Hi! 150 REVIEWS? That's so epic, I love you all. If we ever get to 200 reviews, I've decided that the 200th reviewer can have a say in the storyline and there will be an extra long chapter for you all - and lots and lots of cookies :D! Thank you so much :D Finchel focus chapter and Mike. Just to remind you all, this fanfic is based around Finchel, Quick, Tartie and the reactions of the glee club to the fire :) So everybody!Of course the fic does focus on Finchel mainly, but to be honest this fic has a while to go yet so don't worry Finchel fans, Finchel moments galore are to come... Again, thank you all and enjoy...
But I'm living with what you've done…
It was a week after the fire at McKinley, and Finn had finally gotten the strength to see Rachel for a third time. Her condition hadn't improved, nor worsened and Finn didn't know whether to see this as a good thing or not. He still hated how broken she looked, how fragile she was – but maybe the fact she hadn't gone yet was a good thing? Maybe she could hear him, and was holding on? Finn's own injuries weren't healing very quickly, much to his annoyance.
Whilst Finn was sat next to Rachel, holding her sore hands softly and speaking to her about the latest episode of American Idol (Rachel would not like to wake up to discover she was behind on social events), a doctor rushed in to check her heart rates and brain activity. He didn't question Finn being there, nor did he look at him and he rushed off again as quickly as he arrived.
Slightly put off by this, Finn stayed silent for a few moments, looking at Rachel's face. She was still as beautiful as ever, he thought, gazing at her lips. He wished desperately he could kiss them again and she'd wake up, like sleeping beauty. Right now, she was his own sleeping beauty, he thought to himself.
"So yeah Rach, as I was saying before the doctor came in, that girl you liked with the curly pink hair is through again, that boy who I said looked geeky has gone out. He sang some Westlife song and he was alright, but the judges didn't like it. The girl sang a Paramore song – I think it was bands week…" Finn was interrupted again when the same doctor rushed back in, grinning.
"Sir, what's going on?" Finn asked the doctor cautiously.
"Are you family? We can't release details to anyone but family members," the doctor replied.
"I'm… okay, I'm not her brother I'm her boyfriend," He said, his eyes looking hopefully towards the doctor. The doctor smiled, and then looked at the boy.
"Young love is it, son?"
"I think so!" Finn's eager voice replied, "But I'm so scared she won't wake up!"
"Well, don't go around telling anybody as I should officially be informing her parents first, but her brain activities increasing!" The doctor grinned, shaking the papers in his hand in an eccentric way.
"Is that… good?" Finn was confused.
"It's brilliant, son! It means she's coming back!" the doctor's voice was filled with enthusiasm, "I must go and get in touch with her parents, but son, don't give up hope!"
Finn grinned, a smile so big he figured it must have taken up half of his face.
"Thank you!" He smiled, and the doctor returned the smile and ran out of the room.
He turned back to Rachel, and began to speak again.
"Did you hear that Rach? You're coming back, we all have hope for you. I hope when you come back properly, you're not in too much pain and stuff. This sounds selfish but I just can't wait for you to wake up, only come back when it's natural too babe. Then, I'll be here constantly, helping you get better and being here for you. And when we get out of here, I'm gonna ask you out. Maybe take you to a play and stuff. I love you, Rachel Berry, you're my star!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he could have sworn Rachel's eye twitched.
"Rachel… Rachel? If you can hear me, I saw that!" He exclaimed excitedly.
There was a pause and the room went silent. Then, instead of her eye twitching, Rachel squeezed Finn's hand. He then did the most unlike-Finn thing and squealed.
"Babe, I'm here! You can wake up, you can do it!"
Rachel steeled herself, using all the energy she had to sit up, open her eyes. She'd been saving herself so long for this and she finally felt her body was healed enough to return to the world of the living. She kept counting herself in, focussing all her energy and might to this normally simple task. Three... Two… One!
"Finn…" She whispered, and the world that had been upside down for so long was suddenly taking a drastic improvement for Finn.
"Rachel! Rachel, oh my god babe, you're awake!" Finn was estatic, "Babe, let me just get your doctor!"
He wheeled himself to the corridor, fumbled with the door and spied her doctor stood by his office, reading some sort of file.
"She's awake!" He screamed, causing the doctor to look up and grin. Wheeling himself back to Rachel's bed, he shot a smile her way and she looked back, responding with a weak smile.
"Everything's gonna be okay!" He said, confidently and he leant over, placing a tender kiss on Rachel's lips. She smiled, then her eyes fluttered shut again just as the doctor reappeared.
"She's gone!" Finn spoke with dismay.
"She'll be asleep, Finn. Waking up takes a lot of energy for those reawakening from comas!" the doctor explained, whilst placing an oxygen mask over Rachel's mouth, "You might want to get back to your room, before your daily tests. Your doctor is just about to come off his lunch break now…"
"Thanks for the warning sir – no, scrap that. Thank you for everything!" Finn smiled, and wheeled himself to the door. Puck was sitting as usual in the waiting room, his arms crossed and a sad look in his eyes.
"Puck! PUCK!" Finn's excited tone caused Puck to look up in fright.
"What, douche?" Puck replied in a monotone.
"She's woke up – slightly, but she's back!" Finn grinned, and Puck smiled slightly back, the smile not reaching his eyes.
"That's brilliant, mate!" Puck said, "But let's get you back now!"
"Yeah…" Finn's voice trailed off, lost in his own thoughts.
Puck wanted to scream and shout at the unfairness of it all. Finn had just got his world back, and Puck was slowly losing his.
Mike sat in his room, throwing a ball against the wall and catching it with his left hand. Then his right. Then his left. Repetitive tasks like this distracted Mike from the grim reality of real life. It distracted him from the constant reminder that he no longer had an X-Box buddy. That he no longer had his sports buddy. That he no longer had his good, honest and pure hearted best friend. He caught the ball in his left hand. Then his right. Then he missed the ball, and it rolled to a stop under his bed. He sighed, and lent over his bed to get it. He fumbled under the bed, his hand fluttering over a mass of strange objects. He grasped for the ball, and when he found it, he yanked at it, causing a mini avalanche under his bed.
Taking a deep sigh again, he shifted himself off the bed and sat down on the floor, pushing the objects under the bed. Then he stopped, coming face to face with a photo of Matt and himself, happy after winning their first football game of the season. That was the game with Single Ladies – Matt found that so funny… Mike thought, biting his tongue to stop the sure flow of tears. Grabbing the photo, he ran downstairs, ignoring his parents questions and worries. Unlocking the back door, he went into his garage, grabbed a shovel and dug a massive hole. The shovel gave him blisters, and the sweat ran down his back (it was an unusually hot day in Lima) but he kept at it, digging and digging until he was bright red and covered in sweat and mud. Mike then chucked the photo into the hole, then ran back upstairs and grabbed his baseball bat, his football helmet and the t-shirt that Matt had leant him days before the fire, throwing them in as well. Then, he replaced the mud, savouring the hard work that caused him to forget the encore in his head (Matt's gone, Matt's gone…) if only for precious moments.
Running back upstairs, he threw his ruined clothes in the bin and then grabbed a shower. Only then did he let the tears flow (because if you cried in the shower, nobody can tell, and it doesn't count, right?).
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it :D Please review? :)