#monbrev

It didn't turn out to be a very busy day, the lack of customers made for little work for Finn to actually do so when the sultry brunette showed up Finn had little trouble arranging for his break with the manager on duty.  Greeting her with a polite hug and kiss on the cheek, her body language suggested there was something serious going on.  "Hey E, is everything alright?"

"Not exactly, no.  Can you talk for a few minutes?"  Finn nodded, leading her to the employee break room which was, thankfully, unoccupied for the moment.  They sat down at the round lunch table, and with his elbows propped up on the table surface he stared at her.  "Okay, what's wrong?"

"In a word, Hudson, it's you."

"Me?  What did I do?"

"You ever sat back and realized you're surrounded by chicks?  Think about it.  Me.  Your best friend.  The ex you're living with now.  The other ex who was in Los Angeles and just moved back home.  And didn't you tell me you have history with the maid of honor at the Brittana wedding?"  Finn scratched his head, still not sure what the point of all of this was.  But deciding to play along, he nodded.  "You've got wall to wall girls around you.  Don't you have any guy friends?"

Finn smirked again, but it soon vanished as a lightbulb went off over his head.  "So what are you saying, you're jealous?  E, I thought we weren't supposed to be anything serious.  Hell, you're the one who keeps labeling us just friends anyways."  Erica reached over and put her hand on top of Finn's, struggling not to burst out laughing.  "Oh honey, no.  That's not the point of this at all.  You know you're the closest friend I've got in this city, and you're not even that bad in bed." She smirks back, licking her lips with a tease. "But no, I'm not jealous.  What I am though, is worried.  I'm worried that you're in so deep and you don't even recognize it."  Giving her a shrug, Finn leaned back in the chair more confused than ever.  "Okay, you aren't jealous.  But what do you mean I'm in deep?"

"You really have no idea, do you?  You sat there back at New Year's and told me you thought you were getting some of those old feelings back for Rachel.  And now here you are, living with her in the same apartment.  Some people would call you a masochist, Finn.  Not to mention all the history you've got with Lopez, who you're helping to plan her wedding.  To say nothing of your other exes.  Face it, you're surrounded on all sides."

Rubbing his temple as she spoke, Finn shrugged again.  "I still don't really know what this is all supposed to mean, E.  You're worried about me for some reason... so what do you think I should do?"  It wasn't like he'd planned on moving into Rachel and Kurt's apartment, all of that had been one massive blur of events leading into the arrangement.  "I can't do anything about Rachel, she and Matt are really good together and as long as she's happy, that's good enough for me.  Santana's my best friend, I can't not help her with the wedding."  It wasn't clear what she was getting at, and Finn wanted clarity.

"I'm not here to tell you what to do about them, other than to really think long and hard about everything.  You're so confused you don't even know you're confused, Hudson.  The reason I'm here though..." Erica shifts in her seat slightly uncomfortable, which is the first time Finn's ever seen her like this.  She's always the confident, nearly cocky, one. "...is because I don't think we should be continuing this little arrangement we have anymore.  It's just making things even more confusing for you, and I'd rather see you able to know what you want without anything holding you back.  It's been fun, but we can't keep sleeping together."  Folding her hands into her lap, Erica watched as Finn rubbed his eyes with his hands.

"Um, so this is like a break-up even though we weren't dating?  We're not friends anymore?"

Shaking her head at him, a hand reached over to his own.  "Oh, you can't get rid of me that easily, Hudson.  It's not all or nothing.  Just because you can't get with this," a showy gesture back to herself had Finn cracking into a smile, "doesn't mean I'm gone-gone.  All it means is we're friends.  No benefits."  As Erica rose up out of her seat, Finn did likewise to match her.  She came around to give him a hug, squeezing him tightly as he breathed in.

"I still think you're overreacting to all of this, but I'm okay with it as long as we're still friends, E."  Taking her by the arm, they emerged from the employee lounge back into the store. "So I'll talk to you later?"  Erica patted Finn's arm.  "Sure, unless of course you'll let me use that employee discount here."