Early in the month of April, in the midst of a new spring, the owner of the newest and most popular restaurant in town went into the local college's library. He had recently hung out with the most wonderful woman whom he had fallen in love with. The only thing was she was his best friend. He had known her for his entire life. Finn had helped Rachel through breakups and the loss of family members. Rachel had been with Finn when he had adopted his dog, Lucas. They had been each other's first kiss when they were kids. He was nine and she was six, almost seven. He doubted that she remembered that but it was burned into his brain.
Finn was walking into the library to pick her up from her shift so that they could go and get dinner. Every week, they set aside at Rachelst one night for the two of them to hang out and just be together. It was getting harder with his demanding schedule at The Shell and her schedule as a full-time college student and part-time librarian. That night, they were going to pick up take-out from The Shell and go and watch a movie on his couch. It had been one of their traditions they had carried on with since childhood.
It was becoming hard for Finn to keep his feelings to himself. He had been in love with Rachel since he was a senior in high school and she was a sophomore. They could have started dating back then but she had been secretly dating a guy Finn had problems with. John was a complete tool in high school. He thought that he ruled the school, even though there were only a couple of people who actually knew his name. John was very dramatic and a great singer, but he was a jerk. Finn thought that Rachel would come to her senses when he talked to her about him, but she was in full-on crush mode. Nothing could touch John. He was on a pedestal above all of the other boys, including Finn. After Rachel caught John cheating on her, he didn't last a whole lot longer.
There were so many things running through Finn's mind that he didn't notice he had walked up to the librarian's desk in the library.
"Hey Cor. Give me one minute; I have to go clock out and get my stuff. I'll be right back," Rachel greeted. Finn nodded his head in agreement. There was a little boy who was sitting near by looking at a picture book. He made his way over to Finn and pulled on the tall man's pant leg to get his attention.
"Is the librarian your wife? Because she is my favorite librarian. She gives us all cookies when she reads to us," the little boy informed the large man. Finn was about to answer when he felt Rachel next to him.
"Hi Sam. Oh I love The Hungry Caterpillar. It's my favorite. Well we have to get going. I'll see you later Sam. Bye!" Rachel beamed.
Making their way to Finn's car, Rachel was talking about a child she had helped earlier that day. Finn was not listening as well as he should have been.
"Finn? Hello? Anyone in there?" Rachel joked.
"What? I'm sorry Rachel, I was just thinking about some stuff," he replied. He really was thinking about stuff. He was mulling over the question that had been in the back of his mind since his senior year in high school.
"What were you thinking about?" Rachel questioned, "Is there something bothering you?"
Well yes, there was something bothering him, but it wasn't like he could talk about his girl problems to his best friend that he was in love with.
"Well, there's this girl," Finn started.
"It always seems that way with you," Rachel quipped. Finn chuckled.
"The thing is I've known her for so long. I don't want to ruin our entire relationship if I ask her out. I've kind of been in love with her for a long time. She is the most gorgeous, genuine, amazing person. I need her in my life," he rambled. Finn had noticed at this point Rachel was starting to look discouraged. He continued, "She's my best friend. I've known her since I was three years old and I need to know if she feels the same way about me," she had tears silently streaming down her face.
"You know I love you too. I always have," Rachel confessed. And the rest is history.