AN: It's took longer to update this than I had planned, you know how life is. Anyways, I thank you all for the response to this story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or anything else I mention in here.
ix.
The 'Finchel' pastry was a huge hit and business starts to boom higher than before. It comes to the point where Brittany actually has to leave town to help promote it, leaving the house to just him and her for a couple a days.
He's still not sure what to call their relationship. It's not that he doesn't want to label it; it's just that he wants to know that she feels that same way as he does. So he figures that the only way to really know is by taking her out on a date.
He doesn't want to ask her straight up, because that isn't romantic or cute at all. No, Rachel deserves to be asked out in a special way, especially since it's their first "official" date in two-and-a-half years.
He wakes up extra early to set up. He has it all pictured in his mind, Hope's going to be his private assistant, she'll wear a "follow me" sign and wait outside Rachel's bedroom until she wakes up. Then, Hope will lead her to kitchen, where he'll be waiting with flowers and two 'Finchel' pastries, one that has "yes" written on it with chocolate icing, and another with "no", which he'll intentionally burn. Then, when she's all confused as to what all of that's for, he'll give her a fancy speech, then he'll ask her out. It's going to be perfect, a much better invitation then texting (therefore pretty much forcing her to come) back during their junior year for their "work" date. He wonders how he's going to top their actual date, but he'll cross that bridge when he gets there.
His heart stops when he hears the door open. No. Rachel doesn't get up for another hour. There's no way that could be her. But he knows there's no way that could be Lord Tubbington. Shit. Okay, maybe if he could distract her. He grabs Lord Tubbington and covers him with chocolate; that should leave Rachel busy for at least thirty minutes. He ushers the cat out to where Rachel is with Hope. He sighs in relief, but his moment of relief becomes short lived when he hears the sound of the open. Oh no. With all the chaos going on, he totally forgot that the pastries where supposed to be taken out five minutes earlier than the set time. He quickly grabs an oven mitt, and just as he pulls it he out, he hears the sound of glass breaking, causing him to drop the dangerously hot pan on his foot.
"Fuck!"
He jumps from the pain, then limps over to the freezer to get some ice for his burning foot. When he turns around he sees a panicked Rachel, holding a bleeding Hope, and a no longer chocolate covered Lord Tubbington right behind her.
"What the hell happened Rachel?"
Her eyes grow angry and wide. With her free hand, she points angrily at him, then to the chocolate, then to Lord Tubbington, then to the living room, then to Hope.
"What? I don't understand!"
She exhales angrily, the pushes him out the door, grabbing his car keys and her Doodle Pro along the way.
By the time they're both in the car with the two cats, he asks her "Where in the world are we going?"
She starts crying as she writes: To the animal hospital! How could you not know that chocolate is toxic to animals? Lord Tubbington is as good as dying right now since he licked the chocolate off of him. When I tried to clean him, he hissed at me, which caused the vase to break and the glass cut into Hope's skin. So now not only is my baby bleeding to death, but if Lord Tubbington dies, Brittany is going to kill the both of us!
Fuck, fuck, fuck. How did he manage to blow everything up? Any idiot with know that you're supposed to give chocolate to pets. Brit can't get to mad at them right? Not when she's the one that wanted that cat to poop out candy bars. Who is he kidding? They have to get to the animal hospital stat. Even though his foot feels like hell, he drives way past the speeding limit, wishing that Hope doesn't die either.
She's crying rivers as he sits down next to him after checking the two in. He wonders for a moment if she's still mad at him before he takes her in his arms to console her.
"I'm so sorry Rach. I'm worried too." He tells her, gently wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Mr. Hudson?" a man, whom he assumes is the vet, asks about an hour later.
"Yes Doctor?" he replies, standing up.
"I am happy to report that Lord Tubbington is okay. We had to give him a small amount of hydrogen peroxide to help induce vomiting. However, if he continues to vomit, call us immediately. Now as for Hope, I was very concerned about. You see if the glass were to have hit her vain, she would have been a goner. Luckily, the cuts were very minor and did no internal damage. She is currently being bandaged up to hold in the antibiotic ointment we applied now that her bleeding has stopped. The two of them should be out in a couple of minutes."
"Thank you doctor." He says as he gives Rachel a tight hug, who is still crying, but now out of relief. The moment she saw Hope, she literally yanked her off the nurse and peppered her with kisses. He of course was ecstatic that the two of them very fine, although he was bummed out that his plan turned into deep shit.
Once they return home, Rachel immediately massages his foot with relieving cream and even kisses it when she's done. She then leads him to the kitchen, where everything is still a huge mess, and gestures for an explanation.
"I was baking." He says, not wanting to reveal what his intentions were. That answer doesn't satisfy her as she points to the flowers.
"Okay fine. I…" he stops, deciding to show her rather than tell her. He picks up the two burned pastries off the floor, and places them on a plate. Taking the icing with his right hand, he writes as neatly as he can "yes" on one pastry and "no" on the other one.
So maybe this isn't how he pictured it all to be. Life never goes as planned, that much as always been clear. So what if this isn't the most romantic way to be asked out on a date? The how doesn't matter as much as the why.
"Rach," he starts, taking both her hands in his, "I… You…" he hesitates for a moment on what to say. "Will you go on a date with me? Like a proper date. I know we go places together, like just the two of us, but I want to take you on a real date, because you deserve to. So what do you say? Yes?" he asks, removing his hands from hers as he picks up the "yes" pastry, "Or no?" he asks, holding the 'no' pastry in the other hand.
He watches her intently, looking back and forth between the two. He's terrified, knowing fully well that this could very much ruin their current relationship. He heart drops as she picks up both pastries and throws them in the trash can. He watches her pluck the petals of the flowers too, and that's when he knows that doesn't want to be with him like the way he had hoped. Whatever went on between them in the last few months meant nothing to her.
He leaves the kitchen, because he can't bear to see her. He sits down with Hope on the couch, finding consolation stroking her bandaged fur.
"Whatever happens between Mommy and Daddy, just remember that we both love you, okay?"
He hears someone laughing behind them, and wonders why Rachel has to make him feel worse than he already does. Apparently, this whole thing is funny to her. He ignores her as she walks up to him, instead looking down at Hope. She of course, just has to kneel right in front of him and pull his face up so that they're looking at each other, eye to eye.
She's still smiling as she forces him up and stands behind him, covering his eyes with her hands.
"What are you doing?" he asks bitterly, but makes no attempt to stop her. She answers with another giggle.
They stop and he knows they're in the kitchen based off the scent of the flowers that she plucked. Did she want to show him how she destroyed the flowers he meant for her?
When she releases her hands off his eyes he glares for a moment at the empty flower stems, but the moment he sees what she did with the petals his heart stops.
There, perfectly arranged on the kitchen island, are the flower petals forming her answer: of course
"Of course?" he asks.
She picks up her Doodle Pro and writes. Of course I'll go on a date with you! What did you think I was going to say? No? Finn, when did I ever tell you no? I don't think that's in my dictionary of words to say to you.
"But you threw away the 'yes' pastry!
Finn, you picked those off of the floor! No way am I going to eat something covered in germs and bacteria. As for the flowers? I thought it was a more romantic way to ask you! Besides, the petals could have one more than one purpose...
It only takes him a couple of seconds to realize what Rachel meant by "more than one purpose". Smirking, he lifts her off of the floor, and places her right on top of the petals. She laughs as he climbs right on top of her.
"So you really want to go on a date with me?" he asks one more time, his face an inch away from hers.
She answers him with a longing kiss that he returns back. The way she's kissing him alone makes him forget all those worries and doubts. She kisses him with such passion, that he knows that this is real.
These kisses are different than the ones that they shared since the first time he kissed here in the kitchen. They're much more intense, yet still so genuine. It's not only their lips they kiss, they kiss each other all over. He doesn't try to push her to go further though, because he knows she not ready and honestly neither is he. He wants to wait until after their date, because that's when he'll finally tell her that he loves her. For now, he's more than happy to be able to kiss her.
x.
"Mommy and I are going out on a date tonight, so I want you and Lord Tubbington on your best behavior, okay?" He tells Hope, who's just playing with her yarn of ball.
He hasn't seen Rachel all day, giving her time and space to get ready for their date. He's already dressed in his tux, and is just dying to see Rachel.
Seven o'clock on the dot she clears her throat. He turns around and drops his jaw at the sight of her. She's wearing a light beige short dress with a thin ruffle around her chest, perfectly commenting her cleavage, and a little bow to the side. Her hair was curled and down, and her makeup was perfectly applied.
He made a promise to her, the night before, that if she couldn't talk the entire date, then neither would he. That meant no forms of written or technical communication either. He hates that he can't even tell how beautiful she looks. So he tries to tell her by kissing her, sweetly, but not too much or else they'll end up staying there the whole night.
He takes her out to the beach. They never really had time to go to one back in New York, and the closet thing they have to a beach in Ohio was a lake. Being in business means you have connections, people who you can get to reserve an entire side of a beach for a date.
She takes his arm as they walk barefoot side-by-side along the shore, with the waves moving back and forth between their feet. Maybe wearing a tux wasn't such a good idea.
She looks tenderly at him when she sees the picnic blanket that he set up for tonight. Back in Ohio, they used to do this all the time right by the lake. Now, here by the ocean, where the moon and the stars shine brighter than ever.
After they have a toast with the airplane cups he finally found, they have a nice vegan dinner to the sound of Faithfully being played by a string quartet that he hired for this purpose alone.
He gets worried when she starts shivering. She didn't bring a coat and he didn't know it was going to be this cold out here. So he takes off his black tux and gives it to her, still having his white long sleeve to keep warm.
With their stomachs now filled and the quartet gone, it's just her and him, laying in each other's arms watching the night sky. He listens to her breathe in and out, and he knows that this is where he belongs, with her. Within time, they find themselves just staring at each other. She's never stared at him like this before, and he's never looked at her like that before neither. Suddenly, something overcomes him, and he knows she feels it too when her lips attack his.
They both can't hold it any longer. This is it, they're both ready, he could feel it. He starts to remove her clothes and she does the same with his. They're moments away from going all the way when she stops, only to rummage through bag to obtain the box of condoms Brittany gave them. It's as if Rachel knew they would be doing this.
As they make love, he tears up a little bit. He's reconnected with her, and being with her like this, means everything to him. He treasures the moans she makes, making some of his own as well. The emotions as quick to overcome the both of him.
He so in love with her. Everything she does, everything she is. So while they're cuddling he breaks his promise. "I love you."
She doesn't do anything in reply.
xi.
She gets a fever from the beach.
Mentally punching himself, he does everything to take care of her.
When she's still sick three days later, he takes her to the doctor.
He holds her hand the entire time, feeling her squeeze all the blood out of him as the doctor examines her mouth.
"Is this your boyfriend?" the doctor asks.
It's funny how they always find themselves in this scenario. With her being examined by the doctor, him standing next to her. He still isn't sure what to call them. Being someone's boyfriend is a downgrade from being someone's fiancé, and they've only been on that one date.
"She's my better half." He tells him, because that much as always been true from the beginning.
The doctor has her wait outside and tells him about her condition.
"She does have a pretty high fever, but the medicine I prescribed should take care of that. Have her take it every 8 hours with food."
"What about her throat Doc?"
"Her throat? Well I don't see anything wrong with her throat."
"B-B-But sir..." He starts, now confused. "She had throat surgery years ago, something must have gone wrong because she doesn't talk anymore."
"Well I can assure you that based on what I just saw, nothing is wrong with her throat or her voice box."
"No no no, she tried singing again but her voice, it cracked."
"Mr. Hudson, people's voice crack all the time. That doesn't mean something's wrong with their voice. It is actually common for people's voice to be a little scratchy after surgery. Now, that fact that she hasn't been talking for a few years worries me. I'm afraid that she might be under a state of depression."
It all goes back to that night. He wishes he had a time machine, to stop her from straining her voice before her performance. The incident must have taken a harder toll on her than he thought. So even if Rachel can still talk, something's holding her back, preventing her from doing so. He wonders for a moment if she's still holding on to that night like he is. Most of all, he wonders how they're going to let it go.
xii.
He can't look at her without feeling guilty now. He's always blamed himself for that night. He often told himself that he could have prevented Rachel from straining her voice. Now he's telling himself he could have prevented her from becoming depressed.
But as he holds her in his arms, given that she's fever-free, he thinks about they're life right now. Sure it wasn't the way they planned it, but he's finally found happiness again in the only place he could ever find it-with her.
"Are you happy Rachel? Right now I mean. Can you honestly tell me that you're happy?" He needs to know, because all he ever wants is for her to be happy.
She turns around and faces him. She holds her hand against his cheek and looks at him the same way she always has, voice or no voice. She nods and kisses him, rolling on top of him in the process, tugging at the hem of his shirt. As they make love, he knows she's happy too.
Still, Rachel doesn't deserve to be living like this. Singing is a part of who she is, and he promised her that he would help her get back on track if ever she lost her way.
So he takes her to a physiologist. The doctor has her do some strange activities that don't involve any talking. He can tell Rachel is getting frustrated with the doctor, being that she didn't believe him when he said that her not talking was just a mental thing.
Once again Rachel has to wait outside while the doctor gives him her analyzes.
"You have one very stubborn lady Mr. Hudson. In fact, she's so stubborn that she believes that everything she does must be perfect, and if she does something badly, then she gives up on it. You can see how this affects her not only as a singer, but as a person. I've been wondering, what has been causing her to hold back? Then it I realized it wasn't something, but rather someone. I'm afraid, Mr. Hudson, that you are a major cause of this."
"Me? What are you saying? That I'm the reason she stopped talking? I know I could have done something but I…"
"It isn't the fact that she got laryngitis that's holding her back. The way I see it, you supporting her not talking only encourages her more. She thinks that it's okay not to talk. Thus, if this continues, her silence will only become a part of her."
"But we've been making progress! She laughs now, she smiles now…"
"But she still isn't talking, and she won't-unless you're not there."
"I don't understand."
"Before she can love you, she has to learn to love herself and accept herself. Only then can she come to terms to what happened it the past."
"What are you saying Doctor?"
"If you really want to Rachel to talk again, you're going to have to leave her."
"I don't know if I can do that though, I don't think I can be apart from her again."
"You know how the saying goes. If you really loved her, then you'll set her free."
Just when life feels like it's finally getting back on track it comes right back to bite him in the butt. Leaving her has got to be the hardest thing life as ever made him do.
xiii.
He wonders if he should wait, and spend at least one more night with her. But he knows that longer he waits, he less strength he'll have to let her go.
He drops her off at home and goes straight to his work. Since he's sort of top boss around there they have to give him whatever he wants, even if it's his job back in New York.
He calls Brittany and tells her what the doctor told him and that he's leaving. She calls both him and the doctor stupid. How he wishes Brit was right.
He finds Rachel on the bed writing what he makes out to be letters. She obviously didn't expect him to come home that early and immediately hid whatever she was doing the moment she saw him.
She runs up to him and kisses him like she does whenever he comes home, only this time he doesn't kiss back. He ignores her sad expression, and doesn't hug her back when her arms wrap around him. He's so tempted to give in and kiss her senseless while holding her forever. But he loves her too much.
She stands off to the side as he packs up his belongings. Once she realizes what he's doing she picks up her Doodle Pro and writes: What are you doing Finn? What's wrong?
He doesn't respond to this or any of her gestures. Finally he zips his luggage up and heads towards the door, meaning to leave with no explanation.
That is until Rachel, with tears in her eyes, blocks him, grabs his arm, and mouths to him why?
That's the closest she's ever gotten actually saying a word. He wonders for a moment, if it was as hard for her to leave him as it was for him to leave her. He hates for her to feel what he went through when she left him, so he'll give her some sort of reason to say the least.
"I can't do this anymore Rachel. I can't look with you, knowing that I'm reason why you're not talking. I can't be with you, knowing that you don't feel the same way I do. I told you I loved you Rachel, I always have, and I'll always will, but Rachel, I need to know, with words, what exactly are we? All I need, is a reason to stay, a reason why we did what we did, a reason why you look at me the way you do."
He waits for a moment, for her to say something. But as her grip on his arms weakens, he using all the strength he has to walk away from the only woman he could ever love.
What he didn't know is that as soon as he left, the woman he loved broke into hysteric tears, gives him her answer, saying the first words she's ever said in two-a-half-years, "Because I love you."
I know I said that this would be the last chapter, but it isn't. There should be at least one more. I'd really appreciate feedback of any sort, especially since we're heading towards the end. Endings are usually the hardest thing for me to write.
Oh a bit random, coming from a former violinist, I just had to include Journey's "Faithfully" on a string quartet, especially with Regionals so soon!
Just so you know, my knowledge in the medical field is limited. I tend to write based on what the plot line needs so I apologize for any inaccurate information.
