A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
(I do not own Glee or any of the characters. Warning Possible Spoilers– One shot story)
Finn made his way up to Rachel and Kurt's flat in New York. He had hitch-hiked from Georgia. He paused at the apartment door for a few moments while he listed to Moon River float from behind the door.
He knocked on the door and waited. He had waited for this moment since he put Rachel on that train in May. Now fall was approaching and he couldn't wait any longer to see her.
He heard footsteps approaching, and then the door open. It was Rachel, but it wasn't. It was a new and different Rachel. He always liked Rachel in her reindeer sweaters and knee socks. He wanted nothing more than for her to fall into his arms and hold him, but her faced morphed from happiness to disappointment as she recognized him standing there. He was thinner, his hair shorter, and wearier.
"Finn, I thought you were Kurt."
Finn's face soon fell when he saw the cause of her changed expression. Standing up from a picnic on the floor was a blond guy with striking blue eyes.
"Hi, I'm Brody," the shorter blond boy said as he offered Finn his hand.
""Hi, I'm Finn,"
"I know who you are. Rachel has your pictures everywhere," Brody interrupted. "I was just leaving. Rachel, I'll see you at NYADA."
"I've seen you before too." Finn said to Brody. "When I opened my phone the other day, I was saw a picture of you and Rachel together. On a bench in New York I think."
"Finn did you get that picture? I must have hit the send all button on my phone," Rachel blushed.
"You two haven't seen each other in awhile, so I'll leave you alone to talk. Finn, it was nice to meeting you," Brody excused himself out the door.
"Like wise I'm sure," Finn mumbled as he made sure to squeeze Brody's hand a little harder than a firm handshake.
After Rachel closed the door behind Brody, she turned to face Finn who was now in the apartment.
"I see that you're having a picnic, I thought that was our thing."
"Finn, forget about the picnic. What are you doing here? You haven't called me since you put me on that train. Aren't you supposed to be in uniform?"
"Rachel, I wanted to call you, but they take your phones away when you enter basic training. I wanted to call you every day. Just to make sure that you were okay."
"Well I wasn't. I was in this big city all alone. You put me on that train on what was supposed to be our wedding day. You broke my heart and then sent me off to fend for myself."
"I did it for your own good. You were meant to be here. If you had deferred your acceptance for a year, you would've grown to hate me. If I had gone to California with Puck, you would've followed me. I knew that you couldn't follow me to Fort Benning."
"Well how was Fort Benning, and why aren't you in uniform? Are you a deserter? Did you wash out? I'm not so stupid that I don't know that you can't quit the Army whenever you decide it's not for you anymore. I know that you can't take off anytime that you please for a vacation either."
"Rachel, I've been discharged?"
"Why? You look physically fit to me."
"I was shot."
"Shot! How? By whom?" Concern started to fill her voice.
"I shot myself," Finn said just above a whisper.
"Oh my God! Did you try to commit suicide?"
"No, nothing like that. I was cleaning my rifle and it went off. I shot myself in the leg," Finn admitted hanging his head.
"I've been in the base hospital. I wanted to call you so bad, but I was ashamed. It seems that I can't do anything right. The last time that I did something right was when I realized that you were the one that I wanted to spend my life with."
"Show me your leg!" Rachel snipped growing annoyed.
Finn showed her the healed gunshot wound to his leg.
"And you're disabled?" Rachel asked.
"I can walk on it if that's what you're asking, but it's not good enough for Army standards. The discharged me and as soon as I could travel. I have been so ashamed. I left home with such high hopes to make things right for my dad. To make you proud of me. I wanted to explain so much."
"Well you're a little late. I can't tell you the number of nights that I cried myself to sleep over you. You let me believe that you were off in some third world country being shot at and possibly dead. I dreamed that you were lying in a ditch shot up, calling my name, and I couldn't get to you. You didn't even call," Rachel was beginning to get worked up now.
"I told you that they took my phone away when I entered basic training. I couldn't call you from the hospital. I was too ashamed. I screwed up again!"
"You could have written!"
"I know, but what I was feeling while I was in basic couldn't be put on a piece of paper. I wanted to give you the space to make it without me holding you back. I let you go because I love you."
"Don't you get it? You never held me back. You were my rock. I could do anything with you by my side. You weren't here when I needed you the most."
"And you don't need me now?"
"I did, but once I picked up the pieces I found out that I could survive without you. You've ripped my heart out so many times, I can't do this anymore. I'll always love you, but I can't go through the last four months again. Being blindsided on my wedding day by the man I trusted the most. Living in New York alone. Believing that you didn't care when you didn't return my calls. Thinking that you were somewhere suffering on a battlefield. I can't and I won't do it again."
"Then I'm too late, you've moved on. Moved on with that Brody guy?"
"Brody is a friend. The only friend that I had in New York until Kurt came. School has been so hard. For the first time in my life I am a very little fish in a very big pond. There are so many people here who are so much better than me. My dance instuctor has singled me out to make my chances here as difficult as possible. No one wants to be my partner with a target on my back. The other girls bully me worse than Quinn and Santana ever did. And worst of all, you deserted me when I needed you the most."
"Then I'll just go. It's obvious that you've made a life without me, and I don't think that I belong here in New York."
"Where are you going to go? Do you have money for a hotel?"
"No, I don't have money for a hotel. I'll just camp out at the bus station until I can get a bus to Ohio. I don't have anywhere else to go."
"Your mom and Burt aren't in Lima. Kurt says that they're just about full time in DC. You can't sleep in at the bus station. It's like asking to get mugged. You can stay here with Kurt and I until you can get a bus to Ohio."
"I would appreciate that. I can sleep on the couch."
"In case you haven't noticed, we don't have a couch. That's why Brody, I mean that's why I was on the floor."
"I don't mind sleeping on the floor. I'll be out of your hair as soon as possible."
The two were making a provisional peace when Kurt came through the door followed by Blaine. Both were both red-faced and it was apparent that they were both very upset.
"Blaine? What are you doing here?" Rachel asked trying to take the attention off of her and Finn for a moment.
"Hi Rachel, I came to New York to see Kurt. I'll explain later. What's Finn doing here?"
"It's a long story, I won't be here long. I'm heading back to Lima as soon as I can get a bus ticket," Finn mumbled.
The evening ended in a stale-mate of broken hearts. Blaine was going to go back to Lima with Finn, and was trying to make himself comfortable for the night.
"There is no need for you to sleep on the floor when I have a big enough bed. I won't be able to sleep knowing that you are out here on the cold floor," Kurt said motioning for Blaine to join him.
"Kurt's right. Finn there's no need for you to sleep on the floor either when I've got such a big bed. We can be adults about it."
Finn only nodded as he made his way to where Rachel's bed stood. He made himself comfortable on his usual side of her bed.
Rachel crawled into bed and pretended to sleep while Finn stared at the opposite wall. Outside it never seemed to get quiet or dark. You would think that after his short lived stint in the Army he would be used to a noisy place, but this was different.
He turned his head and stared at Rachel's back so close to him. He wanted so much to pull her to him. To smell her hair and feel her warmth. Little did he know that Rachel was wishing for the same thing. So many nights, she wanted nothing more than to be held in his arms. To hear him tell her that everything was going to be alright as long as they were together.
Sleep never came for Finn. When he assumed that Rachel was asleep he eased himself up and looked out the window. This town was so big. As big as Rachel's ambition and talent. There was no place for him here. Picking up his camo colored back pack, he decided to go.
Tip toeing to the door, he was suddenly stopped by Kurt.
"Where do you think you're going?" Kurt asked his brother dryly.
"To the bus station. Rachel has a new life. There's no place for me in it."
"There was. Why do you think she bought such a big bed? She was making a home for you. You can't sneak out like a coward and desert her again."
"Kurt, it's too late. There's nothing here for me now. She's moved on, and I don't belong here. I'll talk to her later."
"Maybe, but you could be murdered on the way to the bus station at three o'clock in the morning. We don't live in the best of neighborhoods."
"What about you and Blaine?" Finn whispered.
"I don't know if there is a me and Blaine anymore. Things aren't going very well for us right now. Go back to bed, and you can leave in the morning."
Finn spent the rest of the night watching Rachel sleep. New York was such a brightly lit town. He could see her clearly as she slept in the light's glow. She was so beautiful. How could he have been so stupid? Everything that he had done, he had done for her own good. Why couldn't she see that?
The next morning, Rachel and Kurt were up early competing for the only bathroom.
"I guess this is goodbye for now," Finn said softly to Rachel.
"If that's your choice. Kurt and I have to go, or we'll be late. Lock up when you leave and slide the key under the door."
"I love you Rachel, I never stopped."
"I love you too," Rachel said before she gave Finn a quick kiss on the cheek and was gone.
"I guess that it's back to Lima," Blaine said to a broken-hearted to Finn who was staring at the closed door.
"Yes, but you belong in this town. You have as much talent as Rachel, but you and Kurt have to work out what you did to him."
"Kurt may never forgive me, and I really wouldn't blame him if he didn't"
-/-
Blaine and Finn made the long trip back to Lima together. Finn called Burt in DC that night and asked for his old job back at the tire store.
"Buddy, I'm so glad to hear you say that," Burt reassured Finn. I left the garage in the shop foreman's hands, but I'm afraid that I won't have a shop to return to when my run in the Senate is over. He knows cars, but he doesn't know a thing about running a business."
Finn climbed the stairs in the empty cold house to his old room upstairs. It was the way he had left it in May except his mom had tried to straighten it up. On every surface there was at least one picture of him and Rachel. What a fool he had been. He should have gotten on that train with her. He could have been a grease monkey in New York, and at least she wouldn't have been alone.
-/-
Rachel was in dance class later when she saw Brody leaning on the door fame. He mouthed silently, "Are you okay?"
She only nodded when Miss July saw Brody standing there.
"This is a freshmen only class, Mr. Weston. Are you here trolling for a new fresh ingénue?"
Rachel saw the glances between Cassie and Brody. There was something more there than a former teacher/student relationship, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"Be on your way, Mr. Weston. There's nothing for you here." Cassie informed him before she shut the door in his face.
Later Rachel was in her apartment fixing dinner when her phone rang. She half hoped that it was Finn telling her that he had arrived back in Lima safely, but it wasn't. It was Brody.
After a lot of small talk, she worked up the nerve to ask what had bothered her ever since she had noticed the glances between him and Cassie. "Brody, I sensed something between you and Miss July today when you dropped by our classroom. Are you the one that she picked on when you were in her freshman class?" Rachel asked.
"No, not at all. I was just stopping by to make sure that she wasn't being mean to you again, and to see how you were since your visit from Finn," Brody asked.
"Finn has gone back to Ohio. No, Miss July was actually cutting me some slack today. Would you like to come over? I'm fixing pasta. We didn't finish our picnic."
"Ah-ah-ah, not tonight," Brody said backpedaling. "It's a long way out to your place, and I've got work to do. I'll see you later."
Days turned into weeks and Brody seemed to be genuinely interested in Rachel, but remained patient. One afternoon Rachel was packing her bag to leave dance rehearsals when a girl named Sarah spoke to her for the first time.
"So, are you Brody's newest conquest?"
"We're friends, but I don't have a clue what you're talking about," Rachel stammered.
"Brody Weston. Are you his new freshman conquest? Everyone here knows that Brody picks a fresh ingénue out of the new pack of freshman girls each semester. I was his girlfriend fall semester last year, but he dumped me as soon as some new blood arrived."
"I had no idea you were his girlfriend," Rachel stammered again.
"Ex-girlfriend," Sarah answered.
"Are you okay with that?" Rachel asked stunned.
"I have to be, and I've found someone else. Brody looks like he's got his sights set on you. We had a good run, but that's how Brody rolls. Out with the old, in with the new. You can expect to be replaced as soon as a new crop of girls arrives in January. I flunked Miss July's Dance 101 class because of him, that's why I'm in your class now."
Rachel was stunned by what the girl who was packing her bag beside her had just said.
A few days later, she had worked up the courage and cornered Brody at lunch.
"Brody, am I your new pet project?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Brody blushed as he bit into his hamburger.
"Am I your new freshman girlfriend? Are you going to dump me as soon as the new girls arrived in January?"
"First of all, I didn't know that you and I were boyfriend and girlfriend. I'm not sure that you're over Finn, and that guy kind of scares me. He's definitely not over you."
"I don't belong to him. I once did, but he threw everything we had away. I need to know what's going on between us. That wasn't a friendly kiss that we shared that night at my apartment."
"Rachel, do you know what attracts me to you? You're fresh and innocent. Fresh off the farm and full of dreams. You're beautiful and kick-ass talented, and you still have stars in your eyes. You haven't had time for this city and this cut- throat business to leave you bitter and jaded. By the time your first semester is over, that innocence will be gone. This business does it to you."
"So, I'm just fresh meat," Rachel said trying not to show her emotions.
"No, never. I care about you. But it's obvious that you're still in love with Finn, but I'm being patient. I'm giving you your space until you figure out what's going on with him."
"So you've have had a new, fresh ingénue for a girlfriend every time a new batch of girls comes in since you've been here?" Rachel asked.
"Now that you point it out, it's kind of worked out that way," Brody said realizing that she was right.
"Who was she when you were a freshman?" Rachel asked trying to remain calm.
"I was the fresh-faced ingénue back then. I let her seduce me."
"Who?" Rachel asked confused.
"Miss Cassandra July," Brody answered still not looking at Rachel.
"My dance instructor? You've got to be insane!"
"Like you, I was fresh off the farm, or should I say a Montana ranch. My girlfriend was so far away, and having Miss July flirt with me stroked my ego. It was also dangerous. If we were caught, I would be kicked out of school, and she would lose her job."
"What happened?" Rachel asked.
"In case you haven't noticed, Cassie has a drinking problem. When she's drunk, she's a mean drunk."
"So you're using me. I'm your fresh faced ingénue of the month?"
"No Rachel, I not using you. I like you. You're a breath of fresh air that hasn't been beat down by this town yet. You still have all of the hopes and dreams that all of us came with. You're not jaded or bitter."
"You don't know me at all. I've been beat down more than you know, but my dreams have kept me afloat since I was five years old."
Rachel got up from her seat and found the nearest ladies' room. Even though she hadn't had lunch, the dry heaves took over. She felt like a stupid lamb being lead to the slaughter.
-/-
Back in Lima, Finn was settling in at Burt's Tire and Lube. He found his old overalls with his name on them and set to work changing tires. Burt called his shop foreman and told him that Finn would be handling the shop until he got back from DC.
Working in the shop was as dull as ever until one afternoon when a battered blue Civic pulled in. It was Mr. Schuster.
"Finn I heard that you were back in town!" Finn hugged his former teacher in spite of the looks that he got from the other mechanics.
"Yeah, I had a little leg injury in basic training, and the Army sent me home. What can we do for you? Can I sell you a set of tires?" Finn asked changing the subject.
"No, I can't afford any tires today, but I would like to ask a favor of you."
"Anything, Mr. Schue, you don't have to ask."
"I've been selected to sit on a Blue Ribbon panel of experts to push the importance of Arts in Education in DC. I'll only be gone a month or two. The district will provide a substitute for my Spanish classes, but not Glee club. It's an after school activity, and they won't provide for that, I've got a bunch of new kids, and I want them prepared for sectionals. Do you think you could spare an hour in the afternoon a couple of days a week to help Artie and Blaine keep them moving? If I don't leave someone in charge it's going to be anarchy."
"Mr. Schue, I'd do anything to help you out, but you know that I couldn't dance before, and I sure as hell can't dance now."
"Brittany, Blaine, and a new kid, Jake Puckerman can do the choreography. I just need you to lead."
"Wait, did you say Puckerman?" Finn asked.
"Yeah, he's Puck's half-brother that Puck never knew he had, but he's a bad-ass just like Puck."
"Mr. Schue, you know that Puck's bad-ass attitude was a cover."
"Yeah, and I think it's the same with Jake. Their dad must have screwed both of them over pretty good. Jake's very talented just like Puck, but he's got a big chip on his shoulder. I think you could do him a lot of good. You know Puck better than anyone."
"Let me talk to Burt and the shop foreman and see what I can do," Finn slapped his old teacher on the back.
"Great, I'll be back from DC around Thanksgiving. Have you had a chance to see Rachel? She's been worried sick about you."
"I did, but she's moved on. She has found a new life and a new guy. I went to New York to try and explain, but she says that she can't do this with me anymore. I can't really blame her. Look at me. I'm going to be changing tires for the rest of my life, and she going to have her name up in lights."
"Finn, you don't give yourself enough credit. Come and take over the Glee Club for awhile. You might find another direction for your life. As for Rachel, don't give up. You two always seemed to have a connection that's hard to explain."
"I know, and I'm hoping that connection will bring us back together again one day."
-/-
Thank you for reading and hopefully reviewing.
Music for Moon River was written by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini. Lyrics by John Williams.