Rachel sat in Finn's car. She was waiting for him to go around and open the passenger door for her. Under normal circumstances, she'd do it herself. But when you're blindfolded, even the simplest of tasks could be dangerous.

She heard the door open.

"Can I take this thing off yet?" Rachel asked. She tried to be harsh but she couldn't hide her amusement. Where had he taken her?

"Not just yet" Finn said and she could practically hear the smile he wore. He took her hand and helped her out of the car carefully.

"Where are we? And when was the last time this was washed?" Rachel questioned.

"You'll see and I'm not sure. Probably recently" Finn answered. He led her along the road. At least she through it was a road.

"Key word: probably" Rachel replied and let herself be led onwards.

He led her forward about twenty meters.

"Careful, we're going uphill a bit" Finn instructed.

"Uphill? Are we hiking? I'm not dressed for that!" Rachel exclaimed. Finn hadn't told her where they were going. He just put a blindfold on her and drove them off. She had tried to keep track of where they were going but after about three turns, she gave that up. They had driven for twenty minutes.

"No, not hiking. And stop! Okay, we have arrived" Finn said.

"Good" Rachel said and yanked off her blindfold. She looked around.

They were standing on a small wooden bridge. The bridge was near the park in downtown Lima.

"The bridge?"

"Yeah!" Finn smiled. "Isn't it pretty?"

Rachel smiled a bit. "Yes." It was pretty, really. It was dark and even darker in between the trees that surrounded them. The wooden bridge was over a small creek that silently flowed west. The full moon was peeking through the tree branches and glistened on the water. It was calm and quiet with the only sound being their breathing and distant crickets.

"But why here?" Rachel asked.

"Because it's pretty at this time of night" Finn simply said. "Surprise."

"But this park is ten minutes from your house. How did it take almost half an hour to get here?"

"Oh, I drove around in circles to trick you" Finn grinned down at her.

Rachel laughed and playfully punched him. "Well, this place is gorgeous."

"I know."

For a while they just stood there, leaning against the wooden bridge rail and staring down at the dark water. Rachel stood in front of Finn and he had his arms wrapped around her waist tightly.

Then Finn's voice broke the silence.

"You know, there's another reason we're here." His voice was a bit shaky, like he had been crying.

"Oh?"

Finn spun Rachel around so she faced him.

"We're in Lima" Finn began.

"How astute."

"But we won't be here for much longer. Rachel, at the end of the school year, we're leaving. We're packing up and leaving. We'll see the world and follow are dreams. Lima won't be more than a lame memory to us" Finn said.

"And I can't wait for that" Rachel smiled at him. "It's so exciting."

"I agree. But, at the same time, I don't want to leave here. Lima may be small and quiet and very opinionated, but it's our home. This is the place where we spent our whole lives so far. This place raised us. This place, no matter how tiny and lame, is our home. Think about it, Rachel. It's where we began. And I know that no matter where we go or what we do or what we see, I'll have a little place for Lima, Ohio in my heart."

Rachel was silent at first. Then she spoke. "You're right. Lima may seem ugly, but it's got many beautiful places hidden inside. Like here, for example."

"We should come back. After we leave, I mean. One week we should just take a trip back" Finn smiled. His brown eyes were a bit watery. It touched Rachel to see Finn to emotional and passionate like this.

"Yes. For sure" Rachel nodded. "But...I still don't understand why you took me here right now."

Finn smiled and reached into his pocket.

Rachel gasped a bit, expecting a velvet ring box. She was relieved to see it wasn't. But it was silly of her to expect that. He had already proposed to her and she had said yes. The wedding date was still to be decided. Instead, in his pocked, Finn had a gold lock. Like a bike lock without the chain. He also had a small golden key to go with it.

"A lock?" Rachel asked, picking it up from the palm of his hand.

"Yup."

"Why?" Rachel was confused.

Finn grinned and put his hands in his pockets. "Well, last week, my Math teacher was sick so we had a substitute. He spend the whole time talking about his trip to Europe. We asked him

so many questions and pretended to be interested that he spent the whole period talking about it. Anyways, he told us that in Europe, on all the bridges, there were a bunch of these locks all chained together. Like hundreds. He told us that they're from couples who go to the bridge. They lock on a lock to symbolize their love. So I figured that we can do the same. Not in Europe, but here. In Lima on this bridge. That way, a little bit of us and our love will remain here even when we go away."

Rachel smiled at this. Finn may not be the brightest light bulb but when he gets an idea, it's an amazing one.

"I think that's a brilliant idea" Rachel whispered then kissed him.

"And don't worry. One day, we'll go to Europe and do the real one, too" Finn smiled. "One day."

Rachel nodded. "That sounds fun. But to be honest, I think I'll like it here just as much. More meaningful."

"Yeah" Finn handed her the lock. "So let's do it. Together."

Rachel took a hold of the smooth curved bar of the lock. Finn held the gold base. They hooked it around the wooden bar of the bridge.

"Ready?" Rachel asked Finn. He nodded and she pushed the lock into the base. It clicked into place.

That sound was like music to the two of them.

"Done" Rachel whispered. She glanced up at Finn who was staring at the lock. "Locked into place."

He nodded then swiftly kissed her lips. "I love you" he whispered. He didn't wait for her reply because he kissed her again.

When Finn finally let go of the kiss, he held up the key.

"What are you doing with that?" Rachel asked.

"No, what are you doing with it? You can have it" Finn said and placed the key in her hand.

"What am I to do with it?" she asked, fingering the small key.

"Whatever. Keep it. Wear it as at necklace. Put it on a wall. I don't care" Finn laughed.

Rachel paused and stared at the lock and the key. Then she looked up and stared Finn in the eyes.

"Do you trust me?"

He nodded.

"Do you trust in us?"

He nodded again.

She smiled. "So do I." And before he could say anything, she whipped around and threw the key off the bridge. It landed in the water, only barely seen by the moon light. They watched it sink to the rocky bottom and slowly be pushed along by the gentle current.

"Gone" Rachel whispered so that it was hard for Finn to hear and he was standing right next to her.

"You know, when I gave it to you, I assumed you'd put it on a key ring and carry it around or put it in your locker or something" Finn chuckled.

Rachel stared up at him with wide eyes. "Are you mad? Don't hate me. Darn, I didn't think you'd mind. I'm sorry. Maybe we can find it. Maybe we should-"

Finn kissed her, cutting off her frantic rambling.

"No. I'm not mad at all. I think what you did is totally romantic. And now, no matter what, that lock won't come off" Finn said, his nose touching hers.

"Just like how our love won't end" Rachel smiled.

Finn nodded. "That's right."

He slipped an arm around her and pulled her close to him.

"Now a bit of us is locked here in Lima. Forever" Rachel said.

Finn nodded and kissed her head. "Yes. It's a lock of love."

A/N

Well, I wrote this a way to keep the Finchel dream alive. When I heard that new Glee character Brody Weston may be Rachel's new lover come Season 4, I was so depressed that I wrote this. Anyone else in the same boat? *sad sob* FINCHEL FOREVAH

In case you're wondering, the whole locks-on-bridges-in-Europe is true. Pretty cool, huh? :D

You know what you should do? You should check out my Glee blog!

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