9: Question and Answer

After that, he becomes a bit more reclusive. Either everyone's mad at him for the Rachel thing, or they're mad at him for the Kurt-and-Sam thing, or they're worried they'll be the center of the next 'thing' (and yeah, Kurt told everyone about Finn's reemerging homophobia. Which is kind of his right, but it doesn't help much). It gives Finn entirely too much time to think, and thinking hurts nowadays. He wants out now.

The upside of all this is that Sam doesn't try to talk to him anymore – Finn's pretty sure that's just because he can act not pissed about it without blowing his cover, but whatever. It's like that thing the Greeks did with the gifts in a horse's mouth.

So, surprisingly enough, he's not expecting it when Sam corners him in the boys' bathroom during his fifth period free.

"Sam," he says, hoping he doesn't sound as terrified as he feels. "What are you doing here? Don't you have class?"

Sam shakes his head. "No."

"I'm sure you have class," says Finn, eying the door over Sam's shoulder. It's not that far away, but Sam is between Finn and it, and he doesn't think he could escape without a struggle.

Sam shrugs. "Whatever. If I do, won't impact you greatly," he says. "Anyway, I thought I'd find you. Talk."

He's starting to walk closer, and Finn unwittingly backs away. "I don't want to talk to you," he says quickly, not bothering with any pretense. Who would he fool?

He remembers vaguely when he was trying to put this out of his mind, forget anything ever happened – even when dealing with Sam himself. Now he's just – wait, that couldn't have been more than a few weeks ago. Really? It feels like months. What the fuck happened to his sense of time?

Sam smirks, still edging closer. Finn does his best not to hyperventilate. "Doesn't surprise me. You feel guilty."

"...What?"

Sam walks even closer. "For what you said," he explains, like it's obvious. "Really. It was horribly offensive. I mean, not necessarily inaccurate, but... still. From the way you've treated Kurt in the past, I'd think you'd know better. Or, I don't know, care more or something."

Finn barely even understands what he's saying. He walks even further back, and doesn't notice he's about to collide with the shower wall until he backs into it, the taps smashing against his back, and he trips. Sam laughs at him as Finn realizes he's now helplessly on the floor, and starts to panic even more.

"Good job, Hudson," says Sam. "You really should have your own sitcom," he crouches down, and any comfort Finn could have taken in them being on an even level again is obliterated by the serious invasion if personal space. "Seriously though, about that thing – don't you think you owe me?"

"What?" Finn crawls back further against the wall, and Sam sees some sort of cue to reach for Finn's shirt, lightly tugging at the fabric.

"Just saying. You were really a dick to me, don't you think I deserve... something?" he says it like it actually makes sense.

There are a whole bunch of things Finn should say to that, none of which he knows how to word. "Go away," he whimpers, biting his lip.

Sam rolls his eyes. "You really do hold a grudge, don't you?"

Finn feels like he's been punched in the gut. "Uh, yeah. That's irrational and surprising?" he's a little proud of himself for managing to sound angry and strong about it.

"It really would do everyone a lot of good if you'd just move on," Sam explains, shrugging. "Look, if you want to hear it, I'm sorry. I've already said that anyway," he sighs. "Yes, I went about this in a major douche way. But you don't need to... hang on to it like this. It was just a bit of fun, you know?"

"You're nuts," Finn eventually says. "What the fuck is wrong with you? How did you come to the conclusion this is, in any way, 'fun'?"

"I am what I am," says Sam, and that's not an answer. "Look, let me show you something. I'm sorry I screwed you up, but it didn't have to be that bad. Really. Let me show you..."

Finn hits his hands away, gaping. "Stay away from me!" he shouts.

As if on a different cue, the door slams open. Sam's back on his feet and laughing casually so fast it makes Finn dizzy. "That would only happen to you, Hudson," he says, as if they just got transported into an entirely different conversation. He offers a hand out. "Come on, get back up."

Finn glares at him, and pointedly does not take the hand – he pushes himself off the floor with his own hands, thank you very much. It loses something of its effect when he bangs his head on the tap and Sam laughs at him again. "Ow!" yells Finn.

"You're bad at this," says Sam.

"Yeah," says a voice from behind them, and Finn checks over Sam's shoulder to realize it's Matt standing against the doorway. He isn't laughing along with Sam; he looks at them weirdly, and Finn guesses it's the same look he'd expect everyone to give if they saw Sam actually talking to him – the why the fuck are you talking to him after what he said? look. It doesn't matter – it's a good thing people think like that; they don't get suspicious. "Sam, you're meant to be in History. Hales knew you were here today, so she sent me to look for you."

Sam looks confused. "Okay. Guess you were right after all," he says, turning around and walking out. "See ya."

Finn shakily takes a few steps forward, but winds up collapsing on the bench. Matt looks uncomfortable, and slowly walks next to him. "Man, you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," he says. "Fell."

"Don't lie to me," Matt blurts out. "Dude, I did see... I mean, I should have come in sooner, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't just like, misinterpreting or something..."

No. No this is not happening, he thinks. "I don't know what you're talking about," he says, even though it's still a really shitty lie. "I just... fell."

There's an uncomfortable silence, and Finn just prays Matt will buy it – or at least be smart enough to leave the damn thing alone. No such luck.

"Dude, I'm not stupid," says Matt. "What's going on? He did something to you, man."

Finn flinches and looks down. "It's nothing," he says. "Now leave it alone already."

"Stop it, you're freaking me out. Is this why you've been acting weird for ages; why you said that shit to him, or what happened with Rachel–"

"Shut the fuck up!" Finn screams. Matt's taken aback.

"Fine," he says. "But don't expect me to forget about this. If anything else, Kurt's got to know what he's dating."

He walks out, and Finn groans, burying his head in his hands. Everything's ruined now.

Matt storms into the Glee club, probably looking like Rachel. "Sam hurt Finn," he says. Everyone stares. "And yes, I can talk."

That doesn't make anyone seem any less confused. "Wait, what are you talking about?" asks Artie, speaking for everyone.

Matt sighs and looks at Kurt. "You're going to freak out at me about this; I know it," he says. "Look, we all know Finn's been a crazy bastard around him for awhile, and we put it down as a recurring streak of homophobia, right? Especially how he wound up split from his daughter-of-the-two-gay-dads girlfriend over it as well."

"So?" asks Rachel.

"Look, I just saw... God, I don't know how to put it. But I saw them in the bathroom, and from what I saw... Sam pretty clearly not the good guy there."

"What do you mean?" Kurt asks quietly, and Matt bites his lip.

"Look, I had only got there after a while, but – Sam had pushed him to the floor or something, and Finn was terrified of him, man. And Sam was like, all over him and Finn was all 'don't touch me'. And if you watch any TV, you'll get suspicious 'bout that. Then they were going on about something that happened awhile ago – Sam was talking like he'd done something sort of douchey, but Finn was overreacting, and Finn... he was a mess. He was scared, and angry, and sort of just trying to point out that whatever happened, he had every right to be fucked up about it. So..."

Matt trails off, and stares at Kurt's shell-shocked face. "I don't believe you," Kurt whispers, and Matt groans.

"Dude, I know this sucks, but we need you. Something happened," he says. Kurt looks like he's about to break into tears.

"It makes too much sense," mutters Mr. Schue, making everyone stare at him. "He got distant, moody, withdrawn... and almost constantly terrified. I tried to talk to him, but he brushed me off."

"He didn't want me to touch him," Rachel adds, making everyone stare. "I mean, before we broke up – any physical contact, even hand-holding and kissing and the like, he'd pull away. I was worried, but I thought it was about me somehow... honestly, given how his lashing out always seemed to be about Sam somehow, and combining it all..." she looks back at Kurt uncomfortably. "...Sexual assault of some kind would be my first guess."

Everyone stares at one another, looking faintly sick. How did we not notice this? Kurt looks like his brain is coming to pieces in his head. The uncomfortable silence is broken by the sound of a chair being slammed over.

"Mr. Schue?" asks Santana, calling attention to the fact it was their teacher who just did that (Matt was sort of worried that Finn had overheard their conversation). Schue fumes at the chair for a few more moments before he looks back up at them. "Uh, sorry guys. I just... fuck. I'm a teacher. It's my job to help students, and I couldn't figure out what was going on? For that matter, why didn't I see there was something wrong with Sam in the first place?"

"Mr. Schuester, stop," says Rachel. "I understand you are going to find ways to feel responsible for these events, and how much pain Finn has been in. We all will; I know I sure am right now. But it's not our fault – responsibility for rape lies solely with the rapist, and we need to know that – because, from what I've seen of Finn's reaction, he's going to need us to tell him that."

Everyone shares strange looks. "So... what do we do?" asks Tina, and Rachel sighs.

"First, we wait. We need to talk to Finn first, and I'll just hope he comes here–"

"I wouldn't put money on it; he was pretty pissed when I was trying to ask what was going on."

"Then we'll find another way," says Rachel. "Hopefully, he'll appear, if only for fear of seeming suspicious. Firstly, we need to find out if we are correct in what we believe about the situation – and if so, it would be wrong of us to take any kind of action without knowing what Finn wants."

Everyone nods like this makes a lot of sense. Kurt looks like he's about to cry, but he mutters "Okay."