From what I understand, the arts were a huge part of Cory Monteith's life. His acting and his music is what saved him and helped him through many difficult times in his life. This writing is a continuation of that art. It's a continuation of Finn Hudson, and of the way that he beautifully portrayed that character.

I don't want to lose what brought me to all of you. This writing allowed me to grow as a person, and it gave me confidence when I needed it. It lifted me up through hard times in my life. It brought me to many amazing people. I can thank Glee, and by extension Cory Monteith and the rest of the cast, for that. I don't want to lose that, or any of you.

One day, I'll continue with All That I Ever Was. It won't be for a very long time, given the heavy nature of the content. But know that, as always, Finn and Rachel get their happy ending. In the meantime, I have this story and another long multi-chapter I was working on. With your support, I'd like to post those and continue with this. In some way, I hope that it helps you through your grief. Beyond that, I don't know what will happen. But for now, we're going support each other in any way that we can. This is my way. I'm going to do my best to give Finchel that happy ending they fought so hard for and more than deserve.

Thank you for all of the support I've received from you all so far. I can only hope that I've done the same for you.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Glee or anything else. This story title comes from the song "Open Your Eyes" by Snow Patrol. This chapter titles comes from the song "Collide" by Howie Day.

When Rachel Berry opened her eyes, she immediately regretted it.

The sun streaming through the windows was entirely too bright and made her head pound even harder than it already had been previously. She yanked the pillow over her head and groaned into the soft sheets surrounding her body.

She shifted a little, curling more into the blanket covering her lower half. She quickly became aware of the fact that she was only wearing her bra and pair of underwear, and she wondered how she ended up in that. Normally, her sleeping attire was of the shorts and tank top variety. And the longer she lay there, the more she realized that this wasn't the bed she normally slept in.

And suddenly, Rachel felt the arm draped across her waist.

She froze with her head under the pillow. Holding her breath, she slowly turned her head and lifted the pillow away. She didn't really know who she was going to find next to her, and her stomach swooped nervously in anticipation.

As soon as she caught sight of her companion's face, a screech escaped her throat.

A head of messy, thick, brown hair appeared from under the blankets. Light freckles dusted cheeks under the amber eyes that sleepily blinked open. He yawned before he sat up, stretching and revealing that he wasn't wearing a shirt.

He rubbed the back of his head, making his hair stand up even more. With eyes half-open, he looked down at Rachel. "Can you stop with the noise?"

"Finn Hudson!" Rachel couldn't stop herself from yelling, even though it only made her head throb more. She sat up and balled the comforter in her lap. "What are you doing in my room?"

Finn rubbed his eyes before he looked around. "Kind of looks like we're in my room, Rach."

"Don't call me that," she snapped. She was so on edge as she scrambled to figure out what was going on. "And it has it occurred to you that we're only in our underwear?"

Finn lifted the thick comforter and peered under the blankets. He smirked when he looked back over at Rachel. "Would you look that? We are. Those are cute stars, by the way."

Rachel's cheeks turned bright red and she resisted the urge to throw the covers over her head. She had almost forgotten that she was just in her undergarments. "I don't think we slept together, but we ended up in our underwear somehow."

Finn's amber eyes scanned her form, which caused a strange reaction in Rachel's body. She felt heated all over and her heart fluttered in her chest. She forced herself not to lock eyes with him and instead twisted the sheets between her fingers.

"It might have something to do with the hickey on your neck," Finn stated once he was finished his study of her.

Rachel's hand flew up to her neck. Sure enough, she could feel the tender skin there. She scowled darkly at him and reached out with her other hand to push against his chest. "Finn!"

But Finn didn't respond to her yelling. Instead, he caught the hand that she had used to push him and brought it up to his face. "Where did you get that?" he asked. For the first time since they had woken up, he was serious.

"Get what?" Rachel demanded angrily. She yanked her left hand back to see what it was that he was staring at. She found a beautiful diamond ring staring her in the face. Next to it was a slim, matching band. Her heart stopped in her chest and she swallowed hard. "What is this?"

Finn stared at her left hand before he slowly lifted his. Suddenly understanding what he was thinking, Rachel grabbed his hand and yanked it towards her face. There, she found a ring on his third finger.

"Finn…" Rachel began, but she didn't know how to finish.

Finn looked at the ring on his hand and the set on Rachel's third finger of her left hand. "I…" Finn seemed to be at a loss for words as well. So they sat there on the bed in their underwear on a late Sunday morning, not really understanding what was happening.

They didn't really have much time to sit there and think about it, however. Someone started banging on the hotel suite door and would not let up. When it didn't open immediately, the person on the other side resorted to yelling.

"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!"

Rachel groaned and flopped back on the bed, pulling the comforter over her head. "Oh my God, it's my brother!" Her words were muffled by the comforter, and she didn't really want to pull it back. She just wanted to lay in the bed with the soft sheets forever. It was better than facing reality at the moment.

She waited to see if Finn would answer the door. When the banging and the yelling didn't cease, however, Rachel peeked out from under the covers. Finn was sitting exactly as he had been before, his pale skin tinted slightly green. He looked down at Rachel before he sucked in a deep breath.

"Do you want to answer, or should I?" he asked quietly. Finn's question was punctuated by her older brother (who also happened to be one of Finn's closest friends) once again yelling, "DAMN IT, OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR! AND EVERYONE BETTER BE FUCKING FULLY CLOTHED!"

Rachel sighed before she slipped out of bed. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she could feel Finn's eyes on her as she searched the room for her dress in only her underwear. Finding it on the floor near the door, Rachel quickly pulled it on before she opened it.

Noah Puckerman was standing there with a near murderous expression on his face. It only grew worse when he saw his little sister. "Oh, that's fucking great," he snapped. "You're still wearing the dress you had on last night."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Is it really necessary for you to use such vulgar language?"

"It is after what happened last night," Puck said as he pushed past his little sister and into the hotel suite. Thankfully, Finn had heeded his warning and had found a t-shirt to pull on. Rachel didn't give Puck time to greet his best friend as she followed him.

"What happened last night?" Rachel demanded.

Puck froze and slowly turned to face her. "You mean, you don't remember?" When Rachel shook her head, Puck turned to Finn. "Do you?" Finn shook his head as well and Puck sighed heavily. "I can't believe the two of you. You're both fucking idiots."

"How about you tell us what's going on?" Finn snapped. He was fed up with the blank memory from the night before. Not only that, but he was disappointed in himself. He normally didn't drink enough to black out. Last night had been a celebration and he guessed that it had gotten away from him. He was also on edge because of how he had woken up half-naked next to Rachel with what appeared to be matching wedding bands.

Puck stalked right up to Finn and pushed on his shoulders. "You don't get to bitch at me! Not after what you did last night!"

"Oh my gosh!" Rachel jumped between Puck and Finn, holding her hands out. "The two of you need to stop right now." Turning to Finn, she said, "Don't provoke him. As his best friend, you know how he is." Facing her older brother, Rachel added, "And you need to tell us exactly what's going on right now."

Puck looked at his little sister—his sweet, innocent little sister—with an unreadable expression on his face. "I'm going to tell you a story."

"Noah—" Rachel began, but Puck cut her off.

"Just listen! It goes like this: There's a big news story going around. You want to know why? Because the new quarterback that the New York Jets signed married the little sister of one of his teammates while they were in Vegas last night!"

Rachel and Finn stared blankly at Puck. They both heard what he had said, but they had trouble actually registering what was going on. Puck threw his hands up into the air and cursed liberally for several long moments before finally gathering his wits enough to speak.

"You—" he pointed and at Rachel. "And you—" he pointed at Finn. "Got fucking married last night!"

Rachel could only stare at the television with wide eyes and her mouth open in surprise. There were several pictures of Finn and Rachel taken at the club where they had been celebrating last night (that Rachel didn't even remember taking. However, she later found them on her phone) as an entertainment reporter gave what details they knew.

"Apparently, Finn Hudson had two things to celebrate last night. He, along with a few of his teammates and friends, traveled to Las Vegas after the news of his signing. Not only has he officially signed on as the new quarterback for the New York Jets, he has also just married the younger sister of his teammate Noah Puckerman. The two married in a quiet ceremony last night before retreating back to a hotel. No further word has been given, but we wish every happiness to the new couple!"

Finn and Puck weren't even paying attention to the report. They were both trying to contact their manager, calling nonstop. This confused Rachel, given that their manager was the same person. Next to her, Rachel's phone buzzed with an unknown number. Having already ignored calls from most of her friends and family, Rachel didn't know why she decided to answer this one.

"Hello?" she asked cautiously.

"Ms. Berry?" Rachel breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the voice of Will Schuester. This was the man that was Finn and Puck's manager. "I'm sorry for calling you, but both Finn and Puck are trying to call me at the same time and I really wanted the chance to speak to all three of you all together. Can you tell them that I'll be at the hotel in five minutes?"

This was an extremely serious matter. They all lived in New York, and that's where Will had been. He must have been on a plane all night to make it to Vegas in time.

"Of course, Mr. Schuester," Rachel said. "And… I don't… What are we…" Rachel didn't know what she was trying to ask. She was at a complete loss, and it really threw her off. This had never happened to Rachel before. She normally had everything planned out and didn't lose control like she had the night before.

"Don't worry, Ms. Berry," Will said. "We'll figure something out."

Despite the soothing quality of Will's voice, Rachel didn't feel any better. She knew that he was just saying that to try and calm her down, but it was having the opposite effect. She and Finn had found themselves in quite the situation and there was no easy way out of it. She hung up with the manager and turned to face Finn and Puck.

"You can stop calling him," Rachel said. "He'll be here in a few minutes."

"How do you know?" Puck snapped.

Rachel stood up from the sofa and planted her hands on her hips, facing off against her older brother. "He just called me and told me so. He couldn't get ahold of either of you because neither of you would stop calling."

Finn took Rachel's vacated seat on the couch. "Would you two stop? My head hurts."

Puck thrust a threatening finger at Finn. "I have nothing to say to you. Shut the hell up."

Finn glared at his friend. "Look, I just—"

"The two of you need to stop it right now!" Rachel exclaimed. She let out a small groan and pressed her fingers to her temples. "My head hurts so much. I'm never drinking that much ever again. And I'm definitely not coming back to Las Vegas."

Puck snorted. "Exactly. Look what happened. This time, what happened in Vegas definitely isn't staying there."

"Stop it," Rachel repeated. Thankfully, Rachel didn't have to do much more refereeing because a knock sounded at the door. She moved as quickly as she could to answer it in order to stop their new guest from knocking again. Even that small sound caused Rachel's head to throb in pain.

Will smiled politely at her when she answered the door. "Hello, Ms. Berry. How are you feeling?"

Rachel gave the older man a small smile in return and stepped aside to let him into the hotel suite. Instead of answering his question, she said, "It's nice to see you, Mr. Schuester." Which was really just Rachel's way of saying that she wanted him to figure their problem out, and quickly.

"Tell me, Will," Puck said as soon as he caught sight of his manager. "Does it say anywhere in my contract that I can't maim a teammate who defiled my baby sister?"

Finn had been trying his best to hold it together, but he was quickly losing patience with Puck. "We didn't sleep together!" he exclaimed.

"Like hell you didn't!" Puck snapped. "You dumbasses got married. I'm not stupid, you know."

"Oh my God!" Once again, Rachel jumped between the arguing friends. "Noah, that is in no way any of your business! I can't believe I'm talking about this with my older brother right now."

"This isn't a picnic for me either," Puck retorted. "It's not like I want to think about that."

Will took his jacket off and laid it across the armrest of the couch. He looked as if he hadn't gotten much sleep; that was probably because of all the reporters that had been calling since the news of Rachel and Finn's wedding broke. He reached over and turned off the television, silencing another report about the sudden marriage.

"How about we all just sit down for a bit?" Will's tone was such that all three young adults knew that they had better obey. So they did, with Finn sitting on one end of the couch and Puck on the other. Rachel stared in distaste at the sofa before she settled in between them. She wasn't happy with her brother or the man who was her new husband at the moment.

Will sat down on the coffee table so that he could face all three of them at the same time. "I'm going to cut to the chase: you, Finn and Rachel, have managed to put us in a very difficult situation."

"You can say that again," Puck chimed in.

Will sent him a look. "Puck," he said pointedly. The younger man fell silent, but did so grudgingly. "As I was saying, this is something that we need to handle very delicately. We can't just have the two of you get a quick divorce."

That made Rachel's head snap up. "What? Why?" she demanded. She knew that this wasn't going to be easy, but she had no idea that they couldn't just make this go away. Finn just stared down at his hands in his lap, remaining silent as he waited for Will to reveal his plan of action.

"Finn just signed as quarterback with the Jets," Will pointed out. "That's a leader's position. He's twenty-six years old, and you're twenty-four, and people expect those who are your age to be past pulling stunts like this. Finn needs to be responsible. He's a role model to many kids. Do you know how many requests we've gotten for jerseys already? And Rachel, I know that you're an actress on Broadway. What would prospective directors think?"

Finn glanced at Rachel to see how she was reacting. Her brow was furrowed as she processed what Will was saying. She tugged on the hem of her rumpled blue dress and pushed her messy hair back from her shoulders. Finn knew that he should have been paying attention, but he couldn't help but notice how pretty Rachel was, even in her disheveled state.

"So what are you saying?" Rachel asked. She didn't like what Will was getting at. Rachel was currently starring in an off-Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. There was even talk of them heading to Broadway as a revival, and Rachel didn't want to lose that. Finn, for his part, pulled himself from his musings just in time to see Will give him a cautious look before he glanced at Puck and Rachel nervously.

He talked slowly and calmly. "You're not going to like this," Will began. "But I honestly think that it's the best course for now."

"Just spit it out already!" Puck exclaimed.

Will took a deep breath. "Finn and Rachel need to stay married for at least six months."

"You do realize that you'll have to answer the phone eventually, right?"

Rachel didn't look at her brother as he approached. She folded her arms across her chest and looked away from the phone displaying her fathers' picture. Right now, she was playing by the mantra of if she ignored it, it didn't exist.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for her new marriage.

"I just thought that I'd live in denial for a little while longer," Rachel said as she reached over and put her phone on silent. At least she wouldn't hear it go off every three minutes now.

Puck shook his head. "This isn't like you, Rachel."

"None of this is like me!" Rachel exclaimed. The comment really got to her. She knew that something serious had happened last night. She couldn't begin to explain why she had made the decisions that she had. "Did you ever think that I would up and marry a man that I barely know?"

Puck stared at her before he said, "I've done a lot of stupid shit, but I don't think any of it has ever come close to this."

"Please, Noah. Let's not forget the time you tried to steal that ATM. And you're not helping very much right now!"

"Do you even remember how you got to the club last night?" Puck asked.

Rachel glared at him. "Of course I remember how I got there! I didn't start drinking until much later that night, for your information." It was true. Now that Rachel thought about it, the last thing she remembered was sitting at the bar in the club with Finn a little after midnight. Somehow, whatever conversation they had been having had led to them getting married.

Rachel pushed that thought from her mind (and ignored the butterflies suddenly swooping in her stomach) as she thought back to the very beginning of her night. Unsurprisingly, it had a lot to do with her trouble-making best friend, Santana Lopez.

"You need to stop moping, Berry."

Rachel rolled her eyes and hugged her pillow more tightly to her chest. "He was basically parading around with the girl he had cheated on me with, Santana. I know it's been a month, and Brody and I didn't date for very long, but still."

Santana gave her best friend a sympathetic look as she patted her back. "I know, Rachel," she said. Santana was fiercely protective of her friends. When she found out that Rachel's boyfriend of a month had been cheating on her the entire time, it had taken nearly all of their friends to keep her from going out and maiming the guy. "But I just don't get it."

"Get what?"

"I don't get why you let that guy get to you! He smelled weird and he was such a jackass, Rachel. Not only that, but he looked like a plastic doll. I may like the V, but I still can spot an attractive guy. Trust me, that jerk wasn't it."

Rachel cracked a smile at Santana's string of insults before she sighed. "It's not that I'm really upset about the break up. It's more that I can't believe he was cheating on me for basically the entirety of our relationship and I didn't notice. Do you know how that feels?"

"I can imagine that it would feel pretty shitty," Santana supplied. "Lucky for you, I have the exact thing to cheer you up."

Rachel peered at her friend cautiously. "Like what?"

Santana disappeared into Rachel's closest and rifled around in there for several long moments. She tossed garments over her head and out into the bedroom until she finally found what she was looking for. Santana reappeared holding a short, body-hugging blue dress with straps that crossed over the mostly open back.

"We're going to Las Vegas with your brother and his friends tomorrow," Santana declared. "And don't even try to say no. I already made sure that your brother booked us tickets. You're going to wear this dress when we go out and you're going, even if I have to drag you. You, Rachel Berry, are going to have fun this weekend."

Puck cursed. "I knew I shouldn't have bought plane tickets for you and Lopez. But no, she just had to beg because she wanted to meet the cheerleaders."

"She flashed you, didn't she?" Rachel asked flatly. Whenever Santana wanted Puck to do something for them, she would flash him her breasts. Despite the fact that Puck knew that Santana was only interested in other women, it never failed to work.

Puck looked down. "I'm not proud of giving in."

Rachel's phone lit up again, though it emitted no sound. This time, Santana's picture popped up. Rachel sighed before she hit 'ignore' on the touch screen. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, really. If she had her way, Puck wouldn't even be there right now.

Finn emerged from the bathroom. Given that they were still in his room, Finn had decided to take advantage of the fact and take a shower. He rubbed a towel over his wet hair. Rachel eyed him as he approached and tried to ignore how attractive he was. Finn was dressed in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. He had been abnormally quiet ever since Will had arrived.

"Are you alright?" Rachel asked before she could stop herself.

Finn looked up in surprise. He watched Rachel for a moment before he said, "I'm fine."

"But you haven't said anything."

Finn shrugged his shoulders. "What do you want me to say, Rachel? We're married. We have to stay married for at least six months. That's the way that it has to be."

For once, Puck wisely stayed silent.

"I guess we'll have to plan a few things out, then," Rachel stated.

Finn sighed tiredly. "Plan what?"

"Where we're going to live, when we're going to tell our parents, whether or not we're going to tell them what really happened, if we're going to do any interviews… there's so much that we need to think about, Finn!"

Finn gave her an incredulous look before he glanced to Puck. He held his hands up. "Don't look at me, man," Puck said. "She's always been like this."

"Rachel, I'm still hungover," Finn said. "So can we just put a stop on the planning for now and give it until I at least have something to eat? Will told us that we're stuck in this hotel room for the time being. I'm going to enjoy the peace and quiet before the madness starts."

"But we need to make sure that our stories match up!" Rachel knew that she and Finn didn't really have a choice. They were going to have to see this through. But Rachel Berry didn't half-ass anything. She was going to make sure that this was perfect and that no one would question their story. But she needed Finn to make sure that it worked. "We should start on it right now so we can practice for when people ask us questions."

Puck raised his hand. "I think we'd like to know what actually happened first before we start making up stories to cover it up."

Rachel glared at him. "Why are you still here?" she demanded. "Leave. Go back to your own room."

"But—"

"Leave!"

Puck scowled darkly at his little sister. He sent a glare Finn's way for good measure before he snatched his cell phone up and left the suite. He grumbled the entire time about ungrateful little sisters and dumbass best friends, but he still left anyway. Despite what people thought, Puck did have some couth. His little sister was all grown up now, and she wanted to figure this out on her own. He had to respect.

And as for Finn, well… Puck still reserved the right to beat the crap out of him if he did anything to his baby sister.

Meanwhile, back in the room, Finn and Rachel were in a standoff with each other. To Rachel's annoyance, Finn was still remaining quiet. What she really wanted to know was how much he remembered from the night before—and if he said anything, hopefully it might trigger something in her memory.

"Noah is right," Rachel said. "As much as I don't want to admit it. We need to figure out what really happened last night. Do you remember anything?"

Finn chanced another look at Rachel. She was still wearing her wrinkled blue dress from the night before. His eyes followed the straps that crossed over her shoulders and the way it hugged her body. Oh yes, did he remember things from the night before.

Finn was flying high from his new contract with the Jets. He had wanted to play in the NFL for as long as he could remember, and his dream was finally coming true. Yes, he was aware of how cheesy that sounded, but he didn't care.

"Yo, Hudson!" Puck clapped Finn on the back and shoved a beer in his hand. "Have another drink and let's do some shots!"

Puck was the one who had arranged this whole trip to Vegas and the part itself, so Finn figured that he might as well do it. What was the harm anyway? They could have one night of celebration before Finn buckled down and started training. He normally didn't party, so he figured that letting go and having fun for one night couldn't hurt.

They went to the bar and did their shots. Remaining there, both men turned to survey the party. It wasn't long before Puck caught sight of someone that made him frown. "Oh hell no," he muttered.

"What?" Finn asked.

"My little sister," Puck answered. "She's here and she's not wearing enough clothes. I knew I shouldn't have booked her and Santana tickets to come with us…" He trailed off and grumbled under his breath, but Finn wasn't paying attention anymore.

His eyes remained on Rachel. She was wearing a blue dress that hugged all of her curves and sky-high heels that made her legs look miles long. Her hair tumbled in soft waves down her shoulders, and she was laughing at something her friend was saying. Finn couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Rachel's friend Santana dragged her over to the bar and ordered several very strong drinks before she commanded Rachel to start drinking. Puck immediately started in on the Latina for trying to get his little sister drunk. Rachel, for her part, picked up one of the drinks and quickly downed it. Finn watched, impressed, as she reached for another one.

"Want to slow down there, Rach?" he asked as he went to stand next to her.

She smiled at him, her eyes playful. "I don't think you know me well enough to call me that yet," she teased.

Finn immediately picked up on Rachel's use of the word 'yet.' He gave her a half-smile. "We have all weekend," he said.

"That we do." Rachel passed him a drink as her eyes twinkled. She definitely liked Finn Hudson. "And just so you know, I've had a bad couple of days. I needed this drink, not to mention this trip. You're going to need to drink that if you want to catch up."

Finn took a sip of the drink. "I think I can handle that." He had a feeling that he was going to get to know Rachel very well during this weekend.

Finally, Finn shrugged his shoulders. "We were at the club," he hedged. "And we were drinking"

"Obviously," Rachel deadpanned. She sighed before she gathered her hair up into a messy bun. Her bangs fell forward and she brushed them away from her forehead impatiently. Her phone lit up once again, and Finn could feel his buzzing in his pocket. Neither one of them had answered any of the calls from their family. They didn't want to deal with that, so they were both trying to put it off for as long as they could.

"This is really happening, isn't it?" Rachel whispered.

Finn nodded his head. "It really is."

Now what were they going to do?

Author's Note: Thanks for reading!