take me back to the start

Chapter 19: Moonless Night

(seconds later).

Rachel's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her cell notifying her to a text message.

She got off the bed laboriously and checked her phone.

Kurt: What happened to you last night? You just vanished on us, plus you haven't returned any of my calls from this morning. If you don't text back I'm going to be forced to assume that when you left you went to see Finn (who also isn't returning my calls) and either you guys murdered each other or have been engaging in hot passionate make-up sex for the last 16 hours. Both options are raising my blood pressure, and that's just not okay, so RESPOND WOMAN!

Rachel gulped. She had figured she'd update Kurt on everything once she herself knew what was going on. But he was too impatient.

Biting her lip she tried to compose a sufficient reply.

Rachel: Yes I saw him last night. No comment on your 'assumptions'. Basically we're having dinner later to figure things out. And I'm thinking maybe.. I've been fooling myself by thinking we're better apart than together. But that's all you're getting out of me today. I'll call you tomorrow. xo.

Finn stared at the golden and teal hues in front of him. So this was it, huh. Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' in all its glory. He'd been standing in front of it for 10 minutes, attempting to absorb all the little details, following the disjointed brush strokes with his eyes arbitrarily.

He had decided on MoMA, even though the enclosed space and large crowds might make things messy if he was recognized. But when he had looked up their website and seen that they had one of the most famous paintings of all freaking time, he decided it'd definitely be worth it. And he had recently gotten a really large baseball cap that had proven to be quite an effective cover, especially when he wore these grandpa sunglasses he owned with it.

He wasn't actually that much of an art connoisseur, all he really knew was confined to what he had learned in elementary school fine art class. But this painting had always been one of his favorites. He liked it because it was inelegant, almost crude, but still had its own little charm. It wasn't perfect and refined or conventionally beautiful, but it was special in the way it was different.

He had just been about to finally move on to the next painting when his phone began beeping loudly. The museum was silent and he got a couple dirty looks from the people next to him and a nearby security guard. Flustered, he quickly took it out of his pocket and walked towards the empty hall outside the restrooms.

Incoming Call: Janice

They had just reviewed his schedule over email, and it was a Saturday, why would she be calling him?

Pressing the green answer button, he tentatively said, "Hello?"

"I just talked to Melissa," she sounded like a disappointed parent, "and she just informed me you broke up with her for your little new co-star."

Fuck me. This is what I get for blowing off Melissa so many times that she eventually became best friends with Janice.

"Umm yeah that's about right."

Her tinny voice raised perceptibly.

"Finn are you really that dim? My School Musical 2 has just come out, a break-up now would be absolute disaster. The critics are already slamming the film and the most of the people who are paying 15 dollars to go to see this terrible movie at a damn theatre are those who are invested in your and Melissa's relationship. Not to mention the fact that mere speculation that you've been emotionally cheating on Melissa has already lost you some fans. You need to realize that not only will the people at Disney be furious if this speculation is confirmed, but you'll also be endangering your chances at getting another big fat paycheck for My School Musical 3, which is already under development if you forgot. Luckily for us, I actually think with my head and not my dick, so I managed to calm Melissa down. You have to call her right now though to repair this."