All Finn wanted to do was get inside his apartment and get some sleep. His body was sore beyond anything he'd ever felt before. He wasn't sure if that was from the actual hit he took - a hit that he didn't remember but was sure he'd get to relive via highlight reels for the rest of his career - or if he was so sore from being kept at the hospital and treated like a guinea pig for the last seven hours. It didn't matter which one, he just knew that's all he was: sore and tired. He wanted to get inside his apartment and forget the last two days. He wanted to forget how much of a fool of himself he'd made in front of half of New York by taking a sack and getting laid out on the football field. Now he was going to have to face questions about his health and toughness and if he was actually cut out to be the Jets' leader. He knew a concussion like the one he got was going to make some people question if he was worth all the money the Jets were going to be paying him. Taking that shot and getting put out of commission for a game or two, even in the pre-season, meant he was going to have to begin his fight for the starting job all over again: that one hit had put his football career with the team back at square one. But those were all things he could deal with, those were all doubts he knew he could put to rest once he'd get to step up and prove himself again. Proving himself was something he'd actually become good at - so all those football questions were ones he could easily put to rest in his own mind.

What he really wanted to forget was the fool he'd made of himself in front of Rachel - not that he thought she'd been watching the game; that wasn't the issue. The second she'd left his apartment the night before he'd felt like a fool. He didn't know what he had been thinking trying to re-enact their moment from high school, and her reaction certainly didn't offer him any comfort. She had looked like she couldn't get out of his apartment fast enough. But he knew she'd felt something, too: he'd felt it when he kissed her, it was still there between them. Finn had no clue how he was going to make her see it, or how he was going to solve things between them, but he knew he had too. A part of him wished the hit he'd taken could put him back at square one with Rachel the way it was going to with the Jets. He knew she'd said they'd talk, but there was no way she hadn't heard about his hit and yet she hadn't even tried to call. Or had she? As soon as he thought of it he realised he actually had no clue where his phone was, so he had no idea if anyone had tried to call. It wouldn't have mattered anyway; they wouldn't allow him to use a phone. Not even to call his mom: Jimmy, his agent,had handled that. He'd told Finn that his mother had been called and reassured he was fine; but Jimmy wouldn't have known to call Rachel and at this point neither would his mom have known to call her. Maybe Rachel had called his mom, he wondered to himself as he made a mental note to call his mom in the morning, as soon as he'd have finished calling Rachel.

The light that entered into his eyes as he opened the apartment door momentarily blinded him, catching him completely off-guard. Why were there lights on? He was sure he'd turned everything off before he left. He barely had time to process the thought as he shielded his eyes with his hands when a blur of movement came towards him. It took his brain longer than usual to process the blur and focus his eyes, but when they did he found Rachel standing there in front of him. His face contorted in confusion - could a concussion cause hallucinations?

"Rachel?" He said her name as a question but had barely gotten the word out before he felt the sharp sting of her hand across his cheek in a slap, "What the he…" Before he even got the chance to finish she had flung herself at him and buried her face into his chest, her arms wrapping around him and clutching his body to hers.

"Finn Hudson, don't you ever scare me like that again." Rachel voice came out in a scared yet demanding tone as she spoke against his chest. "Did you hear me?" she asked as she pulled her face from his chest and stepped back slightly to pound her tiny fists repeatedly against him. "Did you hear me - don't you ever scare me like that again, you understand," her voice was almost crying when she finally finished and buried herself against him again, one of her fists still beating into his body.

He knew laughing probably wasn't the best idea but he couldn't help it as he pulled his arms tightly around her body to still her actions. "It's probably not your smartest move to hit the guy with the concussion," he warned her with a chuckle and watched as her head shot up and her eyes met his, concern written in them. "I'm fine," he said reassuringly as he tightened his grip on her and bent down to kiss the top of her head before he pulled it back up. "Wait," he said and cocked an eyebrow at her as he wondered out aloud, "How did you get in here?"

Rachel made no attempt to move her face from his chest, or even let up her grip on his body. "Your doorman let me in. You never took my name off your list and I used my superb acting skills to convince him that I had lost the key you'd given me." Her voice laughed an ever so small bit and she drew in a breath so deep that he felt the fabric of his shirt move from his body. "I couldn't get a hold of you," she whispered and at that moment he was certain he could hear the first hint of tears in her voice. "I was so scared and I couldn't get a hold of you. I called every hospital I thought they would have taken you to and no one would give me any information, and then I realized that no one was going to give any information out on you and I probably seemed crazy. You weren't answering you phone and I was so scared." Her voice choked back a sob as she finally pulled away from him and looked up with those sad doe eyes of hers, "I had to make sure you really were okay, I had to be here when you got home, I needed to see you." Rachel's face fell back against his chest and he felt the wetness of her tears soak the fabric he was wearing.

"It's okay, I'm fine. They wouldn't let me use a phone or I would have called you," he whispered as he ran his fingers through her hair. He wasn't sure if the action was to comfort her or himself, but after a while he could no longer feel her heart-beat hammer so fast against him; he couldn't help but let his lips curl into a smile. He knew he shouldn't be reveling in the feeling of her body pressed against his when she was there out of worry for him. But as far as he was concerned it didn't matter why she was there - all that mattered was that she was there with him. She could have waited for him to call her; she could have waited until morning. "Rach, how long have you been here?"

Rachel's breathing had slowed down by then and she shifted her embrace of him slightly, letting her arms fall around his midsection and hang loosely around his hips as she pulled back to look up at him with eyes and cheeks red from crying as she gave a slight shrug, "I'm not sure; hours, days, since the moment I pulled myself together enough to move from the couch where I was watching your game." Her hand reached up and ran gingerly down his cheek, "It feels like weeks, though," she whispered as she took a shaky breath and let her eyes slip closed. She pressed her palm to his cheek, its soft touch against his stubble causing a purr to fall from him. "I really thought for a moment there I'd lost you. I can't lose you again Finn, I know it was my fault before, but I can't lose you again, I just got you back."

If there was any language Finn was fluent in it was the language of Rachel Berry. He understood that better than he did English sometimes, but at that moment there was a look in her eyes he'd never seen before - as if she had created a new word, or a new feeling, one he'd never seen in anyone before. There was no hesitation in him as he reached up and gently cupped her face in his hands before he leaned down and softly pressed his lips against hers. It wasn't the kind of kiss that took anyone's breath away but Finn felt like all the air in the room was scarce as he felt her breath hitch against his lips and her melt into him using her palm against his face to keep him from pressing too deeply against her. There was a sweetness to her kiss, a tenderness, as she pulled back to let out a soft sigh. Her forehead pressed against his as she slowly opened her eyes to meet his, the new words to her language still in her eyes as she reached up with her other hand and cupped his face softly before she nodded at him, "I'm all in. I'm tired of trying to understand it, and I'm tired of searching for reasons to fight it. I'm all in."

Finn let out a baited breath as he listened to her words, his instinct causing him to lean his face in against her touch. He felt all the soreness and worry leave his body as his muscles relaxed and he closed his eyes absorbing her words until the finally registered them in his mind. He didn't care if it'd taken him getting hurt for her to open her eyes, just like he didn't care in high school when she had to get egged by her ex-boyfriend to realize that he was the one who was going to remain by her side. Nothing else mattered to him that moment; neither football, nor millions of dollars, nor his concussion, nor even the way she'd broken his heart mattered. All that mattered was that he was standing there barely three steps inside his apartment with his face in Rachel's hands and her saying that she was ready to give them another chance.

"You realize what you're saying, right? If you're all in, you can't run away from me like you have the last two times. And you can't make decisions for us - for now nor for any kind of future we may have - without consulting and talking to me first. If you're all in, then," he paused and pulled back from her, reaching for her hand and sliding it down to his chest and holding it over his heart. "You feel that," he said and smiled as he gazed down at her with eyes full of adoration, "It's still beating really hard." He knew his voice sounded dopey right then, and what he'd just done was about the cheesiest thing he could have done at that moment but when he saw the slow smile creep over her face he knew it had been the right move. "You gotta be all in, Rachel."

Rachel nodded, leaving her hand against his heart as she tiptoed to place a bare hint of a kiss against his lips before she tucked herself back against his body and hugged him. Finn was sure his head wasn't spinning from that concussion anymore - he was positive that if he'd been in the room alone his head would have felt fine, but instead it was spinning like he was drunk. And he was: he was drunk on Rachel Berry. "Come on," he nodded towards his room. "I still don't have furniture or anything. But I have a bed which is good because I'm suppose to spend all of my time resting. I'm not even supposed to watch TV or read - or anything." He laughed slightly as he pulled her into the room kicking off his shoes before he leaned back onto the bed, Rachel barely giving him time to get comfortable before she crawled into the crook of his arm.

"I'm sorry I hit you." She said softly as she leaned up and kissed his forehead.

"It's okay, I'm sure somewhere along the line I've done something that deserved getting hit for and you let it slide so I guess we can just call it pay back." He laughed and tightened his arm around her drawing her against his chest and taking in her scent.

"It's not funny, Finn! How long are you going to be out for - did they tell you?" She shifted her position, moving against him and letting out a soft yawn as they got comfortable against each other.

"Until I can pass some kind of series of mental awareness tests. Which probably means I'll never play football again if I have to pass a test to do it." He listened as she laughed at his bad joke, smiling to himself about how she still gave him pity laughs after all this time. "It's probably going to be a week, maybe two, and then I'm going to have to fight my way back to being the starter I'm sure. But that's just how the game goes: you can fall as quickly as you rise."

"You'll be fine, you're a natural leader. And I saw you on that field: you won't have any problem getting your spot back, in fact they'd be stupid to even consider taking it away from you. You're special; I've always known that and if your coaches don't know that then they're just blind."

Her faith in him had never faltered and it had never failed to amaze him. She'd had faith in him even when he didn't have it in himself; she had always known he was going to be more than he'd ever even dreamed of being. It was one of the million reasons he'd fallen so deeply in love with her that he'd never been able to fall out of it. And he knew that if he ever started doubting himself she'd push him until he knew exactly what he was made of - and maybe that's what he needed.

Finn tilted his head down to look at Rachel who was lazily tracing the patterns on his shirt with her finger. She knew better than anyone what he was capable of, better than he even did and maybe he needed her there to push him. A smile broke out over his face, as the thought hit him like a ton of bricks. "Maybe you're right. But everything I've done has been to prove that I could be good enough for you. What if without that I'm not any good?"

"If you're afraid that I won't want you if you're not some big football star then might I remind you it wasn't Finn Hudson the football star I fell in love with," she remarked.

"I get that - but that's not what I'm saying. What if I just need some extra motivation?" At this point his lips had turned up into a half smirk as she looked up at him with questioning eyes. "What if I need to prove that you can't do any better than me?" He paused and raised his eyebrows at her and let a full smile shine through. His heart was pounding just at the thought of the words he was about to say but he knew he had to say them. He knew what he was about to propose was a crazy idea - and one highly unlikely to happen - but he needed to throw it out there and he needed to figure out a way to get her to agree. So with a couple of deep breaths he blurted out the words before he had the chance to rethink them, "Let's make a deal, if I win the Super Bowl, you have to marry me."

A gasping noise came from Rachel's mouth as she shot straight up and looked at him with an expression that was as bewildered as if she was still trying to process what he just said. Finally she shook her head with a face full of disbelief. "It's been less than thirty minutes since I even agreed to give us another try and you want to get married? It's a completely silly to wager our future on the outcome of a football game."

"It's not like I'm saying let's go get married right now. The wager's not on just one football game, you're wager on an entire season's worth of games, plus the postseason, and the Super Bowl. That's at least 18 games. Six months and 18 games - that's plenty of time. If we don't make the playoffs then you know by January that you're off the hook, maybe even sooner than that." His eyes danced with playfulness for a moment before they turned completely serious as his head tilted towards her. "I'm a rookie Quarterback in the NFL who probably just lost his starting spot; the odds aren't likely you'd ever have to go through with it."

Finn could feel Rachel's eyes searching his face ad when they met his he already knew the answer she was going to give him because they were speaking Rachel. The part of the Rachel language he was sure he was the only one in the world that understood, the part of the Rachel language that made his heart pound in his chest the way it was right then as she laid her ear down on top of it. "The odds don't know how special you are. But I do, and while it's a completely insane idea… Okay. You win the Super Bowl and I will marry you. But this arrangement stays between us until after its time has passed."

The happy grin on his face could have been seen from a thousand miles away; in fact, he was sure that it could have lit up the skyline brighter than any other light in New York City. His heart was beating so hard he could feel it in his throat as he squeezed her against his body and leaned down to capture her lips in a kiss. Everything he felt inside him got poured into that kiss, he was defiantly drunk on Rachel Berry and all he wanted at that moment was more. All the passion inside him released into the kiss and he could taste her passion for him on her tongue. His hands tangled into her hair trying desperately to push the kiss deeper despite her efforts to pull away.

"No way," she mumbled against his lips and swatted at the hand that was trying to sneak its was under her shirt. "No way, Mr. Concussion, I'm sure there's something about physical activity, sex included, in all those rules you have to follow until your head is better." She stated forcing herself off his lips and playfully grinned down at him, "Plus I hear sex is bad for the legs - and you have a Super Bowl to win."

Her head fell against his chest and she nuzzled back against his body, sinking into the crook of his arm as if it was exactly where she belonged. A comfortable feeling washed over Finn as Rachel nuzzled into his body; he looked down at her and licked his lips thinking about how far they'd come in just the past few weeks. How far his life had come since he'd met her. How different he might have been if she'd never come into his life, a small half smile crept onto his face as he gazed unashamed and shook his head to himself before he whispered softly into the darkness of the room, "You were right Rachel, you can do better than me, but I can't do better than you."

A/N: If you've noticed this to be slightly less rambling, a little easier to read and missing a whole lot of my usual mistakes that's because I must give major props to my new beta MaraMac. A huge thank you for going all English professor on me :) Now everyone's happy, including Finn and Rachel so enjoy it while it lasts because we all know with those two things are never going to be smooth sailing.