A Rainey Summer Day: Chapter 5

How they managed to say good night to each other after the kiss was beyond any of them. Both Rachel and Blaine lay in their respective beds without getting any rest, tossing and turning for most of the night.

What have I done? I started the kiss this time, Blaine thought, his eyes wide open even though it was 2 am. At least we're even now. She initiated one kiss, I initiated one. He smiled sheepishly to himself in the dark. We've kissed three times. When he finally fell asleep, it was without a smile on his face as he thought of how Kurt would react if he found out.

Rachel was consumed with guilt while in bed clutching Star, the teddy that Blaine gave her. She cheated on Finn with Blaine . . . Blaine, of all people . . . Blaine, Kurt's boyfriend. How did she get herself in this mess? I kissed him back, I didn't stop him. What's wrong with me? Deep down inside, she knew the answer to her own question, but she was too afraid to admit it. She fell asleep with tear-stained cheeks and a damp pillow.

The doors at each end of the hallway of their shared bathroom remained closed and locked that night.

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Breakfast the next morning was awkward for both of them. Neither spoke a word to each other apart from the good mornings they exchanged. Luckily, Blaine's mom did not notice what was going on. She provided most of the conversation with either Blaine or Rachel answering her questions until her dads arrived to pick her up. Secretly, Rachel was thankful that her eyes were not puffy that morning even though she cried herself to sleep in the night.

After a few more minutes in which their parents exchanged pleasantries, they were finally relieved of their burden when Rachel and her dads left. Blaine helped in carrying her bags to the car and they said their goodbyes, a little too civilly than warmly than they would have been had not the incident between them occurred the night before. Again, it was fortunate that their parents did not notice.

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The few days left of sunshine-filled June passed without them spending time together. True, they ran into each other once in a while at The Lima Bean or the mall, but the awkwardness was still there. Both of them thought that it would be better if they pretended the kiss did not happen, but whenever they caught sight of the other, it was too hard not to remember. In these chance meetings, after the usual greetings, they found out that they could not get a conversation beyond what can be observed in their immediate surroundings; the weather seemed to be a recurring topic in these conversations, which was silly because it was sunny everyday. On the last day of June, they finally gave up and just said hi and raised their eyebrows at each other when they met. It was easier that way for both of them.

Their parents had finally observed the changes in their dealings with one another and had tried to persuade each to spend time together. They dismissed the suggestions by coming up with a lot of excuses, which became cleverer than the one before. The first week of July passed in this way as well.

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On the 8th of July, a letter came to Rachel midmorning. It was from Finn, and her heart skipped a beat upon finding out. It read this way:

Dear Rachel,

How are you? I've missed you so much these past few weeks. I'm so sorry for not being able to call or write and email. Kurt and I have done something really stoopid that's why we got this punishment. It's too much if you ask me, but we can't do anything about it now. We will be home on the 14th. I can't wait to see you. I'm going on an errand near the post office in a few minutes to get some supplies for our camping trip tommorow and will send this letter to you by then secretly. Our parents don't think that I'm smart enough to send a letter back home, so they are sending me to do the errand, but I am. I think I am. I hope this gets to you. Kurt says hi. He keeps bothering me about a letter to Blain and we almost got caught. There is no time to write that now, so Kurt would like to send a massage that he misses Blain and can't wait to see him and spend the rest of the summer with him. Did I tell you that I miss you so much? Oh yeah, I did. Sorry, but I really do. Goodbye and take care! xoxo

Love,

Finn

P.S. I hope I didn't mispell the words and that you understand everything. :)

Rachel did not know what to feel after reading Finn's letter. He is so cute, I don't know how I could have cheated on him. Well, I have done it before, remember Puck? But that was different . . . . She knew she was acting out of jealousy during that time and wanted to get even. This time, though . . . she did not know why she did it. She got more confused when she started to analyze everything. All she wanted to do was cry again. But she also knew that she and Blaine needed to talk. She was determined to sort things out with him before Finn and Kurt came home. She decided it was time to text him.

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The past days had been as confusing to Blaine as it was for Rachel. He tried his hardest to pretend he did not kiss her and that she did not kiss him back. It was easy to do so when he was preoccupied, so when his dad came home, he happily helped him in tinkering with an old Mustang convertible. He learned about car parts so much in a week than anyone would have in six months. His dad was delighted with his enthusiasm, but his mom knew something was bothering him. She tried to confront him with it and more than once suggested that he visit Rachel, but he was too cunning for her. He was getting very good at suppressing his real feelings. He did not know if that was good or bad, but it certainly helped him at the moment.

A few days later, his dad banished him from the garage and told him his services were not needed in the mean time. He told Blaine to do 'kid stuff,' as he put it. Furthermore, his dad told him he needed to spend time with his friends, too, and enjoy the rest of the summer with them. Mom must have told him something. What am I going to do now for distraction?

Fortunately, some of the Warblers called him up to consult him on their game plan for the next school year. Talk of Sectionals excited them all. They scheduled regular meetings at The Lima Bean to discuss songs and choreography.

During those times, he bumped into Rachel and forgot to forget that he kissed her. He felt a palpable tension every time it happened and wondered how things would have gone if their very quick conversations went on for longer. He did not think he could have endured it. He did not know what he felt anymore.

He found out that when he was round others, it was easier to keep thoughts concerning Rachel on the back of his mind. Hence, he surrounded himself with people other Rachel everyday, and talked about Kurt a lot. He missed him, but mostly, he felt guilty, so he consciously thought of him every time he could.

But at night, when he was alone, he couldn't get Rachel out of his mind. She invaded his dreams as well. Once or twice, he wished he could remain dreamland forever. Things made sense in his dreams and everything was crystal clear.

A buzz from his cell phone brought him back to reality during one humid night when he was on the edge of sleep and was welcoming the chance to dream again.

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It had taken Rachel the entire day to compose her text message for Blaine. Finally, she decided to send him the message that night, at a quarter to midnight. She hit send, and this was what it said:

Blaine, meet me at Breadstix on the 10th at noon. I received a letter from Finn. Come alone. We need to talk. And, sorry for texting you at this hour. Good night!

She thought it was smart to give herself an extra day to figure out what to say to him.

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Rachel wants us to meet and she's being cryptic. Uh oh! Blaine was quite intrigued about the letter, but his nerves about meeting her outweighed his curiosity.

Okay, see you then, Rachel. And, no worries. Good night!

He hit send. He was dreading and looking forward to the meeting at the same time, his stomach in knots.

At least I still have a day to think about what to say to her, he thought as he let sleep take him.

AN: Thank you to those who reviewed Chapter 4. I was pleasantly surprised with the reviews because I don't expect to get them, really. :)

I hope you readers find this chapter interesting despite it being a bit short. I'm thinking I need to watch new Glee episodes before I can update again.

Confession time! I feel bad for Finn and Kurt, even though I know this is just a story and I'm writing it. Waahhh! xD

I intentionally misspelled stupid, tomorrow, Blaine, message, and misspell in Finn's letter. ;)