AN: The first three chapters were slower because I wanted to get the feeling and the setting of the story across first. Things should start speeding up now.

The alarm clock went off, and Finn quickly shut it off; he was so sick of that thing, but at least this time it wasn't Santana waking him up. He could hear voices down the hall, and recognized Santana's sympathetic one. Brittany answered back, they both laughed about something, and then Finn heard Santana offer her some more coffee. Santana sounded like she was having more fun with Brittany then she ever did when she was with him. Slowly, Finn put on a pair of shorts, and went into the kitchen shirtless; Brittany wouldn't be paying attention to him anyway.

"You couldn't have coffee at your own place?" Finn asked rudely when he came in, sparing the two of them a glance before reaching for the coffee mug. He could feel Santana's glaring eyes on him. Brittany didn't seem to hear the rudeness though.

"Artie had to work early again, and I don't know how to make coffee." She said, and Finn had to hold back a laugh. Of course Brittany didn't know how to make coffee; what did she know? He turned around to face them, Santana patting Brittany's hand affectionately. She did that a lot.

"It's okay B. You're invited here whenever you want." Santana said sympathetically, and Finn raised his eyebrows as he took a sip of his coffee. It was his apartment, and technically Santana wasn't even living there, but she was allowed to invite her best friends over whenever she wanted to.

"Thanks Santana, you're such a good friend." Brittany said affectionately, giving Santana a glowing look. Santana returned it, and once again, Finn wondered who Santana was in a relationship with. He actually felt like he was ruining an intimate moment.

"It's no problem, I do love you." Finn's girlfriend answered. He practically choked on his coffee when she said that; Santana told Brittany she loved her with much more affection then when she told Finn. Maybe Santana should sleep around at Brittany's apartment; Artie worked so many hours, he probably wouldn't even notice. Suddenly, Santana remembered that Finn was there, letting go of Brittany's hand and clearing her throat. "Go get the breakfast, Finn."

"Are you serious? Why can't you go?" he asked, his jaw dropping. Since when did picking up breakfast at Dunkin's Donuts become his thing? Why was Santana all of a sudden into the idea of him spending his money for her breakfast?

"Finn, we aren't arguing about this. Go get the food now." Santana said in a hard voice, and not wanting to start a fight, Finn sighed loudly and went back to his bedroom. He threw on the first shirt that he can find, and came back out to the kitchen, putting his shoes on.

"I'm going, I'm going." He said as he closed the front door behind him. Finn found that there was at least one good thing about going to Dunkin' Donuts today; Rachel would be there, and for some odd reason, seeing Rachel made him very happy.

"Good morning, Rachel." He said cheerfully as he walked in, seeing Rachel behind the counter and Quinn on the other side. Rachel turned to where he had come in, and gave him a wide smile when she saw who it was. Quinn's eyes flashed from Finn's, to Rachel's, with a grin on her face. "Hello Quinn."

"Hey Finn, did you sleep well?" Quinn asked, and Finn tried to keep his eyes on Quinn, but they kept turning to Rachel. He had to remind himself to focus.

"I slept okay, what about you? Rachel said you had a hard night the other night." He responded, and Quinn quickly glanced at Rachel, looking suddenly nervous.

"Oh! Yeah, I guess I just had a rough night or something. Nothing to worry about." She said, not meeting Finn's eyes. He was finally able to turn to Rachel, who was still smiling at him.

"Where's Santana today?" she asked, looking behind Finn to make sure there was no one else there. Finn scratched his forehead for a second before answering.

"She's with a friend back at my apartment." He said, and Rachel and Quinn nodded at this information. Something about the way Finn answered the question was bugging Quinn, so she decided to just be straight forward about it.

"You said it's your apartment, as in only you live there? Don't you share it with Santana?" she asked, hoping Finn wouldn't think that was too personal of a question, only asking it because she knew Rachel would want to know this important piece of information. Fortunately, Finn didn't think it was too personal of a question, and answered it honestly.

"No, she doesn't, she just likes to sleepover." He said, and Rachel raised an eyebrow at him. Finn knew it must have sounded weird out loud.

"She sleeps over every night?" Rachel asked, and Finn bit his bottom lip. Realizing that she might have passed a certain line, Rachel shook her head at him. "I'm sorry, that was too personal. Just let me make your food and then you can get out of here!"

Rachel moved around behind the counter, making the sandwiches, trying to hear what Quinn was saying to Finn. When she turned back around to give him the bag full of food, she could clearly hear what the two of them were talking about.

"Yeah, we've been together for a year and three months now." Finn was saying, and Quinn smiled at him. Rachel gulped; it felt like something was stuck in her throat again.

"You must be planning on marrying her one day; you talk about her as if you will." Quinn said, her chin resting on her hand. Finn looked very uncomfortable at this question; if someone had said the same thing to him a week before, he would have agreed, but now he wasn't so sure.

"Maybe." Was all he said, and sighing out of relief, Rachel handed him his order. Finn directed his attention back to Rachel, smiling as he gave her the cash. "Thanks Rachel. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." She agreed, while giving Finn his change and watching him leave the Dunkin' Donuts. Quinn turned to Rachel once he had left, but Rachel was still gazing at the front door, dazing off.

"I guess that means he'll be picking up the breakfast from now on." Quinn stated, a smirk playing on her lips. Rachel smiled at the thought, another customer coming up to the counter. She made them their order, gave them their change, and then turned back to Quinn.

"I hope so. Do you think he likes me?" she asked, not able to keep it in any longer. Rachel had to know if he felt the way she felt about him, even if he did have a girlfriend that was much more beautiful than her. Quinn smiled at her for only a moment, something hiding in her eyes.

"I think he might." She said softly, but she suddenly became more serious. "Rachel, he has a girlfriend, who he is clearly in love with. Don't let this little crush you have on him go too far; you're only going to get hurt."

"If he loves Santana so much then why is he giving me those looks whenever he sees me?" Rachel asked Quinn, playing with the charm bracelet on her arm, smiling. She couldn't help the feeling she got whenever Finn was around; it was like the sun was suddenly shining whenever she saw him. It was like everything suddenly became so much better; she had never felt that way about another boy. It looked like Quinn wasn't as excited as she was though.

"Rachel, I told you to not be that Dunkin' Donuts girl. This is how it starts. Remember that story I told you?" she said seriously, and Rachel sighed in frustration. She had a feeling her story wasn't going to be anything like that Dunkin' Donuts girl's story was.

"What if my story with Finn will end differently from the story about the Dunkin' Donuts girl? What if I get the guy in the end?" Rachel asked. It could happen, right? There was no harm in hoping for the best, and even if there was, there was nothing Rachel could do about it. She didn't control who she fell for, even if they were in a serious relationship.

"Why take the chance? I don't think it's worth it. You could hurt a lot of people and ruin a lot of lives this way, even if you do get the guy. You need to think about Santana's feelings before you get caught up in your own." Quinn warned, wishing her friend could understand the seriousness of the situation at hand. But Rachel still had the dreamy look on her face, that look that clearly said that she thought she was getting her fairytale ending. "And you hardly know him."

"What about how I feel about all of this? Doesn't my opinion matter anymore? I've been through a lot recently, with Jessie and all; don't I deserve to be happy now?" Rachel said in a louder voice then intended. She tried to control her temper, but Quinn was getting on her nerves. Why couldn't she see the story from her side?

"Being a side dish for a guy who has a steady girlfriend will not make you happy. It will only leave you feeling unwanted, unloved, and lonely." Her friend told her, and Rachel breathed slowly for a moment. Okay, so she was getting a little too excited about all of this. Quinn was right; she hardly knew Finn, and it would be wrong to try anything on him while he had a girlfriend.

"I guess you're right." She said in quiet voice, studying the charms on her bracelet. Relieved, Quinn smiled at her, patting her hand sympathetically.

"There's a guy out there for you, Rachel, and until you find him, you just have to hold on. You can't chase after men that are already taken." Quinn said, holding Rachel's hand. She squeezed her hand, but Rachel didn't squeeze back. She was still looking at her bracelet, very sulky now.

"I know, I know. I'll just wait until my feelings for Finn fade away." She said, and Quinn squeezed her hand one last time before leaving.

FSFSFSFS

It looked like Brittany had stuck around Finn's apartment the entire time she wasn't teaching dance classes, because when he came home from the museum, she and Santana were curled up together on the sofa watching TV. Santana hardly acknowledged his presence, whispering something in Brittany's ear, making her laugh. Finn felt like they were excluding him from some sort of high school clique. He wondered why Santana never seemed excited to see him, even when they first started going out. He realized Rachel always looked excited when seeing him.

Finn and Santana hardly talked at dinner after Brittany left, Finn mostly just moving the Chinese food around on his plate. He didn't have an appetite for some reason; something felt really wrong that day. He felt like there was something about the apartment that felt different, as if something had shifted. Santana hardly met his eyes at dinner, finding her meal to be very interesting. The atmosphere felt different too, like there was a new feeling in it or something. Finn didn't like that feeling at all; he didn't know what it was, but it sure did scare him.

That night, when he and Santana went to bed, the weirdest thing happened; they didn't have sex. Santana stayed on her side of the bed, her back facing him, falling right to sleep. Finn didn't mind, for a reason he didn't seem to know, he wasn't in the mood for sex either. Or was it that he just wasn't in the mood for sex with Santana? He wondered if it made any difference either way as he drifted into a light sleep.

FRFRFRFR

Finn found himself getting up before the alarm clock even went off. Rubbing at his eyes, he sat up in bed, looking down at Santana who was still sound sleep. Her black hair covered her peaceful face, and unlike all the other days, Finn didn't run his hands through it. Something still felt wrong, and he wondered when it would stop being like that.

Surprising himself, Finn quickly got dressed and found that he was walking out of the apartment to go to Dunkin' Donuts. He didn't know what came over him to make the daily stop without Santana having to pull him out of bed and forcing him to go; he just felt like going today. The Dunkin' Donuts was quiet when he entered, seeing that Rachel was behind the counter, cleaning it over with a paper towel. He noticed that Quinn wasn't there.

"Did Quinn have another hard night?" he asked as he walked up to the counter, scaring Rachel. She dropped the paper towel, and put her hand to her heart. Rachel quickly recovered, threw the paper towel away, and cleared her throat, meeting Finn's eyes.

"Yeah, she has a lot of those." Rachel said, folding her hands on the counter. Finn noticed that Rachel was acting differently today; she seemed stiffer today, and didn't look into his eyes for longer than a moment. Finn didn't know Rachel too well, but he had realized now that she was a very happy person, and she didn't seem that way today.

"Are you okay? You're acting very strange today." Finn asked, eyeing her. Rachel cleared her throat, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm fine." She assured him, but Finn still didn't believe her. Rachel was still acting way too formal.

"You're acting really mature or something, and you don't seem as perky as you usually are. I know we haven't known each other for very long, but it kind of worries me. I like your usual happy self." Finn told her, and at hearing these words, Rachel's face suddenly became brighter, the usual glisten in her eyes coming back. Finn liked how her eyes glistened; it was like seeing two stars.

"Let me get you your food!" Rachel said, using a cheerful tone. She seemed back to normal now. Finn watched as she moved around behind the counter, putting things in and out of the oven. He liked how quickly she worked, but still giving everything very good attention. Finn had never met a girl like Rachel before; she was a nice person to have around you.

"Here you are. That'll cost-", but before Rachel could finish talking, Finn had already pushed the money into her hands, giving her a big smile. He tried not to notice how soft Rachel's hands were.

"I know. Keep the change." Finn told her, still smiling. Rachel gave him a light smile back, her hand still open with the money in it. Finn spared her one more smile before leaving the Dunkin' Donuts, something warming up his stomach.

FPFPFPFP

He was in the back room of the museum for a short break where there were a couple of lockers for the security guards and an old, ripped up sofa. Finn sat on the old cushions, sipping at his coffee when another security guard walked in. He turned around to see that it was Noah Puckerman, better known as Puck, a security guard who had a killer mohawk and was the same age as Finn. Finn wasn't really friends with Puck, but he was closer with him then he was with anyone else who worked at the museum. Puck sat down next to him, lighting a cigarette and blowing on it. Finn turned his head the other way so as to not breathe in the smoke; he once got caught up in the habit of smoking back in high school, and swore to never go back. Puck wasn't making it an easy task.

"So, what are you doing Friday night?" Puck asked, blowing out some more smoke. Finn tried to turn his head in Puck's direction without actually turning in his direction; he didn't want to be rude.

"I'll probably just stay home with Santana." He answered, thinking that Santana would no doubt be doing something with Brittany. Finn thought that Artie had to stop working so many hours, and start spending some more time with his girlfriend.

"Some of the other security guards and I are going to a bar I heard about on Friday. If you and Santana would like to come, that would be cool." He said. Puck had never met Santana before; she refused to come into the museum, but he had heard Finn talk about her often. Finn thought it was nice of Finn to invite him out, especially since he had never been very nice to Puck, but he didn't think Santana would want to spend the night with a bunch of losers that Finn worked with.

"Thanks man, I'll ask her." Finn said, and Puck smiled, briefly patting Fin on the shoulder before stamping out his cigarette.

"Cool." He said, and then left Finn alone in the dirty room.

FSFSFSFS

Santana was taking one of the onions off her pizza when Finn brought up Puck's invitation from earlier that day. He didn't realize until later that he had interrupted her complaints about the photo store she worked at. She looked up from her pizza, the onion in her hand, and an eyebrow up.

"Why would I want to spend my Friday night with a bunch of bad smelling men?" she asked in a disgusted voice, throwing the onion on a napkin. Since when did she not like onions? Santana had always liked onions.

"Oh come on, they don't all smell that bad." Finn said, but Santana just snorted at him. Okay, so a couple of the older men smelled just a little like dirty socks, but he wasn't even sure if they were going to be there.

"It doesn't matter, I'm still not going out." She said, taking a bite of the pizza once it was clean of onions. Finn looked down at his pizza, knowing that Santana wouldn't change her mind no matter what he said.

"But I really want to go." He said in a pleading tone, but Santana didn't even look up at him. Couldn't she see that this meant a lot to Finn? He didn't really have a lot of guy friends and he never seemed to go out unless it was with Santana.

"Then you can go, but I'm not." Santana stated, and there was no changing her mind at that point. Finn sighed loudly, trying to think of what to do. He knew he couldn't go alone; a lot of the guys had girlfriends, and they would be bringing them along. As girly as it might have sounded, Finn didn't want to be the only one there who was alone; he at least wanted someone by his side. He didn't know what he was going to do.

FRFRFRFR

Just as the alarm clock went off after another night of no sex, Finn quickly turned it off and got dressed. Once again, Santana was still sleeping when Finn left the apartment to go to Dunkin' Donuts. And there was Rachel standing with Quinn, talking excitedly about something. She immediately saw Finn come in, and smiled and waved at him. Quinn turned around to look at him, smiling as well. Finn walked up to her, scratching his nose.

"Good morning Finn." Rachel said with one of her perfect smiles, Finn couldn't help but smile back.

"Morning Rachel, Quinn." He responded, nodding his head at Quinn, who gave him another smile. He liked how much these two girls liked him. "You look nice today, Rachel."

And she did; her hair was up in a pretty ponytail, her bangs falling right above her eyes. She was wearing these sparkling, silver earrings, and there was this color about her lips that Finn hadn't noticed until now. He couldn't stop starring at those lips and that color.

"Thank you." She said simply while blushing, before getting to work on his food. Finn had an idea, but he didn't know if it would work, or if Rachel would go along with it. After all, it wasn't like he had any friends that were girls, and it wouldn't hurt to ask. Right…?

"Here you are." Rachel said, handing him the bag, and Finn decided at that moment to just wing it.

"Say Rachel, a couple of guys I work with are going to this bar on Friday night and Santana doesn't want to go. Would you be interested in coming? As my friend, I mean." Finn asked, biting his lower lip. He watched as Rachel starred at him for a moment, glancing at Quinn, and then turning back to him.

"Okay." She said brightly, smiling nervously up at him. Finn was so relieved to hear her accept the invitation that he didn't know how to answer for a moment. Both Rachel and Quinn gave him big smiles though.

"Okay? Really?" he asked, being a little excited about the idea of hanging out with Rachel. He could tell that Rachel was one of those rare people who didn't mind hanging out with some people she didn't even know.

"Yeah!" Rachel said, not even bothering to hide how happy she was. Finn looked just as happy as her anyways.

"Great! So, do you want to meet here at around seven?" he asked, and Rachel nodded fervently, as did Quinn.

"That sounds great." She said, and Finn returned her grin.

"Yep, that's great."