Hi again. So this is the new chapter. I really appreciate you all reading and dealing with the writers block I tend to get. Please review and I hope you like it.
Time moves quickly after her performance with Jesse in the McKinley auditorium. Before she knows it, she's moved back to New York with Jesse, started school again at NYADA, her glee club won Nationals and McKinley was turned into a performing arts school.
Now she's getting ready to go to the award show she's been dreaming of attending since she was a little girl, the Tony Awards.
That dream may have included being nominated herself but now she wouldn't have it any other way.
She is going to the Tony Awards with her boyfriend, who is everything she could ever dream of, and is the frontrunner to win the award of best actor.
"Are you sure you want me to go?" she asks for the seventh time that day. "We've managed to keep the attention off the fact that you're dating one of the biggest failures in recent Broadway history. I don't want me being there to ruin your night."
"For the tenth time today, you being there is not going to ruin the night for me," he says with a slight chuckle. She watches as he kneels in front of her, wearing his designer suit, as she sits at her vanity. "The only thing that would do that is you not being there with me," he reveals causing her heart to melt and her concern to diminish.
"Are you sure?" she asks softly. He looks lovingly at her before answering.
"I've been dreaming of this day for a long time. Its the day when I might see if all the hard work, all the sacrifices, even the ones I regret," they both know he's referring to sacrificing their relationship the first time, "were worth it. And if luck is on my side, it might turn out to be the best day of my life. But the only way that's going to happen is if the woman I love is right there by my side. So yes I'm absolutely sure that I want you to be at my side the whole night," he proclaims. She can't help but lean in and kiss him.
"I love you," she says.
"And you have no idea how grateful I am that you do," he adds with a smile placing another tender kiss on her lips before repeating her words and standing up to finish getting himself ready.
"Just so you know I only asked you seven times not ten," she calls towards him as he enters the bathroom. She hears him laugh loudly.
"Of course! It was before opening night that it was ten times," he shouts back.
"Nine times," she corrects. "Besides in doing so I managed to convince you to avoid walking the carpet with me."
"Another great reason for not letting you get away with it this time!"
She can't help but smile at their banter. Yes she had skipped his red carpet but there was no way she was going to miss his performance. She had quietly made her way into the theatre and taken her seat to watch his amazing performance. What she didn't know was how much reporters would be flirting with him during his interviews. Luckily (for him) he had learned to tone down his charm and just seemed a bit uncomfortable with all the attention he was getting.
"Are you ready?" his voice taking her out of her thoughts.
She takes him in for a minute and can't help but appreciate how good looking her boyfriend is. A blush rises at the thought of what she plans to do with him after the show regardless if he wins or not.
"What?" he asks with a knowing smirk.
"Nothing it's just you look very handsome in your suit," she admits.
"And you look gorgeous," he returns the complement, helping her stand up.
"You know that win or lose, I love you, right?" she says.
"Of course, I do," he kisses her. "But I'm going to win," he says, cockiness exuding from him.
He wins, of course. And she can't help but beam with pride as he makes his way up to the stage after kissing her.
"Thank you so much to the American Theater Wing. For everyone involved with show, the producers, the director, the actors. Um… I've been dreaming about this since I was a kid and there was a time in my life that I did anything I could to one day be able to be here," he takes a deep breath. "It wasn't until I fell to my lowest point that I realized that some of those things weren't worth it," he tries to hold back his tears, "I was alone and I had hurt the one person who really understood me and my goals, and she was the one person I ever loved. And with no hope of ever getting her back, I worked hard to get here on Broadway, to try to prove that that sacrifice was worth it. When she made it I worked even harder to prove myself her equal," he takes another breath. "When the roles were reversed and she was at her lowest I set out to help her just like she unknowingly helped me. What I never expected was for her to be willing to forgive me and give me a second chance," he looks at her and flashes a teary smile at her and she realizes that she hadn't been as successful as she believed at holding her own tears back. "So I want to dedicate this award to her. Rachel, I love you and I wouldn't be up here if it weren't for you."
He ends his acceptance speech with a round is applause. She can tell people are realizing who she is but she doesn't care. She can't believe he actually dedicated his hard sought after award to her. When he gets back she kisses with all the love she can while still remaining publicly appropriate.
The rest of the show runs quickly and in a blur to the point that she doesn't really know who won what after her boyfriend's win. Her attention is only on said boyfriend and the award he was gracious enough to let her hold.
Instead of heading to official parties they head to their home to a small party their friends were hosting. However what she didn't expect was the need to be alone with him. He seems to want the same and they make their way discretely out of the house.
"You really didn't want to stay at the party," she giggles out as they walk to a nearby park that has become a special place for them.
"I love our friends and family but I wanted to be alone with you for a while," he admits, wrapping his arms around her.
"I'm so proud of you," she tells him and she feels him place a kiss on her head.
"And that means the world to me. But you know my performance would have been better if you were my costar," he says with a smirk.
"Your cockiness has no ends does it?" she laughs.
"No it doesn't," he says with no shame.
"We'll get our chance, you said so yourself us being together on stage or in general is inevitable," she tells him turning around to face him as they reach a familiar bench.
"I know it is."
"So is this the best day of your life?"
"Well that all depends…" he says a certain seriousness and nervousness taking over his features.
"On what?"
"On what happens next," he says.
And then he's getting down on one knee.
"Rachel," he seems to take a steading breath. "Since I could really dream about my future I began to plan my life out. And I've always had one goal in mind and I accomplished it earlier today," he starts as she tries her best to keep calm. "What I never expected was for me to fall in love, to want to be with someone my whole life, to one day want to form a family with that person. But I did. And it turned out that you were perfect for me," his mood turns a bit somber, "But I lost you and I know that when you saw this happening to you again, you had a different man in mind. A man who you had already said yes to and had decided to spend the rest of your life with. I know I'm not him but that regardless of that you love me," he says with a smile.
"And that love and the love I have for you has only grown. Tonight I dedicated what I worked my whole life for to you. And now I want to dedicate my life to making you happy. "
He pulls out a little box, how she missed it in his pocket she's not sure, and opens it to reveal a beautiful diamond ring.
"So in order to make this the best day of my life and truly begin or inevitability together… Rachel Barbra Berry, will you marry me?"
If she had cried during his acceptance speech she was completely sobbing in pure happiness now. She had no doubt as to what her answer is going to be. Her thoughts briefly go to the "surprise" she had for him, the covering of her tattoo with their word of "inevitability". She's sure he's going to like it but that seems so insignificant when compared to what she's going to be giving him by saying her response, the best day of his life.
"Yes, I will."
And the look of pure joy is one she will never forget nor the kiss that follows her response.
