They lay together for a while, naked under the quilt, Rachel's head pillowed on Finn's chest and his arm around her. Finn's face held a broad grin, he doubted he would be able to get rid of it even if he wanted to try. He felt so good, physically, emotionally, and even mentally, everything fitting the way it should.

"It's like every endorphin I didn't have for the last five months decided to show up at once," he mused, still riding his sexual high as well as the elation of their reunion. "Do I ever feel good."

Rachel sighed in deep contentment, still euphoric. She stretched a little. "I know what you mean. Mmm." She paused. "Endorphins? I'm impressed."

"Yeah, I've learned a lot about things that affect the brain," Finn said.

"And what is affecting your brain right now?"

He leaned down to her ear. "Same thing that's affecting the rest of me. You."

Rachel gave another happy sigh and idly stroked his arm.

"So... you were going to seduce me, huh?" Finn asked, amused.

"It was an option," Rachel responded seriously, then giggled. "I'm very glad you told me I didn't need to."

"I told you you didn't have to try," Finn corrected. "Trust me, you'll be successful. And I definitely want to see you in that dress you were talking about."

"Well that's why I brought it. And bought it, even, I certainly wasn't going to wear it for anyone else."

"I appreciate your faith in me." Finn was chuckling, but soon sobered. "I really do, you know," he said quietly, stroking her bare shoulder. "Yeah it scared the daylights out of me at first, you always do, but knowing what was waiting for me, you and all your love, all our love, it was a great motivator." He sighed. "Once I knew what we'd had, or at least what I could understand of it, I wanted it again so badly."

"Worth being scared for?"

"Definitely. You're so passionate, it was hard to relate to until I felt it myself. And it's terrifying to feel so much. But so, so worth it, now I'd be terrified if I didn't, it'd be like I'd gone cold." He stroked her hair for a few moments. "But how far back were you considering seducing me?" he teased, tilting her over so he could look into her face.

Rachel laughed. "Have I told you how much I love your hands?" she asked in return, reaching over Finn to stroke his far hand and interlace her fingers into his.

Finn turned towards her, trying to frown but mostly failing. "You're changing the subject."

"I'm really not." She stroked her thumb over the back of his hand.

Finn was intrigued, and thought about it. "Okay, I know me using my hands turns you on," he said, stroking her to demonstrate why and enjoying her short gasps of pleasure at his touch, "but when did you see that? It was way later that you saw me in the shop, and not very close... wait a minute." Finn thought back to the first things he'd been using his hands for, and when she'd watched him playing Halo with Puck. "I was still in hospital!" he mock protested.

Rachel blushed. "You didn't want to be," she maintained. "And I love how you use your hands." She moaned as he fondled her again. "Yes, like that," she sighed.

Finn leaned over to her ear. "You were considering jumping a mental patient."

Rachel rolled over, pushing him back so she could lie on top of his chest. "You were not a mental patient, you were merely under observation," she insisted. "I was observing."

Finn laughed. "Okay, I have to give you that," he said, stroking down her back and pressing her more tightly to him. "But that's a long time."

Rachel smiled. "It was. So you can understand why I really didn't want to have to wait over Christmas as well."

"Oh I understand," Finn breathed, leaning up to kiss her. "Believe me, I understand."

They kissed for a while, their hands starting to explore each other again, their ardor building gradually.

"How about the rest?" Rachel sighed, cupping his face. "I mean, there's much more to you than just you and me. You went through a lot last year, figuring yourself out and finding your own direction. Your confidence is back, more than ever, I can feel it, but please know I'm always willing to help if you need it."

"You did then too. You and Kurt both." Finn kissed her forehead, then her nose. "Once the foundation came back the rest did too. But thank you for worrying about me."

"Can't stop," she admitted. "Not that I've tried. But I did tell myself that what matters is that you're truly happy, whether you're with me or not."

Finn sat up a little, pivoting their bodies so that they lay facing each other. His hand stroked her hair as he looked into her eyes. "Rach, me truly happy without you? I don't think so."

Rachel blushed a little. "What I mean is, I have these dreams for my life. And you're in all of them, but there are a lot of other things in there too –"

"Broadway," Finn said, kissing her cheek lightly.

"Of course," Rachel said. "But I want you to have that too, not specifically Broadway I mean, but something that you want for yourself. For your life. It can't just be me, you already have me –" Finn cut her off with a kiss to her lips. When they came up for air she continued. "– you need something you can strive for as well. You're so good at accomplishing things when you put your mind to it."

"My mind?" The corner of Finn's mouth turned up a little.

Rachel pouted. "Yes. You know what I mean."

"Yes, I do," Finn said, stopping his teasing. "And believe me, the whole exercise of putting my memories back together has taught me a lot about what I can do, at least with the right support. I don't know exact details of what I want to do, it's not like you and Broadway, but I know the direction."

"I'm glad." Rachel sighed happily and pulled Finn's arm a little tighter around her. "Mmm, I love this."

"So do I." And Finn was so close to exploding with joy at how right it all was, cuddling with Rachel in their extended afterglow, teasing each other a little and talking about them and their future, because every time they scaled the heights together it made them both think about forever a little more. Especially now. He took her hand, and put it on the left side of his chest. "Feel that?"

"Yes," Rachel responded, feeling his heart thud under his hand. "You remember where, I see."

"Yep." Finn smiled. "You know what it says on it?"

"What?"

"'Property of Rachel Berry'. Ever since you showed me where it was." He kissed her temple. "I'm sorry I was such an ass about all that, when I first woke up," he said. "And some of the other times too, I was a complete idiot. I didn't understand then it was possible to feel this much for someone."

"That's okay now," she said.

"More than okay... now I can't understand how I could think I didn't. Because this, this feeling – it's unstoppable. And that's one of the weirdest things."

"It's weird that it's unstoppable?"

Finn chuckled. "No, that's the right thing, always. No, it's weird remembering not remembering, not knowing. When you told me how much you loved me and I didn't get it, how could I not? When I think back it just doesn't make sense. And other stuff too, stuff I didn't recognize. Like when we were here, in your room, when I asked to look at your ring, and – you basically replayed our first kiss, what we said, but I didn't recognize it. I even turned it back on you later without remembering that it was how we started."

"I wondered about that," Rachel said. "You replied the same way but I couldn't tell if that was because you remembered on some level or you were just answering me back."

"Well on some level I did know," Finn said. "'Cause I was going to do a whole lot more than kiss you, even before my subconscious took over, way beyond anything that I'd ever have done at the time I remembered. You were so right, what you told me the next day, that I knew you, how to be with you. But it's really weird, I mean I think about doing that, and it felt so natural, then you telling me you love me, and how that broke me out of my subconscious or whatever I was doing and stopped me because I couldn't say it back. And it's like I'm watching myself, in the memory, and telling myself how stupid I'm being because of course I love you."

Rachel sighed. "I could stay like this forever," she murmured, snuggling even closer to him.

Finn looked down at her and smiled. "Naked?"

"Sure," Rachel sighed softly. "Nothing separating us."

"Like a metaphor? For us?" He gave her a big grin, his dimples showing.

She giggled. "Not just a metaphor." She slowly stroked his chest, her hand going slightly lower each time. "But metaphors –"

"– are important. I know." Finn groaned at the feel of her hand stroking down his abdomen. "As metaphors go this one rules."

Rachel smiled, but pulled her hand back. "Finn," she said, suddenly serious. "I need to know something. I promise your answer doesn't change anything between us, as long as it's the truth."

"Okay," Finn replied, sitting up slightly. "What is it?"

"Were you with anyone else? While – while you didn't remember us, and we were apart?" She swallowed. "It's okay if you were, really, you didn't remember me, I just need to know. If anything happened, just tell me now and we can start clean." She met his eyes, and he could see the trepidation in hers.

Finn met her eyes forthrightly. "No," he said. "I know the old me way back then was thinking more about just getting to have sex, but no. The closest I came was that day with you." While he knew she was being honest about just wanting to know, he also was happy to see her relax in relief at his answer.

"Not even Quinn, huh?"

"No, not even Quinn. Never with Quinn, actually. Aside from that one stupid time with Santana, it's only ever been you." He looked deeply into her eyes. "I promise that's the truth. I was messed up at first but I knew I was, I knew I shouldn't do anything like that, and by the time you left I knew I was meant to be yours, I just had to find the way."

"I didn't either," Rachel said. "I don't know what I would have done eventually if you hadn't remembered, or loved me again, but I've known I'm yours for a long time now. I can't even imagine letting anyone else touch me like that, at all, or even kiss me other than a stage kiss. Which I haven't done yet."

"I... did kiss Quinn," Finn admitted quietly. "Just once, back in July."

"In the park next to the synagogue. I know," Rachel said in a small voice.

"You – you saw?" Finn crushed Rachel to him, hugging her tightly. "I am so sorry," he whispered in her ear, his voice thick with emotion. "So very, very sorry. That must have been so awful." He pulled back and looked searchingly into her face. But I saw her just a few days later and I couldn't tell.

"It was," Rachel admitted. "But Quinn came to see me – I don't know how she knew I'd seen it, maybe she saw me though that wasn't how she put it – anyway, she apologized and gave me a really good pep talk about how I shouldn't give up. Not that I would have, I don't think I can actually, but it did help a lot." She laughed ruefully. "I've learned so much perspective from this," she said. "When I think back at how dramatic I used to get about such small things... none of those things matter."

"Happy?" Finn's face was full of love as he looked at her. He stroked her hair.

"Blissfully," Rachel said, touching his face. She kissed him lightly. "If you were a drug, Finn Hudson, you'd be illegal."

"Exclusive supply."

"Well I need enough for forever, I never want to have to go through withdrawal again."

"I'll do my best, no more cold turkey for you." He grinned. "Especially since you're vegan." Rachel's nose twitched. "About that," Finn went on, "so you know, I do not have any problem with your being vegan. Never have." He stroked down her body. "You're so gorgeous, whatever you're doing you should just keep doing it." He returned her kiss and started to grind his body against hers. "Though feel free to cheat on your diet with me any time." She giggled, then sighed with growing desire, and he kissed her again.

"There's one more thing," she whispered against his mouth.

Finn pulled away and tried to smile despite the interruption. "Yes...?"

"I'm still on the pill," Rachel answered. "Maybe it was a bit hopeful of me, but I felt like if I stopped taking it I would be giving up on us."

"Really," Finn said, giving her his trademark half-grin, his eyes looking into hers with desire. "Okay then." He pulled her to him again and kissed her deeply, slipping his tongue into her open and willing mouth, stroking her tongue with his as he let his hands roam over her body.

They gave themselves over to further re-exploration of each other, their lovemaking no longer urgent but no less sweet. The waves of pleasure that overtook them had a tinge of affirmation.

As they lay together, spent, Finn's stomach growled. Rachel laughed.

"Sounds like we should get you some food," Rachel said. "I knew you couldn't go without for too long."

Finn shared her laughter and looked over at the clock. "No wonder, it's almost five." He smiled at her. "Much as I'd like to stay like this forever, we should go," he said. "Not just for the food. I know the others want to see you too."

Rachel sighed happily and got up, grabbing her robe and putting it on.

"You don't need to cover up quite so quickly," Finn protested, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I do if I'm going to do this," Rachel commented as she bent over to open one of the lower drawers in her dresser. "Assuming that we're not going to start round three right away."

"Uh, yeah, good call." Even in the robe... damn. Finn grabbed his discarded clothes and put them on as Rachel dug out some more of hers and got dressed. She put what she'd worn earlier into her hamper, then brushed her hair out, looking at herself in the mirror.

"They'll be able to tell," she commented with a pout.

"Tell what?"

"What we've been doing," Rachel said. She grabbed her purse and lightly touched up her makeup.

Finn put his arm around her with a grin. "They'll be happy for us then." Rachel put her head down, and her shoulders started to shake. "What? Are you okay, Rach?"

"I'm great," she replied, raising her head to give him a beaming smile in the mirror, and he realized she'd been laughing. "It's just very surreal. Here we are alone in my house, making love, while our families are waiting at your house, hoping that we do."

Finn laughed heartily, his head tipping back, then pulled her to him for a hug as they laughed together. "Well we've all learned a lot about what's important."

Back at the Hudson-Hummel house, their families had long since exhausted their repertoire of small talk. They'd watched some basketball and had gotten somewhat into the game despite it being recorded from the night before, then Burt started talking about his experiences in Washington and in Congress. They could smell the casseroles that were heating up in the oven, which made the fact that they were waiting for Finn and Rachel much harder to ignore.

Kurt was the first to raise his head, listening, recognizing the sound of his Navigator approaching the house. "That's them," he said, getting up, nodding as the sound of the garage door opening confirmed it.

"Just relax," Burt told him, then looked around at the others. They heard the vehicle pull in and stop, and the garage door close. Hiram and LeRoy moved towards the hall as the door from the garage opened, Finn holding it open for Rachel, who smiled at him as she went through.

"Dad, Daddy!" Rachel chirped happily and went to hug her fathers. Carole looked from her happy face to Finn's broad grin and breathed a small sigh of relief.

Finn saw Kurt's questioning look and replied with a quick nod before going to help Rachel off with her coat. He hung it up along with his own as she went to hug Carole and Burt.

Carole welcomed Rachel back, then quickly excused herself to retrieve the casseroles from the oven.

"You're not mad at me, I hope," Kurt said quietly to Rachel as he came up to her.

She shook her head. "No, you were right, it was Finn's story to tell," Rachel replied. "Besides..." she trailed off, watching Finn as he talked to her dads. "Quibbling about how or when, it seems so stupid." Finn turned his head and caught her eye for a moment before turning back to reply to something Hiram had said. She teared up, a few happy tears, and tried to explain herself to Kurt. "It's like the world invented new levels of happiness to give to me right now," she said. "Nothing else matters, nothing." She gave him a hug. "And I can't thank you enough for all you did to help me get through it. Right now I couldn't be mad at anyone, and definitely not at you."

At that Carole called them all in for dinner.

All seven of them sat together around the expanded table, Rachel back in her place next to Finn, sitting close with their knees touching. She found she didn't need her left hand much, not to eat her vegan casserole, so it soon found a comfortable spot on Finn's thigh as she gave in to her need to maintain close contact with him.

"So, Rachel, what sort of things have you been doing in New York?" Carole asked as they ate. "I'm sure you've been going to a lot of shows, but anything else outside of school?"

"Well, going to shows is a bit different when you live there," Rachel demurred. "You can go at any time so there's less pressure to actually go, in some way, at least for the large shows that last. And they're expensive. But I did go to a few, mostly minor ones, with Kurt and others from school. And I've looked around the city a bit."

"And what about NYADA? How are you doing there?" Carole prompted further.

Rachel smiled. "I've been doing very well," she said.

Kurt coughed. "Modesty," he muttered under it, which attracted Hiram and LeRoy's attention. They all knew Rachel had many talents, but modesty wasn't one of her stronger ones.

"Better than 'very well', I would think, from what the people there told us," LeRoy said.

She blushed. "I try to let my talent speak for itself, these days. And it's very much 'welcome to the next level'," she explained, earning her a nudge from Finn as he appreciated her video game reference. "A few next levels, really. The school attracts the best of the best, and they push us hard. In the usual ways, singing, dancing, acting, I've found dancing by far the hardest, but also in less expected ways. Though some of those have been the ones we turned out to be more prepared for, isn't that right Kurt?"

Kurt nodded. "That's true. Your average NYADA student is high-powered but usually concentrated on traditional musical theater material. We've done a lot more, we have the variety behind us to handle things that are more... strange. And they do like to push us to the strange at NYADA, they want us to be flexible."

"Such as?" Hiram asked.

"Things we did in Glee, in many cases," Rachel answered. "Mr. Schuester's approach isn't conventional even for show choir, he's always had us do a lot more different things and get more involved in working with what we're doing than a traditional show choir like Vocal Adrenaline does. Rock music, mashups, trying different arrangements – they stretch us at NYADA in some ways that aren't old-school Broadway but were a lot more familiar to us than they were to others. The NYADA faculty appreciate creativity, demand it really. They say they need to separate the artists from the imitators."

"'Do what you're told, when you're told, but don't expect to be told'," Kurt interjected, and Rachel nodded.

"That's one of the mottos we hear. You can't get to the level of being able to create a role or properly revive it if you can't put something new into it. It's actually a validation of the New Directions approach, we've always been like that, creative, more individual. NYADA's not as interested in churning out robotic chorus members as some of the other schools may be. Of course the faculty are all so experienced, it takes something unusual to stand out enough to get their attention."

"Says the girl who chose to mash up 'I'm Not That Girl' with 'It's Not Easy Being Green'," Kurt teased. "That got attention all right."

LeRoy laughed at this. "Comedically, or seriously?"

"Oh, seriously," Rachel insisted. "I would have had a hard time with comedy, under the circumstances, and both songs are serious. Not all negative, though, not in combination. At least a bit hopeful, and they do fit."

Finn gave her a glance at her mention of her 'circumstances'; of course their situation would have affected her work, even as she tried to focus on them more it would have colored her approach. At least it was finally over now. He stroked her knee, almost as if he could send hopeful vibes back into the past to comfort her. He loved to see her laugh, she should be doing more of that too, though he was happy to hear she had been doing so well and the school suited her.

Kurt's pocket chirped and he checked his phone, ignoring the glare Burt gave him.

"Blaine?" Rachel asked, seeing Kurt's special smile at reading the text.

"Yes. Just reminding me about the Glee Christmas party tomorrow afternoon." Kurt looked over at Rachel and Finn. "You two are going to come and crash it with me, of course." It was a statement, not a question.

Finn exchanged a happy look with Rachel. "Of course," he said.

"Okay if he tells the others now?" Kurt asked Finn.

"Uh, about my memory?" Finn thought for a moment. "No," he said. He squeezed Rachel's hand. "The old-timers know; we'll tell the rest tomorrow. And sing them something."

"Ooh, you could do 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas'," Kurt suggested. "Very appropriate."

"You, giving up a Judy Garland song? Must be the season of giving," Rachel teased him. "No, you should do that, you can sing it to us if you like. We'll find something." She cast a smile sideways at Finn. "It doesn't really matter what we sing, as long as it's us."

Finn smiled back at her. "I've missed singing with you."

She met his eyes. "Me too." She let her gaze linger on him a little. "What's this karaoke thing that Noah has going?" she asked. "Kurt told me a little about it."

Finn shrugged. "Puck missed singing, and he got to know the manager of 'Rogues', it's the new pub over by Breadstix," he explained. "It started just with running karaoke, and the Glee people have a regular night that we go, but he's working there regularly now."

"I can see Noah liking doing that," Rachel commented.

"Why do you call him 'Noah' anyway?" Finn asked, remembering his conversation with Puck about it.

"I always have, it's his name," Rachel said, her fathers nodding in agreement. "I don't understand."

"Just – Puck and I were talking, after my memory came back, he was giving me kind of a quiz, and he asked me why, to see if I knew. And I don't remember, I don't think I ever have known, though I know it's bugged me sometimes. It shouldn't have, but it did."

"Oh," Rachel said softly. "I suppose it does seem a lot more personal. But I've known the Puckermans since I was a kid, at Temple. Not closely, but I did know him a bit when he used to go, and of course I know his mother and his sister. Hannah's a sweetheart." She smiled a little sadly. "When I was about to start at McKinley, I was really nervous, and Mrs. Puckerman was so kind, she said everything would be fine, her son Noah would be there too and he'd remember me and look out for me. So I dressed up nicely for my first day, and walked into school, and had a cup of sticky ice flung in my face."

"Puck," Finn stated. "Football initiation."

"Yes. The first of many from him."

"And the next day it was me," Finn said sadly. He rubbed his thumb over her hand. "You know I'm so sorry for hurting you and being that jerk, Rach."

"I know. Even then, I knew – you didn't throw it very hard, and you never did it again. Your heart wasn't in it."

"No, my heart you got later."

Rachel giggled appreciatively. "It's a lot warmer." She sighed. "Anyway, Puck – he was the jerk who threw slushies at me. Noah is Mrs. Puckerman's son that I used to know in Temple, Hannah's big brother, and my choirmate and friend. Names are important, and I'd much rather he be the person I think of as Noah than the one I met as Puck."

"Makes sense, I suppose."

"So it was to be more personal, but not in the way you probably took it. And he has looked out for me when I needed it, just not then."

"He's helped me a lot too, especially with my memory. There's no reason for me to be jealous anyway," Finn said, squeezing her hand.

Rachel sighed and laid her head on his shoulder, so very happy.

After dinner the four parents talked in the kitchen while Kurt went to his room to call Blaine. Finn and Rachel relaxed in the living room, Rachel stretched out on the couch with her head resting in Finn's lap. He stroked her hair.

"There's still one thing I don't remember," Finn said quietly. "The accident. I was out cold once the truck rolled, and I don't remember the seconds before it either. The doctors say I won't, it wouldn't have made it into long-term memory. What happened?"

Rachel closed her eyes, remembering her fear as the truck had rolled, and her sheer panic once it had stopped and she'd found Finn was unconscious.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it."

"No, it's all right," she said. "We got through it. It's not like it hasn't replayed in my mind a hundred times already; maybe if I tell you it'll haunt me less." She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I don't know if you remember the start of it. We were just past Anna, traffic thick but moving well. We'd had such a lovely day. Then this lunatic comes up behind us in a fancy SUV, going really fast; he tries to pass us but there isn't enough space in the other lane, so he pulls back almost right on top of us, sideswipes the truck, and we went through the railing and rolled over and over going down the embankment. I'm pretty sure I screamed your name as we went over. And over. I know I did once we stopped rolling and you didn't answer me. I looked up – we were tilted – and I saw you were unconscious. So I called 911 and crawled up to check on you."

"You were cut," Finn said quietly, tracing the barely visible scar at her temple. He stroked her forehead, trying to ease her agitation.

"Yes, I didn't notice that at first. Just some stray metal from the side of the truck, it got mangled when we hit the railing," she explained. "I didn't notice the blood until it dripped down and made my phone all sticky. I stayed on the phone with emergency services until they came, they used the phone GPS to find us I think. Others called in the accident but they didn't stop. You were breathing and your pulse seemed fine, not that I could tell much, time moved so slowly, but you just wouldn't wake up."

"For four days."

"Yes," Rachel said in a small voice.

"Worst four days of your life, you said."

"Yes."

"Even now?"

"Yes. Hard as you not remembering me was to take, it's nothing compared to the fear that you might die." Their eyes locked, and they stayed like that for a few moments, just looking into each other.

"Finn." Rachel quietly broke the silence. "Could you stay over with me tonight? It's too soon for me to be able to let you go."

"Sure, if your dads will let me," he said, stroking her face. "I thought of asking you to stay here but you only just got home."

"I'll talk to them." Rachel sat up. "I had this horrible thought of waking up tomorrow and thinking that today was just a dream."

"Any time you're worried about that, just call me," Finn said. "Seriously."

Rachel went into the kitchen to talk to her dads.

"Dad, Daddy... could Finn come and stay over tonight? With me? Today's been so wonderful but also so overwhelming, I need more time with him."

Hiram and Leroy exchanged a look. "Yes, that should be fine, sweetheart," Hiram said. "Just, ahh, be discreet." Rachel went over and hugged both men.

"It's so good to see you happy again, honey," LeRoy said softly.

Rachel gave them a beaming smile, then returned to the living room.

Finn was at the stereo, putting some music on. He turned as she came in, saw her smile, and answered it with a grin of his own as he adjusted the volume.

The music started; it sounded like Finn's usual classic rock, though the volume was low and Rachel couldn't make out the words. Finn stayed by the stereo and looked at her, his hand on the volume. He was obviously up to something. She moved closer to try to hear the music better, but he motioned her back. Finn was listening carefully, tapping the beat out against his thigh, even wincing a little at something he heard. He smiled and turned the volume up. Rachel recognized the band from the singer's voice – REO Speedwagon – and met Finn's eyes as he approached her, singing: (*)

And I meant, every word I said
When I said that I love you
I meant that I love you forever

Finn took Rachel's hand in his as he sang to her, giving it all his voice, all his emotion.

And I'm gonna keep on lovin' you
'Cause it's the only thing I wanna do
I don't wanna sleep, I just wanna keep on lovin' you

A guitar solo took over, and Finn twirled Rachel into him for a quick kiss. He resumed singing with a smile.

And I meant every word I said
When I said that I love you
I meant

Rachel beamed back at him, and joined in:
that I love you forever

And I'm gonna keep on lovin' you
'Cause it's the only thing I wanna do
I don't wanna sleep, I just wanna keep on lovin' you

Baby, I'm gonna keep on lovin' you
'Cause it's the only thing I wanna do
I don't wanna sleep, I just wanna keep on lovin' you

They finished with a kiss, then blushed at the applause from their family, who had been watching from the front hall.

Kurt held up his phone, showing a picture of them gazing happily at each other as they sang. "Mind if I send this out? There are others who are going to be happy to see you two back to normal."

Finn looked at Rachel hopefully, and she nodded. "Sure, go ahead," Finn said. "Make sure you include Puck."

"And Quinn," Rachel added. "I know she'd like to know."

"I'll send it to the whole club from last year," Kurt stated. "And the agents of chaos, of course."

"Megan and Amanda, friends at NYADA," Rachel explained to Finn. "They think we're epic."

He grinned. "We are. After all this? We definitely are."

Rachel went with Finn up to his room as he went to pack an overnight bag.

She hadn't been in Finn's room since before he'd come home from the hospital. A few things had changed; his drum kit was further forward and was clearly in heavy use, with his iPod and a new speaker next to it. Some books on the brain sat on his shelves. And next to his bed, more prominently than even his alarm clock, were two pictures, the one of her from prom that she remembered he'd had before, and next to it, one of the two of them at Kings Island the day of the accident, cuddled close together, looking so happy.

Finn saw her looking at it. "That's one of the ones I got Kurt to take," he said. "I found it on my phone when I looked through it seriously after my memory came back. It's been my inspiration since then, showed me what I was holding on for. We had such a wonderful day before the trip back wrecked everything."

"I still have that dress," Rachel said. "I guess I just couldn't get myself to throw it away, but between the blood and the dirt it's a write-off."

"So was the truck."

"Yes, I know. I miss it, we made a lot of good memories in that old truck of yours," she said. "Even though the last one was so horrible. Why haven't you replaced it yet, though? You like having your own vehicle."

"I think I'm going to have to get out of that habit," he said. "Well I sort of did anyway, since I didn't remember having the truck. And with Kurt in New York and Burt in DC a lot, there were enough spare vehicles around here. Plus there's not much point in getting a new one now."

"Why not?" Rachel stared at Finn, concerned that something was going on.

"City says I can start in January and there won't be anywhere to park."

"What?" Rachel blinked, then caught the half-grin that Finn was failing to repress. "City, as in New York? You're coming to New York in January?" She went to him and he put his arms around her.

"Yep," he said. "Got a medical referral so I'll have someone to keep tabs on my head, and I did take a couple of courses part-time at Lima Community this fall, like I planned. Everything went well, even with my memories coming back and disrupting things a bit, so I'm good to go. City even says they have space for me in the dorms." He saw Rachel's face fall a little, and he pulled her close. "I hope that's just for a term. The old plan was to live with you and Kurt, and that's still on for later if you'll have me. But we've been apart and I don't want either of us to get thrown by rushing into full-on right away. We're for the long haul, so I figure it's worth being careful."

Rachel nodded. She was disappointed, she'd prefer that Finn never leave her arms again, but this was just the first day of their reunion, it was so very overwhelming and they should probably let things settle down a bit. She certainly wasn't capable of making any decisions right now, and Finn hadn't had his memory back for very long, he was still getting used to all of it. After all they'd been through it would break her if things went wrong. However, something about what Finn was describing seemed curious.

"You got all that arranged in less than two weeks?" she asked, wondering.

"Ah, no," Finn admitted. "I got all that arranged in ten weeks." He smiled sheepishly as he caught Rachel's inquisitive look. "Once the fall started I looked into it and asked for the deferral, and when I started getting some memories back I worked more seriously on making the arrangements. I hoped I'd remember more and I wanted to have the option."

Rachel smiled. "I see. And if you hadn't remembered?"

"Well..." Finn reddened. "I thought of going anyway, I mean it is a good program." He swallowed. "I just wanted to be with you," he admitted softly. "I didn't see how it could work, with you remembering and me not, stuck at different stages of our relationship, but I wanted to try." He choked up a little, then cleared his throat. "I don't think there's any version of me that hasn't been in love with you, whether I knew it or not. Once I got over being spooked that you existed and let myself get to know you."

Rachel looked into Finn's face, seeing his emotion, the residue of the longing and insecurity he'd felt when he hadn't remembered who he'd become and thought he couldn't be good enough again. She pressed a light kiss to his lips and then wrapped her arms around him, her hand threading through his hair and pressing his head to her shoulder as she nestled hers into his. "And there hasn't been any version of you that I haven't been in love with," she whispered. "Now I really do get to have it all."

"So do I," Finn answered, raising his head and smiling down at her. "And now you can show me around New York."

"I'd rather not," Rachel said. Finn frowned, puzzled. "Around NYADA, of course, and the neighborhood, I suppose I will and Kurt will too. But it's a big city, there's lots of it I haven't seen. What I want is to discover things with you."

Finn lowered his head to hers again. "You're not just talking about New York, are you."

"No," Rachel breathed, and closed the last two inches for a kiss.

Finn kissed her back, then held her chin to keep her eyes on his as he stroked down her neck until he found the chain that held her engagement ring. "Keep wearing this. I'll ask again, I promise."

* "Keep On Loving You", as performed by REO Speedwagon, written by Kevin Cronin.