a/n: Today's update has the courtyard scene which had been in my head for this fic based on the spoiler picture. Now that I've seen the clip I am sure I can't do justice to the beautiful scene, but all of this is extremely AU so here it is.
By the time Finn and Kurt arrived at school the next morning everyone had heard the rumors the hockey players had started. All the glee boys including Finn and Kurt had received texts from Sam that morning to meet and walk in together. At least there was relative safety in numbers. The girls, while out of the line of fire themselves were taking a lot of nasty comments about their boyfriends and best friends but Santana had organized them as well.
If stuff was starting to leak from the Lima PD Finn couldn't help but wonder if everything was going to come out eventually. He'd spent a lot of time thinking about that last night, and while the thought was still terrifying he could imagine himself getting through it. That part was new. He was glad his parents had insisted on the daily counseling, even though sometimes it was really hard to talk about stuff. Dr. McKenna listened to him and a lot of the time the talking helped him put words on what he was feeling. Last night he tried to explain to his family how hard that had always been for him. He figured if he could understand his emotions there would be much less chair throwing and crazy mean outbursts about decorating choices. Everyone would be better off, and he could tell him mom was proud of how grown-up he sounded. That was awesome.
He really did not want any more surprises around what had happened, and that's why he found himself outside Coach Bieste's office during his library study period. At least this way he would have his session with Dr. McKenna this afternoon to help figure out how he felt about whatever she had to tell him. The door was open, so he knocked on the door frame.
"Hudson. Come on in. What can I do for you today?" She pushed the forms that were covering her desk back a bit and motioned for him to sit in the seat across from her.
"You said if I wanted you'd tell me the rest?" He was trying to look her in the eye so she'd know he was serious but his hands kept twisting the strap on his backpack.
He heard her blow out a breath, "Yeah, okay. I take it now is a good time for you?"
It was kind of comforting that she was the same as she'd always been. "Yeah, if you can. I have Dr. McKenna later so you don't have to get into the emotional stuff or anything."
The side of her mouth quirked up a bit like she was trying not to smile, "I can take a crack at that if you need to. I'm not a bad listener, but I think the doc is a better choice. More objective."
"Objective?" He asked, he heard that word a lot. He'd always wondered what it meant, and he knew coach wouldn't make fun of him.
"Separated from what happened. You and me, and your friends, we all have feelings about this. Doc McKenna is able to concentrate on your feelings because she's a pro but also because she doesn't have any personal feelings of her own about Will or what happened to you. It's better that way. Hell, maybe I should pay her a visit."
Finn nodded, that made a lot of sense. "So what happened? Officer Larson said he turned himself in, and that there won't be a trial."
"Finn, while you were in the ambulance you had some kind of flashback or nightmare. You said some things that had me pretty worried," she said, looking sad.
"I thought maybe I did, but nobody said anything when I woke up," he said, hoping she would explain without him having to ask.
"I didn't want to start anything based on what you said when you were drugged up, or even make you talk before you were ready. You have to understand Will Schuester was one of my best friends, but something just felt wrong."
Finn nodded, "I get it, I mean I've thought about that. If someone else had accused him of this; would I have believed it? That's why the club knows, I needed them to believe it."
She looks a little relieved, like she was worried he would hate her for wondering. "I went to see him straight from the hospital. He was pretty messed up, he didn't even want me to come in at first. He didn't have to tell me what he'd done, I knew as soon as I walked in"
"Messed up?" Finn asked.
"You wanted the truth, so here it is: he was drunk and he had a gun. He was ready to kill himself over what he did to you."
A gun. That's what nobody had wanted to tell him. Schue had been so upset about hurting him that he wanted to die. Schue knew what he'd done to Finn, that Finn hadn't wanted him to touch him. In a way he'd always known that was true, but hearing it as a fact was something totally different.
"Did he say why?" His voice was quiet, but he knew coach could hear him.
"He said he didn't have an explanation, and I think he was telling the truth. He said he had been drinking for weeks and that his parents had been drunks too," she said, just as quietly while staring at her hands on the desk.
"So you stopped him?" He asked.
She nodded again, "I told him he owed it to you to admit what he'd done, that making you kids deal with his death on top of everything else was just as unforgivable as what he did to you that night. I made him get dressed and I took him to the police station. I haven't talked to him since, but Coach Sylvester said they would sentence him any day now."
Finn just sat there for a little while, taking everything in. It was a relief to know the whole story. It was a relief somehow to know Schue was messed up because of what he'd done, even if it didn't change anything. He looked up at Coach Bieste, "Coach, we're lucky to have you here. I'm not going, but the glee club needs a faculty advisor to compete at Nationals. Somebody we trust, which doesn't leave many people. Will you do it?"
"You do realize I don't know a thing about music or dancing other than what we did for halftime?" She asked, but her voice was much closer to normal, and Finn thought he had a chance.
"You don't need to. Rachel and Kurt will take care of the singing, and Mike and Brittany will take care of the dancing. Rachel might even find someone with experience for that stuff and Blaine wants to help too. What we need is someone who is a faculty member at McKinley for the official record, please?" He gave her his best puppy dog look, it worked on his mom about half the time.
She smiled a bit and he knew he'd won her over, "Fine," she said, "Get Hummel and Berry in my office to talk about the details before the end of the week."
Finn grinned at her, he was so glad he could do something to help his friends. He still felt guilty abandoning them for Nationals. "Thanks, Coach."
**L**
Finn was relieved when Sam suggested they eat lunch in the courtyard. It was a nice day and a lack of tables meant he didn't have to really decide whether to eat with the football team or the glee club. He and Sam had settled on the bottom step in case Artie wanted to join them. Looking up he could pick out Kurt, Mercedes, and Rachel a few rows up, as well as Brittany and Santana at the very top. It was just as he saw them that he spotted a handful of very familiar blue blazers working their way through the crowd. Finn couldn't help but be a little nervous.
People had pretty much left Kurt alone knowing he was under Sue Sylvester's protection, but a public show by Blaine in the middle of lunch might be too much for the idiots to resist. Just as Finn expected the Warblers began to sing as they came down the the stairs, but instead of Blaine it was Wes who stepped up to the front. Finn was surprised, he had never heard of anyone but Blaine getting a solo with the Warblers, but Wes could really sing. That still didn't explain what exactly was happening. He watched confused as the McKinley students all started to focus on the strangers invading their lunch hour.
When the Dalton boys got to the step a few levels above them he saw Wes walk over and confidently take Rachel by the hand and pull her out of the crowd. When had this happen? He saw Rachel smile and look around, no doubt trying to guess how much of the student body was watching. Wes seemed to be going all out. He had Rachel's hand in his and the other over his heart. A little cheesy, Finn thought, but exactly what Rachel would expect. The McKinley students were staring at Rachel and the whispers had turned into a dull roar. Sam was grinning and shaking his head. "Distraction Plan W, nobody is going to be talking about anything else for the rest of the day, not even Schue."
Wait. This was the big plan? His brother had in a matter of days figured out a way to change the focus of the gossip at least temporarily, give Rachel the attention she craves and a distraction Finn appreciates, and even get to see his own boyfriend during the day. He jumped up from his seat and climbed the few steps to where Kurt was watching Rachel with Blaine and Mercedes.
He pulled Kurt into a quick hug and asked, "So this was the big secret plan?"
Kurt smiled, and Finn was glad to see it was a real smile for once. "So Finn Hudson, was Distraction Plan W sufficiently fabulous?"
"Dude, totally fabulous. I'm just glad you're on my side. So when did that happen?" He asked, motioning toward where Wes and Rachel were talking
"Oh, there's nothing actually happening there. Wes is still dating Alicia, but neither of those two can resist a performance," Kurt explained.
Blaine looked a little nervous, "Maybe we should have warned Wes that she tends to get emotionally attached when singing is involved."
"As long as she doesn't show up tomorrow with a gavel let them talk. I think she mostly wants to make sure it ends up on YouTube for Jesse to see," Kurt said and Finn had to wonder if it hurt to roll your eyes that hard.
"Wait, St. Lame? What does he have to do with anything?" Finn asked, remembering the bits of conversation he'd overheard.
Kurt waved his hand and Finn already knew he wasn't getting an answer before Kurt said, "We'll talk about it later, Blaine and the guys can only stay for another twenty minutes or so."
"Look Kurt, you know I think you guys are great together, but I was a little worried it was going to be Blaine singing to you," Finn said. He was well aware that Kurt knew what problems that might cause, but he wanted to make sure Blaine got it too.
"Oh, the Council has banned me from serenading people in public. It seems they find my song choices inappropriate and my choice in venues lacking. This was only because Kurt needed them, " Blaine said, slipping his arm around Kurt's waist. Kurt was just shaking his head, and Finn knew better than to ask.
They stayed in the courtyard for the rest of the period the Warblers and New Directions members chatting casually. To Finn's surprise nobody said anything mean to the Dalton boys, but then he guessed fifteen guys in matching uniforms might be a little intimidating. Still, he went with Puck and Sam to walk them back to their van thanking them again for helping out. It looked like the rest of the day might go better.