What They Pretended Not To See
Title: What They Pretended Not To See
Author: hopenight
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/Characters: Will/Finn, Will Schuester, Finn Hudson, Brittany, Artie Abrams, Matt Rutherford, Mercedes Jones, Sue Sylvester Word Count: 2, 329
Warning: boy kissing, teacher/student relationship
Summary: Will and Finn aren’t being as subtle as they like to think.
A/N: I should really be working on my Big Bangs right now. But this wouldn’t leave me alone! Ah well I work better under pressure anyways!
Brittany
Brittany knows what’s up. That she’s going to end up as some pretty trophy wife to a rich asshole trapped in a cold, loveless marriage until he ditches her for the newest model. Yeah she knows how her life may play out and that future is a definite possibility. It’ll be a miracle if she gets into college, let alone pass her junior year.
She knows that she isn’t smart, that people think she’s an idiot.
And for the most part, she agrees. She isn’t book-smart. She has a hard time telling her right hand from her left. But she does know people. Specifically people that she cares about.
One person in particular: Finn Hudson.
Her mom and Finn’s mom were best friends in school. She and Finn had known each other since they were in diapers. So after close to eighteen years of friendship, Brittany knows when Finn is seriously interested. And not the type of interested that was between Finn and Quinn, which was a mix of peer pressure and obligation. But more of a ‘if you’re happy then I’m happy and I don’t care if you notice me or not’. She saw him give it selflessly a couple times in middle school, once with a freshman girl in sophomore year before he grew eight inches overnight and was bumped from second string football to starting quarterback almost instantly.
So when she saw him staring at Mr. Schuester with a puppy dog look in his eyes shortly after joining the glee club, Brittany just smiled and went back to her doodling.
Then the whole baby thing happened. While Brittany was seen as being one of Quinn’s lackeys/best friends; she was Finn’s friend first.
History trumps popularity.
She also felt bad for Mr. Schue because she heard about the psycho drama with his wife.
However, she noticed that Finn and Mr. Schue were starting to spend more and more time together. At first she thought that it was because they knew what the other was going through. It made her happy because at least there was someone other than Brittany who wanted to take care of Finn instead of trying to get into his pants.
Then she noticed that the puppy dog eyes Finn had been giving Mr. Schue turn into something else, something softer almost like how her dad looks at her mom. When she started paying attention to her teacher’s actions, she noticed the same look.
Brittany is not stupid when it comes to matters of the heart. She knows what’s up.
So one day when she arrives five minutes early to glee practice, she sees Mr. Schue and Finn holding hands and softly kissing.
Brittany just smiled gently at the pair.
She then loses the door quiet as can be before distracting the other members of the club for the next five minutes.
And if she notices that Finn’s lips are more kiss swollen and if Mr. Schue’s taken to wearing turtle necks, well then she won’t say anything about it.
Artie
Artie is quiet. People tend not to notice him. It’s cool with him because if they’re not noticing him then they’re assessing his every movement.
People like a spectacle and Artie’s one on two wheels.
So Artie would rather be ignored then a spectacle. Unless it’s on stage.
But everything is different onstage (so we won’t get into it).
The good thing about not being noticed was that Artie got all the best pieces of gossip, which he would share with the girls and Kurt later.
However, he also learned some things are better left unsaid.
Like Finn and Mr. Schue.
Artie liked Finn. He was the only one of the jocks not purposefully mean to him. He would help him in and out of the auditorium without prompting. Plus they could be nerds about the latest first person shooter game and not care. So yeah Finn Hudson was okay in Artie’s book.
Artie also liked Mr. Schue. He made sure that he got the full experience offered to him in glee. That he tried to understand what was going on. Plus he gave everyone a fair shot even the kid no one noticed. Mr. Schue was a pretty awesome teacher.
However, he noticed that there was something different about their relationship that wasn’t strictly student/teacher. Artie just chalked it up to Finn being uncomfortable with performing at first, then similar betrayals later on.
He never thought that they would be together.
So it surprised Artie when he was rounding a corner one day and heard the pair arguing over something (in quiet tones). Artie paused and went deathly still feeling vaguely bad for listening in but also insanely curious.
“Finn this isn’t right,” Mr. Schue sounded nervous and worried. His breathing was frantic and Artie could picture him wringing his hands.
“Will, don’t tell me you’re freaking out about this now,” said Finn sounding a bit exasperated and collected.
“The whole thing sunk in, Finn. I’m your teacher. You’re my student. We shouldn’t be doing this.”
There was a pause between them. Artie froze wondering if he should go.
“Look at me,” whispered Finn gently, “Please Will just look at me.”
There was another pause.
“I’m not saying that we won’t get weird looks. Or that people won’t judge us. But…Will this is right. It feels right. I don’t want to rush into anything with you. I know I’m just a kid and you think that I don’t know what I’m getting into.”
“Finn-,” began Mr. Schue.
“But I do know,” continued Finn, “I do, Will. We’re nice guys. And we both got hurt in the end. Aren’t we allowed to be selfish? Just this once? We can wait. I graduate soon. After that? We can be together.”
“Why would you want to be with an old man like me, Finn?” whispered Mr. Schue.
“Because Will, you’re the only person that I ever really liked who gives a damn.”
There was another pause. Artie heard Mr. Schue sigh.
“Come over tonight?”
Before he could hear anymore, Artie slowly backed up and moved down the hallway. He was glad that he was good at being unnoticed.
Artie Abrams liked Mr. Schue and Finn. He thought that they were good guys.
And he will keep their secret because they deserved to be happy.
Matt
Matt’s a pretty chill guy. As far as being a popular jock goes. He tends to go with the flow, let the tide direct him where to go. Of all the football players, he’s the most Zen. His Nana tells him that he has a good head on his shoulders like his Dad.
He joined glee because he liked to sing, to dance. He taught his nephews how to find their rhythm to impress the ladies. He would dance with his baby cousins to make them shriek and giggle. He sang in the car with his Momma and sister.
So yeah Matt loved singing and dancing and shit like that. Football was a way to balance the aggression and annoyances that got bottled up.
Also Matt did it because he liked Mr. Schue (not like that). He was a teacher who cared. He listened to them and took their opinions into consideration. He treated them like human beings. Plus the teacher had mad dance moves that made Mike drool in delight and envy. Matt was just curious as to how the teacher learned that.
Then he remembered that Mr. Schue was barely nine years older than they were. And it always blew Matt’s mind because he never really considered age with teachers’ y’know? They were the adults in the room. He tried not to think about it too much.
Out of all the guys on the football team, Finn was the one Matt got on with most next to Mike (who was his best friend since age eight). Because Finn was also a pretty laid-back guy, not testosterone driven like the rest of team. He was a gentle giant type. He would help Matt with babysitting letting his younger sister and his nephews climb all over him like a jungle gym with a big smile on his face.
Matt tried to be there for Finn because it was a shitty thing that Quinn and Puck did. However, he wasn’t sure how to go about it. So he did it in his own chill way, he would pack too much of his Momma’s cookies because Finn liked them so much. He would let Finn beat him at Guitar Hero and give him rides home after glee practice.
Finn didn’t say anything outright but Matt knew that he appreciated it with a smile that never really reached his eyes.
Then almost overnight, he got better. It threw Matt for a loop.
One moment Finn was in a funk, even though he had almost every else fooled he didn’t fool Matt for a second. Then the next moment, Finn was himself laughing and joking and even looking at Puck and Quinn without everyone on guard.
Then he saw Mr. Schue’s and Finn’s eyes meet. He saw the absolute look of unadulterated love and joy on Finn’s face. The shy almost school boy look that overtook Mr. Schue’s expression.
And Matt just got it.
He sat back in his chair for several moments.
Maybe almost nine years wasn’t that big a difference in the grand scheme of things.
Mercedes
Most people thought that she couldn’t keep a secret to save her life.
And that is a complete and utter lie, the Puck and Quinn thing was a one-time deal. Because there was no way that whole mess was going to end in anything less than a nuclear explosion complete with a giant mushroom cloud.
So Mercedes knows a lot of secrets. She knows how to listen, how to observe, and (most importantly) how to keep quiet. She knew that her oldest brother was gay an entire year and a half before he came out of the closet. The only place all these secrets go is in her diary, which is locked and kept in a locked drawer in her room.
She knows the real deal about the cafeteria food.
She knows that the pretty Home Ec teacher that all the boys have a crush on is a drag king.
She knows that there was an accidental night of gay sex between the hockey captain and the baseball team’s starting shortstop a couple of months ago.
So yeah Mercedes knows how to handle any situation: when it’s okay to talk and better to keep her mouth shut. She knows how to keep other people’s secrets even when they don’t know that she knows them.
She’s just that good.
So one night, when she’s leaving Tom and his boyfriend’s apartment, she sees Mr. Schue get out of his car followed by the unmistakable hulking frame of Finn Hudson across the street. She quickly hides in the shadows watching as Finn touches the teacher’s elbow. As Mr. Schue slowly glances up to look at Finn’s face (hidden by a hoodie).
She sees how they kiss, sweet and brief and so cute that Mercedes wants to go ‘awww’.
She makes sure that they entered the building before stepping out of her hiding place.
Mercedes Jones knows how to keep a secret.
So she’ll keep Finn and Mr. Schue’s, locking it in her diary using code names, because they deserved a happy ending.
And she knows that this could end badly but she really doesn’t see it happening.
Sue
Sue Sylvester has a code of honor especially when engaged in high school warfare.
She knows how to start and end a rumor. How to manipulate the system to her whims and demands. She can tear down a reputation and build it up just as quick.
So when she sees Schuester kissing Frankenteen; she knows that this is how she can win.
If she alerts Figgins or the PTA, then she can have Schuester and his damnable curly hair, ‘aw shucks’ attitude fired. That the glee club will be disbanded faster than one can say ‘show choir’.
Oh she knows.
However, she has that code of honor mentioned earlier.
She hears them both proclaim their love for each other.
And she knows.
There is no stopping this. That she cannot use this.
This would not be a fair victory.
Because Rule Number Two is Do Not Use Love as a Weapon.
She can see that they really mean it.
So the glee club is unharmed…for now.
Besides, she’d rather crush Schuester with something other than emotional blackmail.
Maybe she will buy him a kitten after all.