Huge thanks for the reviews and alerts guys; that always makes me feel good!
As always many thanks to SLopez, who listened to me say I had to work on this almost every day since the last chapter!
Disclaimer: still don't own Glee but will soon get the volume 5 CD!
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Jacob eyed the quarterback with spite.
He couldn't remember why he had come to hate the guy that much. Of course he was tall, handsome, popular... He had the cutest girlfriend (who cared if she was a bitch with a body like that?), and probably would be able to get another one in a heartbeat should those two breakup. But all in all Finn Hudson was a decent person. He'd stopped bullying him and the other nerds way before the other jocks had, well, for those who had actually stopped, the ones in the Glee club.
Why Jacob resented him that much was beyond comprehension. And Jacob was a very smart boy, he knew better than to judge a book by its cover but then again he was totally doing it with the taller student, there must have been a reason he had forgotten about.
He watched Finn for a moment, it wasn't the end of recess yet and he had nothing better to do anyways. It seemed like the quarterback was yet again having an argument with Quinn Fabray. Their daily routine if you asked him. But lately Finn had been majorly ignoring her rather than fight with her.
Something caught Jacob's eyes as he made his way to his next class. Finn was staring through the choir room window, seemingly mesmerized about something inside, or maybe just staring into space, it was hard to tell from a distance. What was clear, though, was that he couldn't hear Quinn who was yelling at him to move and listen to her. The boy was deep in thoughts until his girlfriend actually slapped him out of his reverie. Jacob saw Finn jerk back, looking disgustedly at his girlfriend as she continued chastising him for his lack of attention to her.
Had Jacob been in the other guy's shoes he would have followed Quinn like a puppy, but somehow this time he saw Finn actually leaving her midsentence and heading the opposite way. He couldn't deny that he was a little more than intrigued by the quarterback's actions and decided to keep an eye on him. Whether he would unravel a secret affair or something deeper, Jacob Ben Israel was always the one for gossips and the thrill of the chase was titillating beyond measure.
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At lunchtime Jacob positioned himself behind Finn in the cafeteria so that he could see him without being seen. He witnessed as the tall boy ignored his plate, his friends and even the food battle Puckerman started.
Lunging to avoid mashed potatoes hitting him in the face, he followed Finn as he made his way out of the lunchroom, dumping his untouched meal in a trash can. He trailed after him in the hallways until they reached the choir room once again. This time he witnessed Finn take a huge breath and open the door, looking expectantly inside the room only to close the door again a mere seconds later, looking defeated. The boy was starting to walk away from the door when he jerked his head back as if someone had called him, but they were alone in the hallway and Jacob was hiding behind a row of lockers, not to be seen. He could see angst on Finn's face as he turned his head again, looking frantically for who had drawn his attention, but, from where Jacob was standing, no one was in sight, and he hadn't heard anything either than the distant racket from the cafeteria. Jacob's interest was even more piqued when he saw Finn throw a punch at a nearby locker in obvious frustration and finally enter the choir room.
Jacob quietly went to the door himself and peeked inside. Finn first roamed the room, as if looking for something before surrendering to whatever anguish he was feeling and slumped in a chair, resting his face in his hands.
It was Jacob's cue to leave. He didn't like the guy and he didn't want to feel sorry for him if he was crying like it seemed he was. Whatever tormented Hudson would still exist tomorrow he thought, leaving him to himself for the time being.
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The next day Jacob had his video camera ready to document the "downfall of one Finn Hudson" as he was hoping to name his next blog article. Any great reporter would tell you to always have proofs of what you're telling if needed and he wasn't going to miss the scoop of the year.
He'd started listing what he knew about the quarterback. What he'd learned the previous year about the pregnancy and the scandal it all had been. He'd remembered stepping in in Glee club to replace Finn in sectionals but couldn't remember what had made him do that; he had probably been blackmailed by Puckerman and had undoubtedly erased the dreadful memory. Finn had come back at the last moment anyway and prevented him to humiliate himself in public.
That hadn't stopped him to do a piece about the "Glee's big gay summer" when school had started again but when Jacob had tried to review his footage of the report, the scene containing the quarterback had turned to static which annoyed Jacob to the highest point since he couldn't, for the life of him, remember anything Finn had said or done.
He was now determined to drag the taller boy in mud, and even if he didn't remember why, Finn surely would. He most certainly had a lot to blame himself for, Jacob felt, ready for whatever dirt he was about to dig today.
At first he followed Finn wherever he would go from a distance, unnoticeably aiming his camera at him as he didn't want to get caught. Hudson's behavior was as erratic as the previous day if not more. He seemed jumpy, always checking if someone was behind him and seemingly forgetting what he was about to do from one second to the other.
Finn seemed so down that Jacob almost had an urge to go to him and check on him as it was obvious Quinn couldn't care less about her boyfriend's whereabouts. Then again rumor had it (and to be honest Jacob was the rumor) she was only dating Finn again in order to help her become prom queen. It didn't look like Finn wanted to talk to her anyway but they were still close to one another as if she was keeping an eye on him, more from a possessive angle than a worried one.
At the end of the day Jacob lingered at school, waiting for the Glee club rehearsal to end and hopefully get more material for his story. He watched from afar as everyone exited the room but Finn.
He approached the door and looked inside. Finn was fidgeting, trying to talk to Mr. Schuester but failing miserably. He still seemed distraught and upset but words wouldn't come and he finally gave up, resuming the position he had adopted the previous day, as the teacher left the room, unaware of Finn's anguish.
Jacob stared at Finn for some minutes before something happened that startled him. All of a sudden Finn's features seemed to relax, his eyes were closed and his breathing seemed to ease from the breathlessness he had been in. Jacob raised his video camera to zoom in on Finn and checked his control screen.
He did a double take, lowered the camera to look at Finn directly as he had all day long then raised the camera before his eyes again, not believing his eyes. There was someone on the screen that wasn't there for real.
Someone Jacob knew but until this very moment had completely forgotten about.
Someone he lusted about.
Someone he had joined the Glee club for.
To be certain of what he was seeing, Jacob reached out his arm so that he saw both his control screen and the scene he was actually filming. And, sure enough, 'real life Finn' was alone in the empty choir room, while on the screen of the camera Rachel Berry was standing right next to her ex-boyfriend, gently stroking his arm.
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His heart hammering, Jacob retreated in the hallway where there were still a few scattered people.
Now that he had seen her again he didn't believe he had actually forgotten about Rachel for what seemed like weeks. She'd been in his wet dreams for as long as he had known her and he'd gone lengths to get into her pants. She was the reason he despised Finn so much!
He'd given up hope when the two had started dating and although they were now broken up he could see in the girl's behavior that she was not over her ex.
And now she had disappeared from sight?
He roamed his mind in search of a recent memory of her but couldn't find any. He was enough of a supernatural/fantasy fan to believe what was happening, and if it was a dream, well it was actually a good one, since it was a situation where no one else but him seemed to see the girl of his affection. What more could he ask for?
He quickly went to the AV room to check his recording of the day.
She was there in every scene.
He'd spent his day following Finn and wondering what was happening to him when the answer had been before him all along.
He'd turned the sound up but, although everything else was audible, he couldn't hear any sound coming from her moving lips.
He could see her following Finn, obviously calling after him.
She called: he turned around.
He didn't see anything: he got freaked out or wary.
She saw him respond: she got hopeful, she tried again.
It was like watching a bad sitcom, minus the fake laughter.
Finn was totally unaware of what was happening to him and, from what Jacob had gathered, was thinking he was going crazy, not daring seeking advice from anyone, parent, girlfriend, teacher…
Jacob chuckled as he played the video from the start again. For a split second he pondered going to Finn for an explanation. But he dismissed the thought quickly as it had come.
The situation was too good to be true. He was the only one to see Rachel Berry and, even though it was only through his camera, he wasn't one to miss on the opportunity.
He had been serious when he had offered Finn his house in exchange for Rachel…
And he'd take his secret to the grave if he had to.
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To be continued…
Finn's point of view again next time
Let me know your thoughts guys, reviews make me write faster as you know ;)