October

~Penn State~

Finn could feel the anticipation building. That familiar feeling that started in the pit of his stomach and spread to the very tips of his fingers and toes. His breath came faster as his eyes took in the scene before him. His fingers tingled with electric excitement, as he squatted down. He could hear his heart beating into his ears, his pulse racing with excitement. Then those familiar word slipped from his lips

"Hut Hut Hike"

The ball landed in his hands in the old familiar way and he reacted from second nature, backing up and throwing a flawless pass to his teammate up the field. Just seconds after the ball left his fingers Finn felt the slamming force take him to the ground. This had to be what he had missed most about football, he knew it sounded crazy but being hit made him feel alive. When he had joined the team he never thought he would get off the bench for at least the first season but the previous quarterback had just graduated and they couldn't deny Finn's talent. It had never occurred to him in high school how good he really was at this game because the team had been so bad but Finn could hold his own against some of the brightest talents in college ball. The pass was completed perfectly and the crowd roared as the receiver took off dodging blockers as he ran for the end zone. It was still weird to Finn to not have Puck receiving his balls. Finn picked himself up off the ground and watched as the end zone was crossed, the ball punted off the ground. A smile came over his face behind the protection of his helmet. He felt himself being patted forcefully on his back by his teammates. He couldn't believe he had gone this long without playing the game. Getting back into the swing of things had been rough, the coach had beat Finn's ass in practice but every grueling moment was worth it. Finn had no intention of going into the NFL or anything but he truly loved playing college ball. It was like high school only better. The stadiums were larger, the fans more rabid, the opponents stronger and the cheerleaders hotter. Hey he was still a guy, he could look though none of them were quite as hot as his petite girlfriend 250 miles away. Finn looked at the scoreboard, their victory shining brightly in the night sky, he could hear the roar of the crowd behind him. And he was happy.

Finn left the locker room all smiles. The other guys on the team were heading to some Frat Party but Finn had other plans.

"Hudson" he heard his name called and turned smiling in the voices direction.

"Puck" he said greeting him in a very unmanly hug. They didn't care though, it was nice to see each other again.

The two men had been waiting for Ohio State and Penn to play so they could get to spend sometime together. They thought it would be weird to oppose each other but it hadn't been at all, each had respect for the other's talent.

"Sorry we had to wipe the floor with your boys" Finn laughed as the two headed out of the stadium together.

"Yeah well, we will get you next time" Puck promised and Finn feared he might have been right, the teams were pretty evenly matched.

"So we can hit the frat party at Kappa Epsilon or we can hit some of the college bars; pizza, wings and a pitcher."

"Quinn will kill me if she finds out I hit up a frat party" he answered honestly but Finn could see through him.

"You sure man, what happens at Penn, stays at Penn" Finn laughed as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

"I'm not trying to mess this up this time. I did that enough in High School" Puck responded.

Finn pulled the phone out and flipped it open

Did you win? -Rachel

Finn started hitting the buttons as they reached his car, typing out a quick message and feeling the familiar loneliness of not having her here.

Yeah. It wuz close but we pulled it out-Finn

Puck and Finn got into his car and he drove to a small bar near the campus. It was a favorite of the guys on the team and many a Monday night they would gather to watch football on the big screen TV's. The majority of the guys on the team were underage but the bartenders never ID the football players, in fact he rarely even charged them for their drinks. Being on the team had some definite perks, most of which Finn had no interest in participating in. He missed Rachel like crazy and most guys would be tempted by the girls who would literally throw themselves at them but for Finn there was only 1 girl he wanted. And he was a lucky enough bastard to still have her and he wasn't doing anything in the world to mess that up.

Awesome. Tell Puck I said Hi. Have Fun. I Love You- Rachel

Finn plucked out a return message as he walked into the bar with his friend

I miss you like crazy my love-Finn

As Finn slid into a booth across from Puck his thoughts were all on Rachel and how much he would kill to see her right now. He knew they had agreed to get settled before they started spending their weekends commuting to see each other but he would give anything see her, touch her, smell her.

"You okay" Puck asked from across the table "You seem like your somewhere else"

"Yeah man" Finn answered but Puck was right, he was somewhere else. 250 Miles away in the Concrete Jungle.

~NYU~

Rachel thought being back in the city without Finn would be a nightmare but she had been pleasantly surprised. Falling back into her routine in the city had been shockingly easy though she did miss Finn almost every minute. But like the show, life, did go on. Rachel was comforted in the fact that her Finn was only a 4 hour drive away, a bit longer by train. This semester she was living in a suite with some of her theater major friends from her first semester and it was a ton of fun. They all got along really well and had all the same goals for their lives. Rachel loved being able to come home and have people there who understood her daily plight of being an artist in the big city.

She had only been back a week before she had 3 auditions set up and quickly landed a role in an off Broadway rendition of Legally Blond. It wasn't a starring role but it was a large one and it was in New York. No more taking smelly buses to New Jersey to play to crowds of tourists and seniors in bad clothing. She truly enjoyed playing to people who understood the theater community and truly took her art for what it was. She had been so excited at landing the role that she had almost jumped a train to Penn State to tell Finn in person. Thankfully Skype existed and she was able to tell him almost in person. In fact Skype had become her favorite thing, there was something about being able to see and hear Finn but not touch him that sort of excited her. It made her actually crave the idea of getting to see him again. The couple had agreed that they should wait a bit before starting to make the trip to see one another to get into the groove of school. While they both knew how important they were to their lives they both had very strong aspirations about their success in school as well. But honestly her thoughts were always with him and she found herself bringing him up in random conversations like she did when he was just a school age crush. She was sure she drove people crazy with her constant blabbing about Finn but she didn't care, she loved talking about her boyfriend. The Quarterback of Penn States Nittany Lions.

Rachel put her phone away with a smile hoping that Finn had a good time with Puck. The two men had had some bad blood between them for a while but the years had brought their friendship back together and she was happy that he got to spend some time with his friend. Honestly though she was a bit jealous of Puck and that he was getting to spend this whole weekend with Finn. Plus Puck staying with Finn meant no marathon phone conversations and sexy Skype sessions this weekend for the two of them. She leaned back against her pillows and smiled at the thought of her boyfriend when her phone went off . She looked at the display in confusion when she saw Quinn's name on the display. The two girls had never been close friends and while they had let the past be just that the past they still never hung out on a solo basis. There was a lot of bad blood between them and while she knew that Quinn had moved on from her relationship with Finn year ago, there would always be that what if factor for Quinn.

"Hello" she answered tentatively wondering if Quinn had called her by mistake.

"Rachel" Quinn's voice answered.

"Yea"

"I was thinking, how long would it take you to get to Penn State?"

Now Rachel's curiosity was piqued "About 5 hours by train, 6 by bus."

"Let's surprise our boys" Quinn said excitedly

"What?" Rachel was a bit confused to say the least

"I miss him like crazy" she said honestly into Rachel's ear.

"Are you just trying to check up on him" she asked Quinn honestly.

"No, I realize after all these years that I trust him. I just miss him. He's been away a lot recently with all these away games and busy when he is here with school and football."

Rachel realized it had been over a month since she had seen Finn herself and started to get excited at the idea of surprising him by just showing up.

"I couldn't leave until the morning" Rachel responded already rising to pack her overnight bag. It was crazy she knew, to travel all that way to spend 1 day with him but she had already made up her mind.

"That's fine" Quinn said "Call me in the morning"

And with that the phone went dead and a huge smile crossed Rachel's lips and one thought crossed her mind, Finn….