Thanks so much for the reviews! It's easier to write when you're writing for more than yourself. Also, sorry if I don't update as often now. I'm not entirely sure where to take it from here. Don't worry though, I will update as soon as possible.

Chapter 12: Tough Conversation

Finn woke before Rachel the next morning. He smiled when he saw her lying next to him. They had had a really good day the day before. A really good day. Not to mention a good night as well.

After her classes, they had spent the afternoon in the city. They had gone to the Museum of Natural History first then ate dinner at a small restaurant that served Vegan food. After dinner they went to the Empire State Building. To Rachel it was important that he saw as much of the city as he could; she wasn't sure how long he would be in town.

Finn wrapped his arms around Rachel and pulled her close. He wasn't sure how long he had with her, but he wasn't going to waste a second of it. Before long, he fell back asleep.

When she woke up, Rachel felt Finn's arms around her. She smiled. It felt nice to be close to him again. She turned her face into him, leaning into his chest. An overwhelming stench triggered her nausea. She jerked upright, causing Finn to drop his arms. Finn jolted awake, bewildered.

"Rachel, what the –?" Finn started, but Rachel ran out of the room before he could finish. She was glad Kurt had an early class and Santana was working that morning. As close as they were, seeing Rachel naked would be kind of embarrassing for both her and Kurt. And that didn't even begin to cover how she would feel if Santana saw her.

Finn found Rachel in the bathroom. He wasn't sure if Santana and Kurt would be home so he had put some clothes on and brought Rachel's robe to her.

Rachel was overwhelmed by the scent again. It hit her. It's Finn. She started to cry; this is definitely not what she wanted to happen. She needed Finn.

Instinctively, Finn hurried over to Rachel when he saw her start to cry, but Rachel put a hand up to stop him.

"Please don't Finn." She sniffled.

Finn didn't understand but obeyed. "What do you mean?"

She didn't know how to say it. It was kind of embarrassing. "Honestly? You kinda reek."

That's not at all what Finn expected to hear her say. He didn't know what to say.

"It's probably just the pregnancy. A heightened sense of smell is pretty common." She explained.

Finn was taken aback. So he wasn't exactly helping her morning sickness.

"I'll shower then." He said, taking his shirt off. Oh man, Rachel thought to herself. Well at least he got something good out of his short army debut. Reminded of the whole reason Finn had taken his shirt off in the first place by that same strong scent, Rachel forced herself to put on her robe. After handing Finn a towel, she walked out of the bathroom, hoping this would work.

Finn spent longer in the shower than he normally would. Whatever it was that made it impossible for Rachel to stand being around him, he needed to get rid of. He wasn't sure he would stay in New York much longer, but certainly didn't want this to be the reason he left.

He wanted to give New York another chance. He truly did. It just didn't feel right; he wished he knew what to do. He thought he would never feel like he belonged there. Besides, a few months and Rachel would probably move home anyway.

He didn't want to do it, but it needed to be done. Singing the duet with her the day before had helped him realize that. There were still a lot of hurt feelings, a lot they would have to work out before they could get back together, if that's what they both wanted. It had felt nice to be together again, to sing together again. But he was fooling himself when he thought he could just walk back into her life like nothing had happened. They weren't broken, but they were bent pretty far. It would take time for them to learn to love again.

Finn found Rachel curled into a ball on the couch with her hands in her lap. She looked sad. He sighed. "Rach, I think we need to talk."

She tried to ignore him. She didn't want to have this conversation.

"Rach? I said – "

"I know." She told him. But didn't say more.

He sat down on the opposite end of the couch.

"I think I need to go back to Ohio."

Again, Rachel just nodded. At the moment, she was too fragile to trust her voice.

"I mean, I've got a good job there. And I think there's a spring semester starting soon, so I can start working on my degree. Besides, you don't need me here. Kurt can help you with the pregnancy and Santana will be here to watch out for you. I'm not worried; I know I'm leaving you in safe hands."

"I want you to stay Finn." Her voice broke halfway through.

"I know." He said, smiling though it didn't meet his eyes. "But I'm not helping." He gestured to the distance between them.

Once again she was silent. He had a point. The shower had helped, but not enough. Her eyes began to water again; she felt like the only thing she did anymore was cry. Cry and break hearts.

Finn hated that he could not comfort Rachel. He was wrong, she did need him. Damnit, she needed him right now. He couldn't take it any longer. He narrowed the distance between them, but they were still arm's length apart. "Look, this isn't forever you know that right? We'll stay in touch. Thank goodness for modern technology right?"

She nodded. They sat for a few minutes in silence. Despite his big brave speech, he wasn't ready to leave yet.

"So you're really going to be a teacher huh?" She said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I think so. I mean, I'm not so good at dreaming myself, but I do know I like helping others discover and achieve theirs."

"Yeah, I don't know if I'd even be here at NYADA if you hadn't believed in me so much." She admitted, a sad smile on her face.

A small smile crossed Finn's face as well, but it soon vanished. How he wished they were having this conversation under different circumstances.

"Look, I don't know how things are going to plan out. I'm pretty sure we'll find each other again someday. I'm not so sure today is that day, but it will happen. Okay?" He reassured her.

"I love you, Finn." She said through her tears.

"I love you," he said closing the distance between them and crashing his lips onto hers.