8. Tina & Rachel
"You and I. Coffee. Now," Tina shouted when she reached Kurt on his way to his car.
Kurt turned around with tear-filled eyes. He hugged his friend so tight that Tina's contacts almost fell out. She hugged him back before they went to Kurt's to have that coffee.
They sat on his couch. Tina could easily tell about the sadness on Kurt's face. "Let me be your Mercedes, okay? Teen diva coffee afternoon, okay?"
The boy smiled. "Thanks." He made a pause. "Where do I begin?" he chuckled softly. Too many things had happened since he left Lima. And especially since he came back to Lima.
"Tell me about those red eyes."
Kurt sighed. "Am I that obvious? Well… my boyfriend leaves me and when I come back to see him I find out that he's been making out with Rachel. Briefly, that's all."
"That bitch. I wouldn't be surprised if she did it with Mike."
He chuckled. "You sound… so different, Tina. What happened to you?"
"I wanted this to be my year, Kurt," Tina pouted. "But I know that as long as she's here it won't be possible. I've been doing every back up for her in every single solo she's sung in a competition. I want to be the star. Just for once. And this is our year. New Directions is not a bunch of losers anymore. We made it last year, and I want to take us to the top again. And you know the worst thing? That I know I can, but they won't let me with Rachel Berry standing one step forward."
Tina felt so powerless. So over. She spent the whole summer practicing her singing. Trying to improve until her throat was so sore she felt it bleed.
"They?" Kurt frowned.
"I can't compete with Rachel and Blaine."
Kurt laughed. He was feeling the same way. They are both the same kind. Unbeatable. Unstoppable. Un-unlovable. "Demand what's yours. Prove them you're Tina Cohen-Chang. You're the legit leader. You don't have to bang your hair or dress like Mary Poppins and a clown's bastard child."
Tina laughed at Kurt's taunt. "I sang Barbra. Barbra, Kurt. And they preferred Blaine and Rachel singing Katy Perry."
"But you sang Barbra with Artie, right?"
Tina nodded and took a deep breath. She's smelled like failure for days.
"Then," Kurt carried on, "you just have to sing it with the only one person on Earth that Rachel's afraid of when we talk about a diva-off."
"And how am I supposed to reach Barbra Streisand?" Tina sounded so helpless. "Wait. Did you meet her in New York?" Her eyes sparkled again.
"Let me make a few calls and next Monday you'll be beating her ass and by Tuesday you'll be rehearsing your solo for Sectionals." Kurt gave her a kiss on her cheek and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "You deserve it."
Saturday night. Rachel wasn't in the mood to go out, so she was wrapped in her Snuggie, eating popcorn and watching Funny Girl for the 236th time. True fact, she was keeping the track of it.
"People. People who need people. Are the luckiest people in the world!" she sang along with Fanny Brice.
Someone knocked on her door. Rachel paused the movie, cleaned the crumbs out off her Snuggie and opened the door.
"Hey." Blaine waved his hand. He let out a slight chuckle when he saw the mess that was Rachel's hair. Actually, she was a total mess.
Rachel smiled and grabbed Blaine's hand, taking him to the couch, where they both sat. "So… You look…" Blaine didn't know what to say. He looked at the TV and got it. "Funny." The both of them laughed. Rachel started playing with Blaine's hand. She didn't know what to say either.
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.
"We should, right?" Blaine kept smiling.
"What did he tell you?"
"He apologized and he told me that he'll do his best for us to be friends. All of us."
"He apologized? Why?"
"Because he's been acting like a sexual maniac? Maybe?" Blaine frowned.
"Who are we talking about?"
"I'm talking about Sebastian. You?"
Rachel's eyes shut wide. "He hasn't…"
"Rachel, spit it out." Blaine was starting to get impatient. Rachel just nodded. She knew that she didn't need to mention Kurt's name for Blaine to understand it. "Okay…" Blaine sighed. "He's in town, right?"
Rachel nodded again. "Moment ruined. Applause for Berry," she thought.
"And… did you see him?" Blaine's face was definitely darker. Rachel could see right through those hazel eyes. His sorrow. His loss. She kept nodding. "And… is he okay?"
And then Rachel's heart broke. She couldn't hold the tear that dropped on their intertwined hands. How many times would Finn have wondered if she was okay? Rachel's thoughts got interrupted by Blaine's other hand cupping her face. His always gentle smile comforted her.
"He's… I don't know, Blaine. I don't… I don't know. I… He found out about us. And he isn't okay with it, obviously."
Blaine didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he was too concerned about Kurt's visit. Anyway, he took a deep breath and kissed Rachel. She shook her head and pulled back. "Don't," Rachel said. "I don't want you to pity-kiss me."
He laughed. "Pity-kiss you? Seriously, Rachel?" Blaine hugged her friend tight. "If I didn't want to kiss you, I wouldn't have come."
Rachel hugged him back, letting herself cry a little more on his shoulder. "I don't know what we're doing anymore, Blaine. I don't know anything."
Blaine kicked his shoes off and laid on the couch, holding her on top of his body. "I know that I don't want to hurt you."
She could smell rejection in every word Blaine was saying. He maybe didn't want to hurt her, but… his heart was somewhere else. "Do you really want to do this? Even with Kurt in town?"
He sighed, but didn't answer. Blaine just ran his fingers through Rachel's hair. "When I'm with you… I feel good, Rachel. It's like I was with him. Don't misunderstand me, it's just… he made me feel secure, like I would always have someone I could rely on. And you do the same thing."
One of those moments where you didn't know if you felt offended, flattered or just like you were someone else's sloppy seconds. And then Rachel asked the question she had been most afraid of since she'd been asked to pick a song for her memorial and one of her solos wasn't an option. "Blaine, can you really put aside the whole gay thing?"
Blaine bit his bottom lip, took another deep breath and answered. "That's one of the many things I don't know."
"Nice save." Rachel smiled slightly and got up off the couch. "I really like you, Blaine." She peeled off her Snuggie and stood there, looking Blaine in the eye.
Blaine stood up and held Rachel's hands. "Promise me that we won't ever break up." He chuckled when he notice how weird that had sounded. "As friends."
"I promise you, Blaine Warbler, that no matter what you say and no matter how gay you are, I won't break up with you. Ever." Rachel wrapped her arms around Blaine's neck as he wrapped his around her waist.
"I love you so much, Rachel Berry." He whispered.
Someone knocked on Rachel's door. They let go on the hug. "Place your bets," Rachel said playfully.
Blaine rolled his eyes and answered. "100 bucks on Kurt. Just a hunch." He teased back. He put his shoes on again and got ready for his ex boyfriend. "As soon as we start…"
Rachel smiled back at Blaine and opened the door. "Oh my God." Her jaw dropped to the floor when she saw who was standing on her doorstep.
I hope you notice the irony of Tina not even having a chapter of her own. By the way, thank you so much for reading, I hope you're all enjoying the fic.
