Finn noticed that Rachel was nodding off and nudged her. "You ready to go?" he asked her.
They'd been at the club for hours; it was now 2 am and the club had closed at 1. They'd sat around a large table talking and getting to know one another. Well…Sam didn't really talk. He mostly just stared at Mercedes Jones.
Rachel nodded sleepily. "You don't have to take me home," she told him again. "I'm sure everything is fine."
Everything might be fine, but Finn had an uneasy feeling about Brody. "I don't mind," he told her. "Puck said I can borrow his car and then he'll bring your bike over tomorrow morning and swap. I'll just take a cab home."
"That sounds like a lot of trouble."
"It's not," he told her, slowly standing. "Hey guys, I think I'm going to go ahead and take Rachel home." He looked at Artie. "You can get Sam and Quinn home?"
Artie nodded. "I'm staying over at Sugar's tonight," he told Finn. "You got your key?"
Finn nodded. "It was nice meeting you, Mercedes."
"Nice meeting you too, Finn," Mercedes said, smiling at him. "Next time we'll have to sing together."
"Maybe," Finn said, grinning. "Maybe not." He looked down at Quinn. "You going to be okay?"
"Yes," she told him, glancing over at Puck. "I'm good."
"You guys may have to use a vice grip to pry Sam away from Mercedes," Finn told them. "Don't hesitate."
Sam stopped staring at Mercedes long enough to glare at Finn. "Goodnight Rachel," he said pointedly.
Rachel laughed. "Goodnight everyone." She kissed Puck on the forehead and told him she loved him, and then followed Finn out the door.
"It feels good out tonight," Finn said, looking up and wishing he could see the stars.
Rachel nodded. "I'm glad you were ready to go," she told him as he opened the door for her and she slid into the car. "I don't think I can stay awake much longer."
Finn walked around the car and got in. "I have a big test tomorrow," he told her as they started moving. "I really should have studied tonight."
Rachel looked at him. "Regrets?"
"Surprisingly, none," he said.
"Good."
They talked about how easily their friends had gotten along, almost as if they'd always known each other. "I think it's really good that Puck has his own business. He told us he was the bartender for five years, but how could that be? You guys are around my age, right?"
Rachel laughed. "Noah has never really cared much about little things like the law," she told him. "When he started working there he used a fake ID and said he was already 21. Mac- the guy who owned the club- didn't really care one way or another. He figured Noah was lying but as long as he had that fake ID he wasn't too worried about it. We're 23."
Finn nodded. "Yeah, I can see that about your brother. I'm 22, but I'll be 23 before graduation."
"I figured that," Rachel said. "I'm robbing the cradle."
Finn shook his head, amused. When they arrived at her apartment building she waited in the car for him to open the door, alarmed to realize she was nervous. What if he made a move tonight? What if he didn't?
Finn helped her out of the car and held her hand as they walked to her apartment. "You really didn't have to bring me," she told him.
"I told you, I wanted to," he said as they reached her floor.
"Oh no," Rachel said, noticing a group of people standing around her apartment. "Oh no."
They walked quickly to her door, Finn tapping a policeman on the shoulder. "What happened?"
The officer looked over at him and shrugged. "Neighbor called it in, said he was afraid someone was robbing this apartment."
"This is my apartment," Rachel said, close to tears.
"Ms. Rachel Berry?" he asked. Rachel nodded weakly.
"Come with me, please," the officer said.
Rachel looked at Finn. "Go," he told her. "I'll wait here for you."
He sat against the hallway wall, wishing he had Puck's cell number. He called Sam, but they were back at the dorm already; they'd left right after he and Rachel did. "Puck left when we did or I'd go back and try to find him."
"Thanks man," Finn told him. "I'll take care of it."
"Hey, Finn?"
"Yeah?"
"You had fun tonight, right?"
"Until this happened," he told his friend, hanging up. He had had fun tonight. Now, though, he was mad as hell. He knew exactly who ransacked Rachel's apartment, and he was going to do a lot more than punch him this time.
"Finn?" Rachel said, coming out to the hall.
"Hey," he said, standing up quickly. "What did they say?"
Rachel shook her head, tears flowing as she ran to him and buried her face in his chest. Finn rubbed her back as he looked up at the officer. "How bad is it?" he asked the man.
"Bad enough," the officer told him. "Ms. Berry, do you have somewhere you can stay tonight? We're going to look for this Weston guy but it would probably be best for you to stay out of the apartment until we find him."
"She'll stay with me," Finn told him.
Rachel looked up at him. "You don't have to…"
"Shhh," Finn said, looking down at her. "Can we go now?" he asked the officer.
He nodded, looking at Rachel. "We've got your cell number; we'll be in touch."
"Thank you," Rachel said, wiping the tears off her face.
"Do you want to grab anything from your apartment?" Finn asked her.
Rachel shook her head no. "I just want to leave, please," she whispered.
"Did you call Puck? Or your dads?"
She shook her head again. "I'll tell them tomorrow," she told him. "I'm just…I can't talk to them tonight."
"Okay," Finn told her.
Rachel was silent on the way to Finn's dorm, looking out the window. The quieter she was, the angrier he got. By the time they got to his dorm room he felt like he was going to explode. "You're going to break the steering wheel," Rachel said as he parked the car. She took his hand and held it for a moment. "I know what you're thinking, but you have to let it go."
"Like hell I do," he said.
"This isn't your fight," she told him. "Noah and I can take care of it."
Finn knew Puck could do it, but that didn't stop him from wanting to be a part of it. "You're right," he told her. "It isn't my fight. But that doesn't stop me from wanting to go after him."
Rachel kissed his hand. "Thank you for that," she said. "I'm a big girl, Finn. I've been around for a while. I can do it. But it means a lot to me that you care."
He looked at her. "It scares me," he told her. "Have we even known each other long enough for me to care this much?"
"I guess so," she said, smiling a little. "Because I care about you too."
Finn's heart was beating so fast he was pretty sure he was going to die, so he opened his door and went around to open hers. They walked quietly to his dorm room, his hand shaking so badly- from rage? from Rachel? - he had trouble unlocking the door. Once they entered the room he grimaced. He should have cleaned up sometime in the past year.
"You'll need something to sleep in?" he asked.
"Yes," Rachel said, looking around. She went to his closet and found one of his shirts. "Can I wear this?"
Do you want me to die? he thought, but didn't say anything. He nodded. "That's fine. The bathroom is in there," he told her, pointing to the small door. "Let me know if you can't find something. There's an extra toothbrush in the medicine cabinet."
Rachel moved closer to him, kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you," she told him again before going into the bathroom.
When the door shut Finn looked around frantically, wondering what he was supposed to be doing. Figuring that she'd probably want to sleep in Artie's bed, he quickly stripped it and found some clean sheets and pillow cases. After it was changed he stood back and looked at the finished product. "It'll have to do," he said softly.
"What did you say?" she asked, coming out of the bathroom.
Finn turned to tell her about the bed but lost the ability to breathe when he saw her in his t-shirt. She was TINY…and she looked better in his shirt than he ever had. Because he was so much taller than her, the shirt hung down almost to her knees. "I, uh…" he cleared his throat, trying to look into her eyes. "I bed the fixed for you."
"You what?" she asked, grinning a little.
"I you'd the fixed. Bed the fixed. I FIXED THE BED FOR YOU." He rubbed his face with his hands, again wishing he could just go ahead and die.
"Thank you," she said, still smiling.
"You don't have to keep saying that," he told her. He pulled the blanket back. "Hop in."
"Are you going to tuck me in?" she asked.
"Yes," he told her. "In."
"Okay, okay," Rachel said, lying on the bed and curling onto her side, facing him.
He pulled the blanket over her, making sure her legs were covered. "Good night, Rach."
"Good night, Finn," she told him, closing her eyes.
He went to the bathroom and undressed, pulling on some old jogging pants to sleep in. He wondered if he should wear a shirt, too, but figured Rachel had seen more chests than his in her life. He turned off the light as he walked out, finding his way to his bed in the moonlight. He could tell she was sleeping by her deep even breathing. He needed to sleep himself.
He woke up when she got into the bed with him. "Rachel?"
"I don't want to sleep by myself," she said, putting her head on his arm. "Is that okay?"
Finn lifted the blanket so that it covered her too, moving his arm so it wouldn't fall asleep with her head on it. "Yeah," he said, still halfway sure he was dreaming.
"Go back to sleep," she said, sounding only half awake herself.
"'Night," he said. He'd later realize that he had to have been dead tired to even think about sleeping with Rachel lying in the bed beside him.
Rachel snuggled closer to him as he slept, unable to believe how sweet he looked in slumber. The moonlight shone over his features, making him look like an angel. She knew he'd hate that, but it was the truth. And his chest…it was solid and warm, with his heart beating to a steady rhythm, lulling her to sleep.
This was good. This was better than good. This was Finn, and he was perfect as far as she could tell. She just hoped that she didn't wake up tomorrow to find he'd been a dream.