Time: Two months after Valentine's day

Finn sat on the couch in his living room, tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for Kurt. Finally he strolled through the door.

"How is she?" Finn asked immediately. Kurt sighed. He hated seeing Finn like this.

"I want to tell you she's miserable. But I can't lie. She isn't. I'm not implying she doesn't still love you. Because I don't think Rachel will ever not love you. But for now, she's fine."

It hadn't taken long for Finn to realize that he was the only reason things had fallen apart with Rachel. Not Puck, not Rachel, and certainly not Quinn. And Rachel's song, those few months ago on Valentine's day, proved that. She was bright and brilliant, glowing. He was just…Finn.

"Finn, why don't you just talk to her."

"Because. While that St. James kid was an ass, he had one thing right. Rachel deserves epic romance. I don't know how to give her that."

"Do you want me to help you?"

"..Would you?"

"Sure. Tell me, what does she like?"

"Gold stars, pink, orchids, roses, Siamese cats, vegan chocolate from this weird online health food store, um… Barbara Streisand, Indina Menzel, necklaces, bracelets, headbands, cardigans…"

"You actually know more than I thought you would. Kudos. Okay. What you need is money. Talk to Burt and Carole, they'll give you Patti knows how much, they feel bad for you. Then, but a charm bracelet chain. One charm is a star. One is a music note. One is a locket heart. And then one or two more you feel fit her. Then order a box of her favorite vegan chocolate. If you know her size, buy her a cardigan. Use that to wrap the chocolate. Leave that in her locker. Leave a bouquet of roses and orchids on her door step the same morning. Leave the bracelet, with a note telling her to meet you at the coffee shop after practice, on her chair before glee."

"That's perfect, Kurt. Thanks, so much. You're awesome. Like…so awesome. As awesome as like, I don't even know."

"Thanks, Finn. Anyway, I'm going to shower. Good luck."

And so Finn begged his mom and Burt for money, succeeded, and shopped. IN addition to the three charms Kurt named, he also bought a "1" and a "5". If she took him back, he'd show them to her. The 1 was because that was her number when she helped play the conference championship, and 5 was his jersey number. When everything he'd had to order had arrived, he wrapped the chocolates in the pink sweater with sparkly gold threads in it, tied the flowers with some ribbons Kurt gave him, made sure the note he'd written was on the bracelet box, and took a deep breath before putting in all in a large paper grocery bag. He made sure to get to her house long before she would leave for school, and school before she would get there. He paid the janitor to let him into her locker, left the chocolate and made sure he still had the bracelet. He was nervous as hell. He couldn't help but peek out of the door of his first class as she got to her locker. She was surprised at first, but then she smiled. She put on the sweater. So maybe this would go okay after all, he thought to himself. The rest of the day he was fidgety, until finally it was time for glee. He sprinted to the choir room, left the box on her chair and sat a few chairs down to wait. Others filtered in, saw the box and shot Finn a quizzical look. He'd simply mouth 'Rachel' and they'd nod and sit down. Finally Rachel came in and saw the box in her usual chair, with her name written in gold ink on the crisp white and black paper. She picked it up, and everyone watched her out of the corner of their eyes. She read the note and her eyes widened and she looked over at Finn. He nodded. She opened the box and saw the bracelet with the three charms on it. She looked confused, but smiled all the same, and put it on. Practice went tediously slow that day. Finally, Finn was parking in front of the coffee shop. Rachel sat in one of the arm chairs by the window. He walked in and sat by her.

"Hi."

"Hey, Finn. What… what's going on?"

"I need to talk to you."

"About?"

"I meant what I said in the nurse's office Rach. I meant what I said when I said I didn't feel fireworks when we kissed"

"Why are you telling me this, Finn?"

"Because, Rach. I don't WANT to kiss you and see fireworks. Fireworks are beautiful, and they're bright, but they're there and gone. And then that's it. I don't want us to be a firework. I don't want us to be a flash. I want us to be… I don't know. I don't have a metaphor for something that burns brightly forever. Or at least a really long time. But when I kiss you, I just feel. I don't feel fireworks or hear violins because everything else in the world, the universe pales in comparison to you."

"Stars. They burn for years and years and years before burning out. Decades, millennia even."

"Perfect. I want us to be a star, Rach. I want us to burn bright until we die, years and years from now, together. So, basically, I want you back. I love you. But…I get it if you still need time to be alone. But…I'll be waiting. Forever, if that's how long it takes." He looked at her, expectant and frightened and loving all at once. She smiled.

"You don't need to wait at all, Finn." She leaned over and kissed him once, sweetly.

"In that case," he rummaged around in his pocket, pulling out a small white box "I have these. A one and a five. Five is my jersey number, and when you played in the conference championship with us, you wore the one jersey. Kurt told me it was stupid, but I thought it was kind of sweet…"

"It's perfect, Finn." He beamed at her, stood up, lifter her into the air and twirled her around.

"I LOVE YOU, RACHEL BERRY!" he shouted. She giggled and hid in his shoulders. The barista glared and told them to go, so he carried her out and down the street, finally setting her down on his car and kissing her properly.

All he could see were stars, and they even lingered after he opened his eyes and looked down at the girl perched on the hood of his car.