A/N: One epilogue left, and we're done. This is quite possibly my favorite chapter of this story, so I hope you like it! Ratings are up, in case you didn't notice. Also, I suggest reading my one-shot called All We Are, because this story essentially originated from that one, and the answers to some of the questions that might rise from this chapter can be found there =)

She's leaning against him, clapping her hands enthusiastically for Rosie, the resident hippie singer-songwriter as she takes a bow.

"You didn't tell me this was a karaoke bar," she yells into his ear. He winces, glaring at Nate who merely chuckles in amusement while tending to an obviously inebriated Lydia. Rachel is speaking right into his ear. Loudly, because by this point he's pretty sure she's lost the control of her volume. He turns to her, trying to push her away slightly, but she's already leaning up and they're so close, their noses are touching.

He feels his heart skip a beat as her smoky eyes bore into his for a second, before they crinkle due to the huge beam on her face. She rubs her nose against his, giggling. She's so drunk.

"I told you, you were gonna like it," he tells her. He doesn't mention that he never misses karaoke night at Dylan's, except for last week, when he was in no right state for any sort of singing, or the fact that he's been the reigning champion for close to three months now, because she's probably too drunk to listen, and they're not supposed to share all this anyway. He's supposed to still be mad at her, isn't he? She nods her head, blinking up at him attentively and he barely notices Nate leaving the table, because he hasn't been this close to her in what feels like years.

A schmuck, that's what he is. A hopeless, pathetic schmuck, because when she's close to him like this, it just becomes so easy for him to forget everything, all the pain and the hurt that he's been carrying with him for the past year vanishing with each blink of her eyes.

"Finn," she murmurs, and for a second her eyes clear up, and she's Rachel and he's Finn, and there's barely an inch of space between them, and it's closing slowly.

"Ladies and gentleman!" Dylan's voice booms from the makeshift stage, startling them both apart. "A little bird told me that we have the Champion in the house tonight!"

He groans and Rachel looks around them in confusion.

"Finn Hudson, where are you hiding out bro?"

"Finn, they're calling you!" she exclaims, turning to him with wide eyes.

"Yeah," he mumbles, sending death glares at an amused Nate who's standing just by the stage. What is this guy's problem tonight, really?

"He's here!"

"Rachel!" he hisses, pulling her down when she jumps out to scream his whereabouts.

She turns to him with a bright beam while he turns red with embarrassment when everyone in the room looks at him.

"They're looking for you!" she tells him, stumbling out of the booth and attempting to drag him with her. From her seat, Lydia stirs, grinning drunkenly at them.

"Go kick ass Finn! You need to take your title back from Bob Marley Anton!"

"Hold up. Bob Marley Anton won last week's karaoke?" So that's why the dude's been giving him the stink eye all evening. But Lydia ignores this, going back to her pseudo-coma and he shakes his head.

"I'm going, I'm going," he says with a slight laugh when Rachel pushes against his arm. He sighs, waving off the catcalls in good nature as he walks to the stage, grinning bashfully. He hadn't planned on singing tonight. He thought she would, to be honest, but she's obviously had a little too much to drink by now, judging from the loud whistle that just came from her direction.

"Ah there you are," Dylan, a burly man in his late fifties, who's always in a leather jacket, pulls him up by the hand, but not before he has a chance to glare at Nate.

"Don't screw this up, Schmuck," Nate tells him with a wink before he makes his way back towards their table.

What is that supposed to mean?

The spotlight is thrust on him, and he stands on stage, slightly agape and completely unprepared. He doesn't even have a song planned. Damn Nate. He blinks a couple of times, before the blank expression gives way to an easy smile.

"Well," he says into the mic. "So much for a quiet night tonight."

The audience laughs and he relaxes, seeing the familiar faces looking up at him expectantly. Except for Bob Marley Anton, who's still giving him the stink eye. His eyes fall onto her. She's sitting on her knees at their booth, her hands gripping the back of her seat as she stares at him in excitement. He sees her leaning over to Nate for a moment, saying something that causes the man to lean his head back and guffaw, pulling his sleeping wife closer to him. But Finn barely notices, because all he sees is Rachel, and the realization that the last time he sang in front of her, their whole life had changed.

"Can you honestly sit there, and really, really swear to God mean it, when you say that you're happier without her?"

He can't. He really, honestly can't, and the thought of that pisses him off to no end, because he's so tired of this- this unavoidable regression back into her. And if she breaks his heart again this time, he knows there's no going back for them. Ever. That scares him more than anything else. She's beaming up at him, and when he catches her eyes, her smile falters just a little, until she realizes that he's not looking away. Maybe somewhere in that alcohol-filled brain, she sees the conflict in his eyes because hers grew serious as she stares at him intently. He shakes his head, realizing where he is and the fact that he needs to sing… something. He turns towards the band waiting for him.

"Hey Keith," he says to the old man holding an acoustic guitar. Keith was a whiz, but for this, he'd rather go in it alone. "Mind if I borrow your guitar for a while?"

Keith shakes his head, pushing his thick glasses up his face before he hands his guitar over.

"Thanks buddy."

He turns back to the crowd, smiling as he straps it over him.

"I guess we could go a little acoustic tonight? I mean, you gotta know, this is totally coming out of my ass right now," he jokes as he sits on the stool in the middle of the stage. The band steps off, probably for a cigarette break, and now it's just him, alone with the guitar. He hesitates for just a second before he starts to strum, the familiar chords relaxing him as he takes a deep breath. He looks up to see her looking right at him again, and he misses his cue. He sends a self-deprecating smile out to the audience as he starts again. He looks away from her.

A lovestruck Romeo, sings the streets a serenade
Laying everybody low with a love song that he made
Finds a streetlight, steps out of the shade
Says something like, "You and me, babe, how about it?"

He sings the song low, his voice coming out in a quiet stream, before he looks up at the last verse, winking as the audience laughs while the song picks up.

Juliet says, "Hey, it's Romeo, you nearly gave me a heart attack"
He's underneath the window, she's singing
"Hey, la, my boyfriend's back"

The pitch of his voice increases at the last verse, and he bats his eyelashes for full effect, grinning when the crowd laughs. His eye catches her, and he sees that she's not laughing. She's just sitting there, entranced, as he sobers up immediately.

You shouldn't come around here, singing up at people like that
Anyway what you gonna do about it?

His strums get louder as he works his way into the chorus, closing his eyes as he sings his heart out.

Juliet, the dice was loaded from the start
And I bet, and you exploded in my heart
And I forget, I forget the movie song
When you gonna realize, it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?

She's watching him carefully, and he tries to ignore her as he sings the next verse, the cynicism creeping into his words before he even realizes it.

Come up on different streets, they both were streets of shame
Both dirty, both mean, yes and the dream was just the same
And I dreamed your dream for you and now your dream is real
How can you look at me, as if I was just another one of your deals?

His eyes stray to her unwittingly, and they can't look away from them as he pours out his frustration into words, watching the troubled look on her face.

Well, you can fall for chains of silver, you can fall for chains of gold
You can fall for pretty strangers and the promises they hold
You promised me everything, you promised me thick and thin
Now you just say, "Oh, Romeo, yeah, you know
I used to have a scene with him"

Juliet, when we made love, you used to cry

Flashes of memories come back to him, things he's done trying to forget, like the softness of her skin, or the warm look in her eyes that night. He remembers her gasps and her moans and his lips against her skin, kissing away the trail of tears running down her face. He remembers that night, and it doesn't hurt anymore.

You said, "I love you like the stars above, "I love you till I die"
There's a place for us, you know the movie song
When you gonna realize, it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?

He reaches the bridge, as his strums slows down until its barely there, his voice growing softer as he looks her in the eye, the crowd and the bar falling away from them, until it's just her and it's just him, and the final barrier between them that's disintegrating with every word.

I can't do the talk like the talk on the TV
And I can't do a love song like the way it's meant to be
I can't do everything but I'd do anything for you
Can't do anything except be in love with you

"And all I do is miss you and the way we used to be," he half whispers into the mic, looking back down at the guitar in his hands, his fingers moving over the strings on auto pilot mode. "All I do is keep the beat, the bad company. And all I do is kiss you, through the bars of a rhyme."

He looks back up through half-lidded eyes, and there's a small smile that's starting to grow on her face, and it's growing on his too, his last defence broken.

Juliet, I'd do the stars with you, any time

Xxx

So he was wrong. He didn't get drunk off his ass tonight. She kind of did though, is, really. She giggles, and her warm breath teases the skin on his neck, goosebumps growing all along his arms as his hand clamps her legs tighter around him.

She lost her shoes. Ten minutes after leaving the bar, she realized this when she stepped on a sharp pebble, and he really wasn't in the mood to go back there. They settled on a piggyback ride, because she refused to walk. The walk home since then is quiet, and his heart is at war, alternating between furiously beating against his chest and expanding quietly with every breath against his skin.

"You won Finn," she mumbles into his neck.

"Yep."

"You're a champion."

"At karaoke."

"At everything."

He rolls his eyes as she exclaims this, throwing back her head, her bare legs flexing against his hands with the movement.

"You're my champion."

"Rachel," he mutters with a sigh.

"You are," she whispers, leaning her forehead against the back of his head. "You always have been."

He says nothing to this, or to the way her legs and arms tighten around him. He's almost painfully aware of how short her dress is, and the way her entire body clings to him.

"Finn?"

"Hmm."

"What happened to us?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean- I mean we were perfect, weren't we? We loved each other so much, and we- and I, I've never stopped loving you. Why did we do it? That first time?"

"Because we were both idiots," he mumbles, remembering twenty and the year-long heartache that followed.

"Would you change it? If you could?"

He thinks about this as he walks, about what it would be like if he hadn't let her walk away all those years ago, what would change? Slowly, he shakes his head.

"No." She stiffens in his arms. "We needed to- we needed to grow Rach. To find ourselves, I guess."

"We could have done that together," she argues.

"We could. But we didn't, and- and here we are."

"Here we are," she repeats quietly. They fall into silence again. The walk home feels so long.

"I'm sorry," she whispers suddenly. This time, he stiffens.

"Rachel-"

"I bailed on you. Because- because I was terrified. I just- you know why I was so scared?" she asks him nervously.

"Why?" he murmurs.

"Because we fell asleep, and when I woke up, and you were next to me, it felt perfect."

He frowns.

"That makes no sense."

"I felt- it felt like I could just stay that way for the rest of my life Finn. Like nothing else mattered, like I could just stay with you and be happy for the rest of my life. Really happy. And it scared me, because- because-"

"You thought you'd forget your dream?" he asks, catching on. He feels the anger threatening to burst out of him, but he holds her legs tighter instead. "Forget Broadway? You really think I'd let you do that?"

"I was an idiot," she whispers. "I didn't think it was possible to have it all. It never was before. And I hurt you, and I could never forgive myself for that."

It's hard to say something, hard to say anything right now.

"I broke my promise," she whispers.

"What promise?"

"That I'd never let you feel alone."

"Rachel-"

"I promised you that," she says in distress, pulling against his hands to slide down his back. They're in the middle of the street, it's in the middle of the night, and she's still a little drunk, but she stands in front of him, her arms open wide as she looks at him earnestly. "I promised you'd never feel alone as long as I was around. I promised I'd always be there for you."

He knows what she's talking about, his father's birthday and the promise she made him years ago, when they were both still so young. He'd be lying if he says that he didn't hold her to that promise. He remembers the last time, sitting in front of his old man's grave alone as he kept wishing for her to appear. She never did, and he moved out to San Diego soon after, looking for change, looking for a way to escape her.

But he never could do that, because she'll find him eventually. She found him now.

"You know what I did that day?" she says, chuckling humorlessly as she looks up at him. "I spent the entire day in Central Park, feeding the ducks while talking to your father about what a horrible person I am. Yes, your father. Or at least, what he looks like in my mind. You probably hate me for that," she says sadly. "I don't blame you if you do."

"Kurt told me you were on a date," he says, remembering that throbbing pain in his chest when he heard that.

"I lied," she whispers. "I didn't know what to say to you. I didn't- I didn't know how to handle- you."

He stares at her, overwhelmed by the revelation. She didn't know how to handle him? Doesn't she know that he's never learned how to handle her? He steps a little closer to her, his heart threatening to burst his chest open, threatening to leap right into her hands. Her eyes are wide now as he stands close enough that their feet are touching.

"I could never hate you Rachel," he murmurs. "Believe me, I tried."

He sees the relief coloring her eyes before the tears spring out, and she closes her eyes when his thumb reaches out to brush them away.

"Good," she whispers unevenly. "Because I hated me enough for the both of us."

"Stop that," he whispers. "You just- we just needed to grow."

"To change?"

"Yeah," he says, and she leans closer. Tentatively, she reaches out to touch his chest, her fingers curling into his shirt as he looms over her. She looks up at him through her lashes, the hope on her face unmistakable.

"Have you changed enough?"

"Just about," he mumbles, leaning closer to finally, finally, close the distance between them. Her eyes flutter close just seconds before their lips meet, and she sighs into the kiss, pressing herself against him as he pulls her up, wrapping both his arms tightly around her as she boldly deepens their kiss. Her hands move from his chest upwards, to cling herself around his neck and he can barely breathe, the familiarity of this action overwhelming him as he feels a peculiar sense of belonging, of coming home.

They pull away together, both breathing harshly, his arms keeping her trapped against him.

"Finn," she whispers when he leans his forehead against hers. She reaches up just a little to brush her lips against his. "Take me home."

"You're crying," he mumbles, his lips trailing up to the corners of her eyes. She trembles in his arms and he pulls her closer, his heart threatening to overflow with all of his feelings, with all of his love.

"I'm happy," she whispers, smiling into his kiss, her arms still clung around his neck.

"You're drunk," he whispers, almost affectionately, and it would have scared him, how easy it is to feel this much for her when he's spent an entire year trying to forget this. But he's done being scared.

He's a schmuck. He'll embrace it.

She looks up at him, and there's a twinkle in her eye as she leans up, her mouth close to his ear.

"I'm not that drunk."

Xxx

He watches as she closes the door behind them, standing so close to her that he's pressing himself against her back. She moans when he presses his lips at the nape of her neck, his hands reaching out to steady her hips as he pushes her into the door.

"Finn," she mumbles, leaning her head back to give him better access, her hands coming up to rest in his hair.

"I missed you," he mumbles against her skin, one hand reaching down to the edge of her skirt, pulling the fabric up with him as his fingers leave a hot trail up her thighs. "I missed you so much, I just never, ever wanted to admit that."

"I missed you too," she whispers urgently, gasping when his fingers move further upward, brushing against the heat between her legs. He moves it away, leaning back so she could turn around, and the slow burn in her eyes is threatening to incinerate him as she pushes herself closer, her fingers nimbly pushing his jacket off his body before they move on to the buttons of his shirt. He pauses for a moment at the familiarly determined look on her face.

"What?" she asks when she notices.

"Nothing," he says, grinning as he shakes his head. She frowns, ignoring him as the final button comes undone and she's pulling his shirt out of his pants.

"Somebody's impatient," he whispers teasingly.

"It's been a while." She says these words slowly, and he sobers up, want and need filling up his every being as he pulls her towards him, kissing her roughly, his hands moving down towards the edge of her skirt again.

"Take it off," she whispers against his open mouth. "Please."

"Turn around." She turns obediently, using a hand to pull the bulk of her hair to her front. He stares at the expanse of her back for a second before his fingers tug against the zipper of her dress, slowly unravelling her. His lips latches on to her neck, sucking the skin into his mouth as his hands reach up to pull the straps of her dress down until she's down to her panties, her dress pooling at their feet. She moans his name again, and if he was turned on before, the way she turns around and presses her bare chest against him is making him impossibly hard. He groans when her hands trail over him against his jeans.

"I want you so much," she whispers and he nods, the words caught in his throat when his fingers trail up her stomach, tracing over her collarbone down to the small valley between her breasts. He moves to the left, his entire palm splaying out against skin before he cups her, his thumb grazing softly against her nipple.

"Finn," she breathes out, pushing herself up towards him. He moans when her fingers play with the waistband of his jeans. They're in the middle of his living room in the dark, and he can barely see where he's going as he tries to move them back, but she stops him, her hand coming up to push his hand insistently against her breast. In the glow of the street lamp outside, he sees her shaking her head.

"Here," she tells him, slowly pulling her down with him. He places his hand carefully behind her head as she lays back, his heart beating furiously as he looks down at her.

"It's cold here," he murmurs, as he lays over her, pushing her legs apart with his to rest between them. She smiles up at him, shaking her head.

"I don't care."

"I- I don't have a condom on me right now."

"I really, really don't care Finn."

He nods, leaning down to kiss her again, his lips blazing a trail from her lips down to her neck, stopping at her breasts again, as he takes a nipple into his mouth. She arches up towards him when his teeth graze against the nub, her fingers frantically unbuttoning his jeans as she uses her legs to push his pants down. His fingers move down her chest, past her bellybutton, tracing the spot where he knows her tattoo is, pressing his thumb momentarily into her skin when he feels her stomach cave in. They reach the edge of her panties, slipping past them towards the soft curls waiting there. They hover just above her for a second, when she pulls his head up from her chest to kiss him furiously, before finally reaching their destination, palming her as she writhes against him.

Her hands are nimble as they push against his boxers. They're breathing hard against their open mouths when her small fingers wrap around him and one long digit enters her, the tightness around him and the way she's moving her hand making him see spots as he grits his teeth. He pushes another finger into her and she's keening, arching her body up into his when he curls them, their mouths fused together in a mess of tongues and teeth and lips.

"Now," she whispers. "Nownownow, please Finn I-"

She gasps when he tears the fabric clean off her, entering her in one swift motion, groaning as he sinks into her, the muscles on his back straining from trying not to crush her. Her head hits the floor with a soft thud, and she wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him down to rest against her as they both stop moving, reveling in the feel of him inside her.

"I love you," she whispers against his ear. "I love you so much."

He doesn't say anything but his hand moves to her left thigh, his fingers digging into her as he pushes it down, opening her up to him, entering her further before he pulls out to slam in again.

"God," he breathes out when she moans against him, her fingers raking down his back as he repeats his motions. "I forgot what this feels like."

She mutters incoherently into his neck, her teeth clamping down against skin when his hand moves between them, moving down towards her in the way that he remembers. It doesn't last very long, and he's not sure if it's just because it has been so long, but his thumb and forefinger pinches just the right way and she grows quiet, biting down on his shoulder hard as she comes, clenching around him, overtaking him, ripping through his entire body until all he sees are stars, an entire galaxy of them, and all he feels is Rachel, around him, inside him, everywhere.

The feeling succumbs the both of them as he breathes harshly against her ear, coming down from his high while she trembles beneath him.

"Wow," he breathes, pulling out of her slowly. The awe turns into soft laughter as he gathers her close to him. "That was-"

"Perfect," she whispers as he turns on his back and pulls her on top of him. Their legs are tangled, slick bodies stuck together, when she leans up to kiss him. "That was perfect".

She deepens their kiss, chuckling when she feels him stirring against her.

"Somebody's eager," she whispers playfully into his ear before she kisses him there, grinding her body down on him. He groans, tightening his arm around her.

"It's been a long time," he growls, gripping her hips to stop her movements before he turns them back again, one hand curved protectively behind her head when it hits the floor. Ignoring her giggles, he leans back down, smiling into their kiss.

Xxx

He watches her as she sleeps, her body still splayed over his, her arm thrown carelessly over his chest.

She's snoring softly, a small trail of drool leaving her lips, and he grins.

He hasn't felt this way in a long time, this carefree, light feeling that stops his stomach from curling and erases that constant press on his chest.

Slowly, he moves to sit up, gathering her up in his arms gently, trying not to jostle her while he stands. She mumbles incoherently, but stays asleep, burrowing further into his arms as he makes his way to the bedroom.

He hasn't felt this way in a long time.

It's been a while since he's been home.

A/N: And thus, my smut cherry has officially popped. Please review, because I've never written anything like this before, so I really want to know what you think.

Lyrics to Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits, as sung by The Killers