"I've been working on a musical number you and I could perform in front of the glee club. I am only in the early stages of the idea but it would mean so much to me if you helped me with the choreography, Finn. I mean, admitted, you aren't the best dancer but I'm sure we could think up something amazing that would wow the rest of the glee club—maybe Mr Schue would even ask up to perform it in front of the whole school! Oh, that would be amazing, wouldn't it, Finn?" Rachel Berry hadn't stopped talking to her boyfriend all the way from Spanish class to his locker. She had passed the annoying stage when she'd started talking about her first singing competition, now she had crossed the annoying line and stepping into the 'I'm Going To Punch You If You Don't Shut Up' territory.
Finn opened his locker. He'd stopped processing his girlfriend's words a while ago. He hadn't even realized she'd stopped talking until she nudged him in the ribs.
"Ow," he complained, "What was that for?"
"What did I just say to you, Finn? Were you even listening to me?" Rachel asked, hurt. She knew she talked far too much when she was with Finn, but she couldn't help it. But she at least expected her boyfriend to listen to her.
"Um," Finn chewed his lip. He was sure he'd heard the words 'glee' and 'amazing', but that didn't really help much at all. "You mentioned, um, glee club," he mumbled.
Rachel stared at him. "So you weren't listening to me. Boyfriends are supposed to listen to their girlfriends, Finn! I listen you what you say all the time."
Finn opened his mouth to apologize, but Rachel interrupted him.
"Listen Finn, I know I'm high maintenance but the least you could do is appreciate me. Yes, I am overly dramatic and sometimes a little annoying but I really do care for you and I just need to know that you care for me, too."
Finn racked his brain for a good reply. What a good boyfriend say? He bit his lip. Rachel waited for a response with wide, hopeful eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, Finn saw his ex-best friend, Puck, talking to Finn's ex-girlfriend, Quinn Fabray—they were kinda going out because while Quinn was dating Finn, Puck had got Quinn drunk and done the nasty with her, but then Quinn got pregnant. So they were kinda stuck with each other—which wasn't easy on Quinn because Puck was the biggest player in the whole of Ohio.
Rachel followed his gaze and scowled. "When you're ready to actually be a good boyfriend, Finn, come and find me." With that, she turned on her heels and stomped away dramatically.
Finn sighed as he closed his locker. Being Rachel's boyfriend was so hard. He kinda preferred it when they weren't going out—he liked the out of the blue kisses and the whole 'forbidden' thing they had going on. But when they together, it was like all the fun had been sucked out of their relationship and had been replaced with commitment. Finn shuddered. It was like Rachel was planning their whole lives out together—where they would live, how many kids they would have. It was really unattractive and Finn wished he wasn't her boyfriend sometimes.
As he walked to Science class, he wished there was someone he could talk to about how he felt. And he wondered if someone felt the same way...
"Look, will you stop supersizing? I don't dig fat chicks," Puck said to his sort-of girlfriend, Quinn.
"I'm pregnant," Quinn snapped, angry.
"And that's my fault?" he asked innocently.
Quinn rolled her eyes. Puck was so god damn stupid. True, he was supportive of her pregnancy, but she knew that if the baby wasn't his he'd be making up cruel jokes about her and calling her a 'slut' or something.
"Puck, you coming?" one of Puck's friends from the football team called over to him.
Puck nodded his head at him and looked straight at Quinn, "Just...try to stop, okay?"
Quinn scowled at him as he walked away. As she opened her locker and pulled out some of her books, she wondered why she'd let Puck knock her up. Why had she been so immature and dumb?
Quinn closed her locker and held her books close to her chest. After taking a deep breath, she stepping into the giant crowded mess that was the hall. Students huddled together as they went from lesson to lesson. And now, the hall was so full that it was almost impossible to move. People barged into Quinn without saying sorry or even glancing at her. Some people would snigger at her huge bump. Quinn protectively wrapped her arm around her stomach. She wouldn't let anything harm her baby.
As Quinn walked to Science class, she wished there was she could talk to about how she felt. And she wondered if someone the felt the same way...
Mr. Schuester clapped his hands together and smiled at the glee club. "So," he began, "this week's assignment is to find a song that relates to you the most at this time in your life. You can perform it on your own or with a partner, the choice is yours."
Out of the corner of his eye, Finn saw Rachel smile excitedly at him. She was obviously planning out a performance for them both right this second. He imagined the complicated choreography and the weird song that no one knew. He grimaced as he pictured the sniggers from Puck and Santana. His shoulders slumped. He wasn't going to enjoy this assignment at all.
Across the room, Quinn glanced in Finn's direction and wondered what he was thinking. This wasn't the first time she'd wondered about Finn. In fact, ever since he started dating Rachel, she'd been thinking about him a lot. Quinn had hurt Finn really bad by telling Finn that her baby was his, when it was actually Puck's. Of course, the truth got out and Finn got angry and it was obvious it was over between him and Quinn. But sometimes Quinn would wonder what it'd be like if the baby actually was Finn's, and if that darn Rachel Berry wasn't always trying to get Finn's attention. Then she looked at Puck, who was poking the muscles in his left arm while Santana watched him and giggled. Quinn gritted her teeth and rolled her eyes. She was not going to enjoy this assignment at all.
The next day, Finn decided to go to the choir room, in hope of finding a song he could sing for his glee club assignment. He really didn't want to perform with Rachel, so he wanted to do something on his own. He had a few ideas in his head—he was thinking about doing something by Journey, he really liked the band ever since he'd performed Don't Stop Believin' with the glee club.
Finn opened the doors to the choir room and stopped in his tracks. He stopped breathing for a moment.
Quinn was sat alone in the choir room, stroking her huge bump and looking through a load of music sheets. She slowly looked up at him and chewed her lower lip.
This was the first time they'd been alone together since...the incident. The atmosphere was so awkward. Finn wondered if he should just leave and they could pretend this never happened, but for some reason he really wanted to stay and talk to her—she looked so vulnerable and sad. She looked on the outside like he was feeling on the inside—loneliness.
Quinn held his gaze. She missed those brown eyes and that awkward smile. She missed being in the same room with him without this awkward, scary atmosphere.
Finn looked at her, wondering why they hadn't talked in such a long time. Sure, they'd shared the odd glance, but they'd never had a conversation. He broke the silence.
"Hey."
Quinn smiled softly, her eyelashes fluttering, "Hey."
"What're you doing in here?" Finn asked curiously, slowly making his way towards her.
"Oh, um, looking for a song to sing for our glee club assignment," she nodded her head towards the bundle of music sheets, "What about you?"
Finn laughed, "Actually, I'm in here for the exact same reason."
"Oh," Quinn blinked, not sure what to say next.
Finn sat down next to her, "Maybe we could help each other?"
Quinn smiled wide. It'd been far too long since they'd got along like this. "I'd like that."
Finn smiled at her, holding her eyes with his chocolate brown orbs. "So," he began, "What type of song are you looking for?"
Quinn thought for a moment. "One that says 'Noah Puckerman, you're a dick head'"
Finn laughed, "Um, I don't think there's a song out there that will do that..."
Quinn giggled, "I figured."
There was silence for a while.
"Are things...okay between you and Puck?" Finn asked her, genuinely concerned.
Quinn sighed and shook her head, "It's complicated. He's just so...annoying. I like Puck, I really do. I can even see myself loving him. But he needs to straighten his act out. Yesterday he told me to stop supersizing"—Quinn glanced down at her huge stomach and sniffed—"and I was like, 'I'm pregnant'. I just want him to know that I have feelings, you know?"
Finn nodded—he completely understood. Puck used to be his best friend, so he knew that Puck wasn't very aware of other people's emotions. Sometimes Finn had to point out to him that Puck could really hurt people's feelings, but Puck would just shrug it off and say 'Dude, I'm a badass'. Finn chuckled softly at the memory. He kinda missed how it used to be before glee club.
"Yeah, he can be a little mean sometimes," Finn nodded, "But, he really likes you Quinn, I can tell. He doesn't mean it when he hurts you, he's just being Puck."
"How are things with you and Rachel?" Quinn asked in a friendly way. She was always curious about their relationship for some reason.
"Oh," Finn looked down, hiding his face, "Well, um, you know..."
Quinn frowned and gently placed her hand on his back comfortingly, "Is everything okay?"
Finn looked up and met her gaze, "No, not really." He sighed. "Rachel is really high maintenance, and she admits that. But she makes the tiniest of things really dramatic and I'm sick of apologizing for not wanting to talk about musicals all day. I really care for her, but it's like, I don't know how to be a good boyfriend for her. It's like everything I do is wrong. And she seems to think we're gunna get married one day and have kids and...ugh."
She smiled understandingly at him. She thought of how she treated him before and felt a sharp pang of guilt. How could she treat someone like Finn like she used to? He was so caring of everyone else's feelings and hardly ever worried about his own. She frowned, regretting everything bad she'd ever done to him.
"You're such a nice guy, Finn," Quinn blurted out, "And I...I was like a bitch to you. I'm sorry for lying to you, I'm sorry that maybe sometimes I made you feel like dirt. I used to be a real bitch. I'm really, really sorry."
Without even realizing, Quinn's eyes had began to moist with tears. Ugh, how she hated these damn baby hormones. She wiped them away quickly but Finn still saw.
"It's okay, Quinn," he promised, smiling as he looked into her green orbs, "We're cool, right?"
"Yeah," Quinn nodded, "We're cool."
Finn's smile brightened and his eyes glistened.
"I have an idea."
The glee club gathered into the choir room. Everyone was chatting about the assignment. Rachel was giving Finn angry looks because he had refused to sing with her, and when Rachel had asked why Finn had replied it was a secret—which of course annoyed Rachel even more.
Mr. Schuester entered the choir room with a huge smile on his face—he'd just been talking to Emma. "Hello, glee clubbers," he said with a happy chuckle, "Who wants to show us their song first?"
Finn's hand shot up quicker than anyone else's.
"Yes, Finn?" Mr. Schuester asked with a grin.
"Quinn and I have a song that we'd like to perform together." Finn replied.
"Sure, show us what you guys got," Mr. Schuester smile excitedly as he took a seat.
Quinn and Finn stepped in front of the glee club. Ten confused faces stared at them with their mouths wide open. It was truly weird seeing two exes perform a song together.
"We chose Gwen Stefani's 'Cool' because we think if pretty much sums up our relationship at the moment," Finn explained to everyone, as Quinn stood by his side with a small smile carved into her small lips.
Finn and Quinn gave each other a reassuring glance as the music began to play. At that moment, neither of them cared about the way Rachel's hands were fists by her sides or how Kurt was staring at them strangely or how Puck was just really shocked. All they cared about was the music.
Finn began to the sing the lyrics that seemed to written just for him and Quinn;
"It's hard to remember how it felt before,
Now I've found the love of the my life"
Rachel blushed and grinned at that part. Finn carried on, smiling at Rachel from the corner of his eye.
"Passes things get more comfortable,
Everything is going right."
Quinn suddenly felt quite nervous—she wasn't a big fan of singing in front of the club. But when Finn smiled that smile at her, all her emotion washed away.
"And after all the obstacles,
It's good to see you now with someone else,
And it's such a miracle that you and I are,
still good friends;
After all that we've been through,
I know we're cool."
Finn was now so into the song that he was moving to his own beat—or at least trying to, Finn wasn't the best dancer. He let the words flow out of his mouth. Singing was just like breathing with Quinn.
"We used to think it was impossible,
Now I call you by your new last name,
Memories seem like so long ago,
Time always heals the pain."
Quinn's turn again. She took a deep breath before bursting into the song with her sweet voice.
"Remember Harbour Boulevard?
The dreaming days were the mess was made..."
Finn grinned so wide it hurt. He watched as Quinn moved along to the music, with her right hand gently holding her bump. He grabbed her left hand and spun her around as he sang;
"Look how all the kids have grown,
We have changed but we're still the same,
After all that we've been through,
I know we're cool."
Quinn smiled. She let go of his hand as they sang to each other. Quinn sang again;
"And I'll be happy for you,
If you can be happy for me,
Circles and triangles and now we're hanging out with your new girlfriend,
So far from where we've been..."
Finn and Quinn stopped dancing. They looked into each other eyes as they sang;
"I know we're cool.
I know we're cool.
Cool,
Oh,
Oh I know we're cool,
Yeah,
I know we're cool."
