Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Faithfully (Journey owns that)

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies
Aristotle

He could barely process a word she said, she was speaking so quickly and she was using all these really big words, like she was a human dictionary or something, but he couldn't care less because this was real. This was happening. Finn stared at the petite girl beside him and watched her plump, pink lips move rapidly and her eyes get all big and expressive.

"Finn Hudson, I can't even begin to explain the rage I feel inside me when people pathetically attempt to argue that Beyoncé did a better job with 'The Way We Were' than Barbra Streisand. I can't even begin to comprehend the audacity of those people for comparing Barbra to a mere pop cover—"

He took her hand in his and intertwined their fingers.

He heard her take in a sharp breath and in his mind's eye, he imagined she looked up at him with huge doe eyes but he couldn't even look at her face because he was admiring their hands, how perfect her tiny, soft little hand fit in his giant, clumsy hands. Her nails were painted this really light pink and he thought it looked really pretty on her hands, because her skin had this olive tone to it, and her nails weren't claw-like or anything, they were just rounded and nice, and just- she was so different from Quinn. Like, Quinn always had these sharp, pointy nails that she always had painted a dark color and—and—and then he couldn't even think, like, at all because Rachel was rubbing these little circles on his hand, over and over in the same spot, and his body did a million things all at once. He couldn't breathe, and his heart started thumping wildly and his legs felt all wobbly and how did she do that, just by touching his hand like that?

Finn then realized that he hadn't replied to Rachel and she had become silent, like five minutes ago, while he was marveling at the way their hands fit together.

"I—"

Rachel gave him this look that he just couldn't name but it was like, her eyes said more than he could have said and he knew he wasn't good with words or anything, so he hoped his eyes spoke volumes too.

And then it hit him.

He was cheating on Quinn.

And yeah, he hadn't kissed Rachel or anything, they had just hugged and now they were holding hands but wasn't this, all of this, so much worse? He was emotionally cheating on Quinn, because Grilled Cheesus knew his heart didn't belong to her anymore. And he barely knew Rachel or anything, aside from the fact that now he knew she loved Broadway and loved to talk and gave the best hugs ever and in his dreams, he knew she made the most amazing breathy noises and every time she whispered that she loved him it felt like his heart was going to explode so—so, yeah.

His heart basically had 'Property of Rachel' stamped on it.

But he knew better than this. He couldn't lead her on and be that guy. He couldn't cheat on Quinn. And he knew all about the effects of cheating. He remembered when his mom dated Darren, the lawn-care guy that he really liked when he was younger, mostly because he introduced him to classic rock. Darren was really weird but he didn't treat his mom like shit, like the past boyfriends she'd had. But then Darren cheated on her with a younger woman and he remembered that distraught his mom had been, how sometimes he'd just find her laying in her bed, in the dark, and just staring at the ceiling. Or when she would kiss him goodbye when he left for school, but her eyes lacked any emotion, any life. He couldn't do that to Quinn. He wasn't like Darren. He wasn't that guy.

He reluctantly let go of Rachel's hand.

"So—uh— I guess I'm gonna, you know… go. Now."

Finn watched Rachel blink slowly a few times. "You work here?"

He looked up at the fire station and nodded nonchalantly. "Yeah. I've been working here for like, a few years now. Ever since I moved to New York with—" He just wanted to tell her. He had to tell her, obviously. They just met, it's not like she would be broken hearted or anything, and they didn't even really know each other so, like, what's the big deal right? "—with Quinn."

He watched the blood rush from her face and her hand flew to her neck, to twirl her necklace around. He figured she did that when she was nervous and stuff, because he had even seen her do it before, while they were walking here, when he smiled at her. But she had looked way different before, happier and all full of joy and stuff.

"Quinn?" Rachel questioned in a small voice.

"Yeah," Finn felt the blood drain from his own face. "Quinn. Quinn Fabray. My girlfriend."

Rachel's face looked like he slapped her. "You—you have a girlfriend?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, we've been going out since freshman year of high school, back in Ohio. We moved here together, and… and she's—she's Quinn." He couldn't even look Rachel in the eyes because, man, she was an open book with her eyes. And right now, they just looked so heartbroken.

"You—" Rachel's breath caught in her throat. "You held my hand. You said… you said you felt like there was something special between us."

"I—I do! I know we've only known each other for, what, like an hour, but Rachel, I feel like—I've never been good with words and all so I don't really know how to describe what I'm feeling but… but when you looked at me, I felt something, you know? It felt… it felt right. It felt like—like, coming home," Finn stuttered. "And I know maybe that doesn't make any sense but I've never felt that with Quinn and I've watched a lot of movies and I even met this old couple once and they loved each other, each other's flaws and everything, and I think about love a lot, you know? And I guess it's weird, because I'm a dude and all, but I mean, that's how people feel when they meet their soul mate, Rachel. I mean, I feel like… you know that quote where it's like, 'someone, somewhere is made for you, forever?' I feel like—I feel like that." Her eyes widened even more, and the most beautiful blush he had ever seen spread all over her face, but she was shaking her head slowly, her eyes filled with disbelief and tears and he just felt like an utter and complete jackass and—and why did his heart feel like it was breaking?

And did she—did she growl at him? From the look on her face, it seemed like the noise she emitted from her throat surprised her, too. "I can't—we can't—Finn, there is absolutely nothing between us, there can't be anything between us, because you are in a committed relationship! I refuse to partake in adultery!"

He felt like his world was spinning, because he didn't even have her in the first place so how could he lose her, and this guy on the side of the road they were on was strumming his guitar softly and gently crooning a song and Finn stared at him.

"...Wondering where I am lost without you
And bein' apart ain't easy on this love affair,"

He averted his eyes back to Rachel, watching her chest heave in anger, and he doesn't think he'll ever be able to comprehend what he did next, but he doesn't think he will ever regret it, ever.

He grabbed her face and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her gently until he felt her reciprocate his kiss and this was even better than any dream he had ever had and then she was pulling away and no no no no this can't be happening no no and he guessed he deserved to be slapped in the face quickly after she pulled away, her palm leaving a stinging sensation on his now reddened cheek.

He watched her leave, running down the street in the opposite direction, tears trickling down her cheeks. "Rachel!"

She didn't turn around.

And besides the loud noise of his hammering heart, he could only hear the street singer.

"Two strangers learn to fall in love again
I get the joy of rediscovering you
Oh girl, you stand by me, I'm forever yours, faithfully"

And he remembered, one time, hearing about how a song can actually touch your soul. And he thought that maybe, this tenderly sung song just touched his soul. Because he knew exactly what he had to do next.

A/N: Forgive me

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