So, this was supposed to be finished for Halloween, but my lazy brain took a very long time to think of the ideas. Finally, I finished it.

Thank you to Dundermiffilinite for being a wonderful beta again.

Enjoy!

It was a foolproof plan, a plan that he was certainly proud of, and despite getting a little help from Puck, he was adamant that he should get full credit. Normally, he wouldn´t need to do something like this but Rachel had all of a sudden begun declining most of his advances. She hadn´t said no as such, but would always complain that she wasn´t feeling well. He was beginning to panic and that was the reason why he went to Puck for help. The latter's "advice" was as expected. "Dude, it´s Halloween tonight," he said. "Get some scary movies, and I mean really scary, so that she´ll spendthe whole time with her face buried in your chest. And afterwards she´ll feel scared...you´ll be there to protect her... Put two and two together."

Finn had practically run down to the video store after that, having realised that his collection of scary movies was quite pitiful. There was a huge choice and he had to call a few people to ask which was the scariest, as he didn´t really watch horror movies. In the end, he had four films: It, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Dead Silence and Quarantine. He could have gone for the usual suspects, like Halloween or The Exorcist but he wanted Rachel to be scared, which made him feel slightly guilty–though apparently not guilty enough as, five minutes later, he was walking out of the store with the DVDs swinging in his bag.

When he got home, he was more than surprised to see that Kurt had somehow transformed the house with excess Halloween decorations, and the hallway was unrecognisable. "Errr...what´s going on?" he asked when he finally found Kurt, who was dressed in some strange costume.

"I´m hosting a Halloween party tonight," he replied happily, "and I´m in charge of all the decorations. It's going to be absolutely fabulous." At this point, he began trying to make some fake cobwebs hang from the front door, stretching out the stringy material. "You can come if you'd like."

Finn smiled apologetically. "Can´t. Rachel invited me over to her house." Well, it wasn´t strictly true (she didn´t even know that he was going over) but he really didn´t want to endure Kurt's party. For
one, Kurt would make him wear a ridiculous costume, and secondly, he wouldn´t swap anything for the chance of some making out with Rachel (even if he wasn´t sure whether it would happen or not) He patted Kurt on the shoulder. "But maybe next time." Rushing upstairs, he didn´t see when Kurt rolled his eyes in reply.

- glee -

"Finn!" she said, clearly surprised. "I wasn´t aware that you were coming today. Is something wrong?" As she spoke, he walked into the house, waiting until she´d finished to give her the DVDs. Tentatively, she pried the bag open and the confusion spread onto her face. "What are these for?"

He simply smiled in reply, taking her hand softly and leading her to the living room, glad that the room was currently unoccupied. The house smelled like the Berrys', something he was becoming used to and actually quite liked. He wondered what his house smelt like to Rachel, though he avoided asking her the question as she might think it a strange one. "What´s It?" she frowned, now holding the DVD in her hand.

He took the case from her, opened up the DVD player and slipped the
disc in quickly. Rachel huffed, clearly annoyed by his newfound silence. "Finn, why are you acting so strange?" Crossly, she folded her arms and, when he didn´t reply (yet again) merely sighed. He crossed the room and turned off the lights. "What in th-"

"Shh," he grabbed hold of her shoulders, pushing her small body onto the sofa lightly and then joining her. She sent him a strange glare back, her lips pursed and eyes curious.

"Are you usually this...odd on Halloween?" she asked, her upper lip stiffening as she scrutinized his expression, "because I think it would've been fair to warn me beforehand before you showed up at my house unannounced and-"

"It´s coming on!" he cut in, not having heard a word that she´d said. Usually, he would at least attempt to listen, but today Finn was too anxious about whether his plan would actually work.

Sighing, she gave up on him and leant further into the sofa, her body naturally leaning toward Finn. With a smile, he wrapped his arm around her and turned his attention to the film, which was just about to start. A few seconds later, she craned her neck to stare up at him. "It´s not going to be scary, is it?" Normally, she would feel childish for asking such questions, but she knew that Finn wouldn´t judge her for being slightly anxious., "I-I´ve just never really...seen a horror movie before."

His smile brightened as he tried to be reassuring, though, he realised, also because he was now more sure than ever that his plan would work. He hadn´t seen the films before, but presumed that they were scary, as that´s what he´d been told by everyone else. So they'd better work tonight, he thought. "That´s all right Rach," he squeezed her shoulder, "I don´t really watch them either. I´m sure it will be
fine..."

"Okay," she replied, her voice becoming a whisper. Sighing contently, she snuggled her cheek into his warm chest and focused on the screen. Honestly, she wasn´t exactly looking forward to the next few hours and particularly to the fact that there were more films to come. Why had Finn brought them over anyways? She specifically remembered him saying that there was something he was supposed to do this Halloween. Her legs curled up beside her as she got more comfortable and waited not so eagerly for the start of the film.

Despite her worries, she wasn´t scared at all. She wasn´t even a little bit frightened, mainly due to the outdated effects of the film and sheer ridiculousness of the plot- not to mention that the clown was over the top. Bearing a grin, she turned to Finn to comment on one of the "scary" clips but was baffled to see his face full of horror. His skin was pale, paler than she´d ever seen it before, and his mouth was slightly agape as he watched intently through wide eyes. She stifled a laugh when he flinched, closing his eyes so that he didn´t have to watch the next part. The sight was just too funny. Finn Hudson was scared of a silly clown film; Rachel thought she´d never see the day that Finn was truly terrified. "It´s alright Finn," she uttered in his ear, "the scary part is over."

He opened one eye first, very cautiously, and let his gaze fall upon Rachel in her smug glory. Her eyes stalked his every movement, remaining on his as he cleared his throat loudly. "I was a little tired." His excuses never were good.

She didn´t say anything in reply, yet turned to face the television once more, smiling broadly. Rachel noticed that whenever the clown would appear, Finn would tense up noticeably, much to her amusement. The same routine carried on for most of the film, and one time she caught him hiding behind a cushion. At the sight, she´d laughed aloud, causing him to flinch at the new sound. He turned toward her, a look of sheer panic in his eyes. What could she possibly be laughing at? Finn didn´t want her to know, mostly because of embarrassment, that the film was actually creeping him out. What was worse than a clown murdering people? He hadn´t even spared a thought to his plan, nor did he think he would again. It was hopeless; Rachel just wasn´t getting scared at all (so much for Puck´s foolproof advice). Instead, he was using her cushions to cower from the disturbing images. If he´d known that horror films were horrific, he would have never watched any at all.

Rachel, realising that maybe the film was causing Finn a little too much distress, paused it and looked up at him, trying not to laugh. "You´re not enjoying this, are you?" she said, waiting for a response from him as he stared at the frozen screen, clutching the cushion in his hands.

"It´s great," he mumbled, adding, "I wasn´t scared before. Honestly." He avoided Rachel´s stare, averting his gaze to the ceiling. There was a tense silence and he finally looking at her, seeing the huge smile on her face. "Really, I wasn´t!" Her expression didn´t change at all. Sighing, he knew that he´d have a hard time explaining that he hadn´t been scared, just...just...startled. "I haven´t watched one of these in a while. It´s how I get used to them."

"But," she frowned, "you've spent half of it peering from behind the cushion. You´ve probably missed most of the film and, if you would have watched assertively, you would have realised that the plot was only so-so. And also the effect of the clown coming through the drain in the shower was extremely unconvincing, not to mention just silly. I mean, that´s just impossible. It´s like saying that a clown could climb through the drain in our school´s showers."

"What?" he said, shocked when his voice came out a lot higher than he´d ever thought possible. Was she trying to make this worse? He´d never be able to have a shower at school again...

She placed her hand on his arm, "I was using it as an example."

"Oh," he nodded, feeling like an idiot. His cheeks were flushed and his heart beating extremely fast. Somewhere in the back of his mind was the thought that the showers were full of clowns waiting to attack unsuspecting guys. "Yeah," he added, "I totally knew that. I was only joking." He laughed it off nervously. "We should watch the end of the film." Honestly, he didn´t want to at all, but he was going to show her that he wasn´t scared.

Confusion flittered across her face. "But you don´t like it," she pointed out.

"I do."

"Finn, just admit it. You´re scared of horror films."

He tensed up again: she´d said it so loud, so clear. And she´d said it like it was no big deal when, last time he checked, it was. Guys weren't supposed to be scared in front of their girlfriends. At least he hadn´t screamed in front of her. That would make the situation even more embarrassing, if it was possible.

She gave him a smile, removing herself from his side and sitting up straight. "Don´t worry. It´s similar to my fear of failure." She nodded her head a few times, contemplating in silence "Both fears are
irrational and can be overcome. I suggest that´s what we do right now." Enthusiastically, she bounced up from her seat and pulled Finn up too with surprising strength. "Right," she began thoughtfully, "hmmm, I´m struggling to think of a way to face your fear. Maybe I could lock you in my basement for ten minutes with a horror movie on?"

"Are you crazy?" he yelled back, feeling guilty when she flinched slightly. "I´m sorry. I just meant … errr, that´s a little over the top, don´t you think?"

Rachel shrugged. "You´re only saying that because you´re scared."

"For the last time, I wasn´t scared! I´m not scared of horror films," he threw his hands up in frustration. When she was about to speak again, he raised his voice once more, "And you´re not locking me in your basement."

"But I want to help you," she explained, her eyes almost pleading. Her fingers gripped on his shirt, holding his body close to hers.

"I know," he sighed, resting his hand on her shoulder, "but believe me, you´d be wasting your time because I am most certainly not scared of horror films. I never have been and I never will be! I..."

Rachel, though she was slightly ashamed of it, hadn´t been listening to Finn. Facing away from the door, he hadn´t seen her fathers enter, dressed in their costumes- they were going to a party at her uncle´s house- and they were slowly walking up behind Finn. If it were any other occasion, she would have warned him of the impending "surprise" but he was clearly trying to convince himself that he wasn´t frightened when, clearly, he was. She tried to suppress the smile building on her lips in a failed attempt, leaving Finn frowning. "And now you´re laughing at me," he sighed. "I should go. I have some homework to do anyway."

As he turned, she let out an excited giggle. Finn finally caught sight of her fathers, one actually dressed as a clown and the other as a vampire. "Aaaarghhhhhh!" he screamed loudly, scrambling backwards. At the same time, he managed to trip over the edge of the sofa and, the next thing he knew, he was on the floor, heart pounding wildly. The alleged clown and vampire were suddenly laughing hysterically, along with Rachel.

"Finn, it´s just us." He recognised Hiram´s voice and let out a long sigh, his body shaking slightly. When he looked up at Rachel helplessly, she continued to laugh, whilst attempting to help him up. His face was becoming redder and redder.

"You´re definitely not scared," Rachel said as she shook her head, trying to catch her breath.

He managed to pull himself up, already feeling embarrassed. "I...wel-"

"Don´t worry Finn, I won´t tell anyone," she said smugly, adding, "only if you admit that you were scared."

"I..." he trailed off, noticing that her parents were still there, though thankfully not watching them.

"I think that I have Noah´s number. I can start with him first," she teased, starting to walk away. He caught her at the waist, gripping it tightly.

"Fine, you win." He sighed, rolling his eyes. "I was scared," he mumbled quietly.

She pursed her lips together, eyes glistening with amusement, "I didn´t hear that." He sent her a look, one that said I can´t believe you´re making me do this. In reply, she smiled and turned her head. "I´m waiting," she said in a sing-song voice.

"I was scared," he said, a tiny bit louder. Crossly, she folded her arms, along with a glare in his direction. "Okay, okay, I´m scared of horror films, happy now?"

"Yes," she grinned, placing a sweet kiss on his cheek, "and the next time we watch a horror film, I guess that I´ll just have to protect you."

He didn´t know whether to laugh or to be worried.

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