Thank you for all your reviews on the last chapter. They mean a lot to me. In the next chapter Finchel finally get back together! I did not like how the writers kept them apart for so long, but at least they had some nice moments during the breakup in Season 2. (Unlike Season 4...) Thanks a lot for your support and review if you want me to keep going!
Chapter 44: Funeral
"Why did you do it?" Finn asked Quinn. It was the Monday after prom, and Finn had asked Quinn to meet him in the choir room.
"Do what?" Quinn asked.
"You know what I'm talking about," Finn said. "Why did you slap Rachel?" Quinn had done a lot of bad things to Rachel over the years, but this time he wasn't going to let her get away with it.
"I was upset about losing prom queen, but Rachel didn't care, so neither should you," Quinn said.
"Of course she cared!" Finn said. "Why else would she have told me?"
"I'm glad you're here anyway," Quinn said, ignoring Finn. "You and I need to quit glee club."
"What? No!" Finn said. He wasn't going to quit the glee club. It was the best part of his week. And he was so excited to go to New York.
"Why do you think we lost?" Quinn asked. "If I was still head cheerleader we would have won!"
"Because we go to a school full of psychos who wanted to play a nasty joke on Kurt," Finn said.
Then Rachel came in. "Hey," Finn said to Rachel.
"Hey," Rachel said. "Excited for Nationals?"
"Of course!" Finn said. "It would be fun to sing together."
"I'd like that," Rachel said.
"I was looking at that list of duet ideas you gave me," Finn said. "I think we'd sound great on any of them."
"Maybe we could show Mr. Schue the list?" Rachel asked.
"Finn, aren't you forgetting?" Quinn butted in. "You can't sing with her."
"Mr. Schue decides who sings with who," Finn reminded Quinn.
"And he knows I don't want you singing with her!" Quinn shot back.
"Will you just stop it?" Finn asked before turning back to Rachel. "So, what's going on with you and Jesse?" He hoped nothing had happened. He couldn't bear to see Rachel with that... thing.
"He seems to like me," Rachel said. "I think he might be trying to make up for last year."
"He threw eggs on your head," Finn snapped. "He doesn't care about you, Rachel. He cares about himself and the stage. If I were you, I'd cut him completely out of my life."
"Well, it's not like I have very many other options right now," Rachel sighed.
"What do you mean?" Finn asked. He knew perfectly well what Rachel meant though. She wanted to be with Finn. But he was with someone. So Rachel was trying to fill the void.
"Not many guys would want to be with me," Rachel said. "Hell, not many guys even like spending time with me. So why shouldn't I take a chance when it comes?"
Finn gulped. He wanted to be with Rachel, but Quinn was right there, and he was still afraid to break up with her. She'd hit Rachel. What if she hit him, too? "You're better off alone than with someone like him."
"Finn, leave her alone," Quinn said. "Who Rachel dates is her choice."
"You're just saying that because you want Rachel with someone else so she can't be with me!" Finn blurted out. Oops.
Before Quinn had a chance to respond, the other glee club members came into the choir room and took their seats. Last, Mr. Schue came in - with Jesse himself. "New Directions, I would like to introduce you to our new show choir consultant, Jesse St. James," Mr. Schue announced.
Rachel started clapping as Finn made a face. "I don't trust this guy. How do we know he's not just going to trick us into doing something stupid, so his Alma mater wins?"
"I don't think I need to do much tricking to get you to do something stupid, Finn," Jesse sneered.
More confirmation that Finn didn't like Jesse. "Guys, Jesse is just a consultant," Mr. Schue said. "I still make all the calls. Now, I have all the confidence in the world in you guys. I just think we could use all the help we can get. Because this is it. We've been working so hard for two years for this moment, and that moment is finally here. Now, I was talking with Jesse, and he agreed that we should continue with our successful trend of doing original songs for the competition. I was thinking of doing one group number and one duet."
"Rachel and I should sing a duet," Finn said, noticing Rachel smiling at the suggestion. "We killed it last year at Regionals with Faithfully."
"Yeah, killed us, we lost," Quinn snapped.
"I agree that Rachel should sing lead, but Finn, I think it's best if you sit this one out," Jesse rambled. "Fact is, most of the other guys in here are better singers, and Mike Chang, who can't even sing, can at least dance. You kind of sing and dance like a zombie who has to poop."
Finn couldn't stand this anymore. "You see? You see what I'm talking about? The guy's a jerk!" What did Rachel see him him?
Mr. Schue didn't seem impressed either. "Jesse, maybe you could, uh, be a little bit gentler with your advice."
"Gentle?" Jesse asked. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that we were training for the "good try" ribbon at Nationals. I thought we were in it to win the whole damn thing. And there's only one way we can do that. The Vocal Adrenaline strategy is simple: identify your best performer and build the entire performance around them."
"So what does everyone else do?" Mercedes asked.
"And who's our star performer?" Puck asked.
"We're going to have auditions to find out. I'm going to post a sign-up sheet later this afternoon," Mr. Schue said.
Finn didn't like this. "Mr. Schue, don't you think this is kind of not our style?"
"Normally, I'd agree with you, Finn, but this is the big time. I think we should listen to Jesse," Sam said.
No one else in the glee club said anything. Maybe Nationals wouldn't be as much fun with Jesse involved.
x
After glee practice, Rachel came up to Finn in the hall. "Hey, you haven't signed up to be the lead vocalist at Nationals. Santana, Mercedes and Kurt have. Hey. You're the male lead of this group, Finn. Everybody looks to you for guidance."
"I don't need Nationals to feel better about myself," Finn said. Yes, he wanted to try out, but he knew if Jesse was involved, he'd just get insulted.
Rachel looked disappointed. "We've been working towards this moment for two years now."
"And I've been busting my ass to be a better singer and dancer for two years," Finn rambled. "And that Jesse kid comes in, and he wipes out all that hard work in ten seconds. My confidence is shot." He could always be honest with Rachel.
"No, you're really good, Finn. Okay? You have to believe me," Rachel pleaded.
"I'm Lima good, not New York City good," Finn told Rachel. "Rachel, I'm sorry. I'm not auditioning." He walked away, worried he'd get too upset if he talked with Rachel much more.
x
"Finn, Kurt, isn't this the cheerleading coach at your school?" Carole asked, holding up a newspaper at breakfast the next morning.
Kurt looked at the page of the paper. "Oh, that is her sister. Finn, Coach Sylvester's sister died."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Finn said. It was true, Coach Sylvester hadn't been very nice to the glee club, but no one should have to go through losing someone. If Finn lost his mom, or Burt, or Kurt, or Rachel, he'd be lost.
"Does it say how she died?" Burt asked.
"No," Carole said.
"Well, boys, give her our sympathies at school today," Burt said. "At least she took the bullying more seriously than the principal."
"That's true," Kurt said. He turned to Finn. "Maybe we should pick up some flowers or something before school."
"Okay," Finn said. It was true that he didn't have much interaction with Coach Sylvester and he didn't have the best impression of her, but his family was right. She had been on Kurt's side during his troubles with Karofsky.
Finn and Kurt picked up some flowers before school and brought them to Coach Sylvester's office. "Coach Sylvester?" Kurt said as they went in.
"We brought you some flowers and stuff. We're sorry for your loss," Finn said.
Coach Sylvester pointed at the flower display. "Put them over there with the rest. There were more arrangements, but I had to throw some of them out. I'm allergic to pansies. And I don't mean that as a swipe at either of you. So, why'd you bother doing this, buying me flowers, comforting me, after I've actively made your life a living hell and enjoyed doing it?"
She did have a point. But Kurt spoke first. "We both know what it's like to lose someone really close to you."
"I sort of do," Finn said. "My dad died when I was a baby."
"Yeah," Kurt said. "His dad's dead, and my mom's dead."
"So how do you think you can help me?" Coach Sylvester asked. "Are you here to tell me how to deal with this? Because if I was being honest with you, Eddie Munster and Herman Munster, I don't know how to deal with this. I can't go back into that nursing home and start sorting through Jean's things. And I won't plan a funeral."
"Have you told your mother yet?" Kurt asked.
"As far as I'm concerned, she said her goodbyes to us years ago," Coach Sylvester said. "If you boys would really like to help me, you might start by explaining why it was her time and not mine. She's the sweetest person I ever met. And as both of you can attest, I'm probably the meanest, so how come I'm the one still standing here talking to you?"
Finn again didn't know what to say. But he did feel bad for her. Again, Kurt spoke first. "Would you like the glee club to help out with the funeral or anything?"
"Maybe," Coach Sylvester said. "Maybe you could sing a song."
"We could," Finn said. "Were there any songs she liked?"
"She liked Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka," Coach Sylvester said. "When I insulted the glee club, she always defended you."
"We'll talk to the glee club about doing something," Kurt said. "What about her things?"
"I haven't gotten around to that yet," Coach Sylvester said.
"If you want, we can help with that, too," Finn offered.
"Yeah," Kurt said. "We can go to her room and sort through things."
x
In glee club that afternoon, Finn and Kurt told the rest of the group about Coach Sylvester's situation. "We need to help her," Finn said. "She's overwhelmed and... she needs us to help her." He noticed Rachel looking impressed.
"Seriously?" Santana asked. "I'd like to put the 'fun' back in 'funeral' just as much as the next girl, but why would the Glee Club help Coach Sylvester plan a service?"
"We're not doing it for Sue," Kurt said. "We're doing it for her sister."
"Jean is just like us, guys," Finn told the group. "I mean, she's been an outsider and an underdog all of her life. We, of all people, should celebrate that."
"Can I say something?" Jesse asked. "When someone dies, yes, it's a tragedy, but it's also a part of life. And you can't let death put your life on hold. Now, I don't mean to be blunt, but I don't think you should be planning a funeral the same week you should be focusing on the set list for Nationals."
Finn couldn't believe how selfish Jesse was being. "Seriously? You're serious?"
"Actually, yes, I am." Jesse sounded like he was stating the obvious. "Do you know what Vocal Adrenaline is doing right now? They're in their third week of 24-hour-a-day rehearsals. They're on an I.V. drip. That's how hard they're working. Do you know what happens in Vocal Adrenaline if someone dies during a number? They use them as a prop, like Weekend at Bernie's."
Finn wished Jesse would understand that New Directions were not Vocal Adrenaline. They were about more than just winning. "No. Thanks for your input, Jesse, but we're helping Sue with the service for her sister. Rachel, you said I needed to be more of a leader of this club. Well, here goes. I'm making the call. We're doing this."
x
Auditions for the lead at Nationals were going well.
At least that's what Rachel had thought. She had to admit, she'd been a bit intimidated after hearing Kurt and Santana's performances. When Kurt came backstage after his, he didn't look happy though. "Jesse St. James totally Jesse St. Sucks. He said I shouldn't be singing girl songs. I make my living singing girl songs," he protested.
"I think the winner of four show choir championships might be able to give us all some valuable insight," Rachel said.
"We know you're in love with him, Rachel, but do you have to be so obvious?" Mercedes complained.
Rachel wasn't in love with Jesse. She wasn't even sure if they were together now. She was only doing this in hopes to fill the void she had in her life. "Don't use the fact that Jesse and I once had feelings for each other as an excuse for my inevitable win."
"Correction: You had feelings for him, he made breakfast on your head," Kurt snapped.
"Look, Jesse and I both appreciate the integrity of show choir too much to soil the competition. He's just gonna vote for whoever is best," Rachel said.
"That would be me," Santana declared. "You guys can fight over who's gonna come in second all you want, because I kicked that song square in the balls. I'm so gonna win this thing."
Mercedes got up. "No bother warming up, Rachel. I'm about to go out there and wrap this thing up like a Christmas present." She went out and performed her song, and Rachel thought she sounded amazing as well. This was going to be tough, so she figured she'd just go out and give it her best shot. "Hi. My name is Rachel Berry, and I'll be singing the most difficult song I've ever sung."
"Great. What song?" Mr. Schue asked.
"Barbra's closing number to my favorite movie, Funny Girl," Rachel said.
"Rachel, in your head, are you singing to anyone in particular?" Jesse asked.
"Not really," Rachel lied. Of course she was. She was thinking of Finn. But if she said that, Jesse might vote against her for the solo. She pictured Finn as she began to sing.
Rachel: Oh, my man, I love him so
He'll never know
All my life is just despair
But I don't care
When he takes me in his arms
The world is bright
All right
What's the difference if I say
I'll go away
When I know I'll come back
On my knee someday?
For whatever my man is
I am his
Forevermore
Oh, my man, I love him so
He'll never know
All my life is just despair
But I don't care
When he takes me in his arms
The world is bright
All right
What's the difference if I say
I'll go away
When I know I'll come back
On my knee someday?
For whatever my man is
I am his
Forevermore
When Rachel finished, Kurt jumped up and started clapping. "Bravo!"
"I have to be honest. That was brilliant. I have nothing but the tip of my hat," Jesse said.
Santana jumped up. "Garbage. This whole thing is rigged."
Mr. Schue turned to face her. "Hold on, Santana. Like I said before, I make the final call here."
"Well, then, make it," Mercedes demanded.
"Out of respect to you all, I'm going to take a couple days and consider all the results. Now, I will let you all know by Friday. Great job, everyone," Mr. Schue said.
Rachel hoped that she'd get it, but what she hoped more was that she and Finn could sing together.
x
"So, ready for Nationals?" Kurt asked Finn as they sorted through Jean Sylvester's things at the nursing home. After Jesse protested, the glee club had put a number for the funeral together and had come up with decorations.
"I guess so," Finn said.
"What do you mean, you guess?" Kurt asked.
"Those things Jesse said about me really hurt," Finn admitted.
"Jesse's just a jerk," Kurt told Finn. "He's just jealous because he knows Rachel's into you and not him."
"Why would Rachel want to be with someone like him?" Finn lamented.
"Well, I don't really know," Kurt admitted. "He was a real ass at auditions. He told me not to sing songs sung by females."
Now Finn had yet another reason to dislike Jesse. "Wow."
Coach Sylvester came in. "Frankenteen, Porcelain, how's it coming?"
"We sorted Jean's stuff into piles," Kurt said. "Over there are some old magazines and newspapers that you can just toss out."
"And this is stuff you're definitely going to want to keep," Finn said. "Uh, photos and stuffed animals. And this third pile is stuff that we don't really know what to do with. Um..."
Kurt held up a cheerio pom pom. "Pom-pom."
"Toss it. It's not worth anything," Coach Sylvester said.
"Are you sure?" Kurt asked.
Finn picked up a video tape. "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."
"Oh, I love that movie," Kurt said.
"Then, you can take it," Coach Sylvester told Kurt. "It's probably worn out. She watched it at least three times a week. Just toss it all out."
"What?" Kurt asked.
"You heard me," Coach Sylvester snapped. "It's all junk." She picked up a stuffed animal. "I'll take the stuffed animal. Jean's had this since she was six. Everything else, just toss it out; I don't need it."
"But there are a lot of memories here," Finn said.
"You know, I'm not short on memories of my sister," Coach Sylvester said.
"I know what it's like to lose someone," Kurt said. "When someone dies, it hurts."
"Very astute, Porcelain. That's a little nugget of wisdom I'd really like to jot down." Coach Sylvester sounded as if she thought Kurt was stupid.
"Coach Sylvester, we're just trying to help," Finn explained.
"You know what, Cottage Cheese?" Coach Sylvester snarled. "You're not helping. You're actually making things worse. So do me a favor and take all this stuff to the Dumpster on your way to the rehearsal for whatever treacly ballad you're planning on using to ruin my sister's funeral."
"Why did you agree to this, then? If you hate us so much, then why are you letting the Glee Club plan the service?" Kurt asked.
"I was afraid no one would come," Coach Sylvester admitted. "Jean didn't know a lot of people. I figured, with the Glee Club there, at least she'd have a full house."
So that was why she agreed to it, even though she disliked the glee club. And that made Finn think of what Rachel had said to Kurt about herself that Kurt had repeated to him. The fear of not being appreciated until it was too late.
x
The glee club decorated the chapel at the funeral parlor like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory and were already there when Coach Sylvester arrived. However, she'd been wrong about something. The glee club were not the only people there. Almost every seat was taken.
Finn and Kurt walked up to Coach Sylvester, who was arriving with Mr. Schue. "What do you think, Coach Sylvester?" Finn asked.
"You told us that Willy Wonka was Jean's favorite movie," Kurt said.
"The way you described Jean made her sound so special, so we wanted her funeral to be special, also," Finn said.
"Something to capture and express the Joy of her life, rather than the sadness of her death," Kurt added.
"It's lovely," Coach Sylvester said.
Mr. Schue led Coach Sylvester to a seat, and Finn and Kurt took their seats as well as the reverand went to the podium. "Welcome to the most unusual funeral that I have ever attended. Which makes sense, because Jean was the most unusual person that I ever had the pleasure to spend every Sunday for the last 30 years with. I think that Jean's sister Sue would like to say a few words."
Coach Sylvester went up to the podium and began reading the words she'd prepared. "I miss my sister. Every night, at 10:00 or so, she used to call me on the phone, and when I asked her why... She'd tell me that her body told her... She wanted to hear my voice." She started crying as Mr. Schue came up to the podium.
"I miss my sister," Mr. Schue read with his arm around Coach Sylvester. "The smell of her shampoo. The way she could always convince me to read her another book. When you love someone like I loved her, they're a part of you. It's like you're attached by this invisible tether, and no matter how far away you are, you can always feel them. And now, every time I reach for that tether, I know there's no one on the other end, and I feel like I'm falling into nothingness. Then I remember Jean. I remember a life led with no enemies, no resentments, no regrets... and I'm inspired... to get up out of bed and go on. I miss my sister so much. It feels like a piece of me has been ripped off. Just one more time, I want to hold her. Ten more seconds... is that too much to ask? For ten more seconds to hold her? But I can't and I won't, and the only thing keeping me from being swallowed whole by sadness is that Jean would kill me if I did. So, for now, I'm just going to miss her. I love you, Jeanie. Rest in peace."
That stuck with Finn so much. A piece of him. A tether. A part of him. Those were all things he felt about Rachel. Things he didn't feel about Quinn. He knew he couldn't do this anymore. He had to break up with Quinn. His heart belonged to Rachel, and life was too short to hold grudges.
The glee club got up to do the song they'd prepared. "This was Jean's favorite song," Finn said as he turned on the music and Kurt opened the song.
Kurt: Come with me and you'll be
In a world of pure imagination
Finn: Take a look and you'll see
Into your imagination
Tina: We'll begin with a spin
Traveling in the world of my creation
Artie: What we'll see
Will defy explanation
New Directions: If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world
Kurt: There's nothing to it
Tina: There is no life I know
To compare with pure imagination
Kurt: Living there, you'll be free
If you truly...
New Directions: Wish to be.
"Thank you," Coach Sylvester said at the end of the song.
x
Finn sat in the car. He was going to do what he'd wanted to do for months. He was nervous about it though. And he did feel slightly guilty. What he'd spent the past few months doing wasn't right, and even if he didn't feel the same way about Quinn that he did about Rachel, he did care about her.
Quinn came in the car. "Sorry. Long line in the restroom. Everyone was fixing their mascara. You did such a great job with the funeral. I'm so proud of you. Why are you crying?"
"Because I'm breaking up with you," Finn told Quinn. He might as well just say it.
"Because of Rachel? 'Cause you still love her?" Quinn asked.
Of course it was because of Rachel. But Finn decided not to focus on that. "I shouldn't have done this with you. I thought that I could fix everything from last year, but I can't. I just can't, and that feeling that Sue was talking about in there of being tethered to someone... I just... I don't feel that way about you."
"But you do with her?" Quinn asked. "No. We're not breaking up. I can handle your confusion with Rachel until you get over it. We're gonna stay together, and next year, we'll be prom king and queen..."
Finn couldn't stand to hear any more about prom. "Just stop it. Okay? I don't want that life. Don't you feel anything anymore? This is real. This is happening."
Quinn started crying. "Are you happy now? Is this me feeling enough for you?"
Now Finn felt bad. "Quinn, I'm sorry. I still love you." He wanted to make her feel better and reached out to comfort her. He wasn't in love with her, but like a friend, that was true.
"Just don't touch me!" Quinn snapped, running out of Finn's car. Finn looked out the window and saw Rachel. At that moment, Quinn was all but forgotten.
x
Rachel got a text from Jesse, asking her to meet him in the auditorium. "Jesse?" she called out as she arrived.
Jesse came over. "That's sweet. You remember the masculine click of my designer boots."
"Okay, why did you ask me to meet you here right before the list goes up? Is this good news, or is it bad news?" Rachel asked.
"Rachel, I did wrong by you last year, and I came back to make that wrong right," Jesse said. "And I came here to tell you that you're going to be the featured soloist at Nationals in New York."
Rachel was going to be featured at Nationals? She smiled and hugged Jesse. "Wait. How do you know? Did Mr. Schuester tell you?"
"Let it suffice to say that I was very involved in the decision," Jesse said.
Rachel felt bad now. People already didn't like that Jesse had been biased. "Oh. No. I feel bad. Everyone else worked so hard. Now they're just going to hate me."
"They sort of already do, and you know as well as I that sometimes that's the price of fame," Jesse said as if it was no big deal. "I used to think that fame was the only thing that mattered. And now I realize that there's something that matters to me more."
Rachel didn't want to be that person who was just into stardom. "What?"
"You." Jesse leaned over and kissed Rachel. "Come on. I think the list is posted." He held out his hand.
After some thoughts, Rachel took Jesse's hand. She would much rather be holding Finn's, but she knew that wasn't an option now. When they arrived at the bulletin board, Santana, Mercedes and Kurt were standing there.
"This doesn't make any sense," Santana said.
"Guys, it was a tough decision, but it's for the good of the club," Jesse said.
"Although this is deeply personal, try not to take it personally," Rachel said.
"Um, you guys might want to read what the list says," Kurt told them.
Rachel looked at the board. There was just a notice about a glee club meeting. When she got there, there was already arguing.
"Oh, Mr. Shue, thank God you're here to put these trolls out of their misery," Santana said. "Can you just announce my win so that I can get on with teasing the losers?"
"I heard your performance, Santana. This is mine, and you know it," Kurt shot back.
Mr. Schue looked at Jesse. "See, Jesse? This is the kind of infighting and "me first" attitudes that I wanted to avoid."
"What you call infighting, I call motivation," Jesse said. "And this is just the beginning. Once we get to Nationals, I'll have them willing to kill each other for that solo."
Rachel didn't know if Jesse had ANYTHING that mattered to him more than fame. Luckily, Mr. Schue seemed to agree. "No. I've changed my mind. We're going back to what got us here: original songs sung by the entire club. We're a team, and we're best when we work as one."
"You're going to lose," Jesse sneered.
"Whatever we do, we're going to do it together," Mr. Schue said.
Kurt turned to Santana. "Actually, Santana, you sounded pretty good."
"Thanks," Santana said. "You guys were all pretty dope, too. Even Rachel."
Santana didn't compliment Rachel very often. "I wish I could sound like you do, Santana. I mean, how do you get that raspiness?" Rachel asked.
"So nice. I smoke cigars," Santana said.
Rachel could see Jesse giving her a look of disgust, but she didn't care. This policy was for the better. The whole group had gotten to Nationals together, so they should all win together.
"All right, guys, time to get to work," Mr. Schue said. "Now, I want two hit songs by the time the wheels touch down at JFK. Come on."
Rachel felt her phone vibrate. She opened it and saw a text from Finn. "I heard your audition, and you were great ;)"
Rachel looked up from her phone and smiled at Finn, letting him know she'd gotten the text. Finn gave Rachel one of those famous half smiles back, and Rachel noticed Quinn giving Finn an angry look - from the opposite side of the room.
Had they finally broken up? Just when Rachel was sort of with someone else?
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