WMHS Junior Year Part VI

REGIONALS HERE WE COME – AGAIN!

So of course we WON! :-D

Oh wait… you wanna know what actually happened at regionals, like, details and stuff? Um, okay.

So... me and Rach are obviously back to being FULL-TIME FINCHEL again :-D after that really incredible talk we had in the choir room. But our reunion led to us breaking curfew and taking a drive out to the lake with a thermos of hot chocolate and lots of blankets and a really REALLY super hot mind-blowing – did I mention HOTTT – makeout session. Like, I'm not talking about over the clothes or under the clothes, I'm talking about no clothes! (well, mostly) Uhhh …But sorry, all those juicy details (and seriously, you have no idea just how juicy) are just for me. ;)

So uhh, yeah… ANYWAY. I got grounded. Hey, it was totally worth it (like soooo worth it).

Mom was gonna make my punishment of NO RACHEL last for a week (and BTW – so NOT COOL mom! Geez you can't just take away someone's person! Like, what if she did something to make me mad, and I said 'Oh, well then no BURT for a week' – How would she feel about that, huh?), but then I reminded her we had regionals and songwriting and this could affect our college applications so this was just too important (like how I slid the college thing in there? Rachel is so rubbing off on me – and it worked like a charm! I'm pretty sure talking college stuff is like slipping roofies to parents), so then she finally agreed to let Rachel come over and we were allowed to work here in the family room on her original song – scratch that – it's OUR original song now.

Yeah, I changed my mind about helping her write the song because, well, mom letting Rach come over, but also, I had an idea for the song title too. I needed Rachel to really help write the lyrics though. But can I just reconjugate about that ohmygodsuperhot makeout sesh at the lake and how like NOTHING else wants to come into focus in my brain right now, except the images of Rach and her perfect little… uh… wait. Sorry, I'm getting sidetracked.

Umm yeah, so where was I? Right, lyrics.

Rach wanted us to perform the song as a duet and I said no, it should be her solo (because 1, I know she loves the solos and 2, her voice is unbeatable, like LEGEND, and 3, I love her so much and wanted her to have her moment to SHINE like the brightest star that she already is).

Well anyway… we totally wrote this RAD song and the lyrics were all inspired by me and Rach's struggle this year (and prob'ly last year too), about how we were trying to GET IT RIGHT together as a couple, y'know? (That was the song title I thought of, BTW.)

Rachel had already written some kinda sad but also really beautiful stuff in her diary that turned into a lot of the lyrics. It was all the stuff she'd been feeling the whole time we were paused. And when she told me about it (actually, she brought her diary with her and let me read a bunch of the entries – which had me totally sobbing like a baby on her shoulder and apologizing to her for like half an hour… and crap I hope Puck never reads this stuff, I'll never live it down) I grabbed my journal and added a few of my own thoughts and feelings in there too.

We ended up writing the song in one night together, including finishing the sheet music. And um, that was kinda uncomfortable, because I needed to be at my drum kit in my room to help write the music part, which meant BURT was like our audience-slash-babysitter with us in my room… so yeah… awkward.

Whatever. It turned out awesome (even Burt thought so). We took our song and performed it for the club at the next practice (well, I drummed, Rach sang) and everyone LOVED it. Rach brought up the idea again about wanting it to be a duet, but even Mr. Schue agreed it was perfect as a solo.

And Rachel? She was a GIRL BOSS on that stage at regionals! My baby sang her sexy little ass off in that pretty blue dress and she looked so amazing with her hair down all shiny and straight, and those smolder-y dark eyes and pouty pink lips and… sorry. More flashbacks. [Focus Hudson… finish the story!]

Anyway. Our group song I gotta say was GENIUS! Mr. Schue helped us brainstorm up some ideas and we landed on 'losers' as like the main focus of the song – 'Loser Like Me' is what we called it. We wrote all about how we're always being put down and treated like crap for being in Glee, but that's okay because mostly everyone else sucks and we totally ROCK, and to prove it, we smashed that song on stage and then we threw fake confetti slushies at the crowd (which they LOVED – and I had to laugh wondering what if they were REAL slushies, would they still have enjoyed it so much?).

. . . . .

After the competition we came back to the school and put our big ass trophy in the case in the choir room. Rachel looked around at everyone and congratulated them on the group number and gave this sweet speech about how proud she was of our little glee family. Then she went to the restroom with Brit and Tina and I cornered Mr. Schue with something I'd been thinking about ever since Rach got all fired up in glee again.

I told him I thought it'd be an awesome idea if Glee club had an MVP award like we have in football. And let's face it, if it wasn't for Rachel's great idea for original songs in the first place, we wouldn't have written those kick-ass awesome songs, and maybe we wouldn't have won.

He agreed to the MVP award idea, but said it wouldn't be fair for HIM to just pick someone – even if he agreed with my choice; he said that could be looked at as like, nemo-ism or something? Like picking a favorite child… so he wanted to put it to a group vote and let the club decide. I told him whether he just picked the MVP himself or put it to a vote wouldn't matter, the result would be the same, so he might as well just go get her name plate inscribed now.

That night I got online and opened a chat room with the whole club – except for Rach – and told everyone how I thought Rachel deserved recognition for our win at regionals. Quinn was the only one who had anything really shitty to say so I blocked her from the chat. Everyone else seemed to agree with me though – even if Santana was also still calling her Hobbit (which should prob'ly piss me off, but I'm starting to believe that all these crappy nicknames San uses for most of us are like, Santana-speak for 'hey, you're my people so I labeled you').

Anyway. At the end of the next glee practice, Mr. Schue announced that we'd start doing MVP awards for each competition, and the club would decide the winner by blind ballots but he would be the tie-breaker vote if needed.

The following week Rachel got her trophy! My baby was so shocked and so humbled... She gave another awesome thank you speech and it almost didn't sound like the same Rachel Berry from last year. She genuinely didn't think she had a shot at winning this and was so surprised and grateful that the team chose her.

Rachel has really grown so much since we became friends and I'm so happy for her. I had a flashback of last year, before me and the psycho broke up to a day when me and Rach talked in the choir room. We were sitting in the same chairs then as we were now. I was fixing her wheelchair that day (long story but remember sectionals last year when the other team stole our version of 'Proud Mary' in wheelchairs? It was for that) and she mentioned how people don't like her very much. I told her she should work on that, but that I liked her. I really wanted to tell her how I so much MORE than liked her, but I thought I was a baby daddy at the time so… Whatever. Water under the boat or something now.

Point is, seems like Rach really took my advice since then. Most of the club really does appreciate her more, and she has honest friends now in Tina and Cedes, Mike, Artie, and Sam… Puck, well, seems like once he joined Glee and heard her sing, plus the fact that she's Jewish makes him pretty cool with her. It still sorta pisses me off though to think about the couple weeks when he actually dated her – of course, I was still in babygate world at the time. Whatever. Ancient history now.

Anyway, Rach sat back down next to me and showed me her trophy. I gave her a big sloppy kiss on the cheek and told her she deserved it and how proud I was of her. Then I just smirked at Mr. Schue and really wanted to go say told you so, but he just put a hand up, grinned and nodded back at me once, so I'm pretty sure he heard me loud and clear.

I drove Rach home and she invited me to come inside. Her dads were both home and she couldn't wait to show them her trophy. She told them she was more proud to have earned that than any other award, ever... And I've seen her trophy case – it's massive – so this is saying something.

Papa Hiram pulled me aside and asked how much of her winning that award was due to my influence… I told him Rachel earned it all on her own and I didn't know what he was talking about. He just gave me this funny smile, said "uh-huh" and nodded his head.

. . . . .

LOVE IS IN THE AIR ;)

Rachel might have sneaked in a couple secret pre-Finchel Valentine's Day surprises on me (from the time I was like 8 years old), but this year is totally different. It's our first official Valentine's Day together as a real couple. Even though I haven't been feeling too terrific the last few days, I wasn't about to miss out on showing my girl a great time. I just had mom get me some DayQuil and powered through.

To celebrate, I decided to take my beautiful girl out to a nice dinner at Breadstix, then to a special art house showing of a Barbra movie she loves so much, 'Funny Lady' (it's the sequel to 'Funny Girl') – and YES she has the DVD, and YES I've seen it waaay more times than I care to think about, but she loves it and has never seen it on a big screen… plus it gave me some time to recharge and ZZZ :)

After the movie, I took her for dessert out at the lake since it was nearly a full moon and the view over the frozen water was amazing and romantic and stuff. Even though it's a school night, mom said my curfew could be extended a little (and she is working the graveyard shift anyway, so…) And okay, it's the middle of February in Ohio, so YES it's freeze-your-nads-off COLD outside tonight. But that's why I brought the quilt, a full tank of gas to leave the heater running, and a thermos full of hot chocolate to go with the vegan chocolate cake I picked up. I also got her another 'stuffie' as she likes to call them, a cute pair of kissing giraffes with their necks twined together and a big heart tag on a ribbon around their necks that says 'I Like Neckin' With You'. On the back of the heart tag I wrote Happy REAL 1st V-Day Rach! Forever Yours, Faithfully –Finn.

Since it's a holiday all about love and feelings and stuff, I want to be sure Rachel knows how much she means to me. We've had so many ups and downs already after just a year and a half and there's so many times I already coulda lost her for good… and then where would I be? (Probably shacked up with a certain PSYCHO in my mom's basement, learning how to change diapers and heat up baby bottles, maybe dropping out of school to get a job to pay for everything. Or worse – fighting with the same psycho for giving MY baby to another family and then miserable and depressed for my whole life.)

Geez.. does Rachel even KNOW, like does she have any idea how much better she's made my life? She did me such a HUGE favor when she told me the truth back then and I doubt I can EVER repay her…

But whatever. Tonight I'm not thinking about all that crap. I'm thinking about giving some long overdue repayment to the most beautiful, sexiest, sweetest, most perfect, loving, crazy smartest girl I've ever met. And uh, because it's like 3°F outside, it's still BALL-chillingly cold in the cab of the truck – even with the quilt and the heater running, sooo… the clothing optional portion of our date night was actually moved to HER house since her dads were out of town! :-D

All I'm gonna say is, if I thought Rachel's boobs were perfect and amazing, they are nothing compared to the LAND DOWN UNDER… if ya get my drift :-} :-o :-D I mean whoooooa... Like... just... WOW. And uh, remember all those special summer makeouts we had? Y'know, the ones where Rach did her research so she could, umm, 'help me out'? Yeah, THOSE 'summer school' sessions have paid off BIG TIME lately too and gotten way more… um, personal. (Did you know Rachel doesn't have a gag reflex? HOLY. HELL.)

OMG I missed her so SO much all those months we were paused… but we're back together, totally in love and going strong and – as Rach says – making up for lost time… ;) It's just feeling like we're so close now to taking that final step. Rachel isn't really scared of doing anything now when we're together like that… but for some reason, even though we've basically done like EVERY other thing, she says she's still just not quite ready for THAT yet.

We've talked about it – a lot actually. She says even though she is 'perfectly comfortable being intimate' with me in the ways we have been so far, she feels like that last part will be the 'most important physically and emotionally binding next step in our relationship' and she wants to feel 100% ready first.

Hey, whatever she wants; I have ZERO complaints. My girl is all kinds of awesome and I am super HAPPY. But she also said she's like, REALLY close to ready, and she'd kinda like it to be for a special occasion. Well, Valentine's Day is special, but it happens every year so maybe that's not the kinda MAGICAL special she's talking about?

Whatever. I just love Rachel sooo much. It's not just the mind-blowingly super HOTTT awesome makeout sessions. Or her gorgeous super hot bod, or her beautiful sexy face... It's all that plus the person who she just IS, and how she makes me feel about myself. My best friend, the most caring person on earth, the smartest girl I'll prob'ly ever know with a HUGE heart of gold. There's nobody else that I could ever see myself cashing in my v-card with, not now.

. . . . .

THANKS A LOT BLAINE!

Right after Valentine's Day, I still wasn't feeling any better.. in fact, I was feeling worse. Turns out Rachel was under the weather too. I was really hoping I didn't have some contagious bug that I gave to her. But we both went to school since we had Glee practice and we're supposed to be planning for Nationals – NATIONALS! :D – which is in NEW YORK CITY this year, can you believe it? Rachel is SO excited, and to be honest so am I.

Anyway. We got to the choir room and like almost everyone in there was also looking pretty green around the gills. We started comparing symptoms and they were all about the same - sore throat, pounding head and suuuper tired.

Kurt looked around the room (oh yeah, long story but Kurt's back from Warblerville thanks to the new Bully Whips club that SANTANA and KAROFSKY started? Yeah you read that right - wait, did I mention he transferred schools? Well he did, but now he's back) and suddenly gasped "OH NO! SWEET PATTI LUPONE, YOU'VE ALL GOT MONO!"

Turns out, Gay Blaine had NO business handing out free tonsil exams during spin the bottle at Rachel's party! I guess we'd all forgotten he missed Sadie Hawkins due to having mono, but he'd been feeling better and thought he WAS better.. apparently he. was. NOT. At least, he was still contagious! NOT COOL DUDE!

So spin the bottle was more like spin Blaine's cooties all over the place! He kissed Rach, then he kissed Allie, then Allie.. umm.. well yeah, you get the picture.

And apparently, Allie got the double whammy; I guess they kept playing after me and Rach left the game and she kissed Blaine twice from what I heard, and also Puck, apparently? Though I was upstairs making pancakes for Rach by then and missed the rest of the game - thankfully!

So basically, the whole club is down with mono for a week – well, except for Kurt (who was not kissing Baine because he's a germaphobe) and Quinn, who wasn't kissing anyone because she was NOT invited!

. . . . .

THE NOSE HAVE IT.

I am a colossal IDIOT.

Seriously. My dancing should be banned in all 50 states and Canada. And Mexico and Hawaii.

I feel HORRIBLE… god, I can't even believe I hurt Rachel so badly… no, I don't mean like, broke her heart hurt – I mean I actually literally BROKE HER NOSE! UGH! And NOOO I'm not like some crazy chick beater, I'd NEVER do that!

Well, uh..see, I was at Mr. Schue's goofy dance booty camp - mandatory for those of us who need the extra practice (and I TOTALLY believe that weasel-faced McDouchey bastard had something to do with this idea just to piss me off). Alright yeah-yeah, insert 'Finn's dancing sucks' jokes here. I get it, I'm no Mike Chang. Whatever.

Of course, I was forced to do the stupid dance camp. But you KNOW I didn't wanna be there because ST JACKASS was lurking somewhere in the auditorium… but I s'pose he's trying to keep a safe distance from me for now at least since he sat up in the director's chair in the seats and kept his trap shut – wise choice.

And Rach? She didn't even have to be there but wanted to encourage me to just do the camp and get the most out of it, so even though she coulda skipped it, she volunteered to be there with me to help me and be supportive.

She was in the row right behind me, and Mike showed us this crazy step where we had to like, jump up and turn at the same time and my arms went flailing when I did it and BAM! It was a total accident, but I sorta punched her in the nose... More like backhanded her, but however it went, it was still me hurting my Rach. And she collapsed down to the floor with a bloody nose and I just wanted to hurl. I was so sick with regret.

We got an ice pack from the nurse, then I drove her to the doctor immediately, apologizing all the way there – to the point where she threatened to get out and walk if I didn't shut up. He took X-rays and YEP, for sure it was broken, but it was a clean break, which was good at least. Meaning he wouldn't need to set it or anything…

BUT then, that sneaky doctor dude planted this damned idea in her head that she should think about getting rid of her 'Jewish-looking nose'… WTAF? That's so racist! And anyway, people need to just step off the nose bashing with her already. Her nose is just fine and a part of the most beautiful face ever and I love her nose just the way it is!

I was watching some plastic surgery show on TLC or Discovery channel (or maybe it was that Nip Tuck show?) one weekend a few months back when we were still PAUSED… I was so bored and there was nothing else worth watching, okay? Plus, it was educational.. don't judge.

Anyway. Watching that show was eye-opening. I never realized how much changing just a nose can make you look like a whole different person. Remember the chick that played Ferris Buehler's sister and Baby in Dirty Dancing? Yeah, prob'ly not because SHE got a NOSE JOB and doesn't look anything like the same chick anymore! You might have even seen her somewhere else and you'd never know it was her!

My Rach is perfect and gorgeous exactly the way she is. So when this crazy Dr. Noseybody starts putting this idea in her head that she should scramble her face up like that I kinda got PISSED. I begged Rach not to even think about it. She said it was hard not to at least consider it because it's something she's always been insecure about and people have always teased her over it… Well screw them I said.

Then I pulled the BARBRA card on her. I reminded her about her own very cool point about her own idol, back when we were gonna use Dakota whatshisshortass as a choreographer in the first few weeks of glee last year. That snippy little shithead was really starting to get under Rachel's skin (and mine) with all his insults – until I was ready to quit and take half the club with me, then SHE spoke up about how everyone wanted Barbra to get a nose job when she was starting out too, but Babs said like, 'piss off, world 'cause I'm ME so you can SUCK IT', and now she's like, an Oprah-rich BOSS LADY and married to Thanos's dad or something.

Well, my Barbra reminder made her stop to reconsider, but not before she scheduled a consultation with the doctor just to see what a new nose would look like. He had some stupid photoshopped images made to show what she'd look like. I almost threw up in my mouth when she told me she'd brought in a picture of QUINN as her idea of the 'perfect' nose! NO NO NO, JUST NO WAY… I do NOT want to spend the rest of my life kissing a nose that looks like HER!

I asked for ideas on how to make her change her mind from Kurt and Puck – Puck was especially eager to squash this whole nose job business because, y'know, JEW LOVE or some shit. Whatever his reasons, we were on the same page.

So we gathered up the glee gang – even Allie thought it was a terrible idea for Rachel to have this surgery – and Kurt figured out how to do a flash mob at the mall (I didn't ask questions, I just showed up) and we did a Barbra-vention dance with like, a ka-jillion mall strangers… okay yeah it really was as SUPER FUCKING WEIRD as it sounds (and so was the song), but it also totally WORKED. THANK CHEESUS!

I took Rach home from the mall and spent like two hours proving to her how sexy her nose is and how her face was just perfect exactly the way it is – y'know, using my special positive reinforcement methods again... ;) Not to mention, apologizing (again) for messing her nose up in the first place. She said it was an accident and she was not mad at me, that she loved how I was so worried about her but I needed to STOP apologizing already.

I'm just SO glad she's not gonna be walking around with my EX-psycho's beak on her face! I mean, I love Rach more than anything but that woulda truly been asking a LOT from me!

Anyway. After my two hours educating her on just how much I appreciate the nose she already has, she hasn't ever mentioned the words NOSE JOB again since (then ohmygod she was talking about some OTHER job she very much wanted to perform for me as soon as her nose was healed… Rachel Berry is a fucking goddess BTW, and the best girlfriend EVER).

. . . . .

GOO-GOO FOR GAGA.

After all the nose job nonsense, Mr. Schue came up with an assignment that at least had SOME connection to the club and things we were actually dealing with for a change…

He wanted us to sing about ACCEPTANCE and do a Lady Gaga tribute because she is the queen of self-love or something. He wanted us to think of the one thing we don't like about ourselves, something that we were born with, and have Ms. Pillsbury print it on a t-shirt (I don't know why either.. It's a Schue thing; don't ask). Which, okay I'm not really sure if being a crappy dancer is something you're BORN with but yeah, my shirt obviously read CAN'T DANCE. Rach's shirt simply said NOSE.

It was sorta weird but also sorta cool to see what everyone thought was their worst part of themselves, and honestly, I disagreed with a lot of them… we all have our own strengths and weaknesses, but that's why a TEAM is stronger together. And we're more than a team, we're a family, and we accept each other, flaws and all. :)

. . . . .

So we all performed Gaga's 'Born the Way' – except Rach, because she has to let her nose heal first :( and y'know, I really kinda dig this song. I've heard it before but never really thought much about it or the lyrics... It's not really my favorite kinda music. But I like the message in this song (and at least I didn't have to wear a red rubber shower curtain and like, lobster claws on my face this time). I also saw a couple of her videos and Gaga is actually smokin' hot!

When Rach caught me watching her videos though, she got a little annoyed. Then she said if I was gonna watch her then I need to stop objectifying her and we should watch the newest remake of A Star Is Born with her and Bradley Cooper in the lead roles (and did I mention how the LAST version of this movie made me sob like a chick at the end? Well this one didn't end any fucking better and I'm just gonna ban ALL Star is Born movies from now on). She said Gaga is good but she's no Barbra… and um, whatever I think they both sing and act pretty good, but honestly Gaga is hotter. (Maybe it's because I keep seeing the present-day Barbra in Meet the Fockers where she's all old and stuff... Young Barbra was pretty hot though.)

An hour later we were cuddled up on the bed in her room watching the movie, and she said she was almost glad I broke her nose. This of course made NO sense to me (I've had an almost broken nose before and it HURT like hell). But she said between the doctor making her really think about it and me convincing her not to get the surgery, she feels more confident about her looks now than ever before. She said I helped her realize how important it is for her to stay true to herself, and then she kissed me senseless. :-D

I love movie nights with Rachel. ;)

. . . . .

BEST PROMPOSAL EVER (WELL, ALMOST).

Up til now, I'd spent like half of my high school life listening to psycho Quinn obsessing over prom, to the point where I honestly had ZERO interest in going to this or any prom, like, EVER… Well, that is of course until Rachel happened.

Ever since he said the words, I keep hearing Burt in the back of my head talking about grand gestures and going big and stuff.. and Rach? She really doesn't care about prom royalty or status or whatever, but she definitely likes the grand gestures and romance and all that sappy chick flick stuff.

Now that we're together, there was no doubt in my mind that I needed to make Rachel feel like a queen – even though she's way more special than any stuffy snooty old royal chick, like, all the time, but I just wanted her to really feel extra special, at least for one night. And that night in question will be our JUNIOR PROM.

Of course, that means I did the whole super sappy (or whipped, as Puck says) 'prom-posal' thing – and yeah, okay, it sorta didn't go exactly according to plan… but it all worked out in the end anyway.

See, I had this GREAT idea for a special performance just for Rach. I got the freshmen on the football team to agree to help me, along with the guys from Glee.

I asked Mike to teach us some cool dance moves (ok that coulda been my first mistake – me dancing – but it really wasn't. And Mike took pity on my parts 'cause he's an awesome friend like that), and I'd sing to Rach and all the guys would do the backup vocals and the dance Mike taught us. Then as the song's ending, the freshmen dudes would come out and like, strip off their jerseys with the letters 'P-R-O-M-?' painted on their chests, y'know like at tailgate parties and football games and stuff? See, totally RAD idea!

For the song... The one I chose was personal to me and Rach. It was playing on the radio one night while we were at the lake last summer, snuggled under a quilt in the bed of my truck… uh… 'star gazing' – yeah-yeah that's totally what we were doing ;) (Well, I'm pretty damn sure she saw stars, 'cause I know I absolutely did… it was a GREATTT night!)

Anyway. I wanted it all to be perfect. I mean y'know, it's a song about dancing, while we're singing and dancing FOR HER, and plus with the football guys and glee guys, like all that stuff was exactly symbolic for me and Rach, so it was the perfect idea, right?

We worked on the routine at Mike's house a couple days a week for like three weeks (and yeah, I totally had to bribe Puck for this – he was hawk-eyeing that video game Dante's Inferno… so let's just not mention it to Allie, though I know Rachel won't mind one little bit!).

Whatever. Anyway. I'd already decided I wanted to 'prom-pose' to Rachel out in the courtyard at lunchtime – maximum audience, giving her maximum center of attention QUEEN TREATMENT time (what girl wouldn't love that?).

I once again enlisted Kurt's help to bring Rach outside and get her seated at the queen's table. He tried like hell to get the secret plan outta me but NO WAY was I telling him and letting him put down my ideas or make me second guess anything – or worse, blab to Rach – because it coulda happened. Only those of us who NEEDED to know were in on it.

Artie helped in getting the AV crew to set up the P-A system and got the jazz band to help out too. Me and the glee guys dressed in our competition suits (white jackets with black shirts and stupid skinny white ties – and btw. Ties are like the dumbest fashion invention for dudes, right up there with pocket squares and cummerbunds – but at least I can figure out how to put those on without help).

Kurt sat Rach at the table right in front of us, in the center of the lunch crowd at the bottom of the stairs (where we performed that super dope Jay-Z song at the start of the year).

Mike's choreography was really boss too. Since Rach is an awesome dancer too, he worked it out so Rach had to dance a little bit with each of the glee guys (him, Puck, Sam, and Artie) but at the very end she'd be in my arms, then the freshmen guys come out in their uniforms and do their little strip dance to reveal the big question at the very end.

It was an awesome sunny day for springtime in Ohio – not too warm not too cold out (this time last year we had six inches of snow still on the ground, and a week ago we had an ice storm, so I got real lucky that mother nature was on my side today!). Perfect weather for my perfect prom-posal.

Once I saw my girl was sitting front and center, I nodded to all the guys and gave them a thumbs-up. Then it was showtime.

"Rachel Berry, love of my life... Listen up, this is for YOU!"

On the first verse, Puck took a turn dancing her around then sat her back in her seat next to Kurt before the chorus started and we did our like, boy-band routine with us guys dancing in sync (Hey – 'NSYNC, get it? Boy-bands? Whatever BSB was better anyway).

… Laugh and sing (yes, I know)
But while we're apart (oh, I know)
Don't give your heart (yes, I know)
To anyone (oh, I know, yes, I know)

As I sang the chorus I did this little dance right up close to Rach and she was blushing a LOT with an ear-to-ear grin, all misty-eyed. She blew me a kiss and looked so friggin' adorable!

But don't forget who's taking you home
And in whose arms you're gonna be
So darlin', Save the last dance for me

Then it was Sam's turn to dance with her and I copied his dance steps from behind him so I could look at Rach over his shoulder and keep eye contact with her.

Baby, don't you know I love you so?
Can't you feel it when we touch?
I will never, never let you go
I love you, oh, so much

Artie had her sit in his lap while he spun her around in his wheelchair on the next verse.

You can dance (you can dance)
Go and carry on (you can dance)
'Till the night is gone (you can dance)
And it's time to go (you can dance, you can dance)

Then Mike took the last verse and did like a tango-style dance with her (which Rach is very good at the tango anyway so she figured out the steps really quick, my girl is all kinds of talented like that!) but he handed her off to me for the final chorus and the big DIPPER finish.

If he asks (you can dance)
If you're all alone (you can dance)
Can he take you home (you can dance)
You must tell him, NO (you can dance)

Then she was all mine. Although I prob'ly won't be on Dancing With the Stars anytime soon, I worked really hard to learn these goofy tango steps and didn't do too bad (hey, I never tripped or stepped on her toes once, so that's something). Damn, I love dancing with her! She had this sweeeet little green skirt on with white knee socks and a pretty white sweater that was kinda low cut… I had to force myself to focus on the song and my dance steps instead of looking down the front of her shirt.

'Cause don't forget who's taking you home
And in whose arms you're gonna be
So darlin', Save the last dance for me

Kurt filmed it all for us using this tripod thingy to hold the camera up and had some other kid from AV club filming like close-up shots I guess. Rach's face was BEAMING through the whole thing, and I knew she was loving all the attention, which was super awesome. SCORE!

So me and Rach ended our dance on the lower landing that's like four steps up from the courtyard ground. As I started to dip her back for the big finale, the freshmen came out from the top of the steps in their full gear (pads and helmets) doing like, football drill runs down the steps from behind us… and this is where things sorta went to hell.

One of these nimrods knocked into us and I lost my balance while I was dipping Rach and had her basically horizontal in my arms so we sorta fell down the steps – I totally caught her, kept her wrapped up in my arms and protected her from getting hurt, but I cracked my shin bone and my shoulder pretty good going down and FUCK that hurt!

After I picked her off the ground, fixed her skirt and set her back down at the table by Kurt, I shot a 'you guys are dead' look at the freshmen who were up on the lower landing. By then these clumsy jackasses started taking off their shirts to that cliché striptease music.

I turned back to look at Rach with a big smile, grabbed her hand and knelt down on one knee in front of her and said "I love you so much baby, and I wanna treat you like a queen because you deserve it.. so whaddya say?"

At first, all I got from Rach was a fish face. Like, her mouth kept opening and closing and she was turning like 50 shades of red – I swear I could almost see steam coming outta her ears – and her eyes were darting all over the place. I was starting to panic, like, maybe she wasn't gonna accept? Which didn't make sense because, like, why would she say no to me, especially after that AWESOME dance thingy I just pulled off?

But then she finally grabbed me by the tie to pull me close and whisper-yell at me "Finn! Are these young men completely illiterate or are you actually propositioning me for sexual intercourse in front of the whole school?"

Huh? I had no idea what she was talking about, I thought everything went great (well, 'cept the part where we got knocked down a flight of concrete steps). So I glance at Kurt and see his hands over his mouth hiding all his snickering. Then I look at the glee guys who are also (unsuccessfully) hiding snickers – except for Mike, who's shaking his head and looking down, and Puck who's outright CRACKING UP and making some really, um, rude suggestive gestures and doing his body-roll crap, and I hear laughter from everywhere in the courtyard.

I finally turn around behind me and see the IDIOT freshmen (none of whom will ever make first string if I have any say in it!) standing there with the word 'R-O-M-P-?' spelled out. What the hell?! SHIT! Maybe it's just the new kid Ryan McMurphy whose ass I need to kick later? (He was the 'P' and apparently knows his lefts from his rights worse than I do - dude REALLY messed everything up for me!)

In the end, Rach laughed pretty good about it (after about a 30 minute chick meltdown over how humiliated she was at first). Okay okay, it was ALMOST perfect.. Or maybe, like Rach told me later, it was a 'perfectly FINN promposal so it was perfectly perfect'.

'Course she said YES, then she took care of my injuries :-D

. . . . .

FUNDRAISING TOTALLY SUCKS.

This school is SO cheap. We managed to bust our butts off all year winning competitions to make it all the way to NATIONALS, but Mr. Schue says WE still have to come up with all the funds to pay for the trip to get us there! Totally lame!

What's worse was his even lamer idea to have us sell like a billion pieces of salt water taffy to raise $5000! Mr. Schue seriously needs to climb out of his like, 1990's time capsule and realize that bake sales and taffy sales are totally CRAP ideas. Whatever.

So I guess we got super lucky that Miss Holliday – the world's coolest substitute teacher in the history of the universe – came in to save the day. She's the one who suggested instead of trying to sell our souls to NOBODY and end up raising $5 if we were lucky, that we should raise money through ticket sales for a SINGING BENEFIT instead! Great idea, plus it gave us more live practice to get ready for Nationals.

Me and Rach ended up headed the planning committee. I decided I wasn't gonna perform 'cause I didn't have time to work on a song routine since I had to put in some extra hours at the tire shop (got a big event of my own to fund – PROM NIGHT) but I could at least help with the planning and stuff.

Anyway. I guess word about our benefit show got around to Sunshine Corazon, and she volunteered to perform with us and hopefully her million twitter followers would buy a bunch of tickets and POOF all the funds we needed for NYC would be covered! Sounded like a great idea right? WRONG.

First there was the club's whole battle with Rach – she didn't want Sunshine to perform because maybe she's really just another V-A spy. But the club finally crushed Rach's objections because, y'know, the whole sending Sunshine to a crack house thing, and if not for Rachel, Sunshine would already be on our team anyway. So cool, Sunshine's IN.

But THEN, on the night of the event, Santana was checking her Twitter account and told us "According to Sunshine's Twitter, she's not coming, and neither are any of her followers." Rachel thought that proved her point that Sunshine was evil, but apparently the new V-A coach Dustin Ghoul-ass (whatever his name is) found out about Sunshine wanting to help, and he said 'um, NO Sunshine for you' and refused to let her perform with us.

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

Everyone was so bummed, they just didn't wanna bother performing at all. So this is where my awesome leadership and kick-ass captain skills came in handy. "No. No. Screw that. These people paid to see us sing. What's that saying? The show's gotta go all over the place, or something."

Rach had my back on this one. "Sweetie I think you mean The show must go on. But yeah, Finn's right, you guys. Whether there's six or 6,000 people out there, we still have to give it our all."

So yeah, everyone performed as planned, but we still hadn't sold the tickets needed to fund our trip. That's why we were so shocked right after the show to find out that creepy Mr. Ryerson – who'd attended our show JUST to sit and HECKLE us – had swooped in and paid for our entire trip IN FULL, all because of how much he loved Mercedes' HOLY SHIT incredible version of that Aretha Franklin song performance! (Nobody even questioned how an unemployed ex-school teacher had that kinda cash to spare, but whatever.)

Then, even more shocking, we found out a couple days later that Ex-Mrs. Schue somehow got our coach tickets upgraded to FIRST CLASS!

This trip is gonna be all kinds of awesome! New Directions are headed for New York in STYLE!

. . . . .

PROM! IS! AWESOME! LIKE, BEST THING EVER INVENTED!

It's PROM DAY!

I seriously couldn't be more excited (or more shocked that I'm so excited) for this event, but y'know that's only because of Rachel. I remember talking to Rach last year right after babygate blew up. I was telling her about Quinn's insane prom obsession and Rach said she never expected she'd end up going to any prom, 'cause she didn't think she'd ever have a date. Pffft. Now not only is she going, but she has a date who loves the hell outta her like there's no tomorrow.

I'm so anxious to see her in her dress and the look on her face tonight! I worked so hard to make this a special night for her. A perfect night. See, THIS is the way it should feel going to prom, QUINN! Not like a job, running some damn fake political campaign to 'be on top' or get some stupid $3.00 plastic party store crown. UGH! Okay no more thinking about her and her brand of crazy… Tonight is all about Operation Rachel's Awesome Prom Night!

Part of my plan for Rachel's Queen for a Day treatment included a really nice room at the Marriott Hotel, since that's where prom is being held in the ballroom. (Sure, it took me like, three paychecks, an advance on my allowance, and I had to sell Puck a couple more of my video games to pay for everything, but it was all totally worth it. Rachel is worth everything.)

And FYI – I didn't just spring this hotel room thing on her as a total surprise... y'know, it's RACHEL, so that coulda been a really crappy ending to the night if she didn't want or expect it – not to mention a super creepy douchey thing to do, acting like some horny dude who just wanted to jump her bones (okay just because I might be one doesn't mean I would ever objectify her like that). No. We actually talked about it beforehand…

I'd asked her what she wanted to do after the prom part was over, 'cause Mike's having an after-prom house party and we coulda gone there. But Rach said she'd rather have me all to herself. She wanted us to be alone together all night and to be able to watch the sunrise together in the morning. ;)

So… without spending said all night together at a friend's house (or sleeping in the truck), I asked her if she might want a hotel room, and she said she wouldn't object (translated = YES PLEASE), but I made no promises that I could come up with the money to get one. So THAT is the only part that's a surprise – the fact that I DID get the cash together. (Well, that, and all the cool surprises I added to the room just for her!) Hey, whatever my baby wants, my baby gets!

Plan B woulda been camping out in a tent at the lake. And yeah, seeing the sunrise over the lake would be really cool, but the room with a real bed sounds waaay more comfy.

So, room or no room, we already had plans in place to stay out all night. We asked Mike and Cedes to each cover for us with our parents – super awesome friends right? This night is gonna be all kinds of awesome… I can't wait!

. . . . .

Every queen should arrive at a prom in style, right? So Kurt and me went in on a limo together, just to take us to the prom. After shelling out $150 for the room (and all the surprises waiting for her in it), I wasn't so sure about the limo idea, because at $125 an hour it's kind of expensive, but also, how were we getting home later? But Kurt had that covered…

He said we could have Cedes follow us to the hotel so we could drop off our vehicles ahead of time – which was actually a pretty rad idea! Since Kurt was going to Rach's house early in the day to help her with hair and makeup etc., he helped her pack an overnight bag which he brought back with him when he came home to get himself ready; that way I could put it in the truck. And I figured my queen wouldn't mind sharing her carriage to prom with Kurt and Blaine, and with Kurt sharing the cost it was a little easier on my wallet, so I figured why the hell not? One more way to make her smile tonight!

Anyway. We had the limo pick up Blaine first, then me and Kurt, then we all headed to Rachel's house last to take pictures there. Mom and Burt followed us since they wanted to take pictures too.

I don't know why, but I was suddenly SOOO nervous as soon as we pulled into her driveway. Musta been the anxiety of waiting to see Rachel all dressed up was winding me up to the point I almost couldn't talk.

But I was so right to be so wound up... She. Looked. A-MA-ZING. Seriously. I was rooted to the spot where I stood in her living room and could barely breathe as she made her way down those steps in her pretty dress, looking so… just stunning. For a brief minute I thought about us just skipping the prom and getting straight to the AFTER prom part of the night… Seriously, WOW.

Her tea-length dress was so totally her, all pink and girlie, with like, some shimmery see-through material overtop of the pink satin that had little sequins and beads and sparkly gems. It was strapless showing off her sexy shoulders and her hair was done up in a loose curly bun with cute little curls hanging down… (all the better to nibble at your gorgeous neck with, my dear).

Y'know, I've seen Rachel dressed up all fancy plenty of times for competitions and other stuff, and she really looked incredible at mom and Burt's wedding too... But this heavenly sight before me was like, next-level beautiful. She was radiant and I couldn't take my eyes off her.

I was waiting for her at the bottom of the steps and she took my hand as she came down the last couple, pausing on the next to last step when I told her "Wow, Rach... You look… you're just too gorgeous for words, babe… you seriously take my breath away."

She smiled so big and bright and I felt my heart thundering in my chest. She leaned forward and gave me a sweet, soft kiss on the lips, right in front of all our parents. There were some 'oohs' and 'awws' coming from the parents in the room and I could hear mom sniffling (pretty sure she was tearing up too).

I noticed Hiram was also beaming the same kinda huge smile as Rach (but hers is way prettier) and clutching his hand to his chest, but her daddy Leroy had a tight thin-lipped smile and looked like he was gonna say something til Hiram grabbed his hand and spoke first.

"Look at our Little Star, such a vision in pink sweetheart! You kids look just amazing together… But it's picture time! We need to capture this moment for all time!"

Her dads led us all out to their backyard, which has a pretty cool garden. There's a koi pond with water lilies and like a lattice arch thingy with vine-y purple flowers that look kinda like bunches of dangling grapes on one side of the yard, and a percolator over part of the patio (sort of a scaffold-looking thingy – which I totally don't get the point of it, I mean why put up only part of a roof with holes all through it?) with baskets of hanging flowers on it. They also have this like, secret hidden garden down a little path lined with roses – that's Rach's favorite part.

So after like a zillion pictures that took FOREVER – and I swear mom and Hiram sounded like some high fashion professional photographers ('stand by this tree', 'we need one by this flower', 'ok, group shot!', 'stand by Kurt', 'now one of you alone', 'arms around Rachel, now look at each other', 'smile Finn, you're not smiling!' UGH!). A hundred snaps later we finally got in the limo and were on our way.

Blaine was all giddy and bubbly next to Kurt, "I'm so excited for tonight! What about you guys?" and it made me smile to see them holding hands with their fingers laced together.

"Oh I'm sure it will be an eventful evening if nothing else," Kurt waived his free hand around toward me and Rach "as long as the giant and his damsel over there can keep it in their pants and not blind us all with their sickening FINCHEL displays of PDA all night!"

"Hey! Shut it, Kurt" I said as I slapped him on the back of the head.

He yelped "OW! HAIR, FINN!" I just chuckled at him. Sometimes I think Kurt is way more dramatic than Rach – and that's saying something! But I'm really just glad he's got Blaine. I think they're really cool together and it's all kinds of awesome to see him so happy. (It's also awesome to torture him whenever I can because he sure likes to drive me crazy over my clothes, my hair, my eating habits… but I guess this is what it's like to have a brother, right?)

Rach just giggled, then was sounding like the mom in the car "BOYS! You both need to behave now! Do I have to make the driver pull over and put one of you in the front seat with him?"

I wrapped my arm around her little waist and pulled her tight against my side. I used my free hand to tilt her chin up and gave her a really steamy kiss, then whispered in her ear, "If you do, it won't be me, 'cause I'm not leaving your side tonight, beautiful girl." Then I pulled up that half-grin she loves so much.

She smiled back into another steamy hot kiss while her little hands were curling up in the lapel of my jacket. I heard Kurt shrilling "eeew my eyes!" but it seems like neither of us cared. Then I went back for seconds, and thirds….

Blaine just laughed and coughed nervously, then tried to strike a conversation with Kurt to keep him distracted but I have no idea about what because all I could hear was the sweet little moans of Rachel's kisses.

. . . . .

We finally got inside and the hotel ballroom was HUGE. I saw a big drink fountain made of those towering stacked-up martini glasses (though I s'pose it was NOT real martinis in there). There was gold, gray and white shiny metallic balloons everywhere. There were like dangling soft white twinkle lights hanging everywhere from the ceiling, so it sorta looked like a starry sky. It was pretty cool.

Me and Rach danced to a few faster songs (well she danced, I mostly stood there and swayed around as cautiously as possible trying hard NOT to smack her in the nose again) and then I pulled her into my arms for a slow dance.

After about half an hour of dancing she needed to take a break and wanted a drink, so I walked her back to our table where most of us glee kids were sitting and pulled her chair out for her. Once she was seated, I stood behind her and leaned down to give her a soft kiss on her bare shoulder, telling her I'd be back in a minute with drinks.

I went to the refreshments table and was pouring punch into a couple of glasses when I felt a small hand on my shoulder. I turned around and was surprised to see Allie, looking really pretty in her navy blue form-fitting dress. I smiled and told her how pretty she looked and she blushed and said how nice I looked.

I haven't really talked much with Allie lately, not like I was trying to avoid her (well, maybe just a little like that) it's just that I've been super focused on stuff with me and Rach.

"So.. I thought you'd be moved back home with your mom by now. Did things not work out with your mom's job transfer?"

"Well yeah, she did get the transfer, but my grammy asked me if I could stay a while longer since my pops hasn't been feeling too well and she could use the company and a little extra help. I figured I'm already here and semi-settled, so…"

"Oh wow, sorry to hear that about your grandad. Hope he's gonna be okay. Does that mean you're staying til the end of the school year then?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine, it's just his arthritis acting up. And as for me finishing the school year here, well, I dunno Huddy Buddy… that kinda depends."

"On what?"

"On you." OH CRAP. "I miss our friendship and hanging out. And.. I just miss you, Finn. Um.. look, I - I know you're back with Rachel now, but…"

Uh-oh. No no and just NO. I cut off that train of thought before it could get any more awkward "Yeah Rach and me are doing GREAT. We finally worked out all our issues and we're closer than ever now. I'd missed her so much and I love her more than anything… and thanks again for putting up with me whining about my girl problems and for helping keep me outta trouble when I needed it. You've been a good friend. Even Rachel said she should probably thank you for keeping me outta trouble and maybe getting expelled."

She looked around nervously with a small smile and then brought those shocking blue eyes of hers back to focus on mine. "Yeah.. sure, I get it. You love her.. I, I just miss us hanging out together. And.. well Rachel's very lucky. I always knew you were a lot to lose."

"Al, you haven't lost my friendship, honest. But y'know, after everything me and Rach went through just to get together in the first place and everything we've been through ever since… I just.."

"You love her. She loves you. There's history… I understand. I see the way you two look at each other when the other doesn't notice. You both have the same look."

"Yeah? What look?"

"Like you can only see each other in the room, like you live for each other and nobody else."

I smiled when she said that and let my eyes drift back to our table where the most gorgeous girl in the world was sitting. I just watched with pride while my beautiful Rach chatted and laughed along with Mike, Tina, and Mercedes. She's so dazzling and she looks really, truly happy tonight.

"Yeah well.. She means everything to me Al, but then, you already know that."

"Sure, yeah. I just wish someone would look at me that way." I could see it in her eyes, almost a sad pleading... And I didn't miss the emphasis on the word someone like she was trying to drop a hint. Seemed like she was going for subtlety, but after some of our last talks around Sadie Hawkins, I think it's too hard for her to hide her feelings now. Especially after that crazy basement party and spin the bottle.

"Hey, someone will Al, I'm sure of it. You're a great girl. Some dude is gonna be super lucky to have you looking back at him the same way too."

"Just not you, right?"

UGH. "Allie…" But then before I could say anything else Puck suddenly appeared next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek… HUH?

He nodded to me, "Hey Finnessa, how's it hanging?" then turned to Allie "Babe, why don't you go sit your sexy fine little ass down and I'll grab us some drinks."

She nodded then walked away giving me one last sad little smile.

I just looked at him and blinked a couple times, til he looked up with a blank face. "What? She's totally hot bro, and she's got allll the right curves goin' on under that dress." He waggled his brow at me and asked "Think I'll get lucky enough to find out if she's a natural redhead before she moves away?"

"Puck! C'mon, man. You know she's a friend, and I really think you need to NOT unleash the sex shark on her. Don't objectify her like that, it's not cool."

"Hey, chill dude! Look, she asked ME to this stupid frilly shindig, so the Puckzilla expects at least a little something in return for his time and trouble, get me? And anyway, you'll be getting yours later so don't bother cockblocking. And uh, Berry looks pretty fine over there tonight… you two seem to be living it up in all your sappy Finchel bliss again."

"We are. Rach is great, we're great, better than ever in fact... And thanks a bunch for helping me out with the room and everything for tonight. But dude, I'm serious about Allie. Treat her right man, okay? She's a good person."

"Bro, let me handle that Alliecat. Anyway, you have Berry Pie on the menu, like, permanently. Honestly? I might just be doing you another favor here… I wasn't gonna mention it but Big Red hasn't been any too bashful about her feelings for you. You shoulda heard her the night of Berry's party after you two went upstairs."

I groaned a little under my breath, because yeah, uh, I've picked up on that already… and maybe he's right. I should quit worrying about it. I mean, Allie is a big girl, and she has a hell of a throwing arm too, so I'm sure she can handle herself if Puck gets too carried away.

"Okay spare me the details. Just, don't treat her like crap is all I'm asking. Especially since you know she's moving away soon."

"Dude, you insult me. I'm wounded! I don't treat girls like total crap… I give them all the best lovin' the Puckmeister has to offer!"

I just laughed at him "Okay whatever, man. But if you get slapped upside the head or take a knee to the nads, don't say I didn't warn you, that's all."

He smirked at me and put a hand on my shoulder leaning in to say "Well I sure wasn't getting kneed in the nads after spin the bottle… more like licks on my–"

"OKAY okay already.. overshare much?" So I guess she made out with Puck already, while drunk at the party? Geez. I guess I really haven't been paying much attention to her since the holidays, especially since me and Rach got things worked out. I feel sorta crappy about that, but not crappy enough to risk things with Rachel – I'll NEVER make that mistake again. "But hey, I need to get back to Rach. See ya later man." And with a fist bump, Puck grabbed their drinks and disappeared in the crowd and I grabbed me and Rach's drinks and went back to the most beautiful girl in the room.

. . . . .

FUCK. Weasel Face McDouchebag is here tonight? UGH.

Tina was on the prom committee and said they were short on chaperones tonight, so Mr. Schue asked him to be one… just great. And what's worse, she said he is apparently planning to sing tonight too... ACKK. Like I need to hear that crap!

Whatever. As long as he abides by my NO RACHEL rule then I guess things will stay cool. I can't let him ruin my queen's big night. Me and Rach are each gonna be singing tonight too. Most of the glee kids are performing in fact, but there's also a DJ so we don't have to spend our entire prom night as the entertainment like we sorta did at Sadie Hawkins.

But then I'm torn away from my thoughts when I realize that Allie is on stage, and she's singing a super sad depressing song. Somehow I have a sneaking suspicion who she's singing it to…

Who do you think you are?
Runnin' 'round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
Tearing love apart

You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back for me
Who do you think you are?

I really wish things didn't get so weird between us. I sure never meant to lead her on or hurt her feelings, and even though I was honest about my feelings for Rachel from the start, I guess somehow she still fell for me anyway. I s'pose mom and Rach were both right, things don't always go according to plan, and people can't always help how they feel.

It's totally awkward when girls get like that... And thinking back, I did sorta feel that kind of weirdness with Rach in the very beginning – considering I was still dating she-who-shall-not-be-named at the time, but it was different with Rach. Yeah true, she freaked me out a little bit (or well, maybe a lot) at first, but I know why that is now. It was the start of this crazy magnetic connection between us and I didn't understand what it meant yet. Maybe it's the way you're s'posed to feel when your soul finds its match? 'Cause I know Rach is right, we're totally soulmates.

Just then I felt a tiny arm snake around my waist and her delicious smell hit me before I saw her. She'd been over at the fake-tini fountain talking to Kurt and Blaine but snuck up on me. I wrapped my arm around the shoulders of the most beautiful girl in the room and pressed a kiss to her temple. Her sweet face was beaming a gentle smile up at me when she said "Hey baby… you look a little distracted. Everything okay?"

I leaned down and kissed her softly on her perfect strawberry-flavored lips. "Everything's awesome Rach… you're here and I couldn't be better. You having a good time so far, baby?"

There's that megawatt pearly grin that makes her chocolatey eyes twinkle like stars. "I really am Finn! But then, I always have a good time when we're together." She nestled herself into my side and hugged me tight. Then she looked up and added "Can you believe Noah came with Allie? I didn't know they were an item now. Did you?"

"No babe, neither of them said anything to me, but Puck said she asked him, maybe it was a last minute thing… but I'm not sure they're really an item. I mean, she's moving away from here pretty soon to go back with her mom."

"Well doesn't that sound like the perfect relationship for Noah? A short and sweet one-night stand, don't call me, I'll call you even though I have no plans to call you sort of arrangement."

I cracked up at her. "Babe, I think you were looking for the phrase hump and dump – but I really don't think Allie is that kinda girl. I think he'd have to work too hard for that one."

She gave me a sorta funny face, slapped me on the chest and let out a huff. "Hmmmpf. That expression is deplorable Finn. And I seriously hope you don't condone such behavior, it's sexist and immoral. But you're probably right; Allie doesn't really seem like Noah's usual fare anyway. Her song choice is rather interesting, although a little depressing for prom… but at least she sounds okay." I kinda chuckled at that last bit – if Rach had some kinda heartache going on I can PROMISE you she'd be venting on that stage in a song just like this, no matter what the occasion was.

I felt her fingers twining with mine and she added "Anyway, I'm performing after Santana, Britt and, um... Quinn. They're up next."

I shuddered a little involuntarily at the sound of the Q name. "Awesome! I can't wait to hear my baby singing," I grinned a big toothy dimpled smile at her. I LOVE hearing Rach sing. "I'm pretty sure I'm up next after you, but I need to check with Mr. Schue. I zoned out when he went over this stuff in glee... I was kinda distracted. You kept me pretty busy the night before and I was uh.. remembering things…" I winked at her and she giggled and slapped me playfully on the chest again.

"Yes honey, you go on right after me… But you know what? I was thinking, and I really want us to sing a duet together tonight. How about if we sneak one in?" She had that devilish look in her eye again, like singing an unplanned duet is so rebellious. Dammit she's so cute and sexy!

"I'd love that. What song did you have in mind?"

"How about a reprise of one of my favorites from last year?"

"Hmm.. how about 'Push It'?" I winked at her and lightly tickled her sides while singing 'ooo baby-baby, ba-baby-baby' and doing her crazy sexy dance moves pushing against her.

She let out the cutest combo giggle-squeal, "FINN! No, no way! I already promised you we will NEVER perform that song in public again! No, I was thinking of one of our ballads... but not 'Faithfully,' I want to keep that one just for us."

Then she stood up on her tiptoes and grabbed my jacket lapel to pull my lips down to hers. I wrapped my arms around her waist and rubbed small circles up and down her back. I started to deepen the kiss and she didn't stop me. Her tongue felt so good sliding against mine and her lips tasted so damn sweet, I just wanted to take her upstairs right then to have my way with her. LITTLE Finn is waking up a little too much right now, and if she doesn't stop pressing herself against me like that, I just might!

I kissed my way across from her lips to her neck and mumbled against her skin, "Mmmm baby, you feel so good and I love you so much, but if you don't take it easy on me here I'm gonna find a closet to take you into and finish what you're startin'."

She pulled back and batted her eyelashes at me and said in a sexy low voice "Promise?" Felt like all the blood in my body just rushed south and UGH I WANT HER SO BAD RIGHT NOW! Then she squealed "OOO! It's almost my turn to sing! See you up there in a few, baby!" She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and dashed off to the stage. UGHHH! You're killing me Rach!

. . . . .

Rachel's voice is AMAZING, as always. And I'm standing here holding my breath in awe of her, as always.

She sang this awesome oldies throwback Shania Twain song 'Still the One' (and yeah I totally know it was meant for me) and right now she's up there giving a HELL of a performance of 'Get It Right'. Mr. Schue was so right about having her sing it here tonight – hey, it won us regionals, why shouldn't she show off her amazingness to the rest of the losers around here?

What have I done?
I wish I could run Away from this ship going under
Just trying to help out everyone else
Now I feel the weight of the world is on my shoulders

What can you do when your good isn't good enough
And all that you touch tumbles down?
'Cause my best intentions keep making a mess of things
I just wanna fix it somehow

But how many times will it take?
Oh, how many times will it take for me to get it right?
To get it right

Rach wrote most of the verses and we did the chorus part together, but this next verse was mostly mine. It really touched on how I felt after that first weekend when I was doubting Rachel's feelings for me. How dumb was I? Then for the next several weeks I was realizing how much I'd been hurting her by hanging out with Allie, and that I had to own up to my part of the problems with me and Rach if we were ever gonna work things out.

Can I start again with my faith shaken?
'Cause I can't go back and endure this
I just have to stay and face my mistakes
But if I get stronger and wiser, I'll get through this

I couldn't wait to sing with her another minute. She'd wanted us to sing this song as a duet all along, so I couldn't stop myself from jumping up on stage with her to finish singing the song that we wrote together. I grabbed a mic and surprised her. I started harmonizing with her on the next part as I walked toward her on stage and the happiness that spread across her face was the best thing I'd seen all night.

But how many times will it take?
Oh, how many times will it take for me to get it right?

She let me take the next couple lines solo. We didn't rehearse any of this together either, it was all off the cuff but we're just so musically in tune with each other, we seem to just fall into these easy natural patterns and somehow it just works. I love singing with Rachel so much, and I've missed it. Feels like it's been way too long.

So I throw up my fists, throw a punch in the air
And accept the truth that sometimes life isn't fair

I let her take the last part of the bridge solo and it seemed like she tore the roof off this place belting out that last line. Goosebumps doesn't cover it... I swear her powerhouse vocals are like, the seventh wonder of the world.

Yeah, I'll send down a wish, yeah, I'll send up a prayer
Then finally someone will see how much I care

I'll never understand how such BIG sounds can come out of someone so tiny. She blows my mind every time.

We finished 'Get It Right' then Rach went over to the band and told them to cue up 'No Air', that super awesome duet we did last year when the club was split up and Coach Sue and Mr. Schue were trying to kill each other.

I'm so glad she chose this song for us to sing it again. Last time we sang this, I was still dating the WRONG girl, while singing lyrics that said exactly how I really felt (and still do now) to the right one. I've always wondered if Mr. Schue picked these songs for us on purpose. One day I'm gonna have to ask him.

. . . . .

Rach hugged me tight before leaving the stage after our duet. Then it was my turn and I had the most perfect song picked out for my baby. I told her earlier to pay attention because this was gonna be for her.

I see forever when I look in your eyes
You're all I've ever wanted I always want you to be mine
Let's make a promise 'till the end of time
We'll always be together and our love will never die

So here we are face to face and heart to heart
I want you to know we will never be apart
Now I believe that wishes can come true
'Cause I see my whole world, I see only you

When I look into your eyes
I can see how much I love you and it makes me realize
When I look into your eyes
I see all my dreams come true
When I look into your eyes

Rach was right in front of the stage dancing with Kurt, smiling and blowing kisses the whole time with tears welled up in her eyes. She looked so beautiful I almost forgot the words to the song.

I've looked for you all of my life
Now that I've found you, we will never say goodbye
Can't stop this feelin' and there's nothing I can do
'Cause I see everything when I look at you

I was into the last verse of the song when I swear I saw the psycho hanging around the side of the stage where I had to go to leave. When I got done, I tried to avoid her but she managed to catch me by the arm and pulled me behind the stage area.

She was sorta crying, and well, as much as I probably shouldn't care, girl tears freak me out and I couldn't help but be a little worried.

"Quinn, what's going on? Is everything alright?"

"No Finn, nothing is alright. I've tried to keep away from you but I honestly just don't think I can anymore. I came here with Sam but I can't stand pretending with him anymore. I just wanted us to have another chance Finn, is that really so much to ask? I know I messed things up with you last year, but now I'm not pregnant, there's no baby drama, and we could just be a couple again without worrying about that stuff."

SERIOUSLY? This crap again?

"We who? You mean you and me? Aw hell Quinn, how many more times do I need to tell you, I'm not ever coming back to you?! Besides, you came here with Sam, and he really seems to be into you, so why not just be with him and forget about me already?"

Crap now she's really crying and starting to get hysterical. I can't stand it when chicks cry! "Because you were my first real love, Finn! And I know I messed up with Puck, and that's a mistake I SO wish I could take back, but I just can't... All I can do is try to make it up to you. And you know, we could still end up as prom king and queen tonight, and then we could get our second chance."

OH MY GOD. Not this crazy prom royalty talk again, is she for real?

"NO! Quinn, geez will you just forget it already! That ship has sailed, like right into the Bermuda Triangle never to be seen again! I already told you I don't care about any of that stuff! I'm not even running for prom king if you didn't notice, and I don't want any part of it! Even if I was a write-in winner I'd refuse it unless Rachel also won for queen. Because as you should well know by now – I am here with Rachel, I love Rachel! SHE is the only queen I'm worried about tonight. Can't you understand that?"

"Frankly no Finn, no I cannot fathom why your feelings are so confused and you're fixated on that little troll! She can sing, okay I'll give her that, but so what? She's not meant to be here Finn, she's gonna leave you behind for stupid Broadway dreams. You and I were meant to be together Finn! She's just not one of us! She's not popular like us or pretty like me… You were mine first until SHE came along and ruined everything!"

Oh man. I'm getting a headache. I can't swallow this much CRAZY in one night. Where the fuck is Sam anyway? He needs to put a leash (and maybe a muzzle) on his date….

{{SIGH}} "Okay , I know we dated first, and I do feel bad for cheating on you and falling for another girl while we were still dating…"

"What do you mean you CHEATED on me?"

"C'mon Quinn you knew I kissed Rachel when we were still dating. But the truth is, you were a terrible girlfriend. And we were not a happy couple, only I didn't know that yet, because I didn't know that wasn't the way it was supposed to feel until I met Rachel. You treated me like crap most of the time, insulting me and never listening to anything I had to say. I felt like you didn't care about me AT ALL, except for me being your key to winning some stupid crown. You're with SAM now and I am with RACHEL, so you need to just leave me alone. I've gotta get back to MY date, the girl I LOVE, who always makes me feel like I'm part of something special. Rachel loves me and I love her and NOTHING you say or do is going to change that. So just, go enjoy your ridiculous prom royalty fantasies on your own – and hey, maybe Sam will be voted king. Then maybe you'll finally just leave me the hell alone, but either way, this conversation is over!"

I started walking away from her and she grabbed hold of my arm, and it was obvious she was totally trying to kiss me again! Oh hell no, I can NOT go through a repeat of seven months ago!

Then we heard Sam's voice. "Quinn, stop." I didn't realize it, but we had an audience. Seems Puck, Sam and Rach had come looking for us – and thank Cheesus they found us! Sam came over and grabbed Quinn by the waist and tried to carry her away but she wouldn't let go of my arm.

Then Rachel walked over to her and looked Quinn in the eye. "Quinn! Please, you need to stop embarrassing yourself like this! I know you're hoping to win prom queen tonight, and I hope that you do since it seems to mean so much to you. But is this really how you want to remember this night?"

Quinn stopped struggling so much and finally let go of my arm. Sam still held onto her waist though, just in case, and Rach kept trying to reason with the unreasonable.

"Listen, I'm so sorry that you feel like I stole Finn away from you last year. But knowing Finn as I do, if you two were truly meant to be, if his heart really belonged to you in the first place, he wouldn't have ended up with me. And if your heart really belonged to him, you wouldn't have cheated on him and slept with Noah. I've done my very best to try to be your friend since last year. I supported you through your pregnancy, a-and I had sincerely hoped, maybe one day we could be real friends. I can tell you're hurting Quinn, and right now, I just wish you would get some help to try to heal from all this pain."

"What are you even talking about, MAN-HANDS? You don't know anything about me! You don't know what it's like to be me and you certainly don't know about my pain!"

I was about to totally flip out at Quinn for insulting Rachel again, but Rach held a hand to my chest silently asking me to be quiet, and then she continued talking while me, Puck, and Sam just looked at each other with confused faces.

"No Quinn, you're right I don't know what it's like to be you exactly, but I do know a little about the pain you're feeling. My birth mother abandoned me, and I've always felt rejected because my own mother didn't want me. Just like how your father turned his back on you when you were pregnant, when you needed his support the most… I know what that feels like, to have a parent hurt you that way. I've found it helpful to work through my feelings about my mother with a therapist, and I really think it would benefit you if you did the same – not just your feelings about your dad but also about giving up your baby. Until you find a way to cope, you're just going to continue suffering."

Wow. I mean just WOW. Rachel is some kind of SAINT. See what I mean about how big her heart is? I'm so proud of my girl for defending herself, but also I'm in awe over her HUGE heart. Now Quinn's just sobbing, but she seems to be backing down, and she isn't lashing out at Rach anymore… then Puck stepped in, and whispered something to Sam, who walked away while Puck scooped Quinn up and carried her out of the ballroom.

I wrapped my arms around my girl and pulled her close. "Rachel, babe are you okay?"

She was stroking her fingers through my hair which felt sooo good. "Yes I'm fine honey… but are you though? That was a really intense argument between the two of you from what I saw, and I'm sure you're feeling some of the sting from last year."

"I… actually, no baby. I'm not feeling anything about that crap... All I feel right now is how much I love you. That's all I can say. You're amazing and I love you."

. . . . .

Terrific. St Douche is on stage now, singing his little weasel face off. And why does it sound like some kind of message to Rachel? He keeps looking straight at her. And uh.. yeah, pretty sure I do NOT like this message… And why is he singing here tonight AT ALL?

My pride, my ego, my needs, and my selfish ways
Caused a good strong woman like you to walk out my life
Now I never, never get to clean up the mess I made, oh
And that haunts me every time I close my eyes

I should have bought you flowers And held your hand
Should have gave you all my hours When I had the chance
Take you to every party 'cause all you wanted to do was dance
Now my baby's dancing But she's dancing with another man

Although it hurts
I'll be the first to say that I was wrong
Oh, I know I'm probably much too late
To try and apologize for my mistakes
But I just want you to know

I hope he buys you flowers, I hope he holds your hand
Give you all his hours When he has the chance
Take you to every party 'Cause I remember how much you loved to dance
Do all the things I should have done When I was your man

Um. What the hell, St Douchebag?

Rachel kept looking all uncomfortable and was hanging onto me through the whole song. I could feel how tense she was getting and seems this ASS HAT is trying to ruin our night. She finally said she needed to use the ladies room. I asked if she was okay and she said she was, she just needed to get away from him for a minute. I asked Tina and Cedes to go check on her just to be sure she was alright.

While Rach was gone, I hung out with most of the glee guys. We were chatting it up about Nationals and getting excited for our trip to New York, but after a while I was wondering what was taking Rach so long to come back. Then I saw Mercedes by the refreshment table talking to Kurt, then Tina came back to our table… but no Rach?

"Tina, did Rachel come back with you and Mercedes? Is she okay?"

"Um, yeah she was right behind us when we came back in, but Britt called her over for something and I guess we lost her. She should be in here somewhere though."

I kept scanning my eyes around the room but couldn't find her or Brittany for what seemed like forever, and I was really starting to get worried. Finally, I saw Britt with Santana and went over to them.

"Hey Britt, Tina said she saw you with Rach a little bit ago, but I can't find her now.. Do you know where she went?"

"Oh isn't she still with Jesse?"

"WHAT? What do you mean STILL with Jesse? Where?"

"Well, he told me he and Mr. Schue had something important to talk to her about for Nationals, so he asked me to bring her out to the little conference room down the hall."

Oh crap.. Well, that's gotta be a lie because Mr. Schue is next to the stage talking to the jazz band guys right now. "Uh, okay thanks Britt… sorry, gotta go."

I ran over to talk to Mr. Schue. He didn't know anything about why Jesse would need to talk to Rachel for any reason tonight. So I told him everything Britt said then I took off running to go find them.

There was only one other room in this hallway and the doors were open. When I got there, I saw him trying to kiss Rach and Rach slapping him across the face – HARD. He sorta lost his balance a little and she tried to walk away from him but he grabbed her by the arm.

OH HELL NO, I don't think so!

"Get the FUCK away from her!" I roared at him from across the room. It didn't take any time at all for me to close the span of the room and reach where they were. He'd let go of Rach by then and she ran behind me. I turned to face her and see if she was okay. She seemed awfully shaken up, and there's just NO WAY he's getting away with this shit!

I turned back to face him. "St. James, I already warned you TWICE… just who the hell do you think you are? She doesn't want to be bothered with you!" And I shoved him.

Just then I heard Mr. Schue come into the room calling my name. Much to my surprise, while I was turning to see Mr. Schue, that smarmy little shit caught me off guard and took a swing at me, landing a (very wimpy) punch to my jaw. Um.. well, he asked for it now, didn't he?

I swear it was just a reflex, but the next thing I know, my already balled-up fist was connecting with his face and he was laid out cold on the floor, blood starting to drip outta his nose.

Mr. Schue came over to check on the Jackass on the floor. "Alright Finn, that's enough now! Rachel, are you okay? What happened?" he asked her as he knelt down by the McDouche.

Rachel explained how he'd used Britt to lure her into the room. She said he was trying to talk her into breaking up with me and trying to convince her that he missed her, he was better for her than I am etc etc… She said she rejected him, told him she wasn't interested in him and that she loved me, but he wasn't taking no for an answer. She said she thought she smelled alcohol on his breath. Then he tried to kiss her, which was the part I walked in on.

"Oh crap, Rach, baby are you okay? I'm so sorry, I shoulda waited for you near the restroom and not left you alone here."

She just hugged me then put her hand lightly on my face "I promise I'm okay baby, but Finn what about you? I can't believe he hit you! Is your jaw okay?"

I chuckled at her worried pouty face. "Rach, I swear I barely felt it. I've taken way worse hits on the football field," then I looked at Mr. Schue and said "I'm sorry Mr. Schue, I was only coming in here to find Rachel. I saw him with his hands all over her and I saw Rachel slap him. It really looked like he was gonna hit her back or hurt her."

"Don't worry about it Finn, you guys are not in any kind of trouble. I don't understand what Mr. St. James' problem is, but when I brought him on board as a consultant, he'd promised he would remain professional and NOT fraternize with any students. Rachel, I'm so very sorry this happened to you. If I'd known he was pursuing you like that, I wouldn't have ever allowed him to be here at all. And don't worry, after all of this, he will NOT be returning to Glee, or McKinley at all for that matter. You guys should get back to prom, I'll call Principal Figgins and take care of this mess."

. . . . .

About half an hour later Figgins was on stage to announce the king and queen. I feel like we could leave now and I wouldn't care, but Rachel said we should pay attention and be supportive since some of our friends are in the royal court. After all the drama, I can't believe Quinn managed to like, put on her fake SANITY mask long enough to be on stage for this.

King nominees are Sam and Puck, and also Rick the DICK Nelson (barf). For queen, aside from the psycho, are Lauren Zizes and – to everyone's big surprise – Allie. Wow. I guess she made a big impression on people for the short time she's been here. But I'm happy that she got nominated. She's a good person and of everyone up there, she probably deserves to win the most.

Rach slipped both her little arms around my left arm and squeezed tight with excitement. Figgins announced the king first and frankly, no surprise to me that it's Sam. And oh gawd here comes the moment of truth… if it's not HER name called, I expect she's gonna go FULL CARRIE and like, lock the exits and turn a firehose on everyone or something… annnnd… CRAP. Better make a break for the door now… ALLIE won for queen!

Puck looks a little disappointed, but he immediately shot his eyes to Quinn, who yeah, looks like she might actually LEVITATE from the rage and hurt I can see bubbling up on her face. And what's worse, she seems to be directing it at ME from the stage! Thankfully Puck went straight to her side and took her out of the ballroom, while Allie and Sam were about to begin their dance as king and queen.

Alrighty then, glad that's finally over!

. . . . .

So okay, we had a little bit of prom drama. Or maybe an awful LOT of prom drama compared to most proms? Whatever. All in all, it's been a pretty awesome night so far! McDouche is McFIRED and me and Rach BOTH got to give that rat-faced weasel a beatdown (that's my girl!). I managed to NOT get molested by any crazy chicks (okay I came close only once). Nobody made fun of Kurt's Gay Braveheart look so I didn't need to kick anyone's ass for harassing him. We laughed when Puck got busted for trying to spike the punch bowl (he will just NEVER learn I guess?), we danced and sang on stage and off, took a million pictures, and just had an overall great time hanging out with all our friends.

Despite all the crazy shit that happened, my beautiful girl is having a great time and so am I. Rachel made this night possible for me. I would've never even WANTED to be here if it wasn't for her. I woulda probably been dragged into it kicking and screaming while my mom was home babysitting, and I'd be sleep-deprived and resenting Quinn for making me be here at all. We'd probably spend the night fighting, especially if she didn't win, and go home angry.

But that's not the crappy version of prom I got to experience, and I'm so grateful. I just hope Rach likes the after prom surprises I have in store for her. I worked hard to make everything perfect and romantic. And unlike that ridiculous promposal, I don't want any mess-ups... And as long as I don't like, catch the hotel room on fire, we should be good.

. . . . .

The dance was finally winding down. Quite a few people left already including most of the glee folks who are going to Mike's party. The DJ let a run of slow songs play to end the night, and I held my baby in my arms swaying with her on the dance floor and just never wanted to let her go.

"Well this was a crazy night wasn't it babe?"

"Yeah it was Finn. But I am so glad I came, and I had so much fun. Thank you so much for this incredible memory. It's a night I'll never forget."

"I love you so much Rach. You deserve to be treated like royalty every single day. You'll always be my queen."

I kissed the tip of her beautiful nose. She giggled and tugged me down for a real kiss and I lifted her up to reach her better without craning my neck so much (to be honest, it does hurt my neck after a while trying to reach her for kisses – but I'm not complaining!). As her little arms wrapped tightly around my neck and we continued kissing soft and slow, the opening chords of 'Faithfully' filled the room. I could feel Rachel's smile growing under my lips at the same time as mine.

"Did you request this?" We both asked at the same time, then she started giggling and said "Well I guess it's just written in the stars baby, we were destined to have this be our final dance at our first prom."

I slid one hand up her back and to the nape of her soft neck while the other was still wrapped around her waist. She hugged me tight and buried her face in the crook of my neck, kissing along my pulse point and nibbling at my ear lobe which was turning me into a pile of goo. I was softly singing our song to her. She put her lips to my ear and said "Baby I love you so, so very much, and well…" she exhaled sharply and I felt a hot little puff of her breath hit my neck that sent chills all through me, then she whispered "I'm finally ready Finn. I want you to make love to me tonight."

I sorta froze for a minute, processing what she just said. My heart was jackhammering in my chest a mile a minute and my legs were getting a little shaky, which was craziness, because y'know, I'm a dude, and my dude brain should sorta handle this news better than that, right?

But somehow I don't think my dude brain was even plugged into this conversation. It was just Rach and ME, all of my brain was listening. All of my HEART was listening. I pulled back to look deep in her eyes. "Y-you.. Yeah? Rach… A-are you really sure, baby? I mean, yeah I got the room and everything, but that doesn't mean I expected you to–"

"You did? You got a hotel room?"

Oh crap. "Um, yeah I did. Sorry, it was meant to be a surprise… SURPRISE!" She was GLOWING with this news.

"Oh baby, that's a wonderful surprise! And I love you for it. But yes, I'm positive Finn. This is the right time. The perfect time. I've never felt so close to you. This night was so special, just being here with you. You're special. You know how I know that? Because I'm going to give you something that no one else is ever gonna get."

Holy… Uhh… Is this really gonna happen? Well, she said it is, so… Hey it's a good thing I came prepared just in case – but I swear I wasn't expecting this to happen tonight. I said it like a million times, it's always been all up to her. But y'know just in case she finally ever gave the green light, I do always have that little round insurance policy wrapped in foil in my wallet. Uhh… Shit. Thinking about it, it's been in there for an AWFUL long while now, like, since I kissed her that first time in the auditorium. Those things expire, don't they? Pretty sure I remember a bad flashback of mom giving me some extremely humiliating sex ed talk and saying something about that… Crap. I better check on that. Not trying to do Babygate 2.0!

Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod. This is really happening. Tonight's THE night. I love her so much! And I REALLY hope there's like a vending machine in the men's room or something, 'cause I'm pretty sure the gift shop at this hotel is already closed (ummm.. and I'm not real sure they'd have THESE for sale in there anyway).

Yeah… write it down, I'm calling it: BEST. PROM. EVER.

. . . . .

ENJOY RETIREMENT, MR. CLARK!

So, the whole spending an entire night alone together in a hotel room idea… you might be wondering how our parents agreed to this, but it was surprisingly easy: Cedes is covering for Rach, and Mike is covering for me. And booking the room? Well, I actually have PUCK to thank for that.

I guess in a move to score back some BRO POINTS with me, Puck volunteered to use his fake ID to book the room for me ('cause at fancy places like the Marriott Inn, you have to be at least 18 to book a room and my birthday is still a few months away) and he was real proud of himself when he said he booked it under the name Mr. and Mrs. Finchel.

I planned the room ahead of time too, to make it all cozy and romantic, because Rachel likes all that mushy romance stuff, but also because I like doing things like that for her. I love seeing her face light up with that megawatt pearly smile of hers… it makes me smile to see her smile.

Anyway. I brought a bunch of smelly candles (hope mom doesn't notice I took all the ones from her bathroom and the family room), and I swiped Kurt's fancy fruity bubble bath stuff (shhh.. he'll never miss it! OK maybe he will, but he can't prove it was me who took it).

When I was at Target buying more candles, I also found this sweet giant stuffed teddy bear that's holding up a big stuffed gold star in his hands over his head. He's HUGE, like almost as tall as Rach! He's wearing a t-shirt that I hot glued some letters on spelling my name, and I put Rach's name on the star. Then I placed a bet with myself to see how long it would take until she caught onto the metaphor – yeah, see how much Rach has taught me in just under two years? (OH – the answer was 7.5 seconds BTW… my girl is crazy smart! And honestly, it prob'ly woulda been faster but I couldn't start counting til AFTER she quit squealing and kissing me – not that I minded that at all.)

I also got her a big bouquet of fancy Gerber daisies in a shiny gold vase that had stars and a rainbow on it, and the final touch – Puck was able to swipe an unopened bottle of REAL champagne from his cousin's bat mitzvah last week.

We ordered room service for a late dinner by candlelight – cheeseburger and fries for me and a veggie stir fry for her – then we split some kinda fancy craypaper dessert that was like, the biggest skinniest pancake I've ever seen, loaded with whipped cream and sliced fresh strawberries and a drizzle of chocolate sauce (I guess someone named Suzie invented them?).

. . . . .

So after our late night meal, we drank some champagne and ate our strawberry Suzie dessert (which tasted AWESOME, BTW – Suzie might like skinny pancakes but she's a pretty boss cook to come up with that dish).

The candles were all lit and the music was playing soft in the background (I remembered to bring my iPod dock with Rach's favorite makeout playlist loaded - playlist #5, the one where NO show tunes were allowed, except for one which she demanded be left on there - 'My Man'... and I was okay with that).

We slow danced for a while and drank some more champagne. Journey's 'Open Arms' came on the playlist and I sang in Rach's ear as I held her close and we swayed to the music.

Lying beside you, here in the dark
Feeling your heartbeat with mine
Softly you whisper, you're so sincere
How could our love be so blind?

We sailed on together, we drifted apart
And here you are by my side

Steve Perry must be like some kinda voodoo fortune teller… he wrote these lyrics sooo long ago, and like, they're basically OUR STORY, mine and Rach's. In fact just about all Journey songs could pretty much be a pre-written guide to understanding Finchel, right?

So now I come to you, with open arms
Nothing to hide, believe what I say
So here I am, with open arms
Hoping you'll see, what your love means to me
Open arms

Anyway. We danced and sang and pretty soon we were both feeling a little fuzzy from the champagne (or maybe it's 'cause of the being totally alone together all night with no chance of interruptions thing). Soon the dancing started becoming kissing, and the kissing led to more kissing and touching, and next thing I know Rach was staring into my eyes asking me to unzip her dress.

I don't know how long it actually took, but there seemed like a frenzy that grabbed hold of both of us, and all those layers of fancy-schmancy prom clothes were suddenly in a crumpled pile on the floor in a blur between hot needy kisses and hands exploring each other's bodies.

If there was ever any shadow of doubt in my mind before, it's totally gone now; I know one million percent that Rachel Berry is the love of my life. I'd never rush her into anything that she wasn't ready for. We started out suuuuper slow at the beginning of last summer, and I always let her take the lead and decide where things are gonna end up. Y'know, before tonight, I'd thought all of our summer fun makeout sessions and our amazing reunion make-up time at the lake were about as hot and heavy as it could get… but now I know I was so, so… SO very wrong...

Even through the liquid courage of the champagne, we were both pretty nervous. Her hands trembled a lot as she pulled off my belt and undid my dress pants, and mine were shaking pretty good when I tugged off her panties. Part of that was prob'ly from the adrenaline, and part of that was maybe for finally seeing her – like, ALL of her – standing in front of me like that for the very first time. It was, in a word, BREATHTAKING. She's the most beautiful sight I've ever laid eyes on.

The words she'd whispered in my ear on that dance floor at prom tonight were some of the best words to ever come out of her mouth, but until we were here in the room together, I really hadn't truly understood what it would mean, for both of us, when we got to this last step. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. And when I trailed kisses down her throat I could feel her pulse pounding like a hummingbird under my lips and the feel of her ragged breath sent tingles through me as she shivered under my touch.

We just sorta stood naked and totally exposed in front of each other for the longest time, trembling, eyes taking their time to study everything... But it didn't feel awkward or embarrassing like I always thought it would; prob'ly because it was happening with Rach.

With Rachel, it just feels right. I feel safe in front of her. She's not gonna judge me or make fun of me, or make me feel self-conscious and I know that about her already. She must know the same about me too, because she doesn't seem uncomfortable at all. Nervous yeah, but good nervous, y'know?

Neither of us was sure who was gonna make the first 'big' move. But then after a while, she finally took the lead (kinda like I expected she would). She smiled so sweet and took me by the hand and walked us over to the bed. She never said a word, she just laid down first and tugged my hand to pull me on top of her, cradling me between her legs.

I just kinda balanced my weight on my elbows, afraid to crush her 'cause she's so tiny, and stared into her eyes for the longest time, brushing her soft hair back from her face. Then I sorta freaked out for a second and said "CONDOM" like way louder than I needed to… but she giggled softly and her twinkling eyes looked up at me. She spoke so quietly I almost didn't hear her. "It's okay baby, I've been on the pill since before Valentine's Day." What? Uhh.. after that, my lips sorta automatically crashed down on hers, and then I felt her legs wrap around my waist and pull me closer to her.

Soooo…..

If this was a movie, right now I'd be showing you film footage of like, rocket ships blasting off and flowers blooming super fast with like, time lapse photography, and like, the view from hot air balloons at sunset over an ocean and roller coasters doing loopty-loops upside down, cracks of lightening streaking across the night sky and volcanoes erupting…

So, you can just go ahead and visualize all that, with the sound of your favorite elevator music playing in the background (I would suggest 'The Girl From Ipanema', just because it was playing in the elevator on the way up to our room) while I go ahead and think about what actually happened… ;)

. . . . .

Feeling her fingers smoothing across my skin, seeing the look in her eyes, feeling the sensation of HER wrapped all around me... It just steals my breath in the best way possible. It's that same feeling like... like when one of those little snow tornadoes sweeps up the fresh powder on a breezy winter morning, all sparkly and shimmering, dancing and skipping across the ground in the sunlight until it WOOSHES up into your face. Or like, in the summer when you sit in the air conditioning too long that you're so cold and you go outside in the sunlight and that warmth soaks through you and it starts to burn after a while and you can like see the rays of sunlight pulsating when you squint. But that burn, it's not painful, it's just such a great feeling… like a hug from the sun. That's what this FEELS like. And the sun is s'posed to be like, the brightest star, but it's just a dying ember compared to Rachel Berry.

She doesn't need the fancy dress or makeup. She doesn't need all the shiny jewelry and accessories. She's just RACHEL. She's so completely, achingly beautiful in a category all her own, it nearly makes my heart stop. Seeing the view of her beautiful face in the flickering light of this candlelit room, feeling her moving beneath me, seeing her soft shiny hair all swirly around the pillow, and her kiss-swollen ruby lips and the deep pink blush of her skin, with all the passion I see in her deep ebony eyes… Maybe this is the real meaning of nirvana. I can't take my eyes off her and I kinda have to remind myself that she's only just a human and not like, an ACTUAL immortal goddess or something.

I could just get lost in her eyes for hours, watching for all the things she wants to say communicated to me in a look. I love how her eyes TALK to me, they make changes in her facial expression and I know what she feels without hearing a word pass her lips. Then I wonder if she thinks my eyes do that to her too… I think they must, since she studies mine the way I study hers.

All I know is that I love her more than anything on the planet and prob'ly always will. I can't ever ever be without her. The fact that she's here with me right now, sharing this, giving herself over to me while I surrender myself to her, well... I just know she feels the same exact way about me. My heart is just so full... Like, too full, like I don't know how to stop the trembles (or the tears… which is so NOT a studly thing to admit to, but I can't help it, okay?).

This moment was way too important to her – to both of us – for it to not mean everything. And I totally get what Rach was talking about now, that physical and emotional bond, and why she waited so long to be sure… to think I almost wasted this on something so totally disposable with anyone else. I can't believe I even considered it, but I'm so glad I waited for this… this is how it was always supposed to be.

I already said how we seem to be able to say so many things to each other without ever saying a single word. It's like I can see right into her heart and soul when I look into her eyes, and what I find there every time is love, friendship, desire… and our future.

Yeah. I don't even have to wonder if anymore, I just know. I'm gonna marry this girl one day.

. . . . .

A FUNERAL AND AN UNBREAKABLE BOND.

Coach Sylvester is being weird today. Normally she's freaking out on her mission to bring down the Glee club, but today she walked into the choir room and just sat without ever saying a word to anyone, listened to a couple songs and then silently left the room. A buzz in the room started with questions and snarky remarks until Mr. Schue told us, her sister Jean just died last night.

Kurt and I looked at each other for a minute and I was pretty sure I knew by the look on his face what was gonna happen next. Rachel had wanted me to come hang out at her house after school today but Kurt told her he needed me for something else and then he dragged me down the hall. On the way toward Coach's office he was saying how we both know what she's feeling, that sense of loss, and we needed to go see her and try to offer some comfort.

For a split second I couldn't understand why Kurt gave a shit at all, but then I remembered – Coach Sue really did try to help him out with the whole Karofsky bullying thing when she was acting principal. He was hurting and she was there for him, so yeah, now he wanted to be there for her. I get it.

Coach was so sad and depressed, I'd never seen her like this before – almost human. She really didn't even want to deal with planning the funeral service. We ended up offering to help plan that and clear Jean's things out from her room at the care home where she lived (Jean had Down Syndrome). Rach came with us for that part, and when she saw Jean's favorite movie, it was her idea to use that to help with the funeral plans. Me and Rach brainstormed some ideas and then we had to get special permission from the funeral home to do what we wanted, but they thought it was a wonderful idea.

So we did this awesome Willy Wonka theme and got the whole Glee club to sing the main song from the movie 'Pure Imagination' because we figured Jean woulda loved it so much. And plus, it made Coach Sue smile for the first time since her sister died.

Then it was time for the eulogy. As I sat and listened to Coach while she tried to choke her words out, I realized how hard this had to be for her, losing someone you loved so much, with no chance of ever getting to say or do things with that person ever again.

Like, death is just so final and there's no second chances once they're gone. Yeah, I grew up without him but I never actually knew my dad.. It's one thing to miss the IDEA of a person, it's another thing to KNOW that person and know exactly what you'll be missing.

Coach was so overwhelmed with grief trying to read her own words that they just stopped coming out at all, so Mr. Schue stood up and finished reading them for her, and the next words he spoke just got under my skin in a way I never expected:

"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."

I felt Rachel shift her weight a little. She was pressed close up against me, squeezing my hand and weeping quiet tears into the side of my arm. When Mr. Schue was reading the part about reaching for that tether and falling into nothingness, I kinda knew what that felt like already. I thought about the times me and Rach were apart this past year and a half, and how I felt when I was on the verge of losing her friendship – losing her. But then a darker thought crossed my mind... What if something ever happened and I never got another tomorrow with her?

That's when it hit me like a ton of bricks… that feeling Sue was describing about being tethered to someone? Yeah, that's EXACTLY how I feel about Rachel. Rach said she thinks this feeling we have means we're soulmates, which is probably true too, ..but this feeling of being like, physically connected to her, like a magnetic pull, and the emotional side of it is how I can always sense her presence or her feelings… When she's hurting I'm hurting. When she's happy I'm happy. That's what Sue's words meant to me, and that's what I know I feel for Rach – tethered.

My chest felt suddenly heavy and I was starting to hyperventilate a little at the thought of losing Rachel, and then the idea of that tethered bond pulled me back to earth, back to her. I gasped in a sharp breath and I tried to clear my throat like a cough to cover this crazy reaction I was having; it just knocked me for such a loop to have this realization in the middle of a funeral. I could feel a tear sliding down my cheek but I didn't bother to wipe it away.

I looked down at Rachel then leaned over and kissed the top of her head and wrapped my arm around her to pull her closer to me. I'm never gonna waste our todays anymore because you never know when it'll be the last one you get.

And tomorrow, I'm gonna go do something to try and prove to Rachel just how much I feel for her and what she means to me… I just hope it doesn't freak her out.

. . . . .

HI HO, HI HO, OFF TO THE MALL WE GO.

I woke Kurt up early to get to the mall before it got too busy. I was too excited and I wanted his help for the task because well, he's my brother now, but also, he's Rach's friend too, and I think he's got pretty good taste and would probably have a better idea what kinda ring is suitable for this situation than I do. But I have an idea of what I'm looking for.

NO it's not an engagement ring yet, slow your roll! I wanna get her a promise ring. Like a pre-engagement ring. I wanna really commit to her, but y'know, we're not ready for the big 'M' just yet, I'm totally aware of that (that's marriage in case you wondered). Rach has a map for her future laid out (and a folder full of like, schedules and goal calendars with dates circled and charts and diagrams and stuff – it's a LOT) and she has things she needs to do first… and me? Well, I'm still working on those plans for myself, but whatever my future holds after we graduate, I just know it has to include Rachel.

. . . . .

We got to the mall just as the jewelry store was opening. This is the same place where I bought her star necklace and bracelet. I was already looking at the rings last time I was here. I saw one that would be perfect for her, I just hope Kurt agrees. I was also a little nervous they might not have it anymore, but I totally got lucky and it's still there!

The ring costs $250 and I had to work extra hours during the week and a couple of long Saturdays at Burt's tire shop to scrape the extra dough together. It's the coolest ring I've ever seen though – with a gold band and a heart-shaped pink gemstone. But the coolest thing – the extra Rachel factor – was the swirly gold shooting star wrapping around the heart. Get the metaphor? The star who's wrapped around my heart? Yeah, I thought it was pretty damn genius too :) It couldn't be more made for her than if I designed it myself!

I woulda got the ring for her at Christmas, but it cost a little more (well, a LOT more) than I had saved at the time. Eight days of Hanukkah shopping kinda drained my wallet, but whatever. She's worth it.

Kurt thinks I'm insane for doing this now, but too bad, suck it up. I think it's the exact right time. He doesn't know what happened at our private after-prom party – at least I don't think he does? – and I just want Rachel to know what taking that step means to me, what SHE means to me. I just wish I coulda given it to her BEFORE prom.

Anyway. Kurt might not understand why I feel the need to do this now (or at all), but he DOES totally love the ring, and he agrees it might as well have been sitting there with a 'Made For Rachel Berry' sign on it. SCORE!

I just can't wait to see Rach's face when I give it to her!

. . . . .

RETURN OF THE VOODOO MOM.

Soooo. Since Rachel and me are, uhhmm.. like, sexually active now (UGH that phrase is so gross and weird and like, mom-ish sounding), we just can't seem to get enough of each other. And I love Rachel's dads. They are out of town A LOT. :-D

But I mean, even something as simple and routine as me picking Rach up for school in the morning, it's becoming so HARD not to just detour to a back road and have a quickie before school! Or homework sessions, geez like we can't get twenty minutes of work done before one of us starts making moves on the other.

It was already tough to restrain my urges with Rachel BEFORE we did the deed, but now? Geez… it's like KILLING my concentration, it's all I can think about… and maybe the same is true for her too. She was actually doing the currently assigned homework in our last study session instead of being like two weeks ahead. So yeah, I think she's gotten a bit distracted too!

. . . . .

A couple days ago, mom was working the night shift and Burt was visiting his sick aunt out of town. Meaning, I had the house to myself (Kurt totally doesn't count because HE took that night as an opportunity to stay at Blaine's). Rach's dads were out of town too, but we decided to stay at my house for a change.

We were um… 'watching' a movie in the living room cuddled up on the floor with lots of pillows by the fire under a heavy quilt, which quickly changed to NOT watching a movie. Yeah, I don't even know what the hell movie it was supposed to be… Whatever. Not important.

We were right in the middle of, y'know, stuff and um, OH YEAH – another thing I should mention is how Rachel is VERY VOCAL during. She doesn't hold back, like, at all… picture Glee rehearsals early sophomore year, only SEXIER. Lots of moans and squeals and words – words which are all suuuper HOTTT and sexy – especially when she's screaming my name. Which she does. A LOT ;)

Which is exactly what she was doing when my MOM walked in the door five hours EARLY! Yep. BUSTED!

Only, mom didn't like, rush in and interrupt us and freak out on us or anything. No. What she did was worse than that. MUCH worse. Instead, she just calmly called us from the other room, like, afterwards (and I'm trying super hard NOT to think about how she KNOWS we were.. um.. not busy anymore), telling us she was home and we were to come out to the kitchen when we were decent. {{sigh}}

Rach just froze and her eyes went so wide you'd think Barbra just walked in the room. Meanwhile I was kinda wishing we could just do that evaporating spell or find a portkey like in Harry Potter and just POOF disappear to Canada or like, the moon or something. UGHHHH kill me now!

Okay so we got dressed and slowly made our way out to the kitchen where mom sat sipping on a cup of tea. She sat us BOTH down at the table with hot chocolate – which was already made and waiting for us, so like, how the hell long was she here, or did it take us that long to finish? Nevermind. Best not to think about it.

Anyway. The very first words from moms mouth, she asked if we were being responsible. I glanced over to Rach who was already eager to respond, so I let her explain about being on the pill. I still can't even believe we sat at the table – our KITCHEN dinner table – having this conversation with my MOTHER or that I'm talking about it again here now…

Mom asked how long this had been going on and I cut Rachel off before she could answer – I said that mom didn't need to know because we were entitled to SOME amount of privacy. Mom thought that was fair… then she made me convince her that I still remember the actual way babies are made OH MY GOD MOTHER, SERIOUSLY? Rachel just giggled.

Then mom launched into the importance of doubling up the protection, because like, the pill isn't a total cure-all and a condom will help and before she could say STD's I stopped her.

"Mom mom MOM! Listen, me and Rach are both very aware of like, all this stuff.. I mean have you met RACHEL BERRY mom? Seriously. She is totally on top of all this and makes sure I know everything she does… And as for diseases or whatever, well, neither of us have anything to worry about 'cause, we never, y'know, neither of us, like, before now, and it's just not… well, so like, can you just stop, please?"

And right there went that MOM face. THE face that says 'I'd really like to slap you n the head right now' face that she gets, the one with like, a blank evil glare. "Listen Finn. YOU were the one who brought a pregnant 16 year old girl into my home last year who'd apparently conceived her child via hot tub water Finn. HOT TUB WATER! So forgive me if I feel compelled to re-confirm your breadth of knowledge on the subject from time to time. You can't fault me for that, son."

I don't know how deep red the color of my face must have been but I'd guess it was turning purple. Rachel fought a smirk with her head down, playing with the hem of her shirt while our feet were tangled up under the table. I sighed loudly and said in a monotone voice "You're just never gonna let me live that down EVER are you?"

"Well, maybe someday, but not while you're still a teenager living under my roof, no probably not."

"Well… pfffiine. But do you have to make Rach sit here too and embarrass BOTH of us like this? I mean she knows EVERYTHING about me mom, we don't keep any secrets from each other, but we also don't really need this like, parental interrogation of humiliation either. Rach is way too smart to let anything irresponsible happen and she sure isn't gonna let me screw THIS up so…"

"Okay, okay Finn, I hear you… I just needed to be sure, that's all. And Rachel, dear, I'm guessing this is one of those topics which you might occasionally prefer speaking to a woman about. Maybe it even helps that I'm a nurse as well as a mother. Since I already love you and consider you a part of our family, I want you to know any time you ever have questions about ANYTHING, or just want to discuss things you might be feeling or are confused about, please know I'm always here for you. I'm here for you both."

Rach's face lit up with such a warm smile and misty eyes. "Thank you so much Carole, it means more than you can possibly know that you're offering to be there for me like that, and the fact that you feel that way about me is just… well, I can't express enough gratitude. And so you know, I very much love spending time with you and talking to you too. I do think of you as sort of a surrogate mom already and I feel privileged and honored that you regard me in that way."

Mom sat up and hugged Rachel, then she went back into voodoo-mom mode.

"Now. I know you two love each other, and I'm not so naive to believe you'd wait for this step until you were married, or 21, or even graduated… I mean I certainly didn't wait that long–"

"UGH MOOOM! Please… there's just certain things a son does NOT need to know about his mother! And totally, that's like, OVERSHARE ITEM #1!" Rach fought so hard to hide her giggles that she was vibrating the table.

"Oh hush Finn, don't interrupt. What I was about to say was, as long as you are both being safe and responsible and respectful of each other, AND of our home – and I would presume that includes Rachel's home as well – then I'm not going to try to forbid you from spending your special alone time together. I'm also not going to share this information with any of the men in your lives. Just be advised that Burt, however, probably will NOT be as understanding – not to mention what Hiram and Leroy might think about this. So. A few ground rules…."

Crap. Rachel's dads – plural {{gulp}}. Y'know, I did some online research but so far I haven't been able to find any Kevlar boxers. And I swear mom LIVES to make me wanna crawl in a hole in the ground sometimes... But wait a minute, did she just basically say we can errm, CONTINUE like, with her blessing? Or at least without her interference? Uh, I better listen close to the rest of this…

"Whatever you two do should be in private and NEVER in the common areas of my home. I.E., the living room is off limits! So are the bathrooms and – oh god, my KITCHEN. And if Burt catches on to what's happening, well, I don't know if I'll be able to talk him off that ledge, so I highly recommend that you practice discretion where he is concerned. And you really SHOULD be using both oral contraception AND a condom at all times, at least until you're old enough, preferably married and ready to start a family."

"Oh god, I'm dying now," I muttered under my breath, not so quietly I guess, because then she whipped her voodoo eyes in my direction with that nasty 'I brought you in this world I'll take you out of it' tone of voice.

"Hey I think I'm being MORE than fair and understanding here, mister! Especially considering what I just came home to tonight… But I recognize that you're both nearly 18 and will be adults soon. So. Just be responsible and also please note, I would much prefer if you can refrain from making me become a grandmother for a MINIMUM of 5 years from now, just so we're clear on that part as well."

I looked at Rachel and the expression on her face was just too much. That's the same face she has when we're learning a new song in Glee or new stuff is being taught in Spanish class – all intense and concentrated and stuff. I'd bet anything she wishes she had a notebook and a pen to write everything down.

"Carole, if I might try to ease your mind just a little bit... Finn and I have previously had this conversation as well; we both agree, neither of us are ready for child rearing any time soon – definitely not while we are still in high school. I certainly wouldn't even consider myself in the neighborhood of ready until after I've at least won my first Tony award, so please feel reassured that we're in agreement on the topic of grandchildren." Rach took a breath and looked at me with such a sweet smile. Then she took my hand and turned back to mom and kept going.

"But… I also want to let you know that.. I love Finn more than anything in this world. He IS my everything. I can't imagine a future without him in it, and we do talk about everything. Honesty has always been our policy, so we don't hold back. Even if it means we hurt each other sometimes. I know we've had a rocky path in the last year or more, but we've sorted all of our dirty laundry, so to speak, and I feel closer to him now than ever before. We are both more respectful of one another's feelings and we realize even if we upset each other sometimes it doesn't mean we don't love each other. Communication, trust, respect and love. That's the foundation upon which our friendship was bonded, and that friendship is the foundation upon which our newly awakened relationship will grow."

I'm not entirely sure what all Rach just said, but it musta been like catnip for my mom. Mom just smiled so big at Rachel with tears in her eyes, then looked at me sternly with that raised voodoo-eyebrow face. "I really hope you're planning on putting a ring on her finger some day in the future, Finn. You will never find a better girl than this to settle down with."

I smiled at Rach with her flushed pink cheeks. If they both only knew… that ring will be on her finger a lot sooner than someday if I have any say in it. At least there's one thing me and mom can definitely agree on. Rachel's absolutely a keeper… and that ring is already in my sock drawer. Well, the pre-ring RING.

Mom patted Rachel's hand then stood up and kissed me on the cheek. "I'm going to bed now. I came home early because I wasn't feeling well. I suggest you two clean up and keep quiet please. I'll make us breakfast in the morning if Rachel is staying. Goodnight kids." She winked at us and headed for her bedroom. Me and Rach just grinned ear-to-ear smiles at each other, and Rach giggled softly while I blew out a big breath and dropped my head on the kitchen table with a thud.

Coolest. Mom. EVER.

finchel-xo-finchel-xo-finchel

A/N - I just never bought the idea that Finchel would have waited til S3 for their FIRST TIME - certainly no more than I bought Finn having sex with Santana (IMO, the SanSexBomb was the #2 worst writing tragedy of the show, #1 being RB marrying JSJ in the finale - BARF). Perhaps you FILDOS out there agree and like the revised timeline as much as I do? :-}

I also decided that 17yo Finn is not much of a kiss and tell in great detail sorta guy. He's young, this is all new territory, he's a bit bashful about it… I never pictured Finn comparing notes with Puck in the locker room for example. Not that he wouldn't listen in, he's just not one to SHARE. So I figured these HS era scenes should be mostly left to the readers imagination – but be forewarned, you're reading them over a full life span in this story, so these scenes will likely mature along with the characters! ;)

ALSO.. if you're interested in seeing the PROMISE RING inspiration ring... Sappling and I chose 2 different rings, and you're certainly welcome to keep your own vision. (FFN doesn't allow URLs in the published stories but I will post them in my author's profile page - otherwise you can replace the SPACES below with DOTs)

cremecloud net/products/heart-star-pink-ring - this was the ring as described in the story. this was the alternate version shopsweetpeeps com/products/pink-heart-starfire-ring

And... A few chapters ago I predicted a total of maybe 5 parts for season 2… I guess I was doing Finn-math? There will actually be 7 – SEVEN – total parts (8, if you count Kurt's sidenote chapter!). And of ALL that I've written for S2, this chapter I think has been my absolute favorite so far (well, this and the final part). I laughed, I cried, it was an experience… LOL.

As always… my beta-collab-Girl Gleeks team gets TONS of love – SapplingofaStar and BroadwayBelle (aka Scarlett88)… love ya girlies XOXO!

So I HOPE you've enjoyed yet another very long penultimate chapter of S2… and FYI the grand finale CH15 Jr Year is 99% done.… NYC IS COMING, FINCHLINGS! I'm doing the final read thru now and possibly adding a little more content, but the final entry sb up in a couple days. Or maybe tomorrow? Who knows? :-D

LOADS of music this chapter! Much of it was mentioned in passing only, but I like adding those to my playlists too. Sets the mood! You can visit my YouTube Channel anothergleekgirl for the complete companion playlists, including the one specifically for this chapter Memoirs of a Simp - ch14 playlist - PROM

SONG CREDITS:

* Get It Right - Glee Cast/Original Song (Regionals)
* Loser Like Me - Glee Cast/Original Song (Regionals)
* Barbra Streisand - DJ Duck Sauce (in reference only - mall scene, Barbra-vention)
* Born This Way - Lady Gaga (in reference only)
* Save the Last Dance for Me - The Drifters - Finn's promposal performance
* Ain't No Way - Glee Cast [orig. Aretha Franklin] (in reference only, Mercedes benefit performance)
* Jar of Hearts - Glee Cast [orig. Christina Perri] – Allie's song at Prom
* Push It - Glee Cast [orig. Salt N Peppa] (in reference only - prom scene)
* You're Still the One - Shania Twain (in reference only) – Rachel's song at Prom
* Get It Right - Glee Cast – Finchel duet at Prom
* No Air - Glee Cast [orig. Jordan Sparks ft. Chris Brown] - (in reference only) – Finchel duet at Prom
* When I Look into Your Eyes - FireHouse – Finn's song at Prom
* When I Was Your Man - Bruno Mars – Jesse's song at Prom
* Faithfully - Journey - (reference only, Finchel's final prom dance of the night)
* My Man - Barbra Streisand (in reference only, iPod playlist)
* Open Arms - Journey - Finn's iPod singalong after prom/hotel room
* Pure Imagination - Glee Cast [orig. Gene Wilder/Willy Wonka Soundtrack] (in reference only, funeral)

THANK YOU READERS FOR STICKING WITH ME THROUGH THIS STORY SO FAR - LOADS MORE TO COME!

And if you have any ideas/suggestions for ONESHOTS in the SIMP Universe you'd like to read, other scenes/character POVs etc, mention it! Drop me a PM, email me at my pseud at GMAIL, or include it in your ideas in a review. I'm considering a Carole POV for a couple of these scenes… I think that'd be HILARIOUS... wbu?

XOXOX
PLEASE REVIEW! – Even though FFN alerts system still bites for now - I still look for your feedback! :X
* * * FINCHEL FOREVER! XOXO * * *