Chapter Twenty-One - Dancing Around the Subject

fate is an elegant, cold-hearted whore
she loves salting my wounds
yes, she enjoys nothing more
i bleed confidence from deep within my guts now
i'm the king of this pity party
with my jewel encrusted crown
Polygraph Right Now - The Spill Canvas

Rachel couldn't believe what was happening; she'd just been announced as Prom Queen. Somehow the fact didn't quite register until she'd already been halfway to the stage. She looked around quickly as she ascended the steps, checking for hidden buckets of pig's blood or hidden cameras on cue to capture her imminent humiliation. There was nothing to be seen though, and when she stopped to accept her crown, the crowd burst into applause.

"And now our King and Queen will share a dance together." Principle Figgins mumbled into the microphone as Rachel turned to make her way off stage.

She'd forgotten about the queen and king having to dance. Well, there went all of her attempts to avoid Finn Hudson like the plague.

Putting on a smile, Rachel turned around and made her way to the dance floor in front of the stage where Finn was already waiting.

"May I have this dance?" Finn asked, his hand held out towards her. Rachel had to physically stop herself from rolling her eyes at the cheesy line. Still, she placed her hand inside of his and let him lead her onto the dance floor.

It felt like ages before the music started, but once the band started up they started swaying back and forth to the music.

"Well, it looks like you won your bet. You took the school loser and made her into the prom queen. What's your prize?" Rachel couldn't help the bitterness in her voice as she whispered the words to Finn.

"I didn't win anything." Finn sighed. "In fact, I think I lost more than anything."

Rachel wasn't sure what she should say. She'd guessed from the song Finn had sung earlier that he was more than sorry for everything that had happened, but she wasn't even close to being able to forgive him for all that he'd done.

They spent the next few minutes in complete silence, swaying gently from side to side as Tina and Mercedes sang Kiss Me. The song was nearly over when Rachel finally spoke again.

"Why did you pick that song?" Rachel asked, referring to his earlier performance.

Finn smiled, reaching up to brush a piece of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. "Because it said everything I'm feeling right now."

"You love me?" Rachel asked, the words sticking in her throat, coming out a pitch higher than she'd intended.

"Is that so hard to believe?" Finn asked as the song finally ended.

Neither of them moved as they stared into each other's eyes. Rachel was the first to move though, pulling away and making her way back to the table. She'd only made it a few steps before Finn pulled her back.

"I'm so sorry for everything. I wanted to tell you about the bet, but I knew that if I did that I'd lose you. I wanted to just pretend that the bet didn't even exist, and I thought that if I ignored it, the whole thing would just go away." Finn's words were rushed as he quickly tried to explain himself.

"It didn't go away though; it was always there." Rachel sighed, once again trying to walk away, but Finn's hand kept her firmly in place.

"Rachel, you need to know something about Puck. He's not the good guy he's playing, he's bad news. I don't want you to get hurt." Finn said just as Puck came up to the pair.

"Rachel, are you ready to go?" Puck asked, completely ignoring Finn.

Rachel hesitated. She didn't really want to leave with Puck, but she also wasn't quite ready to have this whole conversation with Finn in the middle of prom. Finally, she gently pulled her hand away from Finn and turned to face Puck.

"Alright, let's go. I need to find Blaine and Kurt first though." Rachel forced a smile as she spoke. She turned her attention back to Finn, "I forgive you, Finn."

Sending Finn a quick smile she turned around and made her way back through the crowd with Puck close behind her.

A/N: Sorry, this chapter is a seriously short one. There's one more chapter after this, so everything comes to a conclusion in the next chapter! Please don't forget to hit that little review button and tell me how you feel about everything that's transpired. :)