Hi guys! Thanks a lot for your reviews on the Original Song chapter. Original Song is one of my favorite Season 2 episodes, so that was a fun chapter to write. I hope you guys enjoy this one, too. Night of Neglect isn't my favorite episode, but I added some stuff in for Finchel :) I added in a song for Finn to perform at the benefit that I think would have been good for Finchel at that time. Hope you guys enjoyed the season finale last night. And don't forget to review if you want me to continue this story!

Chapter 40: A Night Of Neglect

"I really don't think this is a good idea," Finn told Quinn.

"Finn, I told you, I already told her, and she's fine with it," Quinn said.

Finn knew that look. That was the look Quinn had when she was lying. And he knew Rachel wasn't fine with it. It had been a few weeks, and they hadn't talked since the kiss at Regionals.

The kiss at Regionals. Good thing Quinn didn't know about that. What type of person was Finn? He felt worse about hurting Rachel than he did about cheating on the girl he was with.

"You do the talking then," Finn said.

"Fine with me," Quinn said. "I have more to say about this than you did."

Great. Quinn was probably going to give the glee club the prom lecture. All she cared about these days was prom. She insisted that she had to be prom queen and thought that Finn would help her win votes because of the football game.

Finn and Quinn arrived at glee club and everyone else was there. "Mr. Schue, Finn and I have something to say," Quinn said.

"All right, go ahead, because after that, I have something to say, too," Mr. Schue said.

"Finn and I are officially back together and campaigning for prom king and queen," Quinn said proudly. "We'd really like any of your votes."

Finn looked around the room. Everyone looked like they thought this news was a little strange. Mike was whispering to Tina, Artie and Brittany were giving each other weird looks, Puck and Lauren were also exchanging a look, Sam and Santana both looked grossed out, Mercedes looked confused and Rachel... well, Rachel looked sick.

"You guys could sound a little more happy for us, you know," Quinn snapped, nudging Finn in the ribs. "We need your votes!"

"Didn't you guys already try this?" Mercedes asked.

"Yeah, I don't remember it working out very well last year," Tina added.

"Well, when we win prom king and queen, it'll make everything that went wrong better," Quinn said.

"I have to go," Rachel said, leaving the room.

"What's up with her?" Sam asked.

"Well, I know she's not too happy about me and Finn," Quinn said. "But don't you guys worry, I told her what she needed to hear."

What she needed to hear? What had Quinn done?

"She'll be fine," Mr. Schue said.

"So, what did you have to say, Mr. Schue?" Finn asked, wanting the attention off him and Quinn.

"I was talking to Miss Holliday, and she and I thought that we should do a fundraiser for Nationals and for the brainiacs' trip," Mr. Schue said. "A benefit concert."

"Would anyone come?" Sam asked.

"You all have parents, don't you?" Mr. Schue asked.

That was true. Still, Finn doubted very many other people would come.

"The theme of the concert is A Night of Neglect," Mr. Schue said as Rachel came back in. Rachel's eyes were red and Finn felt awful. "We're only going to do songs by neglected artists. Because it's a night of neglect."

"Can you define what you mean by neglected artist?" Rachel asked.

"Someone whose brilliance isn't always appreciated," Mr. Schue said.

"Oh, so you mean like me," Rachel said.

"I mean, like all of us," Mr. Schue said. "All right, everyone, next Saturday night, in our auditorium, McKinley high's first annual night of neglect fund-raiser benefit is officially a go!"

Now Finn wondered - what song should he do? Whatever he did, he wanted to send a message to Rachel with it.

x

Rachel had been avoiding Finn for the past few weeks. Sure, they'd kissed at Regionals, but she knew they shouldn't have. Right now, she was hanging out with Tina, Mike, Mercedes and Lauren before glee practice. "So, what songs do you think you guys will do?" she asked them.

"I'm totally doing Lykke Li. She's bjork meets Florence and the machine, and a promising new talent. What about you, Mike?" Tina asked.

"The Mike Chang dance dance revolution," Mike said. "I'm tired of my dancing being overshadowed by all of you guys' singing. It's going to be just me and my sweet moves on that stage."

"You're forgetting about the most neglected artist this Glee club's ever seen: Aretha Franklin," Mercedes said.

"Neglected?" Lauren asked. "She's, like, the queen of soul."

"See, I auditioned for this club singing R-E-S-P-E-C-T and she's gotten none since," Mercedes explained. "So I'm doing Aretha."

Rachel decided to tell them her plan now. "Awesome, Mercedes. Awesome, all of you guys. Those songs are great appetizers to my main course. Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On. It's gonna be our finale."

Tina looked confused. "That's like the biggest song of all time."

"No. You don't understand. Celine isn't the neglected artist, I am," Rachel said.

"I was kind of hoping to do the closing number," Mercedes said.

Uh oh. Rachel could see where Mercedes was coming from. Before she had a chance to say anything, Finn came up to them. "Hey, you guys remember Sunshine Corazon?" he asked.

"Yeah," Rachel said, hoping that no one would bring up the crackhouse incident.

"She's in the choir room," Finn said. "And she wants to perform at the concert."

"But she's in Vocal Adrenaline!" Mercedes protested.

The group followed Finn into the choir room, where the rest of the glee club and Sunshine already were. "You are a terrible spy," Rachel said.

"Seriously, with your size, you easily could have stayed in the air ducts for days," Artie said.

"That's right," Brittany said.

"I'm not a spy," Sunshine insisted. "I heard about your benefit concert on Facebook, and I wanted to perform. I know what it feels like to be in academic decathlon. No one pays attention to you. No one cares. It's not right. We study so hard."

"Yeah, but you're in Vocal Adrenaline. How do we know we can trust you?" Quinn asked.

"Because I have nothing against any of you. I have 600 Twitter followers. I can get all of them to come," Sunshine said.

"How many tickets have we sold so far?" Finn asked.

"Four. No one's interested," Puck commented.

"It's just sad," Finn said.

"Please, just let me show you what I can do," Sunshine begged. "I would like to sing the perfect song about neglect, All By Myself. I'm such a better singer than everyone else, so I know how it feels. I'm all alone at the top. Also, I'm really short. So even when I'm in a group of people, it feels like I'm wandering alone through a forest."

Rachel had a feeling this was a trap. "There's no way that she's singing in our auditorium, okay? She's the enemy."

"I say we give her a chance," Puck said. "I mean, you owe her, Rachel. You sent her to a frickin' crack house."

"I've told you guys before and I'll tell you again: I didn't know that was a crackhouse!" Rachel said. "But okay, Sunshine. Show us what you can do."

x

Sunshine's performance had been good. Rachel was willing to admit that. But Rachel still had her suspicions. "Absolutely not. She's just trying to get on our good sides so she can spy on us," she told the group.

"You're one to talk," Quinn said. "We told you the same thing about Jesse St. James last year."

"And you were right!" Rachel pointed out.

"This whole thing isn't about us. It's about helping the brainiacs," Finn said.

"Yeah, we need Sunshine's Twitter followers to come and pay for tickets, or there's no point in having a benefit at all," Puck said.

"Fine. Mercedes, you're okay with being bumped to the decidedly less glamorous middle spot. Right?" Rachel asked.

"Um... sure, I guess. Absolutely," Mercedes mumbled.

"So we'll give Sunshine the closing spot," Rachel said.

x

"Hey Finn, could you be one of the heads of the benefit?" Artie asked Finn at his locker.

Finn looked at Artie. "Sure. What do you need me to do?"

"Just organize things," Artie said. "See if the performers need anything."

"Sure, I can do that," Finn said. Now that he knew Sunshine's twitter followers were coming, he did feel better about the benefit. His mom and Burt couldn't even make it.

"Fantastic," Artie said. "Brittany asked Quinn to be another one. So maybe start asking around to see if anyone needs anything."

x

"So, Mercedes, we're heads of the benefit," Finn said as he and Quinn went to talk to Mercedes and Lauren. "Is there anything you'd like the night of the benefit?"

"I'm so glad you asked," Mercedes said. "A) I need a bowl of green M&Ms. And by bowl, I mean large bowl. Well, really a small barrel."

So just go through a bunch of M&Ms and pick out the green ones? "O... kay," Finn managed to say.

"Two) I need humidifiers," Mercedes demanded. "Lots of humidifiers. A team of humidifiers whose only job is to make the air that Mercedes breathes more humid."

"We'll try our best," Quinn said.

"Shh. I'm not finished," Mercedes continued. "Before every performance, I like to wash my hands. And after doing so, I like to dry them on a fresh puppy."

Puppies? Now Mercedes was a little out of line. "Excuse me?" Finn managed to say.

"I believe you heard Ms. Jones," Lauren said. "In fact, if I were you, I'd probably get a whole litter of Fluffy puppies, just in case she decides to take a post-show shower." Mercedes and Lauren walked away, leaving Finn and Quinn standing there.

"That's insane," Quinn said.

"I know isn't it?" Finn asked.

"We can't do that," Quinn said.

"I think I know who can help out," Finn said.

"Really?" Quinn asked. "Who?"

"Rachel," Finn said. "She's the most talented person around. She would probably understand where Mercedes is coming from."

"Oh, so you can make googly eyes at her?" Quinn asked.

"She hasn't talked to me since - " Finn began. No. He couldn't tell Quinn that they'd kissed at Regionals. "Since Regionals."

"I know, but I keep seeing you looking at her," Quinn said. "That's not going to impress people when they think about who to vote for."

"God, Quinn, can you stop obsessing over this?" Finn asked.

"Do you act this way when Rachel obsesses over solos?" Quinn asked.

Rachel didn't even talk that much about solos with Finn. "She didn't act like Mercedes was just acting," Finn said. "I mean puppies, really?"

"Let's see if we can talk to her," Quinn said. "But no flirting."

Finn and Quinn went up to Rachel at her locker. "So, uh, the braniacs asked us to be benefit heads for the night of neglect," Finn managed to say.

"And we would like to select you head of talent relations," Quinn said.

"We figured you're probably used to relating to talent because you're so talented," Finn said.

"Well, first, I'm honored that you came to me, but I think it's a little insensitive of you to be flaunting your dating in my face," Rachel snapped.

That was true. However, Quinn didn't comment on that. "Fantastic. 'Cause we are having problems with one of our performers."

Rachel already seemed to know who they were talking about. How was she so smart? "Stars make demands the way that babies make messes in their diapers. They can't help it. What a star wants is to just feel appreciated and respected. They just want to feel like they're being heard."

"She seemed pretty serious about the puppy," Finn said.

"Well, obviously, hers is a talent that we have neglected. I can relate. So leave it to me. I'll take care of it." With that, Rachel walked away, and Finn couldn't help but smile at her.

Quinn glared at Finn. "Googly eyes."

"She's perfect for this," Finn said.

"She could never win prom queen," Quinn said. "Now that she's taking care of that, come to my house. I want to show you some posters I've prepared."

x

Rachel had spent the afternoon of the benefit going through bags of M&Ms sorting out the green ones to put together a bowl for Mercedes. She'd gotten humidifiers from just about every glee club member, and she'd sent Puck out to find the perfect puppy for Mercedes. Mercedes and Lauren arrived to see what Rachel had prepared. "Well, as you can see, we have followed your exact specifications," Rachel said.

"Wait, where's my puppy?" Mercedes asked.

"She specifically asked for a puppy," Lauren demanded.

"This is unbelievable. How am I supposed to work like this?" Mercedes snapped.

"Don't worry. Puckerman is out right now scouring pounds for the perfect pomeranian," Rachel said.

"Good," Lauren said. "This is almost worthy of the artist doing the closing number at the benefit."

"Well, actually, um, Sunshine is going to be doing the last number, because she's bringing in hundreds of people," Rachel said. "And so, I'll go on before Sunshine because, I'm, well, me, and, uh, Ms. Holliday and Mercedes will go on before me."

"Fine," Lauren snapped. "But Ms. Jones isn't happy about it. In exchange, she's demanding that during the day of the benefit, her feet never touch the ground."

Rachel couldn't believe this. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, did you not see Celine's wedding?" Lauren asked.

"Carried in," Mercedes said.

"Cher's comeback tour?" Lauren asked.

"Carried in," Mercedes said.

"Gaga at the Grammys?" Lauren asked.

"Carried the hell in," Mercedes declared.

How were they going to deal with this? "Um, I'm sorry. Are-are you saying that you want to be carried in in a giant egg?" Rachel asked.

"We'll get back to you," Lauren said.

x

The night of the benefit, it was due to start in five minutes and Sunshine still hadn't showed up. Santana was checking her phone. "Hold up, hold up," Santana said. "This just in. According to Sunshine's Twitter, she's not coming, and neither are any of her followers."

"I told you. She's evil," Rachel said.

"I was just in the auditorium," Puck said. "There's, like, six people in there. I say we blow this whole thing off and hit the arcade."

Finn didn't want everyone to give up like that. "No. No. Screw that. These people paid to see us sing. What's that saying? The show's got to go all over the place or something."

"You mean, the show must go on," Rachel said.

Finn felt lucky to have Rachel. "Yeah."

"Finn's right, you guys," Rachel said. "Okay, whether there's six or 6,000 people, out there, we still have to give it our all. Okay, Tina, you're up first."

x

The benefit had been a disaster so far.

Tina had been booed off the stage by Sandy Ryerson, Azimio, Jacob and Becky. Nobody's parents had been able to come, so it seemed like the only people who were there to actually see them were Kurt and Blaine. Mercedes had left the building, and right now Rachel just wanted to find her. Maybe if she gave Mercedes the closing slot, it would convince her to perform? Finally, Rachel found Mercedes's car and knocked on the window. "Let me in. Let me in. Come on. It's raining. We've all been looking for you."

"Don't bother with the pep talk," Mercedes snapped as Rachel got in the car. "I'm not going back in there. My demands were not met."

Rachel tried to think of one of Mercedes's idols. "Have you ever read anything about Aretha Franklin? She was a gospel singer. And one day, she went to this show. Nothing fancy. It was just, like, a state fair. And the master of ceremonies hands her a tiara and calls her the queen of soul. And that's how she earned her crown. That's how she gained all of her respect. Not by requesting for special pillows, or food, but for doing what she does the best: singing."

Mercedes looked at Rachel. "I just don't get it. Why are you a bigger star than me? You always get the big solos, the best songs, the moments in the sun. Why is it never me?"

"I don't know. I mean, you're just as good of a singer as I am," Rachel said, trying to make Mercedes feel better.

"Yeah. And everyone actually likes me," Mercedes said.

That stung Rachel. "That's your problem. Because I would rather be a star than be liked." Well, that wasn't exactly true. "And I'm not saying that it's healthy, and I'm not saying that it's better than being loved, but there's nothing... nothing... that I wouldn't do for the chance to be in the spotlight."

"I just... really wanted that closing slot," Mercedes said.

Rachel decided she'd let Mercedes have it. She honestly wasn't in the mood to sing. "Well, if you want that closing slot, then go in there and take it from me."

x

When Rachel went back inside, Finn had just taken the stage for his song. Rachel was glad she was back in time to see Finn and glad that the people who had booed some of the previous performers had left. She didn't want Finn to get booed.

As Finn performed, he kept looking at Rachel, as if he knew she was there. That was the thing about them. They knew each other so well, they didn't have to say anything.

Finn: So lately, been wondering
Who will be there to take my place
When I'm gone, you'll need love
To light the shadows on your face

If a great wave shall fall
It'd fall upon us all
And between the sand and stone
Could you make it on your own?

If I could, then I would
I'll go wherever you will go
Way up high or down low
I'll go wherever you will go

And maybe, I'll find out
The way to make it back someday
To watch you, to guide you
Through the darkest of your days

If a great wave shall fall
It'd fall upon us all
Well I hope there's someone out there
Who can bring me back to you

If I could, then I would
I'll go wherever you will go
Way up high or down low
I'll go wherever you will go

Run away with my heart
Run away with my hope
Run away with my love

I know now, just quite how
My life and love might still go on
In your heart, in your mind
I'll stay with you for all of time

If I could, then I would
I'll go wherever you will go
Way up high or down low
I'll go wherever you will go

If I could turn back time
I'll go wherever you will go
If I could make you mine
I'll go wherever you will go

I'll go wherever you will go

Rachel had tears in her eyes at the end of Finn's solo. It was so fitting for them right now. But she had to tell the group about Mercedes. After Finn performed, Rachel went backstage. "I tried, but I don't think she's coming. I need to start warming up."

"Lauren, you're her manager. Why don't you do something?" Quinn asked.

"See, my client, Ms. Jones, is not picking up her phone," Lauren said.

Mercedes came in. "Miss Jones is fine."

"Wait. Shouldn't one of us be carrying you in?" Finn asked.

"I have only one more demand. I demand that all of you get your butts out there and watch me sing," Mercedes said.

Everyone took their seats in the auditorium, and Rachel stood in the wings as she watched Mercedes perform. Mercedes was amazing, possibly the best Rachel had ever heard her. During Mercedes's solo, Rachel saw Finn and Quinn sitting close together in the audience. Had Finn's song really been for her? Yes, he was looking at her, but he was sitting pretty close to Quinn.

Rachel just didn't understand. Why had Finn gotten back with Quinn?

Mercedes finished her song, bringing the audience to its feet, and came back to see Rachel. "All right, girl, time for the closing number. Go bring the house down."

"Are you kidding me?" Rachel asked. "Nobody could follow that. Okay, the house has been brought down. That was the closing number."

Mercedes smiled and hugged Rachel, and Rachel hugged her back. It felt good to know that she'd made at least somewhat of a difference.

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SONG: Wherever You Will Go by The Calling (performed by Finn Hudson)