made himself a sandwich and grabbed a bottle of water, he made his way back to the dining room and was quickly shooed away by both of them after he told them he was going to the living room. His eyes were fixed on the TV while he ate but he wouldn't have been able to tell you what he saw even under the threat of death. All his mind wanted to pay attention to were the excited voices and laughter coming from the dining room, even if he couldn't make heads or tails of the bits and pieces he heard.
"Hey, I'm going to football practice," he said as he poked his head into the dining room, where he was promptly ignored by the two people in there who were only interested in discussing musical theatre. Figuring Kurt would be too busy, Finn sent a quick text message to his mom to let her know Kurt had made a quick trip home.
"Uh, bye?"
"Did you hear something?" Kurt asked about half a minute after Finn left.
"No," Rachel said as she shook her head. "Now, where were we?"
Finn opened the front door after a long practice and heard the telltale sign of his parents return by the sound of Burt's deep laughter mixing with Rachel's higher pitched, musical laughter. And as he made his way deeper into the house, he saw the four of them sitting around the dining room table holding a drink.
"Finn! You're home," Carole said.
"So are you guys. Thought you'd be out there past dinner."
"Don't be difficult," Carole said. "You know we'd come back early when you told us that Kurt was back home for the weekend." She grinned. "Or perhaps you were hoping for some time alone?"
"Huh? Why would I want some time alone?"
"Never mind sweetie." His mom turned to head back to the dining room. "I made both of your favorites and we're having an early dinner to celebrate so get cleaned up."
Dinner was a great, leisurely experience with Kurt detailing his experiences working at one of the premier clothing designers in the world as everyone ate. Carole, Burt, and Finn were horrified to learn just how long and hard Kurt had to work at his internship that paid him the sum of exactly zero dollars a week, but Kurt seemed to accept that this is how things were done in his chosen profession and as long as Kurt was happy then his family were happy for him. On the other hand, Rachel took his experiences as a matter of fact since she came from an industry that required its members to go through a similar beginning. She was much more interested in the latest fashion rumors since she had been away from any source of fashion news for a month which Kurt was only happy to provide.
As dinner wrapped up, Finn began the nightly ritual of clearing the table and Rachel soon began to help him. Once that task was done, he took his position in front of the sink as dishwasher with Rachel standing next to him as his dryer.
"Finn."
"Yea Kurt?"
"I'll do the dishes tonight."
"You wanna do the dishes?"
"Yes."
"But you hate doing the dishes. You say it's awful for your hands or whatever."
"It is," Kurt said, as he pushed Finn out of the way. "But that's what rubber gloves are for and besides Rachel and I need to continue our discussion on Broadway. We're only up the 80's."
Rachel only gave him a sheepish grin when he looked over at her.
"Oh." Finn stood behind them, doing nothing while Kurt disdainfully put on a pair of gloves and began to wash dishes. "I guess I'll be downstairs then."
Once again, he was ignored as the pair in front of him resumed their conversation on Broadway and he couldn't believe that Kurt was screwing him this badly and he was pretty sure they didn't even notice when he walked out of the kitchen.
"Kicked out of the kitchen?" Carole asked from the living room couch.
"Uh." Finn scratched his head. "Yea, by Kurt of all people."
"He's just star-struck," Carole said. "It's not every day you meet a Broadway star. Plus, you know how much he loves his showtunes."
"Yea, I guess." He scratched his head again. "Mom, did you know she was on Broadway?"
"Of course I knew. I wouldn't have invited someone I didn't know to stay in our home."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"There wasn't a reason to," Carole said with a shrug.
"Huh…"
"Does it matter?"
"No, I guess it doesn't."
"Wanna watch the baseball game?" Burt asked.
"Nah, I'm pretty tired." Finn said at the top of the basement stairs. "Night."
"Night."
"Night, honey."
Sweat dripped off of Finn's chin as he stepped into the house after his morning run and found Rachel and Kurt chatting away on the couch. It didn't surprise him that they were talking about Broadway again but what did surprise him was the fact that they were even up this early.
"You guys are up early."
"Finn! Kurt's knowledge of Broadway is amazing!"
"He does love that stuff."
"It even comes close to matching mine."
"Excuse me?" Kurt said. "We'll just have to see who knows more about the Great White Way before I go to the airport."
Finn rubbed his face with his towel then headed downstairs to take a shower, this time not even bothering to tell them where he was going since he knew he'd just be ignored again. This proved to be true when neither of them seemed to notice him coming back up the stairs and plant himself onto the couch next to Rachel.
His fingers drummed his legs over and over again as he found himself with absolutely nothing to do except for listening to them go on and on about songs and speeches and dances and actors. He finally decided to turn on the TV and Xbox and, when the loud intro to his zombie game did nothing to disturb the pair, he started up a new game. As the first of hundreds of zombies began to die from his bullets, his mind began to focus on the sounds coming from the TV instead of the voices coming from his right.
It took about an hour before Finn's stomach made its presence known and he was once again ignored when he asked if either of the pair would like anything to eat and/or drink. He devoured a sandwich and glass of orange juice before returning to resume his zombie killing activities. Hundreds of zombies died by his hand before he finished the level he was on and, as he twisted around in his seat to stretch, his mind slowly refocused on the conversation next to him. More importantly, he noticed that to feel Rachel's back rubbing against his arm as she bounced up and down while she talked.
"—like to win a Tony?"
"It was amazing, but it wasn't unexpected. I knew I was going to win as soon as I found out who the other nominee were."
Kurt laughed then said, "And how did Mr. St. James feel about losing a Tony to his co-star?"
"Oh…" Finn felt Rachel freeze. "He was crushed. And annoyed. And annoying."
"I'm sure you did something nice to comfort him."
"Um… I'd rather not talk about him right now."
"Oh I see. You want to keep your personal life private."
"Y—"
"Screw that. We're practically best friends now. So tell me what it's like to be dating one of the hottest Broadway stars?"
"Uh…"
"I mean, your relationship must be amazing. You two basically have sex on stage every night. I can't imagine what it's like backstage for you two after that scene."
"Um…"
"I bet you two are talking every night, I mean I can't imagine what it's like to be apart from the love of your life for a month."
"Uh…"
"Finn, your character is being eaten by zombies."
"Huh?" His eyes refocused on the TV screen. "Oh. Whatever. I gotta get ready for Glee practice anyway."
As he made his way to the basement door, he heard Rachel say, "Finn, wait!" which he ignored by heading down the stairs. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he stood around for a few seconds before sitting down in front of his laptop. After five minutes, he wasn't surprised to hear the sound of the door closing at the top of the stairs and footsteps coming down.
"Finn. Wait."
"What for?"
"I can explain."
"Don't bother," Finn said as he slid his laptop away and began shoving the things he needed into his messenger bag. "I get it. The big city girl slumming around in a small town wanted to screw with the guy who's been annoying her all trip."
"No, that's not—"
"Just stop."
"But—"
"No." He spun his laptop around. "I see you enjoy being in headlines, especially when it comes to your endless stream of boyfriends."
"Those are—"
"Was I going to be another notch on your bedpost or something?"
"What? Of course—"
"You know what? Never mind." He slammed his bag shut. "I need to finish getting ready for Glee. I don't want to talk to you right now. Just go."
Her stricken look was ignored because she won a Tony Award and that meant she was a great actress which meant Finn had no idea who she really was and, right now, he was perfectly fine with that. And when it became clear to Rachel he wasn't going to speak again, she turned around and headed back upstairs.
Finn let out a breath and flopped down onto his bed.
Except for the squeaking of his shoes, the hallways in William McKinley High School were quiet as Finn made his way towards the choir room and quiet was something Finn did not want. Any sort of noise would have helped to keep his mind off of what happened this morning which was why he was glad he had Glee practice. All that singing would be good for him. Unless Mr. Schue was trying to give some deep personal lesson to the kids then they'd all be singing emotional songs.
The loud voices he heard from behind the door gave him a reason to smile and he was glad that he could get his mind off of things for an hour or two. Except when he opened the door he found the thing he was trying to get away from was sitting in a chair in the choir room.
"Hey Finn."
"Mr. Schue, what's Rachel doing here?"
"Uh, Kurt dropped her off on his way to the airport, said you were too busy to bring her with you." He walked over to the piano. "Nice to see him by the way. Glad he's doing something that he loves."
"Yea," Finn said as he nodded. "He loves that fashion stuff."
"All right." Mr. Schue clapped his hands twice. "Let's get started guys."
Finn glanced over in Rachel's direction before walking over to the opposite side of the room to take a seat. They returned to the assignment Mr. Schue gave them last week which made Finn happy because it meant working on songs he liked and he avoided working with Rachel by staying as far away from her as possible which was hard because she kept trying to work in the same group as him. And she was persistent, really persistent. Which was annoying, really annoying.
After playing keep away for the entire rehearsal, Finn took a seat opposite of Rachel again as they listened to Mr. Schue wrap things ups. While Mr. Schue was doing his thing, Finn was worried about the fact that Rachel got a ride here with Kurt who was now in the air on his way back to New York which meant she was probably expecting Finn to give her a ride back home.
A flash of movement from across the room caught Finn's eye and he saw Rachel with her hand raised.
"Mr. Schue?"
"Uh. Yes, Rachel?"
"I know I'm not part of the choir, but I was wondering if I could sing a song that I have prepared."
"Uh." He looked around the room and got no protest. "Sure. I don't see why not."
"Thank you." She popped up out of her seat and strode to the front of the room. "I need some assistance with the song."
Finn groaned because he had a good idea of what was coming.
"Finn," Rachel said with a bright smile. "Would you like to help me?"
"No."
Her smile faltered. "I— Are you sure?"
"Yea, I'm sure." He looked over at the club director. "But I bet Mr. Schue would love to sing with a Broadway star."
"Wait." Mr. Schue snapped his fingers and looked at Rachel as the rest of the room exploded with noise. "All right, all right. Settle down folks. That's where I know you from. I can't believe I didn't recognize you before."
"It's alright. I'm trying to keep a low profile."
"See," Finn said. "He'd be happy to sing with you."
"I never said that," Mr. Schue said.
"Come on Mr. Schue, when else are you gonna be able to sing with a Broadway star?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Mr. Schue said. "Plus, I'm pretty sure she only wants to sing with you." He looked around the room. "And I think the natives are getting restless to hear it."
The choir members started clamoring for Rachel and Finn to sing and after a few seconds of their pressure Finn finally got up and made his way to the front of the room where Rachel handed him some sheet music.
"I took the liberty of picking a song that's on your iPod so you'd recognize it."
He glanced down at the title of the song and, sure enough, it was one that was on his iPod. "Yea, I know this song, but since you're so good with music you should know that I can't hit these notes, so I can't sing this with you."
"Yes." Rachel nodded. "I know that your vocal range won't allow you to hit those notes which is why I rearranged the male vocals which meant I had to rearrange my vocals." She handed out sheet music to the Jazz Band. "This also meant I had to rearrange the instrumentals."
"See Finn?" Mr. Schue said. "You should sing with her after she did all that hard work."
"Oh, it wasn't difficult at all. Granted, Kurt's laptop didn't have the proper program so I had to hand write all of the sheet music, but aside from that it really was quite simple. I just needed to lower the—"
Finn glanced over at Rachel and found her staring at Mr. Schue who was giving her an incredulous look.
"Right— I mean— Of course rearranging the song was difficult."
Mr. Schue clapped Finn on the back. "Wouldn't want to let all that hard work go to waste would you?"
"Fine." He waved the sheet music around. "I'll sing the damn song."
Rachel grinned and clapped her hands before turning to the band and nodding. Finn waited until the guitars kicked in before he started to sing.
You're going away
And I'm feeling the same
Thing day after day
I can't let it go
Everyone in this room
They've got troubles too
Secret stories and
Lies that we never knew
Rachel joined him for the chorus and sang the next verse.
Xavia, who will save us?
Your smile's on fire
And still my heart
Won't let you down, the sound
I don't wanna be
Your favorite enemy
Not when I can be loving you, alright
Why can't it be?
No two people feel
The same way at the same time
Xavia, who will save us?
Your smile's on fire
And still my heart
Won't let you down, the sound
Everyone in this room
They've got troubles too
Secret stories and
Lies that we never knew
You're going away
I don't wanna be
And I'm feeling the same
Your favorite enemy
Thing Day after Day
I don't wanna be
I can't let it go
Your favorite enemy
Xavia, who will save us?
Your smile's on fire
And still my heart
Won't let you down
Xavia, who will save us?
Your smile's on fire
And still my heart
Won't let you down
One heart to break, One heart
One heart to break, One heart
One heart to break, My heart
One heart to break, My heart
Rachel finished the final lines staring at Finn as he stared back while the room exploded with applause and cheers around them with Mr. Schue leading the way as he walked to the front of the room.
"That was great guys. Not quite classic rock, but great job nonetheless."
"Finn, I'm sorry." Rachel took a step closer. "I should have told you."
Mr. Schue looked at both of them in confusion before turning to the class and letting them leave while Finn shuffled backwards a few steps.
"And you think that was going to fix things?"
"I thought—"
"This isn't Broadway," Finn said as some stragglers were pulled out of the room by their friends. "We're not in some stupid musical. Singing a song together isn't gonna change things."
"I know that, but I just thought—"
"Well, you thought wrong."
"I know, but—"
"Look." He started chucking stuff into his bag. "I said I didn't want to speak to you before and that really hasn't changed."
Rachel's stricken face almost made Finn change his mind but he turned away and resumed shoving stuff into his bag while he listened to her footsteps fade out of the room. He let out a breath and finished packing his bag.
"Finn," Mr. Schue said from the piano where he was also packing his items, trying not to be noticed. "I'm not sure what's going on between the two of you and it's none of my business, but it seems like she's sorry for whatever she did."
"Maybe she's just acting. She's supposed to be really good at it."
"I— Maybe she is. Maybe she isn't. But if she is, it seems like she did an awful lot of work and I don't see why she would." Mr. Schue slung his bag over his shoulder and headed towards the door. "Anyway, I'll see you next week Finn."
Finn looked around the empty room for a few seconds before rubbing his face, grabbing his bag, and heading out in search of Rachel. Not that he really wanted to see or talk to her right now, but she needed a ride home and he wanted this day to be finished as soon as possible.
The first place he didn't find her was at his truck in the parking lot. The second place was the football field, not that he expected to find her there but it was one of the few places she knew at the school. Thinking that she might have made her way back to the choir room while he was looking for her, he checked there next without any positive results. Racking his mind for other places she might be, he really hoped he found her wandering the halls before he had to go on by one to each girl's restroom.
Coming up with nothing else, he sighed as he trudged towards the nearest restroom. When he got there, he knocked on the door before cracking it open and calling out her name, getting no response. With another sigh, he made his way towards the next restroom but he stopped short as he reached the doors to the other wing of the school. The sound of the piano coming through a pair of doors cracked open made him look towards the auditorium entrance.
He slowly opened the doors, knowing that this set was a bit squeaky, and found Rachel playing the piano up on stage. The volume of the notes of the scale she was repeatedly playing rose and fell with their pitches and, as he slowly made his way towards the front, he saw that her cheeks were tear streaked which made him feel awful. Thinking about what Mr. Schue had told him, he figured there was no way that Rachel would have been crying in private.
The same scale was played over and over again and when it seemed like she wouldn't do anything else and he was getting ready to interrupt her, she opened her mouth and began to sing.
In the fall
We circle through the leaves
And talk about the little ones
And we smile, but never say too much
The moment always vanishing
One by one the neighbors' lights come on.
Our October day is almost gone.
I know the borderlines we drew between us
Keep the weapons down
Keep the wounded safe
I know our antebellum innocence
Was never meant to see the light of our armistice day
In the spring
We climbed the rolling hills
And talked about our budding plans
And we smiled
Our faces like a mirror
Showing us our secret sides
But then the fights
The sharp words splintering the night
How I couldn't be what you'd need
But oh how I could make you bleed
I know the borderlines we drew between us
Keep the weapons down
Keep the wounded safe
I know our antebellum innocence
Was never meant to see the light of our armistice
But how much would I give to have it back again?
How much did we lose
To live this way?
You'll go home, I'll stay here
Seasons keep on marching
I'll stay here, you'll go home
With only strangers watching
I'll go home, you'll stay here
Seasons keep on marching
You'll stay here, I'll go home
With only strangers watching
With the song finished, Rachel wiped away a few tears and her eyes shot open when Finn clapped.
"Have you come to tell me that you don't want to see or speak to me again? Because you're doing a poor job of not being in the same room as me."
"I know I haven't been too nice—"
"That is an understatement."
"But you said you wanted to talk so…"
"And if I no longer want to explain things to you?"
Finn pulled himself up on stage and took a seat next to Rachel on the piano bench who didn't move away, which he took as a good sign.
"You really don't want to explain anymore?"
"No, I don't," she said as she turned away from him.
"Well." He poked her in the back, causing her to flinch. "I might just have to make you walk home from here."
She spun around to face him. "You wouldn't dare."
He shrugged.
"You— You are so difficult."
He shrugged again and said, "I'm just letting you to do what you wanted to do before."
"Fine."
Finn smiled as her stern face she was beginning to show signs of cracking.
"There's a reason I never told you about Jesse St. James." She took a deep breath. "We broke up the day before I left for this trip and, with the reduced timeframe, the tabloid magazines had no chance to find out about it which meant there was no way Kurt could know that."
"Why'd you guys break up? All the articles online make it seem like you two are the perfect Broadway couple."
Rachel barked out a laugh. "Perfect? Only in Jesse's mind."
"What'd you mean?"
"Every couple has its problems and the more I think about it, the more I believe we had more problems than the average couple. Aside from the increased pressure of being in the public spotlight all the time, we had to deal with our egos constantly coming into conflict. And yes, I know that my ego is quite large but his ego easily surpasses mine."
"So that's why you guys broke up?"
"In a way, I suppose it was but the actual reason we broke up is that he believed that this incident would tarnish his reputation."
"Seriously? That's the reason you guys broke up?"
"Now that I've said that out loud, I find it completely ridiculous that he broke up with me over that."
"Yea, he's a giant douchebag for doing that to you."
She looked down at her hands in her lap. "I have to admit that I had hoped he would reconsider getting back together during the early days of my forced exile here."
"You did?"
"I did." She looked up at Finn. "But that feeling stopped as soon as I realized I wanted to be with someone else."
"Oh." He scratched his chin. "Did you know he was a douchebag before you started dating him?"
"I had an inkling but I was in love with the idea of dating my co-star and being a Broadway power couple so…"
"So you tried to make it work."
"I did make it work."
"You must be a good actor since all the articles love you as a couple."
"It helps we have excellent managers and publicists," she said with a shrug.
The conversation died down and Rachel tapped out a few notes on the piano.
"So can we go back to the part when you said you wanted to be with someone else?"
A grin spread across Rachel's face before she said, "What about that part?"
"Who'd you have in mind?"
"Tall, dark, and handsome. Knows his way around pool and poker tables. Throws a football well. Pleasant singer. Likes to run and eat and eat and eat some more. Know anyone like that?"
"Can't say that I do," Finn said while he grinned. "A few more clues would be good."
Rachel rolled her eyes and began to ticking off her fingers as she said, "Likes to annoy me. Terrible swimmer. Messy eater. Absent minded. Constantly covered in some sort of disgusting substance. Stubborn. Have I mentioned annoying yet?"
Finn laughed and said, "Yea, I think I might know someone like that."
"Well, let me know if you think of his name. I'd like to meet him."
"I'll do that. So." He turned to look at her and waited for her to look at him. "What do we do now?"
"I… I don't know. What do you want to do?"
"Well, first." He cupped her cheek with his right hand, leaned over, and kissed her. "We do that."
"Oh," she said with her eyes wide and a little out of breath. "That's a good start. Then what do we do?"
"Then, you let me take you out on a date or two." Finn took her hands into his. "Or three. And we see how much we can annoy each other."
Rachel grinned and said, "I'd really like that."
A/N 2: Don't get used to quick updates from now on. In fact, it's much more likely that I'll go back to updates once a month because I'm lazy and a terrible, terrible person.
Finn and Rachel sing "Xavia" by The Submarines. Rachel sings a slightly edited version of "Antebellum" by Vienna Teng. Both songs can be found on YouTube or the Waffles.
Edit: Can I just add, I hate how this site randomly removes certain bits of formatting.