Love makes you not hate things. You can hate things, but you choose to love because you are in love. Love is the opposite of hate. Without hate, there is no love.

-my dad (53)

The door was opened already when Quinn came rushing down the hallway, shoving her flats onto her feet with her hair covering her face. Rachel smiled at her, holding back a laugh as she leaned against the door, patiently waiting for Quinn. They were supposed to be meeting Finn at the Dunkin' Donuts for a Saturday around New York, and Finn had asked Quinn to come along, who he hadn't seen in a long time. Of course, Quinn was still half asleep from the night before, but had insisted to Rachel that she was coming. They were planning on doing many things, and Quinn didn't want to miss one of them.

"Are you ready now?" Rachel asked as she stepped outside the opened door as Quinn pulled her hair out of her face, standing up straight. She blew a strand of blonde hair out of her face, and smiled for Rachel.

"Yes. Let's go." Quinn said, following Rachel out of the apartment. The two of them walked down to the Dunkin' Donuts where Finn was standing outside with a leather jacket on. Rachel had to stop her jaw from dropping, and the drool from falling out of her mouth. She had never seen Finn in a leather jacket before, and he just didn't seem like the bad boy stereotype. Maybe he wasn't, maybe the leather jacket was just Finn thinking it looked cool, but it really had nothing to with who he was as a person. Yeah, that seemed more likely than some bad boy alias with a motorcycle, but Rachel wouldn't mind a version of bad boy Finn at all.

"Morning Rachel, Quinn!" he welcomed them cheerfully, giving Quinn one of his typical smiles and then giving Rachel that smile that Quinn noted he only gave to Rachel. She wondered if Rachel noticed this.

"Good morning Finn." Rachel said before Quinn could answer. Quinn was starting to doubt coming along at all; Finn and Rachel kept giving each other that look that made Quinn feel like an awkward third wheel. Maybe this wasn't the greatest idea.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Finn said, suddenly getting excited as he put his hand into one of the pockets of his hot leather jacket, pulling out a small plastic bag. Quinn wasn't sure what was in it, or why it was getting Finn so excited. "I brought some of them for us to eat on the way."

Finn pulled small, colorful squares out of the bag, revealing what looked like to Quinn Starbursts. What was so wonderful about Starbursts? But Rachel's eyes had lit up when she saw them, immediately taking one from Finn's hand and putting it in her mouth while shoving the wrapper into her pocket. He held them out to Quinn, who wasn't that big of a fan of Starbursts to begin with, but decided to be nice and take one of them anyway.

"So what's so great about Starbursts?" Quinn asked, glad that she got the pink one. Finn and Rachel looked at each other before turning to Quinn, wondering how they should explain this.

"When Finn and I went to the pokers night, we used Starbursts as poker chips because we couldn't find Finn's poker chips." Rachel explained, smiling at Finn as she did. Quinn nodded her head at them, distinctively remembering one time where she went on vacation with Rachel's family and they used Starbursts as poker ships.

"Should we get going then; there's lots to see." Quinn said, taking both Finn and Rachel out of their trance which included them smiling and staring at each other. Yep, if Quinn wanted to get through this day, she would have to keep bringing Finn and Rachel back to reality. Rachel shook her head, trying to concentrate.

"Yeah, we should. Right, well, lead the way Finn. You said over the phone that you wanted to bring us somewhere." Rachel said, and with a grin on his face, Finn started walking in the opposite direction, Rachel and Quinn in tow.

"That's right. There's this little bakery that I used to go to when I first moved to the city. They have all kinds of things there, and I haven't gone there in a long time. Santana never wanted to go with me, but it seems like the kind of place you would appreciate Rachel." Finn told them, turning a corner. Rachel followed him with a slight smile, happy that Finn thought a cute, little bakery that he used to go to would be her kind of thing. Sure, Rachel hadn't really been to many bakeries in her life, but she had no problem with starting now. "Did you guys eat breakfast?"

"Right before we left actually. I have room for a muffin or something though." Quinn answered before Rachel could. Rachel was glad to find that it wasn't too long of a walk to the bakery, and stepping inside, the scent of bread instantly filled Rachel's nose. She had never smelled something so delicious and wonderful, making her crave food.

Finn led them to a busy line of people in front of the counter, some people looking into a glass case. Finn, Rachel, and Quinn leaned over to look into the case, where Rachel saw just about every treat she could think of. Cupcakes with lemon frosting, zucchini and banana chocolate chip bread, ginger snap, blueberry crumb cake, cinnamon raisin cookie sandwiches, pumpkin spice muffins, brownies, macaroons, warm apple pie, and the menu went on and on. Everything smelled so perfect Rachel didn't know what to get. All she did was stand there and look at everything, wondering what would taste the best.

"What do you guys think?" Finn asked excitedly, and Rachel couldn't even answer. Quinn did first, pointing to one of the cinnamon swirl buns like she was a toddler.

"That! I want that!" she said, not even answering Finn's question, but only rushing to join the line of people waiting to pay, taking out her wallet. Finn and Rachel watched her with a smile, and then Finn turned to Rachel.

"What do you want?" he asked, and Rachel immediately thought of what she really wanted. Of course, that wasn't what Finn meant by the question, but he was standing right there, looking so perfect like always. Except the difference now was that the smell of the bakery was making everything seem better than it really was, and Rachel found herself leaning towards Finn on her tippy toes.

"Rachel! What are you getting?" Quinn shouted, seeing what Rachel was doing. Snapping out of it, Rachel pulled back from Finn, who seemed oblivious to what she was trying to do. Rachel cleared her throat, very embarrassed for almost trying to kiss Finn. She had to watch herself from now on; no more massages, no more of his arms around her, and no more flirting. Rachel might be out of the clear of being the Dunkin' Donuts girl since Santana's gone, but she didn't want to lose what she and Finn had now. Rachel turned back to the bakery foods, turning red.

"Um, I think I'll have one of those chocolate croissants." Rachel mumbled, saying the first thing that came to her mind. Finn gave her one of those smiles that he always gave her before she went to stand on line, her face still hot red. Rachel couldn't believe she almost did that; what was she thinking? She couldn't kiss Finn; Rachel had to keep these feelings under control if she and Finn were going to be friends.

Finn joined Rachel on line, and Rachel tried to ignore his tall figure behind her short one. It took forever for her to get to the front of the counter, and when she did, she quickly ordered, waiting anxiously for the croissant to be ready. When it was, she handed over the money, and went over to join Quinn by one of the tables near the front window. Finn quickly joined them as Quinn gave Rachel a look that plainly said "I know what you were trying to do back there."

"What did you get, Finn?" Rachel asked as she pulled the croissant out of the small, brown bag. Quinn was already munching on her cinnamon swirl when they sat down, looking from Rachel to Finn and back again.

"I got a begette. I used to always get this when I came here." Finn said, pulling out a long roll of Italian bread. Rachel smiled at him as he took a bite, clearly enjoying the taste. "Oh, how I've missed this."

"When was the last time you were here?" Quinn asked as Rachel took a bite of her croissant, not even believing that this was actually how it tasted. It was perfect; there was just enough chocolate in it. Rachel completely understood now why Finn liked this place so much.

"I think it was around the time I first met Santana, which would have been a little more than a year ago. Like I said, Santana never wanted to come here; she said it wasn't her kind of scene." Finn explained, and he couldn't help but notice another negative side to dating Santana. They kept adding up recently.

"It's Santana's loss. The food here is delicious!" Rachel said, taking another bite greedily. Finn looked around the bakery with a smile on his face, agreeing with her. It was too bad he never brought Santana here, although she probably wouldn't enjoy it as much as Rachel did.

"Rachel, don't you think it's time you auditioned for another Broadway show? I'm sure you can get if you kept trying." Finn asked suddenly, reminding Rachel of her failure of a dream. She had always wanted to be a Broadway star, ever since she was a little girl, and she had a remarkable voice, but things just weren't going her way.

"I don't know Finn. I have a life now; a job, an apartment to pay for, friends. I can't get caught up in silly school girl dreams anymore. I think it's time I grew up and started taking life seriously. How many people actually make it in showbiz anyway? Not that many. The world needs people to make their coffee at Dunkin' Donuts." Rachel said, looking down at her food and playing with the hem of her skirt. She didn't like talking about this; it made her feel uncomfortable. Broadway just wasn't for her, and the sooner Rachel accepted that, the sooner she can get on with her life. Yeah, she had a dream in high school, but that was in high school. That was before Rachel became less of a drama queen, and before she was given serious responsibilities.

"The world also needs people on the Broadway stage, singing their hearts out. People need someone to look up to as a role model, someone to entertain them." Finn said, trying to meet Rachel's eyes. He took one of her hands into his own, Quinn watching the interaction silently. "Look Rachel, I don't know much about Broadway. I never saw one of the shows for as long as I've lived in New York, but I do know about musical talent. And the thing about musical talent is that you need to act on it, because singing and playing an instrument is something everyone wishes they could do. So for those people who are lucky enough to have that talent should show it to the world, not hide behind a counter and make egg and cheese sandwiches every day."

"What do you know about musical talent Finn? Do you have one of your own?" Quinn asked suddenly right before Rachel could respond to Finn. Finn looked up at Quinn, remembering that she was there, still holding on to Rachel's small hand. Rachel hoped he wouldn't pull his hand away from hers.

"I know some. Ever since I was a little kid I've always had thing for the drums. I played in a band in high school, we were pretty good." Finn said, and Rachel raised her eyebrows at him, impressed. She would have never taken Finn to be the drummer type. Maybe that explained the leather jacket.

"Really? Do you still play?" Rachel asked excitedly, leaning in to hear Finn's answer. He just became more and more amazing the more Rachel learned about him. Finn didn't know that Rachel would find this feature about him so fascinating, if he had, then he would have brought it up sooner.

"I do sometimes. I have my old drum set in the laundry room of my apartment. Sometimes I'll just sit there and play for a while. It's the only thing I can actually do well, and feel good doing." He said, and Rachel squeezed his hand unintentionally. Finn smiled at her again.

"Have you ever thought about making a career out of it?" Quinn asked, and Finn looked at her, his eyebrows pulled together.

"I've thought about it a couple of times, but what kind of places hire a drummer anyway? What are they needed for other then bands? And most bands don't even make it in the musical world, anyway." Finn said, bringing his attention back to his food. He had let go of Rachel's hand now, and she restrained herself for reaching for it again. That wasn't fair; why should Rachel go for her practically impossible dreams when Finn didn't? If she was going to make her dreams come true, then Finn was going to too.

"Here you are giving me a lecture about how everyone needs a star or something like that, and you're just sitting here saying it's impossible to be the drummer of a famous band. If I can accomplish my dreams, then why can't you accomplish yours?" Rachel pressed on; obviously putting Finn in a position he didn't want to be in. This was supposed to be about Rachel, not him.

"Because you're smarter than me, and more talented, and you're pretty. I'm just me, I'm nothing. I'm like, a lost puppy in New York or something. I don't know what I want from life or from anyone. I don't know what I'm doing." Finn said honestly, hating to admit the truth, but knowing it was right. In all his life, Finn had never known what he was doing. His entire life was just him doing what others told him to do; be the popular guy, play on the football team, date a Cheerio. His life was run by other people; Finn's life had always been run by the status quo. And then he graduated from high school, and went to college, and suddenly, Finn's life was in his hands and he had to make all these important decisions. He was lost and confused, and he still is.

"Let me ask you this Finn? Do you love playing the drums?" Rachel asked softly, taking the chance and holding onto Finn's hand tightly. Finn thought for a long second, staring out the window at the people passing by.

"Yes." He said quietly, and Rachel bit her lip. That was the first step to finding a dream, and Finn was on the right track.

"Can you picture your life always playing the drums? Do you want to do it forever?" she asked as Quinn watched for Finn's response. They both leaned in to hear Finn's answer, this time the silence was shorter and Finn sounded surer when he answered.

"Yes." He repeated, and Rachel and Quinn shared a look. Finn and Rachel's eyes met, and he said it again. "Yes."

"Then you have to go for it. You have to take a chance and audition for a band." Rachel told him, and the silence dragged on after that, Finn thinking hard about what Rachel had said. Yes, it would be awesome to be in a band, especially a successful one. It had always been something Finn thought about doing, but never deciding to act on it. Maybe he should audition for a band, but then Finn remembered why he brought up this discussion in the first place.

"Wait a second; we're supposed to be talking about your dream Rachel! Not mine!" Finn accused her, and Rachel gave him a guilty smile. Okay, so at first she was trying to distract Finn from talking about her and Broadway, but she had seriously become interested in Finn's dream of drumming. She very much wanted to see him play the drums now.

"Okay, I'll think about auditioning for another play." Rachel said, thinking that she might actually act on it besides just saying it. Both Finn and Quinn grinned at her, making her smile. She looked down at her food, noticing that all of them had finished their food now.

"Do you guys want to get going? I have a lot of other things I want us to do." Finn said, gesturing to the front door of the bakery. They threw out their garbage and headed to the front door, following Finn down the street. Rachel didn't care where exactly they were going, just as long as Finn was there.

FSFSFSFS

Rachel's feet were killing her after stopping at the most touristy spots in New York; the Disney store, the Hershey store, the M&M store, Central Park, a bunch of little shops that Rachel and Quinn didn't even know about, and some museums that Finn didn't work at. They were planning on checking out where the Christmas tree was being set up later on, but right now, Rachel and Quinn were too busy making Finn suffer through the process of shopping at Tiffany's. Sure, Rachel wasn't going to buy anything, but she couldn't help but keep eyeing that silver amethyst necklace. Finn must have noticed after a while, because he stood next to her and peered at it with her.

"That's pretty. Are you going to get it?" he asked, scaring Rachel, who put her hand over her heart in surprise. He started laughing, earning a smack on the arm from Rachel.

"You always scare me like that!" Rachel said angrily, but still smiling at him. Finn's laughs faded away, and he looked back at the necklace. "No, I don't think so. I can't afford it, but I wish I could."

"That's too bad." Finn said quietly, and they were like that for a few minutes; quiet, both gazing down at the amethyst necklace and how the purple in it shined so beautifully. Quinn came rushing up to them, out of breathe and holding a silver charm bracelet.

"That's pretty. Are you getting it?" Rachel asked, pointing to the bracelet. Quinn looked from the bracelet to Rachel, not having time to think about the piece of jewelry.

"Yeah, I think so. Anyway, that's not what's important. We have to go now." Quinn said, her voice getting very hard when she said the last word, giving Rachel a knowing look. Finn and Rachel looked around in confusion.

"Why? What's wrong?" Rachel asked, but then Finn's eyes went wide, and he was staring at something on the other side of the store. Rachel saw where his eyes landed and followed them, narrowing in on two women looking at diamonds. One had blonde hair and the other had straight black hair. The woman with the black hair turned around so Rachel could see her face, and she took in her dark skin, instantly knowing who she was.

"I'm sorry Finn. I had no idea they were going to be here. If I had known, I wouldn't have brought this place up." Quinn said in a rush, but Finn just shook her head at her, his face looking like stone. What were the chances of seeing Santana Lopez here out of all people, and with her girlfriend? This couldn't have been happening!

But then the two girls were making their way towards the three of them, Santana's eyes only on Finn. Rachel shifted from foot to foot awkwardly, Quinn looking quickly from Finn to Santana while biting her lower lip.

"Finnessa, how have you been? Didn't expect you to be here?" Santana asked as she finally stopped in front of them, smirking at Finn. Rachel didn't understand how she could be so calm about this; didn't she feel any remorse for what she had done? The last time her and Finn had seen each other, they were having a yelling competition. But now, Santana was acting like they were old friends or something.

"I'm here with Rachel and Quinn. We're visiting all of New York today." He told Santana, showing no emotion. Rachel wondered if seeing Finn still caused him pain, and then thought about how stupid it was to think that; of course seeing Santana caused him pain! She broke his heart! She also wondered if Finn still had feelings for Santana; that might break her heart. For the first time, Santana and Brittany looked at Rachel and Quinn, giving them a look that made Rachel shrink a little in size.

"Oh, so now you spend your time with the Dunkin' Donuts girls? Wow Finn, I didn't know our breakup hit you so hard that you've gone as low as to hang out with women who can't even afford something from Tiffany's." Santana said, making Finn look down at the floor, slightly embarrassed. It wasn't that bad to hang out with Rachel and Quinn, was it? They were nice people, not everything was about how much money you had. Santana turned to Rachel and Quinn with that same mean smirk on her face. "Can you two even afford anything here?"

Rachel bit her lip, her mind going to that amethyst necklace. Why did Santana have to make her feel so bad about herself anyway?

"You know Santana; I don't remember you being this mean when you were with Finn." Rachel pointed out, giving Santana a fake smile. Finn looked up at Rachel then, giving her a grateful smile. Rachel returned it before directing her attention back on Santana. "I hope you remember who made you all those breakfasts day after day."

"And you better remember who gave you the money to keep your crappy apartment, dwarf." Santana snapped back, not affecting at all by Rachel's words. Finn looked up at Santana then, something burning in his eyes.

"Her name is Rachel, and you better be nice to her Santana, because someday, she's going to be on Broadway." Finn said, making Rachel look up at his with surprise. Did she hear that correctly? Did Finn really say that Rachel was going to be on Broadway someday? Santana only snorted at his response, giving Rachel a look that only said she was judging her.

"This girl is going to be star one day? Yeah right!" she said. Her blonde friend, who Rachel guessed could only be Brittany, only stood there, swinging her purse around, her attention on a huge diamond on display. Finn's eyes narrowed in on Santana, and Rachel was taken by surprise at his expression. She had never seen him look so mean.

"I think you should go Santana. No one here really wants to see you anyway." Finn said, and Santana let out a short laugh before turning half way on them.

"That's fine by me. I'll leave you and your new girlfriend alone Finnessa." Santana said, glaring at Rachel at the word girlfriend. Finn let out a loud sigh as did Rachel when she said that, Quinn only trying to hide a small smile. Why did people keep thinking that Finn and Rachel were together?

"Rachel is not my girlfriend!" Finn practically shouted, trying to keep his temper under control. He forgot how unnerving and just plain mean Santana could be. Santana snorted as he said this.

"Yeah, and I'm not the hottest piece of shit in this place!" she said, and with those last words, Santana and Brittany turned around and left Finn to regain his temper and calm down. Rachel's hand immediately went to Finn's shoulder, rubbing at it.

"I'm sorry that happened Finn. I know that must have been hard for you." Rachel said understandingly, still rubbing his shoulder like she did that time she first found out Santana had cheated on him. Finn only shook his head, staring at the floor.

"No, it was fine. It was what I needed. I'm over Santana. I have the feeling I was never really in love with her in the first place. Yes, I loved her, but I wasn't in love with her. I mean, yeah, she's hot, but just because a girl's hot, doesn't mean you actually like her." Finn said, and Rachel looked up at him. Did that mean Finn was moving on? Rachel didn't want to get her hopes up.

"I understand Finn." Rachel whispered, and once again, Quinn felt like she was barging in on some sort of private, intimate moment between the two of them. She looked down at the charm bracelet in her hand, clearing her throat so they would notice that she was still here. They both looked up at her with surprised faces.

"I'm just going to go pay for this. Why don't you two just stand by the entrance and wait for me?" Quinn said, nodding her head to the front doors. With a quick okay, Rachel's hand dropped from Finn's shoulder and she followed him to the front door where they waited quietly for Quinn to finish paying.

"I just wanted to say thanks Finn. This has been such a lovely day, and Quinn and I really appreciate it." Rachel said, breaking the silence. Finn looked up from the floor to Rachel, smiling at her. The Santana thing wasn't even bothering him anymore.

"It was no problem. I had fun, I'm glad you could come. I mean, I'm glad you and Quinn could come." Finn said quickly, nervously smiling at Rachel. Quinn walked up then with the blue Tiffany bag in her and, grinning at them.

"Are you guys ready to go see the Christmas tree in the making?" Quinn asked excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Finn and Rachel looked from each other to Quinn, grinning back at her.

FRFRFRFR

Finn gazed up at the people hanging the lights on the huge Christmas tree over the ice skating rink, holding onto Rachel's hand tightly. Quinn was on his other side, her mouth partly opened. Rachel looked up at it with a familiar sparkle in her eyes; she had seen the Christmas tree fully decorated, but she had never seen it in the making. It was amazing how people gathered to do this; to make the city so beautiful during the holidays.

"Have you ever seen the tree in this state before?" Rachel asked Finn, who turned to look at her. His eyes flashed back up at the tree and then back again to Rachel, trying to figure out which one was more beautiful. Rachel won that competition in a second.

"Once with my mom." He said, and Rachel nodded slightly, still looking up at the tree. It was official; Finn liked having Rachel around. She instantly made everything brighter and better, never putting a damper on things. And she made Finn feel great inside, she made him feel like he could do anything. Just talking about how much he loved to play the drums and how Rachel wanted to be on Broadway inspired him so much to actually want to audition for a band. Rachel's dreams, Finn realized, inspired Finn to have his own dreams.

Maybe, for the first time Finn was starting to find his way in the world. Maybe he wouldn't have to be lost for much longer. Rachel was, in the least amount of words possible, Finn's new inspiration.