A/N: Hey, guys! Once again, thank you so, so, so much for reviewing and alerting! Makes my day, seriously. All my gratitude to Leo, for the always amazing ideas and suggestions. Couldn't do without you. And I hope you all enjoy this one! :)

Disclaimer: Don't own Glee or any of its characters. They're all Fox and Ryan Murphy property. This is just for fun!

Chapter 3

Rachel taps her fingers absently as she awaits Blaine for lunch at Madame Laitue. It's a small vegan restaurant not so far from home that she loves for two reasons; first, because the food is exquisite, and second, because she thinks that any place called Mrs. Lettuce should be taken in a very high regard (such a lovely French name).

Blaine's a little late so she orders a bottle of spring water and takes a look at the restaurant's menu. Rachel thinks she'll probably order the lemon risotto when she sees Blaine walking in her direction. The place is pretty crowded, so he swerves a little from chairs here and there in a very elegant 'Blaine' manner. Rachel stands up to give him a hug and he apologizes for running late. She misses him. She's not as close to Blaine as she is to Kurt, but she loves him almost as much and she hasn't seen him since the week after Kurt left for his session in London.

"Oh, I should hate you, Blaine. So, what, if Kurt's not around, I don't get to see you?" She kisses him on the cheek.

He laughs wholeheartedly as they sit and hangs his satchel on the back of the chair. "You're such a drama queen."

"I am." She grins.

They quickly order lunch because Blaine has to go back to work. He's a divorce attorney, which is ironic since he is a very loving person. But everyone has rent to pay. Blaine is actually working towards becoming an environmental lawyer, but his lack of practical experience in the area is making it hard for him to be able to work on that full-time. He's currently doing some "volunteer" work at a nongovernmental organization, so hopefully he'll be able to protect forests instead of settling custody disputes in a while.

"So, Miss Berry. Tell me everything I don't know yet."

She laughs loudly. "Trust me, you wouldn't want to know everything."

Blaine grins and accepts his Coke that comes in record time. "How's everything with Jared?"

"It's very good," she frowns a bit. "He's been working too many late nights at the agency lately, though. But what can I do? Off-Broadway shows must have pretty posters made by very talented designers, right?" She smiles.

"I'm sure you can still find time to see each other."

"Yeah, we do," she smiles lightly. "How about you? Missing Kurt?"

Blaine sighs. "Everyday. But he sounds very happy when he talks about the classes and everything, so. I'm happy for him." He takes a sip and smirks. "I hear you're having a nice time with your new neighbor."

Rachel knew she would have to talk about that with Blaine and she feels surprisingly comfortable about it. "Ah, don't even get me started. I got so mad at Kurt for not telling me about it."

He raises one eyebrow, looking concerned. "I'm sure he already explained to you how Finn moving here was really short notice and how Kurt wasn't really sure of how you'd react. Plus we all thought you were moving…"

"I know, I know. And I'm not mad anymore. But he could've told me. If it were you, would tell me?"

"Sure. But he was going to tell you. He just wanted to do it in person."

She huffs playfully. "What do you guys think of me anyway? I don't storm out that much anymore."

Blaine chuckles again. "This from the girl who grounded him, right? And I won't say what I think about grounding someone who isn't your kid when you're already 28, because you guys have a pretty peculiar relationship."

"We love each other. That's what matters." She eats a bit of bread and speaks right after swallowing. "Now, tell me, has he actually cried to you about the flooring?"

Blaine breathes in deeply. "Oh, the flooring drama. No, he didn't actually cry, but he whined about it 'til yesterday when Finn called telling that the repair guys were finally at the apartment to have it all fixed."

"Well, maybe now he'll find the time to get that leak repaired. And it wasn't Finn's fault that it took more than a week for the company to come. They bailed on him three times."

Blaine smirks inside his glass.

"It's… I talk to him almost every morning. Our morning schedules kind of match that way and I asked…" She sees him smirking. "Why am I even explaining myself to you like that?"

"I didn't say a word."

She raises her eyebrows. He might not have said it, but he was probably assuming things about her and Finn. Or else he wouldn't have smirked like that. Should she just tell him about the brilliant idea she had this morning? Maybe not. No, she's not telling. Her thoughts are interrupted by the waitress as their food arrives and Rachel smiles again. "I love this food."

"Rachel?"

"Yes?" She chews on her risotto.

"Is everything alright?"

"Sure. Why?"

"You just gave me a guilty look a minute ago."

"What guilty look? I'm not…"

"Eyes wide, biting your lip and looking through me."

Had she really done all that just by thinking about telling him something? She places her fork and knife on her plate. "Okay, fine. Just, please, promise me you won't go rubbing things in my face."

Blaine shakes his head in what seems to be a little amusement and a little disbelief. "I promise. What did you do?"

That's a great question, she thinks. Rachel takes a breath. "Finn's spending the night at my place. Actually, a couple of nights."

It seems a little worse when she says it out loud, and Blaine actually grimaces. "Spending the night? Wait, you mean, as in inside your apartment?"

"Yes."

"May I ask why?"

"It's not as bad as it sounds, okay? I ran into him this morning and he was leaving to find a hotel, because in order to repair the floor, the workers used some kind of varnish that smells toxic inside the apartment. I actually can't believe he could spend the last night in there without having to be taken to the hospital to get his lungs transplanted or something. Of course, he just ignored the repair company warning not to be inside the house for at least three days…"

"And you volunteered your own apartment to be his hostel for the next two nights."

"I did."

"Okay, so I have to ask…is Jared okay with it?"

"I…" she frowns and bites her bottom lip.

"You didn't tell him, did you? Rachel, didn't you learn anything in high school about keeping secrets from your significant other?"

"He wasn't going to be okay with it." She throws her hands in the air a little and sighs. "He's a little jealous, you know. I haven't even told him Finn was my boyfriend. He thinks Kurt's brother is just someone I went to high school with."

Blaine shakes his head again, and now she knows it's disapproval. "Rachel, I don't think that's very wise of you. Finn's living across your hall now. Maybe you should consider telling Jared."

She sighs because basically he's right. He is most of the time. "I will. I promise. But, really, I just wanted to be nice to Finn and ..."

He points his fork at her and contorts his face, more playfully than accusingly. "You know that's a little beyond nice, Rachel, just saying."

Okay, so she knows it's not usual for women who haven't seen their ex-boyfriends in years to just offer them shelter like they're long-term friends, but it's just… she wanted to be nice to him, okay? She felt this urge and when she realized what exactly she had done he had already accepted.

"Well, I can't let him sleep on the streets! It's New York! Where is he gonna find a hotel room for less than 100 dollars a night?"

"I see your point. And it's okay that you're trying to help him, really. You guys should get along, and there's nothing wrong with that. But I think Finn can take care of himself."

"You're rubbing it in my face, just so you know." He laughs while she continues. "And it's not that big of a deal, really. I'm pretty sure he's got a girlfriend anyway."

Blaine stops chewing, then he chews fast and swallows. "What makes you think that?"

Rachel shrugs. "When he accepted my… offer, he told me it would only be for two nights, because then he was flying to Lima for the weekend to be with his 'special girl'." She uses air quotes around the two words before sighing again. "Do you know if he's dating anyone?"

Blaine's eyes seem to look far away for a moment before he turns back to her with a slight smirk. "Does it matter? You seem pretty happy with Jared, right?" He quickly looks back at his meal and continues eating.

"Yes, that's true. Well, if Finn is dating someone, it must be pretty recent. Kurt never mentioned anything." Rachel nods, pouting a little. It's just so obvious that Finn would have a girlfriend. He's a very attractive and successful executive now. It figures.

Blaine snaps her out of her thoughts. "Regardless, I just really think you should talk to Jared about it. Maybe not the whole slumber party, but, you know, filling him in about yours and Finn's history might be wise. It shows him that you trust him."

She smiles. "What would I do without you, Blaine Warbler?"

xxx

Rachel's given Finn the emergency key to her apartment because he's supposed to get home much sooner than her. He thinks about drinking a few beers before heading there to gain time, but figures it wouldn't exactly be nice if he spends any time inside her house smelling like booze. So he drops the idea and goes back to the building after eating a sandwich at the local deli.

He gets to Rachel's home and tries to be as subtle as possible. He even makes an effort to overcome the new flooring toxic smell once more and goes to Kurt's to have a shower. He kind of regrets agreeing to sleep at her place at this moment. Finn knows they're doing fine by now (by fine he means short conversations about bland things whenever they meet), but they're not friends. Now he's spending the night inside her apartment and he feels like he's going to get his Master's Degree in Awkwardness if he keeps making thoughtless decisions like that.

Anyway, her couch is small, but he's okay with it. And he's really glad he won't have to spend money in a hotel. He'll manage the weirdness somehow. Finn watches sports on TV for hours until, near midnight, he hears the sound of keys on the door and promptly sits straight. He kicks the coffee table, though, because he'll never lose his clumsiness apparently, and it almost knocks the table over, scattering three of the little bibelots Rachel has on it. He tries to catch them but fails and luckily enough none of them end up broken because they all fall on her fluffy rug.

She hears everything, anyway, and when she enters the living room her brows are arched and he's holding three little pink elephants in his hands. "Finn? Is everything okay?"

He thinks he has to stop ruining other people's houses. It's getting really embarrassing. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I kicked your table and these," he shows her the pink elephants. "fell off. But they're not broken." He stands up and places the three ornaments again on the table. "Sorry."

She actually bursts into laughter. He laughs a little too, because he's not sure of what to do and her laughter was always infectious. She stops shortly after though and sighs. "It's really comforting to know that some things never change, you know?"

He grins. "I had hopes I'd grow up to be less awkward, actually."

She leaves her keys on a round polka-dot yellow key holder. "I'm sorry about the couch. It's really small for you.'

"Don't worry. Really. I'm completely comfortable with it. Before you got in, I was almost asleep", he lies. The couch is comfortable if you're just sitting and relaxing, but it is small. He thinks his back will probably hurt in the morning, anyway.

"You're twice as big as the couch, Finn."

He looks down at the couch over his shoulder. Yeah, he is roughly twice as big. "Really, Rach. I'm fine. Don't worry."

She shrugs a little. "Do you want to eat something? I'll just drink my juice, but if you want to, I can make you something."

"Oh, no, please, I'm okay. But thanks. I had dinner before coming hom... here."

"Okay, then. Just, you know, make yourself comfortable."

He smiles and sits again on the couch. He can hear the noise of pots, pans and glasses being maneuvered in the kitchen. The fridge opens and closes a few times. Then, minutes later she comes with a huge glass filled with a light green liquid that actually looks completely disgusting. He just has to ask. "What is that? Juice?"

She chuckles. "It is. We have green apples, carrot, cucumber, kale and mint. Want some? It's actually pretty sweet."

Jesus Christ. Broccoli would be easy compared to this green fest. He grimaces. "No, thanks."

She chuckles a bit. Once again, he feels sorry they had grown apart. He wants to catch up and talk to her. He really wants to talk to her. So, he starts with something easy. "How was your show, today? Kurt told me you're in an off-Broadway production…"

She smiles and her face lights up a bit when she starts talking about it. "That's right. It's not 'Funny Girl' or 'Wicked', but I really like it."

"I'm sure you'll make it to Broadway, anyway." He says, because he really is that sure.

"I auditioned, but…"

"You will, I know." She smiles when he says that. "What is your role like in the show?"

"I'm the lead." She says proudly and tucks a lock of hair behind her year.

She's so obviously the lead. He smiles. "Of course. You couldn't be anything else."

She laughs. "You're sweet, Finn. But, anyway, the show is, in fact, doing great. So, maybe, we'll move to Broadway or that'll help me land a role on Broadway." She finishes her juice with two big gulps.

"I'm rooting for you."

She smiles again, and he feels like talking more, but she gets up. "Okay. So, I'm gonna go to bed. If you need anything, just let me know. And help yourself to anything in the kitchen, okay? Don't be shy."

"Sure. Thanks. Don't worry, though."

She walks away, then comes back a few steps. "Do you want me to turn off the lights?"

"Yeah, sure. Thanks."

He turns off the TV and tries to get comfortable on the couch. It's really hard though. He just doesn't fit. He manages to find a less uncomfortable position and tries not to move.

Finn normally bumps into Rachel on rehearsal days. Today is performance night and she's not dressed like she's been to the gym (he finds that disturbingly sexy, by the way). She's looks pretty today, wearing a green summer dress, and it's like he was watching a movie and she's one of those beautiful and talented, yet not completely appreciated, actresses who comes home looking tired and the exhaustion somehow makes them look prettier. He discovers that to be even more disturbing than when she's just plain hot in work-out pants.

Then he hears her singing in the shower and that's even more disturbing than Rachel in tight pants or summer dresses. He tries to get his mind numb so that he won't listen to her voice, but he can't help but wonder if this is what it'd be like if they'd stayed together. She'd come home, he'd be waiting for her watching a basketball game and then they'd have a late dinner together and he'd listen to her singing in the shower before they'd cuddle in bed or make love.

The scariest part of all is that the idea seems kind of familiar.

Fortunately enough, he's tired from the previous sleepless night and it doesn't take him long to drift off. Before he reaches deep sleep, though, he comes to the realization that he can't do breakfast with her. Breakfast is way too intimate.

So, in the morning, he runs to work before she wakes up; leaving a thank you note and saying he'll be back at night. He regrets being so impersonal to someone who's being so nice, but he just can't do happy-good-morning pancakes with Rachel. That'd be weird and confusing and appealing. He manages to focus on his work for the rest of the day and finally feels less ridiculous about everything.

xxx

Rachel thinks that maybe today he'll be sleeping when she gets home, so she tries not to make too much noise when she opens the door this time around. When she enters the apartment, though, she finds Finn sitting on the couch.

"Hey. Thought you'd be sleeping. I tried not to scare you this time."

He gives her that lopsided smile. "I had a busy day at work and I couldn't sleep. But I'll just turn the TV off and-."

She cuts him off. "No! No, Finn. Just, really, I want you to feel comfortable. Don't worry."

"No, it's fine. I have to sleep anyway. My flight is around noon."

She thinks about his mentioning of a special girl and wonders what she looks like. Blonde and pretty like Quinn, maybe? Oozing sex like Santana? Rachel tries to maintain casual talk as she heads to the kitchen. "Want something to eat today?"

"You'll be drinking that leaf thing again?"

She laughs, because he can make vegetable dislike sound cute. "I will. It's too late for me to eat solids. Sometimes, I do but when I can, I try to just drink something. Join me?"

"No, thanks."

She gets back from the kitchen pretty quickly to see he hasn't turned off the TV and is in fact zapping through channels. "Is it stressful trying to sell soup?" she asks. It sounds like it's coming out of nowhere, but she really does want to know about it.

"You make it sound like I have a cart on the street."

She chuckles, then frowns. "Sorry, that's not what I meant."

He grins. "I know. Well, sometimes it is, like right now. They want to increase production and sales in a big way, so I'm working on a plan for a national marketing campaign."

"Sounds fun."

"It can be."

She really wants to know more about his work since it does sound fun, but his cell buzzes. He gazes at it and frowns, looking very concerned. "I'm sorry. I gotta take this."

"Sure." She goes back to the kitchen to give him some privacy.

"Is everything okay?" She hears him speak and he sounds worried, but soon he chuckles, so she just assumes it is his mysterious girlfriend on the line. She's sure he has a girlfriend, and she instinctively wrinkles up her nose at the thought. It's not like she thinks he has to tell her, really, and it's not any of her business since she's keeping the Jared information from him as well.

Rachel wants to be sure about her assumptions, though. She knows it is totally wrong but she still tries to eavesdrop on the conversation. It's hard, because he's speaking softly, but she can hear some magic words. "Sweetheart", "Baby" and even "I love you, too."

Jackpot.

He so has a girlfriend and is so keeping it from her. She actually huffs and then thinks she's done with the Finn drama for the day. She chooses to go to her bedroom and tries to cross the living room quickly, but he's already trying to end the discussion.

"Okay, Honey. Go back to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

Rachel stops for a second when she sees this huge smile on his face. She hates to admit it and she really doesn't know why she's feeling like this, but it's somehow nauseating to know another woman makes him so happy. And she's annoyed about it all, even though she has no right to be.

She wants to go to bed.

"Good night, Finn," she smiles.

He smiles back, still goofily. "Nite, Rach. Thanks."

She thinks about the phone call a little, but soon comes to the conclusion that that it's none of her business. Plus, she was the one who invited him inside her house, so who can blame him?

When she wakes up to a cloudy Saturday morning, he's no longer on the couch. She's relieved since she knows breakfast with him would be completely awkward. She just sighs resignedly and starts planning the day, which will include a very welcomed lunch with her loving boyfriend.

It's past nine in the morning when her doorbell rings. She's very surprised (pleasantly, but she won't admit that), that it is Finn. "Hey! I thought you'd left for Lima already."

He's holding a brown bag with both hands like it's some fragile crystal and she invites him in.

"Sorry about leaving like that. I didn't want to wake you up." He looks briefly in the kitchen, nods, then speaks again. "I went out for a walk and later checked on the apartment to pack some clothes. Things are almost okay there now; not nearly so toxic." He grins and she smiles in return.

"It'll probably be good by Monday," she says.

"So, I wanted to thank you for being so nice to me and all. It's not like you had to."

"Please, don't worry. I'm positive you'd have done the same for me."

"Yeah, sure. I-I bought you something, though. To thank you. Here." Finn hands her the entire brown bag and it seems a lot bigger in her hands. She tentatively reaches for the contents and takes out a small clay vase with rosemary planted in it. She's not really sure why he'd buy her rosemary, mostly because she's certain that he doesn't know what rosemary is.

"The lady said it's rosemary," he tells and she arches her brows in awe. "I realized you have this small green garden in your kitchen and I figured it's an herb garden and not only ornamental, 'cause one of the leaves you have there smell like the pizza you used to make and there's mint there too, to make your juice. Anyway, I know you like to cook and you like greens, so I was passing by this little market a few blocks away and they have, like, hundreds of herbs in vases there. So I looked for something that wasn't in your garden. I couldn't remember seeing rosemary there… not that I know what you do with rosemary."

She tries to concentrate on his unexpected use of the word "ornamental", but she just wants to hug him because that's about the sweetest thing on planet Earth for him to be so observant and try to buy something she didn't have. Since she can't throw herself in his arms without turning cuteness into awkwardness, she beams at him instead. "It's very thoughtful of you, Finn. Thank you. I promise to let you try a dish when I cook with it."

She's perfectly happy with her rosemary, and he seems perfectly satisfied with her reaction, until perfectly okay transforms into perfectly weird for them both at the same time.

"Yeah, sure. I'm afraid I have to go but…" he grins at her disarmingly.

Before she can answer, Jared comes through the door that she had left open, and everything freezes for a moment. Her brain stops and it's not until Jared spots Finn and gets a puzzled look on his face that she's prompted out of her surprise. "Jared! You're early."

"I thought it'd be nice to spend more time together." He takes her surprised tone as a welcoming tone and actually kisses her. And Finn's there watching while Jared kisses her. And Finn doesn't (didn't) know about Jared and Jared doesn't know that Finn was ever her boyfriend. And it's all just a complete and utter mess.

And Rachel just wants to disappear.

When Jared finally lets go of her lips –that endless smooch-, she looks nervously at Finn who is still there and looking unpleasantly surprised, pouting almost unnoticeably.

"Uh, hi, I'm Jared Smith. Rachel's boyfriend", Jared and Finn shake hands.

xxx

Finn shakes the dude's hand and really doesn't feel like smiling. First thing he thinks is that the guy's name is annoying. Smith is so totally common and doesn't go with Berry. Plus, he said "boyfriend" and it sounded like a horrible word. Still, he tries to be polite. "Finn Hudson. Nice to meet you."

"Finn is Kurt's brother." Rachel says, and she's so nervous her voice is cracking. He wonders if her boyfriend can see that. Finn's not okay with the dude. He looks weird and he's only a little taller than her, like Blaine tall, and there's something about him that he just doesn't like. It's not that he's being overly critical about it (okay, maybe he is being a little critical) but there is something disturbing about the guy. Just like Jesse St. Jerkoff.

"So, you're Kurt's brother. Rachel's mentioned you before."

Mentioned. He's been mentioned. Finn arches his brows. So Rachel's got a boyfriend who probably doesn't know much about him. Keeps it from him and lets him sleep at her house. Very nice of her.

"Yeah, I'm Kurt's brother," he says bluntly while casting her an annoyed look. Is it possible that the dude doesn't know he's been Rachel's boyfriend? Maybe it was too painful for Rachel to talk about it. Maybe he meant so little to her he wasn't worth the mention. That's a comforting thought. But she has her own life now and doesn't really owe him any explanation. It's just…whatever. He's just mad, even if he knows he doesn't have the right to be.

"Nice to meet you!" Jared repeats back to him and pats Finn on the shoulder. Finn smiles a little.

"Finn and I went to high school together, and we used to sing lead in the Glee Club. And now he's moving to New York and staying at Kurt's while looking for his own apartment. Right, Finn?" Her voice is worried and kind of robotic.

Finn nods. "Yeah, that about sums it up, Rachel."

"So, you'll be living by yourself? In New York?" Jared asks with surprise.

"No, my girl is coming once I'm settled." That didn't come quite the way he wanted, and he casts another look at Rachel. It seems, however, that she already knew.

"Ah, so you have a girlfriend," Jared seems suddenly relaxed.

"Yes. Finn's got a girlfriend." She parrots Jared, though her tone seems hard and almost accusing.

"Is she from Lima too?" Jared asks with a smile before turning to his girlfriend. "Bet you know her too, Rach."

Finn cuts him off. "No, actually I don't have a girlfriend. I don't have time. I…" He sighs and shrugs a bit. "I have a daughter."

"A daughter!" Jared seems delighted.

"Yeah… Sabrina. She's seven. She'll be living with me here."

Rachel doesn't speak. She just returns his gaze with a look of complete and utter shock.

As usual, reviews are love! :)