The Transfer: A Glee Fanfiction

Chapter 11

Rachel hadn’t even noticed the hands on the clock moving forward while she ate, and before she knew it, it was six o’clock and the check was on the table.

“I got it,” Kurt said, grabbing the check and pushing Rachel’s reaching hand out of the way.

“You don’t have to do that,” she said. “I can pay, too.”

“I know you can,” he said, not looking up from the check he was studying. He slipped his credit card in the sleeve and signed his name at the bottom of the receipt. “Just think of it as my gift to you. A sort of ‘Congratulations! You Made It Out of the Hellhole!’ gift.” He winked at her and smirked.

“Well, thank you,” said Rachel, a grin taking over her face. “But next time, it’s on me.”

“Deal,” Kurt said, handing the waitress the check. His phone buzzed on the table and the screen lit up. a picture of Kurt and Finn at their parents’ wedding was on the screen. Kurt scrambled to grab the phone, probably hoping Rachel wouldn’t see the caller I.D., and turned away.

“Hello?” he said so low it was almost a whisper. He glanced nervously back at Rachel. “Nothing. What’s up?” There was a brief pause. “Wait, slow down...You what?...How did you manage that?...Why didn’t you call Carole?...True, but I’m out at Breadstix with a friend right now, you can’t handle it yourself?...Oh, don’t  be dramatic, the house is not going to burn down…Okay, okay, just relax, I’ll be home in five minutes. Just turn off the oven and put the...What were you trying to make again?...Why the hell were you trying to make cupcakes?”

Kurt was getting louder and more impatient, and Rachel was holding her sides from laughter. She could just imagine Finn on the other side of the phone, frantic and panicking, racing around the kitchen trying to put out whatever fire he’d started. Why was he baking cupcakes anyway? He wasn’t exactly a culinary enthusiast, and whenever Rachel had tried to get him to bake with her, he would make up some excuse, like he was too exhausted from practice or that he didn’t want to make a mistake and ruin it.

Kurt’s eyebrows raised and then lowered in confusion. He glanced over at Rachel again, but it was so quick that Rachel wasn’t sure that it had actually happened. “Oh, um, okay...Okay, I’m coming. But did it ever occur to you that you are standing about two feet away from a fire extinguisher?” There was a pause, and Kurt rolled his eyes. “It’s underneath the sink.” Kurt paused, waiting for Finn to get the fire extinguisher. Rachel was laughing so hard, she was on the verge of tears. Finn could be so clueless sometimes; it was adorable.

“There, see? You didn’t need me to come home after all.” Kurt was trying to look annoyed, but he smiled despite himself. “You’re welcome, you big buffoon.” Rachel was trying to get a handle on her laughter, but she only made it worse. She sounded strangled, like she was gasping for air. Kurt’s smile dropped all of a sudden and his eye’s widened.

“No, of course not. Why would you say that?” Kurt said to quickly into the phone. “You must be hearing things…” Kurt sighed and closed his eyes, covering his forehead with his palm. “Okay, you caught me...What? Finn, we already paid the check, we can’t just stay here...No, Finn, don’t-”

Kurt looked at his phone in disbelief. “He hung up on me.”

“What happened?” Rachel said, getting a little worried.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “He called all panicky about how he was about to burn down the house because he tried to use the oven, telling me to come home as quickly as possible,  and then he was like, “Whatever you do, don’t leave the restaurant” and hung up. He can be so weird sometimes.”

“Why was he using the oven?” Rachel asked.

“He was trying to bake some cupcakes for Carole; it’s her birthday tomorrow and he wanted to do something special for her.” His voice was a little higher than usual and he was talking really fast, so Rachel knew he was lying, but she decided not to call him out on it.

“Why doesn’t he want you to leave?” she said. “It’s not like you can just stay here; they’ll kick you out eventually.”

“I know…” Kurt glanced around nervously and bit his lip.

“What is it, Kurt?”

He was momentarily saved from having to answer by the waitress returning with the check. She wished them a good evening, and Kurt thanked her, retrieving his credit card from the little black book. The waitress left, and Kurt wouldn’t look at Rachel. Instead, he was meticulously sliding his card back into his wallet, making sure it was completely straight in the little pocket.

“Kurt. What is it?” He was starting to make her nervous.

“Well, the thing is…” Kurt looked a little uncomfortable. “I don’t think it’s me he wants to stay.”

Rachel’s heart skipped a beat, though she didn’t know if it was because the idea of facing Finn right now was absolutely terrifying or the fact that Finn was rushing over to see her. Wasn’t he supposed to be angry? If he wanted to talk to her so badly, why hadn’t he called her? Rachel’s mind was racing, her thoughts and questions getting tangled into a headache-inducing jumble.

“I can’t,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. She tried again, raising her voice. “I can’t. I can’t see him.”

“Why not?” Kurt said. “You’re going to have to face him eventually.”

“Because…” Rachel combed her mind for a response other than ‘it will break my heart’. “If I see him, he’ll ask questions. Questions I am not ready to answer. I can’t tell him about Carmel or Vocal Adrenaline. He’ll freak out and probably hate me forever. I have enough going on without that.”

She looked at Kurt pleadingly. He bit his lip. “Rach,” he started slowly, “You know you’re my friend and that I care about you, but Finn’s my brother. And he’s been going out of his mind these past few days. Do you know how frustrating it is to watch him dial your number thirty times a day just to stare at the call button? Please, just listen to him.”

“What does he even have to say?” Rachel asked, her voice taking on a sarcastic edge. “That I shouldn’t have abandoned the glee club? That I should come back so they can go to Nationals?”

“Please, Rachel,” he begged. “He needs this.”

Rachel’s stomach had been reduced to butterflies, and her heart was beating sporadically out of her chest. She wanted to see him so badly it hurt, but not as much as it would hurt to leave him again.

Rachel grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder as she got out of the booth. “I’m sorry, Kurt.”

“Rachel-” Kurt called from behind her, but she was already gone.

Rachel stepped out into the freezing night air. Goosebumps rose on her exposed flesh and she shivered. Crossing her arms tightly over her chest, she ran over to her car. Rachel dug around in her purse for her keys. It was dark, and she couldn’t see the contents of her bag as she rummaged through it. She silently cursed herself for having so much junk as she pushed old receipts and different make-up products out the way.

Rachel heard his truck before she it came screeching into the Breadstix parking lot, surely leaving tire marks on the pavement. The bright headlights washed over Rachel briefly as he pulled in, blinding her for a moment. He swerved into a parking spot, not bothering to fix the crooked angle, and the engine cut off. Rachel pawed even more frantically through her purse when she saw Finn throw the car door open and practically sprint into the restaurant. She closed her hand over her keys and yanked them out of her bag.

Rachel’s hand was shaking so badly that she couldn’t get the key into her door to unlock the car. It hadn’t been ten seconds before the door Finn had gone through burst open again. Rachel paused to watch him for a moment. Luckily, it was dark enough in the parking lot that he couldn’t see her, but the light emitted from Breadstix was enough for her to see him walk back to his truck with his hands in his pockets. Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest and she went back to trying to shove her keys into her car door.

Rachel believed that God was forgiving and merciful, that he loved all of his children unconditionally. But as she watched the keys slip from her shaking fingers and crash to the ground with a sound like shattering glass, she wondered if she’d done something to make God hate her.