ALL OF YOUR GLEE IS BELONGING TO FOX


As Glee Club started on Monday, Rachel could sense that everyone else in the room knew something that she didn't. She wasn't particularly concerned, as she had spent the weekend perfecting her rendition of Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were" and was eager to show her classmates just how much more talented she was than all of them. She smiled and waved at Quinn, who had just walked in. "Hey girlfriend! How was your weekend?"

Quinn raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at Rachel, but shrugged off her over-eagerness. "Fine, I suppose…" she took the seat next to Rachel and sighed. "Finn didn't call me, or text me… I'm worried that he took our break more seriously than I thought he would."

Rachel, although she wanted to cultivate this fragile new friendship with Quinn, was deeply uncomfortable. It was one thing to be okay with the relationship between Finn and Quinn, it was another thing all together to have to dissect it. "I'm sure he was just thinking about ways to make it up to you!" she awkwardly patted Quinn's arm. "You know how hopeless he is at expressing his feelings". Rachel laughed uneasily and was grateful when Mr. Schuester stood up in front of them to announce the week's lesson.

"Happy Monday ladies and gents!" Shue clapped his hands together. "Now, before we start discussing song selections for Regionals – Yes, I know you want to do a medley from Cats, Rachel, I believe you sent me ten emails about it –"

Brittany interrupted him. "Lord Tubbington would totally come in and teach us the ways of the kitty cat, if you wanted".

"Thanks Brittany… I think we'll be okay though." Mr. Schuester sighed, and continued. "Anyways, I believe before we start discussing song selections, Finn has an special performance for us!" he gestured towards Finn graciously. "So without further ado, I give you Finn Hudson!"

"Uh, thanks Mr. Schue." Finn stood at the front of the room, and looked sheepishly at his classmates. "So I guess all of you know that I've been a pretty big idiot these last few weeks, heck, months. And there are two people specifically that I want to say sorry to. Because they deserve so much more than what I've given them. Kurt wanted me to sing a different song, but I think this one says everything pretty well." Finn looked from Rachel to Quinn and back again, both of who were deeply confused. He looked right into Rachel's eyes and started to sing.

I never knew perfection til

I heard you speak and now it kills me

Just to hear you say the simple things

Now waking up is hard to do

Sleeping's impossible too

And everything's reminding me of you

What can I do?

Rachel's face betrayed nothing of her emotions, but her eyes said otherwise. Tears were welling up in the corners, but it was difficult to tell if they were from pain or not. Finn smiled sadly and directed his gaze towards Quinn now, singing the song to her.

Saw you sitting all alone

You're fragile and you're cold

But that's all right

Life these days is getting rough

It knocks you down and beats you up

But it's just a roller coaster anyway

Unlike Rachel, Quinn's reaction to his song was not difficult to gauge. She was visibly hurt, her face screwed up in anger, pain, and confusion. Despite seeing the adverse effects of his song, Finn kept singing.

It's not right, not okay

Say the words that you say

Maybe we're better off this way

I'm not fine, I'm in pain

It's harder every day

Maybe we're better off this way

It's better that we break

Finn looked back at each of the girls, and was surprised with what he saw. Both were in tears, and neither looked ready to jump back into his arms like he had planned. Quinn was the first to respond.

"What the hell was that?" She sobbed, her beautiful blue eyes bloodshot from tears. "Did you think breaking up with me in front of the whole club would be better than telling me in private?" She balled her fists up in her skirt. "And then – then you sing to her as well? What the hell is that Finn? What the hell is wrong with you?" Quinn hid her face in her hands and cried, while Santana and Brittany tried their best to soothe her.

"I – I just wanted to…" Finn was at a loss. He wasn't expecting this sort of reaction. "R-Rach?" he looked helplessly at Rachel, who simply shook her head and ran out of the room, tears streaming down her face. "No, Rachel! Wait!" Finn chased after her, and finally caught her just as she was going to hide in the girl's bathroom.

"What do you want now Finn? Do you want to embarrass me in front of the whole school too?" Rachel softly sobbed, and refused to look at him.

"I just wanted you to – I dunno, I thought – hell, I have no idea what I was thinking." Finn ran his hand through his hair and looked at the diminutive figure in front of him. "I love you Rachel, and I love Quinn too. I think, I think that it's best for us to all take a break from this drama and just, just be us."

"Fantastic, you've come to the conclusion that I came to on Friday." Rachel glared through the hot tears up at him. "Pity you had to make your realization painfully public!" As she tried to turn away, Finn grabbed her arm. She jerked away, and glared once more. "No Finn, I'm done." She wiped the tears away and looked him dead in the eye. "I'll be civil with you in Glee, and maybe we can even be friends again someday. But right now, I need you to know that I never want to be your girlfriend again. Goodbye Finn." Rachel choked back tears and dashed into the bathroom, leaving Finn with no other option but to crawl back to Quinn, begging for forgiveness.

He was certainly not looking forward to that.


A/N - OOOH DRAMA! What will happen next? Is Rachel serious? Is Quinn forgiving? Is Finn an idiot? (That last one was a trick question, of course he's an idiot!) Find out next chapter! :) Review please, I want to hear your opinions and comments!

Better that We Break is by Maroon 5, and The Way We Were is of course by the lovely Babs. All music mentioned belongs to their respective owners.