Quinn turned quickly to look at Rachel once Finn had left, with a blazing expression on her face. Rachel still couldn't digest this news; Finn invited her out on a Friday night. She was the first person Finn had went to after his own girlfriend couldn't, even though they had only known each other for a week now. That must have meant something, right? That meant he kind of liked her, right? Rachel wasn't too sure what it meant; only that she really liked it.

"You have to be careful about this, Rachel." She warned, looking very worried. Rachel wanted to brush her hand in the air and tell Quinn that she didn't have anything to worry about, but she knew that would be a lie. Yeah, Quinn did have something to worry about. "You can't go past the "friends" line."

"I know thanks. Why don't you trust me?" she asked. Rachel was a very trustworthy person; she knew how to control herself in heated situations and how to restrain her unresolved and unreturned feelings. Quinn knew that.

"I trust you; I just don't trust you when you're drunk." Quinn told her and Rachel roller her eyes at her. Quinn always had said that when Rachel drank, she got really drunk. Like, she got so drunk, Rachel would start clinging onto random people, asking for a one night stand. It kind of made guys not want to take her up on her one night stand offer.

"Please, I'm not that bad." Rachel said as another customer stepped up to her. She quickly made their food, and Quinn went on as the satisfied customer took a seat in the far corner of the Dunkin' Donuts.

"Do I have to remind you what happened to you at that one New Year's Eve party in college?" Quinn asked, raising her eyebrows. Okay, so yeah, maybe Rachel got a little out of hand with the drinks, and might have puked all over Quinn's college boyfriend, Sam Evans, but it wasn't like she did it on purpose. And it wasn't like Sam broke up with Quinn because of that.

"It was only a little vomit." Rachel said in a quiet voice, wishing that Quinn hadn't brought it up. Quinn snorted at her words.

"Might I add you covered him in your vomit while flirting with him?" she said, and Rachel bowed her head a little. Sam was cute, okay, and Rachel was lonely that night. Plus, she was drunk, so she didn't really know what she was doing.

"Look, I won't drink that much, okay? I'll keep it light." Rachel told her as another customer walked up. Quinn sighed loudly, already imagining the trouble Rachel could get herself into.

FRFRFRFR

The next few days went by quickly, and before Rachel knew it, she was standing outside the Dunkin' Donuts, waiting for Finn. She looked down at her watch, seeing that it was 7:05, and wondered where Finn could be. He didn't live that far away, so it wasn't traffic or anything. Rachel had decided to go casual yet dressy for the night out, so it didn't look like she had tried too hard when she totally did. She was wearing something Quinn had picked out for her, saying how Rachel needed to be saved from her wardrobe, at least for the night. She was dressed in dark blue, skinny jeans with high heel, black boots, and a glittery red top. It was still fashionable, but still had a bit of that Rachel Berry signature shining through; Rachel hoped Finn didn't find it too party like. The top might have been a bit too much.

"You look nice!" Finn said in greeting, walking down the sidewalk to where Rachel stood. He was dressed pretty casually in black pants and a light blue t-shirt, but he still looked absolutely perfect to Rachel. There was just something about Finn that always made him look so good.

"Thanks, you too." She said, meaning every word. Finn smiled at her, his hands in his pockets.

"I'm sorry I'm late. Santana was holding me up." He told her, and Rachel only nodded at him, happy that he was here now. Besides, it wasn't like he was that late.

"It's no problem. I just got here." She said, and Finn gestured to the sidewalk in front of them.

"It's only a couple of blocks away; we can walk there." Finn said, and Rachel walked next to him as they started to walk. She pushed through people, not really able to talk to Finn, but that was okay because they would have lots of time to talk once they got to the bar.

"So why didn't Santana want to go?" Rachel asked as they crossed a street, once she was able to hear herself think again. Finn kept walking, biting his lip, and looking at the street signs.

"She was spending some time with her friend, Brittany." He said, and Rachel nodded again. She didn't understand how Santana would miss out on a bar date with her boyfriend for some time with a friend. Rachel would never let time with Finn pass her by. They walked down a couple of more blocks before they finally stopped in front of a small building with glowing lights and people streaming in and out.

"I heard this place was good, but I didn't think it would be this busy." Finn shouted over the people, looking down at Rachel. Even with heels on, Rachel only came up to Finn's collarbone. It was like she was talking to a giant; Rachel kind of liked it.

"I hope we find your friends." She responded, and Finn shrugged his shoulders as he led the way into the bar. Inside, Rachel had to make sure to stay close to Finn. Spread throughout the room was loveseats where couples sat, and in the middle of the bar was a small dance floor accompanied by some brave single women. A dim light overlooked the bar, giving the place a mysterious look. Rachel followed Finn towards the bar to the side, walking towards a specific group of men. Finn tapped a man with a mohawk on the back, the man turning around to see who it was.

"Finn, so glad you can come!" said the man, a smile spread across his face. He looked from Finn to Rachel, the smile growing even bigger. "This must be Santana, your girlfriend."

"Oh, I'm not Santana!" Rachel said quickly as both she and Finn blushed, and the guy gave her a smirk. "I'm just a friend."

"Oh, you're just a friend are you?" the mohawk man asked, giving Finn a look. Finn ignored the way he was looking at him, clearing his throat.

"Rachel, this is Puck. Puck, this is Rachel. Puck's another security guard at the museum." Finn explained, and Rachel put her hand out for Puck to shake. She thought that Puck must not have been his real name, but only a nickname.

"It's nice to meet you." She said politely, and Puck starred at her for moment, before turning back to Finn.

"You've got a hot friend, dude. Have you noticed?" Puck asked, and Rachel's face went an even deeper shade of red. Finn's did too, scratching the back of his neck.

"We're going to go sit down." He said rather loudly, and Rachel let Finn lead her to two empty seats at the bar. Puck smirked at them as they went. Rachel took a seat next to a man in zebra pants and a purple sweater, talking to a man with thick eyebrows and dark hair. Finn rubbed his legs nervously as he sat down next to Rachel, the bartender coming up to him. Rachel was taking out her wallet, when Finn put his hand on hers, stopping both her heart and her quest to pay for her own drink.

"I got this one." He said with a smile, and Rachel returned it. She hardly heard what Finn was saying to the bartender; too busy staring at how his lips moved when he talked. His hand was still on hers, suddenly pulling away.

"You didn't have to do that." She said as the bartender walked away. Finn shook his head at her.

"No, I wanted to. I was the one who invited you." He said, and Rachel only had a short moment to appreciate Finn's smile before the two men she was sitting next to turned around to face them.

"Hi Finn!" the man with the dark hair said, smiling at Finn. Finn waved at him for a moment with a blank stare, before he remembered who this guy was.

"Hey Blaine, I heard you were bringing Kurt with you." Finn said, and the boy in the zebra pants smiled brightly.

"That would be me!" he said, and the man named Blaine smiled, ruffling Kurt's hair. Kurt gave him an annoyed look when he did, immediately fixing his hair.

"Blaine, I told you not to do that!" Kurt said, and Blaine laughed. Finn and Rachel smiled at how cute they were.

"This is my boyfriend, Kurt, if it wasn't obvious." Blaine said, and after he had fixed his hair, Kurt flashed them another smile.

"It was. I have two gay dads, you know." Rachel said, and Finn looked down at her with a curious expression. Rachel was always nervous about telling people that she had two dads; she never knew how people would react with. She had a fear that Finn would stop talking to her after she told him, but he only seemed more interested in her.

"Really? That's awesome!" he said, and Rachel gave him a smile of relief, forgetting that Kurt and Blaine were there. They had already started talking between the two of them again anyway.

"You think? Some people think I'm weird because of it." Rachel said, looking down at her folded hands. As she said it, the bartended came back with their drinks. She still didn't know exactly what was in it, but she took a big gulp, needing a confidence booster if she wanted to keep impressing Finn.

"You're thirsty." Finn noted, and Rachel nodded at him as she took another sip. It tasted unusual, and she made a weird expression as she drank it. That made Finn laugh, and Rachel decided to take another sip so she can see Finn laugh again.

"This is good." She said, finishing her glass. Finn looked down at the empty glass; he was still holding a full one.

"I'll get you another then." He said, and flagged down the bartender. Rachel tapped her fingers against the bar anxiously as the bartender came back with another glass of whatever it was she was drinking. She decided to down it, trying to remember what Quinn had warned her about before she left. What was it again; something about making sure to not drink too much? The memory was fuzzy, and she didn't know if Quinn had said that or if she said to have fun and to drink a lot.

"You should be careful there." Finn warned after a few more glasses, but Rachel waved her hand in the air at him like it was no big deal. She knew what she was doing; she had everything under control. Rachel wasn't sure how many drinks Finn had, but he was holding one that looked like he hadn't even taken a sip at. Rachel wondered what he was waiting for.

"Aren't you going to drink any?" Rachel asked, her words slurring a little. Finn looked down at his drink as if he had just remembered it was there, and gulped some of it down.

"I guess I just forgot about it." He said with a shaky laugh, taking another sip. Rachel gave him a curious look as she struggled to bring the cup up to her lips properly.

"Why's that?" she asked, putting the glass back down, and putting her chin in her hand. Rachel twirled one of her loose curls around her pointer finger, gazing up at Finn. He looked embarrassed at her question.

"I guess I was just distracted." He mumbled, and if Rachel wasn't so close to him, she wouldn't have heard him at all. Rachel's mind started to whirl around too much to make sense of what Finn had just said, but she can clearly hear what Blaine and Kurt were saying.

"Come on, Blaine; dance with me!" Kurt said louder than needed, obviously as drunk as Rachel felt. Rachel giggled as she heard Blaine refuse, looking at Finn who was looking into his drink as if there was something in there that shouldn't have been. He looked so adorable while doing so.

"I'll dance with you, Kurt!" Rachel said cheerfully, grabbing Kurt's hand and dragging him to the dance floor. Even though the music wasn't very loud or very fast, the two of them danced as if they were in some sort of dance club, getting a few weird looks. Finn thought he had never met someone so unique and different then Rachel.

"Aren't our significant others great…you know, in their own way?" Finn heard Blaine ask, but Finn couldn't respond. He was too busy starring at Rachel with this big smile on while she looked like she was having the time of her life. After a beautiful second, what Blaine had said registered in his mind, and Finn immediately corrected him.

"Oh no, Rachel's not my girlfriend, she's just…" but the rest of Finn's words drifted off, and he went right back to gazing at Rachel. She looked too perfect and beautiful for words, and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Finn couldn't even remember who was at his apartment right now? He didn't drink that much. Did he? Well, not as much as Rachel.

"The way you're looking at her tells me different." Blaine acknowledged, and before Finn could respond to his too true words, Rachel was jumping towards him, tugging on Finn's hand.

"Finny! Dance with me!" Rachel yelled, still tugging on his arm with a big grin. Finn had never heard that nickname before, and was sure that if anyone else was using it, he wouldn't have like it. He wasn't a good dancer, he was the worst he knew, but Rachel kept pulling on him with that gorgeous smile, and Finn just couldn't say no. He only hoped Rachel didn't notice how terrible of a dancer he was.

She jumped all over the dance floor, her hair whipping around. Finn mostly stood there, shifting his feat, and gazing down at Rachel. Whenever he went to a bar with Santana, she would always dance purposely seductively, almost as if she had someone to impress. Finn was blown away with how much different Rachel was compared to Santana; she didn't seem to care if people were looking at her as if she was an alien form outer space; she just threw herself around and enjoyed what she was doing right now at that moment. Santana always acted like the moment wasn't good enough for her.

"You're a great dancer, Finn!" Rachel shouted at him, and Finn laughed. Yeah, she was definitely drunk.

"Do you want to sit down?" Finn asked, trying to regain Rachel's attention my taking hold of her arm lightly. Rachel stopped dancing and looked down at the skin to skin contact with wide eyes; she gulped when she met Finn's eyes.

"Okay." She whispered, and let Finn walk her over to one of the empty loveseats in the corner of the bar. It was quieter over here, and candles were lit on tables. Rachel plopped herself down on the comfy sofa, sitting Indian style while facing Finn as he did the same, their knees just touching. Rachel can already tell that she was going to enjoy whatever was going to happen next.

FRFRFRFR

"So you came to New York to get away from Lima?" Rachel asked her head close to Finn's. He nodded, smiling a little as he could smell her breathe. It smelled like tropical fruit; Finn had always liked tropical fruit.

"I didn't want to be a Lima Loser like all the other guys in my high school class." He explained. Finn had practically told Rachel his entire childhood story, starting from when his dad died to when he graduated from college. "I thought that if I came to New York, what I would want to do with my life would suddenly become clear. But it didn't so I'm just a security guard at some boring museum for the time being."

"I understand. I came to New York in hopes of making it on Broadway." Rachel said, and Finn rose an impressive eyebrow up at her. He should have figured that someone as special as Rachel be as talented as a Broadway actress. "But I don't think it's going to work out."

"Why do you think that?" Finn asked with a concerned tone, moving just a little bit closer. Rachel didn't seem to notice, and Finn was glad that they were closer. It felt nice to be able to inhale the scent that was Rachel Berry.

"Because I auditioned for, like, a billion shows; on and off Broadway, and only got demoted to extra." She explained, sighing in defeat. Finn bit his lip as he looked at her lost expression. It seemed to him that Rachel had lost all hope in her dreams, and he found himself desperately wanting to reassure her.

"I'm sure you'll get your big break soon. You just have to keep trying. I'd love to hear you sing." He told her, and Rachel gave him a shy smile, going a little red at his words. A lot of people had told her that; her dads, Quinn, a few ex-boyfriends, but it felt different coming out of Finn's mouth. It felt so much nicer when he said it. And Rachel couldn't stop staring at him as he did.

"I'll have to let you hear me one day, then. I have a remarkable voice, you know." Rachel said, looking deep into Finn's eyes. His mouth was slightly open, and he looked at her as if she had hung the moon. Rachel only knew this because she was giving Finn the same look in return.

"I completely believe it." He breathed out, and Rachel closed her eyes for a moment, trying to think straight. It didn't work, and she opened her eyes to stare at Finn a little more. How many hours had she been at this bar? Rachel glanced back at where the rest of the security guards had been at, and realized that they had all gone home. What time was it exactly?

"Can I be honest with you, Finn?" She asked, her gaze shaking a little. Finn nodded fervently, biting on his lip anxiously. "I really, really like you."

Rachel didn't know where those words had come from; she was sure it was the alcohol speaking. But Finn had already opened his mouth to answer, but no words were coming out.

"I like you too, Rachel." He whispered back, and then their noses and foreheads were pressing against each other's, and Rachel could feel her hear beat quicken. His breathe mixed with hers, and Finn's lips were so close to hers. The moment was there, and the moment was now, and Rachel wanted to live in that moment so badly. All she had to do was lean in just a little bit more, and their lips would meet. That was all Rachel had to; that was it.

"I should get you home." Finn suddenly whispered to her lips, and the moment was broken. The magic was gone, and Rachel slowly pulled away from him, trying to figure out what had just happened. That wasn't supposed to happen, she told Quinn this wouldn't happen. What had just happened was not a friend thing to do; it had crossed that line. She told herself she wouldn't cross that line! Damnit! Rachel didn't want to be the Dunkin' Donuts girl!

"Yeah, it's late." Rachel agreed, glancing at her watch and seeing that it was midnight. She and Finn left the bar quietly, making sure to keep a safe distance between the two of them. It didn't take Finn long to realize that Rachel was shaky from the alcohol, and needed someone to support her as she walked. He put his arm around her waist, trying to ignore the fact that Rachel's red shirt had ridden up a little and that his arm was now touching some of the bare skin on her back.

Rachel stopped him at the steps of her apartment, detaching herself from him. Finn watched, unsure, as Rachel shifted from foot to foot, trying to regain her balance. Finn knew she was completely drunk, and he was feeling some of the effects of the drinks himself.

"Thanks for walking me home Finn. I had a good time." Rachel said, giving him a lazy smile. Finn smiled back at her, still admiring her even if she was drunk and probably didn't know what she was saying.

"No problem. Thanks for coming with me. It was fun." He said, and Rachel patted his shoulder, having to reach up as far as her arm would allow her to do so. She gazed into his eyes for a long moment, drowning in them, before pulling out the keys from her purse.

"You know, you can come in if you want to. Quinn's working tonight, and I don't think she'll be back to much later." Rachel heard herself saying, and Finn bit his lip in confliction. Rachel was drunk, but there were no rules that said he couldn't join her for some coffee or something, right? Friends did those kinds of things after all, and that's what they were.

"Sure. Why not?" he asked with a laugh and Rachel unlocked the door of her apartment, walking into the darkness. Finn followed unsurely in, a light switch flipping on and the small yet cozy apartment became clear. Rachel put her keys down on a small table next to the door, taking her shoes off and hanging her coat on a coat rack. She gestured for Finn to do the same, and he did so slowly, taking in his surroundings. By the time he did, Rachel had already walked down the hall and made a left into the living room, Finn following her. She turned on the light in that room too, falling onto the sofa and breathing loudly.

"I'm so tired." She said, and Finn sat down next her. Rachel sat up and turned a little to look at Finn, hardly aware of how close they really were. Not knowing if it was the right things to do but doing it anyways, Finn slowly put his hand on Rachel's thigh, all thoughts of being only friends leaving his mind. Who was Santana again? All he could focus was on Rachel and her eyes, Rachel and her lips, Rachel and the color of her cheeks. What was his name again?

And then her lips were on his, and they were kissing. And Finn couldn't remember anything; he only felt. He felt full, and open, and free, and amazed. He felt like he had found out this amazing secret about life that people had been keeping from him his entire life, he felt like he was singing, and dancing, and like everything became clear and invisible around him. He felt like his heart stopped, and he felt like his breathe stopped, and he felt like he stopped thinking.

One minute they were simply kissing, taking in these new feelings that they had never felt before, and the next, they were laying down on the couch, exploring one another's bodies. Finn pushed the fabric of Rachel's shirt down, revealing her chest. He couldn't help but think that her breast fit perfectly in his hand, and he savored the feeling of it, wanting to keep hold of it forever. Rachel's hands somehow made their way south to Finn's zipper, and she was pulling it down, her hand slipping into his jeans. This was the moment, the moment was now.

"What the hell is going on here?" someone screeched, and Finn suddenly jumped off Rachel, scrambling to the other side of the sofa. He stood up abruptly, looking from the shocked expression on Rachel's face to the horrified one on Quinn's. She stood there, her hair in a messy ponytail, and a purse hanging from her hand. She was gaping at Finn and Rachel, and Rachel seemed stuck on the couch.

"I have to go." Finn said quickly, sweeping out of the room and down the hall, quickly stuffing his shoes back on.

"Yeah, you do. You really have to." Quinn said as Finn opened the door, and closed the door behind him, leaving Quinn to stare with her mouth open at Rachel. Rachel simply looked back at her, still lying on the sofa.

Rachel's last thoughts before she passed out: he's a really good kisser.