Disclaimer: This Glee fanfiction is based upon the television show of the same name. All characters and situations other than my own are sole property of Ryan Murphy Productions and 20th Century Fox Television.
A/N: So I have never actually written a fic solely from Rachel's POV, and her voice is much harder to capture than Finn's; I hope I did it justice. (Unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine)
One moment they were all laughing and dancing, and the next minute people were shouting about a fight.
"You look beautiful, Rach." Kurt smiled behind her, placing one last pin in her hair. "Every guy in the room is going to wish you were their date."
"Thank you, Kurt." The reply was soft and almost sad.
Standing in front of the mirror, the petite young woman ran her small hands over the skirt of her dress; it was not the prom she imagined, but at least she was going with friends. She tried not to think about how much she wished that Finn would come walking through the door and tell her she was beautiful; it wouldn't happen though, especially after the debacle the week before. The constant tension in the choir room made everyone uncomfortable, and Finn seemed so torn all the time. He didn't speak to her much, if at all, and yet, he always seemed to be trying to tell her something with his eyes. Quinn shot daggers at her every time she looked in her direction, and Rachel honestly felt like if she came within fifty feet of Finn, and Quinn caught her, physical violence would ensue. More and more, she felt like whatever this thing was with Finn was threatening to destroy the club and damaging their Nationals chances, and she hated it. But she was trying so hard not to think about that tonight because tonight was prom night, and tonight she felt pretty for the first time in a long time. Shaking herself from the unhappy thoughts, she carefully fastened her necklace around her neck, the gold star and diamond flittered against her skin, and she allowed herself a small smile.
As she turned to hug Kurt, she heard Sam downstairs talking to Finn and Blaine, and she pulled in a deep breath; she and Kurt had convinced him that he shouldn't miss prom, and they'd gotten together they'd gotten Mercedes to chip in to surprise him with the ticket. No one made a big deal of his 'situation', and no one mentioned it unless he did. Prom was important, and she wasn't going to let him miss it, not when everyone else was going to be there. She slide her feet into her shoes, doing one last turn in the mirror as Mercedes smiled and laughed; she took the bright pink corsage her friend offered, sliding it over her hand and onto her wrist. Her hand trembled as she reached for the doorknob, and Mercedes reached for her hand, squeezing it gently; Rachel bit her lip. Having friends was still such a new experience for her, and the small gesture meant more to her than she could explain.
"He's down there." She whispered.
"Relax Little Diva, you are drop dead gorgeous in that dress, and McKinley's best dressed duo did your hair and makeup." Mercedes flashed a bright grin. "It doesn't matter if he's down there or not; besides, he'll just be picking his jaw up off the floor the minute he lays eyes on you."
"You think so?" She felt a flare of hope, but she quickly shook her head. "It won't matter; he's with her now."
"Yeah, well, that's his loss, and besides, everyone knows where he really wants to be." Mercedes squeezed her hand again, as if to say give it some time.
Jesse would be there shortly, and she knew that the tentative friendship she'd formed with her ex-boyfriend was a point of contention with Finn, even though he had no right to interfere with her friendships or dating life. Taking a deep breath, she followed Mercedes and Kurt down the stairs, and for a brief moment she felt like a princess, gliding into the room with a soft smile. Blaine clapped his hands, insisting she turn so that they could get the full effect of her 'transformation', and she did so with a genuine grin; she could feel Finn's stare, and she thought she heard him whisper 'wow'. But when she turned to face him, he didn't repeat himself, much to her disappointment, and she couldn't read his expression; part of her wished he'd stop looking at her because it hurt so much for him to stare in silence when he was with Quinn. Sam pulled her into a quick hug, whispering a thank you for helping him with prom, and when he released her, she swore she saw a flash of jealousy in Finn's eyes.
"It's a shame you're missing the limo ride with us, Finn." She tried to make her chipper tone sound less forced. "Mike and Tina should be here any minute."
"Yeah, we kind of have to ride with the rest of the candidates." He offered a smile she knew wasn't authentic, and it pained her to see him so unhappy. "You look beautiful, Rach. Just thought I'd let you know."
"Well, don't let her find out you said such a thing to me, Finn. She wouldn't like it if she found out you were calling 'manhands' beautiful again.I wouldn't want you to get into trouble." She couldn't keep the bite out of her tone, and she hated the way he winced.
"I'm sure St. Jackass will tell you how pretty you are; that is if he can get his head out of his ass." He snapped back, and it was her turn to wince.
"We discussed this, Finn." Her eyes narrowed dangerously, even though her voice trembled.
But she wouldn't cry, she was tired of crying because of him; if he could forgive Quinn her mistakes, then she was allowed to forgive Jesse, and it wasn't as if she'd ever date Jesse again anyway. She wasn't sure whether she saw guilt or jealousy, or perhaps both, in his eyes as he opened his mouth to speak, but before another word was spoken the sound of a horn interrupted them, announcing that the 'royal limo' had arrived. Rachel fought the urge to roll her eyes at the ridiculousness of it all, and she instead turned to speak to Blaine as Finn walked silently out the door. She hated this, all of it; now, she and Finn couldn't even speak without fighting, much less sing, and with Nationals rapidly approaching, they had to learn to get along. Rachel normally wasn't prone to violence, and she would never physically strike anyone, but sometimes she wanted to slap some sense into Quinn Fabray, who couldn't see passed her silly crown and popularity. It was terribly important that the club unify in order to prepare for New York, and Quinn constantly started fights. The problem was that she was only picking fights with Rachel, and all of them were about Finn. No one would defend Rachel, despite the fact that lately, Quinn was acting more and more insane. It seemed that they all felt the way Santana did, that Rachel 'must've done something' to deserve it. Honestly, Quinn was more insecure about losing Finn than she'd ever been, and Rachel had been keeping a respectable distance for the most part. Jesse arrived not five minutes after Finn left, and soon after Mike and Tina arrived in the limo.
It all happened so quickly; one moment they were all laughing and dancing, and the next minute people were shouting about a fight. She pulled herself away from her slow dance with Sam, who'd made her promise to save him at least one when she insisted that he go to prom with them, and hurried toward the source of the shouting; the petite young woman forced her way through the crowd, dragging Sam along behind her despite his protests that she should stay out of the way. She thought she heard Finn's voice, followed by Jesse's, and there was only one subject they had in common. It was twenty minutes until Principal Figgins was to announce the king and queen, but it seemed all eyes were on the two young men standing in the middle of the gym shouting at each other. She wasn't sure whether to be flattered or mortified at the violence that seemed to be for her affections.
"You need to back off, asshole." Finn was shouting. "There's no way I'm going to let you hurt her again, especially after that little breakfast in the parking lot stunt."
"You have no say in this, Hudson." Jesse fired back. "What's it to you anyway? What do you care who Rachel dates, aren't you with that blonde chick?"
"I care, ok."
She moved to step between them, but Sam pulled her back, shaking his head and warning her that she could get hurt. At first she was confused; how in the name of Barbra Streisand had this argument even started? Nervously she looked around the growing crowd, hoping beyond everything that Quinn was no where around to see this. If the former Cheerio had been angry about Finn spending time with Rachel for glee, she'd be furious about this fight. But it wasn't her fault, and Quinn had to know that. It wasn't as if she'd invited Jesse to prom with the intention of starting a fight; she'd pretty much given up hope that Finn would ever return to her, especially since he remained with Quinn even after admitting that he couldn't trust her. Sam tugged on her shoulder as she stepped forward again, trying to stop the verbal argument before the two boys came to blows.
"Why do you care, Hudson?" Jesse hissed. "You have no claim on her, and you can't give her half the things I can."
"Whatever, St. Jackass. You only came back because you couldn't hack it in California." Rachel gasped at Finn's words; how had he guessed? "What are you going to give her? More heartbreak? More breakfasts in the parking lot? More betrayal? Because that's all you can give her. You couldn't hack it, and so you come back here and mess with her head again. Well I'm not going to let you do that again."
"And you can give her anything at all? You're just another Lima Loser, and that's all you'll ever be." Rachel wasn't sure whether it was her scream or someone else's as Finn's fist made contact with Jesse's jaw.
"I'm not a Lima Loser, and I can give her something you never will." Finn's voice carried in the suddenly silent room. "I love her!"
"What did you say?" She hated the tone in Jesse's voice.
"I love her."
Finn said the words just as Jesse's fist struck his face, and Rachel was frozen in place; had she just heard him say he loved her? Her eyes scanned the crowd, praying that Quinn was nowhere in sight, but the blonde's eyes locked with hers with a glare that made her want to vanish. This was bad; this was very bad, and it was only getting worse. She tore her eyes away from Quinn, though she could feel the other girl glaring daggers at her, and refocused on the two boys in front of her; Jesse's fist narrowly missed Finn's nose, and the only thing preventing her from flinging herself between them was Sam's arms around her small waist. Finn swung at Jesse again, and Rachel cringed at the sight of the blood. She heard someone scream for them to stop, and it took her a moment to realize it was her own voice rising above the noise. Noah appeared next to her, and she looked at him with panic filled eyes.
"Noah, do something." She hissed.
"You brought the jackass, Berry; I think I wanna watch my boy Stretch beat the fucking shit out him." She wasn't sure what appalled her more, the language or the fact that he was refusing to stop the fight. "He deserves it, Rachel. The punk's had it coming since the day he showed up, and Finn's been carrying that ass whipping for St. Jackass for months. It's about time he handed it to him."
"Noah!" She shoved him as hard as she could, but he didn't move. "Noah, do something, please. I don't want him to get in trouble, and Coach Sylvester is coming this way."
"Who do you want to save, Rach?" Her eyes narrowed.
"He's your best friend, Noah." Her tone held a warning, and once again she sent Noah Puckerman to do her bidding, which was a feat in and of itself; she wanted to say Finn, but she was sure Noah knew who she meant.
Noah pushed his way forward, and Rachel bit her lip as she watched him drag Finn back away from Jesse; it was too late. Coach Sylvester was already stalking toward them, and she was not going to turn back around. Within five minutes, she was dragging Finn and Jesse out of the gym by their collars and shouting the entire time about glee club hooligan scum and fighting being ridiculous. Rachel followed quickly, and she could hear Quinn screaming that Finn was her date and that they were going to announce king and queen in twenty minutes. Quinn's voice was ringing in her ears, and she couldn't drown it out; when Coach Sylvester turned on Quinn, snapping at her to shut up before she was kicked out too, Quinn instantly backed down, though she was still glaring daggers at Rachel, who shifted uncomfortably. She'd only seen Quinn this angry once before, and that was when she was as Mercedes put it "throwing down with Santana" earlier in the year.
No one would admit to stuffing the ballot box, but most people were pretty convinced that some sort of prank was the only way things could turn out the way they did. Kurt looked positively mortified as he approached the stage; no matter how many times Blaine and Rachel assured him that he didn't have to do it, he insisted that he wasn't going to let the homophobic Neanderthals at the school keep knocking him down. Rachel thought she saw fear in Karofsky's eyes, but she couldn't be sure; what would the former bully be so afraid of standing up there. The gym was eerily quiet, as if no one was sure whether or not what was happening was real. Suddenly Quinn's voice pierced the silence, and Rachel felt her heart leap into her throat.
"Is this some kind of joke? Are you kidding me?" The blonde stormed off, and Rachel swore she saw tears in her eyes.
"Quinn, Quinn wait!" She shouted after her, and even she was shocked by the fact that she was running after Quinn Fabray in an effort to comfort her.
She found Quinn in the bathroom, staring into the mirror and crying; Rachel's heart broke for her because she knew just how much that crown meant to her, regardless of how silly it seemed. She knew what it was like to feel like the one thing you were guaranteed was being pulled out from under her. She reached out a small hand, but the moment she touched her shoulder, Quinn turned on her, fire in her eyes. Rachel took a step back, not really understanding why Quinn seemed so angry at her.
"You did this to me!" Quinn's voice echoed in the bathroom, and the words rang in Rachel's ears.
"Quinn, I…" But her words were cut off as Quinn's hand crashed into her face, the force knocking her off balance.
"No one would ever vote for me knowing he'd rather be with you!" Quinn hissed. "You had to bring St. James tonight, so Finn would get all jealous. He goes and gets himself kicked out of prom fighting over you. And on top of that he shouts to the whole school that he loves you. I've never been so humiliated in my whole life. You brought him here on purpose, just to make Finn jealous."
"That's not what happened at all, Quinn." Rachel's hand covered the stinging red mark on her cheek, tears in her eyes. "Don't you know why I chose the song I did? Don't you get it? I'm letting him go, Quinn, because he made his choice. I'm not going to cling to what I've lost anymore."
"Didn't you see the way he was looking at you? Why do you have to parade around in front of him all the time, knowing the way he feels about you?" Rachel found herself backed against the wall, Quinn advancing on her like some kind of predator, and she winced, afraid she was going to slap her again. "I'm so sick of it. I'm sick of you. Little Miss Perfect Rachel Berry, all you have to do is sing a damned song. You can't have him, Berry; I won't let you take him from me again."
"It's not your choice, Quinn. It's his." Quinn raised her hand, as if she was going to slap her again, and Rachel winced.
"Whoa, back the fuck up, Fabray!" The familiar voice echoed, and Rachel's eyes widened. "You are not about to slap Berry over that shitty piece of plastic out there. Or should I say, you are not about to hit Berry again."
"What?" While Quinn was pretending to be outraged, Rachel took the opportunity to slide out of range, but as she was attempting her escape, Santana grabbed the hand that covered her cheek.
"Damn, Berry. You gonna let her smack you like that. If it had been me, I'd have hit her back." Santana shook her head before turning to Quinn. "I don't know what your problem is, but you need to get the fuck over it; you've always been a bitch, Fabray, but you've taken it to the extreme."
Rachel covered her mouth; she knew that Quinn and Santana no longer got along, but this was a whole new level. She'd never seen Santana look so disgusted with Quinn, but before she could question it, Quinn was headed out of the bathroom, leaving her alone with Santana. The petite girl had no idea what to do, left alone with the girl who had tormented her for years, and it took all her willpower not to run away as Santana guided her in front of the mirror and inspected the bright red mark on her face.
"Shit, Berry, we better do something to about this shit or it's gonna be in your pictures." Santana's voice seemed flat and unemotional, but she couldn't help but catch a hint of genuine concern.
"I voted for you, you know. I really wanted you to win." She whispered. "You would've deserved it more than Quinn."
"You hate her more than you hate me, I guess." Rachel shook her head. "Wait, you don't hate me? Seriously? After all the shit I do to you?"
"I don't hate you, Santana. I've never hated you." She bit her lip, almost wincing as Santana dusted powder over her stinging cheek. "Why are you doing this? Why help me? You hate me."
"I don't know, Berry. Maybe because tonight I got a taste of what it's like to be an outsider. My escort won, and I didn't. How does that happen?" Santana narrowed her eyes, carefully covering the bright red handprint. "If you tell anyone, I'll deny it, but I don't hate you. You can be annoying as hell, but I kind of respect that you stand up for yourself and you go for what you want."
"You do?" Santana nodded, granting her a half smile that caught her off guard.
"Yeah," she laughed as she nudged Rachel. "And speaking of going for what you want, I'm not completely blind, and I know you still want Finnocence. Don't give up on him, cause he damn sure wants you more than he wants Fabray."
"But…" Santana quickly cut her off.
"No, buts Berry. It's as obvious as the nose on your face, and your nose is pretty damned obvious." Ordinarily, Rachel would've balked at a nose joke, but something seemed different this time. "Now come one, Hummel's gonna need back up, and I wanna see if he's got the balls to dance with Dapper Boy."
With a sort of half laugh, Rachel smoothed her bangs and turned to leave, and she could hear Santana's heels clicking behind her. As they rejoined the group, she hugged Kurt, glancing back at Santana with a nod to say a silent thank you; the Latina looked up from her phone for a moment to give her what seemed like a genuine smile. The tiny brunette was blissfully unaware that, somewhere in Lima, Finn Hudson received a video message from Santana Lopez, and that he was now well aware of the fact that Quinn had attacked her. She was completely ignorant of the explosion that would probably happen soon because of what transpired. For tonight, however, she was happy; the drama was over, and she was going to enjoy the rest of her prom.