Disclaimer - I do not Own Glee
Full Title: Together We Can Get Through This
Tough times never last,
but tough people do.
~Robert H. Schuller
"Break a leg."
"I love you." Rachel's eyes widened as Finn said those three little words. The music began and she smiled shyly. His face lit up as he made his way back to his spot, smiling like an idiot. When it was his part he walked into the auditorium, leaving Rachel alone. She let out a shaky breath. He just confessed he loved her. Finn Hudson just said he loved her. And she didn't say anything back. She was in too much shock to make any comment. She shook those thoughts out of her head as she made her way into the auditorium, beginning her part. She would never be able to listen to Faithfully again without thinking of Finns confession. As they finished the song, she timidly looked at him. He was smiling at her and she couldn't help but smile too. She made her way back in line just as the next song was starting. They breezed through 'Don't Stop Believing' after that and she found herself wrapped in Finn's embrace when they were done. She was walking with Tina (surprisingly the girl had went up to Rachel and hugged her, telling her she did a great job) and yelling that they were going to win. She was sitting in the green room when she heard Noah begin to freak out.
"Oh my god! What do you mean 'your water broke'?" His eyes wide as he talked to a heavy breathing Quinn.
"It means that I'm having this freaking baby!" Quinn said through clenched teeth. Quinn's mother held onto Quinn's waist as they began to help her up the stairs. Mr. Schue frantically gathered everyone together.
"Ok! Quinn is going to the hospital and we will go up after the results are said." He said to all the kids standing.
"I'm going with Quinn." Puck grabbed his jacket and ran after Quinn and her mother.
"We're going to!" Mercedes, Kurt, Tina, Brittany and Santana all ran after Puck and Quinn. Artie silently went too as Matt and Mike followed. Rachel looked around as they all went out to the bus.
"I can't leave them!" Mr. Schue worriedly said.
"I'll stay." She said suddenly. Both Mr. Schue and Finn turned to look at her.
"Rachel..." Finn began.
"Go! I will stay. I can call when they performances are almost over. You guys can come back before they announce the winner." Mr. Schue nodded and grabbed his coat, chasing after all the kids. Finn turned to Rachel.
"I'll stay with you." he said determined.
"No you won't. You're going! I will represent the New Directions. Besides, this was supposed to be your baby and I know you want to go." she whispered the last part quietly. She looked up an before she was aware what was happening, Finn smashed his lips into hers. She was caught off guard and before he had time to really enjoy the kiss, Finn was already running to chase after their teammates. He turned around at the end and gave her a crooked smile before running out of sight. Rachel swooned and had to sit down before she collapsed. She took in a breath before standing up. Just as Vocal Adrenaline was calle to perform. She hesitantly made her way into the auditorium, just as they began to sing 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. She rolled her eyes as he sang. He was immature and she had Finn now. Her heart fluttered as she thought back to when he declared his love for her. She quietly exited the auditorium and grabbed her phone. Putting in Finns number, she pressed talk.
"Hello?" He answered.
"Hello Finn." She smiled.
"Hey Rach."
"I called to inform you that Vocal Adrenaline is almost finished with their performance. The results will be announced in a half an hour, so I suggest that you all come back soon." she replied as she paced back in forth in the green room.
"Ok. I'll let mr schue know."
"Thanks Finn. Umm...did Quinn have her baby?" She feels awkward asking because she isn't really close to the girl.
"I think so. The nurse said she did and that we could all see the new baby soon. How did Vocal Adrenaline do?"
"Well, I believe..." A movement outside the door catches her eye. Shelby is walking into a little room across from the green room. "Finn? I have to go. I'll see you soon." She says and presses end. Putting her phone down, she makes her way into the room Shelby's in. She kinda just starts blurting things out then. About how Shelby didn't win because Jesse doesn't have heart. Then she finds herself begging Shelby to join the New Directions and help coach them. It's like a slap in the face when she says that she wants to find a home. It takes everything in Rachel not to cry. She turns to leave, because honestly, she can't be in the same room as her mom without bursting into tears. Then Shelby asks where her team is. She responds and when she asks if everything was okay with Quinn and the baby, rachel tells her it was a beautiful baby girl and Shelby's eyes light up. She quickly leaves, a single tear streams down her face. She has her head lowered when she runs into someone. She feels embarrassed immediately.
"S-Sorry." She sniffles.
"Rachel?" The voice asks back. Her head snaps up and Finn is standing right in front of her.
"Finn, you're back." she breaths a sigh of relief.
"Yeah. I was looking for you. Are you okay?" he looks genuinely worried. She just gives a small smile, not wanting to explain what just happened.
"Yep. I'm fine. It's really nothing. How are you? I mean, are you okay?" He understands what she means. He looks at his feet before looking at her again.
"I thought it would be hard seeing her. I mean, I spent a long time thinking she was mine," She looks away dejectedly, knowing that he couldn't get over this. "But, seeing the baby and seeing Quinn, it was easy," She looks at him confused. "I'm over her now. I guess sometime along the way, I forgave her and got over her. Now, I realize that I'm head over heels for you Rach. Like I said, I love you." and she couldn't help herself anymore. She jumped up, throwing her arms around his neck and smashing her lips to his. It was his turn to be shocked, but he quickly recovered and kissed her back. A cough was heard behind them and Rachel reluctantly let go, her lips swollen and a blush taking over her cheeks. Turning around, she looked straight into the eyes of Jesse St. James. He raised an eyebrow at them and she narrowed her eyes.
"What do you want Jesse?" she spit at him.
"Hello to you too Rachel. Might I say you look very pretty in your dress. Finn, you just look poor." he replied snidely. Finn took Rachel's hand to keep from punching Jesse's stupid face in.
"What do you want?" she repeated, irritated.
"I came to wish the best of luck for your little glee club. It isn't going to last much longer, considering you are going to lose." He pushed past the two of them. Finn sighed but Rachel stomped after Jesse.
"Jesse!" he stopped and turned towards her, an amusing grin etched on his face. "I am sick of you going around and tearing everyone down. Finn looks just fine and he will always be better than you. I don't even know why I went to you, your horrible, deplorable, and just plain mean!" She took in a huge breath and exhaled sharply before turning around. She was halfway back to Finn when jesse spoke again.
"He's a Lima loser Rachel. Have fun being with someone who's going to hold you back from your dreams." She stopped in the middle and looked at Finn. He caught her eye and quickly put his head down. She turned and made her way back to Jesse, raising her hand and slapping him right across the face. He recoiled and looked at her in shock.
"Don't talk about him that way. He will make it farther in life than you Jesse. He's kind, compassionate, and loving and that's more than you will ever be because you're selfish, uncaring and stingy! He will make it out of Lima, but you will be here forever. Don't ever say anything like that about him again. I love him and I wont let you talk about him like that." Jesse stood in shock as she turned around and grabbed Finns hand, pulling him away. Finn followed aimlessly as she stomped along. Suddenly, he stopped in the middle of the hallway. She didn't expect him and flung backwards and smashed into Finns chest, almost knocking them both over. After steadying themselves Finn took Rachel's face in his hands.
"Did you mean it?" he's asks quietly, making sure that the conversation belongs to just the two of them.
"Mean what?" she asked.
"Did you mean it when you said you loved me?" she blushed as she realized he heard what she said. She wasn't thinking when she was yelling at Jesse, she just said what she felt. She paused. She said what she felt. Then she must love him. She looked Finn in the eyes and smiled.
"I think I do," he smiled brightly while she bit her lip. "but, I need to know if you're committed this time. I can't have you break up with me in a month because you 'need to find you're inner rockstar' again. I really really need you to be serious about this because if I find out you're just using me or something equally terrible, I might die. Literally.," he smile at her but she continued. "I want us to be together for a long time. You mean a lot to me and even if we break up, I want us to be friends because if I lose you as a boyfriend I at least want you as-"
"Rachel! You're going kinda far into the future. I want us to last too. Let's take it one day at a time, and see what happens. I promise I'm not using you for some awful reason like St. Jackass was. I love you! This is for real." he leaned down and kissed her. It was so slow and passionate and she never wanted to stop. She opened her mouth to give him access. She could get used to kissing Finn. He was so gentle and kind and really-
"My eyes!" Rachel pulled away quickly and looked in the doorway of the green room. Kurt had his hand over his eyes and his mouth wide open. Finns eyes went wide and his cheeks burned with embarrassment. She couldn't help it as a stifled laugh escaped from her mouth. Finn turn towards her and smiled, letting out a laugh as well. She then bursted into giggles. Kurt uncovered his eyes as they both began to laugh uncontrollably.
"You two are unbelieveable." he said in disgust as he went back into the green room. This caused Rachel to laugh even harder. Finn smiled as she laughed, loving the sound.
"All you pathetic glee clubs report to the auditorium stage, we are starting in 5 minutes and if you aren't there then too bad. None of you deserve to win anyways." Sue loud voice boomed over the speakers. Rachel immediatly stopped laughing. This was it, this was their shot at nationals. She gulped quietly and grabbed Finns hand. Slowly, the New Directions made their way to the stage. Rachel stood by Artie, surprised when he grabbed her hand and smiled up at her. Finn stood behind her, holding her other hand from behind. Sue came up and opened up the second place card. Rachel's heart was beating erratically. When Aural Intensitys name was called, she knew they won. She smiled brightly, looking over at Shelby and Jesse. She turned back and squeezed Finns hand gently. Sue began to open the first place card. Rachel clamped her eyes shut, but quickly opened them, not wanting to miss the announcement.
"Vocal Adrenaline!" Sue loudly said into the microphone. Rachel felt her face fall. How? They were better than vocal adrenaline. She turned and Jesse was hugging his teammates, smirking at her when he saw her looking. Shelby walked over and congratulated Mr. Schue, who kindly accepted. She felt tears fall down her face. She let go of Finns hand, trying to wipe her tears away. They had lost. They weren't going to nationals. She looked at the sad faces around her and she felt her eyes well up with more tears. Having to escape, she fled the stage quickly. She felt more tears run down her face as she did and made her way into the green room. She began packing up her stuff as she waited for the rest of her team to come. She sniffled as she pulled her jacket on. This feeling she had, was terrible.
The bus ride home was silent. Rachel sat next to Finn, her head leaning against his shoulder as she listened to Funny Girl. They hadn't spoken two words to each other since they left. She didn't know what to say and he was clueless as well. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before she hurried to her car and drove home. School the next day wasnt that bad. She was in a slightly better mood until she made it to the choir room, and everyone had begun to pack things away. Then she felt the tears again. They all came in for one last group hug, before the final bell rang. She was about to get her stuff and leave when an idea came to her mind. She called everyone over, and began to tell her plan.
"We should all sing for Mr. Schue. We could get him into the auditorium and sing him a song. We could all say something before, like what our life was like before Glee." she waited nervously for any harsh comments that would come.
"That's not a bad idea." Santana, of all people, said first.
"I agree. We could wait until Friday. That's when Quinn and Puck will be here." Mercedes chimed in. Rachel smiled. They would sing one last song together before everything came to an end.
"What song should we sing?" Kurt asked the group. Everyone fell silent, not knowing what song.
"To Sir With Love." Finn said softly. Rachel looked over at him and smiled.
"That's a great idea. We could all sing parts of it" she beamed at him. They made final arrangement then headed home. Rachel walked with Finn out the front doors to her car. She stopped at her door before sighing and turning to Finn.
"What's going to happen to us Finn?" she whispered. He furrowed his eyebrows together.
"What are you talking about?" he asked confused. She sighed again.
"What's going to happen to us? I mean, we no longer have glee club. You're popular and im just a freak. Are you going to leave me as soon as you realize that I'm not good for your reputation?" Finn was silent as he took everything in. He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closing it. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what would happen in the future. She nodded her head slowly. "I'll see you tomorrow Finn." she got into her car and drove away, tears streaming down her face. Finn stood in shock as she left. Did she honestly think he was going to break up with her just because Glee club was ending? He needed to fix this.
Rachel threw herself on her bed when she got home. Tears streamed down her face. She knew being with Finn was too good to last. She was just a loser and he was Quarterback of the football team. He's meant to date a pretty cheerleader, like Quinn or Santana. She wasn't good enough to have Finn Hudson as a boyfriend. More tears fell as she laid there. Her phone began to play 'Defying Gravity' and she slowly lifted it up checking the caller ID. 'Finn Hudson' lit up her screen and she sniffled before pressing ignore. She wasnt ready for him to break up with her yet. She pulled her stuffed bear closer to her chest, holding it tightly. The doorbell to her house rang and she groaned. Making her way downstairs, she didn't bother hiding her messy hair as it hung loosely down her shoulders and her red eyes. She opened the door and there stood Finn Hudson. He took in her appearance, his eyes going wide. Her eyes also went wide as she saw him standing there. She quickly closed the door, standing in shock. She ran over the the mirror in the downstairs bathroom, fixing her hair and splashing her face with water. She took a deep breath as she went and opened the door again. Finn was now sitting on her porch step. He turned as she made her way outside after grabbing her coat. She sat down on the step with him, looking straight ahead as cars passed.
"Sorry." she muttered, looking down. He chuckled slightly.
"It's fine. I was worried about you after you left so quickly." he looked at her and small smile on his lips.
"Sorry." she whispered. He sighed before standing up and moving in front of her.
"Rachel," he waited until she looked at him. "Why do you think I'm going to break up with you?" He threw his hands in the air. She bit her lip and looked down.
"You're going to realize that if you date me, you will lose your popularity. You deserve someone prettier and more popular, like Santana or Quinn or Brittany." She is ashamed to look up and see the realization on his face. He's silent for a while. Probably contemplating the best way to break up with her.
"Rachel..." he begins before stopping. His constant word vomit isn't going to help in this situation. He tries again, taking a seat as he does. "Rachel, look at me," she slowly looks up at him, looking like a little girl in trouble. "Sure, popularity is really important to me. I know that I'm risking it, but truth is, I don't care. I really like you Rachel and stop comparing yourself to other girls. You're beautiful the way you are." he finishes and looks ahead, waiting for her to respond. When she doesn't, he turns to look at her again. She quickly wipes away a tear that was running down her face.
"Thank you Finn. You are so sweet." he chuckles.
"I try." she giggles with him and leans against his shoulder.
"I can believe glee club is ending. We have come so far and now it's all over." she whispers, shivering from the cold.
"I know. It sucks ass."
"Finn. Language. I do agree though." he slowly stands up and holds out his hand to her.
"C'mon." he waits until she grabs his hand and pulls her to his car.
"Where are we going?" she jogs to keep up with his pace.
"It was your idea to sing this song. We are going to practice an figure out what we're going to say." he hopes into the front seat she she stands outside for a moment before entering the passenger side.
Friday comes and she makes sure everyone is in their place for the song. When Mr. Schue comes in they begin to talk. She had practiced what she was going to say over and over again about how difficult he life had been before glee and how she made new friends (sorta). It comes around to her and as she looks at Mr. Schue, she loses everything she had practiced and quickly throws out "I was being slushied." Compared to everyone else's, her explanation isn't good, but she knows it's true and that's really what her life was like before glee. Finn goes next and she feels her eyes well up with tears as he explains that he didn't have a father before glee. Before long, they are singing and she begins to cry as she sings, and soon se realizes she isn't the only one. Even Santana is crying and she realizes for the first time that they really are a family. As the sons finishes, they all look to Mr. Schue, who's also teary-eyed. She takes Finn's hand and they all walk out of the auditorium.
"We have another year." Me. Schue says and she feels her mouth open slightly at the news. When nobody reacts or says anything, he laughs. "C'mon guys! We have another year!" he shouts and she's the first to squeal. Soon everyone follows and she finds herself rushing up to Mr. Schue, hugging him tightly. She starts telling the club of her ideas when Mr. Schue sends her to sit down. He calls Noah up and he begins to sing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' and she enjoys the tune. Leaning her head against Finn's shoulder, she finally thinks that something has gone right for her. She lets the peacefulness settle in and smiles.
The bell rings and they all stand up. Finn tells her he will meet her by her locker, saying he has to get stuff from the locker room. She kisses him and slowly walks back to pack her stuff up.
"Rachel?" she jumps as Quinn timidly comes near her.
"Hello Quinn." She looks at the blonde as she sits down.
"Can I talk to you? I have to tell you something." Rachel nods as she takes a seat next to Quinn. There is a moment of silence before Quinn draws in a shaky breath.
"What is it Quinn?" Rachel looks at the girl.
"I know I'm not very nice to you, because truth is, I don't like you," It comes out a little snarky and Rachel looks ahead. "I do however, somewhat consider you a friend and I believe you have a right to know something." Quinn turns to look at her.
"What?"
"Shelby came to the hospital." Quinn looks anywhere but at her. Rachel's heart is racing.
"Ok?" another breath is taken by Quinn.
"A-and she said she wanted to...adopt my baby." Quinn looks at her, almost looking guilty. Rachel takes in a sharp breath.
"Why?" She asks herself more that Quinn. Quinn shrugs.
"I don't know."
"Did you tell her no?" Quinn's eyes tell her the answer to that question. She feels betrayed. Her own mother has given up on her and adopted another baby.
"I'm sorry Rachel." The blonde stands up.
"Why did you do it?" Rachel whispers.
"I needed someone to take the baby." it really feels like Quinn slapped her.
"Why did you give your baby to her? After everything that happened. Why? Do you really not like me that much?" So many questions bubble inside her brain.
"Just get over it Rachel. Shelby obviously doesn't want you and she's moving on. You should too. Like I said, I don't particularly like you but I thought you had a right to know. I needed someone to adopt Be- the baby and Shelby was there." with that, Quinn leaves her alone in the choir room. Tears run down her face. Mr. Schue enters the room, and stops at the piano.
"Rachel? What's wrong?" she grabs her bag and wipes the tears away.
"Nothing Mr. Schue. I'll see you later." and she runs out of the room. She runs to her locker, dropping to the floor as her stuff crashes next to her. She brings her knees to her chest and buries her face in them.
"Rachel?" Finn is next to her now and he slowly slides down the wall next her. She looks up and everything just comes out. She tells him when she talked to Shelby at regionals and tells him what just happened.
"She just abandoned me." she finishes. She looks up at him and he looks sympathetic.
"What can I do Rach? How can I help?" she sniffles as her eyes begin to fill with tears again.
"Just hold me Finn. Please just hold me." He wraps his arms around her and engulfs her. And she cries and he holds her because he loves her and she loves him and they can get through this.
A/N - I don't know how I feel about this one. I think it could've been better but I was rushing a bit near the end. I hope you all enjoyed this and thank you to those who reviewed! Please read my other stories! And what is this? A double update! Happy new years everyone!
~Kelsi