— RACHEL's reaction —
The spell was finally broken, but Rachel was stupefied.
And that never happens to her (well, not counting that one time she saw Patti LuPone in a restaurant anyway, and even then she regained her composure very quickly, as all good performers should).
She continued to stand there glued to the wet pavement, blinking and unmoving and getting soaked in the night rain for at least another 10 minutes after the bus drove away. Just blinking and standing, standing and blinking and soaking. And processing. She thinks to herself about that, that.. Whatever it was that just happened.
Exactly what was that anyway? I-I know it's raining, but there's no lightning. I think I would have noticed lightning, so no, it couldn't have been that.
I mean there's probably a million songs and poems about 'love at first sight' but, even I am not THAT gullible to believe it could or would happen to me, that is, if it really actually happens at all to anyone. People don't just, feel like, so - so… just because they looked at a stranger for a flickering moment, do they?
Well I suppose there has to be an origin story for all those songs and poems, some basis in reality… Still. Stories change as they get passed down. Details get blurred, exaggerated.
And as certain as I am about my sixth sense, I've never actually experienced... well, not like… but from a simple glimpse at his.. Oh. My. God. those eyes! I could get lost in them for days. I - I'm just. This is nonsense Rachel!
Hold on. Is this maybe the thing that's had me on high alert for months? Couldn't be, could it? Well I guess it could be… Maybe he's been circling my orbit all this time and I've just not noticed him before this unfortunately very damp evening? On a bus. On a crowded bus that I never ride on. Okay that's just totally 'crazy Rachel' talking now… even I know that! Because there's just NO WAY I wouldn't have seen him by now if that were true, with his height and dimples and hair… And if i'd seen him before, I positively would've recognized him, if tonight is a reliable litmus test anyway!
Unless it was a fluke. Or I'm truly paranoid. Unless I'm just exhausted and so stressed over Brody and —
Oh no, wait. WHO WAS HE? I may never see him again! This is New York City, population ba-zillions! Where did he come from? I was so wrapped up in the whole Brody of it all that I didn't even notice, was he already on the bus when I got on, or did he get on after me?
I definitely need to see how many stops there are after mine on this bus line. But how do I know that he wasn't just dropping by a friend's place, or shopping somewhere? Maybe this was a random one-time thing for him too? I definitely don't usually ride this bus and look how that worked out for me tonight.
Crazy as it sounds, I really feel like I've seen him somewhere before. Surely I would have remembered him if I had. And OH MY! I just realized - he saw where I got off the bus! Wonder if I should be worried. Maybe I should be worried that he didn't pay attention to my stop…. What if he's some crazed lunatic? No Rachel. Not possible, not with those gorgeous amber eyes! But what if he is some kind of stalker or something? Shit. SHIT!
I think I need to ride the bus more often. At 7pm on Thursdays at least.
* * * glee * glee * glee * * *
She finally decides that she's thoroughly soaked and going to catch pneumonia if she doesn't get out of this weather soon. She rushes down the block and into her 3rd floor apartment. With a shaky hand, she shoves the key into the door then lets it swing open.
Tina looks up from across the open concept room from the sofa where she's sitting and sees Rachel, dripping wet with a completely dazed look on her face and staring blankly at nothing in front of her.
"Oh my gosh Rachel are you okay? What happened to you? I've been waiting for feels like forever, you should have gotten in here like 15-20 minutes ago from when we hung up!"
"Tina. I think.. I think I saw my dreams come alive on the bus tonight." A ginormous megawatt smile envelops her damp face and she breathes in deeply, then exhales slowly.
"What..? Wait what does that mean exactly? Rachel, did you take a drink from a stranger or something, did someone try to roofie you on the bus? Didn't you remember your rape whistle?"
"That's ridiculous Tee, and very overly dramatic… "
Tina giggles. "Y-You think I'm overly dramatic. YOU. Who looks like you've just seen a ghost. In a tsunami. While scuba diving. In the dark. Or like Barbra Streisand just said HI to you in the street – wait! Did you meet Babs?"
Rachel burst out laughing "NOOO Tee, I promise it wasn't Barbra, and it wasn't roofies or a ghost, and I SWEAR I'm fine. I'm fine." Rachel's dripping hair and soaked clothes are giving her whole body trembles and she begins to peel out of the offending garments while heading for the bathroom. Tina trails behind with her cellphone in hand.
"Are you really sure though, so we don't need to call the police? Or an ambulance?"
"Tee I swear I'm fine, no need for police or paramedics.. I wasn't attacked. I was. I was.. struck." Tina's eyes grew into saucers "STRUCK? What do you mean, struck? Someone attacked you and you're in shock..I knew it I'm dialing 911 -" Rachel cuts her off "NO NO NO Tee, not like smacked with a baseball bat or anything, like, awe-struck. Like lightning maybe? But there wasn't any…? I'm just.. " she sighs and resigns to explain everything as best she can "I. I saw this guy on the bus. It had. An unexpected impact. On me. His eyes."
Tina is now staring at Rachel with the same blank expression that Rachel had entered the apartment wearing. She squints a little and tilts her head slightly to the side. Then a small smile sweeps across her face "wait you saw a HOT guy on the bus, and now you're AWESTRUCK? That's incredible!" She sort of does a little happy dance and interjects "Who was he, did you get a name, a phone number? Where's he from?"
"Tina NO. We didn't speak at all, in fact I barely got a good look at him, except for those sparkling cinnamon whiskey eyes.. and I'm pretty sure I saw a dimple or two." A warm blush starts to rise in Rachel's cheeks as the memory floods her. Tina interrupts "DIMPLES? He has dimples? Wow that's so adorable! And he's tall? What did you say, what did you do?"
"Nothing. I froze for a moment. Then I got off the bus. But Tee, that moment our eyes met.. It was so. POWERFUL. It's like… Like. You know those big budget action movies, where there's an explosion sort of, like an electromagnetic pulse that goes off, and you can see it bend the air around the source, how it expands out everywhere all Matrix style? It was sort of like that, only in reverse. Instead of pulsing outward, it felt like something pulling me inward, into his gaze. Into HIM."
Rachel's kind of stunned that she thought of it that way herself. It sounds pretty insane even as the words are coming out of her own mouth. She's not lying though, she definitely felt a pull towards this mystery guy.
Tina is just beaming at her now. She grins so wide and exhales "Love at first sight! How romantic!"
"Tina that's ridiculous! As you well know I have a certain flair for the dramatic and even I can't imagine a concept like that being anything more than fodder for every rom-com movie they're trying to sell tickets to in Hollywood!" Rachel blurts out, probably trying to convince herself as much as her roommate now. She continues..
"I don't even know how I noticed him at all, I don't know what made me turn to look. But I do know something with certainty - there's a reason I've been having these weird feelings for months. After tonight, I'm wondering if he has something to do with it!"
Tina nods her head in agreement "It happens more often than you'd think! Why do you suppose there's so many movies on the subject?"
Ok Tina you're freaking me out now, I'd already had pretty much this whole thing sorted out in my head before I came home.
"Ahh.. Let's just forget about it, change the subject. I'll probably never see him again anyway - but if I do, THEN there might be something more to discuss, or not. He could be a stalker, or gay, or married, or a serial killer for all I know. And this, tonight could have just been a weird, whatever. Random. Fluke. So.. Do we have any dinner? What were you up to before I came in? Were you watching a movie?"
Rachel heads to her bedroom to gather up her things for her shower.
"Umm sure..? Dinner's in the fridge waiting for you," Tina calls out, "just needs reheated. Ahh, yeah, movie night - I just paused 'A Star Is Born' when I heard you coming in, but it was almost over and I can watch it again. Do you want me to restart it for you?"
From her bedroom she calls back "OOO good choice! Thanks Tee, but no not just yet - although that's so positively sweet of you to offer, but as you can see, I'm really very soaking wet, and am now developing quite a chill, which, as you know, could jeopardize my vocal chords if I were to become ill. I'm just going to jump into a hot shower first, then make some hot tea with lemon and honey and then we can restart the movie. You go ahead and finish watching and I'll be out in about 20 minutes."
Tina nods and starts the kettle of water on the stove for the tea as Rachel reappears from her room with a fresh change of sleep clothes in hand and her fluffiest pink robe, the one with little hearts all over it. Tina returns to her spot on the overstuffed sofa in the living room and clicks the play button on the DVD remote.
As Rachel is about to close the bathroom door, she hears the song blaring from the TV and freezes in her tracks again:
"With one more look at you
I could learn to tame the clouds
And let the sun shine through
Leave a troubled past and I might start anew
I'll solve the mysteries, if you're the prize
Refresh these tired eyes
With one more look at you…"
Tina flips around on the sofa cackling with hysterical laughter. "Rachel! OMG It's a sign - from BABS! How absolutely SERENDIPITOUS!" She squeals with delight and kicks her feet up in the air in a pedaling motion.
Okay. Rachel simply cannot overlook a nod from Barbra. It's time to do what Rachel Barbra Berry does best and solve this enigma once and for all. Beginning tomorrow. She's getting a complete bus schedule, and if necessary, will follow it to the end of the line.
Alright then, Mr. Sexy-Eyed Mystery Guy, challenge accepted!
* * * glee * glee * glee * * *
— FINN's reaction —
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
42 minutes later, Finn arrives at band practice. After hurriedly shrugging off his wet jacket and tossing it over the back of a chair, he wordlessly plops down behind his drum kit.
He closes his eyes and deeply inhales, then after a few seconds slowly exhales and stares down at the smooth taut surface of the snare in front of him. Images of her equally taut olive tone skin flash in his memory. He has no clue what expression must be on his own face and he hopes none of the thoughts he was just having escaped his lips and he shoos the them aside.
After what seems like a very long silence, he looks up to see Mike & Josh, who are staring at him like he has 3 heads. He can practically see the giant question marks and WTF emojis floating in the air over their heads.
He then begins ardently recounting his evening's adventures in public transit to his bandmates.
"WOOOWWW," Mike's response rolls out, his mouth rounding into a large O shape dragging out the syllable slowly for dramatic effect. He then props his elbow up on the speaker stack next to Finn, leaning his chin deeply into his bent hand and blinking rapidly like a swooning girl in a cartoon. "Do tell!" He waggled his eyebrows and his lips coiled up into a twisted grin.
Finn rolls his eyes in response. "Ha-Ha. Mike man, I'm telling you I like, FELT IT. Everywhere. Every nerve ending was electrified. Even in my toenails, I swear my damn TOENAILS were on fire! And th-those, the little hairs around my ears were even standing up… It was.." he blows out a puff of breath and continues "...well, it's kinda how I've heard people describe what happens when they get struck by lightning - but like, without the burning flesh, and pain and stuff." He winces a bit at that image.
Before more jabs can be thrown at him, he quickly adds, "Dude seriously, you've never seen her. If you could see her for yourself you'd understand completely." he continues, "She just has these incredible, big sparkling– "
Mike & Josh cut him off to finish his sentence, yelling in unison "CHOCOLATE BROWN EYES!"
Yeah okay, they've heard him talk about his 'muse' more than once before.
Finn rewards their attention to detail by flipping them off. With both hands, offering a double bird salute pointing from his temples to each of his buddies, followed with a lighthearted chuckle.
"Okie doke Finnster-Man," Mike says with a smile, "for now I guess we'll have to take your word for it, given these new 'spidey senses' you claim to have acquired in the past few months - assuming she's NOT actually a figment of your imagination… or some kind of ghostly hallucination from Harry Potter's night bus. But since you seem so convinced of your clinical insanity these days, maybe we should just keep Dumbledor & Arkham Asylum on speed dial, y'know, just to be safe?"
Just then, Josh, who'd been taking a long pull from his bottle of beer, promptly spit-choked a fine mist of the brew into the air (some of it spraying down Mike's shoulder) and burst out laughing with a deep bellied chuckle.
"Right. Nice, thanks guys, totally glad my bros are around to understand & have my back," Finn says with heavy sarcasm and a slightly defeated tone. "Look, I know I sound like a, like a simping teenager who's just seen boobs for the first time or something. But seriously I just… I-I can't explain it. There's something about this girl…" he sighs and trails off into a pensive gaze.
Josh, having thoroughly mopped up his face and feeling a pang of guilt, sees the slightly dejected look on his buddy's lovelorn mug and speaks up.
"Sorry dude. You know it all comes from a place of love, right man? Yeah 'course we're bros, etc., 'course we've got you - always man. But you did say you've never even, like, talked to this girl yet, and it's been goin' on for what, months now huh? And, except for a split second tonight across a crowded bus, you've never even made eye contact up 'til now, and now you're on about lightning… does she even know you exist? Like, how is anything gonna happen? How ya gonna get her when you haven't even got the balls to go say 'hello' to her or ask her name?"
Finn shakes his head "I can't explain it J-man. It's like, all the epic songs & poems in history you've ever heard of keep saying, like, love at first sight kinda stuff…. Magical. SO magical that I feel the need to choose the right time to approach her. Bust my nads all you want dude, but I just know there's something meant to be with this girl… " he pauses for a beat and as his brain catches up to his ears, then retorts "...and also let me be SO CLEAR about this - my BALLS are completely intact and just fine, thank you very much! It's just been a timing thing. Right place wrong time, wrong place wrong time… Yeah I know I haven't actually met her yet, but I will. And if she hasn't noticed me yet she will, soon," he asserts with confident authority as he puffs out his chest just slightly and pulls up a full-dimpled ear-to-ear shit-eating grin.
"Shit. Our drummer is having timing issues, Josh.. should we be concerned?"
Mike & Josh howl in unison and Finn joins in the laughter & self-mockery. He thinks he'll keep any future details about his muse to himself from now on, at least until he can present her in the flesh to these ass-clowns (wait no, not in the flesh, that sounds dirty).
xoxo-gleegleeglee
Sam had been the last band member to arrive at practice moments after Finn. He'd quietly slipped into the room part way into Finn's euphoric retelling of his grand HP-night bus experience this evening. Up until now he'd been passively chuckling along and listening to the friendly banter while tapping away on his smartphone, which he now has connected by Bluetooth to the speaker dock in the corner.
Suddenly the speakers boomed to life with a loud snare drum beat and the sounds of a 60's song by The Hollies:
"Just one look
That's all it took, yeah
Just one look
That's all it took, yeah
Just one look
And I felt so I, I, I'm in love
With you.. O-oh, O-oh… "
The room erupts in hysterical laughter. Finn tightens his lips into a thin line and narrows his eyes, looks down and runs his hand over the top of his head. "You guys are dicks. All of ya!" But he can't keep from cracking up the moment the guys all jump on their instruments to play along, so he grabs his sticks to join in while his buddies continue belting out the words to the classic oldies rock song in the impromptu jam session. He even takes lead vocal on the middle verse:
"I thought I was dreaming
But I was wrong, yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh, but I'm gonna keep on scheming
'Til I can make you
Make you my own"
And after tonight he means it. A few things he hasn't mentioned to his friends; he knows about Blaine and the coffee shop, and better still, he remembers where she got on AND off the bus. He's smiling wide to himself now.
Get ready mystery girl, I'm gonna find you out. And screw you universe - I don't give up that easily.
A/N – time to meet Finn's band! For this chapter I didn't want to dig in too deep on their character development, I'm sure that will happen as I go. For now I thought it'd be helpful just for you to have some idea who they are and what they do in the context of the band. It should also help to know, Mike & Sam are mostly canon (to the extent they can be) but they're not from Lima. Finn didn't know them until college.
Mike Chang - Keyboards
Sam Evans - Bass Guitar
Josh McNichols - Lead Guitar ← i DO own this original character! I have sort of a shaggy haired Charlie Hunnam image in mind for his appearance, but feel free to use your muse.. :)
I still don't own Glee, or Barbra Streisand, or any of the movies music or bands referenced.. :P
THANKS FOR READING! PLEASE REVIEW!
FAITHFULLY FINCHEL FOREVER XOXO
—gleegleeglee—