JESUS THE GENIE

FINN HUDSON HAD USED THE GEORGE FOREMAN GRILL TO MAKE A MIRACLE. Grilled Cheesus had become a genie to him— granting his first wish of winning the first football game. Stashing the grilled cheese into his locker, whispering an apology for hiding Jesus away, he turned over to Lavender with a smile to the best of his ability.

Holding up a large bag of his favorite candies, Lavender chose to ignore his awkwardness and the wide eyes, "Congrats on the first game."

Taking them in his hand, Finn immediately went for a much needed snack. So caught up in grilled cheese, food, surprisingly, had been the last thing on his mind lately. "Thanks! See, this is why you're my favorite. Always cheering me on..." his voice trailed off as she dug around in her bag before tossing another bag of candy as Mike passed by. "And you got candy for the whole team..."

"You got the largest bag, promise. And it's not like it was for the whole team. Just the glee guys."

"And Sam," Finn finished for her.

She stared at him blankly for a moment. Only because she was unsure if she wanted to deny his claim or just walk off. Instead, she settled on the only way Finn responded. "Shut up."

Grinning, Finn accepted it for what it was before a thought struck him, "Hey, are you religious?"

"Religious? Uh, no. Not really, I guess."

"So you don't pray or anything?"

Shaking her head, Lavender raised an eyebrow at him from the curiosity, "Do you?"

"Is Jesus like a genie?" he whispered, "If I ask him something... Will he just do it?"

"I have no idea," she whispered back. Closing his locker for him, she still didn't understand where this was all coming from. "Is this something I should ask about or will you just spiral into madness alone?"

"Can't talk about it," he said quickly. Embarrassment kept him from letting her in on his secret. He wasn't even sure why the face of Jesus in his grilled cheese compelled him to begin such a religious journey but he couldn't have anyone know. What if they laughed and mocked? Looking down at Lavender as they walked down the halls, he shook his head knowing she'd never do that to him. Not really. "Sorry. I would but I think I should figure this out on my own right now. Maybe then it'll be less embarrassing when I tell you."

"Yeah, of course," she agreed. Scrunching up her face, she also felt embarrassed by herself but couldn't keep it from Finn. "You think it was too much to give Sam candy too? I know I did it for the glee guys but... I don't want him to get the wrong idea."

"Nah," Finn laughed. "I'll even rub it in his face you gave me more so he knows he's not that special." Wanting to come back to his concerns, Finn questioned her next. "Do you think you could help me sell an idea for the glee club to do this week? I think I could get a few people on board but definitely not everybody."

"I can do my best," she nodded. "What am I trying to pitch to them, exactly? I really can't stand up there and pitch something... offensive or anything, you know?"

"Duh. It's Jesus."

"Oh," she chuckled. "Yeah, good luck."

"Good luck," he mocked as they rounded into the choir room. Giving her a push, he let her stumble her way to the seat beside Puck as he found himself a seat front of center of the room beside Rachel.

Just being in the room caused his nerves to spike. He continued to wipe his sweaty palms against his jeans as he awaited the perfect opportunity to jump up and pitch his idea. Glancing repeatedly to Lavender, he hoped for some kind of back up but she had her legs draped over Puck's lap, listening to him ramble on about something Finn couldn't quite hear. The two had gotten along more lately and he wouldn't admit it but it bothered him to see Lavender and Puck acting like a couple again. He knew the kind of person Puck was and he knew Lavender knew all too well. This stress wasn't helping as he wiped his palms across his lap once more.

"Mr. Schue?" Finn asked quietly, slowly raising his hand in the air, "I have something to say." Unable to wait for an okay to speak, Finn jumped out of his chair to the center of the room, "Something happened to me, and I can't really get into it but its shaken me to my core."

Nudging Lavender hard in the side, Puck's once bored, glazed over look had filled with hopefulness, "He's coming out!"

"Why, yes," Finn said with a smile, causing the whole room to lean forward in wonder. "There is a man who sort of recently came into my life. And that man is Jesus Christ."

Silence filled the room as the initial shock still hadn't worn out. Sitting back in his chair in defeat, Puck rolled his eyes dramatically, "That's way worse."

Leaning closer to Puck's ear, Lavender teased him on his defeated look. "At least Finn's still available. You'll have to woo him a different way."

Giving her a look, he debated making a comment he knew would hurt her. Today was going so well that he didn't want to ruin it already so he kept his mouth shut and dug a finger into her side. Hearing her laugh as she squirmed away told him he made the good choice for now.

Sushing the two, Mr Schue signaled for Finn to continue. Giving a small nod of thanks, Finn took a deep breath with all the eyes on him now. "And I know there's others in here who dig him too. So, I thought maybe this week, we could pay tribute... in music. You know, pay tribute to Jesus."

"Sorry," Kurt interrupted, "Uh, but if I wanted to sing about Jesus, I'd go to church. And the reason I don't go to church is because most churches don't think very much of gay people. Or woman. Or science."

"I don't see anything wrong with getting a little church up in here," Mercedes spoke next, looking to Quinn for some extra help. Sitting up a little straighter, Quinn dropped her hand down from her chin. "I agree, I've had a really hard year, and I turned to God a lot for help. I, for one, wouldn't mind saying thanks."

"Thanks for what? That it didn't come out a lizard baby?" Santana shot back.

"Whenever I pray I fall asleep," Brittany said. However, Mr. Schuester decided to take charge in order to please everyone, "Maybe our songs don't have to be about Jesus. We could do songs about spirituality."

All this back and forth had the blood rushing to Finn's head. He felt off and uncomfortable. All of this was over a grilled cheese and he wasn't sure if it was a sign of Jesus or delusion. Could he have just imagined he saw Jesus imprinted on his grilled cheese? Whatever it was, he felt standing with Jesus was the right thing to do.

Clenching his fists, he watched as Puck grew more and more disinterested in their meeting today. He couldn't stand that he continued to whisper into Lavender's ear while everyone debated the topic of conversation. What irked him the most was that he asked for her to back him up and Puck was the one to distract her from doing just that. Unable to hold back on all these emotions pouring over him, he took it out on the one person he loved taking it out on— Noah Puckerman.

"You got a problem with Jesus?" Finn asked loudly. Moving away from Lavender, Puck noticed all the eyes turn over to him and felt the spotlight come from nowhere. Meeting Finn's eyes once more, he unwrapped his arm from around Lavender and felt the challenge brewing between the two. It cleared everything out from his head. The promise he made to himself to try harder this week to be the boyfriend no one ever believed him to be. "Oh, I got no problem with the guy. I'm a total Jew for Jesus. He's my number one Heb. What I don't like seeing is people using J-money to cramp everybody elses style, cause it seems to me that true spirituality or whatever you wanna call it is about enjoying the life that you've been given. I mean, I see God every time I make out with a new chick."

Holding his head higher, he stayed on Finn's eyes until he saw a small smile come to Finn's lips. Immediately he could feel Lavender's eyes boring into him. He didn't even need to give her a glance to know the glare she gave him could cause him to burn alive. "I meant Lavender," he corrected awkwardly. Feeling satisfied, he thought the damage was done. However, Lavender crossed her arms and shifted her body away from him. Her knees directed toward Santana and a disgusted and disappointed expression focused onto the floor under them.

"Okay, that doesn't make any sense. In fact, that's stupid," Rachel said angrily.

"You make out with her and see for yourself," Puck said, leaning forward in his seat.

"That is not what I meant."

"What about Mr. Billy Joel? You calling him stupid?" Taking a stand, Puck set out on a mission to prove his point. Hoping down to where Finn stood, he snatched up his guitar and gave him a push back to his seat. "At this time, I'd like to continue my streak of doing only songs by Jewish artists. And this one's for Lavender. You know, for being a kick-ass girlfriend." Beginning the week of grilled cheese, Puck had kicked it off with Only the Good Die Young.

Turning his head back, Finn looked to Lavender to see if she fell back under Puck's charm, he didn't expect to feel so hurt to see her still unhappy with Puck. Her eyes stayed down and while everyone else brushed what happened under the rug, she couldn't. Turning back in his seat, he kept his head down as well, wondering how he could bring her spirits back up and her mind off of Puck.

𖥸

FINN KNELT ON THE FLOOR OF THE LOCKER ROOM, STARING INTENTLY AT HIS PLATE OF GRILLED CHEESE BEFORE HIM. His breath was held in his throat as he debated what he could pray for. This was his only chance alone and he needed guidance from his cheesy sandwich to ease his mind. "Cheesus, I don't need to tell you how much you rule. You've given me everything I've prayed for and it turns out Rachel's boobs are really awesome." Smiling to himself, he replayed his intimate moment with Rachel over again. For a second he considered asking to get a chance to relive that moment again.

Shaking his head, he tried to keep focus. There was a reason he was here. "Anyway, I need another favor, so, Cheesus, I pray that I'm made quarterback again. Sam's a good dude, I just think that I can deliver your message to the world more powerfully if I'm the most popular guy in school again." Giving a final nod of satisfaction, he stared at his grilled cheese with a small smile. Maybe this was a tad ridiculous but it felt good and it seemed to work in his favor. What he feared most is what people would think of him.

That fear was put to a test when the sound of a hushed argument grew closer at an alarming pace. Trying to get to his feet, he was already too late and Lavender and Puck stopped in their tracks when they spotted him. He stood in front of her, unfazed as if nothing seemed to bother him. Behind him, Finn could see that Lavender had been crying. No matter how quick she was to wipe the tears, he could see it as clear as day. They were fighting again and Finn was sure why. What happened in the choir room the day before only continued to worsen as Puck tried to prove himself to not change for a girl.

"What are you doing?" Puck asked, breaking Finn's thoughts clean. That's when he remembered what sat on the bench in front of him and grew anxious. "Nothing. Eating. So I pray before I eat now, what's the big deal?"

Puck didn't seem to care as much as he opened his gym locker up. Staring at the two, Finn wished Lavender would look at him but she continued to keep herself hidden. While Puck fished around in his locker, Finn decided to break the silence. "You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"No. It's cool," Puck sighed. Taking out a book, it wasn't long before Lavender snatched it from his hands. It was her favorite book that she asked him to read. He promised for months only to keep it buried in his gym locker next to his smelly uniform. With a brewing fight, she wanted it back along with a few other things she'd given to him. Finn pretended he didn't see anything as Puck shrugged it off. "To tell you the truth, I actually went to temple with my nanny yesterday. I know it makes me a wuss, but I'm bummed about Kurt's dad. I've kind of been praying for him. I know how hard it is not to have a father, you know? What do you pray for?"

Finn felt frozen as he realized that he completely forgot about the news. Kurt's dad was in the hospital, yet to wake after a heart attack. And here he was, kneeled over a burnt grilled cheese, asking to be popular. Selfish was all he could call himself. "Yeah. Same stuff," Finn said confidently though filled with a lot of guilt. The entire time he had been so focused on his own Grilled Cheesus, Rachel's boobs and football were the only things that ever came to mind. Burt was becoming important in his life and he didn't even take a moment to consider what he was going through. Instantly riddled with guilt, he looked to his grilled cheese he feared that if this followed genie rules, he wasted his last one away.

Awkwardly watching Finn stare at his grilled cheese, Puck shut his locker slowly. "You burnt your grilled cheese." Looking over to Lavender, he waited for her to look at him but to his disappointment, she ignored him as she started to head out of the locker room.

Finn felt he owed someone after realizing his selfishness this week. "Why are you even with her if you don't like her?"

"Who says I don't?"

"Well, you treat her like you don't. What you said in glee club wasn't cool." For a flicker of a moment, Finn thought he saw Puck feel something. Someone he swore never cared about anyone but himself. But Puck held his cold disinterest in the conversation. "Yeah, but she'll get over it. She's just mad I didn't read her stupid book. She knows I don't read."

"Or she just wanted to show you something she liked," Finn rolled his eyes as he picked his grilled cheese up and placed it into his locker carefully. "Would it kill you to even act like you care?"

"Oh, I care," Puck scoffed. "I'd care a little more if she didn't nag me all the time. She's been trying to get me to come study with her and read books. I'm not that kinda guy and she needs to realize that."

"Yeah, I wish she'd realize that too," Finn agreed. Maybe then she'd end the relationship that was doomed to end no where. Shutting his locked, he realized that though he gained faith in Jesus, he learned he didn't have faith in himself to be the person he needed to be for the people he cared about.

𖥸

Just as Finn asked, Sam was no longer quarterback and his popularity was restored. This, however, meant that Sam was left with a broken arm and Finn couldn't even begin to feel good about himself. Popularity and being the quarterback didn't make up for the fact that the closest thing he had to a brother and his best friend were both miserable and the closest thing to a father was left in a hospital bed. At this rate, Grilled Cheesus didn't even matter to him anymore. Standing at his locker, he stared down at his cheesy sandwich in thought. What once smelled delicious and was filled with belief and hope was a sad, flat sandwich. He wished he just ate the gooey sandwich when he first had it, then the print of Jesus wouldn't be staring back at him in disappointment right now.

So lost in thought, he didn't even realize that Lavender stood silently behind him, questionably looking at the grilled cheese. All she could consider was that he was debating whether to eat this sad sandwich or just order lunch in the cafeteria. "It's nachos in the cafeteria if you wanna change your mind," she whispered.

Unable to break away from his grilled cheese, he stayed locked in. "I broke Sam's arm. It's all my fault." Pausing, he finally was able to pull his eyes away from her. "Actually, it was a delicious sandwich but also me."

A little startled and more than confused, she wasn't sure where to begin but the obvious. "I thought it was some huge dude that tackled him..." she leaned herself up against the locker with a slight frown. "I think I would've remembered a sandwich."

"I prayed to a grilled cheese— Grilled Cheesus."

Lavender stayed silent with her eyes focused down on her feet. "So it was a grilled cheese," she said quietly. Slowly turning her eyes up, she felt the corners of her lips unable to stayed down as she hoped. A little smile came to her face as she looked at Finn and this ridiculous conversation she couldn't wrap her head around. "That sandwich looks a little old... Did you eat it and have food poisoning?" Reaching out, she tried to place the back of her hand onto his forehead.

Immediately, he swatted it away. "This is serious." Pulling the sandwich out of his locker, he showed her the truth of his strange behavior. "I've been asking Grilled Cheesus for things. I wanted us to win our first game, touch Rachel's boobs... and I asked to be quarterback again. All those things happened. It was cool at first but now Sam's hurt and it's my fault."

Slowly taking the plate out of his hands, Lavender felt the subject was touchy. Something about this slightly burnt sandwich had him worked up over something out of his own control. "I don't think a sandwich did it," she said gently. However, Finn's belief in something was what pushed him to do things he wouldn't normally do. He wouldn't have worked harder to be better for the team to win their first game and he wouldn't have opened up to Rachel the way he did. But the one time something bad happened, the blame became overwhelming.

Wanting him to see the good in something as silly as a sandwich, Lavender accepted that believing in something maybe wouldn't be so bad after all. Closing her eyes, she let Finn see that not everything would fall apart over one mishap. Clearing her throat, she prayed to the cheesy sandwich in a way she knew would set him straight."Hey, Grilled Cheesus. I'm not one for praying but you know Finn? He's sort of my best friend. I know you're probably super busy watching over Kurt's dad and healing Sam's arm, but I need you to squeeze one more person in there. Mind keeping us friends forever? I'd be pretty lost without him and I know for a fact he'd lose his mind if he didn't have me around to bug him. I think he needs someone around that can believe in a grilled cheese as much as I do." Pausing, Lavender opened her eyes unsure how to end things. Meeting Finn's eyes, she gave a hopeless shrug. "Um, goodbye, you delicious, cheesy sandwich."

Sighing with relief, Finn dropped his hands down from the grilled cheese to look to his friend. "Thanks. I guess if I'm gonna believe in something, I'm glad it's grilled cheese with you."

Passing back the plate to him, she gave a gentle smile in return. "I never thought I'd now look to a grilled cheese for help but... this is what life has come to. And, you know, if he really listens like you say... I don't see how he could screw that prayer up. Except no one is ever going to understand this... like ever. You do realize that?"

"Yeah," Finn sighed. But the thought came to mind that he didn't care if he sounded crazy or no one understood. At least now he could look at a grilled cheese and know that no matter what guilt hung over his head, he had a friend like Lavender to back him up. He debated placing the grilled cheese back into his now smelly locker but with one quick glance to Lavender, he knew he could let it go. Walking alongside her, they found the nearest trashcan and tossed in Grilled Cheesus with a clearer conscious. He couldn't make everything right or get all the things he wanted, but Finn knew that whatever it took, grilled cheese would keep a friendship that really mattered to him together. Now it was up to him to be there for her just as she was for him.