I do not own Glee.
Rachel smoothed her skirt as she waited impatiently for Glee to begin. She was having a bad day and she could not wait to go home. She hadn't thought Glee could be any lower on the totem pole, but then the school had decided Glee Club was responsible for ruining their chances for a state football championship. It had been a full day of taunting and jeers, and now Puck was determined to ruin her life even further. She had no idea why he thought singing this song was a good idea. She could have thought of a hundred different songs, ones that would surely be better suited for their situation. But she figured just the fact that she was up there with Puck was bad enough. She might as well just sing it and move on.
Finn and Sam slipped in just before Mr. Schue called the practice to order. She couldn't figure out where she stood with Finn. He'd asked her to leave him alone, and she had. It'd been really really hard not to text him after that New Year's kiss, but she just didn't know what any of it meant. He'd kissed her cheek and he hadn't texted her either, so maybe he'd meant good bye? She'd been analyzing things for 5 days now and she wasn't any clearer to knowing where she stood. What she did know was that she missed him desperately. And she understood the longing in this song Puck had chosen for her. This song that was sure to cause her nothing but trouble. Then Mercedes poked her in the arm because Mr. Schue and Puck were waiting for her to join them upfront for the song.
Puck slid on his guitar and looked up, straight into Rachel's eyes. "Damn, look away!" he thought. And then he realized that she really didn't understand that he was trying to help her. "Don't look at me, Rachel." He hissed. "Look at him!" And he turned her to face Finn. He started playing before she could argue anymore.
Picture perfect memories scattered all around the floor
Reachin' for the phone 'cause I can't fight it anymore
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time
Rachel looked straight into Finn's eyes as she sang. She hadn't realized that Puck had meant for her to sing this to Finn. Now that she knew, she realized this song was perfect, and since she hadn't picked it, she decided it wouldn't count as bothering Finn. Or at the very least, he'd be less mad if she sang it to him, than if she sang it to Puck. She poured every single ounce of longing she had for him into the song.
It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now
Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now
Finn had been dreading this moment all day. He thought a duet between Puck and Rachel would be the perfect topping to a craptastic day. He'd almost skipped Glee, but he and Sam had convinced Coach Beiste to let the football team play, if they showed up to one Glee practice before game day. He couldn't expect them to come if he wouldn't. He'd seen Puck turn Rachel to face his direction and the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach got worse. This was going to be bad. But he can't resist her voice, it wraps around his brain and makes him feel like he's coming home. He's pretty sure she could sing the alphabet and make him cry if that was her goal.
Another shot of whiskey can't stop looking at the door
Wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time
It's a quarter after one, I'm a little drunk and I need you now
Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now
Finn knows exactly what she's talking about. He knows exactly how many times he's had his phone in his hand texting her before he remembers he can't. He can't even count the number of times he's almost called her but stopped or reached out for her when she wasn't there. He gets lost in the sound of her voice, in the pain in her eyes. He wants to get up and touch her. But he just can't. She's so close, but she's so far.
Guess I'd rather hurt than feel nothin' at all
It's a quarter after one I'm all alone and I need you now
And I said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now
She finishes the song and she's almost in tears. Finn wants to go to her and tell her they'll make it all ok. But she runs out of the room. He starts to follow her when he hears Santana's mouth from the back of the room. She's saying something about Rachel and how sick she is of her crying about her crappy life. It doesn't matter, he doesn't need to hear the exact words. He just knows it's enough.
"Santana, you just need to shut up." Wow, that felt good. "You've done enough. You're always kicking people when they are down and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of all of you. We're supposed to be a team. We need to stick together instead of knocking each other down. Rachel is off limits. You can not pick on her anymore. And if you can't deal with that, then you don't need to come to Glee." He makes sure they can all see how serious he is, before he walks out the door, he needs to find her. But she's already gone, and he's too angry now to have a conversation, so he goes home to kill things on his Xbox and crash.
*Glee*
Rachel reaches for her phone as soon as her alarm goes off in the morning. She needs to make sure she wasn't hallucinating last night. But no, there it is, a text from Finn at 1:15 in the morning. "i miss u". She smiles to herself. It's going to be a good day.
Except it isn't. She gets slushied almost as soon as she gets to school. She's late for first period, and her teacher makes her come in on her lunch for detention, because it's the fifth time she's been late for first period this year. She thinks she'd probably be in less trouble if she explained about the slushies, but she's tired of being that girl and she doesn't want to be on their radar anymore than she already is. She doesn't get to see Finn until their fifth period Spanish class. He sits near her, but it's a test day and she can't do much more than stare at the back of his head for the whole class. He walks out with her though and they don't say anything until they are almost to her locker.
"So, I meant it last night. I really miss you. And I know we need to figure a lot of stuff out. But we can be friends again, right?" He looks down at her hopefully, and her smile is really all the answer he needs.
*Glee*
It's the last Glee meeting before the big game. They've worked out their halftime mash up. No more football players have shown up for practice, they don't really think Coach Beiste will lose the game just because of the stupid Glee Club. Finn really hopes they are right, because as Sam has told him for the nine millionth time this week, they HAVE to have eleven players to even compete. And Sam needs this game if he's going to become quarterback and keep Quinn. Finn doesn't understand this train of thought, because being quarterback clearly didn't help him to hold on to Quinn. But whatever, he has his own girl issues to deal with and he could really care less about Sam's drama. He's sure that Coach will figure out some way for the team to qualify. She's not going to lose her job over Glee, right?
He's been trying to catch Rachel's eye all of practice. They have been talking in their classes and sitting with the Glee Club together at lunch. But they've been avoiding all the topics that got them to this point and he really wants to walk her out to her car and maybe get her to go out to dinner with him. It's the last day he doesn't have practice for the game. He doesn't get his wish though, because Lauren Zizes says Rachel has to stay for a top secret meeting after Glee and he's not invited.
Lauren looks at Mercedes, Tina, and Rachel. She knows what she's about to say is crazy, but if it works, they'll be the heroes of the school.
"Ok, girls, Glee Club is taking the blame for the football team losing the big game. But if it all goes down the way I see it, Glee Club is going to save the day. I have a plan..."
A/N: Song is "I Need You Know" by Lady Antebellum