"If you want her, go for it." Puck's words still echoed in Finn's brain once he got home that night. After everything that had happened in the last few days, Finn had to admit to himself that he wanted her all right. His subconscious clearly wanted her, and, with that amazing kiss and all the passion she'd shown when she sang, his conscious self wanted her too. But acting on it was a different thing entirely. Easy for Puck to say 'go for it', it wasn't his life that would be screwed up by Finn handling it badly because he couldn't follow through on what his instinct wanted to do. That passion, that yearning that Rachel had projected as she sang, the emotion that still seemed to clench around his heart – he had no idea how he'd ever lived up to it, much less be able to now. And he couldn't just let loose and let his subconscious take over, it wanted to do way more than Finn understood. He had to be careful with Rachel, he couldn't make promises to her that would just get broken. She'd been hurt so much already.

He wished that he could love her, fill that hole for her that he'd left, make it so that all her passion and devotion wasn't in vain. And the vivid memory of how amazing it felt to kiss her, how right, suggested to him that this could be what he needed too. Even if he couldn't remember... could he ever move on to anyone else, knowing that this possibility was behind him somewhere? Maybe he could still love her, again. If he could just get to know her, spend time with her without the pressure of his lost memories getting to either of them. Right now he wanted her, but that wasn't enough, not for her. And he was really getting ahead of himself here, since he still had such a hard time talking to her, and feeling the effects of her singing didn't help with that at all, it made it worse even.

Finn admitted to himself that under all of this, his need to remember burned more strongly than ever. He really wanted to give that lonely passionate girl what she needed, the him she knew with all their shared history, who had presumably somehow figured out how to relate to a girl who sang so mesmerizingly about them. And she was leaving for New York in less than two weeks. He didn't have time to get to know her.

Finn groaned. Too much stress, he thought. The shrink says I need to relax into things. Wonder what he's going to say tomorrow about the week I've had.

He needed to relieve some of his stress, go bowling or something. Finn brightened suddenly. I should take Rachel bowling, he told himself. Like an actual date, but simple, just something fun where we don't have to worry about anything serious. Maybe with other people, too, who could distract us so we don't have to focus on each other all the time.

But who? People she knows, people I know... hmm, not that many of those. Mike. And Tina, they're together, Rachel knows her, we could make it a double date.

Finn checked the time – not too late to call Mike, he figured. Five minutes later he had a plan, and felt good about 'the Rachel situation' for the first time since he'd found out about her when he'd woken up in hospital.

"Hi." The familiar but unexpected voice made Rachel look up from where she sat at the table in the Lima Bean that morning.

She smiled in happy surprise. "Hello, Finn. It's good to see you."

"Kurt's going to be about ten minutes late," Finn said, returning her smile as he folded himself into the seat across from her.

Rachel looked bemused. "Kurt's never late for coffee."

"I asked him to be, I want to talk to you about something."

"Oh?"

"So... I saw you sing last night."

Rachel nodded. "Noah told me."

"Yeah, I figured he might have."

She bit her lip. "And?" she asked hesitatingly.

"You were amazing," Finn said, his face flushing. "You... just... amazing. Stunning. Left me speechless." He looked sheepish. "Guess I still am." He didn't want to talk about how it was about him, the him she'd lost – they both knew that and it would just get in the way of what he was trying to do, avoid the big emotional stuff and get to know her. He swallowed, rubbing the hair at the back of his neck nervously. "It kinda made me wonder how I ever got you to go out with me, actually, but I guess I did, so... I was wondering if you would again. Go out with me."

Rachel smiled, blushing a little. "Are you asking me out on a date, Finn?"

"Yeah. I've just been thinking, about this whole I-don't-really-know-you thing, well, I should be more comfortable if I did get to know you." He shrugged. "I know it seems weird since you know me, but I'd like to give it a shot. Just go out and have some fun, keep it loose. Stay away from the big stuff and just be two people getting to know each other, if you can try that."

"That sounds like a very good idea," she responded. "What did you have in mind?"

"Bowling?" Finn hesitated a little as he said that, second-guessing his plan at the last minute. He'd never have asked Quinn to go bowling with him, it wasn't really a "date night" activity as far as she was concerned. But Rachel seemed more down-to-earth and understanding. She'd better be, he couldn't see himself being with someone that was serious all the time, it would be too exhausting. Especially since serious Rachel was clearly very serious indeed. And they really needed to do something light and fun, that was the only way he could see this working for him. "I was thinking for tomorrow night."

Rachel beamed at him. "Bowling would be wonderful. And yes, I'm free tomorrow night."

"With Mike and Tina? I figure they can distract us a little." His mouth quirked up in a half-grin. "And Mike can restrain me if my subconscious decides it wants to take over again and do something inappropriate."

Rachel gave an exaggerated pout. "If he must. We may have different definitions of appropriate." She sobered, then smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to scare you. Yes, going with Mike and Tina sounds great."

"Great." Finn smiled at her. "Pick you up at seven?"

"I'll be waiting."

Finn left, still smiling. This could work.

Later that morning, when Finn had his weekly meeting with his shrink, the doctor didn't say anything bad about what had been going on, just nodded and scribbled a lot and said that his last week was "very promising". Finn wasn't sure what that meant, and was disappointed that the doctor didn't have anything to say about the acting on autopilot episodes that were (still) freaking Finn out, but at least he wasn't against Finn's current plan, and even acted about as approving as he ever did. Which was good since Finn wasn't about to bail on it, not when that would just hurt Rachel again, and the dude had kept telling him to relax into some activities, so this seemed to fit. All was set for a good relaxing evening of bowling, like a second first date.

Tuesday night Finn arrived at Rachel's just before seven, and was halfway up the walk when she came out to meet him. She looked cute, her hair straight and shiny. They smiled at each other and made the usual 'good to see you again' comments, though they both stayed away from the 'how are you doing' questions that would have required answers of too much honesty or outright lies. Finn helped Rachel into the passenger seat, mindful of his best 'first date' behavior, and they were on their way.

They had to wait a little at the bowling alley, as an after-work league was finishing up play. Mike and Tina greeted them cheerily and complimented Rachel on the musical; they'd sat up front at the performance, though Finn hadn't noticed them. He and Puck had been hiding in the back, after all, he figured, though a small part of him had to admit that he'd been watching the show quite intently and hadn't been interested in the rest of the audience.

The alley was playing some sort of oldies mix, and Tina and Rachel started shimmying around to the music as they waited. Finn smiled, happy to feel the tone he wanted, casual, fun. He listened to Mike talk about his summer so far, glad for the distraction.

Finally they had a lane, changed into the shoes, and started to bowl. Finn was the only one with much bowling experience, so he led off. Mike followed, using his dancer's abilities to copy Finn's form with reasonable success. Rachel went next, smiling to herself as she picked up a small pink ball. She was far less successful, balls lofting a bit and heading for the gutter, though she did clip two pins with her last one.

"You haven't bowled much, huh?" Finn commented to Rachel as she returned to the seats after her first frame.

"It's been a while," Rachel said. "A couple of years since I've done it much. And I used to be terrible."

"What, your last guy didn't take you bowling that often? What a jerk," Finn said casually.

She looked sideways at him, caught his half-supressed smile, and started to giggle. That set Finn off, and they laughed for a while together. They were interrupted eventually by Tina's return; she'd had three gutters, and they consoled her while reassuring her that their laughter had nothing to do with the game.

In the next frame Finn noticed Rachel watching him carefully as he bowled, studying his form. He talked through what he was doing for his second ball, at least as much as he could without messing up too much and wrecking his spare, then gave her a few pointers when it was her turn again. She listened intently and gave it a try, doing better; Tina, too, was quickly improving.

They were all doing pretty well and having a good time by about halfway through the first game, when suddenly the whole attempt at a "second first date" almost went off the rails. Rachel had been slowly but steadily improving, and had managed a score of nine for a frame; happy, relaxed, she goofed around a little with Tina as the other girl went up to replace her at the line. Then she casually slid into Finn's lap, her arm around his neck, not even really looking at him as she did so, still laughing at something Tina had said. She stiffened almost immediately and shot to her feet.

"Oh, I am so sorry," she babbled, clearly aghast.

"That's okay," Finn said, swallowing. It didn't feel okay, it felt kind of weird and definitely sudden, he hadn't been paying attention as she'd approached him, but he tried to calm them both down to save the evening. He looked at the floor for a moment, then back up at her. She looked completely stunned. Scared. Tina had continued bowling, and Mike was focusing on her, probably not wanting to get involved. "I guess you have reflexes too," Finn said, trying to joke about it. At least it meant she'd been relaxed. She certainly wasn't now, though he realized that was probably more from having to pull back than from slipping up.

She mustered a small smile, blinking back a few tears. "I guess so."

Finn got up and went to her. "Hey, it's not like you tried to molest me or something," he said softly, with a forced chuckle. "Let's just push past it, okay? Please?" She nodded silently, then went to sit at the forward console and watch Tina's last ball as Finn returned to his seat. He took a few moments to get himself settled down as well, since the sudden close contact had made him spring to half-mast in reaction. First date, he told himself. Just a first date.

Mike interrupted his thoughts. "Finn? You're up."

Finn blinked. "Right, uh, thanks." He took a couple more deep breaths and rose to bowl his next frame, Rachel seemingly studying the scores instead of watching him. He didn't get many pins with the first ball – too bad, since he'd had another spare before – but he got back into it and eventually cleared them all. When Rachel's turn came around again he went back to giving her advice as if nothing had happened. They soon settled back to the way they'd been before, even starting to joke around a little again, and decided to have a second game once they finished the first one.

This was definitely an awesome idea, Finn thought as he watched Rachel continue to bowl. He was enjoying getting to know a side of Rachel he hadn't seen before; he'd seen her quiet supportive side and her big emotional side, and he'd been rocked by the power of her performance, but he'd never seen her goof off and be silly. They'd managed to get back to having a fun casual time, and the second game was off to a good start. And Rachel was lighting up, talking excitedly to Tina and reacting strongly to her results, both good and bad. She frowned and pouted when her first ball went into the gutter, and beamed when the next one cleared away seven pins. She was herself, and she felt very real, more real than any girl Finn had ever known, and certainly much more real than Quinn. He'd never been able to goof off with Quinn, and though Rachel was more serious and emotional she was also much more cute and fun. She gave her all to everything she did, apparently, and as she lit up it seemed that everything around her did too, her enthusiasm spreading.

And Finn couldn't deny that her ass looked really hot in that slim brown skirt as she bent to get her third ball. Should I be checking her out like that? Would I if she wasn't who she is? Probably, Finn thought. I'm on a fun date with a hot girl. He glanced around for a moment and was relieved to see that nobody else was checking her out, just him. That skirt was really short for doing something where she'd have to bend over so much. Right in front of him. Of course she knew she would be. And she had probably been checking him out earlier too. A first date is still a date, he told himself.

Rachel had paused, her third ball in her hand, looking critically at the split of the three pins she had remaining. Finn got up and went to help her out.

"Hey," he said, standing behind her, looking over her right shoulder at the remaining pins. "See between the two right pins?" He put his left hand at her waist and his right arm over her shoulder, pointing at the space between the two right pins, glancing down to check that he was lining his finger up with her eyes properly. Helps that she's short, he thought. His glance down lingered a little as he noticed he could also see down her pale pink scoop-necked shirt. Helps that too. He pulled his eyes up to her face, so close to his as he bent over her shoulder, and saw her smile as she flicked her eyes to his. She lowered them briefly, then swallowed and composed herself.

"Aim right there?"

"Yes. Try to hit the right side of the middle pin, it should knock the pin over to the left and send the ball right. You might get them all, and if not at least there's a good chance of getting something."

She nodded decisively. "Geometry."

"I suck at geometry." Pretty sure that's still true.

She smiled. "Bowling geometry." They chuckled together.

Finn's head was still over her shoulder, and the position was starting to affect him, so close to the smooth skin of her neck and to her scent. He swallowed and let her go. "Go for it." He stepped back to watch. Her movement was good as she brought the ball back carefully and released it without much lofting. Her form had improved a lot during the evening, though she could still use a few pointers; she was probably just rusty, he thought. And her aim was pretty good, clipping the front right of the pin, sending it over to just miss the left one as the ball took out the right pin as well.

"Oh!" Rachel shook her head at the close call, smiling. "Oh well, next time," she chirped.

"Yeah, that was good," Finn said, smiling back at her, his eyes lingering a little until she moved out of the way to let Tina take her turn. He went back to where Mike sat. "Okay, I've got a bet for you," he told Mike. "Most improved, my girl versus yours."

Mike smiled. "You're on. Loser pays?"

"Loser pays for next time."

"Oho! Going that well, huh? Sure. Loser pays for dinner at Breadstix, later this week."

"Sounds pricey." Finn grinned. "I hope you've got some cash you don't need for college, because we are going to win this one."

"Talk is cheap, hope you aren't. And for your sake I hope your girl's memory is better than yours."

"Amnesiac trash-talk? Seriously?" Finn and Mike laughed together. "But don't worry about us, I don't need my memory to know that my girl can bring it."

A couple of frames later, Finn was giving Rachel even more attention, walking her through the shot she needed to deal with her current pin split. She stopped and looked at him speculatively.

"Do you and Mike have a bet on?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah," Finn admitted. "Between you and Tina, who improves the most from the first game."

"You really should have told me."

"Sorry," Finn said sheepishly. "I can probably call it off if you want, I think we're ahead so Mike won't mind."

"Oh no, don't call it off." Rachel sounded serious, but had a bit of a smile. "Just walk me through that movement again, please."

"Okay." Finn guided her through the motion again, then stepped back to watch her execute it successfully. Her focus had intensified, and she started being able to make more difficult shots. Competitive, Finn noted, smiling to himself, enjoying her enthusiasm at her improved success. That's my girl.

By the end of the game Mike was willing to concede the bet, but Rachel was interested in her progress so she reviewed the frame-by-frame scores at the console, Tina keeping her company. Finn stretched out at the back, relaxed and energized, happy by how well things had gone. He started tapping his foot along to the oldies music playing over the bowling alley's sound system: Summertime Blues. He restrained himself as Mike came over.

"Hey, let loose if you want to," Mike said, chuckling.

Finn shrugged. "I'm not a kid anymore, I can't just air drum all over the place on a date."

"Sounds like you're second-guessing. Just be yourself. Whatever yourself you feel you are."

Finn grinned and let himself get into the rhythm, tapping both feet. He tipped his head back, closed his eyes, and relaxed, feeling the music. As the refrain began again, he started softly singing along: (*)

Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do
But there ain't no cure for the summertime blues

The sound of Finn's voice singing went through Rachel like a bolt of lightning, and she broke off from analyzing her bowling progress to turn and watch him. She stood and walked slowly to Finn, then sat quietly next to him as he continued into the song's final verse.

I'm gonna take two weeks, gonna have a fine vacation
I'm gonna take my problem to the United Nations
Well I called my congressman and he said Quote:
"I'd like to help you son but you're too young to vote"

Finn dropped into his lower register and did the quote comically, and Rachel giggled. For the last refrain she joined in, and he heard her voice softly harmonizing with his:

Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do
But there ain't no cure for the summertime blues

Finn airdrummed the song out, then sighed and opened his eyes to see Rachel smiling at him. "That was good," she told him, and he smiled back at her, their eyes meeting for a breath.

Meanwhile, Mike was hurriedly talking to the middle-aged man at the cash. "Any way we can get some Journey on?"

"Sorry, it's all satellite," was the response.

"Classic Rock?" Tina asked.

The man shrugged and changed the station, and "Johnny B. Goode" was replaced by "Hot Blooded". But Finn had already risen and was escorting Rachel back to meet them, his hand on her back.

Finn stopped the car in front of Rachel's house and walked her to the door. She stepped one step up to the front door, then turned back to face him.

"I've had a wonderful time tonight, Finn," she said happily, smiling at him. The extra step brought their heights closer together, and she looked him in the eye.

"So did I," Finn said, returning her smile and gaze. His heart was starting to race at the nearness of her. "Breadstix on Thursday, right? I'll come get you at five-thirty."

"Yes." She paused. "May I kiss you goodnight?" she asked tentatively. "Since this is a date."

Finn swallowed. I hope I can control myself out here, he thought. "You can if you want to," he said, deliberately echoing her words from their previous encounter, his eyes never leaving hers.

"I want to." With that she brought her hand up to his jaw and leaned forward, closing her eyes as she kissed him, her lips pressing tenderly but firmly against his.

Wow. And Finn kissed her back, feeling a fire growing inside himself, yet still staying fully aware of it all.

They parted, Rachel biting her lower lip slightly, as if to taste his kiss a little longer. She smiled shyly at him. "Goodnight, Finn. And thank you again for the wonderful evening." She turned and stepped up to her door, and then she was gone.

Finn stood by the steps for a moment, still feeling the effects of Rachel's kiss. Her mouth – it just does stuff to me, he thought. And touching her, it's like I'm on fire.

Driving home, he thought about what a good time they'd had, happy and relaxed, having fun and winning the bet. He liked that she was competitive, even more that she clearly listened to his advice while still staying herself. And she let him be himself too, even encouraged it. It was so easy to let loose when she did too, and her energy was contagious. He'd enjoyed kicking back, drumming and singing along to the music, and her voice had sounded really good with his when she'd joined in.

Finn could tell he was starting to feel a connection to Rachel, maybe even part of that tether thing that Quinn had told him about. Was he reacting to her because subconsciously he remembered her? He didn't know. He hadn't before, not until he'd really looked at her, listened to her, gotten closer to her. Maybe he'd just discovered the answer to the question that everyone had, that he'd had himself, about how they'd gotten so serious so fast and so young. Maybe this was just how they were, how they'd always been.

Either way, Thursday night couldn't come soon enough for him.

* "Summertime Blues" as performed by Eddie Cochran, written by Eddie Cochran and Jerry Capehart.

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