A/N: Sorry for the extra day this took. I accidentally fell asleep when I got home from work last night and ended up sleeping all night. Here's the next chapter anyways. It's not quite as long as the last couple, but it's still one of the longer ones. The next chapter is probably going to be another shortish one, hopefully up in the next couple days. Thanks for reading and thank you so much for everyone who has taken the time to review! It fuels my writing more than you could know!
I killed the engine on my red Lexus SC, a present for my sixteenth birthday that hardly ever got used, and took a deep breath as I stepped out of the car. My body was still aching all over from the three hour Saturday Cheerios practice that afternoon, in which Coach Sylvester successfully made three Cheerios pass out from exhaustion. I wasn't sure if I would ever get complete feeling back in my arms and legs.
I looked up at the two story Berry family house with a little more apprehension than I had anticipated. It hadn't occurred to me that picking Rachel up potentially meant meeting her dads, which I had yet to have the pleasure. From what I knew, no one at school had actually met her dads yet, with the exception of Finn, who apparently created a very bad first impression. I really wanted them to like me. It was clear that would be important if I wanted to easily carry on a relationship with her and the way I had heard Finn speak of her parents, they were overbearing beasts. But Finn was an idiot and it wouldn't surprise me if he did something extremely stupid to set them off.
I stood on the porch, staring at the door for a couple minutes before finally taking a deep breath and pushing the doorbell. It wasn't so much of a chime than a song that I could hear playing from inside the house and somehow it made it feel more welcoming.
A very tall dark skinned man answered the door and it took me a second to remember that one of her fathers was black. His smile was large like Rachel's and even though she obviously was not biologically his, I was sure that he was the one who had taught her to smile.
"Tall, blond, looks like a model," he listed off the characteristics as if that was the description of me he was given, "You must be Brittany."
Had Rachel told him that? Does she really think I look like a model?
He extended his hand towards me and I took it, noticing that mine almost completely disappeared in his enormous hands. I looked like a dwarf compared to him, and being a little over five-feet eight-inches, I wasn't used to feeling so short. I imagined Rachel must've felt like Thumbelina next to him.
"Yeah, I'm Brittany," I managed to say, still in awe at his size, then managed to shake myself out of my haze and add, "You must be one of the Mr. Berry's."
His smile never faltered as he released my hand and stepped out of the doorway, extending his arm to allow me in, "Yes, but call me Leroy. We're not very much into formalities here."
"Leroy," I nodded with certainty, trying it out, but finding it awkward to call an adult by their first name like that. Seconds later and the other Mr. Berry stepped out from the kitchen wearing a 'Kiss the Cook' apron over top of his dress pants and shirt, and wiping his hands on a tea towel.
Extending his hand to me with another smile, although it was not comparable to the other two occupants in the family it was still very welcoming, and said, "I would be the other Mr. Berry, but you can call me Hiram."
"Nice to meet you," I replied, offering another smile as I shook his hand as well.
"Rachel's still getting ready," Leroy smirked, glancing over at his partner.
"I think she's changed, what is it Leroy, twelve times now," Hiram chuckled as Leroy nodded to him.
"Don't tell her that," I heard Rachel's mortified call coming from somewhere upstairs.
"She's dressed casual, Rach," Leroy called up to her and I couldn't help but look down self-consciously at the jeans and t-shirt combination I had thrown on, wondering if maybe I should be taking her to something more formal or at least brought her flowers. I heard the soft patter of footsteps running across the upstairs portion of the house and Leroy leaned in towards me in a low voice, "That's thirteen now."
"I heard that," Rachel called back as soon as the words left his mouth and the three of us on the main level broke out into a laugh.
"You can wait in the living room," Hiram said, leading me to a cozy sitting area. I had been in Rachel's house once before for the house party she had held last year, but the only part of her house that she had shown us was her basement. Their living room was like a shrine to their daughter. There were rows of bookcases with shelves that were filled with trophies, ribbons, medals, photos and even crowns, but not a single book in sight. One shelf in particular caught my eye and I walked over towards it, bending down slightly to view the engraving on the trophy plaques and realizing that they were all for accomplishments in swimming, mostly first place but there were a couple silver medals as well.
"Rachel used to be a champion swimmer," Leroy beamed, when he noticed me staring at the trophies, "She only gave it up when she decided to focus entirely on her singing."
It suddenly all made sense as to why Rachel had so easily beat me the day before in our friendly race and I realized that I didn't really know much about Rachel. There was a framed picture on the same shelf, almost entirely hidden by the row of trophies, and I reached in and pulled it out to get a better look. It was Rachel, maybe twelve or thirteen, she was standing in a bright pink one piece bathing suit, hair wet and slicked back in a ponytail with her goggles sitting on top of her head. She was standing at the top of a podium with a gold medal handing around her neck and her big Rachel Berry smile on her face. She looked adorable and I had trouble putting the photo back on the shelf instead of slipping it under my shirt and walking away with it.
The shelf above it had a few crowns and neatly folded sashes, with a couple photos of a much younger Rachel, maybe six, wearing sequined tutus and large hair pieces.
"That was from her very short stint as a pageant princess," Leroy mused.
"Before we realized that was not the kind of environment we wanted our daughter growing up in," Hiram finished sternly.
"Those parents are something else," Leroy agreed as I moved on to another shelf.
All the other shelves contained awards that were either for singing or dance, but another hidden picture caught my eye, this one not framed just loosely laying against one of the trophies and I quickly snatched it up. I remembered this picture. She was standing on the football field, completely clad in her short lived football uniform, helmet tucked underneath her arm with her other hand on her hip and her hair tied in two long braids. The black smudges under her eyes were adorable and her usual big smile was the icing on the cake. I had forgotten all about this and I knew that this image of her was easily going to replace my Rachel as a Cheerio fantasy. I wondered if she still had the uniform hidden somewhere in the back of her closet.
"Keep it," Leroy said, startling me. I don't know how long I had been staring at the picture for, but I had completely forgotten that her parents were still in the room.
"Oh no, I couldn't," I smiled nervously, putting the picture back, but his hand on my wrist stopped me.
"It's a double," he smiled pointing to a larger version of the picture hanging on the wall, "We couldn't resist getting an 8x10 when she looked so adorable as a mini-football player."
I carefully slid the picture into my pocket as another shelf caught my eye. There was just a single trophy on it and a picture of Rachel and her dads' smiling faces. The trophy looked cheap, with a big "1" on top of it and I looked at the plaque which read '#1 Daughter Rachel Berry'.
"We know it's cheesy," Hiram spoke up, "But we wanted her to have something so she knew how much we appreciate and are thankful for her. We couldn't have asked for a better daughter."
"Dad," Rachel groaned and my head snapped towards her, I hadn't even heard her come down the stairs. She looked so different from how I usually saw her in skirts made for children and sweaters for old ladies, it was like someone else had picked out her clothing and done her hair and make up for her. She wore a pair of light blue low rise skinny jeans and a dark green tube top with a diagonal hem that draped down past her hips on one side and barely reached the waistband of her jeans on the other. Her hair was tied back loosely with large curls hanging around her face, and her make up was done almost exactly as I had done it the previous day. A thin silver necklace hung around her neck with a small 'R' pendant attached and her wrists had several silver bangles dangling around them.
Once again, she had managed to render my exceptional brain completely useless. I'm pretty sure I made some sort of unattractive sound as my mouth gaped open at her and my eyes opened as wide as they would go, closely resembling a Looney Toons cartoon. I made a note not to forget my jaw on the floor when we left.
"Kurt took me shopping," Rachel blushed after I hadn't said anything or moved in over a minute. Suddenly I was wishing I had took a little more time to plan out my outfit, but where I was taking her was too casual to wear anything else. "Is it too much?"
"Yes," I mumbled, feeling that familiar ache beginning in my lower half again, but I shook myself out of my daze when I realized I insulted her, "I mean no. I mean... you look amazing."
I took a few steps towards her, forgetting entirely that her dads were in the room once again until Leroy unceremoniously cleared his throat, catching our attention.
"Go and enjoy yourselves girls," Leroy said, clapping his large hands together.
"We will," Rachel said excitedly, grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the front door, "Don't wait up."
I had just enough strength to give them a small wave and smile as I quickly turned my eyes back on Rachel, still unable to comprehend that this was the same girl.
"Wow," Rachel breathed when she saw my car, "I don't know much about cars, but I know enough to know that this is a very expensive car."
"It was a birthday present," I mumbled, my brain was still somewhere lost in the Berry house and what sanity I had left, disappeared when she suddenly turned, leaning against the passenger side of the car and playfully tugging on the front of my t-shirt until our bodies were pressed together again.
"So you really like my outfit," she asked, trying to play innocent but the tone of her voice was anything but.
I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath, recollecting myself, before placing my hands on either side of her face and answering, "Rachel, you're always beautiful, but yeah, I really like this look."
She grinned back at me and I could feel her hooking her thumbs into my front jeans pocket when all of a sudden there was a soft crumpling noise and Rachel raised an eyebrow at me. She pulled the photo of her from my pocket, I had already forgotten I had taken it, and gave me a look of confusion, "You're stealing pictures of me?"
"Your dads gave it to me," I explained urgently, my face growing hot as a deep blush set in.
"I can give you a much better picture of an over the shoulder shot," she said, but I quickly snatched the photo out of her fingers.
"I like this one," I smiled looking at it, "This is the real Rachel Berry."
"You think I'm butch," Rachel snorted, folding her arms across her chest.
"No," I laughed, "You didn't join the football team for yourself, you put yourself at risk for your friends. I really admired you that day."
"Really," she asked and then ducked her head with a smirk, "You sure it's not just because of the uniform."
"Well, that too," I agreed, "You look really sexy as a football player."
I noticed that the sky was beginning to darken and the sun would be setting soon and if we didn't hurry my plans would be ruined.
"We gotta hurry," I said, taking hold of the door handle beside her and opening it for her. She slid onto the seat as I closed the door behind her and ran around to get in on the other side.
"Why," she asked, as I switched gears into reverse and pulled out of her driveway.
I gave her a 'nice try' look and smiled, "It's a surprise."
After I had been driving for a couple minutes, I could see Rachel staring at me out of the corner of my eye.
"What," I asked taking a quick glance at her before turning my attention back to the road.
"It's nice to be in the passenger seat for once," she shrugged and suddenly I could feel her hand cover mine on the shifter.
"Do you know how to drive stick," I asked, shifting into neutral as I slowed down for a stop sign, looking down at her hand on mine.
"No," she replied and I took my hand off the stick and put hers on it, covering her hand with mine.
"I'll show you," I said softly, moving her hand with the shifter as I began to accelerate. The reasoning behind this was, of course, only because I wanted to feel her hand under mine, but the experience was fun anyway.
A few minutes later and I was pulling into a parking lot next to a green park with a large hill at the other end, blocking everything behind it from view. The park was almost deserted except for a few couples out for an evening stroll, but I didn't care if the whole world was there. I looked up at the sun, beginning to get dangerously low in the sky, and said abruptly as I jumped from the car, "Let's go, we'll miss it."
"Miss what," Rachel asked, following me out of the car as I grabbed her hand and began dragging her up the path towards the hill at a near jogging pace. I felt her stumble slightly behind me and a whimper, "I can't run in these shoes."
I looked down at her strappy dark green sandals, surprised I hadn't noticed them before and sighed as I quickly dropped a knee to the ground, hunched my back and said, "Get on, I'll give you a piggy back."
"Oh, no," she gasped, "I'm too heavy."
"Rachel I could fit you in my school bag, now hurry up," I demanded and my urgent tone must've persuaded her, because with only a second of hesitation, I felt her arms wrap around my neck and her legs hook around my waist as I stood up and held on to the bottoms of her thighs. Any other day and carrying Rachel would be a breeze, but I found myself struggling after the harsh Cheerios practice I had endured that day. I was careful enough to make sure not to let Rachel notice. I took a deep breath and began a jogging pace, racing up the side of the hill and trying to ignore the fact that once again Rachel's entire body was pressed up against mine. When I reached the top of the hill I thought my legs were going to fall off, but as I looked down the other side of the hill I realized that we were just on time and it made everything worth while.
There was a lake on the other side with a large fountain in the middle, sculpted into an arch that sprayed water from inside the top of it and transformed it into mist as it hit the lake below. The reds, pinks and purples of the sky reflected off the water, making it a picture perfect moment.
"Pretty," Rachel smiled as I lowered her to her feet and walked down the grass on the other side of the hill. I sat down at a level in line with the top of the fountain, leaving a space between my legs for Rachel to sit between them, then pulled her down into that spot.
"Just wait," I whispered into her ear as I wrapped my arms around her slender waist and she stretched her legs out in front of her, crossing them at the ankle. She pressed her palms to the tops of my thighs as I took note that the sun was level with the top of the fountain, almost blocking the sun from view, and it would only be about a minute before the show would begin. She laid her head back against my shoulder, sighing into me, and we stayed in silence for a while, waiting.
Finally, the sun lowered below the arch, its rays breaking through the space beneath and each stream of water acted as a prism, casting thousands of tiny rainbows all over the lake and the side of the hill, one even landing against Rachel's chest, next to her heart. I wished I could say I planned that, but where they would land could never have been predicted. They flickered with the moving water and danced around the lake, creating a show that looked like it would require some serious special effects.
I heard Rachel gasp as her hands tightened against my thighs, "Britt, it's beautiful."
"Very beautiful," I responded, but I wasn't looking at the spectacle anymore, my eyes were fixed on the most beautiful thing in the park, Rachel Berry. Rachel was too captivated by the show to notice, "How did you find this place?"
"This is where my dad proposed to my mom," I said softly, "She always said this was her favourite place and when I was about fourteen I started coming here in the evenings to just sit and think. It's always so peaceful and calming."
"I love it," Rachel whispered and after another moment of silence she said, "Rainbows may not be your favourite colour, but they are mine now."
I chuckled softly, burying my nose in her hair as I inhaled her usual vanilla scent and mumbled before I even realized I had, "I love the way you smell."
"I know," she smirked, biting her lip when I moved my head to look at her.
"You know," I asked, a little confused by her admittance.
"Ever since you hugged me in bathroom, I heard you sniff me," she giggled and I could feel myself starting to blush again, "You like it more the days that I'm wearing vanilla rather than strawberry."
I blinked. Did I? I didn't even know that myself.
"I like the way you smell," she whispered, when I hadn't responded, "Especially after motocross practice."
"When I'm all sweaty and gross," I asked, wrinkling my nose.
"It's not a sweaty smell," she answered thoughtfully, "More like fresh dirt and leather. I guess I'm weird."
"Yes," I joked, tickling the patch of skin that was revealed by her hip with my fingertips, "But I still like you anyway."
There was another heavy silence before she broke it again, "Is this a date, Brittany?"
I resisted the urge to say something cliche, like asking her if she wanted it to be a date, and decided that I wanted her to know exactly what this night was to me, "Yes, this is a date."
Somehow she managed to snuggle into me further and I watched a peaceful smile spread across her lips, "Good."
I looked across at the water and noticed that the rainbows had vanished as the sun had slipped down out of view and the sky was gradually darkening as night began to set in.
"You look really beautiful tonight," I whispered, my lips pressing against the shell of her ear and I felt her shiver against me.
"Well Kurt does have to take most of the credit for that," Rachel confessed.
"What exactly did you tell him," I asked, curious as to how Kurt agreed to go shopping with her. They weren't exactly friends although they had grown a lot closer over the past year.
"I told him I was going on a date and I needed help deciding what to wear," she answered, her fingers beginning to draw light circles on my thighs.
The feeling distracted me for a moment until the realization of what she said suddenly burst into my mind. There was no way Kurt would've helped her out without knowing who the date was with and he must've told the whole school by now that Rachel was going out on a date with me. My heart had picked up in pace and I was beginning to feel light headed, thinking about school on Monday and how Santana and the rest of the Cheerios would never speak to me again.
"You told him we were going on a date," I demanded, the knot tightening in my stomach.
"I told him it was with some boy at my synagogue," she replied soothingly, sensing my fear and covering my hands around her waist with her own, "I never told him anything about you."
"Oh," I sighed, relieved, then instantly guilty that I had panicked about everyone knowing about us being together. As much as I wanted to be alright with it, I obviously really wasn't ready to admit it to the world. "I'm sorry I assumed."
"Forget about it," Rachel said, brushing it off, "I just want to enjoy this."
Silence washed over us again as the sky had now gone completely dark and the stars were shining brightly all around. It was so quiet, nothing but the crickets chirping, and I found myself in another moment of pure bliss for the hundredth time that week.
"I still have it, you know," Rachel said after awhile, startling and confusing me.
"Have what," I asked, having no idea what she was talking about and wondering if I had zoned out of a conversation we had been having.
"The football uniform."
We stayed there for awhile, until the time started nearing one in the morning, before we finally dusted ourselves off and began walking back to the car, fingers interlaced as we held hands.
"I'm not going to be able to see you again until Wednesday," I sighed, once we were back in the car and on the road. I saw her head snap towards me out of the corner of my eye, but she quickly recovered and tried to hide her disappointment.
"Did I do something wrong," she asked, nervously playing with her fingers in her lap.
"Come on, Rach, nothing like that," I assured her, "I've got Cheerios practice after school on Monday and on Tuesday I have to go to this stupid country club dinner and cocktails thing. We could hang out tomorrow if you want?"
"Can't," she sighed, "Daddies, daughter day."
"Cute," I smiled and watched as she rolled her eyes, "You could come to the dinner with me on Tuesday if you want?"
"Are you sure," she asked, "Won't your parents disapprove?"
"Of you," I laughed, "Did you not see how much my mother loved you. I think she's ecstatic to not see Santana around anymore. Plus, my family is pretty open, they've always been about doing what you love and living your life how you want to live it. They've never been ashamed of anything."
She chewed nervously at her lip as I pulled into her driveway and finally nodded, "Okay, as long as you're sure they won't mind."
"I promise," I said, laying my hand over hers when I had parked the car, "It's formal, so long evening gowns are the way to go."
"I guess I'm going to have to go shopping with Kurt again," she laughed nervously.
I finally realized where we were. Outside Rachel's house, the end of our first date, inside my car, and realized what was supposed to happen next. It wasn't as easy as before, when there was so much build up to kissing her, now the butterflies were dancing in my stomach and I found myself frozen in place, unable to even glance over at her.
"Thank you for the amazing night," she said, her voice sounding tiny and I heard the car door open. I turned my head towards her, knowing I had missed my opportunity, but my heart skipped when I saw her hesitate instead of stepping out. She turned back towards me, leaned over the centre console, and placed her hand on my thigh for support as she gently kissed my cheek, her lips staying there longer than normal before she pulled back an inch, glanced down at my lips then back up at my eyes and whispered, "It was perfect."
She kissed the corner of my mouth, purposely missing my lips and before I could react, the car door was closed and I saw her running up the front steps to her house. The side of my mouth tingled and I licked my tongue over the spot she had kissed.
Cherry lip gloss.
That night I removed the photograph of Quinn, Santana, and I taken during our sophomore year as Cheerios, and replaced it with the picture of Rachel in her football uniform.
I needed her to be the last thing I saw at night and the first thing I saw in the morning.