See…I told you it wouldn't be long before I was back with something new and hey, this time we're multi-chapter! This is actually a re-working of an earlier fic I wrote for a slightly different pairing. However, the idea lent itself rather well to a Finchel fic so I did a little editing and here we are.

The song featured in this story (the bolded, italicized parts) are lyrics from the song 'Always Midnight' by Pat Monahan. I hope everyone enjoys and please leave a comment if you would like.

I obviously don't own anything…this is just for entertainment.

Seems like it's always midnight…

He watched silently as she fluttered around the apartment. She centered the lamp on the small table that sat next to the sofa and glanced up at the large clock that hung above it.

11:25.

She smiled curtly towards him, took the final swig from the beer bottle she clutched in her hand and eyed her coat, which had been haphazardly flung across one of the living room chairs.

"I should probably go," she suggested, moving towards the kitchen.

She brushed past him and entered the kitchen. She rinsed the bottle in the sink and placed it on the counter. She grabbed the tea towel from the handle on the refrigerator and dried her hands, humming lightly as she did so.

Watching her meander around the kitchen so naturally made something inside of him snap. Before he could think about what he was doing he'd stormed into the kitchen, grabbed the bottle and smashed it down on the counter. The glass shattered into a million pieces.

She jumped back at the sound, her mouth formed into a perfect, round 'O' of shock.

"Finn! What the hell are you doing?"

He didn't answer her. He reached down and started gathering the pieces of glass that were large enough to pick up. A piece of the debris sliced across his palm and he swore loudly, jumping up quickly to turn on the water in the sink. He sighed as the cool water soothed his injury and only then let himself turn his head to look at her.

Rachel stood motionless, frozen by his anger, her eyes filled tears.

"Why does it have to be like this?" He whispered. "Every time. Why?"

Sweeping up broken glass after every fight…

College was over. They'd both made the transition to New York after high school and actually had lasted long enough to graduate. Rachel was on Broadway, well technically it was off-Broadway, but she never admitted that to anyone and no one at home knew any better anyway. Finn hadn't been as fortunate in the success department. He worked odd jobs and taught surf lessons at the beach, a passion he'd discovered after he'd realized just how close New York City was to the ocean. He had managed (somehow) to graduate with a degree in business but he didn't have any idea what he wanted to do with it. At the end of his sophomore year his advisor had told him he had to declare something and business seemed to be the most generic option. At the moment all Finn really cared about was being able to pay the rent and taking his and Rachel's relationship to the next level.

They had been in-love in high school…well, as close to love as Finn had ever been at least. When they moved to New York life had kind of gotten in the way. Rachel had attended NYU and taken her schooling very seriously. She initially insisted that her feelings had never changed but as she threw herself into her classes, lessons, and auditions Finn felt more and more like he had been put on the backburner. At one point they had gone over six months without seeing each other.

Over time he'd learned to almost forget about the feelings they'd once shared and he kind of let it go because he didn't want to jeopardize their friendship in any way. Somehow, in spite of everything else, they had managed to at least salvage that. He didn't know a lot of people in New York and having Rachel as a friend was better than not having her at all.

To Finn's delight, after Rachel had found a steady job they had fallen back into their once comfortable routine. When the stress of college was no longer an excuse she found time to be with him again. But it definitely wasn't the same. Finn didn't know if it ever would be. But just like before when he had abandoned his feelings for friendship, he then abandoned their friendship for intimacy, even if it was poor-man's version of it. Almost effortlessly they'd fallen into a whirlwind, no-strings-attached, completely physical relationship.

Their arrangement had worked out ok at first. No staying over, no commitment, no public displays of affection…just sex. But as the days turned to weeks and the weeks turned to months Finn felt his feelings shift from being purely carnal back to something more…something he wasn't ready to define or act on yet, but was curious to explore.

He'd waited and watched for any sign from Rachel that maybe she was feeling it again too, but that never happened. She would come over a few times a week, usually after one of her shows, and just be with him. Generally this meant he got an hour, maybe an hour and a half with her, because she was always sure to catch the midnight train which would take her back across town to her apartment…or onto whatever else her night held. Sometimes on her day off she would come over earlier and they would spend hours in bed or just together. For Finn, it was never enough.

"I don't want to fight with you," she said lightly, no emotion in her voice.

She moved across the kitchen, careful to avoid the shattered glass, and retrieved the dustpan and broom from the small hallway closet. She crouched down and silently began sweeping the glass onto the dustpan. After a moment she stood and moved towards the garbage can, opened the lid, and dumped the contents inside. She placed the dustpan on the counter and leaned the broom against the refrigerator before grabbing a paper towel and some all-purpose cleaner to wipe up any shards she might have missed.

"I had a rough night tonight. I screwed up the second scene in act one and completely flubbed the lyrics in the finale. I just need to get home." She threw the paper towel away and walked towards Finn. She shut the water in the sink off and reached for his hand. "Let me see."

He let her hold his injured hand in both of her much smaller ones and felt a weird lurch in his core as she ran her index finger over the cut.

"It's not that bad…it looks worse than it actually is. A lot of blood for just a little scrape." Rachel grabbed another paper towel and blotted it against his palm. "Think you still feel up to walking me to the subway station or are you feeling a little light-headed from all the blood loss?"

He could tell she was trying to lighten the situation and he knew he wasn't going to accomplish anything with her tonight so he gave up. "Sure. I'll still walk you."

With the sound of a train that I could've been on
Reminding me that the last one's gone

Ten minutes later he had a Snoopy band-aid on his cut and they were walking leisurely towards the Brighton Beach subway station. The midnight train was the last one of the night and even though he hated that she took the fifty minute ride by herself she insisted she enjoyed it and that the silence gave her time to think.

"You know…I wouldn't have to leave so early if you actually lived in Manhattan. Why did you decide to live so far out in Brooklyn?"

"Because I like the beach and because it keeps me away from you," he responded, half joking, half serious. Finn nudged her with his elbow and sighed when he felt her take his hand and entwine their fingers.

These were the best and worst moments of his time with Rachel. He loved walking the dark sidewalks with her. Sometimes when they stood on the deserted subway platform waiting for the last train, he would pretend they were something more than a relationship of convenience. But that fantasy was always destroyed when the train would blow its whistle and pull into the station. He hated that she always left and he hated even more that he never had the strength to follow her or convince her to stay.

They climbed the steps to the platform slowly. As they neared the top of the stairs, they both noticed the station was empty, which wasn't abnormal. When Rachel's foot reached the top step she stopped moving and turned around so she was facing Finn. Due to her two step lead she was now slightly taller than him and she stretched her arms around him, pulling his body against hers. His face rested against her neck and she turned her head towards him until her cheek was flush with his.

They didn't move, just stood there, breathing each other in until the low thunder in the distance indicated the approaching train.

"Time to go," she whispered, pulling away from his hold. She pressed her lips quickly against his and walked towards the turnstiles. She slid her Metro Card through the reader to pay her fare and walked onto the platform as the train rumbled into the station.

He stared after her longingly. The doors on the silver train opened and she glanced back at him and gave a slight wave before disappearing into the vehicle. The doors closed behind her and the subway disappeared into the night, the roar slowly replaced by silence.

With you,It's always midnight.

He shuffled back down the steps and into the darkness. The sounds of Brooklyn at midnight fell on deaf ears as he hurried along the sidewalks back to his apartment. Somehow the abandoned pavement didn't hold the same allure without her.