DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy! :)

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my good friend AkPierce for her birthday! Have a great one, Monaco!

The Dreamers

Chapter Nine: The Kiss

"Will you just hand me the damn wrench!" A shrill, annoyed voice echoed through the almost-empty room as a young girl waited impatiently with her hand out, tapping her feet and looking like she was about to attack.

"No way! Especially cause you're using the wrong wrench! You are not gonna fuck up another one of my labs, Sam. I'm almost failing as it is." Andy was looking through the tools, trying to find the one they needed to finish up the late assignment they were making up during their free period. Finn sat in his office, observing them while he himself was waist-deep in old work. As he tried to grade the old homeworks and labs, he could hear his two students bickering in the garage. There was just something different about the way Sam and Andy worked together. He could never understand why they just couldn't be civil towards one another, but they always wound up fighting and not getting any real work done. Besides the fact that neither student seemed very interested nor proficient in Auto Shop, he idly wondered why they'd even signed up at all.

It was October already, and every day the team was getting closer and closer to Invitationals. Things between him and Rachel were a bit strained still, but it was getting easier and easier to work alongside of her and not let the past control his emotions. Just because he'd been drunk that night they'd met at the bar, it didn't mean he'd forgotten what they'd talked about. He could remember holding her warm, tiny hand on the bar while they talked, and the ways her lips felt on the corner of his mouth while she'd said goodnight. He remembered telling her that he was glad she'd come home, even though he still wasn't sure if it'd been the truth or the alcohol talking.

But day by day, things were getting better. Easier. They made glee club their highest priority and worked together as professionally as possible.

Things were. . .okay.

If only he could say the same thing about the glee club.

They had enough members now, which wasn't the problem. The problem was that their team just didn't have the star power that they'd been used to. When they were in glee, Finn and Rachel had been the leads, but they'd also had plenty of other amazing singers who were always gunning for lead solos. In this group, the singers were good, but they weren't. . .amazing. They were missing something, and Finn and Rachel couldn't figure out what was wrong. Their performances were lackluster, and they had to find a way to inspire some confidence in them all. If they didn't get to Regioanls this year, Finn and Rachel were both going to lose their jobs, and they couldn't risk that. Something had to be done. But as Finn stared down onto the massive workload he had on his desk in front of him, he wondered if he would even have the time to figure something out. Invitationals was Saturday, and today was Wednesday.

They were running out of time.

"Do you even pay attention in class? I know for a fact the piece goes here!" Finn rolled his eyes as his students continued to argue while he was going through a crisis in his office.

"Well for a dumb jock you sure think you know a lot of things." Came Sam's bitter retort. Finn winced in his office, these kids sure were vicious!

"Did you ever stop to think for once that I might not be like every other jock douche in this school?" Andy sounded annoyed, and Finn felt for the kid. He knew exactly what it was like to be different when people expected you to be like everyone else.

It took a minute for Sam to answer, and her voice was low. "I don't know, you sure look the part."

"Well, you look like a boy, but I'm not expecting you to know how to fix this engine by yourself. Dammit, I can't even fix this thing by myself. I don't even know why I signed up for this stupid class!"

"So why did you?" Sam's inquisitive voice floated through the classroom and Finn was tempted to shut the door so he couldn't hear them. But Sam's question intrigued him. Finn wasn't really trying to eavesdrop, he really wasn't. But his work was so boring and his student's lives seemed so much more interesting than the stupid work he had to catch up on. And he also wanted to know more about his two most elusive students. They barely ever talked except to fight with each other.

There was silence in the auto shop for a while before Andy finally answered her question. "Do you know who my dad is?" Finn peeked his head out of the door of his office to get a better look at his students. This was so wrong, but he was really curious about his students and he dropped low to the ground so they couldn't see his head poking out. He could see Sam shaking her head to Andy's question and Finn had to wrack his brain to see if the name Donovan sent off any alarms. "Mark Donovan, class of '01. He was the last Quarterback to bring home a State football championship." Finn's jaw almost dropped onto the floor. Mark Donovan was a legend in this town, and his record was still untouched after over 20 years. "And after my mom died, it was just him and me. Do you think I had a choice in playing football? No. I had no choice. I was forced. Forced to be around assholes who I can't stand, forced into a stereotype I don't fit into, forced into taking this stupid shop class when I wanted to take music!" Andy kicked the chair that was closest to him and Finn could see the shock on Sam's face from his position across the room. "So I'm sorry if I don't like being labeled, Sam. I'm not like everyone else." He buried his head back under the hood of the car while Sam stood there, still blown away by his confession. Andy Donovan was starting to make a lot more sense now.

"Finn!" He heard Rachel's voice calling to him from the entrance to his office while he was sitting on the floor, eavesdropping on their students. He put his finger to his lips to shush her while his students continued to work, unaware that their teachers were listening to them. "Are you spying on our students?" Her voice was too loud, and he reached up to cover her mouth with his hands while pulling her down to the floor in his special spy spot.

"Shh. This is important. Listen." He could feel her trying to move around to make herself comfortable in her pencil skirt, and his focused returned to the two students who were finally working peacefully together for the first time all year.

"You're right, you know." Even though Sam's head was buried under the hood of the car they were working on, her voice still carried loud and clear.

"About what?"

"About being different. I'm sorry If I passed judgment on you. You're really not like the other football guys I know." She scoffed bitterly and continued her work. "You've never tried to grope me or prove to others that I'm a freak."

"That's because you're not a freak." Andy continued his work while Sam backed away from the car, embarrassed. Her skull cap, that she wore at all times, got caught on the roof of the car and started to pull off of her head, allowing clumps of thick, curly brunette hair to fall onto her shoulders. Finn and Rachel both shared a look while trying to stay quiet. They hadn't even known what color hair Sam had; she kept it covered at all times. They watched as she tried to shove her hair back into her hat, smearing grease from the engine on her face. Andy saw what she was doing and dropped his tools to go help her.

"Wow, that's a lot of hair you got there, Fletcher." He held onto her hat while she twisted the long curly hair up onto the top of her head. "Makes you look like an actual chick." Sam frowned at him and took her hat back, securing it on her head and hiding the beautiful hair underneath it.

"I know, that's why I keep it covered. I hate it." Sam frowned deeply and Finn could see Rachel frowning to herself from his position on the floor. How something as simple as his students making up a lab could be so riveting, he would never know.

"Why don't you cut it off?"

A small, almost hysterical laugh, escaped her lips. "My mom would kill me. She is obsessed with my hair, and hates that I cover it up in the first place."

"And your Dad, what does he say about your look?" Finn watched as Sam pretty much closed in on herself, turning away from Andy and continuing the work.

"Nothing. He's a fucking deadbeat who left us." She laughed harshly, and Rachel shot Finn a worried look from their position on the floor. Sam had way more problems then she let on. "I think he really wanted a boy, you know? When he was around, he would take me to see cars and baseball games, but then he would be gone again. After a while, he never came back. I thought that maybe If I dressed more like one, he would want to come home. But he never did, and I just got used to dressing like this. I took shop because I thought it would help me connect with him or something if he came back. I don't know. He's a fucking loser. Who cares?" Shrugging, she tried to make it seem like it wasn't bothering her but she wasn't fooling anyone. Finn could see from across the room how much she was hurting, and Andy was staring at her, as still as a statue.

"I care." Finn heard Rachel stifle a small gasp at Andy's low response, and she grasped him by the forearm with an excited look on her face. Was this what all teacher's did? Spy on the love lives of their students? He wondered if Mr. Schue had ever witnessed one of his and Rachel's more private conversations in high school. His attention returned to his students as Sam looked up at Andy from under the roof of the car, her eyes wide and disbelieving. The teenage boy reached out and pulled off the girls hat again, letting the hair spill over her shoulders and fall down her back. Finn watched as the two teens stared each other down, not moving, barely even blinking. "You shouldn't hide who you are anymore, Sam." Finn felt a weird sense of deja vu as Andy reached forward to remove the smudge of grease from Sam's face with his thumb. His finger lingered right above her lips, and the two teens were completely mesmerized with each other.

Beside him, he felt Rachel grasping at his biceps, a hand covering her mouth and blocking out the excited noises he knew she wanted to make. Girls, women; they were always the same when it came to things like this! His attention turned back to the two adolescents who were inching closer and closer to the other. Oh, the joys of young love! But when they opened their mouth's again to speak, Finn was pretty sure he had fallen into another dimension or something.

Sam looked up at Andy with both hesitance and longing. "You can kiss me if you want to."

Andy nodded his head softly, eyes fluttering closed. "I want to."

It felt like time had stopped in that one moment for Finn, as he watched his two young students lean in towards one another and kiss. It looked so innocent, so pure. He could hear his own blood pounding in his head, but he could also hear Rachel's heavy breathing next to him. This was hitting them too close to home. The adults finally looked away and sat up straight while their two lovestruck students continued their kiss, stolen during their make-up lab period, unaware that they had an audience of teachers gawking at them. Finn held out a hand to help Rachel off of the floor, and they avoided eye contact with the other while straightening themselves out. They heard the bell for lunch ringing in the background, and saw their students getting ready to leave, an intense blush on both their faces.

Finn could barely believe what he'd just seen. It was like he was sixteen all over again, sitting on a checkered cloth in the auditorium, laying Rachel down softly for their first of many kisses. It felt like a whole different lifetime. And from the look on Rachel's face, he knew that she was thinking about the same thing. So he tried to change the subject. Had she come here before for a reason?

"So, what's up Rachel? Did you need anything?" He still wasn't looking at her, and she found a crack in the corner that was very interesting.

"Well, Finn, in fact, I did come here for a reason." She took a deep breath and he could see that she was blushing lightly. "I just cannot remember what it was at the moment."

He couldn't help himself, he let out a small laugh. She turned to look at his reaction, and laughed alongside of him, at both the awkwardness of the situation and the distraction provided by their students.

"Oh, I remember! It was about Invitationals. And I think I know now how to fix our little problem. . . "

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Finn stood backstage in his tux, fiddling with his tie and hoping to make a good impression on the paretns he was sure to be meeting alter tonight. He could hear Rachel with the kids, warming up in the choir room while he made sure the stage layout was all set for his group. Tonight was Invitationals, and he was more than confident in his students after the effort they put in throughout the past three days.

Rachel had realized that the one thing the group was missing was that special energy that the leads always brought to a performance. They needed to find the two singers in the club with the most chemistry, and unleash that energy onto the group and have it fuel their own performances.

So they chose Sam Fletcher and Andy Donovan. They were completely unaware that their teachers had witnessed their secret kiss, so they were more than a little surprised when they were chosen to sing the solos at that day's rehearsal. But they nailed it, in more ways than one, and now the group was performing with more heart than he'd seen in over a decade.

He noticed his group walking out into the backstage area, with Rachel following behind them, and he gathered them all in a circle to pump them up before their performance. As he took in the members of the group, he had to stop and do a double take at Sam, who he hadn't even recognized.

She was wearing the same costume as all the other girls, but she looked so different. Her long brunette curls were framing her face and she was wearing the same light-blue dress as her other teammates. She looked a bit uncomfortable in the high-heeled character shoes, but a small smile was highlighting her face. He saw from the corner of his eye that Andy hadn't stopped staring at her once.

"OK, guys, this is it. The moment we've been waiting for since September. After tonight, the competition is on, and I know you're going to show everyone here that New Directions is still a force to be reckoned with!" He looked at Rachel from the corner of his eyes and she was beaming. "Ms. Berry and I are more than proud of you all, and we know you're going to kick butt!"

"Yes! Break a leg, guys!" The smile stayed glued onto his face, but Finn's heart clenched painfully at the comment. Whenever Rachel was concerned, "Break a leg" had always meant "I love you."

Finn followed Rachel out of the backstage area and into the audience where they sat patiently and waited for the show to begin. They kept stealing glances at each other and shared small smiles, but Finn was more focused on his kids. In fact, he had never even been this nervous for his own performances, and now he could barely keep still; the nerves were overwhelming him.

Principal Ryan came up on stage to introduce the club, and Finn thought his heart was going to stop beating. He grabbed Rachel's hand on the arm-rest next to him and held it tightly. She squeezed back without saying a word.

"I now present, New Directions!" The curtains opened, and in front of him were his kids, no, their kids. His and Rachel's. While it had at first seemed impossible for them to work together, now it seemed almost easy. If it hadn't been for these kids, he was sure that they would still be at each other's throats, blinded by anger and bitterness. But the past month had really helped Finn realize that he and Rachel would always make the best team. They might not have found the closure they'd been looking for yet, but at least they had their kids.

From the moment Andy opened his mouth, Finn knew that the group was better than he had ever imagined them to be. They had really come together in the past three days, and he had Rachel to thank for it. Their hands stayed entwined for the entirety of the song. Finn kept his eyes glued onto the stage but he could feel Rachel staring at him throughout the performance. She'd been right, the addition of Sam as the lead opposite of Andy was exactly what the group had needed. Her voice was surprisingly powerful, and both he and Rachel were sure that she'd been holding back in class before she'd gotten the solo. Their voices blended in an amazing harmony that made goosebumps rise on Finn's arms. He was impressed.

Halfway through the song, he felt Rachel's head lean onto his shoulder. Surprised, he turned to face her, only to see her lips split into the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. Looking up at him, she whispered, "Those are our kids." She didn't lift her head back up, and stayed there, resting on his shoulder. He allowed his head to drop onto hers as well.

"Yeah, they are our kids." For some reason, Finn really, really liked the sound of that.

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Before long, the show was over. Finn and Rachel had stayed to talk to the parents of the students and mingle with the other faculty who'd made it out to support the team. By the time the last parent had left the building, it was late, and Finn and Rachel still had to lock up the choir room. He followed her into the room and shut off the lights as she locked up her office. They met by the piano in the center of the room to say good night.

What they hadn't expected was to just stand there for a few minutes without saying anything. He waited for her to say something, while she waited for him to do the same. He never knew where he stood with her. Sometimes they were holding hands with each other, and other times he barely knew what to say to her.

She was the one to break the stifling silence between them. "The kids sounded great tonight."

"Yeah, they were really good. Your idea of an "Oh Sherrie/Hey Jude" mash-up was pretty genius."

"Well, you know how much Mr. Schue liked mash-ups, I thought we could find inspiration from the kid's choices. Sam and Andy were great."

"Yeah, they're good kids." He took a deep breath and finally let out the one thing he'd been keeping inside of him all week. "They remind me of us, you know?"

The hesitation was thick in her voice. "Finn. . . "

"The secret kiss, the solos. I look at them and all I can think about is us, when we were in glee. We were so happy." She looked like she wanted to run for the nearest exit, but she wouldn't even make it that far, she was wearing heels tonight. "I want to be happy again, Rachel." He didn't know what had come over him in that moment, but he reached forward and pulled her towards him, placing his lips on hers in the softest kiss he'd felt in years. She didn't try to pull away, but instead, relaxed into his embrace, reciprocating in earnest. The emotions that crashed over him were overwhelming, and he'd forgotten how addicting it was to kiss Rachel. The feel of her lips, the taste of her skin, was just as intoxicating now as when he'd been that horny teenager with the quick trigger. Their bodies melted into one another's as he pushed her up against the piano, trying to make contact with every inch of her body that he could. He lost himself in the feeling of the kiss, and wondered how he'd been able to live without her for so long. He had missed her, so, so much. When they pulled away for air, the torn look on her face made him pause. She didn't look as happy as he felt.

"Finn, I don't think I can do this right now." She made a move to back away from the piano, and Finn grabbed her by the wrist, keeping her in place.

"Why not?" It came out louder than he'd expected it to, and he flinched when Rachel startled. "Didn't you just feel that, Rachel? I haven't felt anything near that since the day I left New York. That was special, that was real. I don't want to pretend anymore. You've been back in town for over a month and I don't even know where things stand between us. You said that one day we would talk, but we've barely talked at all."

"We talk almost every day, Finn!"

"No, you know what I'm talking about!" He dragged a tired hand over his face in exhaustion. "I'm talking about the fight, Rachel. The Guggenheim Museum." He could see in the dim lighting of the room that she was fighting back tears, but he pushed on. "I want to talk about it now. I want my closure."

"I can't, Finn. I don't think I'm ready."

"Well, what about me? I'm ready. I have questions, Rachel, and I want answers."

"Please, Finn, not tonight." She tried to pull away from him and he let her go, feeling defeated. Feeling like they were never going to come to an understanding about their past.

"I thought you wanted things to be different, Rachel. Better. I thought that maybe you wanted a second chance for us."

"I do!" Her adamant agreement made him pause. So she really did want to make things right?

"So why won't you talk to me?" He reached out for her hand and he took it in his, not wanting to let her go. Feeling like he was going to lose her all over again. He was completely shocked when she walked up to him on her own, holding his face in her hands and laying another soft, serene kiss on his lips. He wanted to hold her there forever, but she pulled away as quickly as she'd initiated the kiss, grabbing her bags and heading for the door.

"Monday. Give me the end of the weekend to work out the rest of my own problems and then we can talk. I promise." She paused and gave him a meaningful look. "And I intend on keeping my promise, this time." She shot him a small smile and headed for the door, leaving him reeling from their almost-conversation and breath-stealing kisses before he left for the night.

What neither of them had realized, was that someone else had been privy to their almost conversation and breath-stealing kisses. Mitchell had left his mp3 player in the choir room, and returned back to the school to find it, only to see his glee advisors making out and talking about their "past" and "second chances." With a wicked smirk, he escaped out of the school sans mp3 player, ready to spread the news like wildfire that he'd been right about his glee advisors all along.

They so used to bang.

And on Monday, everyone was going to know.

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Salut mes amis!

Tee-hee! The Minsk is so evil! But the truth is coming soon!

Until Next Time *sings* . . .Don't Stop. . .Reviewing!

Merci Mille Fois

The Minsk