Hi guys! Thanks for all the reviews on my first summer chapter. I appreciate them! I'm sorry the waits between chapters have been longer, but now that I'm back from vacation, they shouldn't be as long. I always like writing summer Finchel, so I had fun with this one. The next chapter starts Season 3 - the best Glee season ever! Hope you enjoy and review if you want me to keep going :)

Chapter 47: Summer 2011 (Part 2)

Rachel sat in her living room when her phone vibrated. She looked at it and saw a text from Finn. "Hey!"

Rachel smiled and replied to the text. "Hi!"

"My mom's wondering if you'd like to come to our family's fourth of July party tomorrow at her parents' house in Columbus," Finn texted back. "The whole family's going to be there."

Rachel thought for a minute. She always liked spending time with Finn, and her dads were out of town, but she didn't know what Finn's family would think of her if they found out about what happened last winter. She was surprised enough that Burt and Carole had let her go along on the family vacation. When she hadn't texted back, Finn texted her again. "I'd really like you to come, and no one should have to spend a holiday alone."

Rachel sighed. "I'd love to come with you. What time will you pick me up?"

"Does 4 sound okay?" Finn texted.

"Yup," Rachel texted back. "See you then."

At 4 that evening, Finn knocked on Rachel's door and Rachel went to the door. "Hey!"

"Hey," Finn said, giving Rachel a kiss. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," Rachel said, taking Finn's hand and following him to the car, where Burt, Carole and Kurt were waiting. "Hi!"

"Rachel!" Kurt said, hugging Rachel.

"Thanks for inviting me," Rachel said.

"Oh, it's our pleasure," Burt said. "We always love having you with us."

Rachel leaned over and whispered to Finn, "Does your family know about what happened last winter?"

Finn shook his head.

"Good," Rachel whispered. "I was worried they'd hate me."

"Rachel, we've talked about this," Finn whispered. "That doesn't matter. We both realized we made a mistake, we dealt with the consequences, and we realized what we need to do to keep that from happening again."

Rachel leaned over and kissed Finn. A little while later, they arrived at Carole's parents' house. "Let's go," Finn said, taking Rachel's hand. He lead Rachel to the family. "Everyone, this is Rachel, my girlfriend."

"Oh, we're finally meeting Rachel," a woman who Rachel assumed was Carole's mother said. "Rachel, I'm Mary, I'm Carole's mother."

"Thanks for letting me come," Rachel said.

"Oh, we're happy to have you," Mary said. She pointed at the man next to her. "This is my husband Leo."

"Hi," Rachel said, shaking hands with Finn's grandfather. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Leo said. "Finny, you picked a pretty one."

"I really lucked out," Finn said.

A little girl came over to Rachel. "Hi," the girl said. "I'm Kelly. I'm eight."

"Hi Kelly," Rachel said to the little girl. "I'm Rachel."

"She's my cousin," Finn said. "She's probably so glad to have another girl here. All the other cousins are boys."

"Yeah," Kelly said.

"My mom has two brothers," Finn explained to Rachel. "One of them has two boys, Adam who's fifteen and Jason who's thirteen. Then her other brother has Kelly and her brother Matt who's twelve."

"Got it," Rachel said.

"So I was the only girl until now," Kelly said. "Are you Finn's girlfriend?"

"Yes, I am," Rachel said proudly.

"She's hotter in person," a voice said. Rachel saw three teenage boys who she assumed were Finn's cousins. "Do you have any sisters?" one of the boys asked Rachel.

Rachel laughed. "Sorry, I'm an only child."

"Hey, I hope you guys get as lucky as I am," Finn told his cousins.

"I'm the lucky one," Rachel said.

"Will you two stop?" Kurt asked.

"Kurt, you should have brought Blaine," Rachel said.

"I would have, but he's in LA visiting his brother," Kurt said.

"Yeah, the family still needs to meet Blaine," Finn said.

Carole came over to the group of kids. "Guys, when you're ready, the it's time to eat."

"Yes!" Finn cheered. Rachel giggled at Finn. Rachel went inside with Finn, Kurt and their cousins, selecting some salad and fruit while Finn loaded his plate with a burger and fries.

"Finn, please try to put some healthy food on there," Carole sighed.

"Gosh Carole, you sound just like Mom did when we were his age," a man said.

"Oh, Rachel, this is my brother, Tom," Carole said. "This is Rachel, Finn's girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you," Rachel said.

"It's nice to meet you too," Tom said. "I saw you were hitting off with my daughter."

"She's sweet," Rachel said as she and Finn went to sit down with the other kids.

"So, Finn, do you think you'll want to come to an OSU football game with us again this year?" Jason asked as Finn and Rachel sat down.

"Of course!" Finn said.

"Finn, you'll be old enough to go to college next year," Adam said. "You should see if you can play football at OSU."

"I don't think I'm good enough," Finn said.

"He's good enough," Rachel said.

"Yeah Finn, listen to your girlfriend," Matt said. "You're good enough."

"I don't like football," Kelly said. "It's just a bunch of people piling on top of each other."

"I don't like it either," Kurt said. "Maybe you, me and Rachel could go shopping when the boys go to the football game."

"Yeah!" Kelly said. "That would be fun."

"No, Rachel's coming to the football game with us," Finn said.

"Really Finn?" Kurt asked.

"Yes, really!" Finn said.

Rachel sighed. She thought shopping would be more fun.

Meanwhile, the adults watched from their table. "Carole, she seems really nice," Tom's wife, Amy, said to her sister-in-law.

"Oh, I'm so glad Finn's with her," Carole said. "Kurt's with a really nice young man, too. We really lucked out."

"Next time you're in Columbus, you'll have to bring him," Carole's other brother, Steve, said.

"Oh, we would have brought him today, but he's visiting his brother in LA," Burt said.

Rachel and Finn came over to the adults' table. "I just wanted to make sure everyone met Rachel," Finn said. "Rachel, you met my grandma and grandpa, but this is my Uncle Tom, my Aunt Amy, my Uncle Steve and my Aunt Laura."

"Nice to meet you everyone," Rachel said.

"You too, honey," Finn's aunt Laura said.

After a little while, it was time to watch the fireworks, and Finn and Rachel lay together as they watched the fireworks. "These are so cool," Rachel whispered. It was definitely the best fireworks show she'd ever seen.

"They are, aren't they?" Finn asked.

"They're loud," Kelly giggled. "Rachel, next time you come visit, can we play with my dolls again?" When the boys played frisbee earlier in the evening, Kelly had shown Rachel her dolls and they'd played with them.

"Of course," Rachel said. "I liked playing with you."

"I liked playing with you, too," Kelly said.

x

The morning after visiting Carole's family in Columbus, Burt and Carole thought it would be a good idea to take Finn, Rachel and Kurt to visit OSU. Since their senior year was starting soon, all three of them would need to visit colleges.

Rachel was sure that the OSU campus was bigger than Lima itself. She'd gone to websites for some colleges in New York, but maybe OSU would be worth a shot. She was still concerned that Finn might not want to go to New York after graduation and she knew she wanted to be together.

The OSU campus tour took about two hours. Their performing arts center was nice enough. When they arrived at the football field, Finn appeared starstruck. "Wow!"

"Finn, didn't you say yesterday that you go to an OSU football game with your uncles and cousins sometimes?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, but you can tell how big it is when it's empty," Finn said.

"Are you a football player?" the tour guide asked.

"Yes," Finn said.

"Have you considered maybe trying out for the Buckeyes?" the tour guide asked.

"I've been watching the Buckeyes since I was little," Finn said.

"He won a conference championship for our school's football team," Rachel said proudly, not able to help herself.

"Then you should definitely consider playing for the Buckeyes," the tour guide told Finn. "If your school won a big game, we'll probably send a scout to watch."

Finn looked so starstruck. "Wow."

"You'd be great on the team," Rachel said.

After the tour, Burt, Carole, Kurt, Finn and Rachel got lunch at the student union. "What did you guys think of OSU?" Burt asked.

"It was a good practice run," Kurt said. "You know I'm going to New York."

"I liked it," Finn said. "What about you, Rachel?"

A few years ago, Rachel would have felt the same way as Kurt. Now she was thinking: maybe a school here in Ohio could work. "I liked it, too."

"I want to get an OSU jersey at the gift shop," Finn said. "Rachel, we should get matching ones."

"No, I'm not letting Rachel wear one of those things," Kurt said.

"Kurt, I want one," Rachel said.

Kurt groaned. "Fine, only because it's Finn."

Rachel giggled. "Yes!"

x

Later in the summer, the glee club had a summer party at Mercedes's house. Finn and Rachel were among the last to arrive, which seemed to surprise everyone. "You guys finally made it!" Mike said as Finn and Rachel walked into Mercedes's yard.

"We're not the last ones," Rachel said. "Quinn's not here."

"I don't think she's coming," Mercedes said. "She didn't return my call or respond to the Facebook event."

"I haven't seen or heard from her all summer," Brittany said. "She hasn't been on Facebook or Twitter."
"It's like she dropped off the face of the earth," Santana added.

"Too bad," Sam said. "My dad might have gotten a job in Kentucky."

Finn hoped Sam's dad would find a job here instead. Sam had become one of his closest friends this year. "I hope you don't move."

"I don't want to move either," Sam said. "I already had to move last year, and I was lucky enough to find you guys. I doubt I'd get that lucky again."

"Yeah, I really hope I don't have to move," Sam said. "But we don't know anything yet. So, how's your summer been?"

"Finn took me on his family vacation," Rachel said proudly. "And how are things going with you and Mercedes?"

"They're great," Sam said. "I do have you to thank for that, Rachel. You're the one who organized us going to prom together."

"I probably would have had more fun if I'd gone with you guys," Finn said. At least he knew he and Rachel would have each other for prom next year.

"It was a fun night," Sam said.

"So, things are going well for you two?" Mercedes said, coming over.

"This has been the best summer ever," Finn said.

"Yeah, Rachel has come along on lots of our family stuff," Kurt said.

"Kurt, you should have brought Blaine tonight!" Mercedes said.

"I would have, but he's got a performance at Six Flags," Kurt admitted.

"It's crazy," Rachel suddenly said. "At this time next summer, Mercedes, Mike, Brittany, Santana, Quinn, Puck, Kurt, Finn and I will be getting ready to leave for college."

"I know," Finn said. He and Rachel had visited OSU together, and while they were there, he couldn't help but imagine going to college with her there. "And this is going to be the best year in glee ever!"

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