Hey there! I know the last thing I should do is start another story, but I couldn't resist. This story will be a lot of different drabbles of all the pairings of Glee! Set to songs that I hear and deem story-worthy or that YOU GUYS (the readers) suggest to me! And, if you so wish, you tell me what couple it be set to. These will be in no chronological order, and each is its own independent story.

Don't forget to review and suggest songs/pairings to me. Thanks for reading!

Pairing: Rachel/Finn (Finchel)

Song: "The Night Before (Life Goes On)" by Carrie Underwood

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee

"Sitting up on the roof, sneaking a smoke by the chimney, checking out the moon and the city lights. He takes off his flannel shirt, and he drapes it around her shoulders, slides up behind her and holds on tight."

Rachel stared out across the field from her spot on the roof of Finn's house. She ran her fingers over the rough shingles of the roof while Finn played with the fray of his jeans.

The breeze picked up, and Rachel's hair blew in front of her face, and a few strands stuck to her tear-streaked cheeks. She shivered, more in the realization of their situation as compared to the cold.

Finn stared at the moon. He and Rachel had been sitting out here since barely past dusk, when the moon started rising, and now the moon was high in the sky, casting an eerie glow over the small field behind his house.

From beside him, he felt Rachel shiver as the wind picked up. Wordlessly, he pulled his flannel plaid shirt and draped it over Rachel's shoulders as he sat behind her, pulling her into his lap.

Rachel curled into the warmth that was Finn and intertwined their fingers, playing with the hem of his white t-shirt.

"And she says, 'I don't want this night to end…Why does it have to end?' Tomorrow she'll be rolling down I-10, Baton Rouge, LSU, 18 years in her rearview."

"Finn," she whispered, trying to control the emotion in her voice.

"Yeah?" he replied softly, his voice low and raw. These were the first words spoken since they had arrived up here.

"I don't want to leave this," she whimpered. Finn tightened his grip on the small brunette.

"I know," he whispered into her hair. "But this is what you want – no, scratch that – need to do, Rach. You and Kurt and Blaine are going to board that plane to New York tomorrow morning and seal the deal. You three cannot and will not ever be Lima Losers. Ever. Not after Julliard and NYU. It's impossible." Finn sighed as his lecture drew to a close.

Rachel was speechless in his arms. Tears still fell down her cheeks.

"He's got a Friday paycheck lined up down the block at daddy's shop. It ain't much but it's a job. They've been dreading this moment all summer long… The night before life goes on."

"Finn, I don't want to leave," she said again. "I don't want to leave you,"

"Babe, I'm staying here to go to Ohio State and work with Burt at the car shop. I have a full ride scholarship, and I'm saving my paychecks. Just for a year, then I should have enough to head out to New York with you," Finn heard the crack in his own voice.

"I never wanted this day to come," Rachel's voice was almost inaudible, but still dripping with emotion.

"Me either, Rach. But we both knew it was coming." Finn nuzzled Rachel's neck softly, breathing in her comforting scrent. Vanilla mixed with coconut, and add to that the faint smell of smoke from the glee club bonfire earlier that evening. This was the scent he'd remember for an entire year while she was gone.

"Since graduation. We knew it was coming for that long," she whispered.

"A tear falls off her cheek and right when it hits his arm he says, 'Come on baby, let's get outta here.' They take one last drive around town, and man it already looks different. He bangs the wheel and says, 'life ain't fair. And this growing up stuff man I don't know…I just don't wanna let you go.'"

Rachel had been trying to keep Finn from knowing she was crying, and had been succeeding so far.

Finn felt something hit his arm, but didn't see any rain clouds. "Rach? Are you crying?" he asked gently. Deciding not to fight it anymore, Rachel sniffed lightly before nodded. Finn's grip became almost crushing as he held her closer, tighter. He wanted to protect from anything and everything that could ever go wrong.

"Let's go walking," he suggested quietly. He stood and helped Rachel stand as well. She nodded wordlessly. They climbed down to the ground, and Finn wrapped a protective arm around Rachel's waist as they walked.

They just wandered the small town of Lima, passing playgrounds, restaurants, and schools. Rachel shook her head. "I can't believe that I've lived here my entire life, and I'm leaving," she stopped in front of the elementary school.

"This used to be my favorite place ever," Finn whispered in the darkness of night. "Now it just looks so…small and it seems like forever ago that I found refuge here," he chuckled.

"Really?" Rachel's sweet voice was louder than it was a few minutes ago, and Finn hoped that was a good thing. "Why?"

"I used to come out here with Puck and Mike to that field. It seemed so big to us at the time, and we'd pretend we were professional football players. And I remember coming out here the day my dad died," Finn sighed. "I sat in the tube slide and cried my fucking eyes out," he laughed humorlessly.

"And I came to ask you what was wrong," Rachel spoke up, sounding dazed.

"Exactly. That's when I first met you, Rachel Berry," Finn murmured affectionately, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "You never did tell me why you were there that day," he realized. "It was a Sunday afternoon, and you came to the park alone. Why?"

Rachel sighed. "My dads had been fighting and that was where I normally went to get away," she nearly whispered. Finn hugged her.

"I wish we could go back. Not grow up. Just stay eight years old. Where everything could be fixed with a cookie, a hug from a parent, and crying your eyes out in a slide. It's not fair anymore," Finn sighed. He felt Rachel rubbing his back.

"I know," she replied, her voice cracking.

"I don't want you to go," Finn said the same time Rachel said, "I don't wanna go." the two turned toward each other, and Finn enveloped her in a huge hug as he carried her to the tube slide, where they squeezed into the small playscape, and sat there for the longest time, talking and crying, until the moon set and the sun began to rise.

"Yeah that's what my momma told me, and just like those kids, I didn't wanna listen to no one. Yeah there's nothing you can do, there's nothing you can say. And I know how it feels… when love goes away."

"The day's going to come," Carole told Finn gently. "You can't avoid it. She's going to leave, and you're going to stay here. Because that's just the way things had to work out. Finn, you can't ignore me now. You can't shut her out all summer because you don't want to see her leave. If anything, spend every waking moment with her, so it will make up for all the time you'll be apart." Carole rubbed Finn's back gently as he laid on his stomach on his bed. Finn shook his head.

"I can't. I can't do this, Mom. She means the world to me, I love her." his voice cracked.

"Then show her. You need to show her, so she knows that you'll do everything to get to her as soon as you can." Carole replied quietly.

So here he was, 7:30 A.M., at the airport. Watching as the small brunette cried into her fathers' shoulders. Kurt hugged Finn tightly, surprising even Finn with the strength, and Blaine even gave him a light hug before he took Kurt's hand and they headed toward security.

Then the brown eyes turned to him, and he watched as her beautiful eyes filled with tears. Suddenly, she was in his arms again, crying into his shoulder. Finn sat down on a bench, whispering in her ear, "I'm coming too. Just not now. You know I love you. I have no other words for you. I just have to say it again and again. I love you. I love you. I love you. It hurts so bad to see you leave, but I'm coming to you. I promise." he pulled away and looked at Rachel.

"I want you, Rachel Berry, to go take New York by storm with my step-brother and his boyfriend. I want you three to be running that city by the time I get there. Go sign your name with your little gold stars, go sing on the stages, everything. Understand?" Finn rasped, pressing his lips to hers.

"I understand," she sobbed back with a smile. With one more hug, he stood and squeezed her hand before letting go and watching her walk to security. She looked over her shoulder one more time before stepping through the scanner and meeting Kurt and Blaine on the other side. Finn watched as they walked until they blended into the crowd and he couldn't see her anymore. Then he turned and walked away, bracing himself for the longest year of his life.