Chapter 17:
Rachel stood in the doorway, unable to speak. She opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out except a whimper. Finn noticed her struggle and slowly moved toward her.
He carefully took her hand and led her towards their couch. She curled up on herself with her knees drawn to her chest. Finn noticed fresh tears leak from her eyes. At this point she wasn't just trembling, she was shaking. "Baby, what happened?"
"I...I..." Rachel started before erupting into sobs.
Finn gently gathered her into his arms and placed a kiss to her forehead. "Shh..breathe, Rach. I'm right here. I won't let anyone hurt you."
"Someone already did!" Rachel suddenly wailed and Finn's blood ran cold.
"What! Someone hurt you? When?" Finn asked in shock, pulling back slightly to look at her tear-stained face.
"On...on my way home. Someone grabbed me and they dragged me into an alley. They took my purse. I tried to scream but they put their hand over my mouth. I only managed to get away because another guy saw him and stopped him. Once he let go of me, I just ran even though I heard the other guy call out for me to stop, I couldn't. I just kept running until I got here. I just wanted you." Rachel explained before the tears took over again.
Finn pulled her back into his chest and ran a hand through her hair to soothe her. "Shh...you're safe now. It's alright."
Rachel cried silently into his shoulder while squeezing him tightly. "I was so scared."
"Shh..I know. You're okay. Calm down, baby. I'm just glad your okay." Finn replied.
"All my things were in there." Rachel wailed.
Finn pulled back and cupped her face in his hands, a fierce look in his eyes. "Hey, those things are replaceable, you are not. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"
Rachel shook her head and met his eyes. "I have a little headache but otherwise, I'm okay."
"Did you still want to go out tonight?" Finn asked her gently.
"Yeah, I'll get ready and then we can go." Rachel responded, wiping her face of any evidence of her tears.
"Are you sure you're okay? We can always reschedule." Finn said getting to his feet as she made her way to their room.
"No, I'm fine. Besides you will be beside me all night." Rachel replied, giving him a small smile.
"Okay. I'll grab my clothes and let you do your thing." Finn said pecking her cheek quickly.
Rachel turned to her closet and yanked the tattered jacket off. She pulled the t-shirt over her head next before she began to root through her closet for the perfect thing to wear.
As she pulled out a flowy blue sun dress, she heard a gasp and she spun around to figure out the problem. "What? What's wrong?"
Finn didn't speak, instead he moved towards her slowly with a mixture of concern and pure venom in his eyes.
"Finn, you're scaring me." Rachel said in a small voice as she used the dress to cover herself up.
The anger in his eyes dissipated and love replaced it, the concern staying there the whole time. He reached out and laid a hand gently against her lower back. "Does that hurt?"
"A little, why?" Rachel said with an uncomfortable was nervous on what his intention was.
"How did you get this bruise on your back?" Finn asked her cautiously.
"What? There's a bruise! Where?" Rachel exclaimed turning in circles to try and see her backside in the mirror.
Finn stopped her with his hands on her shoulders. "Here. I'll take a picture of it and show you, goofball."
He snapped a quick photo with his phone before showing her the image. "I didn't do it, did I?"
"I can assure you that you didn't, babe." Rachel sighed, looking at the photo. "It must be from when he slammed me against the wall of the alley. Great, that's going to be hard to cover."
"I'll help you and if I ever see that guy, he's going to get it." Finn said, hotly. "Finished getting dressed and I'll help you cover it. In the meantime, I'm going to go get changed myself."
"Okay." Rachel replied.
Finn was watching a football game while he waited for Rachel to finish. He had on a nice pair of dark blue jeans and a button down shirt in a black and red pin-stripe. He had sneakily grabbed the small box he had purchased before they left Lima and it was now in his front right pocket.
Rachel came out of the bedroom about twenty minutes later and looked ready to have a full breakdown. Finn immediately rose from the couch and moved to her side, taking her hands in his and gently squeezing them. "What's wrong?"
"I can't find anything to cover it and...and...I just wanted our first date night in New York to be perfect." Rachel explained, her voice cracking a few times.
"Hey, breathe. Turn around and let me see your back." Finn replied gently as he placed a soft kiss to her forehead.
Rachel turned her back to him with a sniffle and Finn looked at her lower back to find just a small portion of the bruise showing over the back of her dress. "See, it's bad."
"No, it's not. Come on, let's go cover it." Finn said taking her hand and gently leading her into the bathroom. "It's barely showing, babe."
Finn looked at Rachel's options for cover up first before selecting a foundation that was a shade darker than her skin tone and a concealer that was just a shade lighter. Rachel looked at him trepidatiously as he turned back toward her with the make up. "Do you trust me?"
"Inexplicably." Rachel answered with no hesitation.
"Sit down and I'll have you taken care of in no time." Finn said with a smirk.
He finished a few minutes later and moved in front of her to show her the after picture he took. Her expression showed shock upon seeing it.
"It doesn't even look like I was mugged today." Rachel said in shock. "How did you do that?"
"Well, living with Kurt for the last two years I've picked some things up, not to mention all the times we had to put stage makeup on for competitions in glee." Finn explained, reaching up to tuck a loose strand behind her ear.
"I guess that makes sense. Do we still have time to make the reservation?" Rachel asked hopefully.
"Of course, baby. Let's go." Finn smiled as he offered her his arm. Rachel looped her arm through Finn's and they were off to Vegan on The Fly.
After sitting for about an hour just joking and talking, Finn and Rachel took to the streets of New York once again. Finn took Rachel's hand and pulled her toward their car.
"Ugh, I can't wait to get home and get these shoes off." Rachel complained as Finn started to drive.
Finn managed to hide his smirk as he replied. "Well babe, you will have to wait just a little bit longer."
"What? Babe, no more surprises please. Getting to spend my life with you is all I need really." Rachel said resting her head back against the headrest.
"Well just one more surprise." Finn said cryptically.
He turned a few more corners until they arrived at Central Park. Rachel seemed confused as they pulled into a parking spot.
"Why are we here? Did you want to take a walk?" Rachel asked curiously.
"Not exactly." Finn replied. He opened his door after killing the engine and made his way to Rachel's side to open her door.
Rachel took his hand and let him led the way to his surprise. They walked for a bit until they reached Bow Bridge where Finn had set up white lights wrapped around the length of the stone rails. Standing off to the side were Kurt, Blaine, Santana, Mercedes and Sam.
Finn tugged her along until they were standing in almost the exact same spot they had almost four years ago. He turned to look at her and noticed her confusion.
"I had met you here before Nationals almost four years ago. And that night we had a wonderful time at Sardi's before we unfortunately lost Nationals but I learned something even more valuable that night. You were always in my corner, cheering me on when I was at my highs and lifting me up at my lowest. I realized during that trip that I wanted to make you smile like that forever. You make me the best version of me and I love you. I know we've been here before and I have yet to follow through on it but I swear if you say yes this time, I will follow through. I will do it all for you, Rach. So, Ms. Rachel Barbra Berry...will you marry me?" Finn said. He reached into his right pocket and pulled out the small box he placed there earlier before opening it towards her and dropping to his left knee.
Rachel stood there stunned as their friends looked on from the sidelines. She couldn't even form words right now. This was everything she had ever wanted for a proposal and Finn had given it to her. Not that his first proposal had been any less special to her. She realized that she still hadn't answered him and looked up into his eyes. She immediately noticed his fear but she also noticed that deep beyond that he was sincere and he did mean every word.
Finn's posture started to change the longer it took her to respond. He began to feel defeated and assumed that maybe she had changed her mind and no longer wanted to marry him.
Rachel noticed when his eyes started to show his despair and she knew she had to reassure him. "Finn...you don't even realize what you have done for me. You turned me from a diva who was over-dramatic and hard to be around, into someone who has all these amazing friends. You did that, babe. You made me a better person and I can never thank you enough for that. If someone back in sophomore year had told me that I would end up here, ready to give my all to the man of my dreams. I would have laughed at them. I gave you my answer two years ago when you asked me the first time and for the record, that proposal was perfect in my eyes as well because it was you. So I will say it again, this time not just for you but for our friends and family to hear as well. Yes Finn, I will marry you."
Finn shouted with joy and wrapped her up in his arms before swinging her around. He placed a passionate kiss on her lips as their friends cheered for them. Finn placed her back on her feet and pulled the ring out the box before placing it gently on Rachel's finger. "I love you so much."
"I love you too. How could you ever think I would reject you, you're perfect." Rachel replied, kissing his cheek and causing him to smile.
"Far from it but it means the world to know that you think so." Finn replied.
Rachel looked down at her engagement ring and immediately noticed a difference. "Finn, this isn't the same ring."
"No, because so much has happened since the first time I proposed, I thought we could use a new ring for the occasion." Finn explained.
"Well I think it's perfect." Rachel beamed, kissing him again.
They each embraced their friends and hung out for a while before heading back to their respective homes with a promise of knowing a wedding date soon.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
AHH! So it finally happened and what did you all think of the proposal? The next chapter will be the final chapter for this story but fear not I have more fanfics on the way. Until next time, 'Losers.'