hello gorgeous;

Let Me Teach You

“Yeah. Definitely.” He ran his hands over his face when she turned to exit the kitchen. Yeah, it was definitely an idiot move for him to freeze up like that. He really needed to get himself together and fast. It was kind of funny how she just wandered through his house and up his stairs. At least it was proving that she was comfortable where she was. That was good; he wanted her to be as comfortable as possible around it. Her being comfortable was almost essentially to their jobs. Without it, it could make filming with her a little awkward. When she gestured to the door, he nodded. “Yeah. In there.” It was the room with the biggest window, so it was nice to just sit there and unwind when he needed it. The view of the city was really great from his apartment and watching the skyline really helped him relax.

“You wanna see what I got? It’s not gonna be a song, you know that right? It’s just the beat behind the song. I mean, you just learn basic patterns when you start out. And then songwriters put the patterns together to create what you would hear in a song. It might sound a little weird without anything else going on. Just warning you.” He wasn’t really embarrassed to play the drums; it’s something he’s been doing since he was really young. He was quite good at it, but now he was suddenly nervous to play in front of Rachel. Despite his nerves, he grabbed his sticks and started. All he played was a simple eighth note beat, but it was the most commonly used pattern. If she was going to recognize anything, she’d recognize this. After a few moments, he stopped and looked over at her. “See, it’s not super hard. If you have any rhythm, you’re going to do fine.” He remembered her mentioning something about liking to sing, so she definitely had to have a sense of rhythm to sing. “I could start you off with Hot for Teacher. That’s the hardest thing I’ve ever played in my life.” He offered out his sticks to her and shifted back on his seat. “Your turn.”

He moved back on the chair, allowing her to sit in front of him. “Good thing you’re so small,” he laughed. Being this close to her was a little distracting, he wasn’t going to deny that. Hopefully this didn’t make her uncomfortable. If it did, he’d gladly back off and try to coach her the best he could. “It’s kinda lot to keep track of the first time, so I’m gonna do the foot work for you.” He paused, not wanting her to take that the wrong way. “Unless you wanna try to do it.” When she didn’t protest, he let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Alright. Good.” He cleared his throat before continuing. “Okay, so you’re just going to start just counting to four. It’s your basic 1-2-3-4 count.” It was weird. He’s never taught someone how to play the drums, so he didn’t know what was good or not. “And with your left hand, you’re just gonna hit the High Hat on the beat.” He wrapped his hand around hers and guided it over. “Like this. 1-2-3-4,” he whispered as he started to lower her hand on the numbers. Once she looked like she had the hang of it, he let go of her hand and used his foot to open the High Hat on every 4 count, causing it to make a slightly longer sound. “You’re doing great, Rach.” He didn’t think it got any better than her banging on his drums, sitting in between his legs, and wearing his shirt. Part of him really wished he could take a picture of this so he’d be able to remember it forever. “You ready for the next part?”

“I know that,” Rachel said with a laugh. Recognizing guitar or piano parts from songs was easier because those were usually the most prominent parts of songs, besides the vocals, obviously. As Finn took a seat at his drum set, a smile was painted across her face as she admired just how...right he looked sitting there. It was as though he were completely in his element when he was sitting at the drum set, and Rachel really liked seeing him there. Plus, his forearms looked really good holding his drum sticks, especially when he began to play. As Finn tapped out simple beats, her eyes grew wide as did the smile that had been spread across her lips. It was something so simple, but seemed as though it took a lot of practice to really gain precise techniques. Just like his cooking had seemed so exact and patient that she couldn’t help but keep her eyes locked on each movement. With all of these talents it seemed as though Finn was really good with his hands.

The thought shivers down Rachel’s spine just as he was gesturing for her to try the drums herself. She was a little nervous to give it shot because she didn’t want to somehow break his drums or knock them over. However, the chances of that happening seemed unlikely, or so she told herself. Finn shifting back in his seat caused even more butterflies to fill her stomach as she realized he was prompting her to sit in front of him. Slowly, she took the sticks and moved to sit down on the chair, feeling the heat from his own body against her back. If anyone else were to enter the room they would think this scene was a lot more intimate than it actually was. It even felt more intimate to Rachel than it actually was, but she had to keep reminding her that they were friends just teaching each other new things. Even though all she could think about was turning around and learning how good of a kisser Finn Hudson really was.

“It would probably be better if you do the footwork,” she told him, knowing that attempting to play the beats with her hands and feet might be a lot for her first official lesson. Happy that Finn did in fact take over the foot pedals, Rachel tried to keep up with him as she watched his hands over hers, moving to play against the kit in front of her. She put her complete focus on the movements, moving her lips as she silently counted until Finn released her hands and she could continue playing on her own. It didn’t sound as nice as when he had been helping her, but she had managed enough on her own that she didn’t feel embarrassed. The simple beats coming from her own movements pleased her, but she soon stopped as Finn proposed they start on the next part. “Yeah!” she answered excitedly. “I imagine it only gets harder from here, but this is actually really fun.” Rachel had focused mainly on singing her entire life, with little piano playing, but she had never thought about attempting the drums. Although it was clear she wasn’t going to now turn into some master drum player, she still enjoyed learning a few of the basics. “Plus,” she said, turning around to look at him just behind her. “You’re a really good teacher, Finn.”

Let Me Teach You

“Nah. You don’t have to wear that. It’s cute … you’re a cute penguin. But you don’t have to stay in it. Give me one second.” He turned away and quickly jogged up the stairs to his room. After a few seconds of going through his drawer, he grabbed one of his old t-shirts from high school for her to put on. Yeah, maybe part of him really wanted to see Rachel in one of his shirts. She was plenty attractive on her own, but her wearing one his old shirts from high school? It might actually kill him. Though, he wasn’t doing this all for personal reasons. She didn’t really look super comfortable. The last thing he wanted was for her to wear something that she wasn’t comfortable in. And he didn’t want flour to get all over his house. Once he was back in the kitchen, he smiled at her. “Uh, you can put this on.” He extended the fabric out to her. “I mean, I know how uncomfortable being in stained clothes can be. And … you’ll get flour all over my house.” That was a good enough cover, right? There wasn’t a chance that she would get flour anywhere in his house. There was barely anything even on her shirt, but he couldn’t just demand that she change because he wanted her too. Well … and he didn’t want her to be in something that she didn’t seem too comfortable in.

While she went to change, he finished up cleaning the counter and loaded all the dirty dishes into the sink. He wasn’t going to have her help him wash dishes. He would just do it tomorrow. Sundays were normally the days that cleaned up anyway. It was something he’d done since he got his own place. He didn’t really like when his living spaces were messy and it was proving to be a good trait. There wasn’t really a time when his house wasn’t pretty clean. It was even extra clean today because he was having Rachel over. Hearing her footsteps enter the kitchen, he turned to look at her. Yeah, her in something of his was definitely better than anything he could’ve ever imagined. The only thing that would make it better was if she was wearing just his shirt and that was it. But he really couldn’t be thinking about that right now. It would lead to something that he really didn’t want it to. However, that didn’t stop his mouth from growing dry and his heart rate from speeding up. “Uh … I.” Keeping his eyes on her, he subconsciously licked his lips. “Um, I’m gonna do the dishes tomorrow.” He took a few steps towards her, his fingers running through his hair and his eyes locked on her. “Don’t worry about them.”

After a few moments, he stopped and cleared his throat. “Um … are you ready to go play the drums?” He wasn’t ready to go play the drums; he was ready to grab her face and kiss her. That was dangerous. He was usually good at keeping his composure when he thought a girl attractive, but clearly Rachel was proving everything he thought he knew about himself wrong. It took a really special girl to do that. Though, he knew he ruined any shot of having anything beyond this friendship with Rachel yesterday. She went out on a limb and told him that she had a crush on him. It wouldn’t have been hard for him to be honest with her. In fact, he owed her the truth after being a jerk to her, but he just couldn’t. She deserved more than him telling her that he had feelings for her when there was nothing he could do about them. Plus, it was just a little crush. It could go away. (It probably wouldn’t, but a guy could hope, right?) “They’re upstairs. We gotta go upstairs to play them.”

Finn calling her cute made Rachel’s heart skip a beat, but she quickly managed to let his words go as she figured he didn’t mean them as one might have hoped. Guys called girls cute all the time anyway. There was one specific boy who called Rachel cute throughout her entire high school career...but he also happened to be gay and was strictly her friend. It was a friend term. And that’s what she needed to get through her head; they were friends. Before Rachel could say anything, Finn was gone from the kitchen and she could hear his feet pounding up the stairs. Rachel leaned against his counter taking in a slow breath before she let it right back out. As she heard Finn coming back into the kitchen, she once again straightened, noticing the shirt that he now held in his hand. “Oh...thank you,” she said, taking the shirt from him. She hadn’t expected him to get her a shirt, nor had she been hinting that she wanted to borrow one. But now that he had given it to her she felt a few butterflies begin to flutter within her stomach. “I’m just going to go change. I’ll be right back.”

Leaving the kitchen, Rachel went to the same bathroom as before, closing and locking the door behind her. She then pulled her shirt off, making sure to not get any of the excess flour on his floor or sink before she pulled his shirt over her head. As soon as it was situated Rachel’s nose was filled with a clean scent that she had recognized on Finn from the small amount of time they had spent together. It made her breath hitch in her chest for a moment before she gave a quick shake of her head. It was just a small crush...a crush that Finn was now aware of, but Rachel had been telling the truth when she said she wasn’t one to bottle up her feelings. It appeared that her feelings for Finn were no exception, but that didn’t mean the slight rejection she felt didn’t still sting. Being Finn’s friend was great, but standing her wearing his shirt reminded her just how hard it was going to be to get over the feelings she had somehow developed for him so quickly. Giving herself a good look in the mirror, Rachel squared her shoulders before she exited the bathroom, carrying her dirty shirt in her hands.

“It’s a little big, but it definitely does the trick,” she joked with him as she put her own shirt on his counter. She then looked over at him, noticing that he was staring at her. It made her almost self conscious as her eyes flickered sideways and then down to his shirt covering her small frame. Was he regretting lending it to her or something? Or maybe he was regretting inviting her here in the first place and his simple action made him realize that. However, Finn’s sudden declaration about the drums smoothed away some of Rachel’s doubts as she offered a small, relieved smile. “Right, the drums.” She turned towards the exit of the kitchen, gesturing towards the stairs not far away. “I guess we’ll just get to it then?” she asked, smiling at him as she made her way out of the kitchen and headed for the stairs. One of them had to take the initiative, right? As Rachel went up his stairs she took the opportunity to really appreciate his home. It was quite beautiful and comfortable, a place where she felt easily welcome. She wondered if Quinn felt the same.

Shaking herself from her thoughts, Rachel reached the top of the stairs and gestured to a promising door. “This one?” she asked, moving to it and opening it to find his drums on just the other side. She smiled at the assembled kit, impressed by how large it seemed. “Alright, Hudson. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Let Me Teach You

“We’re just going to roll out the crust,” he told her, moving to grab the dough and two rolling pins out of a drawer. “You can have the nicer one. My mom gave me one when I moved out here because she thought I would need it, but I then I finally bought a new one when I finally had enough money to splurge on things like rolling pins. I … I didn’t have the heart to throw it away.” He shrugged, pulling the flour down from the shelf it sat on. “Just warning you that this is going to get super messy.” With the right people, though, being messy could be really fun. Hopefully Rachel wasn’t too serious. He had a feeling she would be just fine. “We’re just gonna do it directly on the counter. It’s a lot easier. And you don’t have to wash more cutting boards.” He’d end up having to clean the counter, but he would’ve had to do that no matter if they got flour all over the place. Plus, his kitchen was pretty large – it was one of the unnegotiable things he wanted when he was looking for his first house – so they didn’t have to worry about losing that much counter space.

He spread some flour on the counter and passed her the dough he made ahead of him. “I made enough so you can have a full size pizza, but if you don’t want that much, you can just cut it in half. Uh, anyway. You can roll it as thin as you want. The recipe’s designed to be a little on the thin side, but it’s really up to you.” He liked his thin, so that’s what he was going to do. “If you think it’s getting too sticky, just get more flour.” There wasn’t really a way to explain rolling something, so he hoped she just followed his lead. It wasn’t that hard. After a few moments, he looked over at her. “Yeah, that’s good. You’re doing great.” Naturally, he finished before her. It took a lot of arm strength, so it was understandable. While she was finishing up, he grabbed two pizza stones. “Rach, that’s good,” he smiled. “Uh, we’re gonna put them on these and then assemble. The stones are a lot easier because they let the crust get crispy. I hope you don’t mind crispy crust. But, like, if you do, I have a regular metal pan. And, uh, they’re not dirty either. They’re just this dark because I use them a lot. The darker they are, the better. At least that’s what my mom said.” He didn’t know why he felt like he had to justify everything to her; maybe he just didn’t want her to think that he was gross and didn’t keep his kitchen clean.

The only thing they had left to do was assemble and then clean up. “Uh, yeah. So now we just put them together.” He moved her vegetables somewhere where she could easily reach them, followed by the sauce that she made. “You know, you really challenged me,” he told her honestly. “I’ve never made anything vegan before. It was a lot more scientific than I thought it was going to be.” He laughed as he spread some sauce over his crust and started layering his toppings. “But there’s this thing that was how to make a vegan parmesan cheese type of thing. I made it because I was kinda really confused. I wanted to see how it tasted, and it’s pretty good. So if you wanna use that when they’re done … just let me know. It’s made out of nuts and yeast and salt. It’s kinda neat, cooking for vegans.” He left out the part that he hoped he could cook with her a lot more. Being in the kitchen with her was a lot of fun. She was actually trying, unlike some people he’s cooked with in the past. Once they were both done, he slid them into the oven and set the timer. “Alright. They should be done in about 20 minutes.” He moved to lean on the edge of the counter, his hand getting lightly coated in flour. Smirking slightly, he took a step towards Rachel. He quickly swiped his fingers across her cheek, the flour leaving a white smear on her skin. (Which was so soft, but he didn’t want to think about that too much.) “You got a little something …” he smirked. “You should clean up, Berry.”

Rachel smiled at Finn’s story, enjoying the small details of his life that he offered to share with her. There was always more to learn about a person and she had to say that she greatly liked learning about him, even when it came to something as simple as rolling pins. “Well, it’s a good thing that you did keep it seeing as it’s doing us a lot of good right now.” She situated her dough on the counter, watching Finn’s own movements as she tried to pick up a few strategies. Following his directions and tips, Rachel began working on her own dough, determined to get it as thin as he had suggested. It was a lot of work and slightly made her arms ache, but she didn’t stop as she added more flour and kept moving forward. “I’ve actually done this a few times,” she told him. “My family is Italian so making homemade pizza was a regular thing when I was younger, but I haven’t had the chance to do this lately since I’ve transitioned to a vegan lifestyle.”

Once Finn told her that the dough was good, Rachel stepped back from the counter, letting out a sigh of relief and satisfaction. “Pizza stones?” she asked, looking at what Finn now laid out before her. “That’s how you get crispy crust? I had no idea. Looks like I’ll need to invest in some these.” She couldn’t help but touch the texture of the pizza stones, laughing as Finn explained why they appeared so dark. “The fact that you’ve put them to such good use means that you’re probably an expert on pizza crusts,” she teased. “Which better be true because that happens to be my favorite part.” Rachel was excited as Finn moved the rest of the ingredients towards her. Putting the pizza together was her favorite part and she was happy to smear sauce and add a healthy supply of vegetables on her own pizza. When Finn mentioned she challenged him she almost felt alarmed before she realized he was referring to the pizza they were preparing. “I’m glad that I could offer my assistance then,” she stated. “I’ve found that discovering different vegan recipes and trying them out is actually very fun and somehow stress relieving...even if I’ve burned a few things here and there.” She laughed, remembering the vegan macaroni and cheese she had attempted a few months ago. It didn’t come out as she had hoped but rather dark and charcoal tasting. “I would love to try the parmesan! It sounds amazing. I mean, I may be a vegan, but I do really miss all my cheeses, which I’m sure seems silly since I’m the one preventing myself from eating it.”

Dusting off her hands, Rachel once again wore her satisfied smile. She was excited to see how their pizzas would turn out, knowing that they would most likely taste amazing all thanks to Finn. However, she was suddenly distracted when Finn’s fingers slid across her cheek, becoming aware of the feeling of flour against her skin. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked up at him. The feeling of his fingers against her cheek somehow caused her heart rate to quicken and her cheeks to feel flushed. She then looked away from him, looking down at her dark shirt. Sure enough, there was flour all over her front and a little on her jeans. She couldn’t even imagine what her face looked like currently, especially after he had attempted to help her rid flour from her cheek. Rachel laughed lightly. “I guess I’m a bigger mess than I thought. I’ll just...be right back.” She backed out of the kitchen a little, heading in the direction that she assumed the bathroom would be. Once she found it, she grabbed some tissue, wet it, and began to wipe the front of her shirt, but the flour still left a lighter residue on the material. Deciding it was a lost cause, she looked up and noticed the flour still on her cheek and some that dusted her nose. “Cute, Rachel...really cute,” she spoke flatly. After cleaning off the flour from her face, she then went back to the kitchen, giving Finn a small shrug. “Well, looks like I’m just stuck with a white stomach for the rest of the time. I’m like a penguin or something,” she said as she looked down at her shirt once again.

Let Me Teach You

He liked that she was really eager. It meant that she didn’t feel super awkward around him, which was what he was afraid of. Last night definitely could’ve ruined all the good things they had going for them. If they ended up not liking each other, it could affect every single scene they filmed from there on out. Even if they were to be professional and not let it affect their work, the scenes still wouldn’t have been as good as the ones that they filmed before they ended up not liking each other. Though, he knew he didn’t have to worry about that anymore. “Alright, alright,” he smiled, moving to grab one of his knives from the block. “We just gotta wash our hands.” The last thing he wanted to do was get Rachel sick. “I’m gonna chop your vegetables because I don’t want you to hurt yourself or anything. These are super sharp.” And, since he bought them with the intention of becoming a chef, they were expensive and super high end. If they got ruined, he definitely wanted to be the one to ruin them. “But while I’m doing that, you can preheat the oven to 425 and start on the sauce.”

The sauce was the easiest part; it didn’t involve any actual cooking. All she had to do was put the ingredients into the pot and mix them together. “Uh, for the sauce you’re just going to take that can of whole tomatoes, dump them into a bowl, and crush them.” Once he was done chopping the red and the orange bell pepper, he turned to look over at her. “Before you ask, I couldn’t have bought crushed tomatoes instead. It doesn’t taste the same. And I couldn’t have used fresh tomatoes because it’s really hard to get the skin off of them. I didn’t want you to have to do that. But I bought the high end canned tomatoes, so they’re better than Hunts or something.” Plus, if she wanted to do this at home, it would be easier for her to create again if he used canned whole tomatoes. While she was doing that, he finished up chopping the rest of everything for her pizza. “You’re really messy,” he laughed when he saw her hands covered. It was actually kind of cute to watch her in the kitchen. Reaching around her, he grabbed a saucepan out of the cabinet and put it on the stove.

“Go wash your hands and I’ll help you through the rest.” While she was washing her hands, he gathered all the ingredients she was going to need to finish the sauce. “Alright, Chef. First, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Then the onions, then the oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes. And then just let that sit for a few minutes, add the garlic, and then the tomatoes and let it sit on the heat while we roll out the dough.” She was finishing up her sauce and he started working on stuff for his own pizza. Grating the cheese was his favorite part, so he went a little overboard with that. At least he’d have enough for next time. They he started chopping the pepperoni. “I’m just gonna use your sauce, if you don’t mind. It kinda works for both of us.” He moved so he was leaning against the counter next to her. “You’re good at this, you know.”

Rachel nodded and washed her hands as Finn directed. She figured that cleanliness was likely key while cooking here, unlike it had been in her own home. Not that her parents were dipping their dirty hands in the food or anything, but they were definitely more relaxed about their tactics. After she washed her hands, she was quick to follow Finn’s further directions and set his oven to the proper temperature to begin preheating. She was thankful that he hadn’t asked her to chop anything because she was just as concerned about hurting herself. It was likely better to leave it to the professional working beside her. He really was skilled when it came to the kitchen. The way he cut the vegetables was with such precision and ease that Rachel almost felt like she was watching an episode of Chopped.

Finn’s next request broke through Rachel’s thoughts, causing her to put herself in motion. Rachel couldn’t help but laugh as he offered her some words of wisdom. “You really know your stuff,” she spoke as she dumped the tomatoes into a bowl and began crushing them. “I have to say that I’m really impressed. I haven’t done much cooking since I moved here, but I used to do a lot at home. I thought my grandmother knew a lot...but I think she was just more of a family recipe kind of lady.” Rachel continued her work, stopping once she felt like the tomatoes were the definition of crushed. She then turned to Finn, realizing her hands were quite messy, but she still wore a successful smile across her face anyway. “It wouldn’t be good cooking if you didn’t get a little messy, right?” she said with a laugh. She continued to hold her hands out in front of her though, determined not to get the tomato all over Finn’s kitchen.

“Sounds good.” She was sure that no amount of hand washing would fully get the tomato out from under her finger nails, but it was better than resorting to her jeans to wipe them clean. After washing her hands, Rachel joined Finn again, realizing he had made good use of his time. “Okay,” she said with a nod of her head as she once again became determined. She really wanted to do a good job, but she was also attempting to memorize each of these steps so she could try to make the pizza again someday. Although she would probably have her roommate cut the vegetables. Rachel did the first steps that Finn gave her, hoping that everything she was doing was accurate. She then waited a few minutes as he suggested before continuing on with the next steps. There was some sort of concentration that she had fallen into that was finally broken when she decided the sauce was done. “Alright, I think it’s all good to go,” she informed him, another wide smile on her lips. “Hopefully it tastes as good as it smells.”Rachel did one final check on the sauce for good measure before she was distracted by Finn leaning on the counter beside her. She blushed at his compliment, offering a small smile. “Thank you, but it’s all thanks to having an excellent teacher.” She stared at him for a moment, enjoying the charm that he effortlessly exerted. “Um,” she said finally, tearing her eyes away. “So what’s next?”

Let Me Teach You

“It wasn’t as good as sleeping in and having ‘me time’, but it was good. I got out early to go the grocery store and stuff,” he shrugged and led her in the direction of the kitchen. “My mom always told me to go earlier in the day because there’s less people there.” He never thought he would actually use that tip, but it was coming in handy now that he was a little famous. Less people were there, which meant he didn’t have to take as many pictures, which meant that he could get out of there faster. However, there wasn’t anything wrong with taking pictures with his fans. He loved interacting with them and making their day; it was just nice when he could get in and get out. “And I guess that the traffic’s not as bad on a Saturday morning than on a Saturday afternoon.” The one thing he hated about L.A was the traffic. It took way too long to get almost anywhere. It was just irritating. Even after a few years of living there, he still wasn’t used to it. He didn’t think he’d ever be, but he dealt with it the best he could.

“You want anything to drink? I have water and … and soda.” He should’ve asked what she liked to drink before she ended up over here. Way to go. Leaning back against the counter, he looked over at her and smiled slightly. This was the first time he was seeing her as completely Rachel Berry instead of Lexie Grey. Her hair and makeup wasn’t done like Lexie’s, she wasn’t in scrubs. It was nice. Rachel was really pretty. Well, she was pretty as Lexie but even prettier as Rachel Berry. Not being able to act on his feelings for her was going to be a lot harder than he thought it was going to be. Though, he was sure that she didn’t want him to act on anything. What he told her yesterday probably weirded her out when it came to him. Plus, he couldn’t really do any actual explaining as to his feelings. It was part of the agreement they signed. He couldn’t actively get involved with anyone while being publically involved with Quinn, which was something she probably had put in so she didn’t end up getting embarrassed. There was a large chance he might break that, though, because Rachel made him think a little bit. Quinn didn’t need the publicity that this was giving her and he didn’t care about the publicity that he was getting. There wasn’t a lot they could do if he broke it anyway.

Once he grabbed her what she wanted to drink, he headed to cabinet. “I was kind of thinking that we put together the pizzas, put them in the oven, and then I go teach you how to play something on the drums.” He took out the two pizza pans and everything else they would need, followed by the crusts that he made earlier in the day. “Alright, Berry. You ready to make the best vegan pizza you’ve ever made? I mean, I’m gonna make it, but you’re going to help me. Just so you can’t say that I didn’t make the best pizza ever because you mixed everything together.” He looked over at her and smirked. “You want an apron or something? You might get flour or something else on your clothes. I mean, if you don’t want one, I have a washer and drier and stuff if it gets too bad. Not that I want you to take your shirt off or anything! I have shirts you can wear instead.” He felt himself blush. “Um … so apron or no apron?”

“I appreciate you waking up early and going to grab ingredients then. I didn’t realize you would take this so seriously,” she said with a small laugh. She found it admirable that he had gone out of his way to really get everything they would need to make the pizza. Perhaps it was his way of making it up to her though, after all that had occurred yesterday. Still, she was glad to just spend time with him and move on as friends no matter what. After all, it was a lot better than them just deciding to not speak and moving on as coworkers who despised one another. Rachel refused to be one of those actresses, especially this early on. “LA traffic is a nightmare. I learned that within the first few days of moving here. But luckily, you don’t live that far from me so I only had to take a couple of side streets to get here.”

“Water sound perfect,” Rachel answered him, giving him a reassuring smile. She was grateful for the drink, especially because her mouth had gone slightly dry since she had arrived. That was a telltale that she was nervous, along with her hands usually shaking. However, she was glad to see that her hands were steady so far, not giving anything away as she brought her water glass to her lips and took a quick drink. It felt like heaven as it managed to calm her down a little. The amount of anxiety running through her only made her feel more foolish because she knew there wasn’t really any reason for it. Despite the quarrel between them last night, everything with Finn actually felt pretty...normal. He was still his handsome self...especially handsome, actually. There was no denying that Finn looked hot in his hospital scrubs, anyone who watched Grey’s could see that, but he also looked just as good out of them.

Realizing she was staring as he went through their list of tasks for the afternoon, Rachel finally allowed her eyes to flicker away as she instead studied their ingredients. “That sounds perfect,” she said with a nod. “I’m leaving my dignity in your hands so go easy on me if I’m not the best chef or drummer,” she laughed. Although she was sure she wouldn’t have as great of technic as Finn, she was excited to assist him with whatever he needed. Maybe she could attempt to remember his steps and even try to make the pizza at home...alone where he wouldn’t see her completely mess up the entire thing. “Apron?” she asked, looking down at her clothes. His next words about the washer and dryer caused her to look back up as her face grew warm. However, she kept her features smooth as she finally shook her head. “I’m good without an apron. Let’s just get to cooking!”

Let Me Teach You

He woke that morning excited for the day that he had ahead. Not only was he going to the Kings game, but also he would be spending the majority of his day with Rachel. Things had gotten kind of weird and awkward between them after he told her about Quinn. Her reaction was exactly why he didn’t tell people the story behind his relationship. The whole situation was shallow and not like him at all. He really hoped she understood why he was doing what he was doing. Or, would at least come to understand why he was doing it. It was a really complex situation. However, that wasn’t going to stop him from pursuing whatever was happening with Rachel. Something about her was really captivating him. Everything just came easy between them, except him telling her that he actually had a little crush on her. When she shared her feelings, he was really impressed. She went out on a limb to tell him something. Yeah, he felt like an idiot for not saying anything back, but he couldn’t. She deserved a lot better then him telling her he had feelings for her when he couldn’t publically do anything about them.

After his shower, he pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. If they were going to make pizza, he really needed to go shopping. He had everything he needed to make his own pizza, but vegan pizza was a whole different story. Though, he was definitely going to make it work. Cooking was his something he had the utmost confidence in. He knew how to cook and he knew how to do it well. Recipe in hand, he headed out to Whole Foods. The crust recipe he had used some weird ingredients, but it sounded really healthy. Hopefully she ended up liking it. If she didn’t, it would be a little embarrassing. Grocery shopping took a little longer than normal because a few people stopped him. Though, he was used to it by now. And people were really nice. Once he had all of his groceries, he headed over to the Farmers Market. It was his favorite place to go to get produce. Plus, he had a feeling Rachel would appreciate him getting natural produce instead of the stuff from the grocery store. Not that the produce from the grocery store was bad, but everything tasted better when it was fresh. Plus, he got to support local people when he went to the Farmers Market.

As soon as he got back to his house, he turned the Rangers and Penguins game on and started prepping their crusts. It was going to take awhile, so he wanted to get it done and chilled before she came over. Getting her crust right took a few tries. It was a lot more scientific to make vegan crust than he though it was going to be, but he ended up getting it right on his fourth try. Yeah, he wasn’t going to tell her that. The next thing he did was wash all the vegetables he bought. He washed them really well because he didn’t want Rachel to get sick and blame it on his cooking. That would’ve also been really embarrassing. Just as he was finishing up, he heard his doorbell ring. Good thing he remember to text Rachel his gate code earlier in the day. After wiping his hands off, he headed towards the door. That was the first time he noticed that he was nervous. He really hoped this wasn’t awkward, especially after what happened last night. “Hey,” he smiled, moving to the side for her to step inside. “How was your morning?”

Rachel would be lying if she said she wasn’t slightly nervous to go over to Finn’s today. She knew they were on better terms after they’re little disagreement last night, but she still felt indifferent on the subject. Not about Finn himself, but on what he was putting himself through for the sake of Quinn Fabray. The blonde was an excellent actress, there was no denying that, but she didn’t exactly seem like the nicest person. Finn forcing himself to stay with a person who seemed to have such a backward attitude just didn’t leave a good taste in Rachel’s mouth. What made Rachel feel more on edge than anything though was the fact that she had admitted she had slight feelings for Finn and he hadn’t mentioned feeling even remotely the same. Not that she had expected him to…but she had hoped. Like she had said, it was naive and now she did feel foolish, but she was really trying to put all those feelings aside for the sake of her friendship with Finn. That was something she valued even if the whole situation was a little twisted.

After she woke up that morning she enjoyed an extra half hour in bed with Fanny, happy that she could give her feline friend some attention rather than hopping out of bed at four in the morning. She then continued through her normal routine of coffee, a shower, and picking out a pair of jeans and a black tank top that she wouldn't mind getting messy. Afterward, she focused on drying her hair and completing the rest of her necessities before she was out the door and on her way to Finn's, using her GPS to help guide her through the California streets. Interesting enough, Finn actually didn’t live that far from her own place, causing Rachel to arrive into his neighborhood earlier than expected. When she reached the gate she could feel her heart thumping in her chest as she typed in the code that he had texted her that morning. Although their houses were close in proximity, Finn’s seemed a lot nicer that hers, but that was probably necessary when you were a widely known celebrity. Rachel, on the other hand, was just getting started.

Parking her car, she made her way up to his front door, hoping that she had the right house. She pressed his doorbell before she brought her hands in toward her stomach, intertwining her fingers together nervously. As only seconds passed by Rachel considered the idea of slipping away and just heading home; she could always blame the random doorbell ring on some kids in the neighborhood playing ding dong ditch. However, before she could even move her foot an inch, the door opened in front of her. The second she saw the tall man standing in front of her a huge smile spread across her face. She really needed to get ahold of her facial expressions when he was around. “Hey yourself,” she finally answered. “My morning was great,” she spoke as she moved inside his home, taking in the wonderful smells that already filled the interior. “I had the pleasure of sleeping in and having some me time, so I can’t complain.” The me time was especially crucial after the emotional roller coaster she was on the night before. “What about yourself?”