Salvete! Wow, I'm amazed at how many reviews I got last chapter! Keep it up, I'm loving every single one! I apologize for the wait, it's certainly been a busy week as I got a new job and meet with a college - going on for my masters! Excited!

Disclaimer: Though it hurts me to say this, I do not own Glee/Fox/Ryan Murphy Productions/Anything of importance

4) A Brief Crack

Rachel's hands never left Finn's neck as she wrapped them tightly around him and pressed her mouth against his. The way his mouth melded to her own, the taste of his hot breath, the feel of his tongue against hers, she couldn't get enough. Four years of wanting and needing dropped away as she was finally returned to Finn, his hands trailing down her back to her waist; his fingers kneading her skin slightly and leaving her nerves burning for more. They eventually went to her thighs and the bare skin that flashed there, his rough palms gentle as he grasped her and lifted her up.

Rachel laughed, tearing away from his mouth for a moment as she tied her legs around his waist. Their eyes meet again, pupils dilated, the emptiness completely gone now as passion and lust shone like a fever. His face was flushed red and he was gasping slightly, she could feel his chest rising and falling against her own. Lower, her body reciprocated fiercely as she felt the heat from his sex; tempting her, taunting her with desire as fire ravaged her body in shivers.

Finn's mouth curved slightly into a wicked smirk and growled, "You're the sexiest woman I've ever known."

"I know," Rachel returned, and meet his smirk with one of her own; kissing him fiercely. A moan escaped past their contact of lips and Rachel dug her hands into his back, deepening the intensity. Raw love shot through her system as everything Finn came crashing down upon her. The way his hands glided over her skin, the moans that escaped his mouth as he tried to control his passion, the scent of him drifting around her and engulfing her senses, it was all Finn.

Finn was back, and she needed him.

"Finn," She murmured through their kisses, digging her hands into his broad back as she attempted to contain the tension and intensity from exploding from her body. "Finn...I need you - now."

Finn didn't respond, only nodded his head jerkily and she felt them moving. She broke apart from his face and glanced around to see that he was carrying her, heading to where she assumed was his house. Laughing, she meet his face and saw him smiling. It almost tore her heart, it was so open and without a trace of the stone-cold emptiness - it was Finn's smile.

"Allow me," Finn said, not even looking uncomfortable as he strode through the streets of Lima. A few people stared at the couple but Rachel and Finn didn't even give them a first glance. Too absorbed in Finn, Rachel could barely remember her own name.

"So chivalrous," Rachel muttered and cupped his face in her hands, leaning back slightly but not enough to make Finn drop her, her legs still tight around his waist and his hands still firm upon her thighs. She remembered the first time she explained to him what the word 'chivalrous' meant, when her dreams of him were only that - dreams. So much had changed in those years, for the good, for the bad, but there would always be Finn, the best thing in her life. "I love you."

"I know," Finn repeated, grinning, and earning himself a smile from the girl around his waist. She lowered her mouth and recaptured his lips, biting playfully at one with her front teeth. Another moan came from his throat, and she trailed away from his lips - much to Finn's disappointment - to the firm angle of his jaw, her lips and tongue everywhere she could reach. The slight stubble tickled her delicate skin but she paid it no mind, fully centered upon the taste of Finn Hudson. She trailed away to his chin before going lower and finding a soft expanse of his neck, her hands holding her steady upon his broad shoulders and loving the feel of his muscles under her palms. It made her itch to feel his skin whole, no barrier in the way as the thin material of his shirt felt like a thick sweatshirt.

"Rach," panted Finn, his voice sounding faint but his strides never faltering. "If you keep doing that I don't think I"ll be able to manage to get to..." He couldn't finish the rest as Rachel smiled fully and returned her mouth to his lips, tasting the sweet delicacy of her fiance's mouth. Finn's presence slammed into her like a hammer again, and she wished she could spend the next four years in this exact moment. Never leaving the security of his arms or the softness of his firm lips, she wouldn't dream of anyone else she rather be with besides Finn.

What felt like only seconds but had to be a decent amount of time, Finn, balancing a laughing Rachel and keys, was trying to get the right key into the lock. Rachel probably should have let go but she didn't, her arms as tight as ever around his neck. He didn't appear to mind, Rachel thought, as he was grinning to her, his cinnamon eyes never leaving Rachel's, and trying to scramble for purchase with the slot. Finally, they were in and Finn slammed the door shut with his foot, dropping the keys onto the floor without a care, and then his hands were upon Rachel again.

"Hell, I missed you," Finn muttered under his breath as one hand held her by her ass to him, while the other slipped under the hem of her shirt and brushed the skin upon her back, his touch hot and warm. His breath tingled her as he lowered his head and pressed his mouth to her neck, Rachel feeling his tongue lick delicately at the hollow of her throat. She shivered, her body sending waves of pleasure throughout her core and she couldn't contain it anymore, she needed Finn. Not just his presence or the musky scent of him, she needed him.

"Bedroom," Rachel panted, her hand leaving his shoulder, sliding down his shirt and the compact muscles underneath, to rest upon his manhood. She practically could feel the heat of it through his pants and with the tip of her finger, rubbed it gently. Finn tensed, his body stiffing and another moan evoking from his throat. "Now."

"Yes, ma'am." Finn hurried to his bedroom with Rachel wrapped around his waist, tension escalating in her as their sexes brushed which each step he took. Bounding into his room, they fell upon the bed. She reluctantly let go of him as he stood and with a simple gesture threw off his shirt, exposing his broad chest. She paused for a moment to stare in obvious appreciation and amazement. Finn had never been very skinny or fat (despite Santana Lopez's unheeded opinion) but never was he this muscled. His body emanated strength and Rachel sat up to press a hand to his chest, feeling his heart beat erratically and his chest rising and falling as he breathed heavily. Rachel looked up to his face and meet his gaze, his eyes alight with passion.

Finn's grinned crookedly. "Your turn." She bit back a laugh but lifted her own shirt off, revealing her bra. Finn glanced to her chest, one hand rising hesitatingly to her breast. Almost too soft for Rachel to bear, he caressed her through the thin material, his thumb gently rubbing against the tip. Her nipples hardened and she arched herself into his touch, giving him complete control, while she went to her back and flicked off the straps. The bra fell to the floor, forgotten, as Rachel reclined back into Finn's bed at his slight push, him following suit.

His broad body was upon her chest, holding her down, but not crushing her as he held himself up with one hand; the other still massaging her boob. Finn's eyes returned to her face, the bright color warm and flushed with his excitement. Before Rachel knew it, Finn's hand moved away and his mouth captured her nipple. A breath escaped her at the sudden flash of warmth and she grabbed at Finn's back, hands kneading into the muscled flesh. Nipping at the tips of her breasts, Finn's hands drifted lower and lower until they rested on the edge of her skirts.

Recognizing the nonverbal indication, Rachel moved her hands away and Finn raised himself. She immediately took of her skirt and panties,while Finn dropped his clothes to the floor. Completely bare before each other, only the flush of excitement and sex aroused their cheeks and obvious wanting was reflected in their gazes. Never allowing his eyes to stray, Finn moved forward and placed himself on top of Rachel, one hand placed on each side of her head. A connection born in their high school years flashed invisibly between them, a tangible force of belonging and content that Rachel never felt with anyone else before except for Finn.

As Finn entered her, his length and girth familiar to her, all she knew was that feeling of emptiness she felt for the past four years was filled. Her arms returned around his neck, drawing his panted breath to mix with hers as he set the rhythm. Her body matched his thrusts, the waves of pleasure escalating and building inside of her petite frame. It had been too long since she last slept with Finn, since she had done anything like this and the rush of build-up struck her sooner then she imagined it to.

She felt Finn stiffen above her and his hands snarled into the sheets around her face, but never did he move his gaze away from her eyes. Lust, arousal, and love flared like beacons inside his cinnamon eyes, capturing her whole and entrapping her with its intensity. He suddenly stopped with the motions and she felt his orgasm, her body reciprocating in the same way. Their gasps mingled, combining as one as their hot and sweaty bodies molded to each other. Finn, after a moment, kissed her gently and whispered softly, "I love you, Rach."

"And I love you, Finn."

The air was warm, suffocating and pressing like another layer of clothing to his skin, but the scent of rain drifted on the wind and foretelling of another night of showers that would send the temperature drooping. Of course, he thought glumly, it wouldn't improve his temper as he shifted his feet. The ground was a thick layer of mud due to last night's storm and his boots stuck indignantly to the earth, not wanting to let go. He contained his sigh of exasperation and pulled harder, reminded forcibly of the football games he played in the rain and wind and how difficult it was to even keep moving, let alone picking up your feet from the ground.

He wondered how he did it as he practically stumbled and landed on his ass trying to get one mud-caked boot up from the marshy land. Maybe it was the fact that he never stopped moving, always shifting from foot to foot and being prepared for whatever plan they were going to act. Or, he continued his thoughts as he tried the other boot, was it the adrenaline rushing through his vessels as the crowd screamed and cheered. In his mind, he could almost hear the sound vibrating in his football helmet and making the ground shake with the stomping of feet and instruments as the band flared.

Or was it the sound of one voice rising up all the others, a voice that made his heart swell and a goofy smile come across his face. A melodious and sweet voice, ripe with talent and awesomeness, that could make a tall guy like himself tremble with its potency. A grinning beautiful face popped into his head, olive skin shinning warmly as chocolate eyes sparkled with admiration and pride. A large nose gave character to her demeanor but only heightened the slimness of her sexy mouth and captivating eyes, not defying her in any way; dark hair cascading down the side of her face and laying gently below her shoulders, the tips curling toward him. Her mouth parted-

He didn't allow his mind to go further and snapped back to his present situation, trying to still the sudden sadness that clogged his throat and made him want to break down and cry. Terrible longing filled his gut but he pushed it aside and focused back onto his boot. It was easier to place all his attention upon the problem at hand then in the past and, hopefully, in the future as an image of the same girl flooded back to him. Tears were sparkling like diamonds in her brown eyes and they cascaded silently down upon her cheeks, looking pale as she looked back through the train's window to watch him. Her gaze had looked so torn and agonized, he couldn't help but to have tried to run after her, to change his mind but it was already too late. She was gone, whisking away from him, and he was left with his decision and the repercussions.

"Fuck," he swore to himself. "Get a grip. You know you would do it again if you had to." There was doubt in his voice, showing that he wasn't as sure about his own words as he thought or wanted to believe. With extra force, he pulled his leg out and toppled over, arms spinning like a Ferris Wheel to try and keep his balance but he only feel faster towards the ground.

Suddenly, two hands grabbed him ruffly and put him back on his feet. After a moment to blink his world back into focus and not a tumbling picture of brown, green, and bluish-gray, he looked back to see a dark-skinned man wearing a robe-type garment, which he thought was called a kanzu or something, holding him steady. Behind the man, a soldier stomped forward while laughing. "Hey, Lurch. Havin' difficulties?"

He blushed, nodding a thanks to the man who kept him from falling, before glaring at the soldier. "Shut up, you try standing in the same spot, in the mud, for a couple of hours and see if your boots don't get cemented to the ground." He eyed the soldier. "What are you doing here anyway, Nelson, don't you have the next shift. Shouldn't you be sleeping? Or talking to your family, they probably-"

"Shut up, seriously. Has anyone ever told you that you like to ramble?" Nelson asked, raising an eyebrow. He decided not to answer. The other soldier grinned, obviously thinking that he won the contest. "I was sleeping if it makes you happy, but I have news. We're heading out apparently. Someone ordered it up far above on the food chain because this place is growing too quiet. We leave in the morning."

He blinked, and glanced around the small village. It wasn't fancy or anything, far below the standards of his own hometown, but over the past couple of weeks, he and his fellow comrades had been working together to build more small houses that may have seemed crude to him but were everything to the people of Malda. It had been relatively low to nothing on the scale of activity but he liked it that way. No one dying, no having to defend for their lives - it made it almost seem as if he wasn't in the middle of a war. The news brought it all rushing back and he sighed, it was good while it lasted.

"Earth to Lurch? You in there, bud?" asked Nelson, waving a hand in front of his face to get his attention. The black-skinned man looked warily at the two soldiers, probably deciding if they were nuts or full-scale crazy. He grinned at them before pushing Nelson's hand down.

"Yeah, sorry, I was thinking."

"Don't think too hard, I know you have difficulties enough. Like not able to walk without completely biffin' it."

He gave him a look of dark despair. "I should've never told you they used to call me 'Lurch' in high school."

Nelson laughed. "Hell no, you shouldn't have!" He nudged his friend again. "Oh, come on. It's not that bad. If you want, I'll let you sing and dance about it in the fields. 'Course," - Nelson lowered his voice so the other man wouldn't hear even though he was pretty sure the other man present didn't know how to speak English - "they'll probably think you're doing some crazy rain dance and jump in along beside you."

"You're such a dick, Nel," he muttered back. "I'm surprised they haven't killed you yet."

He shook his head as his friend tensed, a hand going to his chest and eyes going wide in shock. "Nice act, but you seriously are being too over-dramatic, and I mean-"

Then he saw the blood issuing from his friend's chest, turning his uniform a ruddy brown and collapsed at his feet.

Rachel shot up as a scream tore her back into reality, trying to arrange her sleep-befuddled mind quickly. She barely had time to focus when she felt the bed move and Finn jumped out of it. She glanced drowsily at him, wondering if he had heard the shout too but was zapped to awake when she saw his expression. Sweat covered his entire form and she could see his limbs shaking, eyes wide and fearful as his gaze flashed all across the room. Pale, he appeared as if he was going to throw up.

"Finn? Are you okay?" Rachel asked immediately, making Finn jump and turn to her. She was stunned to see one hand turn into a fist while the other was held in front of him in defense. A sickening feeling dropped into her stomach as she realized Finn was prepared to fight her, like she was the antagonist in a book. The moment their eyes meet, however, the fear dropped away and was replaced by something even more frightening to Rachel.

The cold and impenetrable wall of stone.

"Fine, go back to sleep." The passion and love in his voice that was there the night prior was gone, only a bleakness, a cold and empty tone as if he was nothing more than an automated voice. It was like a wound in Rachel's side and she felt tears bloom in her eyes, not understanding. He looked away and stared at the clock, it showed it was around five in the morning in bright, glowing numbers. "I'm sorry I woke you."

"Finn, tell me what's wrong?" Rachel begged, trying to get out of bed but the sheets were wrapped tightly around her. She remembered the first night she and Finn slept together and waking to him laughing, saying she was a total blanket-hog. There had been warmth and mirth in his eyes then but now they were empty and eerily vacant, like a locked door. "Did you have a bad dream?"

"I said I was fine!" Finn snapped at her, his eyes flashing with anger as they flared back to her which made Rachel recoil in surprise and, even though she didn't want to admit it, slight fear. He instantly relaxed at the sight and turned away again, his back to her as he paused in the doorway. "I'm sorry. I'll be right back."

"Wait -" Rachel started but he was already gone, disappearing into the shadows of his house as she finally got herself out of the sheets. She sat on the edge of the bed, clad only in a bra and her panties, and hugged her arms to her petite frame. Trying to keep herself from crying and running after Finn to demand the answers out of him (which she suspected would do nothing but make him more distance), she could only feel a rush of disappoint. She had begun to hope Finn was over whatever was bothering him, that being reunited together they would close the gap between them. Now, she wasn't sure what was having him so troubled and what was causing him to be so freaked out.

Could something have happened while he was off doing whatever? Rachel realized hollowly that she hadn't even asked him a single thing about the Army or where he had been. Finally having him back in her life, all she could think about was being back with him. She forgot to even be mad at him for totally ignoring her for four years. Her body longed for him as much as she wanted to know what was his problem. Worse, a new thought entered her head, how big of an event could make him not tell her about it? Didn't he once say that he felt like could tell her about anything, could be open and honest with her?

Rachel dropped her head into her hands, hopeless and unsure, she didn't have a clue what to do next.

Soft footsteps came up to her and she reclined her head up again to see Finn warily, wondering what he was going to do next. Meeting his eyes almost reluctantly, she saw the emptiness was back and nothing flashed inside the cinnamon orbs. A pang ached inside of her chest. He was still naked except for a pair of boxers but she couldn't retract her attention away from his gaze, hoping she would see something in the depths or some expression would come across his face but it was as moveable as granite.

"Here," he said gruffly, and held out his hand. She blinked to see a glass of water was being offered to her, no ice in it like she preferred. Not really knowing what to do, she took it. "I know you get thirsty when you're sad." He swallowed and looked away in what she would've assumed was being uncomfortable, except nothing passed his chiseled features.

"I'm going to take a shower, I'll be out in five minutes."

Rachel didn't comment, only staring at the glass of water in her hands blankly. The gesture was too compassionate and kind to come from the nonchalant person in front of her, not understanding, she returned her attention back to Finn. The man before her was grabbing new clothing from his drawers, his actions mechanical and purposeful. She could only watch him silently, biting her lip slightly as she felt like grabbing him and shaking her old Finn back to her.

Only when he was heading towards the bathroom did she finally perk up and asked, "Do you want me to join you?"

Finn froze, looking back at her over his shoulder as he turned on the bathroom light, making it stream into Finn's bedroom. Something flashed in his eyes but she couldn't decipher what it was and hope spurted inside of her for a moment.

"I'll be right out, just give me five minutes." He then shut the door, the light draining out of the room like the hope inside her body.

I hope you continue reading, reviewing, and, most importantly, enjoying!

Hope everything is well,
~Dreamy