Rachel and Sam had been dating for a year, and the two of them had worked hard on getting great presents for their anniversary, even convincing Santana to stay out of the apartment all day. Rachel decorated the apartment with candles, lowered the lighting and played some romantic music as she prepared lunch for them; she was determined not to burn the food for once. Luckily, all had turned out well and as soon as she had finished cooking Sam returned home from the gym and kissed his girlfriend passionately.

After eating their meal that they both found surprisingly delicious, they snuggled up on the couch and watched TV for a few precious moments. After a while, Sam noticed Rachel was staring up at him and he sighed.

"Presents?" Sam asked, knowing what Rachel's intention was. She nodded and smiled as she got up to get her gift. Sam walked into their bedroom and got his present for Rachel out of the back of the wardrobe and walked back in.

"I'll go first!" Rachel said and handed Sam his present.

"No change then." Sam said cheekily. Rachel playfully hit him as he started to unwrap his present. He smiled at the sight of a scrapbook with a picture of the two of them from before they got together; smiling as they hugged on Rachel's opening night on Broadway. As he opened the book he saw a different picture of them on each page, with something written underneath each one. He flipped the pages and read what each one said.

Go on a hike together

Watch every show on Broadway

Go on holiday together

Get our own apartment

Sam started welling up as he read each page.

"It's our bucket list. There's about forty things I want us to do together and we can cross them off as we do them." Rachel explained. Sam stared in silence then looked at her.

"You really do think about this stuff, don't you?" Sam asked happily and Rachel nodded. She took his hand.

"Of course I do. This is serious to me, Sam. You're serious to me." Rachel said. Sam kissed her and held her close.

"I love it." Sam said, touched, before handing an excited Rachel her present. She unwrapped it quickly and stared at the item before her in shock. She picked it up and held it close to her; a photo of Sam standing next to Barbra Streisand. That would have been enough for Rachel, but she also saw it was signed.

Rachel,

Just saw you in Funny Girl. You were astonishing.

Good luck in your future successes.

Barbra xx

"Look at the back of the photo." Sam said with a cheeky grin. Rachel took the photo out of the frame and looked at the back, where she noticed someone else was written.

P.S. The guy is cute! Xx

"...How? I mean, I knew she was there on opening night, but...how?" Rachel asked.

"I was waiting for you to finish up when she came in to see you and I asked to take a photo with her for you. She agreed and the backstage crew got it printed right away for her to sign and...there you have it. I was saving it for your 25th birthday but this felt like a better time." Sam said. Rachel stared at the photo in silence.

"Rachel? Say something." Sam said. Rachel grabbed his shirt and kissed him passionately with so much force that they fell onto the floor, with Rachel landing on top of him.

"Like it?" Sam asked.

"I love you." Rachel said with pure meaning.

It was the first time either of them had said it. They had just never got round to it. Sam was elated that Rachel, after everything with Finn, was the one to say it first.

"I love you too. So much." Sam said and kissed Rachel, gently stroking her hair as they both remained lying on the floor. Rachel continued to smile and stared at him.

"What?" Sam asked.

"I'm just enjoying right now. This moment." Rachel whispered and kissed Sam again. They both got up and Rachel stood close to Sam and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Ready for your other present?" Rachel whispered in his ear as Sam shook off his shirt, grabbed Rachel's hand and ran into the bedroom as Rachel laughed.