Eventually Chapter 12: All we'd ever need, a glee fanfic

Okay, here goes for the last chapter. I hope I don't disappoint you with this one, it being the most important!

Disclaimer: I wish I owed Glee, I wouldn't have to dread the next few episodes if I did!

Don't own any song mentioned here either, their authors do ;)

And it just occurred to me that I messed up my time line, but hey, if you didn't figure that out, it wasn't so bad ;)

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The new house still didn't feel like home to Finn.

His room was bigger and brighter than his old one; it had enough space for him to install his drum-set and his dad's barcalounger along with a queen size bed that actually allowed him to lay in full without having any limb outreach it. He had a new dresser to put his TV on, his desk was placed under the window and he didn't have to stride over furniture to reach any part of the room. Yet it felt off.

He hadn't put back any of his old posters, he had grown tired of Dashboard confessional and had ripped his Ohio stadium one while picking it of the wall. The other ones had faded over time and he needed a change of scenery, but he hadn't bothered doing it just yet. He wanted to acclimate to the room first. Not that he spent much time actually watching it. He'd spent too many hours brooding in bed or trying to drown his sorrow in Halo sessions to be bothered about the lack of decorum.

He wished he had a plan.

All he'd done this far, Rachel-wise, he'd done almost unconsciously, at least not planning anything. And things hadn't gone too well, considering. He hadn't planned on breaking up with her for starters. Not that way. He hadn't thought it through at all, going from the funk of learning of her cheating to the anger he had refused to let go until he had snapped in the tree lot. Because if he hadn't he would have surrendered to her, but he had had to prove himself that he was stronger than that.

He had convinced himself that it was what he wanted, and he had done quite a good job at that too. But now the fear of losing her for good was too much to take.

Their friend conversation hadn't turned the way he had hoped, not that he had expected much out of it but he hadn't said anything significant for him. If anything he had picked a fight, driving her into a corner and making her tell things she didn't want to say. He'd actually done exactly what he had reproached her doing. He'd pushed too far.

On the other hand, the clash had done wonders on his part. Because it had made him realize how badly he had screwed up, and how deeply he still cared for her. But how was it that he could only tell her he loved her when he was wound up over something? Like when they had been arguing for a week, or when he'd been confronted by Santana, or pumped up on adrenaline before Regionals.

Of course he had meant it.

Each time.

Especially this time.

But it felt tainted. He had said it angrily, challenging her almost. And then they had ignored each other in Glee. It hadn't been very hard to do because Mr. Schuester had announced the new assignment which was to find the perfect Valentine's Day song, February the 14th being in two weeks. The couples had cheered, the single ones had booed, each debating their arguments heatedly, until the bell had rang and he'd fled the scene.

And now he sat in his room, hours later, sitting dejectedly in his father's chair and sliding his phone open and shut incessantly, debating on calling her or not. Weighing what to say. To call or not to call. Text, mail, tweet, he even wished he had a carrier pigeon, before realizing that however romantic it could be, Rachel would never allow the use of an animal.

He threw his phone in frustration on his bed, but it bounced and landed on the floor next to the bathroom's threshold. He got up exasperated and went to retrieve his phone but ended up accidentally kicking it with his foot. The phone slid on the tile floor across the bathroom and stopped on the carpet of Kurt's room. Finn sighed deeply, strode across the bathroom and bet over to grab it. Getting up he had a look at his step-brother's room. He wasn't one to rummage into someone else's stuff but he let his eyes scan the bedroom curiously. It was really neat, especially compared to his. And it was a good thing that they had separate rooms because Kurt's style was definitely not his!

He spotted a CD-case and went to it, wondering what kind of music Kurt was into. He had to admit they had never really talked about music outside of Glee.

Aside from a large collection of operas, and a selection of pop, classical, soft rock, all sorted alphabetically, there were the usual Broadway soundtracks and Finn wondered how many CDs Kurt and Rachel both owned. He picked the 'Annie' CD and remembered the time Rachel had made him watch it. He had humored her but hadn't really paid attention to the movie, although the song 'tomorrow' had kept stuck in his mind for several days after that. It was a good song actually, with a nice message about optimism, and it certainly had been Rachel's motto for a while. Even if it wasn't the case anymore.

His eyes fell on a very different CD; he knew it was Rachel's and not Kurt's because she had actually given it to him to pass along to Kurt who wanted to borrow it. He had heard a couple of the band's song on the radio and even though he wouldn't listen to them on a daily basis he didn't quite dislike them as much as one could think. Excitement started to run through him as he scanned the track listing at the back of the case, there was this song. That would be a long shot but it was worth trying. The Glee assignment, Rachel, with a little luck everything would fall into place, and somehow just now he felt like a pretty lucky guy. A smile crept on his face as he sat on Kurt's bed and slid his phone open.

He Googled something, then started texting, fumbling with the keys of the phone with his messed-up hand.

hey Kurt

to answer your ? :

yes I can (and I have)

need help

is this song 2 cheesy?

youtube. com/watch?v=c-PlAkprhvQ

-Finn

He waited patiently, then not so patiently, for an answer, as he made his way back to his room, taking the CD with him.

He put the CD in his stereo, pressed 3 then 'repeat' and threw himself back on his bed, cursing at his phone to finally ring with Kurt's answer.

The song had time to play six times and a half and he pretty much already knew it by heart when he finally felt his phone vibrate in his febrile hand.

:)))))))

was all Kurt had typed, but it was exactly the answer Finn had been hoping for. He smiled more widely and settled on his pillow, quite proud of himself for once.

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Rachel spent her Monday evening in a daze. She hadn't anticipated the events of the day, at all. She had hoped she and Finn would maybe be on speaking terms again considering the message he had left her during the week end but all in all after the slusheeing, the bathroom's almost kiss she badly regretted interrupting, the conversation in the auditorium that had of course ended in a row and Glee club, they had once again left things hanging and awkward. And she'd come home hurriedly, avoiding him.

What he had said to her… Could it be true? She wondered if it was an attempt to get back at her. He'd said it wasn't a joke. And she wanted desperately to believe it wasn't.

She had felt such a strong connection to him in the auditorium. Even when they had started yelling it had felt more real than anything they had shared the last couple of weeks. And he had kissed her! She couldn't deny that, she thought, raising her fingers to her mouth and letting herself remember the feeling of his lips brushing hers.

But he wanted space. He wanted to not be a couple with her anymore. He had told her so!

She couldn't understand him. She knew that he had cared for her, but at times like this she couldn't help wondering if he didn't only want her when he didn't have her.

She couldn't let herself think about that. She couldn't let herself think about him. She couldn't let herself fall for him again and risk being hurt again, and again.

She loved him more than anything but this relationship was doomed. They had tried. Already two times. And it had hurt losing him each time, it still did.

She didn't see any way around. And as much as it pained her she would eventually have to find closure in it. She could not handle more pain.

It wasn't until Glee practice on Friday that she actually saw him again. By that time she had resolved that she had in fact almost been fooled and thanked her good star for not letting her fall for it.

She'd been out with Mercedes on a pleasant shopping spree and had had the strangest voicemail from Kurt in which he sounded excited about something about to happen and wishing her good luck. For what? She never found out, he didn't pick up the phone when she tried calling him back.

Finn had been elusive since Monday, either on purpose or coincidentally, though she couldn't figure why he had missed Glee on Thursday.

She had merely seen him from the corner of her eyes a couple of times and had accidentally bumped into him going out of a bathroom but Mercedes had been so quick at pulling her away that the two hadn't even had time to apologize.

Rachel entered the choir room reluctantly, not wanting to have to sing or listen to stupid love songs when she was trying so hard to hide her broken heart. She hadn't mentioned Finn to either Kurt or Mercedes and they hadn't asked, reinforcing her feelings that the case was closed for good.

She was starting to head to the risers in order to sit in the back when Mercedes forced her into the front center seat, sitting next to her and squeezing her hand. Rachel gave her an interrogative look but the other girl just shrugged, smiling innocently, her eyes drifting towards Finn.

Rachel looked his way but he averted his eyes as usual. He was so handsome today she noticed, he was wearing a button up shirt and dark pants, she liked that look better than his sport's jock one and she berated herself for even thinking about it. She should focus on the class, she wouldn't be able to tell who had sung what yesterday if her life depended on it, she thought guiltily.

Mercedes went first, singing 'when I first saw you' from Dreamgirls, her favorite musical, then came Artie and Brittany with an acoustic version of 'it's only love' that brought smiles to every faces. There weren't many people left but Rachel was planning on avoiding the subject altogether.

The next time Mr. Schue asked for a volunteer she bowed her head and looked at her shoes until the storm passed. But it didn't.

Suddenly there was a pair of size 14 ½ Nike sneakers in front of her and the room had grown silent.

She raised her head tentatively and he was there, biting his bottom lip nervously and handing her a sheet music. She looked from him to Mr. Schue's encouraging smile, then back to Mercedes' huge smile.

She took the sheet of paper but was only looking at Finn. He seemed nervous, rubbing the back of his neck unconsciously. He cleared his throat, trying to buy some time.

"Rach," he started tentatively, "I'm not sure about this song, because I don't know if it's how you feel, but it sure is how I feel, and I want to believe that you think that too and that maybe we can take it from there and I don't know…" he trailed, realizing he was ranting and starting to stop making sense.

He sighed deeply, his eyes locked in hers until she dropped her gaze to the sheet music in her hand. She knew the song and the first verse of the lyrics made her mind jump of a certain grey "property of McKinley" T-shirt that she could only call her pillow-case, now.

She looked back at him, swallowing hard, interrogating him silently with her eyes.

His brown eyes were pleading with her to humor him. She dared a glance at Mercedes who nodded fiercely edging her to go on with a wave of the fingers.

Her heart decided against her head and she rose to her feet to some victorious "yes" from Puck and a scoff from Santana.

Rachel went to the piano to hand the sheet music to Brad but the latter shook his head to indicate that he already knew what song it was. They obviously had all been in it together.

The music started and she started her verse:

Boy it's been all this time
And I can't get you off my mind
And nobody knows it but me

I stare at your photograph
Still sleep in the shirt you left
And nobody knows it but me

Every day I wipe my tears away
So many nights I've prayed for you to say...

She furrowed her brow, watching for his encouragement, half expecting for him to stop and start laughing at her, but he joined his voice to hers in the chorus.

I should've been chasing you
I should've been trying to prove
That you were all that mattered to me
I should've said all the things
That I kept inside of me
Then maybe I could've made you believe
That what we had was all we'd ever need

He went on by himself, shaking his head to emphasize his words,

My friends think I'm moving on
But the truth is I'm not that strong
And nobody knows it but me

I've kept all the words you've said
In a box underneath my bed
And nobody knows it but me

But if you're happy I'll get through somehow
But the truth is I've been screaming out...

Was he really meaning that? She didn't dare hope, but she wanted it so deeply… She continued harmonizing, never breaking their gaze.

It was all we'd ever need
Ohh
I thought it was all we'd ever need

I should've been chasing you, he sang
You should've been trying to prove, she replied
That you were all that mattered to me, they joined their voices again.

They sang alternately,

You should've said all the things
That I kept inside of me
And maybe you could've made me believe
That what we had girl
Ohh that what we had
What we had
It was all we'd ever need
It was all we'd ever need

He had grabbed her hand somewhere into the song and didn't let go once the music faded. His gaze was so intense that she had no trouble at all believing what he had just said, well sang. She could read it in his eyes. But she didn't want to believe. She was completely screwed, because of course she believed, of course she wanted to be back with him, but they couldn't, could they?

"Can we go…" they both started, and she gave a half exasperated, half amused roll of the eyes. They looked at Mr. Schuester for his approval to leave and headed to the auditorium which was their special space.

"Are we gonna fight again?" She ventured apprehensively.

"I don't care if we do, because at least that means we're talking," he answered seriously before sitting her in one of the front row seats.

"Listen, I've thought this through and you have to let me talk because you're only gonna say rational things and I don't want rational, I want true, okay?" He asked, and she nodded, both at his request and newfound vocabulary.

"Rachel, we have to be together, we don't work when we're apart. I miss you. I think… I think that you miss me too. We make sense together, I don't know how…"

She couldn't help arguing, "we didn't work together either, Finn. We broke up. You broke us up!"

He sighed, discouraged. She had to interrupt him, didn't she?

"I know! I regret it… I really do."

"It's not enough!" She was starting to well up, her voice breaking, "we can't go back to where we left off. It's too late!"

"I know that! But Rach, we can start over!" He nodded, trying to convey his enthusiasm. "Think about it," he said, "the first time we were together what? Six days? The second time it was six months. So what's next? Six years? Sixty? I'll take that! Because… because," he didn't know how to say it. "I'm not gonna serve you some lame 'I can't live without you' line, 'cause obviously, I can, but fuck! I don't want to!" he was flustered and panting, and although Rachel didn't care much for the crude language, she couldn't deny it was by far the most romantic thing he had ever said to her.

She was running out of arguments, "but why would it work this time?" she couldn't let go just yet.

"Because we learned from our mistakes? We know where we both screwed up and we're not gonna do it again?" he risked, "because, the third time's a charm? Because they say 'never twice without thrice'?"

"But…"

"No, no, no, no," he stopped her, squatting in front of her, using the armrests of her chair for support, "I know what you're gonna say and I told you I thought it through! We're not gonna break up again because we already broke up three times! See, for once my stupid mouth has got us through!" he finished triumphantly, giving a sheepish half grin.

She smiled shyly, feeling the hope rise in her chest. He seemed really confident with himself.

"Are you sure?" she asked, confusing him, "I mean, I can't go through this again and I can't be certain that you won't decide all of a sudden you finally don't want to forgive me…"

"Rachel," it was the most serious she had ever seen him, "I love you. No, I am in love with you. And I love the fact that you know me so well that sometimes we don't even have to talk. And I hated the fact that you used this against me when you went to Puck, but then I thought maybe you didn't think about it that way and I hope you will never take advantage of this again if you did it on purpose, and just never do it at all if it was a mistake?" he eyed her interrogatively, she nodded her agreement.

He smiled again, "so what do you say? Can we give us another chance?" they got back up.

She nodded again, smiling and he let out a relieved sight.

Her over-talkative self took over before they shook on it. "So, we just see how it goes? No promises, no commitments," she stated.

He nodded in turn and was leaning to kiss her when he suddenly pushed her away, knocking all the wind from her chest, "no! I can't," he gasped. She stumbled backwards, mouth open in shock. There it was!

He seemed to realize something and hurried to catch her, scooping her against him, "oh, fuck, no, that's not… I didn't… I meant, shit! Rachel, I meant 'not without a token!'," uh? Was he quoting her favorite non-musical movie?

She returned her eyes to him, catching her breath. He put his hands on her shoulders and kept her at arm length, searching her face, "Rach, I want to promise! I want to be only with you, I want to never lie to you again. I understand if you're not ready to promise anything yet, even if I could go with a non-Puck policy," he added under his breath, making a laugh escape her, expelling tears everywhere. "Okay," she murmured, but he went on, "let me finish, I might as well put it all on the table."

It was weird seeing him do most of the talking but for once Rachel didn't care.

"I promise I will have your back from now on and I don't care if I get a Slushee in the face every day as long as you help me mop it up. If you want to take things slow we'll just go out and I swear I won't kiss you until the third date or whatever, if that's what you want. And I swear there's only you." He trailed. She put her arms around him and nuzzled her face against his chest. "And you have the right to kick me if you catch me staring at someone else's butt!" he added quickly, "I've been told I do that." He said disgustedly.

She chuckled against him and held on closer, "yeah, you do." And of course she would promise. Anything he wanted.

After some time she said, "I love you."

They looked at each other's face smiling. "Thanks for the song." She bit her lips together, giving a bizarre sort of smile.

"I meant it, you know?"

"I know," she smiled more openly. "Finn?"

"Uh?" the look he was giving her was so charming she couldn't help blushing.

"Can we pretend it's our third date, or whatever?" she asked sheepishly watching him from under her lashes.

"God, I was hoping you would say that!" He said hugging her tightly, burying his face in her hair. She could feel him breathe her and her heart gave a jolt in her chest.

They eventually kissed, shyly at first then more convincingly with each passing second. Rachel felt Finn's smile against her lips as she finally wrapped her arms around his neck, "don't you laugh!" she scoffed, slapping his arm playfully.

"I can't help it, Rach! You do that to me, you make me happy." He gave a gigantic smile before kissing her again.

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THE END

Okay guys! That was it. I could have added this really cheesy ending but I felt it would work better here, the story was already cheesy enough! (hey, I'm French, I LOVE cheese!)

I hope I didn't disappoint you with it, I poured everything I had in it, everything I would have wanted to see/read :)

Drop me a note if you stuck to it till the end, I would love to hear your thoughts

Thanks to everyone who alerted and reviewed and favorited, it means the world to me :)

Special thanks to my amazing SLopez, this one's for you girl!

And Super special thanks to the anonymous reviewer that added the first review to the previous chapter, if you recognize yourself PM me, I want to hug and kiss you because you spotted exactly what I wanted spotted :)

Love you all and see you soon