A/N: Sorry this chapter took me so long. Here we are. The 'shit-storm'. I hope it lives up to your expectations. :)

Don't forget to review. I LOVE YOU GUYS.

Chapter Eighteen

Rachel blew on her tea before taking a sip, she knew she should say something, kick this conversation off but she felt so awkward. They had all been sitting in silence for about five minutes when Kurt finally came back from flirting with the barista and brought the table a plate of free cookies, handing Rachel a special vegan one and leaving the rest for the boys.

"So no one has said anything, huh?" Kurt spews and spits down next to Blaine, "How about we start from the beginning, shall we? Who hear has slept with Quinn Fabray."

Puck, Sam, and Finn raise their hands awkwardly and Rachel decides that making eye contact with any of them is not an option so she just looks at Blaine, who awkwardly stares back.

"Alright good, who slept with her first."

Finn and Puck both nodded like it was them, "Wait, nope, Puck, I've been dating her since Freshman year."

"And sleeping with her since…?" Puck snapped at him.

"Since she moved out to LA for college." Finn told him as if it was common knowledge, this whole thing was making Rachel's stomach turns. She decided to nibble on her cookie.

"Okay, well I slept with her right before we moved with the band." Puck shrugged. "It was just a one time thing, but she knew I was leaving and she said she would miss me… so yeah."

Finn felt the growl build in his gut, "You have got to be aware that you are literally the worst friend in the world."

"Let's not shout quite yet, gentleman." Kurt barked, "We have a lot to go over."

Blaine bit the inside of his lip and Rachel patted Finn's thigh to calm him, when he took her hand they both loosened up a little.

"Okay, so Finn was dating her for what? Four years? Then she left unexpectedly. We found out later it was to have Puck's baby. Are we sure it's Puck's?"

"Positive." Puck spit, "Hudson doesn't do it without a bag!" Puck and Finn made eye contact and Finn tilted his head, had Quinn really told him that? "Yeah, she told me a lot after."

Finn's free hand clenched into a fist and Rachel tugged on him, reminding him she was there and not to get violent. "Okay, can we keep going?" Rachel insisted.

"Alright, so she came back to get Finn back and then when she couldn't get him, she started sleeping with Sam, right?"

Sam gave a quick awkward nod, "Yep and then again she left quickly. Obviously not pregnant seeing and Rachel has seen her since then."

"So have I." Finn tells Sam and Puck growls in frustration.

"This isn't getting us fucking anywhere, Hummel." Puck snaps.

Blaine stands, "Puck, calm it down. We're getting there." Blaine is intimidating Puck and to everyone's confusion, it is working. Blaine sits himself back down and fixes his shirt, "Go on Kurt."

"So the problem here is between Puck and Sam and Puck and Finn. Finn doesn't seem too upset about the Sam/Quinn dynamic." Kurt notes.

Finn nods absently, "She came back after ripping me to shreds and I had finally gone on with my life, I didn't want someone who could be so cruel as to just up and leave. She was fair game, he should have told me though."

"I know, Finn, I should have told you. I was just so scared, and she asked me not to. She admitted everything that happened with Puck and I knew if I told you that everything would just go to shit." Sam admits quickly. His eyes locked on the table.

"But, Finn, you seem to have beef with Blaine." Kurt notes again.

Finn shakes his head, "I don't."

"You do." They hear a tiny whisper coming from the tiny girl next to Finn, "You don't want to admit it, but you do. You think he knew and you think that he kept it from you too."

"Rachel's right, you have been distant." Blaine tells Finn, pain in his face.

Finn shrugs and almost laughs, "Yep, you're right. I don't fucking trust one of you. You lied to me." He points to Sam before moving his gaze to Puck, "You slept with my girlfriend, more than once." At this point he looks at Blaine, "And you had to know, you just had to. I know you knew. Everyone was just lying to me." His voice cracks from the extreme pitch it had taken.

"Finn-" Blaine started and Puck cut him off.

"Don't lie to the boy." Puck says to Blaine in a curt tone and Rachel can feel her heart sinking.

"I wasn't planning on it, Puckerman." Blaine spits and Puck before returning his vision to Finn, "Finn, of course I knew. But, not about Puck. About Sam. And I just couldn't bare to see that girl get in your head again. You didn't eat for like… days." Blaine tells Finn, "And I don't think you got any sleep and a part of me thought we were going to lose you, but then it was like magic. You came back from the dead. The music brought you back and then she showed up again and I was terrified." Blaine admits, "I thought we would lose you to the dark side of watching terrible sitcom reruns and ice cream binges."

Finn bits his lip, knowing Blaine was trying to protect him does change things in his head. "You're right. I did kinda turn into a pussy."

"Finn!" Rachel scolded in a whisper and Kurt laughed.

"Okay, I am sorry for taking out my frustration on you two. When the only guy here who deserves it is Mr. Mohawk." Finn says.

"Hey dude, can I get my side of the story in?" Puck asks. "You guys are all being unfair."

"Go for it, Noah." Rachel encourages with a smile and Finn tries to be okay with it. Rachel moves closer to him and snuggles next to him and Finn wraps his arm around her before looking at the ground to prepare himself for Pucks story.

Puck takes a breath and starts, "Quinn had been there for like two years, she was beautiful and I wanted her. I hadn't been able to take my eyes off of her one night after a show when she was doing karaoke. That was the first night it happened. It was gross, it was in a bathroom stall. It was just… wanky. But, I just needed her, like I needed air. She told me we could never do it again and so a year and a half passed and we didn't. She had one semester left of college and her and Finn were living together. And everything seemed great from the outside, but I could tell she wasn't happy."

Finn kept his eyes trained on the floor while everyone else, especially Rachel, kept their eyes on him. "And Finn wasn't happy either, they were both just going through the motions. I mean, they were happy but they weren't happy happy not like me and Quinn could be. Or at least that's what I thought. So when he was recording his drums one day I went over, and then it happened again. She admitted that the sex and dwindled and that they were basically married. She admitted that when Finn talked, Quinn wouldn't even listen. It was all about drumming and acting and stuff she never cared about. She didn't understand drumming. So we started our affair. We were really careful about not letting anyone catch us but we weren't too careful about the birth control aspect because the day after graduation she found out she was pregnant and booked it." Puck tells the story like it was yesterday and his voice is beginning to crack, "I wanted to make her feel good because I really cared about her. Hell, I had loved her since freshman year. I never thought Hudson had the balls to hold onto her, but he did. I'm sorry I did that to you, but I just couldn't not be with her. It was like I needed her. Like I needed to do the things you couldn't to prove to her that I was the one. It was fucking selfish and awful, but… that is what I wanted."

Finn cleared his throat, "I get it." That is all he could say. He did get it. For Gods sake he was living it. He wrapped his arm tighter around Rachel and looked down at her, they were thinking the same thing. He looked up and met Pucks eyes, "You were right, I was a hypocrite. I did to Jesse what you did to me. Yours was a lot worse though. You have to admit that."

"I know it was." Puck breaks the eye contact and slumps in his chair.

"Then this is between the two of you." He points to Sam and Puck, "If you want her, she is fair game now."

Kurt sighs in frustration, "Not really helping, Finny."

"Finny?" Blaine, Puck and Sam all said in unison, Puck's voice overcoming the other voices with obvious judgment in his tone.

"That's what Carole calls him." Kurt says as if it's common knowledge and continues. "Okay, Finn this is all well and good but the biggest problem here is Puck and Sam."

"Agreed." Blaine adds and Kurt gives him a shy grin before continuing.

"So, what is it boys? You both still have it bad for her?"

Puck just looks at Sam and when Sam won't say a word Puck finally speaks, "Listen, I just basically confessed my love. And I think it's really fucked up that he kept sleeping with her after Quinn told him about us."

"That obviously isn't going to bother him," Finn interjects, "He already knew she was my ex."

"Good point." Kurt nods as if he's keeping score. Rachel has to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

"Okay," Sam decides to finally give his input, "I always had a thing for Quinn, but I wouldn't have ever done anything when she was with Finn. When she came back and Finn asked her to take a step back she gave me a call, I met up with her and we had coffee and we just talked. I would actually listen to her and vice versa. But, I just couldn't keep my eyes off her. There is just something about those eyes. So at first we just talked and then one night I took her out to dinner and I paid and she said it was a date and tooke me back to her hotel." Sam looked down as if he was ashamed, "Afterwards she told me everything about Puck and I just felt terrible, but I was already in too deep."

"Is sex like an honesty serum to this bitch?" Kurt asked suddenly, "After sex she just spills secrets like a freaking sponge. I don't get it."

Finn sighed, "It's when she feels the most comfortable." Rachel backed away from Finn trying to hide her obvious flinch. "She feels really close to you at that point."

"Okay, this whole thing just got gross." Kurt says and shifts uncomfortable, Rachel nods and Finn pulls her back towards them.

"Don't do that." He whispers to her.

"Don't do what?"

"Don't go away from me. Stick by me, babe." Finn requests softly and Rachel nods and puts her head on her chest.

"Listen, the gross one here is Sam." Puck spits. "He kept sleeping with her."

Sam sucked in his cheeks and pursed his lips, "At least I used a condom, dipshit!"

Puck stood and his chair fell behind him and Blaine and Finn jumped up. Before Rachel even know what happened Finn had knocked Puck out to stop him from whaling on Sam and Blaine had dragged Sam out of the coffee shop. Rachel rushed to Puck's side and checked the wound on his head where Finn had whacked him and once she got there his eyes were opening.

"Rach?" Puck stammered and tried to get up and Rachel pushed him back down.

"No, you might have a concussion." She spit at him. "Finn, get me ice, water and a rag or something."

Finn did as she said and was back within seconds and Rachel was making sure Puck's vision was intact. "Did you really have to hit him so hard?" Rachel hissed at Finn when she grabbed the napkins from him and the cup of water, dunking the napkin in it and tending to the wound softly.

"Ouch." Puck flinched back and knocked his head.

"Why don't you sit up slowly and drink some of this." She offered Puck and helped him sit up and lean against the wall.

Finn leaned down, "He was going to kill Sam, I didn't know how to stop him."

Rachel glared back at Finn, "You could have tried 'STOP!' or something. Come on, Finn." She had frustration in her voice and Finn wondered if it had anything to do with the whole Quinn discussion or if it really was her whole 'Violence isn't the Answer' thing.

"Baby, I know I shouldn't have. I know violence isn't the answer and stuff but-"

"Save it, Finn. You knocked him out." Rachel spit.

"He was going to kill Sam." Finn argued.

Puck nodded sleepily, "Finn's right. I would have. I can't really control myself sometimes."

"You need to drink more water." Rachel told him, she didn't know if he really did but she just wanted him to shut up. She wanted to be mad at Finn, she was mad at Finn. She hated hearing him talk about intimate moments with Quinn and then on top of all of that he had knocked Puck out. There had to have been a better option.

Finn stood and patted Rachel's back and decided to go see what was going on outside. "Well that went well." Kurt mused as Finn walked out to meet the trio.

"Shut up, Kurt." Finn shot at him swiftly and looked at Blaine, "What are we going to do? These two obviously can't work together. That wasn't even a big deal."

"It was a low blow." Sam admits, "I was criticizing him for getting her pregnant."

Finn scratched his head, "Oh yeah, didn't really catch onto that."

"Well, Puck did." Blaine tells Finn, "And that is what matters." Blaine turns to Sam, "Listen this is all a moot point because Quinn lives here and she doesn't want either of you. She wants Finn, he's taken. We all just need to move on from all things Quinn Fabray."

Kurt nods, "I agree, that is going to be your best bet."

Finn shakes his head, "She doesn't want me, she wants me because she can't have me. There is a difference."

Sam sighs, "I think Blaine and Kurt are right, this band isn't going to work out if we're fighting over a girl. Maybe agreeing to stay away from her is the best plan."

"Well have either of you been talking to her?" Kurt asks as he runs his hands through hair.

"I know Puck has and I won't lie. We have been texting back and forth ever since she left." Sam admits.

"That might have something to do with you not being able to get over her." Blaine spits. "Listen, she is trouble. You haven't seen her while she's been here, have you?" When Sam didn't answer, "Dammit Sam, have you?"

"No! I haven't… yet." Sam avoids eye contact with the other two band members. "We're going shopping tomorrow though."

"Fuck, Sam." Finn shouts, "Call her right now and cancel. This ends now!"

"What ends now?" Puck asks his arm around Rachel, obviously groggy from being knocked out. Blaine and Kurt made their way to his sides to releave Rachel from Puck duty.

"Have you seen Quinn yet? Since you've been here I mean?" Finn spits at him.

Puck rolls his eyes, "Why do you care?"

"Listen," Blaine starts helping him sit down in the passanger seat of the rental car, "We're not playing this game anymore. If you want to stay in the band, no more Quinn. We are now officially a Quinn Free band."

"Well then he better be cancelling his little shopping trip." Puck points to Sam and Sam glares back. "Yeah, I fucking saw her okay? Last night and she admitted that she was going shopping with you." A sly smile crept on his face, "Guess when?"

Sam had to physically force himself to walk away from Puck because all he wanted to do was punch him in the face, "You're kidding me, right?" Sam yelled, he turned his back on Puck and was now yelling at an empty parking lot, "You have got to be fucking kidding me."

Kurt walked towards him and rested a comforting hand on his back and he shrugged it off quickly. With that move Rachel walked over to Puck and slapped him in the back of the head.

"What was that for, Yentle?" Puck yelled, grabbing the back of his head.

"For causing this whole mess." Rachel snapped at him, "No more QUINN! Do you hear me, Noah?"

Finn's eyes bugged out in surprise and Sam had turned back around to see what the commotion was about. She pointed to Sam, "You either. What do you care about more, huh? The band or some blonde girl?"

Finn nodded furiously, "I agree guys, you two can't keep doing this. We have to cut you guys off."

"I am texting her now." Sam promised and pulled out his phone and then all eyes were on Puck.

Puck looked down at his hands, "It's different for me, guys. She had my kid. My daughter." Puck said quietly, "I have this connection to her now, like we're…" Puck's eyebrows furrowed together as he searched for the word.

"Tethered." Rachel whispered out.

"Yeah," Puck looked up to Rachel, "It feels like that."

Rachel's hand reached out for Finn and he made sure it was there to be grabbed and she turned to him and looked up into his eyes, "We can't tell him not to see her."

"What are you talking about Rachel?" Finn whispered harshly back.

"Finn, they are like us. Yes it's been really terrible and Quinn isn't the best person. But the way Puck feels about her…" Rachel put her hand on Finn's chest, closed her eyes and felt Finn's heart beating for just a moment, "that is how I feel about you. You can't break something up like that."

Finn looked down and saw un-cried tears lingering in her eyes, "Rach, it's not fair to Sam."

"But, it's not the same for him." Rachel argues.

"Baby, Quinn isn't good to him like you are to me, or like I am to you. She has been awful." Finn tells her, running his hands through her hair, "Rachel, you can't just-"

"No." Sam says from behind them, "Rachel is right. I was willing to give up on her, he wasn't. There is obviously something there, we can't make him stop."

"But we can't let him get pushed around either. She's been pretty awful." Blaine adds.

"Okay." Kurt jumps with excitement and Rachel shivers from the breeze, "I have an idea. Puck, you can't sleep with Quinn anymore. You can talk to her, but until she commits to you, she's cut off."

"What are you squawking about lady-face?" Puck rolls his eyes, "I'm a sex shark, if I don't keep moving."

"YOU DIE!" Blaine, Finn and Sam say all at the same time.

"We know! We've heard it about a hundred times." Blaine says to Puck, half laughing, half annoyed.

"You can still have sex, just not with Quinn." Kurt tell him.

"What is this going to do?" Rachel inquires, really intrigued by this idea.

Kurt grins, looking all high and mighty, giving Rachel his 'I know something you don't know' look which Rachel knew all too well, "It forces her to make a choice. With no Sam, no Finn and no sex from Puck, without a commitment, that is, she has to decide. Does she want him or does she want to move on? Maybe they'll stay friends, maybe they won't. Maybe she'll decide she needs him, maybe she'll never want to see him again. But, at least we'll know."

"Brilliant!" Blaine shouts in excitement and Finn thinks for a moment and shakes his head in accent.

"Yeah, I like it." Finn adds.

Sam licks his lips thinking for a moment, "I don't love it, but I see how it could work."

Puck is torn for a moment but after going over it in his head in every possible way he finally says, "Okay, but Sam has to stay away from her." Puck growls.

"I will, it's not going to be easy, but I'm bowing out. I've got nothing on this 'tethered' nonsense." Sam admits.

Rachel turned to Finn as the others talked among themselves about the new plan and Blaine gleamed at Kurt for thinking of it, "Baby?"

"Yeah, Rach."

"Can we skip the movie? I think I need it to be just you and me tonight." Rachel tells him, running her hand over his cheek softly.

Finn gives her his lope sided grin and nods just once and tells the others, Blaine agrees to take the rental and drops the other boys off and heads back to the Hummel/Hudson residence with Kurt and Rachel and Finn make it back to their hotel room, as they open the door Rachel looks up at him, "This has got to be getting expensive."

"Nah, they gave me a good long-term discount." He grins down at her. When Rachel got inside she started getting out of her clothes and thinking about the day. It had been quite eventful, but she was happy, and also really nervous about the next month and moving to LA. "You know what you said, about feeling a tether?" Finn asks as he kicked off his shoes.

Rachel nodded softly and looked up at him slowly, "Well, I feel it too, you know?"

Rachel just smiled and bit her lip and looked at her handsome man, "Good, because it's really freaking strong."

"What we did was really bad, Rachel." Finn told her, walking towards her, "But, I can't regret it. I just can't."

Rachel nodded and let herself into Finn's arms, "I know, me too." She admits, "I'm so happy I found you."

"Me too, Rach. More than anything."

A/N: A piece of me just really wanted Quinn to show up during this discussion, but I thought it would have been too much. But, man I wrote it out three separate times with that happening but had to keep deleting it. :)

Let me know what you think!