I know I say this every time I upload a new chapter, but thanks to everyone who read and reviewed Chapter 1. It's great to know people appreciate my writing :)

Here is Chapter 2. Is Rachel's theory about Quinn having a secret boyfriend correct? Does Finn still love Rachel? Read on!

Chapter 2: Secrets

Across the hall, Finn, Sam and Puck had unpacked their bags and were watching a baseball game on TV in their room. Rather, Sam and Puck were watching the game and Finn was thinking.

They'd been in their room for less than an hour and Finn couldn't get Rachel off his mind. He knew the feelings for Quinn weren't there. So why was he continuing to put up with her? He knew he still loved Rachel, but she didn't seem to even like spending time with him anymore. Take this morning at the airport for instance. He'd tried to chat with her and she'd zoned out.

She had every right to be angry with him, but he wanted her back. What she did with Puck was wrong, but he was to blame for it. Then in an act of stupidity he tried to get Quinn back, succeeded and now she spent every waking moment talking about prom queen. The week before Regionals, Quinn bragged about how she made Rachel cry.

And now Rachel was sharing a room with Quinn? Who came up with that room assignment? Did no one else know what was going on? Quinn would probably torment Rachel with her prom queen talk every waking minute.

"Hey Finn, something on your mind?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, can I talk to you guys?" Finn said.

"Dude, we're best friends. Of course we can talk," Puck said.

"Okay." Finn took a deep breath. "This conversation stays in this room and between the three of us. I'm really worried about Rachel. I still love her but ever since Regionals, she's been avoiding me. I think she's mad at me and has given up. I want to tell her how I feel but..."

"But you're dating Quinn, at least she seems to think so," Puck commented.

"I don't love Quinn. It just isn't there. The spark I felt with Rachel isn't there with Quinn. She brings me down and all she ever talks about is prom queen, prom queen, prom queen. I think I originally wanted to get back with her to make Rachel jealous, but now I'm just thinking that it was a mistake," Finn blurted out.

"Just break up with her," Sam said.

"I want to but I can only imagine what she'll do if I do," Finn said. "And now she and Rachel are sharing a room? That bothers me. Like, a lot. Quinn's probably bugging Rachel about the whole prom king and queen thing and making Rachel feel bad."

"I told Rachel she could come in our room any time if Quinn's a bitch," Sam said.

"Thanks." Finn tried not to sound too relieved. "I would have, but it was probably better coming from you. I don't even know if Rachel likes me anymore. I tried chatting with her at the airport this morning and she didn't even seem interested."

"How about we go visit Rachel and Quinn then?" Puck suggested.

Both Sam and Puck had dated Quinn in the past. Finn would gladly hand her over to one of them and take Rachel back. The impression he had was that Rachel wasn't even interested in being friends anymore, let alone boyfriend and girlfriend.

x

Across the hall, Quinn was on the phone with Danny. The super cute boy she met at a church event during winter break. Their kiss the first time they met had turned into a secret romance. Since she was determined to win prom queen, she did everything in her power to keep things quiet. Nobody knew about Danny - well, now Rachel did. When Quinn got off the phone, she saw Rachel sitting on the other bed with a confused look on her face.

Quinn admitted something to herself - she'd wanted to room with Rachel specifically to patch things up. She didn't like how she and Rachel had such a rocky relationship. She knew Finn and Rachel were still in love. She wanted to room with Rachel to tell her that - and to tell her about Danny so she knew Finn wasn't totally off the market. In fact, when they'd filled out their roommate request forms, she wrote on her form that she wanted to room with Rachel because she felt so bad about their fight right before Regionals and she hoped this would be an opportunity to form a truce. Now, however, it was time to tell Rachel what she'd probably already figured out for herself.

"Rachel." Quinn took a deep breath. "You can not tell anyone."

"Tell anyone what?"

"Don't play dumb, Rachel. You KNOW that I'm on the phone with another guy."

"Is he - a secret boyfriend?"

"Yes. His name is Danny. I met him at a church event over Christmas break and we just clicked."

"So you've had a secret boyfriend behind Finn AND Sam's backs all this time? UNBELIEVABLE! Quinn Fabray, I want you to realize how lucky you are to have Finn as your boyfriend. He's sweet, he makes you feel good about yourself, he's there for you - and you're totally cheating on him!"

Quinn started crying. "That's the thing, Rachel. I don't love Finn. I just want to be prom queen so badly. I can't have Danny be my prom king running mate because he doesn't go to McKinley."

"I just don't get why prom queen is so important to you, Quinn. You're beautiful and whether not you win, you'll still be beautiful. I wish I was beautiful like you are."

"It feels like I've lost my reputation ever since I quit the cheerios."

"On the contrary Quinn, I like you MORE now that you've quit the cheerios."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"So - you won't tell?"

"I don't know. Even if Finn and I aren't together anymore, I still love him and I don't want him to get hurt."

"He won't. My plan is I'm going to dump him after our prom king and queen dance and then pass him on to you. Then I'll dance with Danny."

"Finn doesn't love me anymore."

"Are you kidding me? Yeah, he does. Did you see those looks he was giving you at Regionals? Especially during 'Get It Right.' He looked like he was going to cry! Plus when I'm not talking about prom queen, he's talking about you."

"Okay, fine. Since I don't want to hurt him, I'll keep it quiet if YOU keep what I'm about to tell you quiet. You tell anyone what I'm about to tell you and I'll tell Finn about Danny."

"Okay, deal. What's going on?"

"I still love Finn. I've been avoiding him in hopes that he'll realize that he still loves me because I think that if I try too hard, he might not want to be back together. I think this policy is better."

"I think that's a good policy, too."

The girls heard a knock at the door. "I'll get it," Rachel said.

"Hey ladies, may we visit?" Quinn heard Puck say.

"You can let them in, Rachel," Quinn said. She was still embarrassed to face them after confessing the truth to Rachel. At the same time, though, it felt good to get it off her chest.

Rachel led Finn, Puck and Sam into the room.

"How are you two liking being roommates so far?" Finn asked.

"She's actually a good roommate." Rachel smiled at Quinn.

"Yeah, we've had some girl talk," Quinn said.

"I hope you two haven't been fighting," Puck said.

"Not at all," Quinn said. "What about you three? How are you guys liking being roommates?"

"It's fun," Finn said. "You girls ready for the big competition?"

"I guess," Rachel said. "I'm sure we have tough competition."

"We have an amazingly talented singer, performer and songwriter in our midst," Quinn said. "You. Rachel."

"You guys are all good, too," Rachel said.

"Nobody's good like you," Finn said.

"You flatter me, Finny." Rachel smiled.

FINNY? Rachel had stopped calling Finn Finny months ago.

"We have rehearsal in ten minutes." Rachel looked at the clock. "Maybe we should head down."

They boarded Elevator 3 - the only elevator they could use - and went downstairs to meet the group.

Quinn's phone went off, a text from Danny. Did anyone find out?

Only my roommate, but she's been sworn to secrecy.

Who is your roommate?

Rachel.

Rachel? The one who likes Finn?

Yeah, that one.

Don't you think she'll tell him?

She told me a secret of her own, so I don't think so.

"Who are you texting, Quinn?" Sam asked.

"No one you know," Quinn said, hoping Finn wouldn't get suspicious.

Rachel raised her eyebrows at Quinn, as if to say, "Was it him?"

Quinn nodded at Rachel.

The elevator opened and they went to the meeting room where they were practicing.

x

"Okay, everyone," Mr. Schue said. "Now, I think our set list is good. Let's go over it. Finn and Rachel will open with 'I Don't Want To Miss a Thing,' then we'll all do 'Only In America' and close with 'Seasons of Love.'"

"We know, Mr. Schue," Kurt moaned. "Why can't Blaine and I do 'I Don't Want To Miss a Thing?' We'd be more into it than Finn and Rachel."

"We are not arguing about who gets to sing it anymore!" Mr. Schue said. "Finn, Rachel, show us what you've got."

Now that Rachel knew the truth about Quinn, she sang her part of the song with lots more passion and love in her voice. When she and Finn finished, their teammates applauded.

"Great job, you two!" Mr. Schue said. "Rachel, I don't know where that energy was when we first started practicing."

"Oh, I'm just so happy we're here," Rachel said.

"Well, bring that happiness to the stage on Friday and that duet will have the theatre off its feet," Mr. Schue said.

Kurt and Mercedes high-fived Rachel on the way back to her seat. Out of the corner of her eye, Quinn gave her a thumbs up. Rachel smiled at Quinn.

x

At the end of rehearsal, Finn approached Rachel. "Hey, Rach, want to go out to dinner tonight?"

"Dinner?" Rachel sputtered. "As in, just the two of us?"

"Yeah." Finn smiled.

"But what about Quinn?" Rachel asked.

"I already got her permission before we left. I thought it would be a good way to break the tension between us."

"Are you sure she's okay with this? Did you see the looks she was giving us at Regionals when we were just talking? What's she going to think of us going out to dinner in New York, one of the most romantic cities in the USA?"

"She's fine with it, I swear. Though you might want to put on something nicer. The restaurant is relatively fancy."

Rachel rushed up to her room, put on one of the dresses Kurt had helped her pick out for the trip and hurried back downstairs to meet Finn, who was dressed in a collared shirt and nice pants.

"You look really pretty." Finn smiled at Rachel. "Let's go, our escort's waiting."

"Escort?"

"Yup." Finn led Rachel out of the hotel to reveal a horse drawn carriage.

"This is taking us to dinner?

Finn nodded. He took Rachel's hand and helped her up the steps to the carriage before stepping up himself. "The restaurant I picked has lots of special vegan meals," he told Rachel.

Rachel couldn't help but think that this was a date. Finn thought he was dating Quinn, but in reality she had another boyfriend. Rachel felt bad holding this in. She didn't want Finn to get hurt. He'd already been hurt, by Quinn, by her and maybe by Quinn again.

"Isn't this city beautiful?" Finn said to Rachel as the carriage drove through Times Square.

"It's amazing." Rachel looked around.

"I wanted to do this for you, Rachel. I feel terrible about the awkwardness between us. You're one of my best friends and I feel like I've hurt you and I never want to see you upset."

"This is one of those times when I just want to hug you but don't think I can."

"Well, if you're not going to hug me, I'm going to hug you!" Rachel and Finn embraced.

"Hey Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"I need to tell you something."