So, how about Jesse, huh? You'll be seeing him in the next episode but now it's purely finchel. The way I like it :)

Enjoy!

There are many things that Finn isn't good at. For instance, he pretty much failed High School, he couldn't hold down a normal job for more than a month and he has an incredible knack for making his mother disappointed in his.

Another thing that he cannot deal with is crying girls, especially crying Rachel Berry's. There's just something in that sad little puppy face that tugs at his heart strings as the tears flow down her cheeks. And, you know, he's done his fair share of crying in the past – he understands the heartache that comes along for the ride.

He doesn't quite know why she's crying though. He'd accuse her of being overdramatic but those, they're fucking real tears. And they're making him feel bad so she must be feeling pretty terrible himself.

But what does he do?

Girls don't appreciate humour and lame comments at times like this – they do shit like eat ice cream and cry as they watch sad movies or some crap like that.

"Err… are you alright?"

She sniffs loudly, wiping her eyes and turning away from him. She's still shivering though he doesn't know why because the car in like a sauna right now. He raises a tentative hand, placing it on her arm and trying not to feel bad as she flinches away. Her dark eyes stop on him for a moment, seeping with sadness before she turns away, "c-can we go now?"

Finn nods, starting the engine and heading for her apartment.

"No," she says suddenly when she realises where they're headed. Rachel rings her fingers together nervously, still occasionally sniffling. "Can we go to your apartment?" she whispers.

His forehead creases in confusion but he is not in the mood for arguing with her, especially at half one in the morning when he just wants to go the hell to sleep. "Sure," he finally manages out, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel. She wants to go to his place – to his apartment. The last time they were alone together in a private space, they ended up making out against the wall. Still, looking at her now, he thinks the likelihood of a repeat is pretty low. Kinda impossible, actually.

'Cause she's still crying, even if she's trying her hardest to stop, her bottom lip quivering dangerously.

He desperately wants to know who gave her the hickeys and if she gave that punk permission because, if she didn't, he's seriously going down. That's just not cool. And Rachel deserves better – she deserves a gentlemen. That's what she needs, right? I guy who can wine and dine her, who can tell her how beautiful she looks every day and who can forever love her.

With a quiet sigh, he glances at her again, to find her already looking in his direction at the same time. She peers away nervously, biting her lip.

And then they just stay in a comfortable silence, like they don't need to talk. Well, of course he wants to know what's happened to her, but it can wait. They're got all the time in the world, and he's not going to rush her. No, you never rush a girl – not if you want them to like you.

When he finally stops the car in front of his apartment building, he turns to the woman, offering a small smile, "you good now?"

Her head slowly turns to him and it's obvious that she isn't okay. Well, obvious to him anyway. He can read her like a book something. He wishes that he could do it all the time.

Rachel gives a timid little nod, her eyes wary but welcome to his concern.

Not used to her being so quiet, he clears his throat, "you wanna go in then?"

They quickly get out of the car and she starts for the door, already knowing the way through to his apartment. With the car locked safely, he follows her inside to find the small woman waiting by the stairs. She's staring at the ground but peers up as soon as she hears his footsteps. "Hey, it's just me," he jokes, noticing the tiniest bit of fear in her eyes.

She tries to smile though it's not the bright beams that he's used to.

Her heels click against the floor in a rhythmic manner as they head up the stairs, and the days is finally starting to catch up with him, leaving him yawning loudly. Rachel glances over her shoulder at him before swishing her head around quickly as if being caught doing something wrong. Why is she being so strange?

Once in his apartment, he lets out another series of yawns.

Rachel hovers silently in the living room and he watches from his spot in the hall whilst he hangs his jacket up. She seems lost somehow, her eyes emotionless and her actions lacking the Rachel Berry flair and drama.

And that just won't do.

"Hey, so you gonna tell me what happened?" he asks curiously, "because I did not expect a call like this any time soon."

"I-I…I'd rather not talk right now," she replies, eyes downcast.

"That's cool, I guess." He shrugs, though in the back of his mind he knows that he needs the information from her sooner or later. Just for the reassurance that nobody's hurting her or anything.

She lets her body slump, seemingly too wanting nothing more than to sleep.

"Err," he scratches the back of his head, "you wanna stay here tonight?" It's a given that she does, since she asked to be brought here, but it's still polite to ask, you know.

A smile ghosts her lips, "if that's okay with you…"

He clears his throat, "yeah, I don't mind.

This leaves them standing there, neither sure who should take the first move. He notices that she's probably uncomfortable in that dress, which is doing nothing to cover her and man, those heels must be killing her feet. And there's makeup running down her face.

"You can borrow some of my clothes," he offers, "to sleep in. They'll be kind of big on you but it's better than nothing, right?"

"Thank you," her reply is curt, to the point but there's a softness in her voice that pulls at his heart.

He smiles goofily, "I'll go get them for you."

"F-Finn!" she shouts after him and he turns with a quirked eyebrow, "do you mind if I use your shower. I feel…disgusting."

Disgusting? Is she serious? Even after the events of tonight, whatever they may be, her beauty shines through with all of the exterior. It's raw and exciting.

And it leaves him a little breathless.

"Yes," he nods his head, "go ahead."

He remembers that he's mad at this woman because she's told it that their kiss was a mistake – she'd denied that she's felt anything. But, you know, he can't force himself to act upon this feeling. Here she is, helpless and in his apartment. She's in need of a friend.

If he can give her anything, it's that.

The guys would totally be teasing him right now, calling him whipped by a woman who he's supposedly only been dating for a few weeks. He doesn't care, he really doesn't. Should he? He's going to show her.

When he hears the shower going, he hurries into his room and leaves some clothes out for her before hurrying to the store.

Rachel's not sure that she can cry anymore, wiping at her sore eyes and wishing that all the sadness would go away. She stares into the mirror, her fingers brushing over the painfully obvious hickeys. She should have stopped him before he was ahead and now she's having to deal with these and, more importantly, worry Finn.

She just feels so guilty, you know? Like she should blame herself – maybe she does. After all, she didn't stop him soon enough. Why does she always let these things happen? Why can't she stand up to him whenever she wants?

And right now she just wants to crawl into a hole and be a recluse for a few hours, or days. Hmm, is weeks too much to ask for?

With a sad sigh, she straightens out the sleeping shirt that Finn let her borrow and hoists up the shorts that drown her. They don't exactly look right, but at least they're comfortable and there's a lingering smell of Finn too…

She tiptoes over to the door, pressing her ear against it lightly to hear for him. There's the quiet buzz of the TV in the background so she suspects that he's still awake, which is only going to make things more awkward. When she opens the door and steps outside, he bolts up straight away with a face etched with worry.

"Are you okay now?"

"I'm a little bit better." And she is, honestly. The shower managed to rid her of the feeling of Jesse's hands roaming her body and she feels much fresher. "Thank you." She folds her arms across her chest as she feels a little nervous beneath his intense gaze.

It's so surreal to see Finn Hudson in a caring mode, as she's used to him acting much more distant and cold. Actually, it's a nice change.

He's beginning to smile, the act somehow contagious and now she's smiling too. They smile at each other.

"So," he begins, "I went to the store an – "

"You didn't have to get me anything!" she says, completely aghast.

"No, I know," he grins cheekily, "but you look like a girl who could use some ice cream and Kurt left some movies over here so we could watch one of them."

She blinks. Is this real life? Or is it an alien planet in which Finn is being surprisingly charming.

His face falls, "…or not."

"No!" the word bursts out, shocking the both of them, "I mean, I think it's a wonderful idea. I just…why are you being so nice to me? I-I've treated you kind of bad this past week."

He shrugs, "friends do that sort of stuff, right?"

He peers down at her honestly, eyes smouldering. Rachel is soon lost in them.

"…Rach?"

She shakes her head softly, "Oh, I'm sorry. I got distracted." She then bites her lip, raising her eyebrow questioningly, "do you really think that you'd survive a sappy romance film and ice cream all in one night?"

"Oh, I'll have to make the sacrifice."

"Hmm, such the hero," she nudges him in jest, her mood suddenly uplifted. How he did it, she has no idea.

"Let's go then," he says, "I can't wait."

Rachel giggles, "I'm totally going to choose the worst one now!"

At his groan, her eyes brighten with amusement and he grins. Mission accomplished. Now he's only got the figure out the reason to her problem. It'll come in time, he hopes. But tonight she needs to relax and enjoy herself. He can totally do that – he's all about the parties, right? Only this isn't really a party. How does he even describe it?

He watches as she sashays over to the couch and drops herself down daintily before eyeing the selection of DVDs with interest. Finn has a feeling that he's in for a long night.

He reaches for the ice cream, which is vegan mind you because he doesn't need another crying fest over the fact that he's hurting the animals or something, and takes it over to her. Her eyes light up like an excited child and there it is again – that swell in his heart. He made her look so happy.

"I'll get some spoons," he tells her, "you put the movie on." He silently prays that she won't put him through too much torture.

When he returns, spoons in his, she curled up on his couch like a car or something. He expects her to start purring soon. The lights are all off safe for one dim lamp and he can't see much. Finn sits himself next to her, their bodies flush together because how are they going to share ice cream if they're too far apart? Duh.

She's warm and soft and she kind of fits under the crook of his arm perfectly, huh?

Rachel breathes in deeply, as if inhaling his scent and smiles, "thank you, Finn."

"For what?" he asks, a little clumsily scooping out some ice cream and almost dropping it on himself.

She doesn't answer his question, only sighs, "you're not so bad, you know. I guess that…I shouldn't judge people before I get to know them. You're actually… sometimes you can be – I don't know, a gentleman?"

Finn chuckles softly, "hmm, only for you dollface."

With a roll of her eyes, she says, "I wonder how many girls you've said that to."

Only one.

By, like, five minutes into the film she's already drifting off into sleep and the ice cream is slowly melting in his lap. He sweats that before she drops off the face of the planet, she mumbles, "I'm sorry too." Her fingers are clutching onto his shirt and he can't help but smile at her.

This is nice, right? It's just comfortable and natural.

Sometimes he wonders what it'd be like to be, you know, settled. To stay with one person and one person only because he's getting older and he can't just keep hooking up with random chicks. No, he has a responsibility to himself. He shouldn't set for that life.

Maybe he could settle for another.

And that's the precise moment that he finds himself staring at Rachel.

He's vaguely aware of the door shooting open and the loud footsteps of the intruder.

"Finn!" the voice shouts, becoming less fuzzier in his mind, "have you seen Rachel? Because Quinn has missed called from her and she didn't come home last night and now Quinn's freaking o – oh."

This is when Finn decides to open his eyes, finding Kurt gaping at him with a mixture of shock and annoyance. No, not gaping at him – at the both of them. 'Cause Rachel is still there, tucked neatly between his arm and chest, just casually drooling on his shirt.

"Oh, hey Kurt," he rubs his eyes, stretching the one arms that's free out as not to wake up Rachel. It's really a wonder that she isn't awake already.

"What is she doing here?"

"Leave her alone," he says, "she's worn out from last night." Kurt fixes the puzzle pieces together, albeit the wrong pieces and his eyes bulge. "No, no. We didn't do anything. I'll tell you later – well, what I know anyway." Rachel stirs against him, mumbling something inaudible. A second later, her eyes peep open and she gazing around confused until they drop on Finn's face. "Hi," she says sweetly.

"Hi," he breathes back.

Kurt scoffs, "since when were you two best friends?"

And then Rachel seems to realise that there's another person in the room, shooting upright liked Finn'd burned her. She smiles brightly at his brother, "Kurt! Hello! How are you this morning?"

He eyes her suspiciously, "I'm a little eager to send you on your way back to your crazy ass manager who's been calling me none stop."

Her eyes widen like a dear caught in headlights and she springs from the chair elegantly, though Finn yearns for her warmth again. "Oh my God! I completely forget. I-I should get dressed and go home immediately. Quinn must be so worried."

"More like she's ready to grill you for not telling her where you were going."

Rachel looks down guiltily, unable to believe that it'd passed her to tell Quinn that she was going out with Jesse – maybe it would have prevented this whole mess.

Still, she needs to get back to her manager. Surely she has a busy day ahead of her! She rushes into Finn's bedroom to change, leaving the two men facing each other.

Kurt taps his foot and stares at Finn like he's crazy which, for the record, he just might be.

"Please," he begins slowly, "tell me why you were having a sleepover with our little star here?"

He stands up, stretching the rest of his tall body and groaning happily, "it all just happened. Not the sleeping together. We totally kept it PG, man. But the her staying at my apartment? Long story."

"You know, if you and Rachel are determined to run this little plan by yourselves, you're definitely welcome," Finn feels something back coming now and frowns, "but you don't understand all of the hard work that's gone into this. Making up the stories for the media. It's not easy. And, you know, when you two decide to kiss on your first public appearance, don't you think that that looked a little suspicious? Who has to clean up that mess?"

Finn rolls his eyes, "look, you're doing a great job, but you're not the one having to act like you're in a relationship with someone."

"I know," he agrees, "and this must be a very…confusing time for you. Rachel is – she's a very overbearing character and sometimes men are attracted to that. I just… I want you to be realistic, okay?"

"Realistic?" he questions, "about what?"

His brother gives him the look, like he's missing out on the most obvious thing in the world.

"What?" he insists, "please just tell me."

Kurt sighs, "It's just Rachel – I can tell that you're interested. Whether it be on an emotional level or physical," he scrunches up his nose at this point, "I don't know, but don't let her mess with your feelings. You're better than that and you need to be true to yourself."

"I'm not – "

"Finn, I-I've let you do some stupid things in the past," he admits, "and I regret that. But don't fall for Rachel, especially considering…"

"Considering what?" he demands to know, an unexplainable emotion rising within him.

Kurt looks conflicted though eventually relents to Finn's wishes, "considering that Jesse is back and he's probably back for good, or so Quinn says."

His heart drops. What?

He's aware that her and Jesse have a past and Jesse's insistence of being friends with her still is a little annoying…well, a lot annoying actually.

But Rachel isn't going to end up with him. No way. She may think that she loves him but that's because you always feel something for your first love, right? That's what his mom told him once anyway.

She just… she doesn't know what it's like to love someone else.

Maybe then she'll realise how much of a douchebag Jesse really is.

His head is hurting, like really badly. Why are things so confusing? Why does he care about who Rachel dates? She's only his fake girlfriend after all – even though she's kind of the best fake girlfriend ever.

And Kurt appears to be worried now though that's nothing new. He's worried about him all the time, although it's never been about a girl before.

The door to his bedroom opens and just the presence of her alone makes him smile, earning a glare from Kurt. Rachel walks over to them, in her dress from last night. "I text Quinn and she's coming to pick me up," she explains, her eyes moving from one to the other. "Finn," she says, "erm, thank you for last night. I-I don't know how to repay you."

He shrugs it off, "don't worry about it."

Her face brightens up immediately before she controls her happiness, too feeling the powerful glare of Kurt.

"Well, I should go," she points to the door.

"Bye Rachel!" he calls after her whilst Kurt gives a half-hearted wave.

After she's gone, the man turns to Finn with a strange look, "Are you sure that you didn't sleep with her? You were practically undressing her with your eyes."

Finn snaps back into reality, "no I was not! What do you think I am – some sort of perv?"

The silence says it all.

"Fuck you man," he grumbles.

"Oh," Kurt groans in exasperation, "I can't win. You're either sleeping with every girl that you can find, or you're falling for the one girl that you shouldn't be!"

Who the hell says that he shouldn't be with her?

He bites back his response because it even shocks him. Yeah, he'd totally sleep with her because she's hot, but there's more to her than that. She's intelligent and she has her moments – she's not completely boring, right?

His eyes widen as he begins to realise that maybe Kurt is right.

Maybe he does like her in more than a sex kind of way.

But this, this is all too crazy, isn't it? She's Rachel Berry, for God's sake and a few days ago they weren't even talking. And it killed him then, he realises. He missed her. Oh crap.

This is real.

And after that amazing kiss, he'd been so hurt when she'd rejected him. He doesn't care about things like that – he shouldn't.

But he did.

He cares about her. Holy shit.

Aaw, poor Finny. He's not used to feeling like this

Please review :)