Chapter 10

Present day

Once her mother made sure that she didn't ditch the dress she'd bought for this occasion, she left her to gather herself for a few moments. She sighed in the mirror, straightening out her eyeglasses. The set of pearls around her neck were an inch away from choking her.

Today, Rachel and Finn would be taking pre-office pictures to hang in the town hall. At least, that's what she thought she heard her mother tell her last night at dinner. If she was honest, she wasn't even paying attention. The image of James' hands riding up Shelby's leg all night mixed with the ever-lingering presence of Finn in her home kept her perfectly distracted.

Finn. Her heart ached from the moment she woke up this morning. Last night's events couldn't seem to leave her head. The thing she hated the most, she felt like it was all her fault. She felt that if she had accepted his apology and let him in again, they wouldn't be like this now.

They wouldn't and she knew that. She would have told him everything was okay and they would've gone back to normal. It'd be another game of pretend like last time. All they ever did before was dance around the hard parts. She wouldn't be that same girl again. So, she knew she did the right thing last night. It didn't matter if she'd hurt his feelings, it didn't matter if her own were shattered on the floor. She stood up for herself last night. And, she was proud of that. She was proud of her strength.

With the knock on her door, she shot up from her vanity set. Shelby poked her head in the door. "Rachel, what are you doing? We should've left ten minutes ago. James is waiting with the car."

"Yeah, I'm coming. I just need to grab my purse." She assured her mom. The woman rolled her eyes, nodded her head, and shut the door behind her.

"Bitch," Rachel spat under her breath. Ever since Shelby brought James back into their home on Saturday evening, they'd been having problems. A little bickering and bantering happened Sunday night at dinner and before noon came yesterday, Rachel had basically told Shelby where she could shove it.

Shelby brushed her off, as usual. Nothing more came her way than an occasional scolding here and there. Now, with the pictures that had to be taken this afternoon for the town hall, she was acting as if nothing happened. Sometimes Rachel wished she could act that way. Maybe she could if she was as heartless as Shelby. But, that was the thing. Rachel actually had one.

Shaking her head clear of all previous thoughts, she headed to her closet. Reaching for the highest shelf, she pulled down the giant white box. Opening it, she sighed to herself.

She'd put the contents together a couple of weeks before. A scrapbook of their friendship so far with a few blank pages to add to later, mixed with a couple of his favorite things like chocolate and peanuts, and a few hints at their inside jokes sat within the box in her arms. With all the confidence in the world, she figured she'd hand it to him on his birthday.

Now, it held no use to them and she didn't feel the want for a weight heavy on her chest every time she came across it. Closing the cover over it, she headed downstairs and into the backseat of the new Porsche James bought for her mother.

She knew she should be listening to the conversation they were having in the front seat, as it included the necessity for her opinion on today. But instead, the window swept her attention away. Her mind swept her away. All she could think about was Saturday night.

Saturday Night

"Hello," she said, looking up at him. The smile plastered on her face couldn't be wiped. She was too busy taking in him in his long and dark tux. He looked dreamy. She felt like Cinderella once she took in the view of him, patiently waiting for her approach. She only died a little more when his famous half smile turned into an ear to ear grin.

"You look really beautiful, Rachel," his dark and stern voice echoed through the small room. Any lingering tension was wiped away at this point. All eyes were placed on the two.

"Thank you," she knew her cheeks were flushed. She became nervous. He was making her nervous with the way he was looking at her now. It was like before in the library, but this time his expression had a difference in it. She pointed forward trying to gather the right words to say. Nothing was coming to her mind. "You- you look," she stumbled over her words.

"Very handsome, Finn!" her mom exclaimed, finishing the sentence for her. She nervously chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah," she whispered.

They gazed over each other for a few more moments, before Finn's face lit up in remembrance of something. Reaching into his tux, he pulled out a clear box.

"I bought you a corsage." He said, opening the box and pulling it out. "I don't really know anything about flowers, but I thought the yellow would match your dress."

She smiled as she watched him lift her arm. Wrapping the yellow rose corsage around her wrist, her heart fluttered.

She knew they were just friends and she shouldn't be feeling this way, but in the present, with the way he looked at her, how else could she feel?

"You ready?" he asked after a few minutes of admiring her now-dressed wrist.

"Yeah, let's go," she smiled. Holding his arm out for her, she grabbed and wrapped hers around it. Before they could head out the door, however, they were stopped. The grownups finally made their voices known again.

"Wait, you guys are forgetting the fact that prom is an hour or two from now, and the reporters are on their way to the house. And did you honestly think we'd let you leave without pictures?" Shelby asked, grabbing her camera from the hallway mirror stand.

Rachel huffed in annoyance while Finn smiled with sympathy. Shelby decided the perfect place would be the front porch. There was a tree behind it and according to her, it provided the perfect setting and lighting for her camera.

Reaching up, Rachel rested one hand on Finn's shoulder and the corsage-containing one over his chest. Prom pictures, she thought. She was posing for her first and final prom pictures; a major milestone in her life. Adding to things, she had a male date next to her.

With this running through her thought process, she knew the little freshman version of herself, who wanted nothing more than this, would stand here today and slap her hard across the face for feeling the way she did now. As determined as she was feeling a while ago before James came back, all she wanted now was for everything to be over. So, flashing her braced-up teeth in her mother's direction for the camera, she cringed when the reporters and newspaper editors made their way to them.

Most of it was pointless crap that Rachel had no idea why they didn't wait a few years to ask her. "Have you started looking at dresses yet, Rachel?" "We couldn't help but notice there's no ring yet. Are you looking at rings yet, Finn?" The other half of it made the both of them feel awkward to no end. "Is there any talk of children yet? Do you know how many the two of you want to have?" To cover for Finn's awkward stuttering and constant "I don't knows", Rachel smiled her brightest and tried to answer as politely and accurately as she possibly could.

However, it was the last question that really abducted her thoughts. Holding the recorder up to Rachel's mouth, the man in his near- fifties asked, "Ms. Berry, from the looks of things, you seem to be fairly smitten with Mr. Hudson. Is there anything you would like to share to the audience about your views on love and maybe help them get to where you are now?"

She was taken off-guard. Just knowing her cheeks were starting to flush humiliated her. She decided that she wouldn't look to Finn. She didn't want to risk being even more obvious than she didn't know she was being before. Hell, even the damn reporter became suspicious. She wondered now how long it would be before Finn did as well. He remained silent all the while. The only thing she felt from him was the side of her face, where his eyes were nearly burning a hole through.

"Love," she repeated, not really knowing much on the subject. The only time it'd been introduced to her was while she watched her parents move around the house. After her father had gone, it'd left with him. The years following showed her nothing but lust.

"I think that there's a person for everyone in the world. You go through a few wrongs to get to that person, but at the end you always end up with them. So, in order to fall in love, you just have to find your person."

By the time they were finished interviewing and taking all the necessary pictures, the two couldn't have been more relieved. Holding up her dress, she allowed Finn to slowly help her into the limo that was ordered for the two of them. Extreme, she knew it was. She just didn't know if they all realized it as well.

After the car was set into motion, Finn smirked and reached forward. "What?" she laughed when he looked to her.

Reaching into the cooler, he pulled out a bottle of champagne and two matching glasses. She smiled, and then tensed up as her self-conscious screamed at her. Her sense of wrong and right were coming into play. Finn noticed this. Rolling his eyes, he popped open the bottle in a direction facing the opposite of the both of them, and poured each a glass to the half-way mark.

"Relax, Goldie Locks, your mother said it was okay," he made fun. "But, were you really going to refuse if she didn't?" he pushed.

Taking a glass from his hand, she raised it up and toasted, steering his mind away from the previous question; "To tonight, even if all hell breaks loose and I end up regretting everything in the morning."

"To staying positive although anticipating a negative outcome, as you usually do," he smiled and raised his glass to hers. When the two objects clinked, he whispered to her, "That's my girl."

She stopped and watched him move to slowly sip at the bubbling liquid. It took her a minute to process what'd just come out of his mouth. She knew that he meant it in a friendly tone of voice, but still, it shocked her. Completely ignoring the insult thrown her way before those three words, the younger, Finn-smitten version of her screamed on the inside…

"Are you going to leave me hanging or what?" he asked after noticing she hadn't sipped yet. Looking down at the glass, she tilted the bottom up. Cringing at the bitter taste of the alcohol, she gulped the amount down in one mouthful.

"Easy there," Finn warned, chuckling to himself. "I want to dance with you, not carry you around all night."

"Oh no, I don't think you have to worry about me," she laughed in response. "My mom has already talked to me and I am well-aware that I have to stay away from the punch bowl." They both laughed for a few minutes before the silence found them.

"What was going on before I walked in tonight?" he blurted out.

"What do you mean?" she asked, taken off-guard.

"I don't know; it's just that James was there and the air seemed tense." He began as she turned her face to the window. She was hoping he wouldn't bring it up. She was just beginning to forget about it. "Wasn't James out of your lives for good? I thought you said he cheated on your mom."

"Yeah, well, misery loves company. She took him back with open arms." She explained.

"But what about everything he's done to her?" Finn asked, remembering the discussion they had before. Rachel's revelation that James had cheated on her mother was a cover-up story she'd produced so Finn wouldn't start asking questions as to why he was suddenly out of their lives. It helped that it wasn't exactly a false revelation. She knew for a fact that James had been with other women while he was seeing her mom. She just couldn't find it in herself to tell him that he'd hit her and that's why everything was the way it was. She could only imagine the things Finn would do then, and she'd try everything to avoid it.

"Finn, if you buy Shelby a few bottles of wine, chocolate, and a copious amount of flowers, not only do you have mind-erasing abilities; you get a placemat at the dinner table and you get to stay cooped up in her bed for at least a week. As for James, her grudges are never kept when it comes to him." She laughed thinking of what she wanted to say. "When he cheated the first time, she remained angrier at me for eating a slice of chocolate cake."

"That's not funny, Rachel. You deserve better than that." He replied, looking at her with the sympathetic eyes she hated getting.

"Well, if control was in my reach, do you really think I'd be sitting here telling you about everything?" her gaze found the window again. She hadn't had the time to think of these things earlier. Everything came flying at her, she'd yet to realize that the person who caused her so much harm was being brought back into her life; her say being nothing more than child's play.

"Hey," he placed his hand on her arm and tugged at it. "I didn't mean to upset you, Rachel." He whispered.

"You didn't," she whispered, still looking out the window.

"Look at me," he begged. When his hand found its way to her chin, he slowly turned it in his direction. When their eyes met, he found her out. "Come here," he instructed. When his arm pulled her close into his side, he placed a gentle kiss to the top of her head.

"You won't have to deal with it much longer. Once I'm mayor, if you don't want them in our lives, they won't be in our lives."

What? She thought before freezing in her position. Did he really just say that? Did he really just say our lives? She wanted nothing more than to enlighten him of the choice she'd already made on her behalf. They'd part ways after her high school graduation. She'd already negotiated that decision when filling out her applications. The only other thing she'd be sharing her life with was New York City.

Her heart only sped up with the guilt beginning to creep its way into every bone in her body. She had no idea he had all these plans for them. The last she'd heard, he wanted to become a professional football player. She wanted him to follow his dreams. The mere thought of crushing him in the wake of her escape broke her heart a little while leaning against him in the backseat of that limo.

That's when it hit her. Maybe if she could just sit up right now and tell him about everything she was planning, she'd save him from staying back and looking like an idiot as she abandoned him. Maybe she could encourage him to escape as well and to follow his own dreams. Maybe she could save herself from all the guilt that was coursing through her veins.

But, then she thought of the possibility that he'd become outraged at her betrayal if he found out what she was planning to do. She thought of the chance that he'd retaliate and tell her mother and then she'd just be stuck. She had worked too hard for that. From the moment she started filling out those applications with her fake alias, she knew that any chance of her mother finding out had to be eliminated. So, she completely pushed the thought back and reveled in her looming guilt.

"Thank you," she could barely find the will power to lie to him. But she had to, for the security of her own future.

"What are friends for?" he replied, causing her to strain even more. Out of all the words in the English vocabulary, he had to choose those four words.

Once he pulled her closer into a friendly hug, she sighed with relief when he finally released her. Looking out the window, she spotted the stadium lights shining behind the small school. Quickly finding her excuse to escape the topic, she pointed and said, "We're finally here."

Getting out, Finn held out his hand and provided support for Rachel until she balanced herself on the tall heels. It was funny to her. For any other circumstance, Rachel's height would amount to just below Finn's shoulder; maybe even a little lower. But now, her head was well above his shoulder and she loved it. She felt like she could see the world from where she stood.

"Well, if I knew that Mr. and Mrs. Hudson were traveling luxuriously I would've hitched a ride." Santana greeted them about halfway into the school. "Although, I doubt there would've been much room for me, considering how long Jack the Giant's legs probably stretched out across the floor."

"Santana," Rachel scolded. Finn only shrugged his shoulders and laughed at her insult.

"It's nice to see you too, Dora." He retaliated causing the both of them to giggle.

"Wow, I'm impressed. Frankenteen is finally discovering that he has a sense of humor." She told him.

"If I do recall correctly to middle school, I think I'm the one who invented the insult game." He reminded her.

"Are you guys really bragging over who's the bigger bully?" Rachel crossed her arms as they waited in line to hand in their tickets.

"I think I called you Saggy Santana," Finn tried to recall as he ignored Rachel.

"Hey," she exclaimed. "It was just a malfunction in my puberty era Hudson. It's not my fault that I had huge boobs. Bet you wouldn't complain now," she winked at him, picking up her covered boobs in her long red dress, revealing a little more cleavage than Rachel nor Finn wanted to see.

"What?" she asked as he stared at her in disgust. "Cat got your balls, Finnessa?"

"Okay, we're next in line," Rachel rolled her eyes grabbing Finn's arm. When they handed the staff their tickets, they headed to the gym. It was more crowded than she expected. With Santana shortly behind them, they walked into the loud music slowly, taking in scene after scene. Rachel cringed internally when irony caught up to her. The theme of this year's prom was "A Night in New York City".

"Let's dance," Finn encouraged.

"But it's not a slow song," Rachel told him.

"And?" he asked with an ear-to-ear grin and an outstretched arm. "Rachel, it's your last prom."

She looked to Santana, who, despite all the words exchanged between the two, was smiling in their direction. "Go for it," Rachel read from her lips.

"Okay," she smiled, taking his hand.

Santana yelled over the music, "I'll catch up with you guys later. Quinn's somewhere in here. I'm going find her."

After a few songs with fast tempos, a slow song finally played through the air. Wrapping her arms around Finn's shoulders, she rested her head against his shoulder and swayed to the song by Birdy.

About halfway through the song, Finn pulled away and looked down at her. "I need to tell you something when we get back into the limo tonight."

"Just tell me now." She told him.

"It's too crowded in here, and it needs to wait." He replied.

"Okay," she said, returning to their position. After about another ten songs of dancing and talking, they were exhausted. Sitting down at an empty table, Finn returned with two cups of clear liquid. She looked to him with concern.

"Relax, it's just water." He laughed, handing her the cup and sitting next to her to finish his own. After a few minutes of sitting and easily conversing about unimportant things, Anna Ternheim's My Heart Still Beats For You began playing through the speakers.

"Oh, I love this song." Rachel jumped up.

"Then, let's dance." Finn smiled, pulling her to the center of the dance floor.

"I don't think I told you that I really appreciate you taking me here, Finn." She told him, swallowing her pride; with which she would have never said anything at all. "I'll admit, I'm glad I came." She admitted, playfully rolling her eyes.

"You see!" he exclaimed. "I told you that you'd enjoy it. But you were all mopey and Edward-Cullen-pre-Bella-like," he laughed.

"Did you really just compare me to a vampire?" Rachel asked in amusement.

"I'd call you sad Sally, but I'm pretty sure that Sam has dibs over that one," he explained.

"Yeah," Rachel laughed. "Let's just dance to the damn song, Hudson."

"Okay, Berry." He laughed, pulling her back into their dancing position. Like all the other slow songs before, they remained at a slow and steady pace. The music easily flowed through them and Rachel found herself lost in the words. That was, until the song ended and Finn suddenly tensed up against her.

Pulling away, she looked up to see that he was staring straight ahead with a blank expression. Confused, she followed his gaze. A few tables away from where they were standing sat Sugar, on Puck's lap.

Rachel chuckled nonchalantly at the sight. The girl was wearing a scantily clad black dress. It was almost to the point to where she was naked. The amount of PDA showing from the two of them made matters worse. Rachel wanted to vomit just by the sight. She had no idea what Finn had ever seen in the girl in the first place.

Thinking that this was something they could just pass on and return to their previous actions, Rachel watched Finn's facial features redden up. Before long, she'd viewed the same face she saw that night at the dinner table when she insulted him in front of their families.

Before long, his feet were launching forward and he was walking past her. Only having a second to access her thought process, she reached forward and swiftly grabbed his arm. With all the force she could muster from within herself, she pulled him back to her.

"Finn, don't do it. You're better than this, you know it." She pleaded.

"Rachel…" he began, trying to find the right words for her to understand, but he couldn't. Instead, he ripped his arm from her hands. "I'm sorry."

Grabbing the ends of her dress, she ran to get in front of him. Placing her hand out, she caught his chest in time. "Be here, Finn, be here with me. C'mon let's go dance or show me how to be rebellious and let's go drink from the punch bowl. We can do anything that you want, just not this. Don't leave me alone in this large crowd of people."

"You don't understand, Rachel," he brushed her off easily. "It'd be different if you were in my shoes. If you've seen all the crap she's done to me, I'd be trying to stop you."

"Wait," she stopped him again. "I'm confused. I thought you broke up with her?"

"Well, you thought wrong," he gritted through his teeth looking at the two of them from across the room. "Gosh, they make me so sick." He started forward again. Rachel had to think quickly but she had no idea what to say next. It was all so unexpected to her. A minute ago they were dancing, and now he was heading over to threaten his ex-girlfriend and his former best friend.

"This is the last time I'm going to ask you, Finn." She stopped him again. "Be the better man. It may not feel like it now, but you'll be much happier if you do. Do you see Quinn over there having the time of her life with Santana and Sam? She wants me to feel bad. She wants me to feel guilty. She wants to humiliate me, even. But, I'm here, having the time of my life with you and it's killing her. You can do the same, Finn. Please, for me, for your brother and father, for your reputation, for the town, don't you dare do this Finn Hudson."

"All of that sounds convincing, Rachel, and I would listen if it were any other circumstance. But, this is different. We're just- we're just not alike. I can't think like you do when it comes to things like this."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, feeling insulted.

"It means that you're good and have grace and a big heart, and I don't." he said before turning away and walking toward the table. Screaming over the music, she stopped him in his tracts, but this time he didn't turn around to face her.

"Remember in the limo when you said that you didn't mean to upset me?" she asked.

He hung his head and nodded. She only looked at him with hurt eyes now. "Well, you lied to me." He thought for a moment before finally making his way over to the couple. Not wanting to see any of it, Rachel was forced to make her way over to a group of her old middle school friends.

Mercedes Jones, Blaine Anderson, Kurt Hummel, and Brittany S. Pierce looked up at her with confused eyes. "Can I sit?" she asked with tears swelling in her eyes.

"Sure sweetie," Kurt commented, pulling out the chair next to him.

"What's wrong, Rachel?" Blaine wondered.

"Where's Finn?" Mercedes asked.

To her dismay, Finn's voice could now be heard throughout the gym. Once the DJ realized this, the music was cut off. Her heart sped up as word-for-word could be heard through the gym.

"I didn't know you could bring your dog to the prom, Sugar," Finn told her.

"Finn, why are you at our table?" Sugar asked, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"Because he's jealous," Puck stepped into the argument.

"No," Finn corrected him, "It's because I was getting a little tired of seeing way more than I needed to see from your girlfriend's slutty dress."

Slamming his hand down on the table, Puck stood up swiftly, with Sugar rising to hold him back. Finn only chuckled. "I got you moving now, don't I?" he teased.

"There's nothing to be proud of," Sugar defended him. "Who says that we weren't distracted by your girlfriend's dress? I mean that is what we're calling her now, right? Your girlfriend?" she asked. Rachel only placed her head in her hands and tried to ignore the brunette calling her out from across the room. Blaine offered a comforting hand to her back. "Finn, you could buy Rachel Berry the fanciest dress in the world and it still wouldn't be enough to cover up all of those stretch marks and fat folds."

"You watch your mouth," Finn pointed, spitting the words out like fire in a dragon's mouth.

"Look who's the big bad wolf now," Puck called out, causing people to snicker.

"Clearly not you," Finn shot back. "Your penis is the size of a tic tac." The gym erupted into a roar of laugher. Rachel could do nothing but shake her head and lower it. She didn't know who he was being right now. All she knew that her best friend, Finn, wasn't there.

"What did you say?" Puck broke from Sugar's hold and made his way around the table to face Finn head-on.

They were in each other's faces now. One slight step and they'd be touching. "The whole school heard me, so I'm having a hard time believing that you didn't."

"You don't want to mess with me," he warned.

"Well, after hearing the unfortunate state of your man-hood neither does any other girl in this room. Well, that is, with the exception of my slut of an ex-girlfriend. But, you already knew that. If you didn't she wouldn't exactly be an ex right now."

"Every part of my conscience is telling me to knock the crap out of you right now, so another word, and I'll do it." The boy threatened. Rachel couldn't hear another word of this. But, she couldn't exactly get up and walk out. She'd only draw attention to herself and that was the last thing she wanted.

She wondered where the teachers were. Looking around, she only saw the DJ, who looked more amused than concerned. Maybe if she got up and confronted one of the faculties in the school's entrance; No, that wouldn't work. She'd only get Finn in trouble and ruin his reputation more than it was being shattered right now. So, instead, she kept her head down and tried to tune out the hurricane brewing around her.

"Do it," Finn encouraged him. Reaching forward, he nudged the mohawked boy. When he regained his balance and stood still, Finn insulted him again. "Coward."

"Gentleman," Sugar stood up for him.

"SLUT," Finn threw her way. That's when Rachel heard the first punch; then the second, then the third, and then the fourth. Shifting could be heard and now Finn was on top of the other boy delivering the blows now. He took at least five before Sam was cutting into the fight.

"Hey, hey, hey," he said, ripping Finn off of Puck. "What is wrong with you, brother?"

"You stay out of this," Finn warned. Turning to look at them now, Rachel took in the blood and the bruises of both boys. Puck's upper lip was cut up and bleeding with a large bruise to his left cheek. Finn's eyebrow contained a small cut with a large bruise forming over his right eye.

Sam struggled desperately to hold Finn back, but was failing miserably. He needed help intervening. But, instead of jumping in and offering assistance, all other students had either exited the gym or were on their phones videoing the scene.

It took about two minutes later before Mr. Scheuster and Coach Beiste were rushing in to break up the fight. In that moment while everyone else was distracted, Rachel got up and made her way to the punch bowl. This was too much for her to take. Making sure that it contained alcohol in it, she grimaced when the cough syrup sensation hit her tongue. Fixing a large cup, she forcefully gulped every ounce down until it was empty. She felt better already.

"You and you, out!" Coach Beiste yelled at the two boys.

"You can't make him leave! He's my date!" Sugar cried.

"Put on a jacket or something sweetheart." She told her. Shaking her head, Sugar rolled her eyes and stomped away. As Coach Beiste led Puck out of the gym, Mr. Scheuster stopped Finn.

"What happened?" he asked, with a pure look of concern.

"She broke my heart. They both did." He explained. "Why should they get to feel happy when I'm over here dying inside?"

"You seemed perfectly fine with Rachel earlier." He told him. "You were both having fun." Finn looked up and that's when their eyes met from across the room. He watched her tear-filled eyes as she placed the empty cup on the table in front of her.

"I'm really good at hiding my feelings. I guess it's a specialty of living with Christopher Hudson."

"Finn, you're better than this…" Mr. Schuester reminded him.

"I'm really not, so I wish people would quit telling me that." After that, he stormed off and out of the building. Rachel was left standing still with a spinning mind, wondering how all of this happened. How did she let all of this happen? That's how she was when she was approached by Santana and Quinn.

"There you are," Santana called. "I was so worried. We looked everywhere for you. What's up with Finn?" Rachel watched as Quinn stood behind Santana and looked to the floor. She stepped to the side and addressed the blonde the first in a long time. She didn't know if it was the atmosphere or the alcohol kicking in, but tonight, everyone was on edge.

"Go ahead, say it," Rachel told the girl who looked up with surprise. "It's written all over your face, Quinn. So just rub it in, why don't you?" Now, she was upset. "You fricking win, are you happy? My night can't get worse while yours can't get any better. I'm tired of looking at your fake facial expressions, just say it."

"After everything that you've done to me, Rachel, I am happy." The girl replied.

"After all the stuff that I've done to y-" she paused and reconstructed her words. "What on earth have I done to you?"

"You dropped me like I was nothing. You replaced me with him."

"Girls, we are not doing this here," Santana told them. They paid no mind.

"I didn't replace you, Quinn." Rachel cried. "You pushed me away, right about the same time you kicked me out of your house."

"We both said things we didn't mean that night," she told her.

"And you wouldn't have admitted that if I didn't just address you, hiding behind Santana." Rachel pointed out. "If my date wouldn't have gone bat-crazy you would've stayed in your corner and talked bad about me to my friends. Admit it," she told her. It took a few minutes, but she finally did.

"Fine, you're right. But, I was scared, that's why I didn't apologize first. You know how scared I get when I have to face confrontation."

"Well Quinn, as far as I'm concerned, you can go screw yourself." Storming out, she found herself walking down the empty hallway. The rest of the student body returned to dancing when the commotion stopped.

Since the limo wouldn't be back until 9 and she had another hour to spare, she took off her heels and climbed the ladder that led to the rooftop of the school. What she wasn't expecting was for him to be up there.

She stood still for a moment and watched him. The jacket to his tux was hanging on the balcony in front of him and his tie was on the ground beneath him. He stared off at the small town of Lima as he took swigs from a large, half-empty bottle of clear liquid. Alcohol, she presumed.

He ran a hand through his brown locks, messing up the perfect sculpture it was usually worn in. Rubbing his eyes and sighing, he took another swig.

"I don't really want to hear your opinion right now," he spoke out into the night air. When he turned around and looked her up and down, she knew it was meant for her. She didn't care. He couldn't scare her away. If there was a person other than Quinn that would receive her fury, it'd be him. He deserved it.

"Fine," she threw her arms up. "Then you won't. But you're sure as hell going to see it on my face for the next week if not two." She moved to sit on the bench that he'd gradually moved over to.

"I get it, okay? You're not this person. You're better than this, Finn. Be the better man, Finn. Do it for me, for the town, for future of Lima, Ohio. You think I don't get it?" he paraphrased her.

"You're drunk," she noted, smelling the large sum of alcohol on his breath.

"Well I wasn't going to let those extra bottles under the refreshment table go to waste," he mumbled.

"Don't do that," she shook her head.

"Don't do what?"

"Make jokes out of the situation. It's not funny, Finn. If I'm being honest, you look pathetic." She crossed her arms.

"I look pathetic?" he raised his voice. "Try being in love with a girl your whole high school life just to find out that you've been being played this whole time. I'm not pathetic, Rachel. My heart is in half."

"Then why didn't you talk to me? You're my best friend and I could've been there for you like we promised to be from the beginning." She asked.

"I didn't want you to see me like that, okay?" he admitted. "And tonight, with the things they said to me and about you, I just lost control."

"Oh my gosh," Rachel laughed cruelly. "I cannot believe that you just said that."

"What?" he asked, seeming annoyed.

"You are not the victim here," she informed him. "You chose to hear those words and get hurt when you walked over to them."

"My anger just got ahold of me, Rachel, alright?" he explained. "I know that I messed up and I'm mad at myself too, trust me."

"You want me to trust you?" she asked with disbelief. "What you did tonight opened up my eyes to so many things, Finn." "What about a few years from now?" She felt bad for using this as point in her lecture, knowing that she wasn't going to be here in a few years. But, she didn't care. He deserved it.

"What about when we have kids like we're supposed to? What's going to be your excuse then? What are you going to tell them? Knowing that you messed up and being mad at yourself for it isn't going to fix anything. Nor is picking fights with guys over stupid girls or downing a bottle of vodka when you can't face your feelings. You know how I know that?" she asked through her gritted teeth and wet cheeks.

"I was that child, Finn. Every day after my dad died, Shelby became this person. She'd down wine; pop pills like they were candy, at least every room in our house had been trashed by her episodes. Every pain that she felt, she took out on me. And you know that because I already told you about my past. So, do you really think I'm going to allow someone like that around my own children?"

"There's nothing for me to say, Rachel. I already know that I messed up and I know that you're pissed at me. But there's nothing I can do to make it up to you anymore. I decided to make my bed and I'm lying in it. So, I'd rather it if we don't talk about this anymore. I just need to be alone right now."

"Yes, I'm pissed at you, Finn. I'm furious, even. There's no denying that I have every right to be. But that's not why I'm crying. I'm not crying because you abandoned me like an idiot after I begged you not to. I'm not crying because you selfishly tried to make yourself feel better by fighting Puck."

"I'm crying because when I looked at you in that moment, I didn't see my best friend anymore. I saw James. You became James."

"Don't say that," tears were beginning to form in his eyes.

"I don't want to risk sounding incredibly selfish right now. But, seeing as though you've been selfish enough for the both of us, I get to be. Tonight was supposed to be my night. Tonight was my last prom ever and I'll admit I wasn't happy about it in the beginning. But, it got better because you were there with me. And I thought that it would be the best night of my life." "Believe it or not, I look up to you, Finn."

"Rachel, stop it." He warned.

"And then, everything happened. And you took away the one night that I'm never going to be able to get back. This is the worst night of my life Finn. And it wasn't supposed to be like that, but you made it like that. You ruined everything."

He gave up. His eyes fell into a defeated position. Then, they moved over to her. He had an idea and she knew it from the moment he moved his feet forward. Wrapping his hands around her face, he pressed his lips against hers.

It took her a minute to realize what was happening. Her eyes finally widened when she did. She was kissing Finn Hudson. Instantly she pulled away and pushed him off of her.

"What are you doing?" he asked, standing in front of her. However, his standing soon turned into wobbling and then falling back into a sitting position.

"What are you doing, Finn?" she retaliated. "You're so hideously drunk and to be honest, I'm disgusted."

"Do you really think I'd have to be drunk to want to kiss you?" he asked, feeling hurt at her disbelief in him. "I've been holding back the urge all night."

"You need to go home and go to sleep." She instructed. "Call me tomorrow when you're sober and don't remember any of this."

Present Day

When they got to the Town Hall building, the Hudson's were nowhere in sight. Shelby acted like it was the end of the world that the three of them were a few minutes early. James spent his time picking flowers off the bushes next to them.

Shelby had communicated with Christopher. He said they were just getting into the car and were on their way. Rachel knew that they lived on the other side of town, so it'd take at least fifteen minutes for them to arrive. She'd be allowed at least fifteen minutes to think over how today would go. Finding the nearest bench, she placed the box next to her.

She remembered going home that night with smeared makeup. Her mother didn't associate with her afterwards, so at least there was one positive. But, when the door was closed behind her, the silence finally caught up. Trying to clear the air, she turned on some music and scattered herself across her bed in the large dress she'd forgotten to remove.

For four hours, she stayed there, thinking about everything her mind would allow. By the fourth hour, she realized she hadn't handled things correctly with Quinn. And that's when she made the decision that had her where she was now.

Sunday Morning 2:25 am

When she arrived to Quinn's it was well around 2:40. She had to be really quiet when she decided to sneak out of the house. Taking her mom's car, she pulled up to the house she hadn't been to in what felt like ages. Quinn's mom's patrol car wasn't in the driveway, so she knew she could just go right in like old times.

She'd called the old number in her phone that she'd never been able to delete about three times already. There was no answer. She's probably asleep was a logic she came up with on her drive over there, but when she saw the upstairs light on through the window, she knew she was being avoided.

Slowly knocking on the door, she waited few minutes for someone to answer. When no one came, she nervously turned the knob to see if it would open. Quinn had always been careless, so she wasn't surprised when it opened right up. Good thing she wasn't some house intruder, she thought. She laughed knowing Quinn would probably think differently. But she needed to see her, so she didn't really care at the moment.

Slowly climbing the stairs, she heard a soft giggle. She smiled remembering the mornings in the car with her and Santana. That same giggle would always be present in her memory of those times.

She was tired of stalling already. She just wanted the bad blood to be gone already. Taking a deep breath, she placed three soft knocks against the white wood of her door. When she heard the girl jump in fear, she felt kind of bad. It was almost three in the morning.

A voice came from behind the door. "Who is it?" Quinn asked.

"It's me," she called out. "I know it's late and I shouldn't be here but I needed to talk to you. It's about tonight."

"Rachel?" she asked, it seemed like her voice dropped to a deeper fear. She brushed it off.

"Yeah, it's me. Your door was unlocked so I let myself in. I hope you don't mind."

A small crack appeared through the door and she was able to take in Quinn's appearance. She smiled slightly. But what Rachel didn't miss was how her hair was messy and she was wearing her bedsheet.

"Oh, is this a bad time?" she asked, flabbergasted. "I shouldn't have come this late. I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine." She told her, quickly stepping out and closing the door behind her. "Did you want to talk to me about something?"

"Yeah, actually I wanted to apologize for tonight." She stalled for a moment before just letting it all go. "I miss you, Quinn. And it's all partly my fault because I just lashed out when I should have accepted your opinion. And I said things that I didn't really mean and we just went on these past couple of months without each other and this whole time I wanted you to be there. I am idiot, I hope you can forgive me."

"Rachel, you have no idea how long I've waited for this moment. I'm so sorry too. I said all the wrong things and I should've kept my mouth shut. I missed you so much and it's been so hard without you in my life."

"Will you take me back?" Rachel asked.

"I don't see why not if we really sit down and talk things through. Will you take me back too?" she asked.

"Of course I will. I have all night to talk with you if you want." She smiled. Quinn froze and fidgeted for a moment.

"Oh, right, you have company." She laughed.

"We can talk tomorrow if you're willing?" she tried to negotiate.

"Yeah, that sounds really good. I still have your number so I'll text you."

"Okay," Quinn smiled going in for an embrace. Rachel was more content than she'd been in a while. Then, she got a whiff of Quinn's neck.

"Hey, um, did you get a new perfume?" Rachel asked.

"What? No, why?" she stuttered.

"It just smells really familiar that's all. I probably smelled it on you tonight when I walked past you."

"Yeah, I was wearing it," she replied. "I got a lot of compliments."

"Well it smells really nice," Rachel admitted.

"Thank you," and when she said that, Rachel instantly remembered where she'd smelled that smell.

Present Day

By the time their car arrived, everything was set up. There was nothing more to do than snap the photos they needed and leave.

"Can we just get this over with?" Finn asked, stepping out of the car in a business suit.

"Not if you keep complaining," Rachel mumbled under her breath.

"I heard that you know," he told her, following into the building along with the other grownups.

She falsely gasped, putting her hand over her mouth in a sarcastic way. "Bummer!"

"Rachel, behave yourself. We're only here for a few minutes, I'm sure the two of you can put your differences to rest for that amount of time." Shelby scolded.

"I don't know, that's a huge amount of time having to deal with him," she replied.

"Can we just take the damn pictures?" Finn asked.

They were positioned on a large chair in the office. Finn sat in the chair and Rachel was instructed to position herself on his lap. These people weren't going for a sexual look, but the more she thought about the picture, the more it sounded like it. She was supposed to lean in like the loving wife that she was while Finn delicately rested his hand against the small curve of her waist. All the while, she was expected to keep her legs crossed and her posture high. Placing her hands in her lap, she was expected to smile at Finn.

Two minutes into the pose and she was already done. Every time the two of them were asked to look at each other, Rachel felt nothing but a burning hatred and she knew the same went for him. That, along with the aching pain this position was causing her, was beginning to kill her mood for the day.

About halfway through, Finn had raised his hands higher than where they were supposed to be. She didn't know if this was on purpose to piss her off or unintentionally, but it was making her feel very uncomfortable. She decided to keep her mouth shut for a few more minutes to avoid confrontation. However, when his hand moved an inch further, her line was drawn.

"My waist is right here," she fussed, guiding his hand violently with hers. "Pretty sure I don't want to be memorized in this town as the wife who allowed her husband to grope her side-boob in the picture the whole time."

"Pretty sure that'd be pretty memorable," Finn joked, causing the camera man to laugh with him.

"That's not funny," she replied.

"I thought it was," Finn told her.

"Are we almost finished? It's not exactly comfortable sitting like this." Rachel complained.

"Well, you're no light weight. My leg's about to fall off; you don't see me complaining." He joked again.

"Actually, I got all the pictures I need. Thank you very much. I look forward to your pleasant time in office." The camera man smiled, trying to find the right words to say.

"I get to pick out the pictures," Rachel called.

"What if I want to?" Finn asked, crossing his arms.

"That's enough," Shelby scolded. "You are both acting like children. And we're supposed to trust you to run the town?"

Once they were out of the building and she'd been alone for a few minutes, she grabbed the box and walked over to where Finn was sitting, scrolling through his phone. Turning it off, he looked up at her with annoyance.

"What?" he asked. His hair blew perfectly through the wind. He made moments like these hard; especially remembering the times where they almost were something. Now, she didn't know anymore. Past the insults and longing glances from time to time, mixed signals were their new thing. All of it drove by one thing; hurt.

Handing him the box, she watched him examine it. "Keep it, toss it, or burn it. I really don't care anymore."

"What is it?" he asked, going to peel the tape away. Her hand quickly flew over his to stop him.

"Wait until you get home to open it. I have too much mascara on and I don't feel like looking like a raccoon for the rest of the day. It's your birthday present. I know it's not for another couple of months. It's just been sitting in my closet. I put it together a couple of months ago. Silly me, right?"

"Rachel…" he began and then stopped. As quickly as he stopped, he started again. "This is so stupid. I need you in my life. I hate this and I miss what we had before I destroyed everything. Just, you don't have to forgive me. I understand that completely and I'm not going to try and make excuses for everything. But, this, this sucks. What we've been doing with each other, the words we say to each other, I hate it all."

"Rachel, let's go!" James called from across the lawn of the Town Hall.

"That's my ride," she told him as if he didn't know. She didn't know what else to say, to be honest.

"Just say you'll think about it." He begged. After another few seconds of thinking, she spoke.

"I don't know what to think, Finn. I just, I don't know where we stand anymore."

"Just try, Rachel. It's really important to me." She wanted nothing more than to scream at him. She wanted to tell him that that's all she'd been doing. She wanted to tell him that her heart couldn't take it anymore. But, the car's horn bumped and she was being rushed.

"I have to go," she told him. Getting situated in the backseat of the car again, the last fragments of that horrific night came into her mind.

Sunday morning 3:00 am

It couldn't be true, because she knew that Quinn would never do that to her. She couldn't, she thought. What if she had? The smell was spot on. It was that cologne that she'd smelled before.

"Quinn," she began.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I totally spaced tonight. I have an English paper due Monday morning. You wouldn't happen to have any printer paper on your computer? You'd a lifesaver."

She hesitated a moment before answering her. "Uh, yeah, I'll check for you." Slowly opening the door to where the girl could squeeze in, Rachel reached her foot out and kicked the door wide open. Quinn tripped in the process and fell flat on the floor. This gave Rachel a clear view of who her company was.

She watched the guy's eyes widen, sitting up on the left side of her bed. Holding the sheet close against his naked body, he hastily began scrambling for his clothes.

"Oh my gosh," Rachel trembled over her tears. Falling against the door frame, the image in front of her shattered every bit of her heart that she thought was left.

"Rachel, it's not what it looks like, okay?" Quinn began the hideous outburst of false explanations; ones of which she usually saw in movies. The fact that it was happening to her now made her heart drop even further. "It just- we just- he was drunk- and I was drunk- and it just- I didn't know- and it just-"

"Oh, for the love of me, just shut up Quinn." Rachel started through her tears.

"Rachel, it just happened. I was so upset after you said those things to me and I drank the whole punch bowl and Finn came downstairs from where he was and we just started talking, and we sort of bonded over how you're mad at the both of us."

"Being mad doesn't even amount to how I feel right now," Rachel sobbed.

"Rachel, it isn't supposed to be like this," Finn exclaimed, trying to slide his shoes on. "This is supposed to be you right now. I was supposed to tell you tonight that I loved you. Then, you pushed me away when I tried to kiss you, and the whole Sugar thing happened and I don't know, I just got really upset again. It didn't help that I was drinking. I wasn't thinking clearly. Rachel, I love you. Please, please, you have to hear me out."

"This shouldn't bother me like it is. Why do I feel like this? You're just my friend. I shouldn't feel like this!" she exclaimed.

"I'm so sorry," Finn cried, moving towards her. When his hand brushed against her arm, she fell backwards.

"Don't you dare touch me," she heaved.

"Rachel," Quinn cried. "This wasn't supposed to happen. I meant what I said. I miss you and I want us to be friends again."

"You," she pointed to Quinn. "I expected something like this from you. You spent months hating me. You turned on me within seconds when I said the wrong thing. And you never apologized first. You played me like a puppet on a string just now and I'll probably never forgive you for that."

"But you," she said returning to face Finn. "You really had me fooled. I honestly thought that we were best friends this whole time. With all the stuff that I told you about my dad and personal things, I feel stupid now. I never realized that this whole time you've still had it out for me and never gave it a rest. I must commend you, though, because this setup is amazing. I really do know what it's like to be in your shoes now. So you can go to hell; the both of you can."

"Rachel," they called simultaneously.

Turning one last time, she spoke.

"Congratulations to the both of you. You've successfully shown me what real betrayal looks like."

"Quinn, with as much sincerity as possible, I hope you get pregnant."

So, there's chapter 10! Everyone relax, the hard times won't last forever. I promise.