Author's Note: I seriously can't get over how much support this story has gotten so far. I'm pretty much in awe. Thank you so much! This chapter's title is from "I'm Only Me When I'm With You" by Taylor Swift.

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

"Finn! I got a spare!"

Finn grinned and swept Rachel up into his arms, hugging her tightly. "That's great, Rach!" he exclaimed.

For their first date, Finn had ordered them a white pizza and taken them to the local bowling alley. When he found out that Rachel didn't know how to bowl, Finn offered to show her how and they were having a great time. Finn was an excellent teacher, and Rachel certainly didn't mind the way he was pressed against her.

Rachel pointed to the screen hanging above their lane. "You're still beating me," she said with a pout.

Finn leaned forward and kissed the pout off of her lips. He didn't stop placing light kisses against her mouth until she was smiling. Rachel giggled and pushed on his chest until he stepped away and squeezed her waist.

"I can't just let you win, Rachel. My mom always taught me to respect the opposite sex and treat them as equals."

Well damn. Rachel couldn't really argue with that, now could she? "I'm not asking you to let me win, Finn," she said. "I'm just simply requesting that you stop being so good."

He grinned at her and lifted his bowling ball. "No can do, Rach." With that, he sent his ball down the lane and succeeded in getting a strike. He grinned and Rachel went to pick up her own pink bowling ball.

"I'll have you know, Finn, that I'm very competitive. Just watch and learn." Unfortunately, Rachel's attempt ended with a gutter ball. She heard Finn attempting to stifle his laughter, and she whipped around to give him a mock glare. "Finn Hudson! You better not be laughing at me!"

Finn held his hands up. "I'm not laughing Rach, I swear." But there was a smile playing on his lips, and his cinnamon eyes were sparkling. Rachel couldn't help but return his smile, and he tugged her into his arms.

He kissed her gently as Rachel's fingers curled around the collar of his sweater. She would never get tired of kissing Finn Hudson. "Don't worry, Rachel. Practice makes perfect."

"Are you trying to say that we're going to go bowling again?"

"If you're up for it."

"Finn, I'm going to make it my goal to defeat you at bowling one day."

She kissed him again and Finn grinned against her lips. "I'm going to hold you to that, Rachel Berry," he said. He stood up and reached for his bowling ball. "Why don't I bowl for you for the rest of the game, and you bowl for me?"

Rachel smiled. "Challenge accepted, Finn."

"I can't believe that you still beat me, even with all the gutter balls I gave you."

Finn chuckled and wrapped his arm around Rachel, pulling her into his side. "I guess I'm just too good, huh?"

Rachel looked up at him with a teasing eyebrow raised. "If you keep acting like that, you might not get a kiss at the end of the night."

Finn swooped down and pressed his lips to Rachel's quickly. "Too late. And besides, you'll be thanking me when you see part two of our date."

"Part two?"

"Well, part two is actually in my apartment. If that's okay with you."

Yeah, that was perfectly okay with Rachel. And if they happened to make out while they were there, she certainly wouldn't have a problem with it. "That's perfectly alright."

Finn squeezed his arm around Rachel and dropped another kiss to her temple. She loved the affection, and Rachel smiled back up at him. It wasn't long before they were at his apartment.

When they stepped in, Rachel let out a little gasp. Right there, in the middle of the living room, was a little picnic. The lights were all dimmed and there were candles and pillows set up. Rachel turned to Finn with a beam on her face.

"You did all of this?" she asked.

Finn shrugged his shoulders and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I just really wanted this date to be special for you."

"Finn…" Rachel stood on her tiptoes and pulled him close for a kiss. She could feel her heart fill with everything she had felt for Finn since she had first met him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his forehead to hers.

"Come on," he finally murmured.

They settled down on the blankets and fed each other the chocolate covered strawberries and the other fruit Finn that had procured. Rachel playfully nipped at his fingers, getting the excess chocolate off the tips. He looked at her with darkened eyes, and she smirked a little bit.

Rachel sat back against the pillows but was sure to keep their sides pressed together. "So Kurt and Santana noticed the hickey you left on my neck."

Finn smirked. "Oh. Oops." But he looked very unapologetic, and a smile touched Rachel's lips. She couldn't really complain, since it felt so good when he gave it to her.

"They started asking questions," Rachel finally said.

"Oh," Finn repeated. He grimaced a little. He knew exactly how Kurt could get when there was something he wanted to know the answer to.

"I was able to hold off the questions for now," Rachel said. "But I was thinking about it. What do you think Kurt would do if he found out we were dating?"

Finn dragged a hand through his hair. Honestly, he liked Rachel so much that he hadn't really thought about how people react to them being together. Now that he was, he was beginning to realize just how complicated their situation actually was. "He'd probably freak out." When Finn saw the look on Rachel's face, he quickly added, "But not in a bad way. I think that he'd be happy for us."

Rachel drew her knees up to her chest. "At least your sibling will be happy for us."

"Hey." Finn wrapped his arm around Rachel's shoulders and pulled her close to him. "You don't think Quinn would be happy for us?"

"Finn." Rachel looked up at Finn with sad eyes. "You know how Quinn is. She likes to… overreact sometimes."

It was true. In high school, when Quinn and her boyfriend had broken up just before prom and he had asked out the captain of the junior varsity cheerleading squad, Quinn had vandalized the other's girl's posters and then rigged the voting so that she was out of the running entirely. Rachel loved her stepsister dearly, but Quinn did have a streak in her. It didn't come out often now that she was out of school, but it could still be seen from time to time.

"It's been three years since I've even seen her," Finn pointed out.

Rachel shook her head. "The guy she dated her freshman year of college broke up with her and went out with her roommate. She hooked up with his best friend on his bed to get back at him three years later."

"Quinn already did that to me," Finn said wryly. He sighed once again and pressed his cheek to the top of Rachel's head. "But I see your point."

"And you've just started to talk to Noah again. I'd hate for something to ruin that."

"Rach, I don't think Puck would have a problem with us dating."

"I'm not saying that he would. I just think that there would be so much drama…" She trailed off and bit her lip.

"Rachel." Finn put two fingers under her chin and tilted her head up. "We can't keep this a secret forever. You know that, right? Because I'm not ashamed of being with you. And I don't think we have to hide it from anyone."

"Neither do I!" Rachel exclaimed. "I don't want to hide, Finn. But…"

Finn kissed her softly. "I understand," he murmured. And he did. Rachel just wanted everyone to be happy. She had such a big heart, and she hated when the people she loved were angry or upset. Sometimes, however, that led to her denying the things she wanted for herself just to keep other people happy. Finn would go along with this for now, but only because he didn't want Rachel to stress herself out. He knew how she was.

"I don't want you think that I'm trying to hide you, Finn," Rachel said softly. "I'm not. I just want to think of a way to tell Quinn and our parents without having everything blow up in our faces."

"Shit." Finn blanched and he looked down at Rachel with wide eyes. "Your parents. I completely forgot about them. They all hate me."

Finally, Rachel cracked a smile. She rubbed a soothing hand over his back. "That's not true! They don't hate you. My daddy and papa loved you!"

Finn groaned. "But your mother and stepfather hated me. They hated me when I dated Quinn, they hated me when they thought I got her pregnant, and they still hated me when I punched the actual father of her child. If there's something stronger than hate, I'm sure they'll feel it when they find out that I'm dating you."

"Finn, everything will be okay."

"Maybe we should just keep this a secret for the rest of our lives."

"Now who's the one being dramatic?"

"That's easy for you to say!" Finn exclaimed. "My parents love you."

"They do?" Rachel asked. She had seen Carole and Burt over the years, since she lived with Kurt. She absolutely adored the Hummels and always loved when they visited.

Finn nodded his head and smiled. "Ever since that night we had Christmas dinner at your house." He looked at the clock then and noticed how late it was getting. "I should probably get you home now, huh?"

Rachel noticed the time as well and sighed. "I suppose so." She bit her lip before she added, "I don't want this night to end."

Finn kissed her tenderly, his lips lingering against hers. "Neither do I," he muttered against her lips. He stood up and held his hands out, helping to pull Rachel to her feet. "Come on."

The walk back to Rachel's apartment was spent in a comfortable silence. Their hands were linked together, and they walked with their sides pressed together as well. Finn stopped at the building next to Rachel's; they didn't want to risk the chance of Kurt or Santana seeing them together.

"So dinner?" Finn asked. "This Thursday?"

"That sounds perfect," Rachel agreed. "Why don't you come over? I'll cook." Santana had the night shift at the hospital and Kurt was working on his new costume line, so he would be at the theater late into the night.

"Awesome." Finn leaned forward at the same time Rachel stretched up onto her tiptoes. Their parting kiss was deep and passionate, and it left them both breathless when they finally broke apart.

Rachel squeezed his hand before pulling away. "Goodnight, Finn."

"Goodnight, Rachel," Finn called after her. "Sweet dreams."

"You're awfully chipper today," Tina Cohen-Chang noted. She was in the chorus of West Side Story with Rachel, and they had become friends during their time in the show together.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders but was unable to keep the smile off her face. "I had a good night."

Tina stared at her critically for a long moment before she gasped and pointed at Rachel. "It's a man, isn't it? You're seeing someone!"

"Shh!" Rachel looked around to make sure that no one had heard her. Kurt helped out with the costumes for their show, too, so there was no telling when he would show up. "Not so loud!"

Tina smirked. "So there is a guy, then?"

"Yes," Rachel admitted. Tina didn't know Finn, so it felt good to tell someone. "I went on a date with him last night."

"Who was it?"

"If I tell you, will you tell Kurt?" Rachel asked.

"Ooh." Tina's eyes went wide. "So we're keeping this a secret?"

Rachel nodded her head. "Just for now, at least. Our situation is a little… precarious."

Tina held up her hand. "I swear that I won't tell him. Now spill."

The smile was spreading across Rachel's lips again. "His name is Finn—"

"—Hudson?" Tina finished. When Rachel nodded shook her head. "As in Kurt's brother? As in the man who used to date your stepsister?"

Rachel sighed. She supposed that Kurt must have told that story. He loved to tell it every now and then, just because it was such a dramatic tale. "Well… yes."

"At least now I know why you want to keep it a secret. That's certainly a twisted little web you managed to land yourself in."

"I know," Rachel said quietly.

Tina studied her friend for a long moment before her face relaxed into a smile. "But you do look really happy, Rachel. There's a definite difference. I don't think I've ever seen you like this."

"Really?"

"Really. When I say Finn's name, your whole face just kind of brightens. It's obvious that he makes you so happy. And if he does, I'm sure the rest of your family and friends will understand."

Reassured by her words, Rachel gave Tina a hug. Their friends and family might be shocked at first, but hopefully they would realize how happy Finn and Rachel made each other and would support them. Rachel could only hope.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think!