DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy!

A/N: This chapter is a short one, but no worries, this fic still has a bunch of drama left before the end of it. I'm actually going to Paris for a week with my boyfriend, so please be patient if the updates are scarce for the next two weeks.

Chapter Fifteen: The Fight

No one moved.

No one even breathed.

Rachel was still standing in the closet awkwardly, holding her bundle of clothes in her hands while his letterman's jacket billowed around her lithe frame. There was panic in her eyes as she looked at Burt's furious face, which had now turned a violent shade of purple in his ever-growing anger.

Finn just stared in-between Rachel and his mother, who hadn't moved an inch despite Burt's ardent command for her to fetch him his shotgun. Gnawing her lip in worry, the disappointment in her gaze ate away at Finn like acid, the shame scalding him as the enormity of the situation finally hit him in that moment.

They had truly been caught.

His relationship with Rachel was over.

There was no way that Burt was going to let him stay in the house with Rachel for the remainder of her stay. He remembered Burt's threat to send him away like he had made it yesterday and Burt was nothing if not a man of his word.

He should have spent less time worrying about their relationship after she left and more time making sure that their relationship stayed a secret from his parents. Now he was going to lose her weeks before he had previously intended and it was all his fault. There was nothing he could do about it either; he had consciously lied to his parents and broke every single rule of the house.

Now he had to be held responsible for his actions.

"Where's my gun?" Burt asked again and Finn couldn't be sure if he was truly serious or trying to cut the stifling tension in the room.

"Burt," his mom finally spoke, her voice straining to remain steady.. "You need to just calm down for a second, breathe, and reconsider killing off the last of the Hudson line. I do want grandchildren one day."

"Mom, Burt," he started to say, but he was cut off when both of his parents whipped their heads towards him with matching glares of fury.

"Don't. Say. A. Word." Burt punctuated sharply, shifting his focus from Finn to Rachel as Finn's jaw clamped shut. "Carole," he said, his voice shaky as the fury rippled through him. "Please escort Rachel to her bedroom so she can get changed and then bring her downstairs right away." His mother nodded her head quickly before ushering Rachel out of the closet, making sure she stayed completely covered while she stumbled around Finn's bedroom. He caught Rachel's eye for a split second and he could see the conflict there; part of her was terrified to face the repercussions of their actions, but another part of her, and he was sure it was the stronger part, was aching to be with him again one last time.

He felt the same exact way, wishing that there was a way he could comfort her in that one moment. Their fingers brushed together for the slightest of seconds as she passed him by and for now, that would have to be enough.

Once Rachel and his mother were out of the room, Burt slowly met Finn's eyes and he had never seen his step-father look so angry. He was bracing himself for an explosion of massive proportions, but Burt's demeanor was dangerously calm as he directly addressed his step-son.

"You have five minutes to get dressed and get your ass downstairs, Finn or else there's gonna be a bullet permanently lodged in it." He turned around to leave, slamming the door behind him as Finn's heart plummeted into his stomach.

He was totally fucked.

He was downstairs in four minutes, a record for him as he moved around on auto-pilot, too concerned with the impending conversation to really notice what he was doing as he threw on some clothes. Burt was already downstairs in the kitchen waiting for him, but didn't acknowledge Finn's presence as he sat down quietly at the dining room table, wishing he could just melt into the walls and escape. When Rachel descended the stairs mere moments later, however, he knew that this is where he needed to be. He and Rachel had broken the rules and now they had to face the consequences.

At least it was something that they could still do together.

His mother entered the kitchen to get Burt while Finn stood up and went over to Rachel, who was practically shaking in her pink and white polka dot dress as he enveloped her in his arms. She clung to his frame like a life line and he savored the moment for as long as he could as she sobbed quietly in his arms.

"Whatever happens, Rachel, just please know how much I love you," she nodded her head sadly as he kissed her forehead. "I never meant for this to happen."

"It is my fault, too," she sniffled miserably. "We knew it was wrong, but I can't help the way I feel," looking up into his eyes, he knew that she was telling the truth. "I do not want to be apart from you yet."

"I don't care if Burt sends me away," he choked through the emotion that was already clogging his throat. "We're still going to be together, Rachel. They can't stop us from loving one another and getting married." There was so much more that he wanted to say to her but he couldn't as his parents finally returned to the dining room. They still looked livid, but Finn refused to let go of the girl in his arms as his parents stared the both of them down.

There was nothing but complete silence in the house as Finn's heart began to pound; the only sound he could hear as he waited for the explosion to commence. His step-father took a deep breath and he knew that this was it. His life as he knew it was over.

"So how long has this," he made a waving gesture at them, still entwined in each other's arms and refusing to let go, "been going on?" Her grip tightened around his waist as he answered, trying to be as honest as possible in order to salvage some form of trust with his parents.

"Since the beginning," he confessed truthfully. "To be honest, I kind of fell in love with her at first sight." He knew it was the truth from the moment it passed his lips. Rachel broke down into sobs as Carole shook her head sadly.

"Finn, we knew that you two were friendly, but we had no idea that it was this serious," his mother said, still in shock.

"We're past serious, Mom. Rachel and I aren't just hooking up or fooling around just to break the rules. We're in love."

"You're children," Burt added, and his voice held a sharp edge to it. "You have no idea what you're doing."

"I might be young, but I know how I feel," holding the petite French girl in his arms, he knew in his heart that this is where he belonged. Whether it was in Ohio, New York or France, he knew that he and Rachel were meant to be together and there was nothing his parents could say to stop it. "I love her, Burt. We want to be together."

"I trusted you, Finn!" Burt finally yelled, releasing all the built up tension that stifled them all. "We both trusted you to follow the boundaries and rules that were set for this house!"

"We did," Rachel finally squeaked in their defense, her accent thick from panic. "We tried to follow 'ze rules and we still realized we had feelings for one another."

"Rachel," Burt said, his voice strained as he rubbed his temples. "We don't doubt that you two have a crush, but you broke the house rules and now there must be consequences."

"It's not just a crush!" Finn yelled, tired of hiding his feelings for Rachel from the two people who were supposed to support him no matter what. "I love her, Burt. This is serious. This is real."

Burt's eyes grew dark as Finn's words sunk in. "How serious are we talking about, Finn?"

"Serious enough for me to propose to her," he said defiantly as both Rachel and his mother gasped. He wasn't planning on mentioning that to his parents for a while, but it slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself and there was no way to take it back as Rachel lifted up her hand to show them the glistening diamond ring on her finger.

"Finn," his mother said, her voice shaky. "Baby, we know you're still unsure about your future, but marriage isn't going to make things magically better. . ."

"This isn't about my future!" He yelled, still gripping onto Rachel tightly. "This is about me and Rachel and us being together after she leaves."

"What about her life in France, Finn? What about applying to colleges and the tire shop?" Burt was exasperated as Finn continued to divulge his secrets.

"They don't matter to me right now," he said, desperate for them to understand. "I have three weeks left with her before she has to leave. After that it could be months before we see each other again. I'm not saying that we're going to elope right now, but it's going to happen whether you want it to or not."

Burt's face was grim as he stared down his step-son, Finn's confessions swimming around in his head as he made up his mind. With a deep sigh, he shook his head sadly before addressing the young lovers.

"I'm sorry, Finn. I trusted you. I gave you the benefit of the doubt and you still went behind my back to pursue a relationship with the family guest. You knew the repercussions of your actions and you still betrayed our trust and tried to keep this a secret from us." His heart was pounding as Burt sealed his fate. "Go pack your bags, Finn. You are unwelcome here until Rachel leaves." Carole looked so shocked that Finn thought her eyes were going to pop out of her face while Rachel broke down into tears.

"No!" Rachel sobbed from his embrace as he took his punishment in silence. "No, you cannot send him away!"

"I'm sorry, but that's the way it's got to be," his tone held no room for argument.

"Burt, please," he begged, but he promised himself he would only ask once for his step-fathers forgiveness. This was his only chance. "I know I'm not your son, but you're the closest thing I'll ever have to a Dad and you need to understand how much I love her. Don't send me away from her yet."

"You should have thought about that before you two started to have sex under the roof of this house!" He roared, his anger getting the best of him. In that moment, Finn realized that this was it. His fate had been sealed and now he had to be a man and accept his punishment. At least he would still be able to see her in school.

"Alright," he said finally, nodding his head. "I'll go call Puckerman and ask if I can crash there." Burt shook his head, his lips tightened into a firm grimace.

"No way. You're heading up to your aunt's house in Toledo for the next three weeks. It's not exactly a punishment if you can still see her."

"Burt!" Both him and his mother yelled at the same time and Finn was stunned to see his mother sobbing almost as much as Rachel. "You can't do this!" She added.

"Carole, what are you doing?" Burt whispered furiously under his breath as his mother faced off against her husband.

"You never told me that you threatened to send Finn away," she said angrily, her eyes flashing dangerously as Finn and Rachel watched their argument unfold in stunned silence.

"You were the one that told me to set the rules of the house and I did," he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Besides, I've done it before."

"Yeah, but that was before we were married, Burt," she said, actually defending Finn and Rachel. "We were living in your house at the time, so it was understandable, but this is my house now too, and Finn is my son. You can't just send him away without talking to me about it first."

"What do you expect me to do, Carole?" He yelled, the focus of the argument shifting from the younger couple to the older one. "I made the rules and he broke them. If he can't be trusted in the house then why should he stay here?"

"Mom, please," Finn said, his voice laced with tears as he made eye contact with her. "Don't send me away. You can ground me until the day I die but don't take her away from me." His mother's eyes bounced between her son and her husband as she officially stuck herself in the middle of the argument.

"They were breaking the rules for weeks before we found out, Carole. What happens if they didn't use protection?"

"We did!" Finn insisted but basically went ignored as Burt continued his rampage.

"You were the one who told me to set the boundaries, Carole, and I did. Now you're the one telling me that I can't live up to my threats? I'm a man of my word and you know that."

"Well, I'm a woman who loves her son. He was here long before you were, Burt, and his happiness will always be my number one priority." With her hands on her hips, she made her final decision. "You're not sending Finn away. Rachel has a few weeks left and until then he can sleep on the couch downstairs."

"I'll do it," Finn agreed automatically. "I'll do whatever it takes so I can stay here. I won't touch her, I won't even be in the same room with her alone, but I need to be here." Burt fixed him with a dark glare.

"You're in no position to be telling us what you need, Finn." He turned to his wife, looking almost as angry with her as he was with Finn. "You want your son to stay here, then you deal with the lovebirds from now on. I'm done with this. I didn't even want this exchange student in the first place." Without another word he turned and walked out of the dining room, heading out of the house completely and slamming the door behind him. His mother winced sharply as he left, her complexion ghostly pale as he realized how badly he'd messed things up for both him and Rachel and also his parents.

She turned to face them slowly, looking at the two lovers as they still held onto one another after all this time. Shooting them a watery smile, she walked up to them and gently placed a hand on Rachel's shoulder as she continued to sniffle into Finn's chest. Finn could see the pain lingering in her gaze and he felt awful for what he had just put his mother through. At least he knew he had someone on his side though, and that meant more to him than anything.

"Mom," he breathed, the gratitude clear in his voice. "Thank you for standing up for us."

"I hope you two know what you're doing," she said softly, looking at them with tears in her eyes as she tucked Rachel's bangs away from her forehead. "I did everything I can to stop Burt from sending you away, but I can't tell you how disappointed I am in the two of you."

His heart sank into his gut as he burned with shame. "I'm so sorry, Mom."

"Why couldn't you just tell me, Finn?" She asked. "You know that your happiness is the most important thing in the world to me. I would have understood."

"I-," he trailed off, not knowing the answer to her question. He'd been so damned scared of Burt's wrath that he didn't stop to think about his mothers' reaction to his relationship with Rachel. Didn't she say that she'd always wanted a daughter? That she wanted him to be happy? Feeling like a fool, he wished that there was a way to fix this mess that he'd dragged his mother into. It wasn't fair to her that she was now stuck in the middle of his mistake. "I don't know what to say except that I'm sorry."

"Well from now on, you follow my rules or else I'll call Aunt Kathy myself and make the travel arrangements, got it?" They both nodded their heads as Rachel stayed deadly silent during the entire exchange. "Finn, you're sleeping on the couch for the next three weeks. No unsupervised visits. No going into each others rooms, and absolutely no sexual intercourse under this roof." Finn's face burst into embarrassed flames but he nodded his head anyway.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go salvage whatever is left of my marriage," after shooting Finn one last look of complete disappointment, Carole disappeared into the next room to grab her cell phone and call her husband. Finn heard her talking from the kitchen as Rachel finally dislodged herself from Finn's grip with tears dripping from her face.

"C'est horrible," she moaned, pacing back and forth. "C'est si grave!"

"Rachel, please calm down," she turned on him with a fire blazing in her eyes.

"I cannot be calm!" She screamed as her voice shook violently. "Your family hates me now!"

"Hey, they do not," he said softly, trying to calm her. "And everything is going to be okay, I'm not going anywhere."

"Oui, but ma famille américaine does not trust me anymore! Your parents think we are being silly and childish!" She placed a hand over her heart. "I know how I feel. I know we broke 'ze rules, but I know that I love you."

"Rachel, don't worry about it. My parents will calm down eventually. They love you, and believe me, they blame me for this way more than they blame you."

"Carole and Burt are angry at one another now. This is our fault."

"At least my Mom stood up for us! If she didn't I would be on my way to Toledo right now with a bullet in my ass!"

She sniffled and tried in vain to wipe away the tears in her eyes. "They do not want us to get married."

He shrugged his shoulders lightly. "I figured as much, but we're not doing this for them, we're doing it for us." He lifted up her left hand and kissed the knuckle on her third finger, his lips brushing against the hard diamond solitaire in the center of the ring. "Je t'aime, Rachel. Now I can say it out loud whenever I want."

"Je t'aime aussi, Finn," she responded. "But I do not think I will tell my dads about us yet. I want to wait a bit before they know."

He shook his head, relieved that she still wanted to go through with it after seeing his parent's reaction. "That sounds like a good idea," he said. "It was bad enough dealing with one dad, I don't want to know how much your fathers are going to hate me."

"They will not hate you," she said sweetly, cupping his cheek in her hand. "Because I love you so much. They will have to love you too!" She seemed so optimistic that he couldn't help but smile as he leaned in to place a chaste kiss on her cheek. They had to be careful about their PDA from now on, but at least they weren't going to be separated as the countdown to her departure continued.

"I hope so," he said, still feeling anxious. "But just in case, do you know if they own a shotgun?"

Merci mille fois, mes amis!

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