So, next chapter! I'm not going to say anything about it. You'll just have to read on :D

Enjoy!


She's nervous as she stands backstage, straightening out her dress – a skin tight blue number that stops just above her knee. Her hair is down, straightened and she's just got out of makeup. Rachel knows that she shouldn't feel so anxious but she can't help it. This is the Brittany S. Pierce show. It's the biggest point of her career so far and she just won't embarrass herself in front of millions of people.

There's so much for her to talk about. Her new album, released only two months ago, and then there's Finn. Oh, what is she going to say about Finn?

Kurt's spent so long grilling the answers into their heads that she feels like she doesn't know anything else. No, now she knows everything about Finn, like how his favourite color is blue, and that he sucked his thumb until he was eleven years old (something which she's still teasing him about) and there's more. She's learnt his favorite everything as it seems, even down to favorite condiments on his burger. Kurt also told her that he won't let anyone touch his drums and he means anyone. She thinks it's hilarious how he's so protective of such things, but then remembers how she'd react if someone used her bedazzled pink microphone and now she's staying quiet.

"Lord Tubbington says that it's time for a break so I'll see you guys in a couple of minutes for my next two guests, and we can get all the gossip on them."

She smiles to herself, though wishes that she'd asked Quinn to come and wait here with her rather than staying in her dressing room like she'd insisted.

"You're looking nervous," she hears Finn's manly drawl behind her and spins around to smile at him. They're on good terms since she took him to see Rock of ages, though he gets a little distant every times Jesse is mentioned, which is apparently a lot. She didn't realize that she spoke about him so much.

"A performer never gets nervous."

He raises an eyebrow, "then why're you shaking, dollface?" With a frown, she peers down at her shaking fingers and then shakes her head. "You can't deny it babe."

Rachel looks at him seriously, "look, this is a big deal for me. I don't take all of my fame for granted – I want to cherish every moment that I have in the spotlight because you never know when it's going to end. So just, excuse me for getting a little worried that I might screw something up." She brushes a hand through her hair before patting it down, "do I look okay?"

She half expects him to make another lame comment, or try to be funny.

He doesn't.

There's an unreadable look in his eyes as they linger over her, a smile tugging on his lips ever so gently. "You look beautiful."

Did she just imagine that? Finn Hudson called her beautiful. Not hot, or sexy, or any other term that guys seem to like, but actually beautiful. She catches her breath, staring straight back at him with a look of surprise. He clears his throat, suddenly changing back into himself, "you shouldn't keep your mouth hanging open like that, you'll catch flies." She immediately clamps her lips closed and then narrows her eyes at him.

He straightens his tie, blue to match her dress, and his eyes wander over to the audience, "I think I get what you mean, about the nerves and stuff."

"Millions of people will be watching us," she agrees, "and we've got to pretend to be a couple that's dating though is pretending that they aren't dating. Oh, this is so confusing." What if they can't do it? What if people realize that this is all for publicity and then, of course, she'll be hated by everyone.

Finn gently takes hold of her arm, "we can do this. You have all these awards and stuff for your acting, so this is just child's play for you, 'kay?"

The crew are signalling that there's thirty seconds until they go on and she takes a deep breath, mentally preparing herself.

"Good luck then," Finn smiles.

"Yes," she replies, "break a leg."

He raises his eyebrow, "what? Did you just tell me to break my leg, 'cause babe, that's not a very nice thing to say."

Rachel rolls her eyes, unsure of whether he's serious or just easing her. "Finn, it's a theatre saying. It's means good luck."

"Oh," he says sheepishly, "break a leg."

"And now, for my final guests, I have the hottest drummer in New York, Finn Hudson, and the lady with the hottest voice on Broadway, Rachel Berry."

Finn looks back at her before they walk on, sending a smile which she can't quite figure out, but she doesn't have chance to dwell on it as she's hurrying out onto the stage, hoping that she doesn't fall in her stilettoes. After a short stumble, she's surprised when Finn takes hold of her elbow and helps her up the steps to where Brittany is smiling at them.

Rachel sits down first, grinning excitedly at the host when Finn joins her on the couch, his thigh pressed right up against hers. She hopes that he puts her blush down to it being warm in the studio.

"Hey guys!" Brittany grins, "and welcome to my show."

"We're so excited to be here," Rachel says, stars in her eyes. Her childhood dream of being on the show is finally coming true.

The blonde smiles, "you should be. We have so much to ask the both of you." She points to the table in front of them, holding a large fondue pot of melted cheese, "you wanna dig in? All my guests love the fondue. Normally it's just for two, but today it's for three." Brittany claps her hands together, "this is my first double interview. Yay."

Finn chuckles, reaching forward to get some of the food while Rachel decides against it. If she got anything on this dress Quinn would kill her.

"First of all, I want all the juicy gossip," she smirks, before pointing to the both of them, "you two have been getting a little close, haven't you?"

Finn almost chokes on his food. He expected her to ask about them, but not in the first few minutes. Rachel pats his back gently, forcing a smile onto her face. "What do you mean?" she asks sweetly.

Their host reclines in her chair, "you know what I mean."

"No," Finn says, "we don't."

"I think that you do." She points to the screen behind her, "what about this picture? You look pretty close there. I mean, Finn you look like you're squishing her." Finn instantly goes red in the face as he stares at the image of them leaving the party. "Was it a good party?" she raises her eyebrow, "did you have a party in Rachel's pants afterwards?"

"No!" Rachel interrupts quickly, "I just took him home. We're friends."

Brittany frowns, "friends don't kiss like you guys did. I'd show the audience but I don't want to gross them out – you were really going for it."

"Err…" Finn scratches his head, "yeah, we've kind of put that past us."

"We'd both had a bit too much wine."

"Right," he agrees, placing a hand on her knee, "and we've decided that friendship is just the best thing for now." She nods in agreement, recognizing the "script" that Kurt had made him learn.

Brittany eventually shrugs, "I suppose that's good since both of your albums are nominated for album of the year and, you know, it'd suck to be competing against your lover."

"What?"

Did she just say that both of them were nominated? No, that's can't happen. She's supposed to win. This is her year, and it's her award – she spent so much time on that album; she put her whole heart into it and Finn Hudson is not taking that away.

He's staring straight back at her, his mouth open in shock.


"I can't believe you didn't tell me!" she screeches as soon as she storms into the dressing room, her body filled with anger toward her agent.

Quinn sighs, standing up from her seat so that she's got a height advantage on Rachel, "I didn't want to distract you. I only found out this morning."

"You're my agent," she says, "and it's your job to inform me about these things. I have half a mind to fire you." She folds her arms, teeth clenched. She just had to face the humiliation of discovering the news on stage and looking completely ungrateful in front of the entire audience. Thankfully, she'd quickly recovered, mainly after Finn had nudged her pretty hard, and carried on with the interview.

"You won't fire me," the blond claims surely with a teasing smile, "no one else would put up with you."

Rachel gasps, "take that back!"

She shakes her head, pretending to be more interested in her handbag. "I mean it, as your friend, of course."

In response, Rachel rolls her eyes and mutters, "some friend. I still can't believe that you didn't tell me."

"I wasn't expecting her to mention it," Quinn defends herself, "and we were going to tell you straight after the interview, I swear. This is good, right? It's like, more drama for you as a "couple". That's what people want, Rachel."

"I know what an audience wants," she snaps, "I've sold out hundreds of venues all over the country. I think that maybe I'm a little bit experienced in this field." To be completely honest, she fees sick. The thought of competing against Finn for the award makes her feel nervous and off, like she shouldn't be doing it. Of course, she has no choice and she'd never back down anyway, but she doesn't have to like it.

She wishes, for a second, that she'd never met him through this – that they'd continue to dislike each other from afar because then it'd be so much easier. This is his first big award and she's going to take that away from him.

Rachel sits herself down, "this sucks. Why does nothing ever work out as I want it to?"

Her manager sits beside her. "You should be happy. You've been nominated for this award because you work so hard and you deserve it."

Quinn's right – she should be happy, but she just feels guilty.

"But what about Finn?"

"What about him?" her eyebrows furrow, "this is all to do with you."

She shakes her head. It's not just her, it's Finn now. They're facing this together. "I just… I don't want him to get hurt, you know?"

"Why would he be hurt?"

Rachel gives her a look before sighing, "you don't understand."

With a frustrated groan, she begins, "I don't know what I'm supposed to be understanding."

"I care about him," she smiles softly, "more importantly, I care about his feelings." She avoids Quinn's stare, instead pretending to inspect her nails.

Eventually, Quinn breaks the silence, "do you like him Rachel?"

"Well, I've had to grow to like him because other – "

"No," she interrupts, "I mean, do you like him?" Rachel hesitates, "oh my God, you do!"

The brunette immediately shakes her head, "Quinn, this is ridiculous. It would never work with Finn and I. We're two completely different people and I have no idea why you're suggesting this." Her eyes dart about the room nervously, "and in five months, we're probably not even going to speak to each other anymore so." She folds her arms stiffly and then shrugs.

It doesn't look like Quinn is buying it though and she glares through narrowed eyes.

"I need to go talk to Finn," she announces, pushing herself from the chair.

"Rachel!" Quinn shouts after her but she isn't listening – she's already hurrying down the hallway to his dressing room.

She knocks on loudly three times, shifting nervously on the balls of her feet. A second later the door opens and he pokes his head out of the tiny crack. He looks surprised to see her there though doesn't say anything.

She puts on an award winning smile, "Finn! We need to talk."

"Err… sure," he opens the door further, letting the small woman into his dressing room, "what about?"

Rachel sits herself down on the only chair while he props himself up against the dressing table, "well, I wanted to apologize for reacting badly to the news and almost blowing our cover, but… more importantly, I came to tell you that there'll be no hard feelings when I win this award."

At her words, his face drops because he becomes suddenly intense, his lips pursed tightly together, "and what's that supposed to mean?"

"I just…" she stutters, "don't want you to get hurt."

"Oh," he raises his eyebrow, "who says that I'll be the disappointed one?"

"Well, I think that the standard of my work this year is superior to…pretty much everyone, including you."

Finn bites his lip, frustration seeping through. "Why do you do this?"

Her eyes widen, "d-do what?"

"Pretend that you're better than everyone else!" he snaps, standing up straight and pacing to the other side of the room, as if he wants to get as far away from her as possible, "you're talented, I'll give you that, and yeah, you probably work really hard but you don't have to be a bitch about it."

"Excuse me?" she gasps. And to think, she came here because she cared about his feelings! "I am not a bitch," she whispers.

"Oh, you so are."

She pouts for a moment before squirming as she thinks of something to insult him with. "You're a…a…"

And now he has the audacity to laugh at her. "My God! Do you actually ever swear? You're like a little kid," he says, adding, "just as stubborn too."

"At least I'm not some drain on society – a parasite to everything that's good," she hates herself after saying that, but the words had just slipped out, like it's a natural defence.

Thankfully, he doesn't seem to take it to heart. "Honestly, you're just recycling the same stuff here, dollface. And I thought that you were good at arguing." He steps closer, "you never keep your big mouth shut."

Rachel snaps out of her chair, moving nearer the man with her tiny fists bawled up angrily. "I don't argue, I express my opinion, which is always right."

He scoffs, "your opinion is based on the little fairytale world that you live in where you're the Queen of everything and you're the center of attention." They're so close now, glaring into each other's eyes and showing no signs of stopping. Neither is quite sure how this happened – at least ten minutes ago they were in a relatively good friendship with each other and now both are seething toward their opponents. Maybe they just know which buttons to press.

"I do not live in a fairytale world," she stomps her foot angrily, wobbling a bit on the stilettoes. Finn almost goes to steady her before he realizes that he's angry at her. How can she say stuff like this? Why does she always feel the need to be right?

"Please," he starts, "you belong in the loony bin – fame has made you power crazy, babe." She can't believe that he's just said that! She'll never let fame get to her head because she's seen what it can do to people and it ruins them.

"At least I'm not damaging my body with drugs and alcohol whenever I feel like it."

"Alcohol is a drug," he points out, just to irk her more than anything.

And when she growls in response, her eyes wild with anger, he smirks. "Why," she hits his chest, "are," and again, "you smirking?" She goes to do it one more time when he grabs her wrists and their eyes lock with no chance of being unglued from each other.

He leans down while she cranes her neck, their faces mere inches apart. He's still smirking, causing her anger to increase, and he whispers against her lips, "because you're hot when you're angry."

He expects her to hit him again, or any form of violence, since he's managed to rile her up so badly this time. For a few seconds, her eyes just stare at his lips before she grabs his face with force and practically throws herself on him. Finn kisses back instantly, swallowing her grunts and growls expertly while she wraps her legs around his waist.

"Sometimes," she breathes between kisses, "I really don't like you."

Finn can totally deal with that because if this is the response he gets from making her angry – he's going to make her angry all the time.

Her hands grip onto his hair tightly as they tug at each other's lips desperately, panting loudly. Her lips move along his jaw before she begins to suck on his neck and he almost drops her, recovering by moving her body against the wall. "Ow!" she screeches, her nostrils flaring with fury. Apparently she doesn't like being thrown against walls.

"Don't fucking do that then!" he hisses, kissing her some more.

"Do what?"

Her hands move from around his neck to lower down his back, digging her nails into his shirt. "Turn me on," he growls, tugging at her dress.

Rachel doesn't understand what's happened. One minute they're arguing and the next they're furiously making out against the wall. She's classier than this, she knows, but she really doesn't want it to stop. It's like a build-up of frustration is finally being released and it feels good – he feels good. And she can't argue with the desire burning inside of her.

His hand cradles her head, taking a slightly more caring approach in complete contrast to how their mouths are acting.

Her lipstick is completely smothered around both of their lips, but neither care.

When his arms begin to ache, he moves her over to the dressing table, throwing off the objects and dropping her harshly on her butt.

"Finn!" she glares and he's glad that he can shut her up with another kiss. "Oh, Finn."

He smirks into her lips, slipping his tongue into her mouth.

The door shakes as someone knocks, "Finn, let me in!" Kurt shouts.

On the inside, Finn and Rachel tear apart from each other, sharing a look of shock. The can see themselves in the mirror and they look a mess.

"Er…" he panics, "you can't come in. I'm…I'm naked – completely naked."

There's a pause and she can imagine Kurt's disgusted face, "why?"

Finn struggles for any words and rolls her eyes. He's such an amateur – if only she could talk and cover for them. That, however, will not help.

"I spilled my drink all over me and I needed to get changed," he lies, badly, "so just…come back in about five minutes."

"Honestly Finn," Kurt sighs, "you're completely hopeless." Thankfully, they hear him retreat down the corridor, leaving them alone.

He turns to Rachel, a spark in his eyes, "now, where were we?"

She pushes him away, standing up and moving over to the door. "You need to forget what just happened. I-it was nothing."

"Dollface, we just made out," he says, "and I'm pretty sure that you liked it, judging by your reactions." Finn knows that he has her here – there is no way that she can deny it. The proof is in the pudding, which is a very flustered Rachel.

Her eyes look confused and worried as she hugs herself gently, "it was just the heat of the moment."

"Bu-"

"We can't do this," Rachel chokes out, "you're not my boyfriend. This isn't real Finn, and we can't fall for our own lie."

"Who says that it has to be a lie?" he tries.

The brunette shakes her head, closing her eyes slowly. "I don't know what to think. I just…I know that the kiss was a mistake and the other two before it."

Other two? The last time he remembers, there was only one. What the hell is she talking about?

"This is because of Jesse, right?"

Her eyes widen, "no. Of course it isn't." He doesn't believe her, "Jesse and I…it's complicated, Finn. But you and me, we'd never work out. Sure, you're hot and a really good kisser, and many other things… we just… we won't click." She nods as though convincing herself, "we're too different."

Finn frowns, wondering what she means by that. How can you be too different? Isn't that good? A relationship would be dull if you were exactly the same. Fuck, he's thinking about a relationship with her. He hasn't considered the prospect of a relationship for years.

What's happening to him? He needs to get fucking laid of something if he's starting to think like this.

"Whatever," he mumbles, "I was just gonna sleep with you anyway."

She looks down sadly, biting her lower lip. "I don't believe you," she says. She starts to retreat when he says nothing, stopping only momentarily to ask, "will I see you tomorrow?"

"I suppose," he sighs, "you'll have to."

Rachel nods, continuing with her retreat as he listens to her walk away, ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach.


Rachel sits in the rehearsal, half listening to the others sing while she takes her break. She can't take her mind off Finn, and it's frustrating her to no end. Their shared kiss is the only thing that she can think about. Why did she do it? She doesn't like him in that way. They're friends.

But they made out. And it was hot. And she felt something that she hasn't felt in a long, long time.

Since when did she have such little control around Finn? She's practically jumped him. If that's not sending mixed signals then she doesn't know what is.

She gives a wistful sigh, wondering how she's going to amend this. They're supposed to be going for dinner tonight, but she predicts that it will be awkward and tense as they do so. Neither Kurt nor Quinn know and she expects it to stay that way – they don't need them butting into their business.

Will lets the cast go for lunch, smiling at her as she heads backstage to grab her things for the one hours break when something catches her eyes.

Jesse's here.

Not only is he here, but he's talking to Sunshine of all people.

Rachel frowns, slowly grabbing her bag and moving nearer the two. It shouldn't be that odd because they've met a few times, but why are they acting like they're known each other forever?

"Hey," she smiles when she reaches him and he grins, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"I came to take you to lunch."

"Oh," Rachel feels hope rise in her chest, "really?" She kind of needs a distraction right now.

Jesse gives a large smile, "of course. Sunshine and I were just chatting."

"About what?" she asks, almost darkly. Her eyes turn to the woman in front of her, who had been previously staring at Jesse.

He quickly intervened, "just trivial stuff, my dear. Now, let's go. We've only got an hour after all."

"I-I could stay for a little bit longer. We don't start rehearsing my scenes until three."

He looks pleased with himself as he wraps his arm around her, "perfect. I know a wonderful little place where we can go. It doesn't get too busy, and the food is divine."

Rachel nods in agreement, "well, I don't think that I'll be having much since Finn and I have dinner tonight reservations."

"Oh yes," Jesse sneers, "Finn. Would you mind, perhaps, if we didn't bring him up during lunch." She frowns though nods anyway. She'd prefer to forget about her and Finn's exchange as well.


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