New chapter!

Just a few things: Italicized words are flashbacks, Rachel is so not a vegan in this story, and yeah..that's it...oh and this story will be over soon :)

Thanks to monroeslittle for editing! :) :)

Don't own Glee...Anyway, Enjoy!


Today their anniversary issue is finished, and Finn could say that he really was proud of it. He gathered everyone in the meeting room to celebrate. He even brought wine for them all.

"Good job, everyone! Good job!" Finn said happily, pouring wine in their glasses. He acknowledged everybody's name except for Rachel. She looked at him, confused, but immediately put a smile on her face.

"Cheers!" Rachel exclaimed, raising her glass.

"Cheers!" her co-workers echoed.

"If we only had more time, I'm sure this issue would've been the best!" Blaine said.

"It's okay, Blaine. We put in our best effort and that's what's important," Finn assured them. "If I were you, I'd save my energy because I'm sure, once the board sees the result of our hard work, they'll give us more than six months!"

"No! I'm pretty sure they'll give us one more year!" Kurt said.

"Two years!" Mercedes yelled.

"Ten years!" Rachel said, laughing while everybody cheered.

"What are you waiting for? Spend the rest of the day with your families! Go home!" Finn said, a huge smile on his face. Again, everybody cheered. "Rest. You all deserve it!" Finn continued.

"Thank you, sir!" they all said in unison.

"No guys, thank you," he said sincerely, looking at each and every one of them.

They had one group hug before leaving the room. Rachel was the last one to leave because she was gathering the papers on the table. While arranging the papers, she stole glances at Finn, still wondering why he didn't acknowledge her earlier. She was getting ready to leave the room when she heard his voice.

"Rachel?"

"Sir?" she said, looking at him sadly. Did I do something wrong? Did I upset him?, she thought.

"You stay!" he said seriously, which made Rachel more nervous.

"Why, sir?"

"You have to get me flowers. Two sets. One long-stemmed red rose, and the other one. . .I don't know, I'll leave it up to you. Just make sure it's nice."

"Yes, sir," she said quietly, leaving the room to buy the flowers.

After twenty minutes, she came back with the flowers Finn told her to buy. She bought the long-stemmed rose, and a bouquet of white lilies, her favorite flower. She poked her head in Finn's office door to make her presence known.

"Sir?"

Finn got up and motioned for Rachel to follow him. They got in his car, Finn not saying a word, which confused Rachel. She doesn't have a clue where he was taking her. Rachel fell asleep during the ride.

"Rachel, wake up. We're here."

She opened her eyes and looked around for a minute before realizing where they were. She looked confused. Why would he bring me to a cemetery? she thought.

Rachel then gave Finn the rose and the bouquet, but Finn only took the rose. He got out of his car and walked towards his mother's grave. Rachel's gaze followed him, still confused, before she finally stepped out of the car. She saw him place the rose in front of the grave. She just stood near the car, not knowing what to do.

Finn turned around to look at her.

"Rachel, what are you doing there?"

"S-sorry, sir! I'll stay inside the car then," she said, quickly trying to get back in the car.

"Rachel, get over here!" She stood frozen for a few seconds before walking towards him. "Mom, this is Rachel. Rachel, my Mom."

Rachel looked at him, mouth slightly open, then looked at the stone in front of her and smiled.

"Hi ma'am!" she said, waving, and Finn chuckled. She looked down at the bouquet she was holding. "Is this for your mom, too?" she asked, walking closer to place the flowers beside the rose. But before she could get closer, Finn stopped her.

"That's for you."

She froze, and Finn walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and giving her a kiss on the cheek. Still frozen, Rachel couldn't stop the tears that began to slip from her eyes. After a minute of silence, she turned around and hit Finn with the flowers as she started sobbing.

"What? Rachel? What's wrong?" Finn looked at her, confused, before pulling her into a hug.

"Ssh. . .it's okay, Rachel. Tell me what's wrong."

Rachel stepped out of his embrace and looked at him in the eye. "It's just. . .this is the first time I ever received flowers from anyone."

"That's okay. It's also the first time someone accepted it from me."

Rachel laughed, remembering his ex-girlfriend. "But. . .Thank you, Finn."

"Thank you for your patience," he said, "for staying, even though you had every reason to leave. Thank you."

"Thank you" she replied, "because you proved that I was right. That that's not completely empty inside." She pointed to his heart. "That's what's important, right? That's what I have faith in. That's why I'm still here."

"Rachel, if. . .if this isn't what you do. . .I mean. . .If I weren't your boss. . .you think. . .you know. . .you and I. . ." he paused and looked at her before continuing. "You think you like me?"

Rachel smirked at him. "You know, you're okay."

"Really?"

"More than okay."

"Did you hear that, Mom? Somebody here thinks I'm okay!"

"Wait!" she said, moving her ears closer to the grave, as if listening to his mom talking. "Mom says, she agrees," she said with a smile.

"What did you just call her?"

"Umm. . .mom. . .your mom."

"I know. . .mom. . .so, that means?" he said, pointing to her then at himself.

Rachel laughed. "But seriously, you know what she really said to me?"

"What?"

"That she's proud of you. As am I."

Finn smiled and they just stood there looking at each other. Then Finn moved closer to her, wrapped his arms around her, and leaned down so that his face was close to hers. He looked at her eyes for a second before he closed the gap between them. When he pulled away, Rachel couldn't hide the smile on her face.

"C'mon, I'll drive you home," he said, taking her hand.

When they arrived at her house, Finn turned his head to look at her.

"Do you have any plans tonight?"

"Why? Are you planning to make me entertain your girlfriend again?"

"Very funny, Rachel. . .I was actually hoping to have a date with you. But not in a fancy restaurant, just at my condo. I'll cook for you."

"Wow, you cook?"

He nods.

"Well then, okay."

"Great, I'll pick you up at seven." He smiled and kissed her again.

She got out of the car, a smile never leaving her face. She waved at him one more time before he drove away.


After spending time with Rachel that morning, Finn thought that nothing could ruin his mood throughout the day, but he was wrong. After dropping Rachel off at her house, he went straight to his father's house to invite them to the launch of his magazine.

"Finn! What a pleasant surprise! I'll see you later, I'll be back!" one of his older sister said, waving goodbye on her way out.

"Okay!"

"So Finn, what kind of miracle finally brings you here?" Michael asked.

"This. . .I personally came by to give you this," he said, handing him an invitation for the launch. "James, I hope this is enough proof that we can still put up a good fight," he told his older, handing him the invitation and walking beside his father who was sitting beside James. Finn leaned down to give his father a kiss.

"You really don't get it, do you? So what if you get over this? Did you think that's the reason why I'm holding your budget? Finn, what's in question is the kind of decision you've been making for the past few weeks."

"Those are calls I had to make at that moment, James."

"Those are calls made by desperate second placers. . .if you were even thinking."

"Are you saying I'm stupid?"

"I'm saying you have a lot to learn. If you really wanted to be number one, you should have gotten a more experienced staff."

"I'm still hoping you'd come," Finn said, walking out. He was trying so hard not to cry in front of his family. If he stayed any longer, he'd probably be crying right now. He turned his back just when his father stood up from his seat so Finn didn't notice that his father followed him. When he was close to the door, he heard his father call him. He turned around, still holding back the tears.

"If you need any help, I can call a few friends. They might know people who can work for you."

Finn shook his head no and looked down. After a minute, he turned to his left and noticed a huge painting of his father's wife on the wall.

"I'm sorry. This is their mother's home."

"Dad, I know."

"That's the only difference. . .Hang on, son. You'll prove to them you're good enough."

"Dad, if we're not different, why do I even have to prove anything?"

His father took a deep breath and turn his head away from Finn. Finn looked at him for a moment and walked out without saying another word.


At seven in the evening, he was already in front of Rachel's apartment. He called Rachel's phone and asked her to go out. When he saw her, he smiled, finally feeling better after the talk he had with his family.

"Hi."

"Hi Rach, you ready?"

"Yes. . .are you okay, Finn?"

"Yeah, I am," he assured, starting the drive to his condo.

When they arrived, he opened the door of the car for her and held her hand as he walked her into the condo. Rachel was surprised—it looked beautiful. Finn really had done his best to make this date special.

"C'mon. . .sit here, I'll just get the food and the wine."

Finn came out with two plates of steak and a bottle of wine. After eating, they decided to sit on the couch and talk.

"So, you never really had a boyfriend before?"

"Umm. . .actually, I lied."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't want to tell anybody about him. I don't want to remember him anymore."

"Why?"

"Is that your favorite word or something?" she chuckled. "He hurt me."

Finn said nothing so she continued.

"His name is Jesse. We were best friends since we were kids. We always wanted to have our own magazine company. We both love to write, we even used each other as inspiration to write, well, at least I did, I don't know if he was telling the truth or not. We started dating in college. . ."

"Wait, you started dating but he never gave you flowers? As in never?"

"Nope. I didn't mind because I didn't think it was important, you know?"

He nodded. "So what happened? Why'd do you guys break up?"

"Rachel?"

"Yes babe?"

"I'm going to my friend's house for a party."

"Oh, can I come?"

"No!. . .I, I mean, you don't have to. You have a test tomorrow and I don't want you to fail. I'll just take the spare key so I don't have to wake you up when I come back."

"Okay," she said, giving him a kiss.

"I didn't believe that that was his real reason, and I was right. I'm a little psychic, you know?" She heard Finn chuckle before she continued her story. "I followed him that night. I went to his friend's house and looked for him, but I couldn't find him downstairs, so I went upstairs and I opened the first door I saw."

"Rachel! What are you doing here?"

"So, this is why you didn't want me to come huh? So you can fuck another girl?"

"No, Rachel, it's not what you think!"

"Just shut up! Shut up! I don't want see you anymore!"

She ran outside the house a fast as she could, but Jesse caught up with her. She was already on the street, but he held her arm and turned her around to face him.

"Rachel, wait! Let me explain! You don't understand, a guy has needs and you wouldn't even let me touch you!"

Rachel gasped and slapped him.

"You jerk! After everything, this is what you do to me? I thought you respected the fact that I'm not yet ready to take that step!"

"I did! That's why I didn't force you!"

"Oh, wow, I'm so touched. Thank you!" she said sarcastically.

"Rachel, please. I didn't want you to find out this way."

"This isn't the first time you cheated on me, is it? The first time you asked me about wanting to have sex was when we were sophomores and you didn't mention it after that. Does that mean you've been cheating on me since last year?"

He didn't answer.

"Wow, just wow. Have fun with your girl. I hope you're happy now."

"After that, I went to our apartment, gathered my things, and left. That's it. That was the last time I ever saw him." Rachel didn't even notice that she was crying until Finn wiped her tears with his thumb. He made her look at him.

"Look, Rachel, you don't deserve a guy like that. You made the right decision by following him that night. Just—don't think about him anymore, okay? You're better than him. You deserve to be loved."

"Thank you, Finn. . .So would you like to tell me what happened a while ago?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, please, I can tell that you're not okay even if you said you are."

Finn looked away from her and took a deep breath.

"It's just that, my family, after fifteen years, still don't accept me. Everything I do is wrong to them, especially to my older brother, James. My father told me a while ago that I'll eventually prove to them that I'm good enough. Why do I always have to prove that I am? I mean, does your family ask you to do that? I'm tired, Rachel. I'm so tired."

Now Finn was the one crying. It was the first time Rachel ever saw him cry. She placed her hand on his cheek, wiped his tears, and made him look at her, just like Finn had done to her earlier.

"Finn, I'll tell you what you just told me. You're better than them. It's just that, sometimes, you have to prove something to gain someone's respect or trust, even love. But don't let that bring you down, Finn. I know you. Tomorrow night is that launching and I'm sure that they'll be amazed with the magazine. We all worked so hard for this. You worked so hard for this. I mean, like you said, you've been proving them that you're worthy of their love for fifteen years, well, I guess you'll just have to wait for one more day, Finn. One more day." she said.

She gave him a sweet kiss. When she pulled away, Finn smiled at her, touching her hair softly, before he leaned in to kiss her again.

I hope you're right, Rachel. I hope you're right, he thought.

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