The Transfer: A Glee Fanfiction

Chapter 12

Every muscle in Rachel’s body froze. He might not have heard it, she thought to herself. I mean, it wasn’t that loud.

        “Rachel?” she heard him say, and her head snapped up. He was standing on the other end of the parking lot in a pair of jeans and his Letterman jacket, squinting in Rachel’s direction. His dark hair was a little ruffled, like he’d run his hands through it repeatedly. Rachel’s stomach twisted itself into knots of pleasure-pain, just like it always did whenever she saw Finn, and she felt her heart pick up speed.

Finn took a few slow steps toward Rachel, and she felt herself snap out of whatever daze she had been in. She bent down to retrieve her keys from the ground and heard Finn’s footsteps getting faster and closer.

“Rachel!” he called from the middle of the parking lot. He jogged the rest of the distance, leaving barely two feet between them. Rachel’s skin was covered in goosebumps, but something told her it wasn’t because of the cold.

She waited for him to say something, whatever it was that he’d wanted to say, but he just stood there staring at her. Well, not at her; he was staring at her uniform, a look of awe on his suddenly red face. Pride rose in Rachel’s chest, hot and wonderful, and she felt her cheeks heat up. She didn’t normally have this reaction to being gawked at, but this was Finn, and she was loving every second of it.

“Hi, Finn,” she said, her voice small. She didn’t know what else to say, and Finn certainly wasn’t moving the conversation along.

“Uhh..H-hey, Rach,” he stuttered. He looked confused, like he forgot what he was going to say. He inspected her uniform with a look of slight recognition, like he knew he’d seen it before but couldn’t quite put his finger on it. “I...uhh...I….”

Rachel looked up at him expectantly. The wind bit at her skin, making her wish she had brought a jacket. “What is it?” she asked, keeping her voice friendly. Finn’s eyes snapped up from her clothes, and his face turned an even deeper shade of crimson.

“Rach, I-” he started. “Rachel, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for how I acted on Monday. You were right. This was-”

“Wait,” Rachel said in disbelief, confusion plain on her face. “You’re sorry? Why would you be sorry? I was the one that acted like a total jerk. I shouldn’t have said what I said; it was uncalled for.”

“No, you had every right to be mad,” he said. “You’re right. We weren’t the friends we should’ve been. I wasn’t the friend you deserved. And I’m sorry.” He took a step closer to her, so their bodies were almost touching.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “I thought you would be furious with me. What I said...it was pretty harsh.” Rachel’s eyes fixed on her shoes. Even though every word she’d said to him was true, she wasn’t proud she’d said them. Finn was only trying to be her friend and talk to her, and she’d lost control of her temper. Not one of her shining moments.

“I needed to hear it.” The tone of Finn’s voice reminded her of the time he’d told her about how he was going to get back on the football team a few months ago. It was the tone he used when he made up his mind about something, full of determination and confidence. “I told you I was your friend, but I wasn’t there when you needed me, and I’m sorry. But that’s going to change. I’m going to be a better friend from now on, Rach.”

“Finn,” Rachel breathed, her heart swelling. “You have no idea how much that means to me. Thank you.”

Finn’s face broke out into an accomplished smile. Rachel saw the dark flash of a memory behind his eyes, and his smile dropped. His eyes flickered down and he bit his lip.