Rory Flanagan winced as Finn Hudson patted his bleeding nose with a piece of tissue. Rory had just played his first game of Dodge Ball. Everything was going great! He was having so much fun. That is, until Santana and some members of The TroubleTones attacked him with balls at the end of the game.
Rory was humiliated. He was fighting back tears, not wanting to cry in front of his new friends. And the worst part was, his nose was bleeding. Badly! Rory stayed on the floor, covering himself just in case any other balls came flying his way.
"Stop it! Stop it! For god's sakes, he's bleeding! Maybe that's how the others treat us around here, but we don't do this to each other. We're better than this!" Kurt said at Rory's side.
"God, calm down grandma!" Santana said.
"This game's over!" Kurt said, helping Rory up.
Kurt and Finn lead Rory to the empty choir room.
"I'll go get find some tissue." Kurt assured them, leaving the room.
Finn set up two chairs, so they could be face to face.
"I'm so sorry, Rory." Finn said.
"It's ok." Rory said. He touched the blood around his nose, and then looked at it on his finger. He swallowed hard. Rory had a weak stomach when it came to blood.
"No. It's not ok. Santana did that to you because of me, and I feel awful!" Finn frowned.
"I found some! I stole it from the janitor's closet but whatever." Kurt said, handing Finn the tissue.
"Thanks, Kurt." Finn nodded.
"No problem. Is it ok if I leave and go change my clothes?" Kurt asked.
"Yeah, sure. I'll help Rory get cleaned up." Finn said.
"Ok. Bye! Text me if you need anything." Kurt said, and exited the choir room.
Rory winced as Finn patted his nose with the tissue.
"Ow." Rory frowned.
"Sorry." Finn whispered
"Finn, may I ask you a question?" Rory asked.
"Ok. Go ahead." Finn said.
"Why don't people like me? Did I do something wrong? Did I do something to offend them?" Rory asked, trying not to cry again.
"You're different. That's why people don't like you. That's why they don't like any of us, really. If you're not athletic at this school, they treat you differently." Finn said. "And they mostly don't like you because you're not from here and have a different accent and act different from everyone else."
"Oh." Rory looked down at his shoes.
"Don't be sad. You being different makes you special." Finn smiled as he up wiped the rest of Rory's blood.
"Thanks Finn." Rory blushed.
"Now you're as good as new!" Finn said, throwing away the tissue.
Rory patted his nose, making sure there was no more blood. He stood up and put the chairs back, then went over to Finn.
"Thank you for being so nice to me, Finn. You've made me feel like I truly belong here." Rory said, and then hugged Finn.
"No problem." Finn said, hugging Rory tighter. Neither of them would admit it, but they didn't want to pull back. They just wanted to stay there, holding each other.
Rory was in love with Finn. He had been since Finn stopped the hockey players from beating him up. But he knew that Finn was straight, and that they would never happen. Rory wanted to stop liking him, he really did! But every day, he fell more and more in love with Finn.
Finn was confused. He had been for a long time. Yes, he was in love with Rachel. But, sometimes he would find himself checking out Puck's ass in the locker room, or sneaking into Kurt's room to look at his magazines with half naked men on the cover.
He was in love with Rory. There was no doubt about it. They had been spending so much time together, and they learned a lot about each other. Finn was hanging out with Rory more than Rachel lately. He would actually lie to Rachel saying he had homework or football, but would really be going out to hang with Rory. Finn knew it couldn't happen. They couldn't happen.
Rory and Finn slightly pulled away from the hug, Finn's arms still around Rory's waist and Rory's hands still on Finn's shoulders. They didn't say anything to each other. They didn't even move. Rory looked into Finn's eyes, and smiled softly. Finally, Finn leaned in and kissed Rory.
"He likes me! He actually likes me!" Rory thought.
"His lips are so soft…" Finn thought.
They pulled away at the same time, Rory smiling while Finn looked shocked at what he just did.
"Finn." Rory said, trying to catch his breathe.
"That was a mistake." Finn said quickly, letting go of Rory.
"Mistake? What?" Rory asked.
"I'm sorry." Finn said, and ran out of the room.