Chapter 7:

"I'm not sure I'm following you here." Finn replied turning more to face her.

"When Kurt got that phone call from your mom...I feared the worst. I knew that Kurt said you were stable but I started thinking about everything that could happen to take you away from me before I got here. Suddenly, Broadway didn't matter to me at all. All I wanted was you. It's always been you, Finn. You're the only one who can make me feel the way I do when I perform. You let me go because you thought that Broadway was what I wanted." Rachel explained resting a hand on his uninjured knee. "That was only a small part, my dreams changed when we fell in love, suddenly I didn't want to see my life without you. I mean, you applied to colleges in New York just to be with me. Do you have any idea what that meant to me?"

Finn shook his head, watching her closely. "I wasn't even sure what I wanted at the time."

"That didn't matter to me. It meant the world that you wanted to come with me." Rachel replied taking a breath. "I don't want to go back alone. You've finally decided what you want to do and I completely support that. You are going to make a great teacher."

Rachel smiled and stroked his cheek before continuing. "Broadway will always be there if we decide to move to New York but to be honest, I'm completely happy just being here with you. So will you surrender...will you let me love you for the rest of our lives, whatever happens?"

Finn gave her a small smile and raised her hand to his lips to kiss the back of it. Rachel's nerves were on edge with his decision. Instead of answering her right away, he leaned down and captured her lips in passion. As he pulled away, he brushed the hair from her eyes. "You make me the happiest I've ever been, Rach. Of course, I'll surrender."

Tears filled Rachel's eyes and she carefully wrapped herself around him before he lifted her up and sat her in his lap. He gently kissed her temple and let her rest her head on his shoulder as they looked out into the night.

It was about ten minutes later when Finn noticed Rachel start to shiver. "It's getting cold out this time of year, come on let's go back inside."

Rachel nodded and grabbed her phone off the cushion before standing. She grabbed Finn's crutches and held them while he carefully stood up. She placed a hand on his lower back as they headed back inside, Rachel shutting off the porch light as they closed the door.

Carole emerged from the living room, where the sounds of a football game were coming from. "Hey, everything okay?"

Finn and Rachel smiled at each other. "More than okay, mom. I think we're going to head to bed."

Burt appeared out of the living room at that moment. "Let me help you to your room, Finn. Navigating those stairs are going to be tricky."

"I'm going to take a shower and then I'll be down, okay?" Rachel said, looking up at Finn.

"Yeah, I'll wait up for you." Finn replied leaning down slowly to kiss her head. Burt took over and helped Finn towards the kitchen as Rachel started towards the stairs to head to the bathroom.

"Rachel, honey? Are you sure everything's okay?" Carole asked in concern.

Rachel turned on the stairs to look at her. "Yeah, Finn's fine. We're fine. We're exactly where we want to be."

Carole nodded and Rachel continued up the stairs. She entered the bathroom and let out a slow breath. She glanced at the navy shirt she had let on the counter that morning and smiled. She was where she wanted to be, nothing made her feel the way Finn does.

She finished ten minutes later and made her way back downstairs in Finn's shirt. Carole was putting away the leftovers as she made her way through the kitchen. She turned at the sound of the door and smiled. "I take it you two worked things out?"

Rachel giggled. "Yeah, I think we did. We still have some things to figure out but I'll do anything to make him happy."

"He already is, sweetheart. I'm sure he's waiting for you, I'll see you two in the morning." Carole replied.

Rachel made her way down to the basement and found Finn sitting on his bed, staring at his lap. She moved towards him and sat next to him. "Hey, what's on your mind? Not having second thoughts, are you?"

Finn looked up at her and she saw the tears building in his eyes. "No, not about you, ever. Just it's all kind of hitting me, you know?"

"Not really, can you explain?" Rachel asked him gently.

"I'm looking around this room, at all of our pictures and I'm playing through every memory we've made here..." Finn started, taking her hand as he spoke. "It just hit me...I almost lost everything. You were right, I'm lucky to be alive and I'm glad that I am but..."

"You realized that you may never have come home again or saw me again." Rachel finished, squeezing his hand tightly.

Finn nodded as a tear escaped his eye and Rachel wiped it away. "Not just you but what it would have done to everyone I love, especially my mom. It almost feels like a dream being back here...like none of this is real."

Rachel ran a hand over his cheek. "This is real, babe. You're home and you're alive and we're all so happy that you are, even if you are hurt."

He wrapped his arms and around her and held her tightly before asking a question not even Rachel knew how to answer. "What happened to the other driver?"

Rachel pulled back a little before answering him. "Umm, I'm not sure. I'm sure we can find out though."

Finn nodded and smiled at her. "Come on, let's get some sleep."

Rachel nodded and helped him put his leg in the bed before crawling in on the other side. As soon as she had the covers pulled over both of them, she laid back and settled her head on his chest, her favorite spot. Finn ran a hand over her back before breaking the silence. "You look really good in my shirt, by the way."

Rachel laughed and placed a soft peck to his collarbone. "I thought you didn't notice."

"How could I not, you're beautiful." Finn replied placing a lingering kiss on her head before they both fell asleep for the first time since Mr. Schue's wedding, wrapped in each other's arms.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This chapter is mostly Finchel fluff but I enjoyed putting myself in their shoes and having them talk about some of the deeper stuff. I haven't forgotten about Kurt either, he'll be in the next chapter. Anyway, yay! They finally worked out what the both want, well sort of. There are still more things they need to discuss about they'll talk about that at a later date. As always please review and let me know what you think. Til next time, "Losers."