Next Chapter of Medal of Honor. Thanks for all the visits and views since I posted the first chapter. I have had over 700 views and 265 visitors. Thanks for reviewing it as well.
To the guest reviewer who wrote:
Guest Reviewer; I'd like to see Finn taking more accountability. He's blaming Quinn and other people too much for his own stupid choices. Choices which weren't even right anyway, he's not helping Quinn by keeping this secret for her. Quinn needs actual help, and Finn is just enabling her.
You have read three chapters. Let the story play out. If you've read any of my other fictions centered around this breakup you will see that I always have Finn admit his part. This one he might take a minute but in the end he will come thru. I don't see where he's blaming Quinn. Yes, he's hiding behind what she is doing to herself and of course he should tell an adult. Which he did in the last chapter. General Berry has his Medal of Honor dinner to get through before he can address the Quinn thing. He may talk to Judy at the dinner, seeing as she is high society of Lima, she will be in attendance.
Finchel is always endgame.
Honor the Tether! Remember the Drummer!
The Truth
Rachel stood against the door, her eyes closed, fighting to control the rush of emotions that were flowing inside of her. It was everything she could do not to look out the window and watch him leave. Given that she hadn't heard the door to his truck close, the engine start and it leaving her driveway, Rachel knew he was still watching the house. Like he was hoping she would look out the window at him.
She was so wrapped up in her own turbulent emotions, Rachel didn't notice her grandfather walk past carrying empty pizza boxes to the garbage can. A look of worry came over James' face and he watched her for a few moments. He could also see out the window that Finn was still standing by his truck, looking up at Rachel's bedroom window.
"I'll be right back down, Grandpa. Let me just put my things in my bedroom," Rachel quickly said before running up the stairs.
'These two lovesick idiots are going to drive everyone around them crazy!' he thought to himself as he walked into Hiram's study. As he made his way to the desk, James heard the sound of Finn's truck starting and finally leaving the driveway.
'I guess he figured out that she wasn't going to look out the window at him.'
Luckily his son's partner kept his desk very organized and James knew exactly where to go to find what he was looking for. He smiled softly at the picture that was sitting on the desk. It was of Rachel at five years old being held on Camilla's lap and Leroy standing behind them with his hands on his mother's shoulders. The smiles on all three of their faces were bright enough to light up the entire room.
Hiram had adored his partner's mother and mourned her death as deeply as Rachel and Leroy. She had been more of a mother to him than his own, who had disapproved of her only son being gay. His Camilla had been so many wonderful things to a lot of people and he missed her with everything inside of him. His hatred for the drunk driver that had taken her from all of them before Rachel's sophomore year grew with every day that he had to live without her.
James put aside the anger and sorrow burning inside of him and opened the right side drawer that held what he was looking for. He picked up each jewelry box, opened them and saw that the items in them were both intact. He closed them and held them in his hands before closing the drawer and leaving the room.
The sight of Rachel sitting on the couch, staring at the scrapbook that had been left on the coffee table, gave his aging heart hope. Rachel greeted him as he walked into the living room. She was staring at one picture in particular and James knew exactly which one it was without looking upon it. It was the one of him, Nathan McKenzie, a sniper named Jethro Gibbs and Christopher Hudson. They had been heading out of Kuwait and into Iraq on an undercover mission that would end in the death of Chris and Nathan being dishonorably discharged.
"He really does look like his father," Rachel quietly said, tears filling her brown eyes.
James walked over and sat down beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and hugging his sobbing granddaughter tightly to him. Her body shook with the force of her sobs and it broke him because his one weakness had always been when the women in his life were upset. All it had taken was either Camilla, their daughter Lacy or Rachel and his other granddaughter Marnie crying to make the tough general stand down and the concerned husband, father and grandfather take over.
"I love him, Grandpa but I'm so angry, I could slap him. Why would he go back to her after what she did to him but he can't forgive me?"
"Angel girl, sometimes things aren't always what they seem," he said gently, kissing her on the top of the head.
At his words, Rachel sat up and looked over at her grandfather, determination growing in her dark eyes.
"He told you something about why he is with Quinn again, didn't he?"
"Yes he did and no it isn't my story to tell so don't even ask me about it," he said sternly.
"Grandpa..." She stuck out her lower lip in a pout that was another way both she and Marnie got over on their grandfather.
"Don't give me that look, Rachel Barbra. That pout of yours isn't going to work this time. Finn will tell you what is going on with him and Quinn when he is ready to."
"Grandpa..."
"No, Rachel. I have already told you that I am not telling you what is going on and you need to respect that," he stated before handing her the jewelry boxes that were in his hands. "Your dad pulled them out of the garbage can because he knew you would regret throwing them away."
Rachel glanced down at the beautiful star necklace that Finn had bought her for Christmas and the one that had his name on it, before closing both boxes. She handed them both to her grandfather, who took them without saying a word.
"I'm not ready to take them back, grandpa. I know I hurt him by kissing Puck and I understand why he broke up with me. I just can't forgive his hypocritical behavior in the fact that he can forgive Quinn, who slept with Puck because she felt fat that day. It makes angry enough to slap him and I die inside a little more every day when I see them walking down the hall together."
"Angel girl, all I will tell is that there is more to the story about why he is with Quinn and that Finn will tell you when he is ready to."
"I'll leave it alone, for now," Rachel firmly stated before sitting the scrapbook on the table, kissing her grandfather on the cheek before getting up from the couch. "I'm going to go to bed. Good night, Grandpa."
"Goodnight, angel girl."
Rachel leaned over and hugged James before leaving the room and going up stairs. He waited until her bedroom door closed before getting up to take the boxes containing the necklaces back to Hiram's study. He stared at the picture of Camilla and sighed to himself before leaving the room.
The next morning Rachel was sitting in the choir room, talking to Mercedes and Tina while glancing over at her grandfather. He was visiting with the Glee Club today and had been sitting with the boys around him; all of them were fascinated with the stories that James had been telling of the battles he had been a part of. His usually stern manner was gone as he got into the descriptions of the heat of the deserts in the Middle East and the jungles that he fought in during the Vietnam War. Even Mr. Schuester seemed to be interested in the stories that her grandpa was telling.
Rachel was avoiding making eye contact with Finn, whom she could feel staring at her. Besides something else was bothering her at the moment that was more important than her and Finn pining over each other.
She had been watching Quinn since arriving in the choir room that morning. Something wasn't right with her; it was almost like she didn't care about anything anymore. There wasn't any life in her eyes and she wasn't clinging to Finn the way a girlfriend would. In fact, it seemed that there was more going on between Puck and Quinn than there was with her boyfriend.
The ringing of her cellphone pulled Rachel's focus away from watching Quinn and she groaned in irritation at the text that was on the screen. She looked up at everybody else in the classroom, which had all turned to glance at her.
"Mr. Schue, I need to go to the office and pick up a package that got sent here instead of my home."
Before Will could respond, James looked at the teacher and started to speak.
"If it's what I think it is, you won't be able to carry that by yourself, angel girl," James turned to Finn with a twinkle in his eye, ignoring the glare that his granddaughter was giving him. "How about you go and help her, Finn?"
"Yes sir," Finn replied, standing up and walking over to where Rachel had gone over to the door. He knew that Quinn was going to be angry at him for being so willing to go with Rachel but Finn was getting tired of the charade. He knew that their 'relationship' wasn't going to last until the prom.
James smirked to himself as he watched Rachel and Finn leave the room before turning to face the rest of the class; he continued to tell some more stories for the boys and ignoring the fear that Quinn had in her eyes. He had a strong feeling that despite the fact the girl obviously needed help, she was taking advantage of Finn's naiveté to get what she wanted; Prom Queen.
Quinn glared at the back of Finn's head as he headed out the door with Rachel. What does her grandfather have that makes Finn say how high when he says jump? She was getting pretty tired of the old man ordering Finn around. She let it go yesterday, but Finn should know better. Their 'relationship' was being questioned and he wasn't doing anything to make it appear they were back together.
He said he wouldn't tell anyone about the cutting. He had caught her but she hadn't or hasn't really done anything. To be honest she was changing the blade in her razor, the old fashion kind that had been a gift from her grandparents. Finn assumed and she didn't correct him. He made it so easy to get him to sympathize with her. She knew Finn wanted space from Rachel and yes she wanted Puck and Sam to back off but she didn't need Finn to really do that. One thing she did need from Finn was that crown. But Rachel and her damn grandfather were starting to get in the way. No way in hell was she allowing this. Finn would hear about it later.
Not a word was said between Finn and Rachel as they walked down the hall towards the main office. When they got there, Finn held the door open for her and picked up the wrapped portrait that was waiting for Rachel. He waited patiently as she signed for the delivery before following her out of the office.
Before they could get to the choir room, Finn walked into an empty classroom and sat the painting down on top of a desk. He watched as Rachel entered the room before going over to close the door behind her.
"Finn, what are you doing? We need to get back to the choir room," Rachel commented, her hands on her hips.
"We need to talk."
"No, we don't. I think you said everything when you broke up with me for kissing Puck and then going back to Quinn after she actually screwed him, got pregnant and tried to pass the baby off as yours with a weak and stupid lie that came back to haunt her," she said, her chocolate colored eyes alight with irritation.
"Rachel, Quinn and aren't really back together!"
His declamation stopped her from continuing her rant and for the first time ever Rachel Berry was stunned into silence. When she finally was able to speak, only one word came out of her mouth."
"What?"
"Quinn and I aren't really back together. We have been pretending in order to keep both Sam and Puck away from her because she is really starting to lose it."
"What about the hickey?"
"She did it with a vacuum cleaner before we went to Breadstix that day."
"What is wrong with Quinn and why is my grandfather keeping it quiet because I know that you told him what is going on."
"It all started the week before the District championship game. Quinn, Puck and Sam had been arguing all week over her quitting Glee for the cheerios and she was starting to get stressed out because of it. The Monday after the game, Quinn came up to me in the hall right and then started saying that how I brought the team back together made her remember why she had fallen for me. The next thing I know she is kissing me and I am wondering what the hell has gotten into her because we haven't really talked since the beginning of the school year. After school, I went over to her house to confront her and the front door was standing open. So I went into the house to make sure everything was okay and when I got to her bedroom, I found Quinn getting ready to cut herself on the thigh with a razor blade."
"Oh my God, Finn, you need to tell Mrs. Fabray what is going on!"
"Let me tell you the rest of what happened before you freak out on me, Rach," Finn stated. "I went across the room and took it out of her hand before she could cut herself. I placed it up on top of her dresser to make sure she couldn't get it and she told me off for coming into her house like that. Quinn then came up with this insane plan where we would pretend to date to keep Puck away from her. I told her no at first but then I let her talk me into it. I wanted to help her and prevent her from hurting herself but I think she is still doing it and that I should have told her mom what was going on."
"Finn Hudson, have you lost your damn mind! She needs more help than you pretending to be her boyfriend again. What are you going to do if she slits her wrists one night when you aren't there to stop her," Rachel exclaims before going to leave the room. "I am going to tell Miss Pillsbury and Mr. Schue!"
Finn quickly rushed over to the door and stopped her from leaving. He held her against him, ignoring the parts of him that were very happy to have Rachel in his arms again.
"Let me go, Finn!"
"Rach let me tell Puck first and see if he can get through to her. Give me the time to do that before telling anybody else."
"You have until Regionals, Finn or I am telling somebody what is going on."
"Thank you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Finn realized that he was holding her for the first time in months. She was looking up into his eyes and he started to lower his head down to kiss her when Rachel pushed away from him. He let her go and watched as she walked to the center of the room, take a deep breath as if to calm herself and then turned to face him.
"This isn't happening, Finn. I won't let what happened at the first of last year happen again where you kiss me but then go running back to Quinn. I won't become that desperate girl again. If you think you want to get back together with me and think that you can finally forgive me, when you end this charade you have going on with Quinn and after we give ourselves time to get over what happened before Christmas I might consider it but until then you aren't to try to kiss me again."
"I agree. But I want you to go with me to the reception tomorrow night because my mom has said that Quinn isn't to be there or she will ground my ass and we both need a date."
"Fine, but we are going as friends and nothing more. Now let's get back to the choir room before Mr. Schue and my grandfather start to search for us."
Rachel left the room without looking at Finn, who picked up the painting from the desk and followed her down the hall and into the choir room with a mischievous smile gracing his face.