How does this kind of fluff even happen?
Title: Practical Solutions
Pairing: Finn/Kurt/Rachel
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Up to A Very Glee Christmas.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Author Notes: Unbeta'd.
Summary: Kurt tries to play matchmaker for Finn and Rachel. Other things go wrong and the matchmaking itself works a little too well.
For the finnkurt Winter Fest, from prompt #108: "Finn/Kurt/Rachel, their car breaks down somewhere and they have to huddle together for warmth."
Word Count: 4,403
Rachel watched from her perch on the edge of the sofa as Finn paced, gesturing with his free hand as he practically shouted into the cell phone he held in the other. “Look, I don’t get why you can’t just catch a ride with-“ a pause, and Finn rolled his eyes. “You’re being a wuss. Yeah. Yeah, you-“ another pause, which Finn broke into with, “You know what, Kurt, that’s totally your own fault. Look, I know you kind of suck at flirting, but you’re gonna have to learn someday, and that’s part of it.” Finn winced and held the phone away from his ear for a second.
Rachel watched in fascination, and Finn met her eyes and scowled as Kurt’s voice became audible, a bitchy snippet of “-clearly, you’ve done so well for yourself recently-“ reaching her before Finn hissed a loud “Not the point!” into the phone after a wide-eyed look in her direction.
Finn expelled a noisy breath and cautiously brought the phone back to his ear before asking, “You done yet?” Rachel studied the wallpaper intently as Finn listened to Kurt for a moment more, his expression softening a little. “Yeah, I know. I’m your brother now, I have to bug you about that stuff.” Finn listened for a little longer, still pacing, and Rachel began to tap out the rhythm to Broadway Baby on her knee with one seasonally appropriate white-painted nail.
Suddenly, Finn shot an unhappy look in her direction. Rachel perked up and tried to smile in an appealing manner at him anyway.
“Do you have to?” Finn asked the phone skeptically, still looking at her. Rachel wasn’t sure if she should feel snubbed yet. She had been trying to show Finn the depth of her remorse for at least a month, to no avail. He’d let her into the house this time, though - maybe he hadn’t let her sing the song she’d prepared for the occasion, but he had accepted her plate of “Happy January!” cookies. It was a flimsy excuse for cookies, true, but he hadn’t been willing to accept the plate with a more explicit apology (which, given that it was Finn refusing baked goods, had almost crushed her hopes of eventual reconciliation right then). He sighed again. “Okay, fine, we’ll be there in like three hours, the roads are kind of slippery - no, she’s already here-“ He stopped and made a face. “Stop laughing!”
After another moment of listening to Kurt, Finn rolled his eyes and crossed the room so he could shove the phone into her hands. “He wants to talk to you.”
Rachel felt her eyes widen in surprise, but she took the phone and held it to her ear, trying not to become distracted by the way it was hot from Finn’s body heat, and that could almost be interpreted as secondhand contact. “Kurt?” she asked curiously. She and Kurt had spent time together over the holidays, true, but she wasn’t sure why he needed to say anything to her now; he would be back from Dalton for the weekend in a few hours, and he had her phone number now (she had programmed it into his cell phone herself and set the ring tone to Don’t Rain on my Parade, even if he kept trying to change it to the opening of Prima Donna - she loved Phantom of the Opera at least as much as the next person, but she felt there were other songs from it that suited her far better).
Kurt sighed on the other end. “If Finn asks, you asked me to put Anyone Can Whistle onto your iPod for you over break. Yes, I know you have it. Yes, I know I could do that this weekend - I told him it’s on my roommate’s computer. I’ll see you in a few hours. Remember, you owe me.” Rachel blinked, but Kurt didn’t say anything else, and when she looked at the screen, he’d hung up.
“What did he say?” Finn asked, looking a little uncomfortable now, hands in his pockets as he looked anywhere but at Rachel.
“Oh,” she said, trying to think while she processed what had just happened, “he just wanted to make sure I was still interested.” She beamed at Finn. Two and a half hours alone in the car with him, not even counting the time spent driving back with Kurt in tow. Life suddenly had far more opportunity in it than when she’d arrived. “I am, of course. Still interested, I mean.”
Finn nodded awkwardly and glanced at her for a minute before plodding out of the room. “I’m getting my coat and keys,” he shouted through the doorway. “Meet me at the car, okay?”
Rachel grinned and bounced to her feet, refusing to let his reticence get her down. They had time.
It turned out not to be enough time, after all.
By the time they reached Dalton, Rachel had gotten Finn to talk to her less awkwardly than he had for the past month, but the two times she tried to hint at an interest in resuming romantic relations, he immediately changed the subject and gripped the wheel harder.
She sighed and watched Finn perform an impromptu drum solo on the dashboard along with the radio as they waited, idling, in the parking lot. Kurt had called to say that he’d seen them pull in and would be down in a minute, and Rachel was acutely aware that this was her last chance to be alone with Finn. She took a deep breath. “You do know that I’m sorry, right? And that I would do everything differently if I could?”
Finn’s drumming stopped and he stared out the windshield at the flurrying snow, not looking at her. She could see his brow furrowing. “Yeah,” he said quietly, after a moment of silence almost too tense to breathe in. “I know.”
“Then… do you forgive me?” Her heart was beating so hard she worried that Finn could hear it over the radio, a woman’s voice cheerfully announcing that the snow flurries were expected to continue as temperatures dropped to record low temperatures. The air in the car felt frozen.
Finn’s eyes darted to her before he shook his head in agitation and made a frustrated sound, turning away from her to look out his window, breath fogging the glass. “Rachel, you hurt me. On purpose. You knew exactly what you were doing and why it was the worst thing you could do to me.”
She swallowed hard and kept staring imploringly at the back of his head, hoping against hope that he would just turn around and see how awful she felt about the whole thing. “I know,” she said, her voice sounding small even to her. “I know what I did was wrong, but I was sorry as soon as it happened and I am willing to spend however long it takes making up for it. Please, Finn.”
Her heart jumped as he turned and his eyes met hers. He was frowning, but there was more pain than anger in his expression for once, and for a second hope caused her to forget to breathe. “Rachel-” he started.
A rapping on the rear windshield interrupted him.
They both jumped and looked back guiltily. Kurt was raising an eyebrow at the two of them, hand still raised to the glass. “Finn, open the trunk,” he called.
Rachel sighed and slumped back against the seat as Finn flushed and fumbled with the levers beneath his seat until the trunk popped open. Kurt disappeared from view as he raised the trunk lid, a scuffling sound and a grunt of effort indicating that he’d managed to get his suitcase in. Rachel tried not to question his need for an entire suitcase when he was only home for the weekend; she’d learned that sometimes an innocent question just wasn’t worth it when it came to Kurt. The trunk slammed down and a blast of cold air swirled into the car as he slid into the back seat, shivering in what Rachel was sure was an exaggerated display of cold.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?” Kurt asked as he shrugged out of his coat, apparently not picking up on the strained mood.
Finn scowled. “My car, dude. I drive.”
“If you want to dignify this… vehicle with the word ‘car,’ that’s fine,” Kurt sighed, “but you know I’m better with a stick shift, and it’s going to be slippery and dark on the way back.”
“I can handle it,” Finn said, sounding annoyed. “Don’t you need to get Rachel that musical or something?”
“Oh,” Kurt said, clearly having forgotten. “I would, but - my roommate left without telling me. Pity. Don’t worry, I’ll burn it onto a CD for next time.”
Finn looked at him and Rachel suspiciously, so Rachel tried to look disappointed.
“Whatever,” Finn sighed. He turned up the radio and keyed the ignition, carefully shifting into first before the car took off with a lurch.
The sky had darkened by the time they were an hour out of Westerville, and the mood in the car had thankfully become less awkward with the fading of the light. Rachel had failed to get Kurt to discuss the Warblers’ preparations for Regionals, which had somehow led to a session of bashing Jesse St. James - Finn joined in very enthusiastically - and from there to a discussion of appropriate dress for the leader of a show choir, and why all-black had been a terrible choice on Jesse’s part.
They had paused at a stop sign and Kurt was sighing, “Rachel, you wear that cardigan as a blouse. I will lend you an actual blouse if you need one. I’ll give you one if you want. But for the sake of my retinas and New Directions’ chances as a team, please unbutton it in the future and stop tucking it into your skirt, you look like you were dressed by-“
“Guys,” Finn cut him off. His voice was strained, and Rachel frowned, taking in their surroundings for the first time. They weren’t moving, but that was fine, Finn periodically still stalled out the car sometimes.
“Finn?” she asked.
“It won’t start.” When she looked, she saw that Finn was turning the key in the ignition, but there was nothing, not even the wheeze of the car failing to go into gear. He looked nervous in the faint reflected light of their headlights on the snow.
“What gear is it in?” Kurt asked, unbuckling his seat belt so that he could lean over Finn’s shoulder and watch.
“I got it in first, I’m doing everything right,” Finn said as he tried to start it again. “Hold on-“ he twisted the key to the left, then the right again, still with no result.
“Well, this is fantastic,” Kurt drawled. “Rachel, take the wheel. Finn and I will push, you just keep it turned so that we go onto the shoulder. And turn the emergency flashers on.”
Rachel nodded and followed his directions, biting her lip as she watched him slide on his coat with a look of martyrdom and follow Finn around to the back of the car. The car slowly rolled off to the side and she tried to keep its movement as steady as possible, carefully avoiding what looked like a patch of black ice and sighing in relief as the car came to a stop a few feet off the road. She pulled the emergency brake into place and crossed her arms across her chest, watching nervously as Kurt walked around the car, Finn following, then tapped on the hood, looking at her expectantly.
Although she found the lever to pop the hood after a few tries and Kurt spent a few minutes peering into it with the help of Finn’s flashlight, it didn’t do any good. Both Finn and Kurt were looking grim by the time they came back into the car, Finn taking the passenger seat without comment. “It isn’t anything I can fix,” Kurt sighed, his arms wrapped around himself as he shivered. “I hope it’s not the transmission, but this thing is ancient enough that it could be anything.”
Finn frowned at the insult to his car, but didn’t bother arguing. Rachel had nodded and agreed with him in the past when he proudly claimed that it wasn’t old, it just had character, but privately, she suspected that he knew the car was a bit of a time bomb.
She just wished that the heater were still working.
“I’ll call Dad,” Kurt offered. “He has a tow truck, if we can wait for him to get here.”
“Are you sure?” Rachel asked. “If we call AAA, they might arrive faster.”
Kurt shrugged, his voice taking on the arrogant tinge that was a sure sign he was covering up embarrassment. “I never bothered to join - Dad and all - and I’m almost certain that Finn doesn’t have it, either.” Finn shook his head sheepishly. “And seeing as you don’t have a car, I highly doubt you carry a card around.”
Rachel sighed and shook her head. She tugged at her scarf, trying to cover up as much of her neck as she could - the car was getting colder without the heat going.
There was a minute of silence as Kurt pulled out his phone and dialed. They were a long way from the nearest town - they had decided to take the back roads to avoid traffic, and Rachel deeply regretted the decision now - and even the closest lights were tiny dots on the horizon. They hadn’t seen any other cars since they’d left the highway.
Rachel chanced a glance over at Finn as Kurt started speaking, quickly explaining the situation to his father and repeating that they were fine, no one was hurt and the only thing wrong was that the car wouldn’t start. Finn was staring straight ahead again, his expression tense and unhappy. She carefully reached across and laid a tentative hand on his forearm. He stiffened and looked at her, then his lips quirked in a tiny smile and he relaxed. She felt an answering smile pulling at her own lips, a flutter in her chest.
“He’s on his way,” Kurt announced, tucking his phone away again. Rachel hurriedly took her hand off Finn’s arm. “It’ll be at least an hour, though.”
Rachel saw Finn’s shoulders quiver, and she frowned. An hour would be a long time. Inspiration struck as she glanced back at Kurt, his jaw clenched to prevent his teeth from chattering. “We should huddle for warmth,” she announced, clapping her hands officiously. “There’s enough room for all of us in the backseat, and-“
“Rachel,” Kurt said, voice flat, “that is the single most awkward suggestion you have ever made. Congratulations.”
“No, she’s right,” Finn spoke up unexpectedly. Rachel couldn’t help smiling at him. “It’ll suck if we all get hydrophobia” - “hypothermia,” Rachel and Kurt chorused automatically - “and it’s gonna be a while. We might as well.”
Kurt shifted uncomfortably, but Finn ignored him and clambered over the armrest, half-falling into the backseat. Rachel smiled at Kurt’s indignant protest and took the hand Finn extended forward, thrilling at the contact as he helped her into the back.
They eventually settled into a loose huddle, Finn wrapped around Rachel on one side, his hold a bit too close to be excused as practicality, and Kurt settled stiffly on the other. Despite the tension, it was cozy, Rachel decided, unable to prevent the happiness bubbling up at Finn being so close so willingly and Kurt protesting so little. A year ago, she was certain, Kurt would have refused on principle, and now he was almost snuggling. She sighed happily and tugged him closer, ignoring the suspicious look he sent down at her.
“So,” she asked after a minute of silence, “what were you and Finn talking about on the phone earlier? Is everything going well with the Warblers?”
Kurt glared at Finn over her head. “Everything is fine.”
Finn shook his head, the movement passing through all of them. “Sure. And that’s why you’re not getting a ride with Blaine this time, right?”
“Their main lead?” Rachel asked curiously.
She couldn’t tell in the dark if Kurt was flushing, but she was unprepared for the hurt that flashed across his face. “Their gay main lead,” he clarified bitterly, “who is unbelievably incompetent at sending signals.”
“And who didn’t bother telling Kurt that he got a new boyfriend over break,” Finn added.
Rachel put the pieces together and winced in sympathy, pulling Kurt closer with the arm around his waist. She took it as a victory that he didn’t fight it, leaning closer instead. “I’m sorry,” she said.
Kurt shrugged and tried to smile. “Don’t be. I should have known, anyway. At least I had gender preference on my side this time, right?” He laughed, but it sounded more depressed than dismissive.
“It still sucks,” Finn offered. Rachel wondered if Finn realized that he was shifting even closer to her, his arm tightening around her shoulders. “I mean, Mr. Schue said you two were singing flirty duets and everything.”
“He told you about that?” Kurt said, at the same time Rachel gasped, “He sang a duet with you and didn’t mean it?” in horror.
Finn shrugged. “I wanted to check on how you were doing. Why was he up there, though? When I asked he just said something about Sue Sylvester.”
“That really was the reason, I think,” Kurt said, waving his free hand dismissively. “It was sweet, but his boundary issues apparently get worse around the holidays.”
Finn snorted and Rachel tried not to smile.
Kurt was talking again, though, so she looked at him attentively - one of her New Years resolutions had been to make more of an effort when friends opened up. “Long story short, I honestly thought Blaine might be interested, so I tried to make it clear that I would be interested if he was, and, well,” he half-shrugged, “that didn’t turn out especially well. He still wants to be friends, though.”
Rachel snuggled closer to Kurt in sympathy. She took it as a good sign that he didn’t seem to notice that she was halfway on his lap, and the position was warm enough that she risked scooting the rest of the way onto him. He grumbled a bit, sighing, “what, really?” but let her do it.
“Don’t worry about it so much, he’ll come around,” Finn said confidently. He was grinning at them both, and Rachel beamed at him as he shifted closer so that he was pressed up against the two of them.
Kurt tensed for a second at the contact before relaxing and leaning tentatively against Finn. Rachel could feel the strain in his body beneath her, as if he was expecting to be pushed away. She patted his knee comfortingly. “Thanks,” Kurt said quietly, and she wasn’t sure which of them he was speaking to. “It’s not likely, though. It turns out that I’m not his type.”
“Why not?” Rachel asked indignantly. “You’re very talented - I would know - and you have very good taste.”
“Yeah,” Finn said, apparently trying for ‘helpful,’ “He doesn’t know what he’s missing. I mean, if you weren’t a dude, I’d totally do you.” There was a sudden awkward silence. “And if, you know, we weren’t sort of related now.” The silence continued to be awkward.
“That’s-” Kurt tried, then started again, sounding strained, “that’s very… nice of you.”
Rachel grabbed Finn’s hand to keep him in place when it felt like he was thinking of pulling away.
Kurt sighed and said, more firmly, “I am a guy, though, Finn. Good intentions aside, apparently that means I’m not anyone’s type.”
Rachel frowned. The tone of defeat sounded wrong, coming from the boy who had fought so viciously with her for almost as long as they’d known each other. Finn was gripping her hand tightly, so she squeezed back, needing to reassure herself that she’d regained that connection, at least. Struck by a sudden need to do something, she swiftly turned around and pecked Kurt on the cheek.
He blinked at her. “That’s… kind of you, Rachel, but that’s not-”
She frowned and did it again, cutting him off. Finn was grinning again.
“Rachel, you’re not-”
She kissed Kurt on the nose, smiling at the way he went cross-eyed and tried to sink back against the seat.
Kurt was lifting an eyebrow and trying to lean out of the way, but Finn snaked an arm around his shoulders and held him in place. Kurt glared at both of them. “If you really think this is going to help with my depressing absence of a love life, you are far more deranged than I-”
She planted a kiss on his other cheek, squirming around so that she was straddling his lap and facing him.
Finn bit his lip to keep from laughing at Kurt’s annoyance and wormed his legs under Kurt’s so that Rachel’s knee was no longer perilously close to his groin.
“Finn,” Kurt hissed, ducking so that Rachel’s lips hit his forehead, although she was giggling too hard to aim properly, “curb your girlfriend!”
Rachel’s heart pounded when Finn didn’t correct Kurt’s wording, her joy bubbling up in a startled laugh when Finn just grinned and leaned down to peck Kurt on the cheek, as well.
“I hope you know that I hate you both,” Kurt grumbled, his blush radiating enough heat that Rachel could feel it under her lips as she cheerfully kissed his cheek again.
“Whatever, you know we’re awesome,” Finn said, wrapping his free arm around Rachel’s waist to steady her as Kurt squirmed half-heartedly between them, not actually moving away from the rain of playful kisses landing on his face. Finn’s fingers tightened on her waist, and for a second, Rachel wondered why, until she saw that Kurt had also frozen as Finn’s lips accidentally landed on the corner of his mouth. Finn pulled back. “Um,” he said, his eyes wide.
Rachel looked between them. Finn was looking shocked, but he wasn’t moving away, and when his eyes flitted to her, he looked more nervous than panicked. Kurt still hadn’t moved, but his breath was coming fast and shallow, and suddenly it felt like last year all over again. Rachel bit her lip and came to an impulsive decision.
She rested a hand carefully on Kurt’s shoulder, bracing herself as she leaned up to kiss Finn lightly. It was soft and familiar, and for a second she was tempted to just lose herself in the comfort of it. Finn kissed back, tentative and more nervous than ever, and she steeled herself, breaking away from him. Kurt looked up at her, confused, but he didn’t resist when she pressed her lips against his. By the time she pulled away, he still looked baffled, but the fear was gone.
Rachel smiled brightly and tapped Finn on the shoulder. He was still staring between her and Kurt, utterly perplexed, so she rolled her eyes and gave him a light push. “Finn, stop worrying about it,” she sighed. “It’s just us, and I’m okay with it.” He nodded shakily and leaned down. Kurt hesitated, then closed his eyes and tipped his face up to meet him, and Rachel rubbed Finn’s back gently as she watched them kiss.
Part of her wanted to be nervous about the situation - would Kurt revert to their rivalry from the previous year and try to put a wedge between her and Finn? - but when his eyes fluttered open after Finn pulled away, breathing heavily, he turned to her, questioning.
She felt the tension flowing out of her. She smiled at him reassuringly in answer, then leaned down to kiss him again.
They were all still warm by the time an hour had passed, even though their coats were all undone and Rachel wasn’t entirely sure where her scarf had gone. She reluctantly pulled away from Finn and tapped at Kurt’s shoulder until he looked up from where he’d been mouthing at Finn’s neck.
“Your dad will be getting here soon,” she informed them regretfully. “We should probably straighten ourselves up before he comes.”
Kurt grimaced. “Sad as it is, you make a good point. Finn, can you see my belt anywhere?”
“Hey, I wasn’t the one who took it off,” Finn pointed out with a shrug as Rachel sheepishly felt around on the floor until she found it.
“It has a sharp buckle,” she sniffed as she handed it back. Rachel shivered as the moment away from contact with them reminded her of the cold, and Kurt pulled her back in, rolling his eyes.
“I don’t think Dad will mind if you stay over for a while,” Kurt mused, putting the belt back awkwardly as he tried not to jostle Rachel off his lap. Finn helped to steady her. “If we hang out in my room and put on a musical, he won’t even wonder.”
Finn made a noise of agreement and buried his face for a moment in Rachel’s hair, making her giggle. “And, hey, if they think Kurt is chaperoning…”
Kurt snickered.
Rachel perked up as she considered something. “You know,” she mused, tugging Kurt’s hair back into place from where it had gotten ruffled, “I think you can safely say you’ve beaten Blaine - not,” she added in a moment of conscientiousness, “as if it’s a competition or anything.” Finn smirked.
“Sadly, ‘I’m dating my step-brother and his girlfriend’ doesn’t work especially well as bragging rights unless the audience is very liberal-minded,” Kurt sighed regretfully. Finn’s arms tightened around both Kurt and Rachel, and Kurt snuggled against him, pulling Rachel closer as well. “Don’t worry, I’m not complaining.”
Rachel raised her eyebrows and huddled against the two boys. They were still a bit disheveled, but it wasn’t so bad they couldn’t explain it away to Mr. Hummel. “It’s us,” she reminded him firmly, “why would you?”
Kurt rolled his eyes again, but he didn’t argue. Rachel beamed. Finn was smiling at her, and Kurt was snuggled between them, and she was warm and cozy despite the freezing temperature. She nestled closer to her boys and smiled peacefully as they waited for help to arrive.
Pairing: Finn/Kurt/Rachel
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Up to A Very Glee Christmas.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Author Notes: Unbeta'd.
Summary: Kurt tries to play matchmaker for Finn and Rachel. Other things go wrong and the matchmaking itself works a little too well.
For the finnkurt Winter Fest, from prompt #108: "Finn/Kurt/Rachel, their car breaks down somewhere and they have to huddle together for warmth."
Word Count: 4,403
Rachel watched from her perch on the edge of the sofa as Finn paced, gesturing with his free hand as he practically shouted into the cell phone he held in the other. “Look, I don’t get why you can’t just catch a ride with-“ a pause, and Finn rolled his eyes. “You’re being a wuss. Yeah. Yeah, you-“ another pause, which Finn broke into with, “You know what, Kurt, that’s totally your own fault. Look, I know you kind of suck at flirting, but you’re gonna have to learn someday, and that’s part of it.” Finn winced and held the phone away from his ear for a second.
Rachel watched in fascination, and Finn met her eyes and scowled as Kurt’s voice became audible, a bitchy snippet of “-clearly, you’ve done so well for yourself recently-“ reaching her before Finn hissed a loud “Not the point!” into the phone after a wide-eyed look in her direction.
Finn expelled a noisy breath and cautiously brought the phone back to his ear before asking, “You done yet?” Rachel studied the wallpaper intently as Finn listened to Kurt for a moment more, his expression softening a little. “Yeah, I know. I’m your brother now, I have to bug you about that stuff.” Finn listened for a little longer, still pacing, and Rachel began to tap out the rhythm to Broadway Baby on her knee with one seasonally appropriate white-painted nail.
Suddenly, Finn shot an unhappy look in her direction. Rachel perked up and tried to smile in an appealing manner at him anyway.
“Do you have to?” Finn asked the phone skeptically, still looking at her. Rachel wasn’t sure if she should feel snubbed yet. She had been trying to show Finn the depth of her remorse for at least a month, to no avail. He’d let her into the house this time, though - maybe he hadn’t let her sing the song she’d prepared for the occasion, but he had accepted her plate of “Happy January!” cookies. It was a flimsy excuse for cookies, true, but he hadn’t been willing to accept the plate with a more explicit apology (which, given that it was Finn refusing baked goods, had almost crushed her hopes of eventual reconciliation right then). He sighed again. “Okay, fine, we’ll be there in like three hours, the roads are kind of slippery - no, she’s already here-“ He stopped and made a face. “Stop laughing!”
After another moment of listening to Kurt, Finn rolled his eyes and crossed the room so he could shove the phone into her hands. “He wants to talk to you.”
Rachel felt her eyes widen in surprise, but she took the phone and held it to her ear, trying not to become distracted by the way it was hot from Finn’s body heat, and that could almost be interpreted as secondhand contact. “Kurt?” she asked curiously. She and Kurt had spent time together over the holidays, true, but she wasn’t sure why he needed to say anything to her now; he would be back from Dalton for the weekend in a few hours, and he had her phone number now (she had programmed it into his cell phone herself and set the ring tone to Don’t Rain on my Parade, even if he kept trying to change it to the opening of Prima Donna - she loved Phantom of the Opera at least as much as the next person, but she felt there were other songs from it that suited her far better).
Kurt sighed on the other end. “If Finn asks, you asked me to put Anyone Can Whistle onto your iPod for you over break. Yes, I know you have it. Yes, I know I could do that this weekend - I told him it’s on my roommate’s computer. I’ll see you in a few hours. Remember, you owe me.” Rachel blinked, but Kurt didn’t say anything else, and when she looked at the screen, he’d hung up.
“What did he say?” Finn asked, looking a little uncomfortable now, hands in his pockets as he looked anywhere but at Rachel.
“Oh,” she said, trying to think while she processed what had just happened, “he just wanted to make sure I was still interested.” She beamed at Finn. Two and a half hours alone in the car with him, not even counting the time spent driving back with Kurt in tow. Life suddenly had far more opportunity in it than when she’d arrived. “I am, of course. Still interested, I mean.”
Finn nodded awkwardly and glanced at her for a minute before plodding out of the room. “I’m getting my coat and keys,” he shouted through the doorway. “Meet me at the car, okay?”
Rachel grinned and bounced to her feet, refusing to let his reticence get her down. They had time.
It turned out not to be enough time, after all.
By the time they reached Dalton, Rachel had gotten Finn to talk to her less awkwardly than he had for the past month, but the two times she tried to hint at an interest in resuming romantic relations, he immediately changed the subject and gripped the wheel harder.
She sighed and watched Finn perform an impromptu drum solo on the dashboard along with the radio as they waited, idling, in the parking lot. Kurt had called to say that he’d seen them pull in and would be down in a minute, and Rachel was acutely aware that this was her last chance to be alone with Finn. She took a deep breath. “You do know that I’m sorry, right? And that I would do everything differently if I could?”
Finn’s drumming stopped and he stared out the windshield at the flurrying snow, not looking at her. She could see his brow furrowing. “Yeah,” he said quietly, after a moment of silence almost too tense to breathe in. “I know.”
“Then… do you forgive me?” Her heart was beating so hard she worried that Finn could hear it over the radio, a woman’s voice cheerfully announcing that the snow flurries were expected to continue as temperatures dropped to record low temperatures. The air in the car felt frozen.
Finn’s eyes darted to her before he shook his head in agitation and made a frustrated sound, turning away from her to look out his window, breath fogging the glass. “Rachel, you hurt me. On purpose. You knew exactly what you were doing and why it was the worst thing you could do to me.”
She swallowed hard and kept staring imploringly at the back of his head, hoping against hope that he would just turn around and see how awful she felt about the whole thing. “I know,” she said, her voice sounding small even to her. “I know what I did was wrong, but I was sorry as soon as it happened and I am willing to spend however long it takes making up for it. Please, Finn.”
Her heart jumped as he turned and his eyes met hers. He was frowning, but there was more pain than anger in his expression for once, and for a second hope caused her to forget to breathe. “Rachel-” he started.
A rapping on the rear windshield interrupted him.
They both jumped and looked back guiltily. Kurt was raising an eyebrow at the two of them, hand still raised to the glass. “Finn, open the trunk,” he called.
Rachel sighed and slumped back against the seat as Finn flushed and fumbled with the levers beneath his seat until the trunk popped open. Kurt disappeared from view as he raised the trunk lid, a scuffling sound and a grunt of effort indicating that he’d managed to get his suitcase in. Rachel tried not to question his need for an entire suitcase when he was only home for the weekend; she’d learned that sometimes an innocent question just wasn’t worth it when it came to Kurt. The trunk slammed down and a blast of cold air swirled into the car as he slid into the back seat, shivering in what Rachel was sure was an exaggerated display of cold.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?” Kurt asked as he shrugged out of his coat, apparently not picking up on the strained mood.
Finn scowled. “My car, dude. I drive.”
“If you want to dignify this… vehicle with the word ‘car,’ that’s fine,” Kurt sighed, “but you know I’m better with a stick shift, and it’s going to be slippery and dark on the way back.”
“I can handle it,” Finn said, sounding annoyed. “Don’t you need to get Rachel that musical or something?”
“Oh,” Kurt said, clearly having forgotten. “I would, but - my roommate left without telling me. Pity. Don’t worry, I’ll burn it onto a CD for next time.”
Finn looked at him and Rachel suspiciously, so Rachel tried to look disappointed.
“Whatever,” Finn sighed. He turned up the radio and keyed the ignition, carefully shifting into first before the car took off with a lurch.
The sky had darkened by the time they were an hour out of Westerville, and the mood in the car had thankfully become less awkward with the fading of the light. Rachel had failed to get Kurt to discuss the Warblers’ preparations for Regionals, which had somehow led to a session of bashing Jesse St. James - Finn joined in very enthusiastically - and from there to a discussion of appropriate dress for the leader of a show choir, and why all-black had been a terrible choice on Jesse’s part.
They had paused at a stop sign and Kurt was sighing, “Rachel, you wear that cardigan as a blouse. I will lend you an actual blouse if you need one. I’ll give you one if you want. But for the sake of my retinas and New Directions’ chances as a team, please unbutton it in the future and stop tucking it into your skirt, you look like you were dressed by-“
“Guys,” Finn cut him off. His voice was strained, and Rachel frowned, taking in their surroundings for the first time. They weren’t moving, but that was fine, Finn periodically still stalled out the car sometimes.
“Finn?” she asked.
“It won’t start.” When she looked, she saw that Finn was turning the key in the ignition, but there was nothing, not even the wheeze of the car failing to go into gear. He looked nervous in the faint reflected light of their headlights on the snow.
“What gear is it in?” Kurt asked, unbuckling his seat belt so that he could lean over Finn’s shoulder and watch.
“I got it in first, I’m doing everything right,” Finn said as he tried to start it again. “Hold on-“ he twisted the key to the left, then the right again, still with no result.
“Well, this is fantastic,” Kurt drawled. “Rachel, take the wheel. Finn and I will push, you just keep it turned so that we go onto the shoulder. And turn the emergency flashers on.”
Rachel nodded and followed his directions, biting her lip as she watched him slide on his coat with a look of martyrdom and follow Finn around to the back of the car. The car slowly rolled off to the side and she tried to keep its movement as steady as possible, carefully avoiding what looked like a patch of black ice and sighing in relief as the car came to a stop a few feet off the road. She pulled the emergency brake into place and crossed her arms across her chest, watching nervously as Kurt walked around the car, Finn following, then tapped on the hood, looking at her expectantly.
Although she found the lever to pop the hood after a few tries and Kurt spent a few minutes peering into it with the help of Finn’s flashlight, it didn’t do any good. Both Finn and Kurt were looking grim by the time they came back into the car, Finn taking the passenger seat without comment. “It isn’t anything I can fix,” Kurt sighed, his arms wrapped around himself as he shivered. “I hope it’s not the transmission, but this thing is ancient enough that it could be anything.”
Finn frowned at the insult to his car, but didn’t bother arguing. Rachel had nodded and agreed with him in the past when he proudly claimed that it wasn’t old, it just had character, but privately, she suspected that he knew the car was a bit of a time bomb.
She just wished that the heater were still working.
“I’ll call Dad,” Kurt offered. “He has a tow truck, if we can wait for him to get here.”
“Are you sure?” Rachel asked. “If we call AAA, they might arrive faster.”
Kurt shrugged, his voice taking on the arrogant tinge that was a sure sign he was covering up embarrassment. “I never bothered to join - Dad and all - and I’m almost certain that Finn doesn’t have it, either.” Finn shook his head sheepishly. “And seeing as you don’t have a car, I highly doubt you carry a card around.”
Rachel sighed and shook her head. She tugged at her scarf, trying to cover up as much of her neck as she could - the car was getting colder without the heat going.
There was a minute of silence as Kurt pulled out his phone and dialed. They were a long way from the nearest town - they had decided to take the back roads to avoid traffic, and Rachel deeply regretted the decision now - and even the closest lights were tiny dots on the horizon. They hadn’t seen any other cars since they’d left the highway.
Rachel chanced a glance over at Finn as Kurt started speaking, quickly explaining the situation to his father and repeating that they were fine, no one was hurt and the only thing wrong was that the car wouldn’t start. Finn was staring straight ahead again, his expression tense and unhappy. She carefully reached across and laid a tentative hand on his forearm. He stiffened and looked at her, then his lips quirked in a tiny smile and he relaxed. She felt an answering smile pulling at her own lips, a flutter in her chest.
“He’s on his way,” Kurt announced, tucking his phone away again. Rachel hurriedly took her hand off Finn’s arm. “It’ll be at least an hour, though.”
Rachel saw Finn’s shoulders quiver, and she frowned. An hour would be a long time. Inspiration struck as she glanced back at Kurt, his jaw clenched to prevent his teeth from chattering. “We should huddle for warmth,” she announced, clapping her hands officiously. “There’s enough room for all of us in the backseat, and-“
“Rachel,” Kurt said, voice flat, “that is the single most awkward suggestion you have ever made. Congratulations.”
“No, she’s right,” Finn spoke up unexpectedly. Rachel couldn’t help smiling at him. “It’ll suck if we all get hydrophobia” - “hypothermia,” Rachel and Kurt chorused automatically - “and it’s gonna be a while. We might as well.”
Kurt shifted uncomfortably, but Finn ignored him and clambered over the armrest, half-falling into the backseat. Rachel smiled at Kurt’s indignant protest and took the hand Finn extended forward, thrilling at the contact as he helped her into the back.
They eventually settled into a loose huddle, Finn wrapped around Rachel on one side, his hold a bit too close to be excused as practicality, and Kurt settled stiffly on the other. Despite the tension, it was cozy, Rachel decided, unable to prevent the happiness bubbling up at Finn being so close so willingly and Kurt protesting so little. A year ago, she was certain, Kurt would have refused on principle, and now he was almost snuggling. She sighed happily and tugged him closer, ignoring the suspicious look he sent down at her.
“So,” she asked after a minute of silence, “what were you and Finn talking about on the phone earlier? Is everything going well with the Warblers?”
Kurt glared at Finn over her head. “Everything is fine.”
Finn shook his head, the movement passing through all of them. “Sure. And that’s why you’re not getting a ride with Blaine this time, right?”
“Their main lead?” Rachel asked curiously.
She couldn’t tell in the dark if Kurt was flushing, but she was unprepared for the hurt that flashed across his face. “Their gay main lead,” he clarified bitterly, “who is unbelievably incompetent at sending signals.”
“And who didn’t bother telling Kurt that he got a new boyfriend over break,” Finn added.
Rachel put the pieces together and winced in sympathy, pulling Kurt closer with the arm around his waist. She took it as a victory that he didn’t fight it, leaning closer instead. “I’m sorry,” she said.
Kurt shrugged and tried to smile. “Don’t be. I should have known, anyway. At least I had gender preference on my side this time, right?” He laughed, but it sounded more depressed than dismissive.
“It still sucks,” Finn offered. Rachel wondered if Finn realized that he was shifting even closer to her, his arm tightening around her shoulders. “I mean, Mr. Schue said you two were singing flirty duets and everything.”
“He told you about that?” Kurt said, at the same time Rachel gasped, “He sang a duet with you and didn’t mean it?” in horror.
Finn shrugged. “I wanted to check on how you were doing. Why was he up there, though? When I asked he just said something about Sue Sylvester.”
“That really was the reason, I think,” Kurt said, waving his free hand dismissively. “It was sweet, but his boundary issues apparently get worse around the holidays.”
Finn snorted and Rachel tried not to smile.
Kurt was talking again, though, so she looked at him attentively - one of her New Years resolutions had been to make more of an effort when friends opened up. “Long story short, I honestly thought Blaine might be interested, so I tried to make it clear that I would be interested if he was, and, well,” he half-shrugged, “that didn’t turn out especially well. He still wants to be friends, though.”
Rachel snuggled closer to Kurt in sympathy. She took it as a good sign that he didn’t seem to notice that she was halfway on his lap, and the position was warm enough that she risked scooting the rest of the way onto him. He grumbled a bit, sighing, “what, really?” but let her do it.
“Don’t worry about it so much, he’ll come around,” Finn said confidently. He was grinning at them both, and Rachel beamed at him as he shifted closer so that he was pressed up against the two of them.
Kurt tensed for a second at the contact before relaxing and leaning tentatively against Finn. Rachel could feel the strain in his body beneath her, as if he was expecting to be pushed away. She patted his knee comfortingly. “Thanks,” Kurt said quietly, and she wasn’t sure which of them he was speaking to. “It’s not likely, though. It turns out that I’m not his type.”
“Why not?” Rachel asked indignantly. “You’re very talented - I would know - and you have very good taste.”
“Yeah,” Finn said, apparently trying for ‘helpful,’ “He doesn’t know what he’s missing. I mean, if you weren’t a dude, I’d totally do you.” There was a sudden awkward silence. “And if, you know, we weren’t sort of related now.” The silence continued to be awkward.
“That’s-” Kurt tried, then started again, sounding strained, “that’s very… nice of you.”
Rachel grabbed Finn’s hand to keep him in place when it felt like he was thinking of pulling away.
Kurt sighed and said, more firmly, “I am a guy, though, Finn. Good intentions aside, apparently that means I’m not anyone’s type.”
Rachel frowned. The tone of defeat sounded wrong, coming from the boy who had fought so viciously with her for almost as long as they’d known each other. Finn was gripping her hand tightly, so she squeezed back, needing to reassure herself that she’d regained that connection, at least. Struck by a sudden need to do something, she swiftly turned around and pecked Kurt on the cheek.
He blinked at her. “That’s… kind of you, Rachel, but that’s not-”
She frowned and did it again, cutting him off. Finn was grinning again.
“Rachel, you’re not-”
She kissed Kurt on the nose, smiling at the way he went cross-eyed and tried to sink back against the seat.
Kurt was lifting an eyebrow and trying to lean out of the way, but Finn snaked an arm around his shoulders and held him in place. Kurt glared at both of them. “If you really think this is going to help with my depressing absence of a love life, you are far more deranged than I-”
She planted a kiss on his other cheek, squirming around so that she was straddling his lap and facing him.
Finn bit his lip to keep from laughing at Kurt’s annoyance and wormed his legs under Kurt’s so that Rachel’s knee was no longer perilously close to his groin.
“Finn,” Kurt hissed, ducking so that Rachel’s lips hit his forehead, although she was giggling too hard to aim properly, “curb your girlfriend!”
Rachel’s heart pounded when Finn didn’t correct Kurt’s wording, her joy bubbling up in a startled laugh when Finn just grinned and leaned down to peck Kurt on the cheek, as well.
“I hope you know that I hate you both,” Kurt grumbled, his blush radiating enough heat that Rachel could feel it under her lips as she cheerfully kissed his cheek again.
“Whatever, you know we’re awesome,” Finn said, wrapping his free arm around Rachel’s waist to steady her as Kurt squirmed half-heartedly between them, not actually moving away from the rain of playful kisses landing on his face. Finn’s fingers tightened on her waist, and for a second, Rachel wondered why, until she saw that Kurt had also frozen as Finn’s lips accidentally landed on the corner of his mouth. Finn pulled back. “Um,” he said, his eyes wide.
Rachel looked between them. Finn was looking shocked, but he wasn’t moving away, and when his eyes flitted to her, he looked more nervous than panicked. Kurt still hadn’t moved, but his breath was coming fast and shallow, and suddenly it felt like last year all over again. Rachel bit her lip and came to an impulsive decision.
She rested a hand carefully on Kurt’s shoulder, bracing herself as she leaned up to kiss Finn lightly. It was soft and familiar, and for a second she was tempted to just lose herself in the comfort of it. Finn kissed back, tentative and more nervous than ever, and she steeled herself, breaking away from him. Kurt looked up at her, confused, but he didn’t resist when she pressed her lips against his. By the time she pulled away, he still looked baffled, but the fear was gone.
Rachel smiled brightly and tapped Finn on the shoulder. He was still staring between her and Kurt, utterly perplexed, so she rolled her eyes and gave him a light push. “Finn, stop worrying about it,” she sighed. “It’s just us, and I’m okay with it.” He nodded shakily and leaned down. Kurt hesitated, then closed his eyes and tipped his face up to meet him, and Rachel rubbed Finn’s back gently as she watched them kiss.
Part of her wanted to be nervous about the situation - would Kurt revert to their rivalry from the previous year and try to put a wedge between her and Finn? - but when his eyes fluttered open after Finn pulled away, breathing heavily, he turned to her, questioning.
She felt the tension flowing out of her. She smiled at him reassuringly in answer, then leaned down to kiss him again.
They were all still warm by the time an hour had passed, even though their coats were all undone and Rachel wasn’t entirely sure where her scarf had gone. She reluctantly pulled away from Finn and tapped at Kurt’s shoulder until he looked up from where he’d been mouthing at Finn’s neck.
“Your dad will be getting here soon,” she informed them regretfully. “We should probably straighten ourselves up before he comes.”
Kurt grimaced. “Sad as it is, you make a good point. Finn, can you see my belt anywhere?”
“Hey, I wasn’t the one who took it off,” Finn pointed out with a shrug as Rachel sheepishly felt around on the floor until she found it.
“It has a sharp buckle,” she sniffed as she handed it back. Rachel shivered as the moment away from contact with them reminded her of the cold, and Kurt pulled her back in, rolling his eyes.
“I don’t think Dad will mind if you stay over for a while,” Kurt mused, putting the belt back awkwardly as he tried not to jostle Rachel off his lap. Finn helped to steady her. “If we hang out in my room and put on a musical, he won’t even wonder.”
Finn made a noise of agreement and buried his face for a moment in Rachel’s hair, making her giggle. “And, hey, if they think Kurt is chaperoning…”
Kurt snickered.
Rachel perked up as she considered something. “You know,” she mused, tugging Kurt’s hair back into place from where it had gotten ruffled, “I think you can safely say you’ve beaten Blaine - not,” she added in a moment of conscientiousness, “as if it’s a competition or anything.” Finn smirked.
“Sadly, ‘I’m dating my step-brother and his girlfriend’ doesn’t work especially well as bragging rights unless the audience is very liberal-minded,” Kurt sighed regretfully. Finn’s arms tightened around both Kurt and Rachel, and Kurt snuggled against him, pulling Rachel closer as well. “Don’t worry, I’m not complaining.”
Rachel raised her eyebrows and huddled against the two boys. They were still a bit disheveled, but it wasn’t so bad they couldn’t explain it away to Mr. Hummel. “It’s us,” she reminded him firmly, “why would you?”
Kurt rolled his eyes again, but he didn’t argue. Rachel beamed. Finn was smiling at her, and Kurt was snuggled between them, and she was warm and cozy despite the freezing temperature. She nestled closer to her boys and smiled peacefully as they waited for help to arrive.