A/N: I know it is never nice when someone toots their own horn, but I am in love with this chapter. This is the last instalment of this story, and I thank anyone who has been following it. Thank you. Spiorad Fear. X

Chapter 5

"Finn, I was considering what you said last night and I'm sorry but it's been driving me insane. It seems that at the moment there isn't anything that I can do to change your mind, but I think that I at least have the right to know who it is that you are letting get between us being together. Saying, 'somebody else', just doesn't cut it!" Rachel finished in one of her best, fantastically melodramatic flusters. This was already the third time this morning that Rachel had pestered Finn over his new interest and he was beginning to become quite angry indeed.

"Look Rachel, for the last time, I'm sorry it's not what you want but I think that I've been more than fair in what I've already told you!" Finn said loudly, spinning to talk to Rachel directly, trying to be as clear as he could possibly manage. Rachel didn't look happy about it, in fact, she looked positively livid, yet she must have realised that she wasn't getting anywhere with her current approach.

"Fine, but you're making a mistake. She can't know you like I do. You'll realise that, eventually. Just hope by then that it isn't too late," She said simply, with a hard look on her face, obviously certain that she was correct.

Finn slowly proceeded along the hallway, dazed and downright angered by Rachel's uncanny ability to be unbelievably stubborn and patronising. Even he, Rachel's greatest and at times only defender could see how selfish and taxing she was being at the moment. She didn't even seem to realise that she had hurt him first by making him feel second best to Jesse. He reached the corner of the hallway and was suddenly disturbed in his unhappy mutterings by a mysterious hand which grabbed him by his elbow and pulled him aside.

"I know who it is," the mysterious voice said, dripping with a sassy tone, "I wanna know what's going on, and I wanna know now. She hasn't got a right to know, but I'm the one who's had to cheer my boy up all year while he's cried over your ass, so spill," Mercedes said, doing a fantastic job at leaving Finn with little choice other than to reply whilst he was trapped up against the wall. Finn stared in shock at the brassy girl in front of him, panic setting in at the prospect of being found out.

'Hang on, why do you feel like that? You haven't done anything to be found out about, have you? And why does it matter?'

Mercedes just stood there in front of him, her hand on her hip, and Finn knew that she would wait all day for an answer, so there was not going to be much chance of an escape. Finn stared down into Mercedes' eyes and was surprised that he could see nothing sinister in them at all, and he remembered then that Mercedes was a friend. After all, she had helped him with his song when she didn't need to. The smirks that where hinting at the edge of her lips were the last sign that Finn needed to know that if anything, she was only teasing him, and that she was genuinely interested.

"Well, if you already know who it is, then why do I have to tell you?" Finn smirked right back at her, deciding to play her at her own game. Mercedes grinned at him, seemingly pleased that he was comfortable with the teasing. She relaxed herself into a more casual, friendly pose and pursed her lips, preparing what she had to say.

"I saw you looking at Kurt right before we performed 'Good Vibrations', and I saw you both yesterday in the hall before Glee club, when you thought no one was looking…," Mercedes said quietly, her eyes flickering with menace as she watched Finn squirm slightly under her questioning, "but Finn, I gotta know, what's the deal? You, playing the hunky, straight quarterback all year long; you always been hiding yourself or what?" Finn didn't know how far this was going to go, but he conceded that it was probably a good idea to talk to someone besides Kurt about what was going on; he felt better already just because somebody else knew what was happening and he hadn't even relinquished any details yet.

"No, I haven't been hiding anything. This has only started happening over the last couple of weeks. Remember last week, when we did theatricality? Well, I saw Kurt getting pushed around by those jerks and at first I was pissed at Kurt really cus he wasn't really helping himself being so, in your face. But then he showed me what an idiot I was being and how it wasn't his fault that they were ignorant morons and how no one had any right to make him hide himself. That's when things started happening, I suppose," Finn babbled, his voice starting to quiver slightly through the relief, fear and excitement of finally releasing his inner most thoughts on the tricky subject of Kurt.

"So," Mercedes said, taking an inquisitive step forward, "What is happening?"

"Well, I don't really know. I thought I was just being protective of him, cus our parents have started dating and whatever, I thought is was my responsibility. But then I organised that song for him, and rejected Rachel, which is something that I thought I would never do, and then when he said he loved me yesterday…," Finn yielded, sighing at the pleasant memory whilst Mercedes lifted an eyebrow in slight surprise, "that did it for me. I think, no, I'm sure now that it's something more. I'm just so confused, this shouldn't happen in just two weeks," Finn groaned under the strain, massaging his face between his hands whilst he threw himself back into the wall. Mercedes looked at him tentatively, for the first time feeling that Finn really needed some help.

"You are allowed to be confused, you know? It is kind of a big deal what you're thinking," Mercedes said gently, tapping Finn's arm, "So, labels, you in to them or not?"

"Oh, um," Finn stumbled, caught off guard by the abruptness of the question. He felt like he was venturing into unmarked territory, thinking about labels, but he supposed that he should carry on talking while he was feeling so open.

"I wouldn't say I was bi or gay or anything like that, not by a long shot. I mean, I haven't really thought about Kurt in a….in a, sexual way. I mean, I've been really enjoying, hugging him and stuff…," Finn whispered, his cheeks flushing, "but since this started happening, I've been so interested and worried about his feelings that I haven't thought about any girl in that kinda way either. It was actually really easy to say no to Rachel yesterday," Finn said, gazing at the opposite wall, surprising himself with the crucial revelations that he was only just figuring out for himself; he could see that speaking to Mercedes had obviously been the right thing to do.

"I'm happy for you Finn. Kurt has always loved you, I think you know that, and I'm glad that might get happening. And I just want you to know, I'm Kurt's best friend, but you can talk to me too if you want, I'll always listen," Mercedes said kindly, flashing her cutest smile towards Finn.

"Thanks Mercedes," Finn gushed, relieved at the catharsis that was washing through him. Mercedes moved to rejoin the flow of people moving down the hallway, and Finn moved to follow her, but she span on the spot before he could, obviously with one more thing on her mind.

"But one thing though, you lead Kurt on and hurt him, say yes to him and then change your mind? I will take you down, Finn Hudson, I promise you that," she said sternly, the classic, everyday Mercedes resurfacing to bring the intimate conversation round full circle.

"Whew, uh, ok, I got it. Thanks Mercedes, I want to find him now actually. I think I need to talk to him," Finn decided; he had to talk to Kurt about the new thoughts that were running through his mind. He had promised that the second he worked something out he would find Kurt and tell him, it was only fair, besides, he felt he needed the support.

"He'll be at lunch now, that's where I was going actually. I'll come with ya'll," Mercedes winked at Finn, linking her arm through his and dragging him back into the hallway. As they walked towards the lunch hall Finn had to smile at how, quite inadvertently through the confusion that he was living, he had managed to bring somebody less committed to the situation, somebody more objective and a friend at that even closer. Somebody who could help him wade through the mess in his head without him having to worry about their feelings all the time. Maybe now he didn't have to feel quite so stranded.

-Are You Happy?-

On arrival at the lunch hall Finn quickly scanned the large room, using his height as an advantage to see over the heads of the throngs of teenagers. He pointed out to Mercedes that Kurt was sat in the far corner with Artie and Tina, and then they started to meander across the hall. Finn had hoped that they could have got there early enough to catch Kurt by himself, but their conversation had ended that plan. Finn trained his eyes on Kurt as they weaved their way through the tables, knowing that he needed to talk to him right away about the new knowledge that was there, fresh in the front of his mind.

"Mercedes, is there any way that-,"

"That I could get them to leave?" Mercedes finished, bending her head back to smile up at him with a cheeky wink, "No problem Frankenstein." As they approached the table, Finn was amused at the slight confusion on Kurt's face as he looked over his and Mercedes' linked arms; Finn imagined that he would be quizzed about that thoroughly later.

"Come on ya'll," Mercedes said brightly as she tapped Artie and Tina on their shoulders, "come with me a minute, I want your opinion on something," she finished, smiling inconspicuously at Finn. It wasn't inconspicuous enough though; Kurt didn't miss it. Now he was properly interested in what Finn and Mercedes were doing before they mysteriously slinked into the hall.

"Oh, come on Mercedes, its lunch! Can't it wait?" Artie whined, looking down longingly at his sandwich that was waiting on the table.

"It will only be a sec, and then we'll come right on back," Mercedes reassured him, gesturing for them to rise. Under Kurt's watchful eye, as she departed she gently nodded towards Finn who smiled in response, looking slightly nervous. Kurt was amused at their attempts to appear normal; the very fact that Mercedes didn't ask for his opinion on whatever thing she was making up told him that they were plotting something, that and the fact that Finn couldn't be inconspicuous if he tried as he sat down next to him whilst wringing his hands. Kurt decided to play along with their charade; he didn't want to dent Finn's pride, for Finn to think that he'd wasted his efforts to appear nonchalant. Besides, Kurt had to admit that he was growing nervous himself; if whatever Finn wanted to talk to him about required this much of a show and this degree of privacy it was probably something that he should be concerned with.

"Hi Finn," Kurt greeted lightly, replaying their encounter in the hall yesterday over and over in his head as he continued eating his salad, lingering on the feel of Finn around him, the smell of Finn next to him, and he prayed internally that this was not the proclamation that he had been expecting; that this, whatever it was between them, had to stop.

"Hey Kurt, so, yesterday, in the hall-," Finn began, struggling for the bravery to dive straight in to what he needed to explain.

"Oh god, it was too much wasn't it? I freaked you out! I'm so sorry Finn," the words streamed out of Kurt's mouth as he threw down his fork and turned towards Finn, his face twisting with worry.

"No Kurt," Finn said clearly, placing his hand on Kurt's shoulder, "I'm sorry," he finished gently, staring at Kurt until he felt the tension recede somewhat into Kurt's small frame.

"Listen, I'm sorry because in the hall I saw how I was stringing you along, and I have been, don't say I haven't," Finn said, cutting off the protest that was clearly on Kurt's mind.

"Anyway. Truthfully, I think I've known what was going on as soon as I came to help you dressed in a theatrical shower curtain," he sniggered, making Kurt smile gently through his nerves, "I did that cus I really care about you, so much Kurt, more than I ever did for Rachel or Quinn, and I supposedly loved them. Wow, so much for that. I see now that I was "in love" with them just because it was what people expected of me. I didn't really; all they did was use me, for bloody status or whatever. You're the only one that's always been there to help me, you know?" Finn smiled at Kurt, not able to believe the truth of the things that he was saying. Kurt just sat and smiled weakly, unsure of where this was going but exhilarated all the same.

"I was just saying to Mercedes actually how this shouldn't happen in two weeks," Finn smirked, as Kurt seemed to make sense of something.

"So that's what that was about," Kurt nodded, sure of himself. Finn decided to wrap this up; Kurt seemed to be close to palpitations, so he took Kurt's hand under the table and grasped it, reassuringly tight.

"I'm not ready for anything more than this right now, ok? I'm really freaked out by this, but not in a bad way, I swear," Finn promised, flattered by the way that Kurt's breathing quickened under his touch.

"Just know. I'm becoming yours a little bit more every day."

-Are You Happy?-

"Right guys, they're sat in our auditorium. This is it, your chance to show them you're just as good as they are, and in fact, you're even better, because you guys have heart!" Mr Schue was positively glowing with excitement at the prospect of the Glee club's funk-tacular performance and Finn felt just as buzzed. This had to be one of his favourite songs that they had done all year, and what made it even better was that as the club stood behind the screen at the back of their stage, casting their funky silhouettes, Finn had the opportunity to peruse the hilarious range of funk costumes worn by his club mates. For instance, Kurt was adorned in a shiny gold jacket and an equally festive trilby hat, all finished off with bright red skinny jeans. All in all, his attempt at being funky had winded up with him looking like an incredibly gay pimp, and Finn didn't think that he could look any better; the jeans were especially flattering.

'What? The jeans are flattering? What's that about? Well, they are. Actually, he looks fucking hot!' Finn thought to himself, checking Kurt up and down as he waited by the side of the screen, awaiting his entrance onto the stage to begin the number after Rachel had finished introducing them.

"After your brazen escalation of our growing dispute which we were willing to put to rest, we decided that the only way to truly funk-ify you is to show you the one thing we know you can't do, so enjoy!" Rachel finished confidently, and as Kurt stepped out from behind the screen as the music struck up, Finn was bubbling with excitement.

"Tear the roof off, we're gunna tear the roof off, the mother sucker. Tear the roof off the sucker!" Kurt began, swaying alone in the centre of the stage as he put on a comically low voice to begin the song. He felt that with Finn's words from lunch reverberating around his mind, he could have performed the whole of the upbeat number by himself and still have sent Vocal Adrenaline running, and he also knew as the rest of the club joined him onstage, kicking off the main vocals, that they had already succeeded; Vocal Adrenaline looked freaked and they had only been performing all of thirty seconds.

Finn found that as he rounded the side of the screen, he was exuding pride. Pride which was directed towards Kurt as he watched him take down Vocal Adrenaline's smugness single handed by just being his light hearted self. As the Glee club settled down into their performance places, Finn made his way to the back row, as was always dictated by his height and his inability to dance, but this time he really didn't mind as Kurt was going to be there with him due to keeping quiet during rehearsals and by him carefully selecting his own place. The best thing though was that they were going to be right next to each other, and as they arrived at their places Finn grinned the widest grin that he had done in a while, and Kurt simply melted at the sight of it.

The club worked their way through the number, and with every beat Vocal Adrenaline sank lower into their chairs, only fuelling the New Directions fire, but Finn couldn't take his eyes off of Kurt. The way that he stepped his way through Britney and Mike's funky moves was absolutely charming and would not relinquish Finn's attention. As they turned up the heat and stepped into the last area of the song, Kurt found himself enthralled by the way that Finn rotated his hips to the smooth beat of the song, and by the time Kurt led the way down the centre of the stage, doing his improvised, individual dance moves whilst Mercedes wrapped up the heated vocals, he felt as if nothing could stop him; then, as his part of the song was effectively over, he span around to lovingly watch Finn following him, looking equally excited.

As the music came to its end, the club erupted into cheers and high-fives at the sight of the dumbfounded Vocal Adrenaline, safe in the knowledge that they had performed their task well; hell yes, they were funk-ified. Kurt made his way off of the stage, gasping for breath, accompanied by the feeling that he had lifted a huge weight off of his shoulders, when a strong hand spun him around.

"I love you!" Finn gasped, and before Kurt could even squeak in surprise, Finn had grabbed the back of his head and pulled him into the most romantic of kisses, his other hand working its way to Kurt's hip. Everything exterior to the moment disappeared as Kurt wrapped his arms around Finn's neck, the softness of Finn's much awaited lips blinding him whilst the taste of him made him crumple at the knees; Finn's taste was the same brand as his delicious scent and if it hadn't of been for his strong, sculpted arm, he would have hit the floor. Kurt knew that if he could think straight, he would not believe that his only desire, the desire that he lived for, was happening, but as it was he found that he couldn't even articulate the thought whilst he wound his fingers into Finn's hair, the eroticism of the moment taking over his body. Finn's eyes exploded behind his eyelids as he led the kiss, the sweet innocence of Kurt's lack of experience easy to comprehend. All that needed to be said? Screw not being ready! After he had watched Kurt during that song, all doubt had left his mind, and by the end of it he had felt lighter than air. Kurt and his delicate frame, crushing against him was all that he needed. Kurt, and the way that he cared for him and made him feel, truly feel, what it meant to love and to be loved in return, for the very first time.

"Are you sure?" Kurt probed, reluctantly pulling a minute distance away from Finn, dragging in a huge breath.

"Yes, I am," Finn said simply, like it was the surest thing on the planet as their eyes locked together, an exquisite blend of light and dark.

"I love you so much," Kurt finished, pressing himself back against Finn, grasping at Finn's back. That was when he heard Finn chucking slightly, with an undertone of nerves apparent in the sound, and Kurt opened his eyes to the rest of the Glee club staring at them just metres away, each and every one of them with their jaws hanging down in stricken silence. All except Mercedes, who stood grinning at them, one hand over her heart, the other fanning her face.

Kurt couldn't have put it better himself.