Lyla had settled in the guest bedroom in the basement of the Hudson-Hummel house, the one that Sam had lived in the previous year. Currently, Sam had taken over Kurt's room but following Kurt's return tomorrow it was decided that Sam would move in with Finn. Finn explained to Carole that Lyla was a friend of Puck's that will be attending the wedding and she needed a place to stay. To Finn's surprise Carole was trilled and didn't ask any questions. She led Lyla instantly to the guest room and got her new sheets, a towel, and anything else she needed.

Carole would never tell Finn but she was not-so-secretly sincerely happy that Lyla had some how come into Finn's life. She didn't know the details, to her Lyla was just a friend of Puck's, and maybe even Puck's date to the wedding but it had been so long since Carole had seen Finn around girls. She and Burt's master bedroom happened to be wall to wall with Finn's room and they still constantly heard him talking in his sleep about Rachel. He still had pictures of her and them as a couple all over his room. He still used the crazy cat calendar she got him in sophomore year even though the dates weren't right for 2013. He still counted the months by since he proposed to her on it. Carole loved Rachel and she wouldn't want anything more than having Finn end up with her, but Finn had to find a distraction, atleast for now.

In the meantime, Finn had gone up to his room. He unconsciously found himself in the bathroom fixing his hair. He was then interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Yo Finn. Who is the hot chick your mom is showing the house to?" Sam's whisper came through the door.

"Her name is Lyla." Finn said while opening the door. He was unexpectedly annoyed by the smirk Sam had on his face. He knew what thoughts were running through his mind. "She's my date to the wedding. So back off man."

"Woah. Relax. I was just curious buddy." Sam retorted. He patted Finn on the back. "Lucky man. Where the hell did you find her?"

"She came with Puck from Los Angeles."

"... And she's your date because?" Sam asked confused. Finn looked away and didn't respond. It didn't take long for a light bulb to go off in Sam's head. "Is this because Rachel's RSVP came to Carole with a +1?"

Carole was helping with the wedding planning since Will and Emma had decided to take care of it themselves rather than hire someone. She was in charge of the invitations, so she received the responses and passed them on to Ms. Pillsbury. Rachel's RSVP came in and resulted in an awkward silence at the breakfast table the same day Finn had to go for his suit fitting. Shortly after hearing the news, Finn left the house without a word and slamming the door behind him. His anger towards the matter was no secret in his house.

"You keep that quiet. The story I'll be sharing with everyone is that we met over Facebook, with the help of Puck, and developed an interest in each other so she came down to see me and be my date for the wedding." Finn responded. It was a fairly believable story. The best he could come up with without sounding like a desperate loser.

"Alright. Then she's free for me to… get in there, right?" Sam nudged him in the ribs, jokingly smirking. Finn flashed him a glare, which immediately whipped the grin off his face. "I guess not. So much for a fake date, you're already falling for her bro."

"Shut up man." Right then, Lyla and Carole peeked out from the stairway and Sam introduced himself to her. After a moment of awkward silence, Carole piped in.

"Well… Lyla darling you must be really tired. It's a long flight from Los Angeles to here."

"Yeah, actually I am. So I'll be going to bed. But thank you so much again for your hospitality Mrs. Hudson, it's a pleasure to meet all of you." She said the last line with her eyes landing on Finn, giving him a smile that produced butterflies in his stomach again. They shared their good nights and she went back down the stairs.

Finn was able to relax when she was gone. While he walked back to his room, he pondered on why he was so nervous around her. He decided to close and lock his door. He wanted some privacy tonight. It had been a while since he had released and he assumed that would be the cure to end the lustful attraction he had towards Lyla. So he did what any guy would do, took out a sock and went to bed with it.

Tonight, he had no problem with closing his eyes and simply thinking of fond memories of Rachel instead of using porn. He decided to revision their first time. Her full lips pressed against his, his hands running through her soft brunette hair, the electricity between their bodies, her loud gasp when he penetrated her virginity, her lip biting moans, her nails digging in his back. He remembered it all perfectly. But more importantly he remembered how he felt, it wasn't just her insides that brought him pleasure, it was the feeling he had in his heart that made it so much better. So much better than the painful memory that was his first time with Santana. He had no trouble blocking that meaningless sex from encompassing his mind. But he was having trouble tonight not envisioning Lyla's breasts on Rachel. His images of Rachel were being morphed with Lyla's body and with that, he was no longer making love to her but senselessly devouring her with a lustful desire. It didn't take more than two minutes for him to finish and fall back on his pillow grasping for air and taking in the sensation he just felt. He whipped his sweaty forehead with his arm and removed the sock. He let it fall under his bed on the floor and he drifted to sleep without another thought.

Sam knocked on his door early morning. "Dude, why is your door locked?"

Finn eyes fluttered half-open and he checked his watch. It was only 9 a.m. He couldn't help but be irritated that Sam had just woke him up this early during a long weekend. "What the hell man?" He moaned out.

"Kurt's going to be here in an hour. Get up."

Right. Kurt was coming back today for the big dinner tonight before the wedding. Rachel would be back too. The thought of Rachel made Finn instantly jump out of bed and hop into the shower.

Following his shower, he returned to his room to find Lyla looking at Rachel's cat calendar. Shit. I forgot she was even here.

His cheeks flushed with embarrassment and he backed out of his room so he was out of her sight. He was only in a towel covering his lower body and he felt uncomfortable. She still heard him come in though.

"Hey Finn." Her sweet voice chirped. "Sorry I barged into your room. Your mom let me in, I was curious." She professed honestly.

"Uh… it's alright. I just uh… got out of the shower, so…"

"It's alright. Don't be shy." She responded sounding amused. He was taken back by her response. She must have caught on to how nervous he was around her and how self-conscious he was. He felt pathetic. He had no other choice but to stroll in and proudly reveal his naked upper-body. He retraced his steps into his room slowly and her eyes immediately turned towards him. She looked him up and down, smiling flirtatiously. His cheeks were flashing red now.

"Hard to believe that you'd have to try and make a girl jealous." She remarked simply. She turned around and walked over to his bed, sitting on it with one slim leg crossed over the other. She was wearing a revealing pink top and black tight short shorts. It shocked Finn how she wasn't even cold considering there was snow outside and she's from California.

"What do you mean?" Finn asked, genuinely curious.

"Just saying… I feel like you're above the league of many girls here. They should be using you to make their ex-boyfriends jealous, not the other way around." A dumbfounded chuckle escaped his lips. He assumed she was just being nice but simultaneously his anxieties about being half-naked washed away. Did she just boast my ego? She turned away from him to the photo of Rachel on his nightstand. "Is this the girl?"

"Yeah. Rachel. My… uh… ex-fiancé."

"Fiancé? Sounds serious. What happened?" She looked up at him from the photo visibly curious. He couldn't help but be distracted for a moment by her striking blue eyes beaming at him, this time surrounded with no make up. She was still just as gorgeous. Snap out of it Finn. He looked down before he responded.

"She went to New York. I went to the army. Things fell apart after that…" A troubled frown encompassed his face as the memory of coming up to her door to find Brody behind her flushed back. "She moved on."

"I see. Long distance relationships are hard to maintain." Finn didn't know what to reply to that with so he walked towards his closet to find a shirt to put on. Lyla decided to change the subject in the meantime. "So who is Kurt?"

"Kurt is my step-brother. Burt's son." Finn answered while looking through his drawer.

"Step-brother? His room is pretty girly." She responded confused.

"Uh… well yeah he's gay."

"Ah. I figured. I can't wait to meet him. Most my friends back home are gay."

"Yeah? Well you two should get along then." He replied inattentive. I can't find a damn nice shirt to wear. He stopped shuffling and looked back at her. "We could all go out for lunch if you want."

"That'd be great. I'd love to see more of Lima."

"Hah. No trust me you don't want to." Finn remarked, laughing genuinely for the first time.

"Why not?" She lightened up at his change of tone.

"It's uh... a pretty useless town, to put it nicely. The best restaurant to go to is called Breadstix but it ironically has stale breadsticks that will make you sick." She giggled.

"I'll remember not to try one of those then." Her amused smile faded into a puzzled look. "Why did you stay here then?" He didn't want to answer that question so he looked back at his closet. Any time anyone asked him that question he didn't have a real response. He had no choice but to stay here. No college or job offers anywhere else. He had been discharged from the army, turned down by Pace University, and even unqualified for a football scholarship. Staying in Lima was his only option and that made him feel like a Lima Loser.

"I don't know." He managed out sounding uncomfortable. Lyla suddenly regretted asking him that acknowledging it was a sensitive subject. In hopes to ease the tension, she came up behind him peering into his closet. "Whatcha wearing tonight to the big dinner?"

"Uh… I don't know. Probably this." Finn brought out his stripped sweater that was hung up. But judging by the look on her face, she wasn't too impressed. "What? What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing. Just… well first of all it looks two sizes too big for you. Second, it looks like you bought it years ago." She was right. He had bought that sweater in sophomore year, he thought to himself and frowned. "We can go shopping today instead of lunch if you'd like" She smiled at him excitedly.

"Uh… okay." He felt embarrassed and looked away.

"Hey." She rested her hand on his right cheek and turned his face towards her. She beamed up at him reassuringly. "I didn't mean that as an insult. I just think you have a great body." She looked down seductively as she said that. "And it'd look even better in tighter fitting clothes." His face flushed red as her hand left it and lingered down his torso. Just as his eyes flickered on to her lips for a second, she stepped back. "I'm going to go get ready. See you soon." She smiled, turned around and walked out the door, closing it behind her.

Finn just stood there for a moment dumbfounded. He ran a hand through his hair. She thinks I'm hot? What in the… Then like a lightning bolt, it hit him. He was so unnecessarily self-conscious about his personal appearance. That's what she meant by her first comment about having to make someone jealous as well. He looked at himself in the mirror plastered to his closet door. He had been working out and eating healthy all year. His stomach was toned and hard. His shoulders had broadened and he'd developed some large biceps as well. Why am I down on myself all the time? Suddenly, Finn smirked at himself in the mirror. He felt alive. He even felt a little cocky. Some burden on his shoulder had just been lifted off and he had Lyla to thank for it. He dug into his closet and found a tight fitting white t-shirt. He put it on and balanced it with a set of dark jeans. Usually he'd put on an oversized hoodie to cover up his insecurities but today he didn't. He looked at himself proudly, and followed with gelling his hair in a spiky fashion. For the first time in what seemed like forever, he walked out his room with a smug smile on his face feeling confident.

Finn walked out to find Kurt climbing up the stairs. Behind him was Rachel.

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