Chapter 8

"Finn.."

"I really don't know how, but i sort've knew you'd be up here." he smiled as he walked beside of her, holding out a blanket to her. "I saw that you left your coat on the rack, so I got this for you. You must be freezing."

She began to chuckle, wiping the tears away from the bottom of her eyelids. She knew he could tell she'd been crying by the sympathetic look on his face. "You know me so well." she smiled.

"Rachel, I'm sorry about everything that happened back there. You didn't deserve any of it." he said.

"No, it's fine. I'm okay." she tried to assure him.

Finn didn't buy it. He never really did buy the lies. She guessed he knew her more than she thought.

"Rachel, we have been friends for a long time. You can pull the whole "I'm fine" card with Santana or Quinn, just know that you're fooling me. You can talk to me." He said, looking down at her.

"No. Really, I'm fine." She smiled, and walked away to the small bench in the middle of the roof. Joining her, Finn knew that deep down inside she wasn't okay just by looking at her face. It was like second nature to him Since he knew her so well for so long.

"Rachel, why are you being so defensive? Just talk to me okay? I'm here for you and I'm not going anywhere." He demanded.

Getting frustrated with him, she remembered the feelings of seeing her mother for the first time, yelling at her parents, Mandy, and Kurt's unexpected outburst. Then, it all flew back to her and before she knew it, there was nothing she could do to stop it. That's when it all happened.

She held herself in her arms again, as she sobbed. She felt terrible. Not only because of the terrible events that ruined her, supposed special day, but because she was crying in front of Finn. Rachel hated crying in front of people, especially Finn. There was just something that she hated about the vulnerability and weakness that came along with crying. She often thought that people would think less of her while seeing her cry. But Finn didn't. The only thing that Finn actually did was wrap his arms around her, and constantly told her that everything would be okay.

She knew she could trust him. That was never an issue between the two of them. But, Rachel just felt like she would be a burden if she sprung all of her problems on him. Today wasThanksgiving and it was supposed to be a happy day. She didn't want to ruin his day with her problems.

"You can talk to me. You know you can. I'm here." He whispered as he hugged her.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm her down from the rapid amounts of sobs that came before, she finally broke the silence that she was giving him, besides the cries.

"Everything is falling apart.." She barely got out through her sobs.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, gently rubbing back her hair.

"This wasn't supposed to be how today went, Finn. I wanted to spend my birthday having fun with the people that I love. Then, Kurt insults me, my parents show up an hour late with my estranged mother, and to top it all off, someone invited the ice queen, Mandy. What is she even doing here anyways?" she cried.

"I'm so sorry, Rach. I should've been thinking clearly. I invited her so fast without thinking. If I would've known the trouble that she would've caused, I wouldn't have even brought it up." he apologized.

"Wait.. You were the one who invited her.. Why would you do that?" She asked.

"We ran into each other on the street and she was going on and on about how she had no plans for thanksgiving and I felt really bad. So i told her to come over. It was really stupid and I should've just kept my mouth shut." He explained.

"It doesn't even matter. I have a feeling this day would've had the same fate even if she wasn't here. Kurt still would've found a way to lash out at me and my parents still would've brought Shelby." She said, feeling the weight of sadness take over her heart.

"I wish there was something that I could do. Like, flip a switch and turn off all of your pain. For some reason, I feel like this is all my fault." He looked down, as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"What? Finn are you kidding me? This is not your fault. In fact, this has nothing to do with you. If anyone's to be blamed, it's me." She replied, as she wiped a couple of loose tears away from the bottom of her eyes. By now, her makeup was probably smeared to the point where she looked like a raccoon. She didn't care.

"I should've protected you from all of this." He answered.

"Finn, That's not your job." She whispered.

"Yes it is, Rachel. You're my best friend and to see you like this really makes me angry that they could hurt you like this. It's exactly like that time Jessie broke up with you in high school. He's lucky I didn't put a dent in his show tune face, or whatever." He told her.

For the first time in a span of 13 or 14 hours, she actually felt laughter rise in her mouth.

"He was so scared when you confronted him. It made me feel better to see how much of a real whimp he actually was." Rachel chuckled, feeling a weight lift off of her shoulder.

"And I felt good because he learned his lesson for hurting you. Now Rachel, I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure if I try to threaten your dads I'd never be able to see you again, but know this. You don't have to go through this alone. I will always be right here beside you. You can alway talk to me, even if it involves crying." He assured her.

"Thanks. Did anyone ever tell you how good of a friend you are lately?" She asked, smiling up at him.

"No, but I'm pretty sure it would've came up sooner or later." He said, causing Rachel to playfully nudge him in the shoulder.

After about a few moments of staring out at the surrounding skyscrapers, the air was filled with an awkward silence that both of them couldn't handle. Rachel kept thinking that he would bring up what happened on the phone last night, but he never did. Finally, she broke the silence.

"I'll give you a penny for your thoughts." She smiled, looking up at his blank expression.

"I was just thinking about the old days." he smiled back.

"What about the old days?" She asked.

"Like, the first time we met. Do you remember that?" He asked, looking down at her.

"How could I not? You were such an ass to me." She replied, laughing.

"Hey! You were the one who stole our ball." He defended.

"And you were the one who stole our space to cheer." She added.

"Whatever, just know that you weren't the most pleasant first grader that I ever met." He chuckled.

"Oh come on, Finn Hudson, I'm simply the best thing that ever walked into your life. You don't know what you'd do without me." she chuckled, seeing his surprised expression.

"Honestly, you're right." they both became serious. "You're my best friend in the whole entire world and if I ever lose you, I don't know what I'd do with myself." He admitted, looking down at his hands.

"Thanks. It means a lot and I can honestly say I feel the same way." She responded resting her head on his shoulder with the blanket wrapped around the two of them. Finn felt her head on his shoulder so he wrapped his strong and protective arm around her. She finally felt a sense of peace for the first time all day.

"I'm really thankful for this, Finn. If I didn't have you in my life at a time like this, I seriously don't know how I'd cope. You're like that awesome guy best friend that every girl wants in their lifetime, and I'm glad to say that I already have one." She smiled out at the skyscrapers.

"And you'll always be my number one girl, Rach. Which is why I took into consideration what you said last night on the phone. So, Rach, I love you too because you are the best friend that anyone could ask for, and I want to stay best friends forever." He smiled. He really knew that what he had just said may of sounded stupid, since friendship wise wasn't the only way he loved her, but he didn't want to lead on the fact that he had been in love with her since high school. That would lead to a very awkward conversation.

"Oh yeah. Right. Best friends forever is what we're going to be like forever." Rachel said slowly, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. She was pretty sure she just go friend zoned.

"Have you eaten anything yet?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Umm, no. Why?" she asked, with an eyebrow arched. "What are you about to plan?"

"How about we get out of here?" He asked.

"What do you mean get out of here?" She asked.

Standing up from the bench, he smiled and pulled her to her feet.

"How about we sneak out? Just you and me? We haven't had one on one time in forever and I want to spend your birthday how it was supposed to have been spent all along. Just you, me, and the city that never sleeps." He said, as they walked to the door that led to the stairs.

"That sounds amazing, but how are we just going to sneak out? I need my coat, I can't walk around with a huge blanket all day, and my purse too." She asked.

"Leave the worrying to me. I know this has probably been a crappy start to your birthday, but I promise that you're never going to forget this birthday. Trust me." He smiled as they slowly walked down the stairs. Finn held Rachel's elbow to help her down since her heels were having a bit of difficulty cooperating.

When they got in front of Finn's door, Finn motioned for her to be quiet as he slowly and silently opened his front door and closing it behind him. From what Rachel saw behind the door was that everyone was either in the kitchen or the living room, depending on where the voices were coming from. So, she knew that he'd be safe if he stayed silent. Once the door opened again, Finn had his coat on, Rachel coat and purse in his hands, and a bottle of wine in the other.

Once they got on the elevator, Rachel turned to Finn with a questionable look on his face." Wine?"

"What kind of a celebration would it be without it? Rachel your one year closer to thirty. You're getting pretty old." He mocked.

"Real funny. You know you're older so technically, you're going to be old in a few years and I still have a little ways to go." She laughed as they made it into the lobby and outside the front of the building. As they walked out, Rachel's heart suddenly dropped when she saw Santana and Brittany waiting for a cab. They must've had enough, Rachel knew she had, that is unless Finn's mysterious birthday plans were like off the charts.

"Finn.. Don't look now, but San and Britt are over there." She whispered as they were waiting for their taxi.

Looking around, he felt a rough slap to his arm. "Ouch. What was that for?" He asked, rubbing his arm.

"I told you not to look!" She exclaimed in a low voice.

"Okay. Here is the plan. Once the can gets here, were gonna get in it as fast as we can." he explained.

"What if they see us?" she asked, a bit of fear on her conscience.

"They won't." he assured her.

So when the first cab arrived infront of the building, being waved down by Finn, they did just that. At first, Rachel thought that she Santana and Brittany were on to them, but once the pulled out of the building, Rachel looked out to see that they really didn't seem to see anything.

Letting out a sigh of relief, she looked over to see that Finn was smiling at her.

"That was close."

"Yeah." he agreed.

"So," she asked looking out the window, "What's the plan, Mr. Mysterious?"

"It's a secret." he smirked.

"Ohh, fun." she exclaimed, making Finn laugh as she looked out the window with excitement. "I love surprises!"

"You're crazy, you know that?" he asked, laughing.

"Yeah, but you still love me anyways.." she told him.

"You know i do. How are you feeling? Do you feel better now?" he asked, his expression turning serious.

"Honestly, I think I forgot about everything that happened earlier. So, yes, I feel much better. Be proud, you were a big part of that. I really needed a day like this, and whatever's about to come. This is going to be awesome, wherever it is you're taking me." she smiled brightly in his direction.

"Well, be prepared to have the best night of your life, because you deserve it." He smiled, pulling her in for a tight hug. He smiled when he took a whiff of her hair. He knew that she had used her favorite shampoo, strawberry, and he loved the smell of it.

By the time the cab stopped, Rachel looked around to see that they were in Central Park. She had no idea why they were here, but as Finn said earlier everything was a surprise. Part of Rachel felt like Finn was just planning all of this as he went along and another part of her thought he had all of this planned out before today even came. She'd have to ask him later.

As the cab stopped, Finn quickly paid, jumped out of the passenger side, running over to open the door for Rachel. Holding his hand out for her to take, he couldn't help but admire her pure beauty. Her long brown hair flowing down her back, her bright white smile, they way her brown eyes lit up when she laughed, and damn those legs. Finn had to be honest, she wasn't the tallest girl in the book, but when it came to her legs, he didn't care how short they were, they looked amazing, especially with the tall high heels and short appropriately short dresses that she always wore.

He had to stop himself from thinking these things. He would always be in love with her, no matter how hard he tried not to be, but she clearly didn't think the same way of him. he was simply her best friend and that had to be all. At least until he could no longer take the absolute pain and misery of seeing her everyday and falling more and more in love, because he clearly was now, especially with the way the dress made her look. She was the most perfect girl he ever knew, and he sometimes had to take a few breaths to catch a breath. It helped when she came over right after work, with her ruffled scrubs and her high messy bun, with no makeup what so ever. What was he talking about? Even then she looked like an angel to him.

Finn often thought about these things at night right before he went to bed at night. He would always imagine him describing her to their kids at night before their bedtime. He could imagine him explaining to them how he met their mother and she would be right beside him, with her head rested upon his shoulder as she listened to their love story.

"Well the first time I met your mother I didn't like her very much. She stole my basketball when I was trying to play my game.." He imagined it would begin with something like that. He always had these thoughts, the only bad thing, they were just thoughts, not reality.

Quietly walking on the side of her, he smiled as he heard the sound of her heels clicking against the walkway in the park. He knew her feet were probably killing, but he knew she'd never admit it.

As he walked beside her, he remembered the first time that he knew he'd felt more than just friendship for Rachel. He was in his senior year and Rachel was only still a junior. he had been sitting in the school's courtyard talking about the upcoming football game with a couple of his friends, including Sam and Puck. Mike Chang was also with them.

As they were getting further into their discussion they were interrupted. There seemed to be a bit of a commotion on the other side of the courtyard. Not another fight, Finn thought to himself. As they four guys stood up in unison with their matching letterman jackets, they walked further towards the crowd, who seemed to be surround around a table. Pushing people aside, Finn got to the front of the crowd of people, who appeared to be laughing. Once he saw what was going on, he was outraged with anger.

Rachel was standing by the table, covered in a colorful pattern of different slushies. Watching her, she grabbed her bag and quickly bolted out of the scene. Feeling like he was going to burst, Finn walked up to Mark Parker and his group of jocks.

Standing in front of the culprit, Finn punched him in the cheek as hard as he could.

"You're going to stay away from Rachel. You got that? All of you are. If I even see one of you within 5 feet from her, I swear I will knock the wind out of you and I will get you kicked off the football team. Is that understood?" He asked, holding Mark by his collar.

They all nervously shook their heads. Throwing Mark on the ground, Rachel ran towards the direction that he saw Rachel run in. Walking into the girl's bathroom he found her at the mirror with tears falling from her eyes.

"I know. I look pathetic." She paused, looking at herself in the mirror, wiping away some of the slushy from it. "Gosh, why does it have to be cold ice that they throw at me?" Wiping the tears from her already reddened eyes.

That was when Finn walked closer to her, grabbing a piece of paper towel from the dispenser, helping her wipe the slushy from her face.

"Look at me. You're anything but pathetic, Rachel. You're my best friend and you're the coolest person I know. So, don't let those stupid jocks tell you otherwise. Because, Rachel if you could see yourself the way I see you, you wouldn't be feeling this way right now. By the way, I'm pretty sure you won't be seeing to much of Mark and his pack of wolves anytime soon. I may have to go to detention for like two afternoons, but they totally had it coming. I'll always protect you, Rach. That's what friends are for. I mean, I protect you from scumbags like them and you protect me from my wardrobe, unless Kurt hasn't already beat you to the job. We're a team, right?" He asked, smiling down at her tear filled eyes.

"Right." She replied, smiling back at him. The speech that he had just come up with broke through to his heart. He knew he would do anything to protect her. And he didn't like the feeling that he felt when he knew she wasn't okay. From that moment, his feelings for her became very different from what they were before. He saw her in a new light. In that moment, Finn Hudson knew that he was in love with Rachel Berry.

As they were walking, Rachel stopped and turned to him.

"Where are we going?" She asked, with a bit of a whine to her voice. " We have been walking for like an hour and my feet are like really killing me. Are we almost there?" She asked.

He couldn't help but smile at how cute she was when she whined.

"What?" She asked, smiling. "Why are you smiling like a creepy person?"

" I didn't realize we were whining like three year olds today." He laughed.

"Hey!" she smacked him as he laughed at her.

"Actually we're already here." He smiled, pointing to the carriage in front of them, with a man waiting for them in front of the horse.

"You got a carriage ride for me?" She asked, feeling a hint of happy tears build up in her eyes.

"Its your birthday. Of course I did, you goof." He smiled, leading the way. As he got on, he grabbed her hands and helped her up beside him. As they sat down, Finn wrapped him arm around Rachel as he saw she was shivering. Snuggling into his side, Finn smiled at Rachel. He liked the way this felt. It was like they were a real couple.

looking around at all of the sites, Rachel couldn't help but feel her heart flutter at the speed of lightning. She couldn't believe that she was actually here right now. It was the best feeling in the world. Sitting on the carriage, looking at all of the pretty sites of the beautiful park in the city, while feeling the warmth of the man she was in love with. She told herself and Quinn that she would move on, but when he did things like this, she just couldn't. This was the nicest and most romantic thing that anyone had ever done for her and she deeply appreciated it.

Once they got off, the man who was driving the carriage handed Finn a bag of what looked like pellets in exchange for the money that Finn handed him.

"Wait. Did you hire him?" Rachel asked, as they walked towards one of the benches.

"Would you be mad if I said I did?" he asked, smirking.

"How did you have time to plan all of this before we left your building?" She asked.

"I actually planned all of this this morning. I sort of had a feeling today would go bad. I over heard a conversation between Blaine and Kurt, who seemed pissed at you, and then there was the whole Mandy incident. I knew you wouldn't be happy so, Plan B was formed." He explained.

"Well, that's really sweet of you. So here's my last question. What's with the pellets?" She asked, pointing to the bag in his hand.

"Well, as for our second stop in Plan B, as I shall call it, I thought it'd be nice to feed the pigeons. What do you say?" He asked, handing her a loaf.

"It sounds perfect." She laughed.

"Great. All we do now is sit here and wait for them to come." He said, looking around for any pigeons in sight.

Once Finn took a handful from the bag and three it on the walkway, they were instantly swarmed with millions of pigeons pecking away at the ground. Rachel smiled brightly as the two of them kept on grabbing handfuls of them and throwing them out, watching one another fight over the food. Hearing Rachel's laughs was like candy to Finn's ears. He could listen to her all day if he could.

By the time they were finished and all of the pigeons were gone, Finn stood up and looked down at Rachel.

"Okay, are you ready for stop number three?" He asked, with a big smile on his face.

"That depends, how many more stops are there?" She asked, with an arched eyebrow.

"Sorry. Can't say." He laughed at her frustration.

Once they got out of the cab for yet another time, Rachel smiled when she saw the name of the restaurant. It was Sardi's. This was her favorite restaurant in the whole entire city and she couldn't believe that Finn remembered.

While they sat down and got their menus, Finn looked at Rachel to see her looking around in amazement at the place. He knew she loved broadway with all of her heart and it made him feel great to know that she was probably in her own little world.

"So, I'm guessing by the look on your face you're pretty glad that we're here right now." He laughed.

"Are you kidding me? It's the best part of the whole entire night." She exclaimed, looking around and smiling at the walls of cartoons of famous people. He knew that Rachel could probably list every single one of them.

"I knew you would love it." he said.

After they ordered their food, Finn caught Rachel looking off into space. She seemed preoccupied in her mind.

"A penny for your thoughts?" He asked, gaining her attention.

"One day there's gonna be a picture like this of me on the wall." She whispered, looking around.

"I love how you dream so big, I don't know how to do that." He smiled at her.

She gave him one of those looks that said "aww" and held her hand to her heart, stating that she was flattered with what he just told her.

After they ate their meals and shared plenty of small talk, Finn and Rachel were off to their fourth destination. As they walked through Times Square, Rachel smiled as they walked through the bright lights and the loud horns blowing from the taxi cabs. It was really cold and Rachel was freezing her butt off, especially in the dress that she had on right now with just the little black coat that she decided to wear today.

"Are you cold?" He asked.

"Not that much." She responded.

"You're shaking." He stated.

"Okay. Maybe just a little." she admitted. That was all it took for Finn to pull her into his arms for warmth. She felt a lot better feeling his arms around her. The way he was acting towards her today was giving her the feeling that they were more than friends. But, she knew that he just really valued their friendship and would do anything for her.

As they walked further up the street, Finn suddenly stopped and looked up at one of the billboards across the street. What made things suspicious was when he looked at his watch and back at the billboard and back at his watch over and over again, until he smiled and looked down at Rachel.

"Look up."

Following his instructions, Rachel could have sworn she almost did a double take when she saw what was written on the billboard above. It was a message from Finn.

"Happy Birthday, Rachel. You're the best friend that anyone could ask for and I hope you're having a really good time tonight. You really deserve it."

Placing her hands over her mouth, she was totally speechless. She was afraid that if she did speak the tears would catch in her voice. She threw her arms around Finn and cried into his shoulder. She was so happy. Words could not describe how she felt at that moment.

"How on earth did you do that?" She got out.

"Like I said, I've got my ways." He laughed, holding her in an embrace.

"This is the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me. Thank you so much." She chuckled.

"Anything to make this the best birthday ever." He replied.

"I'm pretty sure that you've already reached your goal, because this is." she smiled up at him.

"Okay, how about the grand finale?" He asked.

"There's more? I thought this was the grand finale?"

"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't get you a cake?" He asked and with that, they made their way over to a local bakery and ate her birthday cake outside.

"So, how does it feel to be 27 already?" He asked. "Do you feel different?"

"Not really. I guess it just needs a little time to get used to." She responded.

"Well, I know we promised no gifts this year, but I simply just couldn't keep it.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

Opening the pocket to his jacket, he pulled out a slightly long black box.

"Finn.."

"Before you say anything, just know that I spent months trying to decide what to get you." He told her.

Handing her the box, she slowly opened it and gasped when she saw what was in it. It was a silver heart shaped locket, with diamonds on the heart, hanging from a silver locket. Looking at it, she couldn't believe that Finn went through so much trouble to get her this. She loved it and she would wear it everyday from now on.

"Are these real?" She asked, with a hint of disbelief.

"Yes." He laughed.

"Finn.. This must've costed you a fortune. I can't accept-" she was interrupted.

"Open it." He said, pointing to the locket.

Following his instructions, she opened the small heart, almost into sobs of joy once she saw the picture. It was the first picture that Carol had ever taken of them. They were out in the yard and they were covered in mud. The picture shows them holding each other tight.

"This is absolutely perfect. Thank you Finn. I can't believe you still have that picture." she said, hugging him and wiping away her tears.

"It's a starter picture. You can change the pic if you want." He told her.

"Never." She replied.

"We'll I'm glad you like it." He smiled.

"Are you kidding me? I loved it with all of my heart. I will never ever stop wearing this." She told him. "It means a lot. You mean a lot. Thank you Finn." She choked up.

"Anything for you. You mean a lot to me too." He said, as they hugged again.

Once they were back in the cab, Rachel became so tired that she fell asleep against Finn's shoulder. Looking down at her, all he could do was smile and think about how awesome today was. He got to spend the whole day with the girl he loved and there was no drama. He just wished that the day could last longer than it had.

As they arrived in front of Rachel's apartment complex, Finn walked her up to her apartment. As they arrived by her front door, Rachel turned to Finn and began to whisper.

"Thanks again for today. I really needed that. And everything you did for me today, I really loved it. It was definitely the best night of my life. I'll never forget it." She smiled up at him.

"I had a great time too. I just wish it didn't have to end too soon." he admitted.

"Me too. I owe you, big time. Once your birthday rolls around, Finn Hudson, you better look out for the best night of your life. And as for the locket, I love it." she replied.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Rach. It's getting late. I hope you had a good night, even though seeing how you've reacted, I would say you did." He chuckled.

"I absolutely did." she laughed. "Goodnight Finn. I'll see you tomorrow." She smiled and hugged him before unlocking her apartment and sliding down against the door. Now sitting on the floor, Rachel thought it was so funny how her day started out really crappy and just a few short hours later she was sitting here feeling the way she did. She had to thank Finn for today. He was the reason why her mood was great. He always was.

She only had one thing left to say that night.

"Best Birthday Ever.."