A/N: Many, many thanks for the response to this story. I hope you enjoy this part as much as I enjoyed writing it. I had so many friends and handholders and cheerleaders there is no way I could thank you individually except to do it in person.

Disclaimers: See previous.

Chapter Eleven: Really, Really One Hundred Percent Happy

It was only a day later, but everything was so messed up it might as well have been high school all over again. Finn had gotten so used to the major life-changing crap that seemed to happen with the changes in weather back then that he couldn't deny now how nice it had been, in some ways, to be more settled. He knew what to expect on any given day, and it hadn't changed until he had changed it. He wanted to be settled. He just wanted it to be different somehow, so he knew he had to keep from making the same decisions again and again. The big key to that would be not going back to Quinn when Rachel left this time. That seemed to be a pattern he could break.

While he was back home, he thought back to the last time he had been really, really one hundred percent happy. Honestly, it was right after they had lost sectionals his sophomore year. He and Rachel were just starting out together (that whole time was a different kind of happy, but it was still a struggle and he wasn't sure that counted as, like, the peak of happiness because of all the hard times that had happened), glee club had just been given a second life, and that last day of school had seemed perfect. Before all the rest of it. That was the day he wanted to remember. He wanted to be happy to have his life that wide-open. That was when all the possibilities weren't overwhelming—they were just sort of there. He could relax and let it all play out and it would be okay.

He just wanted everything to be okay; especially him and especially especially Rachel.

He hadn't called her yet. His mom had actually been mad at him—mad—when she found out Rachel was in town, had ridden back to Lima with him and Kurt, and still hadn't been invited to family brunch. In fact, Rachel had stared out the passenger side window the entire time he'd been in the car. She had sung along softly with whatever random showtune popped up on Kurt's satellite radio (Broadway station, and that was like, the one thing in his life that hadn't changed lately), and just the closeness of her voice had actually sung him to sleep. Okay, so maybe it was only mostly her voice and a little bit the fact that he hadn't slept the night before at all.

Anyway, his mom had been mad to learn of the development. In fact, his mom and Rachel were doing some sort of a spa day thing that involved fingernails and toenails and...was it weird that his ex-girlfriend-was-too-small-of-a-word-for-her… his ex-Rachel had gotten along so well that his mom had cried (cried!) when Rachel left? And was it weird that Carole and Rachel were now doing some girl-bonding that Carole and Quinn had never done?

He didn't care. He wasn't going to dwell on it.

So he stepped into McKinley, just after the last bell of the day had rung. He had done that on purpose. He wasn't positive that glee club would still be an after-school club rather than a class (it was a class at Bexley and Quinn had chattered his ear off about how that blew her mind when she found out), but he took a chance.

The chance turned out to be a winner. There were a few kids milling around in the room as he walked in, but Schue wasn't in the office yet. The door was open, though, so he took a seat and waited. It was only a couple of minutes before he heard Schue come in and ask (his voice sounded little bit rushed) one of the girls to start the group on their warm-ups before he came into the office.

Schue slammed to a stop when he saw Finn sitting in the chair.

"Finn Hudson?" Mr. Schuester asked breathlessly. "Well this is a huge surprise."

Finn smiled as he stood and turned. "Hey, Mr. Schue."

"I think I've told you to call me Will. I'm not your teacher anymore."

Finn sighed. "I know but it's still weird," he said simply.

Will nodded and smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping to sit in on glee club rehearsal. I'm trying to remember being happy and…well…I don't know the football coach anymore. Plus it's spring. I can't exactly sit in on football practice."

Schue laughed. "Yeah. We're getting ready for Nationals so we'll actually be headed to the auditorium. You're more than welcome to sit in. In fact, another one of your classmates is in the auditorium waiting for us. That's why I'm late."

Finn scowled, but not an angry one. Just confusion. "Oh yeah, who? I know a couple of us are in town."

Schue was on the move again. He'd come in to set his messenger bag on the chair and was done with that, and now headed back out toward the group. "Who's here besides you and Rachel? Well…I mean, who that doesn't still live here?"

Finn shrugged. "I just know about me, Rachel, and Kurt. And me and Kurt are leaving tomorrow."

Schue nodded. "Well, it's Rachel in there." He dropped his voice and looked at Finn carefully as he stopped walking. "How long has it been since she was back, anyway?"

Finn swallowed hard. That question made him think about the last time she was here, and he didn't want that memory mixed around with all the other crap that was floating in his head; almost like he wanted to keep it clean or secret or something. "Four years; she came home right before college graduation."

"Have you talked to her at all since then?" Schue asked. He tilted his head and continued on with the next question. "And how's Quinn doing?"

Finn closed his eyes and gave an awkward half-smile. "I've talked to Rachel on and off. Me and Quinn just broke up, so…I assume she's fine but…"

"How long ago did you break up? I just ran into Puck at the grocery store a couple weeks ago and he said you guys were fine as far as he knew."

If there was anything more suffocating than attaching yourself to Quinn Fabray, it was growing up in a town the size of Lima. Seriously.

"I'm still moving out," Finn said simply.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

Finn shrugged. "Get to your rehearsal. I just wanna listen for a while."

Schue nodded. "Okay, Finn. Let's go." He patted the taller man on the back and followed him out of the office. Finn just sat in one of the chairs off to the side, listening, and didn't bother saying anything. These kids looked so young; it wasn't lost on him that the kids he taught were now closer in age to these students than he was anymore. So why couldn't he get it right? Why did he feel like he still had so much to learn?

He'd kind of thought he would know it all by now and he would just be happy. Maybe that was the first lesson—he would never actually have all the answers. He just had to get okay with that, now didn't he?

He followed the group to the auditorium, hanging back from them as they mixed and settled into groups of different sizes, chatting casually and laughing and flirting and horsing around in any combination while they gathered their items up for the move to the auditorium.

"We actually have glee as a class now," Schue said walking quickly to catch up with Finn's longer strides even though Finn was just sort of wandering.

"Oh, really?" Finn asked, turning his head and trying to act interested. It wasn't that he didn't care…he just couldn't focus.

"Yeah. We call it show choir. We're just practicing more before and after school because of Nationals."

Finn nodded. He remembered those days. The only time his group had progressed was his junior year. Without Rachel, they had only secured a second place finish at sectionals. It had just increased the feeling of loss. He inhaled sharply. It kind of felt like another failure of his that was directly related to her absence. Could he only be successful if she was around, guiding and encouraging and helping? Maybe life had always been giving him the answers he needed, he had just been too dumb to recognize what it was telling him.

As he walked into the auditorium, the feeling that came over him was nostalgic, but it was the good kind because he could see the back of her head. She had her phone in her lap, the glow of it coming over the top of her head and almost making it look like she was glowing. He fought down the urge to hope she wasn't texting that guy (he still refused to think his name). Finn slowed to a stop, but felt like he was moving in slow motion as the current New Directions and their hardworking director moved in well-rehearsed places all around him.

Even with the choice of hundreds of chairs (what? Two hundred and fifty was still enough to pluralize that), he ended up sitting in the one right next to her.

Rachel felt the breeze from him dropping into the chair before she actually sensed that he was there. She turned to her left and looked at him. All she could do was smile. He did look a lot better than he had a couple of days ago when she last saw him. He had obviously slept…and showered…and shaved.

So maybe the stubble was a little sexy and it was just a sign that they were no longer the same high schoolers; the same innocent, baby-faced pair who was destined to just hurt each other and end up right back here. She wanted him to keep the stubble.

He smiled back at her. Her fingers were a deep pink color now, and if he remembered anything about her, it was that her toes would be the same color; he just couldn't see because of the auditorium seats.

"How was your spa day with my mom?" He asked, looking for some sort of an easy conversation instead of all the serious stuff. His head was starting to hurt from thinking about all the serious stuff. He'd come here for a break from it and, by God, he was going to get a break from it if it killed him.

"It was very nice," she said. She finished her text and slid the keyboard back up into her phone before she turned to face him fully. "If not a little strange because she kept pumping me for information about your recent breakup and asking if you and I were headed for reconciliation."

Finn sighed and rolled his eyes. "I know. It's been a day and she's all over me about the same things. I'm sorry about that, though." He leaned over and tilted his head toward her. "It's just gonna take me time to get her some answers."

She let out a little bit of a laugh. "That's certainly understandable. Are you planning on keeping me in the know on these answers?"

He twisted his neck just a little because that was all that was necessary so he was looking at her. Her face was so close. "You'll be the first to know," he admitted. His voice was always a little lower when he was around her. Why was that? "Even though you're moving."

She let out a long breath. "Yeah," she said. Her gaze was carefully trained on the stage. "It's not forever, though."

He laughed a little bit. "You've said that to me before, you know."

Schue's clap brought them out of conversation like they were still guided by their former habits. As he started to talk to the New Directions, they looked at each other and laughed, realizing that they had just done the exact same thing.

There was really very little warning for the leggy brunette who started belting from stage right, walking slowly as she sang.

I can't imagine any greater fear than waking up without you here… though the sun would still shine on, my whole world would all be gone—but not for long.

There was a guy, the exact same height as the tall girl, looking too much like a surfer for Ohio, who started singing almost on a dime in harmony with her. He was walking from the other side.

If I had to run…

Finn almost missed Rachel's delicate snort before she raised her hand to cover her face and bowed her head at the same time.

"Wh-what? What's so funny?"

"At least they didn't come in from the back doors," she said softly. He looked over at her, amusement sparkling in his eyes and a smile hovering on his face. He didn't know why but he reached up to pull her hand away from her face.

"We're the only ones who ever really rocked that entrance. I think he knows that."

Her gazed shifted over to him and her smile broke open even as her grip on him tightened a little bit as his fingers slid between hers.

They sat quietly until the second verse started.

It wouldn't matter why we're apart; lonely miles or two stubborn hearts. Nothing short of God above could turn me away from your love…I need you that much.

He felt something wrap around his heart and squeeze tight. The second verse was a different boy and girl, but that wasn't his focus. The words were hitting just a little too close to home for him. Rachel was turned forward again, watching the performance intently. He tipped a little more in his chair and pressed his lips to the side of her head. He wasn't sure what exactly made him do it, but he only knew he was sick and tired of fighting impulses when it came to this girl. She leaned a little closer but didn't say anything. He heard her breathing out and heard the contented little sigh, but he didn't say anything either.

They sat like that in quiet silence until Schue turned to Rachel.

"Miss Berry? What did you think? We could use an expert opinion." Schue said. He was speaking a little loudly because they had sat at least two-thirds of the way back. Finn felt Rachel pull away from him, even if their hands were still linked. All he knew was that for those three minutes she was leaning into him, there hadn't been room for the swirling thoughts and the crazy pressure he was putting on himself. And he didn't like that there was space for them to come back in now.

"Your female lead was sharp on the key change," she said simply. Finn ducked his head and smiled widely. She released his hand and stood up. He kept his head low but glanced up enough to see Schue nodding; Schue had known this was the case but had made Rachel do the dirty work for him. Sneaky bastard.

"Excuse me? I was not sharp. You just obviously don't have a sense of pitch," she argued from the stage, placing her hands on her hips.

"Olli, come on," the boy next to her prodded gently.

"No! Seriously, if some teeny little brat I don't even know is going to come in here and criticize my performance, I'm going to stand up for myself," she said. She turned back to face Rachel and Finn. "You wanna come up here and prove to me you actually know what you're talking about, shorty?"

Finn looked up at Rachel with wide eyes. There was a time when she would've had a head full of steam and marched up to the stage, cutting the girl down to size as she marched. Now, Rachel just sighed and smiled pleasantly at the girl; "Olli" was apparently benefitting from the much more mature version of Rachel.

But not that much.

"I will accept your invitation," Rachel said firmly, her voice echoing clear as a bell despite the distance from them to the stage. She turned to look at Finn. "Do you want to come? Their male lead isn't that great either."

"Hey!" The guy next to the bratty girl protested. Schue's jaw dropped a little and Finn fought the urge to laugh.

"What did you have in mind?" He asked, letting her seize his hand again and drag him up to the stage against his better judgment. She was hauling ass and he felt his steps jerking down the slight decline of the floor just to keep up with her as she tugged.

She turned her head over her shoulder as they walked, and he heard her voice floating back toward him. "Do you remember our Madonna mashup?"

It was the weirdest thing. For a guy who couldn't remember anything he was actually supposed to learn in high school, he could remember the all songs they had sung together. He had poured his heart into that (and every, really) duet with this girl and apparently, that meant they were on permanent file in his memory.

"Yeah, I remember," he said simply.

"Good," she agreed. She looked doubtfully at the piano player. It was not the same curmudgeonly but talented guy who had played when they were there. "I hope this guy can keep up."

Finn laughed. "With you? Probably not, but it's our only option on such short notice."

She gave him that wide smile he loved so much and shrugged before she went to give her (undoubtedly detailed and numerous) instructions to the poor piano player.

"And who are you?" OIivia whirled around to face Finn where he stood, now on the stage.

"Finn Hudson," he said simply. He'd had practice dealing with abrasive, demanding show choir girls and neither the bluntness of her question nor the tone of her voice frightened him. They didn't really even register. "I was the male lead a long time ago."

She didn't really have a comeback for someone who dealt with her so evenly so she just nodded and moved to the opposite side of the stage. Schue, for his part, was standing in front of the stage with his arms folded, just watching everything play out and barely suppressing a grin.

Rachel helped the piano player move the piano to center stage (in his defense, Finn helped when he saw what they were doing. He remembered chasing her around the piano as part of the choreography so he knew what she was getting at), then she nodded approvingly at him. She turned to focus that same, predatory look she'd had back in the day right on Finn and he felt his heart speed up as he walked slowly toward her. He wasn't playing drums this time. That might change things. He had no idea what to do with his hands. Or his feet.

Something in the way you love me won't let me be… I don't wanna be your prisoner, so baby won't you set me free. Stop playin' with my heart, finish what you start when you make my love come down. If you want me, let me know, baby let it show—honey don't you fool around.

He felt his breath catch as she started the song off. He remembered how all that had felt—watching her with Jesse, watching her bounce back from Jesse—and how he had just wanted to love her. Now he already knew how he felt, but as he watched her, he hoped he could get the right notes and the words out of his throat. Like so many other things, he would've thought this wouldn't necessarily be so… relevant to his adult life.

Don't try to resist me….open your heart to me, baby, I'll hold the lock and you hold the key.

He got the words out, even with the right notes attached, and he could see the way it made her feel. He thought he might choke on the symbolism. Yeah, he understood that after the stupid lit class in college.

Open your heart to me darling, I'll give you love if you…

She joined him like she was supposed to but then left him hanging (like she was supposed to).

…you turn the key.

Her eyes were fixed on him as she continued on her own. And God how he hoped what she was singing was real. He knew she could sell it, but he hoped she wasn't selling it for him. He wanted it to be real. Why couldn't life be so clear all the time?

Something in your eyes is making such a fool of me.

He echoed her sentiment readily, but he knew he wasn't performing. He was just singing to her. That's how it was with Rachel. He could…he could say stuff like this and it was okay. He didn't have to hold back. He didn't want to hold back. He was sick and tired of holding back.

You're makin me, you're making such a fool of me.

They launched into their well-practiced (even if it was a long time ago) harmony and he felt the smile creeping across his face. It made it a little hard to get the words out, but who cared?

I see you on the street and you walk on by…

He ignored the fact that his voice cracked when she dropped out of the harmony as he echoed. He could only hope she would ignore it, too. It wasn't, like, an official performance. And he didn't do this shit anymore. Not like she did.

You're on the street, I see you and you walk on by…

She moved closer to him, her movements focused right on the spot he was standing in and she had that look in her eyes again. It was all he could do as she sang out her line alone. He joined in with his line and it was not just the lyrics she had told him to sing, but it was what he actually wanted. He knew what he wanted.

When you hold me in your arms, you love me til I just can't see, so you choose to look the other way—well I've got something to say…open your heart to me, baby, I'll hold the lock and you hold the key.

Open your heart to me, darling, I'll give you love if you, you turn the key…

He sang and begged while she let it rip on the long note. It totally made him smile. He had really missed this and really missed her.

Open your heart, I'll make you love me…

They continued chasing each other around the piano, faster and faster as they sang.

I'll hold the lock and you hold the key…open your heart to me, darlin', I'll give you love if you, you turn the key… Open your heart with the key.

He remembered when they sang before. They had let the last, perfect note fly and then looked at each other, breathing hard from working hard and wanting hard and… he had been afraid to kiss her back then and she had cut in with her words the duet sounding "really good".

Yeah, that's not how it went down this time.

He was thinking about the songs they had sung, the song she had written that talked about swallowing the key and he grabbed her up against him and just laid one on her. He kissed her like he had never kissed her before. It wasn't tender. It wasn't hesitant or shy or warm.

It was hot. It was passionate. It was everything he felt for her. It was just everything. Just like her.

It felt like five seconds and it felt like a hundred years until they heard the embarrassed laughter and a throat clearing. The catcall from Schue is what finally did it, and they pulled apart.

He felt himself blush, he saw her blush, and they both ducked their heads down, unable to do anything but stand there and smile.

Finn raised his eyes to hers and his smile just brightened to match hers.

Somehow, neither of them knew exactly how, Schue was on the stage. He patted Finn on the back, reaching up enough to hit Finn's shoulder.

"Nice job," Schue said. He looked over at Finn where the guy's cheeks were also still stained, and decided Rachel deserved some credit, too. "Both of you."