Yay! First Glee fic, kind of random. Hope you like!

Rachel Berry Demonstrates How Heels are Not Appropriate for Glee Rehearsals

First, there's a bright light penetrating through her eyelids. It's strong and makes her head ache slightly, and for a moment she wonders why she feels so...dizzy. What happened? Is this the afterlife?

If so, it wouldn't be so bad. In fact, the afterlife hadn't been so different than life itself; those were stage lights blinding her vision. She realizes it as soon as she manages to lift her weight, leaning back into the palms of her hands. Heaven was good to her, she was on a stage!...

At McKinley High School.

Pressing a hand to her forehead, she notices suddenly the skin of her forehead does not feel like skin at all. It's wet and damp, cloth-like.

She removes the object from her face, realizing it'd been a wet paper towel as she stared at it sitting in her palm.

She's able to sit straight up, and it's now that she understands she's not alone. Her stomach knots at the sight of Finn's back as he sits on the edge of the stage, slouching over slightly.

"Finn?" His name echos off the walls, and he springs to life. He whips his head around almost frantically, and looks relieved to see her sitting there, as if he hadn't been expecting it.

"Rachel!" He sounds exasperated. "You're awake, good. I was wondering how much longer you'd be out for."

"I could say the same for you, I suppose," She notes that he'd been sleeping, but presses on for more information. "What do you mean by 'how much longer,' exactly? What happened?"

An amused little smirk plays on his face. "You mean, you don't remember?" He turns himself all the way around now to face her. "That's probably a good thing for you, then. It was kind of embarrassing."

"What was?"

"Your fall," He can't keep himself from chuckling. "Because you decided to wear those shoes to practice today." His eyes trail towards navy blue patent-leather heels hugging Rachel's feet. They'd gone so perfectly with the sweater and skirt she had picked out that morning; sadly they were not practical for glee rehearsals.

"Oh no," She breathes, glancing back up at him. "Was it when we were rehearsing the new dance steps?"

"Actually, no," Finn replies, still amused. "You caught your heel on the side of the auditorium door and f--"

"Fainted?" Somehow, the news is scarier to hear aloud than it is to experience. She was evidently all right, as she was holding a perfectly coherent conversation with the club's male lead, but still...

"Well yeah, but that's not how it happened," He continues. "You fell over and hit your head. And you were okay at first, but your nose started to bleed and..."

The story's getting more horrifying with each second. Rachel instinctively places a hand to her nose, though it feels fine.

"How much blood did I lose?" She's aware that the question sounds a little ridiculous, even for her. He arches an eyebrow at her, and Rachel considers herself lucky to have Finn justify her silly inquiry with a response.

"Not enough to make you faint, that's for sure. You just saw that you were bleeding and flipped out a little, I guess."

"A little," Rachel toys with the damp paper towel still in her hands. "That's certainly an understatement."

"Maybe it is," Finn replies, "But I'm glad to see you're okay...kind of freaked me out there for a second." He has to watch what he says when it comes to her. Too many or too little words could always give this girl the wrong impression.

There's a difference between being 'freaked out' and 'kind of freaked out,' at least in Rachel's mind, he's certain. If he sounds like he cares too much, she'll care right back. But if he cares just enough, well then, she'll understand his intentions.

But she's always been a perceptive person. Even after taking a fall and bump on the head, she's able to study Finn's retelling of the afternoon's unfortunate events - she even analyzes Finn's mere presence in the auditorium at all. Why is it that he is the only glee kid sitting on the edge of the stage, waiting for her recovery? Even Mr. Schuester had been absent, unless she was just not perceptive enough to find the clues to his company.

"And everyone else?"

"They were worried, too," He says, "Actually, we should probably stop by Mr. Schue's room to let him know you're okay. Can you walk?"

He stands up, and Rachel mimics the action with little struggle. Finn looks satisfied.

"Good," He says, "Ready to go?"

He helps her down the stage stairs, despite the fact that there are only four steps Rachel needs to overcome. It's oddly quiet on the walk to their teacher's classroom, but after a few moments he breaks the silence.

"Maybe after we see Mr. Schuester, I could walk you home." He stuffs his hands into the pockets of his jeans, and absolutely refuses to meet her eyes that are so carefully looking at him. He might have gone too far; Rachel would see something in those words that didn't exist. He uses his good-heartedness to defend him this time - if it'd been Tina or Mercedes that fainted, he most definitely would have waked either of them home, too.

A small grin is playing on the girl's lips and suddenly Finn knows quite well that he's said the wrong thing. He can't take back the suggestion now, especially not after she's so quick to answer.

"That's very kind of you to offer, Finn, thank you." Her words are quaint, but inside the show choir girl is belting out her torch song on a Broadway stage.

"Yeah, it's nothing," He wishes he didn't sound so nonchalant - the girl just passed out, and he hadn't been cutting her much slack. He's always sending hits to her that things could never happen between them, and mild disinterest is his tactic to make his point clear.

Rachel doesn't have it, though. He's playing opposite her starlet lead in Glee Club, he waited for her to wake up after keeling over at the sight of her own blood, and now he's walking her home. He could say whatever he wanted to try and push her away, but his actions keep inviting her back in, and that's enough for her. At least for now.

Just something short and quick because I was bored and addicted to Glee. Title is awful, I'm aware. :p & Sorry if the word tenses seem kind of funky, I'll work on fixing that soon.

Thanks for reading. Reviews are very much loved! :)