DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They re the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy!

Chapter Thirteen: Mail Call

"Voila!" Mr Schuester said brightly with an embellished wave of his hands as he stood next to their impressive Regionals trophy in the middle of the choir room. The group all hollered and laughed and screamed with delight at their victory over the weekend as Finn watched Rachel like a hawk, looking for any signs of discomfort or distress. She seemed happy enough, however, so Finn allowed himself a moment to bask in their victory along with the rest of the team. He was still vigilant over Rachel as she sat at his side. "Now that we're done with Regionals we can start focusing on our domination of Nationals."

He peeked at Rachel in his periphery and her expression was torn as the rest of the group launched themselves into a discussion about their excursion to the 2012 National Show Choir competition. The only thing that Finn could think of, though, was the fact that Rachel wasn't going to be there with them. They had spent the entire weekend trying to avoid this inevitable conversation, but the truth was that her time in the United States was quickly coming to an end. As much as he wanted to ignore the terrifying prospect of losing her, he had to eventually come to grips with the fact that she was going to leave.

Even though it totally scared the shit out of him.

There was nothing he could do about it, though. Rachel wasn't an American, she was French; she was mere months away from completing her high school degree and she had dreams so big that Finn couldn't even wrap his head around them. Rachel was a true star in every sense of the word; would she even want a silly American boyfriend getting in the way of her future?

Probably not, he thought bitterly to himself as the glee club continued to talk animatedly around him. He unconsciously wrapped his arm around her shoulder while she stayed quiet, seemingly lost in her own thoughts as well. He only snapped out of his trance when a shrill voice addressed Rachel from across the room.

"By the way, what is Frenchie still doing here?" Santana asked, distaste in her tone as all eyes turned towards Rachel. "She's not even going to be here for Nationals. I don't know why she bothers coming anymore." His girlfriend squirmed uncomfortably in her seat as Finn's blood boiled.

"Santana!" Mr. Schuester scolded. "Rachel is just as valuable a member of this club as anyone else here. If she wants to come to rehearsals, she's allowed. Her support is much appreciated." Crossing her arms with a roll of her eyes, Santana dropped the subject and turned around, but not before shooting Finn and Rachel a seething glare from across the room. Finn tried to reciprocate the sentiment with a glare of his own before turning back to Rachel.

"Are you okay?" He asked, gently nudging her in the side.

"Oui," she said softly, but he could hear the pain in her tone. "She is right, though. I do not help by just sitting here. Maybe I should not come to 'ze practices anymore."

"That's bullshit, Rach," he insisted, giving her a stern look. "You don't need her permission to be here, and her opinion means nothing. Just ignore her." Nodding softly, she lost herself in the lesson and didn't seem as distressed, but Finn was still extremely worried about her. She hadn't been sleeping well, nor eating as much as she used to. Everything about her seemed sullen and sad, like a beautiful flower that had just begun to wilt. Her unhappy demeanor frightened Finn, who was so used to her exuberant and infectious energy. Now it seemed like everything that used to excite her only made her more upset.

Practice didn't last very long that afternoon, since they were fresh off of their victory and still in a celebratory mood. Finn was grateful for the reprieve since he really didn't want to spend any more time feeing Santana's eyes dig into the back of his skull with her malicious glares. Rachel was restless as well and he wished that there was some way to make everything better. Unless he found a sure-fire way that she could stay in the US, however, they were going to have to eventually face the inevitable.

Upon entering the house, Finn immediately noticed that both his mother and Burt were waiting for them to come home, which was very unusual for a Monday evening. There were suspicious smiles on both of their faces and all of their focus was shifted onto Kurt as soon as they entered the dining room.

"What's going on, Dad? You're never home this early on a Monday." Kurt's voice was wary. "Is something wrong?"

"No way, Buddy. I just needed to see your face when you opened this," with a warm smile, Burt passed Kurt a simple white envelope and Finn could see the emblem for NYADA on the return address right before Kurt practically ripped the white paper to shreds. Rachel looked around at the family, confused, as Kurt quickly opened up the thick stationary and read the contents of the letter to himself.

He was so anxious for his brother that it felt like his own future was sealed inside of the envelope.

There was silence for a full minute as Kurt read the letter, and the family waited around him with bated breath as Finn began to fear the worst. What if he didn't get in? His brother's future was on the line!

After a tense moment where the only sound he could hear was his own heart pounding, Kurt stopped reading the letter and turned to his family with a shaky sort of smile.

"I'm a finalist," he said, breathless as Burt hollered in joy.

"Yes!" He roared, pulling his son in for a crushing hug as Carole dabbed away at the tears in her eyes. Finn was proud of his brother and gave him a strong clap on the back as Kurt grinned.

"What is going on?" Rachel said quietly at Finn's side, unaware of the importance of Kurt's letter. Finn tried to explain it as best as possible.

"Kurt applied to a school for the dramatic arts in New York City. Now he's a finalist, which means he's one step closer to getting in."

"Ah, felicitations!" She said, going over to him and giving him a kiss on each cheek. "New York City! It is so exciting! I have always wanted to go."

"Yeah," Finn said fondly while Burt and Carole cracked open a bottle of sparkling cider, passing a glass to each the kids. "It's an amazing place."

Rachel suddenly turned to him, shocked as she stared at her boyfriend with awe in her gaze. "You 'ave been 'zere?" She rushed, her accent thick from her excitement.

"Well, yeah," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as Kurt shot him an amused look. "Once," he admitted. Manhattan was a fantastic city, but the memory of his last visit still haunted his nightmares as he tried very hard not to think about it. Too bad Kurt didn't know when to keep his mouth shut.

"Last year we made it to Nationals and spent the weekend there. We almost won it too, but. . ." Kurt trailed off as Finn sent him a death glare of epic proportions from across the room, shaking his head violently.

"Dude, come on," he begged Kurt to keep his mouth shut but Burt and Carole were all too ready to humiliate the crap out of him in front of his girlfriend as they continued the story.

"Finn fell flat on his face during one of the routines," Burt said, amusement in his tone as Rachel gasped in horror.

"He landed so hard that he broke his nose and lost consciousness," his mother said as flashbacks of that day passed in front of his eyes. The crack of cartilage as they reset his nose back into place was going to haunt him for the rest of his life as it echoed in his ears. Wincing subconsciously, he pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to shake away the unhappy memories.

"Thank you all for thoroughly humiliating me," he mumbled under his breath.

"'Zat sounds horrible," she said, shooting Finn a sympathetic glance. He wanted so badly to find some kind of comfort in her touch but it was impossible to show any affection towards her around his parents.

"Yeah, I thought Santana was going to claw my eyes out when I regained consciousness," he added miserably. "We made it to 13th place, but it wasn't high enough to make it to the finals. Everybody in the club hated me for weeks."

"But thanks to Rachel here, you guys have another chance at reaching the top!" Burt said, and Finn could see the pain in Rachel's features as everyone else stayed oblivious. "Too bad she won't get to go with you guys," he added, sympathetic but extremely unhelpful. "She's practically the reason why you all made it this far!"

Finn seethed silently at his step-father for hitting a nerve that was too painful to ignore as Rachel stiffened visibly next to him.

"I think I am going to go lay down," she said, her voice hollow as she suddenly retreated upstairs without another word. Finn and Kurt saw right through her behavior and turned on Burt with matching glares of fury after she disappeared up the staircase.

"What is it?" Burt asked, completely oblivious. "What did I say?"

"Thanks a lot, Dad!" Kurt stomped his foot angrily. "Why don't you just start running a countdown clock for the day she leaves and put it up over the kitchen table."

He shook his head, still confused. "I don't get it."

"Rachel doesn't want to go back to France," Finn added, the feeling very mutual. "She likes it here in the States and hates that she's going to miss Nationals this spring."

"The poor girl," his mother added.

"Well, it's a sad thing that she has to go back, but this is what she signed up for. Her time here has always been limited, but if it makes you feel any better then I'll stop mentioning it around her," his sons nodded their heads, seemingly satisfied for the moment. "But we all just can't pretend that she's going to be here forever. She has a little over three weeks left, but we can try to make the most of it."

Finn nodded dumbly, even though Burt's words were echoing in his head like some sick form of subconscious torment. "We can't just pretend that she's going to be here forever. . ."

Well, in Finn's opinion it was better than facing the bitter truth.

Finn retreated upstairs after their conversation had finished, hiding away in his room until dinner or at least until Rachel calmed down enough to talk to him, whichever came first. He laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling like it had the answers to all of his problems when a light knock on his door captured his attention.

It was Kurt, standing in the doorway with his NYADA letter still in his hands as he entered the room and sat at the foot of Finn's bed with a tentative smile. Finn sat upright and shot his brother a smirk as he crossed his legs underneath him.

"I didn't say this before, but congratulations, bro. You really deserve this."

"Thanks, Finn. I appreciate that," Kurt said as he slipped another envelope out of the pocket of his blazer and passed it over to his brother. "But I wasn't the only person in the family to get mail today."

"What's this?" Finn asked, surprised at how heavy the envelope was as he held it in his hands. Kurt shrugged, looking almost as curious as Finn was.

"I don't know," he said. "But seeing as I got my college response in the mail, maybe this is your reply from UA?" The thought filled Finn with a strange mix of anticipation and anxiety as he ripped open the envelope, confused when a small blue booklet fell into his lap instead of a crisp white sheet of stationary. He picked up the little book, flipped it over and felt his heart stop beating in his chest.

It was a passport. His passport, the one he had signed up for weeks ago after promising Rachel that he would visit her in Paris. He ran his fingers over the smooth cover and the gold lettering that spelled out United States of America. Kurt was staring at it like he had never seen a passport before in his life as Finn flipped through the pristine pages.

"Finn, when did you get a passport?" Kurt asked, incredulous.

"Um, today?" Was his genius response.

"No! I mean, when did you realize that a passport was a vital necessity to your life?"

"I don't know," Finn said with a shrug. "I mean, my girlfriend is from Paris, right? I should have one just in case."

"Yeah, but she's only going to be your girlfriend for a few more weeks. Do you really expect her to stay with you in a long distance relationship after she goes home?" Panic flooded Finn's system as Kurt's blunt and unapologetic words awakened all of his previous fears.

"She loves me," Finn said. "And I love her. We're going to make it work."

"She has a life in Paris. You're trying to build a life for yourself here," Kurt argued.

"What kind of life could I possibly build for myself?" Finn snapped, his emotions raging out of control as Kurt flinched visibly. "She's the only good thing in my life right now, man. I can't lose her. I can't even think about losing her."

"Finn, she's leaving in three weeks," he emphasized. "You can't afford to just fly to France whenever you want to see her. You can't just work your life around someone who lives halfway around the world."

"I can try," he said, his tone completely serious as he dared his brother to object. "If only I can find a way for her to stay here in the states with me then there wouldn't be a problem."

Kurt scoffed bitterly, a mocking tone to his voice. "Well, unless you decide to marry her within the next few weeks then she's going back to France whether you like it or not." Finn turned to face his brother slowly, his words sinking in as a determination entered his bones unlike anything he had ever felt before.

"What did you just say?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Marriage is the only real way that Rachel can legally stay in the country for good, but I said that in jest because there is no possible way that you are marrying a French girl that you have only known for a month."

Finn was deadly silent as he contemplated his choices and as the seconds ticked away Kurt grew more and more nervous.

"Finn," he said slowly, "Please tell me that you're not considering marrying a French girl that you have only known for a month."

"Would she really be able to stay?" Finn asked, his eyes wide and curious. "Forever?"

"No!" Kurt yelled, getting up from his bed and turning on his brother. "You cannot be serious about this!" He started to pace around Finn's bedroom anxiously. "This is not just a quick fix! You have to go through in-depth interviews and take exams and see government appointed counselors and prove that she's not just using you for a free ticket into the country."

"We can totally do that," Finn said, his excitement growing by the second. "I know a bunch of stuff about her."

"It won't be enough!" Kurt stressed, clearly panicking. "It will never be enough. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into!"

"I can't live without her, Kurt," Finn said, the truth behind his statement resonating through every bone of his body. "She's this big, huge star, and I'm nothing. I'm nothing without her."

"That's not true!" His brother pleaded. "You're using this as just another distraction so you don't have to deal with your future or your choices."

"No," he said, the idea solidifying in his mind as he begun to make plans. "She is my choice. She is my future. We can build one together." As soon as the words left his mouth he knew them to be true. It didn't matter that he had only met her a month ago, Rachel was the girl he loved. The only girl he had ever truly loved. There would never be another girl like her, and a life without Rachel wasn't a life he wanted to be a part of.

"You're crazy," Kurt said, shaking his head with a nervous kind of amusement in his tone. "You're barely keeping your relationship with her a secret from Burt now, imagine his reaction when you try to hide an engagement from him?"

"We still have time," Finn said, trying to convince himself more than Kurt at the moment. "We can make this work."

"Well, don't even think about including me in that 'we,'" Kurt replied, affronted as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I want absolutely nothing to do with this fiasco. I've done enough already in trying to keep this a secret."

"Don't worry, Kurt. I'm going to take care of everything," the ideas were bouncing round in his head and refused to stop. "This is my idea and I'm going to go through with this by myself."

"Can I ask you a question?" Kurt asked seriously, leveling Finn with a single stern glare.

"Sure, bro, anything," he replied with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

"If you had gotten an acceptance letter to UAkron today instead of your passport would you still be considering marriage as your only option?"

Finn opened his mouth to reply, but something was keeping him from responding to Kurt, like peanut butter was stuck to the roof of his mouth. After a tense moment where he seriously contemplated Kurt's words, he realized that he didn't know the answer to his question.

"I don't know, man." He didn't like feeling so unsure of himself, especially when it came to Rachel.

Kurt shook his head. "Look, I don't deny that you love Rachel, but I want you to seriously think this through before you ask her. I don't see this idea as anything but you giving up on yourself."

"I'm not!" He insisted, even though he wasn't quite convinced. "I mean, I don't think I am." Kurt pat him awkwardly on the shoulder before leaving.

"Just think about it. Don't go through with this unless you're 100 percent sure that this is the right thing for the both of you." Kurt closed the door behind him, quietly, leaving Finn alone with his thoughts as the evening stretched out in front of him. His mind was racing with possibilities as his conversation with Kurt was on continuous loop inside of his head.

By the time he was called down for dinner, he had made up his mind.

Rachel was staying with him in the States.

It was the only way.

His pocket felt seriously heavy, like there were rocks weighing it down as he frantically paced around the hallway outside of Rachel's bedroom. His hand came to rest over the weight by his hips as he waited for Rachel to get off of the phone with her fathers in France before he popped the question that had been plaguing him all day.

Making up an excuse to Mr. Schue about missing glee practice had been easy; his job at the shop was his go-to alibi for times like these and today it had worked like a charm. He had driven across town like a madman, heading to the nearest Jared's and opening up a credit card with them so he could afford the enormous rock that was going to tear a hole through his pants from the weight. It would all be worth it in a little while, however. He couldn't wait to see her reaction when she realized that he had found her a way to stay in the country.

After another few minutes of manic pacing and frantically checking his pockets, he heard her say "au revoir" to her father's over the phone, and he knew that this was his only chance. Summoning up all the courage he could muster, he knocked on her door while trying to keep his hands from shaking pathetically.

She answered it with a shy smile, a light blush staining her cheeks. Her mood had greatly improved since yesterday, even though every minute brought them a minute closer to her departure.

Well, he was planning on fixing that right now.

"Can we talk for a minute?" He asked, slowly entering her bedroom and breaking the cardinal rule of the house. His parents weren't home, however, so he wasn't as worried as he should have been as he pulled her in for a soft hug.

"Oui," she replied softly. "What is the matter?"

"I want to talk to you about something, but you have to promise to just hear me out and let me say what I have to say before you respond to anything." With his hands resting on her shoulders, he gently pushed her down so she was sitting at the corner of her bed, her eyes wide with questions.

She nodded her head but looked confused as the ghost of a smile haunted her features. "D'accord."

"Okay," he said, exhaling deeply as adrenaline shot through his system like a bullet. A few moments ticked by and Finn could barely form words. "Wow, this is a lot harder than I thought."

"Is there a problem?" She asked shyly.

"No!" he said, a little too enthusiastically. "I mean, there is no problem, except for the fact that I can't put words together right now." They shared a light giggle before Finn tried again. "I love you," he blurted.

"I love you, too," she replied, reaching over to squeeze his hand.

"And I don't want to lose you," her smile faltered. "I don't care if it's in three weeks or three years, I don't want to live without you in my life."

"Finn," she began, but he gently placed a finger on her lips.

"Please, let me finish," she nodded and he removed the finger. "I found a way that you can stay here."

"What?" She replied, her eyes wide.

"I know a way that you can stay here, that we can be together forever." She wasn't objecting yet, so he continued. "It won't be easy, and it's kind of complicated, but it's the only way that we can be together for good." He dropped down on one knee, reaching into his pocket as shock played out over her features. "All you have to do is say yes." He opened the box and the diamonds were dazzling with light as he gauged her reaction. "Rachel Beri, will you marry me?"

She was silent for a long while, almost too long, as Finn shifted uncomfortably on his knees. Her eyes kept bouncing from Finn back to the ring in his hands as her silence stretched into minutes.

"Finn," she said, finally, right as Finn's heart was about to sink into his gut. "I do not know what to say."

"Please say yes, Rachel," he begged with his eyes for her to understand. "We can be together. We can stay here and be happy."

"I need time to think about this," she replied quietly, completely hypnotized by the shimmering ring in his hands. He tried not to treat this too much like a rejection as he held onto whatever bits of optimism he had left. "I do not know what to do. . ." she trailed off and her words were laced with tears.

"Shh, don't cry," he said, panicked as her face crumpled in on itself. Hastily putting away the ring, he gathered her into his arms and tried to ease the tension from her body by rubbing her back in soothing circles. She sniffled into his embrace and he wondered if Kurt had been right all along. Maybe they really weren't ready for this?

"Three days," she replied, looking up at him with red and puffy eyes as she cleared the pain from her throat. "In three days I will give you an answer, okay?"

"Of course, Rachel," he said, hiding away his pain and kissing the top of her head as she snuggled close to him. "Take all the time you need."

Merci mille fois, mes amis!

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