A/N: WHAT? WHAT IS THIS? AN UPDATE? UNBELIEVABLE! Did y'all think I forgot about you? I didn't! I just got super busy, and I'm sorry about that! I hope you're all still interested in this story! This chapter killed me but I'm so proud of it! I hope you enjoy it! It's kinda AUish now, but whatever. I wanted resolution with the Finn/Santana issue after "Furt" so that's where this came from originally.
Feedback is just swell, so don't be shy!
Hey you know what else? You can check out mine and Quibily's story "Let's Get These Teen Hearts Beating Faster". It was funsies and is now complete... You know, if you're interested :)
Are you guys all done with this sex-lies nonsense? ME TOO! Let's never speak of it again... After this fic.
LOVE YOOU!
Disclaimer: IS NO MINE! RM BF AND IB OWN IT... AND YOUR SOOUL.
If I could... Retrace all the mistakes I've made I would - 'Easier to Run' Linkin Park
The malicious screech of his alarm clock stirred awake Finn the next morning. He slammed his hand on the snooze button with more vigour than necessary and turned away from it.
He had slept for what felt like 6 days the night before, but he was still tired. When the events of last night came rushing back to his consciousness, he was just exhausted.
Girls were so complicated. How was he supposed to make it better with Rachel when she refused to speak with him?
He reached underneath his pillow and felt around for his phone. Maybe she'd come to her senses while he was asleep and sent him something. He finally found it, pushed between the mattress and the bed frame, and read the caption carefully.
"New text message. Read now?"
Finn was wide awake now. It had to be her. He felt like a weight had been lifted and couldn't help but smile. Did she forgive him already? God, he hoped so.
He stared at his phone screen for what seemed like forever. Before clicking "Accept".
"Rachel: **Duplicate Msg** Not now Finn."
What? His fucking phone screwed up! This wasn't a new message at all! He already got that one! What the hell?
He threw his phone into his bed and resisted the urge to kick his furniture again. He learned his lesson last night and his toe still fucking hurt. Everything hurt.
Frustrated, he rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair. He fell into his bed and curled up into the fetal position. He just wanted to go back to sleep and wait for Rachel to call him.
"Finn, honey? Are you awake? You're going to be late for school! It's almost eight o'clock!"
Right, he had real life waiting for him. Mom, glee, school.
Rachel will be there, something told him. He needed to stay positive. Maybe she's just waiting to see him in person to talk about everything. Rachel loved talking about relationship stuff.
Finn figured as long as he showed up for school she had to talk to him... even if it was just to yell at him. He didn't care, he would take anything. If she was dumping him over this... He didn't even want to think about it. It made him weak.
What's more, he didn't need to think about that just yet. This was their first big fight. He needed to take this one step at a time. He needed to shower. Get dressed. Go to school. He needed to stay focused.
But it was hard; all he could think about was Rachel.
School was awful. He spend all his time between classes searching for Rachel. Every time he caught so much as a glimpse at her, she was gone in a instant; off to her next class or ducking into the girls' bathroom.
When lunch time had finally rolled around, Kurt informed Finn, via text, that Rachel was spending her the whole period in the girls bathroom and that he shouldn't bother trying to talk to her.
Why didn't she tell him herself? Were they in grade two again?
Finn felt a tinge of rage flare up inside of him. What was wrong with her? Since when was Rachel scared of talking something out?
He clenched his jaw. She was making this harder than it needed to be. For once in their relationship, Finn actually wanted to have a Serious Conversation with her, and what? She kept running away?
This was all making him crazy. She was making him crazy.
So, since he was crazy anyway, he decided to spend his entire lunch break staking out the girl's bathroom until she came out. He wasn't giving up that easy. He needed to talk to her.
The five minute warning bell chimed for 6th period, and Rachel emerged from the bathroom sniffling and hugging her books tightly to her chest.
"Hey." He said softly, his anger dissolving immediately when he saw her red-brimmed eyes.
She jumped a little and took a step back. She hiccuped and mumbled, "W-what are you doing here?"
"Are you mad at me?" He asked unceremoniously.
"No."
"Then why won't you talk to me? Can you please just talk to me?"
"No." She started to move away from him.
"Rachel, what the hell?"
"Finn, please, we're going to be late for bio..."
"Are you breaking up with me?"
"No! Finn, please-"
"Why won't you talk to me?"
"Because it's yucky!" She shouted finally, "Santana, Finn? Really? I don't think there's a worse person you could have slept with in this entire school!" There must have been at least fifty students watching them, but she didn't seem to care. Finn didn't know what to say, so he just stared, too. She was crying as she shouted now, "I know it's juvenile and inarticulate and completely irrational, but it's yucky, Finn! And I'm sorry, but you can't just apologise and expect that to go away!"
She turned quickly and ran the gauntlet of judgemental glares to her next class. She tried and failed to hide her face from her peers' prying eyes. Fast on her heels was an eruption of whispers and snickers from their audience until the official bell for class rang. All the students dispersed, still muttering amongst themselves.
Finn decided class was a bad idea and hid in his car for the remainder of the day.
He had no idea how to make things right with Rachel. At least he understood where she was coming from, now. When he thought she had slept with Jesse last year, he felt sick to his stomach.
Maybe she just needed some space for a while. She said she wasn't breaking up with him, so that was the bright side of everything. But she wasn't exactly with him at the moment either.
He felt like he was missing a part of himself when she wasn't around. He loved her so much, it was going to be hard to give her that space and time she apparently needed.
He pressed his head against the steering wheel. This was a mess.
He sat there for a little while longer until he pieced together the motivation to move again. He checked the clock, it was 2:10. It was too late for last period, so he decided to head into the choir room early. They had Glee rehearsal at 2:45. Maybe he could catch up on the homework he didn't do last night.
He chuckled to himself. Yeah, right. But it would make Rachel happy, so maybe.
If she ever speaks to you again... That cruel, but honest voice told him again.
He sighed heavily and slung his back-pack over his shoulder. Baby steps. Glee, Rachel, singing and maybe someday, if he plays his cards right, forgiveness.
At around 2:35, Finn expected the glee kids to start showing up, but the room was still empty, which was odd. They all hung out almost every Thursday at 2:30 before glee practice.
He started packing up his books (he did do a bit of his homework while he was waiting) and decided that maybe glee was cancelled today. He was just about to leave to go speak to Mr. Schue, when he all but ran over Santana on the way out.
"Hey, big guy." She said low and sultry.
"Um, hey. Is Glee still on today? Where's Brittany? You guys always come to glee together..."
"She's with all the other glee kids. I asked her to show them some of her new moves today in the auditorium before practice."
She took several slow, purposeful steps towards him, "I wanted some alone time with you."
Finn was starting to feel really uncomfortable, but she was getting so close to him he couldn't think. She continued, pushing him down into a nearby chair, "Rumour has it that you and The King of the Dwarves are dunzo. Need a good rebound date? I'll help you get over her by getting on you-"
She was standing over him with either one of her hands on his shoulders trapping him in the chair. That was it for him, he raised both his hands inside her arms and pushed them down to the side, freeing himself from her grasp, "Santana, stop this!" He told her firmly standing up and nudging her way from him, "First at the wedding, now this? You need to back off."
She face shifted from seductive to furious, "What the hell, Frankenteen? You treat that midget like a freaking queen and she's disgusting! I bet she hasn't even put out for you yet! Think about it, Finn, I could do things to you that that tranny of yours couldn't even dream of!"
"Enough! Do you know why I act like that around Rachel? It's because I'm in love with her, Santana!" He said almost shouting at her. She stepped away from him unconsciously, and he continued, "There's more to it than just sex. Sure, I love her and I wouldn't mind maybe, someday, being with her like that, but that's not what it's about! It's the kind of love that keeps me up at night, and makes me crazy when I'm not around her. The kind of love that I've never felt with another person in my entire life, and honestly? I don't want to feel like that about anyone except her."
Santana crossed her arms over her chest protectively and tried not to flinch at his words.
"Santana, sleeping with you was a mistake. One I never want to make again! It meant nothing to me and I'm sorry I wasted my v-card on someone like you."
His rant was interrupted by an audible sob from across the room. The two of them looked up to see a tiny brunette clutching a stack of books, thicker than her, against her chest.
"Hi." Rachel said sniffling, "Um, I didn't mean to interrupt, but I have your homework from the classes you missed, Finn." She sniffled and half-laughed, "I would have been here earlier, but-"
"Rachel!" He said taking two extra steps away from Santana, "I'm sorry, she just sorta came at me- but I stopped her-"
"I don't care," Rachel laughed-sobbed dropping the books on the floor and almost running to him. She pushed past Santana, flung her arms around his neck and kissed him as best she could on only her tip-toes, "I don't care." She said breaking apart from him and smiling brilliantly, "I love you so much, Finn."
His face morphed into that adorable sideways grin that Rachel loved so much, and he said, "I love you, too."
Finn swooped down and picked her up the best he could. She wrapped her legs around his hips and they kissed again with heat and passion. Santana scoffed in disgust and slithered away.
Rachel was still straddling him when their kissed ended, and Rachel held his face close to her own smiling down expectantly at him.
"So," he said, holding on to her rear-end for support, "You heard all of that?"
"Yup." She said excitedly.
"I um, I hope your not mad about you know, what I said... about..." he paused for a moment and whispered the last part, "sex."
She laughed at him in response, "Are you kidding me? If you keep this up you won't have to wait until 'someday', baby."
Finn tried to stop his jaw from hitting the floor. "Do you mean- today?"
"No," She said simply, pushing way from him and sliding down his legs to the floor. She staggered slightly, her knees were a little weak from that kiss, "No, not today, silly!" she added, pulling on his hand towards the door, "We still have glee!" She released his hand to pick up the books she dropped earlier, "Plus I need to help you get caught up on those classes you missed today." She continued, handing him all the books she picked up, one by one, "Really, Finn, I know we were both upset today, but that's no excuse to miss class!"
Once all the books where neatly stacked in his arms, Rachel retrieved his back-pack from where he had been sitting and slung the bag over his left shoulder. Finn was beginning to feel like a pack mule, but that was OK. He was her pack mule.
"Come, Finn." She held on to his elbow and pulled him out of the choir room, "We have to get the club together and finish practice early, you have a lot of homework to do, mister. Where are they, anyway?"
"Oh," Finn laughed finding impossible not to smile, "They're in the auditorium!"
"Excellent, we'll just have practice there! I'll go get Mr. Schuester, and you go tell the club we've changed the location for practice." She let go of his arm and started down the hall. He watched her with a new found appreciation for everything she said and did. Just when he thought her couldn't love her anymore-
"Oh and Finn?" She said, turning around about ten feet away from in the deserted hallway, "If you do very well studying tonight, I have something very special I want to try with you, but you have to finish all of your homework first, baby. Got it?"
Finn's jaw dropped again and he had to be careful he didn't lose his grip on that mountain of books clasped in his arms. "Uh huh..." Was all he could manage.
She just kept on surprising him.
~End.
A/N2: YOU LIKE? I did. I'd love your feedback! OH! In honour of Cory Monteith (and to lesser extent, yours truly), I threw in a little Canadianism in there. Can you spot it?
All the best in 2011!
xoxoxo -J