If you asked anyone what Rachel Berry would do with her life, the answer would come to their lips in a second.

"Singer."

"Performer."

"Actress."

And from them all, "Drama Queen."

Rachel was proud of her accomplishments in high school. She was, no doubt about it, the best singer in her school. She got all of the solos in Glee club, she was offered the lead in the school musicals. There was always the pang of discomfort in the back of her mind—her reputation. Everyone hated her, and she knew it. She was known as a goody-two shoes. An annoying little brat. The pompous bitch who steals all of the solos. And the one she hated the most—Finn's girlfriend. The other names were cruel, but she knew how to deal with cruel. Finn's girlfriend, however, was just unfathomable. She hated the idea of belonging to someone. She was independent. She was her own woman, and no one could tell her otherwise. She had gotten where she was in life on her own.

Junior year, Rachel and Finn were still going strong, despite the names she was called. But one Friday, things changed.

"Wait up!" Finn called from a bit down the hall.

"Hey," Rachel smiled at her boyfriend when he caught up.

"Do you wanna go out tonight? Like to a nice restaurant or something?"

"You never take me out on dates."

"Exactly. You deserve better. Do you wanna go to Breadsticks?"

"Oh my God, Finn, really? That is so sweet!" she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly.

"I love you, Rach."

"I…I love you too," she said, her eyes searching his.

"I'll pick you up at eight?" he asked. She nodded as he kissed her on the cheek and quickly rounded the corner to his next class. The hours seemed to drag by for the both of them, both excitedly awaiting the first nice, official date they'd been on in a while. Finally, it was eight, and Rachel was sitting at the piano, sight-reading out of a new Disney music book her dads had bought for her. The doorbell rang, and she jumped up to open the door.

"You look gorgeous," he greeted her with a peck on the lips.

"You don't look too bad yourself," she replied, beaming.

"Ready to go?"

"Yup, let's go! I'm going out!" she called to her dads as they stepped out the door. Finn opened the car door for her, pulled out her chair for her, and assured her that he would be paying the bill when they got to the restaurant. Half way through the meal, Finn reached into his pocket and pulled something out.

"Rachel, I love you."

"I love you too, Finn," she replied.

"I love you, and I care for you so much," he continued. "I want you to know that I will never, ever purposely hurt you, and I will never abandon you. I love you, Rachel Berry. I want to be with you for the rest of our lives, if you'll have me. But that seems too far into the future. I love you, and I want you to know that I will always be true to you, and I'll respect your wishes about sex. I promise, I promise that I will always respect you, always love you, and always wait for you. Will you wait for me?" He swallowed hard when he finished his speech. Her eyes widened. She wasn't ready for this—she didn't want to be tied down. Sure, she loved Finn, but she still had her whole career ahead of her. What if she needed to travel to England for an incredibly important job opportunity when they were twenty-six and they were already married and had children? She couldn't move the whole family to England for months, but she couldn't be away from her children and husband for that long!

"Finn, I don't know what to say," she hesitated. "I need to be my own person. My independence is so important to me, and settling before my career has taken off…It's risky. Don't get me wrong, I love you, but will that be enough?"

"I can join you on stage. We'll duet! We have experience with that!" he said desperately.

"Then how will we ever be able to have a family with us both on the road?"

"Rachel, please. Just take this ring! Please! It is our promise to each other that we will stay true to each other. Can you do that much? I love you!" he exclaimed. He paused to let this sink in, and she was silent. Finally, she held out her hand, and he slipped the ring onto her finger.

"It's beautiful, Finn. Thank you," she smiled as she examined it, and reached over to take his hand. She ignored any feelings of regret and doubt in her mind. He loved her. She loved him. That had to be enough.