Sorry for the wait! School' s been kind of crazy lately!
Anyways, here's chapter 9! Enjoy!
Rachel walked towards the small coffee shop in downtown Lima. She fanned herself with her hand, the August heat finally getting to her. She was surprised it was so hot already, because it was only Sunday morning. She reflected on the events that happened over the summer, which was probably one of the best summer she's ever had. She used to be one of the most disliked people in Lima, Ohio. She convinced herself that they only disliked her because of all the talent dripping from her fingertips, but she knew the real reason. However, the past completely forgotten, she now had a best friend. Santana Lopez. She also had Finn in her life, and she couldn't be happier. Though she barely knew Finn, she knew they had something special between the two of them.
Rachel entered the coffee shop and looked around for Finn. They finally made plans for that coffee date they had talked about in the dress shop. Her eyes finally landed on him, sitting in a booth near the back of the small building. She hurried in his direction and sat opposite of him, smiling as she sat down.
"Good morning, Finn," Rachel greeted, eying the two muffins that sat in the middle of the table.
"Good morning, Rachel. I hope you don't mind but I went ahead and got you a muffin," Finn said, pushing one of the pastries towards her.
"No, not at all. Thank you," Rachel said, accepting the muffin and taking a bite out of the side. "Very nice muffin selection," Rachel commented after she swallowed her bite. They finished their treats in silence, and it was Rachel who broke the silence afterwards. "You know, Santana won't shut up about us. She called me yesterday to tell me how hard it was for her to keep the whole thing a secret."
"Yeah, I know. I saw her Friday night. I'm surprised she was able to keep her mouth shut all this time. She's never been the best at keeping secrets."
"I'm a little shocked she never mentioned it to me before then. I never told her about you, so she could have easily messed up and asked me about you," Rachel replied.
Finn pretended to look hurt. "You never mentioned me to her? I thought I meant a little more to you than that."
"Well, when I didn't see you again after we met, I thought it was a sign that we weren't meant to find each other again. I tried to avoid thinking about you as much as I could, and I figured that if I told Santana she would constantly bring it up."
"I can't believe we never saw each other again after that. I couldn't stop finding you again, but every time I almost got to you, you were gone."
"Well, I knew that you were at the dress shop, because the cashier girl told me that some man was looking for me while I was in the restrooms."
"That's where you were? When I found out that you had just been there, I ran outside and searched the whole street inside and out."
"It's kind of funny how things work out, right?" Rachel asked him. "We kept missing each other, and now here we are. Together. Summer is almost over, and I didn't get to spend any of it with you."
"We still have this month," Finn said, attempting to lighten her mood.
Rachel smiled, "Yeah, and I am looking forward to every single second of it."
Fin reached across the table and grabbed both of her hands. "Rachel, I promise that this is going to be the best August that you've ever had."
"All right, just keep you eye on the pins," Finn instructed from behind Rachel.
Rachel nodded and took a deep breath. She pulled the arm that was holding the bowling ball back, and swung it forward launching the bowling ball straight into the gutter.
Finn held in his laughter as Rachel stomped back to where he was sitting, crossing her arms when she reached her destination.
"This is all your fault!" Rachel pointed an accusing finger at him. "I told you that I can't bowl, but you forced me to come! I'm blaming you."
"Oh, come on, Rachel. You're not that bad."
Rachel raised an eyebrow and then marched to the ball return. She grabbed her pink bowling ball and threw it down the lane straight into the gutter once again. "See? I can't do it."
Finn stood up from his seat and walked up to where Rachel was standing. He picked up her pink bowling ball that had just returned to their lane and place it in her hands.
"But it's not my turn anymore," Rachel protested.
"You can take my turn," Finn insisted. He turned Rachel around so that she was facing the lane. He placed one hand on her arm and pulled it back for her. "Just keep your eyes on the pins, okay?"
Rachel nodded, but her eyes were glued to his hand on her arm.
Finn caught Rachel's actions and smirked. "Rachel, do you want another gutter ball?"
Rachel, embarrassed that she had been caught staring at him, locked her eyes onto the pins ahead of her. "Now what?"
"Keep staring ahead and follow through. If you concentrate hard enough the ball will follow your line of vision."
Rachel nodded as Finn stepped back ready to watch Rachel roll the ball. Rachel took in another deep breath. She launched her arm forwards and watched as the ball rolled down the middle of the lane. She stood on her toes in anticipation as it rolled closer and closer to the end of the lane. The ball rolled the remainder of the way down the lane and collided with the pins, knocking them all down one by one. Rachel jumped for joy and wrapped her arms around Finn's neck, planting a huge kiss on his lips.
"Thank you!" She squealed. "I take back everything I said before. I love bowling!"
Finn chuckled, "I'm sure you do."
"No. Absolutely not." Rachel folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not ready."
"Oh, come on, Rach," Finn pleaded. "She'll love you. I swear."
"No."
It was two weeks into their August together. Santana had invited them over to a bonfire at her house to celebrate the three of them finally coming together. Finn and Rachel had spent the entire day together at the lake just outside of Lima when they got the invitation via text message. Rachel brought a spear change of clothes with her to the lake, but Finn had not so they had to stop by his house before heading over to Santana's house. Rachel was fine with this, until she realized that Finn's mother was home and she would have to meet her.
"Why don't you want to meet her? There's no reason to be nervous, I know she'll love you. I know that she has been dying to meet you," Finn begged.
"I don't want to m-" Rachel began to say until Finn's words registered in her mind. "She's been dying to meet me?"
"I may have mentioned something to her about you," Finn said, looking down at the ground.
Rachel exhaled slowly, "Okay. I'll meet her. If it means this much to you."
Finn smiled, "Thank you Rachel. You're the best." He exited his side of the car and walked around to Rachel's side, opening her door for her. He held out a hand to help her out of the car.
"How chivalrous," Rachel commented, stepping out of the car. She saw the confused look Finn had on his face. "It means considerate or courteous."
"Oh." Finn said simply, making Rachel giggle.
They walked up to Finn's house hand in hand. Rachel became more and more nervous with each step.
"It's okay," Finn said to her. "She's going to absolutely adore you. I promise."
Rachel nodded as they made the last few steps to the front door. Finn opened the door for her and allowed her to walk in first. Rachel looked around the entry hall, admiring all the photographs along the walls.
"Finn?" Rachel heard a woman's voice coming from another room of the house. "Is that you?"
"Yeah, I'm just stopping by to change to go to Santana's house," Finn called back. "Can you come here? There's someone I'd like you to meet." He reassuringly smiled down at Rachel.
Rachel heard footsteps coming towards them and soon enough a shorter middle-aged woman came into the room.
"Oh, hello," the woman smiled at Rachel. "Finn, who is this?"
"I'm Rachel," Rachel introduced herself, shaking the woman's hand.
"Rachel? The Rachel? I've heard so much about you!" the woman smiled. "You can call me Carole."
"Hi Carole," Rachel replied, smiling broadly. "It's very nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too, Rachel. The moment Finn started talking about this new girlfriend of his I knew I couldn't wait to meet her!"
Rachel smiled up at Finn when Carole mentioned the word "girlfriend." She and Finn hadn't actually discussed their relationship yet, but she knew that she was ready to take that step with Finn.
"Mom, we'll be upstairs. I have to get my things ready to go to Santana's house," Finn interrupted the two women.
"All right. You two have fun tonight. And tell Santana I said hi. I haven't seen her in a while," Carole said. "And it was a pleasure meeting you, Rachel. Come back soon!"
"Okay, thank you, Carole," Rachel replied, following Finn up the stairs to his bedroom. She followed him until they reached the last door on the right and walked inside. Rachel looked around the small bedroom with cowboy decorated wallpaper, brown shaggy carpet, and a drum set in the corner.
"Sorry, I haven't really updated my room since I was like 8," he said sheepishly.
"No, I like it," Rachel smiled, sitting on the bed. "And I don't really have much room to judge anyways. I still have my floral wallpaper and stuffed animals lining the shelves."
Finn smiled, already knowing Rachel's bedroom fit her personality perfectly. "I'm also sorry about my mom. I didn't know she'd say that about us."
"Are you talking about her calling me your girlfriend?"
"Yeah," he replied. "I know we haven't exactly talked about it or anything, and I didn't want her to p-"
"No, Finn, it's fine. Really," Rachel assured him. "Besides, I've been thinking about it, and I kind of like that title."
"Cool," Finn said nervously. "Me too. Well, not girlfriend, but the boyfriend title."
Rachel giggled and smiled up at her boyfriend.
Finn pulled a pair of regular shorts out of his dresser. "I should probably go change. I'll be right back." He headed out the door and went to the bathroom down the hall. Rachel leaned back against the wall while she sat on his bed. She could get used to this whole girlfriend thing.
Santana twisted the stick that held her marshmallow over the fire as she waited for it to turn the perfect golden brown color. She glanced up from her perfect task to see Finn and Rachel, sitting next to each other on the bench on the other side of the fire pit. Finn's armed was around Rachel shoulders, while her head rested on his shoulder. They both took small bites out of their marshmallows. Santana smiled at the couple.
Finn looked up and noticed Santana staring at him and Rachel rather than her marshmallow. "Hey Santana, nice marshmallow."
Santana jumped up and pulled her stick from the fire when she noticed the flames shooting off of it. She quickly blew it out and frowned at the black blob on the end of the stick.
"Nice one," Finn commented, starting to laugh at the glare Santana was sending him.
"Shut up, Hudson," Santana warned him. "You know I hate burnt marshmallows. Now I have to start another one." She removed the sticky mess from her stick and put on another marshmallow, placing it back into the fire.
Rachel smiled as she watched Finn and Santana bicker about the burnt marshmallow. A few months ago she was a very lonely girl with big Broadway dreams. She now had a boyfriend and a wonderful best friend. Broadway was still her dream, but this… this was her destiny.
Aaawwwwww :)
Finchel forever! :)
I'll try to update soon!
Reviews are appreciated!