AN: Updates should be back to once a week or so again. I had an insane two weeks, but things should be back to normal now. No beta on this chapter so all mistakes are mine.

God damn it! She was late to class. Rachel Berry was never late for class. Especially not an eleven o'clock class. She swore underneath her breath as she rushed into the building and up the steps to try and get to the correct room on time. Her phone told her the truth; she was already five minutes late. She opened the door as quietly as she could while the professor stopped lecturing to glare at her.

She bobbed her head down quickly looking for a seat, but the only open one was right in front of Finn. Of course, it was. With a barely muted sigh, she sat down in front of him sloughing off her coat as she pulled her notebook and a pen out of her bag. Once she had finally been seated, the professor once again started to talk about… something. Rachel had been late for one very specific reason, and part of it was sitting behind her. She'd had an ass-kicker of a morning, and the long finger that keeps pressing between her shoulder blades wasn't helping.

:.:.:

She got up like any other morning, going for her run outside since it wasn't too cold in the city before treating herself to a flaxseed muffin and a fresh coffee at the little café just down the block from her apartment. After her disaster of a date on Friday, she'd spent the entire weekend trying to think of a way to approach her fathers about this entire thing again, and she thought that she finally had a plan.

Showering and getting ready for her day rather slowly because she didn't have class until eleven, Rachel even took the time to water some of the houseplants before she was in the car by nine to go visit her fathers with her plea.

She spent twenty minutes arguing thoughtfully, thirty begging, sixteen crying, and finally twelve yelling, slamming doors, and cleaning herself up in the bathroom before she got back in her car having accomplished nothing besides making herself late.

:.:.:

Her thoughts kept swirling around the entire class, and she barely took any notes. As the professor dismissed the class, she did her best to pack up quickly in hopes of avoiding Finn as he'd been poking her in the back the entire time. Thankfully, her shitty luck held, and instead of letting her leave with some of her dignity and an icy shoulder, Finn grabbed her wrist saying her name before she could get out the door.

"What, Finn. What could you possibly want right now?" Her voice wasn't nearly as controlled as it should have been. Her jaw too tight to really form the words, and so they came out with extra venom. She felt bad as soon as she took that tone with him.

He dropped his hand from her body stepping back and sucking in a breath through his teeth. "I just… you've been ignoring my calls. And my texts. I wanted to check in on you. Make sure that you're ok, which you're clearly not, what's wrong Rachel?"

The laugh that bubbled to her lips was hard and bitter, "Like you don't know."

"Just stop it," he snapped at her, "Stop acting like I don't get it. Stop acting like I never cared for you and that you are little miss perfect up on your pedestal. I have no idea what I ever did to piss you off so much, but we're in this together now so stop biting my head off every time I try and do something nice."

She glared at him for a moment before he made an observation, "You were crying again." Rachel ducked her head rubbing at her eyes. She'd thought she'd done a pretty good job of cleaning herself up. "Let me take you for coffee. It's the least I can do."

The need to say no was paramount in her mind. She couldn't get close to him again, but there was an earnestness in his eyes that she couldn't resist. A certain tilt to his head that helped her to realize he really had no idea what she needed so desperately to hide from him, and that he just wanted to help. He was probably at his most intoxicating when he just wanted to help.

She is absolutely pissed. Livid beyond belief. Her first starring role and they don't even show up. They're even in the city. Probably at some restaurant toasting their own amazing talents. At that moment, she can't stand her fathers.

Her co-star actually invites her to the party before promptly ditching her. For some reason, going to the party seemed like a good idea until she'd gotten there. Like a proper fuck you to her fathers, but she really doesn't belong in places like this with thumping bass beats and cigarettes and weed and too much alcohol. Alcohol. And now she has her plan of attack. The only problem is, she doesn't really care for the taste of beer, and her red solo cup is already empty.

She makes her way through the crowd to find the keg, and as she sees him bending over she adds another step to her master plan. Rachel never does things like this, but she's just drunk enough, and just angry enough that she goes for it.

Her flirting is atrocious, but she can tell that he's just drunk enough, and she's just hot enough that neither of them cares. She slips a small, sweaty hand into his as he tugs her away from the permeating head of bodies at the party, and upstairs to a place that she can only assume is his room. He smiles this dopey little grin at her before he kind of gestures to his bed and rummages in his closet for something.

She has no idea what the fuck she's doing.

She's never done this.

Rachel has never gotten drunk. Never flirted with an almost stranger. Never felt so reckless and euphorically depressed. The smell of Finn's room is intoxicating. A mix of cologne and shampoo and a little hint of laundry detergent and books, and the view of his ass as he searches for whatever it is he's searching for is enough to hold her attention.

His shirt rides up exposing a line of pale flesh along with the elastic rim and beginnings of a pair of orange boxers. Grinning triumphantly, he turns around wielding a bottle of Jack Daniels. It'll work perfectly for what she intends.

Rachel sucked her lower lip between her teeth before nodding her head, "Coffee would be lovely actually. We have a lot to discuss."

:.:.:

He'd been calling her all weekend. Texting her at least ten times a day. He didn't know what else he could do and when she showed up for class late her eyes looking swollen, he got even more worried. He knew that their date had gone poorly, but he was trying, and he was pretty sure that her tears had nothing to do with his behavior. He wasn't even the one who had been testy on Friday.

Finn didn't want to keep this up. The constant bickering and withholding of information, and Rachel not responding to him has him worried him even more. Part of him still cared for her—a lot—and that part had spent the better part of the weekend freaking out because she had been so quiet for most of their date, and then gone radio silent. If he knew anything, it was that Rachel Berry was a talker.

At the end of class, he finally just worked up the courage and grabbed her wrist to stop her from storming out on him again. He really just doesn't get women. Rachel was all pissy and moody until he finally spoke his mind about everything, and then she just said yes. For once, she just agreed to go get coffee with no fight or attitude. They were in this together, and like it or not they still had six months, and whether or not they made the best of it was on their shoulders.

They walked out of the history building together, and he held the door for her as she ducked her head a little embarrassed, and he did his best not to notice how adorable it was that the air made her cheeks a little pinker. Finn took a chance linking his finger through hers. She flinched a little and tried to pull away hissing, "What the hell are you doing?"

"We're supposed to be dating," he answered simply, and she rolled her eyes at him sighing to add emphasis. She didn't remove her hand from his though.

The entire walk to the coffee shop he was a little lost in how tiny and perfect her hand felt in his. Her skin was soft to the touch and warm the tiny crescents of her nails dragging lightly across the back of his hand. Finn's hand basically engulfed hers his fingers bending back up along the back of her hand so that they were almost touching her wrist. He really liked holding hands with her.

He opened the door of the café to a warm rush of coffee-scented, steamy air. As soon as they were through the door she dropped his hand and slipped off her coat leading the way to the counter. Rachel ordered some frilly, girly winter spice latte thing, and he asked the barista for a medium coffee. "You want to grab a table, Rachel?" He suggested as he walked towards the coffee station against the back wall.

Finn doctored his coffee the usual way with just a splash of skim milk and was walking back to the table she'd picked just as her name was called to get her drink. The table was too small for his long legs, and they bumped against hers as he smiled a little sheepishly. Rachel's face broke out into a grin as she playfully shoved his knees away from her. It felt good to see her smile.

A tentative finger played in the foam of her drink before bringing it to her lips and licking it clean. Without even trying, Rachel was way too sexual for her own good. She took a sip, moaning lightly because apparently it was very good. Setting it back down, she turned to him a conspiratorial gleam in her eye, "Now, what do you want to talk about?"

He took a sip of his own coffee before answering her, "This," he gestured between them with a hand, "Us. This entire situation."

"What's there to talk about? We play pretend in public for six months go to a few company dinners and a couple dates. I am an actress," something about her tone threw him off, but he shook his head a little at her idea of what this should be.

Finn swirled his swizzle stick in his drink again, "But I'm not. That's not me, Rachel. I can't just pretend something like this, and then have you yelling at me and ignoring me whenever we're not in couple mode. Have you talked to your dads at all about what's expected…"

"What do you mean what's expected? We're supposed to pretend to be dating for like six months, and by then we won't need to anymore," she took another sip of her drink wiping the white foam off of her upper lip with her tongue.

He couldn't believe that they didn't tell her. Again. He should, he knew what kind of men they were. How shittily they treat their only daughter, but he expected them to at least tell her all of it. "Oh wow. Oh Rachel…" his voice trailed off as he pressed his lips together shaking his head, "Your dads are real assholes, you know. We're supposed to be engaged around four months. Preferably living together."

Her jaw dropped. He was probably lucky she hadn't been holding her drink. "W—wha—WHAT?" She sputtered, "I—I can't—oh my God."

"Rachel it's no big d—"

"Don't. Don't you dare tell me this isn't a big deal, Finn Hudson.

:.:.:

She'd thought it was bad before. She'd really thought that having to date him would be the worst thing ever. Having to see him and pretend to be in love with him and go on dates. But to live with him. For two months. She couldn't do it.

His hand reached across the table, and he placed it on her forearm with an even pressure trying to reassure her. "Rachel, calm down. It's months away and not the end of the world. We'll be fine."

She couldn't do it. There was no way in hell that she could spend so much time with him, and not feel absolutely awful about herself. One way or another she knew that her secret would have to come out, and she really wasn't ready for that conversation.

But there was no way out short of running away and joining the circus. Her fathers had threatened to cut her off, and she didn't have a job or a way of getting one with all of her classes. Apparently, by April she'd be cohabitating with the one man who knew way too many of her secrets.

"Of course," she said with a breath, "Of course, it isn't the end of the world. Just an added surprise."

"Ok?"

"Ok."

"So what's the plan Ms. Berry? You are a planner aren't you?" He smiled at her a little nervously his dimples doing wonders to relax her tightening chest.

"The plan is in public we're a couple. And I'll try to be nicer."

"And you'll return my calls and texts," he hinted.

With an embarrassed smile, she ducked her head, "And I'll return your calls and texts."

He placed his hand on the table, palm up, and she gently put hers in his threading their fingers together, "That's all I can ask. I missed you, Rachel."

"Watch yourself, Hudson."

"Yes, ma'am."

AN: All the feedback on this story has been so humbling. As of right now, it has 97 alerts which is INSANE. Thank you all for your alerts and favorites and reviews. It really means a lot to me. Happy Gleeking!