It all started with him clearing his throat. Repeatedly. She was sitting next to Artie, facing Mr Schue as he rambled on about love songs and he was six seats away on the other side of the room.
xXx
She had been the first one to arrive today and he was the second. The moment he walked through the door, she had been prepared with a dark scowl on her face. The glare he shot her match in its intensity and he chose the seat furthest away from where she was. Rolling her eyes, Rachel had turned her head away from his slouching figure to the paper in front of her. She really had no idea what she was reading (It was a note Jacob Ben Israel had unknowingly slipped between her Spanish textbook declaring his undying love for her), she had grabbed the first thing she saw in her bag. She stared intently at the paper in her hands, as if it was of the utmost importance. In reality, she was fuming. He was being such a jerk. As if it was really his place to be angry when he was the one who was in the wong! The skirt she had worn was the same length they've always been and he never had any trouble with the others before! And yesterday had been such a pleasant day too before he decided to ruin it all by becoming an infantile boy and blowing up at her for no good reason. Just thinking about it was almost enough to make her walk up to him and slap his face.
She had been waiting patiently by his locker, as per usual, for him to finish practice. He was late and she had been worried, checking her watch to see that it was almost five thirty. She was tempted to leave the spot to look for him when suddenly he was limping towards her. Gasping, she had hurried over to him, meeting him halfway. The sight of his face made her wince. His lip was cut and the left side of his jaw was red and swollen. That's going to leave a mark, she thought idly as she cupped his face in her right hand.
"Finn, what happened?" she asked softly. He had turned his head away from her touch, which made her frown.
"Got into a fight," he mumbled, looking at the ground, his face grim.
"I can see that. What happened? You look awful."
"Karofsky was being an asshole, as usual." was his short answer. Her frowned deepened. What was wrong with him?
"Yeah? That doesn't usually end up with your face being a punching bag," she answered testily, annoyed by his cold behaviour. He looked up at her then, his eyes flashing.
"Hey. I held my own. You should see the fucker's face"
"Language, Finn," she admonished. He rolled his eyes at her and looked away again. Trying to stifle her anger, Rachel said nothing as she took his hand and began walking towards the exit. The hallways were almost deserted, save for a student or two, mostly headed towards one after school activity or another. She heard his feet shuffling against the floor and had to bite her tongue to keep herself from telling him to walk properly. She didn't want to start a fight when he was in such a foul mood. It wasn't until they were almost at her car that he opened his big mouth.
"Don't you have anything else to wear besides that short ass skirt?" he asked peevishly.
"Excuse me?" Rachel let go of Finn's hand to turn around and glare at him, her arms folded across her chest. He was staring back at her defiantly.
"You heard me," was his short answer, imitating her pose. They were the only two people around and she was tempted to just scream at him.
"What is wrong with you today?" she asked, exasperated.
"There's nothing wrong with me. You're the one parading yourself around school in that- that handkerchief!" His eyes were looking pointedly at the skirt she was wearing as he flung his hands as if to say, look! She gasped dramatically and he rolled his eyes again. She felt the insane need to scratch those eyes out at the moment.
"There is nothing wrong with what I'm wearing Finn Hudson! I've worn this before! You never had any reason to complain!" She knew she was yelling by then, but who cared? She did not deserve this kind of treatment from him. Not when she hadn't done anything in the first place.
"Yeah, well maybe that's the problem!" he shot back sourly, his tone and volume matching hers. "You walk around in that tiny as hell thing you call a skirt and it barely covers your ass!" She felt the tears prickling in the back of her eyes but she refused to cry. He was being ridiculously unreasonable! She looked up at him, her eyes flashing.
"Don't take your anger out at me you big buffoon! I didn't do anything!"
"I'm not taking my anger out on you! What the hell are you even talking about now?"
"I don't know what you and those stupid neanderthals in the football team were fighting about, but I didn't do anything, and I haven't done anything to deserve you yelling at me for absolutely no plausible reason!"
"I'm not yelling at you!"
"Yes you are! You're yelling right now! There is nothing wrong with the way I dress. I've always dressed this way. You never had any problem with it before!"
"Yeah? Well that was before I found out that those 'neanderthals' had pictures of you flashing your panties for the whole world to see!" he yelled, his face red from anger. She felt all the blood drain from her face.
"What?" she whispered, appalled. He didn't seem to hear her though. He was still breathing heavily, his jaw seemingly locked tight as he stared at somewhere behind her. She saw his hands curling into tight fists and she knew he was gritting his teeth.
"That snot-nosed creep with the jewfro has been printing photos of you and giving them to the football team so they would stop throwing him in the dumspter and take his money," he continued, his voice deadly. "I don't- God!" he was shouting again. She didn't think she had ever been scared of Finn before, but she was scared then. She was aware of their considerable height difference, but it had never been as obvious as it was right at that moment. When he was angry, he towers over her and she truly did feel like a midget. "I don't want to even think about what they're doing with them!"
"I- How did you know?" she asked. She hadn't realize that she had been taking backward steps away from him until she felt the door handle of her car jabbing into her back.
"Karofsky, that motherfucker. I found him with the damn thing in the locker room. It fell out of the asshole's locker."
"I-"
"I swear to God I'm going to find every last picture and burn them if it's the last thing I do. Jacob is going to wish he'd never been born." He was still scaring her a little, but Rachel couldn't help the warm feeling that was festering in her stomach to see him so outraged at her expense. That was until he had to open his stupid mouth and killed it. "For the love of God Rach, just stop wearing those slutty little things," he had muttered under his breath. Her eyes snapped up immediately.
"Did you just call me a slut?" she asked, her voice dangerous. He looked taken aback momentarily, like he had no idea where she was coming from.
"Of course not!"
"You called my outfit slutty. You know this is the way I dress everyday Finn. Are you saying you think I dress like a slut everyday? You think I'm a slut?" She could see the confusion pass over his face before his features darkened again.
"Oh my God Rachel! Were you even listening to me at all? Those boys have pictures of you in your underwear! I don't have a picture of you in your underwear!"
"Oh so you're just mad because I didn't give you a slutty picture of me?"
"What- what-" Finn was sputtering incredulously. "That wasn't what I meant at all!"
"I can't believe you called me a slut!" she yelled, not listening to him.
"I didn't call you a slut! I said your skirts were slutty!"
"It's the same thing Finn!"
"No, it isn't! God, why must you be so dramatic all the time?" That hurt. She turned around abruptly to face her car as she began to search for her car keys.
"Well I'm sorry my high-maintenence and penchant for 'drama' is such a hassle to you." she said archly. She heard him groan in frustration.
"Rach c'mon-"
"I'll have you know Finn Hudson," she said as she turned around to look at his frustrated face, "that I am used to the disgusting behavior the rest of the school bestow upon me. I have had slushies thrown in my face and I have had pornographic drawings of myself vandalized all over the school's property. And I've handled myself just fine. I do not need you and your misguided attempt at being heroic telling me what I can and cannot do with regards to my own body."
"Rach-"
"I don't need you to defend me." She could see it. She knew him well enough to know that something had been turned off in his head. His expression turned cool in the blink of an eye.
"Fine." His answer was short.
"Fine."
"Fine."
"Stop saying fine!"
"Okay." After three tries she finally managed to open the door of her car. He was still standing beside the vehicle, his expression hooded. It took her another four tries before she could start the engine because her hands were shaking profusely.
"I'm going now." He continued to be silent. She heaved a huge sigh of annoyance. "Fine. Have fun walking."
"Fine." She slammed the door and drove away.
Rachel had spent the rest of the night on pins and needles, anxiously waiting for his call so they could fix this mess they were suddenly in. They had never fought like this before. Their fights usually consisted of Finn saying something thoughtlessly and her reacting slightly more than the occasion called for. And it always ended with him apologizing.
She skipped dinner, unable to eat because her stomach felt like it was rolling in the high seas. Her parents had been worried but she just smiled and told them she needed to catch up on her MySpace page. That was at six thirty. Rachel had laid on her bed, her fingers tapping the comforter incessantly. At seven when he still hasn't called, she decided to take a shower to cool her nerves. She left the door open in case he did. She took her time in the bathroom, pretending that she wasn't stalling for him. At eight, he still hasn't called and she was beginning to worry. She tried to do her homework but all the Math problems turned into his frown and the only words she could string together for her History report was his one, stupid word. Fine. By nine she was starting to get angry again. She couldn't believe he still hasn't called her yet.
Obviously, he felt the fight that they had was not worth the trouble to smooth over. Well that was just fine with her. She realized that she had been stupid in feeling guilty at all about their fight since he clearly didn't care enough about it anyway. But that didn't stop her from tossing and turning in her bed until two in the morning, startled by every sound made because she thought it might be her phone. By two, she felt the back of her eyes burning and convinced herself it was because of the lack of sleep. She needed to sleep if she didn't want to mess with her routine.
She missed her alarm. Rachel had woken up with a gasp at approximately seven in the morning with her clothes sticking to her back because her dad was hammering on her door. Catching the time, she had jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom to get ready, her nightmare fresh on her mind. In it, she had arrived at school welcomed by a multitude of slushie facials and catcalls of RuPauls and Treasure Trails. The whole school had been laughing at her and she didn't know why until she looked down to find herself in only her underwear. She had looked up and saw Finn standing in the middle of everyone else with his arms folded across his chest, frowning. "Finn!" she had yelled, eternally grateful to find him there. But suddenly his frown turned into a smirk and he told her it served her right for wearing that handkerchief to school and the rest of the students were slamming their hands against the lockers, scaring her. It took her a minute to wake up and realize it was her dad pounding on her door. She didn't have time to pick an outfit, forgetting to lay them out yesterday and had worn the first thing she had her hands on. It wasn't until she was driving that she realized she was wearing jeans. Rachel frowned.
The rest of the day wasn't much better. She barely saw him anywhere and when she did he wouldn't even look at her. Ever since they started dating, Finn always sat next to her in the classes they shared together. But that day in Spanish, he chose to seat at the far end of the room away from her. She bit back a frustrated yell and turned to face the board. If he wanted a cold war, he was going to get one. Her face was stoic the whole class, even when she caught Mr Schue looking at them in bemusement. She didn't even realize that Jacob Ben Israel wasn't sitting anywhere near her either. On her way out from Spanish class, she had bumped into her stalker but he hadn't so much as uttered a mewl. She was too distraught to notice. The only thing she was aware of was that Finn had left the class the minute the bell rang without so much as a backward glance.
And then there they were at Glee and Rachel realized that she hadn't heard a word Mr Schue was saying because she was too busy wasting her time on a stupid, stupid boy. The stupid boy who wouldn't stop clearing his throat. She shot him a dirty glance and caught his eye. He rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue at her. Everyone turned to look at her when she had gasped in anger. She saw his amused smirk as she tried to find an excuse.
"Sorry. I thought I forgot to turn off my computer this morning," she rambled, saying the first thing that came to her mind. Mr Schue gave her a confused look and went back to whatever he was saying. She knew he was doing it just to drive her crazy. How was she supposed to concentrate when he kept clearing his throat every ten seconds? When Mr Schue had instructed her to pick a song she had to pass it to Mercedes because she didn't know the type of song he wanted as she wasn't listening to the lecture. She glared daggers at Finn from where she sat. She can't believe he made her pass over a solo! When Glee was over he was the first to leave and she was determined not to care. On her way out, Mercedes caught her arm.
"Look Rachel," she began "It's not like I'm not happy I got a chance to strut my stuff this week, but what is the deal with you and loverboy?" the girl had asked, her eyebrows raised.
"I have no idea to what you are implying Mercedes."
"Oh please girl," Mercedes scoffed. "You could cut the tension in that room with a knife. You're making the rest of us feel uncomfortable."
"I'm sorry if Finn's lack of maturity is a source of discomfort for you Mercedes. Believe me, it's one for me as well. Maybe when he decides to grow up one day he would stop being such a-"
"Whatever Britney. I do not want to be in the middle of whatever fight you're having with Justin. Just cut it out with the glaring and the sexual frustration."
"Noted."
He didn't call her that day either. And she wasn't about to call him so Rachel had taken this as a sign that he didn't want to make things right. She was not going to cry. She was determined that he wasn't going to ruin the rest of her night. Not again. She forced herself to bed at eleven and ignored the fact that she couldn't really sleep. At six, she had woken up and began her daily routine. Finn Hudson was the furthest thing from her mind. In fact, she wasn't even thinking about him. Not at all.
She arrived to school that day, taking the time to make sure she wore the shortest skirt she owned. It was a metaphor. And metaphors are important. Wearing that skirt was a metaphor that no man was ever going to change Rachel Berry, not even Finn Hudson. She was already walking halfway towards his locker when she remembered to turn around. Her locker was in the other direction.
"Berry!" Karofsky crowed when she walked past him. "Bend over a little baby! Show me them goods!"
"Oh please," she heard one of the cheerios mutter. "Like wearing that skirt's going to make that body look any less like a man's." Suddenly she remembered why she hated walking towards her locker alone. Ignoring everyone, she had gracefully taken what she needed and headed towards Math. In Math, Finn had taken to coughing every five minutes. After the third time, she frowned to herself, although she refused to stare at the back of his head. He was sitting in front of her, and everytime he coughed her desk would shake. She was trying to ignore the fact that she missed his smell and concentrated instead on the fact that he was ruining her notes with all the desk-rattling he was doing.
"Mr Goode?" she called, raising her hand fifteen minutes into class. The teacher turned to look at her expectantly.
"Yes Miss Berry? Do you have the answer to question number seven?"
"No, I'm sorry. I think Finn needs to go to the nurse." He had whipped his head around to glare at her and she noticed the dark circles under his eyes. His nose was red and swollen and she refused to think he looked like a cute little boy.
"I'm fine," he said tersely. Mr Goode frowned.
"Miss Berry may be right Mr Hudson. You don't sound very well and we simply cannot afford you infecting everyone else in this class with your virus. Go to the nurse's office." Finn had slowly cleared his table and left the room without meeting her gaze. He was impossible!
At Glee he didn't show. Rachel began to worry. Was he really sick? She was the first to arrive as usual. One by one the other members showed up but there was no sign of Finn. By the time Matt walked in, she knew he wasn't coming. Matt was always the last person to arrive because he was ususally fifteen minutes late. Nobody mentioned his absence and she wasn't about to. In the end however, she couldn't contain herself any longer.
"Why isn't Finn here?" she asked aloud, cutting in on Mr Schue's speech on rock and roll. Eleven pairs of eyes swiveled towards her.
"His mom took him home," Mr Schue explained before moving on.
"Oh." It had came out as a whisper. Was he really sick? What if he was food-poisoned? What if he was suffering from some fatal disease? What if he was dying? And all she had done in the last two days was to glower at him everytime he passed by. Rachel felt like crying. She needed to call him. She needed to know he was fine.
She was the first to leave Glee, shooting out of the room so fast she didn't have time to say goodbye. Rachel didn't think she had ever driven home so fast before. She had run up to her room, shouting a quick hello to her daddy along the way. Setting her bag next to her desk, she took out her phone and called him. He didn't answer. She called him again. No answer. After seven attempts and two text messages, she got it in her head that he was refusing to speak to her. Throwing herself onto the bed, she finally burst into tears.
Rachel refused to leave her room until her dad had unlocked her door with the spare key and demanded her to tell them what happened. Her daddy was behind him, a worried look on his face and a glass of water in his hand. Bursting into a fresh set of tears, she related her problem once she had calmed down. Daddy was rubbing her back soothingly when she was finished and dad was shaking his head in anger. He had half a mind to drive to Karofsky's house to beat the lving daylights out of him but she had begged him not to, saying that the matter was already resolved (It wasn't, but she wasn't about to start getting her fathers into the mess that was her high school life).
"I agree with Finn. Your skirts are too short. I told you you shouldn't be wearing them to school." her dad had told her. He was not helping at all.
"Honey, you're not helping the situation," her daddy said. "Rachel sweety, I doubt Finn is going to die any time soon. Maybe he just fell asleep." Rachel shook her head in devastation.
"He's angry at me. Now he won't even speak to me. He's going to die thinking that I don't love him!" Her parents stared at each other over her head, her dad's expression clearly saying she got this from you. It was nine in the evening and her fathers had managed to calm her down somewhat and made her get ready for bed. She cried some more when she was under the covers but she was determined to make things right somehow. She was going to speak to him tomorrow.
By two in the morning Rachel realized she was never going to go to sleep. So she slipped out of bed to wash her face. Turning on her study lamp, Rachel had rummaged through her drawer to take out a blank piece of pink paper. Taking out her favorite pen (bedazzled within an inch of its life), she wrote in crisp capital letters, 'How to fix things with Finn'. She underlined his name three times and drew a small heart next to it. By the time it was three, she had came up with ten solutions.
1. Apologize!
2. Tell him that I love him.
3. Thank him for defending my honor
4. Bake I'm Sorry cookies. Chocolate because that's his favorite.
5. Sing him a song everyday that expresses my undying affection.
6. Find him a medical expert.
7. Get second opinions! (Research. Google it)
8. Kiss him until he accepts my apology.
9. Tell him how much I miss him.
10. Cry in front of him until he accepts my apology.
Satisfied, she signed the bottom of the page Rachel Barbara Berry and tacked a gold star next to her name. Taking down the old goal she had set in front of her elliptical trainer (Nationals in huge block letters with gold stars surrounding the word), she tacked up the new list she just finished. Smiling in satisfaction, she went back to bed.
She woke up at six and made sure she wore the prettiest dress she owned. This was the day they were going to make up, and come hell or high water, he was going to see that she still loves him. She reached school grounds by seven thirty and waited in anticipation by his locker. She had wanted to bake him cookies, but she didn't have the time. She made a note to have that done tomorrow. However, by the time the first bell rang, he still hasn't appeared. Rachel frowned dejectedly as she made her way to class.
"Kurt!" she yelled as she spotted the boy walking in front of her. He turned and raised an eyebrow when he saw her.
"Yes Miss Diva?"
"Where's Finn?"
"He's not coming. He's at home resting." At home? Being at home meant that it was bad!
"Is he okay?" she asked.
"You didn't seem to care all that much yesterday," Kurt said haughtily, a hand on his hips. She was struggling not to choke the boy in front of her. He was wasting her time!
"Kurt!" she hissed.
"Fine. I didn't see him yesterday. He was in his room. He sounded like he was about to die though. He was croaking and moaning all night." She felt her heart constrict. She was already ten minutes late for her first class and Kurt was already moving along. Rachel made up her mind.
"Wait! Give me your keys."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Give me the keys to your house!" He looked at her like she was insane.
"And why in the world would I do that?" She had to think on her feet.
"If you let me borrow your keys you can take my next solo." He rolled his eyes and continued walking "Okay my next two! Three!" She could see him stop abruptly. He turned around, a gleeful look on his face.
"How do I know you won't go back on your word?" she gasped, insulted.
"I am a very honorable person Kurt Hummel! I would never do that," she declared.
"Fair enough. Let's shake on it." They shook their hands, his key in the palm of his.
"Thanks Kurt!" she said as she turned and made a beeline for the exit.
"Just don't do anything unholy in my household!" she heard him holler as she broke into a run.
Rachel barely remembered the drive to the Hummel's. All she knew was that she found herself pulling up at the driveway. There were no other cars around and she sighed in relief. She didn't want to be caught playing hooky. Stepping out of her car, her hands played nervously with the key in the pocket of her dress. She had been in such a hurry to get there and now that she was there, Rachel found that she was nervous and didn't really know what to do. Taking a deep breath, she inserted the key into its lock and opened the door.
"Hello?" she called as she stepped into the house. She didn't want to give anyone a heart attack. When there was no answer, she closed the door and walked slowly up the stairs towards his room. She reached his door and stopped. Placing her ear against the door, she tried to listen in. Silence greeted her. Taking another deep breath, she placed her hand on the doorknob and pushed the door open gently.
Finn was lying on his bed, one hand over his eye, snoring gently. His blanket was pooled at his feet, half of it on the floor and it looked like he had kicked it away in his sleep. She came closer and saw that his thin shirt was sticking to his body with sweat and he was shivering. Rachel resisted the urge to cry once again. She sat on the floor next to his head and she could see the bruise on his jaw that he received because of her. The black and blue of the bruise was already turning into a slight yellowish shade but she knew it must still hurt. Gently, she held up a hand to touch it. His body jumped at the touch and his eyes flew open. She found herself staring into them, noting the glazed expression he wore.
"Ra- Rachel?" he croaked, his voice hoarse.
"Yeah, it's me." she whispered, gently caressing the side of his face. She missed touching him so much.
"Are you real or am I dreaming again?" he asked, his face contorted into confusion. Her face broke into a wide smile. He had been dreaming of her?
"I'm real," she assured him.
"Good," he mumbled. His eyes were drooping again and she knew he was about to fall back to sleep. She made a move to pull back her hand but he held it suddenly.
"Don't go anywhere. Stay here with me." He was mumbling and she wasn't sure if he really meant them or if he was just being delusional. Either way it didn't matter to her.
"Okay."
Rachel let her hand stay on his chest where he had held them gently until she was sure he was asleep. Pulling her hand away slowly, she stood up and observed the room. All of his medicine were on his desk, and there was a lot of it. She examined them and breathed a sigh of relief to find only decongestants, cough syrup and a box of Tylenol. So he wasn't dying after all. Glancing at the dirty bowl and half-empty glass of water next to it, she decided to make herself useful. After washing the dishes, she walked over to the stove to see a pot of chicken soup all ready to be eaten. She made a mental note to reheat it in a few hours for him.
The next two hours she spent on the beanbag she had dragged next to his bed, studying for her History test the next day. Occasionally she would put a hand to his forehead to check his temperature. It wasn't as bad as she had thought. Still, to be safe she had made a compressor out of the kitchen towel and changed the water every fifteen minutes. Rachel felt a little embarrassed at the thought of her reaction yesterady in front of her parents. Whatever it was that Finn had, it was obviously not as incurable as she had thought (She made another mental note to revise her list). Maybe skipping school and bribing Kurt for his key had been a slight overreaction.
But it hardly mattered anymore. Finn still looked a little pathetic, with his bruised face and his shivering body, and she found she didn't really care that she had missed school and Glee practice for this. If she had to be honest, she was surprised that she didn't run screaming out the door when she realized he had a bad case of the flu. Usually she hated being around sick people, afraid that they were going to infect her and her voice would be shot to hell. It was funny, she thought drowsily before she fell asleep, that Finn having a sore throat didn't seem to scare her at all.
She was startled by a rustling sound and opened her eyes to find him staring at her from his bed, a dopy smile on his face. He was siting cross legged, his back leaning against the wall.
"Hey," he greeted her softly, his voice still sounding raw.
"Hey," she smiled. She was up in a flash, placing a hand against his forehead to feel his temperature. There was barely any heat. She smiled proudly to herself, having been successful at her attempt to cool him down. "How are you feeling? Are you okay? Why are you sitting up? Finn, you should be lying-"
"Rach, babe! I'm fine," he cut in, laughing hoarsely. He caught her hand and pulled her onto the bed. She sat next to him gingerly, their hands still firmly clasped together. "How did you get in here? Were you hiding under my bed?" she slapped his arm and rolled her eyes. He laughed.
"Shut up. I came because I was worried and this is how you thank me?"
"Baby you know I love you for it," he answered, grinning. "Seriously though, how did you get in? Is mom home? I told her to go to work." He frowned at the last sentence."No your mother isn't here. Kurt gave me his key. I know, I know," she answered at the questioning look on his face. "I kind of maybe bribed him, a little?" Finn was raising his eyebrow in amusement.
"With what?"
"A solo. Or three," she answered grumpily.
"Rachel Berry giving up her chance in the spotlight for me. I'm flattered."
"Three chances, I'll have you know."
"Oh sorry. Three. And she even skipped school to do it!"
"Get over yourself," she grumbled. "You're not that special."
"Yeah, I am," he replied softly, a small smile quirking his lips. She turned to look at him, a blush making its way to her face.
"Okay, yes you are." He felt her squeezing her hand affectionately and thought she could die of happiness right then. Then she remembered why she came in the first place.
"Finn," she began seriously. "About what happened, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." He was looking at her then, his expression turned guarded. "You were defending my honor and I shouldn't have been mad at you for that. I appreciated it." she said in a small voice. She heard him sigh.
"Rachel-"
"I'm sorry that I said I didn't need you to defend me."
"You don't."
"Well maybe not, but I want you to. Really, I do," she insisted at the doubtful look on his face. "It's nice to have someone who loves you enough to do it."
"You don't have to do everything on your own, you know."
"I know that. I'm just not used to having someone around wanting to help me." she leaned her head on his shoulder, ignoring the fact the he was sweaty and wet. She missed his smell.
"Well I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to call you a slut."
"I know."
"I don't even hate your skirts! You know that right? Rachel?" She said nothing, her eyes firmly staring out the window. "Hey look at me." She did. His face was serious.
"The way I dress is part of who I am, Finn," she said.
"I know that."
"No, you don't. Look, I know I overreacted but I thought- I thought you wanted me to change. And I know it's just a skirt, it's no big deal. But I don't want to change Finn. I don't want to ever change for any one of them. Even if it makes things easier. I've never done that and I never will."
"Rach I know. I'm sorry. I love the way you dress. You have no idea how hot you look in your little skirts. I spend my time in class staring at those skirts and thinking about you in those skirts and- anyway," He cleared his throat, embarrassed. "I was just- I didn't realize that the other guys were doing it too. And I hate that! I don't want them looking at you and thinking those things, you know? They have no right to think like that. And then those pictures. God, Rachel did you know the little creep has a folder full of your pictures?" She groaned into his shoulder. Jacob Ben Israel will always be the proverbial thorn in her side. "He doesn't anymore since I pretty much crushed his hard drive with a baseball bat but still."
"You used a baseball bat to threaten him?"
"Yeah."
"When?"
"The night after we had the stupid fight." He was mumbling. She smiled. She thought he was ignoring her but instead he had been physically intimidating Jacob Ben Israel. For her. Rachel knew that as a pacifist she should not be condoning his acts of violence on her behalf, but Jacob Ben Israel was the exception to that rule.
"When I get better, I'm gonna make sure I get every last one of your pictures from those assholes Rach. I promise," he said darkly. "You should be able to wear whatever the hell you want without those fuckers leering at you."
"Finn."
"Huh?"
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"You don't have to do that for me."
"I'm not doing it for you babe. The thought of any one of them having your picture is enough to make me Hulk out. I'm doing this for my own piece of mind."
"Oh. Well then, good luck."
"Thanks. Wait, Rachel you shouldn't be here!"
"Why not?" she asked, frowning. He had pushed her away from him and he was already standing up.
"I'm sick!"
"I know!"
"I'm going to give you my flu! You can't get sick! What if you catch my cold? What if you get a sore throat? I know how important your voice is to you." He was looing at her guiltily, as if he was the one who made her come over. The grin she wore threatened to split her face into.
"I don't care."
"What?" he asked, mid-pace, looking at her.
"I don't care. It's just a stupid flu. It's not like I won't be able to sing again if I get it." His mouth was hanging open and she laughed at his confounded look.
"Okay who are you and what have you done with my Rachel Berry?"
"Finn!" He was smirking at her as he pulled her up and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"You're making good progress Berry," he whispered in her ear, the heat from his voice making her shiver.
"What progress Hudson?"
"Social progress."
"Really?" she squealed. He grinned and leaned down to kiss her. Rachel frowned. "You're not kissing me when you're sick," she informed him primly, putting up a hand to block his face. He groaned into her palm.
"I knew it was too good to last. Ow!" She slapped his arm, laughing. Burying her face into his chest, she gave him a real hug, reveling in the way his body enveloped hers completely.
"Finn?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad you're not dying."
"Uh. Yeah. Me too, Rach."
xXx
"I have something for you," Rachel's voice filled his ear. He was wearing his headphones because it was midnight and he didn't want his mom to catch him and his girlfriend on the webcam.
"What is it?" he asked, amused by the bright smile on her face. She was positively beaming.
"Check your email. I have to go. I need to wake up-"
"At six tomorrow to run on you elliptical machine so you'll have a good and energized day ahead. Yeah, yeah I know," he finished, amused. She grinned and blew him a kiss.
"Goodnight Finn, I love you."
"'Night Rach. Love you too." She logged off and he found himself staring at an empty screen. Finn logged into his email and downloaded the attachment Rachel had sent. It was a picture. He stared at it stupidly for a moment, his mouth hanging open, before his expression changed into a huge grin. Rachel Berry was in her underwear.