This story takes place after 'Britney/Brittany', but before 'Grilled Cheesus'. For my own sanity, I'm going to pretend that Rachel didn't wear her Finn necklace in 'Britney/Brittany', and since she didn't wear it for long, we can just ignore that ;D
Thanks in advance for reading, and reviews are really, really appreciated! ~Tribbith
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, or anything associated with it. One day though...
They'd done it; Rachel and Finn were the official power couple of glee club. Yes, that phrase had been tossed around a few times, but they'd fulfilled the invisible terms and conditions, which meant that they were destined for bigger and better things.
"Uh, can you explain it to me again Rach?" Finn asked slowly as they walked to their next class, his huge, goofy hands somehow not crushing his girlfriend's. "I don't really get what the big deal is."
"It's one thing to be completely and utterly devoted to each other Finn, but what we have is even more amazing. Do you really not understand the difference in our relationship?" Rachel gazed up hopefully, expecting to see sudden enlightenment on Finn's face; all that was present was confusion and a smudge of ketchup, which she hastened to remove.
"Nope," he admitted. "Does that make me a bad boyfriend?"
"Not at all. Let me remind you of a little fact." Rachel stopped him in his tracks so that she could address him properly. Regardless of the other students who were intent on barging into them both, Rachel stared solely into Finn's eyes. "Jessie's girl," she said simply, feeling no need for further explanation.
"What the hell? In case you didn't realise, I'm not a huge fan of St Jackass."
Rachel didn't usually condone such infantile insults, but she happily let that one go. "It's not about him. What did that song mean to you?"
Finn was in his head before he knew it, remembering the day when he'd poured his heart out for the whole club to see. The response had been amazing and the familiar rush of adrenaline was liberating, but none of that had compared to the tiny smile that appeared on Rachel's lips; that had been his goal all along.
"Awesomeness. I needed you to know how into you I was, is, I mean am. Wait, which word means currently?"
Rachel giggled slightly before continuing. "At the time, I couldn't really face the reality of everything," she whispered. "Jesse was perfect in every way." When Finn's face crumpled with her confession, she found her hands stroking his cheeks in a comforting motion. "Apart from one; he wasn't you, and never would be. Even though I didn't fall at your mercy straight away, the song was a wakeup call."
"A good one, right?" Finn asked (he was kind of lost in whatever Rachel was trying to say).
"Of course," she laughed, a bright smile pulling at her lips. "It just hit me today that we're much stronger than previously, since we've both performed a song for each other. That means we're officially in love, so congratulations."
Finn's eyes were out of focus as he realised the enormity of what Rachel was saying. "You're right," he said, dazed. "Your song made me feel really good about myself, and like, it made me wonder if it'll always be this amazing, you know?"
Rachel grinned from ear to ear. "I do know. The next big step is getting tattoos of each other's names." The two of them began to walk in unison towards Mr Schue's classroom, and though Rachel knew she was joking, Finn was thinking about which butt cheek would look the best with her name all over it.
Glee!
Spanish class dragged like crazy, even with Mr Schue as a teacher. It was weird for Finn, sitting in the classroom listening to the undistinguishable Spanish language; he felt like he should get special privileges or something, but after he'd failed to get away with napping during their assignment on the weather, he realised that Mr Schue was annoyingly unbiased, and therefore he hated that class just as much as every other class he had to take.
Naturally, his mind wandered. Rachel was right about the song thing, 'cause they'd both sung these amazing declarations of love, and that meant that they were on the track for success.
But they couldn't just stop there; two songs didn't make up a relationship, and Finn was determined to put all (okay, most) of his effort into the two of them. He wasn't sure if Rachel was joking about the tattoos, but he couldn't stop thinking about how awesome that would be. If she had the name Finn on her shoulder, or wrist, or hell, on her toe, it would be a symbol of their commitment, and it would be a way of staking claim over her. That was probably not the best reason in the world to want a tattoo, but as far as Finn could see, they were going to be together forever, and he needed to make sure that no one else could have her.
But could he have Rachel's name tattooed on him? That was different, because that would be a little, well... a little sad. It was different for guys, since only like, old, scary, hairy bikers had tattoos of their wives, and like a Hitler moustache and buck teeth, he was pretty sure he couldn't rock that look.
Spanish class was over before Finn knew it, and after that, he found himself in the cafeteria, being berated about his unhealthy choice of lunch by Rachel, even though he didn't remember paying for it.
"Finn, are you okay? You're very distracted today." Finn stuffed his mouth with a greasy burger so that he didn't have to answer her. She rolled her eyes while muttering about his lack of dining etiquette, and soon turned her attention to Mercedes, who was ogling some guy at the next table.
Finn felt sick, though that was probably down to the crap he'd practically swallowed whole.
No, he knew what it was; he didn't love Rachel.
Wait, of course he did! But at the same time, he'd found out that he didn't, because he wasn't man enough to get a damn tattoo of her name.
Oh God, if only she knew. Rachel had risked so much in trusting Finn with her damaged heart, and he was bound to wreck it further 'cause he didn't want her name on his body. How could he expect her to do that for him when he couldn't return the gesture?
"So, I was thinking that we should immortalise our relationship for the rest of time," said Rachel out of the blue. Finn wasn't sure when she'd started talking to him again, but the surprise of her words made him choke on his food; Rachel had to slap him on the back several times before he could breathe again. "Finn, you do know that teeth are made for chewing food, right?" she said with exasperation. She handed him her bottle of water and forced him to drink, waiting patiently until she'd deemed that he'd had enough.
"Sorry, thanks," he muttered, returning to the rest of his unappetizing lunch. "So, immoralising, that sounds fun."
"Immortalising; immoralising isn't a word." Rachel finished her salad, and after wiping her mouth carefully with a napkin, she turned her body to face Finn properly (whilst turning her back to Kurt, who looked less than impressed). "I was thinking something along the lines of-"
"Hey Puck, man, come and sit over here!" Finn suddenly yelled, cutting Rachel off before she could discuss tattoos. Puck looked taken aback while Rachel simply looked put out, but Finn decided that their break up should happen somewhere more dignified than the hellhole that was the cafeteria.
"Okay then," Puck said, walking awkwardly towards the table full of glee kids. His usual spot for lunch was either with the rest of the football team or beside the playing field, since the Cheerios didn't usually eat. With a look of scepticism, he sat himself opposite Finn and Rachel, glancing instantly down at his tray of food in discomfort. It was cool that Finn wanted to talk again, or whatever the hell he was playing at, but it seemed, well, weird timing.
"So as I was saying Finn-"
"It's awesome that Coach Beiste let me and Artie on the team, huh?" Finn said loudly. Man, he felt like such a douche, but he wasn't ready for Rachel's wrath just yet.
Puck nodded and forced some semblance of a smile. "Yeah, it's pretty cool. I mean, who's gonna want to tackle a kid in a wheelchair? We're gonna be unstoppable!"
"Totally, that's the plan anyway," agreed Finn. He didn't say anything as Rachel left the table in a strop, and instead continued to make small talk with Puck. Their previous problems were behind them now; having Rachel as a girlfriend (even if it wasn't going to last) helped put things in perspective, and the whole baby drama fiasco was finally in the past. With no more baby bump and no more baby, it was as if those days had never happened, and Finn was perfectly happy with that.
Glee!
Rachel stood in the girls' bathroom, staring miserably at her reflection in the dirty, oversized mirror; she hadn't done this in a while. A lonely tear trickled down her cheek, which she hurried to rub away with the sleeve of her sweater. What was Finn's problem? Things had been good between them, and after her rendition of The Only Exception, she'd assumed that they'd been closer than ever; in fact, it was the complete opposite. He must have been scared away by her overzealous approach to relationships again, but that didn't make much sense; earlier that morning, Finn had seemed more than happy.
"Boys," she muttered angrily under her breath. She refused to let any more tears fall over freakishly tall, stunningly handsome, adorably dumb Finn Hudson.
Glee!
Finn didn't see Rachel for the rest of the day. Well, okay, he saw her in his classes, but it was hard to apologise when he was being told to be quiet every five minutes, and even then, she refused to make eye contact. This made his day drag even more because he knew he was being a jerk, yet he didn't want to do anything about it; he figured that if he slowly distanced himself from Rachel, she'd just tell him to get lost, 'cause that's what she'd do if she knew the truth.
Finally, the bell rang, signalling the end of a really crappy day. Finn usually drove Rachel home in his rickety old car, but instead of waiting for him outside the classroom, she stormed off in anger, leaving him to feel guilty.
He had to be a man about it, and he couldn't expect Rachel to carry the burden on her own. He made his way home in a foul mood, ignored his mom when she offered him something to eat, and threw himself down on his bed, groaning into his pillow.
His cell started buzzing, which made him groan even more. Since becoming a member of glee, no one really bothered to call him. Gone were the days when people were desperate to hang out with Finn Hudson, and in were the days when the only person that cared was Rachel.
"Hello?" he muttered, not even bothering to put any effort into his voice. Break up by phone; real nice.
"Hello Finn, it's so nice of you to call."
Finn rubbed his eyes as he frowned to himself. "Rach, you were the one that called me..." He could hear her scowling through his cell.
"I know that, but you're the one who is supposed to be calling me, and I can't wait forever for your apology. If you want to break up with me then get it over with, even though you promised you wouldn't."
"Look, I..." He slammed his head against the wall as he tried to compose himself. "You were talking about tattoos earlier," he said with a sigh.
"Tattoos?"
"Yeah, when you said we needed matching tattoos or whatever, and how they'd immoralise-"
"Immortalise."
"Yeah, immortalise our love, right? Well, I don't think I must love you enough because I can't get a Rachel tattoo, I just can't!"
The other end of the phone was silent, apart from the quiet sobbing of his ex-girlfriend; Finn just wanted to curl up and die to have done with it.
"Finn..." she finally giggled.
"What the hell? You're laughing 'cause our relationship was a failure?" Man, he did notunderstand the way girls thought.
"You're adorable," she breathed in a weird, sultry voice that did crazy things to his stomach (and other parts of his body that he didn't need to think about right now).
"Rach, I don't understand..."
"The tattoo suggestion was a joke Finn Hudson. I would never suggest something so permanent until we're married, though it would probably be best to wait until I've carried all three of our children because my skin would stretch and disfigure your name, and that would be a travesty, especially if I choose to model semi-naked for some influential magazine in the future, or possibly for PETA if they choose me as their front woman."
Finn had stopped listening at the word 'joke'. It was a joke? Thank God! Seriously, she needed to learn how to tell a joke properly, 'cause he'd fallen for it hook, line and sinker.
"But what about the word beginning with i that I always get wrong? I thought you were talking about tattoos..."
"I was actually going to suggest that we have our photos taken in some cheap little booth as a bit of fun."
"I feel like such a moron," he said through gritted teeth. "Sorry I ignored you at lunch and stuff. I just thought that you'd hate me forever if I refused to have your name on my butt-"
"On your where now?" Rachel whispered in that cool, sexy voice again.
Finn gulped nervously, 'cause they'd never tried dirty talking before (though to be fair, this hardly counted as dirty...). "Uh, yeah, I guess my butt would be a good place to have your name 'cause when we... Wait, because if I'm naked with... no, uh... I dunno, I can't do this over the phone!" he half-laughed, half-winced. He could hear Rachel giggling madly, which was a good sign... hopefully.
"We'll have to try it in person sometime," she said in an annoyingly hot way; Finn felt himself tense up.
"Mmmm hmmm."
"I'll talk to you tomorrow Finn, I have to finish my Spanish homework. I love you."
"Love you too Rach," he said with a smile. Thank God for lame jokes.
Glee!
The week passed uneventfully. Rachel and Finn were as strong as ever, and though he'd kind of freaked out at the tattoo suggestion, Finn had just sucked it up because you had to do crazy things for the people you loved.
And some things were pretty crazy when you thought about it, like the surprise that Finn had been planning for a few days. Instead of dropping Rachel off at her house and making out for eleven minutes flat, Finn drove straight to his house, which elicited a few angry outbursts from the girl sitting next to him.
"Finn, you could have warned me that you were taking me hostage. I have too much work to catch up on without being distracted by you."
"Shut up for a second, I'm trying to be all spontaneous and romantic here." Rachel's mouth clamped shut as Finn produced a small, black box from his pocket. "Right, okay, just before I show you it, I need to say something first." He cleared his throat, and with a tiny, crooked smile, he looked into Rachel's eyes. "I know I freaked out over nothing the other day, and looking back I know that I was stupid and tactless and lots of other words that you could probably call me 'cause you're like a walking thesaurus..."
"You're not stupid Finn," said Rachel softly, but Finn didn't have time to argue with her.
"And after like, everything we've been through together, I don't even know why I panicked. Maybe it's because I never realised that we are going to be a couple for a long time, possibly forever, and it sort of snuck up on me when I wasn't expecting it. So yeah, I did some thinking, and I thought you might like this." He fumbled with the box, and as gently as he could, he lifted a delicate gold chain from its packaging. Hanging prettily was a simple yet sweet charm that read 'Finn'.
Rachel's jaw dropped as she read the necklace and understood the meaning behind it.
"I don't wanna be presumptuous... is that the right word?" Rachel silently nodded, so he continued. "But I'd love it if you could wear this. Then it's like I'm close to your heart all the time, you know? And it's a lot less painful than a tattoo." He held it suspended in the air, awkwardly waiting for Rachel to accept it. "You do want to wear it?" he asked with a hint of fear.
"I'd love nothing more than to wear that around my neck," Rachel whispered, honesty and appreciation oozing from every syllable. Shaking slightly, he fastened the chain, and with a huge sense of relief and admiration, he watched the charm fall against her skin.
"Right, I have to take you home now. I don't know why I even drove up here. Actually no, I was gonna surprise you in my bedroom, but after I thought on it, it sounded a little too seedy."
The two of them were silent during the drive back to Rachel's house; Finn didn't want to spoil the moment, and Rachel couldn't express her gratitude in words. They parted with a quick peck, and that was that.
Glee!
Finn called the next morning to tell Rachel that he wouldn't be able to drive her to school since he was running late. She dismissed it and told him she'd see him at school, ready for their first class of science together.
When he came walking down the hall towards her, Rachel smiled as she always did. When she saw that he'd written her name on his forehead in pen, she wasn't sure she'd ever been so in love.