Puck ran his hands up and down Rachel's slender body as they made out on his couch, the usual routine on Friday nights when Puck's mom worked late. But something was different about this particular night. Rachel seemed stiff and distant, but Puck only noticed that she was using far less tongue than usual.
"What's the matter babe?" Puck said, as Rachel pulled away.
"I'm sorry Noah, my mind is just somewhere else" She didn't dare mention that by somewhere else she actually meant on someone else. Why couldn't she get Finn Hudson out of her mind? His delicate yet smoldering features and gorgeous eyes invaded her every thought and she couldn't picture his underwear clad body without blushing. "Am I losing my mind?" She thought to herself. "Here I am with the studliest, most popular guy on the planet and I'm having dirty thoughts about king gleek, what is wrong with me?"
"Do you need me to rub your shoulders or something? These hands can turn concrete into butter." Puck said snapping her back to reality.
"No, that's very sweet but I think I'm probably going to call it a night."
"Wait, you're not still mad at me about that Finn dork are you?"
"I'm not mad Noah, I'm just a little disappointed that you constantly feel the need to solve your problems with violence."
"What am I supposed to do? Express my feelings through interpretive dance? That's his thing babe."
"I just don't understand why you're so threatened by him, plenty of guys are dying to tap this and you focus on the only one who's actually a gentleman about it."
"I don't trust that guy Rachel."
"But you do trust me don't you? You're the one I want to be with Noah, please don't give me a reason to rethink that" Rachel kissed Noah chastely on the forehead and left without another word.
Finn took his usual place in Spanish Monday morning, next to her. He was surprised that one weekend was enough time to gather up the courage to even be in the same room as her, let alone ask her what he'd been dying to ask her since he'd heard her sing in the shower that day. Luckily they were both in class early. She looked up as he sat down, careful not to picture him in his boxers again.
"Hey Rachel" Finn said.
"Hey Finn" she answered, trying and failing to remain cool.
"So how was your weekend?"
"Largely uneventful" she said, anxiously pulling at her ponytail and unconvincingly pretending to read her textbook.
"Yeah, mine too" he began to bounce his knee nervously, not entirely sure how he was going to get what he needed to say out.
"Um, Rachel. There's something I wanted to ask you."
She looked at him nervously "What if he asks me out, what am I supposed to say?" She thought frantically to herself.
"Would you like to…"
"Please don't say go out with you, please don't say go out with you, please don't say go out with you" she thought.
"… come check out our next glee practice?"
"Oh" she said, semi-relieved.
"It's just that we need seven more members and you're really good, like crazy good, and I know if you joined then the other six members would come easy."
She hesitated for a moment "Finn, I'm really flattered but I've never really sang onstage before, I'm not even sure if I can."
"Of course you can, you're amazing, and with a little training you'd be unstoppable."
"Well, it's not just that, I'm also really busy with the Cheerios and school and—
"Rachel, you can say it you know. I'm not going to judge you" Finn interrupted, taking the hint.
"Say what?"
"That joining glee is social suicide and you wouldn't be caught dead singing with a bunch of dorks."
"Finn, that's not what I'm sayi—
"Hey guys, how was everyone's weekend?" Mr Schue said, entering the class.
"I really am sorry" Rachel said under her breath, lacking anything better to say.
"Yeah, me too" Finn answered.
"We have to do something about Finn" Tina said as she pushed Artie's wheelchair down the hallway.
"I know, the poor guy's going to get himself killed over that girl" Artie responded.
"Maybe we can find him someone else , you know, to take his mind off of her."
"That's actually a really good idea."
"I'm sure there would be plenty of girls interested in Finn" Tina continued. "He's so talented and sweet and he's actually pretty attractive for a six foot three inch pile of awkward."
Artie grabbed his wheels, stopping them in their tracks. "Wait a second, you don't mean you, do you?"
"Well, what do you think? Do you think we'd make a good couple? I mean we're always paired with each other in glee, something's gotta give right?"
"Um, yeah… totally" Artie lied.
"Do you think he'd be interested?"
Tina couldn't have imagined the situation she'd put Artie in at that moment. He could either tell her to forget about Finn because he himself was crazy about her, which he in no way had the guts to do, or he could go with it and feel like the world's biggest chump.
"Well, you're cute and smart and probably the coolest person I know. Who wouldn't be interested in you?" Artie said.
"You really think so" Tina asked.
"Definitely"
"Great, I'll do it, I'm going to ask him out." Tina threw her arms around Artie and turned to leave.
"Oh well, chump it is" Artie said to himself.
Finn knew that he hadn't technically been shot down, just the glee club, so why did he feel so rejected? If she wouldn't even consider going to one glee practice then there was no way she would ever see him as anything more than a loser she took pity on every once in a while. It was just then that he decided that he had to move on, that no matter how much he wanted Rachel, Rachel would never want him. He sat at his usual lunch table, nursing his wounded ego with a meatloaf sandwich when Tina sat down across from him, looking weirdly anxious.
"Hey Finn" Tina said
"Oh hey Tina, is that a new skull hairclip?"
"Oh, yeah" she said, touching it nervously.
"It's really cool."
"Thank you" she said, blushing.
"So what's up?"
"Umm, well, do you like Tim Burton at all?"
"Yeah, he did the Batman movie with the guy from Multiplicity right?"
"Yeah, that's the one, but anyway they're having a Tim Burton Marathon at the Laemmle on Saturday. I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go with me."
"Like on a date?"
"Well, yeah. I mean I know that you have feelings for Rachel but I just thought that maybe it would be fun for us to hang out, you know, outside of glee."
Finn mulled it over for a second. He had always liked Tina, just not in the way that he liked Rachel, but at the same time he couldn't help replaying Rachel's words in his head over and over "what could I possibly see in Finn Hudson?" What could she possibly see in him? And how many pretty girls was he going to pass up waiting for her to find out? Probably just the one, he thought to himself. Still, he was compelled.
"You know what? Sure, that actually sounds like fun."
"Yeah?" Tina said, surprised.
"Yeah, name the time and I'll come pick you up."
