My Only Exception 12/20
Finn Hudson strolled down the hallway looking for a particular brunette.
His height gave him quite an advantage and suddenly he caught a glimpse of the diva as she raised herself onto her tip toes in an effort to get a book from the top shelf of her locker. The boy hurried over to help.
“Here, let me get that for you,” he said gently and handed her the physics book.
“Thanks,” she responded quietly as she closed her locker lightly.
“So, Quinn’s coming back today,” he prompted.
Rachel’s face brightened slightly at the mention of the blonde.
“Yes she is, Finn. She has made quite the recovery.”
Finn nodded dumbly as an uncomfortable silence fell over the two.
“What do you have now?” she asked somewhat out of curiosity but mostly to fill the silence.
“Oh, uhm…”
The boy thought for a moment and then smiled upon the realization, “I have lunch. Puck and I usually drive to the burger place down the block, but he’s really into working out and stuff so he said he didn’t want to anymore. What do you have?”
Rachel giggled at his simplicity. It amazed her how sweet he could be without even trying; when he did try he was just plain awkward.
“Well, I have lunch as well. I was actually going to head to the choir room to practice for today’s rehearsal.”
“Can I walk you there?” he asked eagerly.
Rachel sighed at the boy’s persistence. She did, however, enjoy his company, when he wasn’t trying to ask her out or make out with her; so she nodded and gladly handed over her thirty-pound science book. Finn took it easily and guided her safely down the hallway. It felt…kind of nice, walking with the quarterback. People didn’t gawk at her outfit or laugh at her or slushy her. She felt a little safer knowing that if anyone tried to hurt her Finn would be her knight in shining armor and whisk her away to safety.
They arrived at the room and Finn opened the door for the tiny brunette. Rachel had to admit he always was a gentleman, especially to her. She walked over to the piano and set her bag down onto the bench. Her eyes briefly glanced at the black and white keys and she was instantly reminded of the day Quinn had played for her. A small smile graced her lips as she relished in the memory, the haunting melody ringing in her ears. Then her heart sunk as she then proceeded to remember that Quinn didn’t want to be with her; well, she didn’t want to be with her the way Rachel wanted to be with her. She held back her tears and looked at the boy standing awkwardly at the door.
“You can come in if you want, Finn,” she said gently as she gestured for him to join her.
He smiled and nodded and went over to his usual seat and placed his backpack on the back of the chair. Then he came over to the piano.
“So, what song did you need to practice? Regionals is over, Rach. We kinda lost…”
Rachel bit her lip. Should she tell him? Should she tell him that she has been working on a power ballad for the past week to convince Quinn that she should be with her? Should she tell him that she is head over heels for Quinn Fabray? Rachel hated lying; it always made her stomach hurt. This time, however, she made an exception.
“It is never too early to start preparing for next year’s sectionals, Finn.”
“Oh, okay then,” he replied simply, not realizing that she had just completely avoided his question.
Rachel fiddled with the hem of her short skirt as Finn bit his thumb. It had never been so uncomfortable between them. He then gazed down into her brown eyes with a look of pure adoration. She held back a sigh. Of course Finn still liked her. And she liked him, but she only wanted a platonic relationship; Finn had much different aspirations.
“Hey, Rach?”
He sounded like a five year old.
“Yes, Finn?” she said, a sigh escaping her lips. She knew where this was going
“I’m sorry about what happened in the hospital. I just really didn’t like seeing you all upset and everything. I really wanted to make you feel better so I said it was going to be okay. I didn’t know you’d get so angry. If I had known that would have happened I’d of said it wasn’t going to be okay or something.”
The brunette was amused by his rambling which was much different than her usual articulate strings of words. She looked at him, noticing his little dimple and innocent brown eyes, and couldn’t be upset with him. He had never intended to upset her.
“It’s alright, Finn. I was just stressed about Quinn, that’s all. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
Finn beamed at Rachel and wrapped her into a bear hug, warming the diva in his arms. Once they pulled away, Finn grasped Rachel’s tiny hand with his larger one.
“Does this mean you would maybe want to go out with me this Friday night? We could see that new alien movie and get dinner at the burger place. And you get those cool glasses that make everything in the screen pop out so the aliens will be like out of the screen!”
Rachel gawked at the boy. Did he not know the meaning of the word no? He looked at her hopefully with his puppy eyes. Apparently not.
“As flattering as this all is Finn, I must decline.”
Finn let go of her hand.
“Do you not like aliens? Because there’s this other movie about a dog that’s a super hero or that new Jennifer Anniston movie…”
“It’s not the movie, Finn.”
“Then what is it, Rachel? If you didn’t want to go out with me then why are we here hugging and holding hands? Why did we kiss in the auditorium? Why did you make us those crazy calendars and go to all of my basketball games? I really like you, Rachel, more than Quinn and Santana and Brittany. Just tell me why you can’t date me.”
Finn was staring straight into her eyes hungry for the truth. Rachel contemplated telling Finn the real reason why she could not even fathom dating him.
“Finn, I need to tell you something,” she began.
He leaned up against the piano and nodded for her to continue, completely oblivious to where this conversation appeared to be going.
“Finn, I really like you and we have always had something special. I have known that since the first time I heard you sing. My feelings grew into something more and I wanted more than the platonic relationship we had, even though you weren’t available. Then after Quinn revealed the father of her child we were free to be together. I thought I’d be happy but I wasn’t. I felt awful for telling you the truth because it hurt Quinn; but I tried to get over it and threw myself into our relationship.”
Fin nodded, remembering the entire ordeal once more even though he tried to erase that day from his memory. Humiliating was an understatement. Quinn broke his heart and he still hated her for it.
“After we broke up, I was devastated for all of two hours until I met Jesse. He was me but in a male body. He was talented, ambitious, not to mention a diva. He swept me off of my feet and before I knew it we were dating and I was falling, hard.”
She took a breath, the memory of the breakup still causing her pain.
“Then he dumped me too. I felt like there was something wrong with me. You dumped me, Jesse dumped me and I felt so alone. Luckily, I wasn’t the only person feeling alone. When Quinn performed her funk number, it was like I saw her for the first time. I saw how hurt she was, how lonely and guilty and humiliated she was. I figured that was something to bond over. We’ve gotten to know each other quite well and I-,” she paused and took a deep breath; her words stopped, her usually overused mouth failing her
“You, what?”
“We kissed.”
Finn froze as the words registered in his mind. His blood began to boil and he started to catch on to where the conversation was going.
“Do you like her?”
“Yes, I like her a lot,” she breathed, avoiding the boy’s eyes, “Finn, I am sorry that I let this go on for so long. Had I known my sexual orientation I would have ended things much sooner. I just hope we can be friends because I really care about you, Finn. You are a great guy and I cannot imagine not having you in my life.”
Finn stared at her, dumbfounded at what she had just confessed. After about five minutes, he seemed to have processed what she had said.
“Friends? You-you like Quinn, my ex-girlfriend, the girl I was willing to raise a baby with, the girl I was willing to give my dreams up for? Are you saying that you want to date the girl that broke my heart? She humiliated me, Rachel! I can’t believe you’re choosing her over me!” he yelled.
“I’m sorry, Finn, please don’t be upset. This isn’t about sides I-,”
She was cut off by the sound of a chair hitting the wall. The boy was fuming.
“Whatever. Do what you want. Be a lesbian or whatever you are. We’re done.”
Finn stormed out of the room, hurling another chair into the wall, and slammed the door behind him. Rachel let out a deep breath trying to relieve the guilt welling up inside. Part of her felt bad for Finn. Sure he was a douche bag who cared more about his popularity than her and was probably one of the most naïve people she had ever met; these facts didn’t change how Rachel was feeling. Despite her guilt, she was relieved that he finally got the picture. Now she could only hope that he could move past this, although she knew it would probably be a while until he even looked at her again.
***
“I can’t believe our girlfriends are lesbian lovers.”
Finn and Puck sat in the Hudson’s basement playing Call of Duty and Puck was kicking Finn’s ass. It was eighth period and both boys had another off period. They needed a good distraction from the drama in their lives; a game where they killed people with machine guns seemed like the perfect distraction.
“I know,” Finn responded, shoveling a handful of popcorn into his mouth.
“Shit!”
“Yes! I finally got you!” Finn exclaimed happily.
“Only because you noob tubed me! Cheater!”
“Whatever I still killed you, and stopped your kill streak,” Finn said with a glint of smugness behind his expression.
Puck rolled his eyes and paused the game.
“What are you doing?”
“Dude, how can you seriously care about a video game at a time like this? The loves of our lives dumped us for each other. I mean what the hell, man?”
Finn shrugged. He had sort of cooled down after playing video games for a while. It’s amazing what killing computer animated people can do to a person’s mood. Puck sighed and leaned back in the arm chair.
“Wait, does this mean that Quinn’s a lesbian too?” Finn asked as his eyes widened at the realization.
Puck rolled his eyes yet again and resumed the game.
“No shit, Sherlock.”
***
That day Quinn was released from the hospital. Her baby was still in recovery and since she still had no plans about what she was going to do with her yet the child would remain there until she was deemed healthy enough. The brunette had stayed with her every day for as long as she could and brought books, music, any sort of entertainment. It seemed to brighten Quinn’s mood, although the tension was still in the room from the other night’s discussion.
Rachel sat in the choir room tapping her pen nervously against her notebook. After everything that had happened she hadn’t even thought about the fate of the glee club. They had lost which meant the club was over. The one good thing in her life was gone. She couldn’t believe it. Sure, they made fun of her personality, her outfits, laughed at her when she got slushied, and only appreciated her for her talent, but she loved them nevertheless.
The rest of the club filed in over the next ten minutes and Mr. Schuester followed. Everyone except Quinn was present and each kid had a somber expression on their face, all of them disappointed about the club’s demise. Puck was sitting next to Finn who was glaring at Rachel, still hurt by his rejection.
“Okay guys, look. I know Regionals didn’t go as planned, but we should be thankful that Quinn and the baby are okay. Now, in light of recent events, Principal Figgins has reevaluated the club’s status. Because we never actually performed at Regionals, technically we lost by forfeit, Principal Figgins has decided to give us another year to prove ourselves to him and the school.”
The kids looked at one another, not believing what they were hearing.
“Come on, we’ve got another year!”
The club burst into applause, all of them more than happy that the club wasn’t over. Rachel ran and hugged her teacher as the guys high fived and the girls hugged and cheered. Once they had all settled down, Mr. Scheuster went over to the piano and grabbed his ukulele. Just as he was about to start, a tall blonde walked into the room. She was wearing a pink dress that hugged her midline and a white headband with a lily on it. The room fell silent.
She walked over to the teacher and whispered something into his ear. He smiled a bit before questioning her quietly. Rachel yearned to know what they were saying and her stomach was invaded by a herd of butterflies. She smiled at Quinn who managed to look stunning despite the events that had transpired over the last week. Quinn walked over and spoke to the band who all nodded at her request.
“Hey, guys,” she started softly, her hand subconsciously going to her now flat stomach, “I just wanted to thank you guys for everything. I-I’ve had a rough year and I could not have gotten through it without all of you.”
The club, save for Puck and Finn, nodded and smiled at the girl in the center of the room. Rachel remained silent. Quinn licked her lips and took a step towards the brunette fidgeting in her seat. The blonde smiled tenderly and her hair seemed to shimmer under the lights.
“Rachel,” she said quietly staring deeply into the brunette’s eyes, “this is for you.”
His height gave him quite an advantage and suddenly he caught a glimpse of the diva as she raised herself onto her tip toes in an effort to get a book from the top shelf of her locker. The boy hurried over to help.
“Here, let me get that for you,” he said gently and handed her the physics book.
“Thanks,” she responded quietly as she closed her locker lightly.
“So, Quinn’s coming back today,” he prompted.
Rachel’s face brightened slightly at the mention of the blonde.
“Yes she is, Finn. She has made quite the recovery.”
Finn nodded dumbly as an uncomfortable silence fell over the two.
“What do you have now?” she asked somewhat out of curiosity but mostly to fill the silence.
“Oh, uhm…”
The boy thought for a moment and then smiled upon the realization, “I have lunch. Puck and I usually drive to the burger place down the block, but he’s really into working out and stuff so he said he didn’t want to anymore. What do you have?”
Rachel giggled at his simplicity. It amazed her how sweet he could be without even trying; when he did try he was just plain awkward.
“Well, I have lunch as well. I was actually going to head to the choir room to practice for today’s rehearsal.”
“Can I walk you there?” he asked eagerly.
Rachel sighed at the boy’s persistence. She did, however, enjoy his company, when he wasn’t trying to ask her out or make out with her; so she nodded and gladly handed over her thirty-pound science book. Finn took it easily and guided her safely down the hallway. It felt…kind of nice, walking with the quarterback. People didn’t gawk at her outfit or laugh at her or slushy her. She felt a little safer knowing that if anyone tried to hurt her Finn would be her knight in shining armor and whisk her away to safety.
They arrived at the room and Finn opened the door for the tiny brunette. Rachel had to admit he always was a gentleman, especially to her. She walked over to the piano and set her bag down onto the bench. Her eyes briefly glanced at the black and white keys and she was instantly reminded of the day Quinn had played for her. A small smile graced her lips as she relished in the memory, the haunting melody ringing in her ears. Then her heart sunk as she then proceeded to remember that Quinn didn’t want to be with her; well, she didn’t want to be with her the way Rachel wanted to be with her. She held back her tears and looked at the boy standing awkwardly at the door.
“You can come in if you want, Finn,” she said gently as she gestured for him to join her.
He smiled and nodded and went over to his usual seat and placed his backpack on the back of the chair. Then he came over to the piano.
“So, what song did you need to practice? Regionals is over, Rach. We kinda lost…”
Rachel bit her lip. Should she tell him? Should she tell him that she has been working on a power ballad for the past week to convince Quinn that she should be with her? Should she tell him that she is head over heels for Quinn Fabray? Rachel hated lying; it always made her stomach hurt. This time, however, she made an exception.
“It is never too early to start preparing for next year’s sectionals, Finn.”
“Oh, okay then,” he replied simply, not realizing that she had just completely avoided his question.
Rachel fiddled with the hem of her short skirt as Finn bit his thumb. It had never been so uncomfortable between them. He then gazed down into her brown eyes with a look of pure adoration. She held back a sigh. Of course Finn still liked her. And she liked him, but she only wanted a platonic relationship; Finn had much different aspirations.
“Hey, Rach?”
He sounded like a five year old.
“Yes, Finn?” she said, a sigh escaping her lips. She knew where this was going
“I’m sorry about what happened in the hospital. I just really didn’t like seeing you all upset and everything. I really wanted to make you feel better so I said it was going to be okay. I didn’t know you’d get so angry. If I had known that would have happened I’d of said it wasn’t going to be okay or something.”
The brunette was amused by his rambling which was much different than her usual articulate strings of words. She looked at him, noticing his little dimple and innocent brown eyes, and couldn’t be upset with him. He had never intended to upset her.
“It’s alright, Finn. I was just stressed about Quinn, that’s all. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
Finn beamed at Rachel and wrapped her into a bear hug, warming the diva in his arms. Once they pulled away, Finn grasped Rachel’s tiny hand with his larger one.
“Does this mean you would maybe want to go out with me this Friday night? We could see that new alien movie and get dinner at the burger place. And you get those cool glasses that make everything in the screen pop out so the aliens will be like out of the screen!”
Rachel gawked at the boy. Did he not know the meaning of the word no? He looked at her hopefully with his puppy eyes. Apparently not.
“As flattering as this all is Finn, I must decline.”
Finn let go of her hand.
“Do you not like aliens? Because there’s this other movie about a dog that’s a super hero or that new Jennifer Anniston movie…”
“It’s not the movie, Finn.”
“Then what is it, Rachel? If you didn’t want to go out with me then why are we here hugging and holding hands? Why did we kiss in the auditorium? Why did you make us those crazy calendars and go to all of my basketball games? I really like you, Rachel, more than Quinn and Santana and Brittany. Just tell me why you can’t date me.”
Finn was staring straight into her eyes hungry for the truth. Rachel contemplated telling Finn the real reason why she could not even fathom dating him.
“Finn, I need to tell you something,” she began.
He leaned up against the piano and nodded for her to continue, completely oblivious to where this conversation appeared to be going.
“Finn, I really like you and we have always had something special. I have known that since the first time I heard you sing. My feelings grew into something more and I wanted more than the platonic relationship we had, even though you weren’t available. Then after Quinn revealed the father of her child we were free to be together. I thought I’d be happy but I wasn’t. I felt awful for telling you the truth because it hurt Quinn; but I tried to get over it and threw myself into our relationship.”
Fin nodded, remembering the entire ordeal once more even though he tried to erase that day from his memory. Humiliating was an understatement. Quinn broke his heart and he still hated her for it.
“After we broke up, I was devastated for all of two hours until I met Jesse. He was me but in a male body. He was talented, ambitious, not to mention a diva. He swept me off of my feet and before I knew it we were dating and I was falling, hard.”
She took a breath, the memory of the breakup still causing her pain.
“Then he dumped me too. I felt like there was something wrong with me. You dumped me, Jesse dumped me and I felt so alone. Luckily, I wasn’t the only person feeling alone. When Quinn performed her funk number, it was like I saw her for the first time. I saw how hurt she was, how lonely and guilty and humiliated she was. I figured that was something to bond over. We’ve gotten to know each other quite well and I-,” she paused and took a deep breath; her words stopped, her usually overused mouth failing her
“You, what?”
“We kissed.”
Finn froze as the words registered in his mind. His blood began to boil and he started to catch on to where the conversation was going.
“Do you like her?”
“Yes, I like her a lot,” she breathed, avoiding the boy’s eyes, “Finn, I am sorry that I let this go on for so long. Had I known my sexual orientation I would have ended things much sooner. I just hope we can be friends because I really care about you, Finn. You are a great guy and I cannot imagine not having you in my life.”
Finn stared at her, dumbfounded at what she had just confessed. After about five minutes, he seemed to have processed what she had said.
“Friends? You-you like Quinn, my ex-girlfriend, the girl I was willing to raise a baby with, the girl I was willing to give my dreams up for? Are you saying that you want to date the girl that broke my heart? She humiliated me, Rachel! I can’t believe you’re choosing her over me!” he yelled.
“I’m sorry, Finn, please don’t be upset. This isn’t about sides I-,”
She was cut off by the sound of a chair hitting the wall. The boy was fuming.
“Whatever. Do what you want. Be a lesbian or whatever you are. We’re done.”
Finn stormed out of the room, hurling another chair into the wall, and slammed the door behind him. Rachel let out a deep breath trying to relieve the guilt welling up inside. Part of her felt bad for Finn. Sure he was a douche bag who cared more about his popularity than her and was probably one of the most naïve people she had ever met; these facts didn’t change how Rachel was feeling. Despite her guilt, she was relieved that he finally got the picture. Now she could only hope that he could move past this, although she knew it would probably be a while until he even looked at her again.
***
“I can’t believe our girlfriends are lesbian lovers.”
Finn and Puck sat in the Hudson’s basement playing Call of Duty and Puck was kicking Finn’s ass. It was eighth period and both boys had another off period. They needed a good distraction from the drama in their lives; a game where they killed people with machine guns seemed like the perfect distraction.
“I know,” Finn responded, shoveling a handful of popcorn into his mouth.
“Shit!”
“Yes! I finally got you!” Finn exclaimed happily.
“Only because you noob tubed me! Cheater!”
“Whatever I still killed you, and stopped your kill streak,” Finn said with a glint of smugness behind his expression.
Puck rolled his eyes and paused the game.
“What are you doing?”
“Dude, how can you seriously care about a video game at a time like this? The loves of our lives dumped us for each other. I mean what the hell, man?”
Finn shrugged. He had sort of cooled down after playing video games for a while. It’s amazing what killing computer animated people can do to a person’s mood. Puck sighed and leaned back in the arm chair.
“Wait, does this mean that Quinn’s a lesbian too?” Finn asked as his eyes widened at the realization.
Puck rolled his eyes yet again and resumed the game.
“No shit, Sherlock.”
***
That day Quinn was released from the hospital. Her baby was still in recovery and since she still had no plans about what she was going to do with her yet the child would remain there until she was deemed healthy enough. The brunette had stayed with her every day for as long as she could and brought books, music, any sort of entertainment. It seemed to brighten Quinn’s mood, although the tension was still in the room from the other night’s discussion.
Rachel sat in the choir room tapping her pen nervously against her notebook. After everything that had happened she hadn’t even thought about the fate of the glee club. They had lost which meant the club was over. The one good thing in her life was gone. She couldn’t believe it. Sure, they made fun of her personality, her outfits, laughed at her when she got slushied, and only appreciated her for her talent, but she loved them nevertheless.
The rest of the club filed in over the next ten minutes and Mr. Schuester followed. Everyone except Quinn was present and each kid had a somber expression on their face, all of them disappointed about the club’s demise. Puck was sitting next to Finn who was glaring at Rachel, still hurt by his rejection.
“Okay guys, look. I know Regionals didn’t go as planned, but we should be thankful that Quinn and the baby are okay. Now, in light of recent events, Principal Figgins has reevaluated the club’s status. Because we never actually performed at Regionals, technically we lost by forfeit, Principal Figgins has decided to give us another year to prove ourselves to him and the school.”
The kids looked at one another, not believing what they were hearing.
“Come on, we’ve got another year!”
The club burst into applause, all of them more than happy that the club wasn’t over. Rachel ran and hugged her teacher as the guys high fived and the girls hugged and cheered. Once they had all settled down, Mr. Scheuster went over to the piano and grabbed his ukulele. Just as he was about to start, a tall blonde walked into the room. She was wearing a pink dress that hugged her midline and a white headband with a lily on it. The room fell silent.
She walked over to the teacher and whispered something into his ear. He smiled a bit before questioning her quietly. Rachel yearned to know what they were saying and her stomach was invaded by a herd of butterflies. She smiled at Quinn who managed to look stunning despite the events that had transpired over the last week. Quinn walked over and spoke to the band who all nodded at her request.
“Hey, guys,” she started softly, her hand subconsciously going to her now flat stomach, “I just wanted to thank you guys for everything. I-I’ve had a rough year and I could not have gotten through it without all of you.”
The club, save for Puck and Finn, nodded and smiled at the girl in the center of the room. Rachel remained silent. Quinn licked her lips and took a step towards the brunette fidgeting in her seat. The blonde smiled tenderly and her hair seemed to shimmer under the lights.
“Rachel,” she said quietly staring deeply into the brunette’s eyes, “this is for you.”