Author's Note: As always, thanks for the amazing reviews. I can't believe how much you're all enjoying this story! Here's the next chapter. Thanks! This chapter title comes from "Syndicate" by The Fray.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

Rachel paced back and forth as she waited for Finn to arrive. She really wished that she could talk to someone about what was going on. Too bad everyone she could talk to already knew Finn and would totally freak out it if they knew about what had happened.

As soon as she heard Finn's voice over the intercom, Rachel buzzed him up. She continued pacing until she heard a knock on the door. She took a deep, calming breath before she opened it and put a small smile on her face to greet him.

Finn looked as devastatingly handsome as he did two days ago. His amber eyes were full of concern as he stepped into the apartment and looked down at Rachel. He reached out to take her hand but pulled back at the last second.

"Please help me to understand, Rachel," Finn finally said. "Because I really enjoyed kissing you, and I'd like to do it again sometime."

Rachel's heart thumped so loudly she feared Finn could hear it. "I think you need to help me understand first, Finn," she said. "Why… why did you kiss me?"

Finn's brow furrowed. "Because I wanted to."

"But… why?"

This time, Finn did take her hand in both of his, squeezing tightly. There was already so much confusion that there was really no use in beating around the bush. Finn was just going to have to tell her the truth, even though he had never really been good with words. "I like you, Rachel. I really like you. I have for a long time. Seeing you again at the supermarket… it was pretty perfect, Rach. I didn't call you two days ago with the intention of kissing you or trying anything. I was going to at least wait a little bit." He shrugged his shoulders. "I just.. I knew it was my chance. So I took it."

"But how?" Rachel's mind was reeling. Finn liked her? She couldn't believe it… but she really wanted to. "That means… Finn." Rachel gasped. "When you were dating Quinn…"

A guilty looked flashed in Finn's eyes and he nodded his head. "I liked Quinn and I cared about her," Finn explained. "But when I met you that day in the NYADA hallway, Rachel… I don't know what happened, but it was like there was an instant connection formed. Kind of like… a tether, I guess."

Rachel had felt the exact same way all those years ago. She had pushed those feelings down, but now that she knew that Finn felt exactly the way she did, she couldn't stop thinking about that kiss. It seemed that Finn couldn't, either, from the way his eyes were darkening.

"I tried not to," Finn said. "Quinn and I were fine, but we weren't happy. We were barely content, really. And then she got pregnant, and it changed everything. After seeing you again, I knew that this was the chance to act on my feelings, and Rachel… it kind of seemed like you felt the same way."

Rachel's fingers tightened around Finn's. "I had a crush on you from the very first moment I met you," she admitted. "But you were my older sister's boyfriend and…" She trailed off and bit her lip.

Finn shifted closer to her, and his hand began to caress her arm. "And what?"

Rachel exhaled slowly. "And I really want to kiss you again."

Finn grinned before and slid a hand into her hair, tilting her head back so that he could bring his mouth down over hers. Rachel pressed herself closer to him, fisting his shirt in her hands. A breathy moan escaped her lips as his tongue dipped into her mouth. Finn pulled away only to brush his lips across Rachel's jaw and then down her neck, nipping and sucking at her soft skin. Rachel's fingers locked in his hair as she tilted her head back, allowing Finn more access.

"I want to do this properly," Finn mumbled against her neck. He pulled back and cupped her cheek in his hand. "So will you let me take you out on Friday?"

Rachel beamed at Finn and placed a quick kiss on his lips. "I'd really like that. Actually… we have a few more hours until Kurt and Santana are due home. Do you want to stay and watch a movie?"

"That sounds awesome," Finn said with his adorable half smile.

Rachel scanned the shelf of movies they had in the corner of the living room. She turned back to Finn with a sheepish look on her face. "It looks like we only have Broadway classics. And, uh… some pornography. But those are Santana's and she knows that she's not supposed to have those out here."

Finn chuckled and stood up, walking over to join Rachel by the DVD case. "Which one is your favorite?" he asked.

"Funny Girl," Rachel answered immediately. "Hands down, it is my absolute favorite movie."

"Let's watch that, then," Finn said.

Rachel smiled as she pulled it from the shelf. "Are you sure? It might not be your type of movie."

"I'm sure," Finn replied. "It's your favorite movie. How bad can it be?"

Half an hour later, Rachel had resigned herself to not watching the movie.

"We're not… we're not actually going to watch, are we?" A gasp escaped Rachel's lips as Finn nibbled at her neck.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Finn pulled back and forced himself to sit up straight. "I'll behave, I swear."

Rachel laughed and lifted Finn's arm up, snuggling close to him. "I definitely didn't mind it, Finn."

"It's your fault, you know," Finn teased.

"Oh really?" Rachel was glad that she didn't have to hide her feelings for Finn anymore. She was free to tease and flirt with him as much as she wanted to; especially since they were now going out. And Finn seemed just as excited by that prospect as she was. "And why is that?"

Finn smirked and ran his fingers through her hair. "I just can't stop touching you. Or kissing you."

Rachel laughed. "I can't say that anyone has ever said that to me before."

"Well, it's true." Finn pressed a kiss to Rachel's forehead and pulled her closer. "Now, why don't you explain to me what's happening in the movie, since I wasn't exactly paying attention for the first half hour."

"Are you sure you want to know?" Rachel asked. "I completely understand if it's not your kind of movie."

"It's your favorite, so we're going to watch it," Finn said. "I don't mind. I plan on knowing a lot more about Rachel Berry and her favorites."

"Only if you tell me what your favorite movie is, Finn."

"That's easy. Braveheart."

"I've never seen it."

Finn gasped dramatically. "You've never seen Braveheart? Well, that's going to be our second date, then."

"And what's our first going to be?" Rachel tried to keep the large smile from forming on her face. He was already talking about a second date. This was something that Finn really wanted.

Finn grinned at her. "It's a surprise."

"Oh really? A surprise?"

"Yes, a surprise. You can live with that, can't you?"

"Hmm." Rachel sidled closer to Finn, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck. His eyes went wide and then dark, but he kept his hands to himself. Rachel leaned forward until her lips were hovering right over his. "There's no way that I can get you to tell me?"

"Uh… No." Finn swallowed hard as his fists tightened. Rachel smiled.

"Really? There's nothing I can do?" Her lips ghosted over his and then down his strong jaw. She nibbled gently on the spot where his jaw met his neck and smiled against his skin when he groaned. "Nothing at all?"

"Nope," Finn breathed.

Rachel sucked lightly until a mark was left. "You sure about that?"

Suddenly, Rachel was underneath Finn and on her back on the sofa. She let out a gasp of surprise before Finn's mouth came down over hers. His tongue slipped into her mouth as he kissed her deeply, his body pressing into hers.

When he pulled away, Rachel stared at him with wide eyes before she giggled. "Feel free to do that any time you want."

Finn chuckled and pressed another light kiss to her lips. "I'll keep that in mind."

Rachel hummed as she ran a spatula through the stir fry she was cooking. She heard the door open and then Santana and Kurt's voices as they entered the apartment. She worked hard to tone down the bright grin on her face, but she couldn't help herself. She was just so happy.

"Smells good, Berry!" Santana said as she came into the kitchen. "What are you cooking up?"

Rachel looked up at her best friend. "Some stir fry. It doesn't even have any tofu in it. Just some vegetables."

"Oh. Well today must have been a good day, then, if you forwent the shitty stuff. Did anything happen?"

"Not particularly," Rachel said. "It was just a nice day."

Santana looked at her with a raised eyebrow before she took several plates out of the cabinet and set them on the counter. "Well, I'm certainly not complaining if it means I get to eat semi-real food for a change. Hey, Lady Hummel! Rachel is making real food!"

"Thank God! I am starving." Kurt came bustling into the kitchen with a bottle of wine. He quickly popped it open and retrieved three wine glasses. He turned towards Rachel, his mouth open, but he dropped one of the glasses and pointed at her. "Rachel Berry, what is that?"

"Way to go, Hummel," Santana said with a groan. "That was my favorite glass, too."

Kurt waved his hand dismissively. "We have bigger things to worry about, Santana. Like the hickey that Rachel has on her neck."

"What?"

Now both Santana and Kurt were staring at a spot on the left side of her neck. Rachel touched the spot they were staring at and, sure enough, she felt the slight swelling. Her cheeks reddened as she remembered the way Finn's lips had felt on her neck. Putting her amazing acting skills to use, Rachel schooled her features and spoke in a nonchalant voice.

"That's not a hickey," she said calmly.

Santana raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that? Because that definitely looks like a hickey, Berry."

"Well, it's not."

"Then what is it?"

"It's a burn from a curling iron." Rachel held up the ends of her hair. "I curled it today. It happens." (Really, though, she had curled her hair that day. She had never been more thankful for the coincidence.)

Santana and Kurt exchanged skeptical looks. Rachel didn't miss it, and she turned to them and put her hands on her hips. Taking the time to look them both in the eye, she said, "Well, it's not like I'm with anyone, anyway."

Kurt knew his best friend very well. But he had to admit that he was thrown by the way she was looking him right in the eye. "If you were with someone, we'd be the first to know. Right?"

Rachel smiled at him. "Of course."

Santana and Kurt let the topic drop and went about setting the table. Rachel turned back to the stir fry and let the smile slip slowly off her face. She and Finn hadn't talked about it yet, but she was guessing that they were going to keep their relationship quiet for the time being. She could only imagine how Kurt and Santana would react, let alone the rest of their friends.

"Here you go, my darling diva. You look like you could use this glass of wine."

Rachel took the glass from Kurt and took a sip. She really did feel as though she could use some of that wine. This whole situation suddenly got a lot more difficult.

"Aunt Ray!"

Rachel smiled as the little blonde toddler ran towards her and wrapped her arms around her legs. Rachel bent down and picked her up, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"Hello, Bethie!"

Puck followed his daughter in from the kitchen. "Hey, Q!" he called out. "Berry is here!" He turned to greet her. "'Sup, Berry?"

"It's good to see you too, Noah. What are you up to today?"

"I'm actually about to take Beth to see my mom. Quinn wanted to have a sister bonding day with you to talk about the wedding plans, so I'm getting the hell out of dodge."

"It's your wedding too, you know."

"Hey, I'm part of all the important stuff. Like the food, booze, and the cake. She wants to talk about bridesmaid dresses or some shit with you. Last I checked, I wasn't needed for that."

Rachel smirked. "I don't know, Noah. I've seen pictures of you in that dress in high school. You looked very fashionable."

Puck's eyes narrowed in a glare. "Petunia showed them to you, didn't he? I knew trying to be nice would come back and haunt me. That little punk is trying to use the one time I did something nice for his glee club as blackmail."

Rachel laughed. "You wore that dress quite well. I'll be sure to ask Quinn if we can use that shade of purple for the dresses."

"I've seen those pictures," Quinn said as she came into the room. She kissed Puck on the cheek and then patted it. "My man has some great legs."

"Very funny," Puck muttered. But he was smiling. Rachel handed over Beth to him, and Quinn kissed her forehead and then kissed Puck.

"You two have fun at your mother's," Quinn said.

"Oh, we will. Have fun picking out colors for the dresses. Try to make them look as ugly as possible."

Puck and Quinn kissed again before he and Beth left. Quinn gathered her purse and her jacket and turned to her sister, giving her a hug in greeting. They left the apartment and were in the dress salon twenty minutes later. They were picking the final bridesmaid dress for the wedding.

Rachel stood in front of her sister and smoothed out the light green dress. "So? What do you think?"

"I think it's perfect," Quinn said. The dress was simple, with thin straps and fell to just above the knee. But it was perfect and captured the mood of Quinn and Puck's wedding nicely. "What do you think?"

"It's not as bad as some of the other ones you picked out," Rachel teased. "I would have thrown a fit if you picked the one with the puffy sleeves and that terrible orange color."

Quinn laughed. "I want to look good on my wedding day, but I wouldn't have done that to you."

Rachel went back to get changed. Only a few minutes had passed before Quinn said, "So did you hear about who Puck has been hanging out with recently?"

"No," Rachel said. She noted the change in Quinn's voice but thought nothing of it as she went to hang the dress up. "Who?"

"Finn Hudson."

Rachel froze and almost dropped the dress. She recovered quickly and was glad that Quinn couldn't actually see her. "Really?" she asked. "Since when?"

"A few weeks ago. They met again at the gym. Puck said that Finn was… cordial. They had a nice talk, apparently."

"Well that's… nice. Right?" Rachel didn't want to say anything to reveal that she had known that Puck and Finn had seen each other again. She was aware that she was treading on very dangerous territory right now. She had no idea how Quinn would react to Rachel's new relationship with Finn.

There was a long pause before Quinn said, "I guess so. They were best friends for a long time. They should be able to have a friendship."

Rachel finally felt that she could face Quinn with a straight face. She opened the door to the dressing room and stepped out. "I think Finn and Puck will be able to be friends again," she said reassuringly. "I'm sure Finn doesn't hate you."

"I hope not," Quinn said with a small smile. "Puck wants Finn to be Uncle Finn to Beth. I was hoping that he would like the job, as well. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"

Rachel nodded her head. They certainly would.

Author's Note: So? What do you think? Thanks for reading!