A/N: Hi everyone, sorry for the long wait. you know how i said since work was slowing down i should have more time to write? well apparently they lied to me. but on a good note, this chapter is the longest one yet. and omg, 32 reviews? you guys are too awesome for words. Issy, my love, thank you for keeping me on my toes. i needed that extra push to finish this chapter so this one's dedicated to you. just a warning, i had my husband review this like i normally do, and he was a little upset with me. i've turned him into a finchel shipper without him even knowing :D with that being said, i have an outline for this story so everything happens for a reason. so please don't get mad at me for the outcome. ok guys, enough of my yammering. here's the prom chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the awesomeness that is Finchel
At around 7:00 that night, Finn and Quinn walked arm and arm into McKinley's prom. There were decorations and balloons everywhere. Finn barely had a chance to really appreciate them before being dragged off to help solicit prom king and queen votes. Within minutes he spots the Glee Club table. Mike is saying something, flailing his arms around like a crazy person, Tina has her head down in embarrassment, while everyone else is doubled over laughing. Even from that far away he can pin point Rachel's laughter. She's laughing into Sam's chest and he really wishes he could be Sam right now.
As the night wears on Finn keeps a watch on Rachel. He's not even being inconspicuous about it. He thinks Sam and Quinn must've noticed too 'cause Sam's had an arm around Rachel's waist or shoulder all night and Quinn has progressively gone from scolding him, digging her nails into his arm, squeezing his hand like she's about to go into labor, to just simply giving him the evil eye.
It's when he's trying to gradually direct Quinn towards the glee club table when the DJ starts to play a familiar song over the speakers.
"Beth I hear you calling
But I can't come home right now
Me and the boys are playin
And we just can't find the sound…"
Automatically his thoughts drift to the blonde next to him. He sees her physically tense up, even flinches a little. But like a pro, she just carried on with her conversation with the couple in coordinating yellow prom attire (he wouldn't have been able to tell you their names even if he tried).
Finally getting Quinn's attention, "Hey, you okay?"
"I'm fine Finn. Why wouldn't I be?" She was practically hissing at him.
"Gee Quinn, I don't know. I thought just maybe this song might have held some kind of special meaning for you." Finn was getting beyond frustrated with his date. "Why is it that with you, it's like she never existed? Have you even talked to Puck about anything that happened last year?"
Quinn grabbed Finn by the arm and pulled him towards a secluded corner of the room.
"Look Finn, the way I look at it, it's easier to pretend she didn't happen, than have to deal with all the emotional baggage that comes with giving up your daughter at 16. And I can say this is hardly the time or place to be discussing this. As for Puck, I think he's handling everything just fine."
Finn followed Quinn's line of eyesight and watched as Puck slow danced with Rachel. Normally he probably would've been thoroughly pissed off, but he could tell this didn't have any ulterior motives behind it. They looked like they were having a deep conversation, probably about the little girl that was given up for adoption, because Rachel and Puck both looked like they could burst into tears at any moment. He may just have fallen in love with Rachel a little more in that moment.
"I really don't have time for this anymore Finn"
"What the hell are you talking about now Quinn?"
"Arguing with you Finn, that's what I'm talking about. I don't have the energy to keep trying to keep your attention on your girlfriend. You broke up with her, remember? She's in love with Sam. You need to get your head out of your ass and figure out your priorities. While you do that, I'm going to get us voted for prom queen and king."
And with that Quinn left Finn standing in the corner by himself. He watched Quinn make her rounds and put on her fake smile and talked to people he knew she didn't even like. Then he glanced over at Rachel and Puck again. Puck must've been feeling better because Puck was smiling and Rachel looked torn between suppressing giggles and being disgusted all at once. A tap on his shoulder removed him from his thoughts.
"Hey man can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Hey Sam, what's up?"
"Rachel told me what happened at your house today"
Oh shit. "What're you talking about? Nothing happened today"
"Don't play fuckin stupid with me asshole. I let you kiss one of my girlfriends before. I'm not letting it happen again"
"And what if it does happen? Then what?" Finn probably came off sounding a little smug, but he was too frustrated to give a damn.
"Then I won't be stupid enough to let her go without a fight; without even trying. I won't make the same mistakes you did"
"Fuck you Evans!" Where the fuck does he get off? Sam didn't know shit about his relationship with Rachel.
"Nah man, I got better things to do" and with that Finn was left standing by himself for the second time that night. When he turned around, Finn saw Sam walk up to where Rachel and Puck were dancing and traded places with his best friend. Sam took Rachel in his arms and swayed to the beat of the next song. Rachel was looking at Sam like there was no one else in the room and it made him wish for nothing more than to have her look at him that way again. What the fuck was he doing? Quinn was right. He couldn't let himself get swept up in his feelings (love) for Rachel. He seriously needed to get his priorities straight. And his main priority wasn't getting voted prom king or becoming BMOC again. His main priority was going to make sure Rachel was happy, and if that meant being with Bieber, then so be it. He couldn't meddle in another relationship. He was better than that; Rachel told him so.
Before Finn knew it, it was time for Figgins to announce Prom King and Queen. Puck and Lauren were first in line, then him and Quinn, and last was Santana and Karofsky (he still didn't know what the hell that was about). Figgins gave some long-winded speech about how he wanted everyone to be responsible and he expected everyone to stay away from drinking any alcoholic beverages tonight (even though he knew for a fact that Puck spiked the punch as soon as he had got there), and no matter what the outcome was, everyone was a winner, and blah blah blah. Seriously he just wanted to get this over with. The faster Figgins read the winners, the faster he could ditch his date and actually have a decent rest of the night.
"Now, up first are our third place winners. With 163 votes, our third place winners are Mr. David Karofsky and Ms. Santana Lopez!"
Dave seemed to shrug off the loss, but Santana's murmurings of "This is bullshit!" could be picked up on Figgins' mic. They both took their congratulatory flowers and were ushered towards the back of the stage.
"And now, with a winning margin of 422 votes to 292, I'd like to introduce you to your 2011 McKinley Prom King and Queen…"
Quinn had already started stepping towards the student holding the prom queen tiara when their principal finished announcing the winners.
"…Mr. Noah Puckerman and Ms. Lauren Zizes!"
The wave of applause from his peers almost knocked Finn back. This was awesome! Lauren wasn't your normal picture perfect prom queen, but she more than deserved it. As Lauren moved to receive her crown with Puck in tow, Finn bumped fist with Puck as a sign of solidarity. He couldn't help the smile plastered on his face. He felt like he could breathe again. As Finn and Quinn received their second place sash and flowers, Finn peered out into the crowd and found the girl he was looking for, Rachel. She was clapping and yelling for Puck and Lauren and she looked absolutely adorable. They locked eyes for a moment, and it was then that she realized while she was excited for her two friends for winning, her other friend just lost. Rachel slightly tilted her head and mouthed the words "I'm sorry".
Finn knew she was sincere about it. There wasn't any kind of "I told you so" or "Aha, that's what you get" feel to it, just honest and sincere Rachel. Finn responded with his lopsided grin and a wink to let her know he was more than fine with the results. Then out of nowhere, Quinn loses it. Really he should have seen it coming. As invested as she was, she was bound to snap. Quinn's mascara was running down her face as she made her way towards Lauren, Puck, and Principal Figgins.
"You stole my crown you stupid cow! What gives you the right to take my title! It was mine and you stole it!" The crowd watched as Quinn full on dived at Lauren. As big of a girl as Lauren was you would've thought that Quinn would've easily collided with her. Fortunately for Lauren her years of wrestling came in handy and she merely side stepped towards Puck and in front of the whole junior and senior prom Quinn face planted on the stage. There wasn't any applause or laughter coming out of anyone's mouth. Just silence. Everyone was too shocked to really say anything.
As Quinn stayed in the position she landed in, Lauren's words for Quinn picked up with ease from the mic Figgins was holding.
"First of all Blondie, I didn't steal a damn thing from you. I won this title fair and square. Me and Puckerman may have convinced certain students that bodily harm may or may not come if their votes didn't go to us, but that's called politics Sweetie." Finn looked over at his mohawked friend who was watching the same spectacle as himself. He gave Puck an accusatory look, to which Puck nearly shrugged it off, like it wasn't a big deal. To be honest Finn really didn't want to know the specifics on the threats he and Lauren made against his peers. The last thing he needed was to become an accessory to whatever the hell threats they made.
"And second, I won because I'm way hotter than you. And I may be a little intimidating, but you're just a bitch."
Woah. Looks like Quinn wasn't the only one who snapped. Finn felt kind of bad that no one was making a move to help Quinn out, including himself. But he was just too tired of dealing with all her shit to help. He looked around at his fellow Glee club members. Puck looked like he wanted to make out with Lauren right there on the stage, Santana was laughing her ass off, Kurt and Mercedes were recording everything with their phones, and the rest of the glee club just looked shocked. Eventually Quinn got up, dusted herself off, and simply walked away. She didn't make eye contact with anyone and just made her way to the bathroom, where she was probably going to spend the rest of the night avoiding everyone else.
"Ooohh-kaaayy. As interesting as this was students, I think it's time to get this dance on its way again. But first let's give a hand for all of our prom court winners and nominees." The crowd applauded once more and when Finn looked for Rachel at her previous spot, she wasn't there anymore and neither was Sam. But then he spotted a brunette in a pink dress by the glee club table. Sam was helping Rachel with her scarf looking thing (Quinn once referred to it as a shawl he thinks). While Sam was placing the thin pink material on Rachel's tanned shoulders, Rachel looked up and met Finn's eyes. The look on Finn's face silently asking why she was leaving, but the only response Finn got back in return was Rachel's sad smile and a mouthed "Bye Finn". Then she was gone.
After the prom court was ushered off the stage, Finn made his way to hang out with his friends for the rest of the night. When he questioned everyone about Rachel and Sam's whereabouts, no one seemed to give him a straight answer and something in the back of his mind told him something was off. But he wasn't going to let all this night's drama affect his junior prom. He would talk to Rachel and finally deal with Quinn later. Right now he was going to enjoy the rest of his junior prom with his friends.
And that's exactly what Finn did. The rest of the night was spent occasionally dancing with Mercedes and Tina, talking Halo versus Gears of War with the guys, and watching Jacob Ben Israel stumble around the room with his 7+ cup of spiked punch in his hand. But by around 11:00 the crowd was wearing thin and Finn really didn't feel like watching all these couples around him suck face and slow dance for the rest of the night. So Finn decided he was going to head home early.
Once Finn got home he threw himself on his bed and just replayed the events from that night over and over in his head. He really couldn't wrap his head around how much drama was in his life. You would think he lived in some kind of TV show or something.
After laying there for over an hour Finn finally started to feel himself drifting off to sleep, but then he heard the door to Kurt's SUV slam shut. Finn decided that Kurt was probably going to gush over what an amazing time he had with Blaine and gossip over tonight's events, so he figured he'd pretend to be asleep and avoid that conversation until the next day. But to Finn's surprise Kurt never even bothered checking in on him. But being how it was so late, the house was so quiet he could clearly hear Kurt talking to someone on his phone.
"…just be careful Sweetie…you're gonna be fine…well from what I hear sex can hurt the first time around for a girl…Rachel, honey, you need to breathe…"
What. The. Fuck?
"…you're gonna give yourself an aneurism…just take a deep breath and relax…you've got protection, you've been mentally prepared for this since before you and Finn broke up…"
Finn was seriously getting mind fucked more and more as Kurt's conversation with Rachel carried on.
"…ok, probably the wrong subject to bring up, but the point is Rachel is that Sam loves you and you love him…he's not going to pressure you into something you're not ready for…I can't make this decision for you Rachel…do you love Sam?...do you want to do this?...and most importantly are you ready to lose your virginity to Sam Evans?..."
The whole world was crashing down around Finn Hudson and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.
"…well then it looks like you've got your answer hun…uh huh…yeah…ok, but I want all the dirty details tomorrow…yes I'm serious!…now go on. You don't want to keep your man waiting any longer than he's already been waiting…bye Rach."
With one last squeal of excitement Kurt closed the door to his room and was already on the phone with either Mercedes or Blaine, Finn really couldn't tell. But then again he really couldn't give a damn even if he tried. What the hell was going on? Deep down Finn knows he's supposed to be with Rachel in the end. He may not necessarily voice it, but he knows. It's just (as fucked up as it sounds) he just really thought when he was ready to move pass the whole 'Puck' incident, Rachel would be there waiting for him. But now…
"Fuck!" Finn chunked his tuxedo jacket across his room and didn't even bother watching to see what it hit or where it landed. He just threw himself back onto his new bed and tried burying his head into his pillow until he disappeared. Unfortunately nothing he did alleviated the stress, anxiety, and pain he felt from knowing his Rachel was god knows where with that fucking asshole doing god knows what. If all the mental pictures of Rachel and Puck making out on her bed back in November and December were bad, Sam and Rachel mental images were infinitely worse. All he saw was Sam's hands all over Rachel, touching her, doing things to her. He was going to fuckin kill the douchebag if he fuckin hurt her. He may even do it even if he doesn't hurt her. He would feel a hell of a lot better if he did, but there was no way Rachel would ever forgive him. He needed Rachel to be happy. And if that meant living in his own personal hell, so be it.
After hours of tossing and turning, Finn finally fell asleep that night, but it was far from being a peaceful sleep. For the rest of the night Finn had multiple nightmares ranging from having to watch Sam rape Rachel while he sat in a corner of a room doing nothing to Rachel running off and eloping with Sam and coming back to Lima, magically 8 months pregnant with a little blonde haired brat like they jumped through freakin time or something. When Finn woke up the next morning all his thoughts were of Rachel, feeling helpless and feeling like complete and utter shit. And even though it was like 8:00 in the morning he knew all these feelings weren't going to get better any time soon, and he was absolutely right.
A/N2: ok guys i'm ready for your yelling *bracing myself* sorry guys, but it needed to be done. but like i've said before finchel is endgame. and i'll try and get the next chapter as soon as i can. and since today is tuesday you know what that means...GLEE DAY! and since i practically live and breathe tumblr now, i saw the 'rolling in the deep' vid for tomorrow's ep, and omfg! guys i can't wait. :D so until next time, thanks for reading and all your amazing reviews. lots of finchel hugs and kisses ~Samantha