A/N: I don't own anything. This story is completely A/U.

The Siren's Song: Chapter One

Rachel Berry was born to perform. She was meant to stand up on the stage and captivate the audience with her voice and hit notes that others only dreamed of hitting. Singing was in her blood – literally.

The first time she received a standing ovation at the age of five, she realized that some of the reactions of the audience members were a bit strange. Some of them cried, but that specific reaction really wasn't too far out of the ordinary since her fathers cried every time she sang.

Things were weird when she saw some of the audience members after the show. They stared at her like they were enamored with her. Some of the boys in the audience looked at her like she was the most beautiful girl on the entire planet.

It wasn't until she was fifteen that she learned why people reacted to her that way. Her dads sat her down and told her the story that would change her life.

When her dad, Hiram, was younger, he fell in love with a woman named Shelby. She was beautiful and had an incredible voice that Hiram fell in love with. Not long after they met, Shelby became pregnant with Hiram's child. Nine months later, she gave birth to a baby girl that they decided to name Rachel.

Shelby was no longer in Rachel's life after leaving when Rachel was only weeks old. She left Hiram after admitting to him what she really was – a siren. Sirens were capable of luring men in with their beautiful voices. Then, the siren typically killed the man and stole his life force to sustain herself. The reason why Shelby didn't kill Hiram was because she loved him, but she couldn't stay with him because she knew that Hiram didn't really fall in love with her; he fell in love with her voice and what it did to him.

Once Shelby left, the siren's spell broke and Hiram finally realized what had happened. And even though Rachel was born out of coerced love, she was still his pride and joy. And when Hiram met Leroy, they became a family.

Sometimes Rachel missed not having a mother in her life. Another part of her was ashamed that her mother made innocent men fall in love with her. Shelby didn't kill Hiram, but Rachel knew that she must have killed other men in her past so that she could keep living.

Thankfully, Rachel was only half siren, so she didn't have to feed off of the life essences of men to survive. However, if she wasn't careful, she could make random men fall in love with her while she performed. During moments when she truly lost herself in a song, her siren abilities would affect those around her, leading the women in the audience to admire her and the men to love her.

That was why Rachel had to be incredibly careful when she performed. And that was also why she was very lonely.

After all, she couldn't be sure if boys had really fallen for her or her voice.

Sometimes, Rachel wished that she didn't fell such a connection to performing. She could live a normal life without the fear of taking someone's will away and making them fall for her. But Rachel was born with the need to be on the stage; she needed to have the spotlight on her and hear the applause after she belted out a beautiful song.

Sometimes, being special truly sucked.

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

Rachel wasn't that surprised when she was awarded with the starring role in the winter musical while she was only a freshman in college. Starring roles usually went to upperclassmen at NYU that had more experience. But if Rachel was being honest with herself, she had more talent than any of the upperclassmen.

Plus, she felt a connection to the role of Maria in West Side Story that helped her to nail her audition. She wanted the role so badly that she even considered tapping into her siren powers to impress the female director.

But she didn't; she wanted to win fair and square even though it was incredibly tempting to cheat. Since her conscience was clear, she was even more proud of herself for being chosen to play Maria.

Kurt Hummel, her best gay and one of her few friends, was the costume designer for the musical. They had met earlier that year during an Intro to Jazz class. After Kurt heard Rachel's voice and after Rachel was impressed by Kurt's extensive Broadway vocabulary, they became the best of friends.

"My brother's coming to the opening tonight," Kurt said excitedly. "Our mother is forcing him to record the entire show so that she can see the costumes I made since she can't make it." Rachel was standing in front of him with her arms straight out while he did some last minute alterations on her Maria costume.

"I met him at your birthday party, right?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, you did. Finn Hudson, remember?" Kurt replied. "He was the sophomore here. The freakishly tall one that wore the plaid shirt and gym shoes… That's the only thing he ever wears," Kurt grumbled.

Rachel wracked her brain for a few moments, trying to remember who Finn was among the mass of people she met that night.

Then, she remembered. He was the one who practically knocked her over as he tried to make his way to the kitchen for another drink. She remembered that he was very tall, making her resemble a fifth grader. But he was also very sweet and had gorgeous light brown eyes that she got so easily lost in when they chatted.

"Did you hear what I said?" Kurt asked abruptly, bringing Rachel back from her distracting thoughts.

"Sorry," Rachel said quickly. "What was that?"

"I said that Finn even mentioned that he was excited to hear you sing," Kurt repeated. "He said you talked about performing practically the whole time at my party."

"Which probably annoyed him like it does everyone else," Rachel mumbled.

"Actually, he said it was pretty cool that you were so passionate about something," Kurt replied with a tiny smile on his face.

"It's nice to have someone that appreciates my enthusiasm," Rachel said with a sly smile.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, Rachel. I just wish you talked about something other than performing," Kurt replied. "I don't know much about you besides the fact that you have two gay dads and that you're from Cincinnati."

"There's not much more to me than that," Rachel replied. "I'm just a simple girl with a simple dream – to be on stage. What more do you need to know?" Kurt stopped sewing for a few seconds and looked at Rachel inquisitively.

"I will find out what you're hiding, Miss Berry," Kurt promised.

"I'm not hiding anything," Rachel insisted using her superb acting skills. She looked down in time to see Kurt roll his eyes.

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

The man that starred opposite her (as the Tony to her Maria) was very handsome and very talented. However, she could tell that Blaine Anderson played for Kurt's team. The furtive, flirty glances that he and Kurt gave one another during rehearsals were painfully obvious to Rachel as well. She wished that they'd get together already.

Since Rachel couldn't fall in love, she was always trying to help others find it.

When she saw Kurt and Blaine talking and laughing before the curtain was raised, she smiled widely. But then, when she got her cue, she transformed into Maria and walked onto the stage.

It was during the marriage scene with Blaine that Rachel lost control.

She was completely lost in the romantic-ness of the scene. For just a moment, she was Rachel, the girl that also wanted to fall in love and marry someone some day.

When the song for the scene started, she could feel her siren abilities taking effect, but she couldn't stop them. She completely lost herself in the song, singing like she would if Blaine was actually her lover that she had just married.

Once the scene was over, Rachel fully realized what had happened. She rushed off of the stage, not wanting to see Blaine's reaction to her voice. If she gave him a few minutes, the siren spell should wear off. The rest of the audience wouldn't be hit as strongly as Blaine was, since she was singing to him, but they'd feel it a bit as well.

By the time she joined back up with Blaine for another scene, she was glad to see that he didn't look dazed or anything. She feared that she could make Blaine fall in love with her, like her mother did to her dad, Hiram. Since she knew Kurt liked Blaine, leaving Blaine under her spell would be an ultimate betrayal of friendship. And sure, Blaine was a nice guy, but she didn't want to take his free will away from him. Or anyone, for that matter.

Since Blaine wasn't drooling or following her around like a lost puppy, either Rachel's spell wasn't as powerful as she thought it was, or she wasn't as strong as her mother and couldn't make gay men fall for her. She was really hoping it was the former. Making anyone fall in love with her would be cruel.

During the rest of the musical, Rachel stayed in complete control of her emotions. She acted and sang marvelously, but she didn't lose herself in the role of Maria anymore.

When she received a standing ovation at the end of the show, she wondered how much of it was because of her siren spell.

All Rachel wanted was to be normal. She craved the chance to get a standing ovation because she earned it and not because she forced people to love her.

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

"You were fantastic!" Kurt gushed after Rachel left the stage for the final time that night. Rachel plastered a fake, yet convincing, smile on her face, knowing that Kurt's reaction might not be genuine. He was probably hit by the siren spell, too, but instead of falling in love with her, he fell in love with her voice.

"Thank you, Kurt," Rachel said brightly. Kurt looked around her and spotted Blaine, rushing forward to give him a hug. Rachel smiled sweetly and went to change out of her costume. On the way to the dressing room, she received so many compliments that it was starting to get on her nerves. She felt like they had no control over what they said and it wasn't fair. It was times like this when she really hated the fact that she was half siren.

By the time she was done changing into her clothes, most of the audience had left. She walked up the auditorium stairs toward the exit, enjoying the quiet.

"You were amazing," she heard a voice from behind her say. She turned and smiled when she saw Finn Hudson standing there. He had a video camera in his hand and Rachel remembered that he was there to record the show.

"Thank you, Finn," she said, glad that Kurt had reminded her of his name earlier.

"I mean, you said you could sing, but that was… wow," he said with a chuckle. Rachel's smile faltered for a second. He was probably under the spell.

"Again, thank you," she said. Finn then suddenly looked nervous and ran his free hand over the back of his neck.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked, sounding unsure.

"Of course," Rachel replied, feeling curious.

"Do you… would you like to go out with me? For dinner or something?" he asked with a hopeful smile. Rachel figured he had just gotten hit by her siren's spell. "I mean, you were pretty cool at Kurt's party and I just want to get to know you better."

"Finn, I'm honored that you'd ask me, but I can't," she said, sadness lacing her tone. Finn's face turned blank. "You see, I'm just really busy with this play and classes and everything and don't really have the time right now…"

"Oh," Finn muttered. "Maybe next time then?" he asked.

"Yeah, maybe," Rachel said shyly. She didn't want to give him a definite no and hurt his feelings, but she didn't want to give him a yes. He was under a spell. This wasn't real.

"I'll, uh… I'll see you around then," he said awkwardly.

"Okay," Rachel replied. Finn smiled at her before turning on his heel and walking away.

She hated the fact that she felt like she had just kicked a puppy by turning Finn down. He was one of the sweetest guys she'd ever met, but agreeing to go out with him while he was under a spell just wouldn't be fair. He wouldn't feel this way about her tomorrow. She was sure of it.

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

"My brother's still asking about you," Kurt said a week later. Rachel had controlled herself through all of her other performances and no one acted strangely like they had opening night. So why was Finn still interested in her?

"I don't have the time to see anyone, Kurt," Rachel insisted. They were sitting in the library, looking up sources for their research papers for a history class.

"I call bullshit," Kurt said quickly. "I'm involved with the play just like you are and we practically have the same class schedule, and yet I still had the time to go out with Blaine two nights ago." Rachel was quiet for a few moments. He had her there.

"I'm just not the dating type," Rachel replied calmly. Kurt chuckled.

"Everyone's the dating type," he replied. "Some people are just too scared to take the chance." Rachel shrugged. "What are you afraid of then?" Kurt asked. Rachel huffed and looked up from her history book.

"Kurt, you and I both know that once people get to know me, they typically don't like me," she said matter-of-factly.

"But I like you," Kurt replied. "And Blaine does, too."

"That's because the two of you are exceptions," she said with a small smile.

"Finn likes you," Kurt insisted. "He talked about you after my party, telling me how 'awesome' he thought you were," Kurt said, using air quotes. "And then he was practically smitten after he saw you in the musical."

"Of course he was," Rachel muttered. He was under her siren's spell.

"What?" Kurt asked.

"Nothing," Rachel replied quickly.

"My point is, people already like you," Kurt insisted. "And Finn could, you know… more than like you if you give him the chance." Rachel looked at Kurt incredulously.

"Why are you pushing this?" she asked.

"Because you told me you've had one boyfriend," Kurt replied. "And all of my brother's relationships haven't gone so well. I want to see the both of you happy and I think that could happen."

"And what if it doesn't?" Rachel asked. "What if this whole thing ends disastrously?"

Or what if he doesn't really like me and my siren powers are only making him think that he does? she added mentally.

"No one ever knows how a relationship is going to go," Kurt said softly. "Blaine and I are taking the chance. I think you and Finn should, too."

Rachel looked into Kurt's eyes and could tell that he was really sincere. It didn't make any sense that Finn was still asking about her and thinking about her. Her mom had to sing to her dad every so often to make sure that he stayed under her spell. Finn hadn't heard Rachel sing in a week or so and her power wasn't as strong as her mom's.

Could this have been real?

She had to take the chance.

"You can give him my number," Rachel huffed. Kurt squealed so loudly that the occupants of the tables around them glared at him.

"Sorry," he mouthed. Then, he quickly pulled out his phone and sent a text before setting it on the tabletop. "There. Finn now has your number," Kurt said with a smile.

Rachel laughed lightly and returned her attention back to her paper.

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

Rachel nervously smoothed her dark blue dress down, glad that she didn't have a roommate that would certainly make fun of her for how silly she was being. Rachel checked her hair in the mirror at least ten times and brushed her teeth twice before a knock on her door made her jump in surprise.

Rachel smiled to herself and took a deep breath before walking quickly to her door.

Her hand was shaking as she put it on the handle, but she ignored the nerves and opened the door.

Finn was standing there, wearing a light blue button down shirt and some jeans with a thick jacket. He was also holding a single lily in his hand.

"You look amazing," he said breathlessly, taking in Rachel's look from head to toe.

"You're quite handsome yourself," Rachel replied with a shy smile. Finn blushed a bit and then looked down, seeming to forget that he was holding the flower. He held it out to her.

"This is for you," he said, smiling so that Rachel could see his dimples.

"Thank you," she replied softly. "Lilies are my favorite."

"Kurt told me," Finn chuckled, making Rachel laugh. "Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes," Rachel said quickly. "Just let me grab my coat." She stepped backward into her room. "You can come in if you want."

Finn nodded and walked inside her dorm room and started looking around.

"Your room kinda looks like mine," Finn observed. "Except for yours is cleaner… and pinker…" Rachel laughed again and grabbed her coat out of her tiny closet. "Let me help you with that," Finn said quickly, walking over to her and grabbing the coat out of her hands.

"Thank you, Finn," Rachel said as he helped put the coat on her. "You're so chivalrous."

"That's a good thing, right?" he asked.

"Yes," Rachel said, blush covering her cheeks. "That's definitely a good thing."

Finn led her to the elevator and let her inside first, further making her blush.

"We're going to a movie," Finn said as the elevator descended. "I hope that's okay."

"That's fine," Rachel replied.

"And I was thinking we could stop and get some hot chocolate or something after the movie," he continued.

"That sounds perfect," Rachel said with another shy smile.

He let her pick the movie, and she surprised him by picking The Avengers. She figured it was only fair since he paid for everything and wouldn't let Rachel even open up a door for herself. She had to remind herself to ask Kurt if Finn was always so chivalrous.

She ended up enjoying the movie more than she thought she would. She and Finn were laughing almost the entire time, and the action sequences were pretty impressive. The movie managed to get even better when Finn grabbed her hand. She intertwined her fingers with his without even a second thought. She thought that it would feel awkward between them, but holding hands with Finn felt normal… and wonderful.

"That was seriously awesome," Finn said for the tenth time as he opened the door to the coffee shop for Rachel.

"I agree," Rachel giggled. She picked out a tiny table in a quiet corner and Finn sat across from her.

"Do you want anything?" he asked.

"You've already spent enough tonight," Rachel replied. "I can buy my own beverage."

"It's fine," Finn said quickly. "What would you like?"

"A black coffee would be great," Rachel relented. Finn nodded and stood up.

"Coming right up," he said with an adorable half smile. As he walked away, Rachel found herself getting this warm, tingly feeling in her stomach. Finn was sweet, a gentleman, and adorable. His little jokes were more terrible than funny, but he delivered them with such enthusiasm that she laughed anyway.

For the first time in too long, Rachel found herself enjoying the company of a boy in a romantic way. There was still that little part of her in the back of her mind that wondered if all of this was real or not. Well, she knew her feelings toward Finn were real, but were his?

It both excited and scared her that she could see herself falling for Finn.

"Here you go," Finn said, bringing her thoughts back to the present. He set her coffee cup directly in front of her. She smiled at him as he sat down.

"Thank you," she said gratefully.

"It's no big deal," he insisted with a smile. A few moments passed in a comfortable silence. "You got un-busy pretty quick," Finn observed. "I mean, you said you were busy with the play and stuff and you couldn't go out with me, but it's still going on for another week."

Rachel blushed a bit. "I think you know that was a lie," she mumbled.

"Oh, I did," Finn said cheekily. "I thought you were trying to shoot me down nicely, so I was really surprised when you told Kurt to give me your number." Rachel glanced up at him and noticed that he simply looked curious.

"I was just… scared," she admitted quietly.

"Of what?" Finn asked softly. She quickly decided to tell him the truth… well, part of it. The whole truth would send him running out of the coffee shop without so much as a 'goodbye.'

"Not many people like me," she said, keeping her eyes glued to the table. "I talk about myself a lot and Kurt insists that I'm high maintenance and annoying at times. I thought that if you got to know the real me, you wouldn't like what you saw." She jumped a bit when she felt something touch her hand. She looked up and saw that Finn's hand was gently covering hers.

"I like you," he murmured. Rachel smiled widely.

"I like you, too," she replied.

They talked until the coffee shop was closing for the night, surprised that it was after two in the morning. Finn knew all about her life growing up in Cincinnati, including her turbulent time in high school that included being bullied.

Well, he knew everything except for the details about being a siren.

And Rachel knew all about Finn's high school career, from him being the star quarterback of his football team in Lima to his near obsession with drumming. All in all, he was one of the most genuine and kind people that she had ever met.

She held onto his arm as they made their way back to her dorm building. Finn shared more of his corny jokes with her, making her laugh harder than she thought she would.

"I can honestly say that this has been the best first date that I've ever been on," Rachel said once they came to a stop outside of her dorm room.

"Same here," Finn replied with his adorable half smile. "Can I see you again?"

"I'd love that," she insisted. "You have my number."

"I'll give you a call soon," he said. He then leaned forward and kissed her cheek, causing her heart to start pounding. "Goodnight," he said after pulling away.

"Goodnight," Rachel replied, a little dazed. Finn chuckled before turning away to go back down the hallway.

"Finn, wait," she called. He turned and looked at her confusedly. She decided to throw caution to the wind and give this boy a proper goodnight kiss.

Rachel rushed forward and wrapped an arm around his neck, pulling him down gently toward her. She stood on her tiptoes and brought her lips to his, kissing him softly. Finn pulled away just a little before leaning back in again. The second kiss was longer than the first, but was still chaste and perfect.

"I prefer your goodnight kiss over mine," Finn murmured. Rachel giggled and settled back down on her feet. The butterflies were flying around her stomach at full force, almost taking her breath away.

"Me, too," she replied shyly. She then walked backwards and stopped once she was at her door again. "I'll see you soon." Finn smiled before turning away and walking down the hallway.

Rachel smiled and bit her lip before pulling her keys out of her jacket pocket. Once she was inside, she leaned against the door and laughed.

Finn might or might not have been under her spell, but she was definitely under his.

TBC

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

A/N: Do you love it? Hate it? Should I keep going or slap myself in the face for writing this? Please let me know! Nonetheless, thanks for reading :)