Hey everyone! Hope you all have been having a nice week. I know this week has been a tough one, with the one-year anniversary of Cory's death creeping up on us. It's hard to believe on Sunday it'll have been a year. I miss him and Finchel and Finn and Monchele so much every day. For those of you on Glee Forum, hope you're enjoying Finn week! Thanks for all your reviews on the last chapter and review this one if you want me to keep going!
Chapter 30: Family
"So, you and your friends were at East Point, huh?" Jean asked Rachel as they left Funny Girl rehearsal.
"What?" Rachel asked. She didn't want to say anything about her night out drinking to her fellow understudy. She was embarrassed by how drunk she got and knew that drinking was illegal at her age. "What's East Point?"
"Don't lie," Jean said. "I don't know if you read show choir blogs, but I do, and someone posted photos of eight alumni from the national championship winning and runner-up New Directions out drinking."
So photos of her drinking were online? Oh no. This couldn't be good. She was finally recovered from all that alcohol (and the burger) in her system. Were these blogs really concerned with the personal lives of alumni?
"Don't worry, I won't say anything to anyone at rehearsal or at school," Jean continued. "So, since when are Sam Evans and Tina Cohen-Chang dating?"
"What?" Rachel asked. Sam and Tina weren't dating. The last she checked, Sam was still into Mercedes and Tina was still into Mike.
Jean got out his iPhone and showed Rachel a photo of Sam and Tina making out at the bar. Now that Rachel thought about it, she did remember that... at least she thought she could. She was too drunk the day after to remember much of anything.
"This is a disaster," Rachel groaned. "When I went out with my friends, we just wanted a fun night out." This wasn't good. It wasn't good at all. She hadn't intended to drink that much. She didn't even know how much alcohol was in the drinks. She headed home, ready to tell her friends about what had happened. When she got home, Sam, Tina and Artie were over for dinner, so Rachel could tell all of them. She got out her phone and showed the photos to her friends. "Guys, look what got online!"
"Oh my God!" Kurt gasped, looking at the photos. "Who had the right to post these? We aren't even in a high school show choir anymore!"
"This is horrible!" Santana said.
"We need to get them taken down," Sam said.
"I'm e-mailing the owner of this blog, telling them I'm sueing if they aren't down within 24 hours," Rachel said, thinking on the spot.
"Do you think they'd do that?" Blaine asked.
"Kurt and Finn's dad is in congress, that should give us an advantage," Rachel said, sending an e-mail.
"And speaking of those photos, what was going on with Sam and Tina in them?" Artie asked.
"Yeah, my fellow understudy who found them was wondering the same thing," Rachel said.
"It was that Jean Baptiste guy, wasn't it?" Sam asked.
"Yes," Rachel said.
"Don't try to change the subject," Kurt said. "Do you two know that you were making out?"
Sam and Tina both looked embarrassed. "Yeah, we knew," Tina said.
"So, has this happened before?" Blaine asked.
"Ever since we moved to New York, the two of us have been spending a lot of time together," Sam said. "We have been on a few dates. I guess you guys would have found out sooner or later."
"Does Mercedes know?" Kurt asked.
"And does Mike?" Artie added.
"They don't know," Tina said. "But Mercedes is in LA, and Mike's in Chicago. We've been developing feelings for each other and we wanted to do this."
"I didn't see this coming," Finn admitted.
"Well, not everything's predictable," Sam said. "You guys would have found out sooner or later."
"Well, we're happy for you," Blaine said.
"Yeah, we wanted to wait until we knew for sure," Sam said.
"Well, I know I'm happy for you," Rachel said.
"We all are," Finn added.
"Let's just hope those pictures get taken down though," Tina said. "Not because of me and Sam, but because of what we were all doing..."
"I'll make sure I get congress involved if they aren't down in 24 hours," Kurt said.
x
"Is there anything else I can get you?" Rachel asked Shelby. She was sitting by Shelby's bedside, having just brought some water and food to her mother. Yesterday had been Shelby's first round of chemo, and Rachel had asked for today off of rehearsal and at the diner so that she could be with Shelby.
"Rachel, you just got me water and a snack," Shelby said. "Thank you for coming."
"Family are there for each other," Rachel said.
"Thanks for the new toy, Rachel," Beth said. Rachel had brought Beth a new stuffed animal today. Rachel knew that although Beth was young, she could tell that her life had changed drastically. Rachel couldn't imagine what this would have been like for her if this happened to one of her dads at such a young age, so she wanted to do everything she could for Beth.
"You're a great big sister," Shelby commented.
Rachel smiled. "Thanks. I always wanted a brother or sister, but you know... it was really hard for my dads to get another child. It's thanks to you that I have two amazing sisters."
"How's Kylie?" Shelby asked.
"I talk to her all the time," Rachel said. She didn't know if she should tell Shelby that Kylie was coming today. Maybe it would be a nice surprise for Shelby. "Opening night for Wicked is coming up. I can have Artie tape it and bring the tape for you to see."
"I'd love that," Shelby said as the doorbell rang. "Could you get that, Rachel?"
"Of course," Rachel said. She had a feeling she knew who it was. She went downstairs and saw Kylie. "Hey."
Kylie put down her suitcase. "Hey. I just got into New York. Kitty's at Artie's dorm, and the same bus came this way, so I figured I'd come straight here."
"I'm glad you made it," Rachel said, letting Kylie in. "I didn't expect Kitty to come with you."
"Oh, this way we got my parents to agree to let me come to New York," Kylie said. "Kitty wanted to visit Artie anyway, so they agreed to let me come with her."
"Well, let's go see Shelby," Rachel said.
As the girls began to head upstairs, Beth came downstairs. "Kylie!" Beth exclaimed, hugging Kylie.
"Hi Beth!" Kylie said, returning the hug.
"I missed you," Beth said.
"I missed you too," Kylie said.
"Kylie, our mommy's sick," Beth said sadly.
"I know she is," Kylie said. "That's why I'm here."
"Good," Beth said.
"How about we go see her?" Rachel asked. She led Beth and Kylie upstairs and stopped at the doorway of Shelby's room. "Hey Shelby, there's someone here to see you." She opened the door of Shelby's bedroom and let Kylie in.
Shelby smiled at the sight of Kylie. Kylie gave Shelby a small smile, but Rachel could tell Kylie was upset by how weak their birth mother looked. "Kylie," Shelby breathed.
"Hi, Shelby," Kylie said softly. She handed Shelby some flowers. "These are for you."
"I'm so glad you could come, sweetie," Shelby said.
Kylie sat on the bed. "I wanted to come."
"Thank you," Shelby said. "Kylie, I'm so sorry for how I treated you this summer..."
"I'm sorry," Kylie said. "I think I was rushing things."
"What matters is that we're all here now," Rachel said.
"How was chemo?" Kylie asked.
"I'm glad it's over," Shelby said. "One down, seven to go."
Rachel heard another doorbell ring. This time, she had no idea who it could be. Maybe it was one of Shelby's friends. "I'll be right back." She went downstairs and was surprised when she saw Finn standing on the other side of the door. "Finn!"
"Hey Rach," Finn said, giving his girlfriend a hug. "I hope you don't mind that I came by. It's just - I know this is a hard time for you guys, and I wanted to be with you."
"Thank you," Rachel whispered, snuggling into Finn. "Shelby, Kylie and Beth are upstairs."
"Okay," Finn said. Rachel took Finn's hand as she led him upstairs into Shelby's room. "I hope you guys don't mind that I came by," Finn said when he went into Shelby's room. I just wanted to be with Rachel."
"Of course you can come, Finn," Shelby said. "You're part of this family, too."
Family. Yes, she and her dads were family, but she did feel something special with Shelby, Kylie and Beth. And she also had a family with the New Directions.
"How's New Directions?" Finn asked Kylie.
"They're great," Kylie said. "Everyone's excited for Wicked."
"Well, so are we," Finn said. "All the New Yorkers are going to come to Lima to see it."
"Yes we are," Rachel said proudly.
"Rachel told me that Artie's going to be taping it," Shelby said. "That way I'll get to see you even though I can't get to Lima."
"You want to see it?" Kylie asked.
"Of course," Shelby said. "I don't want to miss seeing my daughter in Wicked. I went to see Rachel in West Side Story when she was a senior, and she was incredible."
"Yes she was," Finn added, giving Rachel a kiss.
"Awwww," Rachel said.
"You love Rachel?" Beth asked Finn.
"I do love Rachel," Finn said.
"You gonna marry her?" Beth asked.
"Beth!" Shelby said. "That's not a question you should ask."
Rachel giggled to herself. She wouldn't be lying if she said she hadn't thought about it. Or that she wasn't hoping they would. But she had no idea what Finn wanted.
Then Finn spoke. "There's no exact plans, but I do know I want to marry her eventually."
Rachel felt so happy hearing Finn say that. "Yeah, I want to marry him someday, too."
"I expect to be one of your bridesmaids," Kylie teased.
"Of course!" Rachel said. "That's what sisters are for, isn't it?"
"Kurt's probably going to want to be both my best man and your male maid of honor at the same time," Finn said.
"Yeah, he probably will," Rachel said. "But when we get married, brother is a bit more important than best friend. He should be your best man."
"Thanks, Rach," Finn said. "I know I want him as my best man."
"You two say you don't have definite plans, but you're definitely talking like you have plans," Shelby pointed out.
"Well, there is no one else I want to spend my life with," Rachel said.
"Yeah, we've only been back together a few months, but we've been in love for over three years now, and I can't picture marrying anyone else," Finn said.
"From what I've heard from people in glee, you two were always together, even when you weren't officially dating," Kylie said.
"Yeah, that's true," Finn said, putting his arm around Rachel.
Trying to take the attention off her and Finn, Rachel turned to Kylie. "Speaking of boys, what about you? Any guys in your life?"
"Well, there is this guy named Jack in the glee club," Kylie said. "You two met him when you came to help out. He's in some of my classes too, and he's really nice."
Rachel thought back. "I remember him. He's cute."
"Yeah he is," Kylie said, giggling.
"Does he have a girlfriend?" Shelby asked.
"No," Kylie said.
"Then make the first move," Finn said. "That's what Rachel did with me. Heck, the fact that I had a girlfriend didn't stop her."
"I don't know if Jack likes me," Kylie said. "And Kitty said she thinks someone else in the glee club has a crush on me."
"I wonder who that is," Rachel said. "Kitty's one of your best friends, you should ask her."
"I'm afraid to," Kylie said.
"Well, you can at least know that some guy's into you," Shelby said. "While you're all here, I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner here. It is getting close to dinner time, and we can order takeout."
"That would be great," Rachel said.
"Yeah, I can pick up the food, so you can have time with the girls," Finn said.
"Thanks Finn," Shelby said. "And you're welcome to join us."
"Thank you," Finn said.
"You're the New York guest, what do you want?" Shelby asked Kylie.
"Well, from what I've heard, everything in New York is good," Kylie said.
"Especially our pizza and our Chinese," Finn said. "It's amazing."
"Well, I had pizza when I was here this summer, so how about Chinese?" Kylie suggested.
"That's good," Shelby said. "There's actually a great Chinese place nearby."
Finn, Rachel and Kylie stayed at Shelby's for most of the rest of the evening for dinner with Shelby and Beth. When it started to get late, they began to get ready to head back to the loft.
"Thank you so much for coming," Shelby said to Rachel and Kylie right before they left. "It really meant a lot to me that despite everything, you two were willing to be here for me."
"Of course we are," Rachel said. "I'm in New York, so you know whenever you need me, you can call."
"I always wanted to have all three of my girls in my life," Shelby said. "And I'm so glad that tonight I had all three of you here."
"Well, I'll definitely try to come back to New York again soon," Kylie said.
"You guys have a good night," Shelby said.
"We will," Finn said as they left. When they were gone, Rachel turned to Finn. "Finn, again, thank you so much for coming."
"I know this has been hard for you," Finn said. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Tonight really took everyone's minds off everything, I think," Rachel said. "It just felt like a nice night with my mother, my sisters and the love of my life."
"I'm glad I could come too," Kylie said. "I do feel bad, seeing her so sick."
"I think it really made a difference having you here," Rachel said. "She really was hoping you could come be with her and it meant a lot to her that you could."
"I'm glad I could, too," Kylie said. "If my parents find out, I hope they understand."
"They should," Rachel said. "It's because of her that you and I are here."
"We'll deal with that if they do find out," Kylie said.
"So, how was work and school today?" Rachel asked Finn.
"Work was fine," Finn said. "School was fine, too. I found out that after my midterms, I have a 3.5 midterm GPA. So, being there tonight made me think of Puck and Quinn. You both have had a complicated history with Shelby, but you went to see her anyway, and you're glad you went."
"That's true," Rachel said.
"It would probably be nice for Puck and Quinn to be with Beth," Finn said.
"Well, Shelby does want them to," Rachel said. "I don't know if they want to after what happened last time."
"It's worth a try," Finn said. "Oh, Rachel, I forgot to tell you, the photos are gone."
"What photos?" Kylie asked.
Rachel groaned. "A few weeks ago, we all went out drinking and photos of us drinking ended up on a show choir blog."
"And we don't even drink," Finn added. "We weren't planning on getting drunk that night." His phone went off. "Speaking of which, it's Puck." He picked up his phone. "Hey man. I was actually just at Shelby's. I'm leaving now, with Rachel and Kylie."
"Did you see Beth?" Rachel heard Puck asked.
"Yeah, I did," Finn said.
"How is she?" Rachel heard Quinn ask.
"She's doing fine, all things considered," Finn said. "Rachel and I were just saying, it would be really nice if you guys would come see her again."
"I don't want to upset her," Puck said.
"Do you want us to tell Shelby to tell her about you guys?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah, could you do that?" Quinn asked. "Maybe that would make things easier."
"Of course we will," Rachel said.
"Thanks, guys," Quinn said. "If we can't be there, I'm glad she has you."
"What I was actually calling about was to confirm you'll be at Wicked," Puck said.
"Of course we will," Finn said. "All of us from New York are going. We'll see you there."
"I'm glad they're reconsidering coming to see her," Kylie said when Finn hung up the phone. "Getting to be with Shelby this afternoon... they should get that with Beth, too."
"Yeah, they should," Rachel agreed.
Chapter 31 preview: The alumni travel back to Lima to see the Glee club present Wicked. All 2012 and 2013 alumni return. Interactions between old and new members.
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