Thanks so much for your reviews on the first chapter! I really appreciate them. I know there's a lot of stories like this out there, so I'm just trying to make this as unique as I can. This chapter has a few small deleted scenes I made up and extends some of the Finchel scenes, and of course gives you a peek into both Finn's and Rachel's minds. And just so you guys know: I promise I will NOT be portraying Quinn and Puck in such a negative way throughout the whole story. That's just what makes sense right now as I try to keep it canon. Anyway, enjoy this chapter and review if I should keep writing!

Chapter 2: Showmance

After the Glee club's amazing rendition of "Don't Stop Believing" and the first non solo lunch of Rachel's high school career, she finally felt good. Glee club was going to go to Regionals, and they were going to win. She just knew it, and she had some songs picked out for them to try next. As she walked through the parking lot, she spotted the Glee teacher "Mr. Schuester!" she called

Mr. Schue noticed Rachel. "Yeah?"

"I went to the library and I got some sheet music, and I wanted to run some songs by you that feature me heavily on lead vocal," Rachel said proudly. The truth was, the songs featured both her and Finn heavily on lead vocal. She wasn't going to mention that part though. She didn't want anyone to figure out that she was into Finn.

"Thanks, Rach, but I already got one picked out," Mr. Schue said.

Rachel hoped that it featured Finn as the lead opposite her. Speaking of Finn, Rachel felt a hand alongside hers on her bag. "Let me help you with that." She looked up and saw Finn.

"Thanks, Finn. You're so chivalrous," Rachel said.

"Thanks. That's a good thing, right?" Finn asked.

"A very good thing," Rachel said. "So, how was your night?"

"I made it to Level 8 on COD!" Finn said proudly.

Rachel had no idea what COD was, but she decided to go along. "Good for you!"

"Yeah, did you have a good night?" Finn asked.

"I watched a musical with my dads," Rachel said. Then she realized revealing that she had two dads might not have been a good idea. People often made fun of her for it.

"Dads?" Finn asked.

"Yeah," Rachel said. "My dads are gay."

"It's really cool that they weren't afraid to have a kid," Finn said. "A pretty awesome one, with that."

Finn thought Rachel was awesome? "Well, thanks Finn."

"You know, my family isn't traditional, either," Finn continued. "It's just me and my mom."

"Where's your dad?" Rachel asked.

"He died when I was little," Finn said. "I don't even remember him."

"I'm sorry," Rachel said as they walked into the school. She didn't want Finn to get slushied, and she knew that there was a high possibility she'd be slushied. She said a quick goodbye to Finn as she went to her locker. His locker wasn't too far from his, and someone was already waiting there.

"Where were you?" Rachel heard Quinn snap. No hello? Who did this girl think she was?

"I overslept," Finn said.

"You were supposed to give me a ride to school today," Quinn said. "What type of boyfriend are you?"

"You're not the only person in my life," Finn said. Rachel felt so proud to hear Finn standing up for himself.

This girl was awful! "So, why are you in that glee club?" Quinn asked "We are in line to be the most popular kids in the school over the next couple years."

"Yeah, I know," Finn mumbled.

"Prom king and queen. Homecoming court royalty. I am not giving up those shiny crowns just so you can express yourself," Quinn rambled. Rachel wondered why that was so important to this girl. She was obsessing over pieces of plastic?

"Look, you're making too big a deal out of this," Finn said. Yes she was.

"Okay. Let's compromise," Quinn sneered. "If you quit the club, I'll let you touch my breast."

"Under the shirt?" Finn sounded intrigued, and Rachel got worried.

Quinn paused. "Over the bra."

"No. No, I can't," Finn said as Rachel sighed with relief. "I want to do Glee. I'm really happy when I'm performing." If he was willing to say it to Quinn, it must be true.

"People think you're gay now, Finn!" Quinn practically shouted. "And you know what that makes me? Your big gay beard."

Rachel could tell Finn had had enough, and quite frankly, she had too. "Look. I- I gotta go to class," Finn stammered. "Okay? Just relax. Everything's gonna work out." From her locker mirror, Rachel watched Finn leave as Quinn came over to her.

"Eavesdrop much? Time for some girl talk, man hands. You can dance with him. You can sing with him. But you will never have him." Quinn's words stung Rachel because she knew they were true. However, she had to fight back.

Rachel mentally thanked her dads for signing her up for acting classes in her childhood. "I understand why you'd be threatened. Finn and I have made a connection. But I'm an honorable person. I don't need to steal your man. I have plenty of suitors of my own. Every day Glee's status is going up, and yours is going down. Deal with it." She didn't believe what she'd said, and she would do everything in her power to get Finn for herself.

As she began to walk away, Puck and another boy threw slushies in her face.

x

A disco song? Finn knew that a disco song wouldn't get the Glee club any more members. Most of the student population thought that Glee was lame already. He was happy with it just being the six of them, but they couldn't compete with only six.

"Finn?" Finn turned and saw Rachel.

"Hey," Finn said.

"That disco song won't help us at all!" Rachel said. "Disco's so - old. My dads like just about all music and even they don't like disco!"

Finn nodded. He'd get slushied if he sang a disco song. "Why can't we just do Don't Stop Believing? We sound so good on it?" Plus, he really wanted to sing with Rachel again.

Rachel opened a folder. "I made some flyers we could post around the school. I was thinking maybe these could help."

Finn looked at the flyer. It was so cute. "Yeah, these are awesome."

"Do you know of a copy machine around here?" Rachel asked. "I was looking..."

"Yeah, I do," Finn said. Granted, it was the cheerios copy machine, but the cheerios were practicing now. He led Rachel down the hall and into Sue Sylvester's office.

"All right," Rachel said as she put the flyer on the copier. "So, you really do enjoy Glee?"

"Other than the disco song," Finn laughed.

"Good," Rachel said. "You know, it's great to finally have a friend in Glee. Just to have a friend in general."

"I'm glad to be your friend," Finn said. "So, are you thinking you'll be a singer after we graduate?"

"I'm going to be on Broadway," Rachel said proudly. "What about you?"

"I'm really not sure what I'll do," Finn admitted. He was afraid to admit, even to Rachel, that he was afraid that he'd end up at community college and bussing tables at Breadstix.

"You know, one of the amazing things about being in the performing arts is that you can parlay it into so many different fields," Rachel said. "Like Justin Timberlake- He's a singer, but he also has a clothing line. And, you know, he makes things like shirts and belts."

"Who's Justin Timberlake?" Finn asked.

"He was in NSYNC," Rachel said as the door opened and Sue Sylvester came in.

Finn gulped.

"What are you two up to?" Sue snapped.

"Copying the flyers Rachel made," Finn stuttered.

"Come with me," Sue snapped. Finn picked up the copies and followed her into the principal's office. Mr. Schue was in there, talking to Principal Figgins. "Good, William, you're here," Sue said. She turned to Finn and Rachel. "Would you like to tell Principal Figgins and Mr. Schuester what I caught you two doing?"

Finn shrugged. "It just sort of happened."

"I don't mean to be rude, but I think she's overreacting," Rachel said. Finn thought Rachel couldn't have said it better.

"You watch your tone, young lady," said Sue. She turned to Figgins. "Gay parents encourage rebellion. There are studies on this." Somehow, it didn't surprise him that Sue was homophobic.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," said Mr. Schue. "All right, tell me what happened, Rachel."

"Finn was worried about having to perform a solo at the pep assembly in front of his chromosomally challenge friends," Rachel explained. "I was immediately concerned by his lack of self-esteem and made a creative preemptive strike. So I made some flyers and we went to copy them."

"Yeah, pretty much what she said," Finn said.

"That copy machine is for Cheerios use only," Sue lectured the two teens. "Paid for by alumni donations. I can't begin to fathom the damage you'd have done to the program had you broken it."

"Hold on a second, Sue," said Mr. Schuester.

"I resent being told to hold on to anything, William," Sue rambled. "I will not be treated like a second-class citizen because of my gender. There is a very clear bureaucracy when it comes to photocopies, and you seem to think that these procedures don't apply to your students. It is my strong recommendation that both these students be hobbled."

"How many copies did you guys make?" Mr. Schue asked Finn and Rachel.

"Seventeen," Sue said. They'd wanted to make a lot more.

"Okay," said Mr. Schue. "And how much does a photocopy cost?"

"Four and a half cents," said Figgins.

"How about they just pay for the copies?" Mr. Schue suggested.

"I like this compromise. Children, pay Ms. Sylvester, and we'll let you off with a warning,"

Rachel handed Sue the money. "It was my idea," she mouthed to Finn as the two of them left the office with Mr. Schue.

"I'm sorry about that Mr. Schue," Finn said after they left.

"I'd like to get the flyers up before lunch tomorrow," Rachel said. Finn did, too.

"You know what, guys? I don't want to hear it," Mr. Schue said.

"Doing that song is gonna kill any chance the Glee Club has!" Rachel protested. "It's a terrible idea."

"I have news for you, Rachel. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do. We're doing the assembly and you're not putting up those flyers. Everybody loves disco!" Mr. Schue said before leaving.

Finn's heart began beating fast. "It's official. I'm a dead man."

Rachel sighed. "Look, I know you're nervous, but you're really, really talented."

Finn felt himself blushing. "Stop it."

"I mean, maybe it'll all be okay," Rachel said, sounding nervous. "Do you want to practice for the assembly tomorrow after school?"

"I can't. I got a Celibacy Club meeting," Finn said. He didn't want to go to the celibacy club meeting, but Quinn yelled at him when he was late.

x

The celibacy club meeting had been a nightmare. Quinn had been a bitch to Rachel, and that kid from the school newspaper had creeped her out. But one good thing had come out of it - she had another idea for the assembly. And since she'd found a way to get Mr. Schue occupied for an hour, she'd gathered Finn, Kurt, Artie, Mercedes and Tina to tell them her idea.

"I officially call this meeting of Glee Club in session," she declared.

"But Mr. Schuester isn't here," Artie said, looking around.

Rachel smiled proudly. "Mr. Schuester isn't coming. I paid a freshman to ask him for help with irregular verbs."

"Ugh! I'm so sick of hearing you squawk, Eva Perón," Mercedes groaned.

"Let her talk," Finn said.

No one had ever stood up for Rachel before. She tried to hide how happy she was. "I have another idea for the assembly."

"Can I, once again, stress my most strenuous objections to this attempted suicide?" Artie asked.

"They're not gonna kill us," Rachel said. "Because we're gonna give them what they want."

"Blood?" Kurt asked.

"Better. Sex," Rachel said. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the intrigued look Finn was giving her.

x

"Rachel!" Rachel turned and saw Finn running after her. She could definitely say that she thought the assembly was a success. The student body had been on its feet.

"Hey Finn," Rachel said. The best part for her, of course, was her and Finn pretending to have sex on stage. She wasn't sure if she was ready for sex yet, but when she was, she wanted it to happen with Finn. The assembly had confirmed that.

"Hey, Rach," Finn asked nervously. "I was wondering, maybe after school, could we meet up and work on my singing?"

Rachel couldn't believe it. Finn wanted to spend one on one time with her? "Yeah. My schedule's pretty open. When would work for you?" she asked.

"After school today?" Finn asked, looking nervous. Why would he be nervous though?

"Yeah, sounds great," Rachel said. "I'll meet you in the auditorium." Although she made up her mind, they'd do more than work on his singing. She was going to get him to fall for her.

x

Finn went into the auditorium, and Rachel was already there. A cloth was laid out with a picnic basket, and Finn wondered what that was for. He smiled wide when he saw Rachel. She looked so cute - holy crap, was he developing feelings for her? He was supposed to be into Quinn...

"Finn!" Rachel said. "Glad you could come!"

"I wouldn't miss this," Finn said.

"So, ready to sing?" Rachel asked, giving Finn an adorable smile.

Finn smirked and got on the stage with Rachel. "Yeah!"

After some singing, Finn wanted to just spend some time together and... talk. "Can we take a break? Singing kind of makes me a little hungry," he said.

Rachel nodded. "Yeah, yeah, sure. Lucky I prepared for that." She motioned at the picnic area. So she had prepared for possible breaks! How cool was she?

"Wow," Finn said. "I was wondering what that was all about."

"Want to sit?" Rachel asked.

Finn sat down. "Yeah, yeah. Absolutely."

Rachel began getting out the food and pouring drinks. "I was wondering why you asked me to help you with your singing. You kicked butt at the assembly."

It never got old hearing her tell him she thought he was good. "Well, this is my only chance to be, you know, good like you."

"You think I'm good?" Rachel asked.

Of course he did. "Well, when I first joined, I thought you were kind of insane. You talk a lot more than you should, and to be honest with you, I looked under the bed and made sure that you weren't hanging out under there. But then I heard you sing. I don't know how to say this, but you touched something in me. Right here." He put his hand on his chest as she moved it.

"Your heart's on the other side of your chest," Rachel said softly.

Finn loved the feeling of Rachel's hand on his. "Oh. It's beating really hard." He chuckled. "You're cool, Rachel."

Rachel gave him a smile. "Do you want a drink?"

Finn nodded as Rachel reached for their drinks. "Virgin Cosmos."

Finn took his cup. "Cool. That stuff you said at the Celibacy Club- That was really cool." She was just really cool.

"Well, cheers," Rachel said, holding up her cup.

Finn clinked his cup against Rachel's. "Cheers. Cups are like the airplane cups." He was so turned on right now and touched her mouth. "Oh, you got a little Cosmo right-" He really wanted to kiss her, but he was with Quinn...

Rachel seemed to read Finn's mind. "You know, you can kiss me if you want to."

"I want to," Finn said.

Rachel lay down as Finn got on top of her. First he kissed her quickly, but he wanted more. He started kissing her passionately and then he just realized what he was doing. The image of the mailman came into his head. As much as he was enjoying this, what he was doing was wrong. As much as he liked spending time with Rachel, and as good a kisser she was, he was with Quinn. He jumped up. He wanted to do this, but he couldn't.

"Did I do something wrong?" Rachel asked.

Finn shook his head. The hurt on her face broke his heart. He wanted to kiss her again, but he had to just get out of there. "No, no. Um, I just gotta go. Look, please don't tell anybody about this, okay?" He ran out before he could get any more temptations.

x

Quinn was in the Glee club now? Finn couldn't believe it. Glee was his escape from Quinn. He could be with Rachel here. He could sing with her, sing romantic duets with her. No way would Quinn let him do that.

Poor Rachel. Finn watched her leave at the end of Glee rehearsal, looking devastated. Quinn was talking with Santana and Brittany, so Finn followed Rachel to her locker. "Rach..."

Rachel turned. "What?"

"Rachel, I'm sorry," Finn began. He didn't know what to say.

"Sorry about what?" Rachel asked.

Finn shrugged. "Everything."

"Look, I get it," Rachel said, looking hurt. "She felt threatened by me. I get it. I wouldn't want to lose you either." Her eyes were filling with tears, and all Finn wanted to do was hug her.

"Rachel..." Finn began. It was too late though. Rachel walked quickly down the hall and Finn groaned. He wanted to get closer to Rachel... and he was developing feelings for her.