love like fools ➙ glee

eighteen ; white flag.

* and now, laryngitis! to avoid confusion ; jessie's girl, despite being my favorite finn performance, is delayed until a further episode (in season two). consider this creative licensing.

* the performance that inspired alicia's in this chapter is linked above.

. . . 

When someone tapped Alicia's shoulder one afternoon, her immediate assumption was, Quinn Fabray has finally decided to kill me.

Finn Hudson standing with a single white tulip was not expected.

They hadn't spoken much since the incident in the choir room. They'd both texted each other unbelievable excuses for abandoning their traditional evening phone calls -- Finn said he was drowning in homework, she said she was shopping each night. It would've been funny if she wasn't so concerned.

Upon realizing he was awaiting her response, she asked, "What is that?" 

"It's a flower."

"I see that." It smelled amazing. Tulips had always been her weakness. Not that anyone knew. Boys hadn't exactly come banging down her bedroom door, begging for her favorite type of flower. "Why are you holding a flower in the middle of the hall?"

Realization dawned. "Oh! Oh, right. Well, um, it's for you, actually."

Alicia turned to make sure no one was standing behind her. Nope, still only a row of lockers. She raised her eyebrows, wringing her hands nervously. "Are you sure?"

"What?" Finn frowned. "Yeah, of course I'm sure. Look, I just . . . I wanted to apologize." At her blank expression, he sighed. "You know, for being a jerk over the whole Jesse stuff. Maybe Mr. Schue's right and it's good you guys are friends, I dunno, but I shouldn't have made you feel bad about it. So . . . I'm sorry."

There was a lump in her throat. She swallowed hard, briefly ducking her head as she tried to laugh off the sudden wave of emotion that rushed over her. This week was lonely with only Tina to talk to. Tina was wonderful, but Alicia was still on bad terms with Kurt, Jesse was in San Diego, and most of all, she missed Finn. More than she cared to admit.

He offered her the flower and she accepted it, fingertips gently grasping it. She sniffed, unable to resist. It smelled fresh and sweet, as if plucked from a garden just this morning. Knowing Finn, it could have been. "You didn't have to get me--"

"I wanted to."

Alicia pursed her lips. "Okay."

A beat passed. Unspoken tension lingered, similar to unresolved conflict, but she was content to ignore it. She'd gone long enough without speaking to him -- granted, it was only a few days, but when you go from talking to someone everyday to not at all, culture shock ensues. 

She bumped her shoulder into his arm. Their height difference was going to haunt her for all eternity. "Come on, let's get to glee."

They fell into step as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Perhaps for them, it was. "So how are things going for you this week?" she asked, genuinely curious. "Has . . . has anything changed between you and Rachel? I heard about her problems with Jesse." She hoped the warmth in her cheeks she felt at her last sentence was imaginary.

Finn cringed at Jesse's name. He shook his head. "No, nothing's happened between us. I've actually been kinda busy. I've been hanging out a lot with Kurt's dad so I haven't had a lot of time to worry about her."

"Kurt's dad?" Alicia asked confusedly. "And Kurt, too, right?"

He looked uncomfortable. "Uh, no, not really. Kurt's not really into all the stuff we're doing together, you know? Sports and all that. He likes . . . fashion and music and big vocab words. Burt said not to worry about him."