A/N: I apologize if this chapter was sluggish at all; I'm at that point where I just want to get the transitions done and get to work on the sequel! Sorry if there are any mistakes; Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Glee.

"It's gonna be legend-… wait for it… and I hope you're not lactose intolerant because the second half of that word is DAIRY!"

'How do they come up with this stuff?!' Finn thought to himself in awe as he chortled at the TV. Spending a Saturday afternoon watching How I Met Your Mother was surprisingly entertaining, though there was one thing that could make it better. As if on cue, he heard a light knock on the door.

With a small sigh, he pushed himself up from the couch and stretched leisurely. A small yawn escaped his mouth as he opened the door to discover a very anxious looking Quinn. Immediately, his mood brightened and the remnants of his lazy morning were forgotten.

"Hey." he murmured softly, a dopey grin on his face.

Momentarily forgetting the reason she was there, Quinn smiled and asked, "You do know that it's almost one in the afternoon, right?"

"Yeah." A mask of confusion came across his face. "Why?"

With a small giggle, she motioned toward his rugged appearance.

Still completely clueless, Finn glanced down at his apparel: Sweats and a worn out T-Shirt. "What's wrong with this..?"

She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "You stay in your pajamas until late in the afternoon?"

"You don't?" he retorted, completely shocked. As an afterthought, he added, "And guys don't wear pajamas."

His random comment elicited an eye roll from her before she stated, "No, I don't."

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he claimed, "Well then, we're going to have to change that. What do you say to a little sleep over?"

She fought the smile that was attempting to appear on her face, but failed when he added, "Trust me, I make staying in the same clothes all day fun."

"Fun?" she echoed with a giggle.

He nodded eagerly. "Only I can make it fun."

"Is this another one of your cute yet dorky attempts to get me to spend the night with you?"

"No…" he drawled with an innocent smile on his face.

"Uh huh, sure. I'll give your little theory a shot anyway." she replied in amusement.

"You won't regret it." he promised before leaning down to plant a tender kiss on her lips.

Right after he pulled away, he noticed that she had something in her hand.

"What's that?" he wondered as he pointed at the object.

It was her turn to be confused. Instantly, she shifted her gaze to the envelope and realization flooded over her. 'This boy is such a pleasant distraction.'

Meeting his curious gaze, she stated, "It's a letter from Yale."

"What does it say?!" he inquired, starting to become excited.

"I don't know."

Furrowing his eyebrows, he asked, "Why not?"

She shuffled her feet a bit before admitting, "I'm a little scared to open it."

A look of understanding immediately crossed his face. He knew how much this letter meant to her; it was practically life or death. Well, not that dramatic, but it was still a big deal. Taking her hand, he led her to the couch and pulled her down next to him.

He continued to hold her hand and draw his thumb across it comfortingly as he murmured, "You'll never know if you don't open it."

Quinn exhaled slowly before she nodded. She took one more look into his encouraging brown eyes before turning her attention to the letter. It took her a little longer to open the envelope than usual; she didn't want to rip it.

Finally, she opened it and pulled out the piece of fine parchment. Taking a shaky breath, she unfolded it and let her gaze travel across the words.

As the seconds ticked by, Finn leaned down and placed a reassuring kiss on her temple. After about a minute, his girlfriend looked up and stared into his eyes.

"I got in." There was an array of different emotions expressed within those three words.

Finn let out a breath that he wasn't aware he had been holding and pulled her into a hug.

"I knew that you could do it." He murmured against her hair, pride evident in his voice.

A relieved sigh escaped Quinn's lips, partly for not having to stress about whether or not she got into her dream school anymore, and partly because she was wrapped in his embrace.

"I can't believe that I really got in." she breathed with a following shaky laugh.

Leaning back slightly, Finn looked into her hazel orbs and claimed, "There was never a doubt in my mind that you wouldn't. Babe, you're capable of accomplishing anything that you set your mind on. I'm serious; I have never met a girl who is as dedicated, smart, and ambitious as you. Most people would kill to have that. Do you have any idea how amazing you are?"

Quinn looked away, attempting to hide the highly noticeable blush on her cheeks. Obviously, it didn't work.

With a smile on his face, Finn leaned down and kissed her cheek softly.

"It's true." he promised.

Releasing a small breath, Quinn turned her head and nuzzled her nose against his. This moment was yet another reason that caused her to wonder what she did to deserve him. After screwing up so many times, she knew that he deserved better. Yet here she was, wearing his ring and sharing one of the most important moments of her life with him. Without a doubt, she was the luckiest girl in the world.

Originally, she was only going to say thank you, but that didn't seem remarkably good enough to express exactly how thankful she was. In lack of any other words, she whispered, "I love you." Every single day, those three little words meant more and more. Impossibly, she was falling even more in love with Finn Hudson than she already was.

"I love you too." Finn murmured, signature grin clearly in tact. Suddenly, a thought popped into his head.

"Hey…" he began slowly, "we have to celebrate. After all, this is mind blowing news."

"What'd you have in mind..?" she wondered while he pulled her off of the couch.

He began to head toward the front toward at a rapid pace. "You'll see."

When she cleared her throat loudly, he stopped and turned around to give her a questioning look.

"Finn…" she drawled, biting her lip.

"What?"

She laughed before pointedly looking him up and down.

Once more, Finn looked down at his clothes. Finally, he caught onto what she was hinting at.

"Right, sorry." he muttered in embarrassment before running up the stairs, taking two steps at a time.

Quinn continued to laugh. "Goof…"

"So, Mr. Hudson, do you buy all of the girls who get into Yale ice cream?" Quinn joked as she took a seat in a booth at the small ice cream parlor, cone in hand.

"Only the lucky ones, Ms. Fabray." he replied teasingly with a wink as he slid into the booth after her.

She bumped her shoulder against his before taking a lick of her strawberry ice cream.

"Do you like it?" he wondered, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"It's delicious!" she gushed, a wide smile on her face.

Instantly, he broke out into a large grin. "I know right?! Want to try mine?" He waved his chocolate cone around for emphasis.

"Sure." she answered. "But you have to try mine too!"

Finn chuckled lightly before agreeing. They extended their cones out to one another and took a lick.

"Yum." they said in unison, causing them to laugh.

"I wonder what they taste like mixed together…" Finn muttered absentmindedly, beginning to slip into deep thought.

Quinn heard his comment and smiled. She placed her free hand on the side of his face and turned it toward her. She then proceeded to press her lips against his, quickly deepening the kiss and letting his tongue roam her mouth.

A few seconds later, Finn pulled away with a smug look on his face. "That was way better than me simply taking a lick of both ice creams."

She rolled her eyes before asking, "How does it taste?"

"Pretty good…" he began thoughtfully. A smirk made its way onto his face as he continued. "But I think that I need one more taste to rate it sincerely."

"Is that so?" she inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"It's only fair." There was an obvious attempt to sound innocent, but Quinn saw right through that.

She sighed dramatically before saying, "Oh, alright."

The smirk was still on his face as he leaned toward her and closed his eyes.

When he was mere centimeters from her, Quinn brought the cone up to his face and smashed it against his mouth. An unpreventable giggle immediately burst from her lips.

Finn kept his eyes closed for a few seconds longer before he exhaled slowly and opened them. He tried to act angry, but he couldn't when he saw how giddy she was.

"What's the verdict?" Quinn asked innocently with a bat of her eyelashes.

Not wanting to waste perfectly good ice cream, Finn ran his tongue across the expanse of his lips. A thoughtful look crossed his face before he claimed, "Pretty damn good!"

By then, the blonde was in full out hysterics. In attempt to calm down, she picked up a napkin and cleaned his face. However, she continued to laugh when she saw the nonchalant look that he wore.

When a few of the other people sitting around them turned their attention to the couple, more specifically the laughing blonde, Finn crashed his lips against hers. His attempt obviously worked because he felt her kissing him back instantly, eagerly. Realizing that people were probably watching them almost make-out now, he pulled away and smiled. "Let's finish these so that we can get out of here."

She returned the smile and nodded before turning her attention to the deformed ice cream cone in her hand. A slight frown crossed her face, which Finn immediately noticed. Quickly, he handed her his cone before taking hers.

When she looked at him strangely, he shrugged and said, "I happen to like the taste of my face."

"That's…" Quinn couldn't find any words to explain that, so she simply shook her head and took a lick of the chocolate cone.

"Do you ever wonder what's out there..?" Finn wondered as he stared up at the stars. After leaving the ice cream parlor, he took Quinn back to the park. They were on the grass, her sitting between his legs and him with his arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer to him.

"I don't know..." she murmured thoughtfully, leaning her head against his chest.

A small smile came across his face before he said, "I think that there's another world, but different than ours. A place where everything is peaceful and there are no problems. Everyone's happy there and they don't have to worry about losing someone that they love."

"That sounds like the perfect world." she commented quietly, a smile on her face.

"Yeah." he breathed.

Another couple of seconds passed before Quinn asked, "Have you heard anything from those schools you applied to?"

A lump formed in his throat. "Not yet."

She nodded before closing her eyes and making herself more comfortable against him.

"I need to tell you something." Finn blurted, breaking the quiet trance.

Startled, Quinn shot up and turned around to face him. Noticing the look on his face, she became increasingly worried. "What?"

He took a deep, shaky breath and looked at the grass. "Please don't hate me." he whispered inaudibly.

Slowly, he brought his gaze back up to hers. "I… I'm not going to college."

Confusion crossed her features. "Why? If it's because of the tuition or the studying-"

"No, it's not that." he replied, cutting her off. "I don't want to go to college."

Not knowing what to say, she stared at him, willing him to say more.

"I…" How was he going to tell her this? More importantly, how was she going to react?

Taking another deep breath, he looked into her beautiful hazel orbs and said weakly, "I enlisted in the Army."

Shock. Worry. Anger. Sorrow. Hurt. Confusion. Those were the main emotions that flickered through Quinn once the words left his mouth. 'This can't be real, can it?'

She took a large gulp and choked out, "Why?"

A sad smile appeared on Finn's face. "I just have to do this, Q. I… I want to honor my father."

"By risking your life?" she asked in disbelief, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Finn felt his throat go dry, so he simply nodded once.

"F-Finn..." she whispered, "you could die." Her voice cracked on that unthinkable last word.

"I know." he stated quietly, looking at the floor once more. "But I won't, Quinn. I…I wouldn't leave you like that."

"Then why are you leaving at all?" she demanded, tears spilling down her cheeks.

Whenever she cried, Finn felt his heart break. He stroked his thumbs across her cheeks, catching just a few of the many tears that escaped, before he rested his hands on either side of her face and looked into her tear-stained eyes.

"I have to do this." he repeated meekly.

She shut her eyes and shook her head. 'This can't be happening.'

Placing her hands over his, she choked out, "I don't want to lose you again."

"You won't." he whispered, voice strained. "I will come back to you."

As soon as he said that, a sob escaped her throat. "There's no guarantee of that."

'How could things have turned out so badly?' she thought to herself in agony.

"I promise that I'll come back to you." Finn stated firmly, fighting back his own tears.

Quinn instinctively gripped his hands tighter. She knew there was no logical way that he could promise that, but she believed him. She would always listen to what he said and believe it. With a small sigh, she opened her eyes and said, "Okay."

He gazed into her eyes for a few seconds before leaning in and kissing her passionately. Of course he knew that she was hurting because of him. Again. He put as much reassurance that he could muster into that kiss, though he knew that it would never be enough to take away her pain. When he pulled away, he pressed his forehead to hers.

"What's going to happen between us?" she asked barely above a whisper.

"My heart is always going to be yours." he stated with conviction.

After a few seconds, Quinn's tears stopped falling and she met his gaze. "You're the love of my life, Finn. That's never going to change."

'I'm going to sound so fucking selfish.' Finn seethed to himself.

"Please don't give up on me." he murmured, voice uneven as a single tear slid down his face. "Just… wait for me."

"I will. Always." she promised, moving her hand to wipe away the stray tear that escaped his eye. Unable to stop herself, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck. Naturally, he pulled her closer to him, not wanting to let her go.

"When do you leave?" she questioned quietly.

Finn rested his chin on her head. "I leave for training a week after graduation."

"That leaves us with six weeks." Her voice was clearly full of pain.

"They'll be the best weeks of our lives." he vowed, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

Quinn didn't have the heart to say anything more. She nodded once as a new round of tears began to cascade down her cheeks. This was definitely a day that she would never forget.

Well... Don't hate me. I had to do it! One more chapter and you'll find out why. Erm, updating may be much slower. I have to finish a few work assignments before school starts next week, so... Yup. Please Review or leave a suggestion! Once again, don't hate me! Thanks for reading!