The rest of the weekend passed fairly quickly and before long the remaining ten members of New Directions were gathered back in the choir room. Matt and Santana stood with Mr. Schuester by the piano, their hands intertwined, while the rest of the group waited to hear their decision.

"Okay, Matt and Santana, you both had a very important task this weekend in choosing the song we perform at the school assembly next Friday. What did you come up with?"

"Well, we spent a long time thinking it over," Santana began with a glint in her eye. "But we decided that Glee club needs to go old school on this one. So we're taking it back to the 80's."

Matt smiled. "How do you guys feel about Livin' on a Prayer?"

Grins began to form on the remaining eight student's faces as murmurs of excitement filled the air.

"We were thinking 80's outfits too." Santana added. "Go for the full effect."

"Guys, that sounds awesome. Since it was your idea you get the leads, so I'll need you to stay after so we can work on it." Will said happily. "Rachel, Mike, and Brittany, I need you guys to start on the choreography. Kurt and Mercedes-"

"Already on it." Kurt said pulling his dark purple patterned laptop out of his bag. "These costumes will be fabulous."

"Great. Finn, Artie, and Tina…" he paused to think. "Tina, you can work with Kurt and Mercedes. I know you're good with make-up."

That earned a smile. "Thanks Mr. Schue."

"Artie, you're great with the choreography too, so you can help with that group."

Finn couldn't help but frown. Why did it seem like everyone was good at something but him? Even Brittany was helping with something!

"Finn," Will grinned, despite the fallen face of his remaining student. "How would you like to be on drums?"

A grin of his own instantly lit up the boy's face. "Seriously Mr. Schue?"

"Dude," Matt walked over to clap him on the back. "That would be sick."

Will laughed. "You'd better get to work! We don't have that much time."

That proved to be one hundred percent true. For the next two weeks, Will worked hard with the group, rehearsing for the assembly and prepping for Nationals too. It seemed like no time at all had passed before the ten students were gathered behind the curtain set up on the floor of the gymnasium.

"Brittany, hold still! I have to fix your shoes. Rachel, stop talking! It's making Tina mess up your lipstick. And Mike it's just hairspray, hold your breath and suck it up!" Kurt was yelling orders as if he were an army general while the self proclaimed Glam Squad put the finishing touches on costumes. Rachel turned to glare at him through narrowed eyes at one point, but after an impatient and pleading glance from Tina, she sighed and closed her mouth. Kurt, Mercedes, and Tina had really gone all out to make sure that the 80's outfits were as legit as possible. Among the outfits of their peers were acid wash jeans and denim jackets, Ray-Ban sunglasses, Doc Martins, brightly colored tops, a few poufy skirts, and lots of big jewelry and heavy make-up. Each of the girls was sporting big hair styles and a few of the guys had even been convinced to wear mullet wigs.

"Alright guys, you all know the routine by now. I think we're all past caring about what the rest of the school thinks." Will nodded. "So just… go out there and have fun. The rest will take care of itself."

"Mr. Schue's right." The group all turned at the sound of the familiar voice.

"Quinn! Puck! What are you doing here?" Will moved to give them each a hug, the rest of the kids following suit.

The blonde smiled. "We wanted to be here to cheer you on."

Kurt grinned excitedly. "Did you bring the baby?"

"My mom's watching her." Puck answered, shaking his head. "We're just here to see this and then we gotta head back."

"We just wanted to say good luck." Quinn added with a giggle. "And nice costumes!"

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Please girl, you know you're jealous!"

"I am actually. It looks fun."

"Will!" Emma's thin figure appeared at the edge of the curtain. "Figgins is almost done with his speech about sexual preditiors. You guys are on!"

"We should go." Quinn grabbed Puck's hand and headed back towards the bleachers. "Good luck!"

"Later!"

"Okay, no more pep talks." Will smiled as he turned to the group one last time. "You guys have this, no problem! Have fun!"

"And, once again, that is how you know if a fellow student is on the path of becoming a rapist." Figgins said into the microphone monotonously. "Keep it clean students. Rapists do not become successful. And with that, I'm going to hand it over to Mr. Schuester."

Hearing the entire gym remain silent, Emma began to clap from her seat in the front row. Quinn soon joined in and, after receiving an elbow to the ribs, Puck too.

"Thank you." Will smiled at the three attentive audience members. "Um, as I'm sure most of you know, I run the Glee club here at McKinley and for the past two weeks we've been working really hard on a number just for you guys!" Still receiving no response, he continued. "Okay. So without further ado, and minus two very important members that we hope to have back with us very soon, here is New Directions!" Once again Emma, Quinn, and Puck proved to be the only ones applauding as the ten remaining Glee club kids made their way from behind the curtain, along with the jazz band that normally backed them up.

"Let's do this!" Matt glanced back at Finn on the drums and began to count off. "One, two, three, four!"

About halfway through the performance, most of the student body actually found themselves getting into the song. And when they reached the last verse Puck and Quinn were not alone in standing on their feet and singing along.

"Ohh We're half way there
Woah! Livin' on a prayer!
Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear
Woah! Livin' on a prayer!"

glee

"Finn, you're acting crazy! Just tell me what we're doing!" The pleas of his girlfriend fell on deaf ears as Finn continued to pull her through the school hallways by her hand.

"Just come on!"

"Tell me what's going on!"

"I already did!"

Rachel scoffed. "Please, I hardly think 'it's a surprise' constitutes as any sort of worthwhile explanation."

"Well maybe if you stopped being so nosey, then we wouldn't have this problem."

"You are incorrigible!"

Finn laughed. "Nice try. I still don't know what that one means."

"It means you should tell me what's going on! Why are back in the choir room?"

Mr. Schuester had cancelled practice for the day in celebration of a job well done. While everyone else had rushed off to celebrate and relax, Finn had grabbed his girlfriend by the hand and dragged her off for a surprise, still dressed in their eighties outfits from the assembly, despite her protests.

Hearing the soft slam of the choir room door shut behind them Rachel was led to a single chair placed in the center of the room.

"I'm really bad at talking." Finn said simply, his eyes focusing firmly on her face as he began to explain himself. "I know you're like, really good at it, but everybody knows that I'm not… arcit- archidev-"

"Articulate?" The frown on Rachel's face made it clear that she still had no idea where this was going.

He smiled. "That. I suck at speeches. So I thought about it and eventually it hit me that maybe if I can't say it to you then maybe I can try to sing it. So I asked Brad to help me out a little and, well, here's what I came up with."

Much to Rachel's surprise, Finn took a seat at the piano and focused all of his attention on his hands as they carefully began to play out a simple tune.

"Give me more lovin' than I've ever had
Make it all better when I'm feelin' sad
Tell me that I'm special even when I know I'm not

Make me feel good when I hurt so bad
Barely gettin' mad, I'm so glad I found you
I love bein' around you
You make it easy, it's as easy as 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4…"

Rachel's eyes began to fill with tears as she recognized the song. Finn's eyes remained on his fingers hitting the keys, and she knew that since he did not know anything about playing the piano at all, he must have worked extremely hard with the accompanist to learn this song for her.

"There's only one thing to do
Three words for you I love you
There's only one way to say
Those three words and that's what I'll do, I love you

Give me more lovin' from the very start
Piece me back together when I fall apart
Tell me things you never even tell your closest friends

Make me feel good when I hurt so bad
Best that I've had, I'm so glad that I found you
I love bein' around you
You make it easy, it's as easy as 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4…"

It kind of baffled Rachel how much of a turn her life had taken. For so long it seemed like her high school years would remain covered in slushy and utterly unbearable. But then one boy, this boy, had come along and chose her of all people.

It made no sense whatsoever, defied all laws of physics and paranormal activity, but Rachel was positive that she would not have traded it for all the Tony awards in the world.

"There's only one thing to do
Three words for you I love you
There's only one way to say
Those three words and that's what I'll do, I love you
I love you

You make it easy, it's easy as 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4

There's only one thing to do
Three words for you I love you
There's only one way to say
Those three words and that's what I'll do, I love you
I love you

1, 2, 3, 4
I love you
I love you …"

Holding the last note for a second, Finn finally lifted his head from the keyboard to say the last part of his speech before he lost all of his nerve.

"I love you Rachel. I'm in love with you. I think I have been since I joined glee. You see me for who I really am and the person I want to be, even when I screw up and don't act like it." He shrugged. "You just- you make me so freaking happy Rach and I just really, really love you." He smiled. "Okay, I'm done. You can go now. I know you're dying to."

For once, Rachel Berry had no idea what she wanted to say. So many things were rushing through her head at one time, so many emotions and feelings she didn't have time to process. So instead of trying to sort through them all, she flew out of her chair and into his arms, landing against his chest with a small thump, and kissed him with everything she had, leaving them both breathless.

"I'm in love with you too." She finally replied, her tone just above a whisper and filled with tears. "I love you so much Finn."

The lanky boy grinned. "You do?"

Rachel let out a laugh. "Of course I do!" And then, with a small shrug, she added, "I always have."

glee

A/N: Awwww. I know it was cheesy at the end, but come on! Who doesn't love a little Finchel cheese now and then? I mean, it's no Break a leg, I love you, but still. Now don't go anywhere! Nationals are still to come! Pack your suitcases readers, because we're going to Disney World!