Let Me Be Your Star
A Glee Fan Fiction
Chapter 25

Finn Hudson arrived at the train station around eleven o'clock the next morning. His step brother, Kurt Hummel, met him there and brought him to the hotel where he was staying in a taxi. Kurt and Finn didn't talk for must of their ride. They didn't bring up Rachel, and their different views on what she was going through. They didn't discuss were Puck had disappeared to after the fight between Finn and Puck after Rache's departure. They didn't speak at all, besides the necessary pleasantries that were required when two family members met up again after about a month apart from each other. Especially when they had been very close friends throughout high school.

In a way, Finn was enjoying the silence, because it gave him time to think. He had two choices that he could make when it came to Rachel, and he still hadn't made up his mind for which one he'd be following through. He could tell Rachel that he didn't care about making sure she followed her dreams, because he wanted to be with her and he was being selfish to stop her from being with him if that was what she wanted. He could tell her that they should run off that night and get married, before she went off to join him as an army wife. Or, he could tell her that they could try and start all over, enjoying a long distance relationship until he was done with his tour and could join her in New York where they'd get married.

He figured if they went with the second option, by that time she'd have lived out her Broadway fantasy and be done with that pipe dream. He was fairly certain that by the time he was done with his years of service, he would return to find a Rachel who was ready to return to Lima, realizing that Broadway was a fantasy for her and nothing more-it wasn't a career she could actually have. Then they'd go back to Ohio, settling in LIma where he'd take over Burt's tire shop and they would raise a family, enjoying their comfortable lifestyle with their three children, Rachel acting as a stay at home mother. Yes, the second option was definitely the best, he decided, as he followed Kurt down the hallway of the hotel.

"Finn, I suppose I should give you a fair warning about what you should expect when you-"Kurt started softly, sliding his key into the door. Finn ignored him though, opening the door immediately and rushing inside, spotting Rachel just walking out of what he suspected to be the bathroom in a pair of denim short cut-off shorts and a black razor back tank top, her hair piled onto the top of her head in a mess bun.

"RACH!" He grinned, walking towards her and wrapping her in a hug. "I've missed you, babe," He told her, looking down at the short girl he was so in love with with a goofy smile. "You look amazing," He told her, leaning down to kiss her.

"Rachel? What's going-oh, he's here," A strong, deep voice said. Finn looked up from his action of attempting to kiss Rachel to find Noah Puckerman leaning in the doorway of what he assumed to be the bedroom, his strong arms crossed over his broad chest. "No, no-by all means, go right ahead and continue your actions of trying to kiss my girlfriend. That's perfectly all right," Puck rolled his eyes, pushing off of the wall and taking another step towards Rachel, wrapping an arm around her waist as he pulled her closer to him.

"Girlfriend? Rach, what's he talking about?" Finn asked in confusion.

Rachel blushed, lowering her head as she took a step closer to Puck, allowing his large arms to wrap around her waist, holding onto her from behind as he held her directly in front of him. Finn knew what that stance meant. Puck was marking his territory. Unfortunately, what Puck thought was his territory, was really Finn's girl. And he didn't plan on sharing anytime soon.

"Rach...what's going on here?" Finn asked again, his eyebrows forming a V of confusion as they furrowed together and his mouth formed that pout that Rachel had always thought was so adorable. Not anymore.

"Yeah, Hudson, girlfriend," Puck said snidely. "She's my girlfriend now, because you dumped her and left her alone. You sent her to freaking New York City on her own, and I was man enough to come after her to make sure she was okay. And not just that, I came after her because I loved her and was willing to give up my dreams to make her happy!" Puck said.

"Noah, be nice," Rachel said softly, her voice a low whisper.

"Rach, will you please just explain what's going on here?" Finn asked.

"Well, Finn...I hate you tell you this, because I know you came all the way out here to see me, because you felt like I still felt the same way about you as you did about me, but, well, I don't. I'm with Noah now," She whispered softly.

"You and...you're dating Puckerman now?" Finn asked softly.

"I'm really sorry, Finn. I would have told you sooner, but I just assumed you knew. Everybody else seemed to have already figured it out, even before Noah and I decided to act on our feelings and make it official," Rachel said.

"You're dating Puck?" Finn snapped, his confusion morphing into anger. "What the hell is wrong with me that every single girl I love ends up turning on me and dating my so-called best friend? What the hell does he have that I don't?" He asked, taking a step towards Puck and Rachel. "I just don't get it-he's a player who's been with more girls than I've ever even liked in my life, yet everybody picks him!" Finn said angrily. As he spoke, he took smaller steps towards Rachel and Puck, growing angrier and angrier with each and every word he spoke to them.

Instinctively, Puck pushed Rachel behind him and began to walk towards Finn, a hard glare on his face. When the two boys met in the middle, Puck opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Finn raising his fist and lunging it forward, right into Puck's face. Puck staggered back a little form shock and impact before lunging forward and grabbing Finn by the shoulders, bringing him to the ground. And that was when the full blown fight began, that was more intense than any of their other fights before.

"This is worth than the train station was...god, Rachel, what kind of effect do you have on these guys?" Kurt asked in amazement, his eyes growing wide as he shook his head, watching the fighting boys in front of him. If he'd looked up, he would have noticed the shocked, somewhat scared, and very upset expression that had taken over his best friend's face.

By the time Rachel and Kurt had finally managed the break the fight up, Puck was clutching at his rib, his breathing short and shallow. Finn's face was a bloody mess that looked absolutely ready to bruise.

"Are your ribs okay?" Rachel asked, grabbing Puck and helping him towards the couch, sitting down besides him.

"I'll be fine, Rachel-just as long as you stay right here, okay?" He asked, pulling her up onto his lap and holding her close, sighing as he kissed the top of her head, right on the top of her fruity smelling hair. "Mmmmm," He sighed. "That's much better already," He told her, holding her as close to him as he possibly could without hurting one of them.

Kurt had taken Finn into the bathroom where he was cleaning the blood from his face and giving him ice packs for any bruising.

"You really shouldn't have been fighting over me," Rachel sighed. "That's not good behavior and it doesn't solve anything. Violence is never the answer, and don't give me the crap about how he started it, alright?" She said.

"I should have known this was going to be my fault," Puck rolled his eyes. "After all, could anybody imagine the precious, wonderful, all-star Finn Hudson doing anything as awful as starting a fist fight? No, the almighty Finn can do no wrong, especially to residents of Lima, Ohio. Instead, it's always his loser best friend, the school's bad-ass who has a reputation for breaking hearts that gets the blame. He's the one who's wrong, isn't it obvious? It couldn't possibly be Finn's fault if Puck was involved. Nope, not possible," He said sarcastically, his voice bitter and cruel.

"Are you quite done yet with your little self-pity act? Because I refuse to even dignify any of that with a response until you're thoroughly finished, because that was just obnoxious and stupid. I was telling you not to bring up how he'd started it, because it doesn't matter who started anything. You were just released from the hospital. You should have just let the punch go, and it all would have been okay. I understand that he overreacted to what happened and started the fight, but it takes two to actually fist fight, and you were involved, by actively deciding to join in. That comment had nothing to do with Finn being the home town hero and you being the amazing boy I fell in love with," Rachel informed hi,

"I'm sorry. It's just...I'm so afraid that I'm going to lose you, especially now that he's back. I constantly have to remind myself that this is real-that I actually have you. That's why I'm always touching you. It just seems too good to be true, especially for me. I don't deserve you, yet here you are, and somehow it's real and wonderful and you want me," He sighed, turning her around and putting her in a lying position so that her head was rested on his lap as he looked down at her, stroking her hair casually.

"It's real, alright? Now please stop being so down on yourself all the time, because it's getting quite depressing, trying to cheer you up all of the time," Rachel rolled her eyes as she cuddled up close to him.

"Not all of us were born with the confidence of a star, you know," He teased her, giving her a gentle little bop on the nose.

"My confidence level happens to be quite ordinary, thank you very much," She replied bitterly, rolling her eyes once again at him. "Your confidence, however, is quite lacking and that upsets me. After all, how can I love you if you don't even think that you're worthy of love? If you don't love yourself, how can you even love me? Real love can't exist without loving yourself," She sighed, shaking her head.

"Please don't start singing songs from RENT to me. That's going to make me want to go off myself even more than you must think my low self esteem makes me want to. Which, by the way, I'm very confident. I'm a stud, remember? The only time I'm not my overly confident self is when I'm trying to figure out how the hell I ended up with a girl as amazing as you are. You're a gland slam...you don't even know what that is, but it's a good thing, alright? It just means that you're the best of the best-the total package. You're everything that every girl in the world could possibly ever want, alright? And I somehow managed to get you. So my question is...may I keep you?" He wondered.

"Okay, Casper, that's enough with the cheesy little lines, alright? And that was a very stupid question, because I picked you over Finn, therefore stating that I love you, would like to be with you, and would love it if you'd hold onto me for a little while longer, so I don't end up alone in New York City with only Kurt for company," Rachel said teasingly.

"Okay, I get it. It was a stupid question and I'm an idiot. Of course you want me to keep you, and of course you love me and want me. Not that I can blame you, of course, so don't think you have to try and act differently or shy about it. It's quite obvious anyways. But, I do have one little question for you, if you don't mind me asking it," He said, his voice cheerful and starting to sound like the old, teasing Noah Puckerman that Rachel had fallen in love with. She nodded, allowing him to go on. "Who the hell is Casper?" He asked.

"Did you know?"

It was such a stupid question. It really was, even coming from Finn.

It was a stupid question, and that was why Kurt didn't feel bad about playing dumb.

"Did I know what exactly? There are quite a few things I could know, after all," He shrugged, running the wash cloth under cold water before rubbing at his mouth to get the blood from his swollen, bloody lip off of his face. This was a horrible task for Kurt, as he tended to get very nasesous at the sight of blood. And here he was, with his step-brother who was albeit covered in it.

"Did you know about them? About Puck and Rachel and how they're dating now?" He asked, crossing her arms over his chest. He was pouting, and it was a rather unattractive look on him.

And his new question proved how stupid he was. He was living with Rachel. How the hell would Kurt not have known if she'd gotten a new boyfriend? Especially when the boyfriend was Puck, who was obviously living with them. Sometimes, Finn's idiotic ways were just a little too much to take. Sometimes, he was even dumber than Brittany was, but unlike Brittany's utter stupidity, Finn was just oblivious and thoughtless when he spoke. Brittany got easily confused, but Finn didn't pay attention.

"Yes," Kurt answered honestly. He didn't have anything to hide. Rachel and Puck had nothing to hide. They'd done nothing wrong. THere was no problem here, besides Finn's jealousy and Puck's over protective instincts when it came to Rachel.

"You knew? And you didn't tell me?" Finn asked, pushing Kurt away from him and studying him with an angry scowl on his face. It was another ugly facial expression that he'd made that day. It made Kurt wonder what had ever attracted him to the tall, dopy boy in the first place.

"I really don't see how it was any of your business. You broke up with Rachel. That gave her freedom to date whoever she wanted to. And it's not like I lied to you. You never once asked me if Rachel was in a relationship. You just assumed she was here in her dream city, waiting for you to come back to tell her you wanted her back. In case you haven't noticed, for Rachel to take you back, even without Puck, you would have needed to come back, crawling on your hands and knees, begging for forgiveness. And you would have needed to give her one hell of a diamond if you even dreamt of proposing to her ever again, because she was pissed at you-heartbroken, but pissed," Kurt explained.

"How long have they been together? How long has it been?" Finn asked, his voice low and hollow sounding. It was clear that he'd ignored Kurt's speech, not giving it a second thought or paying it any attention. He probably hadn't even listened to it, and that bothered Kurt more than the fact that he was treating Rachel like she couldn't do any better than him, when everybody knew that not only did Rachel deserve better, but that she could do much better. Santana's snide comments about Finn's sexual abilities hadn't really been meant to insult him-not completely-they were mostly meant to try and convince Rachel to stop wasting her time with him.

Everybody had tried to make Rachel see reason, even Quinn Fabray who honestly didn't like her, up until the very end. She and Rachel had had their moments, but Quinn had always been jealous of Rachel. Jealous of Rachel's talent, of her determination, of her confidence-of everything that made Rachel, Rachel Berry. And that had put a strain on their relationship before it had even begun.

"A few weeks now. It was the same week that you guys broke up. Probably the day after you called Rachel and Puck got into his accident-you did hear about the accident, right?" Kurt said. Finn nodded quickly, making it quite clear that he didn't care in the slightest that his supposed best friend had gotten into a horrible accident and put in the hospital. That sickened Kurt a little bit more than Finn's feelings and thoughts on Rachel. Kurt was growing more and more disgusted by Finn as the time went on.

"Did they have sex? Has he been sleeping with my girl? Or is she a big slut who's sleeping with him and forgetting that she's supposed to be upset and crying her eyes out over the fact that I walked out on her? What the hell is going on here that I can't keep a girl like Rachel Berry when she runs off to a guy like Noah Puckerman?" He asked in disgust.

That's when Kurt realized Finn's true feelings for Rachel. He was sure that somewhere, deep down inside, Finn did love Rachel, in some small way. But he didn't love her the same way Puck did-with all of his heart. He didn't worship the ground she walked on and he wouldn't do whatever it took to make her happy. No, Finn thought of Rachel as a safety net. As long as he had Rachel to fall back on, he'd never be alone. He would always have somebody to kiss, somebody to hug, somebody to touch. As long as he had Rachel, he had somebody who worshipped him and thought the world of him. Finn needed Rachel as a security blanket to keep his confidence up.

That wasn't love. Love was like what Puck and Rachel had, where they both thought the world of one another. Where they would do anything for each other. Where they could communicate without words. That was what Rachel deserved, and Finn wasn't giving that to her. Which was why he decided to be honest with his step-brother in answer to his question.

"They slept together a long time ago. You were never her first, Finn. She slept with Puck before she slept with anybody, because she wanted him. She loved him from the very beginning, but she didn't think he wanted her. So she was settling for you. You were her rebound, Finn, and that's all you're ever going to be to her. And that's alright, because all she ever was to you was another cheerleader to make you feel good about yourself. You were worse to her than she ever was to you, because at least she honestly loved you and treated you like an actual person. You never deserved her, and now she's with somebody who does. So don't ruin that for her, or I'll kill you myself," Kurt threatened.

"I thought you were my brother. Since when do brothers turn their backs on one another to defend the guy who stole one of their girlfriends? THat's not cool, Kurt. It really just isn't cool at all." Finn said, shaking his head as if he had a right to be disgusted with Kurt's actions and words. Kurt rolled his eyes and turned to walk away. "Of course, I get it. I mean, I can't keep a girl because they keep running off to Puck, so why should you be any different. You've got a crush on him too now, right?' Finn taunted. Kurt ignored him as he stormed from the bathroom.