The Art of Ending
Title: The Art of Ending
Author: darkwords_ifind
Rating: PG, few swears
Word Count: 1,326
Pairing: Will/Finn, mention of Terri/Finn
Summary: Finn
A/N: Pre-slash
Sequel to Winter Chill
Title taken from this quote: "Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending." - Lazarus Long
And BTW, I don't own any of this, if I did Finn wouldn't leave my room.
Even though Finn royally screwed up the hot chocolate by mistaking cayenne pepper for cinnamon, it was an enjoyable evening. Finn explored Will's kitchen, thumbing through cookbooks, earmarking recipes that he thought they should try. He wondered at Will's coffee mug collection, a souvenir of his years of teaching. They laughed at some of them including Suzy Pepper's jalapeno mug and Rachel's gold starred one.
"It's not hard to see why they were obsessed with you, Mr. Schue," Finn said earnestly, turning a black cup with the New York City skyline over in his hands. "You're pretty awesome and like the best dancer ever. And I don't mind the white boy rap."
"You're one of the only ones," Will laughed. "Do you read Jacob's blog?"
"Nah, I don't really care what he has to say," Finn murmured thoughtfully, still inspecting Will's collection, "that and my laptop is pretty much for porn and homework."
Will snickered, remembering his teenage years were laced with dirty magazines. He was sure that if he was younger today, the same would ring true for him. Hell, his own laptop today was loaded with porn.
"So," Will cleared his throat, signifying a much-needed change of subject, "what kind of movies do you like?"
"Umm, mostly those shoot-em-up action flicks," Finn said, setting down a homemade mug with painted musical notes. "I'm not too big on war movies, they hit a little close to home. Westerns are all right, John Wayne is pretty bad ass. And I like that one with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe."
“Do you want to look at my movie collection? Or do you want me to take you home? It is getting pretty late...” Will said, glancing at the clock.
“No,” Finn jumped up and rushed over to Will’s DVD case. “I’m good, really." He turned and smiled at Will before busying himself with selecting a DVD.
Will prepped another pot of water, and made sure the cayenne pepper was far out of Finn's hands.
Finn ran his fingers over the DVD cases. Will had them organized by genre, action, romance, a large number of horror, including all the Saw films to Finn's surprise, and of course musicals. Finn stopped at small amount of hand-labeled DVDs, home movies.
"Hey, what's this?" He grabbed one labeled Wedding.
"Oh, that," Will glanced at the movie, and grabbed two cups from the cupboard. "That's mine and Terri's wedding video," he said softly.
"Oh," Finn looked up at Will. "Why do you still have it? That would be like the first thing I'd get rid of."
"I don't know, sometimes I miss her. I'm kind of a sentimental person, I'd like to have it just in case..."
"In case what? It turns out that she's not a psycho hose beast and you guys get back together?"
Will laughed as he brought the new hot chocolate in to Finn.
"Let's get rid of it!" Finn exclaimed. "You have a fireplace, let's light a fire and burn it."
"Don't tell me you're a pyro in addition to being addicted to porn," Will smiled.
"Hey, I never said I was addicted, you're putting words in my mouth. And yeah, what teenage guy doesn't like to play with fire? Plus I think you need to get over her, like bad, and destroying this might be a good step."
"Might being the keyword." Will said, blowing softly on his way-too-hot chocolate.
"C'mon," Finn said, meeting Will's eyes, "everyone says you need to loosen up, Mr. Schue. Be impulsive for once."
Impulse. Will rolled that word around in his brain. For him it meant buying a brand new convertible. Or allowing the club to perform suggestive numbers. Or acting on newly found feelings for someone, someone who was way too young for him, like one of his students. That was impulse to him, something risky and exciting.
Burning his wedding video wasn't impulsive to him, the more he saw Finn's excitement over it, the more he wanted to do it. That, and Finn was right, it would help him get over Terri. He was almost there, but just needed a little push to help him.
"You know she tried to kiss me, right?" Finn said softly.
"Wait, what?" Will broke from his thoughts, his face screwing up in anger.
"When I was still working at Sheets-N-Things. It was late and we were closing together and I was in the back stocking and she just came onto me." Finn stared into his hot chocolate.
"So what happened?" Will said sharply.
"Well, she came up to me and said something about how she's always liked football players and starting rubbing my arm. I didn't know how to react. Then she pulled me by my apron and kind of attacked my mouth."
"And-" Will waved his hand impatiently.
"I pushed her off and told her I couldn't do that. I mean, yeah, she's smoking, but I saw how she treated you and I couldn't do that to myself. And I didn't want you to find out because I knew it would hurt you too." Finn raised his eyes to Will's, gauging his reaction.
Will was dumbstruck. He couldn't believe Terri would do that. Well scratch that, it was Terri after all. Probably one of the most self-centered, selfish people on the planet. And Finn, to be mature enough to say no, to think of the repercussions when those teenage hormones are coursing through his veins, that was pretty remarkable. Not to mention that he thought of Will's feelings too, a testament to how big his student's heart really was.
"It's a gas fireplace," Will said finally. "Here I'll turn it on, bring the DVD over."
After inspecting the gently-used fireplace and making sure the flue was open and functioning, Will arranged the fake logs and turned on the fireplace slowly. Finn watched as the short flames began licking at the logs.
"It's not gonna be hot enough just yet, is it?" Finn asked.
"Nah, we can just sit and enjoy the warmth for now." Will gestured to the couch and Finn took a seat.
Will plopped down next to him and they sat in comfortable silence, sipping their hot chocolate and watching the flames dance in the fireplace.
After what seemed like a few minutes, Will turned to look at Finn. He had his head tilted back, mouth slightly open, breathing shallowly and peacefully. His mug was dangerously close to tipping over. Will reached for his mug and set it on his coffee table. "Finn," he said softly, gently touching his arm.
The quarterback shifted slightly and started slipping down the couch. Will tried his best to catch him, but Finn's head ended up on his chest, and a large arm slipped around his waist, hugging him close.
Will looked around for Finn's cell, wanting to call his mom to tell her not to worry. He saw the outline of the phone in Finn's jeans and thought better than to fish it out of his sleeping student's pants.
Will did his best to extract himself from Finn's grasp, but was unsuccessful, the younger man had almost a death grip on him.
Before Will got too comfy, he reached for the DVD from his coffee table and frisbee tossed it into the now-roaring fire. He watched the flames curl around and begin to melt his memories.
Finn buried his head further into Will's chest and the older man laid an arm over his back, put his feet up on the coffee table and rested his head back, the sound of Finn's peaceful breathing lulling him into his own sleep.
Author: darkwords_ifind
Rating: PG, few swears
Word Count: 1,326
Pairing: Will/Finn, mention of Terri/Finn
Summary: Finn
A/N: Pre-slash
Sequel to Winter Chill
Title taken from this quote: "Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending." - Lazarus Long
And BTW, I don't own any of this, if I did Finn wouldn't leave my room.
Even though Finn royally screwed up the hot chocolate by mistaking cayenne pepper for cinnamon, it was an enjoyable evening. Finn explored Will's kitchen, thumbing through cookbooks, earmarking recipes that he thought they should try. He wondered at Will's coffee mug collection, a souvenir of his years of teaching. They laughed at some of them including Suzy Pepper's jalapeno mug and Rachel's gold starred one.
"It's not hard to see why they were obsessed with you, Mr. Schue," Finn said earnestly, turning a black cup with the New York City skyline over in his hands. "You're pretty awesome and like the best dancer ever. And I don't mind the white boy rap."
"You're one of the only ones," Will laughed. "Do you read Jacob's blog?"
"Nah, I don't really care what he has to say," Finn murmured thoughtfully, still inspecting Will's collection, "that and my laptop is pretty much for porn and homework."
Will snickered, remembering his teenage years were laced with dirty magazines. He was sure that if he was younger today, the same would ring true for him. Hell, his own laptop today was loaded with porn.
"So," Will cleared his throat, signifying a much-needed change of subject, "what kind of movies do you like?"
"Umm, mostly those shoot-em-up action flicks," Finn said, setting down a homemade mug with painted musical notes. "I'm not too big on war movies, they hit a little close to home. Westerns are all right, John Wayne is pretty bad ass. And I like that one with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe."
“Do you want to look at my movie collection? Or do you want me to take you home? It is getting pretty late...” Will said, glancing at the clock.
“No,” Finn jumped up and rushed over to Will’s DVD case. “I’m good, really." He turned and smiled at Will before busying himself with selecting a DVD.
Will prepped another pot of water, and made sure the cayenne pepper was far out of Finn's hands.
Finn ran his fingers over the DVD cases. Will had them organized by genre, action, romance, a large number of horror, including all the Saw films to Finn's surprise, and of course musicals. Finn stopped at small amount of hand-labeled DVDs, home movies.
"Hey, what's this?" He grabbed one labeled Wedding.
"Oh, that," Will glanced at the movie, and grabbed two cups from the cupboard. "That's mine and Terri's wedding video," he said softly.
"Oh," Finn looked up at Will. "Why do you still have it? That would be like the first thing I'd get rid of."
"I don't know, sometimes I miss her. I'm kind of a sentimental person, I'd like to have it just in case..."
"In case what? It turns out that she's not a psycho hose beast and you guys get back together?"
Will laughed as he brought the new hot chocolate in to Finn.
"Let's get rid of it!" Finn exclaimed. "You have a fireplace, let's light a fire and burn it."
"Don't tell me you're a pyro in addition to being addicted to porn," Will smiled.
"Hey, I never said I was addicted, you're putting words in my mouth. And yeah, what teenage guy doesn't like to play with fire? Plus I think you need to get over her, like bad, and destroying this might be a good step."
"Might being the keyword." Will said, blowing softly on his way-too-hot chocolate.
"C'mon," Finn said, meeting Will's eyes, "everyone says you need to loosen up, Mr. Schue. Be impulsive for once."
Impulse. Will rolled that word around in his brain. For him it meant buying a brand new convertible. Or allowing the club to perform suggestive numbers. Or acting on newly found feelings for someone, someone who was way too young for him, like one of his students. That was impulse to him, something risky and exciting.
Burning his wedding video wasn't impulsive to him, the more he saw Finn's excitement over it, the more he wanted to do it. That, and Finn was right, it would help him get over Terri. He was almost there, but just needed a little push to help him.
"You know she tried to kiss me, right?" Finn said softly.
"Wait, what?" Will broke from his thoughts, his face screwing up in anger.
"When I was still working at Sheets-N-Things. It was late and we were closing together and I was in the back stocking and she just came onto me." Finn stared into his hot chocolate.
"So what happened?" Will said sharply.
"Well, she came up to me and said something about how she's always liked football players and starting rubbing my arm. I didn't know how to react. Then she pulled me by my apron and kind of attacked my mouth."
"And-" Will waved his hand impatiently.
"I pushed her off and told her I couldn't do that. I mean, yeah, she's smoking, but I saw how she treated you and I couldn't do that to myself. And I didn't want you to find out because I knew it would hurt you too." Finn raised his eyes to Will's, gauging his reaction.
Will was dumbstruck. He couldn't believe Terri would do that. Well scratch that, it was Terri after all. Probably one of the most self-centered, selfish people on the planet. And Finn, to be mature enough to say no, to think of the repercussions when those teenage hormones are coursing through his veins, that was pretty remarkable. Not to mention that he thought of Will's feelings too, a testament to how big his student's heart really was.
"It's a gas fireplace," Will said finally. "Here I'll turn it on, bring the DVD over."
After inspecting the gently-used fireplace and making sure the flue was open and functioning, Will arranged the fake logs and turned on the fireplace slowly. Finn watched as the short flames began licking at the logs.
"It's not gonna be hot enough just yet, is it?" Finn asked.
"Nah, we can just sit and enjoy the warmth for now." Will gestured to the couch and Finn took a seat.
Will plopped down next to him and they sat in comfortable silence, sipping their hot chocolate and watching the flames dance in the fireplace.
After what seemed like a few minutes, Will turned to look at Finn. He had his head tilted back, mouth slightly open, breathing shallowly and peacefully. His mug was dangerously close to tipping over. Will reached for his mug and set it on his coffee table. "Finn," he said softly, gently touching his arm.
The quarterback shifted slightly and started slipping down the couch. Will tried his best to catch him, but Finn's head ended up on his chest, and a large arm slipped around his waist, hugging him close.
Will looked around for Finn's cell, wanting to call his mom to tell her not to worry. He saw the outline of the phone in Finn's jeans and thought better than to fish it out of his sleeping student's pants.
Will did his best to extract himself from Finn's grasp, but was unsuccessful, the younger man had almost a death grip on him.
Before Will got too comfy, he reached for the DVD from his coffee table and frisbee tossed it into the now-roaring fire. He watched the flames curl around and begin to melt his memories.
Finn buried his head further into Will's chest and the older man laid an arm over his back, put his feet up on the coffee table and rested his head back, the sound of Finn's peaceful breathing lulling him into his own sleep.