Perfectly Imperfect

The Break-Up

Finn Hudson awkwardly stood in the doorway, smiling at the two blondes, "Hi... I'm sorry to show up unannounced but-"

Cutting him off was Dani's hand connecting with his face, causing both herself and Quinn to gasp at the unexpected action. Dani instantly retracted, realizing what she had done, "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I guess I had to get that out of my system."

Finn sadly laughed, rubbing his red stinging cheek as Dani moved aside to let him into their dorm room, "No, no it's okay. I deserved that really. Hi, Quinn."

"Hey, Finn. It's good to see you. I guess I'll leave you two alone, you guys have a lot of catching up to do," Quinn quietly left the room, leaving the two staring at each other trying to find the words to say.

The following morning Quinn had sat at her typical perch on the windowsill, waiting for someone to come out of their rooms. She looked up from her notebook, seeing Dani slowly close the door to her room, "Hey, you woke up later than usual. It's unlike you to miss a meal. How did everything go last night, I didn't hear any screaming so at least I know you guys didn't fight."

Dani scoffed, crawling onto the couch and pulled her cardigan tighter around her body, "Well after you went into your room he didn't even talk to me, we just, like, laid there."

Finn came out to find the two girls in the common area, sluggishly smiling at them as he ruffled his hair. Quinn cleared her throat, closing her notebook as she climbed out of the window, "Umm.. I'm gonna go to class.  It's good to see you again, Finn."

"You, too, Quinn."

As Quinn left the dorm room, the couple shared an uncomfortable smile. Dani finally broke their silence, climbing off the couch, "Um, so, are you hungry? I have some Pop-Tarts or we could go down to the coffee shop and get something."

"Yeah, coffee sounds good, thanks." Finn, though he didn't like coffee at all, agreed to the coffee shop, knowing that in uncomfortable situations Dani likes to move around. They left Bingham hall, walking through campus in the crisp September air. Finn looked around, admiring the Yale architecture, "Wow, this place is awesome. It's so big."

Dani stopped watching her Doc Martens slap against the sidewalk, looking up at her brunette companion, "I can't do this, Finn. I don't understand. I don't know what's going on. Why are you here and why didn't you have your uniform?"

"Because I'm not in the Army." 

The sentence alone made Dani sick to her stomach, hearing that he wasn't even in the military anymore made her sick. She turned her back to him, hugging herself as a gust of cool air danced around them. Finn grabbed her by the shoulder, turning her to face him, "Well, I was, for 16 days...It wasn't that bad. I really felt like I was someplace. I could make a difference, and I'm pretty used to getting yelled at, so I was doing okay. Then, one day, I was cleaning Dani... they make you give your rifle a name... Right through my thigh. Thank God it didn't hit any bone. I got a semi-honorable discharge. So I've been backpacking through Georgia for the past couple months. I'm sorry I didn't call you, but... but I was just so embarrassed. I mean, I left with so much certainty and confidence. I was gonna redeem my dad and make you proud. I couldn't face you seeing me as a Lima loser."

"Enough of this... enough moping around. All right, so what? The Army didn't work out. Plans change. You're here now, with me, and what better place than college for you and I to find you a new dream."

"Like what?" Finn croaked, unconvinced of the possibility of a new dream after having lost so many.

She slid her hand into his, lifting his chin with her other hand to meet his chocolate brown eyes, "Before the Army, you applied to Pace to be an actor. You know, that was obviously not the right school but... I don't know, maybe Yale is or NYADA. I mean, why don't you come with me and Quinn to all of our classes this week, and if you love it, then you can apply here for next year and we'll spend the whole year just finding a way for you to get in. And if not, we can keep looking."