Fic: Reputation
Fic: Reputation
Rating: K
Fandom: Glee
Pairing: Rachel/Finn
Summary: After a rehearsal with new members, everything changes for Rachel and Finn...
Author Notes: Fic originally published during the first hiatus back in 2009 after the first broadcasting of the Pilot. No spoilers. This fic was beta'd by alifab and Molly.
Reputation
They were in rehearsals. He sang, danced and moved around her like he liked her, pretending he cared… She had to admit that she was surprised by his talent. He seemed to be a good actor and a decent singer. While they were there, pretending to be friends, pretending to be lovers, he started to sing his solo, and she couldn't help but turn and see the happy couple fighting… again.
Suddenly she realized that she had to sing, and she saw how the guy on stage was looking at her… Damn! The guy was a good actor! If it weren't because they were on stage, she could have thought that he really liked her. But he was Puck and she was Rachel, the "gleek", the girl who could sing something from Les Mis, West Side Story, Phantom or Gypsy whenever she got a chance. So that would be impossible.
The duet finished and they looked at each other. Both could hear Mr. Schue's applause, and for the first time she saw a genuine smile in Puck's face, all she could do was smile back. Then, he walked straight to his group of friends, and started to laugh hard at something cruel that one of them said. He was still a dick, but at least now she knew he was not that bad…
Most people had left the auditorium. There was only Tina on the corner, Rachel - who was looking some scores, because she wasn't there to see what was happening - and them… who were still fighting. What the hell had happened to the world today? Kurt didn't want to show off hitting those high notes that were even difficult for her (just don't tell anybody), Mercedes didn't want all the attention, Ms. Pillsbury haven't gone to the rehearsal, Mr. Schuester let them leave 30 minutes earlier, and the "happy couple" was fighting… Suddenly this had become the twilight zone!
Next thing she knew was…Disaster. An open hand crashing against her cheek, and Quinn running away through the auditorium.
"What the…" was all she could say, before she finished the sentence, Finn asked her "Are you ok?"
"Ok… A crazy cheerio has just hit me…" He seemed nervous and ashamed
"Sorry for that. I didn't mean to…"
"Oh well… it is not your fault," she looked at him in the eyes, and started to walk to the exit "No worries, just… Control your girlfriend, I'm not the fighter type, but if she keeps bothering me, I don't know what I'll do, and I don't wanna ruin my permanent record. And she should be careful, too. If a teacher had seen this maybe her permanent record would be stained too."
He just murmured something that she couldn't hear.
So she said "What?" He tried to say something, but he couldn't. She looked at him and ironically said "I though that Tina was the one who stutters."
"Well… Quinn is not my girlfriend anymore." She couldn't help but show her surprise.
"I'm… sorry" She was a great actress, but this time she couldn't pretend she didn't care or that she wasn't, at least, a little happy.
He smiled and said, "Don't worry, it was obvious that this was going to happen soon"
She couldn't help asking why, and there, in the main hall of the McKinley High School, he made her stop, looked at her and said "You."
Everything stopped around them, he took the risk, he faced her and kissed her… The kiss was soft and tender, both felt the electric current move like lightening through their touch. He moved his lips tempting her, savoring her, and she couldn't move due to the surprise. He stopped and looked at her, searching her eyes for a reason to stop. He was kind, sensitive and cared for her more than she could say.
She looked at him trying to say something, but she couldn't.
"I though that Tina was the one who stutters", he smiled and then she took the initiative, she smiled while they were kissing. Both could hear how everybody started to murmur and gossip, but they didn't care. They liked it, and they liked each other. They sighed when they finished the kiss. She laughed… For Patti Lupone's sake he really knew about kissing! Then he softly set her back down on the floor (it must be said that she didn't realize that he had lifted her from the floor). They saw how some of the people in the hall laughed and most of them were gossiping, then she realized…
"Finn?" he looked at her and kissed her gently again.
"Mmm… What?"
"This is going to conflict…"
"My reputation?" he interrumpted. She looked down. "I've really got something special now and I'm not throwing it away. I don't care what people will think of it. I'm better than all of them" Both smiled and then kissed again.
Obviously this was written before the personalities of the characters were truly clear. We just saw how talented some of them were and this was probably the only episode in which I saw Finn as a true hero. So, this could even be considered AU in that aspect.
I hope you liked it! :)