Rachel was never quiet. Whether she was singing or talking, her mouth was usually making noise. Blaine felt awkward enough on their drive to her house; her apparent silence was making it even worse. He tried turning on the radio, but it only seemed to heighten the fact that she wasn't talking so he turned it off a moment later.

"So," he tried, clearing his throat. "How're things with you and Finn?"

He noticed her glancing at him out of the corner of his eye, heard the change of her breath in the silence. "What do you mean?" she finally asked, her face turned towards the window.

Blaine chose his words carefully. He didn't want to tell her Finn was still in love with her if she didn't notice. "Well, I know he's still dating Quinn, or so I last heard from Kurt. But I noticed you two are still pretty in to each other."

"No," she answered firmly. He rolled to a stop sign at the end of her street, raising an eyebrow to her.

"That was a pretty fast answer."

"I can't afford to try again with Finn. Not right now. Neither of us are in a place where it could happen. I am on my own for now. Focusing on the future, trying to focus on success instead of trivial high school things." She replied simply.

"You do realize you're still in high school," he countered.

"Regardless. My dreams aren't in Lima and it doesn't make sense to tie myself down to anymore attachments here."

He pulled into her drive way, parking the car and turning to face her. "So you'll just be alone until you go away to college," he clarified.

She hesitated, one hand on the door handle. "Not alone," she corrected. "Just-single. There's a big difference." She gave a small wave and got out of the car. He waved back, mulling over her last statement as he drove away.

The dance lessons had not progressed well. Kurt had even tried teaching Finn later at night when it was just the two of them, without Rachel and Blaine laughing in the corner of the room. He noticed that Finn did better when it was just them, but he wasn't sure if it was the basement-there was a significant lack of things to distract him rather than the living room-or the lack of other people that were helping. He had managed to teach him a simple waltz, but it had taken almost a week. Mastering anything else before National's seemed highly unrealistic.

"Dude, I just can't-"

"You're getting better Finn," Kurt promised one night. They had told their parents they were watching some new show, the music playing quietly so they wouldn't intrude. Kurt didn't want his father thinking anything more was going on-his crush on Finn had certainly gone almost 100% away since they moved in together, and he was with Blaine and happy now. Of course, he spent more alone time with Finn than with Blaine these days, but he figured that was only natural since he now went to school with Finn once more and he was his brother-step brother-and all.

"I guess," Finn relented before flopping on the couch. Kurt sighed and went to examine the playlist he had carefully picked out for them. He was determined to teach Finn to dance, mostly for everyones safety. But also because he knew-just as much as everyone else did-that it was only a matter of time before he decided Quinn wasn't worth the hassle anymore and ventured back to Rachel. Kurt half-wished that Rachel would reject him, because she was better on her own. Or at least, without Finn. He was toxic to her, and he didn't know if he could handle another Finchel make up and break up.

"Can I ask you something?" Kurt ventured after a few minutes. Finn shook his head awake, Kurt noticed the dark circles growing larger under his eyes lately. He'd have to lend him some eye cream at a later point in time.

"What's up?"

"What's going on with you and Rachel?" Finn looked halfway surprised, but it could have been the Britney Spears song that had begun playing loudly behind Kurt. He quickly shut it off while waiting for Finn's response.

"Well, I mean, we're just friends. I'm dating Quinn." Kurt raised an eyebrow, urging him to continue. Finn didn't take the hint. "What?"

"You love Rachel though," Kurt supplied. Finn blushed red, a bumbling mess as he tried to deny it. "It's obvious, everyone can see it Finn. Except maybe Rachel."

"I love Quinn," Finn rushed out and Kurt rolled his eyes.

"I didn't say you didn't. It's possible to love two people at once. But you're stringing along both of them. Don't you think maybe you should just pick one and let the other live her own life?"

"I'm not trying-I didn't know I was, I mean-am I really leading Rachel on?" Finn asked, a look of guilt shadowing his face. Kurt sighed. Sometimes Finn was the least observant person in the planet.

"Yes. And as long as you love Quinn, you should probably stop whatever it is you're doing with Rachel." Finn made a face that Kurt knew meant he was thinking deeply. "Come on, I want to get this move down so I can go to bed," he said, trying to distract him from the conversation he probably shouldn't have started. "And I still have to call Blaine, so let's do this."

Blaine knew it was getting worse. Every day that he spent with her, twirling her around his boyfriends living room, laughing and joking and making snacks while Kurt tried, unbelievably patiently, to teach Finn to dance. He'd see someone with the exact shade of brown in their hair, and his thoughts would wander away from things like calculus or The Grapes of Wrath and he'd be lost in a daydream, imagining what it would be like if Rachel went to school at Dalton-which was preposterous, since she was a girl-and he actually got to see her for more than an hour or two.

"I hear you found a prom date," he told her the afternoon before the big event. They were in the kitchen again, Rachel making Finn's sandwich since she knew exactly what to put on it, while Kurt roared about how Finn had to pay attention before he knocked over the TV or something.

"Yeah," Rachel replied, blushing. She was unusually quiet, something she hadn't been since their awkward car ride a couple weeks prior.

"That St. James guy? From Vocal Adrenaline?" Blaine prodded. He had heard some of the details from Kurt, who had seemed annoyed that Blaine wanted to spend their alone time together to talk about Rachel.

"Yes," she replied shortly. Clearly, he wasn't going to get anywhere without an open ended question.

"Why?"

"Why what?" she replied with, her voice becoming tense as she cut Finn's sandwich in half.

"Why would you go with him? After what he did to you?"

Rachel put the knife down, staring at Blaine from across the island counter. "You know, everyone is so focused on that one event. Yes, it was hurtful, and it was hateful, and it was just plain mean. And Jesse apologized for it, deeply. And I believe him. And yes, he broke up with me at a time that worked to his advantage and thought would work against us. It didn't in the long run, but I doubt anyone remembers that either. Jesse was good to me Blaine. He was capable of keeping up with my talent as very few people are. He loved me, and he made an error in judgment. He chose to give in to peer pressure, as we've all done from time to time. But he was supportive when I was trying to find my birth mother, he was caring to me, and he wanted me for me. He didn't want me to change who I was, he didn't want anyone else, he just wanted me. So yes, he hurt me. But he's also proving himself to be the guy he was before that incident. And if everyone expects me to forgive Finn for all he's done, why can't they expect me to do the same for Jesse? Because he isn't a part of New Directions? It's bullshit."

Blaine stared at her, eyes opened wide, through her rant. He didn't really know what to say to her, but fortunately Finn called them back into the living room. Rachel picked up the snacks without another word to Blaine and walked back into other room while Blaine stood there. He couldn't disagree with her points, and from a few photo's he had seen of the couple on her facebook-which he was ashamed to admit he had taken to stalking regularly- she did look genuinely happy with him. He didn't like it, didn't like that she was going to prom with anyone, but he supposed it was better than her sitting home alone.

"Blaine!" Kurt yelled, his voice starting to squeak a little. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck before heading into the other room. His feelings were getting more and more confusing by the day, and there was only so much longer that he could put off figuring out exactly what was going on inside his head.