Disclaimer- I own nothing except the laptop used to write this on. Enjoy (:
Finns POV
There she is, just a few steps ahead of me. This is it, I've been looking for her all day and I'm not about to let her get away without at least trying. "Hey" I say rather loudly as she descends down the stairs. "We need to talk". I have to let out a deep breath when she turns to face me before going to talk face to face. Once I'm at eye level with her, its plain to see that shes still torn up about what happened last night. After a moment of simply trying to reconstruct my thoughts, it all begins pouring out of me. I continue to go on and on about how she is our leader and how having her constantly pushing us motivates us, and how we need her to win. She looks shocked, a normal reaction. Even I'm surprised by the amount of authority in my voice, I don't usually take control like this. My speech is short and to the point, but I can tell she hears me out loud and clear.
Her next reaction, however, is not so expected. About five seconds after I finish, her hands are on my shoulders and her lips are pressed to mine. I'm momentarily stunned, and all thoughts escape me for several seconds. Before my mind begins to work again and I'm able to make sense of whats going on, shes pulling back. My mouth hangs open slightly as oxygen rushes to my brain, and I am completely aware of the confused expression on my face as I keep my eyes on her lips for that split half of a second. Realization hits me like a ton of bricks once my eyes find hers again, and my expression softens. The look on her face is timid, almost afraid of my reaction. Please God, tell me I did not just imagine that. I think to myself. Almost as if to answer my silent prayers, her expression changes. A slow smile spreads across her face, its a shy smile, but it almost looks as if shes proud of what she has done. As she stands before me with her hands still resting gently on my shoulders, several seconds of silence pass between us. I'm still in shock. Deciding to break the silence, she is the first to speak up.
"I'm in" Her voice is soft and quiet, yet full of determination and excitement.
"You're...?" Somehow, I'm still at a loss for words. It isnt as if we've never kissed before, but this one felt different. Like the beginning of something, a fresh start.
"I'm in. You're right, we cant just let it end like this. We cant just go down without a fight, not when we're this close" And just like that, her passion and determination seems to have found her again. I finally find the ability to shut my mouth, and nod at her in response. Its taken me until just now to realize I've pretty much remained silent since she kissed me. Finally, a smile begins to form on my face and I simply continue to nod in agreement. "Come on, lets go tell Mr. Schuester about our plan" Her excitement is contagious, and we're soon walking off towards the Choir room together.
"What exactly is our plan?" I ask stupidly. The only thing I'm able to think of at the moment, besides the kiss, is the fact that we need to come up with an actual plan in the first place. Has she already come up with something?
"That we're not going to give up. We're going to see this through till the end. This isn't over" She explains as she looks up at me. Within seconds, we're entering Mr. Schues room. "Mr. Schuester, Finn and I have something we want to say to you." She begins.
Class begins then as me and Rachel take our seats, and Mr. Schue starts speaking to us as usual. Theres something different about him though, something I can't quite place. Theres a sadness in his voice, almost as if hes trying to prolong all of our final classes as long as he can.
"Life only really has one beginning and one end, and the rest is just a whole lot of middle" He explains. I look at Rachel seated beside me when I feel her eyes on me for a moment, and see the unshed tears behind them before she quickly offers me a sad smile and looks down. Giving her the only half smile I can manage, I soon after cast my glance downwards as well. As Mr. Schue continues, theres a slight lift in the atmosphere when he mentions 'Dont Stop Believing', and I'm unable to hide the small smile that rests on my lips as I think back to the song that had truly brought the club together.
"We're doing 'Dont Stop' at Regionals?" Rachel asks, also unable to hide a smile thats threatening to break across her face. I look at her for a long moment, my own smile growing, before looking back at our teacher. Once the words 'Journey Medley' escape his mouth, Rachel and I turn to each other with the realization that our plan has already been set into action, both of our smiles growing as we catch each others eye. The rest of class proceeds pretty much the way it normally would, with everyone talking about regionals and Mr. Schue explaining his ideas. Its no surprise when everyone whole-heartedly agrees to the song choices, hes always had a way of knowing exactly what songs would work the best together. Quinn and Puck leave class early with the excuse of a doctors appointment, and quickly say goodbye to everyone as class carries on. While everyone else is up and talking animatedly with each other, Rachel remains quiet for the most part, only voicing her opinions when asked.
"Hey" I greet softly as I sit back down next to her after having a quick conversation with Mike and Artie. "You alright? You're being kind of quiet" Her answering smile causes my heart to do an unsteady jolt in my chest, one I've started getting used to lately.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She promises softly, nodding her head as she looks back down at her hands as they rest in her lap. "Just thinking about everything thats happened this past year. It almost doesn't seem real, you know what I mean?"
"Yeah, definitely. So much has happened" I agree, staring at nothing in particular as I think back over the past nine months. A quiet laugh passes through me as I think back to when football and Quin were all I cared about, back to before I'd even met Rachel. Officially, that is. Its no secret that choosing to stick with Glee had come with endless slushie facials, not to mention being ridiculed by my teammates. But as I look at the brunette sitting next to me, I realize that it was by far the smartest decision I've ever made. These people, all of them, have become like a second family to me. Granted, things haven't always been perfect. Far from it actually. Regardless, they've always been there. Kurt slushied himself for me, Puck let me beat him to a pulp after I found out the baby wasn't mine, and Rachel.. She has never ceased to amaze me. Probably never will.
The final bell rings not too long after our short conversation, and we all bid our 'Good-byes' as we head off on our seperate ways with promises to see each other tomorrow. I stand in the background as Tina and Rachel end their short conversation by Tina's locker, both laughing softly at a joke I cant hear. Rachels eyes find mine as she looks up, and she is soon making her way over to where I stand by my own locker. That familiar smile is still in place on her lips as she approaches and stands in front of me, both of us remain quiet for a short minute.
"Thanks again for earlier, Finn. I mean, I guess our 'planning' was a little unnessacary considering Mr. Schue was never really intending on giving up, but I really admire your determination. The fact that you weren't willing to give up without a fight shows a lot of maturity." I keep my eyes in my locker as she speaks, feeling my smile growing a bit more with her words. "Alright, well I've got to go talk to Mr. Schuester about the choreography before he leaves, so I'll see you tomorrow" She ends with a final parting smile. I look up at her just in time to see it, my eye catching hers before she heads back to the Choir room.
As I watch her walk away, a familiar thrill passes through me and I'm once again unable to hide the smile that stretches across my face. Seans words ring through my mind again, and I'm hit with another realization. Its something I think I've known all along, but never actually had the decency to admit to myself. Dialing a familiar number, I'm soon greeted by Seans moms voice.
"Hey Mrs. F, its Finn. I can't stop by today, but could you tell Sean something for me?" I ask before continuing. "Tell him I said that he was right about me and Rachel...Thanks" I hang up quickly after and, with another sigh, put the last of my books in my locker before heading out. As I drive home, I make another goal for myself. It might be too soon, but she has the right to know. Before school gets out for the summer, I'm going to tell Rachel exactly how I feel. The only question that remains is how exactly I'm going to do it.
A/N- Alright, so its not the best chapter, but not the worst either. I wanted to get a look inside Finns mind during the 'Kiss/Classroom discussion' scenes, and maybe I completely screwed it up or maybe I did some good here. You decide and let me know. I also sort of felt like there should have been a little extra scene in the Choir room, but again..Maybe thats just me. Reviews are like oxygen to me, so keep them coming. The next chapter will be up soon, and I'm going to have one of my other pieces up pretty soon, so keep an eye open for it (: Thanks lovelys.