Hi everyone! Thanks so much for the reviews, I appreciate them! Hope you guys enjoyed the Christmas episode. I was hoping that since it was from the past, they'd have old footage of Finn to use. Speaking of Finn, I met another Finchel fan today :) That's always fun :) Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter and review if you want me to keep writing! There wasn't much Finchel in this episode, but I did add on a small scene and extend some :) And I got to write a little Quick, which I always enjoy :)

Chapter 9: Wheels

Ever since Quinn had been kicked off the cheerios, she'd become more and more difficult. It felt like she was always yelling at Finn, claiming that it was his fault that she'd been kicked off the team and lost her spot as the most popular girl at school. Finn was passing the gym and glanced in, noticing Quinn sitting on the bleachers. He went in and sat next to her. "You shouldn't do this to yourself."

"Do what?" Quinn asked.

"I know how much it hurts to be off the team," Finn said. "You're just torturing yourself watching."

Quinn handed Finn a printout. "I need a good distraction."

Finn looked at the paper. It was a bill. "From what? $685?"

"That's how much a sonogram costs," Quinn rambled. "This is just the beginning. There's gonna be more doctors' visits... vitamins, new clothes for when I explode."

Finn began panicking. His mom barely made enough money to pay the bills every month. "What are we gonna do?"

"What are YOU gonna do?" Quinn snapped.

"Well, I'm looking for a job," Finn said. He knew no job he got could get him enough money to pay nine months worth of medical bills. Gosh, why couldn't whoever Quinn wanted to give the baby to pay the bills? It was going to end up being their kid. "I mean, no one's hiring. I almost got in at Olive Garden, but they said I was too tall to be a busboy."

Quinn began to walk away. "Somewhere in that pea brain of yours is a man. Access him and tell him to prove to me that I chose the right guy to have a baby with."

Pea brain? That hurt. "I will. I-I'll find a job. Where...Where are you goin'?"

"You were right. This does hurt too much," Quinn said.

x

"So, how's the job search going?" Quinn asked Finn the next morning.

"Well... I'm looking," Finn said. It had been less than 24 hours. All he'd had time for was homework, football practice and glee practice.

"What about Target?" Quinn asked.

Finn had gone there with his mom to get some food yesterday. There hadn't been any "Now Hiring" signs. "Tried. Not hiring."

"Another doctor bill came to my parents' house last night, Finn," Quinn said. "We're lucky that I'm clever and intercepted it. But we have to start paying these doctors' bills... or they're gonna go to a collection agency. And then my parents are gonna find out that I'm with child... your child."

Finn knew Quinn's parents didn't like him much. He knew they probably wanted their daughter to be dating a very religious Christian boy, and he could probably count on a hand the number of times he'd been inside a church. Luckily, Mr. Schue came into the choir room and interrupted Finn's thoughts.

x

"All right, guys," Mr. Schue said, passing out music sheets. "We're doin' a new number for sectionals. I know that pop songs have sort of been our signature pieces. But I did a little research on past winners, and it turns out that the judges like songs that are more accessible. Stuff they know. Uh, standards, Broadway."

Rachel looked at the sheet. Defying Gravity? She loved Wicked! But she wasn't going to say anything. She remembered the issues with Tonight.

"Defying Gravity?" Kurt asked. "I have an iPod shuffle dedicated exclusively to selections from Wicked. This is amazing."

"Think you can handle it Rachel?" Mr. Schue asked.

Rachel couldn't believe her good luck. Mr. Schue wanted her to sing at Sectionals? "It's my go-to shower song. It's also my ringtone." She saw Finn give her a smile.

"Why do we have to go all vanilla on this song? See, what we need is my chocolate thunder," Mercedes complained.

Rachel knew this song wasn't suited to Mercedes's voice. Luckily, Mr. Schue agreed. "Okay. We don't have time to rearrange the song for you, Mercedes. Rachel is singing it. Don't worry. We'll find something for you to dip in chocolate. On to item two. The school won't pay for the special bus we need to take Artie and his wheelchair with us to sectionals."

"Wh...Wh...What?" Tina stuttered.

"That's completely unfair," Rachel said. The school was always looking for ways to keep things from the glee club.

"So, we're gonna have to raise money to pay for it ourselves. See, when I was in Glee Club and we needed new silk cummerbunds for regionals... we held a bake sale," Mr. Schue said.

Would anyone even buy anything from them? They were the biggest losers in the school. "Wait. You're joking, right? I mean, bake sales are kind of bougie," Santana said.

"So hip people stopped eating delicious sugary treats?" Mr. Schue asked.

"It's not that. It's most of us don't know how to bake. I find recipes confusing," said Brittany.

"My family's fully committed to takeout," Rachel said. They weren't. But she knew no one would buy anything from them.

"Yeah, Mr. Schue," Finn said. "Kids are busier than when you went here. We've got homework and football and teen pregnancy, lunch."

"Can't Artie's dad just take him?" Mercedes asked.

"I can't believe how insensitive you're all being. Are you a team?" Mr. Schue asked. Rachel did feel bad. She liked Artie, he was one of the few kids in the Glee club who'd never been mean to her. If there was a way to pay for the bus that didn't involve the rest of the school, she'd be all for it.

"Of course. But Artie understands. Don't you, Artie?" Quinn asked.

"Of course, it's cool," Artie said. "I mean, anything that takes away our time from rehearsing doesn't serve as a team."

x

Finn felt bad about how the glee club had behaved about the bus and the bake sale, but he knew no one would buy anything from them. Mr. Schue had made up his mind the next day - they were having a bake sale, and they'd be spending a few days this week in wheelchairs to get an idea of what things were like for Artie. They'd also be doing a number in wheelchairs at Sectionals that would be led by Artie and Mercedes. Finn had hoped he'd get to lead a song with Rachel. Oh well, there would be a third song.

He couldn't think about Rachel. Not now. He was going to Quinn's to make cupcakes for the bake sale. He was going to be late. Then his phone went off. He looked at the caller ID. It was Rachel. He tried not to sound too excited when he picked it up. "Hey Rachel!"

"Hey Finn!" Rachel said. "I was lying about takeout. My dads and I love cooking. I was just worried no one would buy anything because we're such losers."

"Yeah, so was I," Finn said. "But you're not a loser. Far from it." He hated how everyone thought of Rachel as a loser.

"Yeah I am," Rachel sighed. "So, I was wondering. I'm making my favorite cookie recipe for the bake sale. Want to come over and make some with me?"

Did he want to? Oh, he wanted to. But he had to go to Quinn's today. As much as he preferred Rachel's company, Quinn was who he was with. He had to think of an excuse. Rachel would be so hurt if she knew he was spending time with Quinn instead of him. "I want to, but my mom's making me do some housework tonight."

"It's okay," Rachel said. "I'll save a cookie for you."

Rachel was so cool. Whenever Finn turned Quinn down, she yelled at him. He got in his car and drove to Quinn's house, only to discover that the baking had already started.

And Quinn wasn't doing it alone.

Puck was with her. The two of them appeared to be having more fun than Finn and Quinn ever had. Tossing flour at each other. Cracking eggs on each other's heads.

Finn had noticed Quinn and Puck seemed to be getting closer lately. Definitely closer than he was with Quinn. "What the hell?" Finn managed to say.

"We're baking!" Quinn giggled.

Finn nodded. "I can see that."

Both Puck and Quinn looked awkward. "I'm gonna go change," Puck said before leaving.

x

"Hey Rachel, can I talk to you?" Mr. Schue asked. Spanish class was ending, and Rachel was about to leave.

"Sure," Rachel said. She sat down.

Mr. Schue looked at Rachel. "Kurt wants to sing Defying Gravity at Sectionals."

Rachel's mouth dropped. "I thought I was singing it!" Why were all her dream solos being taken away?

"I know this is gonna be hard on you, Rachel," said Mr. Schue. "But I can't in good conscience preach about the importance of helping Artie and then reject Kurt's request out of hand."

"So you're giving him my part?" Rachel groaned.

"Now, I can't just give him the part," Mr. Schue assured her. "That would be just as wrong. But I can let him audition."

Now Rachel was worried. She knew Defying Gravity wasn't in Mercedes's range, but she knew Kurt could do it just as well as she could... maybe even better. "This is totally unfair. You gave me the part."

"And I will give it to you again if you can sing the song better than Kurt," Mr. Schue said.

x

In Glee club that afternoon, Mr. Schue told the group what he had in mind - and for Rachel, things got even worse. "Now, all of you are gonna judge. And in the spirit of full access, each of you is going to get a vote. Whatever singer has the most votes gets the part," Mr. Schue explained.

Now Rachel knew for sure she wouldn't get it. Everyone loved Kurt. "This isn't gonna be about talent, Mr. Schuester. It's gonna be a popularity contest."

Kurt smirked. "Stop right there. Mr. Schue, if I may? We all know I'm more popular than Rachel. And I dress better than her. But I want you all to promise me that you're going to vote for whoever sings the song better. Raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I promise to vote for whoever sings the song better."

Was this really going to happen? And why was Kurt making fun of her? He was an outcast, too. Did it make him feel better about himself to make fun of Rachel.

"I promise to vote for whoever sings the song better," everyone mumbled.

Mr. Schue looked at Rachel, then at Kurt. "Good luck."

"It's on," Kurt snarled.

x

"This is ridiculous," Quinn snapped. Finn, Puck, Quinn and Santana were sitting at the bake sale table after school in their wheelchairs to sell the cupcakes. Brittany had gotten a girl in one of her classes to buy one, but no one else had bought any.

"Maybe if we put a jellybean or somthing on top, we'd sell more," Finn thought. That sounded kind of dumb, but he didn't really care.

Quinn gave Finn an angry look. "Are you an idiot? How am I supposed to trust you to take care of our baby when you can't even figure out how to sell a damn cupcake?"

Weren't they giving up their baby? "Stop attacking me," Finn said back. "I'm sick of it."

"Get a job," Quinn demanded. This was a tough time for the United States economically. Adults were getting the jobs high school kids used to get. After the bake sale, Finn and Puck wheeled down the hall together.

"I'm so tired of her always giving me such a hard time," Finn told his friend.

Puck didn't sound sympathetic. "She has a point. You are kind of an idiot."

Finn couldn't believe what his supposed best friend had just said. "Nice support, dude. Whatever happened to bros before ho's?"

"You've got a baby on the way, bro, and you haven't done spit to take care of it," Puck stated.

Who did Puck think he was? He had no idea what was going on. "Like you'd do any different?"

"Damn straight," Puck said.

"How? Nobody's hiring," Finn said yet again. Why couldn't anyone understand that?

"Sell your Xbox," Puck said. "Rob a bank. Go all Robin Hood on this joint. Whatever it takes. All I ever hear is you whining and crying about how hard this is on you. What about her?"

Puck was taking things too far. "Dude, you are so out of line. You don't know what I'm dealing with," Finn said.

Puck lost his temper. "All I know is that you're a punk who doesn't deserve to have Quinn as his girlfriend!"

Finn couldn't take this anymore. "You're a punk!" He shoved Puck, who punched back. What was going on? He'd never gotten in a physical fight before. The punching and shoving continued until Mr. Schue came over, pulling the two boys off each other.

"He started it!" Puck shouted.

"You guys are best friends. What the hell's goin' on?" Mr. Schue asked.

Finn was wondering the same thing. Then it all began coming to him. He'd noticed Puck and Quinn talking more. They were having more fun together while baking than Finn ever had with Quinn, and now Puck had gotten mad at Finn... about Quinn.

Was something going on between them that Finn didn't know about? Luckily, he was distracted soon by a text from Rachel. "My wheelchair's having problems, can you meet me in the choir room?"

Finn smiled as he replied. "Sure!" Leave it to Quinn to ruin his mood, but leave it to Rachel to make him feel better. He wheeled into the choir room. "What's wrong, Rach?"

Rachel gave Finn one of those adorable pouts and pointed at the wheel. "This wheel won't work."

Finn knelt next to Rachel's wheelchair and looked over it. "So, did you save me that cookie?"

"Of course I did!" Rachel said as she handed a cookie to Finn.

Finn took a bite. "This is the best cookie I've ever tasted!"

"I'll have to make you another batch sometime," Rachel said.

"I'd love that," Finn said. "It sucks that we haven't been doing well with the bake sale."

"I know," Rachel agreed. "I wish the school would stop looking down on us."

"Me too," Finn admitted. He didn't know how Rachel had handled being picked on her whole life. He'd tried his hardest to fit in with the football team, even though he never really felt part of the team. But he appeared to be part of the team and people had left him alone. He adjusted Rachel's rim. "There's your problem. You just had a bent push rim. Good as new."

"Thanks, Finn," Rachel said. "You're the only one who was willing to help me. I'm really nervous about the diva off tomorrow."

Why would she be nervous? She was so talented. "Don't be."

"You know, I don't wanna win out of charity. I wanna win the solo because it's right for the club. I really think that the judges at sectionals will find a female version of Defying Gravity much more accessible. But I don't think that's gonna happen. People just don't like me," Rachel admitted.

Finn knew why she was nervous now. Likely, the only votes she'd get were his and her own. "Yeah, you might wanna work on that." Wrong word choices! What if she thought he didn't like her? "I like you."

Rachel smiled at Finn as Quinn stormed in. "We need to talk!"

"I'll get out of your way," Rachel said quietly. Finn groaned to himself. He and Rachel had been having such a nice time together and now Quinn came and ruined that.

Quinn looked at Rachel. "Nope! You stay. I need a witness. Do you know what this is?" She threw a piece of paper at Finn.

Finn Hudson: Oh. It's just a "past due" notice. My mom gets 'em all the time.

"Right," Quinn said. "But if this sonogram bill doesn't get paid it's not your phone that's gonna get cut off. You will get cut off. You need to help me with this, Finn or else we're gonna go our separate ways." She stormed out of the room.

"I'm screwed," Finn mumbled.

"Not necessarily," Rachel said.

Finn looked at Rachel. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we're faking being disabled this week," Rachel said. "Jobs are more likely to be given to minorities. If you show up in a wheelchair, I guarantee you'll get a job."

"You think so?" Finn asked.

"Yeah," Rachel said.

How awesome was Rachel? She was probably hurt enough that Quinn was having Finn's baby, but she was trying to help them.

x

It was the day of the sing off, and Rachel stood at the piano as she watched Kurt chatting with everyone. He'd win, she knew it. Finn came over to her. "Good luck, I'm rooting for you," Finn whispered.

Immediately, Rachel felt better. The music began, and she promised herself she'd sing the song better. Maybe they'd vote for her. Maybe.

Kurt: Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game

Too late for second guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap!

Rachel: It's time to try defying gravity
I think I'll try defying gravity

Kurt: Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity
And you won't bring me down!

I'm through accepting limits
'cause someone says they're so

Rachel: Some things I cannot change
But till I try, I'll never know!

Kurt: Too long I've been afraid of
Losing love I guess I've lost

Rachel: Well, if that's love
It comes at much too high a cost...

Kurt: I'd sooner buy defying gravity

Rachel: Kiss me goodbye I'm defying gravity

Kurt: I think I'll try defying gravity
And you won't bring me down!
I'd sooner buy defying gravity

Rachel:
Kiss me goodbye I'm defying gravity

Kurt: I think I'll try defying gravity
And you won't bring me down!

Rachel: Bring me down!
Ohhhhh, ohhhhh!

At the end of the song, everyone applauded and Mr. Schue had everyone write down their votes. When Mr. Schue finished, he turned to Rachel. "You'll be singing the song at Sectionals!"

Rachel couldn't believe it. People had voted for her? She noticed as Finn gave her a thumbs up.

x

Finn wheeled down the hall a week later. His first paycheck had come in. He hoped Quinn would be impressed. He handed her the check. "Hey. Here."

"What's this?" Quinn asked.

"I got a job," Finn said. "I showed up in my wheelchair and they asked me a few questions and gave it to me." He really had Rachel to thank for this. Now there was only one less thing for Quinn to get mad at him about.

"Wow," Quinn said. "Thanks."

Finn shrugged. "Gonna need to stay in my wheelchair as long as I'm working there. But... screw it. It's worth it. Can I give you a lift to rehearsal?"

Quinn hopped on Finn's lap and they began to wheel down the hall as Finn secretly wished it was Rachel riding on his lap.

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