Title: Leave It to Finn
Author: animatedbrowneyes
Pairings: Rachel/Quinn, mentioned Finn/Quinn, implied Sam/Mercedes and Brittany/Santana
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.
This is a birthday present for my lovely friend, spacedsensation. I hope she, and anyone reading this, enjoys it. :)
"I can't believe this. I can't believe this. I can't believe this…"
She could not understand how idiotic she was, especially today, of all days.
Quinn covered her face with her hands, fingernails threatening to make marks on her skin. This was a catastrophe. This was worse than leaving the Cheerios. Or losing Regionals. And Nationals (erm, kissing Rachel on stage was not a very good idea, in hindsight). And not being admitted into Columbia immediately, causing panic and awful heartache for two long weeks until she finally received her late acceptance letter. This hysteria, however, was unfathomably terrible and it was all Quinn's fault. The blonde even assumed that this newest mistake was worse than realizing she had a real crush on Rachel freaking Berry. Well, that mistake really turned out for the best.
Or would turn out for the best, but couldn't, because of this one.
Quinn's anguish was interrupted for a moment as Finn poked his head in the threshold, smile changing into a concerned frown at her sad expression.
"What's wrong?" He asked worriedly, entering the room and turning a bit to close the door, before pivoting back to her, looking troubled.
He leaned closer when she mumbled something in a broken, sorrowful whisper, her eyes already beginning to swim with tears.
"Didn't hear that," Finn urged, panicking instinctively. "What?"
"I lost my vows," Quinn burst out, making Finn flinch in surprise. His reaction only spurned Quinn on. "I lost them…I lost them, Finn!"
"You lost your vows?" Finn gasped belatedly, hand flying to his forehead, a sharp smack succeeding his statement. "No! Oh no, oh no…"
"I know!" Quinn wailed, quickly striding away from him, shaking her head, to find a seat on the couch, dress swishing noisily in her wake. Finn trailed after her awkwardly, helplessly, not quite sure how to deal with yet another one of Quinn's epic meltdowns and one of the many he'd witnessed before in his time at McKinley. Finn had remained a close confidant to Quinn, following his harebrained assistance on Rachel and Quinn's first date. They provoked suspicion from everyone around them—including, at times, Rachel herself—but Finn and Quinn were stubborn and eventually, were believed, to Quinn's relief. Their friendship lasted longer than their relationship could've ever hoped to be, and Finn usually managed a visit or two to New York from OSU on free weekends, watching amusedly as Rachel and Quinn's relationship progressed from dating to engaged to this, their long-awaited wedding day, where he stood proudly as a best man to Quinn.
"Okay, okay," Finn mumbled, meandering around uncertainly, arms raised, as if to comfort her, but was unsure of how to do so. "Okay."
"Okay?" The blonde screeched. "Okay? It's not okay! Forgetting to bring my vows on my wedding day is not something that's 'okay'!"
She'd been so nervous, understandably, but had rushed out of the house without double-checking her purse to see if she brought them.
Thank God that Quinn didn't need to carry the rings. She'd lose her head if it wasn't attached to her body.
"Chill out, I can help you," Finn insisted wildly, wincing at Quinn's frustrated gaze, leveled right at him. "We can totally fix this. Leave it to me."
The eeriness of their current argument, resembling the one all those years ago in high school, unnerved Finn greatly, but he ignored it.
"How?" Quinn demanded, at a loss. "Ask them to hold the ceremony so I can run home—in my wedding dress—to try to find them?"
Finn didn't answer—he was searching his pockets, and then his tuxedo jacket, until he managed to find a pen and paper, having since completed his toast for the reception.
Uncapping the pen and hunkering down to kneel at the small table beside the couch, he stilled.
"So…what did you write before?"
"I don't know…I…" Quinn fretted distractedly, biting her lip, too nervous to concentrate. "I can't remember a single thing. Sorry…"
Finn nodded sympathetically, patting her shoulder. "Okay. That's why I'm here, Quinn. I'm gonna help you write some brand new vows."
"Really?" Quinn questioned, smiling incredulously through her tears. Finn brightened, smiling boyishly.
"Yes! That's what the best man is for. I'm here to do whatever you need me to. The show must go on," he added, and Quinn sighed.
"Thank you," she told him sincerely. "For this, and for what you did before. I can't be grateful enough, you know? I wouldn't even be here without you."
Finn smiled, looking so much like the teenager she'd loved at one point, the very same, sweet boy that sung a song dedicated to her and Rachel's happiness at senior Prom.
Looking pleased with himself, Finn asked teasingly, "who's better than me?"
"Plenty," Quinn deadpanned, but had to crack a smile when Finn laughed.
"All right," Finn proclaimed, when their laughter faded, pen lowered to the paper, his hand poised to scrawl at her direction, "let's do this."
"I can't say this! What's wrong with you?"
"These vows are gonna be sick! Trust me."
"If everyone laughs at me, Finn, I swear…"
Finn shuddered.
"…now please turn each other and share the vows you have written," the official instructed solemnly, peering at them over his glasses.
Stomach lurching with anxiety and mortification, Quinn shifted restlessly, hands clasped in Rachel's, and opened her mouth to go first.
"Rachel," she began, smiling nervously, "I, uh…lost my original vows," (the assembly started to murmur quietly, looking critically at Quinn—Santana even rolled her eyes from behind Rachel, as the maid of honor) Quinn told her, "but I wrote these…about an hour ago."
Rachel said nothing, only stared, smile a bit fixed on her lips in her surprise, as if questioning Quinn's sanity to pull something like this.
Finn coughed something encouraging under his breath, kicking his toe against one of Quinn's heels—unsubtly—to urge her to continue.
"First of all, I'm completely in love with you," the blonde confessed honestly, smiling a little, "head over heels, actually, and it's just astounding. I never understood what it really means to care about someone this much…it's crazy. I see the littlest things about you. I know that you adore reality television and despise documentaries, unless it's about a certain Broadway star that's part of your name."
Rachel blushed as the crowd tittered quietly. Hiram Berry cleared his throat, ears slightly pink. Leroy stifled an amused laugh.
"I know you can't get enough of horror movies, and sometimes, you put them on just so you can cuddle with me because I'm scared."
Rachel's eyes flashed with obvious mirth, revealing her motives, but she did not look particularly remorseful about it, delighting Quinn.
"Sometimes, I watch you when we'e walking through the city, and I love your smile when you look around, like you still can't believe you're here…happy and successful," Quinn went on, eyes twinkling. "I can still see that amazed teenager, ready to sing at Nationals."
"You're just perfect for me, Rachel Berry," Quinn said, and her face colored noticeably as Finn kicked her heel again, pointedly. "You're the Mary Jane to my Spiderwoman," she added, through her teeth, flustered (Puck, sitting in a pew, covered his face, silent guffaws making his shoulders shake violently, as Mrs. Puckerman scowled at her son in open disapproval, while Hannah Puckerman shook her head gravely at her brother's insolence). "You're the Harley Quinn to my Poison Ivy…um, the Batgirl to my Supergirl…and I'm sure you're…uh, the Reese Richards to my Sue Storm, because…I'm sometimes really invisible next to your fantasticness," she tacked on, face bright red.
The guests burst into loud laughter, making Quinn's embarrassment deepen. Rachel squeezed her hands tightly, smiling adoringly.
The noise died down and Quinn spoke again, more earnestly this time.
"This is going to sound cheesy and ridiculous, this still happens to me, so I'll just say it…I see not only fireworks when you kiss me, but atomic bombs," the blonde declared (Santana looked uncomfortable for Quinn, as incredulous chuckles become audible), "and it's like nothing else. You're the only one that makes me feel this way, and I never want to lose that special feeling. Ever since our first date, I've felt this…invisible tether, connecting me to you. It won't break, even when we're apart, and I know that it'll always be there, if you let it."
Quinn's smile turned shy.
"I want us to be forever. I want us to last. Most of all, I just want you with me, always, through thick and thin, through sad tears and happy tears, and with a few kids, if you like. I want us to age together, not you and I. Us. We're a team now, and there's no 'I' in team."
Rachel looked like she was about to start bawling.
Judy Fabray muffled a sob.
Santana and Puck blinked, mumbling about 'flyaway branches' and 'stupid dust' while Brittany linked her fingers with Santana's, smiling.
Finn's smile was brightest of all (aside from the brides, of course) as he watched, eyes crinkling and dimples appearing on his face.
"So…" Quinn concluded, smiling mischievously, old confidence and charisma returning to her tone, "Rachel Berry, will you marry me?"
Rachel's vows were—predictably, to a fault—longer than Quinn's, and more verbose but just as sincere. By the end, their guests were both impatient and starry-eyed, unsuccessfully attempting not to cry (Judy, Santana, Puck, Leroy, and Mr. Schuester were the most obvious), and the ceremony finished smoothly, allowing the congregation to drift right to the reception. The brides shared a dance, first, and then mingled with their friends, every once and awhile catching each other's admiring gaze, sharing smiles only meant for the other. Meanwhile, Quinn swayed on the dance floor with Finn, arms laced comfortably around his neck.
"I think I deserve my credit," he insisted, looking indignant. "I saved the whole wedding, didn't I?"
"You helped," Quinn acquiesced. "But most of that stuff mine. The fireworks, the tether…"
"The superhero stuff was the thing that sold it, even though you got the names all wrong," Finn grumbled, stubborn. "I should get an award or something for this. Sheesh."
"Dude," Sam grinned, dancing nearby with Mercedes as he leaned a little in their direction, "you wrote that shit?"
"Yeah!"
The boys broke formation to high-five. Mercedes and Quinn rolled their eyes, and were soon dancing again, after two identical glares.
"So…is this everything you hoped it be?" Finn inquired, twirling the blonde and pulling her back to his chest, smiling cheekily.
Quinn smiled back, hazel eyes darting from the boy she'd once dreamed of marrying to the girl she'd never thought she would marry in a thousand years, and nodded once.
"It's better," she replied honestly, smile significantly larger as Rachel waltzed by with Kurt, unable to control her giggles, "a lot better."
Thanks for reading this unquality sequel! Have a good day or night, all!