"Ow, Finn! That's my hair!"

"Oh shit, sorry!" Finn lifted himself away from Rachel, half-laughing. "I didn't even realize. I thought I was grabbing pillow or something."

Rachel pulled herself up into a sitting position. She softly rubbed the tender spot on her head, and smiled a little though she wasn't really happy. "It's alright." Finn leaned in again, but Rachel gently stopped him. "But I think the mood has been lost.. at least for me."

"Oh," Finn couldn't hide the disappointment in his eyes, but he smiled at her anyway. "Well, that's okay. We can just watch a movie or something."

Rachel glanced above his head and caught the numbers on her alarm clock. "As much as I would love to snuggle up with you while watching Rent, I promised Mercedes and Kurt that I would meet them this afternoon." Rachel slid off the bed, tugging the front of her shirt down over the waistband of her skirt.

Finn frowned. "I thought we had plans."

"Um, well we didn't exactly plan anything. You just said you wanted to hang out but I had already made these plans." She picked up the brush on her dresser, and started running it through her hair. Her eyes flicked to Finn in the reflection of her mirror. "Is that okay?"

"Well, yeah. Of course it is. What are you going to do?"

"We're just going to the mall," she shrugged as she pulled the ends of hair under, adding a little volume. "Do you want to come?"

"No, that's okay," Finn sat up and stretched. He swung his legs over the side and bent down to retrieve his shoes. "I'll just call Sam. See if he wants to go to the park or something."

Rachel smiled. As much as she hated to admit it, she didn't really want Finn to come. They had been spending so much time together since school broke for the summer it was starting to become a little too much. Rachel hadn't realized that while her and Finn were broken up she had found other people to spend time with. Mostly Mercedes and Kurt, but she saw Brittany once in a while and helped Tina and Mike babysit once or twice. Now that Finn was back in her life, for the first time Rachel was having to learn how to juggle between friends and a boyfriend.

"That's nice. I bet Sam would love the distraction. Any news yet on his dad's job hunting?"

"Nah," Finn shook his head, tying the second shoe. "He's still looking, and last I heard he's only been getting interviews, no offers."

"That's really a shame." Rachel sighed, placing the brush back in its place on her dresser. "I was hoping for Sam and his family that they'd get some good news this summer."

"I'm sure they will. Summer's just getting started." Finn grinned up at her, and Rachel smiled back. She watched him straighten himself out as he stood from her bed. It was kind of amazing to her how quickly Finn and Sam started bonding since neither of them were perusing Quinn anymore. Of course, it wouldn't have happened so quickly if Rachel hadn't pointed out to Finn that Sam was one of the most forgiving people she'd ever met, and that Finn would be missing out if he didn't try to reconcile things. They still were competitive but at least they both tried to be less hurtful about it.

Finn moved around the bed and made his way towards her. Rachel smiled as he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "So I'll see you later?" He leaned against the dresser, his arm brushing her brush enough to move it a few inches over from where it was. He didn't notice, but Rachel did, and she fought the urge to fix it immediately. She didn't want to seem crazy in front of him. Not anymore.

"Yeah. I'll call you when I'm done at the mall and see where you are. We're still having pizza at your house tonight with everyone else, right?"

"Yup!" Finn grinned again, placing one more kiss on her lips before walking out of her bedroom door. "Have fun, and tell Kurt it's his turn to do the dishes later."

Rachel laughed, knowing already what Kurt's response would be. "Will do. Tell Sam I said hi."

"Oh, and Rachel?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too." Rachel couldn't stop the grin spreading on her face as she watched Finn disappear down the hall. Then she sighed and sat back on her bed. When he was gone, when it was quiet, and when there were no distractions Rachel found it hard to fight against the doubts in her head. She knew she loved Finn. That had never changed. But she couldn't deny the feeling that something had changed. She just couldn't figure out what it was.

Kissing Finn even felt different. They had been trying to get things back the way they were before. The intense, whirlwind feeling of being together. They had always had a roller coaster relationship. It was something Rachel figured – after endless discussions with Kurt about it – that it was a part of the attraction. But they were having hard time finding that spark again. It was frustrating for Rachel. She finally had Finn all to herself, and yet she couldn't get her body to catch up with her head.

Finn, for the most part, seemed oblivious to the torment she was going through. He would tell her he didn't mind taking things slow, that he was just happy that they were together. But Rachel knew better. There were things neither of them were willing to discuss yet for fear of creating another reason to end the relationship before it had even really started.

As Rachel pulled herself up from the bed and grabbed her purse, she wondered just how long that was going to last.

•••

"Hello? Earth to Rachel Berry."

"Huh? Oh sorry, what were you saying?"

Rachel blinked up into the face of a slightly annoyed Kurt, his perfect eyebrows arched up. He sighed and extended his arms out towards her. Each hand held a hanger, and from each hanger held a full outfit.

"I was asking you which would you think I should buy for my date this weekend with Blaine. I was thinking of going with the navy blue because let's face it, I look damn good in it but then I saw this mauve and I thought to myself that I- Rachel, are you blacking out again?"

"What? No, I'm listening!"

Mercedes laughed behind her. "You were not! Whats going on with you? Your head has been in the clouds all afternoon." She waved a bright neon shirt in front of Kurt and he nodded in appreciation.

Rachel sighed, not having picked out anything new for her wardrobe since they got to the mall an hour ago. "I don't know. I can't seem to get my mind to relax."

"Why, what's wrong?"

Kurt held up his hands. "Wait! Before we dive into this, which one?"

Rachel and Mercedes cast each other a glance before both pointing to the navy blue. Kurt, smiling and finally satisfied, left the other outfit on a nearby rack and tucked the one for keeps over his arm. "Okay. Now, what were we saying?"

"That I'm an idiot." Rachel turned and started to walk towards the cash register.

"Whoa, whoa, what? What happened?" Kurt asked, following quickly on her heels with Mercedes behind them.

"It's not what happened, but what didn't happen. Ever since Finn and I got back together, well, things haven't felt right. I don't know what's wrong with me."

"What makes you think anything is wrong with you?" Mercedes asked, coming up on Rachel's side.

"Why wouldn't it be? I mean, I finally have a chance to really be with Finn and it's just... I don't know, weird or something."

Kurt laid his items on the counter, smiling briefly at the girl behind the register before turning his attention to the girls. "Maybe you're still getting used to being together."

"Yeah, you and Finn got back together really quickly." Mercedes decided not to say how quickly even though everyone in the club had been thinking the same thing. After all, they were all still friends with Quinn, too.

"I know. I just wish I didn't feel so unsure." Rachel bit the corner of her lip, thinking.

"What does Finn say about it?" Kurt asked.

"Not much. He just says he's fine with taking things slow."

"Buuuuut that's not what you want?"

"Going slow is fine, but I was just expecting more... more..."

"More what?" Mercedes and Kurt asked at the same time.

"More fireworks, I guess." Rachel hated that she still thought about that moment. She never shared it with anyone. Not even to Kurt, who was the closest thing to a best friend Rachel had ever had. It was too humiliating and hurtful to share.

Kurt nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe you're putting too much on it. Just let things happen naturally."

It's not what she wanted to hear, but she smiled and nodded anyway. A part of her knew Kurt was right, that she had a tendency to push too hard for things. She still couldn't shake the feeling that it was more than that though.

"I'm hungry," she announced, wanting to change the subject. "Anyone else ready to get pizza and meet up with everyone else?" Rachel reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. She didn't notice Mercedes stiffen next to her.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I'll call Blaine and start working on the phone tree."

"The phone tree?" Rachel laughed, hooking her arm through Mercedes' as they walked out of the store. Mercedes playfully rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Kurt actually made a phone tree for things like this. He said it seemed more efficient." Mercedes cast a playful glare at Rachel. "I think you're rubbing off on him."

As the trio joked there way out of the parking lot, Rachel's phone beeped softly at her. She looked down at the screen and opened the New Message alert.

Hey Berry, we still having pizza or what?

Rachel grinned, and leaned against the car door as the other two were already climbing in, throwing their bags in the backseat.

Yes, we are. You still coming?

When have I ever passed up pizza?

I guess never to my knowledge, lol. So I'll see you there?

Duh. I'll be there.

Okay. See you soon then.

Yeah... See you, Berry.

Rachel, still grinning as she slipped into the backseat of the car, decided to not pay attention to the familiar feeling of butterflies against her stomach.

A/N: Thanks for the support so far! Please continue to review whether you like it or not. Any kind of feedback helps!

Shadowkitty22: The reference to the movie is more based on Finn, being the popular kid, and Rachel, seeing herself as the outcast. While Finn is no where near as rebellious as Landon, or Puck for that matter, Rachel still is going to see him being in the male lead of any movie she relates to because she naturally sees herself in the female lead. Lauren is speaking from Rachel's perspective rather than actually comparing them to the characters of the movie. Hopefully that clears it up!