By Monday morning, Finn had rationalized until Quinn was the only choice. He and Rachel wouldn't work, they were too different, they'd screw up the Glee dynamic, and anyway, she was too focused on her career to put time into a relationship. Then, he walked into chemistry and saw her sitting in her usual desk in the front of the classroom.

She didn't notice when he entered the room, being too focused on her work to look up. Rachel's bottom lip stuck out slightly as she concentrated, and one long finger traced the words she was reading. Finn was transfixed, because even when she wasn't singing, a light burned in her eyes, and he really loved that about her.

He dropped his backpack loudly on the desk next to hers. "Good morning, Rachel."

She looked up, seemingly startled, and then smiled. "Good morning. I hope you're ready to work on our dance at rehearsal today."

Mentally, he saw the smooth waltz they would be doing. The idea of holding Rachel close and feeling her under his hands made his voice slightly strangled when he replied, "Can't wait."

Before he had a chance to say anything else, and perhaps say aloud what he really wanted to do to her, the teacher came in, and she demanded absolute silence while she called role.

On Rachel's part, the memory of what happened between them on Saturday was enough of a distraction. She knew he had a girlfriend he would not cheat on. If she waited, he'd come to her. Until then, she wasn't going to make a spectacle of herself by throwing herself at him. Adding to these thoughts, Finn kept looking at her like he wanted to say something, but because she knew about his trouble in school; she told him they'd talk after class. Unfortunately, the stream of people separated them before she could find out what she wanted.

Quinn cornered him during lunch. Up until then, he'd done a good job of avoiding what was sure to be an extremely unpleasant conversation. "How did Mr. Shue take the news?" She asked, sweetly.

Finn edged away slightly. "I won't quit Glee, and I'm still doing football. I can do both, so I'm going to. There doesn't have to be any choosing."

"Then we're over." She stared at him incredulously. "You're picking me over that Gleek."

That 'Gleek's' face popped into his mind, and Finn smiled slightly. "I'm not picking anyone."
She just shook her head. "Yeah, you are."

He should have felt worse, he meant to really, but he remembered that he only had two more periods and then he'd be waltzing with the most incredible girl he knew.

Or, that was the plan anyway. When he arrived at the rehearsal hall, Mercedes was throwing a diva fit. "The girl tells us to be early, and she don't even show up? Oh, hell no."
Tina, Kurt, and Artie all looked towards Finn, who seemed to be the new Rachel expert. "Uh, I haven't seen her either." Was that suspicion in their faces?

Mr. Shue shook his head tiredly. "You go get your girl. I'll start these four on their songs."
Interesting word choice on the teacher's part, but Finn was grateful for the chance to both talk to Rachel and escape Mercedes' divaing out.

Also, he did have to admit that it was unusual for Rachel to not be early for a practice, let alone be late. The halls were mostly deserted, so the sounds of taunting were easy to hear. With a sick feeling, Finn narrowed in on the sound and rounded a corner to find Rachel surrounded by three football players that he vaguely recognized. One had her arms behind her back in an undoubtedly painful position, another had his hand over her mouth so she couldn't call for help, and the last held her books over her head. All three were saying things to her that Finn couldn't imagine ever saying to a girl.

He was blinded for a second with rage. It wasn't just because some of his teammates were harming someone who was A) smaller that them (by a lot too. These guys were just a few inches shorter than he was) and B) a girl, because Finn had been taught to never disrespect women, but mostly because they were messing with Rachel. His friend and teammate, and definitely the star of his illicit fantasies.

"Hey Finn!" One guy, John Blackly, his name was. He waved, and in doing so, let Rachel's mouth go and provided her with the distraction she needed.

As Finn watched, she kicked out with one foot, and hit the nearest guy in the crotch. At the same time, Finn was storming down the hallway, and he punched the jerk that was holding Rachel. Of course, the dude let her go to cover his probably broken nose.

Finn grabbed Rachel's hand, and then yanked her book bag out of the lax arms of the next one to die. "Let's get out of here." To the only footballer still standing, he hissed, "I'll see you at practice."

"Thank you for rescuing me." She said, as they turned the corner.

"No problem." He replied, still contemplating the best ways to kill someone by tackling and make it look like an accident. Without warning, he stopped and grabbed both her shoulders so he could look at her head on. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Rachel patiently bore his visual inspection, his look making her skin tingle. "No, I'm fine, thank you."
Still, Finn took in her uncovered arms and legs as if he was expecting a bone to pop out. Satisfied that she wasn't injured, he started walking again. "They won't do that again. I promise."

Rachel just smiled because when Finn had first appeared, she wondered for a split second whose side he would take. Then she felt sill for questioning his decency. The main reason she smiled though, was that she had the oddest feeling that she could depend on him to keep his promise. And Rachel knew first hand how hard it was to depend on anyone but yourself. They entered the performance hall still holding hands.

"Sorry, Mr. Shue. I had an incident." Better to be magnanimous than petty, it wasn't as if she was hurt or anything. Plus, the whole Finn saving her would be perfect for her grandchildren when they asked how she knew it was true love.

"Well, while you were out there, havin an 'incident' we were here breakin our backs learnin this new choreography." Mercedes shouted from the stage.

The choreographer, looking exhausted, said, "You all did a great job. I think I'll work with these two now on their duet. Everyone else can leave."

On stage all alone, Finn stood slightly apart from Rachel, but not as much as he usually would.
"So this first part is kind of a modern waltz. Finn, you'll be lifting her into the air, and Rachel, you'll want to incorporate some of your ballet training into it. I have music, so don't sing for now."

They started, and to his surprise, not all of it was very difficult. Something about Rachel's dark eyes peeking up at him made a normally embarrassing dance rather fun. Undoubtedly, the most difficult part of the dance was the third lift, when he caught her as she jumped, supported her by her knees, then spun her around bridal style. The first time, Finn caught her, but slipped, and they landed on the stage in a heap. Before getting off him, Rachel whispered, "You seem to like this position."

It took him a second to recover, but from Rachel's twisted smile, that was exactly the reaction she was hoping for.

By the time rehearsal was over with, Finn was tired. Who knew that an hour of dancing felt like doing ten suicides?

"That went well." Rachel announced as they left together.

A flashback of all the missed steps went through his mind. "Seriously?"
"For a first practice, and considering you have no formal dance training, you did pretty well. You know, for a jock."
That startled a laugh out of him "Harsh."
Rachel just smiled.

When they got to the parking lot, Finn offered her a ride. Looking towards the football fields where the Cheerios were just getting out of practice, she declined, "No thank you, I can call my dad."

Quinn caught Finn's eye, and he realized what Rachel was thinking (for the first time, ever). "We broke up. I'm not giving her a ride. Come on, you don't have to bother your dad."
"I'd love a ride then."

They headed towards a beat up red truck in the corner. Finn opened her door for her, then made his way to his side.

"I'm really sorry about this afternoon. I should have been there earlier."
She shrugged. "It's not like you knew it was going to happen. You were there in time, and that's really all that matters."

Hesitantly, he reached over and took her hand. Her eyes flew to his face, and when he looked at her from the corner of his eye, she was smiling slightly.

Her house was a pretty split level, and Rachel had always loved it. Now she wondered what it looked like to someone else. "Would you like to come inside?" She offered, not quite ready to remove her hand from his.

Finn looked regretful. "I can't. I have to do stuff for my mom. But I'll call you later. Maybe you need a lift to school tomorrow?"
"If I'm on the way."
"You are."
She hopped out of the truck. "I'll see you then. Bye Finn."

"I'll call you tonight." He looked weird for a second. "You know, for chemistry. I don't quite get it."

She grinned. He was so cute when he was trying to keep his true feelings for her from shining through. It was only a matter of time before there was a repeat of Saturday. Oh, she could not wait.

Okay, part two up. Please review, and I still need a beta reader. Thank you!