AUTHORS NOTE: When the awful news of Cory Monteith's death broke, I briefly considered not writing anymore - I didn't have it in me. In fact, I was kicking myself for letting myself fall in love with glee, and with Finn and Rachel, and getting sucked into following the real lives of Cory and Lea, rooting for them fiercely, both on screen and off. I can't help it though, I do love glee, especially Finchel, and while this really sucks right now, I'm glad I didn't miss out on glee (although the last moments of S3 and most of S4 have been a bit disappointing). If I was writing Monchele fiction, I would've stopped, because there are no more stories to tell in Cory's life, but Finn is a character, and he's NOT Cory. He is a beautifully portrayed, richly layered, vibrant, character, for whom there are more stories to tell. Being a fan fiction writer gives me something that the writers of glee do not have; a means for Finn to live on and have his happy ending with Rachel, an ending that sadly, we will not see unfold on TV and even worse, that Lea will not have with Cory. So I will continue this story as long as I have ideas for it. Finn is part of Cory's legacy, so if you are inclined, see this as a tribute to his life's work. Whether you have been reading this story since I first published it, or have just found it when looking for some Finchel happiness in the midst of sadness about Cory, I hope that you will enjoy it and keep reading.
Kurt, Rachel, and Finn entered the karaoke bar, a little wary that they were able to enter so easily being underage, especially on a Friday night. But as they took in the surroundings, they realized that the run down bar was probably happy to have any customers at all. As Rachel and Kurt made a beeline for their friends in the corner booth, Finn surprisingly went straight to the karaoke book flipped for a second or two, found what he wanted and wrote down the number. He didn't give the karaoke dj his number, but instead rejoined the group as Santana spoke up, "Well, you're not the one I expected to be hitting the song book first."
"I'm not singing first, I just know what I want to sing, and wanted to get the number down."
"Oooh. What are you going to sing?", Rachel asked excitedly.
"You'll see. It's kinda perfect."
"Is it 80's rock?", Kurt blurted out, rolling his eyes.
"No! It's new. You people are just going to have to wait. Go on, pick your songs. If you wanna hear mine, you're gonna have to sing for it."
"I was kind of hoping that you'd sing with me again, baby. I sing solos all the time at school. I miss singing with you. Our voices blend perfectly."
"If that makes you happy, I'll do it. But your voice deserves it's own spotlight - you don't need me."
"I know that I don't NEED your voice to sound good, and I do love being a soloist, but I WANT your voice now because I like the way we sound together and I like the way I feel when we hit perfect harmony and blending. You're the best duet partner I've had because we read each other's cues and because we equally feel what we're singing."
"What song, Rach?"
"All you need is love"
Finn smiled at her choice and responded, "Put in the request. Whenever you're ready, I'll be there."
Rachel squealed and hugged him before scampering off to the table scattered with song books. She was soon followed by most of their group.
Blaine shuffled a little in their small crowd to end up next to Finn and leaned over to tell him, "It will be really good to hear you sing again, Finn. I know you sang last night, but did you realize that you haven't sang, even as an example in Glee since Christmas?"
"Yeah, I know. It's because I was out of practice - I didn't sing much in glee before then either - only when I thought I needed to to help. It hurt too much. I only started really practicing again at home after Schue asked me to sing at the wedding. I didn't want to make a total fool of myself, especially not.."
"...in front of Rachel."
Finn looked a little sheepish but nodded, "yeah. She's SO good, I'll never measure up to her, but I love the way she looks at me when I sing. It's like I hung the moon and I'm not even THAT great."
"Dude, you sang lead in the top show choir in the nation. Does that mean nothing?"
"That was just one song, and it was a group effort."
"Oh Finn, you are way too modest for your own good."
"Yeah,", Rachel said, after overhearing the last little bit of their conversation, "I've always told you that you're better than you think and that you sell yourself short. If you wanted to perform professionally, you could get there. But I think that the students you will teach will benefit from your talent and your leadership, and I know that is your passion. I think we benefitted from having Mr. Schue's talent shared with us, and you will be similar."
"He already is, even better than Mr. Schue if you ask me.", Blaine added.
Finn blushed, "Well okay then. You're gonna hear me sing tonight, maybe several times, because I finally have something to sing about again. And I will work hard to make sure that I am an incredible teacher. Thanks for believing in me." He gave Blaine a hug and then pulled Rachel close to him, leaning down to kiss her cheek.
"Santana, get on up here! You can start us up tonight.", the karaoke dj announced.
"This song basically inspired me to move to New York. Well, this song, and the fact that Lady Hummel and Pod-Rachel clearly needed my street smarts there."
Rachel rolled her eyes, but also smiled as "Girl on Fire" became the dominant sound in the room, knowing that she was grateful for Santana's friendship, something that she never would've imagined she would have even wanted for much of high school.
"This song is perfect for her, don't you think?", Kurt said to Rachel.
Rachel nodded as Kurt continued, "but do you think she will ever call us just Kurt and Rachel?"
Rachel laughed, "I would worry that there was something wrong if she did! I'm really coming to appreciate Santana though, even if she does have some weird ways of showing her friendship."
"Yeah", Kurt chuckled, "Have you told Finn that it's likely that she will go through his stuff once he moves in?"
Finn was sitting with Rachel on his lap, listening more to the music than Kurt and Rachel, but caught the part of the conversation when he was mentioned, "Wait. What? She's gonna go through my stuff?"
"Well, maybe not. She was on a mission to find out more about Brody when she apparently went through all of our stuff. She mentioned it was just something that she did, but perhaps she wouldn't be motivated to look through yours.", Kurt reassured him.
"But we are finding that there really are no secrets in the loft when Santana is concerned.", Rachel added.
Finn looked perplexed.
"Oh honey, it's going to be fine. She really is a decent roommate, believe it or not, if you can get over the fact that she'll never call you by your given first name."
"Can we set ground rules on the nicknames, because I REALLY dislike Finnessa."
"I thought only Puck used that one.", Kurt pointed out.
"Oh, yeah."
"And her nicknames aren't really mean anymore."
"Okay", Finn said, "It's not like I'm going to let some insults keep me away from living with you anyway."
Rachel smiled, "Good".
Santana finished up her song to the small crowd cheering and hopped off the small stage to return to the group.
Rachel gave Santana a nod indicating that she was impressed as the announcer asked, "Finchel? Is that a name? Um."
Finn laughed at the fact that Rachel had put in their song with their mash-up name, and bounded up to the stage, speaking clearly into the microphone, "Hi! I'm Finn and that," he said pointing at Rachel who was still approaching the stage, "beautiful creature is Rachel."
He paused, pointed to himself and said, "Fin", then quickly pointed to Rachel, "chel. Finchel."
"Oh. Well enjoy your song, Finchel."
They giggled and started singing together, "Love, love, love. Love, love, love. Love, love, love."
Finn looked to Rachel and she gave him an almost imperceptible nod, knowing that he wanted the first verse. He sang to her, and only her, as she subtly added the love repetition underneath,, "There's nothing you can do that can't be done. Nothing you can sing that can't be sung. Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game. It's easy."
She naturally came in for the next verse, singing, "Nothing you can make that can't be made. No one you can save that can't be saved. Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time. It's easy."
They sang the chorus strongly together, their emotions reverberating through the room as well as their proven harmonies. To them there was no one else in the room.
As they were singing, Kurt couldn't help but keep looking at Blaine. He really was still in love with him, and even though he meant what he said about being single for a while and dating other people, the meaning of the Beatles' lyrics bored through his soul as he contemplated if love was really all he needed to make it work with Blaine. He was in the middle of his thoughts when Blaine whispered to him, "I can see what you're thinking, but listen to the next verse."
Rachel's voice rang crystal clear through the room, "Nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.", before Finn joined her, belting out, " Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be. It's easy.", with every ounce of emotion they had, their love almost visibly emanating from them in a radiant glow.
As they started the last chorus, Blaine whispered again toward Kurt's wide eyes, "You're right where you're meant to be. Explore, be free, and just know that I love you, and my heart will be patiently waiting for the day I move to New York."
Kurt stared at Blaine, with love in his eyes, and simply said, "I love you, too. Thank you.", before kissing him full on as the rest of their friends joined Finn and Rachel in singing their ending, while also staring at the kiss happening in their midst.
As the song ended, Santana couldn't contain herself anymore and blurted out, "It figures that Finn and Rachel would sing a song where they repeat the word 'love' over and over again ten thousand times, and that there was so much emotion charging the song that it spilled over to the gay wonder twins, who aren't even dating anymore."
Kurt and Blaine lethargically separated and looked sheepish.
"Um, oops.", Kurt let out.
"I better go put in my song request", Blaine said before hurrying over to the table.
The karaoke dj called a name from another group in the bar as Rachel hurried over to Kurt and heatedly whispered, "What the hell was that? You never told us what happened last night. Are you back together? Are you just hooking up? Oh I am a horrible friend for getting so caught up in my own happiness and drama, but mostly happiness."
"Rachel. Stop. Alright, here's the quick version. We have plenty of time for an analysis later. We had sex last night. I fucked his brains out and then made him make love to me, which was a little mean, but he actually liked it. We agreed that it was just a hookup and didn't mean we were back together. During your song, he noticed me thinking and the boy knows me too well, but he told me I was right to be single right now and that he'd be waiting until the day he moved to New York, and we'd make a real decision then. But he's coming back now, so just act as normal as you can, okay?"
"Of course. Oh my goodness are these performers flat! And their breath is all over the place."
"I know. Clearly they do not have our talent."
Finn plopped down between Kurt and Rachel and added, "they don't even look like they're having fun up there, and that guy is singing a key lower than his friends."
Kurt and Rachel looked at each other knowingly and both just gave Finn a huge bear hug.
"Uh, guys, I love you both, but what is this tackle hug about?"
"You sound like a music teacher, Finn. That's all. We're really proud of you."
"But I always noticed that stuff."
"Exactly. That's the point, Finn. You ALWAYS noticed that stuff, you always led others. You're just finally able to realize that's what you do, and it's really beautiful to watch you when you're confident."
Finn looked at Rachel and kissed her sweetly, before Quinn sauntered over and said, "Okay love birds, enough for the moment. Rachel, would you sing with me, Brittany, and Santana?"
"What song?"
"Lady Marmalade"
Finn choked as Rachel looked at him, giggled, and asked, "which part would you like me to sing?"
"You're not going to demand the Christina Aguilera part?"
Finn's eyes bugged out again as he imagined Rachel in an outfit similar to Christina's in the video, and he mumbled, "Oh god Rachel is hotter than Christina in that outfit".
Quinn, Kurt, and Blaine stared at him, as Rachel screeched, "FINN!"
"Shit, was that out loud? Fuck I'm in trouble"
"Wait, you actually got Rachel into a Moulin Rouge outfit?", Quinn couldn't help but ask.
At the sound of "Rachel" and "Moulin Rouge", Santana and Puck walked over to hear what was going on, knowing that it was bound to be good.
"Berry got into the Christina Aguilera lingerie for you? Damn girl. I didn't know you had it in you. Color me impressed", Santana applauded as she spoke.
"Please tell me there are pictures, Finn."
"Puck, this is my girlfriend we're talking about - shut the fuck up. I'm in enough trouble as it is and I sure as hell am NOT showing you any pictures."
Artie and Sam had gathered with them by then and Artie choked out, "Hold up. There ARE pictures of this?"
Rachel put her head in her hands, buried her head in Blaine's shoulder and groaned.
Puck looked like a young child on Christmas morning, "Holy Shit! There ARE pictures!"
Rachel and Finn were both deep red, but then Tina gave Puck a glare, before pointing out, "Well of course, there are pictures. Finn and Rachel were and are a committed couple and that's pretty normal to have a stash of personal photos. Especially when you're in high school and you don't necessarily get to make love to your significant other every time that you'd like to. Sometimes it helps to have a visual to help you take off the edge, right?"
Now all their eyes were on Tina, who Mike defended, "they're also quite helpful when you're stressed out and away at college and your girlfriend isn't your girlfriend anymore."
Mercedes commented, "Well this is quite the interesting night. Wouldn't be a glee club get together without some drama.", as Mike and Tina retreated to the bathroom hallway and the dj called out, "Quinn, Santana, Brittany, and Rachel"
"Rachel, can you sing Christina's part?"
"Of course.", she answered Santana, then teased, "Oh, and Finn? I still have the lingerie. In my suitcase."
Finn's eyes bugged out again as his visibly gulped, watching his girlfriend wiggle her perfect ass as she approached the stage. He couldn't keep his eyes off her and quite a few dirty fantasies crossed his mind about all four of them as they commanded the attention of nearly every person in the audience. Kurt took one look at Finn and muttered, "No one is getting any damned sleep tonight."
Puck noticed Finn struggling to keep it cool watching the girls gyrate on stage, and took it upon himself to freak him out, "Dude, you managed to fuck two of them, and get to at least second base with three of them. Not bad. Bet you have some dirty thoughts right now."
"Only of Rachel", Finn answered automatically.
Puck laughed, "Yeah, right."
"Oh god, you can't tell, can you? Rachel will kill me."
Puck laughed again, "No dumbass, gotcha, though. It's only natural to fantasize about those 4 though. They are the hottest girls I've ever known, and I've fucked three of them and made out with all of them. I'd know."
Finn glared at Puck.
"Down boy. I would NEVER touch Rachel now, no matter how much sex appeal she oozes and we've been over babygate for a long time now. I was mostly referring to fucking the three of them last night, anyway."
Finn visibly relaxed, but then tensed up again when Puck added, "Oh damn. I think Santana has herself a new girl crush though. She is undressing your girl with her eyes, and Rachel seems to be enjoying teasing the hell out of her."
Finn muttered, "This song can't end fast enough."
After a few moments, it did, and the moment that Rachel was off that stage, Finn was glaring at Santana for a split second and then had Rachel up against the wall, kissing her passionately the next, prompting Kurt to further his previous comment, "Or we're all just going to get a live sex show right here before they ever get home."
Finn finally unlatched himself from her lips and they looked at each other with a burning desire in their eyes.
"I should sing that more often if you react like that."
"Do you like Santana?", Finn blurted out.
"Of course, she's my friend now, Finn. But why are we talking about Santana when you just kissed me senseless. Oh god, no. Finn!", her voice dropped lower, "Please tell me you are not interested in Santana again because of that song."
"What?! No. no. Oh god NO! She's a lesbian, Rach. She was coming on to you."
Rachel laughed then, "Oh, you're JEALOUS of Santana. Over the song. Oh Finn, you have nothing to worry about. Remember, I love you."
"Yeah, I know, but what if you had one of those experimenting things like Quinn did yesterday?"
"Well Quinn is single, and so is Santana. And so was Puck, and Brittany and Sam had an agreement. I would never experiment without your express permission and probably involvement."
"Involvement?", Finn choked out.
"Yeah silly. I love you. I'm with you, forever. So, in the crazy event that I would hook up with Santana, you would totally be there too. Isn't it every guy's fantasy to have a threesome anyway?"
"Did you just say threesome?" Finn asked, his head spinning at the thought.
"Case in point. But I wasn't actually inviting you to one. I was just pointing out that...Wait. Do you want me to hook up with Santana?"
Finn knew he was in very dangerous territory now, and decided to deflect for a moment, "Well do you WANT to hook up with Santana?"
For a split second Rachel thought that wouldn't be half bad, but then answered honestly, "I've never thought about it before. I am honestly fully satisfied with you and only you. I don't need anyone else".
"And I love you, and I'm more than satisfied with you and only you and I don't need anyone else, either, but I asked you if you wanted to, not if you needed to."
Rachel took a deep breath before continuing, "Okay, well I wouldn't be opposed to such a thing, but I want to be very clear that you are my soul mate, and that I love you best."
"Ditto"
"Finn, why are we discussing this?"
"Puck said that Santana was undressing you with her eyes, and that you were enjoying teasing her up there."
"Finn, while I have no idea what, if any, attraction Santana might have, I can assure you that I was just having fun with the song. It's a sexy song. I was being sexy for you."
At that moment, Santana walked by on her way to the bathroom, commenting, "Yeah you were. Finn, your girl is hotter than hell."
They both turned to her and their jaws dropped.
"What?", Santana said defensively, "I'm not going to steal her away from you, Loverboy. I know better than to get between Finchel."
Finn and Rachel looked at each other guiltily and Santana raised an eyebrow at them, chuckling, "...unless you want me between you, that is", clearly catching on to what their look might have meant.
"I love Finn" "I love Rachel", they sputtered out simultaneously.
"Well on that note, I'm gonna go take a piss and maybe when I get back you two can figure out why that was just awkward."
"Finn, this is a little too crazy right now. I don't want to hook up with Santana right now. I just got you back, I don't want to add any more people right now.", Rachel said honestly, shaking with nerves.
"Hey, hey. Relax.", Finn said, pulling her closer to him, feeling her still trembling a little, "I love you and I agree."
"Oh thank god. You had me worried for a minute there."
Finn looked her in the eyes and kissed her slowly as they heard the announcer call Puck up to the stage.
The music drifted to Rachel's ear and she broke her kiss with Finn and said, "Is Puck really singing this? I mean he sounds really good on it, but um...Do you hear the lyrics?"
Finn chuckled, "I think he might be singing to Quinn. I have to see this. Because I'm pretty sure that he's basically calling her crazy."
As they walked back to their group, Rachel asked, "How does Puck know about Hunter Hayes? I could see this in Sam's repertoire, but Puck? Does Quinn like this stuff?"
"I think so.", Finn replied, as Sam confirmed, "Yeah, she likes his sound."
They saw Puck singing and focusing on Quinn. Rachel sat down next to Quinn and found that once she sat down, that Puck basically started singing to both of them, which made her grip Finn closer to her.
She whispered to Finn, "Why is he singing to me too?"
Finn looked equally confused and just said, "Tonight is weird, but I wouldn't blame him for wanting you. You're super sexy today. I mean you're always gorgeous and sexy, but you're doing crazy things to people today. We'll be lucky if they don't all follow us to my bed tonight."
"Thank you, Finn. I guess I'm just irresistible because I'm happy and taken.", she replied before leaning over to Quinn, "So what has gotten into Puck?"
"I have NO idea. I'm not sure whether I should be turned on or scared. Or scared that I'm turned on."
"Seriously."
When Rachel started talking to Quinn, Finn got up and put in his song request.
"Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, you're next", the dj called as Puck headed over to Quinn and Rachel walked over to Blaine. Kurt closed his eyes and muttered, "Here goes nothing. I must be crazy.".
Blaine sat and listened intently to Kurt doing an amazing job channeling Hayley Williams, singing, "We are broken". He was hopeful, but still unsure about what kind of chance he had with Kurt after he screwed up so bad, especially in New York where they weren't the only two gay kids anymore.
"He really does love you, you know.", Rachel said to him.
"But we are broken. You hear the song."
"Yeah, but listen to more than just that lyric. The song is about trying to figure out how to get over the pain and move on, which he wants to do together. You just have to give him time. I'm going to be honest, he does likes Adam, but it's going to be a fling. Adam isn't you. He just needs to get himself out there. After all, you did."
"Ouch"
Finn chimed in, "Blaine, Rachel didn't mean any harm by that. We ALL put ourselves out there at some point, but Kurt hasn't really. Other than you, he's never really met any other viable partners. Even those of us who have been around viable partners needed some freedom to be sure about what we wanted. Letting go was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but I had to be sure, you know? For me it wasn't that I needed to be sure about Rachel being the one - by that time, I knew. I wouldn't have proposed if I didn't. But I had to be sure that I could become something, and sure that Rachel had every possible opportunity to succeed. Kurt has to be sure that you're the one because you are, and not just because you're the only one. I think he also has to be sure that in an environment with even more temptation, that you're going to be faithful. That it's him that you truly want. If it's meant to be, it'll be."
As Kurt sang the last of the song, "Give us life again 'Cause we just wanna be whole", he looked right at Blaine, who gave him a smile and continued to watch until Kurt was coming off the stage toward him, flushed.
"I just have to trust the universe I guess."
"It worked for us. Now go spend some time with Kurt."
"Warbler Blaine", the DJ called.
"Hey, I didn't write my name in as 'Warbler Blaine'! Who let Santana near the submission table?"
Santana just laughed as Kurt muttered, "That explains the 'Kurt Elizabeth Hummel'. Were you the one that put in 'Finchel' too?"
"No, that was me. I like our portmanteau.", Rachel pointed out.
Blaine jumped right into the song,, his eyes never leaving Kurt, "Right from the start, You were a thief, You stole my heart, And I your willing victim, I let you see the parts of me, That weren't all that pretty, And with every touch you fixed them, Now you've been talking in your sleep, oh, oh, Things you never say to me, oh, oh, Tell me that you've had enough, Of our love, our love..."
"I love him, but does it always have to be Pink with him?"
"Kurt! Did you just say you loved Blaine?!"
"I guess I did. But, Rachel, that's not the point. He's singing Pink again!"
"Which you secretly love, even if it is predictable"
"Yeah, it's not really a secret. I'm totally going to sleep with him again. I have zero self control. What's wrong with me? I like Adam, I want to date him, but Blaine still takes my breath away."
"It sounds like you want to see what sex with someone else is like. But let me tell you, if you're not in love with them, it just sucks.", Finn blurted out.
"Are you seriously dissing sex with Santana?", Puck asked incredulously. "I don't even know how that's possible."
"He wasn't so great either.", Santana pointed out, adding, "Although rumor has it that he's improved since then.", when she felt Rachel's glare boring into her.
"You felt something for her when you were fuck buddies, but I didn't. I was just trying to keep up with Rachel, which was really stupid, but that's not the point. The point was that we're talking about Kurt wanting to do this Adam guy, not my epic fail at losing my virginity the right way."
Kurt sighed, "Yeah. I do. It's awful, but yeah. I love Blaine, but I'm a little jealous he got to see who else was out there. Sure. He knows that he likes me more than that other guy, but I do like Adam, and I want to be sure that I want to be with Blaine more before I settle down with him."
"That's exactly what the rest of us seemed to do too.", Finn pointed out.
"Perhaps, but you two didn't need to sort out how you felt for each other, only the mechanics of how to be together. You knew your love was forever so much that it scared the crap out of 3 of your 4 four parents, not to mention half of your friends. But you both KNEW. Even while with other people - Brody, Quinn, Santana, Jesse, Puck - you knew that your hearts were permanently connected. And THAT is how sure I want to be."
Finn and Rachel looked at each other, reveling in the fact that they really had finally figured it out.
"Oh come on, don't start now."
"Oh fine, but Kurt, you should go up there with him. This Pink song is actually a duet.", Rachel said as she pushed at Kurt to get him out of his chair.
Kurt got on stage just in time to sing the harmonies on the second verse. He might not be as sure as Finn and Rachel, but he just wanted to feel okay with what he had now. And right now, he had his first love to sing with and he was happy that he could give Blaine the hope that he needed to hang on until he was ready again.
Finn and Rachel cuddled while their friends around them buzzed in conversation and Kurt and Blaine sang out their feelings.
As Blaine and Kurt were finishing, Brittany spoke to no one in particular, "Do you think there will ever be a time when all of us are with our soulmates and there is no drama?"
Santana answered her, "Brit, we might not all be paired up, but we're all pretty content and happy and no one is fighting within the group for each other, so that's a start. I think that we're all soul mates. A whole glee club of soul mates, connected forever. I think we're beyond the drama - besides, most of the drama usually involved Finn and Rachel, so if they're stable, the rest of us usually follow!"
"You and Sam aren't fighting over me any more?"
"Do you want me to be fighting with Sam over you?"
"I want you to be happy and I miss you."
"I miss you too, Brit, and you'll always be my best friend, but I need to spend some time finding myself. You're happy with Sam, right? I live in New York and I love my life there. I'm figuring things out. Love will follow when it's time. Until then, I'll be having fun with the wrong ones, and I'll always accept your invitations, especially since I know that Sam-I-Am here is decent in bed. So no drama and no worries."
Brittany giggled at that and said, "I love you Santana. I love all of my glee family. And I'm so happy that Finn and Rachel are finally back together. We might have to watch them kiss all the time, but everyone is so much happier when they're not miserable!"
"Case in point.", Santana said, pointing at Finn and Rachel, who had lost interest in watching Kurt and Blaine and were indeed kissing passionately again. They must have sensed everyone focused on them again, because they came up for air and Finn responded, "Did someone need something, because I've been deprived of Rachel's lips for a while and I'd like to continue making up for lost time."
"Resume you two.", Mercedes said, rolling her eyes. "I just wish I had a kissing buddy right now."
"Oh, Mercedes, we love you!", Kurt exclaimed flanking her on one side when Blaine took the other, both swooping down to kiss her cheeks after hopping off the stage.
"Well at least I have my gay arm candy for now!"
"Finn Hudson, please join us on the stage"
"Um, is there a Finn Hudson around?", the DJ repeated as Finn did not notice that he was called.
Puck noticed though, and kicked Finn square in the shin, causing him to almost bite Rachel's lip.
"What was that for, asshole?"
"Language, Finn"
Puck rolled his eyes and pointed to the stage, "You're going to miss your turn, Cassanova. DJ just called your ass up there twice."
"Oh! Sorry Rachel. I really do want to sing for you.", he said, bounding up to the stage happily.
"Hi, I'm Finn Hudson and this song is for my awesome girlfriend."
He started right in on the beat, singing, "I don't wanna be another wave in the ocean, I am a rock not just another grain of sand, I wanna be the one you run to when you need a shoulder, I ain't a soldier but I'm here to take a stand, Because we can"
Rachel's eyes were already starting to fill, knowing just how perfect this song was at this exact point in their story. She was so proud of him for having perfect song selection, not only for his vocal range, but also for it's poignancy and meaning, and it's anthem-like quality. She quietly pushed Puck, Mike, and Sam up to join him on the chorus harmonies and she stood as well, pushing Artie up the ramp, as there was a part she wanted to sing to Finn as well.
Finn smiled at his growing entourage, continuing with the verse, "She's in the kitchen staring out the window, So tired of living life in black and white, Right now she's missing those technicolor kisses, When he turns down the lights."
He handed his microphone to Rachel instinctively, reading her cues perfectly and let her sing out, "Lately he's feeling like a broken promise, In the mirror staring down his doubt, There's only one thing in this world that he knows, He said forever and he'll never let her down"
Rachel beamed at him when she handed the microphone back, settling into his side with his arm around her as he sang the chorus again with the rest of the boys joining him, until Rachel jumped in for the last line with them, "Because we can".
Finn and Rachel sang the next verse together, "TV and takeout on the coffee table, Paper dishes, pour a glass of wine, Turn down the sound and move a little closer, And for the moment everything is alright", the boys joining in for the repeating chorus, only dropping out for the last lines, where Rachel jumped in and sang with Finn again through the end, "Because we can, our love can move a mountain, We can, if you believe in we, We can, just wrap your arms around me, We can, we can, Because we can".
Their Bon Jovi cover elicited the largest applause of the evening, only rivaled by all the hooting and hollering that the girls performance of "Lady Marmalade" received. The DJ asked them, "Do you guys practice before coming here?"
Finn laughed, "Actually no. I had no idea they were all going to join me, but I've been singing with Rachel for almost 4 years now, so we just fall into our parts naturally. I don't even truly understand how it happens, so it's probably Rachel orchestrating it somehow. She's a professional."
"Finn! I am not a professional yet. I didn't even get a callback for the chorus in The Glass Menagerie. And it's not just me. I can't perform with others the same way as I perform with you, even when we first started. I need considerable practice to perfect cues with other people. I think that we instinctively read each other, sometimes subconsciously, and it's our love that takes over and fuels our performance."
"Um, well that was incredible, especially since you claim that it was not practiced."
"Well, I might have sang it in the car with the radio a couple of times.", Finn admitted.
"And I've heard the song before, but haven't sung it before."
"Wow. Just wow. Oh! You two were in the McKinley glee club last year, weren't you? I knew you looked familiar!"
"Yes, McKinley class of 2012", Rachel responded, smiling.
"Show Choir National Champs.", Finn said proudly.
"Wow. I can see why you won. I hope you have a great night."
"Thank you", they both responded as they joined their friends again. The rest of the evening sped by, their group dominating the microphone for most of the night, to the point where they were having impromptu jam sessions, even when one of them chose a song as a solo. But for once, they weren't fighting over the solos, and were just enjoying making music together. It was getting late, but no one really wanted to leave and end their little reunion. They sang some of their favorite performance songs and some new songs. Artie hilariously parodied Mr. Schuester singing Ice Ice Baby, Mercedes joining him on the chorus, before she pulled Santana and Tina up with her to sing "Set Fire to the Rain". Quinn and Puck sang a song that Puck introduced as "A song that was popular when our teacher was in middle school, which was before we were born, but it's a great song for me and Q" (Mr. Big's "To Be With You"). The only song that really confused the group was when Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine sang "I Know Him So Well" from the musical Chess. But Rachel quickly explained to the slightly worried group that it was just a pretty song they all knew and didn't mean anything.
Soon, it was time for the last song, which Finn submitted. Kurt joked as they all climbed up to the stage, "So are we singing the original arrangement or the regionals arrangement, Finn?"
"We're not singing 'Don't Stop Believing"
"What are we singing then, dear brother?"
"Well, Rachel let me borrow her Beatles CDs a long time ago, and I still haven't returned them. Well I found one the other day, and I really liked this song. They pulled out some of John Lennon's demos that he was working on, and Paul, George, and Ringo fleshed out the rest and they had a digital reunion with him. I thought it was fitting to sing "Real Love" for our first full reunion of the original Glee club."
"That explains why I couldn't find the anthology. It's a good thing I have them on my ipod too. Good choice."
"I'll make sure I pack them for New York.", Finn said smiling, as their group sang the last number of the night before parting.
