A/N: The plot thickens and continues to diverge significantly from the book… lolz

Chapter 10:

"Are you sure?" Rachel wrinkled her nose.

"Absolutely." Rachel studied his reaction carefully, but Finn didn't miss a beat.

"But you were so against it when I first-"

"I know."

"But nothing has changed that would-"

"Oh, but it has."

"What? How?"

"Rachel, trust me, I know what I'm doing."

"The students are not going to be any nicer at this point in the year. In fact, they're probably meaner. After the first few weeks they get comfortable, let their true colors shine, and it's not a pretty picture."

"Rachel-"

"And I know Halloween was a mild success, but there is a huge difference between a costume party and class. There isn't anything to hide behind! Believe me, I've tried," Rachel cautioned knowingly.

"Do you not want me to attend McKinley?"

"No, you're misunderstanding my motivation. Of course I want you at McKinley, it's just that all the points you brought up before are as valid now as they were then. It's a jungle and when you enter you're going to see the carnage…"

"I'm aware that it's going to be ugly."

"So why do it? Why now?"

"Things have changed."

"What things?"

"I want to be able to spend time with you."

"We're together right now."

"Let me amend that. I want to be able to spend time with you outside of this house."

"Why don't we trying going to a movie together or out to dinner first?"

"Rachel, I've made up my mind about this already."

"But why now?"

"If you don't want me at school, just say it."

"I'm scared for you," Rachel admitted.

"If anyone tries to jump me…" Finn trailed off, flexing his biceps.

"I'm not worried about your face," Rachel muttered, looked away, "I'm worried about your heart."

Finn reached out to cup her face. "My heart belongs to you and as long as that's the case, I'm not worried about it."

Rachel bit her lip. "I hope," she sighed. "Just don't believe what they say about sticks and stones."

A week later, Finn was officially enrolled at McKinley. Mr. Schue had resisted, but ultimately when it came down to it, it was Finn's choice and the boy proved immovable. So on Monday Miss Pillsbury drove both Finn and Rachel to school.

Rachel had spent a significant portion of Sunday evening helping Finn decide on an outfit for his first day. They'd chosen jeans and a polo, so he could pop the collar. It was also decided that he'd wear a beanie to cover as much as his skull as possible. Finally, both had risen particularly early so Rachel could apply a little makeup to soften his appearance. She knew she couldn't hide all the tattoos and part of her didn't want to anyway, but she'd agreed to try to tone down the ones that were most likely to draw attention. Finn had praised her work and Rachel herself was pleased with what she'd been able to do, even so as soon as Finn stepped out of the car, he drew stares.

Rachel grabbed his hand and whispered, "Don't let them get to you." After arriving at his locker, Rachel stood up on her tiptoes and gripped his shoulders. She looked deeply into his eyes and said, "You can't worry about what people think. You're better than all of them." She jumped up and pecked him on the lips and then hurried away to her first hour.

Finn had argued with the administration at length, but in the end only managed to get into a couple of the same classes as Rachel. Still, he would get to see her more often than if he continued to be home-schooled.

It was weird to be back. The last time he was at McKinley, it wasn't like he just went to school, he ruled it. Now his reign was over and no one seemed to be mourning the loss. McKinley had new royalty.

It hurt Finn to know that his existence, his memory could be so easily discarded. At the time, high school had felt so real and all-important. It was his whole world. Everything had mattered so much. Now it turned out that none of that stuff had mattered at all.

Finn stalked past an old football buddy in the hall and was greeted by a blank stare and discourteous shove sideways. He grunted and readjusted his backpack. He had no right to complain, he'd been on the other side of the exchange plenty of times before and a turnabout is fair play.

His morning classes progressed slowly, he found he was able to understand the lessons and keep up with little problem. After all, he had not a single friend to distract him. As soon as the bell rang, he bolted from Math class and made his way to the cafeteria in search of Rachel. He found her almost immediately. Rachel sat where he'd remembered her always sitting, at a little round table tucked away in a corner.

"Hey, stranger," Rachel greeted, beaming. "How was your morning?"

"Boring," Finn shrugged.

Rachel laughed, relieved. "Yeah, being away from it for so long, you kinda forgot how boring school is."

"Home would be worse though."

Rachel nodded thoughtfully. "You know, I think you should join an extra-curricular activity."

"Why?"

"Well, it's good to get involved. It also looks good on college applications."

"College?"

"Yes, college. We're not going to high school for the hell of it, Cory."

"Also, I think getting involved will make you feel like you're part of the school. Being a part of something special makes you special."

"I already am a part of something special, us."

Rachel rewarded him with a chaste kiss. "I still think you should go out for a team or join a club."

"Too bad the football season is over," Finn grumbled.

"It's not too late to try out for basketball."

Finn nodded, "Yeah, I like basketball. What about you? What are you in?"

"Glee and Drama, of course. Same as last year," Rachel paused. "Are you interested? Even though that dumb karaoke video game of yours was clearly faulty, you are talented."

"You think? I really want to try something different. Before I was home-schooled I pretty much stuck to just football. You make being on stage seem so fun."

"We'd love to have you in Glee," an Asian girl piped in as she slid into a seat next to Rachel.

"Who are you?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm Tina. We're always looking for new members. Glee is kinda small... there's only about six of us, which means we can't even compete," she pouted.

"Do all of you talk this much and this fast?" Finn whispered to Rachel.

"You'll get used to it."

"So definitely think about joining Glee. Drama too. But the musical is opening soon, so it's too late to audition for it," Tina explained.

"We could always use an extra set of hands though," Rachel interrupted.

"For what?" Jesse asked, sitting near Tina and directly across from Rachel.

"For our production," Rachel answered.

Finn felt a migraine coming on. Too many people. Too much talking. And Jesse could make just about any bad situation worse.

"We were just helping…"

"Cory," Finn supplied.

"We were just helping Cory find an extracurricular," Tina explained, catching Jesse up to speed.

"Well, Rachel is right. We could always use extra help backstage to support us stars."

Finn rolled his eyes. In the end Finn decided to try all three, basketball, Drama, and Glee. He figured he could stick with whatever he liked best. Finn got up from the table. "I think I'll go talk to the basketball coach," he announced. Rachel smiled reassuringly and waved him off.

"Wooohooo, Rachel where did you find that boy?" Tina teased causing Rachel to pink. "He is hot in a sneaky sorta way."

"Are you kidding?" Jesse sneered. "He looks he just stumbled out of latest cheap horror film."

Tina shook he head. "Nah, he's got like a punk-rock thing going for him."

"Yeah, I guess by your standards," Jesse looked at Tina, "he would qualify as cool."

Rachel snapped, "Can you please not talk about Cory like you know him!"

Jesse laid off after that, but was no less determined to cure Rachel of the parasite that had somehow latched itself onto her heart.

Rachel saw Finn again in English class, which they thankfully shared. Finn was given an empty seat directly behind Rachel. At one point in the middle of discussing Austen's characterization of Bennetts, Finn reached forward and ran his hand through her hair, almost absent-mindedly. Rachel, who'd been animated, stilled immediately. When Finn realized what he'd done, he snapped his hand back to his lap and looked around. Fortunately, it appeared as though no one else had noticed. When the bell rang though and Rachel swiveled around slowly around he knew he was in for it.

"You can't do that!"

"I know," Finn said apologetically.

"Not in the middle of class!"

"I didn't meant to…"

"Didn't meant to? Didn't mean to! What, did your hand mysteriously detach itself from your brain and fall into my hair?"

"Well, kinda…"

"No more of this! Are we clear?"

"I swear I won't do it again. It's just so hard to be so close to you and not…"

"No, Cory."

Finn sighed, "Okay." He thought for a moment and then asked, "What about in the halls? How do you feel about PDA?" Judging by the animalistic sound that emerged from his girlfriend and the way she just up and left, he decided she didn't feel too good about it.

When the final bell rang, Finn was exhausted. He dropped off his books at his locker and then headed to the auditorium.

"No basketball today?" Rachel greeted, apparently having forgotten about their earlier tiff.

"No basketball ever," Finn corrected. At Rachel's quizzical head tilt, Finn added, "I'll explain later. Don't worry. It's not a big deal."

Rachel looked uncertain, but rehearsal was starting so he hurried up to the stage. While she ran lines, Finn joined the crew and helped build the set, which he found to be satisfying work. Time passed so quickly, he was surprised when the end of the day was announced.

As the cast and crew cleared out to catch the buses, Finn dialed home to ask if Miss Pillsbury could come get him and Rachel. He sat in one of the many available seats to wait while the auditorium emptied surprisingly fast. He figured people must have been as eager for dinner as he was, his stomach growling to remind him he hadn't eaten since lunch.

All thoughts of food where chased from his mind when, Rachel appeared out of nowhere, straddled his lap, and began kissing him fervently.

"I feel like I didn't get to see you all day," she said while peppering his face with kisses. "I've missed you." She moved her lips to his neck.

"Rachel, normally you don't see me at all during the day, not until you get home." Finn's eyes rolled back into his head when she found a particularly sensitive spot beneath his ear.

"But this is different. I knew you were here, in the building, so close."

While he found her eagerness a total turn on, the desperation in her voice worried him. "Are you okay, Rach?" When he felt a tear, not his own, slide down his cheek, he knew the answer. He gently pushed her back. "What happened?"

"Nothing. It's nothing." Finn was man enough to admit that he would never fully understand women. However, he had learned the hard way that when a girl says nothing is wrong, she is lying. Always. In fact, he'd discovered that the speed with which a woman says "nothing" when asked "what's wrong?" is directly proportional to the severity of the coming storm.* That, however, was pretty much the extent of his knowledge. He didn't have a damn clue what to do about the storm once he knew it was approaching.

"Something is causing these tears," Finn pointed out, wiping them away as best he could.

"Are you alright?"

"Huh?"

"Are you truly alright?"

"Rachel, are you looking at me? I'm perfectly fine. I'm not the one crying."

"I was just so worried. The kids at this school can be true terrors. They know just the right thing to say to inflict the most pain. They're experts at spotting vulnerability and exploiting it."

"My first day was pretty good, Rach. I'm not lying to you. Apart from a lot of stares, one incident of hallway jostling, and not being allowed to play basketball, the day was uneventful."

Rachel threw her arms around Finn's neck, buried her face in his chest, and continued to sob. When Finn felt his phone vibrate, he knew Miss Pillsbury had arrived. He scooped Rachel up and carried her out to the car.

"Oh, oh my!" Miss Pillsbury exclaimed. "Is she alright?"

Finn smirked. "Apparently my first day was quite an overwhelming experience, for her."

A/N: *While I'd like to claim credit for the brilliance of this statement, I actually read it on . Although, I did change inversely proportional to directly proportional to make it accurate.