Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Glee or any of the lyrics included in this story.
Just a friendly reminder, this is a Drama. Things have been pretty happy and friendly so far, but don't expect a happy ending very soon. The drama is just beginning!
"You took your time with the call; I took my time with the fall. You gave me nothing at all, but still you're in my way."
Rachel sat across from Sam in the little on-campus diner, sipping her drink daintily as she debated on how to broach the subject. In a way, she felt like he knew what was coming. They had sat in an awkward silence the whole time they'd been on this little lunch date, both of them waiting to see who would make the first move. She knew she should act soon; she had skipped her last class of the afternoon for this, ready to start her weekend off the right way.
It had taken her all week to make her decision; weighing the pros and cons of their relationship, listening to break up songs and testing to see if they made her feel like she was making the wrong decision, but she never did. In fact, she felt free. It only added to her resolve that they hadn't kept up much contact, sharing only a few text messages a day, and an occasional short goodnight phone call. They really were just growing apart, and it didn't hurt near as much as she thought it would.
"So…" she started, wiping the corners of her mouth with a napkin as she pushed away her empty plate. "I think we need to talk."
"Alright, what's up Rachel" he asked, looking her straight in the eye for the first time. "Or do I already know?"
She sighed heavily, reaching forward to grab his hand over the table. "You feel it too don't you?"
"I don't want to."
"I'm so sorry Sam" she whispered. "But I don't think we can ignore it any longer, we're only hurting one another." He only nodded, dropping his gaze to the table. "I don't know what happened to us."
"Do you think it's me? Did I do something wrong?"
"No Sam, of course not" she said softly, squeezing his hand. "You were an amazing boyfriend. You're sweet and respectful, you're loyal, funny, and you're going to make somebody so unbelievably happy" she finished, a small tear sliding down her cheek.
"Someone, just not you" he guessed, looking up to see her nod sadly.
"I never meant to hurt you Sam. I love you, I do. I just don't think…I honestly don't believe it would be fair to either of us to maintain a relationship that we aren't both fully invested in, don't you agree?" He nodded again, looking at her with no anger in his eyes. He knew this was the right thing. "If you think this isn't a good idea, if you think we should keep fighting through, then tell me, and I'll try. But I don't think you do, I think deep down you want to be free too. We had a good run, but we owe this to one another."
Sam looked up, the tiniest smile on his face as he looked at her. "You always were the smart one" he said, giving her hand a squeeze before he released it. "I agree with you, I think it's time."
"Thank you" she smiled, pulling her jacket around herself as he picked up their empty plates to throw in the garbage.
"You know, we used to be really good friends before all of this. I think somewhere along the line we must have lost that. I'd really like to have it back" he said, giving her a beautiful smile, one that erased any worry she had about where this would leave them.
"I'd really love that" she grinned, leaning forward to wrap her thin arms around his torso in a hug. It was strange, as intimate as they had been, all of the time they had dated, and she never felt more at peace with the relationship than she did right now. She knew in her heart this was the right decision. She also knew where she really wanted to be right now. The first person she wanted to share the news with.
"Can I drive you back to your room or somewhere" he asked, holding open the café door for her as they exited. Rachel only shook her head with a smile, turning to look towards The Playground at the far end of the University Center.
"No thanks, I think I'm going to go get in some practice. Have a safe drive home Sam, I hope things work out for the best for you, you deserve it" she smiled, leaning forward to give him one final goodbye hug.
"Hello world" Rachel called, pushing the double doors open as she made her entrance into the room. Finn, all alone in the bay, stepped out to study her with a smirk.
"Somebody looks excited" he assessed, eyes never wavering from her.
"I am excited, I feel so…free and open" she gushed, poking him in the chest as she walked further into the room.
"I see. I take it that means you broke the poor guys heart then?"
"I most certainly did not break his heart thank you very much. We came to a mutual agreement to terminate the relationship; it was what was best for the both of us."
Finn only laughed, shaking his head at her. "Well I'm proud of you midget. Any plans on what to do with all this newfound freedom?"
"I hadn't really put that all much thought into that aspect" she said thoughtfully. "I'll figure it out though; I have all the time in the world."
"Exactly, don't worry about planning shit, just focus on having fun" he said, nodding his head. "That's my motto."
"And aren't you just the model citizen" she teased, walking past him to finger the pool cues hanging on the wall. "Do you want to play a game?"
"I'm tired of you whipping up on me, I need a break" he joked, sticking out his tongue at her as he stepped back into the bay to retrieve his keys. "I actually wasn't planning on staying here long; I just dropped by for a work meeting."
"Oh" she pouted, suddenly a lot less excited about playing. "Are you going home?"
"Nope, I'm going fishing."
"Fishing?"
"Yep. Let me guess, you've never been" he said, grinning at her as she shook her head. "Did you have your heart set on shooting pool?"
"Not really" she said quickly, stepping away from the sticks.
She would much rather spend her afternoon enjoying a new experience with Finn than drilling the proper 'down the rail' shot again. Some part of her mind knew she'd rather spend an afternoon doing anything that included Finn, but that wasn't the point. This was a new experience, the first of many.
"Cool, you probably weren't going to make any progress alone" he laughed, dodging her punch as he held the door open. "Do you wanna go fishing midget? It doesn't take much skill, just patience, so you should be okay."
"In spite of your incredibly rude way of invitation, I would love too" she smiled, walking out the door after him.
"Cool. I need to pick up a few things first, so meet me at Wal-Mart."
"Wait, what?" she cried, looking up as the smile grew on his face.
"I'm joking, come on short stuff" he laughed, leading her over to his dark blue truck.
Looking up at it, Rachel realized that she'd never actually seen his car before. Any time they hung out, it was in The Playground. Now that she thought about it, she realized this was the first time she and Finn would be hanging out outside of there. It was nice, really nice. She opened the door and gripped the handle at the top to pull herself into the tall truck, hearing him chuckle from his side.
"Should I get you a stepladder?"
"Shut up, we can't all be giants" she scoffed, slamming her door shut just to annoy him. As expected he flinched at the sound, turning to glare at her while she smiled sweetly at him. "Is there a problem Finn?"
"Yeah, you need to put on your seat belt."
"Huh?"
"Your seat belt" he said, undoing his own, then refastening it as if he were demonstrating it to a child. "I'm not getting a ticket for you woman" he said, abandoning his lecture to reach across her and grab the strap himself. Her breath caught as his forearm brushed across her chest, somehow managing to leave goosebumps even through her shirt. He brought the strap around her, buckling it with a loud click. "Damn your boobs are small" he suddenly commented, completely ruining the moment for her.
"Jerk! My breasts are perfectly perky and petite. You shouldn't be checking them out anyway."
"So it's okay for you to check me out and poke me in the ass with your pool stick, but I can't make a simple observation?"
"Simple observation huh? I was under the impression you didn't even acknowledge the existence of my lady parts."
"I usually don't, it's weird. But they were in my face, so...I'm a dude" he finished simply, his gaze suddenly following a pretty brunette walking down the sidewalk, causing him to pause before backing out of his space.
"How flattering" she said, rolling her eyes. "You're such a dog."
"Woof woof baby" he grinned, backing up and taking off down the road.
"I can't believe I just got my first fishing license" she cried, a little bounce in her step as she trailed along behind Finn.
"It's a little bit weird how excited you are about this, you need to live more" he laughed, his eyes shining down at her as they walked out of Wal-Mart, into lobby area.
"Don't judge me, I'm a late bloomer and you know this. Oh Finn, look!" she cried, spotting a beautiful, small, pink stuffed bear in the skill crane claw machine. The small bear called out to her from it's place in the window as she walked over to it. "Do you have any quarters?"
"So typical, a woman wanting money" he fake whined, pulling his wallet out of the back pocket of his pants. "I have a dollar in quarters, that's all you're getting out of me."
Rachel beamed, bouncing again as she greedily took the quarters from him and inserted two in the machine for her first turn. She grabbed the stick as the claw came to life, guiding it along until she thought she had it perfectly placed over the bear. She brought the claw down, eagerly watching as it bypassed the bear completely, grabbing nothing but air as it came up. "Crap."
"Damn Rach, and I thought your aim was bad in pool" he chuckled, pushing her aside to insert the next two quarters in himself. "Let me show you how it's done."
She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest at his act of chauvinism. She couldn't really complain though, it was his money and he did have a much better chance of catching the bear than she did. Rachel watched as he stretched, flexing his muscles before he gripped the stick. He maneuvered it around, squinting as he tried to position it perfectly over the bear. Finally, he dropped it down, missing the bear and instead picking up a tiny box.
Finn reached in to retrieve the box. Opening it, they found a small plastic ring with a bright green jewel in the center.
"What are we supposed to do with this" she asked, a little sad that they were out of quarters and she couldn't get her bear. Looking down at the ring, then back up at her, he lifted it out of it's box, looking down at her finger with an exaggeratedly nervous face. She laughed, extending her left hand to him as she patted fake tears. "I do" she giggled as he slipped it on and grinned.
"Never say I didn't give you anything" he said, snapping the empty box shut and tossing it in the trash as they finally left the store, Rachel running her fingers over her new favorite piece of jewelry.
Never in her life would Rachel have thought she would find herself fishing, in a small pond hidden in the woods. She considered herself much more of a city girl, but there was something appealing about this. The sun shining down on them in their own little spot, the water rippling as the fish moved about underneath, the beautiful boy standing next to her, looking contently out into the water. It was oddly peaceful. Even if at the same time completely and utterly frustrating.
"How do possibly have fun doing this" she cried, staring down into the pond willing the fish to show up. They'd been at it for at least an hour and so far she hadn't managed to catch anything, small fish coming over the swim around her bait then darting away. It was infuriating, while Finn on the other hand had already caught four well-sized fish, forced her to take pictures, then tossed them back into the pond. Stupid talented, attractive, frustrating man.
"It's fun when you don't suck."
Rachel snatched the line out of the water, attempting to hit him with the gross fake bait on the end. Instead, the line missed him, flying around her in circles until she was essentially hogtied in it. "Finn!"
"Ha Ha! Don't yell at me, you did it to yourself" he laughed, tears coming to his eyes as he pulled out his phone to take a picture of her. "Wait 'til Puck sees this."
"Very funny Finn, now would you stop being juvenile and help me get loose?"
"You could have taken my eye out Rachel, I might need to leave you like that, you could attack again" he laughed, replacing his phone and setting down his pole to come over and help her.
"You're so mean to me, I don't know why I hang out with you" she pouted, poking out her lips as he unwrapped the line from her.
"Because I'm awesome, and hilarious, and hot, and talented, and-"
"And terribly modest" she added, rolling her eyes in good nature at him as he worked.
"Obviously" he grinned, shooting her a wink. Rachel blinked, noticing for the first time the flecks of gold in his eyes as he unwrapped the final round of line from her. "And I'm the best teacher ever, you know it. Give me a few more times bringing you here, and you'll catch something, I guarantee it."
"We're going to come back?" she asked, looking up at him with a hopeful gaze. She really liked the sound of that.
"Well yeah, you just bought a license, I figured you want to get your money's worth out of it. We can bring Puck next time, and Will and Mike. It'll be fun, all of your friends."
"Those aren't my only friends, I'm not a hermit" she scoffed, grabbing the line in her hand and tossing it back into the water.
"Defensive aren't we?" he taunted, nudging her in the side, causing her bait to shake and scaring off the small fish that had just approached her.
"I hate you, you're the worst friend ever."
"Sucks that I'm one of your only friends then doesn't it?" he teased, walking a good enough distance away from her that she couldn't retaliate.
"You are not, I have other friends. Friends that are much kinder, and are tons of fun. As a matter of fact you have been hogging me from them. I think I'm going to schedule us a play date soon."
"A play date Rachel? Did you seriously just say play date? Wow."
"I can call the time that I spend with my friends whatever I like" she defended, desperately thinking of a fun way to describe her dinner dates, and numerous movie nights with Brittany and Santana.
"Of course. I'm sure that you and your friends have the best time on these play dates. Do you put on your onesies and play scrabble? My grammy loves scrabble" he said, bursting out into laughter at her.
She blushed scarlet at him, knowing full well that on certain occasions she in fact had been known to put on her old Winnie the Pooh pajamas and stayed up playing board games with her dads. That wasn't all there was to her, but she couldn't blame him for thinking so. Everything about her radiated ordinary, safe.
Well its about time that changed she thought, squaring her shoulders as she pulled out her phone to text Brittany. She had big plans to make.
Thanks for the read, hope you are enjoying so far!
I'll update soon as I can!