A/N: Thanks everyone, for everything :) review, review!
"Pshh, join the Glee club." Finn muttered sarcastically to himself as he passed the empty choir room. He wasn't sure that he meant it, he mostly said it to cover the overwhelming feelings he got when he remembered picking her up here after school. He sped up his strides to get out of this particular hallway and just get into his truck so he could speed home. He was already a little bit late from trying to distract himself in the gym.
He pulled his hoodie up as he noticed the light drizzle that had started up outside. He jogged to his car to avoid getting wet before the rain really started in. As soon as he slammed his rusty car door shut, a flash of lightning ripped the sky as if some sort of signal for the clouds to start the real downpour. Droplets flung themselves from the sky with such force that they sprayed across his windshield every time they landed there. He started up the car and backed out of the school slowly, his mom would kill him if he drove recklessly in such bad weather. The heat started to kick in after a minute and started to fog the windshield slightly.
If he hadn't been driving so carefully, he would have been too zoned out to notice the small sopping figure by the side of the road. He argued with himself in his mind about whether to pick them up or not. The road was so close to the school that it had to be a student or a teacher who was unaware of the rain when they had set off. Another rumble of thunder made up his mind as he slowed down to pull over and ahead of the stranger who walked a little bit faster towards his truck. They were wearing an obviously soaked dark blue cardigan, but he still couldn't tell who it was as they approached the car from behind. He reached over to pop the door open and turned his head towards the console to turn the heat up. A small squeak of surprise caught his attention as he turned to see a drowned looking Rachel framed by the truck door.
Finns own mouth dropped open to match hers as she continued standing there in the rain, getting her and his truck even wetter. Oh crap, Finn thought, as well as some other things he was not proud of. "Uh, come on!" Finn finally managed to get out as she still stood there, looking like she was making the biggest decision of her life. She finally hopped up and squelched into his seat, shivering at the sudden influx of heat. Neither of them could look the other in the eye as they sat there awkwardly. Finn pulled his now dry sweatshirt off his back and held it out to Rachel. She hesitated reaching out to grab it, but finally she let her own basic needs override the discomfort of the situation. She pulled her drenched cardigan off of her tiny frame and opened the window a crack to try and squeeze out the water. Her efforts finally proved futile so she threw it next to her and pulled Finns sweatshirt over the rest of her wet clothes.
Finn had been watching this whole display, and he was snapped out of the trance when Rachel finally turned to him and coughed sarcastically, as if to ask what he was doing. He quickly fumbled with the keys and got going on the road again.
They didn't say anything to each other, but Finn had a hard time keeping his eyes on the road and he hoped to God she couldn't tell. He didn't know how she still managed to smell so good when she was soaked in rain and sitting in his musty car. He allowed his thoughts to focus on her more than he normally would, she was sitting right there for goodness sakes. "What was I thinking? We're going to graduate in a little under two months and we're never going to see each other again. I never should have started anything, she's way better off without me. She probably doesn't even miss me half as much as I miss her." Finn sighed and chewed on his lip. He glanced over at her and she was tracing raindrops on the window. He missed her so much.
The silence was eating him up inside and they had only been in the car together for a matter of minutes. He absentmindedly reached over to flip on the radio when the static came on rather loudly and he awkwardly smacked at the volume dial. Rachel just sighed and tried moving farther away if it was possible.
Finn finally got a handle on the volume and he tuned into the first radio station he found. He immediately recognized the classic rock song as it filled car, but it didn't quite register with him that he should probably change it. "Hey! I was born to love you, with every single beat of my heart. Yes, I was born to take care of you-" Finn quickly changed the station before he was exposed to further embarrassment. He wasn't quite sure what song it was but Rachel seemed to flinch as it crackled on. "Darling don't be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years, I'll love you for a thousand more." the lyrics filled the car with even more awkwardness as Finn finally gave up and just turned the whole thing off. Silence and tension once again hung in the air and it weighed down on both their hearts until it hurt.
Finn nervously tapped on the steering wheel, trying to find something to do with his hands. What did people normally do with their hands when they drove? He genuinely couldn't seem to remember right now. He inwardly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Rachel's street coming up ahead. He was sad to see her go because he hadn't been so close to her in so long, but he couldn't stand being around her if she believed the lies that he had told her. Finn wasn't sure if he was imagining things or if she had become even more beautiful in their time apart. He wanted to pull over right there and show her exactly how he truly felt about her; but he couldn't give in now that he had managed to be away from her for so long. "Stay away." The words echoed through his head again in the voice of her dads.
He pulled up by her house and looked around the car awkwardly, not wanting to meet her eyes. When it appeared that she wasn't going to get our right away Finn finally turned towards her and just said, "I'm sorry." even before he realized what he was doing. She looked down at her hands in her lap and mumbled out a quick "Yeah." Rachel sat there playing with her hands before whispering her thanks and hurriedly opening the door and sprinting across her lawn. She had left in such a rush that Finn had no time to call out after her; she had forgotten that she was wearing his sweatshirt. Finn couldn't decide if he should go up to her house and ask for it back, or just forget about it and hope that maybe it would make her miss him just the tiniest bit. His resolve was wearing thin, he needed her so badly. He finally decided to go with the latter and sped off towards his own house.
Disclaimer: Songs are Born To Love You by Queen and A Thousand Years by Christina Perri. I don't own them!