THE FINN AND SANTANA SUBPLOT THAT NEVER QUITE GOT RESOLVED
GLEASE
Finn could scarcely believe it. Not only had he and Artie done it, directed the whole musical, but he was proud to say, it was good. No, it was great! Hummel Tires & Lube had gone all out in supplying them with car-related props. The sophomore leads were doing a great job of the acting and looked good together. The chemistry was important in Grease, you had to believe them.
Last year's Glee members were all playing important supporting roles, a few alums had helped out, mostly Mike and Mercedes to kick the singing and dancing up a notch. And he was proud to say, that it was funny, and stylish and well-choreographed (that had been Artie working with Mike) and, he was proud of the vocals.
Today was the first full dress rehearsal, and tomorrow was opening night. Finn was actually really excited. More than he'd looked forward to anything in a really long time. Kurt said that he and Rachel were coming too. Finn was really proud that they were going to see the culmination of six weeks' worth of work.
He and Artie were watching the performance from midway back in the auditorium to get a sense of how it would appear to the audience, while the cast were on the stage. They were about to start.
Artie noticed first, "Has anyone seen Sam today?"
"I saw him at lunchtime," Said Brittany, "But he had the meatloaf, so maybe he's a home or in the sick bay."
"I ate the meatloaf," Artie pointed out, "and I'm fine."
"Maybe he was abducted by aliens?" Brittany suggested.
"Ah, okay," Artie clearly wished to move past Brittany's comment.
"We can't go on without Kenickie," Ryder pointed out.
"I'll do it, not like Putzie has much to do," Jake pointed out, passive aggressively.
Finn was realizing he was quite impressed with the younger Puckerman, not only did he have a beautiful voice, but he was also an amazing dancer. He felt bad now, that he hadn't gotten a better part. But they didn't really need an understudy at this point so much as a quick stand in. He'd been directing so he knew the staging, the dialogue and almost all of the dance steps.
"I guess I can read the lines until Sam gets here," Finn offered, since everyone else was already playing a part except for him and Artie.
)))
Over half an hour went by and Sam was still nowhere to be found. Finn realized he was up. The make-out scene in the car between Kenickie and Rizzo. With Wade… Unique.
Oh, he felt himself getting nervous.
But he sat in the car and they said the lines. He just felt so awkward.
"Um, we don't need to do the stage kiss, this is just rehearsal," Finn suggested.
Unique studied him for a moment before nodding sadly, "Of course."
She looked disappointed and shy though.
Finn knew the real reason he didn't want to, and he felt ashamed of himself, but he just couldn't do that with… a girl with a…
Where the hell was Sam!
))))))))
Coach Beiste entered the auditorium when they were almost finished, all singing, "We go together".
"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner," She explained, "I had to take Sam to the hospital."
"What?"
"Is he okay?"
Beiste shook her head, "He took one hell of a hit in football training earlier, he's got three broken ribs."
"How bad?"
"No football for at least a month," Coach explained.
"Can he sing?" Tina asked, clearly worried about the fate of the musical.
"Sing!" Coach drawled, "He's sore just breathin', he's as fine as frog's hair split four ways!"
What?
Finn wasn't the only one who paused, because they didn't understand that expression.
"I'll go see him," Finn offered, "anyone else wanna come?"
))))))))))
They didn't even stop for flowers, not that Sam would probably want them anyway. Unique, Brittany, Tina and Blaine all went with Finn.
Sam was propped up in a bed, he looked really uncomfortable, and was trying to grin through the pain. He could barely talk, because it made it worse. They only stayed a few minutes. Finn had called Mrs Evans. She was going to drive to Ohio tomorrow morning and get him.
Finn hung back, and once they were alone, "What happened, man?"
"They did it on purpose," Sam admitted now that it was only the two of them. "Josh Coleman, Mitch Banks, that shit, Doug Wallace, a few other homophobes on the football team," Sam looked so disappointed.
His green eyes were glassed over, as if looking to Finn for guidance, "We were practicing tackles, and the guys who were supposed to be blocking hung me out to dry."
"Why?"
"Josh and Mitch both slammed me," Sam's eyes remained downcast his voice soft, "I hit the ground… so hard… felt like a boulder dropped on me."
"Why do you think it was deliberate?" Finn asked.
"They didn't try… to help me back up," Sam seemed so ashamed of what had happened.
"Josh called me a 'Tranny Lover'," Sam narrated, "then Mitch said, 'Can't wait to see you… make out with that dude in a dress… in front of the whole school!'"
"'Gay is the word!' Said Doug… as they walked off," Sam was shaking his head just recalling it he was so dejected, "I had broken bones…" He whispered, "couldn't breathe."
Finn hadn't given it a thought when he'd cast Unique for Rizzo. He was proud of the progressive stance they were taking, but it wasn't until this afternoon, that Finn could see the casting choice had implications bigger than Unique's dreams. When Finn had been forced to walk in Sam's shoes, he didn't feel so great about it. Not that Sam had complained at all, the entire process, or rehearsals, he'd been practicing all the scenes alongside Unique. But that didn't mean it wasn't going to cost him. Like now.
"I can't go on," Sam admitted.
The musical was clearly out. Sam would be lucky if he was well enough to watch the performance.
"Because of your ribs."
Sam nodded, but then he said, "If my ribs were okay right now, I… I'd still be worried."
Then he looked so ashamed. But Finn understood.
"It's nothing against Unique, we've been rehearsing, and she's great, but…, I'm already the poor, former stripper, I don't need this too."
This isn't fair.
The homophobes, or transphobes or whatever, shouldn't get to win.
"And those are the guys telling me too my face," Sam's fears were well founded, "it's not just them, the whole school are gonna give me shit… I've got like… eight months of Senior Year left, that's a long time."
But they were winning, because if the musical doesn't have a Kenickie… it's all over for everyone.
It's harder for a student to live down all the teasing, Finn knew.
I don't go here anymore… I am the former quarterback, I have a level of respect. If I were to do it, it would send a strong message that we won't be intimidated, and we don't care what the hell they think.
I have to do it, the thought suddenly dawned on Finn. What would Kurt say if he were here? Step up, or step off.
))))))))))))))
The next morning Finn was called into Figgins' office to see Unique, Sue and two people he didn't know.
"What's going on?" Finn felt like this was a bad sign.
"Unique can't perform in Grease," The woman said.
"What?" But Finn figured he already knew, he hadn't slept well last night, thinking on it too.
"Finn, this is Bob and Shirley Adams, Wade's parents," Figgins announced.
Sue chimed in, "Word is that the student playing Kenickie had his ribs broken because of some objections to the casting of Unique to play Rizzo," Sue informed the group, "For that reason I called Wade's parents and let them know I feared for their son's safety."
"We know this is going to be hard, Wade's been so excited about the musical," Her dad spoke.
Her mom took over, "But if the jocks at this school would break their teammate's ribs because he might have to stage kiss our… Unique, then what are they going to do to him?"
Unique's eyes brimmed with tears, "I didn't want anyone to get hurt, but… it's just not fair!"
Mrs Adams turned to Unique, "I know, it's not fair, but we love you, and we need to know you're safe."
"This show is the only thing I've been looking forward too," Unique protested.
Finn felt his heart breaking for her. He remembered their conversation from only a month ago, dreams aren't free.
Finn knew what that looked like, a footballer who wanted to sing and dance on stage seemed like a pipedream when he was a sophomore. They had come so far, only to get kicked in the stomach.
"Why do the bigots get to decide who gets cast in what role in the musical?" Finn asked, but he knew the battle was lost.
The rest of the brief exchange was just Unique teary-eyed saying it wasn't fair, and her parents making the same argument about safety. And Figgins being his typical bystander self.
"Why would you do this?" Finn stared Sue down. But he already knew.
"Protecting the welfare of a child in a way that conveniently derails your musical sounds exactly like me," Sue sounded self-satisfied, "Classic Sue Sylvester."
Finn thought on his feet, "We'll, make do."
"How?" Sue questioned him, "If you don't have a Kenickie and you don't have a Rizzo, you don't have a show."
Finn was being petulant now, "Well, who says I can't find another Rizzo."
"Me," Sue smirked.
Fuck!
Finn only had about two seconds to wallow.
What's that saying? 'The show's gotta go all over the place… or something?'
)))))))))))))))))
"Of course, I can play Rizzo," Santana agreed, seeming really happy to be back at McKinley.
It was 1 pm and the show was starting at 7:30 that night. He'd called Santana as he left Figgins' office and she must have gotten straight in her car for the four-hour drive to Lima. Finn was starting to wonder how it was that she was able to drop everything to visit on such short notice. He supposed he was grateful and didn't care.
"Are you sure?" Artie asked, "We open tonight and we just gave you the script."
"I was born to play this role, I've known it since I was one, come on Artie," Santana actually sounded insulted they didn't think she could handle it.
Tina came in, in a Rizzo costume, saying how she had learned most of the lines for the part but might have to hold a script in the second act.
Santana's face held back her expression that said 'awkward!'
Oops! Finn felt bad for her, but Tina wasn't right for it. Santana wouldn't need to act, she simply was Rizzo. He told Tina they needed her to play Jan, she wasn't so impressed.
)))))
They spent the rest of the day rehearsing. Finn at least knew the songs and the choreography because he'd been watching the staging for the last month. Santana was learning all the steps on the fly, even though she knew all the songs and dialogue. She was already better than him.
))))
Artie was barking orders. Kitty was helping Marley with her costume. Santana was sitting at the make- up table, talking to Brittany as she added powder.
Showtime! Finn was busy fixing his hair with gel, and peeking out the curtain to see the auditorium filling up. Finn saw Kurt and Rachel in one of the front rows and decided to say a quick 'hi'.
"We heard a rumor you were playing Kenickie," Kurt seemed amazed, "How did that happen?"
"Sam got hit hard at football practice yesterday, he's out with three broken ribs," Finn didn't want everyone to know that it had been deliberate and an act of hate.
Finn felt bad for Sam. His choices had put him in the firing line. No, they are in the wrong, we should be able to cast however we see fit. Sam was happy to play the role as was!
Rachel looked at him, like she felt sorry for him. Yes, my life's ambition right now is directing a high school musical, I know that isn't good enough for you!
She managed a smile, "Break a leg," she said.
))))))))))
And then there he was, taking to the stage, while the curtain was down momentarily. He hopped into the 1950s looking T-bird with Santana. They actually hadn't rehearsed this scene. They'd simply run out of time.
"How do you want to play this?" He whispered, since they had about 10 seconds before the curtain would go up.
"You got this, Lumps," Santana snarked, "just act like you don't have a clue what you're doing."
He figured he'd walked right into that one. Santana turned to him, a broad smile with her dimple on full display. Then the curtain was up, and Finn was blinded by the spotlight. And then he forgot his lines. And he couldn't remember how the scene started. He was completely blank. And all he could see was bright white in his eyes.
They were purposely using a modified version of the movie car with no roof, so it would be easier for the audience to see. It was totally backfiring at this moment though.
Oh no!
And then she had hold of his collar, and was pushing him back, as she straddled him. Her pushing him back changed the angle of the spotlight, and so Finn was no longer blinded. And he got back his faculties. And then he felt Santana's lips on his. He could taste her lipstick.
This scene starts with us making out.
Finn held her around the waist, and Santana had wrapped her arms around his neck. Then her hands were on his shoulders and she practically pushed his face into her neck. Kiss her neck.
She was saying something about "call me Betty".
"Betty," He kept repeating between kisses, "Betty"
She pulled back after about 10 seconds.
Fanning herself with her hand, which was a Santana-ism, the way she did when Sam went all Beiber Boy Band.
She cocked a wicked eyebrow, smirking deviously, "Hey… you got something?"
Act over-excited, "Are you kidding?"
Finn fumbled to produce the oversize fake rubber from his prop wallet.
"My 25-cent insurance policy," Finn remembered now.
She acted impressed, "Big Spender!"
Artie had insisted on some deliberate sound effects to exaggerate the condom breaking.
"It broke."
"What?"
He exaggerated his disappointment, dropping his shoulders, at realizing his character's hopes to finally go all the way had be dashed. "I bought it in the 7th grade."
"Stuff it," she said mischievously.
And then Santana resumed kissing him again. All he could feel was her big lips, engulfing his whole mouth. She tasted like mint. Finn felt his body come alive for the first time with someone who wasn't Rachel since the break-up. At least the car was obstructing the audience's view otherwise he might have been up for an ultra-embarrassing situation.
Robbie, the stocky kid with dark hair from the wrestling team, was playing Leo, the Scorpion's leader. He was in the prop car with Brittany as Cha-Cha. They'd come up with a fun way of showing the Hell's Angel's car ramming Kenickie and Rizzo's make-out car. It had been Artie's ingenious idea. It was just a car body with functioning wheels which made it really light because there was no engine. So there were three stage crew all in black, ducking down while pulling the car along, while being hidden from the audience by the body of the car. They would pull the car into their car and ram it a few times.
"I'll give you 75 cents for the whole car, including your woman!" Robbie as Leo delivered the line perfectly, as a tossed off the insult with such condescension.
It had never struck him before now, just how awful a thing that was to say to someone, about an actual person. Santana conveyed the hurt of that moment, and then she was back to focusing on him. They resumed their lip lock. Finn got a little carried away, before realizing it was dark and Santana was pulling away.
"Okay?" He whispered.
Santana was off him and climbing out of the car body and that was that.
Mike actually shook his shoulder to get his attention, "Curtain's down, buddy!"
"Get off the stage," Artie motioned, trying not to raise his voice.
And Finn still felt the tingle of where Santana Lopez's lips had been moments earlier.
)))))))))
Finn found himself needing the privacy of the prop closet. If I get sprung… I'm already the guy hanging around my high school after graduating. He'd gotten a bit worked up with all the making out. He hadn't seriously looked at Santana like that since junior year. Maybe it was his body catching up to the reality he knew to be true. He and Rachel were really done this time. He thought back to a crappy motel room, and a lilac satin night gown, and a pretty woman, with all the confidence of a tigress making a man out of a shy boy. What seemed so long ago now, a night he'd tried to forget so many times. But when you're 16, and you've only seen one girl naked, it's hard not to have her body burned permanently into your memory. And what a body, it was! Since the break-up he'd just been dead, from the waist down. It was liberating to know he wasn't done, like there was still hope for him.
))))))
"Rizzo," He walked over to her, reaching out to touch her arm, "I hear you're knocked up."
Santana glances around more annoyed than nervous, "You do, ha? Boy good news really does travel fast."
Artie had found a way to use a projector to show the silhouettes of the teenagers gossiping about Rizzo, being passed from person to person and car to car. The stage was only small, and they couldn't line up four or so cars for that one scene. So that's how they had to do it.
Finn felt comfortable with this part, "Why didn't ya tell me about it?"
And Santana's body language reflected nonchalant, "What's it to ya?" But then her eyes scanned his face, because Rizzo cares very much what Kenickie's honest reaction is to her news.
"I thought I might be able to do something…"
Santana shakes her head as she's saying, "You did enough." The way her voice hitches on the last word makes it clear it's Kenickie's.
He put his arm around her shoulders, "I don't run away from my mistakes."
Santana plays a small smile, before her expression becomes hard, for the lie, "Don't worry about it, Kenickie, it was somebody else's mistake," And then her eyes would immediately dart to his, nervous for his reaction.
Finn takes his arm away, and locks his jaw before passively-aggressively smiling to cover his anger that she's been with another guy, "Thanks a lot, kid." And he walks away from her, looking ready to kick something. Proving that he really does care about her and he was prepared to do the right thing.
In the movie, after Rizzo says "Anytime," it's been shot just so, that the light hits her eye implying she's tearing up, despite her cool exterior.
The lights went off and they walked to stage right.
)))))
Finn watched on proudly as Santana slayed her rendition of 'There are worse things I could do'. This song was one he tended to skip over, there was so many more, upbeat, big numbers. But he stopped and really listened to it. She was so commanding when she was on stage, she dwarfed everybody else. It wasn't just the notes, but the emotion she was conveying. He could see Brittany off to the side on stage left, and Santana was looking at her with such regret and sadness. Maybe she was channeling her recent break-up pain for her performance. He could relate.
))))
And then they were up to 'You're the one that I want'. It always made him think of that first week of Glee rehearsal, and Rachel. He couldn't help but think when he saw Marley and Ryder as Danny and Sandy in the Shake Shack of him and Rachel playing the leads. Some days were harder to be broken up than others, and today was one of those days. He imagined them stretching their hands out to each other, making vows to stay together after high school. But, when one of you ends up in New York pursuing their lofty dreams and the other is a bumbling mess who isn't leaving the cow town they grew up in… well… those childish pacts are easier said than done.
Santana as Rizzo had just come over to him. He swung on the wooden carnival backdrop.
"False alarm," Santana smiled, and then looked at him, expectant.
And then it was his line again, "Woohoo!"
And Finn realized he'd kind of been through Kenickie's story himself, Quinn's pregnancy was real of course, but he'd been relieved once he got over his anger at being cheated, on that he wasn't becoming a father at 16.
He picked her up and swung her around in celebration. Were they supposed to kiss here? He couldn't remember. They'd focused so much on all the dance numbers other parts were being ad-libbed a bit.
Finn went for it, he was holding Santana around the waist, up in the air, he lowered her down to his lips. She was so light it was easy. And Santana responded by kissing him back.
It must have been in the script!
And then they were doing the 'We go together dance' which was always fun.
Artie had had to explain to the newer Glee kids about why all the funny fake words; 'rama-lama ding-dong'. In the 1950s you weren't allowed to talk about sex on screen, so you had to find creative ways of getting your message across.
They were holding hands and shaking their hips 1950s style. And then it was all over and the curtain was going down and everyone was hugging. Then the curtain came up and they all bowed. And then the curtain went down again.
And then the curtain went up and the individual actors took their bows. And all the crazy, energy, of everything was suddenly over, and the stress, and now they could just celebrate.
))))))))))))))))))
They all reconvened in the choir room. They were all celebrating and hugging and congratulating each other. Artie read the review that had already been posted by some snarky sophomore. It was full of glowing praise. Artie got to the end, "Grease, McKinley, Bravo!"
Wow! Finn felt really good. They had all really earned it.
)))))))))))))
Finn came out, still in his costume to see what the real critics thought of it. Well, the people whose opinions mattered to him, anyway.
"You didn't mention that Santana was going to be playing Rizzo… opposite you," Rachel reproached him, "All the Playbills say Unique Adams is playing Rizzo."
"Unique was playing Rizzo until this morning," Finn explained, "when we had a drastic change of plans, and I called Santana in a panic."
"Oh," Was all Rachel said.
"She arrived in Lima like six hours before we had to go on, name another performer who could pull that off so well!" Finn beamed.
Then he saw Rachel's face and maybe he should have dialed it down a bit.
"Like your 'Don't rain on my parade'," he tried to make it better, "at sectionals."
She smiled, in a forced way.
"You looked like you really enjoyed yourself… playing Kenickie."
He hoped she meant that kindly. "Yeah, it was fun, I think I prefer to be on stage to directing, but directing was a nice change."
Rachel was full of complements, "You guys did an amazing job."
"It's fun to make all the decisions and see the idea you imagine unfold."
"I had a few notes," Rachel said, but she must have noticed his sharp intake of breath, "but they were small."
That's my Rachel.
He told her the truth, "I was thinking the whole time, 'what would Rachel do'. You're my moose," he joked.
"It's muse," she corrected him.
"I know, I just wanted to see you smile."
But credit where credit is due, Finn praised his co-director, "Artie is the real genius with the vision, when it comes to staging, he's got a bright future ahead of him."
"Well, I for one, loved Greased Lightening!" Kurt said, "All the car props were fabulous, it really put the authenticity over the top!"
"Thank you, Burt," Finn informed them.
"Well, you were all amazing," Kurt said, holding Rachel to him, speaking for both of them, "We'd love to stay and sing your praises all night, but we need to get to bed, early flight back to New York tomorrow, congratulate the whole group for us."
"Are you gonna be at our house?" Finn wondered.
"No, I invited Kurt to mine," Rachel answered for his brother, "we're trying out a new fascial, nighttime ritual."
"I promised I'd try it, to see what this one's been raving about," Kurt poked Rachel playfully.
It was nice that they were so close now.
"I thought it was great," Rachel admitted.
They locked eyes for a long moment, there was sadness and longing, and just loss all bound up in their interactions now.
Rachel was the first to baulk, "You look good, Finn."
And then she turned and trailed after Kurt.
)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))0
Finn kept watching Santana. She was sitting with the group, congratulating and hugging the other cast and hanging around Brittany. She eventually slipped off by herself, down the halls and outside in the cold night air. It after ten on Friday night now. Santana sat on the nearby wooden bench, outside the gym. He saw her light up a cigarette, and take a puff, instantly regretting that she was only wearing her light Pink Ladies jacket. Finn announced his presence coming up behind her and offering her his T-birds jacket as well, placing it around her shoulders. Santana looked amused more than anything, he sat beside her.
"Oh, umm, I just wanted to thank you, again, for dropping everything to save my ass," Finn tried to steady himself, because he was feeling nervous. "You were amazing tonight."
"No problem."
They would talk on the phone, like this morning, but usually only when one of them needed a favor. Finn had never been able to call her to just chat, even though he considered them friends. They'd never established a normal friendship and after everything that had gone down between them, it was too hard.
Finn stared out at the stars, "It didn't even occur to me to have Kitty step up to play Rizzo, or Tina, which she obviously wanted," Finn admitted freely, "I thought of you, only you." He realized why, "because, you were my Rizzo."
Santana raised her eyebrows as if she was going to say something, but instead took another long drag on her cigarette. Puffing out a perfectly shaped 'O'.
Finn whispered to Santana, "I've never really gotten Rizzo, for me, Grease has always been about Danny and Sandy."
"Shocker!" She responded sarcastically.
He ignored her, "But it was no small thing what Rizzo was trying to do for him. That feeling, of being trapped… like what almost happened to me, when Quinn was…" He honestly wasn't sure exactly what he was trying to say. "Rizzo was willing to throw away her reputation and ambition and everything… for him."
Santana looked at him really closely after that, studying his face.
"I think she really loved him," Santana responded poignantly, no bullshit, before slowly taking another drag.
He nodded, "I like, that at the end Kenickie's with her because he wants her," Finn stated, really getting into the emotion of it all, "it's his choice, he's not being forced by obligation or whatever."
Santana nodded. "I think she did what she did to protect him, and their happiness."
Finn wasn't quite sure what she meant by that.
Santana stated, "Well, Rizzo's always been my favorite because she's true to herself, and she questions the double standards," Santana nodded, looking into the night sky, "she's the one that lives by her own rules."
"You mean about sex?"
"Yeah, Danny's a stud because he plays the field, but she gets labelled 'trashy'."
"Well, that's the 1950s for you."
Santana scoffed, "you think things are so different now? You saw what happened to Quinn."
"Times have changed."
She clearly didn't think so.
Finn reminded her, "At least it all worked out since she wasn't actually pregnant."
Santana studied his face closely, as if checking for a tell. She didn't think so, "You think that's what really happened?"
Finn didn't know what to say, "She said it was a false alarm, or… she miscarried."
Santana was shaking her head, "She had an abortion."
"What?"
"Either that, or the Rydell High School year is about five weeks long," Santana quipped.
Finn was taken aback by her analysis.
Santana decided to explain it to him, "They have unprotected sex right after the homecoming game, and Kenickie doesn't check in with her until the graduation carnival, she kind of would have known it was a false alarm, within a matter of weeks."
Finn stopped.
Santana weighed it up, "They could have kept at it, but it's pretty obvious they are on the rocks not that long after that make out car scene."
Santana watched him intently, like a cat. It was unsettling.
"Could a girl even get… one of those back then?"
She sucked deep on the butt, the orange glow almost burned right to her fingers, "They could, not easily, but yeah."
"I've never noticed that."
"See, she loves him, so she doesn't want to trap him," Santana kept on illuminating it, "even after he says that he doesn't run away from his responsibilities."
Finn nodded, "Rizzo tells him it was someone else's mistake."
"She lets him off the hook."
"I don't know," Finn disagreed, "but then he's mad, because he now thinks she cheated on him."
"You see, that's why, she does what she has to do," Santana explains it, "and if he really loves her, he'll come back and stay of his own free will."
"Like at the end," Finn sort an example that demonstrated her point, before countering, "But he's happy she's not pregnant."
"If he'd had to do the 'right thing'" Santana held up her fingers in air quotes, "when he wasn't ready, they'd have wound up resenting each other."
Finn summarized her conclusion, "So, Rizzo is the true hero."
"Yeah," Santana smiled sadly, "She had to be true to herself. She didn't want that for herself."
She took another slow drag. Finn kept considering it all really carefully now. He'd tended to just watch the film.
Santana had clearly given it a lot of thought, "If she'd kept it, they wouldn't have worked out. If she'd done it all by herself, she'd have ended up hating him, even if he never knew." Santana eyed him, speaking with a genuine sadness, "and if he'd been with her for the sake of the baby… well, they both would have resented each other eventually."
Finn wasn't sure what to say, "Maybe he would have surprised her, and stepped up."
"She set him free so that he could be happy one day."
Finn nodded, finally finding a new found respect for Rizzo, "I may have underestimated her."
Santana smiled sadly, going for another cigarette.
She was just still for a long while. After a long while, and Finn starting to realize he was kind of cold now that he only had a flimsy white tee on. Finn wanted to make a move and just kiss her. He wasn't sure if she'd let him or not. As much as Santana was into women, he knew she still had feelings for him.
She suddenly spoke, "You know, Britts and I used to call it 'The Prick Test'."
"What?!"
Santana seemed amused by the whole thing, "We'd take a guy for three-way date and ignore him. Talk about crap that won't interest him. I'd deliberately bag on people he likes, just to see what he'd do."
Finn realized what she was referring to, "Like when we all went to Breadstix?"
"Yep," She looked devious, "the more spoiled we'd act was bonus points."
Finn was completely lost, "Why do that?"
She just smirked, "And when he'd finally get fed up, we'd tell him if he paid, we'd make out in front of him."
"And?"
"And if he stays, he's a prick."
She shrugged, nonchalant. "You passed," She informed him proudly.
"So, you set us up to fail?"
Santana defended her practice, "Hey, any guy who'll not care what's being talked about, and will hang in there while Britts and I be obnoxious is just proving all he wants is sex."
He queried tentatively, "Didn't Puck only want sex?"
She rolled her eyes, "Puck is smokin' hot, the rules are different," Her irritated expression said 'why do I have to explain the world to you!'
Finn remembered back to Santana being rude to the wait staff then telling him to leave his non-existent credit card. He thought they were both awful and couldn't believe he'd wanted to date either one of them.
"What did I win?" He said, before making the realization.
Sex. That's why she had sex with me.
Just kiss her. The worst she can do is say no. And make fun of me… and tell everyone… That last thought stopped him.
"It's funny," Santana stared off at the stars, "for so long, sex to me was just, you know, concentrate on what feels good, and don't fucking talk to me."
She's opening up to me? She does like me! He felt light headed. Santana never just talks about personal stuff!
"But this, daggy, mamma's boy, who like, freaked out in the bathroom before we did anything," Santana kept recalling it.
Wait! Is she talking about me?
"Well, he kept asking me if I was okay, like during…" She admitted, "And normally I hate when guys talk, and I tell them to shut it, but he was so sweet, he made me think of Brittany, you know."
He nodded, but he didn't understand what was happening.
She shook her head, "You can't be mean to people that innocent," she said it like it was this unwritten rule or something.
You were mean to me pretty much from sectionals in Junior Year onwards. He could actually pinpoint when she started being an ass to him. Should he take something away from that?
She stubbed out the tiny red glow. She pulled out her pack of American Spirit, Finn was considering asking her for one too, he could stand to feel more relaxed.
Santana continued her narrative, "Anyway, I started to ask myself if I really wanted to be there."
Is she about to tell me I made her gay? Now he was really lost. Just let her talk! He chastised himself.
"But he didn't want me, and he turned around right afterwards and told me he was ashamed, and that it was meaningless."
"I didn't mean…"
She cut him off, "And he wanted to pretend it never happened," she shrugged as if indifferent, "And so I played along."
Why is she still talking about me in third person?
Finn tried to explain himself, "You acted like you didn't care, I thought it was just… whatever to you."
Santana ignored him, "He'd rather chase selfish, spoiled, Streisand Wannabes, so whatever."
He felt the need to defend Rachel, "don't call her…"
"And he thought I was a slut," Santana said it like it was just a fact.
Finn hung his head in shame, he did think she was easy at the time. He also hadn't been ready, and her confidence scared the shit out of him. And he didn't understand all the stuff going on with her back then. In hindsight it made sense.
Finn saw his opportunity. "I don't think that about you now," he said, staring into her pretty dark eyes, so she could see how much he genuinely meant it.
Finn leaned over and pulled her into a tight embrace. His lips sort hers in a sweet kiss. She tasted like cigarettes and lipstick. Santana looked surprised. He just sucked on her lip at first, the bottom one then the top, he presumed to deepen the kiss. His hands gripping her waist, and pulling her closer to him, feeling her heat. Santana had always made him feel alive. He put a hand on her thigh, covered by her black pencil skirt. That was the point at which Santana put a stop to things. She pushed him back gently, and sat up.
She was looking at him like he had two heads, "I was wondering why you've been following me around like a lost puppy all night."
Kiss of death.
"I'm flattered, really," Santana smiled sadly, "but, seriously, if you're chasing around my lady-lovin' ass, you're not in a good place."
"Oh, um…"
"I was stage kissing you," She commented, "you were sticking your tongue down my throat."
"Oh, umm, I didn't realize," Finn was suddenly flustered, he could feel the hot flush creeping up his cheeks, "I was so stressed and we didn't rehearse some of those scenes…"
Her face said she didn't accept that answer as the whole truth. "Was the boner on stage part of your method acting too?" She looked less impressed.
Finn froze, he had really hoped they would both be too embarrassed to ever mention that.
"I'm sorry," Was all Finn said. He just wanted to be gone. "Thanks again, for everything," He mumbled, walking away, feeling humiliated.
You are such a fucking loser! He berated himself.
"Hey, hold up," Santana called after him, "Finn!"
He stopped and turned, barely looking her in the eye. The fact that she used his actual given name for once, was in of itself, worthy of his attention.
"I'm trying not to be a bitch for once in my life, I…" And then she got tongue tied again.
Santana Lopez unable to express herself?
"I need to tell you something," She struggled to explain.
What is going on with her? What's with all the mixed signals?
Finn felt like a complete idiot now. "You started talking about sex and how sweet I was, what was I supposed to think?"
She seemed incredulous, "That I'm a lesbian."
He wasn't crazy, "Come on, I know you talk a good game about how bad I am in bed, but I recall you asking me to dump Rachel and go out with you, after we did the deed." He remembered it clearly. "You acted like you didn't care at the time, but were hurt when I pretended it never happened," Finn listed her behavior, "you threw yourself at me at my mom's wedding even though you knew I was with Rachel, then you tell Rachel we slept together after I explicitly asked you not to, which caused us problems."
Her expression said he was wrong and she was mad, "And you think I did all of that because I want you?"
"Why then?" He was sick of her bullshit.
Santana just started shaking her head, but he thought she didn't have a good comeback. She was usually so good at biting remarks off the cuff.
He kept raising examples, "I turned you down and asked you to stop insulting everybody and you give me mono… which very conveniently involved you needing to French kiss me…" He concluded, arms crossed, feeling pretty proud of himself, "Shall I go on."
Santana seemed searing mad, for some weird reason. She stubbed out her cigarette, and was done with him.
"You know how you said, I was your Rizzo," She waited for him to acknowledge her words.
"Yeah?"
She spat, "Well, you were my Kenickie."
"What does that…"
"Figure it out, Hudson!" She snapped.
She walked away from him. Clearly disgusted by his presence.
What just happened?
Finn realized he should probably not upset her further though, because they had three more shows.
