"This is torture."

Rachel looked up from where she was pacing a few feet away. The entire group was backstage waiting for the judges to reach a decision and crown the winners. In the small area New Directions had claimed just a little ways off from stage left they group of fourteen was spread out over a small blue couch, a few plastic chairs, and the hard floor. Anticipation and excitement hung in the air, but the biggest thing in the room was a sense of fear.

"Mercedes, this is all a part of the process. You just have to stay focused and stop worrying."

"Is that why you're trying to make permanent tracks on the concrete floor?"

"Okay, so maybe I'm a little nervous. But that's a good thing. Being nervous means we have something to lose. Is it warm in here or is it just me?" she fanned herself off with her hand. "I think I need some air."

"Calm down Rachel, you need to get a hold of yourself. Your team needs you." She muttered to herself as she made her way outside. "Just do the breathing exercises your vocal coaches taught you when you were four. In, out. In, out."

"You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of going crazy." Finn joked as he came up beside her.

"I think people already see me as crazy." Rachel reminded him.

Finn shook his head. "No, not crazy just… focused. Okay, maybe a little crazy." He shrugged and then added, "But I like crazy."

The dark haired beauty smiled and let out a small laugh, so Finn got to the point.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine; just need a second to get it together."

"Relax," Finn wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her. "Even if we lose, we all know that it wasn't for lack of effort. We did our best."

"I know." She leaned close and savored the simple smell of him. "But I really, really want this. Not just for me, but for all of us. We've worked really hard and I'd hate to see it be for nothing."

"Hey, it wasn't for nothing. Look around, we're a real team now." He chuckled. "And we're not ashamed of it. Even after everything that happened, I think it's safe to say we're friends now. Most of the time."

"You're right." Rachel took a deep breath and looked up at him, smiling. "Thanks for calming me down."

Finn grinned and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Anytime. And by the way, I overheard Mr. Schue talking about a victory party tonight after we get out of here."

"But we don't even know if we won yet."

He shrugged. "So what? If we lose we can have an un-victory party."

Rachel laughed. "Good idea."

-GLEE-

"Are you alright?" Tina asked as Rachel and Finn made their way back inside.

Rachel nodded. "Yeah, I'm good."

"Good, because they're about to announce the winners." Will said coming up behind them. The group nervously peeked out from behind the curtain to see the emcee standing at the podium, ready to start.

They knew that it was going to be close. Vocal Adrenaline been amazing, just as expected: fabulous costumes, flawless vocal numbers, and extensive choreography that even Rachel had been impressed by. And the crowd had loved it. But they had done well too.

Rachel's solo had been impeccable and their dance moves, while simple, hadn't been messed up either. Their group number had been lively and the crowd had seemed in to it… It had been good overall. But had it been good enough?

"Third place in the competition goes to….The Truman High School Lightening Rods!"

"What kind of a gay ass name is that?" Puck whispered.

"The runner up of the Show Choir Regional Competition is…"

"This is it; it's between you guys and Vocal Adrenaline." Will said quietly. "I know it."

The Glee kids immediately grabbed hands and closed their eyes tightly, each heart beating ten times faster than usual. They knew that they had done well and even if they lost they all knew they had something to be proud of. Everyone had worked hard and done their best, but come on. How cool would it be if they actually pulled this off?

The entire auditorium was silent, and the tension was so thick that it hung tangibly in the air, almost as if it held a separate, physical presence."

"The runner up is……..Vocal Adrenaline!"

The group's eyes opened slowly as they looked at each other. Did that mean….? It couldn't be.

"Which means that our new champions are William McKinley High School's New Directions!"

Suddenly, the room erupted into cheers and screams of joy. As the kids ran up on stage to receive their prize, the audience filled with applause. The humongous trophy was handed to Finn and soon the rest of the club gathered around it and held it up high while dozens of flashbulbs went off.

Will and Emma soon joined them, only to find Quinn, Rachel, and surprisingly Kurt in tears, Mercedes still letting out screams, and the rest of the kids either jumping around or dancing with happiness to no particular beat.

"WE DID IT!" Mercedes yelled and she was met with thirteen other shouts of…well, Glee.

After all, this was what it was all about.

-GLEE-

"Here's to the new champs!" Puck announced holding his bottle of root beer up in the air. (Puck had tried to persuade Mr. Schuester into buying a round of Bud Lights for the team, but even Will had his limits. And getting arrested was not in the itinerary for this trip, as he so kindly reminded the underage teen.)

"And to kicking Vocal Adrenaline's butt!" Mike added.

"And to not being sabotaged this time!" added Will.

"To us!" yelled Kurt.

The rest of the group nodded in agreement and held up their drinks, echoing his words. "To us!"

To celebrate their newfound championship, New Directions had taken over the hotel's restaurant to hold their victory party. A round of soft drinks were ordered along with all kinds of food of the grilled and fried variety and Will had even gone to a near by bakery to pick up a small sheet cake for dessert. The delicious treat was covered by a thick layer of vanilla frosting and a message had been scrawled across the front in yellow (the closest color they had to gold, to represent champions) icing that read: CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW REGIONAL CHAMPS!

It was the perfect party and everyone was having a blast. After grabbing slices of cake, the kids crowded around the large table in the center of the room, basking in the glory that came with winning such a title. However, two key members seemed to be missing. Ordinarily such a privelidge would not have been allowed, but because they had done such an amazing job and helped the team come so far, Will and Emma had allowed Finn and Rachel to duck out for a walk around the hotel just the two of them after they had eaten their cake. (Plus there was the fact that this request was not illegal, Will had pointed out when Puck had claimed unfair treatment.)

Which is how they ended up standing outside near the huge porcelain fountain near the hotel's entrance later that night.

"I think tonight was one of the best nights of my life." Finn said with a nod.

Rachel glanced up at him from her place firmly against his chest. "What were your other best days?" she asked curiously.

"Well, there was a birthday when I was eight that really rocked." He decided. "And the whole day of Sectionals wasn't so great, but singing and winning was pretty fun. And there's the day that we finally got together for real."

The brunette smiled. "That was a pretty amazing day." She agreed.

"How is it that we always end up back here?" Rachel asked. After nearly a week and a half since the Puck and Quinn confrontation, the two of them had spent nearly every day together doing anything and everything. Today, Finn had sporadically decided that they could both use a day to just let loose, so they had just spent the entire day at a local amusement park, stuffing themselves with junk food and riding roller coasters until they wanted to puke. Now it was going on nearly seven o'clock at night and the two of them were sitting on the edge of the stage in the auditorium, their legs dangling over the side showing their difference in height more than ever.

Finn laughed a bit. "I don't know. But the janitor is always around and he never seems to mind letting us in."

"A fact for which I am always grateful."

He smiled. "You know, you look really pretty today."

Rachel blushed and glanced down at her body self-consciously. Her hair was up high in a messy ponytail and she had on a pink tank-top, blue jean shorts, and white flip-flops. The light coat of make-up she had brushed on this morning was almost completely faded, and she smelled of sweat, fried food, and the outdoors.

"I'm a mess." she replied.

Finn shook his head. "Nah, you look… I don't know. Different. But good different, more relaxed. It's cool. It's like, I like they way you dress normally too, but you don't have to try so hard all the time, you know?" he shrugged and then added simply, "You're amazing just the way you are."

Rachel looked up at him, her heart beating rapidly inside her chest. That was one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to her in her life. But apparently Finn wasn't done, because he kept going.

"Truthfully Rachel, you could probably wear just about anything in the world and it wouldn't matter to me. I mean, you're really good looking. But I fell for you because of who you are, not what you look like."

Okay, she took it back. That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her. His words were so simple and straightforward, but they held so much sincerity and meaning. To her they meant the world.

She wanted to say something equally as amazing back to him. To explain just how much he meant to her and how much she admired his strength and bravery and honesty and his view on the goodness of others. But all she managed to choke out was a small, "Thanks." Otherwise she feared she might start crying.

Finn didn't seem to notice. He turned to face her, his eyes wide with excitement and a bit of nerves.

"I'm ready." He told her seriously. "I don't want you to think that I'm rushing through anything or that I'm taking you as a second choice or anything Rachel, because I know it hasn't been very long since everything with Quinn and Puck went down. But I'm ready; I'm ready to be the guy that you've been waiting for. And I know that I'm ready because before when I used to think about kissing you I felt like I was being unfair to you or Quinn or both of you. But now when I think about kissing you, and I've been doing that a lot lately, trust me," he grinned smugly in a typical boy manner. "Now when I think about that I can't feel anything but happy."

Rachel smiled, a wave of relief washing over her face. She soon threw her arms around him in a large bear hug, not a care in the world about how she smelled of amusement park attractions and greasy food.

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear that." She said quietly as she buried her head in the neck of his t-shirt.

"Hey, where'd you go?" Finn laughed and pulled her face up to his own. "So you wanna be my girlfriend?"

Rachel nodded. "Yes. Do you want to be my boyfriend?"

Finn pretended to think about it, which made her laugh. "Yeah." He finally answered. "That sounds pretty sweet."

And then finally, finally, they got their perfect kiss. And Rachel was absolutely positive that it was so much better than sweet.

"You were so amazing up there today Rach. You shined. You always do."

Rachel's eyes went a bit moist at the simplicity and sincerity of his words. "Thank you. You were pretty fantastic today yourself."

Finn's eyes went a bit wide with panic at the sight of her tears. "I'm sorry Rach, what did I say? Why are you crying?"

Rachel shook her head. "I'm just really happy."

A small frown came across the quarterback's face, clearly not understanding. "That doesn't make any sense."

Wiping the tears from her eyes Rachel let out a laugh before throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. "I'm so happy I have you in my life."

Finn smiled, his strong arms pulling her closer. "Good thing, because I'm not going anywhere."

-GLEE-

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