Here is the next Chapter. For those who have asked. Chapters 1 thru 7 are the original story by ddh973 with some tweaks and add ons from me. Starting Chapter 8 will be all my original work with some ideas left over from ddh1973

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Honor the Tether! Remember the Drummer!

Chapter 3

It was dark outside and Finn was still at the Berry's with a scrapbook opened in his lap. He was transfixed at the pictures of his dad, shocked at how much he resembled him in height, pale skin and the freckles that ran along his face. He was so wrapped up in the pictures that Finn didn't notice General Berry sit down beside him until he started to speak.

"Finn, you know that I love you. I have even before you started loving my angel girl. I promised your father I would help you out. I'm sorry I was so hard on you. Chris would be proud and he'd do whatever he could to get you through this, so I will as well. Son, why don't you tell me some more details about how you got involved with Quinn Fabray again? What led to you to pretending that you were a couple again? I can see that, despite her attempts to pretend otherwise, my angel girl isn't dealing with this very well and neither are you or Quinn. That girl is acting like she is on auto pilot. I expected her to put up a fuss when I ordered you to take Rachel home and she just stood there with a lifeless look on her face. Something is wrong with that girl and you know exactly what it is," James said gently, pushing aside the part of him that expected his orders to be followed long enough to get to the heart of what is wrong here.

"Sir, I promised her that I would keep this a secret. She begged me to and I can't break that promise or she might hurt herself more than she has. I might not be in love with Quinn the way I am with Rachel but I care about her too much to let her cause any more harm to her..."

Finn stopped short as he realized that he had revealed too much. He stared at James and before starting to talk again, knowing deep down that he needed to tell someone exactly what was going on here and the man sitting beside him was going to have to be it.

"It started a month ago, the Monday after we won the District Championship. I had just finished talking to Dave Karofsky in the hall when I found Quinn leaning up against the locker. She started talking about how seeing me be the leader and winning the football game made her realize why she had loved me. The next thing I know she is kissing me and walking away. I hadn't had any encounters with her before that. She had been arguing with Puck the entire week over her quitting the Glee Club to stay with the Cheerios so her declaration had confused me. I was too busy trying to help Coach Beiste figure out how to replace the football players that weren't in the Glee Club so we could actually play the game. I was also pissed at Rachel and trying not to argue with her over an attempt at making me jealous by singing Need You Now with Puck and then trying to come up with a plan so she didn't get killed. Why Beiste allowed the girls I'll never know."

"It sounds to me like my angel girl's attempt worked, son," James said, smiling at the young quarterback.

"Fine, I'll admit it. Her little scheme worked, all I wanted to do was kick his ass and drag her out of the classroom to find somewhere private to kiss the hell out of her, then yell at her for joining the football team. But that wouldn't solve the problems we still have between us."

"No it wouldn't but it would have showed Rachel that you still wanted her and had feelings for her. She doesn't give up that easy as I am sure that you are aware of by now but something in you dating Quinn again has made her lose her spark and her ability to fight back. You agreed to this scheme to help a girl that you care about and ended up hurting the one that you are in love with. It sounds like you can't win for losing, son. So what happened next?"

"I let Puck deal with the Cheerios quitting and leaving us short three members for Regionals because I had too much going to deal with Quinn, Santana and Brittany letting Coach Sylvester control them. So he ended up arguing with Sam all week and almost got into a fight that Mr. Schue had to stop. I also had to keep them from killing each other while trying to practice for the game that was looking like we weren't going to be able to play."

"Is that when my granddaughter got the idea for her and the other girls in Glee to play in the game?"

Finn, in the same move that resembled the one he did when Rachel suggested it during Glee club that day, placed his palm on his forehead, wondering what the hell they had been thinking. Tina had been tackled but luckily she hadn't been hurt and was able to walk off of the field on her own two feet.

"Yes, it was. I should have gone with my gut when it told me to put my foot down and tell her it wasn't happening. That it would be over my dead body before she went out onto that field to play even one second of that football game. I may have been pissed at her but I didn't want her hurt and it just as easily could have been Rachel instead of Tina that was tackled. I know people think that I am an ass because I never thanked her for doing that. That I'm too dumb to admit that she did that for me but at the time I was still messed over the thought of her kissing Puck."

James put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, fighting not to grin as he started to speak.

"Son, I don't know how the women are in Rachel's mother's family but my Camilla was a feisty woman. Rachel is a lot like her being that she was a petite brunette that could storm out of a room when you crossed her. My Camilla was a diva so Rachel gets it honest on both sides of her family."

"According to Rachel, they don't know who her biological father is, so how can you be sure she is like your late wife?"

"I am not my son and his partner. I had a DNA test done on me and Rachel to see if she was a blood relative and it proved that Leroy is her biological father."

"So you are saying the Rachel is a lot like your late wife?"

"Yes and I could never win a fight with Cammie. One time she got so mad at me, I ended up getting a plate of spaghetti thrown at my head."

Finn grinned at the older man's words before remembering an encounter that Rachel had gotten into with both Puck and Santana right before Christmas. She had brought a plate of her sugar cookies to him, in an effort to apologize. He had turned them down as gently as possible and started to walk away when he had heard Quinn call out and a crash behind him. He had turned around to find Puck and Santana lying on the floor in the hall, before sitting up to sweep away bits of broken glass and shattered cookies off of themselves as Rachel stormed down the hall. The door to the auditorium had slammed so hard the walls had shaken and he remembered fighting not to grin at the stunned looks his fellow Glee Club members and other classmates had exchanged with each other.

"What's the grin for, son?"

"Rachel threw a plate of sugar cookies at Santana and Puck right before Christmas. They were for me and I turned them down which wasn't an easy thing to do because I love anything she bakes. But if I would have taken them, it would have encouraged her to keep coming after me. But from what Mercedes told me, Santana called her man hands and a pathetic bitch while Puck stole a cookie off of the plate then they took off down the hall at the same time. If they hadn't of heard Quinn screaming for them to duck, Rachel would have hit them both when the plate came flying out of her hands before she turned around and walked off. Santana mainly sticks to insults now and has figured out when to quit. I think she realized that Rachel had a pretty good aim and the next time Rachel gets that mad, it might be something that would hurt a lot worse than a plate of cookies."

"Oh really then why did she call her that horrible name when I came into the classroom today?"

"I think Santana thought that Rachel wouldn't throw something at her in front of her grandfather and could get away with it."

"Understood, now let's get back to Quinn. What happened after she kissed you that day at school?"

Finn had pulled his truck up to the curb outside of Quinn's house and parked it. He quickly got out of his truck and made his way onto the front porch. He wanted to know what she had hoped to accomplish by kissing him earlier that day when from what he had seen the previous week, she had to deal with Puck and Sam fighting over her. He had enough of his own problems with Rachel and school, to deal with an ex that he had forgiven but not forgotten the things she had done to him.

He rang the doorbell and after a few moments, tried the front door, which came open at just a touch. Everything inside of Finn had told him to search for Quinn and make sure she was okay, so he had stepped inside of the house. He didn't see anybody on the first floor or any kind of clue that Quinn or her mom were there, so he made his way up the stairs. He walked over to the room that he knew was Quinn's and stepped into the bedroom, the sight of Quinn, sitting on the foot of her bed, holding a straight razor blade over her thigh, getting ready to cut herself wasn't what he had been expecting.

"What the hell are you doing, Quinn!" Finn exclaimed harshly as he marched over and snatched the razor blade out of her hand.

"Finn, ho-how did you get in here?" Her voice had been angry but full of fear as well.

"The way you left the front door when you came home, I thought somebody had broken in. I was making sure everything was okay."

"Why are you here?" Now she was full on furious.

He had placed the blade out of sight on the top of her dresser before moving to sit beside her on the bed. He hadn't known what to say to his ex-girlfriend. But what do you say to someone you just caught doing something like that. He had finally decided to ask the questions that were flying through his head.

"I want to know why the hell you kissed me like that! We haven't really talked to each other since you came onto me at my locker when school started back up again. Now all of sudden, after having Puck and Sam fighting over you all damn week, you are kissing me and telling me that you are starting to remember why you fell in love with me. What the fuck is going on, Quinn. I can be slow but not that damn slow. We both know you never loved me, you loved the idea of me. You know I have enough going on with Rachel to have deal with you pulling shit like this, so why did you do that?"

"They won't stop, Finn! Ever since Puck confronted me over quitting the Glee club, he and Sam have been fighting over me. He wants me back and I can't deal with him and Sam right now. There is only one way that they will both back off and let me think about which one I want to be with," she had cried desperately.

"Oh and what is that?" His eyebrow raised, unsure if he wanted to hear this idea she had.

"Pretend to be my boyfriend again. We won't hug or kiss or anything. We can just hold hands at all of the right times and sit beside each other in Glee club."

"No!" Had been his first reaction before noticing her starting to cry and Finn had felt like an ass before starting to explain his reaction. "Quinn, you are talking crazy. I might not be with Rachel right now but there is still something there with us and after some time has passed, I will want to be with her again. If I agree to what you want, it will hurt her and I can't do it. No matter how much she hurt me, I won't do the same thing to her."

"You love her that much?"

"Yes, I do. But she pisses me off worse than anybody ever has and I can't be with her right now."

"Please do this for me, Finn. We'll break up after the Prom is over."

Finn regarded her then asked "Why until Prom? It shouldn't take that long to figure things out."

Quinn's eyes flashed with something Finn didn't see, manipulation "Well, if we are going to do it we might as well get something out of it. I always have known we should be Prom King and Queen."

"It isn't Sam that you are running from? It's Puck."

"Yes. He won't let me forget Beth and how I gave up my baby, to get the life I had before my pregnancy back."

"Quinn...," he had started before trying to stand up and walk out of the room. She had stopped him by grabbing his arm, a wild and desperate look in her hazel eyes.

"Please, Finn. We both win with this. Sam and Puck will leave me alone to give me time to think and Rachel will back off. She put herself in the middle of that football game, all just to impress you. Does that give you a clue as to how much she wants you back? Do you think about how it could have been her that got tackled instead of Tina? Just how much danger she put herself in just so you could play in that game because it means so much to you? I'm not the only one who needs someone they love to back off. You do too and we can help each other do that."

"If I agree to help you with his, there will be no kissing or making out at all. We hold hands in the halls just long enough for Rachel, Puck and Sam to see us. After Prom it's over."

Finn had felt like an idiot and an asshole for agreeing to help her with this plan but he couldn't let her try to cut herself again. He'd try to get her to tell her mom. He just hoped that Rachel would let him explain what was going on when the time was right. That she wouldn't completely turn her back on him for 'forgiving' Quinn over her.

Finn could feel General Berry staring at him and knew that a lecture was coming; one that he wouldn't forget for a long time.

"What the hell were you thinking? You should have told her mother what was going on instead of giving into that little scheme of hers," James paused, shaking his head in dismay before continuing to speak. "Why does she want to continue this until after the Prom.?"

"She has her heart set on being Prom Queen and I'm the only one who can help her do it. I'm the most popular guy in school again after being named the MVP of the Championship game and she thinks we can use that to win. If I wasn't afraid of the fact that she would really hurt herself, I would have told her no."

"So you have fooled everybody at school with this fake relationship and broken the heart of the girl you still love? All for a girl that needs more help than you can give her and sounds like she only wants to use you, again."

"I'm afraid of what she will do to herself if the truth comes out about what I caught her trying to do to herself."

"Why don't you tell me how the two of you made everybody think that the two of you were back together?"

"Quinn told me to act like an arrogant jerk after winning the football game. Then to talk to Mr. Schue in front of the class about having a kissing booth since," Finn grimaced when he was about to say this next part. "All of the girls in school would want to kiss the winning quarterback. She would act like it was beyond her but still act interested enough to arouse Sam's suspicions. He played right into her hands and made her kiss me. I told Rachel some nonsense about seeing fireworks but all I felt was pity for her and disgust. She broke up with Sam right after that kiss. But the worst was yet to come."

"Let me guess, my angel girl came up to the booth."

"Yes. Rachel came up to the booth, like Quinn and I had both suspected that she would. I knew she was trying to get me to kiss her and that I would come back to her when our lips met. That was what I was afraid of, so I kissed her on the cheek. She got angry at me and told me she still loved me, that I was the only one she cared about, not Puck or anybody else. It was everything I could do not to kiss her right then and there; to close that damn thing and tell Quinn to find a new way to keep Puck and Sam at a distance. Then my brain took over instead of my heart. I gave her the Christmas present I had ordered for her and told her that I believed in her and that she should shine like that star she is."

"Finn, she threw that necklace and the one with your name on it straight in the garbage when she got home from Kurt's gathering at Breadstix; the one where you and Quinn attended together as a couple. Hiram got them out of there, hoping that once Rachel calmed down, she would want them back. From what I have seen earlier today and when she left this house just now, Rachel hasn't forgiven you and it might be awhile before that happens."

"I worked my ass off at Burt's shop and at Sheet's and Things to pay for both of those necklaces! Why the hell would she do that?"

"Maybe she didn't want anything that you had ever given her after seeing you forgive and gone back to a girl that had actually had sex with your best friend and let you think the baby was yours for months. While you won't forgive her for a kiss that happened out of hurt, anger and the Lopez girl taunting her over having sex with you. I am curious as to how your family reacted to you seemingly going back to a relationship with Quinn."

Finn grimaced as he remembered Kurt's reaction to him showing up with Quinn at Breadstix. His stepbrother had been pissed off, to put it very mildly and when he had gotten home that night, Finn had found out that his mother now knew. Carole Hummel's reaction to her son going back to the girl who had lied to and deceived him so horribly hadn't been pretty. She had forbidden him to even bring Quinn over to the house."

"Son, sometimes the consequences are just as harsh even when you are pretending to act like a jerk? You have to get out of this little pattern you have of judging people harshly for their mistakes while others forgive you for the ones you make over and over again. From what I have heard, you have made some pretty big ones, particularly with Rachel and she forgives you every time." James paused, wanting to ease up a bit before Finn walked out. There were a few more things he wanted to know about. "Now if you and Quinn aren't making out, how did she end up with this hickey that Rachel told me about? The one Quinn walked into the choir room wearing the day after Valentine's Day?"

"I sat on her bed and watched her do that to herself with her mom's vacuum cleaner. She said that we had to make everybody think that we had really gotten back together."

"Of all the stupid and dangerous things to do," James stated as he shook his head in dismay before continuing to speak. "I have heard from Rachel that there was a confrontation between you and Puck over this whole thing. That he is the only one who is suspicious of you and Quinn, well along with Rachel but unlike him, she doesn't seem to care anymore." James commented.

"Yes, he is and Quinn is freaking out. He is the main one that she wanted to fool with this scheme and to back off," Finn said, remembering the conversation that had taken place outside the choir room between him and his best friend.

The Day after Valentine's Day

In front of Finn's locker

Finn had stopped in front of his locker to grab his books for the day, ignoring the looks of anger that Mercedes was giving him. She had been sitting with Rachel at Breadstix last night and had been the one to comfort his ex when he and Quinn had shown up at the restaurant, holding hands.

The glare that Kurt had given him had felt like it was going to burn a hole in him. But if he wanted to keep Quinn from doing something to hurt herself, he had to do to this. At least long enough to get Quinn to realize she needed help that he couldn't provide for her.

There had been one other person whose anger had made him uncomfortable and that was Puck. His best friend had shot angry and suspicious looks in his and Quinn's direction the entire night, when he wasn't talking to Lauren, who had become his friend since she had saved him. He had known they were talking about him and Quinn because of the glances and glares at her own the girl had given him. He had known it was a bad idea to show up there with Quinn, especially after she had used the vacuum cleaner to make it look like he had given her a hickey.

It had killed him to see the pain in Rachel's eyes when she had seen them together. He had noticed her get Mercedes help in taking off the star necklace he had given her earlier that week and knew that she wouldn't forgive him that easily. That even when the truth came about why he started up with Quinn again, the girl he still loved might never come back to him.

At that moment, Finn's focus had been pulled away from his thoughts of Rachel to the sight of his very angry best friend stalking towards him. Puck looked mad enough to kill someone and Finn had really didn't want to get into a physical fight with him.

"What the fuck are you doing, Hudson? You tell me to stay away from Rachel, which made me think that you still had some feelings for her and then you pull the shit you did last night! Why the fuck would you do that?"

"Puck..."

"There had better be a very good explanation for why you betrayed not only Rachel but Sam too! Winning that damn game has turned you into an asshole, Hudson!"

Finn had noticed the rest of the school watching them, well except for a distraught Rachel. She had stormed down the hall to her first class, ignoring him and refusing to even look in his direction. His heart had sunk at the fact that Rachel hadn't calmed down from the night before.

"It isn't what you think it is dude. That is all I will tell you," Finn had harshly whispered.

"What the fuck does that mean? Why the hell are you whispering?"

"Maybe because I don't want the whole fucking school to hear what I am saying," he bit out through gritted teeth.

Finn had then grabbed the last of the things he needed from his locker before slamming the door and walking away. He could feel Puck following him and that his friend wasn't going to back off. So when he had seen an empty classroom, Finn had stepped inside of it and closed the door behind Puck, shutting out the crowd that had decided to follow them.

"Now that we are somewhere where the fucking gossips can't overhear everything, we can talk about this. I won't tell you everything because I made a promise to Quinn."

"What the fuck is going on here, Hudson?"

Puck's stance had been angry and he looked ready to strangle Finn with his bare hands. The sight of Rachel's tears and Puck's anger had filled Finn with doubt about going along with Quinn's plans. That he wasn't the one to help her and that he should have went to Mrs. Fabray or another adult who could get her the help she needs.

"All I can tell you is that it isn't what it looks like. There is more to why Quinn and I are back together right now."

"You are going to have to tell me more than that, asshole."

"That is all I can tell you, Puck. The rest is up to Quinn and what she chooses to tell you."

Finn had then turned around and walked out of the room, ignoring the voice that was screaming at him to go back and tell Puck the truth.

"He knows that something is wrong with Quinn. That is why he reacted that way when you told me to take Rachel home. But I made a promise to Quinn and I won't break my word like that. It is up to her when she wants to tell her mom or anybody else about whatever is wrong with her, not mine. All I want to do is keep my friend from causing harm to herself."

James placed a comforting hand on Finn's shoulder before starting to speak.

"Son, you can't be with her every minute of the day. If Quinn really wants to hurt herself then she will find a way to do it. She needs more help than you can give her. But what about your word to Rachel? Finn, you can't keep hurting her to protect Quinn when you know you can't help her really. Has she cut herself since you agreed to this scheme?"

Before Finn could respond, his cellphone beeped, showing that he had a text message. He pulled it out and found that the message was from his mother.

'Finn, you better be home in twenty minutes or you are grounded!'

'Over at Rach's, talking to General Berry about dad. I'll be home soon.'

'You have plenty of time to talk about your father. You have school tomorrow.'

Finn put his phone up and turned to look at James, who had been looking at some of the pictures in the scrapbooks that were lying on the coffee table.

"I need to get home or I will be grounded; thank you sir for listening to me and telling me about my dad."

"You're welcome, son. You don't have to take Rachel to that reception if you don't want to."

"That's okay. I will ask her tomorrow; we need to talk anyway."

James watched Finn leaving, trying to hide the smirk that wanted to come over his face because he knew from conversations with his co-conspirators that Finn wasn't over Rachel and vice versa. His granddaughter and the boy she loved were going to be a challenge but James had never failed at any task he had started and two stubborn, lovesick teenagers weren't going to be his first.

Finn stepped out onto the porch and was walking towards his truck when the sight of Kurt's navigator pulled up to the curb. He watched as Rachel got out and starting to walk towards the house, stopping short at the sight of him standing there.

A look of longing passed between them and the tension grew strong enough that they both felt like they were going to choke. At least until Rachel shook her head as if to clear her thoughts, walked right past him without saying a word and into the house.

He stood there for a few moments watching her bedroom window, hoping as the lights turned on that she would look out the window. But she never did. It was enough to make him feel like first class jackass. Yes, she had hurt him by kissing Puck but after talking to General Berry, he hadn't helped by ignoring her all week. By letting Santana talk to her anyway she pleased and not once told the girl to shut up when it counted. Well except for his mom's wedding and Santana had tried hitting on him. He had his moments when he had been a good boyfriend to her but others where he had failed. It was moments like this that he wished Quinn had never kissed him that day and that he had never been pulled into her plans for keeping Puck and Sam away from her and winning Prom Queen. Finn was beginning to realize that General Berry was right, even pretending to be a jerk had its consequences. He just hoped that by taking Rachel to the reception tomorrow night, some of the tension and anger that was still there between them would start to get better.