"So you're coming to the game tonight, right?" Finn asked with his trademark smile as he leaned against the locker next to Rachel's.
"Of course," she said with a matching smile as she shut her locker and leaned against it to match his posture. "Your mother said she was going to drive over to the game and she offered to take me with her." She glanced down for a moment before looking up to meet his eyes again. "Is that okay?"
"Of course it is," Finn said with another smile before leaning in to press his lips against hers.
Rachel squeezed her eyes tightly shut, her hands moving up to grip his shoulders. She was still in awe of their maturity and understanding in getting past Finn's lie about sleeping with Santana.
He had explained himself as well as he could. She was barely about to see his face through the tears that were building in her eyes, but she sat silent as he poured his guilty heart out to her.
He'd told her that he was jealous of her and Jesse and how he knew he'd messed up the moment he walked out of the bathroom in the seedy motel Santana had insisted on going to. He said he had been afraid and unsure what to do. He told her that, honestly, he still didn't know what to do. Santana had done almost all of the work.
He didn't lie and say he was thinking of her the whole time. He told her that he was a teenage boy and it doesn't take more than a socket-wrench to turn him on. No offense.
She loved him. She'd finally told him that and the look on his face was more than enough for her to know that he was relieved that she did. She wondered how he didn't know all along. She could have sworn there was a neon sign over her head proudly proclaiming I'm in Love with Finn Hudson.
But then, just as she thought this was going to punch a whole so deep through their relationship that they would never be able to repair it, he said the one thing she didn't expect him to.
"I couldn't kiss her. It wasn't … it was sex. And, you know, I didn't love her. So I couldn't … I couldn't kiss her."
The tears fell then. But they weren't all in anguish. Some of them were falling in relief. Because he didn't love her and he didn't kiss her.
And somehow that made her feel a little better about the whole situation.
"Rach?" Finn asked, slightly out of breath as he pulled back from her.
"Hmm?" she asked, eyes still closed, as she stood on her tip toes and pressed her lips back to his again.
He smiled against her lips, peppering a few short kisses against them before pulling back to look into her eyes. "You okay?" he asked softly.
"Of course," she responded as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed the side of her head to his chest. "I just love you is all."
"I love you, too," he told her strongly as he wrapped one arm around her waist and brought his other hand to cradle the back of her head. "I love you, too," he repeated.
"Oh my God," Coach Sylvester muttered to herself as she approached them in the hallway. She stopped in front of them and said seriously, "You two just gave me a mouth full of cavities with that disgusting display of teenage hormones. I feel like I've been sprayed by a cat in heat. Break it up and move along," she added before continuing down the hallway.
Fin chuckled at the blush on Rachel's cheeks. "I'll see you after the game, babe," he said and with one last peck he was headed in the direction of the gym.
Rachel watched him go for a moment before smiling and heading towards her own class.
One more period before she got to spend an hour in the car with Carole heading toward the district championship basketball game.
*\o/*
"Thank you again for agreeing to drive me, Mrs. Hudson. Uhm, Mrs. Hummel. Mrs. Hudson-Hummel?" Rachel said as her cheeks began to burn.
"Carole's fine, Rachel," the older woman said with a genuine smile as she placed a hand over Rachel's, which were folded in her own lap. "And you're more than welcome."
Rachel smiled slightly and nodded. She had no idea what to say. Should she talk about Finn? Should she talk about herself? No, that never worked out well. But she couldn't sit in silence and let Mrs. Hu – Carole – think she was rude or dumb or something. This would be a long car ride if no one said anything.
Just as she was about to open her mouth and say something – what, she had no idea – Carole began the conversation for her.
"I'm very proud of you, Rachel," Carole said softly. "You … my son, at the wedding, he said that I helped show him what a man was."
Rachel nodded with a proud smile on her face. Finn had grown so much since his mother and Burt Hummel had gotten together and his speech at the wedding solidified his maturity.
"But it's not entirely true, is it?" Carole continued, glancing out the corner of her eye at Rachel.
"I'm sorry?" Rachel asked, unsure of where this conversation was going.
"It wasn't only me, Rachel," Carole acknowledged. "Do you know when I started to see a change in him? A change for the better?"
Rachel shook her head no and turned slightly so she could look at Carole.
"You know what a terrible state he was in after finding out about Quinn and Puck and the baby," Carole told her, not even questioning if the young girl next to her had insight to her son's feelings. "And then the two of you started spending time together but his heart wasn't in it. And neither was his head." Carole shook her head as she glanced to Rachel and turned back to the road. "Finn is so much like his father was. It seems as if Hudson men can only deal with one thing at a time. Christopher was like that too. But they eventually got over it. Usually a day late and a dollar short. But, as I'm sure you know, women who love them just can't stay mad for long."
Rachel smiled and bobbed her head in acknowledgement. She knew that all too well.
"He realized that he wanted to be with you when he was on a date with those two trampy cheerleaders," Carole continued. "But before he could fix it, you had found someone else." Carole paused and took a deep breath. "That's when he changed. When he knew that he was wrong and he didn't know how to fix it. He changed when he thought he would never have you in his life, as a main feature, again. So his focus became being good to you and making you realize that he needed you."
"Mrs. Hudson …"
"Carole," she corrected again with a smile. "And then at the end of last year, after the foul boy did to you what he did, Finn came home both angry and excited. Two emotions at once!" she laughed. "Angry that you had that happen to you. But excited. Do you know why he was excited?"
"Because he now had an excuse to stop paying my mot – uhm, Ms. Corcoran back for the tires?" she guessed.
"Because he had another chance with you, Rachel. Because he had the chance to prove to you how much he cared," the older woman said with a wide smile. "And he became a real leader after that, didn't he?"
"Yes," Rachel smiled as she thought back to Finn putting on that red shower curtain and standing up for Kurt. She thought of him at Regionals and at Mr. Schue's house. "He became the leader I always knew he could be."
"And do you know what the catalyst in all of that was?" Carole asked.
Rachel thought about it but could really find no common denominator. "No," she said softly. "I don't have any idea."
"You," Carole replied in the same tone of voice. She reached over, once again, to take Rachel's hand. "You saved him like Burt saved me."
Neither mentioned the silent tears running down Rachel's cheeks. "Thank you," she whispered brokenly. "But he saved me too."
"That's the only way it works, honey," Carole replied. "That's the way you know it's right."
Rachel smiled slightly and changed the topic to the game.
*\o/*
When they got to the arena where the game would be played, Rachel was shocked to see Quinn standing outside waiting.
"Thank Goodness you're here, Ma – uh, Rachel," Quinn said as she spotted Mrs. Hudson.
Rachel furrowed her brow and looked around before turning back to Quinn. "Me?"
"Yes you, silly," Quinn said with a fake smile. "Come with me."
"Save me a seat?" Rachel called over her shoulder to Carole.
"She won't need it," Quinn responded before Carole could as she pulled Rachel down the hallway to the locker room where the Cheerios were getting ready.
"What are you doing?" Rachel asked loudly as she struggled to shake off Quinn's surprisingly strong hold.
"Stop squirming and just come with me," the blonde retorted as she open the door to the locker room and pushed Rachel inside.
Brittany was standing in front of her with a Cheerios uniform on a hangar.
"Put it on," Quinn said.
"What? No!" Rachel replied.
"Just do it," another of the Cheerios said. Rachel didn't know her name and really didn't care.
"Why? No!" she repeated as she tried to back towards the door but Quinn kept an iron grip on her upper arm.
"Listen, Man Hands," Santana said as she made her way to stand beside Brittany. "Do you think we would ask you to do this if there was any other way?"
"First, don't talk to me, harlot. And second, you haven't asked me anything. You've drug me to a locker room and demanded I put on a cheerleading outfit," Rachel replied scathingly.
"We're not asking you to do a porno or anything," Quinn replied in a bored tone of voice.
"I'd do it with you," Brittany said in her usual tone of voice. She turned to Santana and shrugged. "She got hot."
Rachel scrunched her brow and gave Brittany an odd look when Sue Sylvester emerged from inside the office she had broken into to sit down and put her feet up.
"Rachel Berry," the coach said with a grin on her face. "Your team, nay your school needs you. We're a Cheerio down, Berry. And you're the one these girls chose to replace her with," Sue added as she shot a grin over at the freshman who was holding an ice pack up to a rather large bruise on the side of her head.
"Because they want to humiliate me," Rachel shot back.
"Because you're the only one who can learn the choreography before the show," Quinn responded. "It's not like I wanted to have to ask you to do this. It's embarrassing. But Tiffany was a large part of the routine and we can't do it without someone in her position."
"And you expect me to be able to learn it in, what, an hour?" Rachel asked incredulously.
"Twenty three minutes," Coach Sylvester barked. "Now put on the uniform and go learn the routine."
Brittany thrust the uniform into Rachel's hands and Quinn directed her to one of the changing stalls.
"Exactly how did Tiffany get hurt?" she asked Quinn quietly.
"Santana dropped her."
Rachel had a bad feeling about this.
*\o/*
Finn was pumped. The team was ready to go.
With a manly war cry, Finn led the team out of the locker room and through a "tunnel" of their Cheerios. However, when he caught sight of the one on the end he stumbled, caught his toe and fell flat on his face, Puck and Sam landing on top of him.
"The fuck, dude?" Puck ground out as he lifted himself off his best friend and kind of nudged Sam slightly to the side.
But Finn wasn't paying attention. "Rachel?" he asked his eyes blinking rapidly.
"Hey, babe," she said with a small smile as she ruffled her pom poms. "Surprise."
"Hudson! Move it!" Coach Beiste called from the sidelines.
"Go Titans!" Rachel cried out with a grimace as she jumped up and down and waved her pom poms.
Finn couldn't stop himself from glancing over his shoulder at his girlfriend as he made he way over to the rest of the team.
"Dude. Berry's a total hottie in that uniform," Puck said.
"Shut the hell up, dude," Finn replied as she shoved his friend. "Keep your eyes on your own Cheerio."
"What the hell is she doing in that uniform anyway?" Mike asked as he and the other guys leaned in.
"Ladies, if you'd like to continue your gossip session I can sit you all on the bench. Is that what you want?"
"No, Coach," the players replied in unison.
"Good. Now get out there and win yourselves a district championship!"
The guys brought their hands in, did the team cheer and headed out to their positions.
Finn glanced over at Rachel, who was jumping up and down and waving her little pom poms like crazy, her bare legs becoming visible to everyone in the stands.
Nope. This wasn't going to work for him at all.
*\o/*
Quinn couldn't believe how quickly Rachel had caught on to their halftime routine. She was so good they actually had time to teach her some of the other cheers before they had to line up.
They ran through some of their sideline routines and Rachel kept with them every step of the way. She was better than some of the more experienced cheerleaders.
Quinn had a bad feeling as her eyes wandered to Sue. She had a feeling that Rachel was going to be offered a permanent position on the squad.
And if that happened her popularity would sky rocket.
And if that happened, she was completely certain that she and Sam would become McKinley's Second Couple and Finn and Rachel would be the First Couple.
No. She had worked too hard to let that happen.
After their halftime routine, she would step up her game so much that probably only Brittany and Santana would be able to keep up. That would embarrass Man Hand enough to make her quit the squad. Sure, Sue would be pissed at first but she would understand why she did what she did eventually.
She watched the clock slowly wind down until halftime.
Just a few more minutes and then she'll be able to put Rachel back in her place.
But it didn't work like that.
Rachel was a pro during their halftime show and then when Quinn picked up her game on the sidelines, so did Rachel.
Quinn started making up moves as she went; Rachel turned it into a copy-cheer.
Quinn pushed herself harder than she ever had before; Rachel barely broke a sweat.
This simply would not do.
*\o/*
After the game, Rachel walked back into the locker room and grabbed her street clothes.
"And what, exactly, do you think you're doing?" Sue asked as she turned the corner to stand in front of Rachel.
"Getting changed," the younger girl replied. "I need to go meet Carole to head back to Lima."
"No way, Crazycakes. You're one of mine now."
"What? No!" Rachel replied.
Sue reached out and grabbed Rachel's street clothes from her hand and marched to the showers, turning them on and tossing the clothes beneath the freezing cold spray.
"Think on it for the night," Sue said with a smirk. "You looked good out there."
Rachel huffed loudly and stamped her foot before marching out into the gym. Red and white confetti littered the floor and the rest of the Cheerios were jumping around and hugging the District Champion McKinley High Basketball team.
She pushed her way through the crowd and stopped in front of Finn. "Great game," she said with a smile.
He quickly pulled his warm up jacket from his shoulders and wrapped them around hers, a small scowl on his face. "So you're a Cheerio now?"
"No," she scoffed as she slid her arms through the arm holes of his jacket. "Quinn said she needed someone to fill in and they practically shoved me into this awful uniform. I couldn't say no, Finn!" she told him urgently. "And then I went back to change and Coach Sylvester took my clothes and threw them in the cold shower and now I have to wear this home …"
Finn produced a lopsided smiled and reached up to pull her hair from the tight ponytail Sue insisted her Cheerios wear. He ran his fingers through her auburn tresses and then cradled the back of her head as he brought his lips down to meet hers. "So you're not staying on the squad?"
"No," she whispered as she shook her head as reached up for another kiss.
"Good," he responded in the same tone. Then he pulled back slightly and smirked. "But you get the uniform for tonight, right?"
She gasped and pulled back, him swatting him on the arm. "Finn Hudson!"
"What?" he asked with a loud, happy laugh. "I'm just saying that you look really hot in that uniform."
"So you want me to stay on the squad?"
"Hell no!" Finn refuted loudly. "Only person who gets to see you in something like that is me."
Rachel arched a brow at him and was about to respond when Carole joined the two of them. She quickly wrapped her son in a hug. "I'm so proud of you, baby!" she cried as she pressed a kiss to his cheek.
"Mo-om!" he whined as he backed away and wiped his cheek off. "Not in front of the guys."
"Oh, save it!" Carole laughed as she wrapped an arm around Rachel. "I think I'm going to bring Rachel back to our house tonight – so you have someone to hang out with instead of going to one of those parties."
Finn furrowed his brow. "Aren't you, Burt and Kurt going to be there?"
"I believe Kurt is staying at his new friend Blaine's house tonight," Carole stated, completely ignoring the choking noise her son made. "And Burt and I are headed to Cincinnati for some kind of automotive expo. We'll be gone all weekend."
Finn's eyebrows shot to his hairline. Was she saying …?
"I expect you to be a perfect gentleman and have Rachel home before curfew any of the nights she comes over," Carole added. "C'mon, honey. Let's hit the road and head home."
Rachel smiled and pulled Finn in for a quick kiss. "See you later."
Finn responded in kind but a wide smile was crossing his lips.
Rachel had that Cheerios uniform until Monday.
And her fathers never gave her a curfew.
.xo.
Dedicated, of course, to my fellow Finchel Gutter inhabitants. Thanks so much for the support.
I'm REALLY nervous about this one. Please tell me if it blows and I will take it down. Seriously.
Love you guys!
Oh, and the title is courtesy of Amy Rochelle. Thanks, bb. You are made of win!