A/N: This was sketched out a few months ago, so it's only consistent with continuity and characterization through 3-9.

Finn froze momentarily as he heard Rachel's dads downstairs. They hadn't been due back until mid afternoon.

"Rachel!" LeRoy Berry chimed in with Hiram, both calling out for their daughter. "Finn?" LeRoy continued, sounding even more irate. Shit, the truck's out front, Finn realized. He looked rapidly around for his clothes.

"Rachel, Finn, get down here right now." LeRoy Berry's voice was increasingly hostile.

Finn bolted into the adjoining bathroom where Rachel was still singing. "Rach, your dads are back," he called out, tapping the shower door to get her attention. She broke off her song suddenly. He grabbed his undershirt from where she'd let it drop and put it on, doing his best to ignore how her heady scent still clung to it. Returning to her bedroom, he hastily put his shirt and pants on, grateful that she'd piled them neatly the night before. He scanned the room and winced at the obvious signs of their activities – Rachel's red lace underwear from last night piled by the bed, a couple of unused condoms on the nightstand, and the two used ones... No time. Have to keep them out. He grabbed his socks and overnight bag, and he headed out the door and closed it behind himself just as Hiram Berry's head cleared the landing.

"Uh, Rachel's in the shower," Finn stammered.

"So I hear. Downstairs, now." Finn swallowed and followed him downstairs and into their living room.

"Finn," LeRoy Berry nodded curtly at him as he entered.

"Mr. Berry... and Mr. Berry," Finn squeezed out, looking at each of the men in turn. They'd told him a while back to use their first names, but he was pretty sure this wasn't the time to do that. He vaguely noticed that the water upstairs had stopped, and hoped Rachel would hide the worst of the evidence. Not that they're not sure, he thought. But seeing that... just no. He dropped his bag, but unconsciously gripped the socks in his hand.

"You're obviously surprised to see us," LeRoy said, breaking the very uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah, I mean, yes sir." They must've gotten an earlier flight.

"There's half a foot of snow on your truck, so don't even try to pretend you just got here," Hiram put in, looming over Finn as only he could. "How about you sit down."

Finn swallowed and nodded, sinking into the chair behind him. He suddenly noticed the socks in his hand and put them on, staring at his feet, not wanting to look up at the Berry men. And I may have to run for it, not that socks will help much... oh shut up. Breathe.

"So, Finn." LeRoy Berry stared at him, as if he was waiting for Finn to say something. Finn rapidly searched his stunned brain, and found nothing that wouldn't obviously make everything worse. But he didn't want to hang his head either, no matter how much it seemed to want to do that on its own, so he glanced over at the obviously irate man and reached for something to say.

"I hope you have a good trip to Chicago," Finn blurted out. Well it's not obviously dumb, he supposed, about how they're back early or Rachel or anything...

"Chicago?" Hiram Berry raised his eyebrows. "Why thank you, Finn, we intend to. We go every year, you know, to visit my brother for the end of Hanukkah. Which is already going on, of course. Which overlapped with your religious holiday yesterday, which apparently you took advantage of to deflower our daughter."

Crap. Should have shut up. But 'deflower'? Finn gulped. "Well, not exactly..." he muttered. Shit, shut up already!

"You don't seriously expect me to believe that you spent the night in our daughter's room and kept your hands and other appendages to yourself, do you? Hell, you smell of it."

"Uh... no." Finn swallowed. "No, I don't expect you to," he clarified.

"So what's not exactly about it, young man?" Hiram spoke acidly as he towered over Finn. Finn looked up at him, tongue-tied.

"He means it's not the first time," LeRoy Berry put in, sitting in a neighboring chair. "Isn't that right, Finn?"

"Uh... yeah..." Finn admitted. I mean, Rachel put together a schedule and everything, not that we don't just go for it sometimes... not that I'm going to tell them that... oh hell. His throat closed up.

"Great." Hiram huffed in frustration.

"Dad, Daddy. Did you have a good trip?" Rachel smiled brightly as she came downstairs dressed in her bathrobe, but her voice had a decided edge. She narrowly flashed Finn a supportive look, and he stood.

"Fine," Hiram said, unsmiling. "Not exactly the end we expected, though."

"You must have been lucky, to finish early and get a morning flight," Rachel said. "I was about to make some breakfast." Rachel was pushing through as though she could simply refuse the argument entirely, but Finn could tell it was causing her a lot of stress to act as though everything was normal. Their eyes met briefly.

"We've eaten already," LeRoy said. "And it's time you left, Finn."

Finn nodded, his throat still closed. Whatever they might think about Rachel inviting him over in their absence, they certainly had the right to throw him out once they returned. He picked up his bag.

"I'll show you out," Rachel stated.

"No," LeRoy said flatly.

"Yes," Rachel insisted pointedly, already moving to Finn's side, glaring at her dad as she passed by. She walked quietly next to Finn as he headed for the door, and took down his coat while he stooped to put on his boots. She opened the door for him and leaned up to kiss him lightly. "I love you," she whispered. "And I don't regret any of this. We'll talk later, okay?"

Finn swallowed and nodded, meeting her eyes, seeing worry but also love. "Sure. I love you, Rach." He hated leaving her to have to deal with her dads. Hell, he hated leaving her at all, and especially like this, getting chased out. Being with her makes me feel like such a man, and now it's like I'm still just a kid. "Have a good trip." With that he turned and left, trying to walk normally down the path to his truck, hoping it wouldn't have trouble starting because he certainly didn't want to have to get help at this point. Good thing the Berrys aren't into guns. He quickly brushed off the loose snow from the hood and windshield, then hopped in. The engine took a couple of tries to turn over, but to his relief it started and he headed for home.

Rachel excused herself to get dressed, trying to calm herself down. She hated how her dads had acted to Finn, even though they'd been surprised there was no call for them to be so hostile, or to tear him away from her like that. After she'd dressed and had some cereal, though, her fathers called her back into the living room to talk to them, as they put it. Answer questions, you mean.

"So what were you doing, having Finn over while we were away?" Hiram asked, giving her a soft opening question.

"I think you've already decided what I was doing. And you've never given me any indication that I shouldn't, or that you had any issue with what I do while you're away as long as I don't throw another party."

"We've never given 'any indication' that you could, either. And here we thought it would be great that we could get back early, take care of the car, and spend more time with you before we all go to Chicago tomorrow, and here we find a boy who'd obviously come straight from our little girl's bed." LeRoy frowned at Rachel, his voice hard.

'A boy'? Like Finn was just anyone? "I'm not a little girl, I'm old enough to know what I'm doing," Rachel insisted, glowering at them. "I hope you're not seriously suggesting that I shouldn't have control over my own body. Especially considering how your parents interfered with you." She knew it was a low blow, but an accurate one - her dads had both had considerable parental disapproval for their "lifestyle choice" as some of their family apparently still considered it to be.

"That's enough, Rachel!" LeRoy shouted.

"I don't need your permission to make love to my boyfriend."

"No, you don't," Hiram said, trying to lower the heat of the discussion. "But this is our house, and what you do under our roof is our business."

"So we'll use the truck," Rachel countered, to be met with glares from both her fathers. "I'm not seriously suggesting that, I'm just trying to show you how unrealistic it is for you to suddenly try to control me like this." And the truck wasn't that comfortable anyway.

"We're not trying to control you, sweetheart," Hiram replied. He exchanged a glance with LeRoy. "We're not. But we're still your fathers, and we need to take care of you and your future."

"And now you're one mistake away from that boy ruining your life, Rachel," LeRoy stated flatly. "I thought you had more sense."

"We're being careful," Rachel protested. A little careless this morning but he'd fixed that immediately. "Finn's not going to ruin my life!" She became more defensive at the accusation.

"He's already ruined things for you when he got carried away," LeRoy argued. "You'd have a national title if he'd had enough self-control to not kiss you on stage."

Not again. Rachel wanted to scream. She'd thought they were long since done with that particular topic. On their return from Nationals, the 'superman of kisses' had been key grist for the Lima gossip mill, and her dads had both been very thorough at expressing how she should have known better and how Finn had let her down. She had hoped they'd moved past that, and they'd been fine around Finn all summer, when they'd been home. Besides, they had both produced that kiss together, she'd been as into it as he had. And last night had been her idea.

"And you were so upset when he broke up with you last year and dated Quinn again," Hiram added. "Are you sure he's serious enough about you for this?"

"Dad, Daddy, please," Rachel pleaded. "Do you think I don't know what it feels like to be loved? You've shown me that since I was born. Finn loves me and I love him, and while we've both made mistakes and hurt each other in the past, we've grown past that. Grown up. And you're making this all seem so sordid, when it's not."

"Really? Our teenage daughter has her boyfriend sleep over when we're out of town, and it's not sordid?" LeRoy raised his voice again.

"Not until you put it like that." Rachel was crestfallen, tears springing to her eyes. They're making a profoundly beautiful experience sound dirty.

Hiram looked from his distraught daughter to his furious husband and back again. "Honey," he said to Rachel cajolingly, trying to ease the tone, "how long has this been going on?"

"N-not that long," Rachel said, trying not to cry. "Since last month."

"When?" LeRoy asked, some of the sternness leaving his voice. "How?"

Rachel looked at her dads, started to speak, then shook her head. "I'm not going to tell you," she said defiantly.

"Rachel -" Hiram prompted quietly.

"No, I'm not," she insisted. "It was private and perfect and I'm not opening it up to let anyone leaf through it, not even you."

"We just want to make sure that what you're doing is right for you," LeRoy said. "You're still so young and have so much ahead of you. All your big dreams to fulfil."

"You're just going to have to trust me," Rachel replied. She winced at hearing her words, and at the darkening of both of her dads' faces at the words 'trust me'. "Trust that I know what's right for me, I mean," she added hurriedly. "It didn't just happen. We waited, we talked about it, we made sure we were ready," she explained. "Finn even -" she broke off.

"Finn what?" Rachel flinched at LeRoy's inquisition-like tone.

Hiram put his hand on Rachel's shoulder. "Finn even did what, Rachel?" he asked more kindly. "Just let us know, we need to make sure he's really being good to you."

"He -" Rachel swallowed and steeled herself to tell them what was most important. "Before, when we were going to, the first time, and then he thought I was going to do it for the wrong reasons, he stopped." Can't you see how wonderful Finn is that he would do that, that it mattered more to him to have my heart than my body, that he was hurt when he thought I didn't really want him that way? "I knew he wanted to, he has for a while, but he wouldn't until he was sure I really wanted to as well and I knew I was ready. Ready to do it and ready for that stage in our relationship." She looked at her dads' thoughtful faces. "And that's all I'm going to tell you about it."

"You're over there a lot with him, and supposedly spending time with Kurt," LeRoy commented. "And he's over here, studying and rehearsing, you've said. So right now we have to wonder what's actually been going on all those times."

"Kurt and I really are good friends, and we've been making plans for college in New York," Rachel protested. "And Finn and I do study – his grades have gone up significantly, and he's preparing to retake the SAT. Of course that's not all we do, but you knew it wasn't just studying, even though I didn't tell you how far we were going." And they're gone so much – did they really think I was just staying home alone? She shook her head. "Blame me for sneaking around if you want to. But please don't blame Finn or think he took advantage of me." Oh God, it's like 'Run Joey Run', only without any shooting. So far.

Finn drove slowly home over snow-covered streets. Things could have been worse, he tried to console himself. The snow would have slowed them down as well, just enough so they hadn't arrived in time to hear or see anything. And, like Rachel had said, he too could not regret any of what they'd done. It had felt so incredible and so right.

Back home, Finn tried to slip in quietly but ran into Kurt in the front hall.

"Hi," Kurt greeted him, then paused as he took in Finn's appearance: unshaven, clothes thrown on, and clearly very upset. He sighed. "What did you two fight about?"

"Nothing," Finn said curtly, starting to brush past his stepbrother. He stopped himself. Don't snap. "We didn't fight," he said more softly. "Her dads came home early and kicked me out." He looked at Kurt, whose face showed horror and some sympathy. "I just want to wash up, okay?"

"Okay," Kurt said slowly, and moved aside as if to motion Finn upstairs.

"Could you call her maybe?" Finn said quietly as he passed by. "Please?" Kurt nodded.

As Finn hurriedly went to his room, he heard Burt call out from the kitchen. "Hey, is that Finn back?" and Kurt's reply: "Yes, he's just getting changed."

"Huh," came the acknowledgement from Burt.

"Probably needs to eat too."

Thanks bro, Finn thought as he emptied his bag onto his bed. His stomach rumbled. His usual post-Christmas brunch of leftover stuffing might help him distract himself from the current situation.

Half an hour later, having showered, shaved, and dressed, he had just started in on some leftovers in the otherwise empty kitchen when Kurt stuck his head in.

"Guess you're not that upset," Kurt commented. Finn rolled his eyes, but jerked his head to invite Kurt in. "I suppose when you can't eat we'll know to be really worried."

Finn swallowed his current mouthful. "So?"

"She's fine, I think," Kurt said. "Sounded angry and upset but trying to hide it, and there was only so much I could get out of her with her dads in the same room. A good thing I was the one that called – LeRoy made her pass him the phone to check that it was really me."

"Shit."

"So they didn't walk in on you," Kurt stated.

"No. We were getting up." Finn frowned at Kurt's raised eyebrow. "Not like that. Not quite, anyway. They didn't interrupt anything, if that's what you're getting at. But they could tell." He took another mouthful of food and chewed for a while, then swallowed. "So she's mad, huh?"

"Not at you," Kurt explained. "The attitudes at the other end seemed somewhat hostile, and you know that tone in her voice she gets when she's determined to get something and pissed that it's not working. But I did ask her if she'd had a good time last night, and she said yes – and then followed it up by saying that she'd like to do it again sometime."

"She really said that?" Even with the stress of the situation, and his worry about how Rachel was doing, Finn smiled, and the knot in his gut eased.

"Yes, not that I really needed to hear about it." Kurt tried to be matter-of-fact, but his snarky tone still slipped in a little. "She also said that it's important to practice, but that may have been part of the cover at her end - she tried to make it sound like we were talking about singing something."

Finn grinned briefly. "Did she say what she was doing today?"

"Father-daughter time," Kurt reported. "Watching musicals. Laundry, packing, vocal exercises. 'No time to go shopping', she said, not that I'd asked about that. But she'll get in touch with you when she can."

Finn exhaled in relief. "Thanks, Kurt," he said, smiling. "You're a really great brother." Kurt smiled sheepishly, but nodded to acknowledge the compliment. "And you're really good at asking questions – don't know how you managed to get all that out of her without her dads catching on, but thanks. I owe you one."

"I'll add it to the list," Kurt replied with a smile and a flick of his head.

"Better just put it all together into a really big favor or I'll never be able to pay it off."

Satisfied that Rachel was okay and would call or text when she could, Finn went into the tire shop for his shift. The mechanical nature of the work helped him get his mind off of his current problems, though nothing could completely get his mind off of his night with Rachel.

"Finished with the blue Accord," Finn said to Burt, returning to the office with the keys. "What's next?"

Burt checked the list on his desk, quite a long list due to the recent snowfall. "The black BMW in bay 2," he said. "They're heading out of town tomorrow and they need top end snow tires, the works." He threw Finn the keys.

Finn caught them and went to find the car. Black BMW... Oh shit, he thought as he saw it. LeRoy Berry's car. Which means the man who probably still wanted to kill him was around somewhere, or at least would be coming back later. And he'll talk to Burt, even if he hasn't already. Finn closed his eyes and groaned. He momentarily wished they had been caught in the act – at least that way he'd've died happy. Very happy. Finn exhaled and tried to pull himself together. Just concentrate on the job, he told himself. Rachel's going to be riding in this car so there's no room for mistakes. He took a deep breath and let his experience with the work take over, moving the car into place, hoisting it up, and getting to work on replacing the tires.

Four o'clock approached, and Rachel had mostly finished packing her things for their trip to Chicago. Buried in the bottom of her suitcase were the two shirts of Finn's that she'd stolen before; she'd miss him like crazy, and already did, but could at least feel closer to him that way. Last night, and then again this morning – their physical and emotional connection had been so profound, so intoxicating, that it was disorienting and even painful that she hadn't really been able to say goodbye. Rachel had also carefully washed her underwear from the night before and dried it with her hair dryer, knowing that things would only get worse if her dads saw how their 'little princess' had dressed up for her boyfriend. Everything potentially shocking was carefully hidden away. She wanted to call Finn, but he was at work, and she wasn't sure just how private her phone would be, at least until they got to her uncle's. Kurt had said Finn was okay, and of course Kurt's call had shown her how much Finn had been worried about her. That would have to do for now.

The remaining packing would need to wait for her toiletries in the morning, so Rachel went downstairs to see if her dads had calmed down yet. Her daddy was in the living room, but there was no sign of her dad.

"Where's dad?" Rachel asked Hiram.

"Oh, he's just gone to get his car," he replied. "With this weather he decided it needed new snow tires for the drive tomorrow. It was too warm before to need them."

New tires. Oh, no. "At Burt's?" Rachel asked in a small voice.

"Of course, we always go to Burt's," Hiram replied. He took in his daughter's trepidation. "I don't think he'll have a problem with Burt because of this morning," he said, trying to reassure her. "Burt's a great guy, we're both really happy he's going to be representing this district." His words had little effect; Rachel closed her eyes. "What is it, sweetie?"

"It's just..." Rachel opened her eyes to look back at him, worry still etched on her face. "Finn's taking a shift there this afternoon."

Burt looked up to the door of his office as LeRoy Berry entered. "LeRoy! Good to see you. I thought that might be your car," he said. "Finn should be finishing up with it right now, so why don't you have a seat."

"Finn, is it?" LeRoy frowned. He entered the office but didn't sit down.

"Yes. Why, is that a problem? I know he just does it part-time, but his work's good quality and he's very conscientious about it."

"Did you know he was over at our place last night?"

"Ah." Burt stood and walked around the desk to approach LeRoy. "Yes, we did," he admitted. "Rachel said she'd been having trouble with Christmas harassment, nothing very serious, and we thought it was okay for him to go. I take it you didn't know."

"Of course not." LeRoy's face was grim. "First we knew of it is when we got home early and found he'd been there all night. You didn't think of talking to us about it, or what's been going on with those two?"

"Honestly? No. I'm not sure how to even start that conversation, quite frankly," Burt admitted. "He was invited over by someone who lives in the house, who's above the age of consent and is independent enough for you to leave her on her own a lot, and who he's been involved with off and on for two years and steadily since May. I really don't think Rachel's being taken advantage of here, even though they're apparently taking advantage of your absences and probably ours too." Burt looked at LeRoy, who was still frowning. "And we don't have a double standard, Finn gets the same stay-out privileges that Kurt does. Next year they're all off to college. If they don't learn to handle their freedom sometime it'll be too late then."

"Yes, well, you have a son, it's not the same."

"What, you think that's easier, that Kurt couldn't be taken advantage of?" Burt protested. "You know the world's not exactly a welcoming place for young men like my son, even now. Hell, you should know that better than I do. And that boy's all that kept me going after his mother died, I'd change the world for him if I could. And I'm doing what I can."

"Of course, I'm sorry. And you are making a difference, that's a big reason why we supported your campaign." LeRoy was somewhat defused, and he sat in one of the waiting chairs.

"Sure, that's fine, and thanks," Burt said, accepting the apology and sitting at right angles to LeRoy. "Your support means a lot." He exhaled. "But hell, do you think I don't know what's probably going on in at least some of all the long hours Kurt spends over at his boyfriend's place? Blaine Anderson followed Kurt back from Dalton Academy, and I'm pretty sure it's not just because my son's a good study partner. And that's good," Burt stated bluntly. "It's good that there's finally someone else that loves my son because God knows he deserves it."

"And next year?"

"Next year who knows. Kurt's off to college and Blaine's a year behind. And these high-school things usually don't last anyway. But, right now," he emphasized, "all I really care about is that my son is happier, and feels more accepted, more able to be himself, than I have ever seen him."

"What if he doesn't go away?"

"Is that what you're worried about, that Rachel will change what she does for Finn?"

LeRoy nodded. "After all, you said yourself these things don't usually last. Rachel has big dreams, and we have big dreams for her. Too big to throw away on some high-school boyfriend."

"Rachel's dreams... let's just say that they seem kinda contagious. And that's a good thing too."

"All the big dreams in the world won't help if he gets her pregnant."

"So that's what's really bugging you," Burt said, looking intently at LeRoy. "It's not that they're having sex, it's that she might have a kid."

Leroy frowned. "Yes," he admitted. His face hardened again. "And whatever you may think about us being away a lot, with our work expanding, we know our little girl. She's so tenderhearted that eggs make her think of baby chicks. There's no way she wouldn't have it. And after what happened with Shelby Corcoran, there's no way she could give a child away either. But Rachel belongs on stage, not pregnant in the kitchen."

"Now you're getting ridiculous," Burt scoffed. "No way does Carole's boy not respect women as equals or even betters. And he practically worships your girl."

"Things happen sometimes."

And there he is, talking to Burt. Just great. Finn gritted his teeth. What was that thing Kurt said? Faint heart never won? He took a deep breath and walked to the office's open door.

Finn's knock grabbed LeRoy and Burt's attention away from their conversation. Finn focused on his stepfather. "The BMW's ready. I, uh, checked over a few other things while I was at it," Finn said. "Brakes, tire rods. I think it's good to go but I'd appreciate if you'd doublecheck the wheel balance."

"Uh, sure, son," Burt said, looking quizzical. "You've never had problems with that, though." He took the keys Finn handed to him and left to check over the car, leaving the other two alone.

"Mr. Berry, sir," Finn managed to get out nervously, not meeting the man's eyes.

LeRoy nodded curtly. "I would have thought I was the last person you'd want to be alone in a room with right now, young man. And a few 'mechanic's extras' won't change that."

"I just want to make sure the car's perfect," Finn said. "It's really slippery out there." He briefly made eye contact.

"Ah. Rachel."

"Yeah." Finn inhaled. "Just – the weather's pretty bad, and, and she's everything, and..." he clenched his jaw to stop his babbling. "I'm worried. Sir." He looked again at the older man. "I love her, I'd do anything to keep her safe."

LeRoy frowned. "So would we."

"I know, I didn't mean you wouldn't – I'm just doing what I can too."

"If what you can includes last night, that's not what we raised her for."

Dance classes since she could walk, Finn thought, trying desperately to squelch his inappropriate memory of the benefits of all that flexibility. "Of course not, sir," he said. He swallowed. "But I love her, and I want to be with her, and I know she feels the same way about me -"

"Rachel has big dreams for her future. She always has."

"I know. And I want her dreams to come true." Finn took a deep breath, looking at LeRoy again. "All her dreams." They looked at each other for a moment, Finn steeling himself to not look away. They were interrupted by Burt's return.

"Straight as a die," Burt said, handing the keys to LeRoy. "Spot on, son." He nodded confidently at Finn, standing beside his stepson as they faced LeRoy. "Have a great trip, LeRoy," he said. "Drive safe." LeRoy nodded and left.

Hiram and Rachel were both reading in the living room when LeRoy came in from the garage. At least Hiram was reading, Rachel flipped the pages of the book she was looking at but was too worried to focus on them. She was relieved to finally hear her dad return, but couldn't bring herself to look at him as he entered. She stared at her current page, still not really seeing it.

"That took a while," Hiram said to his husband. "Any problems?"

"No," LeRoy replied. "Someone," he went on, looking pointedly over at his nervous daughter, "threw in some extra work and it took longer." He went over to Rachel and smiled down at her. "Seems someone's really worried about the state of the roads for our trip," he said. He sighed as Rachel finally looked up at him. "Well there's one thing I know you're right about, sweetheart," he said, his voice softening as he looked at her. "That boy loves you like nothing else in this world."

Rachel leaned forward, hugging his waist. "I love him too, Dad," she said softly.

"I still don't think he's good enough for you."

"If he isn't then nobody is," she murmured.

"That sounds about right. Nobody's good enough for my little girl."