Look, he knows it's a long-shot, okay? She's Rachel Berry, president of the Drama Club, treasurer of the Mckinley High's Entrepreneur Club and like, the committee member of the AV Club or something. He's pretty sure she's in every club under the sun actually, including Glee, which is where he first met her. He doesn't really even know what it is about this girl that's got him even thinking of attempting something this stupid. She's loud and bossy and kind of annoying actually, and the first time he met her, he almost backed out of auditioning he was so freaked out.
She's pretty intense, and people make fun of her for that. When she found out that the only reason he even auditioned for Glee was because of a prank the seniors pulled as part of his hazing for the football team, he was positive she was going to murder him in his sleep. But she didn't though. Instead, she'd given him this look, this really weird look, and all she did was shake her head and told him that he was better than that. Like seriously, what the hell was that even? Whatever it was, it worked though, because here he is three months later, getting his ass kicked every afternoon in the locker room for being a 'glee fairy' (he thought he'd care more about what the big football dudes think of him, but he surprisingly doesn't. Those dudes may have brute strength, but they've got nothing on a fifteen minute Berry nag that's for sure).
He doesn't know what it is about Rachel Berry, but he just can't ever get her out of his head.
He finds himself listening to her even when he doesn't want to. Which is why he knows that she doesn't have a date to junior prom, because he overheard her telling Tina Cohen-Chang about it. He knows that she really, really wants to go. She wants the whole teen-flick-high-school-prom thing, with the date and the corsage and the limo and stuff. He knows because she wouldn't stop talking about it during their private vocal lessons (she insisted he needed her expertise) the day the posters went up.
The only problem with that is that no junior or senior boy is going to ask her to be his date. 'Cause see, they all think she's just this crazy loud girl who likes to sing out the cafeteria menu during lunch. But he knows better though, he knows there's something more. He just can't put his finger on just what it is yet.
So that's how he's standing here, next to the piano on the auditorium stage, waiting for her, holding a pink tulip in his hand. It's stupid, he knows, okay? He doesn't even know what he's doing really, he's never really asked a girl out before. But she's already walking up the steps, so it's too late to forget about it.
"Hello Finn," she says when she reaches him, smiling that really huge smile of hers.
"Um- hey."
"We have a lot to do today. Prom is in two days, so we need to be at the top of our game-"
"Yeah about that," he cuts in, picking up the tulip he left on the piano to hide it behind his back, twirling it nervously between his fingers. "Are you going?'
She looks at him like he'd just asked the stupidest question known to man.
"Of course I am. Glee is the main entertainment-"
"No. I meant like as a junior. You know, going to junior prom."
"Oh," she says abruptly, looking away with a frown. "No. No, I decided that I would probably be too busy performing anyway to entertain my date should I go."
"Oh," he says. She shoots him a brief smile before primly sitting on the bench, patting the space next to her for him. He sits, watching as her fingers tinkle with the ivory keys. "Even if the guy's gonna perform next to you?"
She looks up at him warily.
"What do you mean?"
Here goes nothing. Slowly, he holds out the tulip he's hidden behind his back, noting the way her eyes widen just a little.
"Rachel Berry, will you go to prom with me?"
There is about a few seconds of silence where could almost swear he hears the crickets chirping.
"Is this a joke?" she asks cautiously. He can feel his face falling.
"No!"
"Is this because of the free alcohol the jocks are talking about? Because I have to warn you Finn, coach Sylvester keeps a very close eye on the punch-"
"What? No! I just- I just figured it'd be fun, y'know since we're going anyway. We might as well have some fun out of it. Right?" He looks at her expectantly, trying to smile even though it's the last thing he feels like doing right now. He's pretty sure he's just turned about ten shades of red while Rachel Berry continues looking at him like he has an extra eye on his forehead or something.
"You're serious?" she asks quietly. He nods.
"You don't-" he stammers, embarrassed. "I mean I know this is kind of stupid and I'm a freshman-"
"I'll need to buy our tickets," she cuts in, surprising him. He looks at her, trying to see if she's joking, but she looks absolutely serious.
"But we're already getting in for free," he says cautiously gauging her reaction. She rolls her eyes.
"Rachel Berry never does anything half-baked. If we're going to prom together Finn, then we're going to do it properly."
"So is that a yes?" he asks. He sounds kind of dumb he knows, but he's just not sure, okay? He sees her hiding a smile and relaxes.
"Only if you promise to do it right Finn."
"Well, I can't get you the fancy car, but if you squint really hard, my mom's station wagon kind of looks like a limo."
She snorts at his joke, nudging his side as she takes the flower from him. She twirls it around her fingers much like he had earlier. She's not looking him in the eye, but he thinks there's just a tinge of red spreading beneath her cheeks. He grins. He doesn't know what corsage he's going to get her (but he knows it'll be pink), or if his mom's free to drive them around that night (he hasn't received his driver's permit yet okay?), but Rachel's mood is improving considerably and he's not going to like, ruin it right now by asking all these questions.
He doesn't know what it is about this girl. But trying to give her her teen-flick-high-school-prom experience is making her smile this really small, un-Berry like smile, and there's just something about it. It just makes him feel good.
