I finished this chapter so I thought I'd put it out there! Thanks for the nice reviews :) It's really appreciated!
It seems like a slow start, but I'm getting there! I have a few things I'd like to do, but I'm not sure yet which direction to go.
Anyway - per the usual disclaimer, I do not own any of the characters from glee, nor do I own IKEA!
Please review :)
Rachel and Quinn were sitting in the living room for what felt like hours. After Quinn's surprising reveal, the guys disappeared into Puck's room to talk.
"There's no way I'm living with a girl! What if I'm like...walking around naked and she sees my junk or something!" Finn cried out.
"Okay please do not walk around naked in this apartment. And dude I already told Quinn yes! I can't just fucking go back on my word." Puck exclaimed.
"Yes you can! You can say, 'Quinn's cousin, I'm very sorry, but, it ain't gonna happen'" Finn tried to reason with Puck. There was just no way they could live with a girl.
"I mean what's the worst that could happen? She's a girl..she'll just stay in her room, she's not gonna be in the way, really.." Puck said. Finn looked at him like he just grew two extra heads.
"Are you serious? You're the one who said we'd have a fun roommate, we're basically getting another Kurt." Finn said, looking over at Kurt. "No offense or anything."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "None taken. As much as I'd love to watch you bozos continue to argue, we have guests waiting in our living room. She's just a girl, what could be so bad? Give her a chance. Plus - she's Quinn's cousin. Isn't that the whole reason you agreed to giving the room away, without gee I don't know...having an interview first?"
Puck looked at Finn and sighed. "Look Finn, it won't be that bad. Let's just give it a try. I can't say no to Quinn. Maybe this Rachel girl can like cook and clean and shit."
"Um, she's not going to be your maid Puckerman." Kurt said incredulously.
"Fine." Finn conceded. "But I don't have a good feeling about this."
Nearly a week and a half later, Rachel was all moved into Kurt's old room. Since she just moved into the city, she didn't have much to her name outside of the clothes she brought with her. She's been sleeping on an air mattress for the past few days, but she was finally going to IKEA to get furniture for her new room. Quinn was off today and promised to take her cousin furniture shopping.
The idea of living with boys really didn't scare Rachel at all. She was very comfortable in her own skin and even lived on a co-ed floor while in college. Surely, that had to count as living with boys. Kurt's room was the master bedroom, and it luckily came with it's own bathroom, so she didn't have to worry about bumping into Finn or Puck while she had her morning and evening moisturizing rituals.
Puck was definitely a character. Rachel wasn't quite sure how Quinn and Puck became friends even to begin with, but it sure seemed like Puck had quite the soft spot for Quinn. While she hasn't had much interaction with him, he always seemed to check on her to see if she needed anything. Finn, on the other hand...he was much more of a mystery. Since Rachel moved in, he really hadn't said much to her. Rachel's phone rang, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Hey Quinn! I am so excited to go furniture shopping! I've already printed the layout of the store and I've planned our exact footsteps to all the areas that I need to go in to make the trip quite productive!" Rachel blurted out Quinn could even get a word on.
Quinn chucked at her loquacious cousin, feeling quite sorry for what she's about to say. "Yeah...about that. Rachel, I'm so sorry but I need to cancel. I thought I had the day off today, but the nanny who usually covers for me on my days off is down with the flu. Anna's parents are going out of town for business, so I need to stay with Anna. I'm really so sorry."
Rachel sighed, but understood. "That's okay Quinn. Maybe...I can try to go by myself. I can grab one of those yellow cars!"
"I don't think that's a good idea Rachel. It's going to hard to manage by yourself. Hey - are the guys around? Maybe one of them can take you. Finn has a car actually...which is surprising that anyone living in the city has one, but he does." Quinn suggested.
"I don't know Quinn...Finn hasn't even really spoken to me since I've moved in. Maybe I can ask Puck."
Rachel hung up with her cousin and walked out of her room looking for any sign of life from the guys. To her luck, Finn was on the couch playing Call of Duty or something like that, and Puck was in the kitchen finishing a sandwich. Rachel quickly walked over to the kitchen. "Hi Noah..."
Puck looked up and smiled. "Oh hey short stack, how's it going?"
"Not so good. Quinn promised to take me IKEA today but she ended up having to work. I was wondering...maybe you can take me?" Rachel looked at him hopefully.
"Ahh no can do. I've got back to back clients today. Maybe we can go another day." He suggested. Puck worked as a personal trainer at a nearby gym. "I've gotta run though. See ya shortie!"
Rachel sighed. Another day was not good enough. There was no way she could go that much longer without a real bed! This was no way for a diva to live. Although, it's quite the story for an up and coming Broadway actress who first moved into the city. Rachel made a mental note to include this in her autobiography that she would one day write.
Determined, she went over to the couch where Finn was engrossed in his video game. She sat on the couch, thinking she would grab his attention.
Nope. He was so focused on the screen in front of him, his tongue was slightly sticking out the corner of his mouth as he concentrated.
She cleared her throat this time.
Nope. Still nothing.
"Finn!" she yelled out, smiling when she finally caught his attention.
Finn jumped from the couch. "Holy shit! You scared the crap out of me. How long have you been here?"
"Oh, not long. Are you busy?" she asked, innocently.
"Uh...I was kind've in the middle of something. I just passed Level Two..."
Rachel nodded. "I was hoping that you can take me somewhere." Finn looked at her curiously, waiting for her to continue.
"You see, Quinn was supposed to take me furniture shopping today. I've been sleeping on an air mattress and there are no decorations in my room and I just really can't live like this!" Rachel said dramatically.
"So what do you want from me...?" Finn asked.
Rachel looked at him pleadingly. "Could you take me? Please?"
"Rach, I'm pretty busy today..." Finn said, thinking that all he had planned today was playing his video games. Realizing she needed to turn the heat up, Rachel batted her eyes a few times until they became glassy. Holy shit, is she about to cry right now?
"Okay, okay, fine! I'll take you. Just don't cry! And don't tell Puck that I like, made you cry or anything." Finn said. Rachel smiled. "Thanks Finn! We'll leave in 10 minutes. I'll wait for you while you get ready!"
Finn sighed, walking to his room, cursing Puck for getting him into this situation in the first place. Meanwhile, Rachel sat on the couch feeling quite proud of herself. Convincing Finn to take her really didn't take much convincing at all.
There was a slight awkward silence in the car despite the radio playing. Finn glanced over at the brunette sitting in the passenger seat next to him, happily humming along to the song on the radio. Feeling Finn's glance, Rachel looked over and smiled at him. "So Finn...we live together but I know nothing about you. How about...we play a game to get to know each other?"
"Um, okay.." Finn said, feeling slightly embarrassed that she caught him looking at her. "What game?"
"How about...we each ask each other a question. We can answer it, or we can pass. But for every question we pass, we owe that person..hmm..." Rachel thought hard.
"How about a drink? For every question I pass, I owe you a drink. For every question you pass, you owe me a drink" Finn said.
"Deal! Okay. I'll go first. How old are you?" Rachel asked.
"27. My turn...what color is your bra?"
Rachel turned bright red. "Finn!" He busted out laughing and she couldn't help but notice the way his smile and laugh made him look, well...quite adorable. "So is that a pass?" He glanced over at her, noticing it wasn't as funny to her as it was to him. "Alright, I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. I'll play fair. Let's see...um, okay... How old are you?"
"23. Have you always lived in New York?"
"Nope. I'm from Ohio. Moved out here with Kurt after high school. Why uh..why did you move to New York?"
"Well I want to be an actress. Not just any actress. I want to be on Broadway." Rachel said, very seriously. "I'm from a small town called Geneva, and outside of the little community theaters, there just really isn't a place for a girl like me to shine. I finally convinced my parents to let me move to the city once they saw Quinn was doing just fine here. I'm really hoping for my big break soon."
"A Broadway star huh? You should really talk to Kurt...he hangs around that type of crowd. His boyfriend, Blaine, is actually starring in some show. It's called like Hedwig and the happy inch or something." Finn jumped slightly as Rachel put her hand on his arm to grab his attention. Luckily, he just pulled into the parking lot of IKEA so he couldn't actually do any damage to any other drivers on the road.
"Are you telling me the truth Finn Hudson? I need you to swear on every video game you own that this is not you playing some silly little trick on me? He's the star of Hedwig and the angry inch?! " Finn laughed nervously. at her obvious intensity.
"Ouch...I swear, it's the truth. Blaine and Kurt are actually meeting up with Puck and I later for drinks. You should uh..you should come." Finn offered.
Rachel squealed in her seat before unbuckling her seatbelt and getting out the car. Finn followed suit. Rachel was practically skipping away in front of him. Finn was walking a few behind her, and couldn't help but smirk while watching her. Who the heck was this girl?
They made their way through IKEA, and much to Finn's dismay, Rachel took hours choosing between two bed frames that looked exactly the fucking same. Rachel bought him some of those awesome swedish meatballs to keep him quiet for a bit. A bed frame, dresser and a mattress later, Finn and Rachel were back in the car headed home. Finn called Puck to meet him downstairs so they could carry Rachel's new boxes of furniture waiting to be assembled up their three flights of stairs.
Rachel stared at the boxes in her room, thinking there was no way she'd actually be able to put it all together herself.
"That's the last of it." Finn said, bringing in one last box, Puck following behind him.
Rachel looked at them. "Um...I actually do not know how to assemble a bed and there is this little bag with all these screws and this little L shaped silver thing that is apparently like a screwdriver...and these pictures don't seem to make any sense."
Finn took the instructions from her hand, looking at it, and then rubbed the back of his neck. "It doesn't look that hard..." He glanced at her, seeing her dejected face. "Puck and I will help. We can uh...put together your bed frame so at least you have a real bed to sleep in tonight."
Puck looked at Finn curiously just as Rachel's face lit up. "oh Finn really? Thank you so much!" She gave him a hug and kissed his cheek. Puck didn't miss the blush that hit Finn's cheeks.
Rachel then turned and hugged Puck. "You guys are just the greatest...now I know why Quinn wanted me to stay with you guys. Since you guys are helping me out, why don't I make us all dinner? It'll be like...a nice way to celebrate me moving in, the three roommates!" She smiled. "I'm going to run to the store to get some stuff to make. oh! and I'll tell Quinn to come. It's going to be great!" Rachel clapped her hands together, smiling, before running out of the apartment.
As she left, Puck turned to Finn. "What the fuck dude?"
"What?" Finn said innocently, looking back at the instructions.
"You're being way too nice to her. First you took her to Ikea, now you're offering to put together her furniture? What's the deal, Huddy?"
"There's no deal man. I'm simple helping out our new roommate because YOU'RE in love with her cousin and couldn't say no to her. Who's to say we can't all just be friends?"
"Yeah right Finn. I know your deal. Just remember she's Quinn's cousin."
Finn nodded but didn't respond. So what if he noticed how cute Rachel is? Sure, she talked a lot but when she smiled, he was sure it was the prettiest thing he's ever seen.
Maybe having her as a roommate won't be that bad after all.