Author's Note: Back again with a new story :D. It's a one-shot, once again. I'm sorry guys I can't do chapters. I've learned from past experiences, that when I start a story I can't finish it unless it's a one-shot! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the creators of Glee, nor am I affiliated with the writers of "Come What May"
"Good morning sunshine. You are Rachel Berry. 16 year-old sophomore destined for greatness. Pretty. Vocally gifted. Single. Loud. Over-Achiever. Disliked. Alone." Rachel stared herself down in the mirror. She had been feeling a tad insecure this week, and when she felt like this she vocally listed her pros. Any day it would have worked, but not today, she had ended her list with nothing but cons. Quizzically looking at her features she began to drift her thoughts to a certain football player. She seemed to always drop the ball with this guy. Being an awkward growing teenager didn't help the situation by any means. Not to mention the fact that dear Finn loved to send mixed signals her way. She suddenly realized her mind shouldn't have been thinking of Finn. She should be thinking of Jesse, he was her boyfriend after all. Huffing in annoyance she remembered her dads always told her being a teenager wasn't supposed to be easy.
Running late for school, she began to run out the door. Rachel Berry was never ever late for anything.
Mr. Schuester stared at his students for a couple of minutes pondering if what he was about to say was worth the argument. He breathed in deeply, and cleared his voice calling the class to attention. Staring eyes looked at him in curiosity. They all had a gut feeling he was going to say something they may or may not like.
"Regionals are coming up everyone. Now is the time we have to start coming up with a set list. Which brings us to your next assignment." He reached over for the hat that was resting on a piano. "The ladies will pick out a name from the hat; whosever name you pick will be your partner." Groans could be heard through the classroom. "Okay, okay stop acting like babies, let me finish. There is a second hat. Once you find out whom your partner will be you will pick a song out of the hat. Whichever song you and your partner get will be the duet you will have to sing on Friday. The class, along with Ms. Pillsbury and me, will then vote for who the best couple is. And I'll tell you all now, you cannot vote for yourself." The groans could be heard much louder the second time around. "Whoever wins will perform the song at Regionals. So, start picking names, good luck."
Brittney was the first to pick a name from the hat, she looked at the name with a stern look before looking up, "There's an Artie in our class?" The class turned to look at Artie who sulked in his chair. He was really hoping to score someone with singing abilities. He wasn't saying Brittney didn't have any, but she wasn't the brightest color in the crayon box. One after the other, each girl picked their destined partners. Tina had partnered up with Puck; they looked at each other in awkward silence, neither of them had ever exchanged words with one another.
Quinn glared at her paper; she had been stuck with the second biggest drama queen in the class, Jesse. Mercedes exhaled in relief, she was fortunate enough to draw Kurt's name from the hat, now they were closer to being put on the spotlight than ever. Santana looked over at Mike. She wasn't aware that he sung, for all she knew all he could do was dance, but he would do.
Rachel's stomach churned, she looked nervously at the hat. There were two slips of paper. One was Matt's, and the other was Finn's. Holding her breath she reached for the first one she felt. Slowly opening the paper, her heart's pace quickened. Her chocolate eyes flickered over to Finn, as did Jesse's. He glared over Finn, who was currently at a loss for words. Since Jesse came into McKinley Rachel and he hardly talked unless they were all rehearsing. His heart skipped a beat, he'd be able to spend some alone time with her.
Mr. Schue then proceeded to pull out the other hat that contained the songs. All the couples gathered awkwardly around each other. Not a word was spoken as everyone picked their song. Jesse walked over to his beau, "What song did you two get?" Rachel looked at him with concerned eyes; she needed to remind herself that she loved Jesse.
"Come what may." She simply replied. Jesse gave her a stern look. He wasn't too happy about not being paired up with his girlfriend; instead he got to perform with Quinn. "I see." Glancing at Finn he caught him staring at Rachel. He wasn't going to like this one bit.
"Rachel?" the young starlet turned to her partner. She was currently in the process of silently hyperventilating.
"Yes?" Finn rubbed the back of his neck in an awkward manner, "Well…I uh, was wondering when, and where we were going to rehearse the song."
Rachel breathed in; she didn't really know what to say. Being partnered up with Finn was going to turn out to be a very bad idea. She was finding it harder not to focus on his friendly smile that seemed to melt her heart. "Well, the choir room should be empty after school. I'm sure Mr. Shue will be more than happy to let us rehearse the song there."
"Great, I'll see you then." He moved to walked away, but he couldn't just yet. It was killing him inside, the fact that she was someone else's. He was serious when he told her he liked her. His mind was racing; he wanted to ask her so many questions. He wanted to hold her and make her smile for him and only him.
She began to fidget; she didn't understand why he was still looking at her. Did she have something on her face? Suddenly self-conscious, she moved her hair. "Uhm…is there anything else you wished to discuss?" she couldn't take the silence anymore.
As if suddenly breaking free from a trance, he quickly stumbled away, while mumbling an excuse to Rachel. Before Rachel had time to react Jesse had begun to wrap his arms around her. She smiled absentmindedly. "Did I tell you just how absolutely beautiful you look today? You're absolutely glowing." The ex-leader of vocal adrenaline kissed her gently on the cheek as she smiled.
"Jesse, what song did you get?" she felt a slight pang of jealousy at the thought of Jesse singing a romantic song with Quinn. Then again, he probably felt the same way when it came to her singing with Finn. "I've had the time of my life" he replied nonchalantly.
"I see…" she tried her best not to sound jealous. She may have slight feelings for Finn, but Jesse was her boyfriend and he had been nothing but caring to her. She was able to finally feel some sort of acceptance from the social pyramid known as High School. Resting a tender hand on his cheek she smiled lovingly, "I know you'll do wonderful" Jesse reached for her hand and kissed it lightly. "The song would be breath taking if it were you singing with me." "It'll be breath taking because you're singing it." She laughed.
The couple walked away hand in hand as Finn watched them brokenheartedly.
Rachel paced the choir room, her heart was pounding furiously. This would be the first time they would be together. Alone. Alone together. She suddenly felt guilty. Gathering all her things she began to walk out the door only to be stopped by Finn.
"Where are you going?" the songstress began to turn red. "I…I had thought I forgot the sheet music, but look! I found it." she quickly replied breathlessly holding up said music. Finn chuckled, "Well good thing." He took his sheet and looked over it. "At least we didn't get a hard song. Shue told me he was thinking of throwing some Phantom of the Opera in the hat, & I'm sure as hell not good enough to sing that yet"
She walked over to the piano and began to play. Finn took his queue standing by the piano he breathed in preparing himself for the song.
"Never knew, I could feel like this,
Like I've never seen the sky before.
Want to vanish inside your kiss.
Every day I lo-"
Finn looked at Rachel, perplexed with why she had stopped playing. She looked at the sheet music for a minute before looking up at Finn. "You were a little flat Finn, maybe if you go a little lower it'll be easier for you" she concluded.
"Uh…okay" he replied, rather annoyed. He began to sing only to be stopped once again by Rachel. Finn sighed; he was having a bad day. Failed his math exam, saw Rachel kissing Jesse St. Retard, screwed up the play at basketball practice, did he mention he watched Rachel be happy with another guy that wasn't himself? Now he appreciated her sometimes crude constructive criticism, but he was finding it hard not to be snappy with her, even if he did have feelings for her.
"What was wrong now?" Rachel, taken aback by his tone paused before speaking. "Well you sang the wrong lyrics." Finn glared at the sheet music, "No I didn't. I was singing right off the paper." Rachel managed to keep her composure, "Finn, you sang "Like I've never felt the sky before""
The jock huffed in annoyance he knew damn well what he was singing. "I'm sorry I don't have a photographic memory like you apparently have." He snapped. Rachel glared at Finn. "I don't understand why you're taking it personally I'm only trying to help you."
"It doesn't seem like it. It seems like all you're doing is trying to pick out all the little flaws and pick at them." He replied. Rachel sprung up from the piano. "Well I'm sorry you see it that way. I'm just attempting to help you perform better."
"If you want to help me why don't you try showing a little human compassion. How about a "good job?" Hell, even a smile instead of a nag. You're always so caught up in becoming a star that you act so cold, and do things out of impulse without concerning yourself of other people's regard." His eyes grew wide with regret as soon as he saw how Rachel was affected by the words.
Rachel stood in front of him in silence. She looked down at her shoes as if analyzing every detail before looking up at him. With a stern look she replied, "I only show human compassion to those who deserve it. I'm trying to help you but you only seem to take it personally. You make me seem like I'm an emotionless robot. You're wrong. I have fears, I have insecurities. Not projecting them onto people is different. You want me to show you how emotional I can be? I wake up every morning hoping I don't let anyone down. I don't want to grow older and show nothing for myself. I don't want to wake up every morning knowing I failed at life. That I've let down all those important to me" she hugged herself looking anywhere but his eyes. Finn's eyes softened he was seeing a whole different side of Rachel that he knew no one had ever seen. She was always so explicit of what people feared. He realized now it had to be some sort of gimmick to draw the insecurities away from her.
Finn moved to reach for her only to be pushed away. "Rachel I'm sorry I had no idea." "You had no idea that what? I turned out to be your average teenager?" She began to walk as Finn grabbed her arm. "Rachel, I'm sorry. I've just…I've been having a crappy day. It…" he closed his eyes tightly and inhaled "It just doesn't help seeing you with someone that isn't me" Rachel walked over to the piano once again.
She ran her fingers over the key. Never looking up at him she cleared and continued playing. Not another word was said as they practiced the song.
Jesse glared at Quinn in annoyance as they went over the song. She was proving to be a prima donna. "This song is so cheesy. Why couldn't you pick a better one?" the blonde girl got up from her chair and waddled over to her bag for a drink of water. Jesse rested his head on his hand as he tapped the piano lightly. He observed his surroundings for a brief second, concluding that the auditorium was nothing compared to the one Vocal Adrenaline used.
"For your information, princess, the song was chosen randomly. I didn't have a say in it. Believe me, if I had a say in the song, not to mention partner, I would definitely be singing this song with Rachel. Your voice lacks any potential she possesses." Quinn glared over at his partner.
"This isn't exactly a walk in the park for me either." She raised her brow at him; curiosity was eating her away from the moment she found out about Rachel and Jesse. Walking over to him she leaned her back against the piano. "So, what do you really see in her?"
He looked up at her, confusion written on his face. "What do you mean?" "Oh you know. What do you see in Rachel? I mean there must be a bigger purpose other than just her for you being here. I mean you practically gave up everything in Vocal Adrenalin for her. It's kind of hard to believe."
He took a minute to soak in her theory "There's something about that girl I can't quite explain. She has this aurora around her it's so serene, so empowering. It isn't a joke. I've won 3 Regionals while in high school. Giving up the last year just to be with her is really easy for one to do when one's madly in love. You may all think I'm part of this evil plot to try and get everyone to lose, but what would I get out of it? I'm in this school. The only thing I expect to get out of all of this is Rachel's love, and acceptance."
Quinn looked off into space, pondering what he had just said. Jesse studied the mother to be, she was clearly not convinced. "It's not like I'm pulling this out of my ass." He paused for a minute, "Finn obviously sees the same thing I do." She turned to him with understanding eyes. "You're right, I guess. As far as I know Finn blew it with Rachel, which is why she's dating you. But in all honesty, I don't think she's quite over him."
Jesse studied his hands, "You're absolutely right, which is why I try my best to give her all the attention she wants, and sometimes needs. I'm trying my best to help her forget that guy."
The pregnant teen patted Jesse on back, "I hope it works out for you Jesse. But what if she chooses Finn?" Jesse sighed, "Being the gentleman that I am, I will step aside and give her a chance to be truly happy." He knew there was a possibility he might have to do that. He considered himself a strong individual, but he had to admit that he might actually not be strong enough to let her go.
Finn sat in the choir room in silence. He was having a difficult time processing everything that was going on in his life. He couldn't believe his own mother told him to move out if he didn't accept Kurt's dad.
Damn.
He never really thought his mom would say that. Emotions were building up inside him, emotions he couldn't explain. Hate, anger, love, loss, loneliness. All those emotions balled up as one and filled his body. But at the moment he needed to concentrate on the task at hand. Rachel and he were singing together and he'd be damned if he didn't sing with her a Regionals. So wrapped up in his thoughts the jock didn't notice Rachel walk in clutching her books.
"Finn? Are you ready to start practicing." He stumbled out of his chair as Rachel walked to the piano. They agreed to come to school before their 1st period to practice one last time before performing in Glee Club. Finn stumbled out of his chair "Yeah…yeah I'm ready."
Finn frowned. Rachel was acting more distant than ever now. He needed her to be like they were before, when he was able to confide in her. She began to play the melodic song he had gotten used to all week. Something had to be done before the day was over, now more than ever. She continued playing only to stop after Finn missed his part. She looked up at him with confusion written on his face.
The young jock walked over to Rachel, kneeling in front of her he held her hand. His eyes searched for any sort of discomfort. "Rachel, I…I don't know what you want me to do. I've tried being cool about it, but I can't take this distance that you're starting to show. You became the only person that I trusted after Quinn, and I know, I know I blew it, but I need you to be here for me. Even if you can't be there for me as more than just a friend, I'll take your friendship over nothing. I've been going through so much lately, I keep dropping the ball, and my mom hates me because she thinks I'm selfish. I just need to vent with someone, and I don't think I can do it with anyone but you.
Rachel stiffened in her seat. She couldn't believe what was going on. Here he was, Finn Hudson, pouring his heart out to her while tears rolled down his flushed face. She didn't know what exactly to do. Instinctively she reached for him. He cried in her neck as she pated his back gently.
"Everything will be okay Finn, I promise." He looked up at her, completely embarrassed "I…I don't know what came over me, I'm sorry…I better go" he moved to walk away; Rachel grabbed his arm with both hands. He looked over at her, his throat tightening, waiting for her to say something.
"I'll always be here for you, Finn. You can tell me anything, I will never judge you because you're my closest friend. I know things have been beyond weird for us, but I promise I would never leave you when you need me the most." She cupped his face and smiled. He looked at her, eyes glazing over, he hadn't seen that smile in a while. It was as if the smile was reserved for Jesse only.
She began to let go, grabbing her hand he leaned in for a kiss. Rachel held her breath; her eyes remained open and her body became stiff. Finn pulled her closer as she became comfortable with his touch. Her body suddenly felt light, she was in a daze.
"Rachel?" she hastily broke the kiss when she heard a familiar voice. Turning her attention to the door her heart dropped when she saw Jesse standing there. He looked at the floor, anger and betrayal written on his face for all to see. He quickly walked out of the room. Rachel glanced at Finn before taking off. She called, and called after Jesse pleading him to stop.
He turned to her; the hurt was washing over him. It suddenly became harder to breathe. Jesse gave her his all, and it was all so she wouldn't fall back in love with Finn. He had tried so hard. The earlier week's conversation with Quinn came flooding into his head. "I hope it works out for you Jesse. But what if she chooses Finn?" "Being the gentleman that I am, I will step aside and give her a chance to be truly happy."
He looked at her closely. Rachel's eyes grew wide, trying to keep from crying she whimpered, "Jesse, I'm so sorry…I…I don't know what came over me. Please you have to understand…" Jesse used all of his will power to put a finger on her soft lips.
He sighed, he had to do exactly what he promised he would, and it would kill him, every minute of it. "I understand Rachel…I know you still love Finn. I'm not blind. I figured with time you'd grow to love me more, and be able to move on. I see now that you moving on is not an option. I love you too much to deny you happiness. You have to pursue Finn, Rachel"
She looked at him with confused eyes, "What are you saying Jesse?"
He ran a hand through his hair, "I'm saying that you are free to be with Finn. I don't hate you, or Finn, and I hope it works out fine. If he hurts you again, Rachel, I'm going to hurt him, but I won't take you back either." He looked at her with serious eyes.
She reached to hug him, both holding each other tightly. "Thank you so much, Jesse. You're always going to have a special place in my heart." With that said she walked back to the choir room. He watched her go into the room, where he knew she was going to work things out with Finn.
Rachel looked at herself in the mirror. She smiled, then frowned, then smiled once more. "Good afternoon, sunshine. You are Rachel Berry, 16 year old songstress-"
"Beautiful. Talented. In love with the most awesome guy in the world. Loved by the most awesome guy in the world." Rachel giggled as Finn wrapped his arms around her. Her heart swelled with love as he gently kissed her neck. They were moments away from performing the song. Feeling the need for a morale booster, Rachel began reciting her pros in the auditorium, only to be taken over by Finn.
He gently turned her around to face him. "I love you." He whispered. She bit her lip in excitement, "I love you more." He laughed, "I find that highly impossible." "Oh you think so?" she replied.
He walked over to the piano, "Yup, because I rigged the partner choosing so you'd end up picking me" Rachel followed him to the piano. "What do you mean? How can you rig a random draw?" she was definitely curious with the matter.
"Let's not get into details. I'll just say thing, Mr. Shue was my partner in crime." He grinned. Rachel stood in awe for a brief moment. "I don't know whether to be angry or completely thrilled." Finn kissed her on the nose, then on the forehead, finally on the lips. "Don't be angry, I just needed some alone time with you." She nodded understanding his reasons behind the whole fiasco.
The class then walked into the auditorium. The new couple looked at each other and smiled. This time they would sing the song with love pouring on every word.