The Transfer: A Glee Fanfiction

Chapter 23

A few of hours (and quite a few drinks) later, Rachel was feeling really good. After she'd made a round talking to all of her guests, she sat down to a game of truth or dare, which evolved into several other party games whenever the group got bored with what they were doing. At some point earlier in the night, someone (most likely Nicky) turned on a karaoke machine, and Blaine dared Rachel to join him in a duet. She was pretty sure it went well, but the more she drank, the foggier her mind got.

The clock was just approaching 1AM and the crowd was beginning to thin out. Most of the Warblers, with the exception of Blaine and Kurt, had left, and only a handful of Rachel's new teammates were still there. The New Directions stuck around, though, and most of them were drunkenly dancing around her living room. Brittany was half naked and jumping on her couch to the music, Quinn was arguing with a very confused looking Sam over some trivial issue that Rachel couldn't discern, and the others just laughed as they stumbled around the makeshift dance floor. Rachel was sitting on the floor with her back against the couch, one arm draped over Kurt's shoulders as she laughed at a joke she couldn't remember but knew was simply hilarious. Since the awkward encounter in her kitchen, Rachel had clung to a sober Kurt in hopes of avoiding any more weird, territorial boy-drama, and even though her ability to think felt significantly impaired, she could tell that she was annoying him with her constant presence. Still, spending the whole night with Kurt didn't keep Rachel from being hyper-aware of the fact that Jesse was sitting on the couch on her opposite side while Finn sent him the occasional poisonous glance from the other side of the room.

Most of the football guys like Sam, Mike, and Finn were sober to stay sharp for the big game, but Artie was slurring his words as he suggested they all play spin the bottle. His request was met with a chorus of drunken affirmations as most of the crowd joined Rachel and Kurt on the floor to form a circle in the center of the living room. Jesse slid down from the couch to take the spot next to Rachel, and the feeling of his whole side pressed against hers (which she knows Sober Rachel would have pulled away from) made her heartbeat uneven for a second. She looked up to see Finn directly across the circle from her looking mildly annoyed, and suddenly she remembered what this game was.

The thought of the bottle landing on either of her exes when it was her turn made Rachel's stomach clench. She watched as her friends took their turns, each spin making her heart thump a little louder. When Kurt leaned across the circle to give Tina a brief kiss on the lips, Rachel could feel her hands start to sweat.

"My turn!" she said, trying to keep the nerves out of her voice as she gripped the bottle and spun. Rachel's heart raced as she watched the bottle slowly lose speed in the seconds before it stopped completely. Did she want it to land on Finn? Would that be too awkward? What about Jesse? Before she had time to answer any of those questions, the bottle stopped (mercifully) on Puck. Rachel felt relief (and a bit of disappointment which she decided not to think about) wash over her as he shot her a suggestive grin.

"It's been a while, Berry," he said, smirking. "I hope you can still handle all 'a this."

Rachel laughed loudly, the alcohol weakening her volume control. "Jus' get over here," she said, crawling across the circle to where Puck was sitting. He met her kiss halfway, grabbing her face with one hand and holding her to his lips while he kissed her roughly. He was a good kisser, and the alcohol didn't lessen his skill any. It felt weird to kiss Puck after everything that happened a few months ago, but Rachel had missed this kind of attention since she and Finn broke up and to be honest, she was enjoying herself. A small part of her that she's not proud of hoped that Finn was jealous.

"Alright, that's enough!" Rachel heard Lauren Zizes say angrily from another part of the circle. She let her lips linger for another second before pulling away with a laugh. "Keep your tongues to yourselves."