Note: In my last chapter there were so many horrific typos that I'd actually corrected, but for some reason it didn't save the changes; I just want you to know that I do proof read my stuff, honest! :)

Finn misses her attempts to get him to notice her. At first, the photos and the cookies and the sad faces drawn on his textbooks make him want to confront her once and for all, just to tell her to back off, but he realises that it would include actually talking to her, and he hasn't done that since they broke up.

But when she stops for whatever reason, he feels a new kind of pain; he wonders if she's given up, and while he should be thankful for that, he's not, not in the slightest.

What the hell does that mean?

He doesn't know what he's doing anymore (but let's face it, when has Finn ever known what he's doing?).

He does what comes naturally to him; he listens to music. He sits for over an hour, scrolling through his varied music playlist in an attempt to pick the perfect song, and stumbles across one that makes him feel sick.

Take away the sensation inside. Bitter sweet migraine in my head; it's like a throbbing tooth ache of the mind. I can't take this feeling anymore

He loves Green Day, 'cause everyone knows they fucking rock, but this song makes him want to hurl, and before he knows it, he's staring into his lap, singing pathetically under his breath, 'Give me a long kiss goodnight and everything will be alright.'

It's some kind of wakeup call, he's sure of it. The song is all about wanting drugs to ease the pain (or he thinks so anyway, he's too drained to care), and yeah, not long ago he was feeling the exact same way, which scares the shit out of him.

He's staring at his cowboys in a trance when the next song starts playing into his ears. At first he doesn't recognise it because he's lost track of half the music on his iPod, but it doesn't matter anymore since the words make his whole body freeze, and he's sure that he can't even move his hands.

A warning sign; I missed the good part then I realized. I started looking and the bubble burst; I started looking for excuses

He feels a warmth flooding his legs, and before he knows what he's doing, he's scrambling through the crap that's accumulated on his bedroom floor, looking for the damned photo that set him off in Spanish class. His hands shake as he lifts it up 'cause he knows that he's gonna cry again, but he doesn't; he manages a smile.

When the truth is I miss you. Yeah the truth is that I miss you so

She's so beautiful, the girl whose name he still can't say. He brushes a finger over her static smile and it's like he's seeing everything a thousand times clearer; he's a fucking idiot.

And I'm tired; I should not have let you go

Finn has always wanted to know what an epiphany is (and how to spell it 'cause he has no idea in hell), but he finally knows; it's like he's opened his eyes when he's been squinting all his life.

She cheated on him, and it hurts more than he ever expected, but he's hurt her too, and the Santana incident was her breaking point.

He needs her. He needs the girl with the pretty name and the pretty voice and the pretty face because their short separation was his warning sign; he has to hold onto her.

So I crawl back into your open arms

He goes to school on a mission. He knows that he's not perfect, and she's not perfect either, but together they make some semblance of a decent person, and if he isn't willing to fight for what they stand for, then he's a bigger loser than he thought.

But he's worried. He hasn't had any more weird, strangely adorable gifts or momentums and Finn's worried that he's missed his chance; he's worried that he's lost it along with his appetite and his smile and his ability to call her by her name.

He has to try though. He hasn't been able to get her stupid sugar cookies out of his mind, and what he wants, more than anything right now, is for her to make him a fresh batch.

Finn hasn't seen her all morning. He panics when she's not by her locker before class, and he panics when he doesn't see her in the hallway and he panics when he realises that he might actually have missed his only chance.

It's lunch, but for Finn it might as well be another class because he hasn't eaten anything in days, and the last thing he wants is some greasy tots or limp salad. He heads to his locker to drop off his books, and then he sees a crowd of people gathered in the hallway, laughing and shouting at some poor sucker.

Finn hates school. He wants to help the victim, he really does, and it's nothing to do with reputation anymore; his ego is bruised. He'd hoped, rather dumbly, that she'd be by his side by now, talking quickly and loudly about something he isn't interested in, but she's not.

He wonders if she's been in an accident and he feels his stomach drop. Why didn't he think of that sooner? He abandons his locker and decides to bypass the drama to get to Figgins' office, to check if he's heard anything, but over the sea of heads he notices Santana.

His first instinct is to roll his eyes and carry on walking, but then he looks closer, and he sees her, and he furrows his brow because there are photos of the two of them all over the place, and people are laughing, and she's crying, and he doesn't know what to do.

Yes he does; of course he does. He's been put in this situation so many times, and every single time he screws up. When it comes down to it, regardless of all the idiots who are enjoying the fight, it's Santana versus her, glee club versus her, the rest of the world versus her, and he has to decide whose side he's on.

"What the hell is going on?" He steps forward, even though his legs are shaking, and he notices the way she starts to crumble; she knows, too, that it's make or break time.

"Nothing Finn," Santana slurs, his name rolling off of her tongue like some cheap dirty talk. He doesn't even look at her, because he's finally realised what she is; not worth the effort.

Yes, I crawl back into your open arms

"Ra-What happened?" Fuck, he still can't say it, and she notices, because her eyes widen and her lip wobbles and he swears, if she cries any more he's going to be joining her.

"N-nothing, it doesn't, I have to-" She tries to walk away, dropping the photo in her hand, but he finds himself stepping forward, and he wraps his fingers around her wrist lightly. She jumps, and so does he, but she stays (she still doesn't smile, but he can work on that).

"Berry made you a pretty picture," Santana smirks, stepping in front of her, trying to steal Finn's attention. "I figured since you're single again that I'd save you the effort of having to look at it."

His eyes flicker across at her, and he notices the way she looks at the floor, desperate to be anywhere else. He wonders where the fire has gone, the one that burnt when Santana insulted her last, and he wonders (rather vainly) if he was the fuel.

"Besides, it looked like a Care Bear barfed all over it; you'd think she was three years old or something." She turns on the spot, her Cheerios skirt twirling with the breeze, revealing a lot of bare skin, and Finn feels like he needs to punch something because his eyes go dark and he's suddenly bombarded with every single insult that has been directed at her in the past. He remembers them all, the ones he was there to witness, and he's reminded of how much of a douche he really was, and still is. He can barely see her now, hurt and humiliated, and it's his fault.

It's partly his fault she cheated on him, and he finally understands that.

"Just shut the HELL up Santana!" he roars, and he kind of scares himself with the force that booms out of his throat. He looks once at her, then turns his attention back to the Cheerio who somehow manages to appear smug. "I am SICK of you laying into her all the time." He doesn't say her name but it's not that important right now; he just has to make sure he tells Santana exactly how he feels. "I should have said something to you before, so many fucking times, and I didn't, but I'm telling you now." He lifts a finger and points at her angrily, his eyebrows meeting in the middle since he's frowning so hard. "You're a b-bitch."

Yeah, it's certainly not his best moment, and he's pretty sure he could have come up with a better insult, but hell, the adrenaline pumping through his veins makes it totally worth it, and he wonders if he'll be able to stop.

"You're a bitch, and yeah, you're hot, but you know you're hot, and you're really mean, so that negates the hotness." He's flailing like a fish out of water, he's well aware of that, but he doesn't stop. "No, I mean-" He glances back at her, and by some miracle, he can see a small smile pulling on her lips, and he knows that things are gonna be okay, somehow. He looks back at Santana, who's wearing the mother of all scowls, her head moving back and forth in an outraged shimmy. "Yeah, I slept with you, and that was the second biggest mistake of my life. Considering you're the expert, I thought I would have enjoyed it more, but I've had better sex in my wet dreams."

Fuck, he totally doesn't know why he just said that, but he hears a chorus of sniggers behind him, and he sees her giggle to herself out of the corner of his eye, and he feels like one of those frogs that blow up their chests to scare their enemies away; is that his ego coming back?

"Hudson, I dare you to-"

"I haven't finished yet," he snaps. "I want you to apologise to Ra-her." He knows it's a tall order, and to be honest, he doesn't know why he bothers suggesting it. He hopes that she has developed some kind of niceness after being in glee, but he doubts it.

Santana looks at the cardboard in her hands, shakes her head as if dismissing the whole thing, then throws the pieces on the floor. "Sorry Berry, you can have him back; I don't date losers." And she just leaves, along with all the kids who had been hoping for a fist fight.

Finn stares at her as she walks away, though definitely not to admire her butt. He feels like someone just slapped him, but in a totally good way, and he can't believe that he just did that; if reputation mattered to him anymore, his awesome speech would have landed him at the top of the school hierarchy.

But he's not here for that, he's here for her, and he notices her scooping up the photos and random pieces of paper. He bends down to help her and accidentally grazes her hand with his fingers.

Yes, I crawl back into your open arms

He expects her to pull away in horror (he expects himself to pull away) but the touch is nice and warm and right.

"What was it?" he manages to ask her. He wonders if he should be scared away by all their happy photos, but he actually finds it quite endearing.

"It... was a collage, a collection of photos and things..." She hesitates and looks at him for a second. "For you."

He doesn't know how to feel about that, but he continues to scoop up the photos. "Did you actually use any glue?" he says jokingly, and he's thankful for the smile that appears on her face. Their hands touch again.

Rachel doesn't know what to do next. She resists throwing herself at him, but should she act eager, grateful, cold?

One thing is for sure; not only does she love him more than ever before, she's never been so physically attracted to him (and she wonders timidly if she features in any of his 'dream sex').

They've retrieved all of the collage, apart from a loose star or two, and he helps her carry the pieces to her locker.

"What was the collage like?" he whispers, because he can tell that she put a lot of effort into whatever it was.

"A rainbow," she replies.

He nods. "I do love rainbows."

They linger by her locker, and he sees his name still tacked to the inside of her door; he gulps because he's a baby, and he wants her, badly.

She licks her lips because she's ridiculous, and she wants him, desperately.

"Rachel," he says for the first time in days.

Her eyes sparkle. "Finn."

Finn holds out his hand and Rachel takes it without hesitance, and in that small gesture, they both know that they are loved.

"I'd love to see your collage," he whispers, and she nods eagerly.

"You can help me fix it," she looks up at him and panics, "only if you want to though."

They leans towards each other, arms wrapped around shoulders, hands grasping at hands, and neither of them complain when their lips lock and their tongues collide and their breath is mingled. Rachel gasps with shock (in the best way possible) as Finn slings an arm around her shoulder.

"Your second biggest mistake was sleeping with her," she murmurs.

He knows what she wants to hear, and he's more than happy to tell her. "Breaking up with you was my biggest mistake." She beams at him, and he gives her a crooked smile, and there's a lot of healing to be done, but they both know they can do it. They walk to the cafeteria together as Finn's stomach rumbles. He whispers, "I do love rainbows."

Yes, I crawl back into your open arms

A/N: The songs included in this chapter~

Give Me Novacaine - Green Day

Warning Sign - Coldplay

Well folks, there you have it! I'm hoping it didn't disappoint, and yeah, it was kind of fluffy but I live on this stuff ;) Thank you to everyone once more; I honestly didn't expect such amazing feedback!

Thanks again; Finchel fans are the best :')

Rachael x