They were hand in hand as Finn drove them to their wedding. Rachel would glance at Finn every so often and smile at how cute he looked when he was focused, then she would look at their intertwined hands and then eventually, the ring on her finger. She then turned her attention back to the road. They stopped driving a few minutes later. She noticed they stopped at the train station. She looked at him confused. "Is this a joke cause we're going to be late?" He undid his seat belt and turned to face her. The words just tumbled out of him. "You're getting on the 4:15 train to New York" Rachel stared at him in disbelief. "Finn i-" He cut her off by taking her hands and squeezing them tightly. "Look at me, you're going to get on that train and you're going to be star where you belong." She dropped his hands as she went numb and felt gallons of tears sting her eyes, threatening to fall. She hesistated to reply. "What about you, please say your coming with me." Finn felt his heart start to break slowly, he didn't want to tell her about his plan. "No, Rach you're going alone" he said fighting to keep his voice steady. "But i can't, plus we're supposed to get married, and i still have a year to check out dorms." He looked at her with a serious face. "Then you sure you want to marry me right now, are you a hundred percent sure?" She took his hand, before speaking. "Finn, no-one is a hundred percent sure of anything" She breathed, trying to catch his gaze. He slowly slid his hand out of hers. She could see the hurt in his eyes, it made her heart break even more. Then she came to a horryifying realization. She spoke again this time determined to get an answer. "Finn, please tell me one thing." He looked at her, his brown eyes watering. "Are you breaking up with me?" Her voice wavering. He blinked back tears. "I'm setting you free." Then suddenly everything inside her broke. The tears that were building up were finally set free, running down her pink cheeks violently. It took everything in him to not tell her that he wanted to marry her, that he wanted to go with her, and be by her side through everything, but he knew that this was the best descision for them. After minutes of violent sobs, she looked into her eyes and spoke words out of sadness. "But i don't want to go anywhere without you, please let's get married and we can move to New York together, and live in a little shoe-box aprtment." Finn took in a shaky breath. "Rach please, don't you know how hard this is for me? How many nights i've spent crying about this?" He felt a tear roll down his cheek and mentally kicked himself because he was deperately trying to be strong for the both of them. "So, where are you going after I leave?" Rachel asked her voice hoarse. "Georgia." He looked at her only to see her burst into tears again. He knew that she knew what he was doing to do. "You're going to join the army?" she cried. "I can't believe this is happening right now." "I need to try and redeem my dad Rach." As she sobbed once again once more, he racked his brain for something comforting to say, when he found it. He lifted Rachel's head so she was looking his eyes. "Ok, here's what we're going to do, we're both going to surrender. I know this is difficult because you always hold on to things tightly, but if we surrender together, it will be easier, i promise." He paused before finishing. "And if we're meant to be together then the universe will do the work, all we have to do is be ready for what fate has prepared for us, alright?" She looked into his before nodding her head and whispering "Alright." Silence overcame them for ten minutes. "I love you so much" Rachel then whispered her voice breaking. "I love you too" He whispered in a gentle voice before taking her soft delicate cheeks and kissing her. He felt an illicit thrill while kissing her because it felt she wasn't even his anymore since he set her free. But in his heart he knew Rachel Barbra Berry would always be this no matter what. They both broke the kiss, and Finn got out of his car and unloaded Rachel's pink suitcase and handing it to her. He then took her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers as they walked up to the boarding station. Once in front of the train door, Rachel turned to Finn and kissed him once more with all the passion and love she had. Finn kissed her back relishing the moment only to have it broken by the loud whistle of the train. She then squeezed his hand one last time before climbing aboard. Once the train started moving her stomach churned as she looked out the window at Finn. The train then excellerated with speed and she saw that he was running alongside it. She put her hand to the window as he ran until the train was too fast. She then was his tall figure disappear. She turned away from the window and cried her eyes out while the lyrics of Roots Before Branches ran through her mind.
So many things to do and say, but I can't seem to find my way but I wanna know how,
I know I'm meant for something else, but first I gotta find myself but I don't know how.
Oh, why do I reach for the stars, when I don't have wings to carry me that far?
I gotta have roots before branches, to know who I am before I know who I wanna be, and faith.
To take chances, to live like I see,
a place in this world for me.