Hey guys! Thanks so much for your support. I'll admit, for the episodes when Finchel were broken up, it's harder to come up with scenes to add in, especially because they probably didn't spend much time together. So I am putting in scenes of them as individuals so we can still get some of them. Hope you enjoy and review if you want me to keep going!

And Happy Easter, to those of you who celebrate it!

Chapter 35: Silly Love Songs

During the week after the big football game, Finn couldn't help but notice that more and more girls at school seemed to be interested in him. He always seemed to be getting swoons and looks and smiles from girls whose names he didn't even know.

The old Finn would have loved this. But the present Finn knew these girls wouldn't give him a second thought if he hadn't led the football team to a big title. As he unlocked his locker, Becky Jackson came up to him, holding up a candy heart. "I love you, Finny-bear."

Finn smiled. "Thanks, Becky."

"Be my Valentine?" Becky asked.

"I'll keep you posted," Finn said. After Becky left, Finn put the candy heart she'd given him in the bucket of hearts he'd gotten from other girls. Maybe it wasn't so bad that all these girls were into him. Maybe it could help him get over Rachel.

Then he noticed Quinn. The one girl who had actually kissed him rather than just giving him a heart. She was with Sam, but she was looking at him. He wasn't sure why. But he'd been with her for a while for a reason. Right?

Then he came up with an idea. He'd heard of football players having kissing booths. He knew girls at this school would be willing to kiss him for money. Maybe this was what he needed to do.

x

In glee that day, another idea came to Finn. He could put the money from the kissing booth toward the trip to New York. How could anyone in glee object tho that? Well, maybe Rachel would...

"All right, guys, I have one word for you," Mr. Schue said. Then he paused. "Brittany?"

"Is it love?" Brittany asked. "I'm totally going to graduate now."

"Valentine's Day is coming up, so for this week's lesson, I want you guys to pick a partner, because you're going to sing to them what you think is the world's greatest love song," Mr. Schue said. "Yeah, find a song that communicates all the things that love means to you. Now, partner up."

Finn knew who he wanted to partner with. He had to get him mind off things. "Mr. Schue, can I say something? I just wanted to point out that for the first time, an entire week has gone by without any one of us getting slushied. I think the fact that I led the football team to a Conference Championship might have something to do with it. Fact is that I'm the closest thing that this Glee Club has to a celebrity right now. And just like a famous athlete, I want to give to a charity. You guys. So, I'm setting up a kissing booth for a dollar a smooch, and donating the proceeds to Glee Club to help us..."

Mercedes didn't look impressed. "Don't even act like you're trying to help this Glee Club out. You just want to kiss a bunch of girls."

"I've kissed Finn, and can I just say, not worth a buck. I would, however, pay a hundred dollars to jiggle one of his man-boobs," Santana said.

Finn knew that Mercedes was right. But he decided to instead focus on what Santana had said to him. "Do you ever get tired of tearing other people down?"

"No, not really," Santana said.

"Cause you always just seem to do be meddling in everybody else's business," Finn said.

"Oh, please. You guys love me. I keep it real, and I'm hilarious," Santana smirked.

"Actually, you're just a bitch," Lauren said.

"Whoa!" Mr. Schue said.

Santana looked at Lauren. "Okay. I'm sorry. You've just got eyes for my man."

Puck looked at Santana. "Okay, first of all, I'm not your man."

"And Finn is right. All you ever do is insult us. Three weeks ago, you said you were disappointed that I didn't have a lizard baby," Quinn added.

"Five minutes ago, you said Mr. Schue belonged in a 12-step program," said Tina.

"Wait. What?" Mr. Schue asked.

"You're addicted to vests," Santana told Mr. Schue.

"The truth is, Santana, you can dish it out, but you can't take it. Okay, maybe you're right. Maybe I am destined to play the title role in the Broadway musical version of Willow, but the only job you're going to have is working on a pole," Rachel ranted.

Once again, Finn was remembered why he loved Rachel so much. She was never afraid to say what was on her mind. She knew how to stand up for people. This was going to be harder than Finn thought.

x

That weekend, Rachel had Mercedes and Kurt over for a sleepover. She did think she needed a distraction from everything that was going on, and lately Mercedes had been nicer to her at Glee.

"I'm so glad I don't have to go to school this weekend," Kurt told the girls.

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked. She knew that Kurt thought things might be going somewhere with Blaine. Did Blaine have a boyfriend?

"Blaine likes some guy who works at the Gap," Kurt said. "He wants the Warblers to back him up in serenading this guy. At the Gap. I was absolutely devastated."

"Did he ever actually say you two were dating?" Rachel asked.

"Well, not in so many words," Kurt said.

Mercedes Jones: Well, did he put the moves on?

"No, but we were always singing duets, and he was always smiling at me," Kurt said sadly. "Oh, my God, I made up the whole thing in my head, didn't I?"

"Listen, we've all been there. At least I have. With you," Mercedes said.

Rachel knew exactly what Kurt was talking about. "I know exactly what you mean. I mean, if Finn thinks that he's just gonna walk out of my life, he's wrong, 'cause I'm gonna go up to that kissing booth tomorrow with a $100 bill and he's not gonna be able to make change, and then he's gonna be forced to kiss me 100 times, and when his lips touch mine, I'm telling you, he's gonna feel it."

"Hey, hey. We're supposed to be giving Kurt advice, remember?" Mercedes reminded Rachel.

"Yeah," Rachel said.

Mercedes turned to Kurt. "You are going to the Gap Attack, though, right?"

"Should I?" Kurt asked.

"Yes!" Mercedes declared.

"Mm-hmm," Rachel said.

Mercedes said what Rachel was thinking. "Scope out the competition. See what this guy's like." But then Rachel didn't agree with what Mercedes said. "You know, you two are both so guy crazy. Yeah. Look at me. I don't have a date for Valentine's Day, and I could give a rip. The three of us are divas. Look at our idols. Whitney, Barbra, Patti LuPone. They all became stars while they were single. They took all the pain and loneliness, and they put it into their music. People could relate to it. Yeah, everybody feels lonely. Harnessing this pain is why they became legends."

"Why has this never occurred to me?" Rachel said.

"Sometimes you have to choose between love and talent. And as far as I'm concerned, we all need to fly solo for a while," Mercedes said.

"It's so nice to be around girls, for a change," Kurt said.

Rachel pulled both Kurt and Mercedes in for a hug. "Oh. Here. Move over."

"I'm going to go get us some more snacks," Mercedes said, walking downstairs. When she was gone, Kurt turned to Rachel. "How is she so okay with it all?"

"Not having a man?" Rachel asked. "I wonder the same thing."

"I just want to be loved, you know?" Kurt told Rachel.

"I feel the same way," Rachel said. "I feel horrible for what I did to Finn, but I miss him so much. I just wish I could make it up to him."

"You should go to the booth," Kurt said. "You know, he talks about you at home."

Rachel was intrigued. "What do you mean?"

"Just about you in general," Kurt said. "He talks about what you said in glee. About how you put Santana in her place the other day."

"You know, I really think Blaine could be good for you," Rachel told Kurt. "You shouldn't let this other guy stand in the way."

"What if things happen with Blaine and this other guy?" Kurt asked.

"Then don't let the other guy stand in the way," Rachel told Kurt. "Fight for Blaine. I didn't let Quinn stop me from fighting for Finn."

"That's true," Kurt said.

Mercedes came back upstairs.

x

Rachel decided to go to the kissing booth, but she decided to only bring a dollar. Finn looked surprised when she got to the front of the line. "Are you sure you can handle this?"

Rachel decided to pretend she wasn't interested in Finn anymore to try to get him turned on. "Oh, absolutely. I've decided that I'm better off without you. Not without you specifically, but without any man who's going to keep me from achieving my goals of stardom."

"Sweet," Finn said. He paused for a moment. "Uh... Well, we should probably kiss. There's a line-up." He leaned down and kissed Rachel on the cheek.

"What the hell? On the cheek?" Rachel snapped. That was not what she'd paid for.

"Wait, I thought you said you were over me," Finn said.

Rachel tried to think of something to say. "I am, but I still... I still want a real kiss. That was not a dollar kiss."

Finn pulled Rachel aside. "I knew you were lying about being through with love and all that stuff."

Rachel couldn't hold it in anymore. "Okay, fine. I still love you. Okay? Is that what you want to hear? Why can't you just forgive me?"

"You cheated on me. That means something," Finn said.

"What does it mean? That I was stupid? That I was angry? I don't care about Puck. I don't care about anybody but you," Rachel told Finn.

Finn didn't even say anything. He just reached into his backpack and handed Rachel a small box with a Christmas design. "It's Valentine's Day," Rachel said.

"Oh, yeah," Finn said. "I ordered it for you for Christmas before we broke up."

Finn had been carrying around Rachel's Christmas present? Maybe that meant something. "Just open it," Finn said.

Rachel opened the box. There was a necklace with a gold star charm. "I think you're right about wanting to be alone for a while," Finn said. "Cause let's face it, Rachel. You're better than everyone in this school. You don't need me or any other guy to anchor you to Lima. You're a real star. And you need to shine. Just because I can't be with you, it doesn't mean I don't believe in you."

Rachel knew Finn meant well, but she just felt even more hurt. "Thank you." She decided to end this conversation here and now because it was getting no where. "Just because I can't be with you doesn't mean I don't believe in you." That had stung so much. She honestly didn't care if Finn believed in her. She had herself and her dads to believe in herself. "Anchor you down to Lima?" Why did everyone only see her as the singer? Why couldn't anyone see that there were some ways when she wanted to be like everyone else? She wanted friends, she wanted to have love.

x

Finn knew that he couldn't have full out kissed Rachel because that would just draw him back in. The next day, he was at his booth when Quinn arrived, and so did Sam. "Wait. Hold on. I want to see this," Sam said.

"Pervert," Finn said.

"I'd prefer 'chaperone,' and also 'boyfriend,'" Sam said.

Quinn leaned in and kissed Finn. He had to admit, she was a kisser. It felt like fireworks. Still, it didn't feel like kissing Rachel. Quinn turned to Sam. "Satisfied?"

"Let's go," Sam said.

Quinn and Sam left when Quinn came back and whispered to Finn. "Meet me tomorrow afternoon in the auditorium."

x

As Finn continued to kiss girls the next day, Santana pushed her way to the front of the line and kissed Finn. "Whoa, whoa."

"Sorry about that. I couldn't help myself," Santana said. "If I have anything, I hope it's not contagious."

Did she have something? Finn hoped she didn't. A lot of the girls at the school could possibly get it if he had it.

x

When Finn was done at the booth, he went to the auditorium to meet Quinn. What did she want from him here? Then Quinn came in. "Sorry, I was at church."

"Praying for the strength to come?" Finn asked.

"Not to," Quinn said. "You realize this is making me a cheater, the thing that hurt you so badly that it made you break up with me. And Rachel."

Finn knew Quinn was right. "You know why it hurt so bad when you guys cheated on me? 'Cause it meant you didn't love me."

"That's not true," Quinn said.

"No. At least not enough to not want to hurt me, and that's the thing about cheating. When you really love someone, you'd do anything to keep them safe." Of course, this made him a hypocrite. He'd cheated on Quinn both emotionally and physically with Rachel. He knew that Rachel loved him. He just didn't know why she'd done that. And that was why he needed to take his mind off things.

"I love Sam," Quinn said.

"No, you don't. Or else you wouldn't have come here," Finn said.

"Fine. I think I love him. No matter what happens between us, I'm not going to break up with Sam until I know for sure one way or another," Quinn said. "Do you think you can love two people at one time?"

Finn knew you couldn't. He had discovered he didn't really love Quinn when he fell in love with Rachel. "Not totally. You have to choose, eventually."

x

Finn wasn't feeling well the next day, but the good news was that he'd raised money for Nationals. "Well, I did it. I kissed every girl in this school, and raised $324 for the Glee Club," Finn said, handing the money to Mr. Schue.

"All right, Finn," Mr. Schue said. "Thanks. That'll pay for half a ticket to Nationals. So... Still a long way to go. All right? Okay. Now I believe it's time to hear what the world's greatest love song means to Ms. Tina Cohen-Chang. Come on up."

"Is anyone else hot?" Finn asked. "It's really stuffy in here."

"This is for you, Mike. Happy Valentine's Day," Tina said. Finn didn't really hear Tina's song because he was feeling worse and worse. Then Tina broke down crying.

"That was good. Thank you," Mike told his girlfriend.

"Okay. Wow, that was... powerful. Almost too powerful," Mr. Schue said.

"Mr. Schue, can I be excused?" Finn asked. "I don't feel well."

"Me, either. I feel sick," Quinn said.

"Let me guess. You have a sore throat, and your glands are swollen, and you're feverish," Santana said.

"Yeah, which is why I need to go to the nurse," Finn said.

"It sounds like you have mono," Santana said. "Otherwise known as the kissing disease. But you know what really helps spread it? A little tongue. Which is weird, because it sounds like Quinn here has it, too."

"I was there when they kissed. It was just a peck," Sam said.

"So, how about we stop talking about tonguing, and Finn and I go to the nurse?" Quinn snapped.

x

"I've cheated twice in my life. The first time, I got pregnant. The second time, I got mono. I think the universe is trying to tell me something," Quinn said as she and Finn lay on cots at the nurse's office.

"Maybe. But I think Sam likes you enough to believe whatever story you told him," Finn said.

"Santana is such a bitch," Quinn mumbled.

The nurse came in. "It looks like mono to me. I called your mothers. You can hang here till they pick you up, but no kissing."

Finn looked at Quinn. "I'm not done with us yet."

"You have to stop," Quinn said. "Nothing can happen between us, until I figure out what's going on with me and Sam and you figure out what's going on with you and Rachel."

Quinn could tell that Finn still had feelings for Rachel? Uh oh. "But... nothing's... nothing's going on with me and Rachel."

"All I know is that when I don't catch you staring at me, you're staring at her," Quinn said.

Yeah, she knew. Finn just rolled over to take a nap. When he opened his eyes, he saw Rachel sitting there, holding a cold washcloth to his forehead. He was so glad she was there for him. "You don't have to do that, you know," he managed to say.

"No, I would do it for anyone," Rahel said. "Where's Quinn?"

She must have left while Finn was asleep. "Uh, her mom picked her up a few hours ago."

"Quinn really is very pretty," Rachel said sadly. "She's prettier than me."

"Would you stop? You're beautiful," Finn said.

Rachel didn't look convinced. "I know she is. It meant so much to me that you chose me over her. Girls like me don't get chosen over girls like her very much. Did you kiss her? Like Santana said?"

Finn didn't know what to say. "Yeah but I just needed to get it out of my system.

"So, what did it feel like? When you kissed her?" Rachel asked.

"Fireworks," Finn said. Oh crap.

"Did you see fireworks when you kissed me?" Rachel asked.

Finn didn't say anything. He didn't see fireworks when he kissed Rachel. He saw the future. He saw the world stand still. But Rachel just started to leave. "Rachel, wait," Finn pleaded.

Rachel turned around. "No. It's good. Thank you. Look, you've given me the strength to move on. I know now that there's... nothing here for me anymore."

Finn sat up. "That's not the truth. I still... I'm just... I'm so confused in my head right now."

"No, it's okay. Look, I understand. Now I'm free to pursue my dreams without anything holding me back. And you've actually inspired my song selection for this week's love song assignment. Feel better, Finn." Her voice broke Finn's heart. He loved her. And he knew it.

x

The next day in Glee, Rachel decided to perform her love song. She had seen fireworks when she kissed Finn, even if he hadn't with her.

Rachel: Do you ever feel like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin, like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?
Do you ever feel already buried deep, 6 feet under screams but no one seems to hear a thing?
Do you know that there's still a chance for you 'cause there's a spark in you
You just gotta ignite, the light, and let it shine just own the night like the 4th of July
'Cause baby you're a firework come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh," as you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you're a firework come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh," you're gonna leave 'em all in awe, awe, awe

You don't have to feel like a waste of space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow
Maybe your reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow
And when it's time, you'll know
You just gotta ignite, the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July
'Cause baby you're a firework come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh," as you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you're a firework come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, Oh, Oh," you're gonna leave 'em all in awe, awe, awe
Boom, boom, boom, even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time to let it through-ough-ough
'Cause baby you're a firework come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, Oh, Oh," as you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you're a firework come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, Oh, Oh," you're gonna leave 'em all in awe, awe, awe
(Boom, boom, boom, even brighter) than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom, even brighter than the moon, moon, moon.

"That was great, Rachel," Mr. Schue said. "What made you choose that song?"

"I just think it's a great song," Rachel said. "It's for all the lovers out there." She knew she wouldn't be among the lovers for a while. She went to Breadstix by herself that evening. A few months ago, she would have thought she'd be here with Finn tonight. Instead, she was here alone.

She didn't want to go, but she'd heard about what happened to Blaine and that had to make things harder for Kurt. She had to support Kurt. Then she heard a voice behind her. "Mind if we join you?" Mercedes asked as she arrived with Mike and Tina.

"I would love that," Rachel said. Even if she didn't have a date, at least she had some friends.

Kurt came up to the podium. "So, Happy Valentine's Day, everybody. For those of you Breadstix patrons who don't know who I am, I'm Kurt Hummel, and welcome to my first ever Lonely Hearts Club dinner. Whether you are single with hope, or madly in love, and are here because I forced you to come out and support me, sit back and enjoy. And to all the singles out there, this is our year."

Hopefully, this would be Rachel's year. The Warblers' performance was great, and afterwards, Kurt came up to Rachel and Mercedes. "Thanks for coming."

"You knew we would," Mercedes said.

"How are you doing?" Rachel asked Kurt.

"Well, I guess I'm better," Kurt said. "What about you?"

"I'm hanging in there," Rachel said. "I'll be okay, though."

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