Prom week at McKinley was a little crazy as far as Finn could tell. Even a lot of the girls who weren't normally crazy acted like they'd had too much Red Bull. Kurt said it was probably the diet pills. Finn was thankful that Mercedes wasn't one of those girls, because he'd been texting her and meeting her between classes every chance he got.
It was Tuesday afternoon when he got a texts from Mercedes, Kurt, and Puck telling him they needed him at the choir room. He wasn't sure he wanted to go in, but he figured he could at least go over and see what the problem was. He'd already warned all of them that he didn't want to be sung to. He got to the door and found Mercedes waiting while Kurt stood facing Rachel, looking as furious as Finn had ever seen him. Artie was gesturing wildly and everyone else was on their feet except for Sam and Brittany who both looked confused, although Finn figured it was probably for different reasons.
He wasn't sure about even going in, but when Mercedes took his hand he took a deep breath and followed her. Suddenly Finn knew why they they were so mad. Rachel was standing at the front of the room and behind her was Jesse St. James, sitting in Brad's chair with his arms crossed and a smug smile.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING HERE?" Finn knew he was yelling, but he didn't really care. It was kind of nice to be pissed off over something different. When they heard his voice the noise in the room cut off immediately and everyone was kind of staring at him. Well, a few people were staring at his hand where it was joined with Mercedes', but Sam gave him a thumbs up so he figured that wasn't their main problem at the moment. He was pretty relieved when Kurt started talking again and everyone was distracted.
"Rachel brought the enemy here two weeks before Nationals because apparently her having a date to prom is more important than the security of our set list," Kurt said, biting off the ends of his words.
"Enemy, Kurt? I'm not the only one in this room to compete for another team, now am I?" Jesse sniped.
Rachel turned around and glared, "Off limits, Jesse. Seriously."
To Finn's shock St. Douche just nodded and leaned back in his chair. Finn turned to Mercedes "Wait? Did he say prom?"
Mercedes shot daggers in Rachel's direction, "Yup, it seems Rachel found herself a date."
"So are we on?" He asked, squeezing her hand.
"Yes, we are. My dress is blue, Kurt can help you find something to match," she said, bumping his shoulder with hers. Yeah, he didn't want screw this up so he'd definitely need help. Especially for the corsage, he didn't think he'd ever seen a blue flower.
"Jesse is no longer a member of Vocal Adrenaline, but he does have experience at Nationals. He wants to help us," Rachel said, turning around to smile at Jesse.
Santana spoke for the group, "Why the fuck would we believe anything he has to say? I know you are desperate Berry, but this is pathetic even for you."
"Hey," Finn said. He wished Santana would stop picking on Rachel. It was then that he realized Jesse had spoken up too. "Watch your mouth, Lopez. You guys would have lost Regionals by a landslide without her," Jesse said.
Rachel beamed at him and Santana gave him an impressed nod and backed up. Finn sighed, and Mercedes spoke, "You still haven't given us one damn reason to believe a word you say."
"Because I know all about Schuester and instead of using it to get my face all over network television I've kept my mouth shut and offered to help," Jesse said and Finn was aware of Mercedes pulling him over to a chair and pushing him into it. She kept her hands on his shoulders and it helped him calm down and probably kept her wrapping them around Rachel's neck.
Sam glared at Rachel, "Rachel, how could you tell someone? You didn't have the right."
"She didn't tell me anything. I figured it out, and for what it's worth I hope he rots in prison," Jesse said, and the tension in the room dropped just a little. "Look," he continued, "I"m not going to pretend that what I did to Rachel doesn't make me an ass, but she's accepted my apology. Let me help. It's not like some of you haven't done shitty things to each other."
Rachel spoke up, "I've done some things this year I'm not proud of, and not just sending Sunshine to that crackhouse."
"Puckerman here knocked up his best friend's girlfriend, and tossed Hummel in the dumpster for years. Quinn cheated on Sam with Finn and that's just the stuff I know about," Jesse said.
Lauren came down the risers then, flexing her fingers like she was limbering up for a fight, "I'd watch who you are mouthing off about twinkle toes."
Finn was tempted, very tempted to let her do what she wanted. It's not like she would face the same consequences one of the guys would. Still, as much as he hated to admit it Jesse kind of had a point. Hell, he even kind of got why Rachel had forgiven him. Those two were a lot alike. He tugged Mercedes hand so that she was sitting next to him and gave her a small smile.
"Guys, maybe we should hear his suggestions for Nationals. We don't have to follow them if we don't like them, but he does know what he's talking about," Finn said. Everyone turned to look at him, and he squirmed a little. He really didn't like being the center of attention anymore. "Come on, St. James let's hear what you've got."
Jesse nodded, "Well, the original song thing worked for Regionals but it won't work for Nationals. The judges are too traditional. You don't have time to learn choreography for an entire new set and with such a small group you are better off highlighting your top talent. You should do the Valerie number from Sectionals, with two small changes. First, add Tina to Mike and Brittany's dance feature and extend it. Second, Santana needs to give her solo on at least one of the verses to Mercedes. The rest of you should do the choreography you already know.
Finn thought that sounded reasonable. Their spark, and he really liked that word, aside he knew Mercedes deserved a solo, and he knew that the dancing had made a big impression on the judges.
"Okay, what else you got?" Santana asked and Finn couldn't really say he was surprised at how easy she had been won over given that both her and Brittany were being featured.
"Well, to open your set you really want to blow the judges away vocally and show the other teams that you are a real threat. I think that Rachel and Kurt should pick a duet. Countertenors are rare and it's a good excuse to show off," Jesse said. Finn figured that sounded okay. Sure, he'd given Rachel a solo but everyone knew how good she was even if they wouldn't admit it. At least this way Kurt got a chance too.
"Well, so far I can't disagree," Kurt said adjusting his bangs.
"That leaves a big group number. Something new that you can learn the choreography for over the two weeks you have left. It has to be serious choreography though, a real showstopper. Something with a guitar solo for Artie?" Jesse finished and as Finn watched him look around the room nobody said a word. Finally Puck spoke, "Well, it seems he has a fucking clue after all. Guess we better get our asses in gear if we want to win this thing."
The approval from someone who didn't get a solo or feature, from Puck no less, seemed to the thing that pushed everyone over the edge. As everyone started brainstorming song selections for the group number Finn squeezed Mercedes shoulder and slipped out the door with a whispered promise to call her later that night.