Merry Christmas everyone! I'm in the middle of writing an angsty Finchel Christmassy fic, so I felt the need for some major fluff. The idea for this oneshot came to me when I was at the German market in Birmingham over Christmas and it just wouldn't go away!
I'm planning to write an M-rated sequel to this if I get enough reviews :D
By the way, obviously Finchel are together in this fic - I'm just completely disregarding the sexlies for the purposes of this story.
I hope you enjoy this; it was a lot of fun to write!
Disclaimer: You really think I'd be making everyone's lives a misery of broken-up Finchel if I owned glee?
Rachel tugged on the sleeve of Finn's jacket as they drove along.
"Please, please, pleeeeeease tell me where you're taking me," she pleaded, pulling out her cute pout for extra effect.
"Nope. It's a surprise," Finn told her, making sure he didn't fall into the trap of looking into her puppy-dog eyes. It was hard enough to resist her anyway.
"But I don't like surprises, Finn," she whined.
He chuckled. "Only because it means you don't get to know everything."
She punched him playfully on the arm, not bothering to deny it.
"I think you'll like this surprise very much," he said mysteriously as he took his hand from her lap where it was entwined with hers and put it back on the steering wheel.
"It's my birthday, Finn. I have a right to know," she begged.
"Shhh, you'll find out in a minute, Rach, now close your eyes, we're nearly there."
"No way am I closing my eyes, Finn Hudson, I want to know where we're going. You have to at least let me see the road so I can make an educated guess at our destination. I can't bear any more suspense. What if I die from the anticipation and you never get to tell me the surprise? You'll spend your whole life wracked with grief and guilt because you killed me by making me wait!"
Finn's grin spread from ear to ear at his tiny girlfriend's dramatic spiel. He knew just what to say.
"I'll make out with you later," he whispered persuasively.
"Fine," She huffed, sighed at her own lack of self-control when it came to this gorgeous boy and closed her eyes. "But you'd better make sure you keep that promise."
"Don't worry, I will."
The seductiveness in his voice almost made her eyes fly open again. She yearned to see the look on his face and the passion in his eyes but forced herself to forgo the temptation.
"I don't agree with blackmail, Finn," she told him in a last ditch attempt to make him change his mind.
Finn was glad Rachel had her eyes closed because he was sure he would be in for another lecture if she could see how hard he was trying not to laugh. His girlfriend was too adorable for words.
"Fiiiiiiin," she whined, elongating his name.
"Raaaaach," he returned, smiling even wider.
"Finn, this is ridiculously immature," she complained, but he could see her face threatening to break out into a grin.
"Aww, c'mon Rach, we're only about 5 minutes away now, and I promise it'll all be worth it." Finn's smile grew as he imagined Rachel when she saw what he had planned.
"It won't if I refuse to speak to you. In fact, that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm not going to speak to you until you tell me and that's final." Rachel told him.
Finn began counting the seconds under his breath. He had barely reached a minute when Rachel's voice broke the silence.
"Tell me, tell me, tell me," she chanted.
Finn burst out laughing "Okay, okay, we're here."
Rachel opened her eyes, narrowing them again as she saw him laughing.
"Are you laughing at me, Finn Hudson?"
"You're just so amazingly adorable," he answered, leaning in to kiss her gently. Rachel grabbed Finn's face, pulling it towards her passionately and running her hands through his hair. Finn was just getting really into the kiss when Rachel pulled back and opened the truck door.
"Now, what's my surprise?" she asked.
Finn's momentary disappointment at her ending of the kiss vanished and he hopped out the car, practically dragging her out of the truck in excitement.
He took her hand and led her down the road where they were parked onto a main road filled with bright multi-coloured lights and small wooden kiosks, snaking down the road to a gigantic Christmas tree, covered in twinkling lights.
"It's a touring market." Finn explained. "I know you don't celebrate Christmas but I thought you'd like looking at all the stalls and maybe we could go ice-skating after I've taken you to dinner in the brand new fancy vegan restaurant just down the road."
Rachel's brown eyes shone almost as brightly as the lights as she covered her mouth with a single gloved hand.
"Oh, Finn," she breathed out.
"Is it okay?" he asked, a little nervously.
"It's perfect," she replied, leaning up to give him a sweet kiss.
Finn grinned. "Okay, the restaurant is booked for 7.30, so that gives us about an hour and a half to look around."
Rachel grabbed Finn's arm and pulled him towards the nearest stall, brimming with excitement.
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"Oh, look, Finn; a hot chocolate stall! Let's go and get some," Rachel pointed, her eyes sparkling.
"I thought you didn't drink hot chocolate?" he asked, confused.
"Well, I don't usually because it contains milk and is obviously very unhealthy, but I think tonight I might indulge in a little lapse in my otherwise extremely strict diet."
They bought the drinks and went to sit on a small wall outside a shop, Finn carrying a large chocolate-marshmallow kebab which he had insisted on buying.
"Happy 16th Birthday, babe," Finn said, raising his cup in a toast.
Rachel raised hers in return, smiling so widely her face hurt.
"Happy Birthday to me. And thank you so much, my wonderful boyfriend Finn, for making it easily the best birthday of my life."
"We haven't even done everything yet," he laughed playfully, taking a sip of his hot chocolate.
Rachel giggled. "You have a chocolatey moustache, Finn," she said, wiping her thumb across his upper lip.
"You know that you can kiss me if you want to," he murmured; her action giving him a sudden flashback to that day in the auditorium.
"You stole my line. But, for the record, I want to," Rachel whispered, leaning towards him and planting a gentle kiss on his lips before running her tongue over his upper lip where her thumb had been. His tongue crept out to join hers, dancing together in a familiar pattern.
The kiss grew more and more passionate until they both jumped, abruptly pulling back as both of their drinks were knocked off the wall.
"Oops, I think we got a bit carried away there," Finn laughed, seeing a few people trying not to stare.
Rachel just giggled again and hopped off the wall to put the cups in the bin, returning to find Finn attempting to eat his chocolate-marshmallow kebab neatly, without much success. Chocolate sauce covered the area around his mouth and dripped down his chin.
"Want some, Rach?" he offered, holding the stick out to her.
She leaned forward to take a small bite, misjudging it slightly and ending up with a small blob of sauce on her nose. She licked her lips at the taste of the warm marshmallow, watching Finn do the same as he finished the kebab.
"Want some help with that?" Rachel asked suggestively, nodding at Finn's face.
"Yeah, I'm feeling a little saucy," he returned, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Finn Hudson, that was an absolutely abysmal attempt at a joke!" Rachel said, trying to keep back her own crazy grin as she ran her tongue down his chin and around his mouth, cleaning off the chocolate sauce before thrusting her tongue into his mouth once more.
When oxygen became absolutely vital, they pulled back to find several people staring at them again, having just witnessed their intense makeout session on a very public brick wall on the high street.
Finn shook his head slightly to clear it, and then slid off the wall.
"Come on, Rach, we'd better get to that restaurant."
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Rachel gasped and dropped her fork into her falafel salad as the lights dimmed in the restaurant and the music from the wall-speakers stopped playing.
"What's going on? Is there a powercut?" she asked, concerned. She could just make out Finn's face, next to her and he seemed to be smiling.
"Just wait," he told her at the same moment that a waiter exited the kitchen, walking towards their table with a platter in his hand.
As he drew nearer, 'Faithfully' began to play out of the speakers. Rachel began to put the pieces together as the waiter stopped and set the platter down on the table, revealing a large cake which said 'Happy 16th Birthday, Rachel Barbra Berry. I'm forever yours, faithfully' in curly pink icing.
The lights rose and the waiter left the table, people began talking again and Rachel Barbra Berry jumped on Finn Hudson, kissing him senseless.
"I can't believe you did all this for me," she said tearfully.
"Well, you're worth it, Rachel. I wanted you to know just how much I love you. And I don't think doing this even comes close to representing it." Finn swallowed. "And I know you've only just turned sixteen but I wanted to give you this." He pulled out of his pocket a small blue box and opened it to reveal a ring.
"I want to marry you someday Rach. I'm going to follow you to New York and you're going to be a star on Broadway and I'm going to be there watching every show you ever do. I'm not asking you to marry me now, but I just wanted to give you this as a promise that I'll always love you."
The tears in Rachel's eyes overflowed and she held her left hand out, letting Finn slide the ring onto her ring finger.
"I love you," she whispered, capturing his lips again in a kiss which said everything about the feelings she couldn't (for once) articulate in words.
"I love you, too," Finn told her. "Now, can I -?"
"Yes, Finn, you can have as much of the cake as you want, as long as you don't make yourself sick," Rachel cut him off, smiling, knowing exactly what his question was going to be.
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As they exited the restaurant, snow began to fall softly. Rachel pulled her coat around her and cuddled closer to Finn.
"You know what, let's forget skating. I think maybe we should go back to my house. It's a long drive back; the snow's probably going to fall harder and I don't want us getting stuck here," she said.
His smile faltered for a second as she suggested returning home, but brightened when he remembered that they still had a forty-five minute drive to enjoy together.
"Sure, Rach. Whatever you want."
Rachel breathed a small sigh of relief. Thank goodness Finn hadn't seen her real intentions through the flimsy excuses to get him back to her house. Of course, it helped that he didn't know that her dads were both out of town for the night.
He smiled at her for a second before picking her up, twirling her round in the snowy street. Rachel threw back her head, laughing gleefully as she revelled in the perfect moment.
She held his hand happily back to the truck and didn't let go the whole way back as they sang along to a CD he'd made of all the songs they'd sang in glee club.
The closer they got to Rachel's house, the more nervous she got. Finn pulled onto her drive and she felt the butterflies in her stomach fluttering around madly.
"What's the matter, Rach?" he asked, concern evident in his cinnamon eyes. He leaned forward to kiss her and as soon as their lips touched, her nerves vanished, being replaced at once with a powerful hunger which reminded her why she had told Finn to come back to her house.
"My dad's aren't home tonight…" Rachel whispered, trailing kisses along his jawline, "…so I thought maybe you'd like to stay so I could say a proper thank you for this wonderful birthday," she finished, hearing his breath hitch for a second at her suggestion.
Finn responded by climbing into her seat and opening the door, causing both of them to tumble out, landing unsteadily on the concrete. He slammed the truck door shut and scooped her up, bridal style, carrying her up to the porch.
Rachel pulled the front door key out of her handbag and opened the door. She looked up and Finn followed her gaze.
"Mistletoe," she smiled, locking her lips firmly and passionately back onto his and pulling him inside, slamming the front door behind them with her foot.
Rachel had a feeling her birthday was about to become even more special.
So, what did you think? Too fluffy? Too short? Too long? Want more? You know what to do :) Just click that little blue button down there.
Thanks for reading!
