Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This chapter title comes from "Quiet Little Voices" by We Were Promised Jetpacks.

"What are you doing?"

Finn turned towards Rachel with a sheepish look. He held up both ends of his tie and gave Rachel an adorable look that she honestly couldn't resist. "I'm having a little bit of trouble right now."

Rachel giggled. "I can see that. Do you really not know how to tie a tie?"

Finn actually pouted a little bit, and Rachel thought that he couldn't get any more adorable if he tried. "I always had someone else to do it for me," he admitted. "I never did it the right way, apparently." A dark look passed over Finn's face after that statement, but it quickly disappeared. Rachel bit her lip but didn't question it. Instead, she grabbed both ends of the loose tie and tugged Finn closer to her.

Rachel kept her eyes focused on knotting Finn's tie, instead of the way her entire body tingled at being so near to him. She quickly and expertly tied it and centered it slightly. She looked up at Finn and found him wearing that half smile that made her heart skip a beat.

"Thanks, Rach," he said as she stepped back.

"You're welcome," Rachel returned. She turned to check her reflection in the mirror, making sure that her hair was behaving and the hem of her dress was straight. She could still feel Finn's eyes on her, and she looked over her shoulder at him.

"What? Is there something on my dress?" she asked, worried that it was in the back and she hadn't noticed it before she had put it on. It was a pretty light pink dress with thin straps that crisscrossed over her back, perfect for the warmer weather that had suddenly descended upon Lima.

Finn shook his head. "No. You just look beautiful, that's all."

"Oh." Rachel's cheeks flushed and she bit her lip. "Thank you."

Finn grinned before he offered her his arm. "Ready to go downstairs?"

With a smile, Rachel slid her hand into the crook of Finn's arm. Together, they made their way down the stairs and into the living room, where the party was already in full swing. Rachel pressed on Finn's arm in order to steer him away from all of the unknown people and into the kitchen, where her father was.

"Daddy, do you need help with anything?" Rachel asked.

"The caterers have everything under control," Hiram said. "So don't worry about it. But look at the two of you! Finn, you have to let me take a picture of you and Rachel for your mother. She told me that she wanted to see the both of you all dressed up."

Finn's cheeks turned red and Rachel blanched. "Daddy!" she exclaimed. "Have you been talking to Finn's mother?"

"She lives close, Rachel." Hiram said it easily, like it wasn't that big of a deal. Still, Rachel couldn't believe that her daddy had talked about this with Finn's mother (but really, though, it shouldn't have surprised her. Hiram was the type to meddle). "We chat from time to time."

Rachel sent Finn and apologetic look, but he just smiled down at her. It was then that she realized that her hand was still tucked into Finn's arm. She was actually kind of pressed against Finn's side. If Finn had noticed, he hadn't made a move to pull away, so Rachel didn't either.

In Rachel's study of Finn, she hadn't realized that he was watching her watch him. It wasn't until she heard her daddy's phone go off that Rachel was pulled out of her Finn-induced trance. She turned to face Hiram and found him grinning as he snapped several more photos.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed again.

Hiram ignored her. "Now I need one where both of you are looking at the camera. So get together and smile!"

Finn and Rachel did as Hiram directed. Rachel slid her hand up Finn's chest and he wrapped his arm around her waist as they turned towards the camera in the phone and smiled. Hiram made an excited noise when he finished but refused to let Rachel see the picture when she tried to approach him.

"I'm going to send this off to Carole!" Hiram declared as he locked his phone and slid it back into his pocket.

"Daddy, let me see it," Rachel said even though Hiram's phone was already hidden.

"Don't worry, princess. It's a wonderful picture. I'm sure you'll see it at some point." Hiram pointed to several serving dishes as a distraction. "Would you two mind taking some of the appetizers out? We still have about half an hour to go before dinner and I have to go talk up some potential clients."

Rachel went to pick up one of the platters, but Finn beat her to it, leaving her with one of the smaller ones. She smiled at him and bumped his hip with hers as she took the small dish out into the crowd. Hiram watched them go, wondering which one of them would own up to their feelings first. Even more than that, he wondered how soon it would happen.

"I'm sorry about the thing with my father and the pictures," Rachel said as she and Finn set the dishes on the coffee table in the living room.

"I didn't mind it," Finn told her. "I'm sure my mom would have called asking for pictures anyway."

Rachel laughed and went to say something, but one of her father's co-workers interrupted her. He was a loud, boisterous man that was often the first one to get drunk at the holiday party, and Rachel had no doubt that that would be the case this time. In fact, she could already smell the wine coming off the guy.

"Rachel Berry! It's been a while since I've seen you at one of these things!" he exclaimed loudly.

Rachel gave him a polite smile. "Mr. Walker, it's nice to see you again." Figuring she should be a proper daughter of the host, she turned to Finn and introduced, "Finn, this is one of my father's co-workers, Chase Walker. Mr. Walker, this is my… this is Finn Hudson."

Rachel didn't know why she faltered on what to call Finn. Actually, she did know, but she just didn't want to admit it. She didn't want Finn to hear her calling him her friend, because she didn't want to give him the idea that that was all she wanted. But what if Finn didn't want the same thing as her? What if he only wanted to be friends and didn't feel the same things she was feeling?

If Finn noticed how Rachel stumbled over the words, he didn't mention it. Instead, he held his hand out to Chase and said, "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Walker."

Chase returned the hand shake as he gave Finn a curious look. "Hmmm, Finn Hudson? Why do I know that name? Oh, I know why! You were the starting quarterback for the McKinley Titans, weren't you?"

Something happened to Finn then. He tensed completely, his jaw locking like it had at the dinner that Rachel had attended with his parents. Finn nodded his head slowly, and his voice was stiff as he spoke. He was doing his best to keep his face pleasant but otherwise expressionless. "Yeah. That was me."

Chase clearly didn't see how uncomfortable his question had made Finn. "Whatever happened to you, Hudson? You disappeared after the championship game your senior year! Damn, that was a great game. What a win! The Titans haven't had a team that good since then."

Finn's fists clenched and the vein in his jaw popped dangerously. Seeing this, Rachel grabbed his hand and stepped between Chase and Finn. She laced their fingers together and squeezed supportively.

"Mr. Walker, I think I hear my father calling us to help him with something," Rachel said quickly. Without giving Chase a chance to reply, Rachel tugged Finn from the room. She was surprised when he went with her without struggle, since he could have easily forced Rachel to change direction.

Rachel pulled Finn down the hallway and into the recreational room at the back of the house. Finn still had a stormy look on his face, and the vein in his jaw was still throbbing. Rachel took his hands in both of hers and settled in front of him.

"Finn, look at me," Rachel said gently. Finn was still glaring at the ground, so Rachel squeezed his hands. "Come on, Finn. Look at me."

Finally, Finn looked at Rachel. She smiled at him and saw the way his face relaxed just a little bit. "Do you want to tell me what got you so worked up back there?"

"Not really," Finn admitted. He gave her an apologetic look, and Rachel just nodded her head in understanding. She could totally get that there were some things people didn't want to talk about. She was the same way about her papa. She didn't want to talk about what was happening unless she absolutely had to. She supposed that everyone had that one thing in their life that they were closed off about.

"Alright, that's fine," Rachel said gently. Her thumbs rubbed over the backs of his hands. "Do you want to just take a deep breath, then?"

That got Finn to crack a smile. He shook his head as his hands tightened around hers. "Really, Rach?"

"Really!" Rachel said brightly. "It works, you know. It helps calm you down and center yourself."

"I think I'll be just fine, Rachel. But thank you for pulling me out of there before I said something stupid. I kind of have a tendency to get really angry."

"Really?" Rachel was intrigued by this information. In the two years that they had been in high school together, Rachel didn't think she had ever seen Finn get angry like that. But then again, this was the first time that she was getting to really know him (and despite how she didn't want to see him angry, she couldn't deny that Finn was very attractive when his temper spiked a little bit. Then again, Finn was attractive all the time).

Finn looked a little sheepish, and he rubbed the back of his neck. Rachel could see that this was something that he did when he got nervous or embarrassed. "Sometimes I don't have a very good handle on my temper. But, you know. I've been working on it a little bit. Working in a bar helps. I have to deal with some pretty obnoxious people."

Rachel smiled a little at that before she stroked her thumbs over the back of Finn's hands. "You'll be okay. You know that, right?"

Finn shook his head a little bit. "You don't even know what happened, Rachel."

"That may be true, but I really do believe that you'll be okay." Rachel smiled brightly at Finn. He was right. She didn't know exactly what had happened to him in the seven years since he had graduated high school. She didn't know why he was still in Lima, and she didn't know why he had the sad look in his eyes most nights. But she did know that, somehow, everything was going to work out for Finn Hudson.

Finn stared down at Rachel, his amber eyes boring into hers. Then, without a word, Finn hauled Rachel into his arms and hugged her tightly, burying his face in her neck. Rachel spread her tiny hands over his back and closed her eyes as Finn held her.

She didn't know how long they stood there, just holding on to each other like that. In any case, it made both Rachel and Finn feel so much better. They didn't need to say anything; just their shared touch was enough.

Rachel heard her daddy call for them, and she jumped out of Finn's arms and went to head Hiram off before he could find Rachel and Finn alone in the back room. Finn chuckled at her antics and Rachel made a face at him over her shoulder before she called, "We'll be right out, Daddy!"

Turning around to face Finn once again, she walked towards him and took her hand. Looking down, she couldn't believe the size difference between them. She was holding one of Finn's large hands between both of hers, and her hands looked so small in comparison to his.

"Are you sure that you're going to be okay, Finn?" Rachel asked.

Finn smiled down at her and pulled her close again, squeezing briefly around her shoulders before he let go. Rachel found herself wishing that Finn would still keep her wrapped in his embrace, and she blushed at the thought.

"I think I'll be just fine," Finn said, pulling Rachel from her thoughts. "Thank you, Rachel."

"Of course, Finn," Rachel said. She was pleasantly surprised when Finn took her hand and led her back out into the dinner party. Both Finn and Rachel were smiling the entire time.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! And more of Finn's story will be revealed soon, I promise.