a/n: I hope the double long chapter makes up for my forgetting to update over here. As I've said before, A/U after Original Song

After leaving his friends to decide on the songs to go with Jesse's (hopefully not evil) plan Finn went out to the courtyard and started to work on his math homework. His grades had actually started improving since he didn't have to worry about Spanish and had an extra study hall as well. Even better, he now only had to go see Dr. McKenna twice a week unless he felt like he needed to talk so he got homework done during that period too. He hadn't had a panic attack in while and his friends don't treat him like he's going to break anymore.

He was halfway through the assignment when a shadow fell over his book and he looked up to find Puck staring down at him. Progress aside, Puck looming over you is generally not something you want to have happen so Finn motioned to the step beside him and Puck sat.

"So, you and Aretha?"

"Yeah, she's pretty awesome," Finn said, expecting Puck to mock him for the huge smile that happened whenever he thought about Mercedes lately.

"I know, dude. We kind of had a thing for a week or so remember?" Puck ran a hand through his mohawk.

"Oh, yeah. There couldn't be a Cheerio you didn't hook up with right? Well, one I guess. By the way, if you come near Kurt it is my duty to kill you. Dad will help me hide the body."

"First, no way dude. I've done high maintenance before, but that's more than even I can handle. Anderson's a saint. Second, I'm not like that anymore. Third, and you should really talk about this stuff with her: Aretha and I didn't actually, um, hook up or anything. Just don't tell anyone, I've got to keep the myth of El Puckerone alive," Puck said with a shrug.

"Really?" Finn had kind of hoped that was the case. He totally meant to talk to Mercedes about that stuff, but they weren't anywhere near there yet.

"Really, bro. It was more of a business arrangement than a relationship," Puck said. Finn looked at his former best friend in a way he hadn't in a long time. Puck had been different in the last couple months. Like more mature in ways that Finn was just figuring out how to be himself and he didn't think that happened on it's own. Not at their age.

"Noah?" and Finn was pretty sure he hadn't actually used Puck's first name since about the fifth grade when Puck's dad left and he shaved his head, "Did something happen while you were in Juvie?"

Puck let out a long breath, but shook his head. "Not like that. I mean, you spend almost all your time in fake school or locked in your room. I did get beat up though, it was scary as hell. Look, I get that we never really talked about real stuff, but we could. I mean if you want to. Being creeped on sucks ," Puck said.

Finn couldn't help but stare at the other boy. Was somebody bothering him, or hurting him? Puck didn't have people in his life the same way Finn did, especially after last year. "What? Did Mr. Schue..?" He had no idea how to finish that question really, "Noah, what do you mean?"

"Forget it."

"No, not "forget it". You wouldn't have said it like that if you weren't for real," Finn said.

"Let's just say I'm glad that Rachel got Ryerson fired when she did. It was getting harder to avoid him. Just, he said some shit." Puck said.

"Shit, dude. That's messed up. Did you tell anyone?" Finn figured he already knew the answer.

"No. It was seriously right before she got rid of him. You see that doctor lady they brought in right?"

"Dr. McKenna? Yeah, it helps a lot. It's weird because it's not just helping with that stuff." Finn wasn't sure he could explain that he was starting to understand his feelings. That wasn't even it, exactly. That's just the closest thing he can figure out.

Puck nodded, "They made talk to this guy in Juvie. He was okay. We talked about a lot of stuff; my dad, Beth, the pool cleaning stuff."

"You don't do that anymore do you?" Finn asked. He'd never really thought about it until recently, but it kind of bothered him.

"No way. I mean, I actually clean pools, but not the other stuff. I don't want to be that guy anymore. It's like, I can do better than that," Puck said.

"Like I don't want to just go with whatever is easiest? Pushing people around, or letting girls push me around. Doing whatever to be popular so nobody will mess with me. It kind of feels like a waste of time."

"Maybe we're both growing up," Puck said, pushing himself up and offering a hand to Finn. The others would be out of practice soon.

"It's about time. You should come for dinner sometime, I think mom's forgiven you by now." Finn said, taking the hand and pulling himself up. He gave Puck a one armed hug before heading to the parking lot to find Kurt and his ride home.

The next day Finn found himself at the Lima Bean after school with Kurt, Mercedes, and Sam. They were having a good time, just talking about everyday stuff. It was nice, being with people he trusted completely. Sam was talking about the summer internship he had applied for at Fox Sports Ohio. When Sam was done Mercedes turned to him, "So what do you want to do after high school?"

Finn didn't know what to say. He'd been thinking for a while that he might want to be a teacher but that had been mostly because of Mr. Schue. He wasn't so sure now, he didn't know if he could split the two things in his brain enough. He wasn't sure whether Kurt could tell he'd frozen or he just saw the opportunity because he cut in with "You'll have to excuse Finn, he's not used to women who allow him to have his own opinions."

The resulting laugh from everyone at the table bought him enough time to get his shit together. "I don't know, " he said, "something where I don't sit at a desk all day. If I could do something to help people that would be cool too."

Mercedes nodded, "That's cool, I think I'm going to major in business actually. No scheming manager is going to steal my money when I'm a star."

"That's awesome," Finn said, "You could make sure nobody rips off Kurt's fashion stuff with cheap knock-offs too."

It totally made sense, nobody would want to mess with Mercedes. The fact that both she and Kurt were both beaming at him made him feel a lot better than he did a few minutes ago. It wasn't long after that that Mercedes looked at her phone, "Oh, I promised mom I'd be home for dinner tonight. TJ is home from college for the summer and she wants everyone together."

"I'll walk you out," Finn said quickly and jumped up leaving Kurt and Sam at the table. He took Mercedes hand and walked out to the parking lot and pulled her around the other side of the car so their friends can't watch through the window.

"Hey prom date," he said with a smile, "I'll pick you up at six?"

"Six is good. I should warn you my brother might want to give you the "you hurt her, I kill you" speech," Mercedes warned him.

"I can't complain. I was going to do it to Blaine, but Kurt caught me practicing in front of the mirror with Burt's tire iron and told mom."

Whoa, she was pretty when she laughed. Even when she was laughing at him. "So, prom is Saturday. I was kind of hoping maybe you and I can do something on Sunday? Just the two of us?"

"I'd like that. I've got church in the morning, but I should be free by two or so," Mercedes said.

"Do you like bowling? I mean, we can do something else, but with movies we don't really get to talk and.." He stopped his rambling when she put a hand on his shoulder.

"Bowling is great Finn, but I'm warning you that I'm pretty good," she teased.

The wind had been blowing pretty hard since they left the coffee shop and her hair was whipping around in front of her face. Finn reached out and smoothed it back, leaving his hand cupping the back of her head, "It's a date," he said, "We'll see if you've got skills."

She smiled and he tipped her head up a little bit before placing a kiss on her forehead, "I don't want to make you late for dinner, I'll talk to you soon."

"Dinner will be over by eight. Find me on Facebook chat after that, handsome," she said and pecked him on the cheek before climbing into her car.

He watched her leave before heading back to the table with Sam and Kurt, another silly smile on his face.

Shannon didn't trust the little twerp. When she'd agreed to help the glee club go to Nationals she figured there would be some ego wrangling involved. Still, a team was a team and she knew how to get the best out of the people she coached. She didn't expect most of the ego to come from the college kid they had agreed to let help with the music stuff. She was tempted to call a friend at Carmel and check the kid's records. She suspected he had been using a stage name since puberty, "Jesse St. James" damn sure sounded made up.

After the first practice Jones had taken her, Evans, and Zizes aside and explained what the little schemer had pulled on the Berry girl last year. Despite all that they had decided to accept his help preparing for Nationals. It's crap like this that makes her think being terminally single is the only option for a woman with actual self-respect. Still, she didn't know anything about the music stuff and he did. She told herself her dislike for the little jackass was all about him, which it mostly was, and he didn't in any way remind her of Will.

She'd been late to his first meeting and missed the fireworks, damn prima donna track stars and their locker room tantrums. Still, as much as she hated to admit it the kid's plan sounded good to her. At least more of the team than Berry and Hudson were getting solos. Not that Hudson was singing. She wasn't going to push, and she hoped the kids weren't either. She'd thought about putting the fear of God in them, but until she was aware of a problem she'd cool her heels. Given the way Hudson had been looking Jones lately he might be ready to put it out there sooner than she thought. Good for him. Still, nobody messes with her players no matter what team it is. St. James better watch his step.

Finn spent the hour before the prom getting ready in Kurt's room. He knew that Kurt had started several hours before, but seriously, how long could it possibly take him to put on a tux. While Finn was fixing his jacket Kurt stood at the vanity trying to force a few strands of hair into place.

"Thank you for helping me with the flower thing, and letting us ride with you," Finn said. He was really looking forward to prom, much more than he had been before. It was a lot more fun to go to prom without all the pressure. Breaking up with Quinn meant that he probably wasn't going to be Prom King and he really didn't care. He didn't have to worry about looking perfect or working the crowd, he just had to make sure that Mercedes had a good time. Quinn made him pass out pens with their names on them.

"No problem, I have to look after my best girl," Kurt said.

"You are okay with this, right? I don't want it to be weird because of last year and who liked who or whatever. I mean I know we're all past that but you know what I mean," Finn said.

Kurt waved his hand like he was shooing a fly away, "It's all ancient history. You two make sense. I never would have seen it before, but you are kind of the normal ones out of all of us."

Finn laughed, he was barely starting to feel normal again, but he knew what Kurt meant. "Hey, Sam's pretty normal!"

"If you don't count the Navi and the bad impressions. Somehow he ended up taking Brittany to Prom though," Kurt said, "she's pretty close to that perfect record."

Finn chose not to think about his "date" with Santana and Brittany. He wasn't sure if being used

for a free meal was better or worse than what Quinn did.

"So are you and Blaine excited about prom?" Finn asked, trying to change the subject. He was surprised when Kurt only gave him a sad smile.

"Blaine has been trying to play it down, but I know he's scared. The last time he went to a dance he and his date got beat up," Kurt said.

"Dude that's so fucked up. Blaine is so tiny! Look, you guys are going with us and we're meeting up with everyone else when we get there. Just stay close to Sam and I and we'll make sure nobody messes with you. " Finn said.

Kurt nodded, "Thanks, that will make Blaine feel better. It means a lot to him that you guys include him."

"Well, somehow surviving a duet and a date with Rachel makes you an honorary member of New Directions. That's just how it goes," Finn teased. He laughed until Kurt punched him in the arm. "That actually hurt, bro! You are going to have to stop that stuff now that you are actually taller than some of the girls!"

Kurt rolled his eyes, but Finn could tell he was happy that someone actually noticed that he was taller and stronger, "Speaking of honorary members of New Directions, and surviving Rachel; If you and Sam keep an eye on the neanderthals I'll keep an eye on Jesse. Just because he gave me a duet for Nationals doesn't mean I trust him not to hurt Rachel."

Finn nodded, he knew a verbal smackdown from Kurt was their best chance at dealing with St. Lame. Before they could say anything else Carole's voice came from downstairs to tell them that Blaine was here to pick Kurt up. They'd go to Mercedes house to pick her up next and Dr. Jones would make sure everyone was emailed the pictures.

Finn tried not be nervous while his parents arranged them for picture after picture. He smiled through poses with his mom, both his parents, with Kurt, and by himself. He knew that was only the start of what would be a long night of poses and smiles. When they were finally done he hopped in the back of the Navigator and Kurt took the wheel. They only had to backtrack a block when he realized he'd left Mercedes' corsage in the fridge.

Finn went up to the Jones' door and knocked, trying to resist the urge stuff his hands in his pockets. Kurt had already told him that would ruin the line of the suit or something like that. He didn't want to look like a slob in front of her family. He could still remember the way Quinn's parents looked at him, and that was before they knew she was pregnant.

Instead of Dr. or Mrs. Jones a guy a few years older than Finn answered the door. Finn swallowed, this must be the older brother. "Um, hello. My name is Finn Hudson," Finn said, and damn, that probably shouldn't sound like a question, "I'm here to take Mercedes to prom." That was better.

The older guy narrowed his eyes, "I'm TJ, the older brother. We were going to have a long chat about you respecting Mercedes, but she tells me that Kurt approves so I'm going to keep it short. If you disrespect my little sister in any way I will kick your ass. Are we clear?"

Finn nodded quickly, "Very clear. Don't worry, I really like her and I think she could kick my ass herself."

"You might be okay, Hudson," TJ said. Finn started to relax just a little when TJ said "Come into the living room." Then TJ put his hands on Finn's shoulders and started to push him in the right direction. Before he even knew what he was doing Finn was twisting out of the other man's grip and flattening himself against the opposite wall. Oh, shit. That was not normal prom date behavior. TJ was kind of staring at him, his hands still in mid-air. Thankfully, that was when Kurt decided to make his entrance.

"TJ? You aren't being too hard on him are you?" Kurt's voice rang out form the door way and Finn could hear the heave boots he was wearing coming down the hall.

"I didn't do anything!" TJ said, confused.

Kurt took one look at Finn and said, "It's fine TJ. Can you go tell Mercedes to hurry up. I need a minute with my brother."

When the young man nodded and headed upstairs Kurt faced Finn. "What happened, are you okay?"

"Nothing happened. He put his hands on my shoulders to go into the living room. It was too much and I jumped away. He probably thinks I'm crazy," Finn said, embarrassed.

Kurt shook his head, "Don't worry about it. TJ is all talk. He doesn't get to pick her dates, and Mercedes would understand why you did it. Are you ready for your date's grand entrance?"

Finn took a deep breath, "Yeah, let's go in there. I even remembered to bring the flower in from the car."

They went into the living room to find Blaine waiting with Mercedes family. Mercedes' voice called from upstairs, "Y'all ready for this?"

"You've kept him waiting long enough, sweetheart," Dr. Jones called in response and Mercedes started down the stairs. Finn thought his mouth might be hanging open. Mercedes looked amazing. Her dress was blue, or at least the top was. The skirt was kind of puffy and it looked mostly blue but it shined purple in places when she walked. Her hair was up and she was wearing a necklace with shiny blue and purple beads.

When she got the the bottom of the stairs he smiled, "You look beautiful. Are you sure you want to be seen with me?'

"You clean up pretty good, I think I'll give you a shot, " she teased, straightening the skinny tie Kurt had chosen for him.

"Lucky me. These are for you," he said, holding up her flowers.

"Pin it on?" She asked and looked he looked at her questioningly. Finn wasn't sure that was such a good idea.

"Oh for heaven's sake! Get a picture with him pretending and I'll put it on for you. The last thing we need is a trip to the ER for a puncture wound," Kurt said as Blaine tried not to laugh. Finn nodded in relief and they did exactly that before taking another couple dozen pictures. Finally they headed out.

After an uneventful dinner at Breadstix they handed their Prom tickets over to Madame Barens the French teacher and went inside. Finn knew that Kurt was one of her favorite students, and knowing his parents it probably wasn't a coincidence that she, Coach Bieste, and Sue Sylvester where chaperoning the prom.

Once inside they quickly met up with Sam, Brittany, Mike and Tina. They all took time to admire each other's outfits and Finn relaxed a bit when he saw how much Mercedes was smiling. She pulled away after a little bit to stand next to Finn, "It looks like Sam and Blaine have found some stuff to talk about. Maybe Kurt and Blaine will relax now that you guys are around."

"I promised Kurt I'd have their back, and I meant it. Would you like to dance? We'll stay in this part of the gym," Finn said, noticing that the DJ had started playing something slow. He was better at the slow dances anyway.

"I'd love to," she said, taking his and and pulling him over the closest edge of the dance floor. He just smiled an pulled her closer.