Rumor Has It

This is a fan fic that came to me while listening to Adele's new album 21. I'm a gleek, definitely, and I was thinking about the way this season is unfolding while listening to some of these songs. They fit so well! I may use more than one song from the album, but I haven't decided. Definitely a big number performed by most of ND to the song in the title, "Rumor Has It".

New to this site, and to writing fan fiction – so be easy on me! I'm going to try a chapter series, and based on feedback, I'll keep writing! So give me some!

(This takes place right where the season is now, heading up to Regionals. After 2x14, but before 2x15)

Chapter 1 – You and I have history.

Finn Hudson walked the halls of McKinley High on the 1st of March, feeling pretty normal. His mom made a killer breakfast, and he couldn't stop thinking about what she packed for lunch. Ever since she got married to Burt Hummel, she was cooking and doing things she would normally never have the time for. She still worked a day job, but quit working those extra shifts at the diner in town. Burt's business was doing pretty well, being the only Auto Shop in that section of Lima, and it afforded Carole the time to do more "awesome mom things" (as Finn liked to call them). Every day she made breakfast, packed lunches, and made dinner for "her boys". At night, she was home enjoying the company of her new family, or just her new husband because Kurt and Finn weren't usually home, with Glee rehersals and buzzing social lives.

Finn thought about how great it was that his mom was home. He didn't want to seem like a Momma's boy, but it was really nice to see her happy. And Burt was an awesome guy, he liked all the same teams as Finn and was a great Dad to Kurt. If anyone knew how hard it was to learn to love Kurt for who he was, it was Finn, and he liked how Burt was so cool and stood up for Kurt always.

As Finn was smiling about his happy home-life, he thought about how much he wanted Rachel to come see how it all worked out. Rachel had always gotten along great with his mom, had a mutual admiration for the diva in Kurt, and respected Burt and was so great when he was sick. At their wedding, Rachel gave a mini-speech about how happy she was that "two great parents of two wonderful boys had found each other, and are so deserving of this love and happiness". It made Finn's signature smirk turn into a full-blown smile as he thought about it.

Just then, he smelled a familiar light scent of Chanel Chance, and turned around to see Rachel talking to about the original song idea for Regionals. He watched as she argued her case for the second time to , and smiled as he tried to verbally shake her off. He knew that feeling all too well. When Rachel had her mind set on something, it was a difficult task to try and get her to let it go. He listened as she pleaded, and heard say "Rachel, we voted. The idea is out!" and saw her flip through papers citing other show chiors who had done original music, and the benefits of it. Rachel yelped out a "Consider the information I've given you Mr. Shuester!" as rushed out of his office as a means to cut Rachel off. Finn grinned; Rachel was so cute when she was determined.

She saw him watching her, and exasperatedly shuffled over to him as he shut his locker and started to meet her half way. "Having a tough time convincing , huh?". Rachel grimaced at his assessment, knowing he probably thought she was ridiculous. "He just doesn't want to hear it. I'm crazy for trying..." Rachel trailed off, feeling and looking discouraged.

"Don't lose heart, Rach Face" replied Finn, realizing he'd used one of her nick names, a name he'd call her when they were dating that always made her smile. In turn, Rachel smiled her 100-watt smile at him and said "You haven't called me that since...", and then turned rosy pink. She realized she shouldn't have pointed that out, but they were beginning to be comfortable with one another, so she quickly recovered.

"I just feel like this past week has been so unproductive with 'Alcohol Awareness Week' that we have lost sight of Regionals. I think what I'm writing is going to be good, I just need to know I'm not writing it for no reason." Rachel stated plainly.

Finn craned his neck down a little to emphasize his next statement. Rachel felt him closer to her and looked up into his big brown eyes, wondering if he noticed how vulnerable she was right now. "Rachel, I think no matter what the outcome is, you writing songs is ultimately a good thing."

Rachel took in what Finn had said. If he only knew that she had been writing 99% of the songs for him, hoping to show him how she felt after their breakup, and what it was like to be "friends" now.

She replied "I hope so, Finn." and he looked at her a bit puzzled, as if he knew that hope was weighted on something more than Regionals for the club.

"Well, you know I'm always interested to hear your process or whatever... as long as there's no more songs about your headband" Finn joked, and they both giggled. Finn took Rachel's books and walked in the direction of her locker.

Things had felt so natural lately. It was as if they could be exactly who they always were together, only without touching or stealing kisses. Finn always was a gentleman though, even before they were dating. Rachel knew that a gesture such as carrying her books or pulling her desk chair out for her in science lab where they were partners came natural to Finn. Even when they were fighting, Finn remained chivalrous, but that was just who Finn was. Who Carole raised Finn to be.

"How is your mother doing? I hope she is finding your new arrangements and married life agreeable." Rachel asked Finn while playing with her gold star necklace. Finn looked down at her, noticing her still wearing the necklace he'd given her. It meant a lot to him that she liked it. He missed seeing her wear her 'Finn' necklace, but was happy to see his gift worn proudly, and her tiny hand fidget with it playfully. Distracted, Finn blurted out a "Good. Good, real good. She likes the extra time to do 'mom things' and make stuff..."

Rachel laughed at Finn's response. "Mom stuff?" she said as she raised an eyebrow and giggled. Finn felt silly, like his answers were never detailed enough for Rachel's questions. "Yeah, like cooking and sewing, you know. She enjoys the time with Kurt and I." Finn used proper grammar, hoping Rachel wasn't going to correct him again.

"That's great. I miss her, you know. Would you tell her I said 'Hello'?" Rachel said, leaving Finn feeling listless – relaying messages from his ex-girlfriend who his mother loved would evoke tons of questions, he was sure. He agreed, shrugging and saying "Uh sure, yeah I will" and putting Rachel's books in her locker as she opened it. He looked in quickly and saw the 'Finn' necklace he'd thought about earlier hanging from the back hook of her locker.

"Ok so, I guess I'll see you in Glee later?" Rachel said, snapping him out of the staring contest he had going with the necklace. Finn looked away and replied "Uh yeah, yes. Yes you will." With that, he walked away, seeing Quinn and Brittany down the hall whispering to each other and looking at him. He looked over his shoulder, careful that she didn't see him, and observed Rachel looking at the girls and then down at her shoes, closing her locker and walking in the opposite direction.

Finn looked forward again to see Brittany take off into the west wing towards the gym, and saw Quinn still sauntering in his direction. After all that had happened between her and Sam, Finn felt like Quinn needed the boost in confidence, and said "Hi there!" to her, with a smirk.

Quinn looked all too eager to accept Finn's invitation to flirt, and Finn found himself a little unnerved when Quinn gave him a simple "Hi." with her come hither eyes quickly flashing up at him. If there was one thing about Quinn that Sam and all the other guys she'd bewitched had right, it was her ability to stop a boy in his tracks with one look. Finn of course was no exception, and found himself lost for what to say next. Thankfully, Quinn then chimed in, asking "So, what are your thoughts about grabbing a coffee after Glee today?"

Finn was honestly so stunned, he didn't know whether to say 'yes' or 'no'. He thought that Quinn would have realized that cheating on Sam with Finn cost her her relationship with Sam, and wasn't worth it if she really loved him. At Rachel's party, it really seemed like she was disturbed by Samtana constantly making out and Santana's pleas to Sam that he liked Quinn better. She wasn't herself all night, and though Finn wasn't there to spy on Quinn (more concerned with Rachel's actions), he observed that much. So why was she asking him to coffee? He was confused.

"Umm... do you think that's a good idea?" Finn replied, feeling stupid immediately because Quinn's face turned sour. "What do you mean?" she said coldly, turning those smouldering eyes into iceballs pointed at Finn's. "I mean, do you think we should considering that Sam broke up with you over kissing me, and Rachel thinks..." Finn stopped himself before he said more. "Rachel thinks WHAT?" Quinn snapped. "Rachel thinks she's got a stranglehold on you since she stole you from me last year. It's a coffee, Finn. And besides, you know you've been dying to get me alone since that day in the auditorium. I'm single, you're single..."

Finn was honestly surprised at how forward Quinn was, but this WAS typical Quinn. If there was one thing Quinn Fabray knew, it was how to tease a teenage boy into thinking there was a lot more in it for him if he succumbed to her will. Only somehow, the look in Quinn's eyes said more than "makeout session" in Finn's opinion. At that thought, Quinn said "Or we could skip the coffee and go to my house? Hot tub was opened last week..."

Quinn trailed off and knew immediately from the look on Finn's face that she struck a nerve. A little over a year ago, Finn found himself having to think really hard about his accident with the mailman while making out with Quinn in that very hot tub. The events preceeding were all a haze of lies and deception. Those same lies still hurt, and the pain on Finn's face was evidently turning to anger before Quinn.

"Finn, I'm sorry, I.. I wasn't thinking." Quinn blurted out as Finn was taking steps back from her. Finn shrugged and said "No, it's fine... I just. I can't do this with you Quinn. I have feelings for you, but we're just not right together. We never have been."

Quinn started in on Finn about how she wasn't the head cheerleader any more and needed to bump her social standing, and Finn half listened as thoughts ran through his mind of last year, and how Glee and Rachel had saved him from his depression over Quinn's betrayal. He wasn't mad at Quinn anymore. In fact, as she stood their asking for his help and explaining the social heirarchy of McKinley to him, he actually felt kind of bad for her. He snapped back into reality and decided to let Quinn down gently.

"Listen, Quinn. I know how you feel about your stance in this school and I know you think you need a boyfriend or a Cheerios uniform to be popular, but you don't. You screwed up with Sam, and I feel like if you work at it, you can get him to come back to you. Santana is temporary, trust me. Sam likes you. You can work it out." Finn grabbed Quinn's shoulder and shook her lightly, the way coaches do before they tell you switch plays or 'go get 'em out there, kid!'.

Quinn smiled up at Finn. She saw in his face that he was genuine, and she couldn't help but be jealous of how confident and sure he was of himself. She saw that he genuinely wanted her to be happy, and not just happy in the way that you are when you're popular and envied, but really happy. Quinn knew there was only one person who ever made her happy, and it wasn't Sam.

But she humored Finn and said "You're right. Sorry I came on so strong. But maybe someday we can just grab a coffee, as friends? No strings attached?" She looked up at Finn and smiled, and he smiled back saying "Sure. I'd like that."

((Later on at Glee rehersal))

Rachel sat in the first row, as she figured it would be the best place to push her original song agenda on , as well as not see the other Glee clubbers roll her eyes. Really, she just didn't want to have to watch Finn and Quinn make eyes at each other the way she'd seen in the hall earlier. She couldn't believe how Finn could be so friendly and engaging with her one minute, and then melting under Quinn Fabray's gaze the next. She was jealous of Quinn and how she controlled boys with her coy looks. Rachel could never pull that off, although she'd tried in the mirror many a night. She ended up just looking scary or overly dramatic, or even ill.

As the rest of the Glee club filed in, Rachel was pleased to see Finn walk in with Mike, Tina, and Mercedes. Finn was talking to Mike about basketball trades, and Mercedes and Tina were checking out Tina's nail polish color and giggling. Sam and Santana, or "Samtana" as the club now called them came in, attached by the mouth. Puck came in drooling after Lauren Zizes, and Quinn, Artie and Brittany came in next talking about Figgin's announcement about locker slamming. Mr. Shue came in and immediately said "Rachel, we are still not doing original songs. Now that that's out of the way, I've found good potential material for regionals!"

Rachel slumped down in her seat as she heard Santana snickering behind her. She was too distracted by that to notice Finn, who had sat next to her. Finn hadn't sat next to Rachel in Glee since they broke up. Finn was smiling at Rachel when she glanced at him, and she straightened up realizing that her pouting and slouching wasn't attractive. Finn laughed watching her sit up, of course thinking the opposite of what Rachel presumed – he thought she was adorable when she pouted.

wrote something on the dry erase board. "ADELE" it read. He asked "Does anyone know who Adele is?". Brittany raised her hand and said "Isn't A Dell a computer?" and he went right over her comment to say "Close! Adele's CD was just released on the web today, and I've been listening to it since this morning!" to which the Glee clubbers whispered about how she was probably a one-woman Journey cover.

"New Directions – I think we have some good material here for regionals, now listen up!" and with that, started the first song.

Feedback please! I have no idea if this is good, bad, in between, or terrible! Give me clues/hints. I've written Chapter 2 and made a good start on Chapter 3, but am looking forward to your feedback in order to proceed! Thank you! :)