Chapter 1
Finn sat alone in the choir room. There were about ten minutes before glee rehearsal started. Showing up early had become a habit of his lately. He liked sitting in the choir room. It gave him time to think, and it was one of the few places where he really felt comfortable.
There was another reason for his early arrivals, however. He wanted to see Rachel. He barely got to spend any time at all with her ever since she started dating that Jessie St. James kid. Finn missed Rachel. He missed her smile, her laugh, and the way she used to look at him, eyes wide and sparkling. What he missed most, however, was singing with her. Whenever Finn sang with her, it was like they were the only two people in the world, and they always had a special connection whenever they sang. At least, he though they had a connection.
He never got to sing with Rachel anymore, though. What with Jessie getting all of the male solos, Finn felt as though he was fading into the background. So he'd started coming early to glee rehearsals in the hope that one day maybe Rachel would be there early as well.
It was a few more minutes before he heard approaching footsteps. He ran a hand through his hair, attempting to make it presentable, and straightened up in his seat, looking towards the door. His heart sunk when he saw Rachel and Jessie walk in, with Jessie's arm wrapped around her waist.
"Oh. Hi Finn," Rachel said when she noticed him sitting there.
"Hey Rachel," Finn said weakly. He absolutely hated Jessie St. James. There was something that wasn't right about him. It seemed fishy that he'd just decided to transfer schools so soon before regionals. Finn also hated that Jessie had taken him out as male lead. Finn had been looking forward to regionals for so long, and now he would barely get to sing there. Sure, singing back up was fun, but it was nowhere near as much fun as singing lead, especially with Rachel. But Jessie was the one who got to sing with Rachel now. Whenever Finn had to watch them perform together, with himself just swaying pathetically in the background, he felt like he might burst into tears at any moment. He wanted to be with Rachel so badly, but now she was totally smitten with Jessie.
Rachel and Jessie sat down in the two chairs farthest away from Finn. He slumped down in his seat and tried not to listen to them excitedly discussing the many wonderful aspects of "Les Miserables." Finn sat staring at the door, waiting for someone, anyone else to walk in so that he could be distracted from his current feelings of jealousy and self-loathing.
Another minute or two passed before Artie and Tina came in. Finn jumped up to go talk to them. Once everyone else had arrived, including Mr. Schuester, they all took their seats.
"Hey guys!" Mr. Schuester said excitedly. "I've got a great theme for this week."
"Yeah, what is it?" Mercedes asked impatiently.
"Well," said Mr. Schue, "can you guys think of a band that took the world by a storm and redefined music as we know it today?" Everyone in the club was excited to hear what band their teacher was talking about. "Buckle up, everyone! We're doing The Beatles!"
Everyone was excited. There was a smattering of applause and then everyone started talking about which songs they should perform. Mr. Schuester finally managed to calm everyone down long enough to tell them that each of them had to come up with a song by The Beatles and perform it for the group. Finn was excited to go home and figure out which song he would do.
After rehearsal, where everyone pretty much goofed off and they did some sloppy group versions of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "Revolution", Finn was driving home. He slowed down when he noticed someone that looked familiar walking up ahead. It was Rachel. He couldn't understand why she was walking home. She lived pretty far away from the school, and it was starting to rain lightly. "Rachel!" Finn called to her.
She turned her head, looking surprised to see him. It was starting to rain harder, so Finn grabbed a sweatshirt from the passenger seat of his car and ran out to meet her. "Here, put this on. It's got a hood!" Finn handed over the sweatshirt.
"Thanks Finn," Rachel said sincerely, while pulling the hood over her head to keep it semi-dry.
"What are you doing walking home?" Finn asked her.
"Well, Jessie usually drives me home but he had to go somewhere, so…" Rachel trailed off. She knew that Finn felt uncomfortable with the whole Jessie situation and she didn't think it wise to talk too much about him.
"Here," Finn said, walking back to his car, "I'll give you a ride home."
"Oh, no, I'm fine really," Rachel protested. She didn't think it would be wise of her to spend alone time with Finn, especially since she was dating Jessie.
"I'm not letting you walk twenty minutes in the rain," Finn said in an authoritative tone, "You'll get sick, and then you might not be able to sing." This was what got through to Rachel. Finn was right, she couldn't risk losing her voice so close to the competition.
"Ok, fine." Finn opened the passenger side door for her, and waited until she was settled in to close it. "Thanks," she said quietly. Rachel knew things like this were dangerous. Finn's consistent chivalry had been one of the reasons she'd fallen in love with him before. She couldn't, wouldn't let herself end up in that situation again. As Finn settled in next to her, Rachel turned her face to look out the window.
"So," Finn said, and she turned warily to face him, "what do you want to listen to? There are a bunch of CDs in the seat pocket behind you." Rachel, deciding that, at the very least, music would make this ride less awkward, started flipping through Finn's CDs. While she was doing this, Finn took the opportunity to just look at her. He smiled at how obscenely big his sweatshirt was on her, and yet how she looked as though she totally belonged in it. Her hair was wet and sticking to her face, and her skirt and knee socks were pretty much completely soaked. Finn thought she looked more beautiful as ever, maybe even more so than normal, and that was saying something.
As Rachel went through the music, she was surprised that Finn had certain CDs. Pulling out the soundtrack for "Wicked", Rachel held it up to Finn and asked, "Why do you have this? It doesn't really seem like your type of music." Finn shrugged and Rachel noticed him blushing a bit.
"Um," he said, eyes fixated on the road, "I just picked it up a while ago."
"Really?" Rachel just couldn't believe that Finn would have a car full of show tunes.
"Ok, fine," Finn surrendered, "I got it that week when you and Kurt had the diva-off for "Defying Gravity". I figured, if it was so important to you, I should know what the fuss was all about. I thought if you liked it so much, it had to be pretty good."
Rachel smiled shyly, surprised by Finn's answer. "And? What do you think of it?" she asked him looking over the familiar song titles.
"It's actually pretty good," Finn said, smiling. "Although," he paused, looking over at Rachel, "that Idina Menzel chick has nothing on you."
Rachel's heart now felt as though it was going to burst. It had been beating hard before, but that was nothing compared to now. "Really Finn?" she looked up at him with wide eyes.
"Oh come on Rach, there's no competition," Finn's eyes came to meet hers. "You're like the most talented person in the world."
Rachel was in a trance. This wasn't the first time she had experienced this either. It seemed to always happen whenever she was with Finn. He would say something completely charming without even intending it, and she'd practically melt on the spot. But no, she couldn't let herself get pulled into this. She was dating Jessie, a cute and talented guy that she actually cared about. Despite Finn's romantic comments and stunningly sexy physique, which was currently dripping with water, only adding to the effect, she had to remember the reality before her. She was dating Jessie, and Finn had broken her heart more times than she could count.
Rachel tore her eyes away from Finn and turned back to the CDs. In addition to the "Wicked" soundtrack, she also spotted the original Broadway recordings of "Les Miserables", "Spring Awakening", "Gypsy", and "Funny Girl". She couldn't believe Finn had gone out and bought all of these. She had only mentioned some of them once or twice in passing. He must have really listened to the things she'd said. Touched by the gesture, she said nothing but smiled to herself and pulled out a CD that caught her eye. It was "Journey: Greatest Hits".
She placed it into the CD slot and the first song came on. When Finn heard the opening bars and realized what CD it was, he turned up the volume. They both sang along to "Only the Young", dancing as much as they could while confined in their car seats.
When the second track, "Don't Stop Believin'", came on, they both smiled widely. This was the first song they had ever really sung together. Before all the drama had started. Before baby gate, before Jessie. They had sung these words to each other months ago, not having any clue how complicated everything would get later.
Finn started singing his part. Rachel let his voice wash over her, waiting for her own solo to come up. They sang through the song perfectly, and when it ended they both knew the other had felt it. Their undeniable connection that seemed to intensify tenfold whenever they sang together.
By that time they had reached Rachel's house. "Well, I guess this is it," Finn said. Rachel nodded. Looking out the window at the pouring rain, she groaned. "Oh, here," Finn reached to get something, "take this." He handed her an umbrella so that she could get to her house relatively dry.
"Thanks Finn," Rachel reached for the door handle. Finn watched as she opened the umbrella and ran up onto her porch. He waited until she was safely inside before he drove away.
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When Finn got home, he immediately began working on his Glee assignment. He wanted the song he chose to really express how he was feeling. While going through all of his Beatles CDs, he saw several songs that he thought would be good. He made a playlist on his iPod of the top ten and decided that he would narrow down the choices tomorrow. Pressing play on his speakers, he heard the first song begin. He opened his mouth and sang, putting everything he'd been feeling into his performance, even though nobody was there.
Look what you're doing, I'm feeling blue and lonely, You got me running and there's no fun in it, I've been waiting here for you, Please stop your lying, you've got me crying, girl, What you're doing to me.
Would it be too much to ask of you,
What you're doing to me?
Why should it be so much to ask of you,
What you're doing to me?
Wond'ring what you're gonna do,
Should you need a love that's true,
It's me.
Why should it be so much to ask of you,
What you're doing to me?
Finn eventually fell asleep, listening to these songs, all of them reminding him so strongly of Rachel, the girl he loved. The girl he was determined to get back. Hopefully, when he sang to her in Glee later that week, she would finally understand just how much he cared about her.
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Rachel spent the evening locked in her room. She needed time alone to think, especially after today. She found herself thinking about her situation with Jessie and Finn. Jessie was near-perfect. He was cute, talented, and had the same driving ambition to become a star that she did. It seemed as though she had everything in common with him.
But then there was Finn. The tall and sometimes awkward boy who had been the object of her obsessions for the better part of a year. Rachel and Finn simply had a connection. She couldn't explain it, or really even understand it, but she knew it was there. But Finn had broken her heart. He had lied to her and hurt her so many times. That's what made her truly confused about what she should do. She knew that her feelings for Finn were still there, and if she was being completely honest with herself, they were stronger than her feelings for Jessie, but she was just too scared that Finn would hurt her again.
She turned over to face her iPod speakers. Scrolling through the artists, she stopped at The Beatles and hit play. The first song came on and she began to sing along.
Look what you're doing, I'm feeling blue and lonely, You got me running and there's no fun in it, I've been waiting here for you, Please stop your lying, you've got me crying, girl, What you're doing to me.
Would it be too much to ask of you,
What you're doing to me?
Why should it be so much to ask of you,
What you're doing to me?
Wond'ring what you're gonna do,
Should you need a love that's true,
It's me.
Why should it be so much to ask of you,
What you're doing to me?