Thanks for your reviews on my last chapter! It was definitely fun to peek into Finchel's minds during one of their best Season 1 episodes. There wasn't as much Finchel in Episode 3, but I'm still happy with how this turned out. Hope you enjoy it and review if you want me to keep going.

Chapter 3: Acafellas

Finn knew that no matter how much he practiced, he'd never be a good dancer. Even though he knew he was probably one of the better singers in the group (Rachel told him they were tied for the best), he felt self-conscious as he practiced his dancing with the rest of the group. Rachel and Kurt had taken dance lessons. Quinn, Santana and Brittany had done award winning routines with the cheerios. And Finn - well, he had trouble with the simplest steps. He had no rhythm. Feeling self conscious, he watched Rachel as they ran through the steps.

Wow, she looked cute today. She was wearing a sweater vest, a blouse and a pleated skirt. Then Finn noticed Quinn give Rachel a look. What was going on here?

"Can we stop please?" Rachel asked.

"You don't have to ask me if you can go to the bathroom, Rachel, you can just go," Mr. Schue said.

"This isn't about my bladder, this is about the choreography," Rachel said.

"Okay, what's wrong with the choreography?" Mr. Schue asked.

Finn noticed how uncomfortable Rachel looked as she continued talking. "We can't compete against Vocal Adrenaline with these steps," she stuttered. "You're a great vocal coach, Mr. Schue..." Quinn was looking at Rachel now. Someone else was behind this, he was sure. "But you're not a trained choreographer. That's what we need to be the best. We need Dakota Stanley." Rachel started rattling on about this Dakota Stanley guy as Quinn and Santana gave her impressed looks.

"Just because he understudied doesn't mean he ever performed," Mr. Schue said.

"Did you ever perform Mr. Schue," Quinn asked. "AFTER high school?"

"What is going on in here?" Mr. Schue asked.

"For once, I agree with the shrimp," Santana said. "Why do you think the cheerios win Nationals all the time?"

Mr. Schue looked horrified, and Finn was too. "So you want me to be like Coach Sylvester?"

"We only want the best," Quinn said. "And that can't happen unless we have a killer routine."

Mr. Schue looked around the room. Santana, Quinn and Brittany were exchanging happy looks with Rachel and Artie, Kurt, Mercedes and Tina just looked confused.

x

Over the next few weeks, Mr. Schue missed a few rehearsals to practice with a boy band he'd formed. Finn was sure that it had something to do with Rachel's comment.

"He's not coming," Rachel declared as she came in with a plate of cookies. Finn was sure those cookies would taste so good.

"What happened?" Finn asked.

"He said he thinks we should hire Dakota Stanley, but he needs to put more time into the Acafellas," Rachel explained.

"Of course he doesn't want anything to do with us after you kicked him in the ass!" Finn snapped. Who was this, and what had she done with sweet, innocent Rachel?

"The goal is to win," Santana said smugly. "And now that Mr. Schuester has agreed to let us hire Dakota Stanley, we can."

"But he doesn't want us to!" Finn protested. "He just doesn't have the confidence to coach us anymore. Guys are really sensitive with that kind of stuff."

Rachel made a face. "And that's MY fault?"

"See anyone else with a plate of 'I'm Sorry' cookies?" Finn retorted. "I don't. Just you."

Quinn stood up. "I'm bored. All those in favor of hiring Dakota Stanley?" She, Santana and Brittany raised their hands right away. Mercedes, Tina and Kurt were quick to do so as well. Finn looked at Rachel. She put her hand up, too. After practice, he was going to talk to her.

x

"Wait up!" Finn called as he chased Rachel out after Glee practice. Even if this was how it had to happen, he just wanted some time with her. "You can't do this to Mr. Schuester!"

Rachel looked at Finn as she kept walking. "What? Make him a hero? You heard Santana. It's all about winning. Once we win Nationals, he'll thank me for it."

"Since when?" Finn asked. Rachel didn't seem to be the type to care about reputation.

Rachel didn't even look at Finn. "Look. You have your popular clique and football and your cliche of a blond girlfriend. Glee is MY one shot."

So this was it. It made more sense now. And he realized it. Rachel was one of the top students in the Class of 2012, but that didn't really matter to other students. She didn't really have any friends, and she didn't seem to love anything the way she loved Glee. He hoped she would open up to him more. "If that doesn't work out, my whole high school life will be an embarrassment," Rachel continued.

Finn finally caught up with Rachel. "Wait. Is this one of these chick things where you pretend you're pissed about one thing, but you're really pissed about something else?"

Rachel's vulnerable look said it all. She was still hurt that he'd left her when they kissed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Now he might as well try to get it out of her mouth. "Well, for a while you were kind of all over me and now you just yell at me all the time. Makes me think you're still pissed about what happened in the auditorium."

Rachel began walking away. Yup, she was still mad at him. "I'm not. I've moved on and I'm focusing on my career."

"You want to talk about it?" Finn called after her.

Rachel turned around. "No, and neither do you." Yes he did. "It's ironic how you're Mr. Popular and I'm this nobody that everyone makes fun of..." That's where she was wrong. He wasn't popular. He only hung around the football players because he felt like they'd make fun of him if he didn't. He spent most of his free time alone. "... but I have enough confidence to say what happened between us in the auditorium was real. You have feelings for me and you just don't have the guts to admit it."

She knew. "We're hiring Dakota Stanley," Rachel declared before walking away.

Finn had to think of something to stop this. "Even if it means me quitting?"

"YES!" Rachel said.

x

Dakota Stanley was even shorter than Rachel was. She didn't think that was possible.

The day he showed up at practice, the first thing he did was hand each of them a printout. "These are your personalized menus for the next six months," he squaked.

Mercedes looked at hers. "Mine just says coffee!"

"Yeah," Dakota said.

"What's smelt?" Rachel asked, looking that menu. She already wasn't sure if this had been a good idea.

"A pungent low-carb freshwater fish," Dakota told Rachel. "Okay, let's start with today's business. Artie, you're cut."

"What?" Artie demanded."

"We can't be wheeling you around during every number. It throws off the whole dynamic, and it's depressing," Dakota said. Rachel already didn't like this. Artie had a great voice, and he was a nice guy.

"So, you're kicking him out?" Mercedes asked, also sounding horrified.

"Mm-hmm. Also you. ouse got to go, Effie," Dakota said to Mercedes

"Oh! ..." Mercedes began. Rachel was sure she would say hell to the no.

"No, no, no. Yeah." Dakota continued down the line.

"You can't kick people out of Glee Club because you don't like the way they look!" Kurt protested.

"Uh, why don't you shut your face-gash and stay away from aerosol cans because you could burst into flames at any second?" Dakota retorted before moving on to the three cheerios. "You three ...you're great, you're perfect. Seriously, don't change thing." Now he was at Rachel. "Uh, you... ew, nose job."

Finn looked disgusted. "Now just hold on a second. What?" Finn was standing up for her? Maybe he really did have feelings for her!

"What was that, frankenteen?" Dakota asked Finn. "Why don't you, uh, wipe that Dopey look off your face and get some lotion for those knuckles you've been dragging on the ground?"

Finn's facial expression was adorable! "What's wrong with you?" Finn snapped.

"What's wrong with me?" Dakota rambled. "What's wrong with me is that you're freakishly tall. I feel like a woodland creature. Um, am I hurting your feelings? Did I say something wrong? Because I thought you wanted somebody who respected you enough to tell you the truth. But maybe you don't have the confidence to hear it, hmm? Maybe you need somebody who's going to Lie to you and tell you things like, 'you got what it takes.' But you know what? As far as I can see, you don't. So, why don't you just take a little second, take a breather, and ask yourself, 'do I want to be a winner..or not?'"

"Screw this. I quit," Finn said, beginning to leave the room. Rachel knew that Finn was right all along. They shouldn't have hired Dakota Stanley.

"Me too," Artie said.

Mercedes began pushing Artie's chair. "Let's roll, Artie." They began following Finn out of the room, along with Tina and Kurt. Now Rachel was alone with the three cheerios.

"Great," said Dakota. You know, separate the wheat from the chaff; that's perfect."

Then it came to Rachel. "Wait." To her surprise, everyone stopped. Maybe they did respect her. "Barbra Streisand. When Barbra was a young ingenue, everyone told her in order to be a star, she'd have to get a nose job. Thankfully, she refused."

"Where's this going, yentl?" Dakota asked.

Rachel felt her confidence coming back. "Where it's going is that... We don't need you. Let's face it. We're never going to be as good of dancers as Vocal Adrenaline. We're gonna win because... we're different. And that's what makes us special." And she saw Finn giving her the most adorable smile.

"They told her booty was too big," Mercedes said as she came back with Kurt and Tina

Artie began wheeling himself back. "Curtis Mayfield was more successful after he became paralyzed."

"Jim Abbot," Finn said.

"I have no idea who that is," Kurt said. Neither did Rachel.

"He was a one-armed pitcher for the yankees. Pitched a no-hitter," Finn said as he came back.

"Okay, so, yeah," Dakota snapped. "Misfits and spaz-heads and cripples can make it, too. That's great. What's your point?"

Rachel had put up with him enough. "Our point is that... you're fired. And I'm taller than you."

Dakota gave her an annoyed look. Rachel turned to Finn. His smile now was even bigger.

x

Rachel was so glad that Finn had decided to stay in Glee, but at the same time, she felt like she should support him in the boy band he was in with Puck, Mr. Schue, Coach Tanaka and Mr. Ryerson. She'd heard Mr. Schue mention that there was a performance at the PTA meeting next week, so she decided to go. As the band members took the stage, Rachel couldn't help but notice how attractive Finn looked in a tux. When the performance began, she was blown away by how talented he was. Every time she heard him sing, she knew she'd found the right guy to be her leading man. (And as hard as it was to see him as more than the guy who threw slushies at her every day, she had to admit that Puck was pretty talented too.)

At the end of the performance, Rachel went to go get a snack from the vending machine when she heard a voice behind her. "Hey!"

Rachel turned and saw Finn. "Hey! You were really good."

"You really think I'm good?" Finn asked.

"I know you're good," Rachel said. She was tempted to say how sexy he looked in a tux, but she was afraid to. He was with someone.

"I saw the myspace video you posted yesterday," Finn said.

"Really?" Rachel asked. She had no idea people watched those, other than people who left mean comments.

"Yeah," Finn said. "You sounded great on that song."

"Wow," Rachel said. That had been one of the hardest songs she'd ever sung.

"I just really wanted to tell you that I'm so excited to sing with you at Sectionals," Finn continued before Rachel had a chance to say anything.

Rachel didn't know what to say. "Yeah, me too."