We're all lost stars.

My name is Rachel Berry, I'm 17 and I'm a junior at William McKinley High School in Lima OH. I have two dads, one mom, no siblings or pets, and I'm Jewish. I'm a member of a number of school clubs, including the Glee Club and the Drama Club. I also tutor...

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008 || Meet the Parents

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“And you didn’t!” Finn contributed, still laughing. Rachel’s dads weren’t as scary as he imagined. They were actually pretty cool. As much as Rachel had tried to tell him that before, he was still very intimidated when Rachel invited him over for dinner–now, though, he was actually having a great time. “It was fun, wasn’t it? Maybe next time you can try to teach me some dance moves instead.” He cast a glance at Hiram and Leroy, slightly blushing. “I’m a terrible dancer. Horrible.” They probably already knew, but Finn said it anyway. “But I want to learn, the Glee club needs all of us at our best this year.”

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“I didn’t,” she said a little proudly, Rachel had had to fight her instinct to run when he’d thrown the ball, but she’d wanted to impress him so didn’t. At Finn’s confession Rachel had to chuckle, “Finn has two left feet,” she told her dads, “But he does his best to be helpful when I want to practice something for dance class, and when school starts again we can practice in the studio or choir room as there is more space.” Turning her head she looked at Finn, grinning brightly, “We’re going to be amazing this year, I can feel it. We’re going to win.”

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008 || Meet the Parents

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Finn noticed Rachel’s stiffness when he let his hand rest on her knee for just a couple of seconds and he immediately brought it back, suddenly worried– maybe he’d just crossed a line there. He gave her an apologetic look before turning his attention back to Hiram. Hopefully her dads hadn’t noticed the exchange. “Oh? Well yeah, sorta.” The look on Hiram and Leroy’s face was priceless and Finn just couldn’t stop the chuckle that left his lips. As he laughed, and for the first time that evening, he felt all tension finally leave his body. “She’s actually pretty good, I was shocked.” He winked at Rachel, letting her know that he was just teasing. “Still, I don’t know if football is the right sport for Rachel. She’s so small I wouldn’t want her to break.”

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Rachel just rolled her eyes at her dads reaction, “I think they’re surprised that I didn’t run from the ball because I thought it might break my nose.” Truth be told, Rachel had been a little skittish at first, but Finn had been a good coach and slowly taught her how to catch and helped her confidence grow. “Oh come on Bunny, we both know that you’d rather be dancing than doing any other kind of sport.” Rachel said nothing and took a mouthful of her food, it was true that Rachel had very set tastes, but Finn was helping her open her eyes to new things, but she had to smile as she thought about how he’d never been worried about how small she was, or breaking her when they made out.

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008 || Meet the Parents

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Finn couldn’t help but smile when Rachel’s dad called her ‘bunny’, and it was even more adorable that it made Rachel duck her head shyly. Under the table, he let his hand rest on her knee for a moment, trying to say ‘don’t be embarrassed’ without words. “Oh?” Finn tensed up at the question. “So you’ve heard, too…” His disappointment was obvious in his voice. “Yeah, there’s this guy… Apparently he’s gonna try out for the team. He was playing in Texas and everybody says he was amazing. I’ve seen videos and–yeah, he’s really good.”

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Rachel moved her hand but missed Finn’s as he placed in on her knee and removed it quickly, that didn’t mean that small moment had no effect on her. A small tingle ran down her spine and she had to take a sip of her drink to try to hide it. “Yes, the faculty talk and Coach has told me about him and about how excited she is for all of you this year.” “You’re a great player too Finn,” Rachel interjected, “I don’t think anyone else would have had the patience to teach me, and you can throw really far.” There was a sound of silence from both her dads as they stared from Rachel to Finn. “What?” Rachel suddenly felt nervous under her parents eyes. “You taught her to play football Finn?” Hiram looked at Leroy and chuckled, “Wonders will never cease.”

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008 || Meet the Parents

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Now that was something he could have a conversation about without messing up, Finn thought, relieved, when Hiram asked about the upcoming football season. “Well, Sir, I think we’re on the right path. A couple of years ago the team sucked–” Crap, he wasn’t supposed to say stuff like that, “–I mean, it wasn’t very good… But last season, with Coach Beiste taking the reins, we definitely improved our game.” He paused to stuff his mouth with some mashed potatoes. “We could have done more, obviously, but still… I think we did a great job. And Coach Beiste was pretty satisfied! Believe me, that’s saying a lot.” He looked at Rachel and smiled, his next words full of meaning. “So, to answer your question, Sir… I think this year is gonna be the best one yet.”

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“I agree,” Rachel’s dad said with a chuckle, “They sucked and Shannon has done wonderful things with the team, I’m looking forward to this season.” Rachel looked at FInn, “Dad likes football, it’s the only sport he likes.” “Figurskating is a sport Bunny,” Her dad corrected her, and Rachel looked down a little shyly at the pet name. “So are you playing Quarterback again, I heard that you might have some competition this year.”

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008 || Meet the Parents

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Finn was mortified, to say the least, when he realized that Rachel didn’t want him to help because she thought he would end up making a mess. “Oh–yeah, okay. I can do that.” He said, trying to hide his blush, when she asked him to pour the non-alcoholic wine she got for them. He wouldn’t mess this one up. “I’ve never had non-alcoholic wine before, you know? This will be a first.” He said, trying to make small talk. Suddenly Rachel’s dads walked into the room. “Not that I’ve ever had alcoholic wine, either. Uuh–because, you know, I’m not old enough and…yeah, uh.”

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Setting the last of the plates down, Rachel went over to him and smiled, kissing him gently on the cheek, “You’ll love it, I promise.” Holding their glasses out for him to pour the liquid into, she looked up at him a little surprised, “You haven’t? Even I’ve tasted wine... and champagne. I’m allowed only a small glass though, not too much, and only for special occasions.” Once the drink was poured, Rachel started serving up dinner onto everyone’s plates, sitting down beside Finn once it was done. “So,” Hiram looked up at Finn, “What do you think the Football team’s chances are at wining this year?”

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008 || Meet the Parents

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Rachel’s dads were already about to take all the food to the table and start serving it when they walked into the kitchen. The smell was amazing, Finn thought, his mouth already watering. He had to make sure to let them all know how much he appreciated their effort. “Mr. and Mr. Berry, this all looks really good. And smells amazing, too!” He shook his head when Rachel told him to just take a sit and wait for them to bring the food in. “No, please. Let me help.” He took his blazer off and joined them in the kitchen. “Where do you want me?” 

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Rachel almost walked into Finn with a handful of serving dishes when he came back into the kitchen and she looked up at him with slightly pleading eyes, “Sitting down so you don’t end up wearing the food.” Rachel knew he meant well, but she also knew he was more than a little clumsy at times. Stepping passed him, she walked into the dining room and set the plates down on the table, “How about you pour the drinks?” She pointed to a bottle of non-alcoholic wine on the side, “Just for you and I of course.”

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008 || Meet the Parents

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Finn followed Rachel out of the basement, nodding his head and smiling at the obvious blush covering her cheeks. She was adorable when she was embarrassed. “Uh-huh.” Now that sounded amazing. “I can’t wait…” He replied, almost in a whisper. As if on cue, Finn’s stomach roared embarrassingly loudly. “Uh–yeah. Maybe a little bit.” His cheeks were now a dark crimson–matching Rachel’s–and not just because of the direction their previous conversation had taken. To be fair, Finn was kind of always hungry. “Let’s go.”

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The sound of his stomach made her laugh softly and she shook her head, glancing up at him with a quirked eyebrow. The colour of his cheeks made her smile and she shook her head, walking with him towards the dining room. Rachel’s dads were still busy in the kitchen and she popped her head into the room, noticing they were putting the food onto the serving dishes. “Why don’t you take a seat,” she said to Finn, motioning to one of the chairs, “I’m going to help my dads bring the food in.”

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008 || Meet the Parents

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The kiss effectively shut him up, and when Rachel finally leaned back and moved to stand behind him, Finn immediately missed the warm feeling of her lips on his own. It took him almost a full minute to remember what they were talking about in the first place. “Yeah–you’re right. I’m sorry I’m being weird.” He held her hands when she wrapped her arms around his neck from behind. “Should we go upstairs now? I don’t want your dads to think that I’m taking advantage of you.” This time, though, Finn was just joking. He let his head fall back on Rachel’s shoulder and smirked up at her. “Or that you’re taking advantage of me.”

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A blush fell upon her cheeks at his comment and she looked towards the door, “You’re probably right, I’m sure dinner will be ready any moment now.” She pulled back, giving him enough space to stand before taking his hand, “And he sooner we get dinner over and done with, the sooner we can have some time to ourselves.” Rachel’s dad’s trusted them being together because they trusted Rachel, they new she couldn’t be pressured into doing anything she didn’t want to, it was why they had no bother with the two of them spending so much time alone in her room. “I hope you’re hungry.”

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008 || Meet the Parents

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“You really think so…?” Finn said, lowering his eyes to the ground. He never paid to much attention to Puck’s grades, to be honest, so he didn’t know he was in such trouble. “So you think Puck won’t be graduating with us? I didn’t know. That’s fucked up.” He then realized he had used the f-word. Rachel hated it. “Sorry! It’s just… I wasn’t expecting that.” As Rachel kept talking and rambling about how amazing their relationship was, Finn’s smile widened and his confidence grew stronger. What an ego boost. “Wow Rachel, I… I-I love to hear you talking like that. And I love to hear that I make you happy, you make me very happy too. But still–who knows what your dads are gonna think about me. If they try to talk politics or something during dinner I’m going to embarrass myself so bad. Shit, I should have prepared something.”

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“I know so,” she said softly. Biting her bottom lip, Rachel nodded her head, “But I’m hoping to help him so that doesn’t happen. No one should be left behind.” Instead of grimacing at his use of the F-word, Rachel reachedl up and drew his face towards her own, kissing him slowly. “It’s okay, I think it’s needed in this situation.” Standing up from the stool, Rachel moved to stand behind Finn, her hands moving to his shoulders, “Take a deep breath Finn and stop worrying. Everything is going to be fine.” Leaning down she kissed the top of his head, the slipped down and wrapped her arms around his neck. “And my dads don’t talk about politics, it only causes augments.”

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008 || Meet the Parents

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When Rachel mentioned Puck again, Finn tried to suppress a laugh but failed. “Me? A good influence? On Puck? Oh man, don’t tell him that. You know how proud he is of his badassness.” He nudged Rachel back and smiled when she rested her head on his shoulder. “He’d probably say that he’s the one making me look cool.” He blushed. “U-Uh… of course, we can leave the door open. I didn’t mean to–uh, you know.” Shaking his head, he took hold of Rachel’s hand. “It’s not them. It’s me, I’m scared of messing this up.”

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“He doesn’t want to be left behind Finn, you’ll all be moving on with your lives and be’ll be repeating another year at school.” When he said he was scared of messing this up, Rachel picked her head up from his shoulder and loked at him, a frown on her face. “HOw are you going to mess this up Finn. Things are god between us.. in fact they’re better than good. They’re amazing. You make me happy, I really don’t think there is anything you could do to mess it up.”

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008 || Meet the Parents

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“I almost forgot you also tutor Puck. Actually I thought you didn’t anymore.” Finn admitted. The thought made him jealous, kinda… Just a little bit, and it was ridiculous, he thought to himself. Okay, so maybe Puck knew how to seduce almost every girl–and woman–in Lima, but he had nothing to worry about. Rachel and him had had an amazing summer, the best he could remember, and their relationship was serious. Really serious. Right? After all, he was having dinner with her dads that night. It didn’t get more serious than that. “Do you think your dads will let me stay for a while after dinner? I’d like to spend some more time with you… You know, without them watching. They scare me. A little bit.”

“He’s asked me to help him once we start back at school,” she said softly, “Noah doesn’t want to be left behind when everyone... when you graduate. I think that seeing you do as well as you have been since I started helping you, it’s opened his eyes.” Rachel nudged him gently, “You’re a good influence on him.” Sitting back down, Rachel lay her head on his shoulder, taking his hand in her own. “I’m sure they will, but if we go upstairs we’ll have to keep the door to my room open a little.” Lifting her head she looked at him, her eyes meeting with his, “Why do they scare you?”

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008 || Meet the Parents

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When Rachel mentioned having no real friends, Finn grimaced. He always felt kind of guilty about that. “I don’t know, maybe… But you’re obviously smarter than me.” He laughed. “I think you’re one of the smartest people I know, actually. Though that’s not saying much because all my friends are dumbasses. Puck being an example.” He smiled when Rachel started playing the piano, and kept singing until he couldn’t remember the words that followed. “So you think your dads will like this song?” 

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“There are a lot of smart people in that school, they just feel they have to hide away from everyone, and you, even Puck, you’re probably smarter than you realize because you don’t apply yourselves. I’d been tutoring Noah for a long time and he doesn’t have a very long attention span, but I found a way to keep him interested using music, sports or even things to do with cars to help him. We all need to find the right way to learn.” At his question she nodded her head, turning to look at him, “I think they will, they’re music lovers and lyrically it’s a good song.” Pulling her cell from her pocket, Rachel searched for the lyrics and sent a copy to the printer in the corner of the room. “We just need to figire out who sings which bit and when, and when we harmonize,” she said as she picked up the paper.

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008 || Meet the Parents

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Nodding his head slowly, Finn squeezed Rachel’s hand back and smiled. “Thanks.” With Rachel, every conversation felt so relevant. After dating Wen, he was used to superficial comments and fake smiles, but being with Rachel was something completely different. Maybe that was how it felt to be with someone you actually loved, Finn wondered absently. “Sometimes, when you talk like that–I don’t even know what to say. It’s just like, you’re on another level, Rachel. You sound so smart.” He said and blushed. “Yes, I think I do. Poison, right? Was it something I said or something I did…” He began. 

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Looking down she shook her head, “We just have different life experiences Finn. If one of your parents was a teacher or you had no real friends, maybe you’d be focused. You just have more things to concentrate on in your life where everything I do revolves around getting to New York.” When he started to sing, Rachel let her fingers brush over the keys of the piano, letting him sing the chorus and as much as he could remember of the lyrics.

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008 || Meet the Parents

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Finn was still pretty much lost in his own thoughts when Rachel mentioned college and… something about still being ‘us’? Wha–Oh. Finn did look up at her after that, an eyebrow raised. It’s not as though he hadn’t thought about their future together, about following Rachel to New York, but what would he even do there? “I-I think I would like that…” He finally said, and it was true. As new as their relationship was, and as lost about his future as he was, Finn knew he wanted to be with Rachel after graduation. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll figure something out. I’m freaking out for no reason, sorry.” Finn kissed her back and smiled. Now wasn’t the time nor the place to discuss that, that night was all about impressing Rachel’s dads. “So do you have any songs in mind? Do your dads have a favorite?”

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Smiling shyly, Rachel squeezed his hand, “I know we can make this work, no matter where we are, we can make it work.” It might sound crazy but she believed it. Finn was someone Rachel wasn’t going to let out of her life easily. “Don’t be sorry, it’s got to be scary listening to me be so sure about my future, but I know that you’ll find your place and I’ll be right there to support you.” For a moment, Rachel was silent and let her head settle on his shoulder, enjoying this moment of quiet while her mind went through all the songs she knew. “Do you know the song Every Rose has it’s Thorn?”

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008 || Meet the Parents

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Finn squeezed Rachel’s hand and nodded. Maybe he wasn’t that much into watching the Tony’s, or even the Oscar’s, but he was definitely into spending time with Rachel. In any capacity. “Yeah, maybe I could. If you’ll have me.” He said. “And if your dads don’t mind, obviously. I wouldn’t want to upset them or anything if this is a family thing or whatever.” He rambled, scratching his head with a frown. “Have you ever been to New York, though? How do you know you belong there? Maybe you’ll hate it.” He didn’t even realize he was actually voicing his own concerns as he spoke. “I try not to think about it too much, but sometimes–I don’t know, sometimes I get really stressed out. Specially when I see other people making plans and talking about it, it makes me feel like I’m losing my time when I should be thinking about my future. I don’t know… I know it sounds stupid.” He shook his head. “Do you? I’ll follow your lead.”

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“Of course I’ll have you Finn, I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want you there, and my dads would love you to be there too.” She couldn’t help but smile at him, it was so sweet the way he worried he was about her parents. Rachel shook her head slowly, “I’ve never been, but there isn’t Broadway anywhere else.” Taking his hand, Rachel played with his fingers, “I belong on stage in New York Finn.. but that doesn’t mean.. wherever you decide to go to college we.. we can still be us... If that’s what you want.” With her free hand she reached up and turned his face towards her own and leaned up to kiss him, “You’re not losing anything, there’s nothing wrong with the fact that you have to find yourself.” She didn’t like seeing Finn feel this way, she didn’t like him thinking that there was something wrong with him because he didn’t know what he wanted to do when he was older. “You’ll figure it out.”

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008 || Meet the Parents

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“You have your own stage. Inside your house. That’s…. wow.” Finn had to laugh at that, because of course Rachel and the Berry family had a stage in a room apparently called the Oscar room. It wasn’t the first time that Finn heard about that room though, but it was funny to hear Rachel casually talk about it like it was something normal that everybody had in their homes. “So–uh, your mind is set on New York, huh? You always talk about it. I’m kinda jealous, I don’t even know what I want to do after graduation.” He cleared his throat. “Yeah–sure, yeah. Uhmm… maybe something classic? You know my repertoire is not as big as yours.”

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Rachel nodded her head, “I’ve been putting on performance for my dads friends ever since I was little, and we always have parties down there before important events, like the Tony’s or the Oscar’s. Maybe you could come to one sometime?” Running her fingers over the keys of the piano, Rachel nodded her head, “New York is where I belong Finn. When I graduate from High School I’m going to go to college in New York and then work on Broadway.” She was so certain of that, “Finn... “ Rachel reached up and took his hand, guiding him to sit on the stool beside her, “You’ll figure it out, not everyone knows what they’re born to do straight away. But you’ll know when the time comes. You have football, and music now too. You can sing and read music.. there’s more to you than you believe.” Curling her fingers around his, Rachel looked up at him, hating how he saw so little in himself, “Classic is it. Do you have something in mind?”

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008 || Meet the Parents

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“She does?” Finn looked at Rachel, and her blush made him smile. “I still have a lot to learn, though. I was hoping Rachel could teach me, she’s the best I’ve ever heard.” He praised. “Actually, this summer has been pretty… instructive.” Rachel was so passionate when she talked about Broadway and her idols, Finn couldn’t help but listen.

“Oh, okay. Sure.” He followed her to the music room, because of course there was a music room in Rachel’s house. “So here’s where you practice? Wow, I wish I had a room this big for my video games.” He commented, awestruck. “It’s okay, Rachel, I don’t mind. I really like your dads, actually.” He leaned down to kiss her cheek. “They obviously worry about you, I understand why they’re so protective. I would be the same if I had a daughter, I guess.”

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Rachel looked up to see a quizzical look on her dads face when Finn said that the summer had been instructional, but left the room before they could say anything. Rachel didn’t need her dads asking those questions, especially when all they’d done was kiss.

“And downstairs in the Oscar room, there’s a little stage down there so I can perform.” When he kissed her cheek, she reached up and touched where his lips had been, a shy smile on her face. “I think they’re getting in as much worrying as they can before I move to New York. That;s not going to stop them worrying but they wont be able to let me see that they are, if that makes sense.” Moving around to the piano, Rachel sat down on the stool and looked up at Finn, “So, we should try something you’re comfortable with and know well.”