I'm so sorry for the delay in this update, I've been really busy the last couple of weeks, I've actually rewrote this chapter 3 or 4 times during that time, but I was never happy with how it turned out. But I've finally gotten around to finishing it, and it's better than the previous attempts, so hopefully you'll enjoy this.
Nothing much to say, other than thank you for sticking with this, even though I've neglected it recently. :)
"I really hate that guy," Tina groaned as she leant against her locker, Rachel just smiled at her friend as she went into another rant about their English teacher, who had once again assigned them another project, even though they had just handed in their last one. Tina detested it, but it gave Rachel something to actually focus on.
"Come on Tina, he's not that bad," Rachel laughed as she placed some of her books into her own locker, "I'm sure he's just preparing us for college, I've heard that you actually have classes there as well," Tina rolled her eyes at her friend and Rachel just smiled innocently at her. The girls jumped suddenly as they heard a few girls shrieking loudly at the end of the crowded hallway, Rachel glanced in their direction and sighed quietly when she noticed Blaine and Kurt stood in the middle of the crowd, trying desperately to get through. Blaine noticed Rachel and smiled as he waved in her direction, Rachel gave him a sad smile and turned back to face Tina who was staring at her.
"Explain to me again why you're avoiding him." She asked.
"He kissed me Tina." Rachel stated for what seemed to be the hundredth time since Saturday night as she tried not to glance in Blaine's direction for to long.
"And that's bad because?" Tina asked, rolling her eyes at her friend, Rachel sighed and Tina continued, "Rachel, half of girls in this school would give anything to be in your position right now!"
"Exactly!" Rachel stressed as she placed her final book firmly into her locker, "I'm not pretty like Quinn Fabray, and I'm nothing like Santana Lopez, what would someone like Blaine possibly see in me? I'm a nobody Tina,"
"He chose you Rachel!" Tina half shouted, causing a few people passing them to stare in their direction, "You were the one who he spent the entire night talking to, you were the one he kissed!"
"You don't understand Tina," Rachel sighed as she shook her head, she glanced in Blaine's direction again and noticed that he and Kurt had managed to break free and they were now heading in her direction.
"I've got to go," Rachel mumbled as she closed her locker firmly, Tina frowned at her friend and glanced behind her curiously, sighing when she realized it was Blaine. "I'll see you later,"
"You can't keep avoiding him, you know?" Tina shouted as Rachel started to walk away. Tina sighed loudly and slammed her own locker shut in frustration, Rachel was her best friend, but she was so stubborn sometimes, a quality that Tina had discovered was popular trait in the Berry family.
"Any idea why Rachel's avoiding me?" Tina shrieked and turned around noticing Blaine and Kurt stood behind her, a hopeful expression on Blaine's face, "I've been calling her since the party, but she wont accept my calls."
"You've got a free period now, right?" Tina asked as Blaine continued to stare after Rachel, he nodded along wit Kurt and Tina smiled, "Come on then,"
To say that Rachel was avoiding Blaine was a bit of an understatement, for the first time ever, she was actually glad that the two of them had different social statuses. Adoring fans permanently surrounded Blaine; whilst Rachel was able to slip through the school undetected. Blaine had tried calling her numerous times since Saturday night, but Rachel had rejected his calls, clearly in no mood to actually talk to him. School was even worse, she felt as if Blaine was deliberately stalking her, although she found it easy to get away from him, it didn't stop her from seeing him all the time. Rachel had never felt so lonely, and that was saying a lot. Tina was a big fan of Blaine's, and she'd constantly been telling Rachel that she was lucky that Blaine had noticed her at all and that she should make the most of it whilst it lasted. Part of Rachel wanted that to be true, she really liked Blaine, she liked him more than she'd ever liked anybody before, she felt comfortable when she was with him. She liked that Blaine was able to look at her and see a real person not just a stack of books, an opinion that most of the student body seemed to share about her. But the rational part of Rachel's mind told her that she was right to run out like that, Blaine was famous, he could have a pick of any of the girls at McKinley, hell they were practically throwing themselves at him, maybe he just liked a challenge? Maybe he liked the chase? For years Rachel had resented her dad's for causing her to live such a sheltered life, a life without boys and the drama that they caused, but right now, Rachel was beginning to think that maybe they were right. Rachel was never going to be popular, she was never going to be like the students of McKinley and as soon as Blaine realized this, then he'd reject her, just like everyone else had when she'd first started high school.
Tina smiled as she sat down in the library with Blaine and Kurt, Kurt had an eager expression on his face, and Tina had a sneaking feeling that he'd simply tagged along to catch up on some much needed gossip.
"So, what do you want to know?" Tina asked, glancing at Blaine, rather than Kurt.
"Here's the thing," Kurt smirked, resting his elbows on the table and leaning forward, "Blaine has been moping since the party, and I've got a sneaking suspicion that your friend, Rachel, has something to do with it." Blaine sighed loudly and Tina rested her hands on the table and smiled softly at Blaine.
"Well, maybe it's something you should be discussing with her," Tina shrugged, Blaine nodded and Kurt frowned at her,
"Oh come on, you're honestly telling us that Rachel hasn't said anything to you about the party?" Kurt asked in disbelief, Tina shrugged and smiled at him, trying to remain loyal to her friend. Kurt sighed loudly and sat back in his chair, giving Blaine a harsh nudge, causing him to sit upright.
"It's time you started talking, Blaine," he ordered, Blaine rolled his eyes at him and glanced at Tina who nodded, obviously wanting to hear Blaine's view of things.
"I thought things were going well," Blaine started, staring at Tina, who nodded along with him, "We were just talking, you know getting to know each other. Then I asked her to sing with me." Kurt scoffed loudly and Blaine glared at him.
"Come on Blaine, you seriously expected me not to laugh at that? This isn't like the movies, you can't just go around asking people to sing with you." Kurt chuckled at his side and Blaine let out an annoyed sigh.
"Give him a break," Tina smiled,
"Thank you Tina," Blaine grinned,
"Well, at least until we've gotten to the bottom of this," Tina smirked.
"So anyway," Blaine stressed, trying to move the conversation along, "When we'd finished singing, we kind of kissed," Tina nodded, not at all surprised by the news. Kurt however, was completely taken back by the news, his eyes widening was a pretty big giveaway. When he finally managed to compose himself, he smirked and turned to face Blaine again.
"Something tells me that we've figured out the problem," Kurt commented, "I knew you were inexperienced at this type of thing, but seriously Blaine, it's not that hard," Tina smiled at them both as Blaine placed his head onto the table with a thud.
"Maybe I was moving to fast?" Blaine suggested, "I don't know."
"There's something you should know about Rachel," Tina said quietly, Kurt stopped laughing momentarily and Blaine slowly lifted his head from the table.
"What?" he asked.
"Rachel has had a very sheltered life," Tina explained, "Her dad's are super protective of her – it took them all their time to approve me to be her friend." Blaine nodded as he started to remember parts of his conversation with Rachel the night of the party.
"She mentioned something about her dad's not knowing that she was at the party on Saturday," Blaine added and Tina nodded.
"They think they're doing what's right for her, but they don't realize how this has effected Rachel." Tina sighed quietly, taking in the expression on Blaine's face, "Rachel has always wanted to sing, but her dad's never allowed to her to do it, they insisted that a career in medicine was better for her."
"So they don't know about her performance at the talent show?" Kurt asked, and Tina nodded again, causing Kurt to gasp loudly.
"What?" he asked, "I was just trying to imagine what it would be like not to be able to perform, it's a horrific thought." Blaine turned to face Kurt and shook his head.
"Not helping Kurt," Blaine stated,
"If it wasn't for me, then I doubt that Rachel would be performing today," Tina explained, "I encouraged her to create a YouTube page a few years ago now, she still posts new videos of her singing on there,"
"Really?" Blaine asked, his eyes lighting up, Tina nodded and smiled at him, as she quickly entered a website into the nearest computer, Blaine watched her curiously, before a picture of Rachel appeared on the screen with a selection of videos.
"Rachel's really not a bad person, Blaine." Tina explained, "She's just trying to find her way, she's desperate to please her dad's, for a long time they were all she had." Kurt placed his hand on his heart and sniffed quietly, all eyes were on him again and he shrugged.
"It's a sad story okay?" Blaine rolled his eyes.
"Look Blaine, I know that Rachel really likes you, I've never seen her as happy as she is when she's around you." Blaine smiled happily at her and Tina leant forward again, "She's just scared," Blaine frowned slightly and glanced at Kurt who had a similar expression on his face.
"Define scared," Kurt asked,
"She's not used to the attention that she gets from you, she's got no confidence in herself, she's scared that you're going to compare her everyone else in this school, Quinn and Santana are just an example," Tina stated,
"No offence. But the people at this school are crazy." Blaine laughed slightly, "Rachel is the only sane person I've met."
"I resent that," Tina started and Blaine laughed and shook his head.
"Oh please, I know it was you who got overly excited because we happened to breath the same air," Blaine smirked and Tina blushed, causing Kurt to laugh loudly.
"He has a point. That is kind of scary," Kurt laughed and Tina shook her head, glaring at Blaine.
"This isn't about me, it's about Rachel." Tina huffed, "She's scared that if she gets too close to you, then she's going to get hurt. She's used to building barriers around herself."
"I really do like her," Blaine stated and Tina smiled and nodded at him.
"I know. Just please, don't tell her that I've told you any of this?" Blaine nodded and nudged Kurt who nodded as well. The warning bell rang loudly and Tina picked up her book bag and got to her feet.
"I hope you're able to sort things out Blaine, Rachel deserves a little happiness, she's worked hard enough for it," she smiled at them both one more time before making her way out of the library leaving the two Warbler's alone.
"So, what are you going to do now?" Kurt asked quietly, as Blaine fumbled in his bag for his earphones.
"Well, first of all I'm going to watch this," When he'd checked the date of the video, he was recognized the date instantly, it was the day that he had first met Rachel, he smiled as he plugged in his earphones and clicked play, as Kurt watched over his shoulder. The music started playing and Rachel appeared on screen smiling at the camera. Blaine recognized the song immediately, he'd always been a big fan of Katy Perry, but something about this song really connected to him. This was the song that he'd auditioned with to join 'The Warblers' it was also the song that Rachel had chosen to listen to whilst Blaine was out getting their drinks. He smiled at the memory, how happy and carefree she seemed when she was dancing along to music. He was suddenly pulled back to the current day when he heard Rachel singing. He watched her perform intently and couldn't help noticing how at ease she seemed with it all; it was as if all her worries and concerns disappeared whilst she was singing. Blaine knew that feeling well. When the video had finished he turned to face Kurt who was now sat back in his chair waiting for Blaine to say something.
"So?" Kurt asked, causing Blaine to give him a toothy grin.
"I think it's time we got 'The Warblers' together again," he grinned, "How do you feel about performing at Breadstix on Friday?"
"Well, it's hardly Madison Square Garden, but I guess I'll make an exception this once," Kurt smirked, Blaine grinned and pulled out his phone. He had some arrangements to make, and he had to make them quickly.
Rachel and Tina were stood at their lockers as the bell rang signaling the end of the day, Rachel placed the last of her books into the bag and closed her locker and smiled at Tina who was waiting for her.
"Ready now?" Tina asked, Rachel nodded as Tina linked arms with her and the two girls made their way towards the main doors. As they made their way through the crowd, Tina paused as Blaine came running in their direction, Rachel paused momentarily and glanced at Tina in horror as Blaine neared them.
"Rachel hey!" Blaine grinned, running his hand quickly through his hair, "I've hardly seen you this week,"
"Oh yeah, sorry about that," Rachel mumbled, "I've just been really busy," Tina rolled her eyes discreetly and smiled as Blaine nodded.
"Oh, well that's okay. Listen, 'The Warblers' are performing at Breadstix tonight, it would be really cool if you came," Blaine smiled softly at Rachel, who tried desperately not to look into his eyes.
"I'm not to sure," she mumbled, before Tina cut her off.
"We'll be there!" she grinned eagerly, Rachel turned quickly to face her friend, who shrugged.
"Great, well I guess I'll see you both there then," he gave Rachel one last smile before he walked away, Rachel watched him for a few seconds before turning to Tina again.
"Oh, by the way, we start at seven," Rachel smiled sweetly as she turned to face Blaine and nodded as he walked towards his car where Kurt was waiting for him. Rachel's smile soon disappeared as she turned to face Tina again.
"Why on earth did you agree to that?" she hissed, causing Tina to laugh again.
"You've avoided him enough, don't you think?" Tina smirked, "Come on, it'll be fun. We're only watching them perform, it's only fair since they've all seen you perform, think of it as returning the favor,"
"I don't know Tina, it's going to be incredibly awkward," Rachel sighed.
"Please Rachel, for me." Tina begged, "I haven't seen Wes since the party on Saturday, don't make me go alone."
"Fine, but you owe me." Rachel smiled as Tina shrieked and hugged her friend tightly as they made their way over to Tina's car.
The girls arrived at Breadstix that evening, and Rachel was initially stunned at how crowded it was, but then she remembered that 'The Warblers' were a pretty big deal, and once the word was out that they were performing together again, this was the end result. She placed her purse over her shoulder and linked arms with Tina as they tried to push their way through the crowd.
"I knew we should have got her earlier," Tina grumbled as she pushed her through the crowd, Rachel just smiled at her friend.
"Well, you did insist on straightening your hair again, even though I told you it looked fine," Rachel stated,
"I need to look better than fine Rachel!" Tina huffed loudly, "This is the first time that I'll have seen Wes since the party, I want him to really notice me," Rachel giggled at her friend, before her eyes strayed and glanced in the direction of the stage where Blaine was stood talking to Wes and a couple of Warbler's that Rachel didn't recognize. She smiled softly causing Tina to smirk.
"You could go and talk to him, you know?" Rachel diverted her eyes away from Blaine and turned to face Tina and shook her head.
"I've barely seen him all week Tina," Rachel started, "It would be far to awkward to just walk up and strike up a conversation with him,"
"I think you should rephrase that," Tina smirked, "You've been avoiding him all week, Blaine has had no problem with talking to you,"
Blaine looked up from where he was stood on stage and grinned when he spotted Rachel and Tina stood in the middle of the room, talking. He nudged Wes who grinned and the pair of them excused themselves from the conversation and jumped off the stage and walked towards the two girls.
"Ladies," Wes grinned, as he interrupted the conversation between Rachel and Tina, "Glad you could make it,"
"Well, I wouldn't miss this for the world," Tina grinned as she moved forward slightly.
"Well then, allow me to escort you to your seat," Wes grinned; Tina knew it was incredibly cheesy, but she linked her arm with his and followed him to the front of the room, leaving Blaine and Rachel alone. The tension between the two of them was incredibly awkward at first as Rachel had predicted, but Blaine smiled at her again and Rachel found herself forgetting why she was avoiding him in the first place.
"I'm really glad you decided to come tonight, Rachel," he said, leaning in to her, his voice low. Rachel blushed again and nodded.
"Well, it would have been incredibly rude not to," Rachel smiled, "After all, you all watched me perform at the talent show," Blaine laughed softly and nodded.
"So we did," he grinned, he glanced behind him quickly where he noticed the rest of 'The Warblers' getting ready to take to the stage, Kurt stood in the middle of them all.
"Are they waiting for you?" Rachel asked, bringing Blaine's attention back to her.
"A few more minutes won't hurt," he told her, "Come on, I'll walk you to your table," Rachel nodded as she allowed Blaine to guide her through the crowds, she felt his fingers brush against her skin slightly and she couldn't deny how natural it felt. When they finally made it to the table, Blaine turned to face Rachel and gave her a wide grin, as he pulled out a chair for her. She sat down slowly and allowed her eyes to meet his for the first time, his eyes were sparkling and Rachel found herself melting once again. Blaine leant against the table as he stared at Rachel, his heart pounding just as much as Rachel's was.
"You look stunning tonight," he said, leaning into her, his voice low again. Rachel blushed as she felt his breath on her skin.
"Thank you," she said quietly, Blaine smiled softly at her before noticing that Wes had now left the table and Tina was now sat watching them interact.
"Well it looks as if I'm really needed on stage now," Blaine grinned, "Enjoy the show, and we'll catch up again afterwards?" Rachel simply smiled and nodded and her eyes followed him as he jumped back up onto the stage and took his place in the middle of the stage with Kurt and Wes at his side. Blaine's eyes locked with hers again and Rachel blushed and turned away to face Tina who was smirking at her.
"Awkward huh?" Tina smirked.
"Oh be quiet," Rachel grinned as Blaine began talking to the excited crowd.
"Hey everyone, we're 'The Warblers!'" the room erupted with applause as all eyes were suddenly on Blaine, "We'd like to thank you all for coming out here tonight, let's get this party started!"
The evening was going well, and Rachel realized that she was actually enjoying herself. The energy that 'The Warblers' had on stage was contagious and the audience was simply in awe of them. As Rachel watched Blaine perform, she knew that it was something he was born to do; he looked so comfortable in front of everyone. Whilst he was singing, he constantly glanced in Rachel's direction, pointing her out in the crowd, giving her his usual radiant smile, a smile that made his eyes sparkle. Every time he looked in her direction, Rachel would giggle and blush, before Blaine turned away and walked to the other side of the stage. Rachel could feel her heart pounding against her chest, she knew that she'd been avoiding him for a reason, but as she sat her staring at him on the stage, she was having difficulties remembering what exactly she was running from.
"Thank you so much everyone," Blaine grinned as the audience went wild again, he laughed and waited for the audience to be quiet again before he started speaking again, "This is going to be our final song for the evening," the crowd booed loudly and Blaine laughed loudly, glancing at his band mates before turning to face the audience again. "This is actually a personal favorite of mine, it's not something we've performed together before, but I hope you all enjoy it all the same. I'd like to dedicate this song to Rachel Berry."
The audience cheered loudly as Blaine moved towards the aide of the stage where Tina and Rachel were sitting, Rachel gulped as she felt the audience watching her.
"What are you doing?" She hissed, trying not to laugh as Tina nudged her.
"You're the only person I've ever met who actually understands me Rachel, it seems I upset you on Saturday night, and I'm extremely sorry about that." He told her earnestly,
"Blaine, I…" Blaine grinned and shook his head as he walked back to the center of the stage, taking his usual place between Wes and Kurt as 'The Warblers' started playing the opening notes for 'Teenage Dream.'
"Before you met me I was all right
But things were kinda heavy
You brought me to life
Now every February,
Will you be my valentine?
Valentine?"
Blaine walked slowly across the stage, interacting with various members of 'The Warblers' before his eyes met Rachel's once more. She was smiling at him and he gave her his signature grin causing her to blush and hide her head on her heads, he glanced at Tina who gave him an encouraging nod and Blaine smiled, before taking his place with 'The Warblers' once again.
"Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance until we die
You and I, we'll be young forever"
'The Warblers' started their usual two step routine, which the audience were clearly enjoying, Rachel glanced at the stage and grinned at Blaine who's eyes seemed to have found hers again, he grinned and turned his body around to face her properly as 'The Warblers' paused for a second. He winked at her and Rachel blushed furiously, as she tried desperately to focus on Blaine's performance.
"You make me feel like I'm living a
Teenage dream
The way you turn me on
I can't sleep
Let's run away and don't ever look back
Don't ever look back.
My heart stops when you look at me
Just one touch, now, baby I believe
This is real, so take a chance and
Don't ever look back
Don't ever look back"
This time Blaine sang solely to Rachel, he walked over to her and jumped off the stage, lifting her hand from the table and clasping it inside of his. Rachel laughed loudly as Blaine continued to sing to her, his eyes sparkled as he smiled at her and Rachel knew that maybe she had been a little hasty when she had run on Saturday, she didn't even give Blaine a chance to explain. Maybe she could have explained things to him, they were able to talk to each other well, he may have understood after all. Blaine let go of Rachel's hand, gave her another wink and hopped back onto the stage to join 'The Warblers' once more.
"Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance until we die
You and I, we'll be young forever."
The audience had clearly noticed now that something was going on between Rachel and Blaine, she could feel eyes on her throughout the performance, but she was stunned that instead of the usual stares she received, they were genuine smiles. Rachel smiled back at them before glancing at Tina, who was beaming at her.
"What do you think?" Tina shouted over the music.
"Did you know?" Rachel asked, grinning at her best friend.
"Why did you think I insisted you come tonight?" Tina smirked, Rachel grinned and hugged her best friend tightly before turning her eyes back to the stage.
"You make me feel like I'm living a
Teenage dream
The way you turn me on
I can't sleep
Let's run away and don't ever look back
Don't ever look back.
My heart stops when you look at me
Just one touch, now, baby I believe
This is real, so take a chance and
Don't ever look back
Don't ever look back"
Blaine jumped off the stage again and ran over to Rachel and pulled her to her feet, Rachel giggled and protested slightly as he pulled her in the direction of the stage, Blaine shook his head as Wes and Kurt helped Rachel onto the stage as Blaine hopped up beside her.
"I'm a get your heart racing
In my skin tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
Let you put your hands on me
In my skin tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight"
Blaine took Rachel's hand inside of his and pulled her close, as the two of them danced around the stage, Rachel giggled and rested her head against his chest as he continued to sing.
"My heart stops when you look at me
Just one touch now, baby I believe
This is real so take a chance and
Don't ever look back
Don't ever look back."
Blaine pulled away from Rachel and held her two hands inside of his at arms length, he stared into her eyes as 'The Warblers' formed a circle around the two of them.
"I'm a get your heart racing
In my skin tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
Let you put your hands on me
In my skin tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight."
The audience cheered loudly, but Rachel could barely hear them, she stared at Blaine as he grinned at her. She smiled back and leant forward, pressing her lips firmly against his. Blaine was taken back at first, before placing his hands on her lower back and holding her closer to him. Rachel smiled as she pulled away, and stared into his eyes.
"I'm sorry for running like that," she said quietly, Blaine smiled and shook his head, taking her hand inside of his and leading her outside.
As they stepped outside, the quiet engulfed them. Rachel was surprised at how her ears had reacted to the noise inside.
"So what were saying?" Blaine asked as he guided her towards the bench at the side of the road.
"I shouldn't have run away from you like that," she whispered, "I really like you Blaine, but I was scared, and it freaked me out."
"You don't have to be scared." He told her, smiling as he tucked her hair behind her ear.
"I know that now," she smiled, placing her head on his shoulder, "Thank you for not judging me."
"Oh, I still judge you," he laughed, Rachel sat up right quickly and hit playfully on the chest, before he pulled her in for another kiss.
"So, do you think that you can put up with a celebrity boyfriend?" he smirked as he pulled away, Rachel bit her lip and grinned at him.
"That depends, do you think you can put up with said girlfriend's two ultra protective dad's?" Rachel asked.
"Oh, I don't know about that," he said, Rachel frowned as she stared at Blaine, before he grinned and kissed her head gently.
"Hey, I returned to High School willingly," he smirked, "I'm sure I can charm your dad's."
I'm not usually a fan of sequels, but I'm thinking of doing a couple of one shots to this, because I really enjoying for Blaine and Rachel in this world, especially with the roles being reversed so to speak. I'm thinking of having a couple of one shots to focus on Blaine finally meeting Rachel's dads and their reaction to Rachel dating Blaine. Maybe another one catching up with their relationship a few months later? Then another one at the end of the school year? What do you think? Is there anything that you'd like to see?
Let me know :)