Hi! Hope all my American readers had a great 4th of July and enjoyed the fireworks. (One of my favorite Rachel songs!) In this chapter I did something I've wanted to do for a while - use one of Lea's songs for Finchel! I think this song I used would have been perfect for them. Enjoy and review if I should keep going!

Chapter 29: Cocktails

Finn had worked an early evening shift at the diner, but Rachel, Kurt, Blaine and Santana were working later shifts. Part of that was fine with Finn. He had midterms coming up, so he needed to study, especially because he'd missed some classes at the beginning of the semester during the trial. It would be easier to study with no one in the apartment.

All five of Finn's classes had midterms coming up. Yes, he'd made the Dean's List at University of Lima, but it was going to be much harder to make it here at Columbia. He heard the door open and looked at the clock, not realizing how late it was. Had he really been studying all this time?

Finn looked up and saw his roommates coming in. "What are you doing up so late, Finn?" Rachel asked, looking concerned.

"Studying for midterms," Finn said.

"Since when did you become such a nerd?" Santana asked.

"Santana, he goes to an Ivy League school," Blaine said. "Those are tough."

"Yeah, but he doesn't have to be up at an ungodly hour studying," Santana said.

"How was the diner tonight?" Finn asked.

"It was fine," Rachel said, looking a little upset.

"One of Shelby's friends came to the diner tonight," Kurt told Finn. "Rachel took an extra break to talk with that friend."

"Did the friend have any news?" Finn asked.

"No, but she seemed worried," Rachel said. "Shelby wants me to go back to watch Beth while she has chemo next week, but I'd feel kind of guilty after what happened with Quinn and Puck..."

"Any word from Kylie?" Blaine asked.

"I talked to her adoptive mom, but she hasn't said anything to Kylie yet," Rachel said.

"Okay, we're all awake, we all need a night out," Santana declared.

"What do you mean, a night out?" Finn asked, though he had a feeling he knew what Santana meant.

"I'll call Sam, Artie and Tina and we can all go to East Point," Santana said.

"East Point?" Finn asked.

"It's a bar Dani introduced me to," Santana said. "They don't even check IDs. It's awesome."

"The last time I went to a bar, Blaine spent half the night dancing with Sebastian!" Kurt said.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that because Blaine's here and Sebastian isn't," Santana said. "Come on, guys. Rachel, you've been stressed about your family issues. Finn, you've had a rough fall with that creep from your old job and your upcoming exams. A night of fun would be good for all of us."

"Is there anything at this bar besides drinking?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, they have karaoke and a dance floor and food and one of those mechanical bulls," Santana said.

"Well, we shouldn't stay out too long, and I'm not drinking," Finn said.

"Neither am I," Rachel added.

"Whatever," Santana said. "We should just have fun." She got out her phone and sent texts to Sam, Tina and Artie, asking them to meet them at the train station. By the time the loft residents arrived at the train station, their friends were already there.

"What does Santana have in mind?" Sam whispered to Finn and Blaine as they arrived.

"Santana's taking us to some bar," Blaine whispered back.

"Oh, and Dani and Elliott are going to meet us there, too," Santana added.

"This isn't a good idea, I can tell," Rachel whispered to Finn on the train.

"Yeah, but at least we're all together," Finn whispered back.

The train ride was only about ten minutes. Once they got off the train, Santana led the group to a building that looked like a house. This must have been it, the bar.

As the group went inside, Elliott and Dani were waiting for them. Finn took a look around the bar. Santana was right when she'd said they didn't check IDs. Most of these people were dressed in ways that definitely weren't their natural looks, and Finn wondered if this place was even legally supposed to be open.

Finn's eye fell on the mechanical bull. Someone was riding it as a bunch of patrons cheered them on.

Then a guy dressed in the staff uniform came up to them. "Hey guys. To the friends of Santana, Dani and Elliott, I got everyone a little something to welcome you to East Point."

"Oh, we're not interested in drinking tonight," Rachel said.

"There isn't much alcohol in these drinks I'm giving you," the employee said, handing out the drinks. "You guys will be fine."

Finn looked at his drink. It was an odd bright blue color. Next to him, Rachel's was bright pink.

"Cheers!" the employee said, holding up his bright red drink.

"Cheers," Finn mumbled, clicking his drink against his friends'. When he took a sip of the drink, he was surprised by how good it tasted. "This is good!" he said, turning to Rachel. The alcohol didn't dominate the drink too much, rather, it was pretty much dominated by a blue raspberry syruppy liquid.

"Yeah, mine's good too," Rachel said. "Watermelon!"

"Can I try yours?" Finn asked Rachel.

"Only if I can try yours!" Rachel said, handing Finn her glass. Finn took a sip of Rachel's and it was just as good as his had been.

"What flavor did you get?" Kurt asked Finn.

"Blue raspberry, what about you?" Finn asked.

"I got lime," Kurt said. "And Blaine got grape."

"Those sound good too," Finn said, taking another gulp of his.

"And I got lemon," Tina added.

"I got strawberry," Sam said.

"I got cherry," Artie said. "Hey, let's pass them around and each try a sip of each other's!"

"Yeah!" the group cheered. They passed their drinks around, all of them tasting good. These didn't taste like the high alcohol drinks from those frat parties at Lima. These were just regular juices with a little bit of alcohol added to them. At least that was what Finn thought they were.

"See, I told you guys you would like it here!" Santana said.

"Oh yeah!" Artie said. "These are the best drinks ever!"

"I want to ride the bull," Sam said.

"So do I," Blaine said.

"Well, I want to sing another duet with you," Rachel said to Finn.

"That sounds good," Finn said. Those drinks had tasted really good, and he wanted another one, but he knew that they were too young to be drinking. Maybe singing with Rachel would take his mind off things.

Finn and Rachel went to the karaoke bar and looked through the catalog before selecting a song. They went up to perform together.

Rachel: You were insecure but I was so sure
But I wanted you
Yes I'm powerful, and a little girl
But I wanted you
So I told you so, wanted you to know
We've just one life to live
Finn: And I told you all my dreams and fears
And you looked at me and your eyes filled with tears
And you said those three words I'd been waiting for
You became a part of me, yeah
Both: You're mine, for life
And I'll be by your side
We are entwined
You're mine, for life,
Hold me until we die,
I'm yours and you are mine
I'm yours (Rachel: I'm yours, I'm yours)
You're mine (Finn: You're mine, you're mine)
I'm yours (Rachel: I'm yours, I'm yours)
You're mine (Finn: You're mine, you're mine)
Rachel: Now I'm so happy you found a place for me
Boy you wanted me
Some security and two heartbeats
Boy you wanted me
Finn: Then you told me so, wanted me to know
You let the past go
Rachel: And I told you all my dreams and fears
And you looked at me and your eyes filled with tears
And you said those three words I'd been waiting for
You became a part of me, yeah
Both: You're mine, for life
And I'll be by your side
We are entwined
You're mine, for life,
Hold me until we die,
I'm yours and you are mine
I'm yours (Finn: I'm yours, I'm yours)
You're mine (Rachel: You're mine, you're mine)
I'm yours (Finn: I'm yours, I'm yours)
You're mine (Rachel: You're mine, you're mine)
Rachel: I'm yours, you're mine,
Finn: I'm yours, you're mine

At the end of the song, Finn's craving for another one of those drinks hadn't gone away. Maybe he should ride the mechanical bull, or maybe he could do another song... he looked around the room, noticing Artie and Blaine playing one of the video games together and Kurt, Santana, Elliott and Dani sitting at the bar having some more drinks. At one of the tables, Tina was sitting on Sam's lap and they were making out. Sam and Tina making out? That wasn't something Finn would have expected...

"Finn, I really want another one of those drinks," Rachel said.

Finn had to admit, he wanted one, too. "Yeah, so do I."

"Two won't get us hung over," Rachel said as she and Finn went to sit with Kurt, Santana, Dani and Elliott and the bar. "What was that drink that we got earlier?" Rachel asked them.

"It's called the Juicy Fruity Cocktail," Kurt said. "Aren't they amazing? I'm waiting on my third."

"Yeah," Rachel said. She saw a bar employee. "I want a strawberry of the Juicy Fruity Cocktail."

"Yeah, and I want a lemon," Finn added.

"Coming up," the bartender said as Finn looked at Rachel. "Rach, you're so beautiful."

"Thank you," Rachel said. "You're pretty handsome yourself."

The bartender arrived with the drinks, and Finn began gulping his down. Rachel gulped hers down much faster, however. "I'm hungry," Rachel said after finishing her drink. She looked at the bartender. "I want a burger."

"A burger?" Santana asked. "Berry, you're a vegan."

"So?" Rachel pouted. "I want a burger!"

"Now you'll finally see how good burgers are!" Finn said, finishing up his drink. As the bartender passed, he stopped him. "I want a watermelon one now."

"Yeah, and I want a blue raspberry," Rachel said.

x

A few hours later, Rachel had tried every flavor of the Juicy Fruity Cocktails, and by now she had a feeling that she'd had enough. Finn had tried every flavor as well. She knew that it was getting late and that they should be going home, but she didn't have the energy to walk home. She sat on one of the benches in the bar, with Finn lying across her lap. "You smell really good," Rachel said, sniffing at Finn.

"I could say the same for you," Finn said.

"No, you smell really, really good," Rachel said, pulling Finn's hair.

"Ow!" Finn complained.

"I'm sorry, Finny," Rachel said. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"Don't pull my hair!" Finn said. "That's mean."

"I'm not mean!" Rachel said.

"Oh yeah?" Finn snapped. "Well, if you're not mean, you should have told me when you found out your mother was sick. Don't keep secrets from me!"

"You didn't tell me about Lucy right away either!" Rachel shot back.

Finn and Rachel's friends came over. "Finchel, the bar's closing soon," Artie said. "And you two had the most to drink out of any of us."

"One of my friends who works here is giving us a ride home," Santana said.

"Good," Rachel mumbled. "Finn thinks I'm mean."

"Rachel's not mean," Blaine said.

The bar employee came over. "Are you guys ready to go home?"

"Yeah," Rachel said, standing up. "Come on, Finnegan."

x

The next morning, Rachel stood at the toilet at their apartment. She had the worst headache she'd ever had, and she felt like she was going to throw up, but she couldn't bring herself to. The truth was, she couldn't remember much about last night. Only that she'd spent most of the night drinking and that she'd had a burger and brought up Lucy. She felt like such an idiot. That was something she knew never to bring up with Finn.

Kurt came into the bathroom. "How are you feeling, Rach?"

"Horrible," Rachel said. "What was in those cocktails anyway?"

"Well, I looked them up this morning," Kurt said. "Grey goose, bourbon and some white wine, as well as some syrup and juice of the designated fruit of each drink."

"Oh God," Rachel groaned. "I don't even want to think about how much alcohol I have in my system." She finally threw up in the toilet.

"It's like 1 in the afternoon," Kurt said. "The rest of us have pretty much recovered, but looking at the bills, you and Finn had the most to drink. And I also see that you had a burger."

"That's probably part of it," Kurt said. "Rachel, this isn't like you..."

"I thought those drinks were good last night, but I feel so horrible now," Rachel moaned.

"So did I, and so do I now," a voice said from the doorway. Rachel turned and saw Finn. "Finn, are you okay?"

"No," Finn admitted. "I feel like crap."

"So do I," Rachel said.

"What were we thinking?" Finn asked. "I thought that this would be a good stress reliever for my midterms, but now I don't even have the energy to study for my midterms."

"Finn, I'm sorry," Rachel said. "I'm sorry that I brought up Lucy..."

"I'm sorry," Finn said. "I shouldn't have said that thing about Shelby."

"You had a point," Rachel admitted. "I should have told you right away."

"Well, let's promise not to keep things from each other anymore," Finn said.

"Promise," Rachel said.

"My head hurts so much," Finn complained. "I feel like it's going to explode."

"Finn, go back to bed," Rachel said before throwing up in the toilet again. "Ugh, what were we thinking?"

"Those drinks were good," Finn said. "But I didn't know just how much alcohol they had."

x

Finn and Rachel spent most of the weekend in bed, but Finn had to push through not feeling well to study for his midterms. Rachel knew that Finn was working hard despite the fact that he wasn't feeling well, so she did her best to help him study for his exams. On Monday, Finn left early for school to take his first exam, and Rachel was on her way to rehearsal when the phone rang. She looked at the phone and saw that it was her sister. "Hey!" Rachel said, picking up the phone.

"Hey!" Kylie said. "Rachel, I'm coming to New York."

"You are?" Rachel asked. "When?"

"Next weekend," Kylie said. "You said that Shelby has a chemo on Saturday and McKinley doesn't have school on Friday, so I got a train then."

"When did you get your parents to agree to that?" Rachel asked. She knew Kylie's parents had been reluctant to let her see Shelby.

"Well, they don't know that's what I'm doing," Kylie admitted. "I got Kitty and Marley in on it and I told them that we're going to Cedar Point for a weekend. I want a chance to know my birth mother before it's too late."

"Of course you do," Rachel said. "Are you sure your parents are going to be okay with this though?"

"They probably won't even find out," Kylie said. "You told me that Beth asks about me, and that Shelby wants to see me."

"Well, I always like to see you, but I don't want your parents to get mad," Rachel said.

"They won't find out," Kylie insisted.

"Okay, I'll see you on Friday," Rachel said, hoping Kylie wouldn't get in trouble.

Chapter 30 preview: Kylie comes to New York, and Finn and Rachel try to convince Puck and Quinn to come see Beth again. Finn finds out how he did on his finals, and the New Yorkers wonder if the Sam/Tina makeout at the bar was real - or just something drunk.

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Song: You're Mine by Lea Michele