The Transfer: A Glee Fanfiction

Chapter 19

"Woah, wait a second," he said. "What does Quinn have to do with anything?"

"Come on, Finn," Rachel said. "Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. I'm fine with it, but still." She thought saying it would make it true, but alas.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, vague annoyance creeping into his voice. "Are you trying to say that I'm gonna go back to her because she's my ex? Because I could say the same thing about Jesse."

"Please," she scoffed. "I would never. Besides, we don't have nearly the same amount of history as you and Quinn do. I was never ready to have a child with him." Rachel regretted the words as soon as she said them, but Finn blew right past the remark.

"Oh, so he hasn't already come on to you?" Finn suggested, but it sounded like he already knew the answer. Rachel was silent. "That's what I thought."

"It's not like that," she said, but she knew it was. "It...what he said doesn't change the fact that it is never going to happen. It doesn't even count, really."

"What did he say?" Finn's voice was laced with anger, and even though she knew it wasn't directed at her, Rachel was still a little ticked off. He can't completely reject her and then be jealous of Jesse, too. He has to make up his mind.

"It's none of your business," she said.

"He needs to stay away from you," he mumbled almost unintelligibly.

That did it. Rachel decided to just say what was on her mind and stop dancing around it. "Finn, look. You're not allowed to be angry or jealous or whatever about this. If it isn't completely obvious, I still have some pretty strong feelings for you, and you saying stuff like that makes it harder to move on. Please just try to be as okay with him as I am with Quinn, or at least pretend, like I do."

"Can't we talk about something else?"

"Fine," Rachel sighed. "You still haven't thanked me for saving your butt, by the way."

"What?" he said, confused.

"Oh, I assumed Noah told you," Rachel said.

"Are you talking about the whole thing with Jacob?" Rachel expected him to be grateful, but instead he sounded apologetic. "You really didn't have to do that. Jacob is a total creep. He once offered to kill his parents if I gave you to him. It's not worth it, Rach. It's okay if you back out; it's just a game."

"I can handle Jacob," she said. She knew Finn was just being protective, but she was a little offended. Rachel knew what she was doing. "What's the worst that could happen? He tries to grope me or says something grossly inappropriate about my body? It wouldn't be the first time. I know how important the championship is to you, and one awful dinner is worth you guys getting to play."

"You really are the coolest girl ever, you know that?" Rachel wished she could see his smile.

"Yeah, I know," she said. Talking to Finn has always been so easy, as natural as breathing. She missed staying up until two in the morning on the phone with him and talking about nothing.

"Puck also told me that you were throwing a party tomorrow night," Finn said hesitantly. "I thought he was joking, but he seemed pretty serious."

"Yeah, he talked me into it," Rachel said. "I wouldn't normally give in to him, but the thought of coming home to an empty house and having to relive the nightmare that I'm sure the date with Jacob will be is just too depressing, even for me."

"You don't have to throw a party," he said, and Rachel thought she heard a bit of shyness in his voice, but she must've heard him wrong. "I mean, if you don't want to be alone, I would keep you company. If you want."

Rachel thought about spending the night with Finn; just talking and hanging out alone in her house, and the idea alone made her heart beat faster and her stomach flip. But then she thought of him leaving at the end of the night, still no more interested in her than she is in Jacob, finally free of the guilt that seems to have overcome him since she left. She felt her eyes sting for a second before she spoke.

"Please don't take this the wrong way, Finn," she said. "But the only thing worse than being alone is being alone with you."

Finn gave a breathy, half-hearted laugh. "Yeah, okay. Just thought I'd offer." He was trying for nonchalant, but Rachel could hear that what she said hurt him. It tore her to pieces, but the embarrassment of having to reassure him it wasn't her not wanting to hang out with him, but the fact that even spending one minute alone with him made her even crazier about him (if that was even possible) kept her quiet.

"If you're having a party, you should invite some of your friends from Carmel," he said, changing the subject.

"I don't know if that's a good idea..." Rachel said. She was confused. Why would he want her to invite people from Carmel? It didn't make any sense. "Don't you think the New Directions hate me enough as it is?"

"I just think the next few months would be a lot easier if there wasn't so much bad blood between our teams," he explained. "We should bury the hatchet, you know? We probably won't be friends, but we'll all be civil, at least."

"You're right," she said. The next few months wouldn't be so torturous if she didn't feel like she was betraying her old friends every second of every day. "But there's no way you could convince them to come if Vocal Adrenaline is there."

"You'd be surprised what power the promise of a party has on those people," he chuckles. "I know the transfer is hard on you, and believe it or not, we all care about you. If hanging out with the competition with make you feel better, they'll do it."

"If you say so," she said.

They talked aimlessly for what felt like just minutes but when Rachel looked at the clock, it read 12:30A.M.

"Oh my God, I have to wake up in five hours," Rachel said, suddenly realizing how tired she was.

"Is it really that late?" Finn paused, probably checking his alarm clock. "Oh. We've been talking for almost three hours."

"Not even close to our record," Rachel laughed, then yawned. "I need to go to bed. Goodnight, Finn, I- I'll see you tomorrow." She almost said 'I love you.' Old habits die hard.

"Goodnight, Rachel," he said sleepily.

Rachel hung up first, and even though she was dead tired, her mind buzzed with rush that came from talking to Finn. It took her at least another hour to fall asleep after that.