Fic: Like Longing Feels 7/? (Glee, Will/Finn, NC17)
Title: Like Longing Feels 7/?
Fandom: Glee
Pairing: Will/Finn (Puck/Kurt)
Rating: NC17
Word count: 4075 for this part
Summary: Finn Hudson's the quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals. At the beginning of his second season he tears his patellar tendon, ending his season and sentencing him to a year of rehab. Enter Will Schuester, Physical Therapist.
A/N: I am behind on comments, as usual. Mea culpa. It took me like four hours just to get around to breakfast today, though, so it's sort of a pattern at the moment.
Finn thought getting blown off by Will was the low point of his trip home, until he pulled into his folks’ driveway and spotted a familiar car parked behind Kurt’s Navigator.
“Un-fucking-believable,” he muttered, slamming his palm against the steering wheel of the borrowed pick-up. He debated turning around and just driving for awhile, but his knee was throbbing and he knew driving around town was just going to make it worse.
He sighed and pushed open the door of the truck, then he eased himself out of the cab and steadied himself against the door. When he was sure he wasn’t going to hit the pavement he swung the door shut and headed for the house, picking his way gingerly up the icy walk.
He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to find when he let himself in. Pornographic noises coming from Kurt’s room, maybe, or even his best friend pressed up against his brother on the nearest convenient flat surface. But Kurt and Puck weren’t making out in the front hall or on the kitchen table or even on the living room couch. They were sitting on the couch, but as far as Finn could tell they weren’t even touching.
“’Sup,” Puck said when Finn walked in, nodding in Finn’s direction and grinning like he’d just won the fucking lottery. Kurt, for his part, was kind of blushing, but he looked pretty happy too, and the sight of the two of them just made Finn feel even worse.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked, and he didn’t even care if he sounded like an asshole, because he’d just been shut down by the first guy he’d really wanted since he moved to Cincinnati, and his brother and his best friend were, like, in love or something.
Puck shrugged and cast a sidelong glance at Kurt before he answered. “I had a little time to kill, so I figured I’d drive up and say hey.”
“You drove all the way up from Cincinnati just to hang out,” Finn said, and it wasn’t a question, because it was obvious why he’d driven up. It just didn’t make a whole lot of sense, because they couldn’t get any privacy here, and they’d already played ‘meet the parents’ at Thanksgiving.
“Like I said, I had some time. Anyway, it’s not like it’s that far.”
“Dude, it’s a two and a half hour drive.”
For a second Puck just looked at him, then he turned to Kurt and leaned close enough to say something Finn didn’t catch. Kurt blushed a little harder, and when he nodded Puck stood up and gestured in the direction of the kitchen. Finn rolled his eyes, but he followed Puck out of the living room, working hard not to limp over to the kitchen table to drop himself into a chair.
“Why are you being such a dick?” Puck asked once they were alone, arms folded across the back of his own chair and Finn found himself resenting even the fact that Puck could sit backwards in a stupid chair when Finn couldn’t even sit up by himself.
“I’m not,” Finn said, but he felt his face heating up and he knew Puck saw it. “Look, I know you, man. I know how you are about relationships, and I know how Kurt is. You’re my bro and all, but Kurt’s my brother. I’m not going to let you use him, then throw him away when you get bored.”
“Are you seriously giving me the ‘hurt him and I hurt you’ speech right now?” Puck asked, and he sort of looked like he wanted to laugh. Finn didn’t even really blame him, but he just shrugged and held Puck’s gaze.
“If I have to, yeah.”
“First of all, not even if you weren’t a cripple,” Puck said, laughing when Finn scowled. “And second of all, I’m not using Kurt because I’m bored. I’m not using him at all. I think I kinda love him.”
“You love him,” Finn said, and when Puck glanced toward the kitchen door Finn looked over his shoulder. He expected to find Kurt eavesdropping, but as far as he could tell there was nobody there. Which meant Puck actually…well, he thought he was in love with Kurt, like that made any sense. “Then why the hell are you guys pretending you’re not even dating?”
Puck shrugged and looked away again, but this time he didn’t look nervous so much as embarrassed. “Because we’re not. Kurt calls it ‘pre-dating’. Kinda like a trial run. If I can prove I’m boyfriend material then he’ll give me a real shot.”
“So you really did just drive all the way up here to…” Finn trailed off, glancing toward the kitchen door again, like maybe Kurt was lurking around, waiting to jump out and laugh at Finn for actually buying such a lame story. But Kurt was nowhere around, and Puck looked a little like he wished the floor would open up and put him out of his misery.
“To hang out, like I said. Dude, he won’t even let me kiss him. I’m starting to lose it here.”
“We’re still talking about my brother,” Finn said, and when Puck winced and nodded Finn knew he got the message.
And yeah, he was still kind of jealous that Puck and Kurt were both getting what they wanted, but he loved them both, and if Puck was serious about his brother, Finn wasn’t going to try to stand in their way. If anybody could handle Puck it was Kurt, he figured, and Kurt deserved somebody who was into him enough to spend two months with nothing but his imagination and his right hand just to prove that he was serious.
“Look, I don’t need to hear the details or anything,” he said, “but I’ve known Kurt for a long time, and I can tell when he’s into somebody. He’s crazy about you, dude. I could tell weeks ago.”
“Yeah?” Puck said, and he looked so hopeful that it was all Finn could do not to laugh in his face.
“Yeah.” He paused and glanced toward the kitchen door again, but Kurt still wasn’t hanging around trying to listen in on their conversation. “Listen, you don’t have another game until New Year’s Eve, right?”
Puck nodded, one eyebrow raised like he was waiting for Finn to let him in on the game-winning play.
“So why don’t you chill here for a couple days. You can crash in my room and ride back with Kurt.”
“What about my car?”
Finn shrugged, working hard to look like he didn’t really care one way or the other. “I’ll drive it back for you. It’s getting pretty boring here anyway, to tell you the truth. I’d just as soon get back to Cincinnati.”
He expected Puck to say no, mostly because he was just as weird about other people driving his car as every other guy in the NFL. But Puck glanced toward the living room again, his expression going kind of soft, and Finn barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes.
“Yeah, okay. Just don’t fuck up my ride.”
“Relax,” Finn said, laughing when Puck scowled at him. “I’ll treat her like she’s my own.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Puck said, but he was already pushing his chair in and heading out of the kitchen to find Kurt and break the news to him. Once he was gone Finn leaned back in his chair and let out a heavy sigh, wondering how long it would take him to pack and just how pissed his mom was going to be.
~
Finn didn’t exactly have a plan when he headed back to Cincinnati. It wasn’t like he was going to drive straight to the clinic, barge into Will’s exam room and throw himself at the guy. He thought about calling, maybe telling Will he was back in town, just so Will wouldn’t freak out if he called Shannon and heard that Finn didn’t show up to work out. Then again, there was no reason to expect Will to call and check up on him; he was a grown man, after all, and it wasn’t Will’s job to make sure Finn kept up with his workouts.
In the end he stopped at the grocery store on the way back into town to pick up beer and enough food to keep him alive until Kurt got home, then he went back to his apartment and pulled Puck’s Escalade into the parking garage. He pushed the door open and swung his bad leg out of the car, wincing at the stiffness in his knee and gritting his teeth against the impact when he hit the ground.
He took a deep breath and steadied himself against the door, then he reached back into the car for the bag of groceries. It was a little awkward, carrying groceries in one arm and his duffel bag in the other hand, trying to keep as much of his weight off his sore knee as he could. And he was only twenty-five, for fuck’s sake, but he felt like he was about fifty shuffling across the garage to the elevator that would take him up to his floor.
He’d almost reached the elevator when his knee seized up, muscles twitching so hard his whole leg shook. It only lasted a few seconds, but Finn felt his knee start to go out from under him and he had to fight hard to stay on his feet. By the time it stopped he was breathing hard, but he knew if he went down he wouldn’t be able to get up on his own. That was the only thing that kept him standing, and as soon as he thought he could move without falling he threw himself at the elevator bay and pressed the button as hard as he could.
It felt like hours before the bell finally dinged, then the elevator door slid open and Finn dragged himself inside. He pushed the button for his floor and leaned hard against the wall, breathing heavy as he watched the numbers go up way more slowly than they ever had before.
By the time the doors slid open on his floor he was shaking just from the effort of standing up, and he wasn’t all that sure he could make it to his apartment. He thought about ditching his duffel bag and coming back for it, but that meant making the trip down the hall twice, and Finn was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to do it. If he knew any of his neighbors he could knock and ask someone to give him a hand, but the amount of time he spent shaking hands and signing autographs for strangers when he was out meant he tried even harder to protect his privacy when he was home.
When he finally reached his own door he wasn’t sure how he’d made it all that way by himself, but he managed to get his door open and get the groceries into the kitchen without dropping them. He tossed the duffel on the floor as soon as he got through the door, and once the groceries were safely on the counter he headed for the living room and threw himself down on the couch.
His phone was in his pocket, and he fished it out and stared at the screen for a minute, debating whether or not to call Will. It seemed like this was the kind of thing he’d want to hear about; it definitely wasn’t normal, and after yesterday he figured Will would be pissed if Finn didn’t tell him. But there was a chance he was just stiff from driving for so long, and if all he needed was some rest and a couple aspirin, he’d feel like a moron for bothering Will over nothing.
He wasn’t sure when he passed out, but when he woke up it was dark outside and his knee had stopped throbbing. Finn took a deep breath and pushed himself off the couch, shoving his phone back in his pocket and taking his time standing up. He made it to the bathroom without any trouble, sighing at the relief of emptying his bladder.
When he was done he washed his hands, then he leaned hard against the sink and looked at reflection in the mirror. He looked a little gray, from the pain, he figured. Then there was the fact that he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, but the truth was all he really wanted to do was make it to his bed so he could pass out again.
He pushed himself off the counter and headed for the bathroom door, but as soon as he made it to the hallway his leg was gripped with another spasm. Finn gasped and grabbed for his knee, twisting his body on his way down so he wouldn’t land on his bad leg and tear his tendon again. He caught the floor with his hip instead, groaning at the impact and gritting his teeth through the pain.
He wasn’t sure how long the spasm lasted, but by the time the worst of it subsided he was breathing heavy and trembling all over. He fished his phone back out of his pocket with shaking fingers, sending up a quick prayer of thanks that he’d remembered to bring it with him. He scrolled through his contacts until he found Will’s number, then he pressed ‘send’ and waited for the line to connect.
“Come on, pick up,” he hissed through gritted teeth, breathing hard through the dull throbbing in his knee and trying not to picture what Will could be doing that would keep him from answering his phone.
After the fourth ring the line connected, and Finn braced himself for voicemail, but instead he heard Will’s voice, low and sleepy in his ear. “Finn?”
“Yeah,” Finn said, panting and breathless and Jesus, he probably sounded like an obscene caller. “Sorry, I know it’s late and all, but Kurt’s still in Lima with Puck and there’s nobody else to call. I guess I could have called 911, but I wasn’t sure it was bad enough for a trip to the emergency room.”
“Finn,” Will said, and he sounded a lot more awake now. “It’s okay. Just tell me what’s wrong.”
“My knee’s having these, like, spasms.” As soon as he said it the pain started again, and he closed his eyes and bit down on his lip until he tasted blood again. “Fuck. It’s never felt this bad before. I’m not sure I can get up.”
“Okay, calm down,” Will said, and Finn wanted to laugh, because that was easy for him to say. “Where are you?”
“My…my apartment,” Finn said, then he rattled off the address and prayed Will didn’t live all the way on the other side of the city. “I can just call an ambulance…”
“I’m on my way,” Will interrupted, and Finn fought back a relieved sob. “I should be there in about fifteen minutes.”
“Great. I’m pretty sure it’s unlocked,” Finn said, then he closed his phone and gritted his teeth against a fresh wave of pain.
According to Finn’s phone, Will showed up eleven minutes later. It felt more like an hour, but that was probably because Finn spent the entire time flat on his back and trying not to pass out from the pain. Finn heard the door open, then Will’s voice calling his name from somewhere near the kitchen.
“Over here,” Finn called, and when Will appeared at the end of the hallway he forced his eyes open long enough to take in his worried expression. “I don’t think I can get up.”
“When did this start?” Will asked, dropping to his knees next to Finn and reaching for the waistband of his sweatpants, and if he wasn’t pretty sure his knee and his career were both totally fucked, Finn would have thought it was kind of hot that Will was undressing him.
“When I got back to town, I guess. I was fine during the drive, but as soon as I got out of the car it felt like my knee was going to give out. I’ve been having these weird spasms ever since.”
By the time he finished talking Will had his pants off, then his hands were on Finn’s leg and straightening it as much as he could. Finn hissed at the sensation and dug his fingers into the carpet, teeth clenched and breathing hard as Will pushed his knee back into a slightly bent position.
“Your muscles are healing too tightly,” he said, hands still resting on Finn’s leg as Will looked up at him. “That would explain the decrease in your range of motion too. You’re healing too well, basically.”
A shaky laugh escaped Finn’s throat, and he closed his eyes and thumped his head against the carpet. “That figures.”
“The good news is, it’s fixable,” Will said. “We’ll just add massage to your weekly session and that should help loosen it up.”
“How long’s that going to take?” Finn asked, forcing his eyes open to look at Will again. “I mean, I can’t exactly walk here. Am I going to have to go back to the crutches?”
Will shook his head, then he let go of Finn’s knee and pulled him into a sitting position. Once Finn was up Will slid Finn’s arm around his shoulders, levering them both off the floor. “We’ll start right now. A good deep tissue massage should help with the pain and the tightness. Which way to your bedroom?”
He felt kind of bad dragging Will out of bed for what amounted to a really bad charley horse, but if Will wanted to take him to bed, Finn wasn’t going to argue. “It’s the one at the end of the hall.”
Will nodded and helped him to his room, pausing in the doorway to feel around for the light switch before he half-dragged, half-carried Finn to his bed and dropped him onto the mattress. Finn winced at the impact and dragged himself up until he was stretched out in the middle of the bed, head on his pillow and looking up at Will.
Some of his best fantasies started out this way, and there was a part of Finn that expected Will to start pulling his clothes off. Instead he climbed onto the bed next to Finn, leaning over him long enough to grab another pillow and then lifting Finn’s knee off the bedfar enough to slide the pillow under his leg.
“This is probably going to hurt,” Will said, and he sounded so sorry about it that Finn wanted to laugh. Then Will’s hands started moving on his skin, and he wasn’t laughing anymore. His hands curled around the bedspread, twisting the fabric into two tight knots and he was pretty sure he was going to rip it, but his knee hurt so much he didn’t care.
Sharp, hot bursts of pain radiated out from his knee, down his calf and up his thigh and Will’s hands chased them every time, pushing the pain out along with the tightness in his muscle. Finn didn’t even try to hold back the litany of curses that streamed out of his mouth, spitting them out through gritted teeth as Will worked on getting his knee to relax. Minutes ticked by and it felt like the more Will worked, the worse the pain got. Finn’s vision blurred so he shut his eyes, trying to focus on the feeling of warm hands on him and not the pain they were causing.
Finally, endless agonizing minutes later, the pain eased a little, and Finn blinked his eyes open and looked down at Will. He expected Will to be looking at Finn’s knee, watching the progress of his own hands on Finn’s muscles. Instead Will was staring right back at him, and when Finn saw the look in his eyes he was glad he was lying down.
“How are you doing?”
“Okay,” Finn said, but his voice was shaky and he knew Will could hear how out of breath he was. “It doesn’t hurt so much now.”
“Good.” Will’s hands were still moving, softer now like he was waiting for Finn to catch his breath before he started in again. Or maybe he’d just forgotten what he was doing again, because he was looking at Finn like he was trying to figure something out, and Finn was totally on board with helping him out there.
Then Will blinked and looked away, back down at Finn’s knee and putting a little more weight behind his hands. “So what are you doing back in town already? I thought you were staying in Lima for the rest of the week.”
Finn shrugged against the mattress and pushed up onto his elbows to watch Will work. “It was getting kind of boring hanging out at home. Then Puck showed up and I talked him into letting me take his car back so he could hang out with Kurt.”
“Are they still pretending they’re not dating?” Will asked, glancing up at Finn long enough to smirk, and Finn grinned back at him.
“Turns out they really aren’t dating. Well, not exactly. I guess Kurt’s making Puck prove he’s boyfriend material before he’ll date him for real. Not that I blame him; Puck’s not exactly the kind of guy you trust to be faithful on the road, you know?”
Will shrugged and slid a hand under Finn’s knee, fingers warm against his skin as he bent the joint just a little and dug into the back of Finn’s calf with his other hand. “That seems to be an occupational hazard. I mean, I can understand how it happens. It must be sort of exhilarating, having an adoring public willing to do anything just for a piece of you.”
“I guess,” Finn said, because the truth was he’d never really thought about it. Maybe because he mostly got hit on by girls, but hooking up on the road had never appealed to him all that much. Sure, he’d done it once or twice, but never while he was dating somebody. “Still, it’s no excuse to cheat.”
Will smiled down at his knee, sweet and kind of shy and it was all Finn could do not to drag him forward and kiss him until he finally got it. But the thing was, he had to know what was on offer here, and if he wasn’t taking it, then maybe he just didn’t want to. Finn let out a heavy sigh and fell back on the mattress, hands scrubbing over his face and he didn’t look up when he felt Will’s hands leave his knee.
“Finn? I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Will asked, then his hand was back on Finn’s face, pulling Finn’s hand away from his eyes and when Finn looked up Will was leaning over him. And that so wasn’t fair, because nobody could be that clueless, which meant Will was torturing him on purpose.
“No, I’m good. Just kind of beat,” Finn lied, and he told himself he imagined the way Will’s face fell, just for a second before he caught himself.
“Well your knee’s probably relaxed enough to let you get some sleep,” Will said, then his hands were gone and he was climbing off the bed, and that hadn’t been Finn’s plan at all. “I’m going to stop by again tomorrow and check on you. I don’t like the idea of you being here by yourself.”
Finn knew he should say that he was fine, that he didn’t need Will to stop by and check up on him like he couldn’t take care of himself. He should say that there were plenty of people he could call, that the whole team was in town and even if they hadn’t checked up on him so far, surely one of them could find the time to stop by.
But all of that sounded way too pathetic, and anyway if he said it, there was a chance Will would buy it, and then he really wouldn’t come over. So instead Finn nodded and let Will get him some water and a couple Tylenol, then he closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep.
Part Eight
Fandom: Glee
Pairing: Will/Finn (Puck/Kurt)
Rating: NC17
Word count: 4075 for this part
Summary: Finn Hudson's the quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals. At the beginning of his second season he tears his patellar tendon, ending his season and sentencing him to a year of rehab. Enter Will Schuester, Physical Therapist.
A/N: I am behind on comments, as usual. Mea culpa. It took me like four hours just to get around to breakfast today, though, so it's sort of a pattern at the moment.
Finn thought getting blown off by Will was the low point of his trip home, until he pulled into his folks’ driveway and spotted a familiar car parked behind Kurt’s Navigator.
“Un-fucking-believable,” he muttered, slamming his palm against the steering wheel of the borrowed pick-up. He debated turning around and just driving for awhile, but his knee was throbbing and he knew driving around town was just going to make it worse.
He sighed and pushed open the door of the truck, then he eased himself out of the cab and steadied himself against the door. When he was sure he wasn’t going to hit the pavement he swung the door shut and headed for the house, picking his way gingerly up the icy walk.
He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to find when he let himself in. Pornographic noises coming from Kurt’s room, maybe, or even his best friend pressed up against his brother on the nearest convenient flat surface. But Kurt and Puck weren’t making out in the front hall or on the kitchen table or even on the living room couch. They were sitting on the couch, but as far as Finn could tell they weren’t even touching.
“’Sup,” Puck said when Finn walked in, nodding in Finn’s direction and grinning like he’d just won the fucking lottery. Kurt, for his part, was kind of blushing, but he looked pretty happy too, and the sight of the two of them just made Finn feel even worse.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked, and he didn’t even care if he sounded like an asshole, because he’d just been shut down by the first guy he’d really wanted since he moved to Cincinnati, and his brother and his best friend were, like, in love or something.
Puck shrugged and cast a sidelong glance at Kurt before he answered. “I had a little time to kill, so I figured I’d drive up and say hey.”
“You drove all the way up from Cincinnati just to hang out,” Finn said, and it wasn’t a question, because it was obvious why he’d driven up. It just didn’t make a whole lot of sense, because they couldn’t get any privacy here, and they’d already played ‘meet the parents’ at Thanksgiving.
“Like I said, I had some time. Anyway, it’s not like it’s that far.”
“Dude, it’s a two and a half hour drive.”
For a second Puck just looked at him, then he turned to Kurt and leaned close enough to say something Finn didn’t catch. Kurt blushed a little harder, and when he nodded Puck stood up and gestured in the direction of the kitchen. Finn rolled his eyes, but he followed Puck out of the living room, working hard not to limp over to the kitchen table to drop himself into a chair.
“Why are you being such a dick?” Puck asked once they were alone, arms folded across the back of his own chair and Finn found himself resenting even the fact that Puck could sit backwards in a stupid chair when Finn couldn’t even sit up by himself.
“I’m not,” Finn said, but he felt his face heating up and he knew Puck saw it. “Look, I know you, man. I know how you are about relationships, and I know how Kurt is. You’re my bro and all, but Kurt’s my brother. I’m not going to let you use him, then throw him away when you get bored.”
“Are you seriously giving me the ‘hurt him and I hurt you’ speech right now?” Puck asked, and he sort of looked like he wanted to laugh. Finn didn’t even really blame him, but he just shrugged and held Puck’s gaze.
“If I have to, yeah.”
“First of all, not even if you weren’t a cripple,” Puck said, laughing when Finn scowled. “And second of all, I’m not using Kurt because I’m bored. I’m not using him at all. I think I kinda love him.”
“You love him,” Finn said, and when Puck glanced toward the kitchen door Finn looked over his shoulder. He expected to find Kurt eavesdropping, but as far as he could tell there was nobody there. Which meant Puck actually…well, he thought he was in love with Kurt, like that made any sense. “Then why the hell are you guys pretending you’re not even dating?”
Puck shrugged and looked away again, but this time he didn’t look nervous so much as embarrassed. “Because we’re not. Kurt calls it ‘pre-dating’. Kinda like a trial run. If I can prove I’m boyfriend material then he’ll give me a real shot.”
“So you really did just drive all the way up here to…” Finn trailed off, glancing toward the kitchen door again, like maybe Kurt was lurking around, waiting to jump out and laugh at Finn for actually buying such a lame story. But Kurt was nowhere around, and Puck looked a little like he wished the floor would open up and put him out of his misery.
“To hang out, like I said. Dude, he won’t even let me kiss him. I’m starting to lose it here.”
“We’re still talking about my brother,” Finn said, and when Puck winced and nodded Finn knew he got the message.
And yeah, he was still kind of jealous that Puck and Kurt were both getting what they wanted, but he loved them both, and if Puck was serious about his brother, Finn wasn’t going to try to stand in their way. If anybody could handle Puck it was Kurt, he figured, and Kurt deserved somebody who was into him enough to spend two months with nothing but his imagination and his right hand just to prove that he was serious.
“Look, I don’t need to hear the details or anything,” he said, “but I’ve known Kurt for a long time, and I can tell when he’s into somebody. He’s crazy about you, dude. I could tell weeks ago.”
“Yeah?” Puck said, and he looked so hopeful that it was all Finn could do not to laugh in his face.
“Yeah.” He paused and glanced toward the kitchen door again, but Kurt still wasn’t hanging around trying to listen in on their conversation. “Listen, you don’t have another game until New Year’s Eve, right?”
Puck nodded, one eyebrow raised like he was waiting for Finn to let him in on the game-winning play.
“So why don’t you chill here for a couple days. You can crash in my room and ride back with Kurt.”
“What about my car?”
Finn shrugged, working hard to look like he didn’t really care one way or the other. “I’ll drive it back for you. It’s getting pretty boring here anyway, to tell you the truth. I’d just as soon get back to Cincinnati.”
He expected Puck to say no, mostly because he was just as weird about other people driving his car as every other guy in the NFL. But Puck glanced toward the living room again, his expression going kind of soft, and Finn barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes.
“Yeah, okay. Just don’t fuck up my ride.”
“Relax,” Finn said, laughing when Puck scowled at him. “I’ll treat her like she’s my own.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Puck said, but he was already pushing his chair in and heading out of the kitchen to find Kurt and break the news to him. Once he was gone Finn leaned back in his chair and let out a heavy sigh, wondering how long it would take him to pack and just how pissed his mom was going to be.
~
Finn didn’t exactly have a plan when he headed back to Cincinnati. It wasn’t like he was going to drive straight to the clinic, barge into Will’s exam room and throw himself at the guy. He thought about calling, maybe telling Will he was back in town, just so Will wouldn’t freak out if he called Shannon and heard that Finn didn’t show up to work out. Then again, there was no reason to expect Will to call and check up on him; he was a grown man, after all, and it wasn’t Will’s job to make sure Finn kept up with his workouts.
In the end he stopped at the grocery store on the way back into town to pick up beer and enough food to keep him alive until Kurt got home, then he went back to his apartment and pulled Puck’s Escalade into the parking garage. He pushed the door open and swung his bad leg out of the car, wincing at the stiffness in his knee and gritting his teeth against the impact when he hit the ground.
He took a deep breath and steadied himself against the door, then he reached back into the car for the bag of groceries. It was a little awkward, carrying groceries in one arm and his duffel bag in the other hand, trying to keep as much of his weight off his sore knee as he could. And he was only twenty-five, for fuck’s sake, but he felt like he was about fifty shuffling across the garage to the elevator that would take him up to his floor.
He’d almost reached the elevator when his knee seized up, muscles twitching so hard his whole leg shook. It only lasted a few seconds, but Finn felt his knee start to go out from under him and he had to fight hard to stay on his feet. By the time it stopped he was breathing hard, but he knew if he went down he wouldn’t be able to get up on his own. That was the only thing that kept him standing, and as soon as he thought he could move without falling he threw himself at the elevator bay and pressed the button as hard as he could.
It felt like hours before the bell finally dinged, then the elevator door slid open and Finn dragged himself inside. He pushed the button for his floor and leaned hard against the wall, breathing heavy as he watched the numbers go up way more slowly than they ever had before.
By the time the doors slid open on his floor he was shaking just from the effort of standing up, and he wasn’t all that sure he could make it to his apartment. He thought about ditching his duffel bag and coming back for it, but that meant making the trip down the hall twice, and Finn was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to do it. If he knew any of his neighbors he could knock and ask someone to give him a hand, but the amount of time he spent shaking hands and signing autographs for strangers when he was out meant he tried even harder to protect his privacy when he was home.
When he finally reached his own door he wasn’t sure how he’d made it all that way by himself, but he managed to get his door open and get the groceries into the kitchen without dropping them. He tossed the duffel on the floor as soon as he got through the door, and once the groceries were safely on the counter he headed for the living room and threw himself down on the couch.
His phone was in his pocket, and he fished it out and stared at the screen for a minute, debating whether or not to call Will. It seemed like this was the kind of thing he’d want to hear about; it definitely wasn’t normal, and after yesterday he figured Will would be pissed if Finn didn’t tell him. But there was a chance he was just stiff from driving for so long, and if all he needed was some rest and a couple aspirin, he’d feel like a moron for bothering Will over nothing.
He wasn’t sure when he passed out, but when he woke up it was dark outside and his knee had stopped throbbing. Finn took a deep breath and pushed himself off the couch, shoving his phone back in his pocket and taking his time standing up. He made it to the bathroom without any trouble, sighing at the relief of emptying his bladder.
When he was done he washed his hands, then he leaned hard against the sink and looked at reflection in the mirror. He looked a little gray, from the pain, he figured. Then there was the fact that he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, but the truth was all he really wanted to do was make it to his bed so he could pass out again.
He pushed himself off the counter and headed for the bathroom door, but as soon as he made it to the hallway his leg was gripped with another spasm. Finn gasped and grabbed for his knee, twisting his body on his way down so he wouldn’t land on his bad leg and tear his tendon again. He caught the floor with his hip instead, groaning at the impact and gritting his teeth through the pain.
He wasn’t sure how long the spasm lasted, but by the time the worst of it subsided he was breathing heavy and trembling all over. He fished his phone back out of his pocket with shaking fingers, sending up a quick prayer of thanks that he’d remembered to bring it with him. He scrolled through his contacts until he found Will’s number, then he pressed ‘send’ and waited for the line to connect.
“Come on, pick up,” he hissed through gritted teeth, breathing hard through the dull throbbing in his knee and trying not to picture what Will could be doing that would keep him from answering his phone.
After the fourth ring the line connected, and Finn braced himself for voicemail, but instead he heard Will’s voice, low and sleepy in his ear. “Finn?”
“Yeah,” Finn said, panting and breathless and Jesus, he probably sounded like an obscene caller. “Sorry, I know it’s late and all, but Kurt’s still in Lima with Puck and there’s nobody else to call. I guess I could have called 911, but I wasn’t sure it was bad enough for a trip to the emergency room.”
“Finn,” Will said, and he sounded a lot more awake now. “It’s okay. Just tell me what’s wrong.”
“My knee’s having these, like, spasms.” As soon as he said it the pain started again, and he closed his eyes and bit down on his lip until he tasted blood again. “Fuck. It’s never felt this bad before. I’m not sure I can get up.”
“Okay, calm down,” Will said, and Finn wanted to laugh, because that was easy for him to say. “Where are you?”
“My…my apartment,” Finn said, then he rattled off the address and prayed Will didn’t live all the way on the other side of the city. “I can just call an ambulance…”
“I’m on my way,” Will interrupted, and Finn fought back a relieved sob. “I should be there in about fifteen minutes.”
“Great. I’m pretty sure it’s unlocked,” Finn said, then he closed his phone and gritted his teeth against a fresh wave of pain.
According to Finn’s phone, Will showed up eleven minutes later. It felt more like an hour, but that was probably because Finn spent the entire time flat on his back and trying not to pass out from the pain. Finn heard the door open, then Will’s voice calling his name from somewhere near the kitchen.
“Over here,” Finn called, and when Will appeared at the end of the hallway he forced his eyes open long enough to take in his worried expression. “I don’t think I can get up.”
“When did this start?” Will asked, dropping to his knees next to Finn and reaching for the waistband of his sweatpants, and if he wasn’t pretty sure his knee and his career were both totally fucked, Finn would have thought it was kind of hot that Will was undressing him.
“When I got back to town, I guess. I was fine during the drive, but as soon as I got out of the car it felt like my knee was going to give out. I’ve been having these weird spasms ever since.”
By the time he finished talking Will had his pants off, then his hands were on Finn’s leg and straightening it as much as he could. Finn hissed at the sensation and dug his fingers into the carpet, teeth clenched and breathing hard as Will pushed his knee back into a slightly bent position.
“Your muscles are healing too tightly,” he said, hands still resting on Finn’s leg as Will looked up at him. “That would explain the decrease in your range of motion too. You’re healing too well, basically.”
A shaky laugh escaped Finn’s throat, and he closed his eyes and thumped his head against the carpet. “That figures.”
“The good news is, it’s fixable,” Will said. “We’ll just add massage to your weekly session and that should help loosen it up.”
“How long’s that going to take?” Finn asked, forcing his eyes open to look at Will again. “I mean, I can’t exactly walk here. Am I going to have to go back to the crutches?”
Will shook his head, then he let go of Finn’s knee and pulled him into a sitting position. Once Finn was up Will slid Finn’s arm around his shoulders, levering them both off the floor. “We’ll start right now. A good deep tissue massage should help with the pain and the tightness. Which way to your bedroom?”
He felt kind of bad dragging Will out of bed for what amounted to a really bad charley horse, but if Will wanted to take him to bed, Finn wasn’t going to argue. “It’s the one at the end of the hall.”
Will nodded and helped him to his room, pausing in the doorway to feel around for the light switch before he half-dragged, half-carried Finn to his bed and dropped him onto the mattress. Finn winced at the impact and dragged himself up until he was stretched out in the middle of the bed, head on his pillow and looking up at Will.
Some of his best fantasies started out this way, and there was a part of Finn that expected Will to start pulling his clothes off. Instead he climbed onto the bed next to Finn, leaning over him long enough to grab another pillow and then lifting Finn’s knee off the bedfar enough to slide the pillow under his leg.
“This is probably going to hurt,” Will said, and he sounded so sorry about it that Finn wanted to laugh. Then Will’s hands started moving on his skin, and he wasn’t laughing anymore. His hands curled around the bedspread, twisting the fabric into two tight knots and he was pretty sure he was going to rip it, but his knee hurt so much he didn’t care.
Sharp, hot bursts of pain radiated out from his knee, down his calf and up his thigh and Will’s hands chased them every time, pushing the pain out along with the tightness in his muscle. Finn didn’t even try to hold back the litany of curses that streamed out of his mouth, spitting them out through gritted teeth as Will worked on getting his knee to relax. Minutes ticked by and it felt like the more Will worked, the worse the pain got. Finn’s vision blurred so he shut his eyes, trying to focus on the feeling of warm hands on him and not the pain they were causing.
Finally, endless agonizing minutes later, the pain eased a little, and Finn blinked his eyes open and looked down at Will. He expected Will to be looking at Finn’s knee, watching the progress of his own hands on Finn’s muscles. Instead Will was staring right back at him, and when Finn saw the look in his eyes he was glad he was lying down.
“How are you doing?”
“Okay,” Finn said, but his voice was shaky and he knew Will could hear how out of breath he was. “It doesn’t hurt so much now.”
“Good.” Will’s hands were still moving, softer now like he was waiting for Finn to catch his breath before he started in again. Or maybe he’d just forgotten what he was doing again, because he was looking at Finn like he was trying to figure something out, and Finn was totally on board with helping him out there.
Then Will blinked and looked away, back down at Finn’s knee and putting a little more weight behind his hands. “So what are you doing back in town already? I thought you were staying in Lima for the rest of the week.”
Finn shrugged against the mattress and pushed up onto his elbows to watch Will work. “It was getting kind of boring hanging out at home. Then Puck showed up and I talked him into letting me take his car back so he could hang out with Kurt.”
“Are they still pretending they’re not dating?” Will asked, glancing up at Finn long enough to smirk, and Finn grinned back at him.
“Turns out they really aren’t dating. Well, not exactly. I guess Kurt’s making Puck prove he’s boyfriend material before he’ll date him for real. Not that I blame him; Puck’s not exactly the kind of guy you trust to be faithful on the road, you know?”
Will shrugged and slid a hand under Finn’s knee, fingers warm against his skin as he bent the joint just a little and dug into the back of Finn’s calf with his other hand. “That seems to be an occupational hazard. I mean, I can understand how it happens. It must be sort of exhilarating, having an adoring public willing to do anything just for a piece of you.”
“I guess,” Finn said, because the truth was he’d never really thought about it. Maybe because he mostly got hit on by girls, but hooking up on the road had never appealed to him all that much. Sure, he’d done it once or twice, but never while he was dating somebody. “Still, it’s no excuse to cheat.”
Will smiled down at his knee, sweet and kind of shy and it was all Finn could do not to drag him forward and kiss him until he finally got it. But the thing was, he had to know what was on offer here, and if he wasn’t taking it, then maybe he just didn’t want to. Finn let out a heavy sigh and fell back on the mattress, hands scrubbing over his face and he didn’t look up when he felt Will’s hands leave his knee.
“Finn? I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Will asked, then his hand was back on Finn’s face, pulling Finn’s hand away from his eyes and when Finn looked up Will was leaning over him. And that so wasn’t fair, because nobody could be that clueless, which meant Will was torturing him on purpose.
“No, I’m good. Just kind of beat,” Finn lied, and he told himself he imagined the way Will’s face fell, just for a second before he caught himself.
“Well your knee’s probably relaxed enough to let you get some sleep,” Will said, then his hands were gone and he was climbing off the bed, and that hadn’t been Finn’s plan at all. “I’m going to stop by again tomorrow and check on you. I don’t like the idea of you being here by yourself.”
Finn knew he should say that he was fine, that he didn’t need Will to stop by and check up on him like he couldn’t take care of himself. He should say that there were plenty of people he could call, that the whole team was in town and even if they hadn’t checked up on him so far, surely one of them could find the time to stop by.
But all of that sounded way too pathetic, and anyway if he said it, there was a chance Will would buy it, and then he really wouldn’t come over. So instead Finn nodded and let Will get him some water and a couple Tylenol, then he closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep.
Part Eight