"I might have really messed things up."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Puck asked her, folding his arms across his chest.
"It means that I broke a promise," Rachel replied, breathing heavily. "I ran into Finn outside, and we got into this argument about Quinn, and I accidentally made a slip. I told him that Quinn cheated on him. But I didn't tell him it was with you."
"Oh, shit," Puck said, running a hand through his hair. "What did he say? What did he do?"
"He just left before I could really say anything else," Rachel told him. "And he didn't say where he was going. I am so sorry."
"No, it's okay," Puck assured her. "He needed to know, and I understand that it was all just an accident. We do need to find him though, before he does something stupid. He always acts irrationally when his mind is screwed up."
Rachel nodded her head, agreeing that they needed to find him. "Any ideas on where he might have gone?"
"He has a few usual places. We can split up and search. It'll be quicker," Puck said. "You go to his house and I'll check out the football stadium. Quinn's place is on the way there so I'll stop by."
"Okay, sounds good. I'll call you if I find him," Rachel said.
"Okay," Puck said. "Meet me back here in an hour if you can't find him, okay?"
"Will do," Rachel replied, and she turned on her heel to head out the door. She walked half way down the street until she reached her parked car. She climbed into the vehicle and started the engine. Once the car was all warmed up and ready to go, she sped off down the street towards Finn's apartment.
It wasn't a far drive at all, and when she pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex, she realized that she hadn't seen the inside of Finn's place yet. She shook her head, for that should not be her main concern. She scoped out the parking lot and saw Finn's car parked in its usual spot.
Rachel rushed out of the car and walked into the building, walking as fast as her legs would allow her to. His apartment was on the sixth floor, and the elevator was temporarily out of order, so she ran as fast as she could up the flight of stairs. By the time she reached her desired floor, she was heaving loudly, trying to catch her breath. She mustered up the energy to walk up to Finn's door and give it a gentle knock.
She listened carefully and heard from movement inside, but nothing else happened from there. She knocked again, louder this time. Still nothing.
"Finn, I know you're in there," she called through the door. "Please open the door." After another moment of silence she knocked yet again. "Please, Finn, just talk to me."
She rested her forehead against the door and pulled her cell phone from her pocket to send a text message to Puck. Finn's here, but he won't talk to me. –R
Rachel knocked one last time, and still got no response. "Fine," she said through the door. "I'll leave." She slid her phone back into her pocket and turned around, heading towards the exit stairs. She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard the door open behind her, and she saw Finn standing in the door way.
"Finn," she breathed and walked back to him, stopping only a few feet in front of him. She noticed that his eyes were red his hair messy. He looked terrible, but she still found him as gorgeous as usual. "Finn, I am so sorry."
He looked down at her and offered her a small, very small, smile. "Do you want to come in?"
Rachel nodded her head and stepped into his place, immediately noticing the Finn-ness of his own apartment. She turned to face him again, and she gently placed a hand on his cheek. "I shouldn't have told you what I did. It wasn't my place to say anything to you."
He took her hand and led her over to the couch, sitting down and patting the spot next to her. He waited for her to sit down with him before speaking. "I guess I just don't understand it. I mean, looking back, I can see the signs that Quinn wasn't always as… pure as I thought she was. But… how did you know?"
"I found out at the barbeque," she answered. "I went upstairs to use the restroom, and I overheard Quinn talking about it with Santana."
"Do you know who?" Finn asked, and Rachel really wished he hadn't.
"It was Puck," she told him, and her heart broke when she saw his blank expression upon hearing the news. "It wasn't intentional, and Puck feels really bad. He said he was planning on telling you as soon as the game was over." She waited a moment for him to respond, but got nothing from him. "Please say something."
He looked over at her, "What am I supposed to say, Rachel? I just found out my girlfriend cheated on me with my best friend."
"I'm sorry, Finn," Rachel said, and she looked down at the floor, not knowing what to do or say next.
"I'm sorry too," he replied, "for yelling at you earlier. You haven't done anything wrong, and yet here you are, stuck in the middle of all this drama."
"It's okay, Finn," she said. "You had every reason to be upset with me. Especially considering what happened on Tuesday. I shouldn't have kissed you, and I shouldn't have said anything about Quinn earlier today."
"Hey," he said gently, "Do you remember what else we talk about earlier today? Regarding that kiss? I wasn't lying. Since the moment I ran into you in that store, I knew there was something about you. Something special."
She smiled, and rested her head against his shoulder, feeling him wrap an arm around her. Her hear was melting, and for the first time in the past few days she felt like things might turn out all right.
"Do you want to maybe stay here for a while?" Finn asked her suddenly. "We can just hang out, and maybe pretend for a little while that everything's okay."
"I'd like that," she responded. Finn reached out in front of them and pressed the power button on the TV and put a movie on. He then grabbed the blanket that was draped across the couch and wrapped it around both of them. "This is nice," Rachel commented.
"What?" he asked, looking down into her eyes.
"Being here together, just the two of us, not because we were told to but because we want to," Rachel said.
"Can I ask you a question?" he asked, scooting in closer to her.
"You can ask me anything," Rachel replied, smelling the cologne he was wearing.
"Would it be okay if I kissed you right now?" he asked, his eyes glancing between her eyes and her lips a few times.
She took a deep breath, "I don't want you to rush into something so soon after Quinn. I like you Finn, a lot more than I'd like to admit, but if anything is going to happen between us I want to be certain that it will grow into something more. And right now, you haven't even officially ended things with Quinn."
His gaze dropped and he looked sadly to the floor at her words. "I guess that makes sense."
"But if you wanted to cuddle or something like that, I wouldn't be opposed," she said, and she watched as the smile she loved came back to his face.
He wrapped an arm around her again and pulled her into his side. She felt him kiss the top of her head and she nestled herself even deeper into his side.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the front door, and Finn groaned.
"Maybe if we're quiet, they'll go away," Finn whispered, and then there was another knock at the door.
"Finn, go get the door," Rachel said with a giggle.
Finn untangled himself from her and quickly placed a kiss on her cheek, "Is that okay? Cheek kisses?"
Rachel smiled and nodded her head, "More than okay."
"Awesome," Finn replied and kissed her cheek several more times before Rachel giggled and pushed him in the direction of the door. Rachel watched as he stumbled over to the front door, and he opened it quickly, freezing in place when he saw Puck standing outside the door. "What are you doing here?" Finn asked him, his grip on the door handle tightening.
"Finn, please just hear me out," Puck pleaded.
Finn glanced back at Rachel for a moment before letting out a breath, "Yeah, sure, come in."
Puck let out a look of relief and walked into the apartment. He sat down on the couch next to the one where Finn and Rachel were seated. "Finn, I am so sorry, about everything. You know that I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt you. It was a stupid, stupid drunken mistake, and it will never happen again."
"But why with her?" Finn asked. "You have hookups with random girls all the time. Why her?"
"Because I'm an idiot," Puck replied. "It was late, we were both trashed, and you know how emotionally attached Quinn gets when she's drunk. I am so, so sorry that it ever happened. You're my best friend, and I hope that you can forgive me."
"I guess I should have seen it coming," Finn said. "Quinn's been acting more distant lately. Not like her usual self, at all. I'm trying to sit here, and be all pissed off at everyone, but it's not working, because I'm not even that mad. I never even liked Quinn that much really. If anything I should be happy because this whole situation helped me to realize that I already had exactly what I wanted, right here in front of me." He smiled and took Rachel's hand in his.
"So, does this mean that you forgive me?" Puck asked, interrupting the sweet moment between Finn and Rachel.
Finn turned back to Puck, "Yeah, all is forgiven. No worries, man." Finn's phone began to ring in his back pocket and he pulled it out to see who was calling him. "It's Quinn," he said as he read the caller ID. "I'm going to take this." He stood up from the couch and stepped out into a different room.
"Did you end up stopping by Quinn's on the way to the stadium?" Rachel asked Puck.
Puck nodded his head, "Yeah. I called her after you texted me and told her that Finn knew the truth. She's pretty pissed. She would have been totally content with never telling Finn and spending the rest of forever living a lie."
"That's terrible," Rachel commented. "How could someone be such a cruel person?"
"That's Quinn for you," Puck replied. "She fights dirty. She lies and manipulates people for her own gain."
"When I talked to Finn's mom at the barbeque, she said that she thought Quinn was using Finn for fame," Rachel said. "She'll be thrilled to hear that things are over between Finn and Quinn."
"Mama Hudson was never Quinn's biggest fan," Puck said. "And I agree with her. Quinn was for sure interested in Finn because he was a free ticket to fame."
"What a shame that she was just using him like that," Rachel said with a small shake of her head.
"Yeah, but she's history now," Puck replied. "So, you and Finn, huh?"
Rachel smiled and couldn't stop the blush from forming on her face. "Yeah, but we're taking things slow."
"Still, I think it's nice that it's working out with you two. You are good for each other. For both your careers and for your actual well-being," Puck said.
"Yeah," Rachel agreed. "I'm happy with the way things have turned out."
"Okay," Finn said, walking back into the room. He sat down next to Rachel again and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I ended it with her. It's over. I am officially Quinn free."
"How'd she take it?" Rachel asked.
"Not well," Finn replied. "There was a lot of yelling. She refuses to accept that she did anything wrong, and she actually tried to blame me for her cheating. Saying how it was all my fault for starting the fake relationship with you and pushing her to cheat."
"Well, it's all over and done with now," Rachel said.
"Think you're ready to play in the game tomorrow?" Puck asked him.
Finn looked at both Puck and Rachel, and smiled. "We're going to totally kick some ass tomorrow."
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The next chapter will be the last one!