Finn walked into the halls of McKinley High School on Quinn's birthday, holding the orchid bouquet in his hand. The note was lodged in between the string and the wrapper, and he stared at it for a while before he realized that he probably should be paying attention to where exactly he was walking. He felt extremely hesitant about giving the note to Quinn, mainly because it hurt like hell to listen to Rachel say those words and actually type them up. He found Quinn at her locker, and smiled his lopsided smile, taking a deep breath and hiding the flowers behind his back.
"Oh, hey Finn," she greeted him with a slight hint of warmness, which was the regular amount for the ice queen. Her smile grew slightly when she saw that he was holding something behind his back. "Whatcha got there?"
He pulled out the orchid bouquet from behind him, and her face lit up. "Happy birthday, Quinn." He heard some 'awww's in the background, and mentally high-fived himself.
"Oh my gosh, how did you know these are my favorite?" she asked, taking the bouquet from him and delicately running her fingers through the petals. "The only…" she trailed off, realizing what she was about to say. Puck had been the only guy she had told about orchids being her favorite flower.
"Puck, there is no chance in hell that I'm marrying you, ever," she said, getting frustrated at the smug look on his face. "Even if it was in a huge, beautiful church with an aisle covered in orchid petals."
Puck shrugged. "At the end of the day, Fabray, you'll figure out that I'm the closest thing you have to a fairytale wedding."
"Anyway, I gotta go," Quinn said, returning back to reality after realizing she had been caught in a flashback. "See you at Glee." She tiptoed and kissed him on the cheek and turned around, bouquet in hand.
Finn looked down on his closed fist that he had kept behind his back the whole time, opening it up to reveal the pink crumpled note that was attached.
Rachel spotted Quinn down the hallway with the bouquet in hand. She felt her heart break a small amount, but she smiled at the fact that at least Quinn got a happy ending. Maybe she deserved it after one hectic year.
She took her books out of her locker and started to head over to her chemistry class, but met the pathway of Quinn, who was back to her invulnerable queen bee mode and didn't care to stop walking. "Move it, manhands," she said, shoving her with her free arm to the side. Rachel's books fell to the ground as she tried to stop her collision from her locker with the arm that carried her books.
"Hey jewnose!" A deep voice said. She didn't want to turn around, although she knew it was inevitable what was going to come. She stood still exactly where she was, and waited for it. She felt the ice cold liquid collide onto her back and on her hair, and she just let out a sigh as the culprit walked away laughing. She didn't even know who it was, but she didn't really care to find out. Usually it was someone who had never even talked to her for once in her life anyway. She bent down to pick up her things as the bell rang and the students avoided her to get to their classes.
"Here, lemme help," a familiar voice said, as a pair of large pasty hands picked up her things. She looked up to see the face of Finn Hudson, who was smiling sympathetically. "You okay?"
She felt her heart racing a bit, but tried not to let it get to her ability of partaking in a conversation. "Yeah, it's fine, nothing new," she smiled weakly, holding out her arms to take her stuff from him. He placed them on her arms slowly, as if she would break if he didn't place them there carefully.
"Hmm, complete back attack. Can't say I've seen that one before," he commented, chuckling slightly. She let out a soft laugh, hugging her books. "Thanks for doing the flowers, by the way. They looked really nice, and I think she liked them a lot."
Rachel blushed lightly, not knowing exactly how to respond. She remembered thinking Quinn deserved that happy ending, but after the whole shoving deal, she wasn't sure anymore. "T-that's good, I'm glad everything worked out the way you wanted," she smiled, and turned around to walk back to her locker.
"Not everything," Finn whispered to himself.
Glee practice was in session, and started off with a Happy Birthday serenade to Quinn, as they usually did for every member who had a birthday. Rachel, who was now in a fresh and slushie-free outfit, even managed to sing along.
"That was great guys, happy birthday Quinn," Mr. Schuester said, as everyone returned to their seats. "Alright, guys. I know that Regionals is coming up, but I want this week's assignment to go deeper than just planning the set list. I want you to come up with a song about how music gets you through anything. Feeling invincible. This is the kind of confidence we need for Regionals, and we need to be all about the music, guys. And this time, we're doing it on the auditorium stage just to get used to this."
The group started chatting amongst themselves, and Puck turned around to Rachel. "Any ideas, Berry?" he asked, and she nodded.
"A few, actually," she admitted. "But I don't know which one to choose. I don't really want to put myself out there and talk about how sad my life is without music, you know? When I think about it, outside of Glee, I don't really have friends and I don't do anything but sing, ballet, piano, and some side acting, I guess."
"What about we go to the auditorium and go for a test run?" Puck suggested, feeling sick from looking at Finn with his arm around Quinn. Rachel nodded, and Puck raised his hand to catch Mr. Schuester's attention. "Mr. Schue, auditorium."
Finn caught himself glaring at Puck, wondering what Puck would get her to do in the auditorium. He needed to at least find out if there was something going on with them. As they headed out, he felt his knuckles turn white and a lump rising in his throat. "Mr. Schue? Can I go to the bathroom?" he asked, once he gave Rachel and Puck a sufficient head start. He nodded, as Quinn gave him a quizzical look.
He stood up and started to walk slowly towards the balcony entrance of the auditorium to watch them. They were on stage, except instead of Rachel taking center stage with the microphone stand, she was on the piano. He frowned, never having seen Rachel actually perform with a piano. Puck sat on a stool beside the piano, just playing the role of the spectator.
It's been the longest winter without you,
I didn't know where to turn to.
See, somehow I can't forget you,
After all that we've been through.
Going, coming... thought I heard a knock
Who's there? No one
Thinking that I deserve it
Now I realize that I really didn't,
Nooo
If you didn't notice, boy, you mean everything.
Quickly I'm learning to love again,
All I know is I'm gon' be okay
Thought I couldn't live without you
It's gonna hurt when it heals too, ooh yeah
(It'll all get better in time)
And even though I really love you,
I'm gonna smile cause I deserve to
It'll all get better in time
How could I could I turn on the TV,
Without something that'll remind me
Was it all that easy?
To just put aside your feelings.
If I'm dreaming, don't wanna lie,
Hurt my feelings
But that's the path
I believe in,
And I know that time will heal it
If you didn't notice, well
You mean everything.
Quickly I'm learning to love again,
All I know is I'm gon' be okay
Thought I couldn't live without you
It's gonna hurt when it heals too, ooh yeah
(It'll all get better in time)
And even though I really love you,
I'm gonna smile cause I deserve to, ooooooh
It'll all get better in time
Since there's no more you and me (no more you and me)
It's time I let you go so I can be free
And live my life how it should be.
No matter how hard it is,
I'll be fine without you, Yes I will.
Thought I couldn't live without you
It's gonna hurt when it heals too ohhhh
It'll all get better in time ooooh
And even though I really love you
I'm gonna smile cause I deserve to (yes I do)
It'll all get better in time, woah
Thought I couldn't live without you
It's gonna hurt when it heals too, yeahh
It'll all get better in time
And even though I really love you
I'm gonna smile cause I deserve to
Finn found himself tearing up from the performance, and made an abrupt exit from the audtiorium.
Puck nodded apprehensively, and waited for Rachel to say something.
"I don't think that's the song," she said simply, and Puck chuckled. Typical perfectionist Rachel Berry.