Hi guys. As always, thanks for your support on the last chapter. These few chapters are tough to write because I didn't get what Rachel was doing, but I did my best to understand. On the plus side, getting to write my own bits for Finn is always fun! Enjoy and review if I should keep going!
Chapter 73: Makeover
Finn knocked on his parents' door. He'd needed some time, but now he was ready. He was ready to return to the regular world. He missed his family. He missed his friends. He missed Rachel.
Carole came to the door. When she saw Finn on the other side, she got a look of joy and relief. "Finn!"
"Mom," Finn said softly. He couldn't help but be happy to see his mom again. He put his arms around her. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too honey," Carole said. "How are you feeling?"
"My leg feels better," Finn said. "I still feel bad about everything that happened."
"I know you do honey, but I was worried sick about you," Carole said, leading Finn inside. "I'm just glad you're home."
"Me too," Finn said.
"Want to sit down?" Carole asked. "How about some home cooking?"
Finn smiled softly. "I really missed your cooking."
"I'm sure you did," Carole said, kissing her son on the cheek. "I'm just so happy you're home."
"Me too," Finn said.
Burt came into the living room. "Look who's home!"
Finn went over and gave Burt a hug. "I missed you!"
"I missed you too," Burt said. "How's your leg?"
"It's better," Finn admitted. "It's just... I'm a bit embarrassed."
"Hey, you're home," Burt said. "That's something."
Finn smiled. "I'm so glad to be home."
"Have you talked to her?" Burt asked.
Finn knew who Burt was talking about. "I do want to see her - but not yet."
Carole came back. "Finn, your favorite dinner's in the oven." She sat down. "So, anything we can do for you?"
Finn gave his parents a small smile. "I'm okay. How's Kurt?"
"He got the internship at ," Burt said.
"Wow, that's great!" Finn said. "I bet he'll be really good at that."
x
Rachel had thought college would be different and that people wouldn't care about how she looked, but she was wrong. Today at school, to other girls had insulted her clothes. She couldn't help but be a little jealous of Kurt, who'd gotten the internship of his dreams, whereas she was struggling at NYADA. "I tried I tried to be, like, nice and, you know, smile, but then the black swans said to me that their outfit offended them and that it's a tragedy that What Not To Wear doesn't have two hour specials," Rachel recapped to Kurt. "You know, part of why I was so excited to come to New York was because I thought it would be a chance for me to start over, reinvent myself. I had no idea that it was going to be so exactly the same."
"You know why you feel exactly the same?" Kurt asked. "Because you're still dressing exactly the same. We're not in Ohio any more, Rachel. And even then, it's not like we were on trend. I hate to say this, but life is like high school. Styles and clothes determine the pecking order."
Rachel knew she had never had the best clothes, but she was unemployed. She'd have to make do with what she had. "Well, I don't know what you expect me to do. It's not like I can afford an entire new wardrobe."
Kurt's face lit up. "Who says you'll have to pay for it? Put down your chopsticks and follow me. I got an idea."
Rachel looked at the clock. "It's almost midnight."
"I'm about to change your life," Kurt declared, dragging Rachel out of the apartment. "And maybe mine, too."
Rachel had no idea what Kurt was talking about. "Where are we going?"
"Maybe you'll like some of the clothes at Vogue," Kurt said.
"Would they let you?" Rachel asked.
"I'll make a video of you modeling the clothes, and I predict they'll love it so much they'll let you keep them," Kurt said. "I've wanted to do this for a few days, I just didn't know you could be my model for it. I even wrote a mashup to use in the video."
"I'm so impressed," Rachel said. She was happy Kurt was coming into his own at Vogue.
"Here we are!" Kurt said a few minutes later as they arrived. He unlocked the door, and as Rachel looked around, she couldn't help but be impressed. "They call this the Couture Vault," Kurt said as he led Rachel into a room. "It supposedly can withstand a nuclear blast. Okay, I'll set up the camera."
Then Rachel heard a voice. "Freeze!" She turned and recognized this woman from Kurt's photos. This was Kurt's boss, Isabelle. "Kurt," Isabelle said.
"Oh, uh I thought you were going to be At dinner with Steve Buscemi and Yoko Ono," Kurt stuttered.
"Well, they canceled again," Isabelle said. "What are you doing here? And who is that?"
Rachel did her best to defend Kurt. "I'm Rachel Berry, I'm Kurt's roommate. We were going to do a music video for the Web site. He adores you."
"Rachel was going to get a makeover and she was going to model some clothes," Kurt said.
"Stop," Isabelle said. "You had me at makeover."
"So you're okay with us making the video?" Kurt asked.
"Can I help?" Isabelle asked.
"Of course!" Kurt said. "I put together a mashup for the video to use as the background music, and we could record it. Then we could tape Rachel trying on the clothes."
"That sounds great," Isabelle said. "Let's record the song first, and then we can make the video."
Rachel, Kurt and Isabelle sat at Kurt's computer to record the mashup. Rachel was happy to be singing a mashup again. She hadn't done one since graduation.
Isabelle: Some day, when I'm awfully low,
When the world is cold,
I will feel a glow just thinking of you...
But you're never fully dressed
Without a smile!
oh it's lovely, with your smile so warm
And your cheeks so soft,
There is nothing for me but to love you,
Isabelle and Kurt: But you're never fully dressed, without a smile.
Kurt: Who cares what they're wearing
From Main Street, to Saville Row
Rachel: It's what you wear from ear to ear
Kurt and Rachel: And not from head to toe
Isabelle: Lover... Never, never change
Kurt: Keep that breathless charm
Isabelle and Rachel: Won't you please arrange it?
'Cause I love you
Kurt: Remember,
Isabelle, Kurt, and Rachel: You're never fully dressed, without a smile!
Isabelle and Kurt: Ba da ba ba da
Ba da ba ba da
Ba da ba ba da
Rachel: Bom, bom, by
Kurt and Rachel: You're never fully dressed, without a smile!
Kurt: Lover
Kurt and Rachel:Never, never change
Isabelle: Keep that breathless charm
Isabelle, Kurt, and Rachel: Won't you please arrange it?
'Cause I love you
But you're never fully dressed
Without a
Isabelle: Smile! (Kurt: Smile!) (Rachel: Smile!)
Isabelle: Just the
Isabelle, Kurt, and Rachel: Way you look tonight!
After recording the song, Rachel tried on multiple clothes. These clothes were unlike anything Rachel had ever tried on before. She felt so beautiful while wearing them, and at the end of the shoot, Isabelle told her that she could keep these clothes. Maybe if she wore some of them to school, she wouldn't get comments like she'd gotten.
x
Rachel wore some clothes from Vogue to school the next day. As she stood in the dance studio practicing, she heard Brody's voice in the door. "You look incredible. They say that you haven't settled into New York City until you've had your first makeover. Mine took six months."
He was one of the most popular kids in NYADA. Rachel didn't believe that. "Oh, really? Like you need a makeover? Every girl in school wants to date you." So why wasn't he flirting with another girl instead of Rachel?
"True," Brody said. "But four years ago, I was a scrawny kid from backwater Montana, with a bad haircut and a unibrow. And seniors took me under their wing, introduced me to waxes and the gym, and they changed my life."
Rachel did have to admit, she felt more confident in these clothes. "It's pretty amazing what a good makeover can do. It's like you change the outside, and then the inside just follows."
"I think it's the other way around," Brody said. "I think now your outside has caught up to how you feel about yourself."
Rachel didn't know what that meant, but she tried to be nice. "I like that."
"I like you," Brody said. "So what are you working on?"
"Just a new number," Rachel said. "I like to do something every day, just to keep my machine well-oiled."
"Oh, me too," Brody said. He looked at the sheet music. "I love that song."
"Do you, uh want to sing it with me?" Rachel asked. She didn't feel right doing this, but Finn was gone. She had no idea where he was. He might not even want her in his life anymore. And if this boy had an interest in her - she might as well take him up on it.
Rachel: Ten years living in a paperbag
Feedback baby, he's a flipped out cat
He's a platinum canary, drinkin' falstaff beer
Mercedes rule, and a rented lear
Brody: Bottom feeder insincere
High fed low fat pioneer
Brody and Rachel: Sell the house and go to school
Pretty young girlfriend, daddy's jewel
Rachel: A change
Brody: A change would do you good
Rachel: Would do you good
Brody: A change would do you good
Rachel: I think a change
Brody: A change would do you good
Rachel: Would do you good
Brody: A change would do you good
Rachel: God's little gift is on the rag
Poster girl posing in a fashion mag
Canine, feline, Jekyll and Hyde
Wear your fake fur on the inside
Brody: Queen of south beach, aging blues
Dinner's at six, wear your cement shoes
Brody and Rachel: I thought you were singing your heart out to me
Your lips were syncing and now I see
Rachel: A change
Brody: A change would do you good
Rachel: Would do you good
Brody: A change would do you good
Rachel: I think a change
Brody: A change would do you good
Rachel: Would do you good
Brody: A change would do you good
Brody and Rachel: Hello it's me, I'm not at home
If you'd like to reach me, leave me alone
Rachel: I think a change
Brody: A change would do you good
Rachel: Would do you good
Brody: A change would do you good
Rachel knew that her voice sounded much better with Finn's than with Brody's. But Brody was here, and Finn wasn't. Maybe she could fill the void in her life this way. She gulped and invited Brody over for dinner.
x
Finn was ready.
He'd had some time at home, and now he wanted to go to New York. He wanted to fix things with Rachel and move on to the next phase of his life.
"You're sure you want to do this?" Carole asked Finn.
"Yeah, I am," Finn said.
"Finn, just to warn you, it might not be like you're expecting," Carole said.
"What do you mean?" Finn asked.
"You haven't contacted her in months," Carole said. "Kurt mentioned her and you could have called or texted her. She might be upset with you."
Finn had to acknowledge that was a possibility. "I was just doing what I thought was right."
"I know you were," Carole said. "But like I said, Rachel might not be happy."
"Are you saying you think she won't want to get back together?" Finn asked.
"She might want to get back together and pretend the last four months never happened," Carole said. "But she might not. I just want you to be prepared."
"Okay," Finn said. He liked to think that Rachel wouldn't be mad at him, but like his mom said - there was a possibility. He just hoped she'd understand.
x
Rachel wasn't sure if she should have invited Brody over for dinner. And when the duck went up in smoke, she had even more of a feeling that this was a bad idea. The doorbell rang, and Rachel went to answer it. "You're smoking," Brody said right away.
Rachel felt embarrassed. "Oh, it's actually the duck."
"No, it's you," Brody said.
"Come in," Rachel said. "I really wanted to cook you dinner, but this is what you get."
"It's the effort that counts," Brody said. "A girl has never cooked me dinner before."
"I don't believe you," Rachel said.
"No one has ever even tried," Brody said back.
"I'm trying new things," Rachel admitted. Keeping busy was a distraction, after all. She didn't want to be doing this with Brody. She wanted to be doing it with Finn. "Doing new things, it's all part of you know, the new me. And I like it. I like, I like the new me. I've never been the cook-a-guy-dinner type. I've always been the just annoy-a-guy-for-a-year until-he-finally- gives-in type."
Brody looked interested. "Well, tell, tell me about this old Rachel. Tell me a secret."
This felt a bit uncomfortable. How about how she really just wanted to go home? "A secret?" Rachel asked.
"Something that you don't want anyone else to know," Brody confirmed.
Rachel decided to turn this around. "Okay, but you first. Think of something very good."
"Okay, so when I was a kid, I was obsessed with Ace of Base," Brody said. "I was, seriously, I had the posters on my wall."
This wasn't such a deep dark secret. "Wait. I thought you said you were straight."
"Oh, come on," Brody said. "Hot girls playing all their own instruments is straighter than straight."
"Thank you," Rachel said.
"You're welcome," Brody said. "Your turn."
Rachel tried to think of something. "My turn, okay. Um, I have a good one. When I was eight years old, I got my first love letter from a guy named Tony and he was very cute. And when he gave it to me, I corrected all of the grammatical errors and his spelling errors and gave it back to him."
"That's so embarrassing," Brody said.
"I've never told anybody that before, not even Finn," Rachel said. But she didn't want Brody to keep flirting with her. "Well, just so you know, no matter how lovely this is, I'm hands-off. Just friends."
But then Brody started kissing her. And Rachel was feeling more and more uncomfortable. As if it was a sign that Brody shouldn't be doing this, Rachel heard a knock at the door. She was relieved. Now Brody could stop. "It's Kurt," Rachel said. "He keeps forgetting his keys."
Rachel went to the door and opened it. But it wasn't Kurt on the other side.
It was Finn.
Rachel never felt like a worse person than she did right now.
x
Finn had been excited to see Rachel. Being at home for a few days had been good for him. He thought that when he got here, Rachel would welcome him back with open arms.
But who was this guy in the apartment? And what was he doing here?
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