Finn was shocked at what he saw when he entered his room after his shower. Rachel was sitting on his bed with the box containing her engagement ring in her hand prepared to open it.

‘El, what are you doing?’ he asked. He knew he should be annoyed that she was snooping but it wasn’t surprising that her interest had been peaked. They never used to keep things from each other which made surprises hard, but this was something he had managed to keep from her for three and half years now. He realised what a mistake it had been too and now it was time to tell her.

Rachel's head snapped up when she heard his voice ‘W-What is this?’ she asked him hesitantly before quickly averting her eyes. She felt guilty as hell that she had snooped but it was even worse that she had been caught. But right now her guilt was being overshadowed by desire and love because Finn stood in front of her with only a towel wrapped around his waist and water all over his body.

Finn sighed before making his way into his bedroom ‘you shouldn’t be snooping, El’ he told her.

He turned around and let the towel drop to the floor leaving him naked and giving Rachel a perfect view of his toned ass and thighs. He quickly pulled a fresh pair of boxers on before turning back around to her.

He smiled when he saw her eyes darken with desire.

Rachel averted her eyes quickly and back to the box in her hand but Finn reached down gently and took it out of her hand before taking a seat beside her.

‘I’m sorry I couldn’t help myself’ she apologized.

‘I’m surprised it took you this long to find it’ he replied.

‘I didn’t think I needed to snoop’ she replied.

Finn nodded, she was right.

‘Are you okay?’ she asked him then.

‘Better now that your here but how long is that going to last?’ he smiled sadly.

‘I was wrong to walk out on you this afternoon and I’m sorry’ she told him.

‘You can’t forgive me can you?’ he startled her then. His question was the last one she had been expecting but she shouldn’t have been surprised Finn was always the sort of guy that got straight to the point.

‘Right now?’ she asked.

Finn nodded.

‘No I cant’ she whispered ‘I feel so hurt right now that I cant see past it. It’s why I walked out on you this afternoon and why I have to have this conversation with you now’

Finn's head fell; he knew it was only a matter of time. Sure Isabel never believed that the situation would go this far, nor did the rest of their friends but Finn knew. Finn knew Rachel better than anyone, which is why in the end he knew she would walk.

He stood up then and walked over to his window ‘There are a lot of things I need to tell you’ he said.

‘What about?’ she asked him.

‘About why I came up with the idea to postpone forever’ he answered still not turning to face her.

‘I thought it was because you weren’t ready and that you were scared about ruining my future plans, about me regretting?’ she asked confused. The funny thing was that Rachel could understand where he was coming from when he had admitted all the things to her the week before and she could even admit to some degree he was right. Her dreams were important to her but she had realised something very important during all of this and that was that being with Finn Hudson was more important.

Finn shook his head ‘I was ready’ he whispered ‘that had nothing to do with it’ he told her honestly.

‘Then why?’ she asked him.

‘Y-You should tell me what you needed to talk to me about first’ he said then. He had a feeling he knew what was coming which is why he was holding off on telling her. He had a feeling that in the end it wouldn’t make a difference, except to cause a lot of trouble and upset her.

‘I think it would be best for us to spend some time apart’ she told him.

Finn turned to face her then.

‘I still love you, Finn but right now I’m hurt and I cant get past that. I know you say that you love me and that I’m the one you want to be with but I don’t know if I can believe that any more. Maybe being with me it just easy and safe and just like you I don’t want you to give up on the things that mean a lot to you and one day regret everything we have’

Finn felt the last shred of hope he had been holding onto fall away. He walked to his closet quickly and threw on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans before turning back to face her.

‘I’ll stay with Iz and Alex tonight’ he told her ‘I’ll come by and get the rest of my stuff tomorrow’

‘What!’ Rachel gasped. Was he just going to leave and give up on everything?

‘I said I was going’ he repeated

‘No I heard what you said. So that it’s your just going to give up, walk away?’ she yelled angrily.

In her mind she new she was being irrational. She had just told him that they needed time apart and instead of her being forced to leave to get it he was going to do it to give her space but now that it was happening she didn’t want it. Rachel wanted him to beg her to listen to him to let him prove to her how much he loved her. Rachel wanted Finn to fight for her like he had never had to fight before.

Finn shook his head ‘No, but in one breath you just told me that you don’t believe that I love you or want to be with you, and I know for a fact that you don’t trust me so what is there left when you take all those things away?’ He whispered sadly.

‘What about the fact that I want to believe, I want you to convince me’ she cried. ‘I want to be your forever’ she fell onto the bed then and sobbed.

Finn approached the bed hesitantly and sat down before reaching out to caress her hair.

‘You are my forever’ he whispered.

Rachel rolled over to face him when she heard his whispered words. ‘When?’ she asked ‘When am I your forever?’

‘Today, tomorrow, yesterday, last week, and for the 1200 hundred days before that’ he replied without skipping a beat.

Rachel eyes locked with his own and she saw nothing but love and truth in those eyes. But then she remembered all the countless faces who he had taken out on dates, and who he had kissed on those dates.

‘Then why? I need you tell me why?’ she begged.

Finn sighed and ran a hand threw his hair, it was now or never he thought. He pulled the box our from his pocket and handed it to her.

‘What’s this?’ she asked confused.

‘Proof’ he whispered.

Rachel slowly turned her eyes back to the box before gently lifting the lid on the box. When her eyes focused and she realised what it was she was staring at she gasped.

‘I-Is this what I think it is?’ she asked.

‘What do you think it is?’ he asked.

‘Forever’ she whispered back turning her eyes back to Finn.

‘Yes’ he answered.

‘The receipt said it came from Roswell’ she stated then trying to assess all the information she had. Sure they had been back to Roswell for Christmas’s and for a few weeks during the summers but she hadn’t known Finn had got this.

‘It did’ he told her.

‘Um’ she licked her lips ‘how long have you had this?’

‘Does it make a difference?’ he asked her.

‘Well I mean we haven’t been home in over six months I guess I was just curious’ she rambled.

Finn gently reached over the took the box from her hands then. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked.

Finn was a little shocked ‘Um I was just going to put it away’ he stuttered.

‘It’s not for me?’ she asked confused.

Finn shook his head. Five minutes ago he could have sworn that she was leaving him and now she was upset that he wasn’t proposing.

‘Yes I bought it for you but you cant have it’ he told her this time allowing a smile.

‘Oh’ she frowned

‘El, you can’t have the ring until I ask you a question and you say yes to it’ he laughed.

‘I’ll be forty and too old to have kids before your ready for that’ she mumbled under her breath but Finn heard her regardless.

‘El, I love you and believe me I’ve dreamed a thousand dreams about proposing to you but none of them involved this scenario. So right now no you cant have the ring and it’s not because I’m not ready or I don’t want to it’s because right now we need to fix us’ he told her.

‘So now you want to fix us’ she said sarcastically.

‘Well until five minutes ago I didn’t think there was an us to fix’ he replied.

Finn could tell that Rachel was about to argue with him.

‘Stop’ he told her. Looking at the clock he noticed that it was past ten and he was completely exhausted.

Rachel was startled at his tone and force.

‘Let’s stop playing games. I just want us to put everything out there so then we can deal with it. Can we do that?’ he begged.

Rachel thought about what he was saying. Of course he was right. They had been back and forth for over a week now and it was getting them nowhere. She had no idea what she wanted or if she could move past this thing with Serena but she also realised that it was because she no idea what Finn wanted or what he was thinking.

Finn watched Rachel nervously. He wasn’t ready to walk but if that’s what she wanted in the end he would. He realised that he was opening a can or worms that things might be said that could never be taken back but he also acknowledged that Rachel would finally know the truth about the way he felt, what he wanted and the reason why they were in this situation. But he wouldn’t stop what he started because it would all be worth it if in the end they could come back to each other.

‘Yes, let’s do this’ she told him.