Title: Life is Crayola Colored
Pairings: Finn/Rachel, Finn/Puck (friendship), some Finn/Quinn, a smidgen of Finn/Brittany and mentions of ensemble and other canon pairings.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Glee is the property of Twentieth Century Fox and affiliates and not mine.
Spoilers: Everything up to season 1 and some season 2 spoilers.
Author's Note: My first foray into the Glee fandom. What started off conceptually as a Finn/Rachel summer fic basically morphed into a Finn character study fic with a side serving of Finn/Rachel and copious amounts of Finn/Puck friendship. I think I like the boys too much.
LIFE IS CRAYOLA COLORED
i. tumbleweed
The summer is approaching. Finn lies on his front lawn, limbs sprawled across the small green patch. His body has grown too many inches and there's all this extra length and he doesn't know what to with his arms and legs. He wishes for a manual because he's a dumbass and he doesn't even know how to walk anymore.
His mom calls it 'growing pains' and ruffles his hair with a smile. He still lets his mom play with his hair – the feel of her fingers running through the strands is soothing and Finn totally gets why dogs and cats like to be petted – just not in public and never when Puck is around. His mom still gets this absent faraway smile on her face whenever she winds his hair around her index finger and her eyes flick to the glint of silver in the middle of their living room and Finn thinks it is the closest to happy that he ever sees his mom.
Finn worries though because growing pains sounds painful.
-o-
Puck laughs every time he stumbles and instructs, 'Dude, just stand there.'
Finn gets good at standing where instructed, folding his arms, tucking his legs, hunching, trying to work out how to fit into his body, to fit into his surroundings. He likes leaning against a wall, both hands tucked in his jean pockets.
'Dude, you're like tall,' Puck exclaims during the last month of the term. 'If you're lucky, you might even reach my height. And you're like an inch taller than Karofsky and Azimo now. Karofsky almost shit himself when he saw you the other day. We're gonna be total badass freshmen when school starts. Just follow my lead. I've got your back.'
-o-
He follows Puck who doesn't have a dad too (not anymore) but seems to know all about being a man. Sitting cross-legged in Puck's room, his thumb hitting the buttons as red splashes across the screen and he totally pwns Puck's ass. The bedroom door is shut and they lean against the door as Hannah thumps against the wood and whines, 'Lemme in. I wanna play tooooooo. It's nofair. I'm telling Ma, No-ah.'
Puck throws his controller down when his player explodes in a burst of color; the plastic makes a ker-lunk as it hits the carpet.
'This is seriously lameass,' Puck says.
Finn shrugs, stuffs his mouth with three chocolate-chip cookies, his thumb still hitting the buttons as he makes it the next level. He wonders if he can fit a fourth cookie in his mouth.
'I've signed us up for football camp during the summer,' Puck announces. 'Hot chicks dig football players. We'll totally rock this. All you gotta do is stand there.'
Finn is nearly fourteen and he's still not quite sure about girls. Girls don't do any of the fun stuff like play video games and sports or read comics. All they do is giggle or whine like Hannah is doing right now. Finn's mostly glad that he's an only child. Plus, Puck could almost be his brother anyway. Puck says that girls are good for kissing but Finn has never kissed a girl. (Puck had his first kiss when he was ten.)
Finn supposes that Quinn Fabray is kinda pretty but she's bossy and she's always going on about God and church.
-o-
Football camp is all kinds of awesome. Sean Fretthold is all kinds of awesome. Sean is older and he knows things. Finn learns how to run, to throw, to kick, to tackle and when he gets sacked he feels alive, alive, alive. He feels like a man.
The coach pulls him aside during training and says, 'You've got quite an arm on you, Hudson. You'd make a decent quarterback. You just need to learn to be a little bit more assertive, son. The quarterback is the leader.'
Sean gives him the thumbs up and later they run through plays, run through the rules, the steps, the routes. Sean talks about scouts and full ride scholarships and he has plans for like the future. Finn concentrates, nodding his head, his hand gripping his pen as he copies everything down. His head hurts and he's tired the next morning but on the field it all comes together and when the whistle blows he knows how to move.
At the end of camp, Sean claps him on the back and tells him, 'You're gonna be all right, Finnster.'
-o-
On the bus back to Lima, Puck is sitting at the back of the bus with some of the other guys from camp. Finn ends up sitting somewhere in the middle near Mike Chang, Matt Rutherford and Kyle Dermott, who is one year older than them and already in high school. They chat about video games and comic books. Kyle talks about his part-time job and how he's got $300 saved up already – THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS, shit, the things Finn could do with three hundred dollars, like buy a house for his mom – and Kyle's leaving town as soon as he finishes school. Finn thinks that Kyle might be the coolest person ever, after Sean. Even cooler than Puck and that's pretty badass cool. Kyle's definitely the richest person that Finn knows.
The conversation drifts off and Finn presses his face against the glass and watches as the picture framed in the window takes on familiar shapes and colors as the bus turns off the Interstate.
The bus is on Bellefontaine Avenue and they pass the Lima Memorial Hospital and it always makes him think about war veterans and his dad and that makes Finn feel sad.
He counts the first Kewpee Hamburgers and they cross the river and the second Kewpee Hamburgers comes into view when Finn spots the green expanse of the gardens and the fountain at St. Rita's Medical Center. Finn remembers the neighbors taking him to Triumph when he was eight and he fell down a tree and badly twisted his left foot. The nurses checked to see that he hadn't broken any bones and then mostly ignored him – there were too many patients, too much to do, not enough doctors – but they did give him a red lollipop and Finn was careful to take small licks, his right hand clenching onto the stick as he tried not to cry. His mom rushed in twenty minutes after and the plastic chairs in the waiting room were hard and uncomfortable. They finally left the hospital three hours later and Finn was glad he didn't have to sit next to the old man who smelt funny anymore. It is the only time that Finn has been in the hospital, other than when he was born, of course.
At the Heritage Elementary School – the closet school to the town center – the bus comes to a full halt and everyone spills out of the bus and there are moms and dads and cars everywhere. Finn and Puck stand three feet apart waiting for Finn's mom.
'Sorry she's late,' he says to Puck.
Puck shrugs and kicks a pebble and asks, 'Do you have any gum?'
Finn fumbles through his jeans and a couple of quarters fall on the ground. He bends down to reach the coins and lurches forward when he overestimates the distance between the coins and his hands.
'It's cool, bro,' Puck says as he eyes a blue Ford and a group of guys from camp that includes a couple of sophomores and juniors. 'I think I'll just hitch a ride with Mitchell. My place is on his way and then your mom won't have to drop me off.'
Puck punches him on the shoulder and swaggers off before Finn can say a word. For a second, Finn thinks he can smell beer and cigarettes and growing up on Puck but then he loses the smell. When Finn manages to grab the quarters and finally stand upright, Puck is gone.
-o-
His mom arrives, forty-five minutes late; she's a rush of apologies and stories about a disaster at work and a demanding boss. Finn's mom works downtown, less than five minutes drive away, so there must have been a big problem at work. There's always a problem at his mom's work and Finn has gotten used to her being late for stuff. It's hard on her, he knows, but she always makes it in the end. She grips him tightly into a hug and he welcomes the feel of her – warm and encompassing.
They have roast for dinner even though it's too hot because it is his favorite.
Finn can still feel the potatoes and gravy in his stomach when he lies down on his front lawn. He clutches his football in his hand, randomly twirling it and lightly tossing it up and down every now and then. He likes the feel of the worn leather against his fingertips. A string or two is slightly loose but Finn doesn't care; he thinks the football is perfect as it is. (It used to belong to his dad when he was in high school and he played football.)
Christopher Hudson is a war hero and Finn thinks that's all kinds of awesome. Except Finn remembers the nights (when he is meant to be tucked asleep) and he sits outside her bedroom door and his mom is angry, her face scrunched tight, shouting to his dad in the silver urn in their too big double bed, 'You just had to go and be a damn hero, didn't you?'
Lying on the front lawn as the stars begin to twinkle in the sky and the football solid and real in his hand, Finn hopes he grows up to be just like his father.
But maybe not a hero.
ii. unmellow yellow
In his freshman year, Finn makes starting quarterback in the last two games of the season, mainly because Tommy Pearson breaks his arm when all the seniors in the football team decide to try rafting along the Hawg Creek. Everyone at school calls it the Great Rafting Disaster of 2008 and Coach Tanaka gets super super mad. Suddenly all the freshmen and second string players are on the playing field in a real match. Finn finds himself calling plays and people are actually listening to him and doing what he says and he thinks he kind of likes it. His throws are wide and long and Puck sacks everyone who tries to get in the way of his boy.
The William McKinley High football varsity team – the school is too small and underfunded to have a JV team – wins the last two games of the season. It is their only wins for the entire season. (It doesn't matter that one of the teams has half its players off-field due to some super flu bug. Or that the quarterback, running-back and the offensive line from the other team get into a punch out with each other during the second half the game; it is something to do with a girl. They are still wins.) Finn is a star and everyone claps his back and high fives him when he walks down the corridors in school. There are even seniors who know his name.
When Finn gets a starting position on the basketball team, Brittany squeals, throwing her arms around him and kissing him real hard. Her lips are soft and she tastes kinda fruity like strawberries or something. He freaks out a little when Brittany's tongue darts into his mouth and he's not sure where to put his hands. His arms flail and his elbow bangs against a locker. Brittany pulls away just as Finn thinks he might be getting the hang of it all – and girls might actually be good for kissing and stuff – and there is a slight pop when their lips separate.
'Thanks for making out with me, Finn,' chirps Brittany. 'Santana said you would be awful. But you're like super cute so I don't care.'
Finn's just glad that the gym has emptied out and that no one (hopefully) saw him with Brittany.
He tells Puck later though as they're shooting hoops.
The ball hits the backboard and swirls round the ring before sinking in and Finn says, 'I made out with Brittany today.'
'Cool,' Puck grunts as grabs the rebounding ball, shoots and scores. 'Brittany's hot. The thing she does with her tongue. So hot.'
'Yeah,' he nods, bouncing the ball three times before shooting.
The ball hits the rim and Puck goes in for the rebound. Finn sighs.
'Your aim is off,' Puck tells him. 'Dude, you need to be quicker on the uptake. Once you're in the zone, I know you can score.'
Finn knows that Puck isn't really talking about his basketball skills. And while Finn would never say it to Puck's face because they're dudes and all, it is nice having a best friend who knows him.
-o-
Everyone finds out anyway.
Gossip travels fast in McKinley High and by second period Finn still can't get rid of this kid with crazy hair and glasses asking if he and Brittany are an item now.
'Beat it, Israel,' Puck barks, coming out of nowhere.
The kid is gone in like seconds.
'I hate that kid,' Puck growls, clenching the slushie in his hand. 'Always got his fuckin' nose in other people's business.'
Finn notices that Puck's mouth is a tight, twisted line and his eyes take on a familiar gleam as he talks. Before he has a chance to remind Puck about impulse control, his best friend is dumping the icy green contents of his cup over some girl with brown hair in a short skirt and leg warmers. Finn thinks he should feel bad, maybe say something to Puck, but everyone is staring and pointing at the girl and no one is talking about him and Brittany anymore.
-o-
During third period English, Quinn Fabray takes a seat next to Finn. Her thigh presses against his when she leans over to correct his spelling. He spends half the class watching for that glimpse of skin whenever the red and white pleats of her skirt parts as she shifts positions in her seat.
'It's i before e except after c, Finn,' she giggles, tossing her head so that her ponytail bounces.
The strands of gold are so shiny that Finn has to sit on his hands to stop himself from reaching out and touching Quinn's hair.
It is the first time that Quinn Fabray has ever spoken to Finn. He wonders if it means they are friends now, that if he is officially popular. He wonders if Quinn is only sitting next to him because she heard about Brittany.
-o-
'I think we should date,' Quinn tells him a month before school ends.
Finn is shoving books in his locker when Quinn speaks and the words don't seem real, don't make sense. His mind goes blank, his fingers slack and his body is numb. He doesn't even really feel his History textbook as it thuds onto his foot.
Quinn is like seriously the hottest girl in school, and she knows it.
'Well, are you going to ask me out or not, Finn?' she demands, a hand on her hip and an impatient look on her face as she draws out his name.
'Will you go out with me?' Finn manages.
The words feel hollow like they don't belong to him. It feels like Quinn has just told him the answer to a test question so he can repeat it when the teacher calls on him in class and not look dumb.
Quinn nods her head with a pleased, approving look on her face as she stands on her tip-toes and presses her lips against Finn's cheek.
'Breadsticks at 7,' she tells him. 'Pick me up and don't be late.'
By the end of the day, everyone knows that Quinn and Finn are dating.
-o-
Once, during the summer, Finn takes Quinn bowling as a surprise. Her eyes narrow and her hand is on her hip and Finn is really familiar with this particular pinched look on Quinn's face.
'This is seriously lame, Finn!' she screeches. 'I can't believe you would ruin what should have been a perfectly good date to take me here. No Cheerio would be caught dead here. Bowling is for old people and losers.'
After that Finn isn't allowed to plan anymore of their dates. They spend most of their dates at parties held by the popular kids at school or at Quinn's house instead – she has a pool and a hot tub. They spend most of their dates praying and the truth is having a girlfriend isn't really what Finn thought it would be like. Nothing like how Puck describes it.
-o-
It is the middle of the summer and Finn is still suffering from growing pains. There are all these extra inches that Finn doesn't know quite what to do with and he's actually the same height as Puck now.
Puck and Finn spend a lot of nights hanging out at the 7-Eleven convincing people to buy them beer. They totally have this good cop/bad cop routine down which is awesome and like always works.
'Dude, it won't work if you're the bad cop,' Puck tells him more than once. 'No one is going to believe that the Puckmeister isn't a total badass. 'Sides, nobody does the puppy dog face like you do. People fall all over that shit.'
They sit on the curbside with a couple of open cans between them. Finn's not too sure that he likes the taste of beer – it is kinda bitter – but if he downs it really fast, in two or three gulps, then he doesn't really taste anything. Plus he makes the most awesome burps after a couple of beers. He can even burp the alphabet up until the letter 'j'. He's totally working on making it all the way to 'z' one day.
Puck sometimes gets into these moods. Like he needs to be an extra dick sometimes to be okay. He's crushing the beer cans into tiny metal balls tonight and tossing them at the cars parked nearby.
'I hate this fucking town,' Puck starts, 'with all the fucking losers and deadbeats. Like what the fuck do they know.'
Finn polishes off his beer and hands his empty can to Puck to crush.
'I know they were all talking shit at temple last week. Ready to pounce and my mom just had to sit there and take that. Well fuck that.'
Finn is on his fourth beer and Puck's words begin to blur. He hears deadbeat dad and ran off and left all this fucking debt and something about Puck needing to work. His beer is getting warm and sweat trickles down Finn's forehead. It is really hot out tonight and he kind of wishes they were at Quinn's because at least she has a pool although the last time he visited Mrs Fabray was saying it needed to be cleaned before they could use it again.
'The Fabrays need to get their pool cleaned out,' he slurs to Puck. 'You should clean Quinn's pool.'
Puck nods, reaching for another can of beer, 'Yeah. I could totally do that. Thanks, dude.'
They finish off the last of the beer and Finn fiddles with the plastic rings from the two six-packs that they got one of the community college kids to buy. The plastic wraps around Finn's wrists like handcuffs and he wrenches his hands apart testing his strength.
'Hey, it's Mitchell and the others!' Puck shouts, staggering towards 7-Eleven.
Finn wobbles forward to greet his teammates, the plastic rings still hanging off his left wrist, and the next thing he knows they're in Mitchell's car with cartons of eggs and more beer in the backseat.
'Stop here,' Puck tells Mitchell.
The car pulls up hard along the curb and Mitchell, Azimo and Adams are out of the car and tossing eggs at some chick out for a run, listening to her ipod, in hot pink shorts and a hot pink tank top. Finn thinks there's a lot of pink.
'It's Berry,' Puck growls. 'Fucking batshit crazy chick who's always singing and smiling. Smiling and singing. And never shuts the fuck up. Chick annoys the hell out of me.'
Finn watches as his best friend leaps out of the car and tosses half a dozen eggs at the girl. He stumbles out of the car because he knows everyone is waiting for him, for the quarterback. He takes a step forward but his legs feel unsteady so his left hand clutches onto the side of the car. There's an egg in his hand and he doesn't remember putting it there but it is in his hand anyway and then he pulls his right arm back and throws.
The egg is a white blur forming a perfect arch as it glides through the air landing with perfect aim on the girl's back. The yolk leaves a trail of yellow streaks along her pink tank top and there's shell in her brown hair, on her skin and shell pooling around her feet. He notices the way the egg white slips down the curve of her butt and suddenly he's taking in each and every one of her curves and it comes to him that the girl is actually hot. And Rachel Berry – he somehow remembers that her name is Rachel Berry – is standing there, quiet and still and she isn't singing or smiling.
Finn's stomach lurches and then he's bent over the sidewalk puking his guts out.
'There better not be puke on my car!' Mitchell yells at him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Rachel Berry move, dashing off like a wounded animal in those nature shows he watched in Biology last term.
-o-
Puck cleans the Fabrays' pool and it is the start of his pool cleaning business. Double sessions for football begin and Puck tells the football team about these smokin' MILFs who like to pay him for extra cleaning services. Everyone high fives Puck and he boasts about how he's booked solid for the rest of the summer. Football training is the only time Finn really sees Puck anymore.
Quinn's also super busy because she's set to make head cheerleader once school re-opens and nothing is going to screw up her plans. But any time that Quinn is free, Finn has his pre-season training; so they're lucky if they even get to go out on a date.
Finn spends his spare time over at Sean's instead. Mrs Fretthold always looks super tired whenever he comes over but she always greets him with a warm smile. The first few times that Finn came over it was awkward. He sat in silence as Sean stared stonily at the wall, at the ceiling, at the door, at anywhere but Finn. One afternoon, Mrs Fretthold left one of the windows open and there was a truck parked outside the street with the speakers on at full blast. Bruce Springsteen blared through and Finn didn't realize that he'd started to hum.
They both stared at each other shocked after Sean sang, 'We gotta get out while we're young.'
The sun hit Finn in the face, blinding him for a moment and he could barely make out the unmoving, solid form of his friend. Finn blinked a few times before cupping a hand over his eyes and, when his vision cleared, he saw the smallest of smiles crack onto Sean's face.
They belted out the chorus, their voices blending in harmony, 'Baby, we were born to run!'
So Finn takes to regularly visiting Sean, and each time Finn comes back he tells him about training and conditioning and Sean talks about therapy and conditioning. Sometimes they pour over statistics like this sick, brutal hobby: estimated population of 37,829 people; median income for a family is $32,405; 22.7% of the population is below the poverty line; the percentage of college graduates is 9.5%; only 2 William McKinley High seniors left the State of Ohio to go to college last year. The words Lima and Loser belong together and sometimes the words echo in his head over and over but then Sean talks about his latest therapy session.
When he leaves, Sean tells him, 'You're gonna be all right, Finnster.'
And in that moment Finn believes Sean.
-o-
He doesn't tell Quinn about Sean and she never asks what he does with his time when he's not with her. He thinks their current dating arrangements are working pretty well for them. Finn likes Quinn. She's hot and all, a Cheerio, popular and he really likes kissing her although he wishes that she would let him get pass first base.
So Finn is a little surprised when Quinn says, in between her third cup of punch at Santana's end of summer party, 'I see more of Puck, who cleans our pool every week, than I do of you. You're meant to be my boyfriend. I love you. Do you even love me, Finn?'
Quinn's eyes are big and wide and her bottom lip trembles and Finn thinks she looks like an angel or whatever with her blonde hair falling across her face and her cross gleaming around her neck. Something stirs inside of him and he thinks that this might be the real Quinn – the one he only gets to see. Finn knows everyone expects them to get married one day – he can't really think that far ahead because he's like only fifteen – and he's one lucky dude to have a girlfriend like Quinn Fabray. He feels like a total douche when he looks at her clutching her cup tightly in her hand.
He quickly downs his beer, tossing the can aside before blurting out, 'You're really hot, Quinn, and I think I love you.'
Her arms wrap around his neck in a tight hug and they stumble to a corner away from the rest of the party. He kisses Quinn and she doesn't even protest when he sticks his tongue in her mouth. She even lets him put his hand on her breast for the first time ever (although only over the top of her Cheerio uniform, which she still wears even though it is summer and school is out) and it is the most awesome thing. Finn would have totally told Quinn he loved her earlier if he had known it meant he would get some breast action. He erupts in his jeans when Quinn starts grinding against him and he's praying that she doesn't notice.
Quinn notices.
'I got a little excited,' Finn mumbles and he is sure the tips of his ears are red.
There's a brief moment where Finn thinks Quinn looks almost grossed out but then she's smiling and there's a glint in her eye that Finn becomes familiar with once Quinn is made head cheerleader at the start of their sophomore year.
-o-
By the time school starts, Finn has outgrown Puck. His mom fusses and worries and they head to Walmart to buy him new clothes during the Back to School sale. When he walks into the halls of McKinley High, wearing his new jeans and sweatshirt, Finn is still trying to get used to how everything now fits on him.
iii. razzle dazzle rose
The summer is ending. Finn lies on his front lawn, his arms wrapped around the tiny bundle that he calls his girlfriend. Her hair is splayed across his chest and he relishes the feel of her body: warm and soft and pressed against him. When he breathes, Finn takes in the smell of grass and dirt and sweat and the hint of grapefruit from Rachel Berry's bodywash.
Rachel is wearing a super short jean skirt and a white tank top that rides a little higher up whenever she moves. He draws circles and random patterns across her flat stomach with his index finger and uses her bellybutton as the dot in the 'i' of his name when he scrawls Finn & Rachel on her skin. Finn likes touching Rachel. Months and months of not being able to touch her – because of Quinn; because of Jesse St James; because he is a complete and total ass – and now he can't get enough of her.
He cranes his neck to look down at her, pushing her new bangs aside to see her smiling at him. The right side of his mouth twitches up, stretching his lips until he is smiling right back at her. Rachel's eyes are dark and melting and she sees him – really sees him – and the impulse to kiss her is too strong so he bends forward and captures her lips.
Kissing Rachel is like music: his heart beats faster and he knows exactly what to do, like he has a talent for it, and he never wants to give it up.
His left hand creeps up, under her tank, cupping her breast and Rachel has the best response ever: she moans and her back arches so she is pressing her lower body into him. He sucks on her neck, lightly scraping his teeth against her skin. He peppers kisses across Rachel's collarbone and he can see her chest heaving, the swell of her breasts, and the white lace of her bra. Finn is all hardness and spark and he has to pull away because it is too much.
They lie on the grass panting and Rachel runs her hands up and down his arms. Finn has started weightlifting again as part of his pre-season training and Rachel totally digs his new muscle tone. Sometimes he trains in front of her, heaving the weights up and down with his arms. Rachel's brown eyes get really extra intense whenever she watches his sweat bead down and then she does this thing where she licks her lips and he's dropping the weights and he has an armful of Rachel instead.
Now, lying on the grass with insects buzzing around them, Rachel starts to sing, crooning softly like a caress in his ear:
'Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say "I love you" right out loud.'
He closes his eyes and tangles their fingers and he is still hard that it is almost painful. But it is a good kind of pain.
-o-
Finn visits Rachel's house at least three times a week and he's totally used to the sight of all that pink now and the smell of potpourri and Barbara Streisand's voice every time he steps through the doorway.
Rachel comes over to his house a lot too. His house is always empty whenever his mom goes on a date with Burt Hummel, which is at least every Friday night. Once in a while Kurt will come over and he usually drags Mercedes and sometimes Tina (before she disappears off to Asian camp) along.
It doesn't happen very often though because Kurt says, 'There's only so much of the diva I can take.'
Finn pretends he doesn't see those quick, half looks that Kurt throws his and Rachel's way. Finn and Kurt are mostly okay and Finn doesn't want to have to deal with another messed up friendship.
Sometimes Rachel will come over and sit with her legs tucked behind her on the worn couch listening to him thrash away on the drums. Her head will bop up and down and he finds their bodies moving to the same beat.
When he takes her up to his room, it is small and cramp but she calls it cozy. She likes to lie on his bed – and shit he has a girl on his bed and it is Rachel Berry and his mind might explode from the pure smokin' awesomeness of it all – and count the cowboys on his wall.
'I like your cowboy wallpaper,' she confesses in this soft low voice that makes his whole body throb. 'It is very masculine. It makes me feel like I'm actually in a boy's room. In your room. Which is amazing and unbelievable if you really stop to think about it and…'
Finn places his hands over Rachel's cheeks, cradling her face, as he quickly swoops in for a kiss, because it is amazing and unbelievable and he doesn't want to think. He just needs to feel her mouth against his.
-o-
Finn and Rachel see Sean once a week and they normally hang out until Sean gets sick of them.
'I would throw something at the two of you if I could,' Sean grumbles as they leave. 'There's only so much of your lovey-dovey shit a dude can take.'
-o-
Their first fight after getting together during Regionals occurs in the last few weeks of summer. Tina returns from Asian camp and the glee club and the football team find out that she's dating Mike Chang now.
'What about Artie?' Finn asks Rachel for the fifth time.
'Artie was a deplorable boyfriend according to Tina,' Rachel tells him for the sixth time. 'His priorities were obviously skewered since he was constantly standing Tina up to play one of those infantile video games that you boys are bizarrely fond of. Halo of Duty or something like that. Mike Chang, however, is the epitome of a gentleman and the perfect boyfriend. Tina says his kissing skills are impeccable and he has rock hard abs.'
Finn's a little worried about the way Rachel's eyes sparkle and the high breathless hitch in her voice when she describes Chang's so-called rock hard abs. They can't be that awesome. Still he makes a note in his head to add an extra twenty sit-ups to his training.
'I think we should show our full support for the new couple,' Rachel declares.
'But what about Artie?' Finn asks again.
'Finn Hudson, you should just stay out of it,' Rachel scolds and it still freaks him out a little how well she knows him. Rachel is totally a little bit psychic.
'But Artie's our friend,' he protests.
'And Tina and Mike are our friends too,' she counters.
'I just get what Artie's going through, ok,' Finn growls, crossing his arms, because why can't Rachel understand.
Rachel's eyes flash and he realizes that she does get it, which may not be a good thing for him. She walks off in a huff hissing, 'Well, I empathize with Tina.'
They don't talk for the rest of the day, which really really sucks. Rachel comes over to his house the next day though with a batch of freshly made sugar cookies.
'These aren't an apology,' she informs him. 'I just felt like baking last night.'
He nods and drops a kiss on her forehead before stuffing his mouth with two sugar cookies. They don't talk about Artie, Tina or Mike and it is like a silent agreement to let the matter drop.
-o-
Ninety percent of the time Rachel is talking or singing. She is full of excitement and ideas and opinions and her babbling words wash over Finn in a comforting haze.
But there are moments when she is quiet, when she doesn't want to talk or sing. Rachel will curl up in his arms and Finn will talk. He finds the words tumbling out of his mouth in a steady stream as his thumb rubs the side of her hip. He tells her about his mom, his dad; about school and football; about growing up and life; about how he wants to be better, to be more; about dreams he never knew he had.
She squeezes his hand when he talks and Finn feels brave.
-o-
Finn doesn't see Quinn during the summer break.
-o-
He sees Puck during football training and it is almost habit to high five his ex-best friend, to tell him about Rachel and how he almost made it to third base the other day. He focuses instead on throwing the ball hard and long and, as it sails pass the 50 yard line, Puck sacks a couple of players hurtling towards Finn and it is almost like old times. They nod at each other in passing and they are not really okay but they're teammates and fellow glee club members.
When practice ends, Puck is surrounded by Adams and a couple of incoming sophomores. Mitchell graduated last year and now Puck is the one herding the group into his car. Finn doesn't care that he's not in the front seat of Puck's car talking dumb shit with the other dudes because Rachel Berry is hanging out by the bleachers waiting for him. She gives him a big wave and her mouth is stretched into a wide toothy grin. She is wearing tiny black shorts and a polka dot top that ties around the back of her neck and makes her boobs look awesome.
Finn is too busy planning the different ways he can get Rachel out of her top that he doesn't have time to think about Puck.
-o-
One evening, just before school starts, Finn decides to stop by the 7-Eleven as he is driving home from Rachel's.
His feet move without Finn actually thinking and then he's sitting down on the curbside as Puck hands him an open can of beer. The streetlights are low and dim, casting muted shadowy light over Puck. There are four cans of beer crushed into tiny metal balls littered around Puck's feet.
Finn gulps his beer and they don't talk.
-o-
On the last day of summer, Finn takes Rachel bowling again. She uses the pink ball and Finn has pizza and Rachel has the house salad. When Rachel gets a strike, he grabs her by the waist swinging her round and round as she wraps her legs behind his back and the mirror ball floods them with dazzling lights. He kisses her first, insistent and greedy as he tastes the tang of vinaigrette on her lips. His tongue slides into her mouth and he groans as his hands settle on the curve of her butt.
The assistant manager threatens to throw them out so they decide to leave ten minutes after.
He drives further out east than necessary, crossing the river and passing the Memorial Hospital, and stops the car at the edges of town, just before the Interstate. The Interstate stretches out like an endless tarmac path. It is quiet and empty. The whole town is quiet and it is only the lights shining through the windows of the houses that give away the presence of life in Lima, Ohio.
Finn pulls Rachel to the backseat with him and she rests her head upon his shoulder while his arm winds itself around her waist. The night is bright and Finn watches Rachel gazing at the sky. He thinks it must be a metaphor – like the gold star after Rachel's name that she's always going on about – the way all those millions and millions of stars are twinkling down upon them.
Finn twirls a strand of Rachel's hair around his finger and he likes how it curls, falls and then comes loose so he repeats the action a few hundred times. He shifts their positions so she's perched on his lap and her feet dangle just below his knees. It is the perfect fit and Finn is finally settling into his height.
He strokes her arm and drops kisses on her ear and down her neck. Her cheeks are flushed pink and her lips are glossy and slightly parted as she hums. In the car, there's no one yelling instructions out at him, telling him where to stand or what to do. In the car, it is just Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry and he doesn't need a manual.
In his hands, Rachel is solid and real and Finn thinks this is growing up.
(end)
Music:
Bruce Springsteen 'Born to Run'
Joni Mitchell 'Both Sides Now'