A/N- Really quick, I just want to thank all of you so much for all of your support! Just got to 50 reviews and its all thanks to you guys! Sorry this chapter sucks, writer block strikes again.

Disclaimer- Ryan Murphy is the amazing mastermind behind all things Glee, not me. Speaking of which, anyone else SUPER excited about the new season? :D


Finns POV

"This dress makes me look huge" Quinns voice announces as she enters the lounge area designated for our team, Mercedes and Tina following close behind her.

"You're pregnant, what did you expect?" Puck asks rhetorically, earning him a slap on the back of the head as she passes behind him. "Don't get me wrong, you look hot. Total MILF" The room gets quiet for a few long seconds after he says this, and all of us stare at him for a minute.

"You're an idiot" Matt mutters, fixing his tie for the millionth time. While most of us guys were ready in a little over twenty minutes; the girls ended up taking over an hour. Not that they didn't look great, its just the fact that they started a half hour before us and weren't done until ten minutes after. Speaking of which, where are the rest of them? I think silently to myself, glancing at the door.

"Where are the rest of the girls? They're not done yet?" Artie asks, repeating my own question.

"Brittany and Santana were right behind us.." As Mercedes trails off a bit towards the end, the two girls in question enter behind them. Matt whistles in appreciation for the two Cheerios, to nobody's surprise. Hes never been good at hiding his feelings for Santana. He'd confided in me once that she was the reason he chose Glee over football.

"What about Rachel?" I ask finally from my seat on the arm of the couch, casting my glance at the door again.

"When we left, she was finishing up her hair and make-up" Brittany announces with a small shrug. As everyone else falls back into what they were doing before they began getting ready, I simply remain seated and begin nervously messing with my tie. Over the last five hours, we've managed to get a lot done and still have time to at least try and relax. The first two and a half hours were spent going over our routine a dozen times until we got it perfect, after which we got a chance to eat and hang out before going to our dressing rooms to begin getting ready. Now we still have an hour left to kill.

While everyone else spent the relaxation time discussing the performance and our competition, my mind was occupied with something else entirely; how exactly I'm going to tell Rachel how I feel. She asked me a few times during practice if I was alright and why I was being so quiet, causing me to simply chalk it up to being nervous. What I'm nervous about, however, she has no idea.

Another few minutes pass and the conversations around the room begin again, some people laughing and enjoying themselves while others look terrified. The door finally opens, and my throat goes dry at the sight before me. Even though all the girls are wearing the same thing, Rachel pulls it off the best. Beautiful doesn't even begin to describe how she looks right now, and as my heart seems to pound into overdrive just by looking at her, I realize I'm in way too deep. She looks nervous, but the anxiousness written across her face only adds to the appeal.

Tina says something to her from her spot by the door, to which Rachel gives a small laugh and nods in agreement. When she looks back up, her smile seems to grow as she makes her was over to me; my own smile grows in response and I straighten up a bit.

"Hey Finn" She greets, almost shyly.

"Hi Rachel" Hard as I try to sound relaxed and smooth, my voice still comes out somewhat choked due to the effect she has on me. Everytime shes around I swear I can all but feel it getting worse. How does she not know? I wonder silently, trying my hardest not to stare at her.

"You alright?" Her voice is calm, but holds the same nervousness it has all day. There's a bit of that fear in all of us by this point; the thought of losing tonight and saying good-bye to everything we've grown used to over the past nine months is almost too much to bear. Mr. Schuester has forbidden us from even considering any of that. Its not the possibility of losing that's got me tongue-tied, though. Its the fact that sometime within the next hour, the girl in front of me will know that I'm in love with her.

"Oh, yeah. I'm just...You look amazing" The words come out before I have time to filter them, the last three words softer than the others. The faintest blush rises to her cheeks and she opens her mouth to respond just as Tina comes over to drag her away. Something about a new app she got for her iPhone or something, I'm not really paying much attention. With an apologetic glance towards me, Rachel lets herself get dragged off. Its impossible to miss the fact that Tina, Artie, and Rachel have gotten somewhat closer over the past few weeks. A part of me is glad for this fact because it means they are finally starting to see what I've seen in her from the beginning; the other part of me sort of misses the days where I seemed to be her only friend.

Before I know it, Mike and Matt are engaging me in a conversation about their predictions for baseball season. I listen in amusement as the two of them fight over who will most likely be heading back to the World Series; Matt believes it will be the Phillies while Mike is persistant on the Dodgers stealing the win this year. I don't usually pay much attention to the sport, but given the results of the past two or three years, I have to side with Matt. My attention keeps drifting back into and out of the conversation, and I offer up a few laughs or comments to let them know I'm listening. In truth, my mind is on the brunette across the room.

Once her face pops into my mind, I instinctively look up to where she is. As luck would have it, she glances up at the same time and our eyes lock. Everything around me disappears in that instant as I recognize the look shes giving me. Its the one that now has the ability to completely stop my heart as well as my breath; the one she gave me before Jesse was even in the picture, before I broke her heart to find my Inner Rockstar. An electric current shoots through me and my heart slams against my chest. It takes all my strength not to walk over to where she is and tell her how I feel. Its a good thing Puck cant see into my mind, I think to myself. He'd never let me live any of this down.

The sound of Mike trying to get my attention pulls me back into the conversation just as Rachel looks back at the phone in Arte's hand.

"Oh shit, theres only a half hour left" Puck announces before standing up and walking over to the speaker thats hanging on the wall. Its amazing how much tension begins to fill the air as everyone takes in that simple fact. My own nervousness over our performance begins to bubble up and I begin to fidget with my tie again.

"I'm getting kind of thirsty, I'm going to go see if I can find a vending machine or something" Rachel announced, smoothing out the skirt part of her dress as she heads for the door. "Anybody want anything?" The room replies with a few soft 'No's or shakes of the head. I simply watch as the door closes behind her.

Several minutes pass by and, when she still hasn't returned, curiosity sparks in me. "I'll be back" I mumble as I head to the door. Walking out, I realize she probably just needed some space from the sudden tension that filled the room. I reach the corner of the hall and am about to turn around when I hear an all too familiar voice close by.

"Hello Rachel" My hands ball into fists out of habit at the sound of Jesse's voice, and a brief shot of hatred courses through me. As much as I want to, I can't bring myself to turn and head back to the room anymore; my feet are glued to where I stand.

"Oh, hello Jesse" Her voice is strong, professional as always, with a very clear hint of annoyance.

"I just came to wish you good luck. You guys are clearly going to need it now that I've transferred back" There's a short silence before she says anything, and, though I cant actually see her, I already know the stance shes taking; turning to face him with a look of determination on her face.

"Contrary to what you may believe, you're not as good as you think you are" Ouch. "You guys might be good singers and have a few decent dance moves, but its going to take more than that to beat us. I know that you're afraid to admit it, but you know just as well as I do that we actually have a chance at winning this. I actually feel sort of bad for you. This is your last year at Carmel, and you're going to end you're high school career with the knowledge that you lost at Regionals" Her entire speech is done perfectly in her natural 'I'm a professional and I'm going to win' tone, and I soon hear her footsteps begin to get further and further. Until Jesse St. Jackass speaks up again, then they stop completely.

"You know that I didn't have a choice in the egging, Rachel. None of you respected me or any of my ideas. I had no choice but to go through with their plan, they're my team"

"But I was your girlfriend" Her voice is just above a whisper, barely loud enough for me to hear in the open hallway.

"Like I said, I had no choice" That sends me over the edge, I can no longer just stand here and listen while he reminds her of what I know to be the most humiliating thing thats ever happened to her. Something in me snaps.

"Thats complete bullshit and you know it" I all but yell as I turn the corner into the hallway to face the two of them.

"Finn?" Rachel's voice is soft and confused, almost a whisper as she turns to face me. I don't say a word to her, still focusing my attention on not hitting the lead singer of the competition.

"You didn't have to do anything, you chose to do it. You chose to humiliate the one person you know didn't deserve it. You made her believe you actually cared about her, that she could trust you" With each word, my voice gets a little angrier.

"Finn, come on. Hes not important, lets just go back to the room" Rachel pleads as she walks over to us before I'm able to do something I'll regret later. I feel her tiny hand gently pull on my much larger one, but I keep my eyes on the guy in front of me. His expression is cocky, but I can see the hint of genuine fear in his eyes.

"You were lucky enough to have her, then stupid enough to let her go. Shes the greatest thing that will ever happen to you, and you just pushed her out of your life." I pause for a short minute to look him up and down in disgust. "You did this to yourself" And with that, I turn back to the brunette whose hand is still holding mine, and let her lead me back to the room.

Once we turn the corner and are far enough away from Jesse, she steps in front of me, causing me to stop short. I cant quite place the look she gives me before I feel her arms wrap around my torso, but it causes my heart to do what has become a very familiar thump against my rib cage.

"Thank you" Her voice is soft, almost to the point where I cant hear it as its muffled by my shirt. I cant stop the small smile from spreading across my face at how genuinely touched and surprised she sounds that I stood up for her. "I should have listened to you from the start" With this, she pulls back and looks up at me; this is it. I have to tell her now, this may be my last real chance for the rest of the night.

"There's something I have to tell you" I let out a quick sigh as I look back at her, knowing what I'm about to say is going to change things from here on out. My stomach is in knots and my heart is threatening to beat out of my chest. "Rachel.."

"Hey, there you guys are!" Matt's voice floats from down the hall, interrupting me. "We were beginning to think the two of you fell off the face of the Earth!" Laughing at his own joke, he takes the final few steps to where we are and places a hand on each of our shoulders. "Come on, Oral Intensity is about to go on, then we're up after them. Everyone is still back in the room" Rachel and I share a quick glance before doing as we're told and following Matt.

It isn't long before we arrive, and I'm just now realizing that Rachel didn't get her drink, which is what she originally claimed to have gone out for. "Just a little warning though, everyones a little...anxious about performing. When I left, Mercedes was pacing and Tina was breathing into a paper bag." And with that, he opens the door and I let Rachel head in before slowly following after her.

"Remind me to kill you later" I mutter to Matt as I pass, glaring at him for ruining the moment between Rachel and I.

"What the hell did I do?" I simply roll my eyes at his creased brow at enter the room, sighing at the sight in front of me. Just about everybody in the small room is visibly a nervous wreck. Through the speaker, we hear the announcer introduce Oral Intensity as the music starts to play, and half the people in the room are suddenly on full alert, listening to the competition as if their lives depended on it. Once again, me and Rachel look at each other for the quickest moment, both of us knowing its pretty much up to us to keep everyone calm. Sometimes, being the co-captain sucks.


A/N- Alright now this might possibly be the worst chapter yet, and I'm so super sorry it took so long to post it! Things have been kind of crazy here due to a death in the family, and I've had writers block. No worries though, I'm back and it can only get better from this chapter on. Sadly though, this story will be coming to a close pretty soon. If you guys want a follow-up, let me know and I'd be more than happy to write one :) Until then, reviews keep me going!