At Eighteen Come Dance With Me

by Coralfly

Alternate history. What if Finn gave into peer pressure, flipped the rent-a-loo, and didn't rejoin glee club, and Mr Schuester became an accountant? A look into his senior year and prom night.

Title: At Eighteen (Come Dance With Me)

Pairings: Finn/Rachel, Finn/Quinn

Rating: R

Word Count: 5031

Disclaimer: Glee is the property of Twentieth Century Fox and affiliates and not mine.

Spoilers: Pilot although there is a little bit of borrowed canon history from Showmance.

Summary: Alternate history. What if Finn gave into peer pressure, flipped the rent-a-loo, and didn't rejoin glee club, and Mr Schuester became an accountant? A look into his senior year and prom night.

Author's Note: Inspired by the song 'At Seventeen' by Janis Ian.

AT EIGHTEEN (COME DANCE WITH ME)

The motel room was dark with only the flickering yellow VACANCY sign out front casting any light in the room. Finn sat on the bed, his back pressed against the headboard and the white sheets crumpled around his waist. His hands gripped the cotton because he needed something to hold onto. His breath sounded loud so he tried to stop breathing – held his breath for a good minute before he began gasping so that didn't really work.

Finn tried to concentrate on the motel room instead so he didn't have to think about the way the air sucked in and whooshed out whenever he took a breath. He played a game of 'I spy' with himself and he used to love the game when he was ten and he was in the front of his mom's car pointing and calling out. He could just make out the outline of the two bottles of sparkling wine and the empty plastic cups tossed across the room. One bottle was by his jacket and the neck of the other bottle was sticking out from under his boxers. His Prom King crown sat on top of his boxers and the bottle of sparking wine; one of the fake plastic blue jewels was coming unstuck with only a string of glue keeping it on the crown.

His heart had been beating really fast but now it was starting to slow down, everything was starting to slow down. His breath didn't sound so loud anymore and maybe he wasn't really breathing anymore. And now everything seemed still, like in one of those batshit crazy dreams he had sometimes since sophomore year, and Finn thought that maybe time had stopped or whatever.

He heard it then – a soft moan – and somehow he had blocked out the sound of the steady even breaths coming from the small warm body next to him. He turned his head right, real slow like, and then he saw her. She was mostly buried under the sheets but he could see the familiar dark brown of her hair peeking through the covers. Finn snapped his head back left and closed his eyes real tight until his whole face was scrunched up. And it was totally a dream because he had thought about that voice soft and low and moaning way more often than he would ever have liked to admit. But this wasn't real, wasn't real. His fingers clenched the sheets, so tight that his knuckles went pale and he trembled.

Carefully he opened one eye and craned his neck back to the right. She was still there. He shut his eye again and opened it again. Still there.

Shut.

Open.

There.

Shut. Open.

There. There. There.

Another moan escaped her mouth and his body went rigid and the body next to him was shifting, rolling, and there was one arm flinging against his chest while a leg was thrown across his lower body.

And now all Finn could see was skin. Lots and lots of skin. Soft and smooth skin and the leg on top of him was long and awesome and lead up to an amazing butt and then her hips curved into a tiny waist and if Finn moved the sheet just an inch or two down he could totally see breasts.

He didn't really mean to but Finn was a dude and all and his hands had already pulled the sheet down before he could even really think.

Finn was staring at breasts. Like real, actual breasts. Boobs. Boobies. And there was no bra, no clothes, just skin. They were kinda small. But they were breasts. 'Sides the rest of her body was smoking.

And oh shit! he was hard again. He shouldn't have perved on her breasts while she was sleeping, even though any dude would have totally done the same thing unless they were into dudes or whatever. But Finn wasn't into dudes. He definitely, totally dug chicks. And oh shit! there was a naked chick in the same bed as Finn. A naked smoking hot chick with naked breasts and Finn couldn't help but take another look.

It was wrong and creepy and he knew it, plus he was now painfully hard and ready to erupt.

It was wrong because Finn had a girlfriend.

It was wrong because Finn had a girlfriend who he had just cheated on.

Wrong because Finn had a girlfriend who he had just cheated on, and had lost his v-card.

Wrong because Finn had a girlfriend who he had just cheated on, and had lost his v-card to Rachel Berry.

And now he totally wanted to have sex with her again.

-o-

There were posters everywhere.

It was cool but also kinda creepy how Finn couldn't walk like anywhere in the school without seeing a picture of himself. The picture was one that Quinn had made him take a few months ago. She had made him wear this blue dress shirt that she had made him buy because she said it made him look kinglier or whatever. Puck said he looked like a whipped pansy and maybe Finn's aim might have been a little off when he threw the ball during practice the next day. It wasn't like he would actually hurt his bro. Plus he kinda agreed with Puck even though Finn would rather do homework for like the rest of his life before ever telling Puck that.

Quinn had the posters specially done. On the left half of the posters were pictures of Finn and on the right half were pictures of Quinn and at the bottom of the posters in big red and white letters – McKinley High's school colors – were the words: FINN AND QUINN FOR PROM KING & QUEEN!

'I want everyone to remember that the two of us belong together,' Quinn explained. 'I will not be made Prom Queen without you. I refuse to have any of the other losers who were nominated as my King. We were meant to be Senior Prom royalty. I've been planning this since sophomore year and nothing is going to ruin it.'

Finn nodded as Quinn spoke. He had been dating Quinn Fabray since the end of their freshman year and he had gotten pretty good at timing his nods so it seemed like he was actually listening. The truth was Finn didn't care about Prom or that his favorite shirt was flannel and that it didn't make him look kingly, even though it was kinda expected that he did care. So he got really good at nodding and doing whatever Quinn said and that made Quinn happy and it was just easier.

'Are you listening to me, Finn?' Quinn asked as she continued her speech. 'Now I've just given you a list of things that you need to get for Senior Prom. Do not screw this up.'

Most of the time when Quinn talked Finn would tune out. He had a lot on his mind, okay. Like how he had to keep his grades up this year and do homework and stuff because he had actually managed to get a football scholarship and okay, so it wasn't Notre Dame or anything, but dude it was still college. And how his doctor had told him he had to drink these pink protein shakes to keep in shape but Finn had totally heard from Brittany that Coach Sylvester drank them because they were like this magic potion that did stuff to your body and now Finn was kinda worried he was going to turn into some she-man. Like he didn't need his body more messed up than it already was. Plus getting to the next level of Halo 3 was a real bitch and that totally required a lot of thought, okay.

And sometimes when he saw a wheelchair or a girl dressed all in black or Puck and the rest of team throwing some kid in the dumpster or when the Cheerios made fun of some fat kid, Finn would think of his old Spanish teacher and what might have been.

And sometimes when he saw a tiny brunette storming down the hallways with an orange slushie stain on her white shirt – and Finn could see the outline of her bra, which was all kinds of awesome but also not because the slushie thing was not cool despite what Puck said – he would think about how it was kinda freaky but also really nice how she used to stare at him. But Rachel Berry hadn't looked at Finn since sophomore year.

When Finn recalled Artie's screams and the thud of the rent-a-loo as he completed the first roll, sometimes Finn thought it was real hard to look at himself in the mirror.

-o-

He was kissing her. He hadn't meant to. But Rachel had woken up. Her eyes had been these narrow slits that made her lashes look impossibly long because she was still half asleep and her lips had been large and pouty and then wet when she licked her lips, and suddenly Finn needed to feel the softness of her mouth against his again.

Finn pushed her body into the mattress so she was naked and underneath him. His hand crawled up the flat of her stomach to the side of her breast and then he was touching and squeezing. His thumb played with her nipples because they were rosy and hard which was kind of amazing when the rest of Rachel was soft, so incredibly soft.

She squirmed beneath him and one of her legs was draped around his and her nails were scraping his back. Every time she moved, his whole body throbbed down there and Finn couldn't think.

Shit. He needed to think, damn it.

But her body was rubbing against his and he could feel how wet she was. When her tongue started to trail along his skin, Finn's mind went blank. His body was moving, bucking against her, and he was probably leaking because he was thisclose to exploding.

'Wait,' Rachel breathed.

He stopped – and it like physically hurt to stop – and pulled his face back to stare at her. There was probably this dumbshit blank look on his face because Rachel let out this gentle half chuckle, which was totally turning him on but then, right now, everything about her was turning him on.

'We need protection,' she told him and then pressed a couple of quick kisses across his chest.

And, oh yeah. Oh shit. Protection. Finn knew he needed to think.

There was a rip of foil and Finn wasn't sure if it had been him or Rachel who had grabbed the condoms from his wallet.

When Finn pushed into Rachel, her thighs parted and his mouth attached to her neck, it didn't feel wrong.

-o-

Prom sucked.

Quinn was mad at him, which was totally not his fault by the way. So he hadn't rented a limo but it had cost several hundred bucks and Finn didn't have that kind of money lying round. He had his car cleaned out instead, which Finn hadn't done since like ever.

And yeah, he hadn't gotten that bottle of champagne like Quinn wanted. But the dude at the store had said sparkling wine was the same thing as champagne and they only had different names because the Europeans were uptight asses. Plus it was a 2 for 1 deal on the sparkling wine, which was a total bargain, and it was made in America and it was made this year. Everyone knew buying American was better. And who bought old stuff anyway? The champagne that Quinn had wanted him to buy was probably past its used-by-date so he was only thinking of her health. Plus everyone liked the latest stuff. Like Finn wouldn't buy a PSP-1000 when he could get a PSP Go.

Besides, it was not like Finn had meant to step on Quinn's toes during their official dance as the newly elected Prom King and Queen. Quinn knew he was a crap dancer and he had apologized for that like fifty times already.

When Finn had complained to Puck that Quinn was acting like a total bitch, Puck had been no help at all.

Puck had simply shrugged and clapped him on the shoulder and said, 'Chick's probably on the rag. Tough break, man. Guess that room you got at that fancy motel won't be seeing any action tonight. You could totally give me the keys if you like.'

And that was when it hit Finn. Quinn was upset that he hadn't splurged on the limo and the champagne but Finn had gone all out on the motel room. He had booked a room at the nicest motel in town weeks in advance. After all, Finn had his priorities – that was the right word, wasn't it? – straight. If he told Quinn about the motel room then she would stop being mad and looking like she was ready to rip out his balls and everything would go back to normal.

Finn pulled Quinn aside, kissing her on the cheek – Quinn hadn't let him kiss her on the mouth the whole night which was how he knew she was super super mad – and whispered, 'Look, I know I screwed up but I want to make it up to you. I got us a room at the Comfort Inn and…'

Finn never got to finish his sentence.

'I can't believe you, Finn,' Quinn screeched. 'Are you deliberately trying to ruin Prom for me? There is no way I am going to sleep with you. I'm President of the Chastity Club for gods sakes.'

'I know that,' Finn said, 'but isn't there a rule or something that you can't graduate high school if you don't get laid at Prom? And we need to graduate high school, Quinn. Otherwise we can't go to college and I have my football scholarship to think about and you have your cheerleading scholarship.'

'There's no such rule!' Quinn hissed as she stalked off. 'And I don't want to see you for the rest of the night.'

Finn trusted Quinn and she was smart and all but he guessed she couldn't know everything. Because Puck and the other guys on the team had told him, real serious like, about the rule so it had to be true.

So now Finn was sitting in the choir room totally bummed because he wasn't going to graduate from high school because he was probably the only loser in the school who couldn't get laid on Prom night. He banged a drumstick hard against the cymbal enjoying the loud clang it made. Prom sucked and he couldn't go home because his mom was going to be so disappointed when he didn't graduate. She had been so excited about the football scholarship and now that all meant nothing.

Finn moved to hit the drums again because he needed the noise but stopped midway when he heard the scream and the choir room's doors swung open.

'Leave me alone, Jacob!' Rachel shouted. 'I'm not going to sleep with you. Not now. Not ever.'

The kid Jacob with crazy clown hair and glasses leapt forward to grab Rachel as if he hadn't heard a word she said. There was a loud rip as Rachel's green dress got torn and Finn was suddenly moving, using his too big body to block Rachel from the dude.

'Look, this isn't cool,' Finn said. 'I know the rule is harsh and all and it would totally blow not to graduate but you can't like force Rachel to sleep with you.'

He could feel Rachel's fingers digging into his arm and the kid Jacob was still standing there and she must have been really scared. So Finn threw the dude his badass glare and straightened up to his full height. It totally worked because the kid hurriedly backed away and left the room. Finn turned around so that he was face to face with Rachel Berry and touched her on the arm. She squeaked and jumped away.

'I didn't mean to scare you,' he said, trying to keep his voice soft and low. 'I just wanted to check and see that you were okay and stuff.'

She straightened up, taking a couple of deep breaths that came out more like sobs, and murmured, 'I'm okay. Thank you for your chivalry, Finn.'

'Uh, that's okay. Um, chivalry's a good thing, right?'

She laughed and it sounded real and Finn thought it was the nicest sound he had heard in a long time.

'Yeah, chivalry is a good thing,' she told him as she sat on the piano seat. 'It means you were being a gentleman. That you weren't acting like some uncouth, prehistoric, misogynistic caveman who thinks that if a girl accepts his invitation to attend a dance that it is also an implicit invitation to get into her pants.'

'There were a lot of words you used just now that I don't really understand,' Finn said, taking a seat next to her. 'But if you were saying that that Jacob kid was a real ass then I agree. Even if it was because of the rule.'

Rachel's brow furrowed and her hands were twisting the green silk of her dress as she asked, 'You mentioned that before. Something about a rule. What rule were you talking about?'

'Quinn didn't know about it either,' Finn nodded. 'Maybe it's something they don't tell chicks or it doesn't apply to them or something. But the guys on the team told me that there's a rule that if you don't get laid on Prom night then you don't get to graduate.'

Rachel stared at him for like half a minute before she was bending down and covering her mouth. A noise escaped from her throat and it sounded kind of strangled and Finn rushed to her side, rubbing circles round her back.

'I'm sorry,' he pleaded, 'I didn't mean to remind you of Jacob. I'm sorry. Don't cry. Please don't cry. I'm not good with crying girls.'

Rachel pulled her head up and moved her hand away from her mouth and then he heard it. Giggles.

'I'm not laughing at you,' she said. 'It's just there's no such rule, Finn. The boys on your football team were probably just playing a juvenile prank on you. Jacob Ben Israel wasn't acting out because of the rule. He was just acting typical and true to form, as a real jerk.'

'So I'm going to get to graduate from high school?' he asked her dumbly.

'Yeah,' she answered. 'But aren't you and the Prom Queen, Quinn Fabray going to you know?'

'Nah. She's mad at me. Plus she's the President of the Celibacy Club and she made me join. So it's not like she's let me have sex with her or anything.'

'You're part of the Celibacy Club?'

'Yeah, it's no big deal. Only it kinda is because I'm a dude.' The words were spilling out from Finn's mouth and talking to Rachel Berry was easy.

Rachel nodded like she understood and said, 'I think celibacy while a nice notion is archaic and ineffective. We have all these hormones driving us to do things and ultimately teenage boys and girls want to have sex.'

His brain fizzled with Rachel's words and he couldn't help asking, 'You want to have sex? Uh, I don't mean with me but you want to have sex with other people, not me, you know like in general?'

She burst into another bout of giggles and Finn thought he could get used to hearing the sound of Rachel laughing.

'Yeah, I want to have sex,' she answered. 'Not like I've ever had sex before but I would like to. Just not with Jacob Ben Israel. And with the right person, y'know?'

'Yeah, I know.'

'And Quinn Fabray is the right person for you?'

Finn shrugged, 'I dunno. I thought so. I mean she has been my girlfriend for almost three years and it is kinda expected. Although there's the whole celibacy thing and waiting until marriage. And I'm only 18 so I'm not really even thinking about marriage right now. I love her, I guess. But I dunno. She's always riding my ass and I'm not the smartest person so it's like good for me. Like I need the push. But sometimes, yeah, I dunno.'

'I only agreed to go to Senior Prom with Jacob because he was the only person who asked me,' Rachel confessed. 'I thought about going by myself. I actually seriously considered it but how pathetic and humiliating would that have been. So I agreed to go with Jacob because he was the only boy who asked.'

'But couldn't you have gone together as a group with your friends?'

'What friends?' Rachel scoffed.

'Y'know, Tina, Mercedes, Artie and Kurt? Your friends from glee club,' Finn stated.

'That was in sophomore year, Finn. And we were hardly friends. Once you and Mr Schue left, the club just died out. I tried to keep it alive for a bit and act as interim director but I was too overbearing and controlling. A real dictator,' Rachel explained bitterly.

'Oh. Well, you can be a little intense.'

'Nobody likes me, Finn. It's okay, you can say it – I'm used to it.'

'I like you,' Finn said, the words coming out of his mouth before he had a chance to think.

'Oh,' she gasped, staring at him with wide, wide eyes before she ducked her head down and stared at the floor.

He watched as a blush creeped onto her cheeks and he was overwhelmed with how adorable and hot – sneaky hot – Rachel Berry was. She was wearing this green strapless dress that hugged her curves and her breasts looked incredible. His heart started beating faster and Finn could suddenly remember what it was like to hear Rachel Berry sing.

'Do you ever think about what it would have been like if Mr Schue hadn't have left? Like if things had been different? Because I think about it like all the time. Glee club made me happy, y'know? But I was too chicken shit. And sometimes I think, did I make the right choice? Like would everything be different, better, more?' he asked her, holding his breath because he was terrified of her answer but he needed to know.

'Sometimes,' she whispered, and her eyes darted up to meet his.

He inched closer to her – slowly, carefully – his thumb and index finger cupping her chin as he tilted her head slightly back.

'You called me talented once,' he murmured, his mouth less than an inch away from her lips. He could feel her breath, short and shallow, blowing on him.

'You are,' she sighed.

'You called me different once,' he said and he was really just mouthing the words because he was so close to her that each letter was a brush against her lips.

'You are,' she said.

And then Finn was kissing Rachel, one hand around her shoulders while the other hand snaked up her waist. Their tongues dueled and he was starting to run out of breath but he couldn't drag his mouth away from hers. He ran his fingers up and down her arm and her skin was smooth against his fingertips. Her body seemed to mould against him and he was pushing her forward because he needed to get closer, to be consumed with Rachel.

They hit the piano and the notes clashed and they broke apart panting.

'I'm sorry,' he stuttered. 'I shouldn't have forced myself on you. I'm really, really sorry, Rach, and I understand if you never…'

She broke the rest of his sentence with a firm kiss on his lips.

'You know, I could be wrong about that rule,' she said, eyes darting to the floor and then back at him in a way that made Finn's whole body stiff. 'And we both need to graduate from high school.'

They didn't say a word as he guided her to his car. She fidgeted in the car on the way to the motel, playing with her dress, peeling the labels on the two bottles of sparkling wine. He put the radio on but Finn didn't really hear the music. His foot was a little heavy on the pedal but he couldn't bring himself to ease up until he was pulling up at the motel and he killed the engine.

He took a couple of deep breaths, his fingers gripping the steering wheel and it felt rubbery in his hands.

'Just wait here a moment,' he told her, staring at the motel entrance.

Finn got out of the car and headed to the check in and he was careful not to look back at the girl sitting in his car. Finn wasn't sure if he didn't look back because he was afraid he would back out or because he was afraid that Rachel would bolt.

He was going to do this.

Finn returned with the keys clutched in his hand and the shape of the key was probably imprinted in his palm. He opened the passenger door, his arm wrapping around Rachel's waist as he helped her out of the car.

When they got to the room the door closed with a too loud bang and they both flinched. His hand moved to flick on the light switch but she grabbed his wrist and shook her head.

'Leave it,' she said. 'There's enough light coming through from the vacancy sign out front. It makes things more atmospheric.'

He slid out of his jacket and rolled up his sleeves before popping the cork on the first bottle of sparkling wine. They drank from the plastic cups that Rachel had remembered to grab from the back of his car.

'This is really good sparkling wine,' she said in small quiet voice.

The left side of his mouth twitched up and then he was smiling at her. Finn liked how Rachel wasn't on his case about how the plastic cups weren't classy enough. He really liked that about her.

She took another sip of the sparkling wine and then giggled into her cup. Finn knew Rachel was small – like extra, extra tiny – so it probably took a lot less alcohol to get her drunk and she had drunk three cups already.

'Are you okay?' he asked, sliding his hand on her bare shoulder.

'Yeah,' she replied, 'just that you still have your Prom King crown on.'

Finn made a grab at his head, pulling the crown off.

'I forgot I had it on.'

'I figured,' she said, 'and it looked good on you, appropriate, like it belonged; so I didn't deem it requisite to mention it until now.'

Finn stared at the crown with its plastic blue jewels and he had the urge to see it on Rachel. He propped it on top of her head and it was a little too big so it dipped to the right. Still, it looked good against her dark brown hair.

'I like it on you,' he told her. 'It looks good on you. Like it belongs.'

It was the truth. He did like the crown on Rachel. Sitting on top of her head, it was as if the crown had always belonged to her. And Finn liked that.

He liked Rachel.

He liked how she was looking at him with those dark brown eyes that seemed to see right through him and it used to freak him out. It used to be too much until Mr Schue became an accountant and he rolled that fucking rent-a-loo and she didn't look at him anymore.

But Rachel Berry was looking at him now.

And there was really only one choice that Finn could make, so he moved.

-o-

In the morning, they didn't talk, which was kinda weird. But what did you say to the girl whom you had just spent the entire night exploring every inch of her body? Finn didn't think that 'I really like the mole on your inner thigh and I think it is really hot' was the right thing to say.

He drove her home and he really hoped that her dads didn't own a shotgun or anything because Rachel looked like a mess. The kind of mess that screamed 'I just had sex!' and would get Finn killed before he graduated.

'I'll call you,' he blurted, when the car was parked outside her house.

'You don't have my number, Finn,' Rachel reminded him.

'Oh, yeah,' he said, looking down and fiddling with the ends of his shirt. He didn't bother to tuck his shirt in this morning.

There was an awkward pause and they sat in his car without saying a word for a good ten minutes. Finn had watched the clock in his car tick over while Rachel sat real straight and real still like a statue in the passenger seat.

'I'll see you at school,' she finally offered instead, and he wanted to pretend he couldn't hear the smallest of hurt in her voice.

Finn wondered if he should have asked for her number. Instead he just nodded. Even though he kind of wanted to tell her it wouldn't be the same because at school there were people – all those other people – and he couldn't be like himself. He kind of wanted to tell Rachel not to go but that was messed up because Quinn was still his girlfriend. So he settled for nodding his head and not saying a word.

Rachel opened the passenger door and she was out of the car and half gone before she turned around and shot a flash of a not quite smile at him.

'Thank you,' she breathed, before she slammed the door and disappeared.

Finn laid his head against the steering wheel and took great gasping gulps of air like he was only just remembering how to breathe.

In his car parked outside of Rachel's house, Finn wondered what it would have been like if everything was different. If he had made a different choice.

(end)