This chapter is dedicated to StaceyB88, laylita83, Nikki and a random Gleek. Thank you for voting :D

Finn had always taken everything for granted. He'd taken his mom for granted, and his friends, and his above average skill at sports. Most of all, he'd taken being single for granted. Okay, so he'd dated Quinn for a few crazy months, but that still counted as being single. Why? Well, his LBRB (Life Before Rachel Berry) had been hassle free. He was free to be selfish, because he didn't have to worry about anyone in his life. His mom was a tough chick who could handle herself, and since he wasn't as into Quinn as he'd once believed, Finn just had to focus on number one.

And then Rachel Berry changed something in his life, like a talented, beautiful catalyst. Suddenly, Finn had another person to look out for. When he wasn't with her, he'd worry that she'd get hit by a car, or get abducted by aliens, or that she'd meet another St Jerk-off who would sweep her off her feet... It was torture. When he'd dated Quinn, Finn hadn't worried about any of these things. Yeah, of course he'd liked her and all, but when he'd say bye to her after a lousy day of school, he didn't feel his heart ache with the effort, and he didn't wish that he could hold her hand forever (he knew how cheesy that sounded, but that's how he felt about Rachel).

Every moment without his girlfriend felt like a thorn in his side, and he couldn't wait to be back in her company. He knew this was probably very unhealthy, 'cause once upon a time he'd been smothered in her presence, but since losing her to Jesse, Finn had become a lot more needy, and that was that.

Therefore, when he slowly began to wake in his new bed, his first thoughts were of Rachel, and how he would spend all day with- Damn it! Finn sat up groggily, glaring straight over at Mike's empty bed. No, he couldn't, because she was working with Mike on her assignment, and he was gonna be stuck with Brittany.

"Is... everything okay Finn?"

Finn realised a little too late that Artie was still in the room, and he'd just seen him pulling faces at an empty bed. "Yeah, just forgot that Mike is working with Rachel today."

His mumble wasn't very loud or coherent, but Artie seemed to understand since he nodded glumly. "And Tina is with Puck, which I'm not too happy about." Artie's skin turned a deathly pale of white as he glanced over at Puck's bed, though the person in question was still fast asleep. "It's not personal, I mean, Puck is growing on me, but he's a bit of a-"

"An asshole and a player?" suggested Finn with a yawn.

Artie pushed his glasses further onto his nose. "Well, I suppose so. But I was kind of hoping to spend my vacation with Tina, not that I have a problem with Quinn or anything." Finn nodded in complete understanding. At least Mike wasn't a womaniser... actually, Finn had no idea if he was or not; he never really mentioned his love life.

"At least it's only for one day man," said Finn groggily, trying to convince himself in the process. "We just have to kick out some awesome tunes and then Mr Schue can let us have some fun."

Artie smiled gratefully. "You're right of course. Tina's not my property or anything." It was strange how Finn had been thinking the exact same thing; Rachel wasn't his property (he wasn't sexist or whatever) but she was his girlfriend, and Tina was Artie's, and that meant that they were entitled to be in their company and stuff. Finn rubbed his temple with his large hands; he was tired and confused and a little more than jealous.

"I'm gonna go get a shower," he yawned as he started searching for his wash bag and towel. Whilst looking, Finn tried to occupy himself with thoughts of the day ahead, but as always, he could only think about one girl. He knew that Rachel would put her heart into her assignment despite her reservations about working with Mike, and he knew that Mike wouldn't appreciate her talent like he did (amongst other things... wait, no, it was too early for fantasies about Rachael's butt). He tried to focus on his own partner, but he could only remember the date he'd been on with Brittany, and he felt guilty and tired and pissed all over again. With a huge groan and a crack of the shoulder that didn't sound healthy, Finn dragged his items from his tightly packed suitcase and headed towards the door.

"See you later Artie." He smiled over his shoulder at the boy who smiled back. Though they didn't talk together often, they'd come so far since the day Finn had saved Artie from the portable toilets, and that was definitely a good thing.

"Bye Finn."

Finn carefully and quietly opened the bedroom door and closed it behind him as he left, only now noticing how his pyjama pants hung loosely on his hips and how his vest stuck to his chest with the heat. He didn't care if the girls were already up to witness his scruffy appearance, because he really needed to get a shower, and he wasn't gonna bother dressing to only take off his clothes again.

"Damn white boy, you look like a mess."

Finn managed a crestfallen pout in Mercedes' general direction. "I need a shower," he mumbled as he dragged himself towards the biggest bathroom.

"Please Mercedes, this is Finn at one of his better morning moments. You don't want to know how he looks usually, especially since he forgets to wear pants now and again." Mercedes giggled with Kurt, though Finn failed to see the funny side of it. He and Kurt had sorted out some of their differences since the dreaded faggy incident, and though he trusted him more, Finn still felt a little uncomfortable in situations like these. It was really stupid, but he was worried that Kurt was secretly peering through keyholes and stuff to catch a glimpse of some flesh, and after making himself paranoid, Finn had gone out and bought ten pairs of thick pyjamas.

"Whatever. If Brittany asks for me, tell her where I am, okay?"

Kurt gave a half heartened shrug. "I guess. Do you want me to send her in after you?" Finn was sure his whole body blushed at the very suggestion, but not out of excitement; he was embarrassed and furious at the same time. Once he made sure the bathroom was clear, Finn entered and slammed the door shut, pretending that Kurt's well moisturised face was caught in the frame.

"Kurt, you can be cruel sometimes, you know that right?"

Kurt smiled coyly at Mercedes. "Of course, but that's why you love me."

Glee!

Brittany had been awake since Santana had left the bed, though she hadn't had the energy to get up. Besides, she appreciated having enough room to stretch because although Santana was thin, she liked to wrap her arms around Brittany as she slept.

Brit wasn't really sure what was going on between her and her best friend, but to her credit, she wasn't really sure what was going on at any given time. All she knew was that Santana liked contact when she slept, and Brittany liked having Santana's body pressed against her own. It was more than just the warmth that she enjoyed, but she couldn't put it into words, because she wasn't even sure what it all meant. Of course she loved San, because she was her best friend, and it's like some law that you have to love your best friend. But she loved her little sister, and she loved her parents, and she loved her cat, and was there really any difference? She'd seen the Disney definition of love, and that was all sparkles and talking animals and singing; Santana never wore glitter and didn't have a pet, but she could sing, so did that count? Brittany didn't dwell on it, but just thought about how empty it felt to be in the bed on her own.

"Brit, are you awake?" It was Quinn, whispering so that she wouldn't wake Tina.

"Yes," she whispered back. "Are you?"

"Uh, yes. Are you looking forward to working with Finn?"

Brittany frowned to herself. "Why am I working with Finn?"

"For the assignment Mr Schue gave us?"

"Oh yeah, I'm working with Finn! I forgot about that." Brittany felt a smile spread across her face. Finn was a nice guy and he totally had a good voice. He was the perfect boy to be Rachel's Prince Charming, though he reminded Brittany more of Aladdin. "Can we choose Disney songs?" she asked Quinn.

"Um, probably, but Brittany, you do know that it has to reflect his character don't you?"

She knew that... she just wasn't entirely sure what that meant. "Not really," she admitted. She turned on her side so that as could take in Quinn's face. Brittany admired Quinn. Even after sleeping, the blonde still managed to look so good, especially with all the baby stuff.

"Well, pretend that Finn is Pinocchio." Brittany looked confused but didn't interrupt. "The perfect song for him to sing would be My Little Wooden Head right? At least, I think that's what his dad sings to him. Anyway, you just have to find a song that reminds you of Finn."

"Oh, I get it now. Thanks Quinn. I'm gonna go find Santana to see what she thinks about puppets." Brittany jumped from her bed incredibly gracefully and skipped out of the room, leaving Quinn with her jaw hanging in amazement; that girl was just one of a kind.

Glee!

Finn stepped out of the bathroom feeling refreshed and apprehensive. Everyone was up and awake, Brittany was talking away to Miss Pillsbury, and Rachel was still nowhere to be seen, which only reminded him that she was still with friggin' Mike.

"Hey Finn!"Brittany waved excitedly in his direction, a huge smile on her face.

"H-hey Brittany." Finn awkwardly made his way towards his partner and smiled shyly at Miss Pillsbury.

"Morning Finn. Did you sleep well?" she asked.

Finn nodded uncomfortably. "Yes thanks Miss P. How about you?" Finn hadn't noticed Mr Schue's absence until he appeared beside them, his eyes focused only on Emma.

"Uh, well, yes, I mean, it took me a while to get to sleep since I couldn't stop thinking that the bed sheets were dirty and-" Mr Schue cleared his throat, causing Emma's cheeks to flush with colour. With what looked like resentment, she turned her attention to Will while Finn sat beside Brittany, staring down at his hands.

"So, do you have any idea what songs we can sing?" he started, trying to get some conversation going. He had to admit, he did like Brittany, but he wasn't sure that he'd ever talked to her when she was on her own; she seemed to be joined at the hip with someone new every day.

"Do you like puppets?" she asked, with no trace of humour in her voice.

Finn opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again, not really sure what to say. "Uh, like hand puppets, or those ones on strings that dance and stuff?"

Brittany's forehead creased in thought. "Pinocchio isn't a hand puppet, and he doesn't have strings... Is he just a moving tree?"

Finn didn't reply, because he didn't know the answer either. He was about to ask Mr Schue, who was trying to get Miss Pillsbury's attention, when Santana walked in and headed straight for them. Finn internally groaned, because for one thing, he still felt completely uncomfortable anywhere near Santana, and for another, it looked unlikely that they'd get anything done.

"Hey San!" beamed Brittany.

Santana squeezed herself between the blonde and Finn, and didn't even notice the annoyed expression on his face. "Hey Brit. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. Is Pinocchio a puppet?"

Glee!

Finn was sure he was going to fall asleep. It seemed like they'd been sitting on the sofa for hours, barely listening to whatever the girls were talking about. It didn't bother him so much that they were catching up, because really, if Rachel had been in the room, he would have done the same. No, it was the fact that Santana had completely ignored him from the beginning. Though he wasn't exactly interested in Brittany's theories about fish (he didn't catch most of it from sheer boredom), it would have been nice to be included.

Therefore, as he watched partners leaving the room, Finn decided to interrupt.

"Erm, Brittany?" His voice wasn't very loud or confident, but at least he was finally standing up for himself... sort of. "D-don't you think we should be working on our assignment? Everyone else has already left to do theirs." Santana faced Finn for the first time, and he was pretty sure that her glare was gonna set his hair on fire.

"You're right I guess. Where shall we go?" asked Brittany.

Finn shrugged as he looked away, not really sure what they were going to do. He finally understood the phrase 'if looks could kill', 'cause Santana was practically snorting steam from her nose. "Is the girls' bedroom free? We could go in there or something..." he suggested, to which Brittany nodded with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, let's do that, then I can show you some of the cool stuff I brought like my pony doll that I take with me everywhere." Finn stood up (and nearly lost his balance from sitting still for so long) and was about to head towards the bedroom, until he decided he wanted to say something to Santana. Since the time he'd had sex with her (worst mistake of his life), Finn hadn't really said more than a few words to her, which meant that he was constantly worried that she'd spill the beans. He wanted to ask her if she could be trusted, but as he opened his mouth to speak, he found that his throat was dry, and that his legs were suddenly very eager to walk in the opposite direction to the girl. Without a word, he walked away from her, trying to slow his heart rate.

"See you later San. This is going to be so much fun!" giggled Brittany, who looked genuinely excited about working on the assignment.

"Do you know what you're going to make him sing?" asked Santana.

Brittany nodded with a grin. "Something from Aladdin I think!" Brittany waved to her best friend before skipping after Finn, who was lingering by the bedroom door, frightened of going in on his own.

"Are you sure no one's in there? I don't wanna disturb anyone..." Finn said, trailing off at the feeling of being watched by a certain Latina cheerleader.

"I'll check." Brittany thumped loudly on the door. When there was no answer, she let herself in, smiling when the coast was clear. "Come in Finn, I won't bite unless you ask me to."

Finn grimaced as he took a tentative step inside. He glanced around the room once and located Rachel's bed immediately. Even though they'd only stayed the one night, it was too easy to distinguish Rachel's personality in her section of the room. Apart from the fact that her bed was made to be completely perfect, a few plush toys were lined up neatly against her pillow (Finn recognised the smallest dog one, since he'd bought her it the day after dinner at her house) alongside a blanket that she used at home (it had been a hand-me-down from her grandmother). Her luggage was stacked tidily beside the end of her bed, and on the wall next to it, just above her pillow, was something that made Finn's heart jump into his throat. It was a photo of him and Rachel, though it wasn't the best one he'd ever seen. Rachel had asked a random old guy to take their photo, and since he was half blind or something, he'd had trouble with the camera, and the two of them had ended up laughing like crazy when he finally shot it. Finn thought he was pulling a ridiculously stupid face, but Rachel had obviously felt otherwise... and there it was, on the wall for all the girls to see. Did that mean Rachel was proud of their relationship?

"Everybody's already seen that photo, and we've all laughed at it," said Brittany out of the blue; Finn practically jumped at the sound of her voice.

"Yeah, I know, I don't know why she brought that one with her..."

"It's because she loves you." Finn looked back at Brittany, who was sitting on her own bed, a plastic horse in her hand. He wasn't exactly sure what to say to that, because while he knew that Rachel loved him (though he still couldn't believe it half the time), he didn't realise that everyone else knew.

"Does she?" he asked feebly, to which Brittany nodded with a smile.

"Of course she does. When we weren't busy daring her to do things, she stared at that photo all night long, and she said that she really loves you." Finn felt an embarrassed grin tug at his lips at this revelation. Brittany started brushing the horse's mane before continuing. "Do you love her?"

"Yeah, I really do," he admitted.

"Then you should tell her that you had sex with Santana."

Finn was glad that he was stood so close to Rachel's bed, because as soon as the words left Brittany's mouth, he fell backwards, almost hitting his head on the wall. "Y-you know about that?" he stuttered, sure that his pulse had just increased fifty times.

Brittany didn't even look up from what she was doing as she replied. "Yeah, Santana tells me about everyone that she sleeps with. Were you really a virgin before then?"

Oh God, oh God, oh God, this cannot be happening, this cannot be happening!

"Hey Brit, this might sound uh... haha, look, I really don't want to be having this conversation right now."

Brittany looked up innocently with a smile, as if Finn had just told her that a unicorn was waiting outside the bedroom. "What's the big deal? It's just sex. I've done it with loads of people."

Finn bit down hard on his knuckle to stop himself from making some inappropriate noise. It might not have been a big deal to her, but jeez, it was different for him and... man, he didn't want to talk to her about it.

"Th-that's great Brittany, really, but anyway, these songs!"

"You have to tell her," she said again.

Finn groaned, this time out loud. "Thanks for your input and everything, but this is private." He ran his hand through his hair with agitation, not sure what else to say. "Santana might go telling everyone what we've done, but this is between me and Rachel and-"

"And Rachel will be devastated if she finds out from someone else, or after you've done it with her." Brittany put her pony away so that she could look at Finn properly. "I know everyone thinks I'm dumb, and they're right. I don't know a lot of stuff, but I do know that Rachel is the type of girl who is really fragile over boys. It was really mean of me and Santana to go on a date with you just after you'd split up, and even though she didn't think I was paying attention, I saw how upset Rachel was over the whole break up thing. Imagine what she'll be like if someone tells her about this! Or if, like, Santana admits it in another game of truth or dare!" Brittany pulled the band from hair to let it loose on her shoulders. Like it was no big deal that she'd said something smart for a change, she brushed her blonde hair carefully and slowly, waiting for Finn to finally say something.

"I..." He couldn't manage anymore before he had to sit down again, almost squashing Rachel's toys. "I'm worried that she'll hate me," he whispered, not even sure if Brittany had heard him.

"You weren't together at the time, and she was with that really hot guy with the girl's name... When did he leave glee club?" Brittany shook her head, trying not to get distracted. "It's not your fault that you were both seeing other people, but if you come clean, she'll see it as you being really honest and awesome because boys aren't usually very truthful." Finn opened his mouth to say something (a thank you, an apology, anything, he wasn't quite sure), but Brittany was already onto the next item of the day. "I think you'll be really good singing A Whole New World."

"The magic carpet song?" he said, his forehead crinkling in confusion.

"Yes." Brittany didn't say anything else, but simply stared at Finn, who look away awkwardly.

"Er, okay then, but how does that show everyone who I am?"

"Do you have a pet monkey?" she asked, to which Finn responded with a snort.

"Of course I don't!" Brittany's face fell in disappointment, which made Finn feel unbelievably guilty. "But I uh... I do have a... magic lamp?" It was stupid to lie, and it was even stupider to think that Brittany would believe it, but as her eyes lit up, Finn decided to count his blessings and go with it.

"I have the backing track on my iPod," she said as she began to rummage through her heap of belongings. She pulled a pink iPod nano out of one bag, and a twin set of speakers from another. "Do you know the words?"

Finn rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. He knew most of the words, because come on, everyone knew the words to this song! "What about the girl part?"

"Oh, that's alright, I'll sing with you."

Finn perked up a little at that, because he'd never heard Brittany sing on her own before. "Right, okay then. Let's give it a go."

Brittany set up the speakers and pressed play, and Finn could see the excitement shine off of her like a really bright torch. The instrumental music began to start, and with a sudden onset of nerves, Finn realised that he had to actually sing to her. The song was about love and stuff, and weirdly, he felt as if he was cheating on Rachel by singing it.

"I can show you the world, shining, shimmering, splendid. Tell me princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?" Finn was singing at Brittany, though he couldn't meet her eyes, and instead confessed his undying love to the patchy wallpaper above her head. "I can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder, over, uh, something and something on a magic carpet ride!" Damn, he was getting flustered, and he couldn't tell if Brittany was frustrated or not. With a deep breath before the chorus-y bit, Finn forced himself to look at his partner, and he was glad he did so, since the encouragement in her face made his chest swell with confidence. "A whole new world! A new fantastic point of view! No one to tell us no, or where to go, or say we're only dreaming." Phew, he was done for the minute, but his relief was overshadowed by his immense curiosity; he really wanted to hear Brittany sing.

"A whole new world! A dazzling place I never knew! But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear that now I'm in a whole new world with you." Finn clapped lamely when she joined in, and as a result, he missed his cue. Brittany patiently pressed pause to help him get the hang of it.

"I thought you were singing next, with the unbelievable sights... thing?"

"I do, but you have to sing just before it. Let me show you." She pressed her finger against her iPod to rewind, and, sticking her tongue out in concentration, she listened until she had to come in again. "But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear that now I'm in a whole new world with you, and then you quickly go now I'm in a whole new world with you!" She stopped it again with an infectious smile. "See?"

"Oh yeah, I remember. Shall we try again?"

Glee!

Finn and Brittany had been practising for ages, completely ignoring the fact that Finn hadn't chosen a song for her to sing. Brittany knew the song (and film) off by heart, and she decided that since it was a love song, they needed more interaction; so far, she'd managed to teach Finn to spin in a circle whilst holding her hand, and even then he had struggled.

"You know Brittany, Mr Schue didn't say we needed to dance, and I think there's a good reason for that; I can't dance!" Finn was tired and hungry and he missed Rachel. They'd been cooped up in the bedroom for ages, and he wasn't even sure he could remember what the rest of the glee club looked like (when he tried to picture Puck, he just thought of Brittany, and when he tried to picture Quinn, he just thought of Brittany).

"Okay, we'll try one more time, then we can get something to eat," Brittany suggested; Finn was up for anything so long as it was followed with the word eat.

"Alright, sounds good to me. Let's go from the top." Brittany started the song again, and since Finn was too busy trying to remember his cue, he didn't hear Rachel's quiet knock on the door, and he didn't notice that her and Mike had entered the room. All he was focused on was Brittany, with her bouncy blonde hair and her huge, emotional eyes and her slight obsession for Disney films. She nodded once to remind him, and Finn put everything he had into his performance since he couldn't wait to eat.

"I can show you the world, shining, shimmering, splendid. Tell me princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?" One, two, three steps forward, take her hand and smile really goofily. "I can open your eyes." Run your finger along her face but don't poke her in the eye. "Take you wonder by wonder, over, sideways, and under on a magic carpet ride!" Another step forward, sweep her into the air and spin. "A whole new world! A new fantastic point of view! No one to tell us no, or where to go, or say we're only dreaming." Careful spin again, bring her close then place her on the floor. Finn was remembering all of his steps so far, but he must have been hallucinating with hunger, 'cause he could see Rachel out of the corner of his eye. He turned towards the door and almost fell through the floor, because it really was Rachel, and she looked devastated.

"Hey Rachel and Mike!" waved Brittany before turning off the music. "We're just working on our assignments."

Mike smiled, forcing back a laugh of disbelief. "Awesome. Me and Rachel are almost done with ours, right Rach?"

Finn, who had been staring silently at his girlfriend, almost did a double take when Mike spoke; did he just call her Rach?

"Yes, Mike and I have near perfected our choices, so we're obviously very excited about performing tomorrow." Her voice was all serious and fast, which Finn recognised as being a bad omen. He knew what Rachel was thinking, because hell, he knew that doing lovey-dovey dancing with Brittany would be weird, and they'd been doing it on their own in the girls' bedroom, and if he'd caught Rachel doing that with Mike, he probably would have been forced to punch the jerk.

"I love you Rachel," Finn blurted out. He realised that it was an odd moment to remind her of this fact, but man, Rachel's hurt face was doing serious damage to his chest, and he wanted to make sure that she knew that. His lameness did the job, because her lips spread into a small, loving smile that made Finn grin like a moron. He didn't care that Mike and Brittany were probably feeling out of place, because when Rachel was in the room, no one else mattered (yeah, he'd turned into a complete sap but there wasn't much he could do about it).

"I love you too Finn. I just wanted to make sure you weren't slacking. I'll talk to you later." Rachel gave a cute little wave in his direction, and then linked arms with Mike, who didn't even complain. No, the douchebag smiled like he was enjoying it, which made Finn's blood boil as the 'happy couple' left him with Brittany. He knew Rachel had done that to make him jealous, and it had certainly done the trick.

"Let's do it once more," said Finn through gritted teeth. "I want to beat the crap out of Mike's lameass song choice."

A/N: You guys are the best. Seriously, I got twenty six reviews on my last chapter; that made me feel so special, so thanks to each and every one of you who took the time to review! You're all awesome. (Also, I just wanted to say thank you to lolo5302 for your lovely review. I would have replied, but you don't have an account, so thanks :3)

Back to the fic! :) Another couple down, which means we have just two more before the big reveal! I know the last few chapters have been previews more than anything, but I want the final songs to be a big surprise, and I hope that it was worth the massive wait. All the stories will come together eventually like a big Jigsaw. What a nice coincidence :P

Anyhow, thanks again for the amazing feedback on the last chapter! Hopefully you guys like this one just as much, because I love Finn, and I want to write about him forever haha.

Next chapter will be Artie and Quinn!